🚨 important 🚨 Declassified U.S. State Department telegram quoting an Arab League meeting in Lebanon in August 1960, when Arab states decided to create a "Palestinian entity" aimed at undermining Israel through UN manipulation & military action. With the help of the Soviets,
Yasser Arafat, Mr Lubra Lips, was the force behind branding all of what the Arabs of the Levant wanted to achieve: namely the destruction of Israel and extermination of the Jews. As had his elder cousin before him, the Hitler-loving and Nazi-loving Sheikh of Jerusalem, Amin al Husseini.
Yasser it was who was repeatedly offered a Two-State Solution, offered a fixed homeland for the Arabs of Levant, but who repeatedly rebuffed the offers and instead promoted Intifadas. That is, the random bombing, the random massacre, of random Jewish mothers and children. Only to have the world turn around and say, to Israel : "Israel, when are you going to try harder."
Dr Steve Turley, above, on important developments in Italy.
Georgia Meloni, PM of Italy, draws the line. We are Europe -- she says -- and we have our values. If you want to come here, you must adhere to those values, not those of your medieval ideology.
Is it fair? You bet! And long overdue. Just look at Iran. Why are the people there uprising? Because they hate the ideology that they've been oppressed by since 1979. Where ex-Muslims are revolting, as Harris Sultanshows. Just the latest of 8 uprisings. Where over 12,000 have already been slaughtered by the regime.
I do hope Trump does a Venezuela on it. (even though, as I write, he's toning down his tough talk. Don't go soft on us now, Donald!).
Italy -- Georgia Meloni -- is just trying NOT to be the next Iran. Trying NOT to be swallowed by fascistic Islamic ideology.
Islam is most clearly a wicked ideology.
It is an idology that is supremacist, homophobic, misogynist, racist, anti free speech, anti non-Muslims. Also: anti-drink, anti-music, anti-dance, anti-films, anti-women's hair. Pretty much anti everything that makes life worth living. (and that does include women's hair...).
You could argue people who adhere to this ideology should not even be allowed into our western countries. Or allowed into liberal Asia: Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Korea. I would argue that. I would happily take that side of a debate.
But if you can't bring yourself to that level of discrimination, then at the very least we must follow the lead of cara Georgia. To say to these guests in our countries:
"Very well, if you insist on moving to our countries, we expect that you follow our de-minimis demands. Do not insist on your own public oppressions. Oppressions of your women and ours. Oppressions of our rights to enjoy drink and music. Do not insist that your women dress in bags and cover their faces. Do not insist that we close our pubs. Do not insist that we follow Halal dietary cruelty. Do not insist we follow your Ramadan fasts. Do not insist that areas you've colonized are no-go 'Sharia Zones'.
"We're done. We will not stand for it."
Imagine. Italy being Roman! If you had to choose between living under the Roman Empire of the Islamic Caliphate, which would you choose? For me it's easy. It's Rome every time. Rome, aka the West, wins every time.
It's too much to expect that what Georgia Meloni is doing will win out against the European Blob. The Blog of Angela von der Leyen. Or the Blobs of Macron and Merz. Or the Blob of Keir der Sturmer's Islamic Britain. Which are in thrall to the idea that the west is Bad and Islam is Good. Who are even more in thrall to the idea that the dollars flowing from Islamic regimes to the west are wery wery welcome.
But still one can hope. It's Georgia, cara Georgia, who's given us that hope.
Auguri Georgia! Auguri Bella!
ADDED:
I thought Iran was majority Shia Muslim. Turns out that it's majority "Atheist, Agnostic or None", a total of 37%. That's the plurality, vs Shia Muslim at just 32%. The ancient traditional Persian religion of Zoroastrianism still has 7%, more than I'd've thought. (If you'd've asked me).
Stats for 2020. I'll bet Iran's become even less Shia since then
I first came across Scott Adams when he had an interview with Sam Harris. The theme was Trump, and the fact that Scott had been one of the very few to predict a Trump win in 2016, mainly on the basis of his view that Trump was using classic persuasion techniques.
Over the years I've watched his morning shows, Coffee with Scott Adams, with some regularity. I found him a unique mind. Often I didn't agree with his views, but if I didn't, I had to think hard to work out why. For much else, I was either persuaded or agreed with him. The one thing about him that really got on my goat was that he was a very defensive character and if people criticised him, he got very tetchy.
These are what I think will be my lasting memories of his "teachings" (as he called them):
One movie two, screens. How we can see the same thing, but have very different readings of it. See, eg, the recent ICE shooting of a young woman protester, which has plenty of video. The Dems say it was "murder". The Reps say it was "self defence".
Framing: how you frame something can have a big effect. He framed drinking alcohol as being drinking poison. That's pretty strong stuff!
Talent Stacks: work at adding each talent you have to the stack of existing talents, until you become a unique talent stack, useful to many employers.
Systems over goals. This is one of the best one of his teachings. It's important. It seems to me that the Dems in America are all about Goals, which they see as being important and makes them feel good; and Reps, who are all about Systems, that making something better is the better way to go, rather than reaching for the impossible goal.
I'll quote from the Grokipedia article on Systems over Goals:
In his 2013 book How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life, Scott Adams introduced the systems versus goals framework as a core element of his personal success philosophy, arguing that pursuing repeatable processes yields better long-term outcomes than fixating on discrete targets.[59][60] Adams summarizes that goals put individuals in a state of "nearly continuous failure" until achieved, while systems let one "succeed every time [they apply them]."[61] He defines a goal as a specific, future-oriented objective—such as losing 20 pounds or running a marathon—that often fosters discouragement and dependency on willpower.[61] In contrast, a system comprises habitual actions performed regularly, like maintaining a healthy diet or exercising daily, which generate incremental progress and daily satisfaction regardless of ultimate attainment.[62][59]
Adams attributes his own career achievements, including the syndication of Dilbert in 1989, to systems-oriented habits such as consistent content creation and skill-building rather than rigid milestones.[60] He posits that systems enhance probability of success by compounding small wins and adapting to setbacks, whereas goals risk demotivation upon non-achievement or complacency post-success, citing observational evidence from high achievers who prioritize routines over endpoints.[59][62] For instance, in career advancement, a goal might be "get promoted to manager," inducing anxiety during the interim, while a system of networking daily and upskilling continuously builds momentum and opportunities organically.[60]
The framework extends to broader life domains, including fitness and business, where Adams claims systems reduce reliance on fleeting motivation and align with human psychology's preference for immediate reinforcement.[59] He illustrates this with dieting: a weight-loss goal creates binary failure until met, but an "eat right" system succeeds with each compliant meal, sustaining adherence over time.[61] Adams has reiterated this concept in subsequent writings and podcasts, positioning it as a tool for probabilistic success in uncertain environments, though he acknowledges it complements rather than replaces all forms of planning.
The allegedly “racist” thing that Scott said was in 2023 when he commented on a Rasmussen poll showing 52% of Blacks in America thought “it’s not OK to be White”. A commenter on Akkad notes: “[Scott’s] ‘controversial’ take was that we have no obligation to associate with people who hold open and explicit disdain for us based on skin colour”.
Scott was interviewed a lot after this issue. But always by Black podcasters and bloggers, all of whom in one way or another agreed with him. Not a single one of the legacy media interviewed him.
My God, this might be the loudest mic drop I've ever seen in the history of debating 🤠bookmark and post every time a zombie PR Jihad propagandist comes at you with the AIPAC/Israel "aid" talking point 🔥
While in the American state of Minnesota, currently engaged in a "war" with the Federal Governmenet (in its own words), its Lt Governor Penny Flanagan, donned a Hijab, a symbol of female servitude, to "show respect" to the Minnesotan Somali community, which has been defrauding American taxpayers to the tune of over $9 Billion.
Never once in the years I've been following Islam and related issues on this blog, have I seen women, women who are allegedly "liberated", stand up for women of the world, for women in the Middle East, in countries like Iran, where they are oppressed far more grotesquely, far more murderously, than they are in the U.S..
Shame on legacy media, like the BBC, who do not cover the very big story of the demonstrations in Iran. Which may turn out to the be biggest story of the year. Or even the decade.
Konstantin Kisin of Triggernometry podcast, talks to ex Aussie Deputy PM John Anderson.
Quoted above by Elon Musk.
Remember when Elon bought Twitter and turned it into X? October 2022.
At the time, the Left went crazy. Melted down in anger. They also predicted that Elon would fail. They tried everything to make him fail. Like calling for advertiser boycotts. To which Elon once famously responded, on a stage with Andrew Ross Sorkin: "you think you can influence me with advertising. Fuck you!"
I remember an old Leftie friend of mine asking me if I, like Elon, was a "free speech absolutist". This was said as a criticism. Being hard line for Free Speech was a Bad Thing, for her. She'd been told that by her reading of the headlines (and only the headlines, she proudly told me) from the Guardian.
All that's happened to X since Elon bought it, is that it's become a lot better. Like, a whole lot, lot, better. More features, more openness. More people using it. Making more money than ever. Competitors on the Left, like Blue Sky, are failing.
By Pew Polls X is the least biased social media platform. It is also the most widely read. And most used by people of real influence. Leaders, scientists, entrepreneurs, artists. And yes, even our lovely Social Justice Warriors!
This is a huge story. The potential downfall of the Islamic Revolutionary Regime. Which has brutalised its people since 1979.
But the BBC has signally failed to cover it. Because it doesn't fit their narrative. Which is: Islam good, the west bad. And all that goes with that.
If the demos in Iran manage to topple the theocratic, Islamist regime, it will be good for the people of Iran. Which may become "Persia" again. And good for the region -- for they won't be supporting the likes of Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis. And because they won't be funding terror and assassination cells in the west.
But for the Beebs it's like "nothing the see here".
In the above video, an ex presenter at the BBC, Sally Jones, talks to Mark Dolan of TalkTV.
Family Guy's take on the "Jewish question". Which I wrote about a bit more at the post last year.
The irony: things are worse today than they've been for nearly a century. I've never seen such open, clearly expressed, almost proud, but ultimately vile, anti-semitism in the whole of our little planet. Aka: "Jew hatred". It's here, there and everywhere.
There's a lot of interesting talk amongst these three gentlemen. About the future of Europe and of its most important component, Germany. Having been told about professor Tarik Cyril Amer, by an Occasional Reader. I don't agree with much of what Amer says, but some of it, yeah sure.
One criticism: when they're talking about what happened to make Germany so weak, as it is today, and what could be done about it, they do no mention the single most important thing: Energy.
Energy = Growth. Less energy, or more expensive energy = less growth.
Germany embarked on a "transformation", from fossil fuels and nuclear to wind and solar. It's been an expensive failure. Major industries have decamped. Because they can't afford the energy.
Therefore. One simple answer to the question "what can be done about Germany?" is this one: "Open up to every energy source that is available. Nuclear, gas, fracking, and, yes, even coal.". Open up to it all.
But, no. The Greens have got them too much in thrall. As I've said before about the Greens. They're the single biggest reason that the world now has a carbon dioxide issue. They alone. The Greens have destroyed the planet. Because of their safetyist hate on Nuclear.
If you only read the headline, you'd think the South China Morning Post is actually talking about "Asia". In which case, Wow! Damage to US — Asia relations! Can't be good!
Read further past the headline and it turns out they're talking about three countries: Cambodia, Laos and North Korea. Sure they're in Asia. But they're the poorest and worst governed of Asia.
These three are 54 million population out of 4.85 Billion in Asia, or just 1.08% of the total. They are inconsequential.
Each one is a one party authoritarian state. You'd expect them to be worried about the legitimacy of their own rulers.
None of them has been known for making wise decisions. From the insanely murderous Pol Pot in Cambodia to the Kim family in North Korea, they've made one bad decision after another.
Meantime who in Asia are getting closer to America? The countries that matter. Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, India. (We leave China aside. Of course they're against whatever America does).
In sum: The above article is bogus drivel. I guess “click bait” would cover it.
This is a very long video on Peter Diamandis’ YT channel with Dave Blundin. Also one of the most comprehensive interviews, to help us understand the grand visions of Elon Musk, the most consequential human on the planet.*
A lot of focus on energy.
Energy determines wealth and growth. On energy “Solar is everything”. Elon is also full on with nuclear. But big pic and long term, he says, the Sun is our biggest supplier of energy. We’re far away from using even a fraction of one percent of the Sun’s energy.
Grok: “We use roughly 0.01% of the Sun's total energy output that reaches Earth (≈ 0.00001% of the Sun's total energy production).”
01:49:45 - The Search for Extraterrestrial Life 02:00:01 - The Future of Robotics and AI Integration
=======================
*You don’t agree? That Elon is “the most consequential human on the planet”? Then who? What other entrepreneur? What other politician? What other scientist?
In the wake of a young woman killed by ICE agents in Minnesota, here’s an old post from comedian Chris Rock. It’s wise advice from Chris Rock. I only wish it had been promoted more. Tell your kids that if they're stopped by the police they should obey the orders of the police. Instead of telling your kids and especially telling young Black men that the “police are out to murder you”. That’s not the case, proven by exhaustive statistics analysed by Harvard professor Roland Frier.
If the young woman killed in self defence had followed Chris’s advice she would be alive now. Instead she tried to run over an ICE agent carrying out a legal action. Sad…
PS: I posted this vid in 2021, and also earlier. Where I commented on professor Steven Pinker, Harvard psycholinguist, himself a leftie, who made the case that cutting back on police numbers (today's “Defund the police”) is crazy and only leads to more crime (gee!), harming most of all minority neighbourhoods. This advice of Pinker's -- to maintain and respect officers of law and order -- has been comprehensively ignored by his party. As has, sadly, Chris Rock's video advice.
I’m going to say this once, and I don’t care if it makes people uncomfortable.
If you have never lived in Venezuela
If you did not grow up there
If you did not watch your country collapse in real time
If you did not stand in food lines
If you did not watch your parents lose everything they built
If you did not have to leave your home with nothing
Then shut the fuck up.
You do not have an opinion.
Your opinion does not matter.
And you don’t get to lecture anyone about what’s happening there.
I’m Venezuelan.
I lived there most of my life until my early twenties.
I watched my country go from a functioning democracy to full blown socialism right in front of my eyes.
This is not politics to me.
This is trauma.
Before socialism, Venezuela was not perfect, but it worked.
There was trade.
There was money coming in.
There was investment from the US.
There were jobs.
There was food.
There was medicine.
My family had five businesses.
We had our home
We had investments.
We had a future.
Then the government started nationalizing everything.
Private companies were taken.
Foreign investors were pushed out.
Imports were blocked.
Price controls destroyed production.
Corruption exploded.
And everything died.
Not slowly.
Violently.
People didn’t suddenly become poor because of “capitalism” or “the US” or whatever bullshit slogan people like to repeat online.
They became poor because socialism destroyed incentives, destroyed production, destroyed trust, and destroyed hope.
People today in Venezuela are not debating ideology.
They are trying to survive.
They are trying to find food.
Trying to find medication.
Trying to keep their families alive.
So when I see people in the West posting from comfortable homes, full fridges, stable currencies, and safe streets talking about “imperialism” or “US bad” or “Trump this or that”
No.
It’s not complicated.
You’re just ignorant.
China is not rebuilding Venezuela.
Russia is not rebuilding Venezuela.
Cartels are not rebuilding Venezuela.
They are stealing.
They are extracting.
They are draining what’s left.
If the US comes in and reinvests
If refineries get rebuilt
If infrastructure gets restored
If imports open back up
If food, water, and medicine become accessible again
If people can work and earn with dignity
Then yes.
Let them take all the oil they want.
Because at least something gets built instead of destroyed.
This is something to celebrate.
Not because it’s perfect.
But because for the first time in a long time, there is hope.
Hope that families can eat.
Hope that people don’t have to flee their country.
Hope that Venezuela can function again.
If you’ve never lived through a country collapsing
If you’ve never watched socialism destroy everything around you
If you’ve never had to leave your home because staying meant starvation
Then again
Shut the fuck up.
This isn’t theory.
This isn’t politics.
This is lived experience.
By Stephen Subero. Singer
=====================
Me: Socialism is horrible. I've seen it. I've lived it. I know it.
Socialism makes people poor and wretched. It encourages corruption, fraud and waste. It's the most destructive ideology of the 20th century, a period with plenty of destructive ideologies.
Nicholas Freitas is a Green Beret who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Green Berets are like the Delta Force that carried out the snatch and arrest of Mr and Mrs Maduro last week. So he know a thing or two about the whole issue.
He supports the operation. As does every single Venezuelan I’ve seen since. Not just “most” Venezuelans, but every Venezuelan. That’s key and appears to be ignored by the Leftie Luvvies demonstrating in Times Square to “bring back Maduro”. When a year ago they were mocking Trump for not having Maduro taken down. Literally no way to win any Democrat approbation. Now when you’re Donald Trump.
Nick is worried about “regime change” and what Trump means when he says “we’re in charge” of Venezuela. For now. Temporarily. So am I and so are many. But I do believe Foreign Secretary Marco Rubio has thought this through and the upside for Venezuelans can be massive and positive.
Let me summarise the Upsides:
Good for Venezuelans. Check out YouTube. It’s nothing but wild celebrations from Venezuelans worldwide.
Many of the 8 million Venezuelans who fled return home.
Less drug traffic
Less human trafficking
Less involvement in Venezuela by China, Iran, Russia.
“Kill the chicken to frighten the monkeys”. Putting the fear of god into dictators everywhere.
What are the Downsides?
Chaos and failed state. But it’s a chaotic failed state already.
Having to listen to whining from anti-Trumpers about how awful this is …
“Why didn’t you arrest more Maduro regime members?” (Margaret Brennan, CBS)
Chuck Schumer be like:
“Why didn’t Trump arrest the illegal, illegitimate Maduro?” (2020)
Also Chuck:
“We have to top Trump doing anything in Venezuela” (2025). After Trump has arrested the “illegal, illegitimate Maduro”.
Vince Dao reveals (above vid) more unequivocal— gargantuan! — Democratic Hypocrisy. Every Democrat and legacy media was calling for Maduro’s ouster in 2020. Every Democratic and legacy media is calling Trump a bully for achieving Maduro’s ouster, in 2025.
That’s some industrial level hypocrisy right there.
A fighter pilot, Max Afterburner, nom de internet of Ryan Bodenheimer, comments on briefing by General Dan Caine, after the stunning and stunningly successful arrest of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro in the middle of the night in Caracas.
Super interesting for War Nerds. (“Cry havoc! And let loose the Nerds of war”).
Oh, wait.... there's a bunch of white, middle-aged, mostly women, who aren't happy.
Who think it's a Very Bad Thing. That America arrested a man, Nicolas Maduro, who has been indicted for a decade. Who has impoverished, murdered, imprisoned and traficked his people and his country.
But, for those lefties in Times Square, it was done by Trump. Ergo: Bad. Man...
Poland becomes capitalist in 1990 and the economy Zooms.
Venezuela becomes socialist in 1999 and is impoverished.
We know that these are "correlations with causation". The cause of the Zoom for Poland, the cause of the impoverishment for Venezuela, in each case, the causes were the policies followed.
We know this because we study the individual examples. And because we have plenty of other examples out there.
Eg: The difference between North and South Korea. Eg: The difference between the old East Germany and West Germany. North Korea, East Germany, both run as Socialist economies, both grindingly poor. South Korea and West Germany, both run as Capitalist economies, both wealthy.
We also know that in every single country that socialism has been tried, it's failed. The people have got poorer. The economy has tanked. Repression and dictatorship abound.
Then there's China. Socialist until the late 1970s. Then more capitalist. Aka, run by allowing market forces to operate. That was what raised hundreds of millions of Chinese out of poverty. Not socialism. But the exact extent to which the authorities allowed market forces, capitalism, to operate. That was the exact extent to which they prospered.
I saw the effects of socialism when I first arrived in socialist China in 1976. The only vegetable you could get in winter was cabbage. Bread was unavailable. Shoes and clothes were rationed. Rice was rationed. Meat was rationed. Then Zhao Ziyang began the "Four Modernisations", the Chinese version of Market Forces. Lo! China prospered.
Yet, in New York's Times Square, yesterday, we saw crowds of people calling for more socialism. For more Communism. For more of the "Bolivarian revolution". For Maduro do be released. For America to become socialist, communist even.
There's no teaching some people. Some people are immune to the lessons of history. Some people will never learn the lessons of history, not matter how much you tell them. I think we just have to live with that reality and simply not let them near the levers of power. Because we know, to a moral certainly, what happens to a successful economy when you turn it Socialist. In a word: Penury. In another word: Ruination.
Brandon Lehman is a smart young YouTuber who I’ve followed for years. He usually has knowledgeable take on world affairs, from a conservative perspective. You want the Left perspective, go to any of the legacy media, CNN, MSNBC, BBC…
In the vid above Brandon reckons the Dems are going to lose Hispanic support for refusing to recognise that Venezuelans themselves, in Venezuela, in the United States, around the world are ecstatic that the dictator has been arrested. They “praise the Lord”, but thank the United States… and even Donald Trump. While they are lectured and hectored by White inner-city wokesters on how wrong they are. Let’s see how that plays out in the elections.
Notes:
Most countries did NOT recognise Nicolas Maduro’s 2024 election.* At the time every Democrat denounced him and his grab of power. Most recognised the opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzales. The Biden administration even set a Bounty of $25 million (later $50 million) on his head. A Bounty means a guy is presumed criminal, not a legitimate president. A legitimate target for bounty hunters; in this case the US Armed forces.
Brandon features Dem Senator Chris Van Hollen in full-blown hypocrisy mode. Condemning Maduro when Biden was in power, slamming Trump when he does something about Maduro. The rest of the Dems I’ve seen quoted since the Maduro Manacle, are venting their hypocrisy in exactly the same way. Amazing. I mean the shamelessness of it!
Meantime: What’s happening to the “Rules Based Order?” by Carl Benjamin. Carl mentions that the Venezuela economy has fallen 80% since Maduro came to power in 2015. That’s EIGHTY! Percent! I Fact checked that and it’s correct, according to the IMF, the World Bank and Council on Foreign Relations.
Since Maduro, 8 million Venezuelans have fled the country, for safety and money reasons.That’s the largest single emigration from any single country, ever.
And this is the man we now see Democrats in the United States marching on the streets in support!? A man they reviled less than two years ago!?
Maduro in manacles. Yukking it up, with his captors
Amazing News!
Nicolas Maduro and his Missus are captured, in the middle of the night, by US forces. Spirited away to New York, where they await trial for being major drug and human traffickers.
Republicans are a bit bamboozled and not sure if they like it or not, based on their "America First" philosophy. Should we really be going into another country? [See below links to some of this].
Democrats hate it because it's Trump. [See CNN and MSNBC]
I love it. Because it's forceful and has more upsides than downsides.
The upsides:
Venezuelans love it
America reclaims the oil leases that were stolen ("expropriated without compensation" by Hugo Chavez).
Some hope that the Venezuelan economy can be reignited. Venezuelans in the US go back to Venezuela. Venezuelans prosper.
Stopping -- or at least dramatically reducing -- drug shipments to the US and human trafficking.
Kicking out adversaries: Iran, Hezbollah, Russia, China, all in there making hay. Now stymied.
The downsides:
Just go to CNN and MSNBC to see the freak out. Which mostly seems to be: it was done by Trump, therefore we hate it.
Recalling that the Dems hated Maduro when he came to power. They criticised him because he was, they said, "illegitimate". They claimed that Trump adored Maduro, a "fellow dictator", a person he wanted to emulate, said the Dems. Now here is Trump putting Maduro in manacles, to prep him for a serious court case.
Go figure that one. The hypocrisy is rank.
The Dems are constantly being outed for their hypocrisy. But they seem no longer to even care. Their hypocrisy is out and about, in the open and they don't care.
In short: this is a major power play. I'm betting that Trump & Co will win the day.
Good. I'm glad that Israel recognises the State of Somaliland.
Yay, Somaliland!
The rest of the world, the United Nations, losing their minds over this, is the best part. For it highlights their hypocrisy.
Natasha Hausdorff, international law expert, who I've had on here many times, sets it out.
The case for recognising "Palestine" was about zero of the four requirements of statehood. That is: 1. A permanent population. 2. A defined terrirory. 3. A government. 4. A capacity to enter into international relations. NONE of those was present when my own country, of which I'm ashamed in this regard, recognised "The State of Palestine".
ALL of these criteria exist in the case of Somaliland.
And: Israel will have an ally opposite the Houthis. An ally which says it will join the Abraham Accords.
The Abraham Accords are the greatest chance of making the Middle East a livable, a growing, a flourishing, centre of humanity. Not Hamas. Not Iran. Not Islam. No. The practicalities of the Abraham Accords. To invent. To innovate. To be an open, liberal, tolerant, clever society.
This is so funny to review. Funny New Year's laughs. They were all soooo sure that Trump would not, could not, win. Yet, all these people are still there, still pontificating, and we still, for some weird reason, pay attention to them.
“Mullocracy” = Dictatorship of the Mullahs. Aka Dictatorship of the Ayatollahs. Aka Theocracy. Aks Iran.
Which Iran has been since 1979. And which so many Iranians have come to hate. And now bravely say so. As in the video above.
Unlike the faux “bravery” of a Greta Thunberg in the west. Who is performative in her “resistance”, who “speaks truth to power”, is “bravely” arrested, and out of jail before the day has ended, in Iran, women who resist, who break the law by going into public with hair uncovered risk jail, rape and death. To resist the Iranian regime is the real bravery. Western women defying cops in western cities are performative.
Do not forget: this regime in Iran is the one who came to power in 1979, via revolution fomented by leftist allies. The Mullah regime, the Islamic theocracy then repaid their allies by executing over 30,000 of them.
Zero good has come out of the Mullocracy since 1979. Only oppression and terrorism. Terrorism exported to allies and proxies: Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthi, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen…. Even in South America where they fund nasty regimes like Maduro’s Venezuela.
If it’s true that the Iranian demonstrators are out in force this time because “enough is enough”, that’s a good thing. But I’ve seen reports that counter the one in the video above, that claim today’s demonstrations are like the demonstrations during Obama — unsupported by Obama — which failed to overturn the Theocracy, perhaps precisely because of that lack of American and western support.
This time Washington has come out in support of regime change. Good.
I drove through a lot of Iran in 1974. I was in a clapped-out Ford Anglia, on the way from London to New Delhi, with girlfriend and another couple. In Iran, we visited old friends, Aussies, teaching in Isfahan. We met their students. Lovely, open, friendly people. Society was open. The Shah was in charge. He a moderate, liberal, pushing for open education, women’s rights, housing reform… all kinds of nice stuff. Stuff the Left loves! But the Shah had secret police, the Savak, notoriously violent. And so, to the liberal west this was a Bad Man. He had to go.
This case is just one of many that reminds me of Thomas Sowell’s famous quote:
“There are no solutions; only trade offs”.
People made the mistake of assuming the Ayatollah, the Mullahs, the Islamists, the Theocracy was a Solution. Had they thought it was a matter of Trade Off, we’d rather have an open minded, secular -Shah, even with his dreaded Savak, than an oppressive, dictatorial Islamist theocracy. It’s not a matter of hindsight either. Plenty of people warned about this at the time. But President Jimmy Carter, that achingly liberal incompetent, preferred Ayatollah Khomeini. Because, you know, you’d rather have an anti-west Theocracy than a pro-west Shah who had secret police.
Of such quirks is world history made.
Now, nearly 50 years later, it may be time for history to turn again. Inshallah….
ADDED: How do I feel overall? About the demonstrations in Iran? Pessimistic. I doubt the unarmed populace will be able to topple the theocrats, protected as they are by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps — the much-worse-than-Savak armed police who protect the regime. I hope I’m wrong.
If you are convinced you have “Solutions”, you can get yourself into real trouble. That’s the key problem with communism, with socialism. People keep on thinking they’re Solutions. Whereas they are almost always worse than the “bad” situation they replace.
Much safer to consider if what you’re facing, the problem you want to solve, may be one of “Trade Offs”. Where there are choices, often between bad and worse. Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979 was one much. A matter of people supporting a worse outcome because it was seen as a Solution to a “bad” situation.
The All-in Podcast bros, the "besties": Jason Calecanis; Chamath; David Sacks; David Friedman. Talk about Nick Shirley, the exposer of Minnesota Somali fraud. And more.
There's a lot that's disturbing and worrying on this video, a record of the thinking of some of the brightest minds in tech America. They worry about the viability of America if states continue on the California-type line, of ever increasing taxes to fund ever more far-left causes. But also.. we now know... to fund so much fraud, in the "Charity Industrial Complex", aka the "NGO Industrial Complex".
And we end up thinking: THAT's why they hated it, the Dems and TDS people, back in Feb-March, when Elon Musk pursued DOGE, tried to cut off clearly fraudulent or wasteful spending of government charitaable funds. Because it was all -- and remains all -- a huge money laundering operation.
And yet.. if the amount of fraud were stopped in its tracks, it's likely that the US could cut its annual deficit to zero. That would surely help with the viability of America. A country with over $US 37 Trillion on debt.
But the Dems don't want that. Because the money is too good.
“So before I was nine I had learned the basic canon of Arab life. It was me against my brother; me and my brother against our father; my family against my cousins and the clan; the clan against the tribe; and the tribe against the world. And all of us against the infidel.”
This is clearly how the Somali community in Minnesota operates. It's support the Clan no matter what, especially when you're being attacked by the hated infidel.
It's the clannishness that's led to them deflecting, denying and obfuscating the huge, massive fraud (ok, "alleged" fraud) that's ripped over $US 8 Billion from the American taxpayer -- money that was to go to children and autism sufferers -- and instead of saying "We have a problem in our community and we must cooperate to help stamp it out", are saying "Not me, boss. Not us". And "you're all racists and white supremacists" for noticing the fraud. ("alleged" fraud...).
Such a huge story on the Right. Such a non-story on the Left: full of deflection, deletion, denial and name-calling, not just by the Somali Clans, but also by the legacy media, who are all-in to deny the rampant fraud, that even they admitted was happening during Biden's admin... Weird.
