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Do you ever get that queasy feeling by the occassional thought that the people running our foreign policy agenda are, well… dumb? We do too. And so does our guest Rich Goldberg, who had to explain some basics to the House Foreign Affairs Committee earlier this week. He joins today to discuss everything from UNRWA and the tangled mess that is the United Nations, to Iran’s nuclear capabilities and our administration’s weakness in dealing with a middling power.
Steve Hayward fills in for Peter this week. He, James and Rob talk about the economics lesson our criminals are giving the US; plus there’s talk about pop sensation psyops and the comfort that some feel by the thought of a world controlled by malevolent grownups.
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Really? Not something like “Run, run, run, RUNRWAway!”
I don’t think they’re dumb. I think they are crooked sellouts . . .
They are compromised either through evil or blackmail and working for the other side.
People seem to think each crime has a separate perp, crime is a job they do it all day every day so each mugger off the street might stop 500 muggings , each car jacker- 600 car jackings. These people obey no laws so when Giuliani had cops go after the small crime of subway fare jumping they would often find people wanted on several outstanding warrants and also carrying an illegal weapon. Locking up 50 perps might result in a decrease of 20,000 crimes. Adding to that is the deterrent effect where young perps could realize crime doesn’t pay.
Actually, malign and hostile to America and the foundations of Western Civilization. Just like our adversaries. Not queasy. Gagging and retching.
Bernie Goetz is a Great American!
Travis Kelce is a tight end not a QB
Rob made a few comments about Venice Beach, CA. I’ve never been there, but I’ve been close, having visited the Santa Monica Pier a few times.
But I’ve been following a YouTube personality, German In Venice (or GiV) who owns a tatoo shop there, and covers the Venice Beach scene (as well as his home town in Germany, where his mom still lives and who he visits).
He not only covers the quirkiness there and the surrounding Los Angeles area, but the homeless situation too. In one episode he covers the local authorities as they wake up people in the morning that are sleeping in the public bathrooms. Venice Beach is actually a part of the City of Los Angeles, and he’s commented on how homeless encampments are removed, versus how neighboring Santa Monica does it (they’re more efficient).
Getting back to the bathrooms, it’s also interesting to note, uncommented upon by GiV, that there are three agencies involved. You have Parks and Rec (a county agency) who unlocks the bathroom, and does the cleaning after the removal, someone from social services that does the actual coaxing of the person to get out of the bathroom, and the police (a city agency) standing by in case things get violent. I wonder how many months of meetings, and memorandums of understanding it took to work that out!
And I’m not watching him because of VB, but because of his gregarious personality. It’s still been interesting to pick up what goes on there.
I’m typing this up in Fairbanks, and presently it’s around -45F (i.e. below zero) and our cold snap has lasted a little short of 2 weeks. Over the years, I’ve wondered if maybe I should be in a big city where I can go watch an NFL or MLB game in person when I feel like it, or a major concert. But as the cities have deteriorated these last few years, I’m glad I’m here. The safety concerns I have are weather related (recently a couple froze to death in their car about 50 miles north of Fairbanks when they got stranded in the snow, and no one could get to them; of course they weren’t carrying appropriate clothing). And the local box stores don’t lock up every piece of merchandise to prevent shoplifting, and by the way, the shoplifters get arrested here, and we’re grateful to the cops for their work.
I’ll take that over the big city, especially as they’re presently constituted.
It is bizarre that neither the will of the majority nor common sense have any effect on policy and governance. Crime, the border, energy policy, opposing rogue regimes, drag queen story hour in kindergarten…. It is if to be part of the elite or to be employed as a functionary anywhere in the system one has to be overtly hostile to normal human values and sensibilities, hostile to patriotism or obvious national interests, and oddly terrified of confrontation with actual enemies but eager to punish imagined domestic enemies (unwoke normals).
But what if FJB gives Alaska back to Putin?
Howie Carr just got the FOIA on John Kerrie’s global warming racket at the White House. He had 43 employees and 42 of them made over $100,000 a year.
700 million people don’t have any electricity. 2 billion are destitute poor. China has 300 coal powered electricity plants on the books. They put up a new one every other week. even if global warming is real, there isn’t a damn thing you can do about it.
That last part makes me wonder if China actually bothers to set up coal production and supply lines to those power plants, or if they just build power plants and figure that’s enough. Based on things they’ve done in the past and continue today what with building empty cities etc, that wouldn’t surprise me.
I rabidly listen to any reporting about this. I can’t figure out why there isn’t a more pointed interest in it.
OK I lied. I get why the state controlled media doesn’t care.
Obviously not a serious question. But to extend the musings on this, what happens if he does?
It opens a bunch of other questions. Alaska has been a state since 1959. And it even has a political party that advocates Alaska leave the union. But present interpretations of the constitution say that cannot legally happen.
So if the state is given away to the Russians, what does that mean legally under the constitution? Can other states be given away to another country?
It would definitely weaken the legal arguments against sucession if the federal government can just give states away.
Secession.
The argument might be, since Alaska was bought, why can’t it be sold?
Zuckbook reminded me this morning that I updated my profile picture ten years ago. It was to a picture someone took of my family at the live taping at USC. We just happened to be in town for some medical appointments for my wife and grabbed some tickets at the last minute. A great night.
I caught that too . . .
As long as Alaska wasn’t made a state. Once it was…
And what about the Louisiana Purchase (purchased from France)? 15 states encompass the purchase, either partly or in full.
I’m not saying it would be right, or even make sense. But that wouldn’t stop FJB.
Also, people in DC who vote for Dimocrats over and over, have nobody to blame but themselves.