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."

Friday, December 15, 2017

Vladimir Putin Gives ABC a Lesson in Civics, Diplomacy and Common Sense International Relations

17 comments:

  1. I'm just happy that Pooty, in traditional Russian fashion, has finally taken The Cross, and is led in his Walk of Life by The Light of Christ.

    I do wish though that he'd knock off the bumping off of his enemies, and particularly female journalists.

    It is unseemly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Here’s a list of Putin critics who've ended up dead

      Jeremy Wilson

      Mar. 11, 2016, 9:21 AM

      http://www.businessinsider.com/list-of-people-putin-is-suspected-of-assassinating-2016-3

      It's a list you don't want to make.

      Delete
    2. List of journalists killed in Russia - Wikipedia
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_journalists_killed_in_Russia
      It is estimated that 21 journalists have been killed since Russian President Vladimir Putin came to power in March 2000. In the great majority of cases, no one has been convicted and sentenced for the murders. On 18 June 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives passed House Resolution 151, calling on Putin to "step-up ...
      ‎Deaths and trials, statistics · ‎Concern abroad · ‎List of journalists killed in ...

      Dozens of Russian deaths cast suspicion on President Vladimir Putin
      https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/...russian...vladimir-putin/100480734/
      May 2, 2017 - What do they have in common? They are among 38 prominent Russians who are victims of unsolved murders or suspicious deaths since the beginning of 2014, according to a list compiled by USA TODAY and British journalist Sarah Hurst, who has done research in Russia. The list contains 10 high-profile ...

      Here are 10 critics of Vladimir Putin who died violently or in suspicious ...
      https://www.washingtonpost.com/.../here-are-ten-critics-of-vladimir-putin-who-died-v...
      Mar 23, 2017 - MOSCOW – Not everyone who has a quarrel with Russian President Vladimir Putin dies in violent or suspicious circumstances — far from it. But enough loud critics of Putin's policies have been murdered that Thursday's daylight shooting of a Russian who sought asylum in Ukraine has led to speculation of ...

      Delete
  2. This almost sounds....er, Russian ! But the name sounds muzzie -

    The man who investigates sexual harassers in Congress accused of sexual harassment - 12/15/17
    Who watches the watchdog? More


    Omar Ashmawy, staff director and chief counsel of the Office of Congressional Ethics, has been accused in a lawsuit of physically assaulting and abusing a woman in Pennsylvania. The suit stems from a late-night altercation in a bar in which Ashmawy was seen sexually harassing a bartender. When his sexual advances were rebuffed, Ashmawy became violent and abusive toward the woman.

    Ashmawy, who has been investigating sexual harassment allegations against members of Congress, then used his office to influence local officials who were investigating the incident at the bar.


    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/12/the_man_who_investigates_sexual_harassers_in_congress_accused_of_sexual_harassment.html#ixzz51OZY4PV9


    Omar Ashmawy - Wikipedia
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Ashmawy
    Omar Ashmawy is staff director and chief counsel of the Office of Congressional Ethics. He was born in Jersey City but grew up in in Westfield, New Jersey. His father was an immigrant from Egypt. His mother was an immigrant from Italy. His mother was Catholic, but Ashmawy was reared in his father's faith tradition and grew ...


    Yup, muzzie.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Legalizing 2 million illegal immigrant “Dreamers” would cost the government $25.9 billion over the next decade, as those now-legal people would claim more tax, education and other benefits they haven’t been able to get before, the Congressional Budget Office said Friday.

    Why is this our problem?

    Who paid for your kids education, medical bills and taxes?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ...Immigrant-rights activists have argued that legalizing Dreamers would be a financial boon to the country, but the CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation suggested otherwise, saying that while they would pay somewhat higher taxes in to the government, they would take far more out of it.

      The findings could be a blow to activists who have demanded the bill be included in any year-end spending deal. Congress already struggles to find offsets for other spending, and digging a hole more than $25 billion deeper could be difficult....

      Delete
    2. I paid for my kids education, medical bills and taxes.

      Also paid the transportation costs, cars, gas, insurance....

      Delete
  4. By the way, the $25.9 billion would not cost the government a dime. It sure would create a lot of Democrats and turn a few more red states blue.
    Rinse and repeat.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Comment form same article:


    Legal & illegal aliens are draining more than public school resources & to the tune of approx. $108.8 billion a year.

    70% of legal/illegal aliens live at or below poverty levels.
    51% of immigrant-headed (legal & illegal) households used at least one federal welfare program compared to 30% of native households.

    The figures below are the Net Loss amounts solely for these cited services:

    * Federal Educational Expenditures: $1.6 billion
    * Federal Medical Expenditures: $17.1 billion
    * Federal Justice Enforcement Expenditures: $13.1 Billion
    * Federal Welfare Programs: $5.8 Billion

    * State Educational Expenditures: $44.4 Billion
    * State Medical Expenditures: $ 12.1 Billion
    * Administration of Justice Expenditures: $ 10.8 Billion
    * State Welfare Expenditures: $ 2.9 Billion
    And
    * Over nine years (2005-2013) TIGTA audits revealed that the IRS paid $14.228 billion in ACTC money to illegal aliens."
    * In under four years, the cost has risen nearly $3 billion.

    ReplyDelete
  6. O Canada ! Muzzie demands crystal meth and a chat with The Donald. What he got was death from well aimed Canadian police weapons....good work by York Regional Police -

    Muslim migrant with nine bombs strapped to suicide vest takes 13 hostages inside Canada bank
    By Pamela Geller - on December 15, 2017

    More news the sharia-compliant anti-Trump enemedia won’t report on. But the Canadian media is obsessed with my talk this weekend in Canada, trying to get me banned. Not this guy, me. Conquered Canada.

    WARMINGTON: VAUGHAN HOSTAGE TAKER WORE SUICIDE VEST, DEMANDED TO SPEAK WITH TRUMP
    By Joe Warmington, Toronto Sun, December 14, 2017 (thanks to Jihad Watch):
    Demanding to talk to United States President Donald Trump, the 25-year-old man had nine bombs strapped to a suicide vest, a detonator in one hand and a gun in the other.

    And he was threatening to use his entire arsenal inside an RBC branch — at the corner of Major MacKenzie Dr. and Dufferin St. in Vaughan — where he had up to 13 hostages Wednesday.

    “He was waving his gun around,” said a person who was on the scene. “He was not demanding money. He asked for no money. He said he wanted crystal meth and he wanted to talk to Trump.”

    He also asked for panicked bank employees to call police.

    Police are working to determine whether his arsenal or threats were real. But York Regional Police did not take any chances. After a robot was deployed inside the bank, two officers took him out with gunshots.

    “I am glad that they did,” said one person who was inside the building before being told to get out by police. “It was a scary situation when a guy has bombs and a gun.”

    This investigation is still very much in its early stages with forensics to determine what was authentic. The province’s Special Investigation’s Unit, which investigates police shootings, was all over this taped-off scene Thursday.

    One source who was on the scene said officers tried everything they could to get the man to surrender and to free his hostages.

    “In the end there was no negotiating with him. He didn’t want to talk anymore,” said the insider, who described him as appearing emotionally unstable.

    One of the working theories is suicide by cop. Little is known about the dead man so far. The SIU had not yet released his name.

    Who was this mystery man and why did he drive a car from the Bathurst St.-Teston Rd. area four kilometres to the bank with a suicide vest?

    “He is Middle Eastern,” confirmed a police source. “I believe he’s originally from Egypt.” One witnessed said there was no references to any religious or terror allegiences in the man’s rantings. The only thing political was the name “Trump.”

    Police were guarding the scene of a nearby, spacious, recently built, two-floor luxury home at 130 Lady Delores Dr. where the deceased is said to have been living. Neighbours describe it as an uneventful abode.

    With a York Regional cruiser holding the taped off scene, the front door of the house had remained open since late Wednesday evening when police came in. There is broken glass visible on the front step.

    “We are awaiting a warrant to search the house,” explained York Const. Andy Pattenden.

    When explosives are part of a probe, it’s not unusual to have specialists take a look for live explosives or any products or equipment that could make such devices.

    No one has confirmed if the bombs or weapon the dead man displayed were operational. But one person in the building at the time of the incident, said the hostages felt they looked real.

    One person I talked with who was inside the building when the hostage taking went down, described it as one of those pat-the-police-on-the-back moments.

    But ultimately that will be up to the SIU to decide.

    https://pamelageller.com/2017/12/muslim-migrant-suicide-vest-hostages.html/

    ReplyDelete
  7. .

    The findings could be a blow to activists who have demanded the bill be included in any year-end spending deal. Congress already struggles to find offsets for other spending, and digging a hole more than $25 billion deeper could be difficult....

    :o)

    You guys are rich (as in a cause of ironic amusement though perhaps in other ways also). Trump and the GOP are about to commit the biggest highway robbery ever on the American people, a plan to put the ongoing transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich on steroids and you are worried about $25 billion. Finding another $25 billion might be difficult? Good lord, these guys are blowing a whole in the deficit so big it can suck up $1.5 trillion (that's trillion with a 'T').

    It's projected the national debt, already at $20 trillion, will increase by between $10 and $20 trillion in the next decade.

    $25 billion? Hell, the next hurricane that hits Florida, Texas, or Puerto Rico will swamp that amount 3 or 4 times over.

    $25 billion? Heck, as a result of his tax plan, Trump will make that amount a couple times over. His family and
    friends will clean up to the tune of multiples times that amount.

    Is anyone really suffering under the delusion that we will every pay off the money we owe. This is the GOP. These are the guys who are supposed be the 'conservatives', the guys who are concerned about budget deficits and debt. And these are the guys now talking voodoo economics, citing Art Laffer for god's sake, coming up with the term 'dynamic scoring', a euphemism for snake oil, and trying to convince the American people that they are doing them a big favor, an effort only marginally successful as only about 3 in 10 are buying it.

    $25 billion? A drop in the bucket. Maybe someone will actually get a meal out of it. I doubt it will stop Bill Gates or Larry Ellison from being able to buy another $100 million dollar house or yacht. There biggest problem will be having to hire more lawyers and CPA's to figure out where to stash the bounty they are about to receive.

    It's a truism that some can't see the forest for the trees.

    .



    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The CPAs are going to take it in the arse as that expense will no longer be an expense one can write off, if I heard right.

      My wife and I have finally become CPAs ourselves.

      Delete
    2. I don't like the idea about charitable giving no longer being a write off, again if I heard correctly.

      Delete
    3. If you can write it off, that is not charity, that is a tax write-off and subsidy.

      I would like to see charity write-offs written off.

      Delete
  8. Austria:

    The Freedom Party finished third in October’s parliamentary elections, receiving 26 percent of the vote, less than one percentage point behind the second placed Social Democrats. Kurz’s People’s Party comfortably finished first in the elections with 31.5 percent.

    The success of the far-right Freedom Party, which gained 7 percentage points on the previous elections, come as it emphasizes a hardline anti-immigrant stance after Austria was overwhelmed by a wave of refugees fleeing war and persecution. Since 2015, the Alpine country took in some 150,000 asylum seekers, which accounts for over 1 percent of its population, one of the largest shares per capita alongside Sweden.

    The signs of the growing popularity of the far-right was evident in December last year, when Freedom Party candidate Norbert Hofer’s bid to become modern Austria's first far-right president was only narrowly defeated in a neck-and-neck contest with centrist Van der Bellen.

    With Austria set to form a right-wing government, institutionalized opposition to “open door” policies on migrants is no longer restricted to the EU's eastern reaches. Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with their right-wing conservative governments, remain staunchly opposed to the EU relocation scheme and refuse to take in a single refugee.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sebastian Kurz, at 31 and unmarried, is the most sought after young man in all of Europe.

    He has a girl friend, but that can change.

    Millions of beating female hearts are hoping so all across the Continent, and in the USA too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have heard it said by my sources in Austria, and my sources in Detroit, Michigan, both, that Sebastian is even more sought after by the fems than Quirk, and that is really saying something !

      Delete