Reflections from the Heart of the Empire: Dances of Tragedy and Farce

Plus the coolest Xmas tree ornament ever

• First, a selfish personal note. Our 12 year old Siberian Forest Cat, Missy, died suddenly of kidney failure last week. She was our fearless little huntress, the terror of small suburban rodents, and we miss her. Here she is creatively utilizing an empty flower pot just a couple of months ago.

• This makes me, not to mention our other cat who grew up with Missy, profoundly sad, but that’s nothing compared to what Palestinian Arabs are feeling. The collapse of the Assad regime means that supplies to Hezbollah and Hamas are severely disrupted, and all the attention on that and other things gives Israel a free hand to exterminate as many of them as possible before that abomination of a country collapses.

• All I can do is to rail against my own government’s disastrous foreign policy being driven by a pissant country full of genocidal maniacs, and that sucks, but I will continue to do it until Israel is in the dustbin of history. I’m 66, but I should live long enough to see that glorious day.

• Meanwhile, we will continue to see stories like this, of the brave Israelis bombing yet another hospital and slaughtering still more helpless people. My tax dollars going to this,

instead of filling things like this,

• The US dropped the $10 million bounty on the head of HT-Sham after he did the Empire’s bidding and helped to topple Assad.

• Isn’t it interesting that no Al-Qaeda offshoot anywhere has ever attacked Israel?

• A Ukrainian singer has been banned from the European Union for 10 years because he told Poles,

You know what annoys me in Poland? The Polish language f**king annoys me! I don’t understand why you would speak this f**k-face language when you have the Russian language…just learn Russian and f**king speak a normal language.”

• Funny, I remember rednecks in Texas saying the same thing about Spanish and English back in the day. They, just like the singer, would say they were joking when they got called on it, but a 10 year ban is a hysterical overreaction.

• Come to think of it, the entire EU administration seems to be full of hysterical overactors. Did they all go to the William Shatner School of Overacting or something?

• Slovak President and assassination attempt survivor Robert Fico said that Ukrainian President Zelensky tried to bribe him with 500 million euros to get him to endorse Ukraine’s bid to join NATO.

• The Pentagon admitted that there are 2000 American troops illegally in Syria, not the previously reported 900. They didn’t mention their mercenaries contractors who are always about, so the real figure is at least 4000 and probably closer to six.

• Remember Obama first sent them there in 2013 after failing to gain congressional approval, and neither Trump nor Biden ever voluntarily mentioned them, much less withdrew them. The grift must flow.

• The US Navy shot down two of its own planes in the Red Sea. Both pilots safely ejected. Now that’s competence!

• No worries, American sailors, it could be worse. You could be in the British Army, where the pay is so low and DEI so prevalent that over 15,000 British soldiers quit over the last year, after the Labour Government gave them a whopping 6% pay raise which was almost half the inflation rate. What ingrates!

• But wait! There’s more! The British Government has done such a wonderful job motivating their own troops that they are now helping Ukraine motivate its reluctant conscripts! What could possibly go wrong?

• The Zelensky regime is so nationalistic and patriotic that it has sold most Ukrainian farm land to Blackrock and other Western corporations. Here’s the full, long, sad and sorry story:

U.S. Corporate Land Grab in Ukraine Underlies War With Russia

• Alleged Corporate Vampire Slayer Luigi Mangione was charged with terrorism and perp-walked by everybody from the Mayor of New York City on down, and damn, but that boy looks like a freaking Hero of Legend. John Dillinger and Bonnie & Clyde, make room for the latest American Folk Hero:

• My wife thinks they set him up to be assassinated by a woman marksman but he was so pretty she just couldn’t pull the trigger.

• President Joe Biden proved just what a dirty, low down, prison-industrial complex whore he is by pardoning former Pennsylvania Judge Michael Conahan, who had accepted bribes in exchange for sentencing juveniles to very profitable private prisons.

• This move was so popular in Biden’s home town of Scranton that they want to change the name of a highway named for him so they don’t have to be reminded of the city’s most Despicable Son every time they drive by. Eh, that sign looks kind of ratty, anyway. Good riddance.

• In country after country in Africa, the revolutionary political parties that once won their freedom from European colonialism are being ousted by their own people because after 50 years in power any political party will become corrupt.

• President Milei of Argentina apparently sent some mercenaries to try to destabilize the Venezuelan government, and they got caught. One dude said he was just visiting his wife, but oops! She was in Argentina. Sloppy. Very sloppy. You’re slipping, CIA.

• Finally, a Virginia family got the Best Christmas Tree Topper Ever when a barred owl decided to make itself an ornament.

Thank you for reading, good day or night, and good luck.

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