On January 25, the Rand Corporation issued a short-ish study of the conflict in Ukraine, titled “Avoiding a Long War: U.S. Policy and the Trajectory of the Russia-Ukraine Conflict.” The Rand Corporation was initially founded as a think-tank that would provide “Research & Development” (R-and-D) advice to the U.S. military and it still remains strongly, … Continue reading Rand’s latest Ukraine assessment assessed
The history of World War 1 continues to be eerily relevant today. In 1928, the leftwing British war resister Arthur Ponsonby published a book titled Falsehood in War-Time, Containing an Assortment of Lies Circulated Throughout the Nations During the Great War. Its lessons have massive relevance, that continues until today. In 2001, a leftwing Belgian … Continue reading How to play ‘War Lies Bingo’
When I was growing up in England in the 1950s and 1960s, we were all pretty proud of the NHS. It really did a lot to define “British-ness” at a time when the Empire that had done that for previous generations was being unceremoniously sloughed off. At least our generation could be quietly proud that, … Continue reading Britain once swapped an expensive empire for a National Health Service… Today–?
Over the New Year’s break, North Korea’s military test-fired some short-range (350-400 kilometer) ballistic missiles, while the country’s news agency reported that it was testing a new 600 mm multiple rocket launcher system capable of carrying nuclear weapons. On Saturday, the often erratic-seeming North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expressed his commitment, “to respond with nuke … Continue reading Is North Korea China’s Israel?
On December 13, the House Financial Services Committee held a long-awaited hearing into the collapse of the FTX crypto empire. FTX’s disgraced former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried could not, as he had hoped to, testify there in person because he was sitting, as Inmate 14-372, in a jail in the Bahamas. Instead, the committee heard an … Continue reading The Egregious Arrogance of Sam Bankman-Fried (& his ilk)
The past year has brought several challenges for me. In early November 2021, I suffered the start of the retina problems that then continued to plague me for several months. (Comment from my first-born: “Mom, you know you’re not 30 years old any more”… Not terribly well-received by me at the time, though I’ve come … Continue reading Emulating Serena Williams: My career redirect
What is it about those entitled White guys who defy the norms of decent grooming to present themselves as “lovable rogues” and thereby somehow also defy the norms of truth-telling and probity to achieve outstanding success in their careers… all of it based on industrial-scale fraud and lies. And by doing this, they bring whole … Continue reading Mop-haired fraudster lies way to success. Wide harm ensues.
The Washington Post reports variously today that the U.S. government is either “privately encouraging” or more actively “pushing” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to reconsider his stance against negotiating with Russia so long as Vladimir Putin remains President. The more deeply reported of those accounts, the “privately encouraging” one, is sourced to “people close to the … Continue reading Thoughts for Armistice Day 2022
I am already looking forward to the coronation of Charles Windsor, to presumably be held during peak tourist season in 2023? This gives us enough time to do more research into the provenance of the obscenely extensive holdings of the House of Windsor (known until a speedy 1917 name-change as the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha)… and … Continue reading Britain’s Crown Jewels: Time to decolonize, repatriate!
I’ve been re-thinking how to proceed with my Project 500 Years. (Actually, as of now, Project 607 years, but who’s counting?) I have a number of ideas of new approaches I might use. But since I’m currently a little fixated on how the era of Western hegemony of the world order is currently ending, I … Continue reading Learning from Gen. Douglas MacArthur
