Cannae, Gaugamela, Austerlitz

I see that Vanity Fair is pushing subscriptions to Tablet Magazine this morning tabletmag.com/subscribe teapaw.org/howserob/status/211743…

‘The electoral legacy of our Age of Migration and the studied mismanagement of multiculturalism, is low-trust, low-consensus societies… interethnic competition, institutional capture and a shift in how government manages the public.’ @WSJFreeEx wsj.com/opinion/free-express…

"New York is the only state in the union that categorically prohibits judges from considering the dangers posed by a defendant to the public in every aspect of the retrial release inquiry." This is true. This is a choice. It is a bad choice. Fixing this would fix a lot.

Barbara Stanwyck (1907-1990) I haven't done one of these in a while but with many new people on here I thought I'd start at the top with a brief remembrance. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't miss her. The conversations on the phone, the notes (she was a big note writer), the visits, the advice, the love. When I am asked what character she was most like I always say "all of them or none of them." She was acting, folks. She was just so good that most people thought she was the person on the screen. Now, like all the truly great stars there was always a little bit of her in every single character she played. Yes, she could be touch and quite direct in life but she, at times, could be surprisingly shy. She used to joke -- she wasn't a big jokester -- that she had "known me before I was born." This is true. She had been friends with my grandmother (on my mother's side) in New York in the late 1920s. Part of that group back then my rebellious American grandmother had befriended in the 1920s and 30s that included such people as Lillian Gish, Helen Hayes, Irene Dunne, Jim Stewart, Henry Fonda, Barbara, and many many others. So I started out knowing her as "grandmother's friend" from an early age. I didn't realize who she was until much much later. She had been a very social person for most of her life but really started to turn inward in the 1970s and by the 1980s didn't venture all that far from her Loma Vista home. Lunches at the the Polo Lounge and Chasen's were quite common still. She was being showered with awards many of which she initially turned down but which many of eventually got her to accept (one in particular she did say a firm "no" to and I'll tell that story one day). She was a fiercely loyal person. Once you were "in" you were "in." Our lives are formed by all the people we know and the experiences we had and I know that whatever in me is tough and good I got from her. She was one of a kind. A diamond in a town filled with cubic zirconia. Authentic.

Halloween in Australia 😂😂

“...voi tutti infatti siete figli della luce e figli del giorno; noi non siamo della notte, né delle tenebre„ 1 Tess 5,5 Buona vigilia di Ognissanti

So memorable. I was 14 when it came out and every performance was so memorable. My first time seeing Patrick Stewart, John Hurt and Derek Jacobi in anything. I highly recommend the books by Robert graves if you haven't read them.

We are former CIA officers, FBI agents, diplomats, and military leaders who spent our careers defending America from global threats. But protecting our constitutional democracy isn't something we can do alone, defending democracy requires all of us. Stand firm, get organized, and make your voice heard on November 3rd. VOTE for democracy. VOTE for freedom. VOTE for our future. Tap the link in our bio to check your registration, access essential resources, and build your voting plan today! #HoldFast #Vote

For those arguing that “military strikes will yield the same outcome”—what exactly do you expect diplomacy to achieve? What have 47 years of diplomacy with the Islamic Republic accomplished, other than kicking the can down the road and providing the IRGC with more resources to expand its military and repressive apparatus? Diplomacy never produced lasting de-escalation. Instead, it helped fuel the very apparatus it was supposed to constrain and weaken. The problem is not the war, nor is it President Trump. The problem lies in the ideology, nature, and very existence of the Islamic Republic.

She calls it “process” because she has no cultural or family ties to the 250 years of America. She has no childhood of parades or reenactments or 4th of July. She has no aunts and uncles who fought and served. No heritage. No patrimony. No tradition. Her parents are from failed nations who happened to set up camp here. They could have gone to England or Canada. And so ungrateful Kamala, despite all her accomplishments in America, is still angry she was denied power in 2024, and now wants to undo America because America is just an idea, and one she despises. Kamala is the poster child of failed immigration policy. Nothing more than an unassimilated, bitter anchor baby. About as American as falafel.

Blindspots in Shihabi's Saudi proposal to America on Houthi War: 1- Saudi wants America to take on Houthis because Houthis threaten global oil markets (therefore hurting American interests). Saudi does NOT want America to take on Iran, which does exactly the same thing (threaten global oil markets/American interests). 2- Saudi wants America to protect Saudi for nothing in return, only because doing so is good for America. Would Saudi join America in its war with Iran if America helps Saudis in their war with Houthis? No. It's a "help Saudi for free" invitation. 3- The Arab partners that Ali lists are only Saudi Arabia. He then rules out Israel, despite its capabilities: "Israel’s intelligence and offensive capabilities could help address a movement that has attacked it. But inserting Israel into the coalition could impede Arab and Turkish participation." Which Arab participation? Saudi? So Ali knows that Israel is capable but would rather continue losing to Houthis than solicit Israeli help? And why is Turkey waiting for American participation if Turkey has anything to offer to roll back the Houthis? Conclusion: Saudi Arabia is militarily impotent and has lost the Yemeni coastline and the strait. To dig out, it needs two capable countries: Israel and the UAE. But Saudi pride is too big, so they want America to do it, for free. Saudi could also convince America if Riyadh joins (publicly politically) Washington against Tehran: Scratch my back with Houthis I scratch yours with Iran. But that's not happening either. Sorry dear Ali, but you know how policy works in DC. Your outline proposal will not fly because, "what's in it for us, America?" The answer is: Nothing. What do we lose if we don't take out the Houthis? The same that we are losing as long as the Islamic Iran regime remains in power.

Obama is the political version of 75 year old Madonna in a leather bustier grinding on a naked model. Old. Tired. Gross. And just sad.

Road maintenance. Interesting. CA makes about $9B annually with the nation’s highest gas tax. That money is for road maintenance. But somehow we have the worst roads. Potholes on the streets, and more dangerously, on the freeways; roads that haven’t been repaved for decades; raised ridges in the road from old and uneven asphalt; etc. Obviously this $9B is not being spent on road maintenance. It is being stolen. Additionally, you have the CA state campaign to get everyone in an EV car, without considering the reduction in people paying the gas tax. Their solution: this mileage tax. Just for the EVs? Oh no, for everyone. For the gas tax payers and also the EV drivers. All because they need that money that does NOT go to road maintenance, to stay at $9B annually. Thieves.

🤣 LMAO! Kamala Harris just went cringe accent mode to black voters and it's worse than ever: "Election tahm is a tahm to let 'em know — we too busy watchin' whatchu doin', to listen to whatchu' sayin!" 💀💀 It's just another sign she plans to run in 2028. Trying to get the perfect accent down hoping her gullible base will fall for it!