Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Court rules Bill Gates must stand trial for Covid-19 vaccine claims.

- Was prisoner that CNN helped free from Syrian prison actually a notorious torturer? CNN should make their new motto: We only broadcast stories too good to check.

- VDH: Are the years of madness ending? I hope so.

- John Wooden on how to conquer each day.

Linky Links

Stuff I found 1nteresting or amusing and thought  I'd share.

- Judge blocks $24 billion Kroger-Albertsons merger. There isn't a Kroger's or Albertsons around me but the are Star Markets and Shaws. 

- Timeless lessons from Oregon's Dan Lanning

- Assad's fall has humiliated Washington, "Syrians are free of Assad despite the Biden administration, not because of it."

- Ryan Holiday's best books of 2024. I'm a sucker for book lists. (HT Steve Layman)

More Linky Links

More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- It's time to leave 2001 behind and officially a authorize military force.

- Dick Allen and Dave Parker elected into Cooperstown

- Jake Tapper and CNN lose major motions in defamation case brought by Navy veteran. Know who I'm rooting for in this case.

- The losers in the Syria situation.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Joni Ernst is making news for all the wrong reasons.

- Mets land Juan Soto. The new $765 million man.

- Learn something new every day: The philosopher George Gurdjieff. "Here there are neither Russians nor English, Jews nor Christians, but only those who pursue one aim - to be able to be." This may only be trivia.

- Syria after Assad. Worth a read.

More Linky Links

More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Update on Brian Flores' fight against discrimination in the NFL. Plenty articles about Belichick, Vrabel, and sometimes Carroll being passed over this hiring cycle but when's the last time one of these mentioned Flores?

- The "Squad" vs MADD. Get your popcorn ready.

- US launches strikes against targets in Iran and Syria.

- Tim Ferriss on no biological free lunches.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

If I were a billionaire I'd create a Journal of Boring but Verified Science. This article by Matt Clancy put the idea in my head. In no time the Journal of Boring but Verified Science would be the most trusted name in science... Heh Heh... I'd love to get on the 2024 Presidential election Democratic primary ballots in a number of  states as "Mr. Biggles" just to see how many votes I'd get. Given the choices that will probably be offered in that upcoming election - who wouldn't opt for cute Mr. Biggles?... Would it surprise anyone if the next Olympic cycle the USOC decides to defund the hammer throw completely thanks to the negative publicity brought by Gwen Berry turning her back on the national anthem? I mean the hammer thow has to be the least appealing of all the Olympic events anyway - who'd miss it?... Would it surprise anyone if Putin or China accused the Biden Administration of war crimes for their bombing of Syria? Putin is a master troll so I'd expect that to come from him (except he just got paid off with the Nordstream pipeline)... 

More Linky Links

More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- EB White on "The Meaning of Democracy"

- VDH: The Cruel Progressive Creed Undoing Civilization

- How Roger Federer became the first $1 billion tennis player

- Glenn Greenwald on Biden's bombing of Syria

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations..

Do you think when George Conway now shaves in the morning he looks in the mirror and asks himself, "Do I really have a moonface? Damn it! I do have a moonface don't I"... Trump ratchets up the pressure on China's economy. Not a fan of the name "Economic Prosperity Network" and I'd also expand the group to include Mexico and Brazil since some manufacturers may wish to move back to or at least closer to the US... "First and above all else, you must secure life, liberty and the right to pursue your own happiness. That's politics done right, hard earned, often by war." - a Charles Krauthammer quote that seems appropriate today... Very quietly Israel has been kicking Iran's ass in Syria. "The Israeli officials refused to comment on these reported attacks, maintaining Israel's policy of ambiguity, under which it generally acknowledges taking action against Iran in Syria without specifically confirming individual strikes"... The Democratic Convention in August is shaping up to be very entertaining. You have certain Dems mumbling that Joe Biden shouldn't be the candidate because of his mental decline while others say Biden should withdraw because of the Tara Reade allegations. The hardcore Bernie Bros will be vocal that Bernie Sanders should be the candidate if Biden withdraws while the Democratic establishment will do anything to keep that from happening. Then you'd have all the women and their supporters of those who were not picked to be on the ticket. Look for many of them to refind their "Me Too" religion. Would anyone be surprised that the DNC actually hopes to cancel the circus that will be their Convention this year? Get the popcorn out... "If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough." - Meister Eckhart...

Trump, the Democrats, Syria and Iran

Interesting article that claims that President Trump may have prevented a war with Iran by withdrawing our troops from Syria. This paragraph really got my attention (and my blood pressure up):

"People should remember that in the height of the Nixon Watergate Impeachment tumult during late 1973/early 1974 culminating in Nixon's resignation in August 1974, the North Vietnamese reneged on the Nixon Paris Peace Accords, and Saigon fell soon thereafter, in April 1975. G-d only knows what will happen because of Democrats' paralyzing of an American President while the world is in flames."

Now I hesitate to draw any comparisons between Trump and Nixon and I would also hesitate to use the description that "the world is in flames" but there's a special place in hell for those of either political party who claim to be acting on behalf of world peace or downtrodden folks in foreign lands when they are only acting in the interests of their own domestic political agenda. A special place in hell!

Do you remember the plight of the "boat people"?

Remember how eager the press was to hear from General Mattis prior to his recent book tour when they thought he was going to speak badly about President Trump? Remember how quickly they dropped any interest in him when they learned it was President Obama who was slammed in the new book?

Remember the 24/7 news cycle about how "Trump was abandoning the Kurds" and the predicted horrors that awaited those poor people? Can you remember any of those horrors coming to pass? And you know if they did come to pass it would have been an orgy of coverage. Instead we got fake news footage from a  Kentucky shooting range. 

Remember how Libya is now a failed nation-state because of the actions of President Obama and his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton? Slavery is now an accepted practice in what used to be Libya! Talk about horrors (horrors you won't learn about on the MSM).

I remember! And I hope you do too! A SPECIAL PLACE IN HELL!

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Good for Shaq. "Daryl Morey was right."

- Interesting perspective on the situation in Syria and our handling of Turkey.

- CRISPR gene editing just got a major upgrade (but it's still not perfect)

- Interesting - what it's like to take an investment meeting with Naval Ravikant

- Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin announces plan to get back to the Moon by 2024. In my opinion the USA only gets back to the Moon in a timely fashion if Blue Origin or Elon Musk's SpaceX is involved.

- 15 habits of "lucky" people.

- So how close are we to the almost unlimited energy of nuclear fusion - at least 15-years away.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- "Get up! Begin your day!" Steven Pressfield

- The woke NBA keeps looking worse and worse. The Trailblazers bow to anti-Semitic pressure.

- Heh Heh

- The situation with China would effect both the owners and players in the NBA since potential loss of the Chinese revenue would negatively impact the salary cap.

- WTF? I don't want to believe in UFO's but I also don't want to ignore the evidence

- What's the latest in poker's biggest cheating scandal? A $10 million lawsuit.

- Turkey and the Kurds: Its more complicated than you think

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing thought I'd share.

- Clarence Thomas opens up about finding God "In one of the darkest periods of my life"

- Interesting look at Johannes Gutenberg and his place in history

- Deciphering confusion about the Kurds. The map was particularly enlightening.

- 39 book recommendations from Charlie Munger

- Sadly this is probably true these days

- How is this not a bigger story? Israel and Gulf States working on "historic pact" to end conflict between them.

- Paulina Porizkova remembers Ric Ocasec

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Perhaps the best (and most humorous) argument I've seen in favor of nuclear energy. 19 minutes long and in Dutch (with subtitles) but well worth the time (even if just for the laughs).

- Heh Heh

- Naval's Laws (great life advice)

- Interesting - in 1981 44.3% of the world lived in extreme poverty and last year that number dropped to just 9.65%. We live in an era of abundance.

- It is a small step from having these robots dogs do jobs on construction site to having a billionaire training them to hunt the "most dangerous game" for his enjoyment. Just saying.

- How to exercise when it's the last thing you want to do

- Trying to follow the players and the interests in Syria is so hard.

What's Going on in Syria?

President Trump announced that he plans to pull US military forces out of Syria. The critics immediately speculated that this will create a power vacuum that will be filled by Russia, Iran or Turkey - all outcomes with negative connotations for US interests. The withdrawal from Syria also seemed to be the final straw for General Mattis who announced his resignation.

But into the vacuum caused by the US's impending withdrawal is stepping Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. France is also vowing to send troops to protect the Kurds in Syria.

To my untrained eye this seems to be good developments. The US troops are taken out of harms way in a country where the US doesn't seem to have any national interests at stake.

Saudi Arabian and UAE troops counterbalance Russia in that the Russian economy is based on petrodollars and creating wider issues with two of the largest oil producing nations is in no way in Russian national interest, especially over Syria. Meanwhile French troop counterbalance Turkey because both are NATO members and if Turkish and French troops engage each other it in no ways obligates the US into action.

That's the way my untrained eye sees it.

Some pundits seem to see it similarly. 

Others argue that the wider struggle is against Iran and pulling out of Syria is harmful to our success in that struggle. I cannot say that this is incorrect. Iran is our enemy.

A complicated situation to say the least.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Interesting perspective on US involvement in Syria. I'm not saying I support this opinion because I don't know the facts well enough to have an opinion. Just saying it was interesting. (Via Borepatch)

- What would Aquaman really look like according to science?

- So now everyone's taking shots at Tom Brady?

- Joan Crawford explains how to throw a successful party. Key take-aways - no dirty hippies and NO WIRE HANGERS!

- I hope Jim Comey goes to jail

- No need to call me Lord

- This would be even funnier if Gravy Hot Tub was a band

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Lawyers, Suns, and money... I keep waiting for those Joe Flacco and Andy Dalton "are in the best shape of their lives" stories to come out. Those are always the best indicators that the end is near... These pictures were probably released just so the Israelis would have "Before" photos for after they bomb the hell out of this place... "If the able and good withdraw themselves from Society [Government], the venal and ignorant will succeed." John Tyler in 1783 predicting the 2018 mid-term elections... 9 stats about the greatest hitter to ever live... I guess the MSM's role to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted doesn't really apply when it comes to the Catholic Church pedophile abuse story... "I said lick my erection - not wreck my election" better be one of the lines of dialogue in this movie...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Interesting look inside the mind of Donald Trump

- Speaking of Trump - I have to agree that he's been vastly better than Obama on Foreign Policy

- Uganda's President wants to ban oral sex - says mouth is for eating (Well we had a President who said oral sex didn't count as sex.)

- The men who didn't disarm Syria but said they did

- The freakishly strong base (or the power of compounding). Wish someone gave this to me when I was 20 years old.

- Great advice for men.

- $17 for tolls on the Verrazano Briadge? That's crap!

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Cool - Story Time from Space

- Marlins Man takes his feud with Derek Jeter international. I'm rooting for Marlins Man in this one.

- Heh Heh

- Trump announces support for legalized marijuana. This news should be getting more airtime.

- Boston fans are the best!

- Random thought but I've always felt the flag of Greenland looks more like a corporate logo than the flag of an actual country.

- I am not saddened at the passing of R. Lee Ermey. He lived a very full life. Semper Fi Gunny!

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I keep waiting for some MSM reporter to explain where the chemical weapons in Syria came from in the first place. I bet much of the stockpiles came from Saddam but reporting that would ruin the idea that there were never any WMD's in Iraq... Hopefully the Zuckerberg hearings in Europe will be broadcast in the US... Could dark matter simply be the leftover quantum entanglement from the matter and antimatter that was annihilated just after the Big Bang?... Elon Musk might end up being President Trump's biggest supporter if Trump can get Musk a manufacturing plant in China without giving up ownership and if Trump can get the NTSB off Tesla's back... "Tiger" running amok in Manhattan was actually a raccoon.  And the existential threat to the fabric of Western Civilization was actually just a Chick Fil-A franchise... Historically - which rock band was more dysfunctional The Kinks or The Ramones?...  The truth in advertising back cover to James Comey's new book...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- True

- 20 real-world uses for blockchain technology

- I've come to the conclusion that Doc Rivers really isn't a good NBA coach

- Pedro's the best!

- Interesting - coal power plant in Australia being reopened for blockchain mining

- Interesting (if true)

- Defeating diseases with energy. They mighty mitochondria!