Tag: Suckage

Things that totally suck

Two Takes, Same Conclusion

Military

First take:

You won’t hear this on CNN, but Putin’s Army of Darkness, in the most complex and ambitious ground maneuver operation since World War 2, following the Soviet “deep war” playbook, is also working on cutting off the Ukrainian army group in the Donbass from Kiev. This is by far the most capable (or only capable) large portion of the Ukrainian army. Yesterday, its main reserves of diesel fuel were destroyed from the air. It will soon be cut off and immobile.

Once that happens, the entire Donbass front collapses (they will no longer have a “front”), and BILLIONS of dollars in U.S.-funded or U.S.-supplied weaponry will be captured almost without a battle. (To be clear, it’s almost all U.S. funded or supplied—even most of the Soviet vintage stuff was bought and shipped in from Poland, Czechia, etc. by the CIA, “off the books” but well documented in videos of tank trains crossing the border into Ukraine, in 2015-2016.)

The Russians have finally entered Kharkov, Ukraine’s second largest city, very close to the Russian border. Previously, they had bypassed it the same way that America bypassed every town in southern Iraq to reach Baghdad in 2003. On Saturday night, they finally wasted all significant, organized resistance with a rain of thermobaric death in the outskirts. Today, they started to go in and mop up. Of course, it’s not a job for one day.

Second take:

It remains to be seen if Putin’s plan will succeed or fail, but what is clear is that there was a plan to invade Ukraine in force, and that plan has been executed since day one.

Ukrainian troops are putting up a valiant fight facing long odds and difficult conditions. Russia holds most if not all of the advantages.  It can, and has, attacked Ukraine from three different directions. The Russian military holds a decided advantage in manpower, as well as air, naval and armor superiority.  It has vast resources to draw on. While Ukraine has the support of much of the international community, which is providing weapons, Ukraine is fighting alone.

Believing Russia’s assault is going poorly may make us feel better but is at odds with the facts.

Sobering stuff.  And given the fog of war at the moment, both are plausible and well-reasoned arguments.

Bad Influence

Bad News

I’m sorry to see that P.J. O’Rourke has left us for that Great Editorial Office In The Sky.

Although I didn’t agree with much of his later writing, I loved his earlier books (Parliament Of Whores, Eat The Rich, etc.) and I do owe him a debt of gratitude.

You see, when I was homeschooling the kids, whenever they asked a question about politics or taxes or any of that, I simply pointed them to the relevant chapter in one of P.J.’s books, and let him be their guide.  (Also, they didn’t always believe my explanation because for some reason they thought I was a right-wing conservative, and wanted an “impartial” perspective, ho ho.)

The Son&Heir now has all O’Rourke’s books on his shelf, and I truly believe that these have formed his socio-political outlook, such as it is.

No better legacy.

Aargh

Gummint, Taxes and Theft

“Well Kim,”  you may ask, “how was your trip to the tax guy yesterday?”

About the same as your dog getting its temperature taken for the first time:

What I love most about the tax code for retirees is that no matter how large the “contributions” you paid into SocSec, you don’t get enough to live on when you do finally retire;  then as a retiree, when you earn a little extra money trying to make ends meet, your SocSec income is taxed.

So how do I really feel?

Johnny Not-So English

Architecture, Modernism

Mr. Bean has created a stir:

Rowan Atkinson has reportedly finally moved into his ‘space age petrol station’ mansion after a decade-long planning row with neighbours. The Blackadder star, 67, initially bought the 1930s quaint English home – known as Handsmooth House – and its 16 acres of land for £2.6million in 2006.

He shocked locals in the charming seventh century village of Ipsden in Oxfordshire when he knocked it down and installed a modern 8,000 sq. ft. glass and steel mansion designed by top U.S. architect Richard Meier in its place.

Oy.  From this:

…to this:

Now I’ll grant you that House #1 needed a lot of restoration.  And I’ll also grant you that House #2 is located where nobody can see it (at least from the road).

But seriously?

I note, by the way, that he has ample space to park his supercar collection:

Small wonder that it took him ten years to get permission to build this dropping of visual excrement.  It should have taken longer.

State Of Nature

Law and Order

From Glenn:

“The justice system isn’t really there to protect citizens from criminals. It’s there to protect criminals from citizens.  And within limits that’s a good thing, but when you create a state of nature, you get a state of nature.  And in the state of nature people absolutely do kill to protect their property from marauders.”

So the more lawless Democrats make places, it becomes more likely that ordinary people are going to take the law BACK into their own hands.

Always remember:  we deputize the enforcement of law to the agents of the State.  But should those agents, or their masters, refuse to enforce, maintain or protect the law, We The People have every right to take over that responsibility.

Life, liberty and property:  they’re ours, and we are going to keep them.  It’s a perfectly natural act, as Glenn says.

And if the the agents of the State — politicians, governors, district attorneys or the police — don’t much care for that eventuality, screw them.

Oh, How Charming

Government Thugs

Via Insty comes this cheery news, which I ranted about a while back:

The Department of Justice is opening a new unit to investigate acts of domestic terrorism, a top national security official said during a Senate committee hearing Tuesday.

And will this unit be mobilized against, say, Antifa or BLM, given the following:

While there is no specific federal domestic terrorism statute, the federal government defines domestic terrorism as criminal acts dangerous to human life that appear to be intended to intimidate or coerce civilians or the policy of a government.

Of course it will.  [/sarc]  As with all things, the devil will be in the details.

Given that we already have such an agency (that would be the Fucking Bastard Institution), would this new bunch of Gummint agents be of a more, ummm, paramilitary nature?  (Also unnecessary, given the Feebs’ Swatties, but nemmind.)

My guess is that this crew will be dedicated to going after the so-called (and non-existent) “Rightwing extremists”, and if they can’t find any, they’ll create them (see:  David Koresh, Randy Weaver, Ashli Babbit, etc.) to justify their existence.

Whatever they call it, it would have sounded better in the original German:  Gestapo.

Sigh.  Just another rat’s nest to be rescinded by Executive Order on Day One of the new Republican presidency in 2024.

In the meantime, I guess it’s time to visit a Toyota dealership…

…because I’d hate to disappoint the new guys.