September 2024 – Page 2 – The Laughing Wolf

9/11

I still remember that morning all too well. The first report, easy to think it an accident like the B-25 (?) that hit the Empire State Building back in the day. Rapidly it became clear it was deliberate, and I got to call my boss and tell him the United States of America was under attack. Even ended up in NYC a bit later and spent some time at the site and at various emergency command posts.

I fear we have forgotten that day, and the lessons of it. As a result, I fear that we may soon experience far worse.

Remember the day, pay heed the lessons, and be prepared. Keep your friends and family close, and your things where you can find them in the dark.

Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, which include moving once we have medical issues cleared up, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. There is also the Amazon Wish List in the Bard’s Jar. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

Quick Update

There is a lot going on right now, but am trying to stay away from pure politics. As such I will try to avoid catty comments, honking at intruders, or chasing my own tail lest I end up being grilled by the thought police or worse.

I am considering trying to get a used bike to aid getting around. I had even looked at making an offer on an electric bike, but my landlord decided after a year to start riding his again so I won’t be making an offer on it (smile). Need to see what a decent used bike costs these days, and then go from there. If nothing else, it would make getting to Church a bit easier as all the busses here have bike racks. So, take the bus, then unlimber the bike and ride where I’ve been walking.

More soon, still have posts to come but between extra Church services this week, still having to deal with the person who bought my car not yet transferring the title, trying to get the neurologist appointment moved up if possible, and other minor joys, it may be a lite week.

For those following along, the person who bought my old car refused delivery of the certified letter sent on the recommendation of the BMV, so have reached out to the BMV for suggested next steps. May reach out to the AGs office for suggestions and as a way to ensure I’m covered as much as possible.

More soon.

Into The Light: James Earl Jones

I can’t remember ever seeing him give a bad performance. Indeed, I seem to recall that his performance was the best part of a couple of vehicles that were not really up to his level. Thing is, don’t remember that many like that as he had a tendency to find really good projects, even if small.

He gave a master class on acting one time, when he played a man just released from prison. He arrives in Chicago and gets a Chicago Dog (you really do need to try one if you haven’t done so) from a street vendor and with his eyes and expressions conveyed so much pure emotion it wasn’t funny. An amazing talent with a sense of humor that apparently matched.

Godspeed Sir! Thank you for the entertainment, the laughter, and the thoughts provoked. You will be missed.

Dear Vladimir,

I see where according to the DOJ you have been interfering with our election by paying influencers. And while one should not trust anything from our DOJ at any time, but especially at election time, it has caused me to consider that we might, after all, have some commonality of interest.

In fact, given that the influence operation outlined by the DOJ funded people who were encouraging others to NOT vote for Trump (with some unknowing influencers caught up in things), it gives me an idea. While the anti-Trump work of those paid might should be a clue to some as to who you would like to see win, I think we could have the opportunity to work together more effectively and at half the cost.

While you funded anti-Trumpers openly, consider funding me via the more normal cut-outs for such funding (really, going through RT like that was almost like you wanted it found). To quell any suspicions, I continue to be snarky to you, honest in my assessments, and point out that we do have an obligation to Ukraine though I have many concerns about how we are responding.

Think about it: it is the perfect psy-op. You pay me off and no one is any the wiser. I continue to do my cranky independent best, push for individual liberty and freedom, and otherwise proceed as I have for the last twenty or more years. And all for half the cost of the op that just got burned. At five million, it’s a steal.

If you want to keep putting money into burns, that’s okay. I just think there is an opportunity here through more normal tradecraft.

Sincerely,

Laughing Wolf

Free Speech

After watching a part of the Tucker Carlson interview of the “historian” I probably need to start with taking asprin for the headache of banging my head on the desk, and I want to make a point I’ve made here and elsewhere more than once over the years.

I believe in free speech. Period. That includes speech I don’t like. Tucker’s guest has every right to show his ignorance and worse to the world. Heck, done well having on guests with contrary opinions (to you or to the accepted take) is a great thing. Done wrong, it leaves you looking like an idiot or worse (Candace Tucker)

Now then, that said, keep in mind the First protects you from the government, not your fellow citizens. You have the perfect right to say what you want, you just have no right to demand others pay for or host what you say. Hence, if you come here and spew vileness you will be booted, as thankfully only a couple of people have found out. Say what you want on your own platform, but don’t come here to poop on the carpet and then claim I have to treat it as art.

Further, your right to your own opinion doesn’t protect it (or you) from criticism. In fact, if you subscribe to the marketplace of ideas there is really a requirement to poke, check, and see if the tires come off. If they do, then ridicule, derision, and more can, could, and should be aimed at the opinion.

Good ideas should be praised and refined if needed. Bad ideas deserve to be taken apart, dressed funny, laughed at, and then be tossed in the dust bin of history. It’s a way to learn, and truly smart people learn from the process and grow in positive ways. Those not-so-smart tend to double-down and earn mockery of themselves as well as their ideas. One can only hope they do eventually catch on, change, and grow as a person.

Final thoughts. If you say ‘I believe in free speech, but (except, etc.)…’ then no you really don’t. Your free speech does not extend to the property of others. Vandalize, burn, etc. your things. If you do it to the property of others, including “public” property, then it’s a crime and you should be prosecuted (and I really don’t have a lot of problems if your fellow citizens express their thoughts upon your person if you do such or curtail their rights).

Quick SITREP 3Sept24

Hope to get back to regular posting here soon, but until then here are a few things of note.

Keep an eye on both Brazil and Venezuela. Brazil is getting a lot of splash over how they are going after Elon, but there is a good bit more going on not getting a lot of coverage. Most of this revolves around internal politics and Lula and his socialist buddies trying to cement permanent power. There is reason to believe our own government is in this up to its ears, from the “election” of Lula on to the current assault on free speech. That said, this could backfire big time on Lula and his merry gang of socialists, and it couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch.

Venezuela could tip over into real revolution, but for now most of the outside players are all talk and no real walk. The only “action” so far is the U.S. catching Maduro’s plane (sort of his AF1) in another country (for maintenance?) and getting said country’s agreement to let the U.S. seize it and fly it to the U.S.

Also, keep on eye on France. While U.S. media is focused on Durov and the implied threat to Elon, don’t overlook what is going on in regards their last elections. Macaroon, who apparently wants to be president-for-life, has formally stated he is going to ignore the elections and will not be seating a Prime Minister from the winning party. Apparently the winners of the election are mean poopy heads who threaten our democracy and he’s just not going to go along with it. The winners of the election, however, are not happy about this and proceeding with legal options that could result in Macaroon being removed from office. Maybe. They may get this settled legally, though it will leave a very shaky, fragile, and brittle Fifth Republic. It could also end up much messier and with the start of the Sixth Republic.

In regards Durov and Telegram, there is reason to believe some elements of the U.S. government may be involved behind the scenes. A short and simplistic take: Durov would not play along with France and it’s intelligence agencies, or at least not to the level they wanted. Didn’t take a lot of suggestion or pushing for France to decide to step things up, especially as a precursor for their (France and EU) upcoming war with Elon and X. Besides, if Elon sees Durov go down, their take is it might make him more agreeable to their demands. I think they are flat flippin wrong on that, but it fits. This also ties into efforts by various elements of the U.S. to use France and the EU to censor content they don’t like on their behalf (legalities/plausible deniability). BTW, if you think Telegram is secure, and completely adversarial to Vladimir and Company, think again. If I find a link to a good analysis I saw a couple of weeks ago, will add it. User beware.

Now to Turkey. If you missed it, a anti-American “youth” group (didn’t look like kids to me) attacked and/or tried to kidnap one or more American troops on liberty in Turkey. Five Marines showed up and things did not go to plan. For all that the group is not a part of Edrogan’s party officially, you can bet this was not some spontaneous act. If it had been, the response of the local authorities would have been very different. However, I tend towards the “unofficially approved” camp as it ties in too neatly with Dedrogan’s plans. Note that he has now formally and openly applied to be a part of BRICS. Interesting timing, no?

It also puts NATO and the U.S. in a bit of a tight spot. Really hard to be a member of NATO and of BRICS, sort of like trying to be a member of NATO and the old Warsaw Pact at the same time. Add to it that both have also been counting on Turkey keeping warships out of the Black Sea and controlling traffic in a “neutral” manner (which benefits Ukraine), and that we have counted on our base(s) there for strategic positioning… Plus, there has long been a matter of some materials and such at Incirlik that make things even more touchy. The fact that we’ve had (this year alone) some opportunities to deal with those issues and failed to do so doesn’t surprise me. My thoughts on current military leadership, uniformed and civilian, isn’t high. Cough. Dealing with such now will be fraught.

Meantime, my thought to start is: cancel all port calls, resupply contracts, repair contracts, and stop all joint activities with the Turkish navy. Move port calls and contracts to Greece maybe. As for stopping joint training, well, things are tense, we need to be ready and elsewhere for now, maybe later, no hard feelings, etc., etc., etc. (/Yul Brenner Voice). Oh, and have the Wasp depart ASAP if that is not already underway. Again, given our current leadership I don’t expect much of anything to be done, and if it starts to go sideways expect them to handle things about as well as they did Afghanistan.

Quick note. I have removed Kamil Galeev from the Intel list. While his work on the history of Russia and the philosophical and other underpinnings of modern Russia and what is going on there now are brilliant, I just read some of his work in regards Israel and I can’t condone, support, or ignore. Condemn is in there though. I hadn’t been reading him in a while as I was focused elsewhere, and regret I didn’t catch it sooner.

Also, there’s something weird (weirder than usual) going on in Moscow. Hard to tell what is going on, but it appears some power shifts are underway. Maybe more on this later.

Finally, keep an eye here. When people tell you who they are, believe them. When campaigns call for censoring speech, limiting speech, and corporate media goes all in for that and rights as privileges (and that the Constitution is a danger to our Democracy) pay attention. They are not misspeaking.

Well, not quite final. Remember to keep an eye on Nicaragua still. There remain some odd patterns in the data there. Can’t put a finger on it, but something is going on.

More soon.