American Heroes

From the Times:

Three Men Stood Up to Anti-Muslim Attack. Two Paid With Their Lives.

By Daniel Victor

An Army veteran, a recent college graduate and a student who once won a poetry contest by condemning prejudice stirred up by the Sept. 11 attacks intervened as a man screamed anti-Muslim insults at two women in Portland, Ore., on Friday.

In the days that followed, the three men were hailed as heroes.

Two of the men — Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche, 23, and Rick Best, 53 — died in the attack, which occurred on a commuter train. The third, Micah David-Cole Fletcher, 21, was treated on Saturday for injuries that the police said were serious but not life-threatening.

"Hailed as heroes" because they are. 

The floater who did the stabbing is a nutjob and a political nihilist, so making political hay from this is silly but of course inevitable. From Heat Street:

In short, Christian is a deranged nihilist who just wants to watch the world burn.

And now the world wants to watch him burn so the feeling is mutual.

 

Comments

[maryrose]

Yay
A new thread.
Happy Memorial Day to our vets and those who are now serving our country!

[narciso]

Yikes that site is a mess even after loony Louise left.

[Threadkiller]

Last page:

http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2017/05/american-heroes/comments/page/99/#comments

[James D.]

OL posted this near the end of the lasy thread:

I am so sick of GOPe inaction and NeverTrumpism I could scream.

I agree 100%.

[Neo]

Noticed the Times left out that Jeremy Christian's Facebook posts indicate he was a supporter of socialist Senator Bernie Sanders and Green Party candidate Jill Stein.

[Threadkiller]

I had my kids sit with us and watch the DC Memorial Day ceremony on PBS.

It was enjoyable and moving.

Quite a bit of the ceremony concentrated on wounded vets. I had a tough time explaining to my kids that the day seems to be evolving into a 2nd Veteran's Day.

Fortunately my kids have been raised with the utmost respect for those who served our country, so the "tough time" was on me and my word dance designed to make sure they knew I meant no disrespect was unnecessary.

My family discussed this and we reasoned that with the high survival rate of those injured in battle, compared to older warfare, so many of these Vets' lives changed to a point so close to the ultimate sacrifice threshold for memorializing that we can accept this adaptation to the spirit of the day.

God Bless the fallen. God Bless these wounded soldiers. God Bless this country.

[Not all of em, just jom.]

"Christians are deranged nihilists who just wantto watch the world burn."

Fixed

[Jim Eagle]

neo,

Now, why do you think the Times did that?

[Whoops]

Mattis is standing next to Pences with the Popes dour expression. At least no one is dressed like Italian widows.

[Jim Eagle]

Hate to correct TM, since it is his blog, but there is a big difference between a commuter train and a light rail system. Portland has very extensive LRT system, even takes you out to the airport. My old firm built it.

[Threadkiller]

It seems you are correcting The Times, JiB.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--I had a tough time explaining to my kids that the day seems to be evolving into a 2nd Veteran's Day.--

Major pet peeve of mine.
Our former pastor would usually ask veterans to stand on Memorial Day and I never would. I'd tell him why but he'd forget by the next year and do it again.

[Continued...]

A slim 30-year old man in a gray sweatshirt was just settling down for brunch with his girlfriend in the restaurant of a 5-star hotel in downtown Prague. It was just two days after the United States accused the Russian government of hacking the Democratic National Committee on June 15, 2016.

Yevgeny (or Evgeniy, or Jevgeni, depending on your taste in Cyrillic) Nikulin and his girlfriend were enjoying a 3-week motor tour through Belarus, Poland and the Czech Republic.

He had just finished parking in a special VIP spot on the street, careful to leave plenty of room on each side of his new black Mercedes AMG GLE63 SUV. He was only driving the Mercedes because, so far out of Moscow, driving his Lamborghini seemed an invitation to trouble.

The couple sat side-by-side, thighs touching, taking advantage of being almost alone in the restaurant. Suddenly a police SWAT team came bursting through the front door and headed right for his table. A man in body armour ordered Nikulin to place his hands flat on the table.

Cops forced him to stand, handcuffed his hands behind his back, and led him away, right in front of his girlfriend. Cold.

“The blistering, two-minute action,” claimed a Prague newspaper. “eventually triggered cracking in several parts of the world.”

Where the “Cracking” began

What was going on in Russia at the time was earthshaking, but remains unknown to most Westerners.

Every Russian conflict with a neighboring country since 2000—Georgia, Estonia, and the Ukraine—was accompanied by a crude onslaught against that country’s online assets.

The Russians weaponized what used to be called “spam” for use in psychological warfare. And they were good at it. They used a variety of tools. General political websites were supported, but with no indication of Russian funding.

A group calling itself Cyber Guards was formed. In the summer of 2013 a pro-Kremlin organization announced the launch of a new large system for social network monitoring.

Pro-Kremlin youth organizations were taught to become patriotic hackers and trolls. Soon a tidal wave of propaganda spread on social networks, aimed, not at countries, but at individual adversaries of the Kremlin.

[-peter]

I don't know why jimnorcal took the heat for the bad last page link in the last thread, I was the one who posted the first ham-handed attempt, jim was just trying to help me.
At any rate, here is the link to the last page of the last thread. Rattler-gator had a pretty nice post there on the last page about the Iraq and Afghan war casualties.

http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2017/05/fire-michael-flynn/comments/page/15/#comments

[Continued...]

Turning the boys loose

London’s The Guardian was among the first to find itself in the Russian trolls’ crosshairs. As the Ukraine-Russia conflict heated up, waves of so-called “Nashibot” trolls relentlessly posted pro-Putin propaganda in the paper’s comments section.

French and Italian journalists who published stories critical of Russia were attacked, not crudely, but in fluent and flawless Italian and French. These were not amateur, but professional trolls.

“An army was unleashed, a fighting force whose weapons were words. Legions of trolls were deployed to provoke and intimidate,” write Andrei Soldatov and Irinia Borogan in the just-released “Red Web.”

Domestically, the Kremlin decided to put the Internet under control by technical means, through filtering. Gradually, Russian authorities exerted more control in a coordinated squeeze in what amounted to nationwide censorship through a relatively small government agency called Roskomnadzor, which selected what was to be censored, but left it to individual ISP’s and telecom operators to carry it out.

Czech-mate, mate

Meanwhile, back in Prague… Police— alert to the possibility of worldwide publicity—filmed the arrest in jerky-cam style. It was not an artistic choice.

For several days afterwards, due to “tactical reasons,” according to a spokesman for Czech police, Yevgeny Nikulin’s capture went unannounced while diplomatic maneuvers between the U.S. and Russia began over his extradition.

Cynics said it sounded like someone holding a silent auction.

Nikulin was wanted in the U.S. for a raid on more than 100 million users of Linked in 2012, and several smaller social media sites like Dropbox and Formspring, the little-known sexting app used by Anthony Weiner. He was also accused of conspiracy to traffic information from the professional networking site, and supplying hacking tools to others.

But while the other three Russian hackers profiled here have all been explicitly linked to the hacking of the U.S. presidential election last year, Nikulin’s role, if any, has not yet been revealed. However the intense struggle over his extradition between the U.S. and Russia indicates the true story of Nikulin’s involvement remains untold..

[rse]

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2017/05/28/mattis_nothing_scares_me_i_keep_other_people_awake_at_night.html

the annihilation vs attrition distinction is also important to grasp. Now when i read mattis talking about his coordination with tillerson in that interview, it is tillerson on his hawg in rolling thunder i visualize.

just imagine the hacks hillary would have put in these positions.

[Jane]

Great speech by Trump honoring our fallen.

[Great Americans rare.]

DICKERSON: You served under President Obama. You are now serving President Trump. How are they different?

MATTIS: Everyone leads in their own way, John..

[Captain Hate]

Seeing last night's comments, the problem with Althouse is in the more political posts when the comments get to more than 100 or so, they devolve into poo throwing between a handful of posters, while the sane ones have already moved on. She should probably just close comments after 200.

This is what I mistakenly screwed up pasting on the old thread. To restate what I posted the problem isn't the number of comments as it is the monkeys dominating it with repetitive stupidity. They steered clear of a thread on Gregg Allman which overcame Queen Ann's typically dense post with insightful discussion.

Still not sure why the JOM exiles find that a more inviting place since, if anything, there are more witless unmoderated trolls there. Oh well, not my problem.

[Fini]

Give it to me straight

With its suspect in custody, the FBI wanted to know all about Nikulin’s connections with Moscow’s elite.

He had boasted on Russia’s Facebook about collecting Lamborghinis, wearing gold Rolexes, and hand-stitched boots, and was famous for posting photos of himself on Instagram with his stable of luxury cars: Aston Martins, Bentleys, Porsches, and Lamborghinis.

One picture, from a Russian automotive magazine, showed him driving a Lamborghini Hurricane. “This is not my first Lamborghini,” he told the publication. One can imagine him sniffing.

It was not all fun and games. One of his friends told a reporter that Nikulin was “an idiot” for traveling abroad while hen had an Interpol warrant out on him.

He sent an email to worried friends in Moscow. “I’ll be back soon, why the fuss?”

Sounding like he’d watched a few gangster movies in his spare time, Nikulin said tersely,
“FBI Agents mentioned names to me. Lukoil chief Vagit Alekperov, Defense Minister Sergej Šojgu, President of Rosneft Eduard Chudajnatov, and Putin spokesman Dmitrij Peskov.”

He was friends with the son of the head of the Russian oil group Lukoil, he admitted, as well as the daughter of the Russian defense minister. And also a Putin spokesman. So what? He went racing late at night through the streets of Moscow with sons of Russian privilege. It was no big deal.

Desperate back-stage struggle

More dramatic than his arrest was the backstage struggle underway to obtain the alleged hacker, reported Czech weekly magazine Respekt.

“He was never formally accused at that time, I think because he was recruited by Russian security,” said Ondrej Kundra, political editor with the magazine. “Russians typically offer alleged hackers immunity from prosecution in exchange for collaboration,” he reported.

Moscow said it would do everything possible to keep Nikulin from being extradited to the United States.

They even sent a special envoy— Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who looked as if she was quite used to being treated with diplomatic courtesy—to plead their case. She said “The US approach is part of a hunt for Russian citizens around the world to impose their jurisdiction on foreign countries.”

She also allegedly threatened the Czechs. Send him to the U.S., went the message, and you can forget about obtaining the release of any Czech citizens hiding from justice on Russian soil.

Six months later the Czech Republic suffered a damaging cyber-security breach. Dozens of senior Czech diplomats had their emails hacked in a massive cyber-attack that was thought to have been carried out by Russia.

Nikulin, meanwhile, lay in his cell like a wounded animal, waiting for two lions to decide who would eat first.

Needs a weekend in the country

Shortly after Nikulin’s arrest, he was reported to have had a nervous breakdown. He was hospitalized in a local psychiatric facility for several days. At his first hearing, he said he was being treated for cardiovascular disease, intestinal problems, and suffered panic attacks.

In early May Nikulin appeared before a court deciding where to extradite him to the US or Russia. He claimed to have been the victim of a political game.

The FBI had tried to force a confession during interrogation, to make him admit he had been part of the team that hacked the US election. “I had to admit to intervening in the U.S. election in exchange for a comfortable life in the United States.”

It was a savvy move. Late word from the Municipal Court in Prague was they would announce a decision by the end of May. Until then, the only thing certain was that, in Prague today, money is changing hands.

[narciso]

Obama fired him for speaking truth about iran, I guess the parallel to gen. Singlaub the commander of forces in korea. Who had made it all the way from the oss in China through mac sog in vietnam

[sbw]

Consider this for the first page of new threads:

New readers: To get to the most recent page of the thread click here.

Hat tip to our host, TM, who offers this playground of ideas. Lurk to familiarize yourself with jargon, or just ask. Regulars are very nice, but have little tolerance for trolling, and mostly scroll on by (SOB).

The blog tolerates an infestation of trolls for your entertainment. SOB to get to insight worth reading. Silence trolls altogether by using the Firefox browser, installing Killfile. With Killfile if you hover over the date, you are given the option to “hush” the troll. Very satisfying.
Here's the link for Killfile. Chrome offers a Killfile option, too.

Some trolls are honestly sick. Others are misguided enough to believe that stifling worthwhile discussion is politically honest and socially healthy. SAD!

[Wtf?]

https://youtu.be/QF_jZ1eUt7A

Did he take the Orb home?

[Wtf?]

And some just want to burn it down..sound familiar?

[henry]

Clarice, I get the Pelosi thing is fake news.

[Truthbetold]

sbw

I see your publication is still ignoring the Hastert story.

[narciso]

Yes it's an unpayable to those who fell in the line of duty, can we be a nation worthy of their sacrifice?

[Clarice Feldman]

Fini--where is that stuff from? Your head or a linkable source?

[Captain Hate]

The local news reader began the broadcast with a breathless yammering about Kushner's back channel communications, which they find more heinous than back alley abortions, I guess. Somebody should tell them when the rivets start popping in on the submarine, diving deeper isn't a good option.

[Sung to: Fifty Ways to leave your lover]

Fifty Ways tRump is like Hitler

The trouble ain’t all inside your head, Dak said to me

A fascist state is no longer something to be taken hypothetically

It truly isn’t that very difficult to see

There must be, fifty ways tRump is like Hitler.

She said, that Kremlin shit asshole is so fucking rude

and what’s more, his words and actions are so abusively crude

This has become more of an authoritarian rule

There must be, fifty ways tRump is like Hitler. Fifty ways tRump is like Hitler.

Take a golden shower, Howard. Make a pee stain, Jane.

Don’t need to be truthin’ on Putin, if you listen to Joey.

Beat up the press Jess, don’t need tRump’s permission, to crush them Tim

Go back to Oman, Juan, and become a deportee

Take a golden shower, Howard. Make a pee stain, Jane.

Don’t need to be truthin’ on Putin, if you listen to Joey.

Beat up the press Jess, don’t need tRump’s permission, to crush them Tim

Go back to Oman, Juan, and become a deportee

BB said, it grieves me so to see you in such pain

But if it makes you feel any better, I don’t know when I will smile again.

She made me feel at ease, but I could not forget about those damn fifty ways.

If you don’t believe me, then just listen to the Republicans on the Right.

And I guarantee you will be frightened and begin to see the light.

There is a reason why we all must stand up and fight

There must be, fifty ways tRump is like Hitler. Fifty ways tRump is like Hitler.

Take a golden shower, Howard. Make a pee stain, Jane.

Don’t need to be truthin’ on Putin, if you listen to Joey.

Beat up the press Jess, don’t need tRump’s permission, to crush them…no

Go back to Oman, Juan, and become a deportee

[narciso]

I think it was the basilisk, although it could be the guardian.

[Fini]

Just take an excerpt paste in browser..sheesh!

http://www.madcowprod.com/2017/05/25/u-s-catches-russian-hackers-on-vacation/#more-14110

[Clarice Feldman]

narciso, google says it's from something called madcow--Think I'll pass.

[narciso]

I was giving him the benefit of the doubt.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

http://dailycaller.com/2017/05/29/donald-trump-honors-fallen-soliders-in-speech-at-arlington-cemetery-on-memorial-day/?utm_campaign=atdailycaller&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social

Video of speech at link.

[Fini]

"Think I'll pass."

Natch!

Those links are quite revealing of your ignorance bona fides.

[JM Hanes]

sbw:

I'd go with short and sweet, if anything:

Welcome, new readers!
Link to last page of thread here.
Ignore the trolls or mask them with Killfile.
Credit sources for quotes.
Feel free to ask questions.
Try not to embarrass our generous host, Tom Maguire.

I'm not sure how much difference it would make. though.

[EMOLUEMENTS!!]

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, is calling for an investigation into “potentially fraudulent statements and misrepresentations” made by a Chinese company promoting investments in property partly managed by White House adviser Jared Kushner's family's company..

[Truthbetold]

JMH

If sbw would write about the pederast sodomite Dennis Hastert he could be credited as a source.

[jimmyk]

Still not sure why the JOM exiles find that a more inviting place

I don't know either, though I haven't seen bgates there in months, and maybee is pretty infrequent.

There are about a half-dozen almost JOM-worthy contributors but as you say, every political thread gets overrun with idiots before long.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Not having an instant last page link, if one doesn't get posted right off the bat, doesn't seem like too big an inconvenience and killfile makes it a pleasure to swat the twat so I'd say things are pretty good here considering the inhospitable state of nature of the internet in general.

[jimmyk]

It dawned on me that Michael Mukasey would have been a much better choice than Mueller for independent counsel. He's already said there's no there there, as in the linked video where he schools dimwit Burnett, which maybe disqualified him, though it ought to have pre-qualified him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pjo16QamjIc

[Truthbetold]

Clarice

Why did American Thinker remove your Foley story?

[maryrose]

Peter:
Thank you!

[maryrose]

Why are they called JOM exiles?

[jimmyk]

And if you are welcoming readers, you could link to the glossary:

http://jom-glossary.wikia.com/wiki/JOM_Glossary_Wiki

which also, I might add, has instructions for how to get your iPad and iPhone in Safari to jump to the last page or bottom of page.

[sbw]

I'd go with short and sweet

I like yours, jmh, every writer needs an editor.

[jimmyk]

Why are they called JOM exiles?

True, they're not literally exiles. More like emigrees or refugees (in their minds).

[sbw]

mr, self-exile. They bailed.

[Old Lurker]

Quiters

[Old Lurker]

JOMflakes

[Davod]

JIB. "Portland has very extensive LRT system, even takes you out to the airport. My old firm built it."

I attended a series of seminars in Portland. The LRT is great and many people stayed at hotels near the airport because of the LRT.

What they did not advertise was that the LRT closed at around 10 PM.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

People come and people go. I don't hold it against anyone for finding a place that fits better. I do miss bgates' wise cracks.

[Jim Eagle]

Tiger Woods, DWI in Jupiter. The photo says it all.

[maryrose]

Occasionally posters do comment as they see fit.
Many times posters also lurk or real life grabs their attention.
I am happy to hear from them and I enjoy every person's ( trolls excepted)
contribution.

[JM Hanes]

sbw:

jimmyk's glossary link seems like a must, too.

"every writer needs an editor"

Ain't that the truth? I know every time I try to edit my own stuff down, it just gets longer....

Frankly, my entire life could use an editor -- and my photographic oeuvre still desperately needs a curator.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

https://www.rt.com/news/390059-anti-jihadist-ramadan-video/

This looks to be a product of the new effort to combat extremism.

[Marlene]

There are some good movies on TCM this afternoon... Kelly's Heroes,Where Eagles Dare and The Dirty Dozen. It is a dreary day here,we're going to binge watch.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Gonna c&p a couple of superb comments from PJM re Germany and Western Europe in general. Sorry in advance for the length but it's hard to link to a comment people have to search the link for;
From Subotai Bahadur at Wretchard's latest:

At this point, I am more than willing to sever any alliance with Germany. NATO itself with Turkey as a member of both NATO and the Caliphate is a trap not an alliance. We need to have a series of bilateral treaties of mutual advantage only with those states who can, and are willing, to defend Western Civilization.

That defense will not come from Germany, which wishes to lead the conversion to the Caliphate and be the Dhimmi equivalent of Pierre Laval. It will not come from France, which is desperately wishing for someone to surrender to, besides the Germans, and is desperately learning Arabic. It will not come from Italy which is bankrupt, an invasion route from the Ummah, has a strong separatist movement [the Northern League], and epitomizes government instability. It will not come from Greece which lacks the separatist movement but has all the other problems of Italy plus makes Italy look like a financial paragon AND has a repeated history of ripping off the savings of its citizens. It will not come from Spain, which has its own financial problems, political problems, and incidentally may have Catalonia secede any day now [Spanish Civil War Mk. II?].

There are nations in Europe who may work with us. And it will be real work. The Second Conjecture is upon us, and there will be a level of kinetic untidiness not seen since the last time Germany decided that it would lead Europe whether Europe wanted it or not.

Germany and the EU have chosen dishonor over war. They will have both. And they will lose both honor and the war. Sides have been chosen, and the choice is likely irrevocable.

And I have to note that European problems are not exclusive to Europe. We have a similar set of problems here, and have both foreign and domestic 5th Columns here too that will have to be dealt with.

Tidings of comfort and joy.

Subotai Bahadur

[Threadkiller]

Ship JOMpers

[Clarice Feldman]

The foley case which involved no sex and no pedophilia BTW was covered by me in a series of blogs --only articles are archived from that far back--to see blogs from that far back you have to go thru the monthly archive of October 2006. Here's one: . Here's one-http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2006/10/foley_blame_game_updates.html

Just because someone is accused of a crime--Podesta or Elafantis or Foley, for example--doesn't not mean they should be tarred on no evidence:http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2006/10/foley_blame_game_updates.html

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

And from some dude named HarmlessHandle at Michael Walsh's column on Germany;

Not sure where to start. Yes, this is all interesting and enjoyable reading. I like looking at an old map that shows Whitby as much as the next guy, It would be even more interesting and enjoyable if it dealt with the the here-and-now and the road ahead.

the real menace to Europe...is Islam
In theory and long term, yes, obviously. Do we really need to hear it again?
Immediately and urgently, the real menaces are the bureaucracy in Brussels and, if you believe that systematic hate-mongering matters and the rubber really does meet the road eventually, the kraut media network ARD.

ARD will be new to many; the acronym breaks down to (God help us all): 'Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland'. In white man's language, this translates to a cross between PBS and the BBC, a nightmare organization that stands in Dr. Goeb*els shoes. Wiki will tell you more.
Collectively -- which includes the TV network Das Erste ("The First" -- as in über alles, the wags say) -- ARD adds up to the largest anti-American propaganda organization on the planet. Period.

If inclined to dismiss all this as mindless ranting, go here and read what Harvard has to say:
https://shorensteincenter.o...
Shorter summary with tables here:
http://www.zerohedge.com/ne...

The study fails to point out that German hate-speech laws pretty much stop at the water's edge, so kraut 'journalists' are off the reservation and can spew hate at will. Merkel, we can safely say, doesn't give a sh*t.

Overall, the krauts are strutting again. It may help to recall that the German economy is only about 15pc bigger than the UK's (despite a much larger population), and only one-sixth the size of ours.
The quick way to stop the nonsense is: 1/ close Ramstein and 2/ deep-six German car imports into the US (many ways to avoid free trade laws). Germany has ignored years of warnings about the dangers of its export-dominated economy -- in reality a rope around the neck not a source of pride, but try telling them that.

They can be forced to deal with reality very easily.
Much of europe will be eternally grateful.

[JM Hanes]

Henry:

I enjoyed reading about your uncle in the previous thread. What an amazing career — and what an amazing man he must have been.

Also, wrt the last thread, as opposed to Memorial Day proper (he survived the conflict), I dug out this photo of Grandfather JMH's World War I identity card for the "American Expeditionary Forces" in France.

Yes, I blanked out his name & sig, because I'm paranoid. I've always thought he looked rather dashing in uniform.

[Old Lurker]

Two great posts, Iggy. Thanks for them.

[exdemocrat]

interesting video, MM, but the comments at RT are pretty depressing

[Captain Hate]

JMH,

Just to let you know, I finally got Father Hate's letters from Italy to the hometown newspaper during WW2 but didn't transcribe them because I thought they were kind of corny (something my brother and I found interesting/amusing was that the girl he left behind was someone who's son I subsequently played basketball with/against). To paraphrase he was a tank instructor who had a chance to do something else but wanted to stick around with his buddies (my guess is he didn't see combat because of his crummy eyesight) and talked about how Italy turned into a giant mud pit in the spring. That was pretty much it.

[Captain Hate]

I haven't seen bgates there in months

He tried to insert some comedy/sense into the thread from Hell but was swimming against a tsunami of stoopid.

[Truthbetold]

Clarice

Are you seriously trying to say Dennis Hastert and others were not covering up that Foley was a pedophile?

[JM Hanes]

Ignatz:

Very interesting about ARD etc. I had always heard that Germans were some of the most anti-American folks on the continent, but didn't really pay much attention, because I've long had the impression that they're basically xenophobic in general. Could be entirely wrong about the latter, but I do think that if we want to talk about Russian connections, Germany is a good place to start.

As this timeline increasingly suggests, there's a cultural component as well as a business angle -- which I first became aware of when Gerhard Schroeder left office for a major seat at the Gazprom table. Oddly enough, his government had decided to phase out nuclear power, early on (ostensibly to make way for renewables...).

[Clarice Feldman]

No evidence that Foley was a pedophile. He was a homosexual, who when drunk sent ambiguous emails to former pages. And was set up by some of them in a political sting. No Sex. No pedophilia.

[Truthbetold]

Clarice

And magically there was no evidence that Hastert was a pederast sodomite either.

Oh wait, there was evidence. That's why it's called a cover-up!

[Captain Hate]

Tiger Woods, DWI in Jupiter. The photo says it all

He never could drive straight.

[Truthbetold]

Clarice

Do you think Dennis Hastert was being blackmailed while he was speaker of the house?

[Captain Hate]

Tammy's talking about how Slick's approval ratings have gone in the toilet while other ex Presidents have stayed constant or improved.

[JM Hanes]

Captain Hate:

Thanks for the update. I feel really lucky to have Dad's journals, because -- as you seem to have discovered as well -- most of the letters home are not necessarily stuff-of-legend material. They weren't allowed to say much about where they were or what they were doing, and in my newlywed parents' case there were plenty of "corny" comments. Apparently, Dad must also have longed to hear about the mundane details of life back home, because my mother filled every letter with eye-glazing-over pages of them. They were married just before he went over seas, and I think perhaps the most poignant thing was reading sentiments like, "Hopefully we'll get to celebrate our next anniversary together," or "It's been 18 long months," and knowing that it would be years before he came home.

"To paraphrase he was a tank instructor who had a chance to do something else but wanted to stick around with his buddies"

I suspect that's probably more typical than not. Your buddies meant everything to you. My Dad didn't talk much about the war, but he almost never missed a 1st Armored Div. reunion

[Clarice Feldman]

I'm a sceptic until there's real evidence, TBT--that's where we differ. You find evidence an unnecessary feature of your tirades .

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Captain Hate,

My dad took pictures in Italy and there were a few of trucks stuck axle deep in mud.

Italy might be why he would NEVER camp in a tent. He loved the outdoors but no tents for him - bought a fishing cabin up in Wisconsin after going to a lodge there for a few years.

We never even had tents in the backyard when we were kids.

[Truthbetold]

Clarice

Are you saying you're not convinced Hastert is a pederast?

[JM Hanes]

BTW, Ignatz:

I'm afraid neither of your ARD links work.

[Davod]

"Tammy's talking about how Slick's approval ratings have gone in the toilet while other ex Presidents have stayed constant or improved."

But, but, he just visited Prince Harry at the palace.

[sbw]

My heart soars like an eagle every time I see, “Comment by xxxxx blocked.”

[narciso]

I remember the David medienkritik blog that focused mostly on the madness of spiegel.

[Truthbetold]

Nothing like a snowflake editor, sbw

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

I just saw a tweet from a Salon writer touting bad news (for most of his followers): President Trump's approval ratings are higher than Bill Clinton's were at the same point in their presidencies.

Bwahahahaha!

[sbw]

Often, and sadly, women who married those going off to war didn’t expect their new husbands to return.

Dad promised to marry Mom if he graduated from OCS at Ft. Benning in 1943. He did. They did. Then to Ft. Gruber in Oaklahoma. Dad got picked to stay as an instructor for a year. Probably saved his life.

When he did ship off to Marseilles, they promised to write each day, numbering each letter because they often arrived in bunches and out of order.

Now, Mom, at 95, reads one every day or so to Dad, who has Alzheimers. He enjoys it and can recall things from way back then when reminded by the letters. Makes one think of The Notebook.

[Captain Hate]

JMH,

Yes, having your father's journals would be extremely insightful and leave out mundane stuff like my father being known for whistling all the time, which never failed to produce irritated eye rolling by my brother and I. Plus keeping a journal also addresses "if I don't make it back, there are people close to me who will want to know this".

[Captain Hate]

sbw, your mother reading the letters to him sounds very therapeutic and soothing.

[Jim Eagle]

Correct me if I am wrong but I thought "Slick" was Bubba Clinton, not Zippy Obama.

A comment regarding those two excellent articles Iggy linked: The Euro press, commenters, TV, magazines are all obsessed with America. You may read an article on Belgium or France or Germany from time to time in American papers but every day there are dozens or more about America in the Euro papers.

Usually, those articles are so biased and left leaning you'd think you were reading the NYT's or WaPo. Well, guess what? You are - a native language translation of the same carp we get every day.

IOW's the NYT's and WaPo have a more loyal, indoctrinated audience in Europe than they have here.

[Captain Hate]

I doubt that AoS links come through with this wonderful software, so in case this doesn't and the comment does anyway, there's a pretty funny one from last night pounding on Bret Stephens:

http://acecomments.mu.nu/?post=369968

[jimmyk]

most of the letters home are not necessarily stuff-of-legend material.

I may have mentioned that we recently came across letters of my wife's father. He was still in training as a pilot when WW II ended, so didn't make it into combat. Instead he covertly went over and joined the nascent Israeli air force (under an assumed name, since it was illegal), first going to Yugoslavia to patch together some rickety old planes, and then in '47 he joined the fighting against the Arabs. (Nancy Spielberg recently made a documentary about this group of Americans, called Above and Beyond).

I don't know that the letters are all "stuff-of-legend," as you say, but they're pretty meaningful, especially as none of us (even my wife) ever knew him because died in a plane crash in '63 (he became a pilot for Pan Am). Among other things, he refers to the Jews living there at the time as "Palestinians," (the Arabs are just "Arabs") and he's kind of dismissive about the UN as just an obstacle.

My daughter gave a presentation on him and his letters to her school and to one of the big local synagogues on Israel Independence Day a couple of weeks ago and it was a big hit.

[Captain Hate]

Success!

JiB, I was talking about Clinton.

[JM Hanes]

That was a great blog, narciso. I was really sorry when he called it quits. In checking to see if David Kaspar was still around anywhere, I came across his 2008 predictions as to the German media's reaction should Obama be elected. Reaction #1 & his "Analysis" read like a crystal ball. The formatting doesn't look familiar to me though. Perhaps at some point he just archived a generic Typepad version of it.

[Captain Hate]

Fuck off, jor. This is a day to celebrate American heroes which permanently excludes you.

[sbw]

CH, for both of them.

[Truthbetold]

jor

Did not remember hearing you complain about Obama's pedo sleepovers with sick fucks like James Alefantis.

[rich]

we needed more garlic ...

http://freebeacon.com/politics/rahm-emanuel-uncomfortable-questions-clinton-potentially-president-again/

although we should be encouraging it.

[Truthbetold]

jor

Who was it that pushed through the Uranium One deal?

[-peter]

Holy crap, Tiger Woods looks wasted. get thee to a rehab center pal

[Old Lurker]

Where Charles Grassley piles on.

This is why I did not join the JOM Grassley fanclub last week. He is too prone to this crap when it is best left to gutter critters. Like he does not have better things to do with his Leadership perch?:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/05/29/grassley-wants-review-chinese-companys-marketing-deal-with-jared-kushners-family.html

[rich]

Posted by: jimmyk | May 29, 2017 at 03:09 PM

wow. Might be worthwhile to have her research some Israeli military historian groups to have it preserved. I recall that a young student here in the US turned a school project of his on the USS Indianapolis ...

https://www.amazon.com/Left-Dead-Search-Justice-Indianapolis/dp/0385730918