For a guy who is allegedly not-too-bright and has never read a book, Trump shows more savvy than anybody ever expected

For one thing, the Trump Family grift machine has by far eclipsed anything ever achieved by the Biden crime family. After the Burisma scam fell apart, Hunter was reduced to selling his paintings, modernist masterpieces nobody would have paid ten bucks for in normal circumstances. Is that bush league or what? Contrast Hunter's pathetic attempts to cash in on Sleepy Joe's presidency to what the Trump boys are up to... they're not peddling their paintings at a half million a pop... NO! The Trump boys are manipulating markets in crypto, futures, derivatives of every stripe, and reaping billions for their insider trading.

Embracing small joys in troubled times

Songbirds. I've read one scary story after another about the songbird population being in danger. That may be true further south, but it's certainly not true around here. Here they wake you in the morning and serenade you in the evening... I don't know much about birds. While we keep feeders, my expertise is limited. A blue bird with a comb is a bluejay. A blue bird without a comb is probably a bluebird. The yellow birds will be American goldfinch. Some birds are more enjoyable than others. The red-winged blackbird is pretty enough but quite obnoxious, and its call more a warning to any other birds; "stand down, I'm coming in!" Starlings are worse - just as obnoxious, but tend to travel in large packs. Having them descend on the feeders is like a biker gang terrorizing a small town. And they're really smart too. There's not room for the entire gang to roost on the feeders, so the half dozen on the feeders deliberately dump everything out for their buddies on the ground. Yup, twenty bucks of sunflower seeds and cracked corn gone in five minutes. I picked up an air-pistol at Canadian Tire to guard the feeders. By the second day, all I had to do was wave it in the air and the starlings got their tail-feathers the heck outta there, that's how quick they learn. About five or six years ago a bird built a nest in the roof over the stoop. It's come back every year since to nest in the same place. It's occurred to me that this can't possibly be the same bird who built the first nest six years ago. How do the children or grandchildren of the original nest-buildrs know where to go? I guess it's the same internal mechanisms that tell them how to get to Florida or Mexico every winter. This year the nest building began while there was still snow on the ground. Early last week I heard the faint peeps of fledglings. By now it's a cacaphony every time Mama comes in with a fresh worm, which is, on average, every two minutes. Life goes on...

How likely is it that Canadian troops are launching drones and cruise missiles into Russia?

Andrew Korybko, an American based in Moscow, published an article today with the provocative title; "How likely is it that Russia's next Special Operation will be against Latvia?" He makes reference to a recent claim by Russia's foreign intel agency, the SVR, that Ukrainian drone operators have been moved to bases in Latvia, the same bases that house the approximately 2,500 Canadian Forces troops. By coincidence Simplicius, whose blog I highly recommend, posted a story about the same SVR report, which included a link to a Defence News interview with commander of the Canadians, Col. Kris Reeves. The Colonel makes some noteworthy comments. "RIGA, Latvia — The Canada-led NATO brigade in Latvia has moved beyond its original “tripwire” deterrence posture and is now focused on mounting a credible defense of the Baltic country bordering Russia, according to its commander, Col. Kris Reeves. "Reeves said the shift towards what he described as “tactical credibility” has meant establishing forward locations and stationing troops near Latvia’s eastern border, in the terrain where they would actually fight in the event of a conflict, the Canadian commander told Defense News." Looks pretty much open-and-shut to me - our Canadians are over there no longer to show solidarity, but to fight Russia! And how do you lke this display of confidence: "Right now I have a brigade, there is nothing on the other side of the border that can take out this brigade,” Reeves said in an interview at the Sēlija training range in central Latvia this week. In a further quote that was since deleted he referred to NATO's goal of "triggering" a Russian response. Sounds like they're tasked to provoke a war. This strikes me as delusional. Nothing on the other side of that border? There's a reason you're in Latvia, and not Ukraine, and frankly, the continuuing use of Baltic airspace to attack Russia will end badly for the Baltics and their hubris-drenched enablers. I haven't heard such aspirational over-reach since General Rick Hillier promised he'd put the run to murdering scumbags the Taliban right smartly. We know how that ended.

America still greatest military power ever in history!

Of course it is! Just listen to Trump and Hegseth. When you hear these clowns tell the tale, you'd think Western Civ has cut Putin down to size, and has completely annihilated the ruling elite in Iran. Well... I don't see any sign that Putin is impressed. While it's not explicitly expressed in our media, it's plenty obvious that Russia is not only "demilitarizing" Ukraine, it has also succeeded in effectively demilitarizing all of NATO. That's what's behind all the stories about US ammo shortages as they're ramping up another round of attacks on Iran, aka "the Towelheads 'o Terror." For their part, the Persians seem to think they've got Uncle Sam by the balls. They do, and they're pulling down his trousers while bending him over an oil barrel... oh-oh...

The Crad Kilodney of the internet era?

Crad Kilodney was the 'pen name' for a dude who peddled self-published books in downtown Toronto back in the day. I may have bought one once, just as a gesture of solidarity. Couple of guys I know, with way bigger audiences than I enjoy, have accused me of being an internet version of Crad. All I can say in response is they're giving me way too much credit. Crad wrote actual book-length books, whereas I've pretty much run out of gas after 600 words or so. Nevertheless, this blogsite reminds you every post is under a warning due to community standards, which presumably is also why you can't like, subscribe, or send me mail. Be that as it may, The View From Falling Downs/Neumann's Blog passed 4 million views today. Thanks!

The much ballyhooed Defence Security and Resilience Bank is a boondogle designed to move taxpayer dollars to war profiteers

This obvious fraud is getting a lot of positive press coverage. To no-one's surprise, the big banks are all aboard for this boondogle. You see, this travesty of flawed governance will solve a critical problem for JPM et al, that being the problem of extending credit to arms dealers. If you're contemplating a $300 million loan to a broker shipping missiles to Ukraine, well, given that the collateral is destined to blow up, the profit motive would obviously prevent you from making that loan. That's where the Defence Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB) comes in. This is a classic 3P scam, the "public private partnership" ruse that guarantees the profits of the private side of the partnership while the public side, ie the taxpayer, covers the losses. This is being promoted by the Carney regime as a great opportunity for Canada. Right now we're supposed to get excited that no less than four Canadian cities are vying to be the DSRB HQ! That's gonna bring 3500 jobs, dontcha know! And dontcha know it ain't gonna be the big banks paying the salaries of those new bureaucrats, it's gonna be the taxpayer!

Now that cruise ships are news again, check this out

No matter the horror stories that come out on a regular basis, cruise tourism remains a multi-billion$ business. Today it's an exotic virus from wherever. At least the shit isn't running down the walls yet. From a few years ago.***************************** neumann's blog Tuesday, July 14, 2020 Pot-addled hillbilly spots cruise-ship dangers years before pandemic Why anyone in their right mind would want to go on a cruise, even in the best of times, is something I don't get. Nevertheless lots of folks do it. I hear bookings are up for the winter season, even after the Diamond Princess fiasco and numerous others. That particular disaster even led to some scientific research. I guess if you're taking a cruise to further science, that's a good thing.... Otherwise, you deserve what you get. Carnival of Fecal Matter There's a few thousand folks out on a Caribbean cruise having second thoughts tonight. But it's too late. They're on the cruise from hell. The Carnival Triumph set sail from Texas a few days ago. Then the onboard generators quit. No lights, no running water, no air-conditioning, and the toilets don't flush. There's urine and fecal matter all over the floors and running down the walls. That's piss and shit in layman's terms. From time to time well-meaning friends and relations give me the pep-talk about what a great thing it is to go on a cruise. At the best of times this strikes me as being trapped in a really big Super 8 for a week with three thousand strangers, except the rooms are way smaller and you can't hop in your car and get away from those three thousand strangers. People talk about cruises being a "good deal," but I swear if I ever won a cruise I'd pay someone to take it off my hands. And that's before the generators quit and the shit starts running down the walls. No thanks!