December 31, 2022

Happy Year of the Rabbit, or Cat, depending on where you are

On most Chinese Zodiac signs, this year is the Year of the Rabbit. But, if you're in Vietnam, or you're Gurung (ethnic group in Nepal) it's the Year of the Cat
Remember to avoid brown, yellow, and white. And this year the Heavenly Branch/Element is water. And your season is spring.

Happy New Year!

December 7, 2022

Live in Louisiana? Don't forget to vote Dec 10

There are 3 propositions on the ballot and a few Mayor, School Board, and Council races

The Amendments (per KSLA)

Amendment 1 would prohibit voting for people who are not U.S. citizens. Currently, the state constitution requires a person to be at least 18-years-old and a state citizen to register to vote and cast a ballot. Some municipalities in other states have allowed non-U.S. citizens to vote in their local elections. However, that has not happened in Louisiana specifically.
Amendment 2 looks to change the way civil service commission members are selected. The current procedure allows the governor to appoint six people based on nominations from presidents of major universities in the state. The seventh member is elected by classified state employees. Voting in favor of Amendment 2 would instead give the Louisiana Senate the power to confirm the governor’s appointees.
Amendment 3 also looks to change the selection process for the state police commission. The state police commission members are selected the same way as civil service commission members. If Amendment 3 is voted in, it would require the Louisiana Senate to confirm the governor’s choices.

Per KPLC:

Westlake Mayor: Both a repukes
Westlake Council both r's
Iowa Mayor: Independent and "No Party"
School Board District 2, 14, and 15. District 2 is both Dem, 15 both r's. 14 is Dem vs rep
Elton Mayor r vs Ind

December 5, 2022

Five People From WW II You Probably Should Know

5. Bernhard Arp Sindberg - Denmark

Sindberg rescued thousands of Chinese during and after the Nanjing in 1937.
Sindberg provided shelter and medical care for 6,000 to 10,000 civilians at a cement factory on the outskirts of the city, which he and a German colleague were protecting. (Chinese estimates put the number saved higher - at about 20,000)
Japan was on friendly relations with Denmark and Germany at the time. Sindberg painted a giant Danish flag on the cement factory roof, to ward off Japanese bombs. He and (his friend) Günther also placed the Danish flag and German swastika around the site, as a deterrent against the Japanese army.
According to eyewitness, Zhou Zhongbing, a 15-year-old boy at the time, said: "There was a refugee camp run by a Dane. The camp had people on guard duty and patrolling the area. When the Japanese arrived to make trouble, the Dane would walk out and stop them."
From Guo Shimei, a peasant woman who was 25 in 1937, "If the Japanese came looking for women, the foreigner would pull out a [Danish] flag, and after they had exchanged a few words, the Japanese would turn around and leave."
Though Sindberg did write a friend telling him of the horrors in Nanjing, he never spoke of it. He left China for the U.S. shortly after and died in poverty in1983.
In 2019, he was honored by the Danish Government.

.webp
Sindberg with the Danish Flage he kept close by for when the Japanese army showed up


4. Karl Gerhart Fröbe

His is a name you may recognize; Fröbe was Auric Goldfinger in the Bond movies and Colonel Manfred von Holstein in Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines. A member of the Nazi Party from 1928-37 (when he quit the party), his movies were banned in Israel until Mario Blumenau, a Jewish survivor, Fröbe had hid him and his mother from the Nazis until he was drafted into the army, thus saving their lives.

3. Carl Lutz

Carl Lutz was appointed in 1942 as Swiss vice-consul in Budapest, Hungary.

He issued Swiss safe-conduct documents that enabled almost 10,000 Hungarian Jewish children to emigrate, and saved over 62,000 Jewish people.
His scheme was actually quite brilliant; After the Nazis took Budapest in 1944, he negotiated a special deal with the Hungarian government and the Nazis which gave him permission to issue protective letters to 8,000 Hungarian Jews for emigration to Palestine.
Lutz used this permission for 8,000, applying them to families rather than individuals, and issued thousands of additional protective letters, all of them bearing a number between one and 8,000.
He also set up some 76 "safe houses" around Budapest, declaring them annexes of the Swiss legation and thus off-limits to the Hungarian army or the Nazis.

Lutz jumped into the Danube River to save a woman who had been shot and wounded by the Arrow Cross (Fascist) Party militiamen. He saved her and pulled her out of the Danube. He then confronted the leader of the militia, told him who he was, and that the woman was a foreign citizen under the protection of the Swiss Government. He then climbed into his car and drove away with the woman while the fascists stood uncertain what was going on, but unwilling to challenge a vice-consular.

Lutz organized with other neutral countries to work around the Nazi, and collaborator governments. His work was so effective, and at time so bold, that Proconsul Edmund Veesenmayer, the German representative in Hungary, asked permission to assassinate him; he never received a reply.

2. John Heinrich Detlef Rabe

John Heinrich Detlef Rabe was a businessman in China working Siemens, a member of the Nazi Party and the Nazi representative in China by virtue of him being there -- Rabe had not lived in Europe for over two decades. Though a party member, he was unaware of what was happening there.

As the Japanese approached Nanjing, Rabe set up an international zone to protect businessmen, government officials, and some missionaries from the advancing Japanese army. As a senior member of the Nazi Party, he carried a lot of weight with the Japanese. He also included Chinese in the international zone because what the Japanese had done, and were doing to the Chinese people.

A quote, "there is a question of morality here… I cannot bring myself for now to betray the trust these people have put in me, and it is touching to see how they believe in me"

As the Nanjing Massacre was happening, Rabe tried to use his position and influence to stop it. His efforts were not successful, but in some cases he was able to delay the actions of the Japanese army which allowed many to escape. He also sent word back to Germany detailing what was happening, certain that if Hitler knew he'd be outraged and intervene (how wrong Rabe was)
Rabe would regularly inspect the international quarter for Japanese soldiers. It was not uncommon for him to chase off Japanese soldiers who climbed the walls after dark to hunt down Chinese civilians and soldiers.
There are reports of high ranking Japanese officials in the area arguing with Rabe over who may be hiding in the quarter. Rabe continued to deny them access, citing the Anti-Comintern Pact between the two countries.

Rabe regularly contacted German authorities in Berlin, then tried contacting Hitler's office directly, to get word of what was happening in China. He was certain someone was preventing Hitler from knowing. The Japanese began protesting Rabe's actions to the German government and in 1938 he was recalled to Germany. Rabe returned to Germany with photos, movies and documents of the atrocities. He was arrested by the Gestapo. He was released, allowed to keep his documents, but ordered not to speak or write of it. Siemen's sent him to their offices in Afghanistan.

After the war he was denounced as a Nazi by someone he knew (likely someone trying to save themselves). He and his family lived in poverty and Rabe died in 1950. From 1948 until his death, survivors of the Massacre, upon learning of his poverty, would send money and food to him. The Mayor of Nanjing brought the equivalent of 23,000 dollars (in today's money) and food from China to Germany.
His tombstone was moved to Nanjing where it received a place of honor at the massacre memorial site.

Rabe's wartime diaries were published in English as either The Good German of Nanking (UK title) or The Good Man of Nanking (US title)

1. Albert Göring

If you haven't heard of him, you should know he is Hermann Göring's younger brother. And he is about as different from Hermann as you could probably get.
Albert opposed Nazism, he opposed anti-Semistism, and he helped Jews in Germany.
He was also more than willing to use his family connection to his advantage.

When he came across a group of Jewish women being forced to scrub the streets clean, he joined in the cleaning. The SS approached him, demanded to see his identification papers, seeing he was a Göring, nervously talked among themselves and then abruptly ended the humiliating activity for fear of earning Hermann's wrath. -- Who is stupid enough to arrest the brother of the 2nd most powerful man in Germany?
A few were bold (and stupid) enough to arrest him, and all received a Göring-gram from Hermann demanding that his brother be released. I have been unable to find anything on what happened to the brave and bold souls. Maybe winter boots, gloves, and a German-Russian dictionary?

Albert Göring used his influence to get his Jewish former boss Oskar Pilzer freed after the Nazis arrested him. Göring then helped Pilzer and his family escape from Germany.
He helped many German dissidents escape from Germany.

Göring was made export director at the Škoda Works in Czechoslovakia.
During his time there, he aided the Czech resistance. He would often forge his brother's name on transit documents to enable dissidents to escape. And he would send trucks to concentration camps with requests for laborers. The trucks would stop in an isolated area, and the people inside would escape.

In 1966, while in frail health, he married his housekeeper knowing that she would receive his pension when he died. Thus she would be taken care of. He d(His 1st wife divorced him over his many affairs). He died one week later.

In 2010, Edda Göring, the daughter of Hermann, said of her uncle Albert in The Guardian:
He could certainly help people in need himself financially and with his personal influence, but, as soon as it was necessary to involve higher authority or officials, then he had to have the support of my father, which he did get.

December 2, 2022

Maybe the Republikkans should have run more crazy-types

The Republikkans are doing an analysis of what went wrong in 2022 and on their committee include the following
Kellyanne Conway, theocrat Tony Perkins, and Blake Masters.It will also have Haley Barbour's nephew, Henry on it as one of the two chairs of the committee
Any guesses on how this plays out?
My guess is, the committee will say run more extreme and "pure" candidates
Too bad they had no room for Eric Trump and Hershel Walker

November 15, 2022

My Choice for the 5 Biggest Losers of this Election (and a couple of honorable mentions)

Chose mine in hopes of being a little different.

5. Trafalgar Group Polling, Insider Advantage Polling and Real Clear Politics
If you only followed Trafalgar Polling, Tuesday would have seemed like the results were bigger than Dewey Defeats Truman. Trafalgar Group had Oz, Laxalt, Dixon, Michels, and Zeldin all winners. They had Zeldin, O' Dea, Mastriano and Smiley in dead heats. And, though they were right about Warnock and Walker going to a runoff, the had Walker at 49.7 and Warnock at 46.5.
Two weeks ago, the New York Times did a "Why are you so handsome?" interview with Trafalgar's CEO.
Insider Advantage was not much better. They were wrong about Laxalt, they were totally wrong about Arizona, Michigan, and much more.
Real Clear Politics goes into this with the other two because their CEO was so certain that Tuesday would be a bloodbath on par with the elevator doors in the Shining. He was so certain, he went on Laura Ingrams news show on faux spews to mock doubters.

4.Rightwing Influencers
Joe Rogan, Ben Shapiro, Candace Owens, Charlie Kirk, Dave Rubin, and Tim Poole are some of the many rightwing personalities on youtube that are not happy right now. The meltdowns are fun.
Joe Rogan told us how the election would look like the bloody elevator from the Shining.
Owens is angry at Trump. Shapiro at Republican leadership. Kirk acts totally lost.
Nick Fuentes wants a dictatorship to force their ideas on the country.
The best is Tim Poole. Mr. 49-state landslide (Poole) had his head handed to him in a post-election analysis by Milo Yiannopoulus; Poole argued it was a good day for Republicans, Milo told him why it wasn't.
It was disturbing to hear Milo say what we all already knew about Republicans

3. Tulsi Gabbard.
Tuesday was her "Coming Out Party" as the latest turncoat hack. She had been a busy little bee running around the country endorsing one neo-Fascist, Goose-Stepping, Pennywise Wannabe out there after another.
She showed up in NH. Not for Sununu, but for Don Buldoc.
She raced over to Michigan to throw her support behind Tudor Dixon and election deniers John Gibbs and Tom Barrett.
Then it was off to Illinois to stump for Darren Bailey for Illinois Governor.
Then Arizona for Lake and Masters. And Nevada for Laxalt.
Many Republicans rushed to welcome her, like Scalise, Bacon, Mace, as well as Tukyo Rose Carlghlin, Putin and Assad. The most prominent critic I could find from the Republikans to rebuke her is Heath Mayo, a conservative activist who founded the advocacy group Principles First.
We all see how well her endorsements helped in competitive races.

2. Kari Lake
Kari Lake didn't lose just an election for governor, she lost out on more (at least according to many republikkan and beltway sources). Prior to the election, she was being touted as either a shoo-in vice-presidential candidate, or possibly, the Republikkan nominee in 2024. She was, according to many on the right, "The Future of the Republican Party."
Man, it has got to suck to go from the future of the party, to someone who became the first Republican to lose a Governor's race in Arizona in 20 years.
But, I guess that being an election denier and a crazed lunatic doesn't get you as far any more in Arizona.

1. Tuckyo Rose Carlghlin, aka Tucker Carlson
I chose him as #1 for the bizarre meltdown he had after Fetterman was declared the winner.
To watch him during the GE, you'd have thought that Fetterman had done something to Tuckyo. Carlghlin was relentless in his attacks on Fetterman to the point of an obsession.
When Fetterman won, he melted down further; basically calling anyone who voted for Fetterman as being stupid. It was so bizarre that he was even called out by conservative Leland Vitter at Newsnation for his unhinged rantings.
He was so vested in this election, that I am choosing him as the biggest loser
For truth purposes: I loathe Tuckyo

HM 1: Youtube Televangelists and Profits... er...prophets
Amazing how many of them were told by God that the Republicans were going to do so well.
One told his congregation that God had sent Angels to every precinct to prevent election fraud. Dems did really well. So... I guess that settles the legitimacy of this election.

HM 2: Michigan Republican Party.
They lost the whole state government. That's quite an achievement.

No Trump on this list, as he's on just about all of them.

November 12, 2022

Adam Laxalt Preparing to Ask for Recount

Nevada Senate candidate Adam Laxalt (R) is preparing to ask for a statewide recount as his race against incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D) goes down to the wire, the Daily Mail reports.

https://politicalwire.com/2022/11/11/adam-laxalt-preparing-to-ask-for-recount/

Because that's what all people who think they're going to win do

November 5, 2022

The Curious Case of the Chief Mouser (U.K.)

October 31, 2022

Typical Conservative Losers

From the Guardian

João Reis, a 50-year-old electrician, said he was convinced the vote had been rigged.

“It’s fraud without a doubt, they manipulated the count. The armed forces must intervene,” he demanded.

And if they didn’t? “The population must take to the streets to demand military intervention so that we don’t hand power over to the communists.”

On cue they claim fraud

October 30, 2022

The Stochastic Terrorist

October 21, 2022

Well... bye

(We live in Kanagawa Japan)
Today I was having lunch with some friends (and others). One of the people in our group is a trump republikkan. We have a few republikkans in our group. One I keep telling that the 1970's are calling and want him to return home because he's more a Rockefeller type.
Anyway, I was using my usual nickname for tucker carlson -- Tuckyo Rose Carlghlin and it didn't seem to bother him
Then I said, "Every time he talks all I hear is Peter Brady."
When he asked what that meant, I told said Tuckyo Rose sounds like Peter Brady from the episode of the Brady Bunch when his voice was changing.
The guy got furiously angry.
Finally, he said I needed to take it back or he was leaving.
So... channeling Powers Boothe, I said

Never found out what made him so angry because he stormed away and never came back -- I paid his part of the bill.
I'm kind like that