Archive for 2023

JUST STARTED KURT SCHLICHTER’S NEW KELLY TURNBULL NOVEL, OVERLORD, and so far it’s as good as all the others, which is to say terrific. Highly recommended!

MAKE SOME EXAMPLES EARLY, THEN:

THE ENEMIES OF CIVILIZATION ARE SELF-IDENTIFYING. TAKE NOTE:

Related: China responds to Israel-Hamas conflict with a call to ‘end the hostilities.’

BOXES HAVE BEEN OPENED THAT CANNOT EASILY BE CLOSED:

BILLIONS, NOT MILLIONS, BUT THE POINT IS SOUND:

UPDATE:

OPEN THREAD: Ring out the weekend with style.

USEFUL IDIOTS (OR WORSE): Here is the very misnamed Human Rights Watch attacking Israel for trying to enforce a no-go zone by its border with Gaza: “Both before and after the confrontations, senior officials publicly said that soldiers stationed along the barrier that separates Gaza and Israel had orders to target ‘instigators’ and those who approach the border. However, the Israeli government presented no evidence that rock-throwing and other violence by some demonstrators seriously threatened Israeli soldiers across the border fence.”

Israel argued, correctly, that these “demonstrators” were Hamas operatives trained to create a distraction for an eventual Hamas assault on Israeli border towns. As I understand it, the no-go zone eventually gave way to a “high-tech” border fence that totally failed.

SHOCKER: Iran Helped Plot Attack on Israel over Several Weeks.

Aside from the obvious motivations, Iran may be hoping that a sufficiently forceful response in Gaza will cause a split in the Israeli/Saudi alliance. That could happen, but I think it would take a lot. Israel is undoubtedly talking to the Saudis, and the Saudis don’t, by all evidence, actually much care about the Palestinians.

I SUSPECT THIS PROMOTES HYPERGAMY: Female Animals Teach Each Other to Choose Unusual Males, Research Suggests. “The new study looked at whether females’ mate choices are based on watching more experienced females choose their mates. It is well-known that animals can learn from watching others. For example, young crows learn how to make basic stick tools by watching their parents. Learning has also been shown in mate choice as females observing others with a male are more likely to choose that male themselves, or one with similar traits.”

WILL GAETZ MOVE TO SUPPLANT TRUMP? Writing in American Greatness, Thaddeus McCotter predicts the Florida Republican will be so emboldened by his success in forcing Kevin McCarthy out of the House Speakership that he will come to see himself as Donald Trump’s successor. And act accordingly.

VDH: