COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Michael Flynn National Security Advisor?

The quandary that faces President-elect Donald Trump and Michael Flynn

As political circles buzzed with the news that former Defense Intelligence Agency director and retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn is likely to be named national security adviser by President-elect Donald Trump, Flynn was regaling a Museum of American Armor dinner Wednesday night in Old Bethpage.

Flynn is a Democrat and an early Trump loyalist who stood at the New York billionaire’s side from the start of his astonishing campaign. NSA chief is a great spot with which to reward Trump’s top military and defense supporter: It does not demand Senate confirmation.

Flynn’s speech was nonconfrontational by his standards, focusing on celebrating the men and women of the military, the Constitution as an oft-misunderstood document dedicated to individual liberty, the necessity of a strong United States leading the world, and the need to embrace the rule of law. It was largely stuff nearly no American would disagree with, though Flynn’s assertion that “we have been the best enemies in the world” because we telegraph our intentions to adversaries might raise some ire in the Obama administration he once served.
Flynn’s prediction was that enemies will test the Trump administration, probing for signs of weakness and a lack of will. He specified Russia, China, North Korea and the Islamic State, which has been the focus of his renown and his proxy work for Trump.

In a 30-minute speech at the Republican National Convention in July, a gathering far more contentious than the one in Old Bethpage, Flynn led chants of “U-S-A!” and “Lock her up!” but focused his policy talk on the necessity of understanding and naming the threat of radical Islamic terrorism in the United States and the world.

Recognizing the threat of ISIS early is Flynn’s great achievement, and understanding it and naming it as he does is the root of his break with Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Trump’s Middle East and anti-terrorism policies are among the great uncertainties of his coming administration. Flynn will likely have a huge part in defining them.

Trump has promised Americans exactly what they, very reasonably but probably unrealistically, want: a quick, decisive defeat of ISIS via his “secret” plan, and a continued tamping down of terrorism in the region afterward that does not involve endless occupation, resulting in huge expense and U.S. military casualties.
That’s the conundrum we’ve been caught up in since 2003.

The United States can control the situation in Iraq, Syria and the Middle East in general, keep the peace and stamp out terrorist cells if it is willing to commit people and money. The nation is tired of committing people and money, but cannot tolerate the threats of terrorism that arise when we remove our focus.

Flynn is as knowledgeable as anyone on how to address this, and there’s no reason to believe Trump isn’t serious about fixing it. But the conundrum feels almost impossible to change.

And it wasn’t surprising that Flynn didn’t touch the quandary that has bedeviled leaders of both parties for more than a decade.

Lane Filler is a member of Newsday’s editorial board.

100 comments:

  1. Jim Webb for Secretary of Defense.

    That's my choice, if I had the choice.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine won't take another shot at the White House in four years, saying he hopes to serve out the rest of his career in public service by staying on in the Senate.

    ...

    "I kind of have a sense of vocation... of the work that needs to be done to improve this branch. And I think that's my highest and best use," he continued.

    ReplyDelete
  3. President-elect Donald Trump began building out his national security team Thursday, offering retired Lt.-Gen. Michael Flynn the job of national security adviser. The move came as Trump made his most direct foray into foreign policy since the election, meeting with Japan's prime minister.

    ...

    Flynn, who turns 58 in December, is a native of Middletown, R.I. He held various positions in military intelligence throughout his career, including director of intelligence for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and intelligence chief for the U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

    ...

    In a separate gesture of reconciliation with establishment Republicans, Trump planned to meet with 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who lambasted Trump as a "con man" and a "fraud" in a stinging speech last March. Trump responded by repeatedly referring to Romney as a "loser."

    ReplyDelete
  4. .

    To my mind, it's a good thing that Trump seems to have a lot of opposing views involved in the transition process so far. I don't know enough about Flynn to comment on him specifically at this point; however, regardless of who Trump puts in his top foreign policy posts, it's going to be hard for him to square the circle when it comes to his stated foreign policy goals.

    Pat Buchanan offers his own advice to Trump...

    The Trump Doctrine

    .

    ReplyDelete
  5. Pat might want to give this -

    No other nation’s internal affairs are a vital interest of ours.

    - some further thought.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. After some reflection and historical recollection, I think Pat's statement above qualifies as one of the most thoughtless statements I've read in the last few years.

      And that says a lot because I've read Ash.

      Delete
    2. Pat really does leave one nearly speechless sometimes.

      Delete
    3. .

      Damn, I need to learn his secret.

      .

      Delete
  6. “Who owns the future?” is ever the question.

    In 2008, Obama talked of Middle Pennsylvanians as poor losers clinging to their Bibles, bigotries and guns as they passed from the scene.

    Yet, now, it’s looking like it may be Obama’s world headed for the proverbial ash heap of history.


    - Buchanan

    ReplyDelete
  7. If there is anything in Buchanan’s piece that I disagree with, I missed it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Buchanan on Laura Ingraham Podcast:

      http://www.podcastone.com/pg/jsp/program/episode.jsp?programID=669&pid=1691441

      Delete
    2. "While Article 5 of NATO imposes an obligation to regard an attack upon any one of 28 nations as an attack on us all, in our Constitution, Congress, not some treaty dating back to before most Americans were even born, decides whether we go to war."
      ===
      I say if Putin invades Turkey, we should go to war.

      With Putin.

      Delete
  8. SAN DIEGO (AP) -- A surge in border crossings and a lack of immigration jail space have prompted the federal government to start releasing Haitian immigrants who have been entering the country in large numbers in recent months, backtracking on a pledge to jail the migrants.

    A U.S. government official told The Associated Press that the decision to free Haitians arriving in Arizona and California is in response to a lack of jail space. The official said releasing immigrants with orders to report later to immigration court is a tactic used when detention space is scarce, under certain humanitarian conditions or as part of efforts to keep families together.

    http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IMMIGRANTS_RELEASED?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-11-17-17-52-39

    What a bunch of BS.
    Sheriff Joe could take care of them for next to nothing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Unless he plans to locate them in his double wide.

      .

      Delete
    2. Make a new slot for him.

      He's worked for the Feds before.

      Delete
  9. Obama urges Trump to stand up to Russia:

    http://launch.newsinc.com/embed.html?type=VideoPlayer/16x9&trackingGroup=90121&widgetId=1&videoId=31646651&playlistId=10212

    What a profound Dork.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I saw him say that and I thought good grief.

      Then I posted that Obozo was passing more gas than Ash and Quirk combined on their worst days.

      Delete
  10. REPORT: Mexican Mayor Arrested After Hundreds Massacred and Cooked in Network of Ovens....DRUDGE

    http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2016/11/17/mexican-mayor-arrested-hundreds-massacred-cooked-network-ovens-breitbart-expose/

    Ah, sunny siesta sombrero Mejico....

    ReplyDelete
  11. While there’s no denying Manning has been incredibly generous throughout his career, you cannot simply disregard the story of how he (allegedly) sexually assaulted an athletic trainer at Tennessee. According to sworn testimony, Peyton Manning “forcefully maneuvered his naked testicles and rectum directly” onto the face of Dr. Jamie Naughright, the University of Tennessee’s director of health, and then “smirked” and “laughed” about it. Naughright also claims that Manning would harass her around campus after the incident in the locker room. At the time, Manning (19) was the star quarterback for the Volunteers, and Naughright (27) was examining Manning for a potential foot injury. Manning initially denied the incident, but later acknowledged that a possibly “crude” but “harmless” event occurred.

    http://thesportsdrop.com/the-15-biggest-jerks-in-nfl-history/14/

    ReplyDelete
  12. http://www.paragonsdc.com/stratex/#fortysix

    ReplyDelete
  13. Japs Riot

    http://lifeorliberty.org/sites/default/files/TuleLake_riot_846.jpg

    ReplyDelete
  14. Residents of Hollywood, California, start a campaign to push Japanese Americans out of the community, May 1923.
    http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JpAEZQmQ9Bc/UOyFb1Jm4UI/AAAAAAAAADM/w5n-Gp2vGK8/s400/rsz_1untitled+(1).jpg

    ReplyDelete
  15. Steve Holland | NEW YORK

    U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has tapped three senior leaders of his national security and law enforcement teams, choosing Senator Jeff Sessions for attorney general, Representative Mike Pompeo as CIA director and General Mike Flynn as national security adviser, a transition official said on Friday.

    The transition official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the announcements would be made formally on Friday.

    All three men have accepted Trump's offer, the official said.

    In choosing Sessions as the nation's chief law enforcement officer, Trump would award a loyalist whose hard-line and at times inflammatory statements on immigration were similar to his own. Sessions opposes any path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and was an enthusiastic backer of Trump's promise to build a wall on the border with Mexico.

    Sessions, 69, a former Alabama attorney general and U.S. attorney, has received a telephone call offering him the job, according to CBS News.

    Bloomberg reported a Trump aide called Senator Ted Cruz, another possible contender for the job, on Thursday night to tell him Sessions would get the position.

    Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer, who is involved in the Trump presidential transition, would not confirm the reports on CNN. "Until Donald Trump says it, it's not official," Spicer said.

    However, Trump's transition team put out a statement on Thursday praising Sessions after their meeting a day earlier

    ReplyDelete
  16. BAD NEWS FOR HILLARY CLINTON

    by Neil W. McCabe6 Oct 2016Washington874Sessions said the more he learns about Comey and the FBI’s operating outside of the bureau’s regular practices, the more concerned he becomes.

    While the House of Representatives has made an effort to investigate Comey and the FBI’s behavior in the Clinton email scandal, the Senate needs to get involved also, he said.


    Central to the FBI’s mismanagement of the scandal investigation is their preferential treatment of Mills, he said. Mills was Clinton’s chief of staff at the State Department, an attorney in the administration of her husband President William J. Clinton and is now a member of the Clinton Foundation’s board of directors.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I like the way this is all coming together. I also think Mr. Cruz will look good in a black robe, especially sitting next to a dozing Ginsburg.

    ReplyDelete
  18. THIS OUGHT TO BE WORTH A PRIMAL SCREAM AND A FEW THROWN LAMPS:

    “I am humbled to have been asked by President-elect Trump to serve as Attorney General of the United States,” said U.S. Senator Sessions. “My previous 15 years working in the Department of Justice were extraordinarily fulfilling. I love the Department, its people and its mission. I can think of no greater honor than to lead them. With the support of my Senate colleagues, I will give all my strength to advance the Department’s highest ideals. I enthusiastically embrace President-elect Trump’s vision for ‘one America,’ and his commitment to equal justice under law. I look forward to fulfilling my duties with an unwavering dedication to fairness and impartiality.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Cher, Babs, and Clooney are in fetal positions about now.

    ReplyDelete
  20. but it's really nothing a few cookies, hiding in a safe place, and maybe petting a pony won't cure.

    ReplyDelete
  21. ... or a preemptive pardon. Trump and Sessions are wise handling in this way. It will force Obama to pardon her, eliminating another celebrate Democratic cause célèbre for persecuted Hillary, victimized by the vicious GOP.

    If Obama doesn’t bite, they will investigate and expose her and Trump will magnanimously pardon her. It should put a stake in the corporate Clinton brand.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Sure, why not.

      People would argue the pardon was good for the country just like they did when Ford pardoned Nixon, that it would eliminate a costly and extended trial, a trial that no matter the verdict would incense half of America and exacerbate already frayed tensions and polarization.

      But then, you can always find an excuse.

      I'm not vindictive enough to want to see Clinton dragged through the courts. I wouldn't take any pleasure in the spectacle.

      However, many people including me would view it as one more example of the fact that there are two sets of rules, one for the rich and powerful and another for everyone else. That fact is one of the big reasons Trump was elected.

      Obama pardoning her is one thing. Trump pardoning her would be another. The left would love it (though it wouldn't change any attitudes. The interesting thing would be to see what the Trump voters thought.

      .

      Delete
    2. This Trump voter would be pissed.

      I'd view it as an interference with the will of the gods.

      I'd love the spectacle of seeing her dragged through the courts and, finally, jailed.

      She worked for it, she earned it.

      Lock her up !

      Delete
    3. Well, Farmer Bob, for once I agree with Quirk instead of you.

      We should have justice for all, but the ruckus these assholes would raise would interfere severely with the things Trump & Co. need to get done.

      Delete
    4. You do get to watch her fall completely to pieces as Trump motors on.

      Delete
  22. We're BACK !

    AMERICA GREAT AGAIN: FORD STAYS....

    Dollar Sees Record Winning Run Versus Euro....DRUDGE


    We discover the largest gas field ever, and gas prices have gone down since Trump won....

    ReplyDelete
  23. What becomes of Giuliani then ?

    I thought he wanted AG.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Secretary of State, of course, you dumbshit.

      Delete
  24. He Gets the job I wanted: Secretary of Suggestions.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry you lost out, I thought you had a good suggestion there....

      Delete
  25. Where does Quirk fit in with all this now ?

    ReplyDelete
  26. Wife is backing Romney for SofS.

    She's happy, at any rate.

    After 8 years of bitching, and o does she hate Hillary, she is finally happy.

    I couldn't have taken much more.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Pompeo was first in his class at West Point and grad of Harvard Law.

    Say, isn't it about time for Ash to begin bitching about the Trump transition team being in total disarray again ?

    ReplyDelete
  28. .

    U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has tapped three senior leaders of his national security and law enforcement teams, choosing Senator Jeff Sessions for attorney general, Representative Mike Pompeo as CIA director and General Mike Flynn as national security adviser, a transition official said on Friday.

    Disappointing.

    Flynn seems to be the least objectionable though in the short term his new position is the one that has the potential to be the most critical. He has been described as volatile and shares many of the characteristics as his new boss. It's unlikely he will be offering Trump any opposing views. He is considered smart and experienced but he seems to lack an appreciation for irony. He has criticized the intelligence that has been provided in Afghanistan but seemingly forgot the fact that, as head of the Defense intelligence Section there, he was the intelligence. Also, though he has criticized Turkey in the past, he wrote a recent article condemning opposition leader Gulen and pretty much justifying all the points put out by the Erdogan regime. He was paid for the article by an Erdogan loyalist and Gulen critic.

    Pompeo is a right wing nut job (sorry, a Tea Party patriot) who is in favor of all the secret surveillance programs practiced by the NSA. In that, he is like all the others that have held the top CIA position. Unlike them, at least publicly, he has called for all the reforms and controls put on the surveillance programs to be repealed and the programs themselves to be expanded. He has said "Congress should pass a law re-establishing collection of all metadata, and combining it with publicly available financial and lifestyle information into a comprehensive, searchable database. Legal and bureaucratic impediments to surveillance should be removed."

    He has called Snowden a traitor and called for him to be 'brought back' from Russia, tried, and hung.

    Sessions is strictly hard right on most issues and as such is more emblematic of the GOP establishment than of any new thinking. He was a strong supporter of the Iraq war and criticized those who opposed it as un-American. He was one of the few senators that voted against a bill that outlawed torture by the military. Many consider him a racist. He says his comments were just joking around. He has opposed any reforms of the government's 'civil forfeiture' laws.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  29. You would have done better by not dragging The Tea Party into it, but you've pointed out things about surveillance I hadn't known about.

    You have been champion of the bar on this subject, and I take you at your word, as I do in all things, and have planted a big doubt in my mind about Pompeo.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't like the sounds of this:

      Unlike them, at least publicly, he has called for all the reforms and controls put on the surveillance programs to be repealed and the programs themselves to be expanded. He has said "Congress should pass a law re-establishing collection of all metadata, and combining it with publicly available financial and lifestyle information into a comprehensive, searchable database. Legal and bureaucratic impediments to surveillance should be removed."

      They're all dicks.

      Delete
  30. Idaho Elevator Report: Trump Tower

    Governor Mike Huckabee is in the area, meeting with The Donald today.

    My sources indicate Huckabee may end up as our Ambassador to Israel.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Correction: Huckabee may be meeting with The Donald this weekend.

      Delete
    2. What's a Black Pea Pigeon Stool look like?

      Delete
    3. Don't know.

      I gave some black peas to a friend though who was a chef and he boiled them up and worked with them into a soup, and wasn't impressed.

      If you want to know about Stool Pigeons:

      Stool Pigeon Cartoons and Comics - funny pictures from CartoonStock
      https://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/s/stool_pigeon.asp
      Stool Pigeon funny cartoons from CartoonStock directory - the world's largest on-line collection of cartoons and comics.

      Pigeon Poop - Photograph and Pictures of pigeon droppings, waste
      www.aaanimalcontrol.com/blog/pigeonpoop.html
      Sep 19, 2007 - Blog page about pigeon poop, droppings, and waste.


      For some reason, when I think stool pigeon, I think Q on a stool at The Ol' Detroit Mafia Barber Shoppe.

      Delete
    4. When they ate all your black peas, how could you not notice the appearance of their poop?

      Delete
    5. "...when he and his wife later became ill with a mysterious lung infection, diagnosed as histoplasmosis, he called me back for a professional attic cleaning."

      ---

      Scary Shit

      Delete
    6. Didn't get off the combine to look closely. I'm scared of that shit.

      Delete
    7. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    8. Pictures of black peas -

      http://photobucket.com/images/black%20peas

      My black peas didn't look anything like the above.

      Delete
    9. Black Peas

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_peas

      English black peas do not look like the ones I raised which were really really black and were sold to the pigeon industry and the Pakistanis.

      Delete
    10. Uticating Hairs and Tarantulas – An Unlikely Defense

      Uticating hair is not something that you ever want to get in your eyes or nasal cavity. Tarantulas are known for having uticating hairs that they will flick into their enemies face. These hairs are highly irritating, and certainly more than effective. Many people worry about the tarantulas venom, and the uticating hairs are actually the bigger threat. Uticating hairs are a much more likely reaction from a tarantula than a bite.

      Tarantula hairs have a long and storied history. Oddly, these hairs were used in products ranging from itching powders to national defense. These hairs were used as a weapon against soldiers by smuggling them into the enemies laundry and rations.

      Uticating hairs irritate the nasal membranes and cause massive problems. They have been said to be so strong that they can cause temporary blindness if they get in your eyes. These hairs are flung from the tarantula with incredible accuracy.

      http://www.snakesandspiders.com/uticating-hairs-and-tarantulas-an-unlikely-defense/

      Delete
    11. ...an irritated tarantula will certainly throw uticating hairs at a human. Keep this in mind if you ever decide to play around with one. Not only can they give a nasty bite, but they just might shoot you with these itchy, irritating hairs..

      Delete
    12. Irritated, he flung an irritating hair through the air.

      Delete
    13. I like black beans too.

      http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=2

      Delete
    14. Pigeon Peas

      https://www.google.com/search?q=black+peas&rlz=1C1AVSU_enUS357&espv=2&biw=960&bih=510&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiL1vWwu7PQAhVK5mMKHZgoBSUQ_AUIBigB#tbm=isch&q=black+peas&chips=q:black+peas,g_5:pigeon

      Delete
  31. Obama’s Offshore-Oil Plan Forces Drillers to Focus on U.S. Gulf

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-18/obama-s-offshore-oil-plan-forces-drillers-to-focus-on-u-s-gulf

    ReplyDelete
  32. STUDY: Smart people need more time alone...

    Cursing Linked To Higher Intelligence....DRUDGE

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can't stand the fucking gdamned crowds in the big cities.

      Delete
    2. Quirk loves hanging around The Ol' Mafia Barber Shoppe listening to the blah blah in ant hill Detroit.

      Delete
  33. Lynnette Hardaway And Rochelle Richardson, Diamond and Silk, on Trump: "We called it from the beginning, we knew he was going to be President."

    http://www.podcastone.com/pg/jsp/program/episode.jsp?programID=669&pid=1691932

    ReplyDelete
  34. My sources have informed me that The Donald has decided to settle the Trump University lawsuit, despite the fact he has dozens of students willing to testify on his behalf.

    This is a break in his usual tradition of dealing with such money making lawsuits, which is to fight them all the way.

    My sources say he has decided he just does not have the time for it now, being the new Leader of the Free World and all. He also says he fears being criticized by Ash for any delay in filling Cabinet posts and government positions, etc, that fully answering the lawsuit might cause.

    So this case of lawyered extortion seems to be nearing an end.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Assignment for Ash:

      A short history of the last 5 Presidents wrt their filling of Cabinet posts, and when.

      I'm sure it would be an enlightening exercise for him.

      Delete
  35. Huckabee has already met with Trump -


    By DAVID MARTOSKO, US POLITICAL EDITOR FOR DAILYMAIL.COM IN WASHINGTON
    PUBLISHED: 13:15 EST, 18 November 2016 | UPDATED: 16:33 EST, 18 November 2016

    Mike Huckabee is headed back to the Holy Land.

    The two-time White House hopeful, former Fox New Channel weekend host and former governor of Arkansas will be America's next ambassador to Israel, a presidential transition official confirmed to DailyMail.com on Friday. He met with President-elect Donald Trump Friday afternoon.

    Huckabee, an ordained Baptist preacher and electric bass player, would become the tip of Trump's spear as he seeks to shake up U.S. foreign relations in the Middle East, beginning with relocating America's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

    'That's going to happen,' the transition official said. 'Governor Huckabee is going to see it through.'....


    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3950596/Trump-set-make-Mike-Huckabee-ambassador-Israel-U-S-embassy-Jerusalem-transition-official-says-Governor-Huckabee-going-through.html#ixzz4QOs4qvDu
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

    ReplyDelete
  36. Can Criminals Be Identified By Facial Features ?

    http://motherboard.vice.com/read/new-program-decides-criminality-from-facial-features

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I want to see the results on Hillary from this test.

      Delete
    2. You must admit, it would be a sad tableau indeed seeing Hillary in rapid decline, wasting away in her cell, unable to remain motionless.

      Delete
    3. https://i.ytimg.com/vi/74lEmNCT1X8/hqdefault.jpg?custom=true&w=336&h=188&stc=true&jpg444=true&jpgq=90&sp=68&sigh=LKJxw9irBHN4tGbr0w6LGgutBqM

      Delete
    4. If I'm still kicking, I'll be laughing along with the gods, who, finally, have a sense of justice, and can get really pissed.

      Delete
    5. Life is like a toilet paper roll, the shorter it gets, the faster it goes.

      In the case of PD sufferers, the effect is multiplied.

      Delete
    6. It certainly seems that way.

      And what happened to the last 20 years I simply don't know. Just, zooom, gone....

      Delete
    7. The Gods would be pead off?

      Delete
  37. What exactly is a pigeon pea?

    sushigirlie |

    I've seen lots of different peas called pigeon peas. Some look like black-eyed peas. Others are round yellow peas. Still others are brown. Do they all taste the same? Are they all related?

    http://www.chowhound.com/post/pigeon-pea-773363

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My deep answer is:

      Pigeon peas are peas eaten by pigeons.

      Delete
    2. Elk grass is grass eaten by elk, and cattle fodder is fodder eaten by cattle.

      And Girl Scout Cookies are cookies eaten by Girl Scouts.

      Delete
    3. Honolulu Cookies are cookies eaten by Honolululuans.

      Delete
    4. hap pea and pee wee and the pea splitting process.

      http://adamcarolla.com/wp-content/gallery/2016-08-16-mohr/01-splitting-peas.jpg

      https://www.google.com/search?q=andersons+split+pea+soup&rlz=1C1AVSU_enUS357&espv=2&biw=960&bih=510&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjS55-EvrPQAhWIrlQKHUSaDI0Q_AUIBygC#tbm=isch&q=anderson%27s+split+pea+soup

      Delete
  38. Two Moose (Mooses/Moosii) Found Frozen In Mortal Combat In Alaska

    http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/11/two-moose-found-in-ice-antlers-locked-alaska-speeddesk/

    Shades of the movie "Patton" - wasn't it "Patton", I think it was....with the immortal idiot line:

    "God, I love war"

    ReplyDelete
  39. In Iraq, whose modern history has been profoundly shaped by the decisions of American presidents, officials and citizens alike are weighing Mr. Trump’s harsh words against his promise to defeat terrorism.

    Surprisingly, some Iraqis seem less offended by Mr. Trump’s comments linking terrorism to Islam than American liberals.

    Iraqis have endured years of Islam being used to justify mass killing, and some see Mr. Trump as a truth-teller in calling out Islam — or a certain brand of it — as the problem.

    Iraqi Shiites, in particular, say they believe Mr. Trump will take a harder line on Saudi Arabia, the regional Sunni power that many see as the incubator of the extreme form of Islam, known as Wahhabism, that forms a basis of the Islamic State’s ideology.

    “The victory of Trump is the beginning of the end of extremist Islam and Wahhabism,” said Mouwafak al-Rubaie, an Iraqi lawmaker and the country’s former national security adviser.

    In Mr. Trump’s vow to defeat terrorism many Iraqis say they have hope that decisive American power will be marshaled to eradicate the Islamic State, the extremist group also known as ISIS, which has occupied parts of Iraq and Syria for the past two years.

    “We have no concerns about the policy of Trump because he is against extremism,” said Saad al-Hadithi, the spokesman for Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. “We think we are facing one enemy, and that is fighting ISIS. Therefore, I do not think there are fears or concerns about a new American policy.”

    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/19/world/middleeast/trump-muslims-middle-east.html?_r=0

    ReplyDelete
  40. .

    Winter is coming!

    Today we had a record high, 73 degrees. Tomorrow, we will be lucky to hit 40, with rain and wind up to 38 MPH forecasted. Likely snow by evening. All next week temps are forecasted in the low 40s.

    I've been busy getting the place wrapped up for winter just in case this is it.

    Got rid of the heavy leaf falls, de-thatched the lawn, gave it one more close cut. Watered a few trees that didn't do too well this year. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to do any work on my lawn tractor, Old Betsy, one of the best buys I ever made. 24 years old and still ticking. Loud but runs like a top. All I've ever done to it was change the plugs and the oil, sharpen the blades, and apply a little grease (something I haven't done in about 5 years).

    Got it at Monkey Ward before they went bankrupt. Still runs rings around the neighbors machines.

    I've been planning on getting a new one when it dies but it won't.

    .


    Well, knock on wood.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Topic is National Security.

      Delete
    2. It was 25 degrees here this morning, no snow though.

      Delete
    3. I thought topic was pigeon peas.

      Does Trump have enough compassion to fee the pigeons at Trump Towers when the cold comes to New York ?

      Delete
    4. He might charge them a fee, but would he feed them ?

      That is what I am asking.

      The answer might have foreign policy implications if you stretch it far enough.

      Does he feel the pain of others, like Bill Clinton ?

      Delete
    5. Bill was trying to feel Monica's Brain.

      Delete
    6. He had certainly felt everything else.

      Delete
  41. Sessions filed civil suits against the KKK in Alabama that bankrupted the Clan there.

    from Mollie Hemingway on Fox News

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      The was because of the exorbitant membership fee and dues. Plus he had to provide his own sheet. Or so I heard.

      .

      Delete
    2. He also to it that a young white guy that had shot three blacks actually GOT THE DEATH PENALTY.

      And many other things, according to Mollie Hemingway, another of your betters.

      Delete
    3. He also SAW to it that a young white guy that had shot three blacks actually GOT THE DEATH PENALTY and was PUT TO DEATH

      Delete
  42. The Blob:

    http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Foam-covers-Santa-Clara-street-10623902.php

    ReplyDelete
  43. The best gas powered machine I ever had was a 1976 Dodge pickup 2x4, puke orange and lots of rust, purchased for $400 having about 80,000 miles.

    I got a hundred thousand fault free miles out of that old baby before the wiring harness burned up and I kissed it goodbye and left it at the junk yard.

    ReplyDelete