HALF-FULL REPORT 08/28/15: Comments working again

The Chinese Roller Coaster took the whole world for a ride this week, but that wasn’t the only thing going on. Europe is fracturing along several important axes, with follow-on effects that will be both good and bad.

The Iran treason involves Iranian money to key American politicians. We have a quick round-up of American news, along with some implications for activists.

There are good signs from the culture, if you know where to look. Richard Feynman puts in a guest appearance. And a band of unlikely heroes showed us some very important truths.  Let’s roll!

Heroes of the Week

It’s a delayed award from last Friday, when 3 train-riding Americans on vacation flattened an Islamic mass-murderer before he could kill anybody. The details weren’t clear then, but they are now.

Presenting our Heroes of the Week: USAF airman Spencer Stone, National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos, and their college student friend Anthony Sadler. Plus British businessman Chris Norman, America expat Prof. Mark Mooligan, and an unnamed Frenchman who helped them.

They stood up as free-born men: a pack, not a herd. This sort of thing happens in America, too, because Americans have resisted attempts to make them stop believing in their right to self-defense.

Hence contagious courage on the French Train. Hence progress in Detroit. Hence gun-related victories in the culture wars. There’s a lesson in there for all of us. Keep the mind free, because it’s the 1st target of oppressors. Concede no premises. Let the rest follow.

Riding the Rube Roller Coaster

Amazingly, major events in China affect the world economy. A 10-year old would tell you this, so it shouldn’t surprise you that our “best and brightest” are shocked.

A blast from the recent past: “Jack Lew, speaking at the Brookings Institution in July, confidently assured that Americans were immune from weakening markets in China.”

Aren’t you glad we let the “smart people” of the kakistocracy run things from Panem, D.C.?

Here in the rest of HungerGamesica, people wonder whether this is a one-time event, or the beginning of a series of drops. That’s almost the right question, but timing is a rube’s game. Richard Fernandez hits the core point in “Wanted: Rubes“:

Dishonesty is only lucrative for as long as honesty remains in vogue somewhere.  Once everybody is a crook it’s trouble. There has to be a steady supply of civilians for robbers to stick up otherwise the perps will have to resort to waylaying each other, which is no good.

An all-perp civilization is mathematically impossible and that is, at least in part, at the root of the current global crisis.

A crisis in which the Wall Street casino plays an active role. Understand that, then diversify your risks accordingly so that whatever happens, you have something.

Many of your fellow TTPers have thought about their “Plan B” for a while. You’re encouraged to suggest useful sources of insight and “how-to” advice/ service in the Forum comments – but it’s never investment advice, and everyone has to do their own due diligence. It’s hard in an atmosphere where almost everything is a macro-scale fraud. But it’s not impossible, especially if you can tell the difference between “money” and “wealth.”

Europe: Slouching Toward a Breaking Point

The biggest issue in Europe right now is immigration – or more accurately, the demographic replacement of local populations to benefit political elites.

Now anti-immigration parties are rising, some countries are flat-out insisting on Christian refugees only, and the EU’s erasure of internal border controls is under fire. Glenn “Instapundit” Reynolds did a great job laying out recent developments this week. Read it, it’s eye opening. What Prof. Reynolds doesn’t fully explain is why this demands your attention.

This “Camp of the Saints” refugee wave is a strategic fulcrum – in 3 different ways.

1: Islam. These ‘refugees,’ who are mostly Moslem, are often smuggled to Europe through affiliates or partners of The Islamic State and other jihadist organizations. While leaving several family members back in the home country as potential hostages to said groups. Hmm, I wonder what this kind of pressure could get people to do?

The refugees also end up paying remittance money to the terrorists later – either directly per their escape contract, or indirectly to jihadi-affiliated middlemen when they send cash to families back home.

Europe’s security services might want to get on that, but they’re totally overwhelmed by the number of combat-hardened jihadis who are returning to Europe from the same battlefields the refugees are fleeting. National governments, practicing Failure Theater, are “helpless” to stop any of it.

It’s a path to a Judenrein Europe, endless terrorism, and even mass rapes: see Rotherham, UK or Sweden. The logical end point involves civil wars that will leave huge chunks of major cities in ruins.

On the bright side, it brings in votes for left-wing parties. So, there’s that.

2. Bedrock ideology. The thing is, Europe’s elites can’t back down. Their entire equalist worldview depends on believing that all people are fundamentally the same, with no cultural or genetic differences that matter. Which is why any differences are evidence of foul play, with remedies that involve paying the Political Class. If they concede that differences are real re: immigration, the bedrock on which 90%+ of their programs, funding, and power rests will start to crumble.

That’s a glass 3/4 full, but way too threatening to them.

It’s an emergency, you say? Consider your own answer to: “What circumstances would make you agree to a U.S. federal gun registry?” If your answer was “none, ever,” you get that an emergency won’t matter if the power/threat stakes are high enough.

3. Russia. Vladimir Putin, who is not a stupid man, is putting together a group of supportive nationalist and leftist parties across the continent. That gives Russia a key wedge to slip its messages into public opinion, while providing a quantum boost to those parties (UKIP is not one, but Hungary’s Jobbik and France’s Front Nationale are). Ideological war will be part of that, so expect new political doctrines that aim right at some very basic premises. And expect them to spread, without regard to geography.

The message to Europe is simple: solve your immigration problem. Otherwise, Putin’s friends will. Or ISIS will.

The stakes here are really, really high – and along several axes, not just one. No matter what happens, we’ll catch some of the blowback. Then again, if our choice is a Moslem Europe or one dominated by Putin, I’ll go prep my congratulatory box of (French) Grey Goose vodka right now.

Instead of reminding us why Europeans invented the guillotine, the continent’s elites need to give us another viable choice. If they can. It would be a seismic trifecta win.

The Iran Deal

Hey, what a surprise. Daniel Greenfield traces money from IAPAC (Iranian American Political Action Committee) and related entities linked to the regime, to key Democrat Party figures who are supporting the Iran deal. Not just Gillenbrand and Markey, but Kerry and Biden. Money ‘graf:

Those politicians who have taken money from the Iran Lobby and are signing off on a deal that will let Iran go nuclear have engaged in the worst form of treason and committed the gravest of crimes.

While corruption is a factor, I’d also recommend Jamie Glazov’s classic “United In Hate” for people seeking deeper “why?” explanations.

None of which explains the GOP’s Failure Theater(TM) with Corker-Menendez, mind you, which reversed the onus for ratification in a way that they knew could not overcome a veto. But they could claim they tried. Now, basic failure to count means they probably won’t even get that meaningless vote.

Wile E. Coyote was a better tactician than these clowns – and it strains belief that this is an accident. Charlie “Devil Went Down to Georgia” Daniels sums it up nicely.

USA: Rapid Fire

• Looks like the Democrats are getting ready to dump Hillary for Joe Biden & Elizabeth Warren 2016. Jack Wheeler was right. Note that Biden will be a tougher opponent for the GOP; the article explains.

• Trump continues to improve polling share, while the incompetent Republican political class is even more out of touch than you imagined. Frank Luntz is “having trouble processing” polling truths (his “knees are shaking”) that he could have read for free on any right-wing blog 6 months ago. Calling such “professionals” utterly useless gives them too much credit. A better question: Whom are they useful to?

• GOP House Speaker John Bone-head proceeds to call GOP Presidential Candidate Ted Cruz a “jackass.” At a fundraiser. Of course. I hope Cruz uses this in a YouTube ad. Say, why are conservatives so angry? I just don’t get these poll results…

• On the flip side, consider: is Donald Trump’s best comparison Jeremy Corbyn of the UK Labour Party?

• #ProtestPP rallies across the USA, after the latest revelations involving the outright murder of babies that were born alive. You wouldn’t have heard about any of this from the USA’s Pravda media. At least Bobby Jindal’s epic trolling of pro-abortion protesters at his governor’s mansion got some coverage – he put up a big screen, and showed the Planned Parenthood undercover videos! Mama Jindal didn’t raise no fools.

• More from the “smart set” that wants to boss you around. Let’s cover L.A.’s reservoir with black balls to slow evaporation in a drought… uh, speed evaporation and grow bacteria! Once they contaminate the reservoir, they’ll be qualified to work at the EPA. But they’re looking out for your interests, yessiree. Just ask them.

• On which topic, Federal Election Commissioner Ann Ravel wants to use the FEC to elect her preferred candidates, not oversee elections. But don’t worry, you can work passively within the system and take your country back. I’m not quite ready to say that you can’t, but I think the onus of proof is shifting toward the people who believe this.

• Oh, look, more Lois Lerner emails, this time under the fake name “Toby Miles.” I guess “Haven Monahan” was already reserved.

• Hey, is that Pennsylvania’s indicted Attorney-General (D) with a private email account that’s used for official business? It’s lies and crooks all the way down, and that’s good news. To say that the most untrustworthy people work for the government isn’t enough. Often, these days, it’s not a government. It’s The Party using the form of government, in order to pretend to carry out a government’s functions. That does not deserve a government’s legitimacy, and should be referred to in ways that make this distinction: “the Democrat Party’s Attorney General,” for instance. This needs to sink in until it’s a reflexive response for conservatives. It’s a critical form of mental resistance to a harmful premise, and spurs wider resistance when heard often.

• Gee, who would have thought that appointing a know-nothing hack like Caroline Kennedy to be Ambassador to Japan might go all Charlie Foxtrot. The embassy in our critical Pacific ally is a shambles, to the point where we’re not getting information about the region that we need. I’m pretty sure they’re clueless about The Coming Yakuza War. And oh, look! A private email account for official business!

• CENTCOM analysts have been steadily pressured to issue untrue intel assessments, ignoring evidence or conclusions that efforts against ISIS are going poorly. If you think about it, this demonstrates something that’s hugely important. A bureaucracy sees what it wants to see. If you can fix its picture of something early, it will continue to maintain that “truth” against contrary evidence. Consider the implications for life in a lawless National Security Surveillance and Intelligence state. Should you ever find yourself in one, of course.

• The media distraction of the week involves a bunch of white, snooty Silicon Valley liberals who got a black book club of middle-aged women thrown off of their wine tasting train. Apparently, they’d done this to a Latino group before. This is why you pay indulgences to the Altar of Leftism – and Milo Yiannopoulos has his typically acerbic take on #laughingwhileblack’s white leftist mental complex. Me? I know who I’d rather ride with. If you’re discussing books and laughing, you’re doing it right.

Culture Wars

Following on the heels of The Atlantic’s scathing “The Coddling of the American Mind” article about politically-correct college-aged infants at American universities, Allum Bokhari at Breitbart points to several other indicators of a larger trend toward “cultural libertarianism.” Nice set of hopeful links. But it’s going to be a long, hard fight.

Case in point: the revolt in science fiction. Why do you care? The Hugo awards for sic-fi/fantasy fiction affect a field that’s read by people who go on to the tech industry. Where they build our future.

But the initial organized foray by the “Sad Puppies” / “Rabid Puppies” lost, with Leftists voting not to issue awards in several categories rather than give them to authors the Left hadn’t approved. The SJWs (Social Justice Warriors) also chose to turn the awards ceremony into crude mockeries and slanders of the Puppies slates, to the point that the representative of one publishing house walked out on the ceremony. So, they “won.”

But the awards are now revealed to be wholly political, they’ve united their opponents’ 2 wings for 2016, and they’ve left everyone with a clear understanding. As The Federalist explained in “The Hugo Awards: Why The #WaronNerds Is A War on Art“:

“What’s the difference between ISIS and Social Justice Warriors? Well, one recruits its members from the most pathetic, disaffected, pathological members of society, claims to stand against shadowy conspiracies and bullying by the West, and destroys revered cultural institutions in fits of fanaticism. The others are unhinged terrorists in the Middle East.”

It was a good quip amidst important larger points. #GamerGate, The Hugo Wars, the ongoing assault on comedy that even a black Muslim (and comic genus) like Dave Chappelle is starting to tear into. The ugliness of modern art, vs. the Aesthetic Underground counter-movement to restore technique, skill and beauty. Yes, there is a Leftist #WarOnArt. And a separate #WarOnNerds. The core ethics of both art and science demand freedom, as Jacob Bronowski explained in his short and wonderful book “Science and Human Values.”

Those are banners we can rally to, but even they aren’t the point. If you want a “Mattis Mindset” among the Left’s enemies, you need to run a Xanatos Gambit (warning: if you follow this link, you will spend hours there) like the Rabid Puppies did. One designed to show onlookers the truth that the moderate Sad Puppies discovered. The one Daniel Greenfield explained, in “No Truce With the Left” and “Be the Best Saboteur You Can Be“:

The purpose of power is power. The left is not seeking to achieve a set of policy goals before kicking back and having a beer. The policy goals are means of destroying societies, nations and peoples before taking over. If you allow it a policy goal, it will ram that goal down your throat. It will implement it as abusively as it can possibly can before it moves on to the next battle. It’s not about gay marriage. It’s not about cakes. It’s about power.

There will be no compromise. Because there can be no compromise. The only choice is to submit utterly to their totalitarian theocracy, or to destroy it.

Hey, remember during my Vegas Rendezvous presentation, when I explained that by 2035 or so, Orthodox Jews like Daniel would be most Americans’ default picture of “Jew”?

It’s an illustration of the truth that politics is downstream from culture, which is downstream from the mating/ status market. Orthodox Jews’ mating/status market produces lots of kids, and those underlying practices feed a culture that keeps most of those kids in its orbit. Meanwhile, less religious liberal Jews have below-replacement rates and high intermarriage rates. It’s straight math.

Now Pew notices that most Orthodox Jews lean Republican, and “look” a lot like evangelicals in some ways. As their numbers hit tipping points within American Judaism, you’re going to see long-time Jewish institutions shift or be replaced.

That accelerates the culture change and political change. By the time that cycle is done, trying to fight on the political battleground really is “too little, too late.” Especially since the Left’s hatred of religion and of Jews is going to sear in some long and nasty memories before all is said and done. It’s a “long fuse, big bang” prospect. But it’s a hopeful one.

And now, for something completely different…

As always, we’ll close with something happy. Richard Feynman was one of the great scientists of the 20th century, who made major contributions to the Manhattan Project, quantum mechanics, and more.

Bill Gates unearthed some 1964 lectures of his at Columbia that are aimed at a non-scientist audience, loved them, and made them available to everyone.

I love “The Relationship of Mathematics and Physics,” whose opener acknowledges that many in attendance may not be mathematicians or physicists. The Vega Project in Britain has some subsequent lectures if you’re a big science fan.

My favorite part? While he’s explaining deep science in layman’s terms, and is clearly a brilliant physicist… he sounds like a cross between Ralph Cramden and Ed Norton.

“One of these days, America. One of these days… POW! To the moon!”

Humanity will be back, and venture beyond. Until then, we keep faith with the part of Western Civilization that Feynman represented so ably. Feynman and his counterparts in one column, Aquinas and his counterparts in the other. Western Civilization at the cornerstone, where they meet. Aure entuluva!

As always, comments and thoughts are welcome in the new comments section.

— Joe Katzman