Putin: The Answer MAN.

    It's that time of the year folks: Czar Putin goes on the airwaves to talk at his people and answer their many questions to the best of his knowledge. This on national TV; it's a custom developed to reduce criticism of his dictatorship. What do the voters want to know? About the death of Lt. Gen. Igor Krillov? No. About the Ukrainian "Special Operation"? No.

      They want to know about the price of potatoes. That lowly tuber that the people eat. Hmmm. The price has doubled. Hmmmmm. What now, Vladdy? Seems the war economy has put lots of rubles into circulation(lots of widows benefits paid out). Too many rubles chasing shrinking numbers of tubers. What to do. Vladdy tells the caller that the Central Bank is not making good decisions(pass the buck/ruble).

     This is Russya's version of the "Clown Show".

What happened to the Ukrainian journalist taken prisoner by Russyan army troops and incarcerated, where and when she died while a prisoner. How did this happen? That question didn't make the cut.

Bring in the Clowns

        Did Elon approve of Trumpie's nominee for IRS Commisioner? Maybe yes, maybe no. But we do know that Trumpie made a delicious choice to run the Tax Agency. Mr. Billy Long is a formner US Congressman from the State of Missouri. He served there for a few terms. Now about his expertise and experience in all things tax.

       Let's seeeeeeeee. Ok, what else? Why not view ProPublica's in depth piece on Mr. Bill. Mr. Bill claims thtat he knows tax/taxes/IRS. He even touts his programs to help folks reduce their tax bill. He claims to be a CTBA, which he adds to his name. What is a CTBA? Hmmmm. It is something created  2 years ago by a company Excell Empire, a Florida firm. If one can afford the fee, $4995. recently, and the time-a 3 day seminar, you will be granted a certificate of: Certified Tax and Business Advisor.

   So, what can you do? One can tell folks-clients- that a taxpayer can deduct business expenses. And........

conduct business.......and file tax returns as required by law, and .................................

    Mr. Billy Long personifies the Trump Clown Show that he hopes the duped Republicans will go along with after January 20th when he assumes the "role" of POTUS. He 'll have another buffoon at the head of an agency of the government that is responsible for tax collection from individuals and private busiuness and those other citizens that Judge John Roberts calls corporations(Citizens United). Mr. Billy touts tax reductions of 40%. Ha s Mr. Billy ever taken a course on taxation? Does he pay his own taxes? Can he show us HIS tax forms?

    Trumpie knows how to get the opposition stirred up, that's for sure. With this nomination, he sends the message far and wide: don't worry about the IRS, it's history. No budget, no IRS.  Paper Tiger=Billy Long.

Ukrainian Journalist Dies in Russyan Custody

         Hi, we're with the "Special Operation" from down east. Your papers, please. Hmmmmm. Says here you're a journalist and you are Ukrainian. Get into our vehicle and don't talk or make any sudden moves. You are now a prisoner of the "Special Operation" ordered by the Kremlin to take back lands that belong to the Czar or the King or the Dictator or the Mad Man. Whoops, sorry, Commander in Chief, Esteemed Leader/Director/ Most Venerated Boss/ No. 1 Rus Person.

     So, journalist and respected reporter, Viktoria Roshchyna, age 27, was arrested by Russyan army troops. After being beaten while in captivity, she was released. She returned to Ukraine, but decided that the war in the eastern provinces of Ukraine needed reporters to chronicle the lives of those Ukrainians upset by the invaders from Russya. She did, and sent articles to her organization for publication. After another trip, she traveled north to Latvia and Poland and from there, went to Russya at great risk to her own safety. She was arrested again, and held by Russyan authorities. While being transfered to another prison in the country, she died under unknown circumstances. Her body has not been recovered or returned.

         At Putin's end of the year publicity stunt, the infamous Q & A period on national TV, nobody asked the question, "What happened to Viktoria Roshchyna?"

     And he didn't answer.

Welcome to a modern dictatorship, aka Russya.

Elon and Trumpie Show

      Hey, sports fans, I know you were glued to the Fubo stream of the TNF game between 2 ranked teams and the game did not disappoint: LA Chargers pieced together an interesting series of plays that spelled victory over their opponent the Denver Broncos. Late in the 4th quarter, LA scored to go up by 10 with over 2 minutes to play, and now clock and ball control became the strategy. After a turnover, Denver moved toward the goal line and on 4th down, kicked a field goal. Then hoped for an onside kick with its possibilities as the game entered its final minute. Onside kick skidded toward LA and was caught by a Charger after a high bounce. Game over.

       Meanwhile, Congress cast votes against a budget deal, a vote that Trumpie wanted, but Elon thought otherwise. Deputy President Billionaire Musk has entered politics the old fashioned way: he bought his way in. By donating over $270 millions to the Trump Campaign, he now owns the White House and all its rat-tailed occupants(as of Jan. 20,'25).

     Government shutdown? Ho-hum. Been there, done that. It really is a non-event. WHo in his right mind would believe these clowns? No one. Congress is a clown show and only gets worse as time goes on. With Thumper and Musker in charge, the Clown Show only gets more clownish as we go forward. Hold on to your seats, the ride is going to get bumpy.

Daily Kommersant Articles

    Russyan state media has highlighted some current issues. Ruslan Pukhov, writes regularly. This past week, he wrote of problems with Syria. Earlier, he wrote of the great success for Russyan policy in Syria. Not anymopre. He has decided that the present policy has failed.

    He has stated that the Kremlin gave Bashar asylum; and the world knows that Bashar is toxic now as the I.C.C. has declared him a WAR Criminal. Yes, war criminal. Additionally, Fyodor Lukyanov, who heads a foreign policy advisory board, wrote an article awhile ago praising the Kremlin's interventions in Syria and the Middle East. Last week, he wrote that the intervention policy is now obsolete. Hmmmm. How long before these two writers are sent to Siberia?

Putin's Syrian Problems

       The Russyan military is under orders" "Get the hardware and software out of Syria Pronto! The Kremlin is in a frantic rush to salvage what's left after Bashar flew to Moskva and left a shitshow on the ground down south. Oh, what to do.

Kremlin: Call the Wagner Group and dispatch a gang of thugs to clean things up.

FSS: Sorry, No more Wagner Group; unavailable.

Kremlin: Call in the Chechens, now.

FSS: Sorry, Chechens don't answer the phone anymore.

Kremlin: Call Igor, he knows what to do.

FSS: He's dead as of Tuesday-bomb in a scooter took him out in front of his home in Moskva. Anybody else?

Kremlin: Who's responsible for this chaos. Tell Bashar he will have to give up the drug money he made while we are fighting for Ukraine.

FSS: Bashar won't leave his dacha or answer the phone.

Kremlon: Call Trumpie.

Where is Svetlana Dali Now

       The Wandering Russyan, Svetlana Dali, has resurfaced, again. The poor thing has lost her bearings and her compass. She was the stowaway airline passenger who sneaked onto a New York to Paris flight recently until discovered as the plane was aboput to land at Charles DeGaulle airport. She was met by police and arrested on the spot. Next she was put on a return flight to the US to face the music. Then she created another disturbance and the flight had to return to Paris. After another intervention, she was flown home where she was greeted by F.B.I. agents and taken to jail.

       After a court hearing, she, an American citizen, was placed under house arrest, and shackled with an ankle monitor and ordered not to leave the premises of the apartment she shared with a friend. And then: gone. Ankle bracelet in pieces, no Svetlana. Hmmmm. Where could she be? Nobody knew, until.......

      She was identified at the US /Canadian border as she attempted to cross and evade detection. F.B.I. and Canadian police cuffed her and sent her back to New York to face another hearing in front of the judge who will now be wary of any release, knowing that this Russyan is a wacko. welcome to the US.

Dmitry Medvedev Speaks Out Against Ukraine

         Deputy Head of the Security Council in Russya, Demitry Medvedev, made a shocking statement after the Russyan Army General, Igor Kirillov, was the victim of an explosion caused by a bomb-laden motor scooter placed outside his window in Moskva.

       This explosion could have been a "Special Operation" ordered by the Kremlin's Ring Master: Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, the angry little man taking the entire country on a path of self destruction. Or maybe it was caused by Putin's harboring the Mass Murderer, Bashar el-Assad who recently fled his domestic rat hole in Syria. Or maybe it was placed by friends of Alexei Navalny, a dissident the Kremlin placed in a shit hole prison in Siberia where he rotted to death. Or maybe it was placed by the C.I.A., a favorite offering of the Kremlin as a scapegoat when things go badly. Hmmmm. What else?

       Perhaps it was placed by family and friends of some of the hundreds of Syrians who were murdered by Bashar el-Assad during his reign in Syria whose bodies were recently discovered by Syrian rebel forces that kicked Assad's family out(to Russya). Media accounts told the stories about how Russyan forces/army members helped Bashar bury the hundreds of thousands of murdered Syrians whose bodies were collected and trucked to the mass graves in areas blocked off by Russyan army troops to hide the events at the grave site(s).

     Ah, Russya, home and refuge to Madmen and Murderers, and Little Men, seeking height through military "Special Operations". 

Russyan General Assassinated in Moskva

   A commanding general was assassinated by a bomb placed in his residence in Moskva today(tomorrow). The Ukrainian military claimed rsponsibility. It was stated that this officer of the Russyan invading army ordered poison gas to be used against civilians and Ukrainian troops during the war in Ukraine. Well, now, it seems that Mad Vlad's troops are targeted no matter where they hide. This general probably thought he was safe in Moskva; but war has unlimited possibilities when it drags on  for years.

         Russyan forces in Syria are being evacuated as the IDF pursues arms caches in various locations that might fall into ISIS control. The invading military in Ukraine must reconsider strategic  positions of arms to supply the feront lines. Hmmm. What now, VOVA?

Trumpie and the 3 Ring Circus

       The circus analogy doesn't play like it used to play: most folks 20-45 have never been to a circus(such as Barnum & Bailey of old). But, the Mayor of Tahoma is of the opinion that it still has some time to run. Trumpie willl give it his best go around. It has already started as the holidays approach. He has nominated a cast of characters right out of the circus tent-or Big Top if you will. The 3 ring circus had just that: 3 center circles of performance in the view of those in the tent. Each had its own performers: trapeze artists; trained animals including elephants, tigers, and bears. And another featured clowns and all their crowd pleasing antics.

       These days, US politics closely resembles these 3 circles of entertainment. However, we are paying for less than the best. Hmmmm. And why do we do this. Let's look at the performers nominated to entertain for the next 4 years or so on the public dollar(taxes).  But first, a few comments about the "Ring Master" in the center circle: Trumpie.

1. John Bolton: "Trump has the impression that foreign leaders hold him in high regard, that he's got a good relationship with Xi jinPing, Vlad Putin, Kim Un. In fact, the exact opposite is true. I have been in those rooms with him when he's met with those leaders. I believe they think he is a laughing fool."

2. James Mattis: "He is more dangerous than anyone could ever imagine."

3. Richard V. Spencer(former Sec. Nav): The President has very little understanding of what it means to be in the military, to fight ethically or to be governed by a uniform set of rules and practices."

4. H.R. McMaster(Nat. Security Advisor): Pres. Trump and other officials have repeatedly compromised our principles in pursuit of partisan advantage and personal gain."

5. Mike Pence: Anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be president of the United States.... Pres. Trump demanded that I choose between him and the Constitution."

6. Bill Barr, AG of US,  " He will always put his own interests, and gratifying his own ego, ahead of everything else, including the country's interest."

7.Mark Esper(Sec. of Defense): He puts himself before country. His actions are all about him and not about the country."

8. John Kelly, White House Chief of Staff/Homeland Security: "The depths of his dishonesty is just astounding to me... He is the most flawed person I have ever met in my life."

9. Rex Tillerson, (Sec. of State): "His understanding of global events, his understanding of global history, his understanding of U.S. history was really limited."

These are just some of the quotes from those who worked directly with Trumpie in the Oval Office.

Part II to follw

Health Insurance Fallout Continues

          The murder of United Health Executive, Brian Thompson on a NYC street in broad daylight continues to reverberate across the USA. Physicians, hospital staff, patients, and insurance companies themselves are reeling. And the politicians: getting ready for the upcoming transition that will reshape life in America.

       Evidently, they see their respective roles as caretakers of the nation, not just health care or health insurance. Of course, they have a separate health care system unavailable to us peasants. We are required to joust with the agents/coders/deniers, capitalists. Corporate medicine at its finest= bad medicine. Canada's system has issues, but it works for the 12+ millions of Canadians.

      Now a suspect is in custody after his arrest in Altoona, PA. Luigi Mangione, son of a very wealthy family, is going to fight extradition to New York. He is a highly educated graduate of U. of Pennsylvania in computer science. His whereabouts before the incident reveal that he was on the move, spending time in San Francisco and Hawaii. His mother had filed a missing persons report with the SFPD. It is known from friends and acquaintances that he's had recent health problems which restricted some activities. There's no known connection to United Health Corp. Insurance. Internet postings indicate certain sentiments about health insurance. Authorities found a "ghost gun" in a bag believed to be his.  

     So, here we have an other disgruntled young man who is accused of murder. It seems that his information about the world has come from the internet, the source of increasing amounts of fake news and conspiracies.  Governments are slow to respond to this problem, waiting and hoping it becomes a non-issue. Yeh, right.

Bye Bye Bashar-Hello Moskva

      When Bashar's houseman answered the front door, the staff security agent announced that the limo was leaving for the airport and there was little time to pack anything but the family jewels. So Doctor Bashar rounded up the missus and the kiddies and off they went to the getaway plaane. Next stop: Moskva. 

   Bashar's long time supporter and confidant, Valdimir Vladimirovich Putin rolled out the red carpet for the incoming guests. The family was seeking asylum and they were given same according to the Federation's policy of offering this status to the one or two saps who would be dumb enough to want to reside in the one of the worst places in the world.

     As predicted yesterday by the Mayor of Tahoma, the rats leaving the sinking ship/cesspool once called Syria have landed in the Siberian wastes or western Russyan plain west of the Ural Mountains. Known for the winter cold(see Napolean and winter), another guest from the Middle East will be hard pressed to acclimate anytime soon. First, a shopping tour for furs, hats, sable coats, and of course, quality vodka to suppress anxieties that go along with last minute evacuations. Ol' Bashar knew what was coming ass his "loyal" supporters disappeared immediately when told to defend the country. They dropped their uniforms and sought a hiding place unavailable to the dictator. They also ditched their weapons so as to look like civilians not soldiers. Don't feel sorry for these rats, they've had their days in the sun enforcing the dictatorship. Now, they will face the scourge of the "new" rulers, whoever that y be.

      Some intelligence gatherers believed that other players nearby might seek to take control. American air assets bombed targhets inside the boundaries of Syria to thwart those efforts at this writing. Given the recent history of the situation, anything is possible in the chaos.

  Stay tuned. Bashar: a pox on your house.

Pardon, Pardon, Any Pardon Will Do

        So, a pardon has become the latest Christmas stocking item with some currency. Pres. Old Joe Biden pardoned his son, Hunter, not just for one criminal act, but a pass going back 11 years. Hmmm. Is that relly how far back Ol' Hunter was selling influence? It is sad when a grown man has to beg his Dad for a favor to get out of jail. Now the talk is that Jope is going to give pre-emptive pardons to his own inner circle of potential targets from trumpie, et. all. when they takeover in January. trumpie will probably pardon all the scum arrested after Janury 6th rioting in the Capitol. That move will certainly sink the GOP forever with the mark of Cain.

Sand in Glass Running Out for Assad

       The murderous tyrant kept afloat in Syria by Russya and Iran is on thin ice. Resurgent rebels are on the march and Putin's lackies and Iran's 'martyrs' are nowhere to be found this time around. The rapid deployment of the rebels caught all the opposition government troops asleep and not the least bit willing to stop the onslaught.

      What's Bashar to do now? In the past, he's used chemical poison gas against anybody nearby. He's employed Russyan air power to bomb anybody close to Damascus. He's assaulted any city or town where a rebel support team might be living. He scoffed at former US President Obama as he drew a 'red line' in the _____(fill in). Now, Ol' Bashar is ancient by Middle East standards. Those Syrians who could leave are long gone. Who is left? A few troops with nowhere to go, tethered by family and a paycheck. I'm sure Ol' Bashar is burning the midnight oil lamp trying to get a call through to the Kremlin. Nobody is answering. Maybe he should try someone in the Donets region in eastern Ukraine. Where is Yevgeny Prighozin? Dead, unavailable. Where is Dmitry Peskov? Asleep, unavailable. Where is Svetlana Dali? In jail in New Jersey waiting for someone to make bail.

      So, what to do, what to do. Not easy being a dictator/murderer, especially in his neighborhood where life is cheap and food is expensive. So, the rebels are rolling and will soon take Damascus as the rats flee the rat hole. Bashar will board a plane for Tehran, but won't be allowed to land as the IDF has the runway zeroed in and the Ayatollah wants to keep the runway clear just in case he needs it. So, Moskva; the plane will divert to Moskva. What will Vova do? He'll have to allow Bashar asylum or his coalition will recognize that the Federation is a 'Paper Tiger/ Bear/ Siberian rat'.  Perhaps Bashar can call Elon on his X page and beg for a handout, trip to Mars or another address in outer space. Bashar has no friends, like all rats, when the chips are down, rats generally die in the rathole. (see Saddam H. ).

Book Review: Skeletons on the Zahara, by Dean King.

       Every now and then, a nugget is discovered after being in retreat for decades. Such is this account of a true story, originally told almost 200 years ago. It is a story often told of a shipwreck and survivors and the aftermath. The story recounts the ordeals of captain and crew after being tossed ashore on the Atlantic Coast of North Africa, not far from the Canary Islands.

      The  Commerce was an American sailing vessel, rigged as a brig, twin masts, and a crew of 12. She was a trader, filling her hold with various product and rounding the Atlantic rim for her owners. Her captain, Mr. Riley, was an experienced sailor/navigator, and was in the opinion of peers, a good leader who took care of his ship and its sailors.  The ship was from New England, Massachusetts to be exact, and most of the crew came from the area near or on the Connecticut River. These sailors knew about river navigation and the tidal flows. Sailing north on the river from Long Island Sound was a challenge for any ship and the crew.  Sailing across the Atlantic had its own difficulties going east or west. The Gulf Stream helped going east, and the Equatorial current helped on the return.

       The year was 1815 and the War of 1812 between the United Kingdom and the young country of the United States had concluded with the Treaty of Ghent. (Too late for the Battle of New Orleans). So the American flag was now a more common sight in European ports and in the Mediterranean Sea, the Barbary pirates notwithstanding.  African ports and the African coast had been a topic for sailors for over 2 centuries as the slave trade was drawn to conclusion by the banning of such traffic by Great Britain and the US. It would take a Civil War to end slavery itself in the US. Navigation was still more art than science, but the chronometer was only a couple of years away from universal acceptance. Finding one's latitude was well known practice with a sextant, longitude, still a guessing game.

       At sea and sailing southward, the  Commerce set a course that would skirt the Canary Islands and carry her west to the Caribbean Sea. While an experienced navigator, Riley misjudged the strong currents off of the African coast which pushed his ship into shoal waters off southern Morocco. There the ship wrecked, placing the crew in an untenable, unlivable environment, and the beginning of their collective ordeal of survival against the harsh desert and its inhabitants.

Read it.

Journalist Calls Out Gavin Newsom

      Ah, California: Land of Golden Dreams. Now, the reef of Broken Dreams, hulls shattered by budget busts and rivers of red ink. Gov. Gavin Newsom, the local boy made good, has appeared all over the country in the run-up to the recent presidential election. Now that contest is over and the dems are licking their collective wounds as the Trump trifecta ascends, again, to the White House. 

       Dan Walters has been writing on government dealings and goings on for over 60 years. He and his staff keep the feet of the legislature to the fire, which it needs.  With a super majority in the Legislature, the Dems have run wild around Sacramento, passing this giveaway and that giveaway, plumping up the liberal agenda, reveling in their own largesse. But Mr. Walters knows how things work or don't work in California.  While the Dems preach about the "Big Tent" and the "All Inclusive Party",  Mr. Walters follows the money, which in California goes to "Big Farming", "Big Tech", "Big Utility", and "Big Government".

       In 2022, as Covid-19 pandemic effects retreated, Newsom declared that the state had a huge surplus of tax dollars in excess of $200 billion dollars. And it would continue  ad infinitum. This camer from his Dept. of Finance which counted recently received receipts from taxpayers, many of whom sold stock at high price evaluations. Then, bad news arrived. Newsom had his budgeteers write new spending i\above $300 billion in 2022-23. These funds would go to the darlings of the Blue Coasties: health and welfare and cash payments to poor families. Now, 2 years later, the budget states that projections were woefully wrong and projections will be well under the $200 billion projections to the tune of $165 billions over the next 4 years. Hmmmmmmm. What does this mean, really, to you and me? BELT Tightening. 

     The Legislature's own budget analyst, Gabe Petek, released the 2024-25 projections and show that spending will out pace income. The State's economy is sluggish and outside of government and healthcare, no new jobs have been added. Businesses like Wells Fargo, are walking away from California to New York and North Carolina(of all places).  Nobody likes paying more and more taxes for less and less. But California's Dems don't seem to be bothered by the exodus of taxpayers.

     Newsom's legacy will still be here in 2027 when he departs for his new $9 million dollar home in Marin County, Ca . Taxpayers will be stuck with the remains. Thanks for the reportage, Mr. Walters. 

Chinese Editor Sentenced to 7 years

        So, more evidence of dissent in China by the Communist government of Xi JinPing, the dictator -in-Chief.  Since 2012, Xi has been raising the stakes against those dissident voices within the country. No matter the character and reputation of those few voices that speak against central government policies, all will be made to fear speaking out. The Communist methods include all the known methods and a few unknown, too.

     This time, close on the heels of the sentencing of Hong Kong activist/dissenter Jimmie Lai, the named dissenter is Dong YuYu, 62. He got 7 years. Hmmmmm. That's a long time for someone of any age. And at 62, his chances of surviving are slim, given the circumstances found in Chinese prisons wherever they may be.  YuYu was arrested while he was speaking with the Japanese ambassador to China. The ambassador was detained along with Dong and later released after formal protests by the Japanese government. The action underscores China's policies regarding the rules of international law and policies regarding diplomatic protocol(s). China and its Communist government could careless about both. Only the government of China is the rule maker.

       Mr. Dong has been a journalist for many years, writing many, many articles about democracy and the rule of law in China and abroad. Years ago, the Central government encouraged writers to speak out, to uncover corruption, and to offer readers alternative viewpoints. Now, that is no longer the case under Xi's Beijing lackies who adhere to strict control of all Chinese writers, especially those who dissent.

     Mr. Dong says he will appeal the sentencing. Hmmmm. Is that in itself an illegal dissent form?  Will Xi change as Trump gets ready to add monstrous tariffs on all Chinese exports to the USA?  Will Trump call out a boycott of ALL Chinese made articles? Will Trump ban the arrivals of all ships that sail from Chinese or Chinese owned ports? The next 4 years will be telling for Chinese dissenters and China.

Stay tuned.

Hezbollah: A Terrorist Organization

 Yes, don't forget. US Marine Lt. Col. Richard Higgins was captured by Hezbollah in Lebanon on February 17, 1989, the 6th American captured in 1988 by terrorists.  He was a UN Peace Keeping agent at the time. He had been riding in a well-marked UN vehicle between meeting with members of local groups. As a hostage, he was used as a bargaining chip by terrorists to thwart efforts by Israel to counter anti-government operatives in the area. Months later, a grainy video was released by Hezbollah showing Lt. Col. Higgins hanging by a rope, obviously dead. 

     Hezbollah should be remembered for this murder and many others in the course of their takeover of once calm Lebanon. Terrorists never learn and must be destroyed, always.

The trial of Jimmie Lai: Beijing Rules

        So, a trial; in Hong Kong. Trial transcripts? Unavailable. Let's see: solitaru confinement for .... 4 years. Age: 73. Hmmmm. Torture. I think these are grounds to exclude Beijing from the WTO. Time to call aces on Xi JP and his world view where anything goes as long as it goes Xi's way. Trumpie will have Xi losing sleep starting Nov. 5. All the Chinese university students are studying past practices of the Trumpie administration  moves, to be ready in JAnuary when the MAr-A-LAgo storm comes ashore.

     What fun to watch the "Great Disrupter" rumble around the world, casting debris wherever he touches something. All the MAGA folks will rejoice in the telling of these tales of woe among the populace. Tariffs,  scariffs. INflation, scaflation. we'll fix the problems started by Joebiden. Wheeeeeeeee.

      Qwill Jimmie Lai survive is the question. This solitary voice in the Asian Wilderness may soon be silenced, but his memory will live on, at least for two -three generations.

Chinese Unit 61398-Hacking Central

        The photos are available of a highrise building in Shanghai that has a unit of the PLA. This is the home offices of the 'Salt Typhoon'. I love that name: it has such thoughtful connotations. Typhoon: we all know about these violent weather events that stir up the elements in East Asia annually, like they do in the eastern Atlantic annually(see Milton, and the Carolinas). The typhoon carries lots of energy and are capable of widespread destruction wherever it touches land. Salt: we all know about salt and its necessity in our world. Starting out as a preservative of foods long before civilization got rolling, it has emerged as the scourge of the modern diet, raising blood pressures universally while at the same time enhancing the tastes of edibles.

     So, this little warren of techies has been identified as the source of many a hack and many hackers. The Chinese are relentless and patient both, always taking the long view. Yes, they have economic problems of major significance, but these problems ebband flow no matter political conditions. Xi JP rolls with them and continues spreading influence wherever he can. Latin America and Africa come to mind; also the South China Sea, and, oh, don't overlook Taiwan. And, oh, Hong Kong, former British colony where they lock you up for talking.

Where is Jimmie Lai?

Reno, Nevada Business Gets Hacked

        A large gaming company with headquarters in Reno experienced a major computer invasion by unknown(at the start) parties. Early results appear to indicate that the hacking effort originated somewhere in the vicinity of -----I-R-A-N! The company is the provider of gaming systems for all casino operations across the desert landscape(se Las Vegas and Reno and all the fringes). Company employees are working around the clock as they attempt to prevent a complete disaster.

       Federal agencies are monitoring the situation, assisting where they can. Identification of the hackers will take a little time but will eventually be found. Sure, these criminals have tech ability, obviously. The US, of course, is the tech leader and will put this event on the list of state -sponsored hacking. What country this time? Maybe this is a diversion of the Baltic Sea cable cutting operation by the Chinese bulk cargo carrier that severed 2 comm cables yesterday; maybe it's just a coincidence(Ha!).

      Perhaps Nevada's Congressional members will be rapping on the door(s) of the transition team asking for some advice. Seems like Trumpie would like to know what's happening here and there. Or maybe Jake Sullivan will have something to do over the holidays.

     Welcome news: getting ready for more tariff talk, retaliatory and otherwise.

City of South Lake Tahoe Rejects Vacancy Tax

       Local voters in South Lake Tahoe rejected the city's attempt to force home owners to pay a tax if their property remained vacant for a certain time period. Sufficient owners who could vote recognized this liberal attempt to correct a lack of building and a lack of housing inside the Tahoe Basin. It would have gone to court immediately had it passed.

      What were they thinking? Hmmmm. Not thinking? or maybe they thought timing is right? Tahoe has been the site of many second homes owned by seasonal visitors who enjoy the Sierra environment: some winter, some summer. The story of the annual migration of local indigenous tribes to the Lake is well known. Even today, tribal members return to the West Shore where they operate the Meeks Bay Resort.

      The media gave this off the wall ballot measure significant coverage. In the Blue state of California, it was thought that this would pass. Wrong. It's bad enough that the State taxes everybody and everything at exorbitant rates, especially with the sales tax which everybody pays, rich and poor alike. Never mind it's burden is felt most acutely by the poor whether it is liquor, cigarettes, hot pizza, hot meals, or McMuffins, we all pay.

     So, the city of South LAke Tahoe will have to rethink their next move to create housing. Why not a high rise apartment building with views for locals. Buy a Harveys Hotel and make it apartments. Good location. No need for a casino here: there are plenty of competitors sprinkled around the state and more on the way. Investors know about gambling and careless that it's just another scam to squeeze money from those who can least afford its cost. But, that's another benefit of the one-party government that has a strangle hold on the economy and its people.

Musk and Trumpie

     The billionaire and the president elect joined in Texas to observe the launch of a Space X missile. Mr. Musk, owner of the company invited his new BFF to watch the show. The missile launch was successful and the returning section splashed down in the Caribbean Ocean.

     Another success for Space X. One wonders will Jeff Bezos invite Trumoie to his 'next launch"? We'll see. Can't wait.

Kremlin Cuts Cables in Europe

       So, the internet is down. So a portion of NATO countires lost their connections. Hmmmmm. How does this happen today? Well, sometimes a ship drags an anchor across the cable, severing same. Then it is replaced or repaired. Sabotage is another method. Once located, it is relatively easy: drop the hook and pull and "snap" goes the wire, crash goes the internet, and laughing goes the Kremlin.

       There's no end to the mischief spread about by the Kremlin. All those toadies saying yes, yes, yes, to Mad Vlad(VOVA). Remind you of someone?  The wire connection was lost between 2 Scandinavian countries and Germany. This is a very important connection since Germany is the largest economic European nation on which many of the smaller countries depend for many, many things. To cut this cable is not catastrophic, but it is a finger in the eye of all parties involved. This comes from the Kremlin which recently joined forces with Kim Un of North Korea to provide an army division to fight alongside the poor Rus who are facing another long cold winter away from Mother Russya, fighting in a war none of them wanted at all.

      And the Kremlin pays an insurance policy to the widows and orphans left behind. The money has been a boon to remote cities and villages across the largest country in the world. Business has improved considerably in those places that sent young men to die down south in the war nobody but Putin wanted.

     Time now to revoke all visas for anybody living and working or studying abroad. all those countries that accepted those Russyans that fled the Mother Land should now have to return: no refugee status, no asylum sanctuaries. Enough. If Putin is skirting and evading sanctions, then add this to the list: no more Russyans accepted abroad-anywhere(excepting North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela, maybe Syria.

     How will those Rus like that; getting sent home for Christmas; cold but probably lots of nat gas heat.

Dr. Oz and RFK,Jr. : Bookends

       Trumpie appointed DR. Mahmet Oz as head of Medicare Program(s). He'll join Robert F Kennedy, Jr. as an important functionary in Trumpie's new administration come January 20, 2025. It appears to t his casual observer that Trumpie does as he said he would: make decisions based on his 'gut' feelings on the issue/appointment/program/ desired outcomes.

     Dr. M. Oz has been around for a couple of decades after gaining some credibility as a guest on Oprah Winfrey's TV show. Yes, Dr. M. Oz is a noted cardiac surgeon. Yes, he 'was' associated with Columbia Medical School(that tie has now been erased quietly.) Once he recognized the possibilities as a talk show host, he ran with it(football term, sorry). Soon, he was hawking diet supplements on his show, selling suspect chemicals that offered little excepting an emptying of your wallet. Now he will be in charge of Medicare which affects almost  half the population of the USA.

       Trump being Trump; he wants to shake up "big pharma"; big Health, big government, bigley bigley. He will do it "his Way" which is the brainless, gut wrenching way of an ignoramus. So, of those 3 million Trumpie voters who carried the election for the Republicans, get ready, and please, don't claim ignorance: he told you all ahead of time what was coming.

     Now we'll have Dr. Coocoo and the vax denier who visited American Samoa and 89 children died shortly afterward because the parents bought into Kennedy's anti-vaccine BS.

Get ready for Oz.

Putin's North Korean Problem

      So, the generals running the Kremlin's Special Operations in Ukraine needed some manpower to counterattack the incursion of Ukrainian troops into the Kursk region of the Motherland. A shockinh development. The generals were ordered by Mad Vlad to attack this insult. What happened? Nothing. No manpower available. Remember, the Rus invaded their neighbor 1000 days ago. Yes, 1000 days ago. It has cost thr Kremlin hundreds of thousands of young men from a country that doesn't have very many young men left to expend their lives for a MAD MAN. So, what to do?

       Call Kim Un, now. "Kim, I need a division pronto, price is no object." Ok, Vladdy, I'll give the order soon. The price: oil, lots at a favorable price, below Saudi price. Ok. done. SO Kim sends 10,000 North Koreans to Russya ready for action. Wait, they don't speak Rus. Ok, add a few Russyans to each unit for communications. Done. Now we have North Koreans dancing around in Kursk. Those North Koreans liek the fresh air, something they've never experienced. Some like the geography, so different that the peninsula with its hills and valleys and stinking weather and stinking Dear Leader. Oh, to be free of the dear Leader. yes, we still have the in house assassins watching us but we are here, not there.

    As a result, Old Joe freed up some requested rocket munitions for Volodymyr which he promptly put to good use, raining some steel on to the heads of the North Korean conscripts digging around in the Ukrainian black soil. But now the Rus generals have the manpower to counterattack the intrusion. Never mind that the war has dragged on for 1000 days.(This means that MAd Vlad is 1000 days closer to the end of 'his' time, which is coming faster than even he anticipated). Oh, and he's trotted out the 'nuclear option' pony for the scaredy cats. Clear indication that he's losing it.

Wrlcome to the "new Russya".

Big Day in Hong Kong

      Remember Hong Kong-the 'former' British colony operating within the boundary of the Red Menace? And then, Beijing decided that the treaty signed back then was a mistake. So, the Communist government jumped the piece of paper by 25 years and took over HK.

     How did that work out? Ask the 45 citizens of Hong Kong that were sentenced to prison terms yesterday. Some got 4 years, and some got ten. I guess the judge(can a Communist be called judge?) wanted to break up the pattern for the sake of media terms. Many of these prisoners have been waiting awhile for the sentencing phase of their trials(are there 'real trials' in the Communist government? No) So, they'll join Jimmy Lai, the publisher who has been sentenced to life(what's left of it) in prison for publishing something Xi doesn't like or the PARTY doesn't like or the council of Commies doesn't like.

       So, the Communists exalt on their victory over dissent, again. Lovely country China. Been there, smells like fish. These sentences send another message: don't oppose Beijing or Xi JP or else. Or else PRISON. Want to spend your time in a Chinese shithole? Then just keep quiet and eat your rice allocation. Oh, complain about real estate problems? Be careful, it's a very sensitive topic lately. Even the rest of the world knows about China/ Beijing's real estate fiasco. Can you believe it : millions and millions of condos rotting away, empty and the debt on the government's balance sheet(s). How does this happen? Communism, pure and simple. Sure the West has its problems but did the West build millions of condos on order of Washington? No.

Have a nice day, Hong Kongers.

Snow: It's About Time

      Well, sports fans, get your snow boards ready: here it comes. That's the atmospheric bomba, guaranteed to dump the white stuff. Folks were starting to get concerned about the "season"; but now, here we go: WINTER.

       Strolling around Homewood yesterday gives one the impression that the San Francisco-based owners care less about Tahoe than they do about their $$$$$. No surprises there. They are capitalists and thats what you get. However, the regulators are in charge here, thankfully. Can you imagine what the lakefront would look like without TRPA? Exactly, just like Vegas. We don't like Vegas; we like Tahoe Blue.

     So, Palisades will probably be making snow by the ton tonight, tomorrow, and for months to come to satisfy the needs of their customers who will pay dearly for the privilege of skiing/boarding down Squaw Peak(don't say squaw). Get ready for the traffic-the holidays are on the near term horizon. Oh, well.

New Attorney General Nominee

        DJT's disdain for the legal profession only matches his disdain for Congress. In a move to insult all lawyers everywhere, DJT named Matt Gaetz as his choice for Attorney General of the USA. Can you imagine? This is what was expected from DJT: he could care less about those saps who voted him into another term in the White House. Now the chickens are coming home to roost. Republicans are clattering about their warrens chattering about the flood of appointments being made by the winner on Nov. 5th.

      So the voters and those who abstained from voting will be spared the post election day protests and mass resignations that would have followed a defeat of Trumpism. Now they have to live with the new reality for 4 more years: a wackadoodle housed on Pennsylvania Avenue. Of course, much of his time will be spent on the golf course at Mar-A -Lago in Florida, his southern home of record where he housed all the documents he stole from the White House after being defeated by Joe Biden in 2020. Federal Judge Eileen Cannon took care of that problem for the Donald. She can probably play a round of 18 holes at Mar-a-Lago for free.

     Matt Gaetz has been under investigation for sex crimes and other dark deeds while in Conress as a representative of Florida. He resigned before the report was released. Now he will face confirmation hearings in the Senate. How about that?

     His Deputy is Todd Blanche, the pathetic counsel of DJT through many of his trials. He's another grabber/climber/status seeker/compromiser. If Gaetz gets dumped, Toddy Boy will be elevated into the leadership position. 

      This whole affair is great entertainment unless you prefer less drama, less facade, less fake truths, less corruption, less ignorance, less scary, less doomsday, less narcissism, less Orange hair.

Viva Italia

President of Italy to Elon Musk:

       So the "Whirling Dervish" of Washington,D.C., aka Elon 'X' Musk, was told publicly by Sergio Marterella, President of Italy, to stay out of Italian politics. The Italian President is not part of Prime Minister Georgio Meloni's government not its party-Brothers of Italy. This came on the heels of a judicial decision by the Supreme Court of Italy that put on hold the government's plan to house migrants intercepted at sea in a facility in Albania unril the courts can hear their requests for asylum.

     For years, Italy has seen huge numbers of migrants land on remote islands in the Mediterranean  Sea after precarious journeys in flimsy watercraft provided by traffickers in North African ports. Unknown numbers of these migrants have drowned during these attempts to reach Europe. Most of them seek to pass through Italy to Northern European countries rather than risk staying in Southern European sites that offer fewer opportunities for employment and housing.

      The audacity of Elon Musk, the richest man in the known universe, is well known. Now Pres. Elect DJT, has anointed him as Director of Government Efficiency. This title has only increased his gall in over reaching everywhere his money can bring him. PM Georgia Meloni and Elon met at the Atlantic Council awards ceremony in September. He assured his millions of followers on X that he is not dating Ms. Meloni. That may or may not be true as the dark shadows of Philanderer in Chief Musk hide many trysts and social engagements  that are well documented. Perhaps Pope Francis should offer Elon some advice, too. "Elon, keep it in your pants and leave our PM alone." The Italian president is the leader of the legal arm of the government and as such as a certain role in the country beyond legislative Parliament.

      My advice to Elon: "Take your schtick to DJT's government, leave Italy out of your overreaching grabs."

Viva Italia

Melania Trump Snubs the First Lady

      What else is new? The former First Lady, Melania Trump, turned down an invitation to the White House to meet Jill Biden, the First Lady. No comment followed. Melania deserves DJT. Two of a kind: narcissists.

Russya Acknowledges Demographic Cratering

        Let's see: Mad Vlad orders the military to invade Ukraine. Russyan soldiers are under-trained, ill-prepared, and hardly excited about a war against a neighbor in their back yard. Then start sending home to Moskva tens of thousands of body bags filled with the remains of dead Russyans. Then, have those with means, a few children of oligarchs/kleptogarchs, flee abroad so they won't end up in a body bag. Then arrest anybody who speaks out against the Putin model of government, eg. no rights of any sort. Then put Alexei Navalny in prison, then kill him there.

       Now Mad Vlad and his puppets in the Duma will address the shortcomings of the fertile female population. A new law will be signed by Mad Vlad which will outlaw a life style that doesn't include children. Hmmmmm. How's this going to work in practice.? Demented Peskov, spokesperson extraordinaire for Mad Vlad, stated that the new law will only ensnare those subversives and subversive organizations that advocate for the "modern" lifestyle which doesn't include procreation, ie., having children/Little Russkies. This law might just be the last straw-the straw that breaks the camel's back. With sanctions in place and more on the way, young folks with a few rubles will be fleeing in droves again; essentially giving Mad Vlad(Vova) the finger/the bird.

        So, the Poor Rus. Stuck. Chained to their modern history of inhumane treatment for all, especially their own. What will it take to turn the shit ship of state to turn around? Now, Mad Vlad(Vova) has enlisted help from his buddy in North Korea: Kim Un, aka Rocket Man. He helps the Rus by sending 10,000 soldiers to fight in Ukraine. These are mercenaries who don't speak Rus, but die like the Rus. They'll be sent home like their Rus soldier comrades. But, they'll have gained some freedom to breathe air other than the toxic fumes that flow from  Pyongyang, North Korea.

       Like China, the population bust is only getting worse  in Russya. While the lives of the Party elite is comfortable, the majority suffer, suffer, and suffer some more. The world outside the borders of the largest country in the world have made Russya a pariah state, not only for the occupation of Crimea in 2014, but the ongoing war against Ukraine. Mad Vlad will soon die; but his legacy will haunt the Rus for centuries.

Big Banks Slammed Again

       With banks, bigger seems not to be better. The list of fines, settlements without admitting guilt, and the closing and takeover have become part of the financial world of banks and banking. This past week, announcements were made by a few of the 'Big Boys' of banking, the trillion dollar big boys, that they will be paying fines after a brief investigation by the Consumer Finance Board(Federal agency).

       How about $800 millions? Can the average tax payer digest the number? No. Really, it is incomprehensible to the human mind. Maybe a computer can accept the number, but you and I cannot. If one spent $1000/day, how long would it take to spend $800000000.?  It would take 2,191 YEARS! Yes, years.

      So, as the phrase goes, it would take a long time. So, what happened? Typical activities that were largely convenient for retail users- Zelle payments/transfers systems, etc. Used by a large  segment of young techies and youngsters in general.  A user application that allowed account holders to transfer funds from their bank accounts to another user with the required application on their phones. Sounds good; and it worked. And then----hackers and scammers arrived in spades. People lost money. Money that was being held by banks. Money the banks said was safe. Money the banks said they would make good in case of fraud. And then they didn't.

       Over the course of just a few years, thousands upon thousands of customers were victims of fraud and the banks ignored their loses. Thank the Consumer Finance Account Board for their intercession. And now the bill has come due.

       Bank of America will pay as per its own announcement: $800 millions. They call it part of the 'business'. I call it too big to fail is too B-I-G.  With a new Baboon in the White House, the big banks think times will change and the party will restart on January 20, 2025, again.

Warriors Edge Celtics

      The new basketball season is on its way. The Warriors are on their way. By beating the Boston Celtics, at home, so early in this young season sends a message to future opponents: we are back in the game, and, an added bonus: Steph Curry can still shoot 3's. Yes, the man is older now. Yes, he has suffered through a few injuries, most recently, an ankle strain. But, as his performance in the 4th quarter indicates, he's a tough man, a resilient man, and a determined player who can focus 100% on the action as it unfolds on the court. And he has help. In the form of a new member, Hield, a 6th man maybe, and he can shoot, too. His height will offer many options and Coach Ker will guide him to a place of strength and power. By January, he could be a starter along side the regulars and Steph.

     Get ready for a great season of Warriors basketball.

Republicans 1, Democrats -3

      So, the Dems didn't do it, not this time. Talk about missing the mark! Not even close. The Dems can't blame 'big money'; they had bigger money. The pundits have worn out their laptops; all the battery power in the Blue states has been drained; poll workers are finished and are joyful that they won't be under siege until Thanksgiving. The Heritage Foundation, the right wing harbor of anti-Americanism, will shake off the doldrums and emerge as a respectable shitpile.

       Congress will have a new look: RED in both houses. Wall St. will buy a round of drinks/wine/cannabis for all comers. Economists will scratch their heads, again, seeking answers to unanswerable questions; and soothsayers will warm up their crystal balls and start soothing for the future.

      The Federal bureaucracy might look different a year from now, but a lot depends on how far Congress will go, but with the SCOTUS in the pocket, Congress and POTUS are essentially without restraint. Oh, my. What does that look like? See California where wackadoodle Newsom has a single majority legislature and continues to drive citizens out of state and raise taxes and other costs with impunity. Oh, my.

      San Francisco will get a new mayor who has never held office in any capacity. How does this happen? Money-pure and simple.$$$$$$$-it works. Oakland has recalled its mayor. Alameda County has recalled its district attorney. Statewide rent control was defeated- again, and again, and again. They just don't believe the facts, simply put. It doesn't work and it doesn't help.

     Florida will come to be the White House, South, like it was 4 years ago. While DeSantis may have some cred with the president-elect, he wise enough to know that it's like playing with rattlesnakes-scary.

More to come.......

Orange HAired Baboon Gets New Endorsement

        Notorious pod caster, Joe "Skin Head" Rogan, has given his endorsement to former president DJT. A perfect fit: two dispensers of wholesale disinformation deserve each other. Mr. Rogan added that he believes Elon Musk's assessment that DJT is the best candidate. This support comes at the end of the 4 year campaign by the 78 year old candidate, convicted felon, who has the country divided into equal halves.

      The vote count will probably take awhile and the outcome of the election will probably not be settled for several days. This will no doubt allow a number of doubts to be sowed by DJT's shadow supporters from various and sundry followers.

Stay tuned.

Election Day: Get Out and VOTE

      So, sports fans, it's 'showtime'. All the bluster, all the hype, all the lies from the Orange-haired Baboon will pass into the fog of history. Expectations are for a high turnout of voters; already over 80 million votes have been cast ahead of today indicating a higher than average turnout, maybe as much as turned out in 2020.

       Both candidates went down to the wire with their respective campaigns, and now will sit out the day in respective homes in the Naval Observatory building in Washington, D.C. , and the MAr-A-Lago hotel Resort in Florida where the Liar-in-Chief can surround himself with his home-grown battery of sycophants. 

Do your duty, Mr. and Mrs. Citizen: VOTE. 

Los Angeles Dodgers Win the World Series in Game 5

        After a resounding win in Game 4, the New York Yankees came into Game 5 with renewed hope. They could turn the Series around, using all their collective talent to overcome a steep climb out of the valley of doom. WHen down 3 games to none, the Yankees were faced with the necessity of winning 4 straight, a rarity in history of the Series.

      Game 5 was held in New York City: home field advantage! In short order, the power of the Yankee lineup came to the fore, smashing home runs, hits all over the stadium. After 4 innings, the New Yorkers held a 5-0 lead. Things were looking promising for the boys in pinstripes. And then the Dodgers started  something, or rather the Yankees started something; something very unusual. The pitcher failed to cover first base on a routine grounder to the first baseman who was late to the bag. Then a walk. Bases loaded. Fly ball to outfield, 1 run in. Then a flyball was dropped by Aaron Judge, and an errant throw that allowed 2 runs to score. Then a hit allowed two more runs to score: now 5-5. All the runs were unearned.  A crushing debacle.

     Then the Yankees scored a go ahead run in the 8th inning, things were looking up. Then the Dodgers came to bat. Hit, walk, hit. Score tied-6-6. Then the Dodgers pushed another run across.

Dodgers 7, Yankees 6.

Yankees were unable to score again. Game 5 over. World Series, over.

Dodgers win the Series 4 games to 1, winning 2 of 3 games on the road. A big win for the West Coast Boys in Blue from the bluest State.

Don't forget to vote, Tuesday, Nov. 5th.

World Series: Game 1

      A Yankee v. Dodger Matchup. East Coast v. West Coast. Old Rival Battle, Again. So, it did come down to the 2 best teams in baseball getting a shot at each other for all the marbles. Yes, there will be some cross country flights involved, perhaps a bit of jet lag running through the roster. Prior to Game 1 in Los Angeles, the Yankees arrived a few days early to "adjust" to West Coast time. The weather forecast was also good.

       Well, it began to look like another close contest. The score was close early on. 1-zip, 1-1, 2-1, Yankees going into the 8th. Then Shohei Otani hammered a double off the wall and there was an errant throw back which got away and the speedy Ohtani took 3rd. He scored on a deep fly ball by Mookie Betts.

  Score tied. 2-2. Then the game went to extra innings. The Yankees got a run in the top of the 10th, 3-2, Yankees. The LA Dodgers were able to get a couple of men on base. With 2 outs , New York decided to walk the next batter to load the bases. Next up: Freddie freeman. 

   First pitch was lofted over the fence: a Grand Slam, Walk Off Home run. Dodgers win in grand fashion, 6-3.

    Nice start for the Fall Classic. Dodgers 1- Yanks -0.

 

Yuan Flees China

      Wait, how can this be true? Money flying out of China?  Hmmm. What do money managers know that Bejing doesn't know? How to make money go away-far, far away. So Beijing has a problem: business managers are hedging bets. They see that the central planning of the economy is not working. The real estate boom is over. Millions of apartments are sitting empty and many buyers are paying for apartments not even built yet. Woe, woe, woe. Poor Xi JP. Now Putin wants more help in Ukraine. Send help, any help will do. Mad Vlad(VOVA) has cajoled Kim Un of North Korea to send 3 thousand soldiers to Russya for military training in preparation to join the fighting in Ukraine. Mr. Xi will close a lucrative deal: troops for???????. Get ready Vlad. Here comes the punch line: "He wants land. Ag land for his garderners who already live in Russya north of the Amur River. About 5 million Chinese have been living and farming here for years. The frost line has moved north. Farmers followed. Mr. Xi: My people need food; we can grow it where Russyan farmers don't even exist. Hmmm. Anything else? 

     Weapons? Fighter jets. Electronics? Well, Vlad. Pay up now if you want anymore troops. How desperate is Vlad? How restive are Russyans in the western/European portion of Russya? Many have left already for warmer climes w/o war. Brain drain in progress.  2 years into a stalemate. Not good for publicity, VOVA.  Maybe you can send some Wagner troops to Ukraine. Oh, wait. Yevgeny Proghozin is dead, remember? Well, I'll send some Mongolians. Or Chechens, they like to help, usually. Peskov, call the Chechens friend, what's-his-name. Tell him to send me 5000 soldiers. We have the arms, we need bodies.  Just for 6 months, then we'll send them back with gold and diamonds for all.

     So, the yuan is being converted into dollars. The shame. What's going on here. The Party says this is against the law or whatever. Billions are leaving. This must stop. Tell all agents to find out who is sending this money away. Switzerland. No, impossible. The US already wrapped up the banking system. Iran? No, mullahs don't like yuan. Hmmm.

  Keep working on it, Comrades.

BRICS Hold Council Meeting at Putin's Request

    The BRICS: China, South Africa, India, Brazil, and Russya. This year, a few more countries were added: United Arab Emirates, Iran, Egypt, and Ethiopia. This anti-West group is meeting in Kazan where Russya is hosting the gathering. Little Vlad(Vova) wants to make it known that he alone is survivng the sanctions imposed by the US and NATO on his country.

     Various leaders have arrived to show the West that they don't need the West. They need alternatives. Of course, they all are participants in the game of Realpolitik: play one against the other and real double the benefits. Nothing new here. Same old, same old. Meanwhile, Iran is feeling anxious as Israel readies its retaliation for Iran's bombardments of its territory last week. Also, its continued support of the terrorist Hezbollah in Lebanon, and HAMAS in GAza that continues to shed leaders as they are eliminated one by one. Who's next? Please step forward and claim martyrdom now while still breathing. Ready?

    So, Mad Vlad will try to sell his position as leader of the coalition. Most of the attendees will be laughing at the chutzpah: he's losing big time in Ukraine. He can't even muster success without calling on North Korea for manpower to bolster his positions along the battlefront. Not easy being a dictator.

Qin Gang: Where is He?

      China's Foreign Minister Qin Gang has left the world stage. Has anybody seen him lately?

Orange County Supervisor Pleads: Guilty

          Good Old Andrew 'Andy' Do, an Orange County Republican, got caught. What was Andy doing? Federal prosecutors stated that Andrew was enriching himself with federal funds meant to provide meals for locals in his district. Hmmmmmm. This is where some of the trillion dollar deficit went. Into the hands and pockets of corrupt politicians. Hmmmm. Orange County, California is a hotbed of Republicans(Red) in an overwhelming Dem(Blue) state run by a super majority legislature in Sacramento, home of the aspiring Gov. Gavin Gruesom.

      Until now, Mr. Do was living the immigrant dream: flee Communism, arrive in the USA, work hard, enjoy amazing success. So, Mr. Do studied hard, got an affirmative action boost here, there, and everywhere(California): UC Davis, UC Law School, San Francisco, and Orange County politics. Then, the Federal funds arrived. Millions of Federal dollars w/o much built in accountability. Results: smart people think they are too smart to be caught with hands in the till. So, Andrew talks with local friends and business associates. Talk to his wife, Superior Court judge Pham. Daughter who needs a house. Credit card debt that needs a payment; friends whose business needs a bit of untethered cash.

      So begins a downward spiral, not quite a death spiral. Local journalists start looking at his activities. He is after all, a recently elected politician. Lots of public records(California reporting laws), accounting basic rules; oh, and bank records. Federal investigators have lots of experience with: fraud(s); crooks; politicians(Trump); small town operators; scammer; thieves; charlatans; double dealers; weak, spineless, intelligent, smiling liars.

     Mr. Do has resigned from the Board of Supervisors. He awaits sentencing after his attorneys entered his guilty plea(s). He'll probably get 5+ years in the slammer. His wife should resign after serving as his in house legal counsel. What ethics course did Mr. Do take at UC Law? Who taught the course? WAs it Professors Bankman and Fried? Oh, no, wait; they are at Stanford LAw down the street.

     This is just a small taste of what the country will suffer under the Orange -haired Baboon running for re-election.

Cuba: Need Power?

      Raul Castro, brother of the late Fidel, is the leader of the island nation that is experiencing some energy issues. The issue? No power! How sad, the Communist leadership is bewildered and asks ,"How does this happen?"

      Restoration of electricity occurs sporadically at a few hours at a time. Makes no difference whether you live in the city or in a remote village. Power does get there. My, my. Perhaps some of the engineers left the island to live somewhere else. Operative word: LIVE. Living on Cuba is not living but suffering under dictatorial regime government as the islanders have since the Castro Revolution ousted the former government in 1959. The Communists who took over with utopian promises delivered only misery and slavery to pie-in-the-sky promises that will never, ever be realized unless you are part of the Castro family.

     Old Raul is not long for this world. He's outlasted Yahya Sinwah, dead leader of the Palestinian terrorists, but Raul is O-L-D. He won't live much longer and his successors will opt for real change, as in out with the Commies in with 'anything' else.

     Raul won't have to turn out the lights when he leaves the world; there aren't any on.

Trump Campaign: Dateline Latrobe, PA

        The Wandering Orange-Haired Baboon is scrambling as the election nears. He's in Pennsylvania, a swing state where electors are important to both candidates. So, babbling gibberish, the perennial candidate noted to the local crowd that their town was home to Arnold Palmer, one of America's greatest golfers. Trumpie owns a number of golf courses around the country, and actually makes his home in MAr-A-Largo Club in Florida. So Trumpie entertains the crowd with thoughts on the late Mr. Palmer who died in 20116 @ 87.

     So, Trumpie mentions the great career of the man; and then he continues with a comment meant to amuse the local crowd: "When Mr. Palmer showered in the club after a day's round on the links, the other players would often be in the same shower at that time. Mr. Trumpie said that those other golfers would come out of the locker room aghast at the physical size of Palmer's appendage. A "real" man" in Trumpie's eyes.

     This candidate has the mind set of a teenage male. And he wants to be POTUS, again. No.

No more Trumpie in the White House. No more Kushner, no  more Ivanka, no more Steve Bannon, no more wing nuts.

Enough. 

  

Movie review: Commandante, or The War Machine, Italian WW II Drama

      World War II for Italians was a convulsion of sympathies and conflicts. The Fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini sided with Nazi Germany at the beginning in 1939 when the Nazis launched the war with a 'blitzkrieg' attack of ill-prepared Poland. Later, when Hitler turned west, Italy sought parity by sending naval units into the Atlantic Ocean to support the Germany Navy's submarine war against Allied shipping crossing the North Atlantic.

      The Italian Navy's surface fleet was bottled up in the Mediterranean Sea and forced to hide under air cover. Many of the heavy ships were later scuttled or sunk. But the submarines were able to sneak out of the Med into the battle grounds of the Atlantic, seeking targets of opportunity which did not include American ships in 1940-41. Based on a true story, the film depicts the courage of the Italian captain who risked the lives of all on board his sub.

     The story surrounds the sub's encounter with a Belgian freighter met on the surface at night west of the Azores. The Belgian ship spotted the sub and opened fire. The sub was able to return accurate fire and sink the freighter. The crew of the freighter took to life boats; action noted by the Italian captain. He offered supplies and provisions to the lifeboat crew and gave directions to a neutral port. Soon, the lifeboat foundered, and the captain decided to rescue the crew now in the ocean in desperate straits. As one would expect, quarters aboard a sub are cramped under any conditions. Adding 26 men amplified the unsavory situation. Food and water were limited; British naval vessels were known to be close by. Remaining on the surface, the captain decided to proceed, informing British navy officers of his Belgian survivors he had on board and the decision to take them to safety.

   The British officer gave them safe passage and the Italian sub delivered the Belgians safely to the Azores harbor with out incident. When delivery was finished, the sub returned to combat patrol. 

     2 years later, this sub and its captain were attacked by a British aircraft and strafed. The captain was killed in the attack, in circumstances that he had dreamed of years before. Tragically, the captain had been severely injured during service and offered a military disability lifetime pension. His wife begged him to accept this offer. He refused and managed to go back to sea duty. His infant daughter never knew him.     

State Proposition 33- Gov. Newsom's Baby

         Rent control has thrived in California for some years and the State under Newsom has become the chief proponent of the policy. Now he wants all control, leaving out all municipal entities-namely, chartered cities. And he wants no limits on property types. Now he wants YOUR HOUSE.

     He wants no limits on government control of private property. Read the voter handbook and it is spelled out in details.

VOTE NO on Prop. 33. Don't believe a word of Newsom's trash talk about 'greedy corporations. It's greedy politicians who we have to fear as the Dems want you to roll over as they scronge for votes and donations.

Vote No on Prop. 33

Woke Is Back in San Francisco

       Woke. We all know it when we see it or even hear it. Lately, San Francisco has seen and heard it quite a bit.

      The Mayor of San Fransico , London Breed, is behind in her quest for re-election. Her administration has been plagued by budget cost over runs, criminal investigations that has led to criminal charges for varying department members, and a local economy that has failed to recover from Covid 19 departures. Know worldwide as the business tech hub of Silicon Valley a few miles south, the former home of X(Elon's x), the Salesforce central HQ, and the historic West Coast financial center(until North Carolina stole BoA), San Francisco has become a hollowed out city, its core gutted by a lack of workers, visitors, and shoppers. They've all been replaced by drug abusers, homeless wanderers, street thugs, gangs of thieves, and empty store fronts and vacant office buildings.

      Mayor Breed's response has been to spend lavishly on community outreach programs, hiring non-profit organizations with little or no oversight, spending hundreds of millions of tax payer dollars without any improvements in any venue.  The Highway Patrol was brought in to help police the Tenderloin area, over run with drug dealers and abusers.  The F.B.I. came in to arrest many dealers, to no effect. Non-profits hired some of the drug users with no effect. Mayor Breed spawned a host of challengers for her job in the upcoming November election.

       Recently, she told the active chief of the Fire Department to step aside after being on the job for 5 years. Chief Nicholson has done a fine job, despite a serious medical condition that caused her health to slip recently. MAyor Breed needed more support from the Asian/Chinese community which has a large presence in SF. Since there were no well placed Chinese chiefs on duty, Mayor Breed called on the retired head of the paramedic division to be the new Chief. This woman has never been in charge of any fire company ever. Despite years of city service, she was always a paramedic or admin type. Despite this lack of experience or skill, the Mayor offered her the job, which she took @ over $450,000/yr.

     The SF Firefighters Union which endorsed her in the last campaign refused to do this again. The Police union endorsed her this time. Stupid.

    She is behind in the polls and will no doubt lose this election and be sent home, wherever that is. The Fire Union endorsed local Mark Farrell, a budget analyst and financial department leader(also former appointed mayor after death of MAyor Lee several years ago).

        Mayor Breed lives without a conscious and without integrity for the health and welfare of the citizens of San Francisco. She should resign. But the voters will decide in 3 weeks.

HAMAS Leader DEAD

      Good news all around the Middle East today as Israeli government confirmed that Yahya Sinwa, leader of the HAMAS terrorists, is dead. The murderous individual who sacrificed his own peoples for his despicable acts will not be mourned by many. The leader of the invasion strategy of October 7, 2023, that claimed the lives of 1200 Israeli innocent civilians and removed 230 hostages will not torment anyone anywhere again.

       The Palestinian civilians now have another opportunity to return the hostages and begin to discuss their own future. A few armed HAMAS militants are still rampaging around Palestine, but their future is in doubt as they are hunted down and eliminated like Yahya. It can't come soon enough.

Taiwan Encircled

       The island nation of Taiwan is back on page 1.  The independent nation off the east coast of Red China has been the 'target' of Chinese military units that have attempted to intimidate the country's new president. Planes, boats, and drones(no trains) have been sent to patrol in the South China Sea in large numbers, sending a message: "we're coming for you" sooner rather than later. Old Commie leader Xi JP has lots of economic problems at home, so, taking a well worn page from the Communist playbook, he's shifting the focus away from massive economic problems to an international problem that he created as a diversion.

       The economy in China has most recently received a boost when Beijing announced a huge investment in regional banks to stimulate those locations that have been suffering dearly with bad loans caused by the construction of apartments that nobody wants and nobody is buying. Hmmm. Sounds like a state run economy, Communist type of central planning. Recall the old Soviet scheme(s) of central planning.  Millions of apartments sit empty around the country. Miles of high rise building are threatened with demolition. Millions of former owners have stopped paying on the loans they thought would be paid by inflated future sales(sound familiar? )See 2008.

      Old Xi and Co. have put their heads together and have found just another rockpile with no solution. Try, try, try again. Investors in China are getting concerned. Companies are anxiously watching world opinion as the threats of tariffs appear on the world stage: tariffs on Chinese made EVs are already in place in the EU. Those cheap EVs made in China will not be flowing to Europe in large numbers. They will not allow China to manufacture its way out of an economic slump. Poor Old Xi. At a time when he should retire to smell the roses, ginseng tea,etc., he's stuck in the Party machinery trying to fix it. Good luck.

     Scaring Taiwan with military might only increases tensions with the West causing business to halt contracts and investments, further damaging any hope of recovery. Same old, same old. USA military units have continued to patrol the Taiwan Strait, displaying evidence of support. The Chinese Navy is larger in the area, but does not have the experience or capability,yet, to invade. Time will tell if Xi is stupid or just crafty.

Down in Georgia: Fani Willis is BACK

       Old Trumpie, visibly tiring on the campaign trail as the cycle nears its end, has to face a renewed challenge that his legal team thought was gone and forgotten: the Election Interference Charges from the State Attorney General in Georgia. The AG, Fani Willis, had her charges dismissed by a judge based on his ruling that the charges were obscure and not clearly defined thus preventing those charged with the inability to mount a proper defense. The judge did not say the charges were flippant or unworthy, he said to clarify them. The AG has done so in her appeal to the court which will be heard soon.

        In addition to Mr. Trumpie, his raft of bootlickers, toadies, and yes-men include the remarkable scumbag Rudy"America's Mayor" Giuliani; White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows; White House Counsel John Eastman, and several others. DJT thought this case foundered when AG Willis hired a friend who would manage the case and started a relationship with the man, now sent away. AG Willis has proven to be resilient and dedicated to her role.

       The case hinges on multiple phone calls to the Georgia Secretary of State Raffensburger after the 2020 election was over and DJT thought he could change the results with some applied direct pressure to those individuals who counted the vote. The calls were recorded and played to a nationwide audience. The conversation included requests from trumpie that he needed 11,000 votes and the Secretary could find them -somewhere! Additionally, ex-Mayor of NYC Giuliani, accused 2 women poll workers of engaging in vote tampering, subjecting them to harassment and death threats. They sued, and the Scumbag lost in court and they were awarded $148 millions in damages. Hmmmmm. Poor Rudy.

      This will play out soon enough, much to the shock of the Republican Party, now home to gullible deniers and shallow thinkers hoping to the return to a distant past gone forever. The country is tired of the incessant campaigning; the media blitz that goes with it; and the continued attack on democracy by fledgling autocrats. While the election will end after November 5th, the buildup to inauguration day will hardly be uneventful as party hacks play legal games with state courts around the country where voters went against the party wishes. Even Marjorie Taylor Green, Representative of Georgia, will come out on her soapbox and rant and rave to her few supporters.

    This case, in state court, could be the one that sinks the Republican Party once and for all. 

Jamie 'JD" Vance Answers the Question

        Vice presidential candidate, Sen. James Vance of Ohio, finally, answered a question he has avoided while on the campaign trail with ex-president DJT. Sen. VAnce  has been asked repeatedly by media types did he believe that DJT lost the 2020 presidential election that was won by Pres. Joe Biden. He responded on the road many times that "he had mixed" feelings on the results. In other words, he didn't want to go on record with his actual thoughts on the subject. Like a "true" Yale Law School grad, he squirmed as he had been taught: dodge the question, avoid the answer.  

      So, the flip-flopping candidate knew that time was running out as election day fast approaches. His advisors probably told him 'you better answer this or the media will hang you with on the eve of the vote. So he did; and here's what he said: "I don't believe he lost the election." Election denier can be added to Old Slippery now. He has swallowed the Trump Doctrine: Deny, deny, deny; attack, attack, attack. The Acolyte in Chief is now on the public record: DENIER.

        An educated young man with a goal: ascend the heights in any manner whatsoever ; truth does not matter; facts don't matter; by any means necessary; the end justify the means; the voters don't matter; the country doesn't matter; only winning any way possible matters. Lie, cheat, steal on the way to the top. Integrity is for chumps. I'm a man; a Catholic man who doesn't believe in any truth, any moral position. 

I'm James Vance, revealed.

A sad case of idol worship. Hopefully, he'll end up where he belongs: on the ash heap of history with his idol:DJT.

Homewood Mountain Ski Resort: Closed for the Season

      What happens when a local ski venue at Lake Tahoe closes? What happens to skiers who can't afford other, as corporate ski resorts raise prices, again? Locals and visitors suffer mightily. This week the owners of Homewood Ski Resort announced abruptly that the slopes at Homewood would not be open for the '24-25 ski season. They claim that a cash loan necessary for operations is not forthcoming and money is not available to fund necessary startup costs(labor, equipment, and maintenance).

      This move opens another chapter in the ongoing saga of the site that Placer County, El Dorado County, and TRPA has approved for a village constructed of homes, condos, and commercial properties. No action has been started here, yet. Wary lenders and weary San Francisco owners have been twiddling their thumbs while keeping eyes on the weather and climate. In addition, the economy has also played a large role as Covid-19 rippled through the State, public gatherings were determined to be "unsafe". Now owners can point to the uncertainties surrounding the 2024 presidential election with a Mad Man facing off with a respected Democrat. Who wins and who loses will make a difference for skiers and resort owners.

     Meanwhile, the West Shore, aka The Best Shore, awaits the outcome of this blatant attempt to blackmail Placer County, et al, into a decision sooner rather than later. West Shore property owners, business owners, and visitors and vacationers all play into the questions. Make a reservation or not? Buy a pass for Palisades Resort, or leave the snowboard in the closet until next year? No snow has fallen in the north Sierra yet, but it could happen anytime in October(none in the forecast).  Mechanics are stirring with their tools and machines, waiting in the wings for winter's opening moves. Aren't we all? The Mayor was in Wyoming last week and experienced glorious conditions on the Snake River, now at a yearly low level. The Rockies are waiting and the Teton Mountains are grey granite colored-no powdered sugar on top of Grand Teton. Maybe within the month, conditions will change.

       Off shore winds are predicted for northern California and PG&E has warned of power outages in event of winds that could down power lines of the grid. We'll see.

     Wax your skis and boards, watch the skies for the first cyclonic storm. Soon to come.

Beijing Infiltrates New York City

      The Mayor of New York City, Mr. Eric Adams, is under indictment for a variety of alleged crimes, not the least of which involves accepting bribes. The man has been under scrutiny by the press and Federal investigators for some time, going back to his role as a borough president in 2014. Recently, one of his former aides and a City employee, Winnie Greco, resigned from her City position as an in house aide/advisor to Mr. Adams on Chinese American topics. NYC has a large Asian community, mostly made up of ethnic Chinese.

       Since his entry into the political milieu of NYC, Mr. Adams gave Ms. Greco his ear and she returned the favor by proving to be a terrific fund raiser among Asian community members. She promoted ties with Beijing and negotiated sister-city partnerships while escorting Mr. Adams to China on many trips. The F.B.I. began its investigations of Ms. Greco and Mayor Adams years ago, focusing on those ties to the Communist regime in China. Mr. Adams was a supporter of a Chinese non-profit based in NYC that had ties to Chinese Communist  media outlets that represented the Beijing government. The America Changle Association NY had offices in NY's Chinatown and would later house the illegal Chinese police station there. The nonprofit was managed by one Harry Lu. Mr.Lu was a member of Adam's tour group that visited the offices of the Fujian Daily in China. The outlet is a part of the Communist regime's propaganda operations.

     In 2017, Mayor Adam's aided the Beijing machine by praising the Belt and Road dream of Beijing. This project, on its face, was an international influencing scheme to exert Beijing's influence worldwide. Basically, it was designed to ensnare 3rd world countries by offering them loans to build infrastructure despite little means to repay said loans. This clearly shows that Mayor Adams is a naif on every landscape outside of NYC and most of the landscape of the City itself. The slippery political roads of NYC are fraught with innumerable potholes that ensnare unwary pols and have been doing same for years and years. Any visitor to NYC knows about the ancient subway system that has been on its last leg(s) for decades. All residents of the City know that its falling apart and has not been maintained in any suitable manner. Compare the City's subway to any system outside the USA and becomes evident that the old system is archaic and should be replaced immediately.

     So how will things go for Mr. Adams in the future and for the City? Not well. Soon mr. Adams will be tried and convicted and sent to prison. Then a new mayor will be elected. And guess what? Old Ndrew Cuomo is looking to run for mayor. Imagine that.

       There's little hope for the City as long as Wall St. calls the shots.

TD Bank Shares Plummet

        Ahhhhhhhh, banks and bankers: so removed from the real world. Too much money and never enough for corporate moguls. So, the regulators slapped the US subsidiary with a $3.1 billion penalty plus an asset cap on retail accounts, the most painful part of the fine. How did this happen? How does a large, modern corporation slip into this realm of criminal activity? Who is responsible? Where is management? Who's the boss?

       Well now, what message accompanied the fine? Seems a few years back, drug cartel money was floating around hither and yon, looking for a place to hide/launder. A large portion of the funds came from Colombia(really), the world's No.1 producer source of cocaine. Agents of the cartel were sent abroad shopping for a laundry facility: a bank that had loose controls on cash deposits. Of course, these agents had pocket change to tempt bank employees. How much money are we talkin' here? Hundreds of millions- 9 figures++++. So, needless to say, the temptation was too much for the average TD Bank schlubs. They succumbed to the "chump change" and welcomed the cash. It made them look good to the supervising executives, aka- bankers.

      Money laundering schemes are large and small and vary as to methods. Rules are in place and oversight is steady from bureaus charged with controls in place. Other banks have been fined and placed on probation, Wells Fargo the poster child of fined money laundering institutions. Wells Fargo profits have been dismal as it attempts to turn the corporate ship around on a "new" course that FOLLOWS THE LAW.

     Now TD BANK faces the same course change requirement. The problem is in the culture of banking management and operations. The slipshod internal oversight runs deep in the culture of these corporations. Any attempt to change is a long and rocky process. Individuals need to be sent packing/retired. Others will be shown the door w/o benefit. The Captain(s)-board members will have to be dealt with harshly and they too will be replaced. These moves help, but the past practices are difficult to erase and replace. And dirty money is still afloat, swirling around in the financial eddies seeking a hiding place wherever it could be.

      Banking has changed over the decades along with rules and regs. As mergers and acquisitions consolidated banks, fewer and fewer institutions were found available and mega-corporations replaced small town operations. The result: large monolithic, monopolistic national banks. Staid bankers now became the envy of Wall Streeters. Jealousy sprouted; Ivy League grad schools started churning out aggressive financiers looking to make a million quickly. They found homes in banks and on Wall St. Thus, the business world is stuck with them and their ilk as they strive, strive, strive, and cheat , cheat, cheat. See banking profits after high interest rates roared across the landscape. Did any depositers benefit? None. Did banks profit? Massively, as they collected massive amounts of profits at the expense of retail customers.

Ahhhhhhh, bankers.  

Germany Authorities Arrest Chinese Spy

       It has been reported across many media sites that the German government has arrested a Chinese national for spying. It provided basic information to include the name of the suspect and the basic charge(s) involved. According to the charge list, the accused was forwarding information on arms shipments to Ukraine by the United States and other European nations involved in supporting the Ukrainian army's fight against the Russyan invaders. The information could be very useful to the Russyan forces and their leaders who have stumbled mightily in their quest for a takeover of an independent sovereign nation.

     The actions of the Kremlin and its useful idiot Putin have been widely condemned by all international organizations. Unfortunately, this has had little to no effect on the ground in Ukraine where a country is fighting for survival. Thousands of Ukrainian civilians have been unmercifully slaughtered by the invaders; and many more ill-trained Russyan conscripts have been slaughtered by the defenders. The Kremlin could care less.

    The world waits for a cessation of fighting.

Book Review: Autocracy, Inc. by Anne Appelbaum

          As a country, we roll on to November's presidential election, battered by resounding calls for doing our collective best to prevent a convicted felon from occupying the White House, again. Any student of American history, any American who has ever read a book, and American who took the time to vote in a past election, any American who cares about the country's future, should read this book.

      Anne Appelbaum is one of the great modern political analysts and political historians. She is adept at research, adept at gathering facts, and especially adept at writing on her selected topic. This book is a book for our time; a time when technology has transformed the world, the world we live in .  In a span of a few decades, everything we thought we knew has been turned upside down by computing power. And now we have Artificial Intelligence on top of it all.

       So, historian Appelbaum has shone the light on our economic system as it stands today. Get ready: your dark suspicions will be illuminated. Your worst thoughts verified.  Your malaise verified. The concentration of wealth exposed once and for all.

Read it.

Telegram Founder Under Arrest by French Authorities

     Pavel Durov, a 39 year old founder of Telegram, was arrested by French police today. He is beoing held for 96 hours. Charges stem from activities on the web site that are banned by the EU communications laws. Criminal groups, spreaders of misinformation,and other groups that have been banned from other platforms found a home on Telegram which is more lenient of content than other popular sites such as Facebook, Instagram, etc. 

        A spokesman for the company made staements to the effect that Mr. Durov has not broken any laws. However, French authorities do not arrest business executives indiscriminately. His arrest will cause many company executives to rethink their security positions in various domains on the internet.

    Telegram has some 900 million users worldwide. Mr. Durov is said to be worth $9 billions. He formerly worked in the tech hub milieu of San Francisco, California, where he mixed with the smartest developers and designers of modern computer technology. His legal problems will not be dismissed anytime soon. The Russyan citizen has many suporters at the highest levels of Putin's government. They in turn, cannot give much help do to the ongoing Russyan army war in Ukraine. All things Russyan are under sanctions worldwide. This act only illustrates how vulnerable all Russyans are to day no matter where they hide.  

FED Chairman Powell Announces

       Well, as expected, FED Chair Jerome Powell mentioned in his speech what everybody listening expected: a rate cut in interest rates is appropriate and will happen, probably in a month. It is expected to be 1/4% or 0.25%- not much, but clearly demonstrates direction-lower.

     The stock market and financial world was ho hum as this was what was anticipated. Maybe more will occur, but at least the trend is toward lower interest rates. Ok. Now we can plan for a future, somewhat.

India's Pres. Modi Visits Pres. Zelensky in Kviv

       In a calculated attempt to appear neutral, India's premier Modi visited with Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, Ukraine. It was only last month that Modi stopped in for a visit with the Rus Pirate Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, aka Vova, president of Russyan steppes and other areas of north Asia. The cool meeting between those two comes on the heels of Putin's visit with Chinese premier Xi Jin Ping. Putin's exercise in Ukraine, also called war, appears to have caused some grief among Kremlin planners and bootlickers.

      Meanwhile, Ukrainian army forces continue their attack on Russyan soil in the Kursk Oblast(county), north of the Donbass Region of eastern Ukraine where fighting has continued for more than 2 years. Armored columns of Ukrainian forces blasted their way through thin defenses as Russyan conscripts ran for their lives. The surprise attack caught the Russyan defenses without depth or leadership. Surrender was the watchword among the poorly trained personnel in the field. Kremlin staffers were recovering from vodka overload and have yet to decide what to do in response.  Putin, not a military person, can only sit behind the generals and encourage a swift counter attack. With what- powder puffs and borscht?  Hmmmm.   Where are the babushkas? Where are the strutting robots of the parades?  Where is the Russyan navy?

      Now Putin is aware that his bro -former President Trump is likely to be defeated in November's election and Putin will have to mount a test of Pres. Harris' resolve and international grasp of global politics. She is different that Trumpie: she listens to advisors and department heads.

    So Modi in Ukraine will incite Putin and depress Xi JP. Why am I helping a pirate, they ask. Hmmmm.

Poor Putin.

Crackpot Kennedy Ready to Quit

      In another sad episode of the sad Kennedy family, Robert Kennedy is about to drop out of his idea of a race. The wackadoodle dandy has decided that he has no more money to spend on a frivolous campaign of ego boosting. So, aids say, he offered to put the few idiots who support him in to the Trump camp if Trumpie gives him a high post. Fat chance, Bobby boy. Off to the wood shed to face your family. Loser.

Where is General Lieutenant Lapin?

         Hmmmm. Has anybody seen Gen. Lapin lately? He's the Kremlin's man on the scene in Kursk; that's where Ukrainian forces over ran the border defenses in the last week, scattering the conscripts running for  their lives, leaving local civilians at the mercy of vengeful Ukrainians.  Seems the General, told of a buildup of Ukrainians in the sector, decided a tactical move was not needed. And then, the invasion that has rocked the Vodka Swilling staff in Moskva.

      Oh, poor Vova; he needs some smelling salts; he can't speak; can't even get a word out. How did this happen he asks.  Oh, where are my Wagner troops? Oh, they are gone, along with their old boss, Yevgeny what's his name, the one I had assassinated. Yes, that one. Oh, well. Find Lapin now; tell him I'm angry. Tell the staff to do something, anything.

      Meanwhile the conscripts have been captured and are in camps, getting fed and treated well; better than the earlier times.  And the civilians?  Hmmm. Where are they? Oh, in retreat/relocation. They are R ussyan, they will survive; send them borsch soup, now.

     Where's Lapin? Find him, now. Nappy time Vlad.