 |
| North wall. South facing |
The koi carp still replicate in our fish pond.
The sun still rises over our Banyan tree.
Wars aside.
Thursday, 9 April 2026
Victory? | Michael Doran and Gadi Taub
Victory?
Of course not to the legions in the media, the Trump and Bibi haters worldwide.
Not to the “Gleeful Defeatists”. Whose personal hatreds of two men trump their support for the enlightenment values of the west. Who openly cheer for the victory of the worst tyrannical theocracy this century.
Michael Doran and Gadi Taub have been fair-minded yet hard-headed analysts from a right-of-centre perspective. If you want perspective from left-of-centre, you just need to go to any of the mainstream media. CNN will give it you. So will the BBC. And so will Australia’s ABC. And Democrats too, of course. Australia’s Labor government. All of Europe….
Mike and Gadi are fair: they read out a list of ways the pro-Iran-regime crowd claim IRGC has won. As well as the counter to that. Which amounts to a reckoning that we, the west, are much better off than we were on October 8th 2023. This will no doubt be mocked as being “major cope”. You watch.
But, yeah. A Victory on points.
There’s discussion of the moral dilemmas of asymmetric war. Where the enemy is perfectly willing to put its citizens in harm’s way, to kill them if they dare resist. Gadi mentions an Israeli analyst who says that if the enemy puts civilians in front of military targets, you must stop the war. Which of course will mean that the west can never win another war against terrorists. It’s the ultimate “terrorist veto”.
It’s what happened with the hostages in Gaza. One’s own military becomes hostage to the hostages. It’s a dilemma. Which some people, like Yishai Fleisher, argue against. And I support. Such are the exigencies of existential battles. Not “if they go low, we go high”. Uncomfortable, sure.
Me? On the issue of “ceasefire” I’m not at all keen, as I wrote. So I remain firmly of the opinion of “hmmm…”. Which is, at best, “we”ll see”. What do I know? Nothing. “I know nothing…”.
**************************
Vince Dao, a young conservative commenter, makes some good points. He strikes me as pretty smart. Head screwed on. Why Iran regime is changed, whatever the current appearance.
=========================
ADDED: There are reports — unconfirmed— that China pressured Iran into agreeing to this ceasefire. This could make sense. End of the day what they want, what we all want, tbf, is a peaceful Middle East. Or at least one without an Islamist, terrorist, genocidal-suicidal, millenarian, regional-global bully.*
*ADDED (2): Grok answer to my query:
Yes, multiple credible reports confirm that China exerted pressure on Iran to accept a recent two-week ceasefire with the United States (and involving Israel), which was announced on April 8, 2026. The truce includes a pause in hostilities and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz for safe passage. [More]
Wednesday, 8 April 2026
"Ceasefire"? Or Rearming Opportunity?
Joe Siracusa's hard-headed analysis of the "ceasefire".
Which I'm wary of, but hope for the best. That's all that can be said about it.
Hope for the best.
While knowing that the IRGC is going to rearm and that they're trolling America along. Something they've been doing since Jimmy Carter.
I'm a big "hmmm".... about this.
The Best Artemis II Moon Images (so far) | Chris Pattison
I remember the very first moon landing in July 1969. And now to see this. In Space, in the midst of Earth wars... So much going on, some good. Some bad. And some stupendous, like the mission and the photos above.
 |
| Earth set |
Tesla crushing it in China…
,,. and Japan and Korea and Australia and Hong Kong…
And… it’s not a car company! It’s a robot and AI company. And an energy company: batteries and Superchargers.
Time for some good news. Brought to you by Danish YouTuber Lars Strandridder.
America: “No man left behind”. Australia: “No man left unprosecuted”
Is this too tough? Too far-right? Too extreme? Or is it a fair take of Australia? At least of the Left in Oz?
I confess to contemplating this from time to time: that Australia’s guilt at “Stolen land” is at once useless and dangerous.
The US spent $300 million to save one downed airman in Iran.
Australia meanwhile spent $300 million to prosecute our most decorated Afghan War veteran and charge him with war crimes.
Our government literally paid for billboards and newspaper advertisements in Afghanistan advertising rewards if random people came forward with war crimes allegations against Australian soldiers.
There is a sickness at the heart of our civilisation.
We are a country and civilization with no will to live.
Our political class believe that Australia is built on “Stolen Land” and that all white Australians are therefore stained from birth with the crime of genocide.
They therefore have no will to live. They wish they had never been born and that the nation never existed.
This is what it looks like when your elite hate themselves and hate the country. Drew Pavlou
Tuesday, 7 April 2026
The Islamic Republic of Iran: War on the United States
I post this for the record.
Which could bolster a claim -- which I have not seen the U.S. make, but I think it could -- that it has been attacked by a country, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and therefore requires help from NATO members to take defensive action.
Despite which Capitulationists, like France, Italy, Germany and Spain have refused even the minimum help, like allowing overflight of US Airforce planes. Which I have a sneaking suspicion is partly because Trump posts hurty diatribes on his Truth Social. Now, he shouldn't do that, I reckon. But to get upset about it? As France's Emmanuel Macron has done? Get over it Emmanuel!
Here is the Grok summary of attacks on the United States since the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979. All of which amount to carrying out their declaration of war, given the regime's mantra: "Death to America!"
Major incidents where Iran or Iran-backed groups attacked the United States or its forces since 1979:
- November 4, 1979: Iranian militants seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. No hostages were killed. A failed U.S. rescue attempt (Operation Eagle Claw, April 1980) killed 8 U.S. servicemen.
- April 18, 1983: Iran-backed Islamic Jihad bombed the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, killing 17 Americans (63 total).
- October 23, 1983: Iran-backed Hezbollah bombed the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, killing 241 U.S. service members (220 Marines, 21 others).
- June 25, 1996: Iran-backed Hezbollah al-Hejaz bombed Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, killing 19 U.S. airmen.
- 2003–2011: Iranian-backed Shia militias in Iraq, supplied and trained by Iran’s IRGC with EFPs and IEDs, killed at least 603 U.S. troops (per Pentagon).
- January 8, 2020: Iran launched ballistic missiles directly at U.S. bases in Iraq; 0 killed, over 100 U.S. troops suffered traumatic brain injuries.
Iran has also tried (allegedly) to assassinate president Trump. I've not seen the evidence. But I can easily accept that they would try. Given Trump's vitriol against them. His clear determination to defang their nuclear weapons policy. Only Trump would attack them. Why not try to kill him?
We also heard from the spineless Starmer that the U.K. secret intelligence people have foiled at least 20 Iranian terrorist attacks in 2025 alone. How can we collectively, Europe? pretend that there's no imminent threat? That there's no declaration of war on America and the west? That they are not an existential danger to Europe? Keir?
Monday, 6 April 2026
Resurrection Rescue — the “Easter Miracle”
Resurrection Rescue. The day of Jesus' resurrection, a daring rescue brings the downed airman home.
Max Afterburner tells the story. Surely a movie here.
Retired Colonel Joe Buccino, shows us the map.
ADDED: Mainstream Media — CNN, MSNBC, ABC, New York Times… — can hardly bring themselves to mention the rescue. Such is their hatred for Trump they’d rather the American pilots had been lost, or, even better, captured as hostages.
Meantime: Chinese media was claiming that America had killed its pilots. Then.. that they were trying to kill their pilots. Apparently based on IRGC propaganda. Vince Dao, grandson of a South Vietnamese Army general who was airlifted in the infamous “Fall of Saigon” helicopter evacuations, talks about the U.S. doctrine of “no man left behind”. And how anti Americans are spinning this rescue (“Huge cost in wrecked aircraft”).
On the issue of costs of the rescue, I did the calculations. They come to 0.000013 of the Pentagon budget. Less than a rounding error. While Morale boost is huge. And imagine the opposite effect on morale of the Iranians parading a captured pilot. So, yeah, very much worth it. And to be lauded. Screw the Europeans petty-minded shitty take.
Sunday, 5 April 2026
The end of Israel | Oren Cahanovitc
Oren Cahanovitc torches the lies and misrepresentations on the Double Down News YouTube channel. Which represent the views on Israel of so many in the west.
 |
| All Arab Muslim states are classified “Authoritarian” In the region, only Israel is Democratic |
 |
| 15 Flags with Islamic crescent. 30 Dlags with Christian cross One Flag with the Star of David |
More resolutions condemning Israel at U.N. than all other countries combined
Trump, Hormuz and the end of the Free Ride
Food for thought.
For half a century, Western strategists have known that the Strait of Hormuz is the acute point where energy, sea power and political will intersect. That knowledge is not in dispute. What is new in this war with Iran is that the United States, under Donald Trump, has chosen not to rush to “solve” the problem. In Hegelian terms, he is refusing an easy synthesis in order to force the underlying contradiction to the surface.
The old thesis was simple: the US guarantees open sea lanes in the Gulf, and everyone else structures their economies and politics around that free insurance. Europe and the UK embraced ambitious green policies, ran down hard‑power capabilities and lectured Washington on multilateral virtue, secure in the assumption that American carriers would always appear off Hormuz. The political class behaved as if the American security guarantee were a law of nature, not a contingent choice. Their conduct today is closer to Chamberlain than Churchill: temporising, issuing statements, hoping the storm will pass without a fundamental reordering of their responsibilities.
Trump’s antithesis is to withhold the automatic guarantee at the moment of maximum stress.
Saturday, 4 April 2026
Holy Moonshot BatMusk!
I laughed at parts of this video. A giddy laugh. Thinking of the future in space. The next 20 years are going to be wild. One reason I do wish I weren't quite so old. I want to see it. It's the optimistic side of Humankind.
Mining on the moon, mining and manufaturing bysentient humanoid robots, sending manufactured high-tech stuff back to Earth, shot off by maglev slingshot rail, for zero cost, to anywhere on Earth.
Man oh man!
Listen to David Friedberg of the famous All-in Podcast talk about this, and how "there's everything" on the moon. Except for gravity and air. Which makes sending stuff back to Earth, easy and cost-free.
When I listened to all this, I laughed. With delight and giddiness. To think.... To think what's coming. To think of the excitement. Stay away from politics. Concentrate on the fun stuff. Rockets and space.
Friendberg said that just as the railways were the key to opening the west in the 19th Century, SpaceX is the railway of the 21st century.
Tesla will 100% merge with SpaceX, says Chamath (Palihapitiya).The combined company will have the ticker "Elon". We're long TSLA stock. Will never sell.
You can count on the All-in guys. They're tight with Elon.
Tel Aviv, 16 April 2017. Mediterranean Sea.
 |
| Tel Aviv Mediterranean Beach |
A woman’s choice: Live in Tel Aviv or Tehran? No contest. Tel Aviv every time…
Friday, 3 April 2026
The Left’s hysterical opposition to the War | Victor Davis Hanson
Yes it’s true. Hatred of Trump trumps love of country. Trumps patriotism. Trumps the hope of destroying a clear and present threat from religious fanatics.
I find it disturbing and disgusting. I remember how political differences used to be about tax rates and health policy. It used to be about policy and policy differences. Which were debated in the halls of Congress. Now it’s about hating Trump. It’s paid protesters on the streets. It’s regular violence. It’s open calls for the murder of Donald Trump.
Victor Davis Hanson, calm professorial historian, ponders the questions. He talks of the hypocrisy of the Left over this war. If it were prosecuted by Obama, the media and the Left would be swooning and cheering it on. As they did with his bombing in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.
There is no doubt in my mind, in my following of politics in America, that big chunks of Democrats have become openly, even proudly, violent and anarchical. During the “mostly peaceful” No Kings protests last Saturday, I saw sprayed onto the walls of a Federal Building: “Kill your local ICE agent”, followed by the the Anarchist sign. Nothing was done. Nothing.
They hid this about Israel | Daniel Greenfield
Iran has been at war with the United States for nearly fifty years. It’s just that the United States didn’t deign to recognise it. Except for wording words, from president after president. “We must deal with Iran and all options are on the table”. Except they weren’t. The only options “on the table” were talks, sanctions and deals that were immediately broken by the Ayatollahs.
Until Trump. Who really did have all options in the table. Which makes me realise the reason for calling the operation “Epic Fury”. You tweak the tail of the lion often enough, he turns on you with fury. *Epic* Fury. Because it’s taken so long to build.
Daniel Greenfield is correct approximately 100% of the time in the video above.According to my understanding in 20 years now of studying Islam, its theology, its ideology, its caliphate ambitions: he’s spot on.
I used to follow the late David Horowitz, Daniel’s predecessor and founder of the Centre Daniel now runs. Horowitz used to be a Marxist. Who changed when he understood the damage Marxism had done to the world. I always identified with that, as I’d also had an eye opening time when I went to live in Cultural Revolutionary China in the 70s and saw what extreme leftism, Marxism, Maoism had done to China. And by contrast what market forces did in the next 40 years.
Daniel covers a lot in this talk. The current war, Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, Islamophobia and more:
- Why the media narrative around “genocide” is being pushed
- The real reason the Israel–Palestine conflict isn’t about land
- How universities became hostile to Israel and the West
- Qatar’s influence in American institutions
- Why the UN targets Israel more than any other country
- The growing divide inside the conservative movement
- And what may be driving major voices like Tucker Carlson
Time stamps at the show notes.
Mural Wars
This is crazy. And sad. And disturbing.
How does the mural of a beautiful young woman NOT “reflect your values”?
Vince Dao discusses.
Thursday, 2 April 2026
Islamisation of Britain: Complete
Andrew Gold talks to Dave Rubin in Hungary. I've followed Andrew for many years. He's sound; a good analyst.
When I started this blog, 17 years ago, I did a spreadsheet predicting the Islamisation of various countries of Europe. I thought the Scandinavian countries would be first, then Germany and France, then the U.K. And my guess was around the 2050s and 60s.
It's happening now, much quicker than I thought. Much quicker than anyone thought. It's happening right in front of our eyes. There's even talk of civil war.
When Andrew says "I don't know why people didn't see what happened in the Middle East" he's referring to is the Islamic conquests of all those countries.
The Middle East is a lesson. No one learned it.
Except that now a civil war may be imminent in Britain then Europe. Could it be? Or will it just be the crapification of Europe, as happened in all the Islamified countries of the Middle East? Not a one of which was made better by their submission to Allah.
Those Islamic conquests across the Middle East are being replicated in Europe and the U.K.. When the Islamisation is complete, it's the whole Sharia law bit*. Women oppressed and in burkas, minorities oppressed, gays arrested or executed, churches and synagogues closed down, Jews and Christians, and even atheists, like me, driven out.
Grim. Authoritarian. Theocratic. Anti-science. Anti-modernity. Anti-fun.
ADDED: We here in Hong Kong are just fine on that front. We're not about to be Islamified. Our government won't put up with any nonsense on that front, giving in to Muslim demands to "respect Ramadan", or to "ban dogs". No way. And that's a comfort to me in my dotage. To know that we're safe from the ravages of rampant Islam.
========================
*My handy reference guide. The authoritative "What Sharia says about...", based on the Classic Manual of Islamic Jurisprudence.
Included:
“Can Iran really be stopped?” | Max Afterburner
I’ve followed the Max Afterburner channel for some time. And I’ve posted his analysis before. (By the way, “Max” is not Max as in the Mad Max, but Max as in short for “Maximum”. The “Afterburner” being the fighter jet’s booster).
Max Afterburner is Ryan Bodenheimer*, who sets out (0:55) his extensive experience in the U.S. Air Force, and in war, war planning and instruction. It’s extensive.
This is a man clearly proud of his country and its military, but also has a clear-headed view of the difficulties of war. In particular the difficulties of completely suppressing Iran’s IRGC. Which he sees as defaulting to terrorist mode, given its military is essentially destroyed.
The threat from Iran is and was real and explicit. You don’t have to wait, like a tethered goat, for the lion to eat you. You don’t have to wait for the first mushroom cloud to blossom. You don’t have to wait until Iran has so many missiles, so much fortification, so much drone and missile manufacturing capacity, to act. Act is what the U.S. and Israel did. They are supported by 12 Muslim nations! It’s the Europeans (and Australia) who are complicit in appeasement.
I guess this is the first time that Ryan has been on a British YouTube channel, above on Spiked, with Fraser Myers.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction – US War in Iran & Latest Developments
00:55 Guest Introduction – Ryan Bodenheimer, Fighter Pilot & YouTuber
03:28 Has America Won? Assessing Trump's Victory Claim
06:36 Was It Ever a Fair Fight? Iran's Military vs. the US
07:54 Kharg Island Explained – Iran's Oil Lifeline & Strategic Significance
10:45 Taking Kharg Island – Risks, Options & Special Operations
12:24 How Iran Might Retaliate – Terrorism, IEDs & Proxy Tactics
14:30 State of Iran's Proxies – Houthis, Hezbollah & Militias
16:07 US-Israel Coordination – How the Air Campaign Works
18:19 Trump vs. NATO – Is Europe Doing Enough?
21:49 European Sentiment Explained – Energy Bills, Terror Plots & Bafflement
23:12 Energy & the War – Costs for the US and Europe
25:15 China's Role – Air Defences, Rare Earth Minerals & Strategic Interests
27:44 China, Taiwan & the Bigger Picture – Why Taiwan Could Benefit
30:25 The First AI War – Drones, Surveillance & Undersea Technology
33:22 Why the B-52? Economy of Force in Modern Warfare
36:27 What People Misunderstand Most About This War
39:29 Closing Remarks
===============
*Ryan Bodenheimer is a former U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle fighter pilot with 12 years of service, including two operational assignments and 70 combat missions in Afghanistan providing close air support to Tier 1 special operations forces. He was selected for the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds demonstration team, where he flew for two years and performed in 150 air shows before serving as an instructor.
In his squadron's plans department (PLANS), he prepared for potential conflicts involving the Taiwan Straits, Iran, and North Korea. After Afghanistan, he was chief of the PLANS department, teaching on operations against Iran, including degrading its ballistic missiles, drones, and nuclear capabilities.
After leaving the Air Force he was a commercial airline pilot for five years and later started his YouTube channel, Max Afterburner.
Why (and how) does Taiwan make 100% of the world's most advanced chips?
I found this super interesting. As someone living in the region, Hong Kong, right by China Mainland and Taiwan. By “beating” Taiwan, they’re talking of the high-end Chip manufacturing.
Everything you value -- especially your iPhone! -- relies on chips from the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.
I didn't know how important to the manufacture of consistently high-quality high-tech Chips is the fact that Taiwan is sitting on an Earthquake zone. And has huge storms.
And grows "Dongshi" oysters...Phil Andrews explains.
Wednesday, 1 April 2026
Dear Donald: you can't do that! You can't even say it FFS…
... bombing desalination plants? No, no, no. You CANNOT do that. It's like poisoning the wells.
I get the maximalist thing. I get the wanting the scare the s*it out of your enemies thing. I get the keeping if IRGC leaders off balance.
But, but... this is too much. Really. It gets even your supporters wondering about mental capacities. Knock it off. Please.
Like I'll have any effect... heh. Even his closest advisers, like the very sound and logical Foreign Secretary Marco Rubio, have no effect. I just hope he realises it’s counter productive.
Jay does Tesla. The Semi
Jay Leno is a huge car guy. He owns 180 cars kept in “Jay’s Big Dog Garage”, in Burbank CA, worth some $US 100 million. He’s loves all types of car, from steam engines, to turbines and EVs.
He’s hugely knowledgeable about them.
This Tesla Semi can go 800 km on one charge. And recharge in half an hour. It’s more aerodynamic than a Bugatti Veyron. It cost about 20% less to run than the equivalent diesel truck. It doesn’t slow down when it goes up hills, a big safety feature. Safety is built in to the whole concept, as the two Tesla guys explain.
Trucks are 1% of U.S. traffic, but consume 18% of all diesel. So Tesla trucks are going to reduce that dramatically.
Inside it’s a cool truck. Seat in the middle. Office chair for a travelling office.
Production starts this year. As do Cybercabs. So, a big year for Tesla.
These guys are some of what makes me optimistic about America. While the shenanigans go on in Washington, people are out there doing stuff, inventing stuff, improving stuff, making stuff. Making stuff to make the world better. America’s inventive can-do spirit is exemplified by these guys.
ADDED: Meantime ning nongs in Australia torched a Tesla showroom. These are the retards that thought Elon Musk was a climate hero. Until he used his brain to leave the tribe.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)