Purgatory Canto 33, Gustave Dore, mid-1800s
Bed. —— Mark Dice: Based John Fetterman Returns and Acknowledges Trump’s Super Power
Open Thread – Tues 21 Feb 2023
- Open Thread – Thurs 14 Nov 2024
- Open Thread – Remembrance Day 2024
- The Sweetest Victory
- Open Thread – Weekend 9 November 2024
- Open Thread – Thurs 7 Nov 2024
Dating too far up the hot- crazy matrix.
Some sports are heroic. Rally driving. Boxing. Running for US president.
World peace. But you should wait until after the bikini round to say so.
My accountant informs me that I have made an obscene amount of money during the year, No amount of money…
Fisk
American elites are losing soooo badly.
Don’t you read American Thinker anymore?
Nord Stream investigator recalls hidden history of US-Norway covert ops
Decades before allegedly helping it bomb European gas lines, the Norwegian military aided the CIA’s undeclared war in Vietnam
Six decades before Norway helped the CIA destroy the Nord Stream gas pipelines, it gave the agency heavily-armed boats that it used to target North Vietnam, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh wrote on Wednesday. Norway’s involvement in this secret war was deeper than previously reported, Hersh claimed.
Hersh, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, claimed earlier this month that the CIA sabotaged the Nord Stream lines on President Joe Biden’s orders. The Norwegian Secret Service and Navy reportedly helped CIA divers choose the correct spot to plant the explosives, and ferried the Americans out on a boat to the location, near Denmark’s Bornholm island in the Baltic Sea.
Explaining why the US chose Norway as its partner in destroying the Russia-to-Germany gas lines, Hersh said on Wednesday that the “Norwegian Navy has a long and murky history of cooperation with American intelligence.”
Historical reports show that Norway sold a number of fast attack boats to the US Navy, which were used by the CIA to conduct clandestine attacks along the North Vietnamese coast. By 1964, prior to the US’ official entry into the Vietnam war, at least two Norwegian sailors had confessed to taking part in these raids, while unconfirmed reports claimed that Norwegian officers and crew manned some of these boats.
However, according to Hersh’s source “within the intelligence community,” the CIA was given more boats than previously reported. Manned and captained by Norwegian sailors, these vessels carried US Navy SEALs to missions against “far more aggressive targets that included heavily defended North Vietnamese radar facilities.”
While the CIA’s previously reported clandestine attacks were controlled by the American command in Saigon, these more aggressive missions were commanded by the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington.
“It was a secret war within a secret war,” Hersh wrote, adding that at least two Navy SEALs were wounded on these missions, and received the Medal of Honor in secret.
“This bit of top secret and heretofore unknown history raises, to this reporter, an obvious question: what else do we not know about the secret operation in Norway that led to the destruction of the pipelines?” Hersh concluded.
The Biden administration has described Hersh’s reporting on the Nord Stream explosions as “utterly false and complete fiction.” Moscow considers the destruction of Nord Stream an act of “terrorism,” and Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, argued this week that Hersh’s reporting was “more than a smoking gun” suggesting US involvement. Prior to Hersh’s initial article, Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed the explosions on the West, arguing that the US in particular benefited from the attack due to its position as a supplier of LNG to Europe.
I reckon that they are generally awful and unliveable. Anyone tell me why I’m wrong?
You are wrong, but not about Frank Lloyd Wright.
The guy was extremely creepy, and his buildings were extremely creepy.
55 days for a washing machine lint filter replacement part.
Did COVID make everyone stupid???
Sharri describes biden as an aging gentleman and notes his popularity is rising. Also Nikki is a better bet than Trump. Everyone in the media, even the best of them have holes in their fu.king brains.
Woops. My 5:18 comment may have fallen afoul of moderation rules. If approved it will be lost among the nameless forgotten host of past comments.
Sic transit infacetia mundi.
How on earth are the Avery Clooney Home or Honeycomb House “creepy” you preposterous, perpetual energy dickhead?
The second day of the Victorian heatwave is going poorly for the cheery climateers at the Bureau. Swan Hill (known to be on the warm side) reaching a top of 31.4 with a forecast of 35.
So we have two pretty nice summer days with a windy hot day tomorrow as the heat from SA moved in and a change for Saturday.
Experts just can’t seem to get days right but decades are all under control,
Newsom v Hawley in 2024.
The machines have already decided.
Rand Paul is Trump’s true successor and a big supporter of Trump (and has been assaulted for his views) who can win 2028.
The last few months have seen various talking heads beating us over the head with “15 minute Cities”. British Councils are already trying to pass local laws to that effect.
Kate Langbroek has spoken out against them, now they are being touted as “Conspiracy Theories”.
ooooooh! Where’s my tin foil hat?!?
Andrews really is a PoS- all that Faux outrage makes me wanna puke.
That’s what happens when you make a BA from Monash premier.
Taliesin burnt down twice, didn’t it?
But you’re saying that’s not creepy?
Mr Pesutto on Thursday confirmed he didn’t support Ms Deeming’s quest to hold an inquiry into transition practices in Victoria.
He also said he had no plans to make changes to the state’s abortion or gay conversion therapy laws.
“I don’t agree with those views … I’m progressive, I’m modern, I’m inclusive, I love everybody and want everybody to have opportunities in our great state,” Mr Pesutto said.
“I say this to every Victorian, the Liberal Party I lead is one that wants to be a voice for everyone.
“I strongly support the LGBTI community. I was proud to march at the Pride March recently.”
Presutto is another faux conservative POS.
But first, a message from Martin Armstrong on the subject.
Notice too from Melbourne to Lansing to Edinburgh it’s the same shite- like they’re receiving orders from the same source.
I’ll leave the spooks to you, chief.
They are. Remember “JournoList”?
Dot, I guess you like brown and dingy, we’re all different. I like light and breezy.
MDMA bro.
…and now I know I also live in your head rent free.
I know what you’re thinking about, it’s honestly hard not to.
Sharri describes biden as an aging gentleman and notes his popularity is rising. Also Nikki is a better bet than Trump.
I’d say just following the newscorpse approved narrative. I wouldn’t waste my money on newspapers.
I’m happy to tell you that I along with millions of people would disagree with you, but I can’t tell you you’re wrong as its an opinion on taste.
Remember “JournoList”?
No I don’t believe so unless it’s the Columbia Skool of Germalism?
Light and breezy:
Norman Lykes House
How to Live in the Southwest
Solar Hemicycle
Guggenheim
Ralph Jester House
I think you should give Ennis House, Honeycomb House, Unity Temple and Northome another chance.
JC and Dot, I guess you’re the people who keep sales of ‘Mission Brown’ paint going.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JournoList
Remember the Red Bathroom scene in The Shining, Dot?
The bathroom is said to have been inspired by a similarly styled Frank Lloyd Wright designed bathroom at the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix, Arizona.
There also appears to be a reference to events occurring at the same time
Taliesin originally burnt down.
It is one of the reasons I consider that, despite the usual calculus in assessing a person’s powers (in this case how effective Trump would be in two to six more years), I can’t help bit think that his running for the Presidency again would be a good thing. He seems as energetic, alert, and as rambunctious as ever.
And frankly, looking at the mess the establishment has made, it will take a freak like Trump (whom neither the establishment Dims or Repubs would have thrown up) rehabilitate this shit-show.
People talk about how he didn’t do enough when he was in office, failing to tear up the deepest roots of the Dimocrats’ infestation. But I don’t think anyone saw just how bad it was until Trump was cheated out of the election. But now he is mad.
And Trump.
You’re not even looking at some of those homes.
Where is the Mission Brown at Hemicycle, Northome, Ennis House or How to Live in the Southwest?
Thanks Dot- learned something.
Mission Brown is fine, sans orange and purple decor elsewhere.
I also steal pens at mandatory meetings.
Dotsays:
February 23, 2023 at 5:09 pm
You dont understand.
If the Ukies lose thats America with a 23 year losing streak of wars/proxy wars.
Which means they will have to scratch around for for a new foe before someone says ‘maybe the leadership of our armed forces/ political parties are just shit”.
They have dodged accountability for lost wars so far this century, any pause in finding a war would mean a dose of post-Vietnam redux- where a lot of reputations were wrecked.
I think those reputations are already wrecked.
Empty nest makes it prettttty awsome, 24/7.
If Spiked would stop saying nasty things about Trump, I’d probably donate too them.The Democratic elites aren’t even pretending to care about the East Palestine disaster.
Pictures of elbo in the news today, if he continues to go downhill at this rate he wont be there for the next election, looks to have aged 10 years since election.
*to them
But I don’t think anyone saw just how bad it was until Trump was cheated out of the election. But now he is mad.
We all saw it.
Unless it’s fixed, the USA is finished.
…and now I know I also live in your head rent free.
I know what you’re thinking about, it’s honestly hard not to.
Good. It’ll save me responding to head prefect. You can do it for me.
Bourne
Cassie, Lizzie etc, all Sydney residents.
Has the Lord Mayor made it mandatory to wear Rainbow colours yet ?
The public health facility I work at has rainbow flags – big and small, everywhere. Staff wear rainbow lanyards. Rainbow pedestrian crossings. They even have a stall in the foyer with a table staffed by workers in purple with rainbows who spend most of their time talking to each other or on their phones.
In the online magazine prepared by HR (or People and Culture as they now call it) they interviewed a liaison officer who appears to walk with a pronounced lisp. He ticked a few diversity boxes and spoke about him “liking sex, because everyone likes having sex”. Given it is a health facility and the warnings regarding Mpox, I found their promotion of his promiscuity astonishing.
It has saturated everything to the point where it the rainbow stuff simply looks weird and rather like a religious cult.
YOU’RE NOT EVEN LOOKING, SFW!
HE’S GUESSING!!!
GIVE YOUR LABRADOR A COPY OF ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST!
DORS YOUR PRESCHOOLER CHOOSE YOUR PAINT SCHEMES?
I LIKE HOW YOU SPRAYPAINTED YOUR WHOLE HOUSE TITANIUM WHITE IN ONE DAY!
Agree AW and I’m not optimistic. remember the 1960 election was stolen from Nixon and Nixon was removed after winning in a landslide.
I note the Tele headline says that obscenity was vandalised, not covered up, nor hidden from children’s eyes, nor mercifully sabotaged, nor sensibly censored.
The 3% have control of the machine.
“Big_Nambassays:
February 23, 2023 at 6:26 pm
Pictures of elbo in the news today, if he continues to go downhill at this rate he wont be there for the next election, looks to have aged 10 years since election.”
His Botoxed Brow is still smooth. 😉
The meja has always been a major part of the problem. The problem being capture of formerly good and respected institutions by marxists.
Light and breezy has a place.
Wood shingle or panels and light colours throughout near on the beach is a certified hood classic.
I think those reputations are already wrecked.
But they arent wrecked enough people throw turds at them in the street…yet!
I want “the fog of war” played Ludivko method on all the turds in charge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7glWOnnNw1M
Pictures of elbo in the news today, if he continues to go downhill at this rate he wont be there for the next election, looks to have aged 10 years since election.
Good; let’s hope he gets an aging related disease; metaphorically speaking. And turtle should get an exotic cancer; also metaphorically speaking.
But enough about the Liberal Party.
Settle down, Dot.
There’s no need to channel Frank Lloyd Wright.
What a great comeback.
“‘Who can do Starsky & Hutch better than him and me?’ Original actor David Soul wants to return for ‘old farts’ reboot with Paul Michael Glaser instead of new female stars
Soul, who played Ken ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson in the original Starsky and Hutch series, took to Twitter on Wednesday, revealing his thoughts on the female-lead remake
‘Every article mentions the ‘original’ actors by name. So why not just reboot Paul and me—as a couple of old farts solving piddly-ass crimes at the assisted living facility where we would now live? Who can do Starsky and Hutch better than him and me?’ Soul tweeted
It was reported last week that Fox is developing a Starsky and Hutch reboot following two female detectives “
I have long been suspicious of this. Well, at least as it is understood these days. It seems to me the much vaunted dress sense does not represent the apogee of men’s dress sense so much as it does the way women would dress men. A hangover from their days of preparing Ken for Barbie.
It is not how men dress as men.
In contrast – and we must travel back in time to before the current affected gay fashion fetishisation – we can look at Hollywood homo heart throb Archie Leach, also known as Cary Grant, and I make reference to this image because it is the way men dress done well, not the way women would dress men done…LOUD.
Haven’t been to London since the late 90s– seems even more horrid and Orwellian now. Remember that vile Harriet Harman?
Mission brown and orange. Why stop there? Add some apple green.
There’s a house at Dural called “Taliesin”. I used to walk past it every day. On millionaire’s row. Very, very FLW. There’s another one with the same styling over in Castle Hill.
The modern trend for mixing materials is a direct descendant of the style – slick render, face brick, stacked stone, timber. I love it, but it isn’t for everyone. Especially Hamptonites.
But how about that LeCorbusier chap eh!
Eh!
How it started. How it’s going.
I can see them in souped up mobility scooters. They’d do it too, being good sports and all.
Starsky and Hutch were super kool guys
LOL.
Soul still thinks it is about entertainment and drama.
In contrast – and we must travel back in time to before the current affected gay fashion fetishisation – we can look at Hollywood homo heart throb Archie Leach, also known as Cary Grant, and I make reference to this image because it is the way men dress done well, not the way women would dress men done…LOUD.
Classic photo; in his prime Grant never took a bad one. Here he is with some of his cars.
If it was a straight man saying he like sex to all and sundry he would be sacked for making others uncomfortable. It seems only gay sex is valid and acceptable, not making anyone uncomfortable.
Geez db, your level of seethe is very high.
Do you think Russia is actually in the middle of a winter offensive at the moment? There seems to be some conjecture, because the front is barely moving. Are they actually trying to move it? Because if so, their effort is extremely weak.
The point remains: Why does it have to be Starsky and Hutch?
After 40 years through which so much has changed besides just the roles and men and women, why does it have to be Starsky and Hutch? Why not create two new characters?
Are they under the delusion that fans from the 70’s version will flock to this new version where almost the only thing recognisable will be the names? People who have never watched the original will not care about the original.
Or is it about, again, erasing an older series. One that was explicitly masculine. (Not male. I suspect most people who watched the original were women.)
It is erasing historical masculinity, with the intention of supplanting it with a female masculinity (the women will be pumped with male traits like cows with hormones, right down to the casual attitude to sex but turned up to 11), but the result will be a billion dollar flop that lays waste both the original and the new versions.
There must be a shed load of crime in the US that has settled on the strategy of using failed TV programs as a way to launder money.
Like the producers aaaaaaat…
Severe Weather Alert
Extreme Heat
Severity: Severe
Significant threat to life or property
Stick a fork in the BoM. They are done.
rickw:
And to those who think they wouldn’t, they already do it with bakers, frock makers and Churches*.
This is not a stretch for their behaviour – it’s just a continuation of past practise.
*Oddly enough, they don’t do it to the ‘Amish’ Houses of worship. There’s a lesson in that for everyone – especially our putative ‘leaders’.
Or is it about, again, erasing an older series. One that was explicitly masculine.
Quite possibly- the left like to spoil things.
The American establishment is out for revenge too remember- against the American people most of whom didn’t vote for the lesbian bitch.
Most of whom didn’t vote for the old thief.
While you were distracted by the Nicola Bulley Tragedy, the UK Gov. quietly published a report confirming the Vaccinated account for 9 in every 10 COVID Deaths over the past TWO Years
David Vance
@DVATW
Tedros: “Next week, countries will begin negotiations on a ‘Zero Draft’ of the new Pandemic Accord.” Once agreed, this “Accord” will subvert all Nations sovereignty and hand it over to the globalists in the WHO.
The speech for which he was ejected is linked in the first response.
Chris Nelson ??
@ReOpenChris
BREAKING! Dr. John Littell KICKED OUT of Sarasota Memorial Hospital Board Meeting after testifying to the effectiveness of Ivermectin to treat Covid-19!
Unfortunately this seems quite common. Can’t speak against the reputation of migrants. From Gateway Pundit.
The United States is not the only county that seems to protect migrants over its own citizens.
In recent years, Ireland has faced challenges as the nation’s population of migrants continues to grow.
The family of a woman who was sexually assaulted in Dungarvan, County Waterford, Ireland, has been told by Gardai (the state police force of the Irish Republic) to remove a social media post that identified the perpetrators as foreign men.
The family contents that, since the suspects have not been arrested, they were sharing information to help protect other women in the community. But apparently that is not as important as protecting the image of migrants.
Morgan Stanley Warns U.S. Stocks Are in “Death Zone” and Could Drop 26% in First Half of 2023
Just realised Taylor Sheridan, the genius behind Yellowstone and its offshoots, also wrote Sicario and its sequel, plus Hell or High Water, all outstanding movies.
Boambee John:
Go to the Sydney Gay Festival, and you’ll see all those attributes in their glory. Guaranteed.
This is from last month. I don’t think it’s been posted. A UN whistleblower.
SECRETS OF THE UNITED NATIONS – What everyone should know!
Jack Posobiec
@JackPosobiec
Holy Shlit – Trump just publicly confirmed the US State Dept was behind the Maidan Uprising in Ukraine
New World Odor™
@hugh_mankind
It’s Feb 22, 2023 and these are the ONLY countries who STILL require vaccination to enter:
Calli:
Men like that constitute – IMHO – <5% of the total gay population, Calli.
They are NOT representative of the genre.
Freedom Wins:
States with Less Restrictive COVID Policies Outperformed States with More Restrictive COVID Policies
Is it DEI, IED or DIE? Yes, it is!
NATO’s eastern flank ‘will have to be reinforced further, perhaps to a level of a brigade’
FRANCE 24 English
Architecture Wars!!!
Here is a pretty coherent explanation of what has been happening to the world over the past few decades by author CJ Hopkins. While he puts the blame on “global-capitalist ideology” (he seems to have rather a jaundiced view of capitalism, which can be subverted and corrupted like any other system) but, whatever the driver, he explains the journey and the goal pretty well. Orwell would have shuddered.
Here’s the real reason Roald Dahl’s books have been re-written
This is coming from the person who wants to keep conversation at a polite, gentlemanly level.
Falling Water is regarded as one of the most beautiful “modern” homes ever built. It was a wonderful achievement in design by Lloyd Wright. Look around. “Modern” hasn’t changed much in terms of design for the past 100 years.
Earlier, you mentioned that the furniture in these homes appears uncomfortable. What standard are you basing that on? Today or a hundred years ago?
I guess you prefer the contemporary French provincial designs that you see in Australia these days.
I thought this was the Bee when I first saw it but, no.
Poll: 72% of U.S. Adults Say It’s ‘OK to be White’
“This year, the people of Australia will finally have the chance to say Yes to recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Constitution with a voice to parliament.”
Kenny is a fu.kwit; still spruiking the Voice even after Bolta eviscerates it and that treasonous skank thorpie while reporting on an increase of attacks by aboriginals on young whites in Alice, the latest being a young girl who was saved from serious injury and death by the intervention of a teacher at school. Amazing really that many aboriginal kids were at school.
Finally, After Woman Loses Her Legs, Missouri Politicians Take Action to Remove Soros-Backed St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner from Office
Architectural genius, SFW, reckons if you like modern, it must mean you like brown gloss paint.
Here’s a nice pile at Kingscliff; even in a falling market, $4 mill + will be necessary:
https://kingscliff.ljhooker.com.au/house-in-kingscliff-nsw-2487-au-1a2df69
Florida’s ‘Reverse Woke Act’ Aims to Hold Leftist Execs ‘Accountable’ for the Consequences of Their Policies
Exclusive — Trump: ‘We’re Like a Third-World Nation’ with Buttigieg as Transportation Secretary
Kenny is at best a twerp.
As Public Trust Wanes, FDA Pledges to ‘Save Lives’ by Policing Online Content
Higher Cognitive Ability, Less Concern for Political Correctness – Study Finds
I love the built in furniture of FLW.
Faux French provincial on pocket handkerchief sized blocks, not at all.
Especially the ones with underground car-parking.
Dissolution of Spike Protein by Nattokinase
Indolentsays:
February 23, 2023 at 8:11 pm
Finally, After Woman Loses Her Legs, Missouri Politicians Take Action to Remove Soros-Backed St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner from Office
Nothing ever happens to the scum of the left. I don’t know whether it’s complete capitulation to these insidious bastards or whether it is the quiet before some massive storm of a reaction. The fact that the sheeple never get this information en masse may have quelled the anger; or perhaps they’re just sheep.
My apartment here in Madrid is smaller than my bedroom, wir ensuite at home, fine for travelling, but nearly all the apartments here are lived in by local residents and the ones next to me are the same size as this, a couple with a dog live next door.
Would drive me nuts.
Rosie
The reason for underground parking is the expense of above ground land. It’s quite rational, no matter if a house is French Prov or modern.
I’ll answer that with one word:
Money.
Cronkers
This is the name of the street the house resides.
83 Cylinders Drive Kingscliff, NSW
Yuck.
Ex ABC journos like Kenny, attempting to operate in the real world are the equivalent of ex government monopolies being ‘privatised’. They are incapable of changing their spots and are universally disasterous.
Telstra, Australia Post, ADI, water suppliers and power suppliers.
Shut them down. List them. Start again.
Oh, and QANTAS who are still being supported by the taxpayer – especially rural taxpayers.
Gay conversion therapy is real and alive and well and thriving in Australia. It’s the act of seducing the innocent child into a fake glamorous world of anything but heterosexuality long before they would take a natural interest in sex and constantly reinforcing that lie over the next decade. It’ chief practitioners are politicians, the media, big tech, sexual deviants and really stupid parents.
Some people think it’s about trying to rescue people from the effects of that childhood gay conversion therapy but it’s not. That’s just another part of the big lie.
Not sure there’s much to be proud of
“Budget repair”.
Fur coat I hate Labor.
I once asked a migrant from Munich if he missed home.
Not really, he replied…”I have so much space here.”
m0ntysays:
February 23, 2023 at 6:38 pm
I do know several gay men and I know how personally nasty they can be, in fact they can be vicious.
But enough about the Liberal Party.
For once m0nty=fa gets it correct. See Prissy Pyne, and so many others, not excluding the rest of the “Black Gang”.
There goes m0nty=fa’s reputation for wrongology. You make just one little correct statement and ….
Cronkers
This is the name of the street the house resides.
83 Cylinders Drive Kingscliff, NSW
Yuck.
Dot, get in here; since you can read my lizard brain, reply to this terrible slur by head prefect.
Taylor Sheridan also did Wind River.
A master piece in story telling.
Just when you thought Warhammer was grim enough, I’ve stumbled upon the Warhammer Horror genre.
Jeebers.
Teh Paywallian reports Prof van Wrongselen in a spot of bother at Channel 10. Always a problem when you are supposed to be writing for a paper not appearing in it.
Some people might not like Frank Lloyd Wright’s work.
Whatever.
That is their prerogative.
What is undeniable that his work pushed the boundaries of what was possible, particularly in domestic buildings. Look at those buildings, some of which are over 100 years old, and think how revolutionary they were against the contemporary orthodoxy, both in style and structural techniques.
Those overlapping cantilevered concrete balconies in Fallingwater are something else – tremendous bulk made to look like they are floating. Yeah, some of the places might have maintenance issues now. When you push the boundaries into new techniques and methods, some aspects of the construction methodology might not stand up over time.
As for furniture which appears uncomfortable? I think that refers to those big chunky chairs by the fireplace in Fallingwater. They might look uncomfortable but I reckon they would be great to sit in.
Teh Paywallian reports Prof van Wrongselen in a spot of bother at Channel 10
PVO seems like a real little bitch.
As stated before, it all depends on ‘what victory looks like’. The public *think* it looks like success on the battlefield, your enemies vanquished and ‘home by christmas’.
It doesn’t, it hasn’t looked like that for a long time.
Victory now looks like endless war, for no good reason, waged away from the homeland, but justifying the production/expenditure/replacement of billions of $ worth of military hardware, over and over and over again. This is to be dragged out as long as possible – in the case of the Afghan war, for 5x longer than WW2 (from a US point of view), and only when its been milked for as long as possible, is it to be left behind, only to be replaced, within months, with yet another pointless foreign conflict for no good strategic reason.
Viewed through that lens, I would say every US war since Vietnam has been a cracking success!
The standout feature of many of Frank Lloyd Wright’s houses were his fireplaces.
I think he saw the fireplace as the central communal place in the house, rather than the dining table.
There is a quote he placed above one of them which reflects this:-
A place of bonhomie and good humour, if you will.
This was a work of art.
Wright’s architecture has a Japanese influence as he spent time in Japan
Yeah, you can see it in the heavy structural timbers, but then there are those really light fretwork motifs in the celestory windows above the larger windows and glass doors.
Imagine sitting in there on a cold but sunny autumn day.
Mission Brown Structural Timbers.
At the top. Put there by men.
Top men. TOP. MEN.
Promise me you’ll never paint them white.
Warhammer 40k could be considered at least Gothic, if not Horror, but the old lore from the Chaos, Undead and Dark Elves were brilliant storytelling, the Undead One being the best and close to Horror. It had a touch of Robert E Howard in the treasure hunting subplots.
The lore of Tzeench and Nurgle and the description of the Chais realm is mind bending. The Dark Elves story was great storytelling but incomplete without the High Elves.
Look. I actually just want to play Warhammer Quest and 1000 pt 40k and “Old World” skirmishes.
Might pick the Witch Hunter again, the Asrai and WOLVES IN SPAAAACE….
All the best to you Rolfie.
Good luck recruiting for Territory coppers, after the way Rolfe was thrown under a bus.
JC I get why, I’d just go modern and be done with it.
JC says:
February 23, 2023 at 9:28 pm
This was a work of art.
Wright’s architecture has a Japanese influence as he spent time in Japan
Original House we had designed by Architecture Mate on steep bush block of land, was based on Frank Lloyd Wights design built out of stone quarried on site by my wife’s Stonemason Father – it all went belly up whilst we were on overseas posting, and we had to settle for Program Tri Level Clinker Brick Project House as we could not afford Petit & Sevit Civil & Civic Tri Level Design – Program were regarded as the poor man’s Petit & Sevitt design
Frank lloyd wright designs in Japan
https://www.realestate.com.au/news/former-pettit-sevitt-display-home-comes-to-market-in-st-ives/
Hell is Atocha long distance ticket hall.
None of the machines were working so it was take your turn at the window.
Nearly ninety minutes later…
In France they have speedy windows for people travelling the same day, not in Spain.
And it’s not a very fast journey on the very fast train when you get there at 11 for the 12.35 but have to wait for the 14.00.
I should have taken the bus, online sales, way cheaper.
And the Ave costs more to Cordoba from Madrid than the plane from Malta to Madrid.
There is no mercy for young Australian men of Anglo Celtic heritage who fall under the steam roller of the justice system
Or old men who wear clerical collars.
I’m remembering the fast train from Lyons to Paris being delayed because the driver had “rung in sick” and his replacement was caught in a traffic jam, on his way to work..
Anyone seen the fish torpoedo? It’s called the Fish Seeker advertised on TV. It looks really fun for surf fishing but the critters won’t tell you how much it costs until you call.
https://tvshop.com.au/products/fish-seeker
I wonder what happens if you snag a freaking shark though.
Ukraine war speeding global drive toward killer robots
Weaponized artificial intelligence is the future of warfare but taking humans entirely out of the loop is fraught with risks
The US military is intensifying its commitment to the development and use of autonomous weapons, as confirmed by an update to a Department of Defense directive.
The update, released January 25, 2023, is the first in a decade to focus on artificial intelligence autonomous weapons.
It follows a related implementation plan released by NATO on October 13, 2022, that is aimed at preserving the alliance’s “technological edge” in what are sometimes called “killer robots.”
Both announcements reflect a crucial lesson militaries around the world have learned from recent combat operations in Ukraine and Nagorno-Karabakh: Weaponized artificial intelligence is the future of warfare.
“We know that commanders are seeing a military value in loitering munitions in Ukraine,” Richard Moyes, director of Article 36, a humanitarian organization focused on reducing harm from weapons, told me in an interview.
These weapons, which are a cross between a bomb and a drone, can hover for extended periods while waiting for a target. For now, such semi-autonomous missiles are generally being operated with significant human control over key decisions, he said.
Pressure of war
But as casualties mount in Ukraine, so does the pressure to achieve decisive battlefield advantages with fully autonomous weapons – robots that can choose, hunt down and attack their targets all on their own, without needing any human supervision.
This month, a key Russian manufacturer announced plans to develop a new combat version of its Marker reconnaissance robot, an uncrewed ground vehicle, to augment existing forces in Ukraine. Fully autonomous drones are already being used to defend Ukrainian energy facilities from other drones.
Wahid Nawabi, CEO of the US defense contractor that manufactures the semi-autonomous Switchblade drone, said the technology is already within reach to convert these weapons to become fully autonomous.
Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s digital transformation minister, has argued that fully autonomous weapons are the war’s “logical and inevitable next step” and recently said that soldiers might see them on the battlefield in the next six months.
Proponents of fully autonomous weapons systems argue that the technology will keep soldiers out of harm’s way by keeping them off the battlefield. They will also allow for military decisions to be made at superhuman speed, allowing for radically improved defensive capabilities.
Currently, semi-autonomous weapons, such as loitering munitions that track and detonate themselves on targets, require a “human in the loop.”
They can recommend actions but require their operators to initiate them.
By contrast, fully autonomous drones, like the so-called “drone hunters” now deployed in Ukraine, can track and disable incoming unmanned aerial vehicles day and night, with no need for operator intervention and faster than human-controlled weapons systems.
Calling for a timeout
Critics like The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots have been advocating for more than a decade to ban research and development of autonomous weapons systems.
They point to a future where autonomous weapons systems are designed specifically to target humans, not just vehicles, infrastructure and other weapons.
They argue that wartime decisions over life and death must remain in human hands. Turning them over to an algorithm amounts to the ultimate form of digital dehumanization.
Together with Human Rights Watch, The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots argues that autonomous weapons systems lack the human judgment necessary to distinguish between civilians and legitimate military targets.
They also lower the threshold to war by reducing the perceived risks, and they erode meaningful human control over what happens on the battlefield.
The organizations argue that the militaries investing most heavily in autonomous weapons systems, including the US, Russia, China, South Korea and the European Union, are launching the world into a costly and destabilizing new arms race.
One consequence could be this dangerous new technology falling into the hands of terrorists and others outside of government control.
The updated Department of Defense directive tries to address some of the key concerns. It declares that the US will use autonomous weapons systems with “appropriate levels of human judgment over the use of force.”
Human Rights Watch issued a statement saying that the new directive fails to make clear what the phrase “appropriate level” means and doesn’t establish guidelines for who should determine it.
Gregory Allen, an expert from the national defense and international relations think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, argues that this language establishes a lower threshold than the “meaningful human control” demanded by critics.
The Defense Department’s wording, he points out, allows for the possibility that in certain cases, such as with surveillance aircraft, the level of human control considered appropriate “may be little to none.”
The updated directive also includes language promising ethical use of autonomous weapons systems, specifically by establishing a system of oversight for developing and employing the technology, and by insisting that the weapons will be used in accordance with existing international laws of war.
But Article 36’s Moyes noted that international law currently does not provide an adequate framework for understanding, much less regulating, the concept of weapon autonomy.
The current legal framework does not make it clear, for instance, that commanders are responsible for understanding what will trigger the systems that they use, or that they must limit the area and time over which those systems will operate.
“The danger is that there is not a bright line between where we are now and where we have accepted the unacceptable,” said Moyes.
Impossible balance?
The Pentagon’s update demonstrates a simultaneous commitment to deploying autonomous weapons systems and to complying with international humanitarian law. How the US will balance these commitments, and if such a balance is even possible, remains to be seen.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, the custodian of international humanitarian law, insists that the legal obligations of commanders and operators “cannot be transferred to a machine, algorithm or weapon system.”
Right now, human beings are held responsible for protecting civilians and limiting combat damage by making sure the use of force is proportional to military objectives.
If and when artificially intelligent weapons are deployed on the battlefield, who should be held responsible when needless civilian deaths occur? There isn’t a clear answer to that very important question.
US still building vulnerable carriers in the hypersonic age
USS John F Kennedy supercarrier is first new US design in 40 years but the battleship is still well behind the hypersonic times
By GABRIEL HONRAD – FEBRUARY 20, 2023
The US continues to build supercarriers at a time when their strategic and deterrent value is in serious doubt with the advent of hypersonic weapons.
This month, defense publication Janes reported that the Gerald Ford-class supercarrier John F Kennedy (CVN 79) is scheduled to enter combat system testing this quarter, with delivery expected in 2024.
According to Christopher Kastner, President, CEO and director of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), which is in charge of building the ship, the “CVN 79 Kennedy is well into the test program.”
Kastner also said that the ship’s “distributed systems such as fire main, potable water, air conditioning, and ventilation are coming to life.”
“The EMALS (Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System) catapult system, which we began testing in 2022, remains on track and is progressing as planned through her test program, and we expect to enter into the combat systems test program later this quarter,” Kastner said, as quoted by Janes.
According to a December 2022 report by the US Congressional Research Service (CRS), the Gerald Ford class is the successor to the Nimitz-class of supercarriers.
The CRS report states that the Gerald Ford-class uses the Nimitz’s hull but incorporates several improvements to launch more sorties per day, provide more electrical power for shipboard systems, and include a higher degree of automation that allows the ship to be operated by only a several hundred sailors, much less than its more manpower-intensive Nimitz predecessors.
Naval Technology notes that the Gerald Ford-class is the first new US supercarrier design in 40 years and is capable of carrying 90 combat aircraft and has a 160 per day sortie rate, which can be surged to 220 in contingencies.
It is also the first US carrier to feature EMALS instead of the traditional steam catapults. EMALS is gentler on airframes, potentially reduces maintenance and downtime and allows for launching heavier aircraft with more weapons or fuel stores.
Yet the modern-day relevance of aircraft carriers is fiercely debated in many naval circles, with advocates and critics arguing for and against their relevance.
In a January 2023 article for 1945, Robert Farley says that carriers remain useful, as they are mobile airbases that can operate outside of anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) bubbles and are more survivable than static land-based airbases.
Farley also notes that aircraft carriers are still great power status symbols, with leading maritime powers such as France, India, Japan, Russia, the UK and the US fielding the sophisticated warships as prestige symbols.
He notes that the high visibility of aircraft carriers makes them ideal for showing the flag missions and showcasing power projection capabilities.
That’s seen in US force projection on a global scale, China’s carrier battlegroup deployments off Japan’s southernmost islands and Russia’s deployment of its Admiral Kuznetsov carrier off the coast of Syria to support its intervention there.
However, critics argue that the aircraft carrier is an obsolete relic that has been pushed into irrelevance by technological advances but are nonetheless still being built and fielded for political and prestige reasons.
In an April 2022 opinion piece for Bloomberg, James Stavridis wrote that the loss of the Russian cruiser Moskva that month to Ukrainian anti-ship missiles showcased the vulnerability of surface ships, including aircraft carriers, to low-cost but technologically advanced missiles.
The sinking of the Moskva may have thus validated China’s approach toward countering US naval supremacy in the Pacific.
In a May 2022 article for Vanity Fair, Marc Wortman notes that Chinese naval planners aim to exploit the vulnerability of US aircraft carriers, relying on the “puncturing” of US naval strength with pre-emptive strikes on its carriers with sophisticated anti-ship missiles.
In that connection, Asia Times reported on May 2022 that China is practicing hitting US ships and facilities with hypersonic missiles, with satellite images showing mock targets in Xinjiang’s Taklamakan Desert simulating US aircraft carriers, destroyers and naval bases with impact craters from what could presumably be missile strikes.
These technological developments may push the aircraft carrier out of its role as the capital ships of today’s navies, forcing a fundamental change in naval doctrine.
In a January 2022 article for The National Interest, James Holmes argues that technological developments such as hypersonic missiles make aircraft carriers useless as capital ships while also raising questions about their broad strategic value vis-a-vis near-peer adversaries.
Holmes also says that if aircraft carriers end up serving limited roles and are perceived as too valuable to risk in a conflict situation, defense planners and politicians may start to question the wisdom behind funding these multibillion-dollar warships. He believes that the core concept of the aircraft carrier will survive but in a different form from supercarriers.
Along those lines, Asia Times reported in December 2022 that in a possible departure from centering its naval strategy around supercarriers, the US is considering to field more “lightning carriers,” which are relatively small carriers that can carry 20 combat jets, a lighter load than the supercarrier’s 50 or more aircraft capacity.
Proponents of the lighting carrier concept tout their reduced cost, allowing more hulls to be built and more dispersion of naval airpower for increased survivability. Proponents also highlight the type’s versatility in many operational scenarios, from over-the-horizon amphibious assaults to close air support and fleet air defense.
However, critics of the lightning carrier concept say that they offer marginal value compared to land-based A2/AD platforms, are just as vulnerable as supercarriers to hypersonic missiles, and suffer from an offense-defense dilemma, as allocating more of their limited air wing for offense means less aircraft for self-defense and vice-versa.
Read an article yesterday where some British celebrity was trying to blame shortages of fresh fruit and vegetables in the UK on brexit.
Let’s not think about those domestic energy bills of 3/400 and the implications for hothouse growing in the UK winter.
at the Guardian
US fumbling to close hypersonic gap with China, Russia
Plan to test-fire a hypersonic weapon from Zumwalt-class destroyer in 2025 likely misses the deterrent point
The US plans to test a hypersonic weapon from a Zumwalt-class destroyer in 2025, a move that likely aims to plug a growing deterrence gap vis-à-vis China in the Pacific.
This month, Naval News reported that the US Navy will conduct a test launch of a hypersonic weapon from the USS Zumwalt in December 2025, with intensive preparations underway to address any potential technical issues before the launch.
The report notes that the US is integrating an underwater weapons control system with Tactical Support Center (TSC) control to facilitate data and message transfer to launch the missile.
It also mentions that the US is scheduled to do virtual tests of both control systems by simulating an Integrated Combat System (ICS) in a laboratory next month. That will be followed by an onboard ship demo both in port and underway.
The ICS tests, Naval News notes, will inform the US Navy how to field and integrate hypersonic weapons aboard the Zumwalt class by 2025 and on Virginia-class nuclear attack submarines by 2028.
Last March, Asia Times reported on the rationale behind repurposing the Zumwalt class from a stealthy shore bombardment platform to a hypersonic missile-armed surface combatant. The Zumwalt class features advanced technologies such as stealth shaping, electric propulsion and advanced radars and processing capabilities, all key for its new role.
However, this decision may also stem from a section of the Navy’s desire to save a problematic design. Critics note the Zumwalt-class tumblehome hull could become unstable in rough seas and can be readily detected using low-frequency radar.
The class foregoes close-in weapons systems (CIWS) to preserve its stealthy hull shape, potentially making it vulnerable to anti-ship missiles.
Moreover, the high cost per ship at US$4.24 billion per hull ($7.5 billion including R&D costs) means only three have so far been built, with the navy likely requiring more to meet China’s rising challenge.
Given that, it may be more feasible for the US to design a new surface combatant built around hypersonic weapons rather than endure increasing sunk costs with the Zumwalt class. Asia Times reported this January on the US DDG (X), an upcoming large surface combatant designed to replace the Ticonderoga-class cruisers and older Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, and supplant the Zumwalt-class.
The DDG (X) reuses technologies from the Zumwalt class, notably its integrated electric propulsion (IEP) system, which reduces detectable noise and vibration, increases time on station and provides more power to weapons systems.
The class is also envisioned to have enlarged variants of the AN/SPY-6 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar mounted on Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and is designed to accommodate future upgrades such as directed energy weapons. It is planned to have a 32-block cell of the Mk 41 Vertical Launch System (VLS) or a larger 12-cell VLS for hypersonic missiles.
This month, Naval Technology reported that the US Department of Defense (DOD) awarded naval architecture firm Gibbs & Cox a US$39.6 million contract to support emerging ship concepts, including the DDG (X).
The report notes that the contract could mean that Gibbs & Cox will be the primary company responsible for the DDG’s (X) main design, working alongside the US Navy to put the ship in service by the 2030s.
The DDG (X) design aims for “a greater missile capacity than previous destroyers with room for future larger and hypersonic missiles, a range increase of >50% and engine efficiency >25%, being able to launch initial ships with room to upgrade to the ‘next generation’ of radar, sensors, and communications, and improvements to survivability by reducing noise and radar signatures by roughly >50%,” said GlobalData defense analyst James Marques, as reported by the source.
China and Russia’s increasing deployments of hypersonic missile-armed large surface combatants are pressuring the US to respond.
This month, Asia Times reported on the export version of China’s YJ-21 hypersonic anti-ship missile, whose domestic version was first observed last April during a test launch from a Type 055 cruiser. The People’s Liberation Army-Strategic Support Force (PLA-SSF) touts that the YJ-21 can travel at Mach 10, or 34,000 meters per second, and that no existing ship defenses can shoot it down.
The PLA-SSF also emphasized that even without an explosion, the tremendous kinetic energy of the YJ-21’s impact will have devastating effects on its target.
It also claims that the YJ-21 marks a significant evolution in China’s anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) capabilities, capitalizing on the operational flexibility and survivability of a sea-based launch platform such as the Type 055 cruiser.
At the same time, Newsweek reported this month that warships assigned to Russia’s Northern Fleet have gone to sea with tactical nuclear weapons, citing the Norwegian Intelligence Service saying that this may mark the first time in 30 years that the fleet has done so.
Moreover, the source notes that while the Soviet Union’s Northern Fleet warships frequently go to sea with nuclear weapons aboard, this marks the first time Russia has deployed nuclear weapons aboard its surface ships.
In contrast, the US’ lack of similarly-armed large surface combatants may put it at a disadvantage vis-à-vis near-peer competitors China and Russia.
Last October, Asia Times noted that the US Navy’s lack of a ship-based nuclear deterrent has potentially opened a deterrence gap with China and Russia following the Obama administration’s decision to end the deployment of nuclear weapons aboard US surface ships.
Placing strategic nuclear weapons on surface ships entails unnecessary risk and vulnerability, making submarines the best option for a sea-based strategic nuclear deterrent. However, forward-deploying tactical nuclear weapons for offensive battlefield roles is a hotly-debated issue among US strategists.
US Strategic Command Admiral Chas Richard argues that ship-based cruise missiles with tactical nuclear warheads are necessary to counter China and Russia’s growing tactical nuclear weapon arsenal.
However, US Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Mike Gilday has criticized the idea, saying arming US surface ships with tactical nuclear weapons would detract from other missions, contribute to fleet overstretch and that conventionally-armed hypersonic missiles are a feasible alternative for ship-based deterrence.
qantas good news
“Song of the partisans.”
” Sliante” to all you mob.
ZK2A
Shouldn’t that be to ‘you lot’? Ask Monty. 😀
Oh, and cin cin to you too.
Pizzing on Monty, from a very great height, is a pleasure an unrepentant capitalist, such as myself, has promised myself.
Yup, nothing suss about this:
Move on, folks … nothing to see here.
Scott Adams today, woo.
Ukraine’s Friends May Doom It – And Us
Kurt Schlichter – Feb 23, 2023
The DC establishment people obsessed with Ukraine to the exclusion of all else, who portray themselves as its bestest buddies, are likely to do what they have done on pretty much every other foreign policy question in the last three decades – lead us (and, not incidentally Ukraine) into disaster.
One day, if this keeps up, their pathetic flag emojis flying on their Twitter usernames, will be gone – replaced by The Next Thing – and Ukraine will be a wasteland.
Hell, we may be a wasteland too. These same foreign policy geniuses who gave us Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya now tell us they are going to destroy the armies of the nation with the most nukes in the world and prosecute its leader, but nah, there’s no chance there’ll be a nuclear war.
Let’s just say that with their track record, you should consider investing in lead shielding for your bunker.
The fact is that Iraq was not the worst foreign policy debacle of the last three decades. Not turning post-USSR Russia into an ally – or at least a not-enemy – was. Now, in large part because Democrat politicians found it in their interests to do so (RUSSIA! RUSSIA! RUSSIA!), Russia is our enemy and it is sidling up to our even scarier enemy, Red China
Great job, everyone. Just spectacular. Letting you people run our foreign policy is like letting the Lincoln Project run a daycare center.
Now we have to deal with a major conventional war in Ukraine.
And we have two problems – the gross incompetence of the establishment, led by senile Joe Biden, and the dwindling domestic political support in the US for this endless stalemate that will only be a stalemate until the Russians rebuild their forces and go on the offensive.
Instead of a strategy, we have blind action, or inaction as the case may be. We have options, but the options seem untethered to any actual goal.
Yet our alleged commander-in-chief has still managed to choose the worst of all possible options and we are seeing the results.
Option One was to butt out and let them decide their own dispute themselves – or to push Ukraine to settle.
I make no claim on understanding the vagaries of inter-Slavic conflict, and I do not pretend that the government of Ukraine is anything but corrupt to the core.
I trained their soldiers there. I think the people are fully justified in fighting the invaders, and I am not adverse in theory to helping them. Further, there are huge implications for doing nothing – we would look weak to foreigners and that has real consequences. Regardless, butting out is not happening, not is forcing a settlement, but if we had done either the issue – at least in Ukraine – would be long over either through a Russian victory or a settlement that cedes a bunch of Ukrainian territory.
Option Two is to go whole hog – give them anything and everything that kills Russians with the goal of driving them all or most of the way out.
You hear people talking about M1 Abrams tanks and F16s, but that’s not everything. Those are merely the most visible components of a total force that is modeled on our force.
A full commitment means rebuilding the Ukrainian army into a real western army – and I know from experience they are not that.
That means comms, logistics, intelligence, and such, not just guns and bombs. You think we have spent a lot so far? We are talking hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars and a lot of time. But they are plucky and tough and it could be done – and they could win. We’d just bankrupt ourselves, and drain our own war stocks, doing it.
Then there’s Option Three, the current plan, which is the worst of all possible worlds. We give the UKRs enough stuff to create a bloody stalemate but not to break it.
It becomes a meat grinder of the Ukrainians firing our shells and the Russians firing back and the lines barely moving. This is no sweeping mechanized battle like our forces train for. This is proto-World War One stuff. And it will go on until the Russian build their combat power up enough to retake the offensive.
If the midwits running our foreign policy into the ground knew any history, they would be very scared. The Russians got clobbered by Napoleon right until they drove him out of Moscow is defeat. Hitler was doing fine right until the Russians threw him out of the country and took his capital.
Russia will come back. It will rebuild and retrain and learn. The Ukrainians, with just enough stuff not to lose for the moment, will face defeat. And everyone will be surprised that one day, suddenly, the entire front is collapsing and Ukrainian forces are in retreat.
Congratulations on selecting the worst option, establishment. I expect nothing less.
And this may come sooner rather than later because the establishment is killing the chance to avoid this outcome through the application of its trademark stupidity and arrogance. Right now, most Americans are kind of supportive of the Ukrainians. I am kind of supportive of them. But that support is shrinking because it is being undermined by lies and poor leadership.
And this week we have the Biden visit lies – we’re supposed to believe this is some sort of brave gambit by a potent leader and instead we see lame photo ops like him staggering around with the Maximum Tracksuit when the air raid siren suddenly goes off without an air raid. So brave! It’s the world’s most awkward propaganda. No wonder people are disgusted.
And then we see what is going one here at home, with the border wide open, the economy collapsing, and crime rising, and we see that our concerns are being ignored. We see us being ignored. Biden could not make it to Ohio for the chemical chaos, but he could wing his way across the sea to take some selfies with a local potentate.
The message the Ukraine-crazy establishment is sending is clear. Ukrainians are more important that regular Americans.
Illegal aliens are more are more important than regular Americans. Criminals are more important that regular Americans.
Everyone is more important that regular Americans.
When Mitch McConnell intones that Ukraine is the Senate’s number one priority, that’s a problem.
It’s not our number one priority. It’s not even close. And this arrogant dismissal of our own people’s concerns will inevitably drive down support for Ukraine. Donald Trump is already on it. Ron DeSantis recently refused to support the blank check policy. So did Kevin McCarthy.
Who the hell decided that “Sure, we’ll pay Ukraine’s pensions!” was a great idea? We Americans can barely afford gas and eggs.
Moreover, the fact that war remains a possibility hits normal Americans hardest because they fill our military’s ranks – though less so every month as recruiting numbers crater because more and more normals refuse to put their lives on the line for this president and his incompetent, woke Pentagon.
Many – but by no means all – of the loudest voices never served and have no family serving; if this goes south, as always, it’s not their or theirs’ blood that spills.
Trump was celebrated for not starting any new wars not because his supporters are peaceniks. In fact, many are, or are close to, warriors, and that’s why they believe our blood is to be spilled only where necessary and in the pursuit of victory.
What are we pursuing in Ukraine? Sending a message about not tolerating aggression? Maybe. Degrading Russian military forces? That’s something, but it can easily backfire as the new iteration of its forces comes back stronger and more experienced from the battle. Maybe making connected people rich? That’s cynical, but that does not mean it is unreasonable to consider.
Military contractors are getting rich rebuilding our stocks, and thanks to Hunter Biden we know that DC is awash in Ukrainian cash.
Oops! Georgia’s ‘Get-Trump’ Grand Jury Forewoman Accidentally Confirms The Recommended Charges Are Bunk
BY: MARGOT CLEVELAND
The grand jury’s conclusions flowed from what the DA presented to the Fulton County jurors — a case built on lies about a telephone call.
“Jury in Georgia Trump Inquiry Recommended Multiple Indictments, Forewoman Says,” The New York Times blared with its midday breaking news headline on Tuesday.
But it is what followed that revealed the real story: that the grand jury recommended bogus charges based on the Fulton County district attorney’s misrepresentation of evidence.
“We definitely started with the first phone call, the call to Secretary Raffensperger that was so publicized,” Emily Kohrs, the forewoman of the special purpose grand jury said, noting that prosecutors played the recording for jurors the first day. “I will tell you that if the judge releases the recommendations, it is not going to be some giant plot twist,” Kohrs continued. “You probably have a fair idea of what may be in there.”
Yes. Yes, we do: bunk.
Since Fulton County’s Democrat District Attorney Fani Willis first sought to impanel a “special purpose grand jury” — “special purpose” because it can only make recommendations and cannot indict — to assist in her investigation “into any coordinated attempts to unlawfully alter the outcome of the 2020 elections in this state,” she has misrepresented the substance of Donald Trump’s Jan. 2, 2021, telephone conversation with Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
Just as the Times did in its article yesterday, Willis falsely stated that during Trump’s conversation with Raffensperger, the then-president requested that “the Secretary ‘find 11,780 votes’ in the former President’s favor.”
But as I’ve been forced to detail time and again because the corrupt media continue to lie about the conversation, the transcript of the call established that Trump “did not request that Raffensperger ‘find 11,780 votes.’ Period. It never happened.”
Rather, during that “telephone conversation between Trump’s legal team and the Secretary of State’s office, Trump’s lawyer explained to Raffensperger that ‘the court is not acting on our petition. They haven’t even assigned a judge.’”
And it was because the Fulton County judge responsible for assigning a judge to hear Trump’s election lawsuit — ironically, the same Judge Chris Brasher who authorized Willis’ special purpose grand jury — held up his legal challenge that Trump’s legal team reached out to Raffensperger, requesting the secretary of state’s office investigate the evidence of widespread violations of election law.
The transcript of Trump’s call with Raffensberger confirms this fact, with lawyers for the then-president ticking “off the numerous categories of illegal votes of which they had concrete evidence — some 25 categories.” Here, the DA appears to have pushed a second falsehood, with Willis reportedly asserting in a subpoena that during that call, Trump’s lawyer, Cleta Mitchell, “parroted claims of voter fraud.’”
Mitchell did no such thing. She was not pushing claims of voter fraud but instead wanted the secretary of state’s office to investigate violations of Georgia election law.
The grand jury, however, only knew the facts Willis decided to share with the group. The jurors, who came from all walks of life — including the 30-year-old unemployed forewoman — also needed to rely on the DA’s office to decipher the meaning of any criminal statutes.
And from Kohrs’ statements to the press, we know that the prosecutor’s office focused the grand jury’s attention on Trump’s telephone conversation with Raffensberger, opening the proceedings by playing a recording of the call.
But the transcript of that call has been released and confirms both that Trump never asked Raffensberger to “find” him the votes and that his legal team asked the secretary of state’s office to investigate the evidence of illegal voting.
Yet the DA framed the case as one about fraud, with the grand jury writing in its report that it “heard extensive testimony on the subject of alleged election fraud from poll workers, investigators, technical experts, and State of Georgia employees and officials, as well as from persons still claiming that such fraud took place,” and concluding, “by a unanimous vote that no widespread fraud took place in the Georgia 2020 presidential election that could result in overturning that election.”
So the grand jury’s view “that perjury may have been committed by one or more witnesses testifying before it,” is meaningless.
And that Kohrs said the special purpose grand jury recommended more charges, and that the list is not a short one, means nothing. Those conclusions flowed from the case Willis presented to the Fulton County jurors — a case built on deceptions about a telephone call.
Craig Kelly on his Twitter calling for people to join UAP. How can he be leader if running as Independent?
Trip Madrid to Cordoba, pleasant scenery, soft orange clay soils and grey green olives mostly, a few horned cattle grazing under Spanish oaks, no piggies. Not many windmills on distant hills and solar arrays a bit closer spoiling the view.
And one of those stalled housing boom estates in the middle of nowhere still all forlorn.
My apartment is gorgeous, Madrid was functional but this one is splendid, roomy old Spanish, duck through the low door cut into the big double doors on the street to an internal courtyard with pillars, covered walkways, many colourful tiles, green and blue mosaic ones on the walls, yellow florals patterns on the stairs risers to the upper floors, and lots of greenery. My ground floor place has a nice mix of tiles through the rooms with mission brown timbered high ceilings and matching trims, archways, build in cupboards everywhere, there is even a tiled window seat looking into the courtyard.
Rabo de toro is obviously the local speciality, there is a beautiful square with many restaurants just 60 metres away.
I might even try migas.
Johannes Leak.
David Rowe.
Bob Moran animation.
Christian Adams.
Peter Brookes.
Michael Ramirez.
A.F. Branco.
Matt Margolis.
Al Goodwyn.
Steve Kelley.
Gary Varvel.
Lisa Benson.
Ben Garrison.
Finally.
The Oz is reporting on Albo’s & Swan’s tax payer funded pensions.
The IPA has done some work & the Oz has reported it.
Now let’s see if the narrative changes.
Karl, Fordham, Hadley like nothing more than slamming politicians perks.
Good stuff Tom, thanks for your everyday effort
Brilliant Leak!
The apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
Leake doing Albo as Priscilla Queen of the Desert speeding past the residents on the way to Oxford Street.
Didn’t take long for the allegedly conservative Ramsay bequest to be hoovered up by the Left:
This is the foundation which put up money for university studies promoting Western civilisation, which was bitterly opposed by the luvvies in academia. All the sandstone universities refused to take the money.
Now this.
Ramsay should have been a lot more prescriptive about the terms of his legacy. I hope that people like Gina are taking note.
Baby bonus for some Chinese.
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202302/1286146.shtml
Training? Yes, that will do.
U.S. to Expand Troop Presence in Taiwan for Training Against China Threat
The U.S. is markedly increasing the number of troops deployed to Taiwan, more than quadrupling the current number to bolster a training program for the island’s military amid a rising threat from China.
From the WSJ.
Why on earth are we buying into a war on the other side of the world, which has zero strategic relevance to us?
Could it be because our pollies want to sit at the big kids’ table?
It is amazing how many politicians never made it past infants’ school.
Another day dawns and the portents of climate Armageddon hang over our heads like the sword of Damocles as we toy with Pandora’s box.
That’s the ABC news weather wrap for today.
I stained my circa 1970 (Michael Dysart) exposed Oregon beams black — does that count?
Unfortunately, the previous owners had painted all the cedar window frames. So they’re lost.
The Ramsey Foundation has just been sold a pup.
There is no way an undemocratic addition such as The Voice will make to the Australian parliamentary system is supporting what Ramsey envisaged to be the good in Western civilisation.
Who are the individuals behind this improper usage?
Ahahaha! Leak!
He just gets better and better.
my mum used to work for Civic constructions.. I currently live in a Dysart-designed Habitat build.
Needs a little TLC, as its showing its age.
On Leak Junior…yes, yes he has.
Great cartoon. Both of them.
I despair at the level of virtue-signaling from major institutions and organisations which will most likely see this undemocratic and dangerously unlimited ‘shape shifting’* Voice end up in our Constitution.
Pub talk has to increase substantially to even begin to counter this on any sort of mass scale.
*H/T Peter Smith, in Quadrant.
You have to wonder if pollies really believe the lies they spew.
Brits set for ‘cheapest energy bills in Europe’ by 2035 as Grant Shapps reveals masterplan (23 Feb)
Meanwhile in the real world…
Energy bills misery as Britons set for new green levy in bid to ‘supercharge’ UK industry (23 Feb)
Yep energy is so cheap the same pollies are forced to subsidize it for industries so they don’t go bankrupt, then add a green levy on top of taxpayers’ energy bills to pay for the subsidy. You can’t make this stuff up.
Well one thing is for sure, the way the Tories are going in the UK they are going to be utterly obliterated at the next election. Whereupon Labour will make things even worse.
New Please Explain is up. Not as cutting as previous episodes, but still good.
https://youtu.be/qtNZpzJ5ITo
One good thing about being out of Australia for a while was you didn’t have to exist in the B of M climate Zeitgeist about what was a perfectly normal La Nina February summer.
Dilbert
tru dat
I’m currently living in a calliconstructions build. Floor plan designed by moi, had an architect design the roof as that was above my pay grade. It’s a pavilion style layout, hat tip to the orient, passive solar*, nothing in a straight line (although gun barrel hallways have their advantages if you have no air con) and every room has a view of the garden.
*Our energy bills are a tiny fraction of our old McMansion
We’re living through that right now and are probably in for a second dose of it at the next Federal election, because the worse things get then the more people think that more socialism is needed to keep them afloat. It could take three cycles of Federal Labor here for the penny to finally drop.
How much of the Nation will be left then to ruin, with The Voice running rampant along with all of the other climate and welfare boondoggles simultaneously screaming for more taxpayer funding?
‘The cheapest energy bills in Europe’ is hardly something to boast about.
‘The most expensive energy bills in the world’ is more apposite. Although, we are doing our best to catch up.
As for the BoM’s redefinition of summer as life-threatening, it just shows how desperate they are.
As others have mentioned, the Big Heatwave predicted a few days ago didn’t materialise in south eastern parts. It was max 23C here yesterday and will be much the same today.
Cries of ‘Curses! Curses!’ from the BoM bunker.
All these old builders. Petit and Sevitt, Civic. Remember A.V. Jennings and the quintessential triple fronted red brick bungalow?
Entire streets of Baulkham Hills done in red textured extruded bricks (State Brickworks?). Frames cut on site. They went up in around four to six months depending on size. One of my kids has just had a house built – nearly two years for the entire process. Yet everything comes pre-cut ready to install.
Have seen many Michael Dysart Habitat designs in canbra. The ones built on flat or gentle slopes are excellent. The ones on steeper blocks to save on excavation costs not so. Twists and turns to save 600mm of rock removal. Three flights of stairs, some with a turn in them. The ones built on steeper blocks tend to be darker as well.
Pretty big news from the Vatican. The idea of cleaning up the finances is excellent, as per Cdl Pell’s work, but nationalization?
Pope Nationalizes Vatican Assets, Property in New Reform (23 Feb)
“Pope Francis has essentially nationalized all assets and property owned by Vatican departments and affiliated institutions, declaring them to be sovereign patrimony owned by the Holy See and not any individual or office.
The action outlined in a new law published Thursday marks Francis’ latest initiative to centralize Vatican assets so they can be managed properly, following years of mismanagement that led to huge losses and, prosecutors allege, criminal wrongdoing.
Francis previously stripped the Vatican’s secretariat of state of its 600 billion-euro ($635 billion) portfolio and ordered the assets transferred to the Vatican’s patrimony office following a scandal involving a 350 million-euro investment in a London property.”
Maybe “centralization” would be a better word, but whatever is behind it and how it turns out is interesting.
What I am getting from all this evidence at the ROBODEBT RC is that not only do public servants failed to see the wood for the trees at the time but now have 20/20 vision and selective memories.! Added to the fact that all decisions are tailored to not upset the, current, minister(s) .. they are all more interested in their career prospects than ensuring the job is dun properly! ..
Then it appears that standard ministerial policy is to either leave it to the public servants or the “my road is the right road” attitude ..
End result we are paying for monkeys but with a lot more than bananas ..
sack ’em all! .. and gaol a few as examples to the rest!
Seems there’s plenty here who appreciate dingy interiors and uncomfortable furniture. Whenever you see the term ‘Architect designed house’ it’s code for ‘leaks a lot, looks good but not practical, lots of maintenance required’.
Does anyone really think that these chairs would be comfortable?
https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/seating/chairs/frank-lloyd-wright-robie-chair-cassina-italy-2022/id-f_29741602/?¤cy=aud&allowUniversalLink=no&gclsrc=ds
hahaha Former Black Panther Angela Davis finds out she is a direct descendant of pilgrims of The Mayflower.
The other side of her ancestry were slavers. She has to pay herself the reparations she’s been after.
This genealogy tracing should be done on ALL the white Abos that are screaming for ultimate power over the rest of us. It should be mentioned repeatedly that not one of them would be here now if it hadn’t been for the white man settling Australia.
A lot of the time that’s true.
Most if not all of the houses I mentioned would be unfairly besmirched by this however.
Johanna – A few days ago WUWT had a good synopsis of what electricity prices people are paying around the world:
Wind, Solar, and Household Electricity Prices (20 Feb)
The first chart is from an old article that Judith Sloan did, which I think comes from 2014 or thereabouts – I’ve tried to find the original Paywallian article it comes from but I’ve failed. Although old it’s useful in showing the real-world relationship between renewables per capita and electricity prices.
However the second chart is much more comprehensive and is with the latest data. It shows the same relationship but with up to date electricity prices.
In short the UK electricity price is now about US 50c/kWh, and countries like Poland and Hungary are something like a quarter of that. Of course they use fossil fuels, brown coal especially in Poland. The chance that the UK would ever have the lowest electricity price in Europe is laughable. And we’re rapidly following the UK down the rabbit hole as well.
Good point, Pogria.
If the proposal to make everyone but Aborigines pay rent comes to fruition, how much rent should those of mixed ancestry pay? Or, does having an Aboriginal great-grandmother exempt you?
Just like the slavery ‘reparations’ movement in the US, the whole thing is a dishonest money grab.
Not quite, they want your progeny at low tables.
Thanks, Bruce. I was thinking of Germany, so got it wrong.
Looks like the eastern European countries have flown under the radar of edicts about banning fossil fuels. Good luck to them.
She and the other miners would be prime targets for extortion. They produce a lot of wealth and they are far away from the urban centres, where no one will see what happens in their names.
I also note that even as Elbow and Chalmers hatch their plot to raid superannuation in breach of an electoral promise, Rowe makes the cartoon about Dutton.
What is he on about?
Saw a graph on the TV about the rising slope of tax deductions for super versus the declining slope of pension expenditures – out to beyond 2050.
I’m not an accountant (or a biologist!) but it looks to me as if the two cancel each other out.
Daytime Sky had Dutton on and did the usual bias, trying some gotchas.
They appointed a proud such and such woman as a director.
“Well one thing is for sure, the way the Tories are going in the UK they are going to be utterly obliterated at the next election. Whereupon Labour will make things even worse.”
Yep. It’ll be exactly what transpired here in Oz last May, when Morrison and his merry men were rightly given the boot because they were a bunch of utterly useless, supine, craven, cowardly wimps who every day trashed right of centre, conservative and libertarian values, who pursued net zero madness, who locked Australia down, who lied to us about vaccine madness, who refused to fight any culture wars, speaking of, remember Morrison’s absolute pearler, when he was asked about “free speech”, he said that free speech never created on job.
The Tories have been exactly the same but worse, because Morrison and his merry men at least controlled our borders whereas every day illegals from the Middle East and Afghanistan, most of whom are mainly men pretending to be minors*, are getting on leaky boats and crossing the channel. I doubt if the Tories will even have a minyan of ten people left after the next election. And most of this can be apportioned to Blob Johnson**.
But like here, where we now have a situation where Albanese and his merry morons are worse, much worse than Scumbag’s motley crew, Starmer will also be infinitely worse than the Tories.
* I suppose there’s some logic here, these adult Muslim migrants from the Middle East and Afghanistan are pretending to be underage so they can get into the UK to prey on underage British girls.
** Blob, when he’s not running off to Ukraine, stoking World War III and hanging out with Zelensky, is busily plotting his return as PM. Someone really needs to sit him down and tell him he’s dreaming.
TheirABC says that tiny particulates are worse than the road toll:
Steve Milloy debunked this crap many years ago, and has done it since. Go to Junkscience for details.
It’s just part of the endless war on people having cars and being able to go wherever they want to. This crap gets resucitated over and over again. Not surprisingly, the people who support this also love 15 minute cities and urban ‘planning’ in control of our lives.
Good Brendan O’Neill article at Spiked on “15 Minute Cities” and climate fanatics.
m0nty=fa should (but probably won’t) read it.
From Calli above:
Entire streets of Baulkham Hills done in red textured extruded bricks (State Brickworks?).
Yes, there are typical red brick houses, but other colours and styles as well. There used to be Norbrik down on Old Windsor road, gone in favour of developments which include the new private hospital and some quite interesting multi-level buildings using engineered timber frames.