“[The Shah’]s next major challenge came from within, in the person of the charismatic prime minister Mohammad-e Mosaddeq (in office 1951-3), perceived ever since in popular imagination—and in much scholarship—as Iran’s fatefully foregone hope for true democracy. [Ray Takeyh in The Last Shah sets the record straight], demonstrating more effectively than any writer to date that Mosaddeq was, to the contrary, a highly unstable personality with dangerous dictatorial tendencies. (He also quashes once and for all the myth that the CIA and MI6 were primarily responsible for the 1953 coup that removed him.) The shah, argues this author, though no friend of democracy himself, was ultimately better for Iran than the prime minister. Indeed, [the Shah] eventually realized the very dream that Mosaddeq had failed so badly to achieve: not just oil independence, but oil hegemony for Iran.”
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“As Jews living in the West, we owe it to ourselves and our fellow citizens to oppose Putin’s imperial project with every fiber of our beings. This is one occasion when we cannot look to Israel for guidance, because the Jewish state has its own set of interests to balance with the Russians; the hardnosed realpolitik that has often characterized Israeli foreign policy is no less appropriate in this context after all. But Diaspora communities know full well the benefits of the liberal democratic order that Russia and its ally China have dedicated themselves to destroying. As we enter a new phase of great power conflict, we must treasure that knowledge in both heart and mind, and act upon it.”
https://www.algemeiner.com/2022/02/27/on-putin-the-jews-and-the-future-of-the-world/
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“…it is clear that the West underestimated Vladimir Putin, obsessed with notions of compromise, negotiations, and peace. I think the event that encapsulated this the best was when all Secretary-General Antonio Guterres could do with news of the Russian invasion was quote the 1969 song by John Lennon "Give peace a chance." This statement, nor the dozens of others by western or global leaders, had any effect on the Russian war machine…Putin has exposed the West's cobweb of hopes and dreams about conflict resolution. …Trying to negotiate a solution to our conflict without completely and permanently breaking the Palestinians' violent rejectionism of Jewish sovereignty and their will to continue their war will just mean at some point it will start up again.”
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Putin’s nationalism … is a small nationalism instead of a grandiose one. It is a nationalism for a tiny country—a nationalism with an oddly tiny voice, like the voice of Serbian nationalism in the 1990s ranting about events of the 14th century. It is, to be sure, an angry voice, but not in the deep and thunderous fashion of the communists. It is a voice of resentment, directed at the victors in the Cold War. It is the voice of a man whose dignity has been offended. The aggressive encroachments of a triumphant NATO enrage him. He simmers.
“But his resentment, too, lacks grandeur. It lacks, in any case, an explanatory power. The tsars could explain why Russia had aroused the enmity of the liberal and republican revolutionaries[;] The communist leaders could likewise explain why the Soviet Union had aroused its own enemies… But Putin speaks of “Russophobia,” which means an irrational hatred, something inexplicable. Nor does he identify an ultimate virtue in his resentment…Putin’s resentment does not point to a shining future. It is a backward-looking resentment without a forward-looking face. Here, then, is a Russian nationalism without anything in it to attract support from anyone else.”
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“"Since the invasion, oil prices have skyrocketed. Today, the average gas price in America hit an all-time record high of over $4 per gallon," Colbert said on his show. "Okay, that stings, but a clear conscience is worth a buck or two." Colbert then said that he would be okay with paying a lot of money for gas because he drives an electric car. "I'm willing to pay. I'm willing to pay $4 a gallon. Hell, I'll pay $15 a gallon because I drive a Tesla," he joked.
“Viewers were not feeling Colbert's comments and slammed him for being insensitive and out of touch. "When you don't have to worry about money, it's not an issue," one user tweeted, while another wrote, "I love it when rich people tell me I can afford to spend more on basic necessities." Another user added, "The majority of his audience probably takes home per year less than what he paid for his Tesla.””
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Many price increases are the **highest ever recorded** by
Hotels +29%
Furniture +17.1
Chicken +13.2
New cars & trucks +12.4
Flooring +11.3
Lunchmeat +11
Dry clean +9.5%
Tools +8.7
Baby food +8.4
Full service restaurant +7.5
Pet supplies +7.5
Toys +6.7
Car repair +6.7
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“Making a history movie means accurate representation. Thomas Jefferson is not a woman; therefore, a woman cannot play him. Alexander Hamilton isn’t black either. To suggest otherwise is nothing but pure delusion and historical illiteracy which is a hallmark characteristic of the Left…Where are the people of color in a movie about the Manhattan Project? Is this just trolling? Satire? Or was this a serious observation?”
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“I want to say this very clearly. I do not agree that it extends to the founding fathers and so forth. People who help to build a country are much different from those who are part of its division. I think we have to make that distinction. And if that distinction is not out there, I think it's upon us, frankly, to be communicating that. It's not only on us, but I think the onus is on people who understand this to get that word out there, that there is a difference between the Confederate statues in the public square versus the founding fathers. I don't see how those things get confused. And that's where this does get political because people don't understand history. And that's why I feel like those of us who do, and I feel it's a privilege to have been doing this work for several decades, are kind of coming out of the attic now to realize, wait a minute, there hasn't been enough connection between what goes on at an academic and intellectual level and the general public. And that's been a big frustration for me all my career, that we're sitting in our silos and we know the details of this history and the average American may not. And that's what I think we're seeing.”
https://www.newsweek.com/dont-focus-statues-its-good-place-start-opinion-1686135
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“Marie Antoinette said of hungry Parisians, "let them eat cake." Now, the Biden administration says of cash-poor Americans, "let them buy an electric car." Of course, the administration can't say "buy a Tesla," because Tesla is a non-union company. The Biden team feels loyalty toward the United Auto Workers—not the American people. Biden could only mention Ford and General Motors in his State of the Union, because none of the other American auto companies have UAW memberships (Dodge is owned by Stellantis, which is headquartered in the Netherlands). As you watch the Biden administration fail, ask yourself: "why Venezuela and not Texas? Why Iran and not Canada? Just how unwilling are they to help America?" Every time you go to the gas station, remember it is Biden's policies—and not bad luck or Putin's aggression—which is costing you so much to fill up your car.”
https://www.newsweek.com/bidens-energy-policy-helping-dictators-harming-americans-opinion-1686869
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“America had the technological edge in 1983. Today, it appears that Russia and China have gained a technological edge and are poised to extend it. That should be the occasion for a Sputnik Moment—national debate on the direction of our country. The same technologies that make us more secure give us new industries, higher productivity, and higher living standards. The fact that we have fallen behind represents a catastrophic failure on the part of the bipartisan elite that wasted endless blood and treasure on foreign adventures while neglecting the real sources of our national strength, our technological advantage and our manufacturing industry.”
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“Retweeting Elon Musk’s comments that “we need to increase oil & gas output immediately,” Alberta’s Energy Minister Sonya Savage said on Saturday: “Agreed. And it should come from Alberta, home of the 3rd largest oil reserves. Alberta is the answer to US Energy security. Real emissions reductions, reliable, right next door.” Alberta’s Premier Jason Kenney said that he and Savage would be attending the CERAWeek conference in Houston this week, where “We will be meeting with decision-makers to secure access to markets, attract job-creating investment to our province, and argue for Canadian energy to displace Russian conflict oil.” Kenney also said that Alberta would be delighted to welcome a visit from U.S. President Joe Biden, as one reportedly being considered to Saudi Arabia. Kenney noted that in a visit by President Biden to Alberta “We could discuss how to ship nearly 1 million barrels of day of responsibly produced energy every day from the USA’s closest friend and ally! All it would take is his approval for Keystone XL. Easy.””
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“Many people have operated under the assumption that the rapid shift in public opinion on gay marriage provides a preview of where the transgender-rights movement will go. Democrats have jumped on the bandwagon of referring to “pregnant people” and “people who menstruate” and many Republicans (up until recently) have been trigger-shy about engaging on the issue. Also, many of the “collapse of America” pessimists on the right have assumed that views on gender identity will follow the same path as trends on sexual orientation.
“But there is a key difference between the two social-change movements. While there are many reasons for the rapid shift in opinion on gay marriage, one strong component to it was that there was a libertarian thread at the heart of it. What’s substantially different about the current debate on the transgender front is that …[w]hile the public is broadly accepting of the idea that adults who want to identify as a different gender and undergo hormone treatment to live out their lives should be given space to do so, transgender activists are pushing for changes that have direct ramifications for others. Two men falling in love and getting married may not directly affect anybody else, but when an athlete who has gone through male puberty starts to dominate a woman’s sport, it does.”
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“Moral panics erase memories. It’s their primary function….every time we switch targets, from Russians to neo-Nazis to cops to transphobes to insurrectionists to the unvaccinated to truckers and back to Russians again, the Church of Forgetting picks up new converts. There’s a real tragedy unfolding on the other side of the earth. I don’t want to make light of it. But another of 1984’s predictions was a future where war would become a “purely internal affair,” where even when there’s real fighting going on in a faraway land, the real target is always the domestic population, whose memories and doubts and distracting emotional attachments are the real threats and must be constantly policed. It’s all coming true, with forever war and slogans like #CloseTheSky demanding primacy in our thoughts, and we’re asked to forget as patriotic duty. It isn’t. Never give up memories, no matter how hard you’re pushed.”
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“As an American, I find it not just horrifying to observe but also deeply troubling to think that my university, in the heart of Washington, D.C., and so many others like it across the country are potentially complicit in genocide in Xinjiang Province. As a student, my influence does not necessarily have significant bearing on the foreign policy of the United States, but I can at the very least work to have an impact in my own communities. We’ve organized protests and events as part of this campaign to make our voices heard and to ensure that our own university detaches itself from any involvement it may have with the CCP’s human-rights abuses.
“Fortunately, this has been a collaborative effort between College Republicans, College Democrats, and several other student groups. I say this not just so I can drop the Washington buzzword “bipartisan.” What this demonstrates is that this isn’t an issue of party versus party, it is an issue of American values versus anti-American values — of proponents of freedom and personal autonomy versus proponents of oppression, subjugation, and fear. However, this bipartisanship doesn’t necessarily reflect unanimity within the student body.”
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