In 2001, after four years being a college dropout we went back to school.
Rather than return to our former university we did something which in 2001 was entirely new. We went to school online. We enrolled in American Military University (now American Public University). This wasn't a college in the traditional sense, which we didn't want to do (and will never to again for any reason whatsoever) and we could study military history.
Online school in 2001 was a radical idea. How radical? Napster was still a thing. We completed our BA on a dial-up modem.
In our case we majored in Land Warfare.
That first semester these included:
-Introduction to Military History
-Ancient Warfare
-Medieval Warfare
We studied the wars of the Egyptians, the Ancient Greeks and Romans and Alexander, William the Conqueror, the Swiss Pikes, and on and on. It was fun.
In the second semester we took Gunpowder Warfare.This meant a lot of Marlborough and Napoleon. We also took The Wars of the Ancient Greeks. Of course we took German Military History. This started with Frederick the Great, the Prussians vs Napoleon, Moltke and the General Staff, and the World Wars.
We were also lucky enough to do a couple of independent studies, one exclusivity on Medieval Warfare that produced a 15,000 word paper that we will publish next year.
One winter morning in 2002 Professor Brian Todd Carey gave me an 'A' on my paper and suggested I submit it to a history magazine.
We've been submitting ever since.
William Stroock (as in Stroock's Books)
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Tuesday Tally: Manafort!
Our training is medical not legal, but...edition.
Five thoughts about Robert Mueller's indictment of Paul Manafort:
1-Clinton Campaign lick-spittle John Podesta is in big trouble. The 'Company B' named in the indictment is the Podesta Group, a lobby firm run by Tony 'Big Gun' Podesta, John's brother.*
2-Paul Manafort is worth millions and millions. He's also 69. He has the resources and the time to drag this out for yeeeeeaaaaaars, which will be fun.
3-Of the dozen charges many, of them are quite literally Trumped up.** Manafort will eventually cop to something that amounts to a mistake, 'failure to properly register' or some such.
4-The above mentioned Podesta Group was lobbying on behalf of pro-Russian elements in Ukraine. This goes back to Hillary! and the brewing Uranium One scandal and the Golden Shower dossier.
5-Trump is vindicated. They have nothing. If they had something, they would have leaked that something. They have leaked nothing because, as we mentioned, they have nothing.
*I may have made up the mafia style nickname.
**We assume.
Five thoughts about Robert Mueller's indictment of Paul Manafort:
1-Clinton Campaign lick-spittle John Podesta is in big trouble. The 'Company B' named in the indictment is the Podesta Group, a lobby firm run by Tony 'Big Gun' Podesta, John's brother.*
2-Paul Manafort is worth millions and millions. He's also 69. He has the resources and the time to drag this out for yeeeeeaaaaaars, which will be fun.
3-Of the dozen charges many, of them are quite literally Trumped up.** Manafort will eventually cop to something that amounts to a mistake, 'failure to properly register' or some such.
4-The above mentioned Podesta Group was lobbying on behalf of pro-Russian elements in Ukraine. This goes back to Hillary! and the brewing Uranium One scandal and the Golden Shower dossier.
5-Trump is vindicated. They have nothing. If they had something, they would have leaked that something. They have leaked nothing because, as we mentioned, they have nothing.
*I may have made up the mafia style nickname.
**We assume.
Winning
Monday, October 30, 2017
Baseball Long Long
Look guys in the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, you gotta do something about this.
Last night's ten inning game took more than five hours.
Now granted there was a ton of hitting in the Astros' 14-13 win over the Dodgers, but come on.
Every batter has to step out, adjust his gloves, take a few practice swings.
Every pitcher has to walk around the mound, collect his thoughts.
And how many times does the catcher have to come to the mound and talk to the pitcher? Fellas, if you haven't figured this out by now...
While last night's game was an extreme example, most ball games take three to three and a half hours, which is just too long.
Back during Babe Ruth's time Yankee late inning comebacks were nicknamed 'five o'clock lightning'. The games began at three.
From now on get the ball, set, throw the ball. Batters must keep one foot in the box at all times.
OK?
The below footage is of Mike Hargrove, nicknamed 'the human rain delay'. Today his routine would be utterly unremarkable:
Last night's ten inning game took more than five hours.
Now granted there was a ton of hitting in the Astros' 14-13 win over the Dodgers, but come on.
Every batter has to step out, adjust his gloves, take a few practice swings.
Every pitcher has to walk around the mound, collect his thoughts.
And how many times does the catcher have to come to the mound and talk to the pitcher? Fellas, if you haven't figured this out by now...
While last night's game was an extreme example, most ball games take three to three and a half hours, which is just too long.
Back during Babe Ruth's time Yankee late inning comebacks were nicknamed 'five o'clock lightning'. The games began at three.
From now on get the ball, set, throw the ball. Batters must keep one foot in the box at all times.
OK?
The below footage is of Mike Hargrove, nicknamed 'the human rain delay'. Today his routine would be utterly unremarkable:
Must we add a pitch clock?
World War 1990: The Final Storm
We are plugging along here.
Now that we've entered The Final Storm's second half we are less pleased.
We are finding plenty of needless words to omit, also needless sentences and asides.
Now, one of the sections is titled The Battle of the Three Seas. We are finding one of those battles bare and otherwise inadequate. We will have to chop that chapter or expand it.
We like the title, The Battle of the Three Seas.
Now that we've entered The Final Storm's second half we are less pleased.
We are finding plenty of needless words to omit, also needless sentences and asides.
Now, one of the sections is titled The Battle of the Three Seas. We are finding one of those battles bare and otherwise inadequate. We will have to chop that chapter or expand it.
We like the title, The Battle of the Three Seas.
Our Path to Military History
We've always liked military history.
We suppose we started leaning it at an early age by watching war movies on NY area channels 5, 9 and 11 which showed them every weekend.
We learned more military history by getting into tabletop war games.
By the time we were starting to flunk out of college about 1995 we expressed an interest in studying the subject for real.
In response our grandfather got us these three books:
Those are JFC Fuller's classic Military History of the Western World Vols I, II &III. They served as a decent enough introduction during the summer of 1995.
Now, precipitously we interned at the US Senate that summer and discovered Borders Books and Music. Hard as it is to believe, 40 minutes north of New York City the only book stores we had were B Daulton and Walden Books at the Jefferson Valley Mall.
But at Borders, well, we'd never seen so many military history books in our life. The MH section must have had a thousand titles.
From then on we were hooked and spent the next several years reading up on World War Two, the wars of the British Empire, the Napoleonic Wars, etc. Napoleon was particularly fun as being a Yank, we know nothing of the 25 year struggle with France.
Our biggest problem back then was time. When to find time to read the dozens of books we wanted to read? Eventually we learned to turn off the TV and put down the video game controller. But at first we simply read at bed time, as we always had.
As we dropped out of college and had trouble finding work we had more time on our hands, unfortunately. So we read a lot of military history.
A few years later military history would change out life.
We suppose we started leaning it at an early age by watching war movies on NY area channels 5, 9 and 11 which showed them every weekend.
We learned more military history by getting into tabletop war games.
By the time we were starting to flunk out of college about 1995 we expressed an interest in studying the subject for real.
In response our grandfather got us these three books:
Those are JFC Fuller's classic Military History of the Western World Vols I, II &III. They served as a decent enough introduction during the summer of 1995.
Now, precipitously we interned at the US Senate that summer and discovered Borders Books and Music. Hard as it is to believe, 40 minutes north of New York City the only book stores we had were B Daulton and Walden Books at the Jefferson Valley Mall.
But at Borders, well, we'd never seen so many military history books in our life. The MH section must have had a thousand titles.
From then on we were hooked and spent the next several years reading up on World War Two, the wars of the British Empire, the Napoleonic Wars, etc. Napoleon was particularly fun as being a Yank, we know nothing of the 25 year struggle with France.
Our biggest problem back then was time. When to find time to read the dozens of books we wanted to read? Eventually we learned to turn off the TV and put down the video game controller. But at first we simply read at bed time, as we always had.
As we dropped out of college and had trouble finding work we had more time on our hands, unfortunately. So we read a lot of military history.
A few years later military history would change out life.
The Media is Decadent and Depraved
We'll let the indispensable Takimag describe the Russian exploits of Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi and his partner in Crime Mark Ames. A sample:
As noted before, Matt Taibbi now writes at Rolling Stone.
These bastards lecture us nornies on right and wrong?
We believe one can learn a lot about someone's character just by watching them for a few minutes. Creeps usually let their creepiness show through. Here's Mr. Ames on the right:
Here's Taibbi:
We think these guys look like they should be playing the pedo-killers in Michael Douglas' The Star Chamber. Darkness hands over them. We're not kidding.
With respects to Small Dead Animals blog, ladies and gentlemen: you moral and intellectual superiors.
It gets so much worse.
One article described how the staff’s female workers were being forced into giving Ames and Taibbi oral sex in exchange for employment:
We have been pretty rough on our girls. We’d ask our Russian staff to flash their asses or breasts for us. We’d tell them that if they wanted to keep their jobs, they’d have to perform unprotected anal sex with us. Nearly every day, we asked our female staff if they approved of anal sex.
As noted before, Matt Taibbi now writes at Rolling Stone.
These bastards lecture us nornies on right and wrong?
We believe one can learn a lot about someone's character just by watching them for a few minutes. Creeps usually let their creepiness show through. Here's Mr. Ames on the right:
Here's Taibbi:
We think these guys look like they should be playing the pedo-killers in Michael Douglas' The Star Chamber. Darkness hands over them. We're not kidding.
With respects to Small Dead Animals blog, ladies and gentlemen: you moral and intellectual superiors.
Monday Metal
Classic Rock Edition
When the bottom fell out of Heavy Metal about 1990, we had kind of, sort of already left the genre.
Let us explain.
In December of 1989 we chopped off all our hair. This was the deal we made with our parents in order to get an earring. A cute little blonde said we should. By 1990 we put away the black T-shirts.
That summer we had a job as a summer camp counselor as did our stupid older sister (SOS) who just graduated from an upstate New York College named for a prominent founding father who now has his own Broadway musical. She was the smart one.
The drive to camp was about half an hour and during this time our SOS introduced us to 92.3 WROC and 102.7 WNEW. These were classic rock stations.
Up till then we assumed 70's music was about Disco and Saturday Night Fever. In 1990 Disco had none of the cool it has now. John Travolta was kind of washed up a joke.
During our commute we discovered 1970's era guitar driven, classic rock. We're talking Boston, Free, The Guess Who, Peter Frampton, Queen and so on.
This music had power chords and ripping guitar solos and when we picked up a guitar in our early 30's these were among the first tunes we learned how to play.
Classic Rock wasn't metal but is sure was heavy.
We can't believe we actually have to thank our SOS for something.
Oh, and by the end of the summer we were dressing like a 70's era teenager we'd seen in movies like The Boy in the Bubble or Welcome Back Cotter.
When the bottom fell out of Heavy Metal about 1990, we had kind of, sort of already left the genre.
Let us explain.
In December of 1989 we chopped off all our hair. This was the deal we made with our parents in order to get an earring. A cute little blonde said we should. By 1990 we put away the black T-shirts.
That summer we had a job as a summer camp counselor as did our stupid older sister (SOS) who just graduated from an upstate New York College named for a prominent founding father who now has his own Broadway musical. She was the smart one.
The drive to camp was about half an hour and during this time our SOS introduced us to 92.3 WROC and 102.7 WNEW. These were classic rock stations.
Up till then we assumed 70's music was about Disco and Saturday Night Fever. In 1990 Disco had none of the cool it has now. John Travolta was kind of washed up a joke.
During our commute we discovered 1970's era guitar driven, classic rock. We're talking Boston, Free, The Guess Who, Peter Frampton, Queen and so on.
This music had power chords and ripping guitar solos and when we picked up a guitar in our early 30's these were among the first tunes we learned how to play.
Classic Rock wasn't metal but is sure was heavy.
We can't believe we actually have to thank our SOS for something.
Oh, and by the end of the summer we were dressing like a 70's era teenager we'd seen in movies like The Boy in the Bubble or Welcome Back Cotter.
OK, but what's with the cuffs?
Sunday, October 29, 2017
Will's Good Idea for the Week of 10-29-17
For the American Expeditionary Force history, Patton's Tanks: 1917.
A brief intro to American tanks in the Great War. These would mostly be Renault 17s, real French made shit-boxes. In 1917 there was no such thing as a good tank. This would also cover a lot of Patton.
A brief intro to American tanks in the Great War. These would mostly be Renault 17s, real French made shit-boxes. In 1917 there was no such thing as a good tank. This would also cover a lot of Patton.
Baseball Hou Hou
Nothing personal Houston, but we've always resented the Astros' existence.
Allow us to explain.
First off, what's with the popsicle uniforms? It's one thing to wear those in 1978, but by say, 1985, management really should have known better. Worse, the organization stuck with those into the 1990's.
We never liked the Astrodome. We loath inside baseball and felt the Astrodome was a huge eyesore. Ironically, we hate the new park even more. It's a ridiculous bandbox that screams 'look at me!' And that stupid hill that used to be on the warning track; what was the point of that? What was with the flag poll on the field? Why? Frankly, we've always associated the new park with Enron.
It always irked us that the Astros couldn't score more runs for Nolan Ryan. In 1987 the man led the league in ERA but had an 8-16 record. How is that even possible? Also, the entire 1986 staff was doctoring the ball. You knew it. We knew it. Mike Scott knew it. We bet Bob Knepper knew it too.*
Ok, ok, we've been tough, we admit it.
We'll give you credit, Houston. This team is fun to watch and we love Jose Altuve.
Allow us to explain.
First off, what's with the popsicle uniforms? It's one thing to wear those in 1978, but by say, 1985, management really should have known better. Worse, the organization stuck with those into the 1990's.
We never liked the Astrodome. We loath inside baseball and felt the Astrodome was a huge eyesore. Ironically, we hate the new park even more. It's a ridiculous bandbox that screams 'look at me!' And that stupid hill that used to be on the warning track; what was the point of that? What was with the flag poll on the field? Why? Frankly, we've always associated the new park with Enron.
It always irked us that the Astros couldn't score more runs for Nolan Ryan. In 1987 the man led the league in ERA but had an 8-16 record. How is that even possible? Also, the entire 1986 staff was doctoring the ball. You knew it. We knew it. Mike Scott knew it. We bet Bob Knepper knew it too.*
Ok, ok, we've been tough, we admit it.
We'll give you credit, Houston. This team is fun to watch and we love Jose Altuve.
Red, yellow and orange, why?**
*No, we are not fans of the NY Mets.
**We are aware Davey Lopes was only briefly an Astro. That card is the first card we remember buying in the summer of 1987.
Wither Military History
National Review tells us military history is in big trouble and goes into detail about the University of Wisconsin's vacant military history chair:
Tell us about it.
Back during our professorial days we worked a lot of military history into World Civ. Students learned about the Persian Wars and Alexander, the Punic Wars, Hastings...We spent one day on WWII in Europe and another on WWII in the Pacific.
When our professorial career blew up the department at Raritan Valley Community College said we were teaching too much military history. Well they probably shouldn't have hired a military historian.
Yeah, the subject is interesting and fun and students really payed attention. Who would want that?
We fell into the field more or less on accident, but were probably destined to study it. We'll go into more detail on that later in the week.
One of these years, perhaps Wisconsin really will get around to hiring a professor for the Ambrose-Heseltine chair — but right now, for all intents and purposes, military history in Madison is dead. It’s dead at many other top colleges and universities as well. Where it isn’t dead and buried, it’s either dying or under siege. Although military history remains incredibly popular among students who fill lecture halls to learn about Saratoga and Iwo Jima and among readers who buy piles of books on Gettysburg and D-Day, on campus it’s making a last stand against the shock troops of political correctness. “Pretty soon, it may become virtually impossible to find military-history professors who study war with the aim of understanding why one side won and the other side lost,” says Frederick Kagan, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute who taught at West Point for ten years. That’s bad news not only for those with direct ties to this academic sub-discipline, but also for Americans generally, who may find that their collective understanding of past military operations falls short of what the war-torn present demands.Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/218838/sounding-taps-john-j-miller
Tell us about it.
Back during our professorial days we worked a lot of military history into World Civ. Students learned about the Persian Wars and Alexander, the Punic Wars, Hastings...We spent one day on WWII in Europe and another on WWII in the Pacific.
When our professorial career blew up the department at Raritan Valley Community College said we were teaching too much military history. Well they probably shouldn't have hired a military historian.
Yeah, the subject is interesting and fun and students really payed attention. Who would want that?
We fell into the field more or less on accident, but were probably destined to study it. We'll go into more detail on that later in the week.
Friday, October 27, 2017
Friday Updates on a Friday
We have submitted World War 1990: ANZACs. That's it. It's in. Done, fin, Kaput.
Plugging along on the AEF battles book. Decent progress working on the clearing of the Meuse-Argonne.
Editing World War 1990: The Final Storm. Still pleased but we do need some fixes.
Plugging along on the AEF battles book. Decent progress working on the clearing of the Meuse-Argonne.
Editing World War 1990: The Final Storm. Still pleased but we do need some fixes.
Baseball LA LA
With the Los Angeles Dodger back in the World Series many have been pointing out that this is the Dodgers' first appearance since 1988. We remember that team well. Those Dodgers had some pitching, especially Orel 'bulldog' Hershiser who that season pitched 59 consecutive scoreless innings. The Dodgers also had this guy:
Kirk Gibson changed the whole course of the World Series with one swing.
Watch Kirk Gibson hobble around the bases. They beat the Mets that year in the playoffs, a vastly more talented team. In truth the Dodgers that year were OK, but they didn't have a lot of hitting. That was Gibson's only at-bat. We vividly recall NBC broadcaster Bob Costas pointing out on live TV how little punch the Dodger's lineup had:
The Dodgers' beat the Athletics 4-1.
It's Gibson who's remembered but Hershiser won games two and five, pitching complete games in both. At the end of game 5 some Oakland fan shouted, 'You were lucky Hershiser!' to which he replied, 'Grab a bat, kid!'
Watch Kirk Gibson hobble around the bases. They beat the Mets that year in the playoffs, a vastly more talented team. In truth the Dodgers that year were OK, but they didn't have a lot of hitting. That was Gibson's only at-bat. We vividly recall NBC broadcaster Bob Costas pointing out on live TV how little punch the Dodger's lineup had:
It's Gibson who's remembered but Hershiser won games two and five, pitching complete games in both. At the end of game 5 some Oakland fan shouted, 'You were lucky Hershiser!' to which he replied, 'Grab a bat, kid!'
Thursday, October 26, 2017
The Media is Decadent and Depraved
Via the Times, we learn that the New Republic's Leon Wieseltier is a sex-criminal:
Leon Wieseltier, a prominent editor at The New Republic for three decades who was preparing to unveil a new magazine next week, apologized on Tuesday for “offenses against some of my colleagues in the past” after several women accused him of sexual harassment and inappropriate advances.Wieseltier edited The New Republic's books and and arts section which was always a mass of unreadable high culture. It appears he was about to start a new unreadable magazine dedicated to high culture:
But it was perhaps the now-scuttled new magazine that exemplified both Mr. Wieseltier’s intellectual ambition and the loyal roster of high-powered collaborators he accumulated over the years. Contributors to the first issue consisted of longtime New Republic contributors, including the historian Timothy Snyder, the law professor and former Obama regulations czar Cass Sunstein, the foreign policy writer Robert Kagan and the dance historian Jennifer Homans.Who talks like that?
It may have been bankrolled by a Silicon Valley fortune, but Mr. Wieseltier, who has often inveighed against the corrosive effects of technology on culture, described it as a throwback.“The model is something like Partisan Review, circa 1955,” he said in an interview last year with the blog of the National Endowment of the Arts.
This: Guy
Dan Balilty/Associated Press
Kind of puts the Johnathan Glass scandal in perspective, doesn't it?
Then there's Mark Halperin:
Veteran journalist Mark Halperin sexually harassed women while he was in a powerful position at ABC News, according to five women who shared their previously undisclosed accounts with CNN and others who did not experience the alleged harassment personally, but were aware of it.
Ok lot's of powerful men make passes at women and...wait...he did what? On no he didn't:
But women who spoke to CNN say he also had a dark side not made public until now. The stories of harassment shared with CNN range in nature from propositioning employees for sex to kissing and grabbing one's breasts against her will. Three of the women who spoke to CNN described Halperin as, without consent, pressing an erection against their bodies while he was clothed. Halperin denies grabbing a woman's breasts and pressing his genitals against the three women.Oh yes he did.
Who does that? Mark Halperin, that's who.
So these two high-falutin journalists were talking all high and mighty about Donald Trump's 'pussy tape' while wagging their dicks at the women unfortunate enough to work for them.
Meanwhile us normies are wondering if its OK to tell a female colleague that we like her new hairdo.
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Battle Extraordinaire
It is an utterly brutal sequence that strips the men of their humanity even as they look eye to eye at the enemy. Watch the marine with the flame thrower scream as he napalms the Japs inside, watch Shelton shout curses at the Japs. And those screams.
The whole thing's a goddamn tragedy.
On a side note there's something about the sound, the play of metal on metal, the gravel.
Well done.
World War 1990 what about the Chi-Coms?
Beloved reader Donald Harris wants to know what China is up to in the World War 1990 universe. The answer to that question is 42.
Actually the answer to that question is 'not much'.
When World War 1990: ANZACs was still World War 1990: Operation Pacific Storm, we had planned all kinds of Chinese intrigue.
But we decided Australia, Japan, China...it was all too much. Besides, concentrating on the ANZACs made for a nice, tight [And marketable-Ed] book.
Here's some of what we wrote back in 2016, raw.
Behold:
When
General Fu arrived at his office at Shenyang Regional Military Headquarters he
found the younger officers in the conference room. As they did every morning
they read the headlines from the People’s Daily, watched news broadcasts out of
South Korea and Japan and poured over maps, all in an effort to stay informed
about the war. After the first few days of World War Three an enterpring young
officer brought graph paper, cardboard cutouts and dice. Now for weeks, every
morning before the work day began the officers wargamed the previous day’s and
week’s events. General Fu admired his staff officers for the initiative and
creativity.
On
this morning he walked into the conference room. As always the young officers
topped what they were doing and came to attention.
‘Carry
on, gentlemen,’ he said. Fu made himself a cup of tea. He looked at the map and
said ‘And how goes the war today.’
Captain
Wa, an ambitious young staff officer from Canton said ‘Today we are wargaming a
Soviet counteroffensive in Kamchatka.’
‘And?’
Fu asked as he stirred sugar into his tea.
Captain
Wa shook his head. ‘The Americans made mincemeat of them sir.’
Major
Wong, the Soviet player this morning said, ‘Excuse me, General, but I inflicted
significant losses on the Americans.’
‘Yes
sir,’ Captain Wa insisted. ‘But I still hold all key positions.’
Major
Wong was about to object, but Fu said, ‘Carry on, gentlemen.’
‘Yes,
sir.’
Cup
of tea in hand General Fu proceeded to his office. His personal assistant, a
young Lieutenant waited at the front desk. Choy was earnest and committed. Fu
hadn’t been able to get a word out of him that wasn’t work related. Fu
suspected the young man was reporting on his activities. Which was fine. Fu
lived the quite life of an older married man. He had no interest or time for
the extracurricular activities many general staff officers enjoyed. Going to
Thailand was shorthand for all kinds of nefarious things.
‘What
waits for me this morning?’ Fu asked.
‘Readiness
reports and this summary of last week’s maneuver.’
‘I
will take that first.’
Choy
handed him the appropriate folder.
He
walked into his office and sat behind his desk, a gift from the General Staff.
It was Frenchand luxurious and Fu treasured it, s imple testament to his
competency that all visitors saw when they enteed his office. It was intimating
to rivals as well. Fu had the ear of the general staff.
He sat down and read the summary of
the report. He would go through the details later at home, reading and making
notes while his wife watched the evening news. The commander of the operation,
a two brigade maneuver rehearsing the seizure of a hard target and crossing of
a river, was please overall with the operation. Fuel was an issue it had been
for weeks with the price of oil sky rocketing, first with the war then with
Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait. Fu had fought hard for the fuel necceary to
conduct the maneuver.
General Fu looked at the map and
dreamed. Some fools in the General Staff had maps of Taiwan, even Japan. The
latter of course could stop a Chinese attack without breaking a sweat. The PLA
and PLN just weren’t up to the job. As to the former, Fu couldn’t have cared
less about stupid Nationalist sentiments. Let Taiwan be free of Beijing and
instead exploit its capitol for business growth in the mainland.
Not since the Second World War had
Siberia been so vulnerable. In 1941, reeling from the German onslaught in the
west, Stalin had taken dozens of divisions from the region and sent the west in
a desperate bid to stop Hitler. A lone spy in Tokyo telling him the Japanese
had no intention of striking north had allowed Stalin to do so. China had spies
now throughout Siberia in Irkutsk, Novosibirsk, Khabarovsk and Vladivostok.
They all said the same thing. The Soviets had drained Siberia of troops. Oh
there were still brigades in the big cities. But over the course of the war the
vast army that guarded the Soviet Far East had headed east to defend against
American attacks in the Pacific and then west as the Red Army lost battle after
battle and NATO attacked the Warsaw Pact.
So there it was for the taking, the
vast Soviet Far East. The People’s Liberation Army could just walk over the
border and take what it wanted. General Fu would command such an effort. Long had he played the attack. Most Chinese
planners had envisioned an attack on Vladivostok a pointless and obvious move
that would repeat the PLA’s mistakes in the Korean War. Those mistakes had cost
a million lives, Fu knew and resulted in a stalemate that lef the Americans
with a foothold in Asia. No, Fu wanted to avoid Vladivostok and the Pacific
Coast all together. Instead he saw a two pronged thrust against Khabarovsk
which would cut off the Pacific Coast. Even this was not the main purpose of
the attack.
Fu understood something many in the
PLA did not. The Soviets understood their vulnerability in the Far East better
than most in the PLA. To compensate the Soviets would go nuclear, they had no
choice. As the ultimate deterent the Soviets built half a dozen ICBM silos
across along the border. This was as clear a message as any: a move in the Far
East risks Beijing, Shanghai, Chungking…Mao had often with great blust talked
of China’s ability and willingness to lose a hundred million people. But that
was the old China. The loss of a few key cities would undo all that the party
had achived since 1949; a bourgoinging world power on the cups of the 21st
century ready to reassert its historical dominance.
Fu saw that role for China the new
China, not the old. The old China, the old Politburo of Mao and Chow en Lai
would massacre its own people to meet its ends. Fu could see the fields carpted
with bodies. For all its communist rhetoric the Politburo was still steeped in
the ancient Chinese mode of thought that saw the people as an unlimited
resource to be exploited. To Fu this had no place in the new China.
Instead of human wave attacks that
left carpets of bodies Fu saw a well planned and executed operation by an
onnovative military. He wanted to land an airborne battalion and the five
closest missiles silos and reinforce them with a flying column dashing over the
border. With six of its missile silos
taken away, and Chinese forces in control of Khabarovsk the Soviets would have
no choice but to accept Chinese control of Siberia.
There would never be a better time
than now.
All that remained was to convince
the Beijing.
Wither Vichy GOP
Strange, Corker and now Flake. Three establishment senators lost or on the verge of losing their primary.
The establishment base crumbles.
First that base showed a crack after the budget and legislative bungles of the Republican led Congress. in 2015-16. Despite having both houses they got nothing done and forced no concessions from President Obama. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell patiently explained to us rubes that under the American system Congress cannot bend the president to its will.
Trump saw the crack and like February rain poured within and froze. The crack widened further.
Then the GOP gained control of the White House. Still nothing got done, not even the repeal of Obamacare which the GOP had promised for nearly a decade. The filibuster, you see, and budgetary rules, McConnell and pretty boy Ryan explained. The crack ever widened.
We were suckers. We fucked up. We trusted them.
The base crumbled.
Of course Corker and Flake's comments about the president have been shameful. Imagine if they had attacked the Democrat Party in the way they are now attacking President Trump.
Are you listening, W?
Right now the media narrates that these three GOP senate seats (Alabama, Tennessee and Arizona) are threatened because nice moderate Republicans are replaced by scary Trump types.
Well, here are Trump's results in 2016-
Alabama: +28
Tennessee: +27
Arizona: +4.5
The GOP has some work to do in Arizona. Otherwise, keep dreaming.
By 2019 that establishment base will be rubble.
The establishment base crumbles.
First that base showed a crack after the budget and legislative bungles of the Republican led Congress. in 2015-16. Despite having both houses they got nothing done and forced no concessions from President Obama. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell patiently explained to us rubes that under the American system Congress cannot bend the president to its will.
Trump saw the crack and like February rain poured within and froze. The crack widened further.
Then the GOP gained control of the White House. Still nothing got done, not even the repeal of Obamacare which the GOP had promised for nearly a decade. The filibuster, you see, and budgetary rules, McConnell and pretty boy Ryan explained. The crack ever widened.
We were suckers. We fucked up. We trusted them.
The base crumbled.
Of course Corker and Flake's comments about the president have been shameful. Imagine if they had attacked the Democrat Party in the way they are now attacking President Trump.
Are you listening, W?
Right now the media narrates that these three GOP senate seats (Alabama, Tennessee and Arizona) are threatened because nice moderate Republicans are replaced by scary Trump types.
Well, here are Trump's results in 2016-
Alabama: +28
Tennessee: +27
Arizona: +4.5
The GOP has some work to do in Arizona. Otherwise, keep dreaming.
By 2019 that establishment base will be rubble.
(Photo by Gage Skidmore)
Shooting Blanks
In Which Life Imitates Will Stroock
Or we should say Israel Strikes and Israel Strikes: War of the Red Sea.
Via the BBC:
Anyway in Israel Strikes the Israelis have to work with the Saudis to attack Iran. The prince is a reformer, based on Justin Trudeau (don't ask), and uses Israel's overflight of Saudi Arabia to indict the king and foment a revolution.
In Israel Strikes War of the Red Sea he's doing press interviews about reforming Saudi Arabia.
Do we nail these things or what?
Via the BBC:
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said the return of "moderate Islam" is key to his plans to modernise the Gulf kingdom.We've long loathed Saudi Arabia and agreed with former Bush adviser Richard Perle who wanted to seize the bastard's oil fields:
He told reporters that 70% of the Saudi population was under 30 and that they wanted a "life in which our religion translates to tolerance".
The prince vowed to "eradicate the remnants of extremism very soon".
In mid-2002 word leaked to the press that the semi-official Defense Policy Board, chaired by the notorious cold warrior Richard Perle, had sponsored a report declaring Saudi Arabia to be part of the problem of international terrorism rather than part of the solution. Saudi Arabia, the report stated, was "central to the self-destruction of the Arab world and the chief vector of the Arab crisis and its outwardly-directed aggression." It went on to say, "The Saudis are active at every level of the terror chain, from planners to financiers, from cadre to foot-soldier, from ideologist to cheerleader."
Anyway in Israel Strikes the Israelis have to work with the Saudis to attack Iran. The prince is a reformer, based on Justin Trudeau (don't ask), and uses Israel's overflight of Saudi Arabia to indict the king and foment a revolution.
In Israel Strikes War of the Red Sea he's doing press interviews about reforming Saudi Arabia.
Do we nail these things or what?
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Tuesday Tally
Best Early 1980's sci-fi movies
These are the films we grew up watching on cable late at night. From the doom to the synthesizer music these films scream 1980-Something.*
Blade Runner: We've talked about this movie already. Since blogging about Blade Runner we've watched it again and like it much better the second time around.
Escape From New York: This is a fun, campy movie. Basically The Warriors set in the future. A nice bit of setup is the supposed war with China and Russia. Red Letter Media thought the film was kind of ridiculous, but they're Wisconsin guys. Escape from New York was just the old New York taken to its conclusion. Two words: Lee van Cleef.
The Terminator: Remember when The Terminator was just a cult film? We do. It's all here. Synth music, LA at night, apocalypse.
Heavy Metal: A very dark vision. Before the internet, cartoon T&A.
Outland: Sean Connery is the sheriff on a space mining colony on one of Jupiter's moons. Basically a well executed High Noon in space. Ha! People thought we'd be colonize Jupiter in the 21st Century.
*The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi aren't science fiction.
**We remember Battle Beyond the Stars being great, but watched it a few years ago and can't believe how much it sucks. Screw you, Roger Corman.
These are the films we grew up watching on cable late at night. From the doom to the synthesizer music these films scream 1980-Something.*
Blade Runner: We've talked about this movie already. Since blogging about Blade Runner we've watched it again and like it much better the second time around.
Escape From New York: This is a fun, campy movie. Basically The Warriors set in the future. A nice bit of setup is the supposed war with China and Russia. Red Letter Media thought the film was kind of ridiculous, but they're Wisconsin guys. Escape from New York was just the old New York taken to its conclusion. Two words: Lee van Cleef.
The Terminator: Remember when The Terminator was just a cult film? We do. It's all here. Synth music, LA at night, apocalypse.
Heavy Metal: A very dark vision. Before the internet, cartoon T&A.
Outland: Sean Connery is the sheriff on a space mining colony on one of Jupiter's moons. Basically a well executed High Noon in space. Ha! People thought we'd be colonize Jupiter in the 21st Century.
*The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi aren't science fiction.
**We remember Battle Beyond the Stars being great, but watched it a few years ago and can't believe how much it sucks. Screw you, Roger Corman.
Baseball Ga-Ga
We were just reading a piece about the decline and hopeful destruction of Rolling Stone. The author went into the usual recital of how music was a refuge during a rough adolescence. Queen got plenty right in Radio Ga-Ga
We were nodding our head in agreement until we realized that music wasn't really a refuge for us in the years from say, 1987 to 1993.
We found refuge in baseball.
Our first season as a fan was 1987. Here were The Boss's Yankees, always good but not good enough. They won 89 games that year. Our man was Dave Winfield, rightie to rightie. I mean, come on:
That was a 14-13 epic slug match in which the Yankees took first place from the Jays, and our first moment as a baseball fan.
We had our Dave Winfield batting practice T well into college.
Back then we could watch any baseball game. TBS was in our cable package so we watched a lot of bad Braves baseball. So was WGN. We saw a lot of the Cubs. And of course the Mets. We loathed the Mets for a long time, jealousy we guess. It was sweet when the Cubs took the division from them in 1989. That was a fun, scrappy team.
One of our favorite pastimes was remaking rosters. We loved to do deals in our head and on paper and remake a team into a contender. We always made fair trades, of course we also knew how said players were going to do the next season, so heh.
We also played a game called Statis Pro-Baseball. One could play a game in half an hour or so. We did entire seasons.
As Queen might sing, our only friend through teenage nights.
Baseball kept us warm. We saw the Yankees go from good, to god-awful to good again just before they established their 90's dynasty. We missed part of that because we were furious about the '94 strike. Besides, in the spring of 1994 I met a girl.
I'll ask her what she thinks about all that later today.
We were nodding our head in agreement until we realized that music wasn't really a refuge for us in the years from say, 1987 to 1993.
We found refuge in baseball.
Our first season as a fan was 1987. Here were The Boss's Yankees, always good but not good enough. They won 89 games that year. Our man was Dave Winfield, rightie to rightie. I mean, come on:
We had our Dave Winfield batting practice T well into college.
Back then we could watch any baseball game. TBS was in our cable package so we watched a lot of bad Braves baseball. So was WGN. We saw a lot of the Cubs. And of course the Mets. We loathed the Mets for a long time, jealousy we guess. It was sweet when the Cubs took the division from them in 1989. That was a fun, scrappy team.
One of our favorite pastimes was remaking rosters. We loved to do deals in our head and on paper and remake a team into a contender. We always made fair trades, of course we also knew how said players were going to do the next season, so heh.
We also played a game called Statis Pro-Baseball. One could play a game in half an hour or so. We did entire seasons.
As Queen might sing, our only friend through teenage nights.
Baseball kept us warm. We saw the Yankees go from good, to god-awful to good again just before they established their 90's dynasty. We missed part of that because we were furious about the '94 strike. Besides, in the spring of 1994 I met a girl.
I'll ask her what she thinks about all that later today.
Low Energy Dynasty
Bush Dynasty flack Mathew Dowd tells us that the old GOP is dead and the modern GOP would never nominate Ronald Reagan. He then goes on to smear the GOP by saying the party wouldn't nominate Lincoln. Via Breitbart.
So sayeth the GOP establishment.
One can tell the GOP-e is losing because they say the new GOP, or modern conservatives, or the alt-right, or the 104th Congress wouldn't nominate Lincoln.
It's an old smear.
GOP-e scion Bob Mikel wasn't permanent House Minority Leader for nuthin'.
Republican please.You guys in the GOP-e wouldn't have nominated Reagan. In fact you stood against him not once but twice. First the establishment opposed Reagan's primary run against President Ford in 1976. Then in 1980 you tried to thrust George Bush on the party. Once Reagan won the nomination the GOP-e urged him to take Ford as his VP.
What was even the point of that?
Remember, Bush, Dowd and that bunch are the ones who just barely beat Jean Francois Kerry (D-North Vietnam) and said, 'You know what this country is crying out for? Some wonky and complicated social security reform. We've totally got the thumbs up from George Will.'
They gave us David Souter on the Supreme Court.
They gave us 'Read my lips...'
They gave us Common Core in Florida.
They gave us Dan Quayle.
What a bunch of losers.
We can't recommend this Kurt Schlichter column enough:
Anyway, spare me the lectures on Reagan, Senior Dowd. We know what we get with the GOP- e and the Bush Dynasty.
Read my lips, anyone?
So sayeth the GOP establishment.
One can tell the GOP-e is losing because they say the new GOP, or modern conservatives, or the alt-right, or the 104th Congress wouldn't nominate Lincoln.
It's an old smear.
GOP-e scion Bob Mikel wasn't permanent House Minority Leader for nuthin'.
Republican please.You guys in the GOP-e wouldn't have nominated Reagan. In fact you stood against him not once but twice. First the establishment opposed Reagan's primary run against President Ford in 1976. Then in 1980 you tried to thrust George Bush on the party. Once Reagan won the nomination the GOP-e urged him to take Ford as his VP.
What was even the point of that?
Remember, Bush, Dowd and that bunch are the ones who just barely beat Jean Francois Kerry (D-North Vietnam) and said, 'You know what this country is crying out for? Some wonky and complicated social security reform. We've totally got the thumbs up from George Will.'
They gave us David Souter on the Supreme Court.
They gave us 'Read my lips...'
They gave us Common Core in Florida.
They gave us Dan Quayle.
What a bunch of losers.
We can't recommend this Kurt Schlichter column enough:
So, here's the thing, dorks. You don't get to win. You don't. You're finished. The Republican Party has changed, and it changed because of you. The fact is that people like you, and people like George W. Bush, are some of the biggest reasons we have Donald Trump. You managed to combine unearned self-guard, condescension, corruption, and a total inability to perform even the most basic tasks of governance into one pompous, annoying package. We're done with you, because you suck.The column is about the GOP-e and W's shameful speech. We'll go more into that in another post.
Anyway, spare me the lectures on Reagan, Senior Dowd. We know what we get with the GOP- e and the Bush Dynasty.
Read my lips, anyone?
George P. 2028
Monday, October 23, 2017
China's War 2099
So we had this brainstorm about China being the lone superpower in a world being over run by Islam.
What does China do about it?
Many details remain to be threshed out, of course.
As California has seceded valued reader Donald Harris wonders if the American south should be a separate nation. It's been done, actually, in the works of Robert Farigno. Also, with California gone Texas becomes the largest, most influential state and in any such nation southerners probably wouldn't feel the need to secede. An interesting question is whether or not California takes Washington and Oregon with it.
We think there will be some sort of Chavista inspired war with Mexico.
Valued reader Will Carmichael cautions about technology in 2099, orbital weapons and such. What's the point in fighting when you can drop a rock on your enemies from ten miles up? We have considered this ourselves and we haven't decided what to do about it yet. Of course the US hasn't used nukes since 1945 so it can be done.
We're actually envisioning a world with some serious space exploration by China. The idea is the US is shrunken and China is the most powerful and civilized nation on earth.
Another good question is just what kind of government China has? We're no longer naive enough to think the Chinese will become a bunch of Jeffersonian democrats. We're thinking a benign, benevolent Confucianist dictatorship is likely. They would never stomach Islamic encroachment of any kind. In fact the first scene of any such novel show them punishing western Uigers.
What does China do about it?
Many details remain to be threshed out, of course.
As California has seceded valued reader Donald Harris wonders if the American south should be a separate nation. It's been done, actually, in the works of Robert Farigno. Also, with California gone Texas becomes the largest, most influential state and in any such nation southerners probably wouldn't feel the need to secede. An interesting question is whether or not California takes Washington and Oregon with it.
We think there will be some sort of Chavista inspired war with Mexico.
Valued reader Will Carmichael cautions about technology in 2099, orbital weapons and such. What's the point in fighting when you can drop a rock on your enemies from ten miles up? We have considered this ourselves and we haven't decided what to do about it yet. Of course the US hasn't used nukes since 1945 so it can be done.
We're actually envisioning a world with some serious space exploration by China. The idea is the US is shrunken and China is the most powerful and civilized nation on earth.
Another good question is just what kind of government China has? We're no longer naive enough to think the Chinese will become a bunch of Jeffersonian democrats. We're thinking a benign, benevolent Confucianist dictatorship is likely. They would never stomach Islamic encroachment of any kind. In fact the first scene of any such novel show them punishing western Uigers.
China's government in 2099
Monday Metal: Some Kind of Wusses
Ok, so last week we re-watched Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, the documentary about the production of the band's Nu-Metal impersonation album.
Oh my god, it's worse than we remember.
Lars and James bicker like a couple of tweens:
James and Lars defend their turf:
Poor Kirk is stuck in the middle.
Throughout the doc is therapist Phil Towle who starts off as a concerned professional helping the band (four $40,000 a month) but by the end is goddamn Yoko Ono on SF Bay.
One scene is remarkable though. Behold:
Mustaine is a metal god in his own right. He wrote Rust in Peace, one of the ten greatest albums ever. Yet here we see him, his heart broken over being thrown out of the band in 1983. It's clear he remembers every second of the day they tossed him out and he still feels it. He talks about getting into a fight with Phil Sandoval of Armored Saint, 'He pushed you down and he hurt you. And I made sure he didn't hurt you again.'
The most profound moment in this documentary, and them most profound moment we have seen in any documentary.
Oh my god, it's worse than we remember.
Lars and James bicker like a couple of tweens:
Poor Kirk is stuck in the middle.
Throughout the doc is therapist Phil Towle who starts off as a concerned professional helping the band (four $40,000 a month) but by the end is goddamn Yoko Ono on SF Bay.
One scene is remarkable though. Behold:
The most profound moment in this documentary, and them most profound moment we have seen in any documentary.
Sunday, October 22, 2017
W?
So last week President George W. Bush attacked President Trump, Steve Bannon, and the entire apparatus that won the election.
We have passionately defended W since 2000, even on this blog.
We believe his accomplishments are many, from his handling of 9/11 to the Afghanistan and Iraq campaigns to TARP.
We stuck with W through some truly grotesque domestic policy decisions, the steel tariff, campaign finance reform, Medicare Part D, Amnesty, debt.
During the Iraq campaign the left blood-libeled the president and us. Always the White House was on the defensive. Never would they fight back, expecting actions to speak louder than words.
Well how did that work out?
No, W saved his ire for his own side.
Can you imagine, Mr. President, if you had attacked the Dems in the same way you just attacked President Trump?
President Bush seems to prefer losing like a gentleman. Sorry, Mr. President, we prefer winning ugly.
We have never been more disappointing in W then we are right now.
We have passionately defended W since 2000, even on this blog.
We believe his accomplishments are many, from his handling of 9/11 to the Afghanistan and Iraq campaigns to TARP.
We stuck with W through some truly grotesque domestic policy decisions, the steel tariff, campaign finance reform, Medicare Part D, Amnesty, debt.
During the Iraq campaign the left blood-libeled the president and us. Always the White House was on the defensive. Never would they fight back, expecting actions to speak louder than words.
Well how did that work out?
No, W saved his ire for his own side.
Can you imagine, Mr. President, if you had attacked the Dems in the same way you just attacked President Trump?
President Bush seems to prefer losing like a gentleman. Sorry, Mr. President, we prefer winning ugly.
We have never been more disappointing in W then we are right now.
What were we thinking?
The Hunting Ground
We are the father of three little girls, so naturally we are experts on all things Disney.
Disney is a child star factory. At any given time at least have a dozen tween shows are on air, Bunk'd, Girl Meets World, Bizardvaarck...yeah like we said we're experts.
From Britney Spears to Demi Lovati the Disney career trajectory runs from cute tween, to pretty teenager, to beautiful young woman.
A few years ago child star Corey Feldman wrote about the serial sexual abuse inflicted upon himself and fellow child star Corey Haim.
Disney has long been on the cutting age of progressive corporate politics. Disney World has hosted gay days as far back as the 1990's. Frozen is really about sisterhood and Elsa's tale of loneliness and isolation has obvious gay overtones. The company fired baseball analyst Curt Schilling for supporting North Carolina's Bathroom Bill. In 2015 Disney severed their relationship with the Boy Scouts over the latter's gay policies.
That is to say, Disney believes gay men should take teenage boys camping and men should use the little girl's room.
Of course Harvey Weinstein was long in business with Disney.
Hollywood has a sexual abuse problem and there's no reason to believe that Disney Studios would not be a prime hunting ground.
Disney is a child star factory. At any given time at least have a dozen tween shows are on air, Bunk'd, Girl Meets World, Bizardvaarck...yeah like we said we're experts.
From Britney Spears to Demi Lovati the Disney career trajectory runs from cute tween, to pretty teenager, to beautiful young woman.
A few years ago child star Corey Feldman wrote about the serial sexual abuse inflicted upon himself and fellow child star Corey Haim.
Disney has long been on the cutting age of progressive corporate politics. Disney World has hosted gay days as far back as the 1990's. Frozen is really about sisterhood and Elsa's tale of loneliness and isolation has obvious gay overtones. The company fired baseball analyst Curt Schilling for supporting North Carolina's Bathroom Bill. In 2015 Disney severed their relationship with the Boy Scouts over the latter's gay policies.
That is to say, Disney believes gay men should take teenage boys camping and men should use the little girl's room.
Of course Harvey Weinstein was long in business with Disney.
Hollywood has a sexual abuse problem and there's no reason to believe that Disney Studios would not be a prime hunting ground.
Enablers?
Will's Good Idea for the Week of 10-22-17
China's War: 2099
-In India, religious violence tears the nation apart.
-In North America the California Republic has just completed its pacification campaign against Imperial Valley separatists.
-In the Pacific, the The Polynesian Republic of Hawaii passes the Oahu Laws against whites.
-In Europe, Christians pay the Jizya tax while Muslims worship at Notre Dame Mosque.
- In the Middle East, the Persian Caliphate wins its war against the Sunni Caliphate, and takes control of Mecca.
In Asia, the one remaining superpower is China.
We will hash this out further during the week. Readers are invited to comment.
-In India, religious violence tears the nation apart.
-In North America the California Republic has just completed its pacification campaign against Imperial Valley separatists.
-In the Pacific, the The Polynesian Republic of Hawaii passes the Oahu Laws against whites.
-In Europe, Christians pay the Jizya tax while Muslims worship at Notre Dame Mosque.
- In the Middle East, the Persian Caliphate wins its war against the Sunni Caliphate, and takes control of Mecca.
In Asia, the one remaining superpower is China.
We will hash this out further during the week. Readers are invited to comment.
Friday, October 20, 2017
Roger's Deflated (foot)ball Game
The below sequence of plays in last night's Chief-Raider's game is unbelievable and not in a good way:
That's one reversed TD call, one offensive pass interference call reversing a TD, a defensive holding call extending the game with no time, another defensive holding call extending the game with no time, and mercifully a 'game winning' TD.
As far as the first TD reversal goes, in the age of Goodell where defense is Verboten, why even bother reversing the call and putting the ball on the 1? Everybody knows Oakland is going to score.
What a farce.
That's one reversed TD call, one offensive pass interference call reversing a TD, a defensive holding call extending the game with no time, another defensive holding call extending the game with no time, and mercifully a 'game winning' TD.
As far as the first TD reversal goes, in the age of Goodell where defense is Verboten, why even bother reversing the call and putting the ball on the 1? Everybody knows Oakland is going to score.
What a farce.
Russia! Russia! Russia!
These reports about Russia buying a hundred $100,000 worth of FB ads are interesting.
Others have noted that in the many billions spent on FB ads a hundred K doesn't amount to much.
Quite right.
Still others have pointed out that the Russian expenditure seems like an experiment, a test to see what their rubles can do.
We agree with this assessment. Why? Because when we're looking to crack a new market we make a small ad buy in a magazine.
One and done is our rule.
[Also your wife's ha!-Ed]
A few years ago we did some ads in Europe, buying one ad in a European military history magazine in Spain, France and Germany. The results? Not good in Spain or France, but we broke even in Germany.
Breaking even on an ad is a great start.
Looks like the Russians think the same.
Others have noted that in the many billions spent on FB ads a hundred K doesn't amount to much.
Quite right.
Still others have pointed out that the Russian expenditure seems like an experiment, a test to see what their rubles can do.
We agree with this assessment. Why? Because when we're looking to crack a new market we make a small ad buy in a magazine.
One and done is our rule.
[Also your wife's ha!-Ed]
A few years ago we did some ads in Europe, buying one ad in a European military history magazine in Spain, France and Germany. The results? Not good in Spain or France, but we broke even in Germany.
Breaking even on an ad is a great start.
Looks like the Russians think the same.
Friended?
Friday Updates on Friday
The very, final, very-super last changes of ANZACs are going in this weekend.
We are blowing right through The Final Storm.
We are writing a chapter on rescuing the lost battalion for the AEF book.
Der Austrian Painter is looking good.
We are pondering a new book idea for next year: China's War 2099.
We are blowing right through The Final Storm.
We are writing a chapter on rescuing the lost battalion for the AEF book.
Der Austrian Painter is looking good.
We are pondering a new book idea for next year: China's War 2099.
Thursday, October 19, 2017
Whose Balls are Deflated now, Roger?
Behold, gentle reader(s), Roger Goodell has no soul. Follow the link to watch Roger Goodell say 'issues' and 'community' and talk a lot about 'improving' our 'communities'.
Let's get something straight, Goodell. Our community is filled with nice people from all over the world who work, raise kids and keep up their lawns. We like to get together for block parties and inter-holiday festivals. Dewali is a lot of fun, Roger. Our community is just find and needs no improvement from the likes of you.
Your community is filled with show-boaters and unpatriotic tattooed millionaires with long rap sheets. Remember how you gave Ray Rice two games for punching out his fiancee and how you let convicted girlfriend beater Greg Hardy back in the league? Of course, Tom Brady got four games for deflated balls.
So please just stay away.
Roger Goodell has no idea what to do about the kneeling and the plummeting ratings.
Watching this clip it's clear Goodell doesn't even know what to say. Goodell sounds like Hillary!'s focus group people told him to keep saying 'community', 'issue' and 'improve'.
In fact he sounds like Hillary!? How did sounding like Hillary! work out for Hillary!, Roger?
You know what? Actually, he sounds like Algore.
Whose balls are deflated now, Roger?
Let's get something straight, Goodell. Our community is filled with nice people from all over the world who work, raise kids and keep up their lawns. We like to get together for block parties and inter-holiday festivals. Dewali is a lot of fun, Roger. Our community is just find and needs no improvement from the likes of you.
Your community is filled with show-boaters and unpatriotic tattooed millionaires with long rap sheets. Remember how you gave Ray Rice two games for punching out his fiancee and how you let convicted girlfriend beater Greg Hardy back in the league? Of course, Tom Brady got four games for deflated balls.
So please just stay away.
Roger Goodell has no idea what to do about the kneeling and the plummeting ratings.
Watching this clip it's clear Goodell doesn't even know what to say. Goodell sounds like Hillary!'s focus group people told him to keep saying 'community', 'issue' and 'improve'.
In fact he sounds like Hillary!? How did sounding like Hillary! work out for Hillary!, Roger?
You know what? Actually, he sounds like Algore.
Whose balls are deflated now, Roger?
Nailed it
Ad-Ons and cut-outs...World War 1990: The Final Storm
Once again, reading through the MS we are terribly pleased.
We also realize we have some issues to thresh out in Part III.
This is not a big deal.
Minor spoilers ahead.
The Final Storm is made of three parts.
These are The Battle of the Polish Plain, the Battle of the Three Seas, and the as yet untitled Part III.
We had taken out parts dealing with the West German Army, a return of Seydlitz from Operation Eastern Storm, but are now thinking they need to go back in.
Also, readers will remember Loeb, our West German intel officer running anti-collaboration ops behind the lines. We may need more of him.
The book is big and at this point we don't see any harm in making it bigger.
There are also order issues, that is, which scenes follow which scenes, etc. Actually the scenes are pretty much worked out, and we vaguely recall agonizing over these last fall. Chapter order is driving us batty.
Overall we are very optimistic.
We also realize we have some issues to thresh out in Part III.
This is not a big deal.
Minor spoilers ahead.
The Final Storm is made of three parts.
These are The Battle of the Polish Plain, the Battle of the Three Seas, and the as yet untitled Part III.
We had taken out parts dealing with the West German Army, a return of Seydlitz from Operation Eastern Storm, but are now thinking they need to go back in.
Also, readers will remember Loeb, our West German intel officer running anti-collaboration ops behind the lines. We may need more of him.
The book is big and at this point we don't see any harm in making it bigger.
There are also order issues, that is, which scenes follow which scenes, etc. Actually the scenes are pretty much worked out, and we vaguely recall agonizing over these last fall. Chapter order is driving us batty.
Overall we are very optimistic.
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
World War 1990: The Final Storm
We're halfway done with the read-through and we couldn't be more pleased.
It's a big book, 85,000 words.
By comparison Operation Arctic Storm is only 60,000 words.
The text is tight. The scenes are meaty. The flow is good. The MS is clean.
We are seeing very little that must be added.
We are noticing that we were a bit wordy last year with lots of 'of course' and plenty of distracting asides. These are being smited with righteous fury.
We are really quite surprised at how well things are going.
We sense a trap.
It's a big book, 85,000 words.
By comparison Operation Arctic Storm is only 60,000 words.
The text is tight. The scenes are meaty. The flow is good. The MS is clean.
We are seeing very little that must be added.
We are noticing that we were a bit wordy last year with lots of 'of course' and plenty of distracting asides. These are being smited with righteous fury.
We are really quite surprised at how well things are going.
We sense a trap.
You're not Blaming us #notallmen
It was inevitable with the outing of Harvey Weinstein as a communist sex criminal that 'feminists' would try to blame all men.
Well, #notallmen.
While the 'feminists' concocted ideas like 'rape culture' (try the Middle East sometime, honey) and 'toxic masculinity' (I don't see you climbing that telephone pole), they were kissing up to Harvey Weintsein and enabling Bill Clinton.
Remember, the spinster Steinem said it was Ok for Bill Clinton to drop his pants and chase Kathleen Wiley around the Oval Office Desk. Hillary! slut-shamed her, and Monica, and Juanita, and Paula and...
Everyone knew Harvey Weinstein was a communist sex criminal. Still the Clintons and the Democrat Party took money from and worked with him. Even now the Clinton Foundation money laundering operation is refusing to give back Weinstein's money.
Meanwhile us Normies wonder if its Ok to tell a female colleague that her new hairstyle is nice and watch in disgust as women gravitate to pervs with money and power. Just ask Nina Bureligh.
This is your world, feminists. These are your guys. No wonder you hate men.
Well, #notallmen.
While the 'feminists' concocted ideas like 'rape culture' (try the Middle East sometime, honey) and 'toxic masculinity' (I don't see you climbing that telephone pole), they were kissing up to Harvey Weintsein and enabling Bill Clinton.
Remember, the spinster Steinem said it was Ok for Bill Clinton to drop his pants and chase Kathleen Wiley around the Oval Office Desk. Hillary! slut-shamed her, and Monica, and Juanita, and Paula and...
Everyone knew Harvey Weinstein was a communist sex criminal. Still the Clintons and the Democrat Party took money from and worked with him. Even now the Clinton Foundation money laundering operation is refusing to give back Weinstein's money.
Meanwhile us Normies wonder if its Ok to tell a female colleague that her new hairstyle is nice and watch in disgust as women gravitate to pervs with money and power. Just ask Nina Bureligh.
This is your world, feminists. These are your guys. No wonder you hate men.
Wonder why they believed Anita Hill?
Battle Extraordinaire
Our all-time most favorite battle ever, Robotech: Battle cry:
Part I:
The screen just bursts with detail and action with excellent pauses and jumps from shot to shot.
And Part II:
The tension here is almost unbearable.
We first saw this 30 years ago and we haven't looked back since. We've even nipped a few lines of dialogue here and plugged it into To Defend the Earth, 'SDF-1 to base command, our fighter squadrons have initiated contact with the enemy.'
Part I:
And Part II:
We first saw this 30 years ago and we haven't looked back since. We've even nipped a few lines of dialogue here and plugged it into To Defend the Earth, 'SDF-1 to base command, our fighter squadrons have initiated contact with the enemy.'
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
Tuesday Tally
Blade Runner Edition
We last saw Blade Runner about 1990 when it was still totally cool that Harrison Ford was in this cutting edge sci-fi movie. We tried to watch Blade Runner a few years ago but grew board.
With the release of Blade Runner 20-whatever we decided to watch Blade Runner: The Directors Cut.
Here are our thoughts on the film:
1-Even in 2017 the setting and special effects are magnificent.
2-Rick Deckert is obviously a Replicant (at least in this version). Our understanding is that Rdley Scott keeps George Lucasing this film.
3-Rutger Haur is the real star of Blade Runner:
4-From the synth soundtrack to the Japanese gadget inspired tech, the film feels like 1982. So does LA being colonized by Asians in 2019. Wrong demo group, Ridley.
5-Harrison Ford is often criticized for his 'flat' acting here. But his style was a real interesting change in 1982 after Star Wars and Raiders. Also, watch that speech again, watch Ford's non-verbal acting. Well done.
6-The Replicants are the good guys. They're the only ones that show any humanity and compassion.
This is a classic sci fi film and we give Scott credit for his cutting edge innovation. That saids parts of Blade Runner just don't hold up well, the movie moves slooooow. We're interested in how a young person whose never watched before would react. There is a cult of Blade Runner, populated by people who like to say they love Blade Runner. We merely appreciate the film.
We last saw Blade Runner about 1990 when it was still totally cool that Harrison Ford was in this cutting edge sci-fi movie. We tried to watch Blade Runner a few years ago but grew board.
With the release of Blade Runner 20-whatever we decided to watch Blade Runner: The Directors Cut.
Here are our thoughts on the film:
1-Even in 2017 the setting and special effects are magnificent.
2-Rick Deckert is obviously a Replicant (at least in this version). Our understanding is that Rdley Scott keeps George Lucasing this film.
3-Rutger Haur is the real star of Blade Runner:
5-Harrison Ford is often criticized for his 'flat' acting here. But his style was a real interesting change in 1982 after Star Wars and Raiders. Also, watch that speech again, watch Ford's non-verbal acting. Well done.
6-The Replicants are the good guys. They're the only ones that show any humanity and compassion.
This is a classic sci fi film and we give Scott credit for his cutting edge innovation. That saids parts of Blade Runner just don't hold up well, the movie moves slooooow. We're interested in how a young person whose never watched before would react. There is a cult of Blade Runner, populated by people who like to say they love Blade Runner. We merely appreciate the film.
Politics and Art: The Jimmy Kimmel Saga
We used to love The Man Show:
There was real comic genius in its man-nihilism. And in an age overrun by soccer moms and Oprah, The Man Show was actually part of a small conservative counterculture.
Jimmy Kimmel was brilliant.
This week Kimmel told Republicans 'Not good riddance but riddance'.
Others have pointed out what we've thought about Kimmel, Colbert, and company, that they are solidifying their audience by appealing to the left and dropping everyone else.
This is actually not a bad strategy. After all leftist viewers not only need Noah, but Bee, Colbert, etc, etc. They can't get enough of this stuff. Why not hop on the gravy train?
We've noted before that we keep politics out of our books. Of course one's views informs one's art, this is true of us. In Operation Arctic Storm the people of Nome Alaska take up arms against the Soviet invaders. NRA much?
Reader(s) will never see a line like, 'If only Obama hadn't gutted the military' or some such. In fact, we have a habit of tweaking our own side a bit.
Michael Jordan always said, 'Republicans buy sneakers too'.
Quite right.
Liberals like techno-thrillers too.
Heck, were wondering what we'll do if the Neo-Nazi community decides it likes The Austrian Painter.
So liberal reader(s), we're the anti-Kimmel. You are welcome to read our books as much as you like. We may disagree with something, but we promise you'll never be sucker-punched.
Jimmy Kimmel was brilliant.
This week Kimmel told Republicans 'Not good riddance but riddance'.
Others have pointed out what we've thought about Kimmel, Colbert, and company, that they are solidifying their audience by appealing to the left and dropping everyone else.
This is actually not a bad strategy. After all leftist viewers not only need Noah, but Bee, Colbert, etc, etc. They can't get enough of this stuff. Why not hop on the gravy train?
We've noted before that we keep politics out of our books. Of course one's views informs one's art, this is true of us. In Operation Arctic Storm the people of Nome Alaska take up arms against the Soviet invaders. NRA much?
Reader(s) will never see a line like, 'If only Obama hadn't gutted the military' or some such. In fact, we have a habit of tweaking our own side a bit.
Michael Jordan always said, 'Republicans buy sneakers too'.
Quite right.
Liberals like techno-thrillers too.
Heck, were wondering what we'll do if the Neo-Nazi community decides it likes The Austrian Painter.
So liberal reader(s), we're the anti-Kimmel. You are welcome to read our books as much as you like. We may disagree with something, but we promise you'll never be sucker-punched.
Monday, October 16, 2017
World War 1990: The Final Storm
So with the proofers proofing ANZACs we've cracked open World War 1990: The Final Storm.
Last fall we got the MS as ready as we could and we have not looked at the MS in a year .This certainly gives one a fresh perspective.
Our first thought is it was a mistake to release Castro's Folly and ANZACs before The Final Storm. But what's done is done.
Second, and more importantly, so far we are quite pleased with what we see. The text is clean, or as clean as we can make it...
[Which is not very clean, you Yank tosser-Ed]
The paras flow, the segways work.
And C, we think we're a cut or two away from greatness.
That is a few scenes, certainly in the beginning, have got to go.
So far, so good.
Last fall we got the MS as ready as we could and we have not looked at the MS in a year .This certainly gives one a fresh perspective.
Our first thought is it was a mistake to release Castro's Folly and ANZACs before The Final Storm. But what's done is done.
Second, and more importantly, so far we are quite pleased with what we see. The text is clean, or as clean as we can make it...
[Which is not very clean, you Yank tosser-Ed]
The paras flow, the segways work.
And C, we think we're a cut or two away from greatness.
That is a few scenes, certainly in the beginning, have got to go.
So far, so good.
The most Ominous Austrian Leader since...
So this 31 year old Austrian whiz kid is going to be the next Prime Minister of Austria:
So the trend, the contagion goes from Britain, to the US, to France, to the Netherlands to Germany and now Austria.
The article makes sure to tell us that the Freedom Party was formed by ex-Nazis after WWII.
Of course the Democrat Party was founded by slave holders before the Civil War, so what;s your point?
You want more Kurz , because that's how you get more Kurz.
Hopefully the elites will never learn.
Kurz will form a coalition with the right wing Freedom Party.
Vienna (AFP) - Austria's political "whizz-kid" Sebastian Kurz was on course Sunday to become Europe's youngest leader, potentially in coalition with the far-right after its best result in almost 20 years.
Kurz's conservative People's Party (OeVP) won 31.7 percent of the vote, followed by Chancellor Christian Kern's Social Democrats (SPOe) on 26.9 percent, projections that were broadly in line with preliminary results showed.
So the trend, the contagion goes from Britain, to the US, to France, to the Netherlands to Germany and now Austria.
The article makes sure to tell us that the Freedom Party was formed by ex-Nazis after WWII.
Of course the Democrat Party was founded by slave holders before the Civil War, so what;s your point?
You want more Kurz , because that's how you get more Kurz.
Hopefully the elites will never learn.
Hapsburg Restoration?
Monday Metal
Archaeology Edition
Sometime around 1200 BC...
[Not BCE? -Ed]
We hate BCE and used to tell our students we would deduct points if they used it....
Anyway sometime around 1200 BC a mysterious 'Sea People' swept through the eastern Med bringing about the collapse of Minoan Civilization and forcing Egypt to fight for its survival.
The origins of the Sea People has always been something of a mystery, until now:
Interestingly this is also about the time when the Biblical Exodus happened. We wonder if the Sea Peoples weakened Egypt enough to allow the Hebrews to flee. An act of god, perhaps. Never mess with god's chosen.
[We thought you worshiped Kek now.-Ed]
To celebrate, we offer up the best Black Sabbath song of the Ronnie James Dio era, Children of the Sea:
Solid riff and love that bass. Rock on.
Sometime around 1200 BC...
[Not BCE? -Ed]
We hate BCE and used to tell our students we would deduct points if they used it....
Anyway sometime around 1200 BC a mysterious 'Sea People' swept through the eastern Med bringing about the collapse of Minoan Civilization and forcing Egypt to fight for its survival.
The origins of the Sea People has always been something of a mystery, until now:
According to a report in Live Science, Fred Woudhuizen, a Dutch scholar of the ancient language known as Luwian, has translated a 3,200-year-old inscription discovered in the late nineteenth century on a 95-foot stretch of stone at an archaeological site in Beyköy, a town located near Turkey’s Black Sea coast.Mystery solved.
Interestingly this is also about the time when the Biblical Exodus happened. We wonder if the Sea Peoples weakened Egypt enough to allow the Hebrews to flee. An act of god, perhaps. Never mess with god's chosen.
[We thought you worshiped Kek now.-Ed]
To celebrate, we offer up the best Black Sabbath song of the Ronnie James Dio era, Children of the Sea:
In the misty morning, on the edge of time
We've lost the rising sun, a final sign
As the misty morning rolls away to die
Reaching for the stars, we blind the sky
We sailed across the air before we learned to fly
We thought that it could never end
We'd glide above the ground before we learned to run, run
Now it seems our world has come undone
Oh they say that it's over
And it just had to be
Ooh they say that it's over
We're lost children of the sea, oh
We made the mountains shake with laughter as we played
Hiding in our corner of the world
Then we did the demon dance and rushed to nevermore
Threw away the key and locked the door
Oh they say that it's over, yeah
And it just had to be
Yes they say that it's over
We're lost children of the sea
In the misty morning, on the edge of time
We've lost the rising sun, a final sign
As the misty morning rolls away to die
Reaching for the stars, we blind the sky
Oh they say that it's over, yeah
And it just had to be
Oh they say that it's over
Poor lost children of the sea, yeah
LOOK OUT! The sky is falling down!
LOOK OUT! The world is spinning round and round and round!
LOOK OUT! The sun is going black, black
LOOK OUT! It's never never never coming back, LOOK OUT!
Sunday, October 15, 2017
Will's Good Idea for the Week of 10-15-17
We're thinking The Austrian Painter needs a new scene.
Right now, prepping for his overseas adventure, we describe the Austrian Painter's fancy digs in Munich, a mark of his success as an artist. This is of course the same apartment he owned in real life.
From there we segway into a trip abroad.
Problem is this seems contrived. It almost feels like we need a domestic scene in Munich, separate from this foreign adventure which would be re-spun as its own chapter. There seems to be a need to show the Austrian Painter hob-nobbing with Munich's elite. But would that be interesting?
We could describe some of the world, maybe get into the collapse of the Austrian Empire. Maybe he's there when it happens.
We'll see.
Right now, prepping for his overseas adventure, we describe the Austrian Painter's fancy digs in Munich, a mark of his success as an artist. This is of course the same apartment he owned in real life.
From there we segway into a trip abroad.
Problem is this seems contrived. It almost feels like we need a domestic scene in Munich, separate from this foreign adventure which would be re-spun as its own chapter. There seems to be a need to show the Austrian Painter hob-nobbing with Munich's elite. But would that be interesting?
We could describe some of the world, maybe get into the collapse of the Austrian Empire. Maybe he's there when it happens.
We'll see.
1000
This is our 1000th post.
There's a Nazi joke in there someplace.
Anyway, we started this blog in April of 2015 hoping to fill the dead time in the afternoon. We intended to talk a lot about being a college professor.
Now we mostly blog in the morning and we haven't set foot in a classroom since a month after we started the blog.
Over time we've generally settled on a format. Monday Metal, Tuesday Tally, Friday Updates, etc, etc. We settled on the Royal 'we' for our voice because we hate 'I' and love The Big Lebowski.
And of course there's Ed, our imaginary working-class Limey editor.
[Keep me out of this, mate-Ed]
Actually, Ed is all too real.
[So was Harvey-Ed]
The real Ed says she stops by this blog every week or so because she likes watching me talk to myself.
In recent months we've drastically picked up the blogging pace, partly to increase traffic and partly because we like to get a few things under our belt early in the morning while the Stroocklettes are getting their Honey-nut Cheerios with milk and watching Paw Patrol. We've also found we enjoy blogging much more than we did say two years ago.
Rarely have we regretted anything written here. In a few circumstances we've gone back and changed a word or a title.
We've only ever agonized about a few posts, those dealing with the final meltdown at Raritan Valley Community College. For now the final story stays under wraps. That said literary revenge is a good thing. Readers will see that one day.
As noted, this is our 1000th post.
Here's the first.
There's a Nazi joke in there someplace.
Anyway, we started this blog in April of 2015 hoping to fill the dead time in the afternoon. We intended to talk a lot about being a college professor.
Now we mostly blog in the morning and we haven't set foot in a classroom since a month after we started the blog.
Over time we've generally settled on a format. Monday Metal, Tuesday Tally, Friday Updates, etc, etc. We settled on the Royal 'we' for our voice because we hate 'I' and love The Big Lebowski.
And of course there's Ed, our imaginary working-class Limey editor.
[Keep me out of this, mate-Ed]
Actually, Ed is all too real.
[So was Harvey-Ed]
The real Ed says she stops by this blog every week or so because she likes watching me talk to myself.
In recent months we've drastically picked up the blogging pace, partly to increase traffic and partly because we like to get a few things under our belt early in the morning while the Stroocklettes are getting their Honey-nut Cheerios with milk and watching Paw Patrol. We've also found we enjoy blogging much more than we did say two years ago.
Rarely have we regretted anything written here. In a few circumstances we've gone back and changed a word or a title.
We've only ever agonized about a few posts, those dealing with the final meltdown at Raritan Valley Community College. For now the final story stays under wraps. That said literary revenge is a good thing. Readers will see that one day.
As noted, this is our 1000th post.
Here's the first.
Friday, October 13, 2017
Your Friday updates for your Friday
We're going through The Austrian Painter a third time.
We're going through World War 1990 ANZACs for the last time.
We're writing the Argonne chapter for the AEF ebook.
No updates on Pershing in Command.
We're going through World War 1990 ANZACs for the last time.
We're writing the Argonne chapter for the AEF ebook.
No updates on Pershing in Command.
The Media is Decadent and Depraved: The Amazon Chronicles
So sex criminal Harvey Weinstein used the entire Miramax/Winstein apparatus to recruit sexual victims.
Us normies go to work wondering if its sexual harassment to ask a colleague out. We're fearful of confiding in a coworker that we think a female colleague is pretty or even complimenting a female coworker on say, her dress. During our professorial days we would never, ever meet a co-ed student alone.
Meanwhile Amazon studio chief Roy Price told a female movie producer that she'd 'love his dick' and whispered 'anal sex' to her.
She's the lone victim, we're sure.
Weinstein was an open secret, a very public open secret. Just ask Seth MacFarlane:
Us normies go to work wondering if its sexual harassment to ask a colleague out. We're fearful of confiding in a coworker that we think a female colleague is pretty or even complimenting a female coworker on say, her dress. During our professorial days we would never, ever meet a co-ed student alone.
Meanwhile Amazon studio chief Roy Price told a female movie producer that she'd 'love his dick' and whispered 'anal sex' to her.
She's the lone victim, we're sure.
Weinstein was an open secret, a very public open secret. Just ask Seth MacFarlane:
Seth MacFarlane said Wednesday that his barbed joke about Harvey Weinstein while hosting the 2013 Oscars “came from a place of loathing and anger.”And,
MacFarlane, an actor and filmmaker who created “Ted,” explained that his quip stemmed from “Ted” actress Jessica Barth telling him privately a few years earlier that she had been victimized by Weinstein. Her account of the producer demanding a naked massage became public in a New Yorker story on Tuesday.Oh, and NBC tried to kill the Weinstein story.
Enabler
Thursday, October 12, 2017
Twenty, Ten, Forty-Four
So the New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians to advance to the American League Championship Series.
Interestingly 20 years ago the Indians beat the Yankees to do the same.
As noted elsewhere we weren't watching then, we were banning baseball over the disastrous strike of 1994.
Not till the next spring would we come back.
This current Yankees team is kind of interesting. They've been rebuilding these last few years and are actually ahead of schedule. They're loaded with young players and a few others acquired via trades and free agency. The Yankees also have a few holdovers from the old era.
It was about ten years ago that we became bored with the Yankees.
Interestingly 10 years ago the Cleveland Indians beat the Yankees to advance to the American League Championship Series.
That Yankees team, as all Yankees teams of that era, was loaded with expensive free agents. The Yankees fielded an allstar team, no joke. Every position player 1-8 was an all star.
It just wasn't very much fun anymore. Who cares about finding a gem in the minors or resurrecting a player whose career was over when you have Robby Cano bating 9th?
The current Yankees are fun.
Do we have any thoughts about last night's game? Not really.
Twenty years ago we were 24 years old. A few years later during the great championship run we stayed up till midnight and one AM watching the games.
Last night we fell asleep at 10.
So no.
Interestingly 20 years ago the Indians beat the Yankees to do the same.
As noted elsewhere we weren't watching then, we were banning baseball over the disastrous strike of 1994.
Not till the next spring would we come back.
This current Yankees team is kind of interesting. They've been rebuilding these last few years and are actually ahead of schedule. They're loaded with young players and a few others acquired via trades and free agency. The Yankees also have a few holdovers from the old era.
It was about ten years ago that we became bored with the Yankees.
Interestingly 10 years ago the Cleveland Indians beat the Yankees to advance to the American League Championship Series.
That Yankees team, as all Yankees teams of that era, was loaded with expensive free agents. The Yankees fielded an allstar team, no joke. Every position player 1-8 was an all star.
It just wasn't very much fun anymore. Who cares about finding a gem in the minors or resurrecting a player whose career was over when you have Robby Cano bating 9th?
The current Yankees are fun.
Do we have any thoughts about last night's game? Not really.
Twenty years ago we were 24 years old. A few years later during the great championship run we stayed up till midnight and one AM watching the games.
Last night we fell asleep at 10.
So no.
The Austrian Painter
Going through the MS a third time, things are looking pretty good.
We're making some minor plot point changes, character X worked at Y rather than Z, and the like.
We're also omitting needless sentences which is tidying things up nicely.
We're also trying to make sure all of the Austrian Painter's character traits make it through. For example we've made no reference to the Austrian Painter's love of opera.
The flashbacks only go through the 1930's. We may need another chapter or two.
We'll see.
We're making some minor plot point changes, character X worked at Y rather than Z, and the like.
We're also omitting needless sentences which is tidying things up nicely.
We're also trying to make sure all of the Austrian Painter's character traits make it through. For example we've made no reference to the Austrian Painter's love of opera.
The flashbacks only go through the 1930's. We may need another chapter or two.
We'll see.
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
The Media is Decadent and Depraved: The Weinstein Chronicles
Yesterday The New Yorker published a story by Ronan Farrow detailing more sexual misdeeds by Hollywood sex pervert Harvey Weinstein.
Recall also that the perverts at The New York Times spiked a story on Weinstein in 2004.
Let's go back even further.
In 1998 Newsweek spiked a story by Michael Isaakof about Bill Clinton having an affair with an intern. Isaakof took the story to Drudge, and the rest is history.
The media will always hide sexual escapades of their fellow Democrats.
And some wonder why we call them communist sex criminals.
Farrow tells us:
For more than twenty years, Weinstein has also been trailed by rumors of sexual harassment and assault. This has been an open secret to many in Hollywood and beyond, but previous attempts by many publications, including The New Yorker, to investigate and publish the story over the years fell short of the demands of journalistic evidence.
Via The Daily Caller we learn that Farrow's bosses at NBC passed on the story:
Appearing on the Rachel Maddow Show Tuesday night, the MSNBC host asked Farrow why his story — in which multiple women allege sexual assault and rape over decades against the Democratic Party mega-donor — didn’t get reported through NBC News.Remember NBC and the rest of their ilk in the decrepit media went wall to wall with President Trump's 'pussy' tape.
Recall also that the perverts at The New York Times spiked a story on Weinstein in 2004.
Let's go back even further.
In 1998 Newsweek spiked a story by Michael Isaakof about Bill Clinton having an affair with an intern. Isaakof took the story to Drudge, and the rest is history.
The media will always hide sexual escapades of their fellow Democrats.
And some wonder why we call them communist sex criminals.
Democrat in good standing
BAFTA?
Via the Telegraph an idea we've been espousing for a decade:
British-American-Free-Trade-Agreement?
I dunno.
Now just ad Australia and New Zealand and you really have something here.
Anyone wanna try to make an acronym out of that?
The Telegraph understands that the Government is examining the possibility of joining the North American Free Trade Agreement, known as Nafta, as part of its planning for a “no deal” scenario.
Joining Nafta would enable the UK to boost its trade with three of the world’s economic powerhouses, which have a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of £17.2 trillion, compared with the EU’s GDP of £15.7 trillion.
Together, Britain, the US, Canada and Mexico account for more than 30 per cent of the entire global economy.Were Britain to join NAFTA she would be in an a trade alliance with two of her sons and their idiot foreign friend who does the lawn.
British-American-Free-Trade-Agreement?
I dunno.
Now just ad Australia and New Zealand and you really have something here.
Anyone wanna try to make an acronym out of that?
Kids, Granny is gonna move in with us
Battle Extraordinaire
The other night we finally got around to watching The Battle of the Five Armies.
Meh. Too perfect. Too CGI. Too much.
Peter Jackson went all George Lucas on this one.
We could do without the elves executing perfect maneuvers like they were dancing ballerinas at a recital. Compare these elves to the elf archers in the Two Towers. Those those guys had character.
We swear the dwarf king on the hog was being voiced by Mike Meyers.
Still we did like the idea of an army defending a castle and fighting on the plain outside.
We'll file that away. Maybe the Battle of Bremen in Before the Weser?
In the meantime:
Meh. Too perfect. Too CGI. Too much.
Peter Jackson went all George Lucas on this one.
We could do without the elves executing perfect maneuvers like they were dancing ballerinas at a recital. Compare these elves to the elf archers in the Two Towers. Those those guys had character.
We swear the dwarf king on the hog was being voiced by Mike Meyers.
Still we did like the idea of an army defending a castle and fighting on the plain outside.
We'll file that away. Maybe the Battle of Bremen in Before the Weser?
In the meantime:
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Trump Punishes his Enemies
So in his tax overhaul President Trump wants to eliminate the Federal deduction for state taxes.
Foreign reader(s) should understand that this allows an American to count his state taxes against his Federal taxes.
This idea is a major revenue raiser.
More interestingly, eliminating the state-tax deduction will have a yuuge impact on the blue states that voted for Hillary! Fore example the California state income tax is 13%.
This is very important to California, Illinois, New York, our own New Jersey.
Texas, not so much.
President Trump is following one of Barrack Hussein Obama's rules, 'Reward your friends and punish your enemies.' He owes Illinois nothing.
He's also put the Democrat Party in the position of having to defend tax deductions. This will also cause a split between leftists who love high taxes (Bernie Sanders and his Brooklynite hipsters) and Dem congress-critters who have to defend their constituents.
God, the man can sense weakness.
Foreign reader(s) should understand that this allows an American to count his state taxes against his Federal taxes.
This idea is a major revenue raiser.
More interestingly, eliminating the state-tax deduction will have a yuuge impact on the blue states that voted for Hillary! Fore example the California state income tax is 13%.
This is very important to California, Illinois, New York, our own New Jersey.
Texas, not so much.
President Trump is following one of Barrack Hussein Obama's rules, 'Reward your friends and punish your enemies.' He owes Illinois nothing.
He's also put the Democrat Party in the position of having to defend tax deductions. This will also cause a split between leftists who love high taxes (Bernie Sanders and his Brooklynite hipsters) and Dem congress-critters who have to defend their constituents.
God, the man can sense weakness.
Justifiably smug
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