I Improve "Rebel Moon -- Part One"

I watched Rebel Moon on Netflix. I kept my expectations quite low and the show met them.

I thought the girl working the fields under the pinkish light reflecting off the huge planet was both cool and, at the same time, kinda hot. Then I wondered if her moon was tidally locked to that huge planet like our moon is to Earth and if that huge planet blocked the sun for half of the moon's orbit. Then I stopped thinking, which helped.

The girl lives with a bunch of Viking farmers who are pining for the fjords. She is with them but not of them. A Nazi guy shows up in a big, planet-killing ship and gives the Vikings what for. It seems the Vikings have turned Amish and stubbornly refuse to buy mechanical harvesters that will ruin their close-to-god lifestyle but produce more food for their conquerors.

I'm confused about the Nazis because the soldiers left behind are Australian. One of them says, "Throw another steak on the barbie, mate, while I rape the kind-hearted hot blondie carrying the water bucket." I think the blond girl they try to rape is that same special, life-affirming princess so often discussed. I say this because the female fieldhand-ninja that came to her rescue was the bodyguard of the Princess before that terrible thing that happened...happened. So wouldn't they both crash in that same spaceship? Oh, right, apparently there was a crashed spaceship. Questions remain: Was Anthony Hopkins voicing the pacifist robot who's in deep-like with the blond girl? Was that child-stealing spider-lady actually a misunderstood person or an understood giant spider?

One thing I like about this universe is that the neighboring planets are so close you can walk between them. OK, they do find a charming smuggler with a spaceship to eliminate some of the hiking. The plot is "The Magnificent Seven Space Samurai" meet "The Empire as it Strikes Back." The guy playing the gruff "Charles Bronson" part is a griffin whisperer, so he has a bit of the suave Robert Redford in him.

Robert Redford played the horse whisperer in The Horse Whisperer. He helped a lame Scarlett Johansen's horse. Scarlett's character really was lame -- though not a lesbian, near as I could tell. The horse wasn't doing too good, either. Scarlett and her horse got hit by a truck. I was dragged off to see this movie and I thought it was "The Hoarse Whisperer," which made sense because if you are hoarse, you are going to whisper. So at the beginning, I'd ask, "Who's hoarse?" And she'd say, "It's the girl's horse." And I'd say, "Sure, but who's hoarse!" and she'd say, "Stop it!"

Where was I? Right. I thought the griffin should have flown upside down to ditch the whisperer, done in slo-mo, of course. The movie needs mo' slo-mo. And mo'cowbell in the musical score.

I did enjoy the climactic but ridiculous fight scene on the "floating drydock" above the clouds. The female fieldhand-ninja gets to meet, and temporarily defeat, her Nazi Nemesis -- who must have tucked and rolled after that long, hard fall.

I got a bit of a quibble. Earlier in the show, when she was at the campfire with the Viking Amish Farmer fella, she could explain that she was graciously adopted by a powerful evil commander after he made her an orphan. He did painful experiments on her. You always hurt the one you love was his favorite saying. She could tell the Amish Viking, "Small as I seem, I'm not just much stronger and meaner than you -- I weigh a lot more."

Then he looks at her quizzically and she explains, "I'm dense. I'm 87.6 percent Unobtainium, which is why I'm so light on my feet and yet rugged. Try to break my arm. Oh, go ahead, try to break it. You can't. Even my wounds heal quickly on account of all those tiny blood-bots that repair everything. Sometimes those blood-bots take over and make me do terrible things -- but not so much lately!"

Then she'd stare off into the distance and we'd cut to the flashback, "We found the Unobtainium on a lovely, lush planet where we met these beautiful and charming blue people and killed them. My evil stepdad established mines there which operate in harsh conditions but do provide employment for millions of slaves. My stepdad says it's the last job they'll ever need. He's funny, sometimes, and loves animals and prepubescent boys. I have enough highly refined Unobtainium in me to power the entire imperial fleet for five years -- that's why I'm a much sought-after commodity. Melt me -- which won't be easy cause I don't want to be melted -- and I'm high-grade fuel. Yeah, I'm denser than normal but also a wonderful dancer. Wanna dance? No? I'm good on the farm, too. I don't need no thick-headed stallion to pull that plow. I'll do it myself."  

In this way, she could explain her immense Physical Prowess, and how she keeps beating up all those guys.

There is a rumored Part Two. Am I right about that Extra-Special Life-affirming Princess being the water-carrying farm girl? Are the Amish Viking Villagers actually the Seven Dwarves? Stay-tunned.

Who puts the Con in Fusion Confusion?

US nuclear-fusion game-changing achievement

In high school, I got excited about these laser-ignition experiments at the US government labs. That was in 1967 and I looked forward to a future of energy abundance and flying cars. Meanwhile, two generations of researchers have earned a nice retirement -- and I ain't got no flying car. I wish the third generation well.

For over half a century they've focused multiple lasers on tiny magic-mixture pellets in microsecond bursts. For one brief shining moment, they produce the center of the sun-like conditions that compress two hydrogen atoms together to make one helium, releasing a burst of energy in the process. How many seconds of power per decade does it all add up to? Less than a minute? Of course, they were actually modeling more effective H-bombs, so maybe we got our money's worth (we won't know until the world is utterly destroyed in a nuclear holocaust).

The current irritating and irradiating "fission" Nuclear Power Industry came to us courtesy of these same government labs, as well as the entire political establishment (you see, nukes are not just H-bombs and huge, mutant, lizard-monster things!). Of course, the electric utilities got the blame for the industry's real and Hollywood-conjured shortcomings, though at the time those executives knew nothing about nuclear energy and needed a kick in the butt to adopt it. They were happy burning coal to make the electric energy we demand, so blame them for that.

During the promotional period, we were told that nuclear energy would be so abundant that it would not be metered and the downsides weren't mentioned. I was in middle school and looked forward to a future of abundant energy and flying cars. Of course, the researchers were looking for grants -- mo' money -- so a positive slant is to be expected, back then and right now.

Still, I'm all for fusion energy. It's how we'll power our new robot girlfriends. "Honey, grab me a beer."/"Of course, darling, shall I massage your feet as well?"

Women can have robot girlfriends, too. They can complain about not having boyfriends.

Oh My God, what a Zilla

 Godzilla Suite

The soundtrack to Godzilla, Minus One. I haven't seen the latest but rather like The Suite.

As a Kid in the 1950's I saw one of the early Godzilla movies (maybe the first one) after it had been adapted for the US market. They hired a few Hollywood B movie actors for spliced-in scenes that showed the US as an ally in the fight rather than, oh, let's see -- the cause. The additions didn't improve it. The thing is, even as a kid I was aware of the destruction the US dealt Japan and Japanese civilians.  I didn't know the meaning of the word "metaphor" but I knew it when I saw it. Even before the use of the atomic bomb, the firebombing of Tokyo and other cities took hundreds of thousands of lives.

Ironically, and counterintuitively, the use of the atomic bombs may have saved Japanese lives. If the US invaded many would have died on both sides and if the US had blockaded Japan many would have starved (the US actually sent food aid to Japan after the surrender).

Perhaps the Japanese have decided that "living well" is the best revenge. Then again, it's a dish best-served cold.

COP-Out China

 COP28 Climate Change Conference

They're throwing another Climate Change feast somewhere and the number 28 means there were 27 previous party-hardies for the Climate Control Crowd. Peter Zeihan provides a short summation of what is going on. Apparently China, often held up as a model, is in "count me out" mode on the latest proposal.

Zeihan makes a point similar to the one I've been making for decades: CO2 is like "the little gas that could" in the global warming catastrophe scenario.  It works on a narrow spectrum of sunlight and is quite potent when first introduced but soon approaches its "upper limit" when it comes to greenhouse warming. At this point, its additional effects are rather small (water vapor is more powerful and when will they do something about the rain?). To get its assigned Civilization-destroying job done, CO2 needs a lot of help. This comes in the form of "feedback loops."

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas.  There is a lot of methane hydrate at the bottom of the ocean, where the pressure and the cold keep it trapped.  Warm the Oceans and this methane is released, leading to a runaway greenhouse effect and a potential mass extinction event.  This is the "feedback loop" that all the other "feedback loops" lead to.

There is a problem though. Methane breaks down rapidly in the atmosphere and in a few years much of it is gone and in ten years all of it. So it can't be a slow, steady release of methane, it has to happen quickly to produce the kind of effects that will make fearful populations willing to pay more taxes, higher more bureaucrats and submit to more control. Not Enough Government seems to be the real crisis all these Climate COPs are addressing.

Midway to Space

 SpaceX Starship Third Launch! Closer Than You Think

Felix, at his WAI YouTube channel, discusses the possible expansions of StarBase Texas to accommodate more launches of Starship. Considering the opposition that a few launches a year stir up, I wonder if an increased capacity will be needed -- not when the intended future pace is a dozen (or several) a day. These ships will carry 200 tons of cargo into Low Earth Orbit and then return for relaunch (with some return cargo once space manufacturing is up and running). Hearing the accompanying Kabooms might upset the neighbors (not to mention the risks of a mishap).  

So here is a modest proposal: establish a spaceport at Midway Island in the Pacific. It's midway between the Americas and Asia and could be a great future location for a Space Manufacturing hop-hub, with all the accompanying ups and downs.

The island (part of the Hawaiian Island chain) is small -- though it was the center of a decisive WWII naval battle that carries its name.  However, it is surrounded by US territorial waters where "Oil Platform" style launch pads could be located. Converted container ships could provide areas for workshops. LNG-style tankers could store fuel. A cruise liner could house the workforce. Much of the ground-level work can be done from Hawaii and the families of launch crews could live there while the working partners return for breaks.

The Island is isolated, so the high pace of launching and catching rockets won't disturb voters. Of course, it's now a wilderness area so some care would be required not to disturb the fish. Congress should establish a legal framework to allow private companies and competing launchers to operate from the Midway Spaceport transparently. A regulated, but privately owned, Spaceport Authority could be established and listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Saving Myself

 A while back I decided that the comments I spread around the internet display such genius that I should start saving them. So I put a folder on my desktop and labeled it "Comments." It contains one. Here it is:

The United States has a two-party system: There is a Responsible Party and an Irresponsible Party.

The Responsible Party is easy to identify. When something goes wrong, the Responsible Party is the party responsible -- either individually or as a group (as in "it's society's fault"). The Irresponsible Party is never responsible for the problem (when Flint's water went bad, was it the responsibility of the water department? Why ask). However, the Irresponsible Party will freely offer solutions that the Responsible Party should finance and implement (while ignoring the name-calling, the selfish bastards).

Members of the Irresponsible Party are more difficult to identify because they often look responsible and act responsibly where their own lives are concerned. They can push for a course on Critical Race Theory and non-racist athematic in public schools while sending their own kids to private schools. The typical criminal is a member of the Irresponsible Party but so is the prosecutor that releases a criminal with a high probability of offending again. Neither is responsible for what happens.

Members of the Irresponsible Party are often idealists who will join an organization with no intention of furthering that organization's mission. Indeed, their intention is to re-purpose the institution and move it in a different direction, to basically undermine it and fundamentally transform it. Their actions are deliberate, but often lack deliberation. Having identified with a cause on a personal level, questioning the wisdom of their actions becomes a highly personal attack on their self-worth. This applies to the idealist. The Sociopaths, who hope to take over when society fails and falls, don't practice self-deceit, just deceit straight-up.

I was thinking of making this a book with reasoned arguments and examples and footnotes and stuff.

A current example is Hamas -- an irresponsible party -- and Israel (guess which role it fills).

Deutschland Uber all the Rest?

 The End of Germany as a Modern Economy || Peter Zeihan

Peter uses his "Merry Prophet of Doom" persona for this short video. He's hiking in the Rockies and increased endorphins may account for his detachment from the existential struggles facing the inhabitants of central Europe. In the past, these folks became quite proactive when facing a perceived threat -- just ask the ancient Romans. Need we mention the "Lebensraum" phase that required so much of the world's attention in the 1930s and 1940s? No. Simply alluding to those events will do.

He mentions Germany's 2 trillion dollar expenditure on "Green Energy," and the statistical and rhetorical tap-dancing required to make it appear more than a waste of resources. Then there is the bet on Russia as the primary source of the raw materials that feed German Industry -- putting Putin in the position to cut that lifeline. Fortunately, coal's discount cousin, lignite (with its bonus CO2), has come to the rescue.

He expected Putin's cutting the gas supply would make German support for Ukraine collapse, but I wasn't so sure: Donald Trump predicted that scenario, and we can't have him look good. So, which is the more likely explanation: the Social Democrats' unexpected acquisition of fortitude or their sudden need to avoid embarrassment?

In the end, Peter suggests that an aging population may cause Germany to "pass into this good night -- quietly" instead of -- as Dylan Thomas said -- raging against the dying of the light. Who wants to see Germany in a rage?

I'm not so sure about the dying of Germany's industrial might or light -- though not about the "quietly" part, since Quiet Patience can be an excellent policy. Through no fault of its own, Germany finds Ukraine fighting a war that America is largely financing that will, in the end, likely benefit Germany. Assuming Ukraine maintains its independence -- with or without territorial loss -- it will be dependent on a benevolent Germany and it will be in Germany's interest to be benevolent. Ukraine can supply food from industrial farms and young people to an industrial Germany (Ukraine also has an aging population but its young people can send money home to mom and dad). A chastened Russia will once again become a reliable raw material supplier while needing a German-dominated NATO as a guarantor against an expansionist China and secessionist movements.

Did I say "a German-dominated Nato?" Yep. With a Russian defeat in Ukraine, the US participation in NATO will no longer be needed. Remember, the reason for keeping America in is to keep Germany down, and why would the Germans want that? As NATO's focus moves into Central Asia, Americans will feel increasingly uncomfortable with their membership in the organization, and rightly so: very few Americans want to get involved in a country whose name ends in stan. Perhaps the Germans will show the US the door while the French become desperate for the Americans to stay. Might they offer the US a base in Alsace-Lorraine?

Think of it as "Wet-landia"

Commentary: ‘The Swamp’ is everywhere — even in Republican Tennessee

I call the conglomeration of special interests that controls this country The Crony Class. The Crony Class has its Crony Class Consciousness and Crony Class interests. Its chief interest is a continually growing government, used to dispense favors and money to members of the Crony Class and the retainers who support their demands.

Naturally, they cannot be upfront about any of this. I would rather discuss the 2,200 billion dollars of borrowed money (just this year!) they are using to keep themselves in power, as well as the tens of thousands of additional pages of regulations they are using to solidify their class interests and pick winners (themselves) and losers (everyone else). They would prefer I focus my attention on the tribulations and trials (literally) of Donald Trump -- not that I blame them.

After all, they want to control the 7,200 billion dollars flowing through Washington DC every year (and grow it to 10,000 billion) and take control of everything in the nation through the regulatory and retaliatory bureaucracy. These are high stakes, and it would take a collection of saints to avoid temptation (and there are far more sociopaths in this class than saints). So they put some people in jail who shouldn't be there and release others who should be incarcerated, even when that seems detrimental to their political interest.

However, convicting the innocent while freeing the guilty displays their power and prepares their retainers for the harshers measures that will be inevitably called for. You see, their appetite grows with the eating, and they'll soon be short of food. Unfortunately, the rest of us will be starving (on account of the bad weather caused by Henry Ford providing cars to the workers, who should be kept in their place). I call this future end-state Feudalism with the Right People in Charge.

The Gang of Qin Gang

 

Chinese Economy: ‘Shocking’ New Reports | Qin Gang Update | Huawei & iPhone

This morning I educated myself on the latest goings-on in China -- which apparently involves a gang. I was eating my cereal and wiping a bit of milk from my chin when I heard about Chin, apparently the leader of the gang, and also something about a gong.

The Chin Gang made me think of the Gang of Four, who were a big deal when Mao left for his appointment in hell. How do I know they were a big deal? I heard of them. If I remember correctly, it involved Mao's widow -- a former cabaret singer -- plus some other guys grabbing for power. Now, a dying dictator's floozie wife wanting to take over is not unknown (think Evita! or Doctor Jill!). Unfortunately for the conspirators, minions who can watch millions starve under incompetent leadership are stirred to action when their own lunch is threatened. So the Gang of Four became the Grateful Dead (them not being the Grateful ones) instead of the Grand and Glorious Leaders.

Which brings us to that nefarious group, the Chin Gang. After dealing with my chin milk I listen.  It was about Qin Gang (pronounced tch-in g-uh-ng by the Mandarin-speaking, New Zealander show-off reporter).  So it was the g-uh-ng of Qin G-uh-ng? No, it's just a simple sex scandal -- only sex scandals are never simple (otherwise it wouldn't be a scandal). It happened in Washington DC!  Qin was China's ambassador to the USA whose mistress was a Chinese journalist! All our floozies are now journalists! Strippers should sue!

Qin gets such favorable coverage from under the covers that he returns to China and is promoted. Only sex scandal! FBI bugs are in the expensive sheets! His journalist babe had his baby -- an American baby (it's a club anyone can join). Qin disappears to spend more time with his family -- maybe in a prison camp, maybe in the cemetery: ask not for whom the g-uh-ng tolls, it tolls for Gang.

As for the Chinese Economy tanking, who cares?  Sex Scandal!

Dead Secrets, Living Lessons

This first appeared fifteen years ago.

I often watch "Secrets of the Dead" on PBS. I like the program for what it reveals about Western Intellectuals. One episode speculated that the Christians burned down ancient Rome (Christians who were at the same time Jews), thus, in this rendition, clearing Emperor Nero of arson -- though he may have fiddled during the flames, no way to tell.

I first saw the episode that will reprise on Wednesday (Aztec Massacre) in April. It deals with the encounter of the Aztec Empire with "Cortes and the Conquistadors." It centers on captured Spaniards (including women) who were sacrificed along with some unruly subjects of the Aztecs.

The ritual involved skillfully ripping the heart out of a living human; lifting said heart up to the sky while it is still beating; tossing the heartless (and maybe headless, I forgot to take notes) body down a steep flight of steps; butchering said heartless/headless/discarded body.

Well, I thought we could all come together on this behavior and say "That is just wrong." Liberal and Conservative could finally agree -- Marxist Intellectual and capitalist Robber Baron as well.

OK, maybe we all know that one special "exception" to the rule where ripping out the heart might be understandable (though never condoned). But to do this by the thousands? At what point have you gone from a Civilization that has "a problem" to "A Problem" that has a civilization? I mean, talk about the church militant.

Gee, I lack nuance. First, the slaughter was done to keep the sun in the sky and the sun is still up there so they must have done a pretty good job. Plus, the Aztecs lacked beasts of burden and their subject people kinda filled that role. And what do you do with an ornery beast of burden? You turn him into a much-needed protein supplement -- and do it in a way to encourage "the others." So: Sun's in the sky. Maize is in the fields. Pyramid's gettin' built. Capital's kept clean. And all the Spaceships are solar-powered (sorry, that was Atlantis). Why, times were almost good.

Then Cortes shows up -- a combination entrepreneur and labor-organizing thug who's gonna steal your retirement. If only he weren't an entrepreneur but, alas!

At this point, the Aztec Priestly caste became the "resistance." What's the evidence they turned into minutemen? There were Spanish heads included in those skull racks -- along with the heads of their new-fangled horses (Listen, burden-carrying oppressed peoples, those ponies want your jobs).

Well, I concluded that one priestly caste (tenured academia) identifies strongly with another priestly caste. The Priests no doubt bathed more frequently than the on-the-make Spaniards. They were respectful of (their) learning and knew the value of a good protein supplement. They knew how to get additional sacrifices from their unwilling populations to keep their institutions up and running. They did not beg for grants, they just took that pound of flesh, only by the ton!

I, on the other hand, saw those Aztec intellectuals as bitter men clinging to their religion and razor-sharp obsidian ceremonial blades, all the while fearing change and blaming migrants for bringing "new ideas and new beliefs."

Meanwhile, with the help of a vicious pandemic, the Spaniards slipped into the role of the Aztecs. 

Those who rule in the present can have a certain regard for the problems the Aztec rulers faced. I mean, keeping the sun up in the sky is thirsty work. And as the sun gets closer, the globe gets hotter. That means more sacrifices to push it back up and keep things cool. And how do you get folks to willingly sacrifice (or unwillingly, when it comes down to it) to keep that grand project well-resourced?

Am I being unfair here? Let me think. Nah.

Fear not the Weeper

No matter the Calamities and Complaints that beset our world, I am not depressed, nor do I feel despair. What is my secret? I just whistle. Whistle? Yes, whistle. Like the seven unemployed dwarfs in a Disney remake of Snow White, I whistle.

Just whistle while you walk,
Do-dee do, do, do, do, do!
Just whistle while you walk,
Pass the graveyard.
(Pass the graveyard)

If you're feeling blue,

With no work to do,
'Cause the man laid you off,
Just whistle as you walk...
Pass the graveyard.

Should you find you're in despair,
Because you're totally aware.
Go ahead, just deny.
Live life on the fly --
Pass the graveyard.

If you were a Nigerian,
You’d be happy just to own a hen.
And when the militias came,
Not to be the ball in a game --
At the graveyard.
(In the graveyard)

If there’s a planetary war,
And you’re terrified to the core,
Just put on your boots and do skiddoo
And whistle! Yes, whistle.
Pass the graveyard!

They say VX is a gas
That will really kill you fast.

As you cough up all your cares...
Don’t argue life ain't fair...
Lay your cards on the table
And whistle (if you're able)...

Uh...

Say you're dead and just don't know!
Then continue with the flow,
And Go...
Past, the Graveyard!
(Get Past, the Graveyard)

(Done with Rockette style kicks)

Turn your Depression upside down.
Wear a smile, hardly ever frown!
Do as we do and whoop-we-doo
And whistle! Yes, whistle.
Past the graveyard.

Do-dee Doo-doo do!

This could be a duet between a Basso profundo and an Alto, tremble-a-lot-oh. It should be sung to the tune of, well, ah, Stairway to Heaven.

Safety Quest

  Oh, hell. I don't feel like explaining this.

 Quest Carefully

Often when on a Quest
You'll create an unholy mess
And cause great distress to others:
Such as horses, goats and your mother.
So it is best,
Outside the nest,
To Quest -- carefully.

When you see a dragon at the break of day,
Run away.
Run away.
Do not believe what the soothsayers say.
Require proof
From the sooth.
If an old man on a bridge offers his advice,
Treat him nice.
Treat him nice.

Quest Carefully.

Use care as you stare
At Buxom, bawdy, barmaids.
Do not imbibe the potions you get
From cute redheads, and brunettes.
Blonds, too,
If it's true,
They've had more fun --
Meaning more flings flung.
And when climbing a ladder
To rescue her from "what's the matter?"
Don't stand on the top rung.

Quest Carefully.

As you pursue your Quest
Never rest, never rest --
Recklessly.
Do not be reckless in your rest!

Sleep with care.

Beware! The woods have bears
And the forest is where
The wolves have their lairs.
And never eat meat
unless it's been cooked to an internal temperature
Of 160 degrees Fahrenheit and you should immediately refrigerate --
Yes, refrigerate!
The unused portions.
This is also the case
When you reheat -- and eat --
the meat you think safe.
Why not be a Vegan?

Quest Carefully. Quest Carefully.
And as you quest, never rest -- recklessly.

I left some hair colors out (space considerations).

A Stroke and a Quibble

 Revolutionary 1 Stroke engine Analyzed

The notion of a one-stroke engine intrigued me. I imagined a one-time, one "power-stroke" engine (think bomb).

Well, it's a two-stroke engine with two opposing pistons. You could argue that 2 pistons in one cylinder sharing two strokes equals one stroke (you can, but I won't). The video explains how it all works -- even as clickbait.

The engine involves revolutions, but it's not actually revolutionary. In my youth, one of my many strokes of genius was about "two pistons sharing one cylinder." I graciously provided the basic (quite basic) design to a motor-head friend, who told me, "It's been done!"  I was pleased to discover there were other geniuses at work in the world.

The design has weaknesses (low torque at take-off), so you won't find it under your hood. After 30 seconds of consideration, I came up with a possible application. When used in an electric hybrid automobile, the engine could run at its most efficient rpm to turn the generator that charges a battery pack while an electric motor turns the wheels. Meanwhile, the engine's lightweight and compact design would provide an advantage.

More Process than Industry?

 The Greatest Reindustrialization Process in US History

Peter Zeihan thinks industry in the US has a bright future, and I'm in half-hearted agreement.

Countries with a high-taxed, highly regulated, highly centralized economy tend towards stagnation, not growth. Reindustrialization will require supply-side, not command-side, policies. It is the nature of the Crony Class to prefer a command economy because it favors the Crony Class -- who are the ones issuing the commands.

At its center, the Crony Class consists of politicians, political hacks, bureaucrats, and those who acquire power through their ability to influence government action -- the lawyer, lobbyist, and dark-money crowd. This group took to heart Scarface's advice, "First you get the power, then you get the money, then you get the girl." Confusingly, we now have to add the lawyer/lobbyist girls who want to be "the man" while still blaming "the man" when the man is actually, you know, a man.

The outer ring includes those who benefit from government action, such as corporations that fear bureaucratic overreach or seek government favor, or the education establishment which devours government resources while avoiding societal accountability. To this add the legions of minions whose livelihoods depend on promoting Crony Class Interests, such as MSM Journalists (not to be confused with reporters), aspiring academics (not to be confused with actual scientists), and "house experts" (not to be confused with people who know what the hell they are talking about). The tentacles of this class reach far and wide, and gives the appearance of "Nerds working for Sociopaths."

The developing "Cronny Class Consciousness" and the governing philosophy of "Feudalism with the Right People in Charge" will produce economic malaise and shortages because these conditions favor those with influence.

Crony Class Consciousness allows them to act as a unit to protect class interest with little coordination. They framed Donal Trump (a minor threat) as a Russian agent for three years, knowing it was bunkum from day one. When it no longer played, the media moved on to the next set of feeble accusations class members promote. Objectively, these are the actions of horrible people. Subjectively, they have their reasons. This beast is hungry and needs to be fed. Economic stagnation is just a reflection of that appetite.

"Feudalism with the Right People in Charge," says the ruling nobility should come from an accredited, pseudo-intellectual caste (the "nobility of the mind"), not a military one. The philosophy provides the justification for the rule of the Crony Class (i.e. Climate Change requires their control of resources) and the rationale for keeping their "expert" descendants in charge (having a lot of kids -- which will expand family contacts in an influence-peddling system -- is frowned upon). Diversity-Equity-Inclusion is sold as the ability to include but is actually the power to exclude. Everyone should get in their place and stay there. Mind the Queue.

In feudal societies, the nobility controls weapons and armor. Today, we can add information, entertainment, and criticism to that arsenal. Crony Class Controlled "AI" censorship that shuns transgressors, has already arrived -- enabling a totalitarian system that promotes officially sanctioned bigotry.

Prime Video FAILS?

 Amazon CEO DEMANDS Answers as Prime Video FAILS

Disparu argues that Prime Video is a business and artistic flop.

Prime Video is a loss leader for Amazon. They don't sell tickets, they sell consumer goods -- most often to women. They might focus on pleasing affluent females. The Rings of Power may offend male Tolkien fans but appeal to professional women with a lot of disposable income. If they dispose of it on Amazon, then the series was a success. I doubt that was the case but I wasn't privy to their audience surveys.

Euro-Chat with China Canceled

 

China Cancels Summit with EU's Foreign Affairs Minister Borrell || Peter Zeihan

In my comic-lite Opera The Prodigals of Pennance, the EU Leadership describes itself as a "Fellowship that Practices Follow-ship." Peter Zeihan gives a similar description.

Then there's China, where the leadership locked the fellowship in a prison ship -- the expected result of an anti-corruption campaign where everyone is corrupt. Now Xi stands alone and likes it that way. He's the Hermit at the Helm: the Great Hermit Helmsman -- whose compass has gone kinda crazy. His plans are grand but the mood is petulant.

If you're going to be "the drunk" at the garden party, then don't go to the garden party.

The snake that eats its tail also bites its ass.

 Hmmm. More on France's "Summer of Love."

US State Department-Trained French Activist/Arsonist Pouring Fuel on the Fire

"Critical Theory" started in Europe after World War One with the Frankfurt School in Germany.

Wanting to distinguish critical theory as a radical, emancipatory form of Marxist philosophy, Horkheimer critiqued both the model of science put forward by logical positivism, and what he and his colleagues saw as the covert positivism and authoritarianism of orthodox Marxism and Communism. He described a theory as critical insofar as it seeks "to liberate human beings from the circumstances that enslave them".

Intellectuals of the World Unite! You've nothing to lose but your mental chains -- and maybe your mind.  

When the National Socialists took power, several prominent figures fled to North America and helped the theory take root in Major American Universities. After World War II, some French thinkers contributed their thinking (or what passes for such) to the movement. Some simple slogans in English made it to US campuses in the 60s. After a massive investment in "Higher Education," we got Critical Race Theory and expensive, preachy Hollywood Movies -- not to mention riots and rotting inner cities.

So that particular flaming bag of poop has landed on France's doorstep. It's like "return to sender."

As for the US State Department, it is chock-full of the sort of people "Europe" tells us to listen to. If it is any consolation, they also want to subvert the US, not just France.

Singaporean Joke Fest!

Thanks to the internet, Cancel Culture has gone global, as New Yorker Jocelyn Chia discovered to her dismay. A mild quip about the divorce between Malaysia and Singapore (after the British left sixty years ago) got her in trouble. She writes:

On June 5, the Comedy Cellar posted a clip from a show I had done in which I depicted Malaysia as the ex who broke up with Singapore—the country I grew up in—and Singapore was now having a "glow-up".

The clip was performing very well, but when I posted the same one on my social media on Tuesday morning, things started to take a nasty turn.

I first saw someone sharing my clip in an Instagram story—the words were in Malay which I didn't understand, but ended with a "wow!" Funnily enough, thinking it was a compliment, I reposted the story. However as negative story shares and comments rapidly piled up, I soon realized that "wow!" had not been meant as a compliment.

Next time, use Google Translate. No word on whether divorced people were offended.

I was in elementary school in the Midwest when the "divorce" happened. Lee Kuan Yew became Prime Minister of Singapore, an ethnic Chinese bastion with a Muslim Malay minority, a sizeable population from the Indian subcontinent, and a residue of Anglos. He ran the place -- it's fair to say he ran it -- from 1959 to 1990. He took "spare the rod, spoil the child" seriously: caning was a punishment. It functioned like a family firm with the patriarch using a firm hand -- near as I could tell from the far side of the World.

Singapore Inc. thrived and was often cited as a model for America by advocates of an "Industrial Policy" that picks economic "winners and losers" from the comfortable confines of D.C. office blocks and Ivy League campuses. Even as a kid, comparing a mid-sized city (less than two million inhabitants at the time) to a continent-sized nation didn't make much sense. At the time, Mayor Richard Daley's Chicago was called "the City that Works" (corruption greased the development skids), but no one suggested running the USA like Chicago -- until the Obama administration. Under Biden, it's Chicago all the way down.

This is not to knock Singapore. Long ago I spent a few weeks there and really liked it.

Malaysia took a different turn. The Malays were the majority but considered themselves an economic minority. In the 1970s, they launched the Bumiputera movement, an affirmative action program for the native Malays. Apparently, the better-off Bumis have learned to game the system.

I once had an extended conversation with an important figure in that movement. I stood in the Malaysian Business and Tourism office in Bangkok in 1981 when a nervous official came over and asked if I was an American. I said I was and he invited me to meet a fellow who had taken over his office for the occasion. Curious as to whether I would be arrested or offered some honor, I agreed.

He was an older fellow and introduced himself as a minor functionary when the anxious behavior of the local staff said otherwise. He wanted to know the attitude of ordinary Americans toward security in Southeast Asia, and I was the closest ordinary American. You see, "Cambodia Year Zero" became "Cambodia, population Zero" a few years earlier. The Vietnamese invaded and knocked over the skull racks. Refugees flooded into Thailand. The Cambodian communists were so bad that the Vietnamese communist looked good. It ended with a powerful army of veteran warriors poised near Thailand. When I headed for Asia, a friend asked me how far Bangkok was from the border. I said, "It's a two-day drive -- by tank."

During the conversation, I told my interlocutor that ordinary Americans don't care about Southeast Asian security. They tend to hear the "Americans go home" message and like the idea. That applies to the rest of the World too, except for Canada, Mexico, and Caribean vacation spots. As for Europe, well, if we leave they'll start fighting each other again and drag us into it so we stay. However, Americans will help their friends, so be friendly.

In return for my Geopolitical insights, I received a ticket to a luncheon in honor of Mahathir bin Mohamad, the new Malaysian Prime Minister -- destined to become a force in Malaysian politics for decades to come. It was free food, so I went.

They stuck me at a table full of correspondents from major Western media organizations (The Wall Street Journal and such). They were curious about why I was with them. I told of my happenstance encounter at the tourism office. Turns out he was Mahathir's guy (actually, it sounded the other way around), they all wanted to talk to him, but he wasn't giving interviews. It was a "pearls before swine" moment for them -- me being the swine.

The good news: I ate my fill. Mahathir was asked about the ethnic and racial divisions in Malaysia and he said we'd know it's solved when everyone starts marrying everyone else. I can't say he remained so open-minded going forward. Often politicians need those divisions.

Well, as is so often the case, it's a good joke if you know the history.

France's Summer of Love

 France’s Demographic Blindspot: Racial Inequality || Peter Zeihan

A police shooting sparked riots in France similar to the "Summer of Love" we experienced in the USA in 2020. The French do throw a good riot. Peter Zeihan gives a quick overview of the ethnic strife involved.

Here is a less nuanced take on what is going on.

The "Summer of Love" moniker was provided by the Mayor of Seattle after rioters took over an area of her city and declared it the "Capital Hill Autonomous Zone" (CHAZ). She predicted it would result in a "Summer of Love" -- until the murder and mayhem happened.

Got Ham?

When you get right down to it, Gotham and Metropolis are the same place -- a setting for superheroes with an unsettling resemblance to New York City on a really bad day.  Gotham is a nickname for NYC, first applied to the future Metropolis at the beginning of the Nineteenth Century by Washington Irving (Of Sleepy Hollow and the "Headless Horseman" fame). It wasn't meant as a flattering appellation -- it means "Goat Town" (not GOAT town) -- but caught on nonetheless. After decades of hypergrowth, the five boroughs were merged into a great big Metropolis at the end of the century.

I recently watched Zack Snyders treatment of Batman and Superman, where Gotham plays Newark to NYC's Metropolis. The two movies -- Batman V. Superman (Ultimate Edition) and Zack Snyder's Justice League -- are available on Max and are quite long. They took about a week to watch, although I did take some breaks for sleep and such.

I thought bringing the two cities together worked about as well as bringing Batman and Superman together -- by which I mean not well. Batman is a regular man (an especially good one) who battles regular human criminals (the especially bad ones -- who may have been goosed with this or that toxic juice). Toss him at high velocity against reinforced concrete and he's done, no matter how good his armor is. In the fight scenes with Superman, that happened quite a lot, though the Supe' fought with a kryptonite handicap. In the end, they became friends and took on a big -- I don't know what the hell it was, but it was big -- something or other. Wonder Woman shows up to help. "I thought she was with you," was the best line in the movie.

Not to ruin it (I don't think it will), but Superman dies at the end of the first movie and comes back to life halfway through the second. I thought it was another bad choice. It's ridiculously hard to kill the guy and when it happens it should mean something. Of course, I knew it couldn't last since he was going to be in the second movie. 

Originally, Gotham was a metropolis in its own right, with its High Society, uber-wealthy, and widespread corruption. It got downgraded into a depressed, hollowed-out, post-industrial has been. Its character changed, and so did Batman, who became less of a detective and more of a Gatling gun.

The Justice League was so long that towards the end I began rooting for the Vile Henchman and his Flying Monkey minions (an homage, I presume, to a much better film, The Wizard of Oz). Quite simply, I wanted planet Earth to be put out of its misery -- and the rest of the multiverse with it (talk about high stakes). Then there is the small matter of the epilogue. A couple of minutes to round things up wouldn't do.  Instead, we launched into another bizarre movie, and a very confusing one -- except it turned out to be a bad dream, a Batman bad dream.

By this time I zoned out and the credits began to roll, backed by a soft piano instead of a mighty orchestra. I reached to turn it off but stopped. I wondered: Is that Hallelujah? I hadn't heard the Leonard Cohen song in a few decades and the piano piece was more of an improv. But a few minutes into it the Lady sang:

I've heard there was a secret chord

That David played, and it pleased the Lord,

But you don't really care for music, do you?

Well, it goes like this, the fourth, the fifth

The minor fall, the major lift

The baffled king composing Hallelujah

And so on. I don't know what that song had to do with that movie, but it was the best part.

Allison Crowe - Hallelujah

And some bonus Superhero introspection:

Superman's Song

They Unleashed the Demon in Demography

 

New Chinese Demographic Data = Population Collapse || Peter Zeihan

Could it be worse than bad? Yep.

In 1982 I worked as a consultant for the United Nations Population Fund for Asia in Bangkok. I wrote summaries of population studies and was glad when that project was over.

One night in a bar in Hong Kong, I talked to a fellow who worked on the "One Child Policy" that the CCP installed on the mainland. I kept my own council but thought the idea was a bit screwy -- but not because I thought they would fail. The iron law of government institutional immortality says that once they built a giant bureaucracy around the "One Child Policy," it would roll on well past its "should die" date, resulting in something like an upside-down population pyramid.  One insight I picked up from my work at UNFPA was that population growth falls as economies develop and infant mortality declines, so recovery from any "overkill" would be hard. The data from China's urban areas bears this out.

But at least the bureaucracy can survive, switching from forced abortions to forced births as they launch a thirty-year effort to right the list before the ship-of-state rolls over and sinks.

Bloody War Catch-up

 And Now We Return to Our Regularly Scheduled Program (Ukraine War Updates)

Peter Zeihan looks at Ukraine's counteroffensive as it enters its fourth week.

When Putin launched his invasion, I didn't expect it to go well because the iron law of armed conflict is that wars are easier to start than to stop -- although there are notable exceptions to the rule.

In the 1930s, Ukrainians were "starved into submission" by Moscow (Putin's a veteran of the "security service" that carried out that particular genocide). They suffered rough treatment immediately before and after WWII -- during which large armies engaged in brutal combat rolled over the area twice. As a result, Ukrainians could expect a Russian victory to be followed by a heavy hand holding a mallet.

Because of Moscow's previous rule over the country, numerous fifth columnists were in place (the Russian thrust out of Crimea went surprisingly well). As the effort stalled, the worm -- and the Ukranian nation -- turned.

Unfortunately, Russia grabbed a lot of territories, and taking it back is a long and bloody process, even with Western Military aid -- a fraction of which, delivered before the invasion, would likely have prevented it.

The Dastardly Motive behind the Russian Coup Attempt.

This whole coup attempt was staged by Putin to divert the world's attention from the January Sixth Insurrectionist window-breaking incident at the Capitol in D.C., as well as the many crimes of Donald Trump. Putin, who is not known as the forgiving type, graciously pardoned everyone involved in the "Militarized March on Moscow," just to make Joe Biden and the Democrats appear petty and vindictive in their pursuit of justice. If he can forgive the downing of high-tech spyplanes and attack helicopters, the Dems can forgive a few broken windows. It is Russian interference in our Judicial System, plain and simple.

Limp Noodle

Prigozhin has called off his march on Moscow. Previously, I wrote that Noodles Romanov wanted to become Tsar Romanov.  But now he's just all wet.

He should stay away from windows and swimming pools. I suggest a world tour -- make that an anonymous would tour after plastic surgery.

They done-gone crossed the Don.

Update: This was a quick take on Pregozhin's mutiny. Interestingly, he didn't follow the oldest advice in politics: when you strike at the King, kill him.

Suddenly, Ukraine against Russia is Ukraine against a Russia that's against itself, as the recent uncivil arguments among military leaders turn to civil war.

Someone has done-gone crossed the Don -- both the "Rubicon" River Don and the Don of the top Russian crime family. Yevgeny Prigozhin has launched his Wagner group at the throat of his Godfather, Vlad-the-invader. Maybe Putin putting this "criminal cook" at the head of a powerful, well-armed, independent, and ruthless military organization was a bad idea. Or a good one, depending on your point of view.

"Tsar" is the Russian form of Caesar and Prigozhin is doing a Juilius -- except Julius Caesar won his wars before he crossed the Rubicon and marched on Rome. Yevgeny behaves like he's Noodles Romanov but aims to become a Tsar Romanov -- successor to Putin the Terrible. I anticipate the Male Heirs of any Prigozhin era will be male errors. OK, enough with the puns.  

The conflict between Prigozhin and the rest of the Crime Family went on a slow boil last year. The Ukrainians holding on to the City of Bakhmut turned up the heat as the slaughter progressed. At first, I thought the dispute with the Defense Minister was contrived but it became so public I soon believed it was real. 

Could we see a repeat of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk of a century ago? Aspiring Tsar Vladimir Lenin relinquished much of the Russian Empire to exit World War One and launch his Communist Red Army at the Bourgeoisie Whites in a bloody civil war. By announcing the withdrawal of Russian forces in Ukraine to the 2/22/2022 lines, Putin could free up troops to come at the Wagners from the rear while splitting NATO into "war-continuing" and "peace-declaring" camps. He should do this now while offering some sort of joint military guarantees for a semi-autonomous Crimea that the West -- if not Ukraine -- will quickly accept.

Interestingly, Prigozhin made a statement attacking the premise of the invasion of Ukraine that could well be a bid for support from NATO countries. If Putin doesn't act, Prigozhin may get it. The offer of a quick end to sanctions by the West in return for withdrawal to the 1991 borders with Ukraine would help Wagner Inc. win the support of the Russian elites.

The West will want a quick settlement here, if possible. A prolonged Civil War in Russia could quickly spread throughout central Asia and beyond.

Wagner is Going to Moscow.

Indiana Jones and the National Socialists

 

Indiana Jones 5 is DOOMED, claims Nerdrotic.

I like that he refers to the Nazis as the National Socialists throughout his presentation (I'm one of the people who watch him without subscribing). For decades I've referred to the Nazis as the National Socialists. Socialists would tell me the Nazis weren't true socialists and I'd point out that they claimed to be the true socialists and millions of Germans believed the National Socialists were the True Socialists. So it's a bit like Russian Roulette with no empty chambers.

Why are Progressives so Obsessive?

Leeja Miller, the fast-talking left-wing lawyer on YouTube, wonders why conservatives are so obsessed with Trans Kids. I think"Kids" is the operative word here. Progressives love to launch society-wide social experiments and then walk away from the awful results (The Great Society Program an attempted to recreate the "New Deal" of the Great Depression but instead recreated the Great Depression in the industrial heartland). The left-wing slogan "Forward" means leave wreckage in our wake as we blissfully sail into calm waters that will become storm-tossed as we arrive.

The old Progressive slogan for taking governmental control was "fight childhood hunger" (resulting in widespread obesity among the young, and, as a result of that "wide-spread," the Body Positive Movement).  Now they tell us, "A baby's sex at birth is just God guessing."

I can remember when "low self-esteem" caused people to steal, rape, murder, or be irritating at work. For about a decade, we were all supposed to work on, not only improving our own self-esteem but everyone else's as well. So, when being mugged, you should try to make your mugger realize his true worth as a human being -- but carefully, in a way that won't get you killed.  

Then there was the "Childhood Recovered Memory of Abuse" fad.  Here, a rare phenomenon -- where a child is molested and represses all memory of the horrible event -- was said to be quite widespread. So adults all over the place began blaming their lousy character traits (but not the good ones) on their discovery -- often with the help of a therapist -- that they were abused as a child. This worked until the children of these adults began accusing these adults of abuse.  At that point even PBS turned against the movement.

In a political sense, the left suffers from "Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy."  They are so fond of getting credit for being on the right side of history and wanting to solve society's problems that they are blind to the fact that they cause many of the problems they claim to want to solve (i.e. San Francisco's Homelessness).

Know any Gnostics?

TIK History: The cult many are in but don’t realize. He delves into Dialectical Materialism and Gnosticism; Marx and Hegel.

A half-century ago my philosophy professor said that Hegel described History as "God's Mind Marching Through Time." This means God could make a mistake and say, "Let's try that again, but with different people in charge." The class read Hegel with an English Translation on one page and an attempt to make sense of it (in English) on the facing page -- in this (at least to my 18-year-old brain), they failed.

Back in the 1960s I talked to Marxists in the Milltown I grew up in, and much of what they said didn't make sense. I assumed it resulted from a certain lack of theoretical sophistication in the provinces. Later, when I traveled some, I'd talked to Marxists who went to the Ivy League, Oxford/Cambridge and even the Sorbonne, and realized I'd done my hometown Marxists dirty -- they were totally up to speed.

If You Can't Fool Him Twice, Lock Him Up.

Candidate Donald Trump now talks of Firing the "Deep State"-- that network of self-serving, unelected officials and their cronies. That might explain why they want him slapped into a Supermax cell.

The President can appoint about 4,000 positions and in 2017 President Trump should have replaced all of them on Day One. He didn't and was still getting stabbed in the back by people who worked for him two years later. Republican Presidents have a bad habit of leaving Democrat appointments in place.

President Obama, his predecessor, was an ideological leftist who appointed ideological leftists who would, themselves, appoint ideological leftists. They, in turn, network with their fellows in and out of government (Wallstreet, Foundations, Universities, Contractors, Lawyer-Lobbyists, Journalists, and on and on). This maze of special-interest groups forms what I call "The Crony Class" -- those who want to control their fellow citizens (and benefit from that control) through their control of Washington DC. They possess a "Crony Class Consciousness."

Like Lois Lerner (who "slow-walked" tax-exempt status for right-leaning groups in 2012) and the DOJ lawyers currently targeting Trump and his supporters, those with Crony Class Consciousness don't need to be instructed in what to do and their actions come with prepackaged rationalizations. They are building a better future free of racism and such. True patriotism is loyalty to that better future. They are responsible for that better future, not the horrible past or the messy present. Current deficiencies are on the normies who are in need of re-education.

Meanwhile, the Crony Class takes care of its own. Lori Lightfoot, the failed Chicago Mayor, landed a teaching gig at Harvard upon leaving office.

Favorable Indictments

Peter Zeihan asks: How Will Donald Trump's New Indictment(s) Impact the Election?

Peter thinks the various indictments will not prevent The Donald from getting the nomination but will prevent the Republicans from winning in 2024 because "swing voters" will swing away. This parallels the thinking from 2015. The DC crowd thought they could spend a lot of time attacking The Donald and he would get the nomination because of their attacks (even they know they are disliked). They figured they would clobber him among the swing voters in 2016, who hate them so much less. It didn't quite work out that way.

In 2020, through a combination of Covid Lockdowns, NGO-sponsored riots about race, Helicopter Money and Helicopter Ballots, the DC establishment beat The Donald. Still, he got 10 million more votes than he got in 2016. 

Riots and Lockdowns are off the table for 2024 because such systematic destruction will blow back on Biden.  Helicopter money will likely cause double-digit inflation. In other presentations, Peter Zeihan says that poor grain harvest will increase food prices. Will higher food prices affect the ballot harvest?

It seems Joe Biden got millions from Ukraine when he was V.P., which is why they impeached Donald Trump (the impeachment involved the "good" mishandling of classified material on the part of DC insiders). The money was well spent on Ukraine's part (it's pay to play with HIMARS) but makes Joe's motives for supporting them to the hilt less than pure. I suppose he could say, "I took a lot of money from the Chinese but look how I'm screwing with them!" Vote for Joe, he won't stay bought and if he does, they'll indict Trump.

In 1988 I thought Joe might make a good president and then he stole the biography of the UK Labour Party Leader (Neil Kinnock, I believe it was). I thought it a bad choice of biographies to steal. Of course, in 1992 Jerry Brown, the Progressive California governor, supported a 13 percent flat Federal Income Tax (including the Social Security tax) so...people change (or grow, in the case of a Progressive).

During his first term, the DC crowd actively worked to frame Donald Trump as a Russian spy, the type of thing horrible people do. DC is full of awful people. It attracts manipulative, self-dealing sociopaths -- and that's just the journalists. I don't expect it to improve. But I'll vote for The Donald anyways.

The Inditments should have been Leaked

The Trump indictments about mishandling classified material should have been classified as Ultra top-secret and then leaked to the New York Times. The source would remain anonymous. This person is not authorized to mishandle these top-secret documents about mishandling top-secret documents. You see, the undercover source leaked the documents to an undercover reporter who was under the same cover and in the same bed. As part of the resulting brouhaha, dotGov throws a big investigation to find the culprit who's not authorized to mishandle the classified material about mishandling classified material. The years-long investigation will go nowhere because why would it. Meanwhile, the New York Times will editorialize about how Trump mishandled documents he had previously declassified and kept locked up.

Of course, some secrets should be kept secret. For instance, the secret that Joe Biden is corrupt. This is purely a "need to know," and only the people actually paying the bribes (and enabling officials and journalists) need to know. So when President Trump's Ultra top-secret phone call with Ukrainian President Zelensky -- where Biden's corruption was touched on -- was leaked by someone not authorized to leak it, Trump was impeached. Obviously, Trump had no "need to know" of Biden's corruption. In any case, it was the best five-million Ukraine ever spent.  It's pay to play -- with HIMARS.

When Biden announced his Presidential bid not long after Trump took office, I said it was meant to keep corruption indictments at bay.  In 2017 even the mainstream media was reporting on his corruption as Vice President. Declaring his candidacy as the Democratic Party hopeful was a way to shut them up and get the "respected media" to actively suppress a story that would cast the entire Democratic party in a bad light. So I don't think Dr. Jill will allow Biden to gracefully bow out after one term and give up this anti-indictment superpower.

How Reagan Ruined Everything

Fast-talking lawyer Leeja Miller makes the case against Ronnie. It's not the massive concentration of power in Washington D.C. that's the problem: it's the partial slowdown to that process caused by RR. It reminds me of how the Democrats successfully ran against Herbert Hoover for fifty years. Trying the same trick with Reagan might not work as well.

Lawyers concentrate on winning the argument rather than solving the problem, because by winning the argument they have solved the problem -- their problem, which is winning the argument. Unfortunately, despite all the argument-winning, the crisis persists -- an underfunded and underpowered government sector.

I remember when the Federal government had to function on a meager nine-hundred billion dollars a year -- no wonder it couldn't make everything affordable in a sustainable manner! It was argued that by increasing that amount to a mere one trillion (a "more" that actually sounds like "less") we would solve this persistent funding shortfall. But did it? No! Now some people actually argue that seven trillion a year should be enough (that's 7,000 billion dollars). Really? With so much persistent want in the country (especially among lawyers and lobbyists), how will that solve the problem? To hell with trickle-down! I'm for tinkle-upon economics! Who doesn't want to feel that warm flow of federal dollars running down their back?

Poor Wandering Wonderer -- True Love Built on Lies.

Act II, Scene 1, of the Prodigals of Penance. Act I, Scene 1, is here.

I continue my foray into Comic Lite-Opera Reality. The work is now the attempted merger of Hamlet and Blazing Saddles (with a bit of Pinocchio thrown in), done in the spirit of Gilbert and Sullivan! Below, Sad Poppins mentions the Piltdown Man, an evolutionary "missing link" bone hoax that dragged on for 40 years. Hamlet sings of the Kinsey Report, a human sexuality study so flawed that even Wikipedia has a hard time defending it.

The story so far: The World Leaders and hangers-on have danced offstage. Hamlet Omlet and Sad Poppins are about to further their relationship. Hamlet has uncovered many flaws in the "science" funded by Artful Shortseller, the world's richest man. He senses the real purpose of his grant is to "paper over" the inadequacies he's found. Sad Poppins feels it would be best if he fulfills his role and, what the heck, just cash the check.

ACT II, SCENE 1: Poor Wandering Wonderer.

(Shrotseller's Estate: SAD POPPINS stands alone in the garden. HAMLET OMLET enters, walking in a seeming trance.)

HAMLET OMLET

They've created such a racket,

I can hardly work.

And my work...is hardly...worth it.

SAD POPPINS (watching him, sings)

Poor Wandering Wonderer

Wondering Where to Wan-der!

You don't think like the rest.

Your head is a mess,

So full of thoughts --

They drip out like snot...

(approaches Hamlet)

You are the studier of studies.

Who studies, the studies, in Shortseller's study.

Your task is incomplete--

HAMLET OMLET

Like rain turning to sleet.

(steps towards her)

And you're the activist child.

The bold little scold,

With the winning frown.

SAD

I thought the world would let me down.

The Earth, not be around.

But as I've grown

(shows herself off a bit)

Into my own --

I found it really weird!

The planet, you see, is still here!

HAMLET OMLET

By eliminating the Earth,

With all its dirt,

We could eliminate our fears.

(thoughtfully, strolling)

Or we could simply go extinct,

And no longer have to think.

SAD POPPINS (following)

Poor Wandering Wonderer

Wondering Where to Wan-der.

You don't think like the rest.

Your head is a mess.

So full of thoughts

They drip out like snot.

HAMLET OMLET(distressed)

I simply cannot lie.

It is just too hard to disguise.

When I fabricate,

Right out of the gate,

(indicates his groin area)

It gets hard!

As the tension goes up,

My ha-ha-heart thumps!

(pounds his chest)

The blood in my veins

Feels the added strain.

The blood my heart pumps 

Flows into my consider-able stump!

 

And it grows, grows, grows --

Like some elongated nose,

Or an acorn into an oak.

It happens at a stroke!

It's not just unseemly, you see,

But po-tential-ly!

Most un-semen-ly...

(walks)

Yes, I'm stilted...

By this pilted...

Woody, wood-pecker.

SAD POPPINS (injects)

Like Pinocchio in a pinch.

Or, the Pilt-down Man!

A "find" that was a Scientific Scam -- 

With the wrong bone

In the wrong place:

A most potent -- disgrace. 

HAMLET OMLET

Lying's not a sport,

Like some Kinsey Report.

Whenever I lie,

(indicates his groin, distressed)

It gets hard against my fly!

I can't lie, I can't lie, I can't lie.

(walks)

SAD POPPINS

Oh, Poor Wandering Wonderer,

Woody in a wood of lies!

I am sorry for you!

'Cause your own sorrow won't do.

You don't think like the rest.

Your head's such a mess.

So full of thoughts,

They drip out like snot!

(thinks, taps his shoulder)

If only you were a woman.

The problem with your wood

Would disappear!

If only you could,

Eliminate the wood!

HAMLET OMLET

That sounds fantastic,

but just...a little...drastic.

SAD POPPINS (agrees)

Sub-optimal, yes,

But if you just wore a dress...

You could easily skirt the truth.

Or turn your back,

On in-convenient facts.

But still...

HAMLET OMLET

I'll wear a kilt!

I could present an address...

In a kilt, not a dress.

I could turn my back,

As I speak with great tact,

Over...my...shoulder?

SAD POPPINS

Here's an act -- that's bolder.

(Takes his hand)

Simply lie with me!

If you lie with me,

Your lies will be disguised, by me!

You simply pretend

We're in love, without end!

In Love with a fire,

Of burning -- lustful desire.

And: 

No one will be the wiser.

We could lie, lie, lie, together.

No one would know any better.

 

HAMLET OMLET(confused)

In truth, I am getting woody.

I should return to my studies.

I could be me-too'ed

Because I am woody for you...

I really can't lie...

As I look into your -- lovely, eyes...

(turns)

But I fear my career --

Could dissolve in your tears.

(walks away)

SAD POPPINS (follows him)

Poor wandering woody one!

What wonderous lies lie ahead!

Don't fear for your career.

You'll be a believable steer, 

If you lie, lie, lie -- with me.

(Sounds from off stages)

DANCING BANKERS

Hrumph, Hrumph -- Hrumph, Hrumph, Hrumph.

SAD POPPINS

You cannot stay.

Artful Shortseller

Is on his way.

We'll meet after dark.

HAMLET OMLET

And wonderful lies

We can con-cock!

Con-con, concoct. 

(As Hamlet Omlet leaves, Artful Shortseller enters).

ART SHORTSELLER (to the audience)

He's such a poor liar.

He needs to retire.

My estate is built

On a house of cards.

One jilt from that joker...

And...

 

Oh, forsooth and forsaken!

My empire shaken!

Imagine, a jerk like that,

Bringing about my total collapse!

I suppose he would say,

He means well, OK.

Well, I have a "mean well"

For him.

(maniacal laugh, steps to the side for...)

DANCING BANKERS (Marching on stage)

Hrumph, Hrumph -- Hrumph, Hrumph, Hrumph.

ART

Now the Bankers want their say.

They mean well, too,

It should be a tattoo. 

Let them implore.

I'll ignore.

ACT II SCENE 2

(The Central Banker leads The Dancing Bankers on stage. They are dressed for the Beach. The Central Banker gets a little rough treatment from the others. He's shoved to center stage.)

CENTRAL BANKER (addresses the audience)

This is The World Conference...

That will Solve...

Your Problems...

In One Foul Swipe.

(speaks clearly)

You see, all your problems are ours;

All our problems are yours.

And you are our problem.

(Indicates the surroundings) 

We're at the home 

Of the World's Richest man.

Artful Shortseller's estate, Eden!

 

DANCING BANKERS (An echoing murmur)

Eden, Eden, Eden...

 

CENTRAL BANKER 

It's his own state!

An island all its own.

An island that he owns. Eden.

 

DANCING BANKERS

Eden, Eden, Eden...

 

CENTRAL BANKER

I'm the Central Banker,
I don't get many thanks
When the other banks

(indicates the others)

Need a spank:
That Great Current of Currency,
Upon which they depend --
Is Currently Curtailed!
If not totally at an end. 
It flowed through their vaults
And its lack, now felt, is my fault

  

(The band picks up with a thumping, almost pounding, beat. The Dancing Bankers surround the Central Banker. They sing to the tune of Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band)

World Class Dancing, Banker Band

THE DANCING BANKERS (To the central banker, with loud reproach)

It was a hundred years ago!

When you really did steal the show!

People's money was never the same,

As you played your curren-cy game.

When interest rates you amend

To bring easy money to an end... 

After we've done so much good,

By gutting their neighborhoods!

We're the World Class Dancing, Banker Band!

CENTRAL BANKER (to the audience)

Their Animal Spirits were on a lark,

But the funny-money, once in "drive,"

Is now in "park."

THE DANCING BANKERS (Explaining)

We're good citizens of the World!

With finances in a swirl.

Speculators cause much pain,

As their loans go down the drain.

So now we're il-liquid.

Lacking the reserves, we should...

(to the central banker)

So we want you to understand,

We'd like you to give a hand...

To the Empty Pockets, Bankster, Bah-an-d!

 

CENTRAL BANKER

They want to restart the game.

With me providing the gains...

a-gain.

The losses we'll spread about,

Like lots of vacant shops. 

(The Dancing Bankers push the Central Banker out of the way.)

CENTRAL BANKER

Don't Panic at the Picnic!

(The orchestra is back to horn tooting)

DANCING BANKERS (Pace quickens, to the Audience, upset)

With those problems, you're on your own!

So kindly get off the phone!

We're awfully short of cash!

We're bankers who've lost their stash!

Our institution's got the runs!

It's playing havoc with the sums!

...um...um...um-m-m.

 

 (A female banker sweetly changes the tune)

You're such love-ly depositors --

You really are our kind --

You're such love-ly depositors,

Sit back and watch your fortune grow!

Sit back and watch it grow!

 

 (The rest return to firm declarations)

Your bankruptcy's on us!

But our Bankruptcy's on you!

We're whales too big to fail!

So you have to cover our tail!

 

( Pause, as the female banket again changes the tune)

You're such lovely homeowners,

With mortgages to fill.

We'd like to take your homes with us.

We'd love to take your homes!

 

 (The rest)

Yes, we'd rather issue demands

But really do need a hand!

So we'll issue our appeal,

To the man who really steals...

The show, when you have to show!

The assets that cover your ass!

We've come to find him here!

Our savior of the year --

(slowly, with begging hands)

Art...ful...Short...sell-er...

(They trail off...as the orchestra changes tempo to blues/jazz, with snare drums. The Central Banker moves to center stage. He puts his sunglasses on and snaps his fingers. Sings to the tune of Mack the Knife.)

The Shortseller Song

CENTRAL BANKER (His best Bobby Darin Blues)

Oh, Financial sharks,

Prowl the seas, babes.

And they'll feed in --

Market waves.

They have such teeth -- dear!

If you could see them!

They're ru-by, ruby-red.

 

When red ink's spilled

By Cor-po-rate shills--

My-little-darlings don't-you-know!

So much gore is,

On the market floor.

But on Shortseller, there's not the stink, babe

Of all...your -- all your red ink!

Your pension fund --

So you think, dears --

Bought juicy steaks,

With your stake!

Till Artful wields his -- skillful scalpel.

Leaving bare bones, upon your plate.

(Art enters and marches to center stage. Exudes calm as the Central Banker slinks off)

DANCING BANKERS

Artful, Artful, Artful...

The Mean Well Song

ART (he brings the tempo down)

There's no reason for alarm.

Every reason, to be calm.

We're in the eye of every storm,

And here, calm is the norm.

Your problem is but a pimple.

The solution is -- quite simple! 

 (Sways as he sings)

Just mean well, if you mean well,
Then everything will seem well!
If you mean well, then you'll be well,
No one will be mean to you!
If you mean well in all that you do.
They'll never blame you--
When they've been royally screwed...

If you're mean, mean, mean,

You want to be seen as -- well meaning.

 

DANCING BANKERS (With relief)

They can't attack good intentions.

Even when these intentions are...

An...invention.

(swaying while figuring it out) 

If it seems...well,

Like we mean well,

Then the middling mean...that's sits inbetween,

The well-off...and the off-well...

Will think that we're just swell.

(as they dance off-stage)

When we're mean-mean-mean,

No matter how mean we may seem...

If we're all called well-meaning,

Well meaning is how we'll be seeming!

 

ART (calls after them)

Mean-well in all your deeds!

(laughs, to the audience)

For the mean-well

Is a deep well, indeed!

(laughs maniacally)

END OF SCENE