Million $$$ teacher

Not that I'm worth a million bucks. Not by a long shot. I spent the last twelve years of my career teaching grade 3 math to high school students. For high school credits! Yup, there's plenty of kids walking around with high school diplomas who struggle with grade 3 math.That was worth something, but not a million dollars. Here's where that kicks in.I was a late bloomer in terms of realizing I had a passion for education. In fact, I'd hated high school when I was a hostage there. To be honest, I was mostly passionate about steady day shift and summers off. I turned 40 the year I started teaching.To my surprise, I enjoyed the job. From the get-go kids liked me."Cool tattoo sir..."Holy shit, these idiots think a bit of ink makes you cool? Anyway, I ran with it. I was quite popular amongst the student population.From the beginning, I was also very much unpopular amongst a certain sort of administrator; the dimwitted careerists who love their power and hate students. Along comes this goofball VP, a man clearly destined for a senior leadership position at the board office, who decides he's gonna make a name for himself by getting rid of me.He spent six months following me around, taking notes every time I violated some petty bullshit rule. The education system is chock full of folks who thrive on making up petty bullshit rules. I once saw a "Protocol for toileting student X" that ran an unbelievable 52 bullet points. Yup, 52 steps in helping a...well, I can't say disabled... ability challenged (?) kid take a crap.I can reduce this to two steps right smartly. Step one - position the kid over the toilet. Step two, have him bend over in front of the 2000psi pressure washer down in the auto shop. Mission accomplished, and you just saved 50 steps!After six months job-shadowing me, the VP who mistook me for his ticket to the board office had a stack of notes about a foot and a half high. I know this because he'd stay late in the photocopier room, sometimes till after five o'clock. Apparently a lot of different people needed copies of his evidence. Then he wrote a pithy letter to the College of Teachers making the case that my presence in the school was a threat to the very lives of my students.Cue the lawyers!My legal team was provided by the Teacher's Federation. The school board also had lawyers on hand. The College of Teachers had their own legal team. The adjudicators were provided an independent legal team because the actual people judging this case were political appointees with no legal expertise. One of them was there because her husband owned a marina where some politicians kept their boats.The first flaw in VP Dickhead's master plan was exposed when it was revealed that the board had not done an evaluation of my teaching prowess (or lack thereof) in over ten years. They're required to be done every three. The obvious first question would be, how do you allow this allegedly incompetent and dangerous teacher to keep endangering the lives of the children, neglect to do at least three scheduled and legally mandated evaluations, and then suddenly discover he's a threat to the lives of the students?  That pretty much stalemated them from the get-go.A couple of years into this imbroglio, I enquired of my main legal person what they had billed on my file."We just passed $100,000" came the reply. The case was to run almost eight years. If one legal team milked this for 100 thou in two years, how much did four legal teams bill in eight years?Sounds like a math problem I'd assign my students... which I did!It's obvious why something that could have been dealt with in an afternoon dragged on for that long.Lawyers.Everybody involved was billing hours to deep pocket organizations. Nobody has any incentive to invoke common sense and get things wrapped. The College of Teachers HQ is on the "Mink Mile" on Bloor Street. When our occasional get-togethers were in recess, you could slip out and buy a $50,000 Philippe Patek next door, if you were so inclined. Lunches were catered by the finest eateries in downtown Toronto. Nobody in their right mind is gonna rush this gravy train!So it was that almost eight years after VP Shitwad posted his pithy letter, and seven years after the shmuck had taken early retirement (never made it to board office), it was agreed all round that nobody had intended any harm, and I promised never to endanger the lives of the children again.And remember, every single person in this sorry saga was being paid by you-know-who. Cut out the school boards and do away with the College of Teachers, and you'd free up billions to invest in actual education.

Eight dollars for large fries and a small root beer at McDonalds?

Get the f@ck outta here!! I remember I used to take the kids there for happy meals on their way home from a "daddy weekend." They'd each get a small burger, fries, and a drink, and I recall that being well under 8 bucks. At Chucks Roadhouse I can get an adult-sized burger and a big plate of fresh-cut fries for under ten bucks... before taxes of course, but that's a real meal, whereas today's Mickey Dee adventure was a mere snack for the Farm Manager. Mind you, if you want a cheesburger they're gonna hit you another four bucks, so I recomment you bring your own cheese. There's a lot of places where your basic burger & fries runs over $20 now. That puts a modest lunch for two, with a beer to wash it down, in the 75-80 range after taxes and a respectful tip. When I say "respectful" I mean towards the staff who serve you. There's a move afoot in some circles to do away with tipping. They claim tipping is just a way for restaurant owners to fob off their responsibility to pay their staff a living wage. While there may be an element of truth to that, there's a bigger element of truth in the fact the folks claiming the moral high ground in the war on tipping are just too f@cking cheap to leave a tip.

Pastorale Americana

Saturday, December 1, 2012 Pastorale Americana ll The first time I visited Detroit was in 1967, just weeks before the riots. Detroit was a happening place, and the freeways were choked with the cars that had made her great and workers going to and from the gargantuan factories where those cars were built and countless trucks ferrying car parts from one factory to another. I had no clue about the seething resentment that lurked beneath that veneer of prosperity.Visiting Detroit forty-five years later is a different kind of trip. Where did Detroit go?In 1967 resistance to the Viet Nam war was just hitting its stride. Fast forward forty-five years. America has been at war in Afghanistan for over a decade. Resistance has yet to begin. This past week's announcement that "withdrawal" from Afghanistan at the end of 2014 would entail leaving 10,000 US troops there was met with a collective yawn.Americans are a far more passive people than they were a half century ago. They have been bullied into submission by their plutocrat overlords and the apparatchiks in Washington who get rich doing their bidding.Fifty years ago, the UAW was a force to be taken seriously.Today they are an emasculated shadow of their past, a labor organization that gratefully accepts whatever crumbs the bosses leave on the shop floor, or whatever shop floors the bosses deign to leave in America.America's precipitous industrial decline coincided with the rise of the buccaneer capitalist. Not that they weren't always there, but over the past fifty years American culture has made them icons. America certainly didn't lack for business icons before, but in the past the captains of industry generally contributed something to the broader society.As the share of GDP derived from industry constantly shrank and that of finance capital grew, the new business icons were men who made their fortunes by destroying the common good. Sending American industry offshore was deemed brilliant management. Throwing entire communities out of work in the name of "efficiency" was met with accolades from the business press and obscene bonuses at the end of the year for the brilliant managers.Then came the hedge funds. An entire industry devoted to squeezing every last possible penny out of every last vestige of the old economy and what was once considered the commonwealth. Corporate responsibility? What's a thousand jobs in Kansas or Illinois compared to a handful of rich people getting even richer?Corporations are people too, after all.Every four years the two parties who represent the plutocracy put on a great bit of theater for the voting masses who have watched their standard of living steadily erode generation after generation. It's the greatest show on earth, and the apparatchiks never tire of congratulating one another on how great the American democracy is.And it is great, for the plutocrats and their technocrats, the hedge fund managers and the corporations, for the senators and congressmen who keep the whole charade running smoothly, and for the intellectuals and think-tankers and media folks who run the propaganda machinery that makes it all possible.But by my count there's about 99% of Americans missing out on the good times.What puzzles me is why they put up with it.

Canada falls to AEL

And who are the AEL, you ask? Why, that would be the American Empire Loyalists, of course! And they totally run Canada! Every think-tank, every poly-sci department, every mainstream media outlet from the Globe to the CBC to whatever is left of PostMedia (half a dozen unpaid interns working out of a Tim Hortons in Burlington); each and every voice we hear demands fealty to the American Empire. Land of the Free. Home of the Brave. Leader of the Free World. The Light upon the Hill… and so forth. America is the undisputed leader of Team Democracy in the epic battle against “authoritarianism.” You know; China, Iran and Russia. And of course, their vassals in North Korea, Cuba, and a few other shithole countries. We must prepare to fight them to save our democracy and our values. “Our values” have been on full display to the world as the genocide in Gaza has been unfolding. In the “free world” we’re discouraged from watching Al Jazeera. In the rest of the world they’ve been watching 24/7 coverage of the IDF massacre-of-the-day for almost four months now. The rest of the world finds our values rather repugnant. Perhaps we Canadians should reconsider our alliances. I’d vote for opting out of the American Empire. I don't think the values of the Empire reflect Canadian values today. Let's join the rest of the world instead.

Another sign Israel heading for civil war

Today, more than forty Israeli A-listers, including several former heads of Mossad and the IDF, released an open letter demanding the removal of The Greatest Leader since Moses. They believe Bibi has become an existential threat to the country. With that in mind, take a look at a Haaretz story from a few days ago; Army weighs giving anti-tank weapons to West Bank settlers. Ponder that for a moment. The residents of the illegal settlements are at war with Palestinian olive farmers and teenagers who throw rocks at settler vehicles. They do not have tanks. So what up with the anti-tank weapons? I’ll tell you what up. The shock of 10/7 united the country in a lust for retribution. But, 26,000 dead Palestinians later, the blood lust has been sated. People are coming to their senses, as mentioned above. Itamar Ben Gvir, the fascist gauleiter who rules over the West Bank, is afraid some idealistic clique of secular officers may mutiny against Bibi and his settler base. And they have tanks.

Hague schmague

That was the concise two-word rejoinder to the interim ICJ report from Israel’s Minister for National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir. Anyone inclined to optimism needs to spend a few minutes acquainting themselves with Ben-Gvir’s political history and track record of egregiously racist rhetoric. The sad truth is that he has, more than anyone, brought into the mainstream the beliefs of what just a few years ago would have been considered an extremist fringe of religious nutters. The rulings of the ICJ mean nothing to people who answer to a higher power. No less a jurist than The Almighty ordered the Israelites to extinguish the “seed of Amalek” 3,000 years ago, so fuck the ICJ. Ben-Gvir and his ilk, having been given a taste of power in Netanyahu’s cabinet, will not easily relinquish it.

Give hate a chance

When you consider the events of 10/7, there’s no denying those Hamas fighters were motivated by hate. They hate the people who have humiliated and abused their people for the better part of a century. When you consider the 26,000 Palestinians slaughtered since, there’s no denying those IDF fighters are motivated by hate. They hate the people who challenge their claim to God-given sovereignty over the land between the Jordan river and the Mediterranean sea. The question is, whose hate will prevail? The grass-roots hate on the Arab side? Or the astro-turfed PR hate manufactured by the other side? At the end of the day, most people can still tell the difference between victim and predator.

IDF tagged as terror organization

The Israeli Defense Forces has just been added to the list of terror outfits, right alongside Al Qaeda and Islamic Jihad. The IDF are accused of attacking Israeli civilians with tanks and helicopter gunships on 7 October . Several hundred Israeli civilians are believed to have succumbed to “friendly fire” on that fateful day. The decision also made reference to the 26,000 Palestinians killed since 7 October, claiming this represents genocidal intent. Obviously, INTERPOL has gone totally antisemitic. Israel has the right to defend itself.

Court rules Trudeau's use of Emergency Act on Freedom Convoy violated Charter of Rights

I’m guessing there’s a whole lotta irritable bowel syndrome going around PM Fluffy’s inner circle tonight. The Emergency Act is Canada’s version of martial law. It suspends your civil rights. It essentially puts democracy on pause for temporary tyranny. That’s why the bar must be very high indeed. Otherwise, some feckless weenie, like, oh… a self confessed admirer of Mao and Fidel, might find himself tempted to invoke it against a bunch of smelly working-class folks with unacceptable opinions. Which is exactly what happened. The court found the inconvenience suffered by civil servants living in Ottawa, working from home on their laptops, did not rise to the level of a national emergency. That strikes me as an all-too-rare case of the court making a sensible decision, which is why Fluffy’s gang immediately announced an appeal! These idiots are determined to give Poilievre the next election. The reason that convoy happened when it did doesn’t get much attention in media. By early 2022 it was widely believed the pandemic was winding down. Things were opening up all over. That’s when Trudeau’s government mandated vaccinations for people who cross the border, like the tens of thousands of truckers who crossed that border every day long before there was a vaccine. They literally risked their lives to make sure our grocery stores could keep selling food. For a brief moment in time, our front-line workers were heroes! That was indeed a brief moment, and an aberration. Politicians went insane with empathy. Doug Ford promised sick days for PSWs, if such a thing can be imagined! But that was then, and this is now. All those goodies that were promised are long forgotten. PSWs still stitch together a poverty wage by working 4 hr shifts in multiple retirement homes. All those homes were getting hvac upgrades! Everybody was gonna have paid sick days! Here’s a thought from the late JFK; “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable.” I don’t see anything “revolutionary” about the Freedom Convoy or its organizers. The fact that Trudeau found their protests so threatening that he invoked martial law, puts him firmly on the side of those who make violent revolution inevitable.

Game changer! Canada donates 10 inflatable boats to Ukraine

Inflatable boats are gonna turn the tide in the war with Russia? Of course! Whenever Zelly or Zaluzhny are doing their begging bowl tours that’s the first thing that comes up, right? After all, ten Zodiak inflatables should drive the aggressor out of the Black Sea for good! My hunch is even Murray Brewster and his CBC editors were embarrassed. That’s why the story says we "sent equipment" without specifying what that equipment was. Blair and his boss needed a snappy headline, so the word went down the ranks; what’s left in the cupboard? After a thorough search of DND warehouses across the land, word came back, “they pretty much cleaned us out already, but we do have these ten Zodiaks, purchased as lifeboats for our sub fleet, that we don’t need anymore.” Ukraine doesn’t need them either, but Blair and Trudeau got a headline that makes it look like they’re doing something. Yup… look at us, still standing with Ukraine!

A shout-out to Ken from Port Moody

I knew a Ken or two when I spent some time on Vancouver Island back in the late 70's. One of them even got a post dedicated to him; Kenny's sniper rifles. But I don't believe Ken from Port Moody is that Ken. Ken from Port Moody first showed up on the comment part of this blog giving me shit for going too easy on Trump. I think we kinda agreed to disagree on that, but we generaly agreed on a lot of stuff. Then in one of his comments he tells the story of being on stage with Led Zeppelin at their Vancouver show in 1969. Not as a guest artist, but as an arena rat who loved Led Zep. ROCK ON, BROTHER!!!

You know things have changed when your V8 muscle car gets beat up by a Tesla

Remember how macho muscle cars were? They had the V8 rumble that portended raw power. It challenged the driver to tame it. I bought into that, big time. To my way of thinking, the muscle cars of the 60's and early 70's were the high-water mark for Detroit iron. It was an era heavily influenced by drag racing (before Ru Paul took over the franchise...). The factory muscle cars tended to run the quarter mile in the 14 second range. The exceptionally quick ones ran in the 13's. If you got your hands on one of those 13 second cars, like a 1970 hemi-Cuda, or a 396/375 Nova SS, you were a lion tamer! You controlled that snortin' 450 hp monster! You were a real man, because only a real man could tame such a macho beast. Fast forward fifty years or so. You bring your snortin' V8 to the lights at the local dragstrip. The tree goes green. You launch in a cloud of tire smoke... while the Tesla in the other lane silently drives away, the driver having a coffee in the pits by the time you get there. Things have changed.

Fast cars, booze, pussy, and pot

That's what I lived for when I was 19. How times have changed. Fast cars? Sad but true, a Tesla Model 3 twin motor is gonna blow the doors off your hemi-Challenger. As for pussy, it's all fun and games till you realize every divorce sets your financial planning back fifty years or so. Which leaves pot. Thank God for the weed 'o wisdom. It really knocks down the blood pressure too. Times sure have changed. Nevermind fast cars, booze, pussy, and pot. Now I live for mindfullness, kindness, organic gardening, and grandchildren.

Civil war looms in Israel

It was a year ago this month that Bibi’s coalition of the unhinged announced their intention to “reform” the supreme court by making it subservient to the whims of politicians. Anti-government demonstrations began within days. Weekly demonstrations in Tel Aviv featured hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters. They were typically confronted by much smaller pro-government rallies. This went on for almost ten months. Then October 7 happened. All of Israel was instantly united. United in grief and rage and thirst for revenge. Bibi promised “a mighty vengeance.” Protests were over. How is Operation Mighty Vengeance working out? A week ago Israel announced its operations in the north of Gaza were over and they were withdrawing one of four battalions. Hamas promptly fired off a salvo off rockets into Israel - from the north of Gaza, just to point out nothing was over. That such a thing was possible after an unprecedented three month bombing campaign dumped over 10,000 tons of high explosives 24/7 came as a shock. Clearly, Israel is far from victory in Gaza. Netanyahu is not kidding when he says this could go on for a full year or longer. Alas, it’s looking more and more like the public isn’t willing to give him that year. Now that Palestinian deaths are approaching 25,000, the revenge lust is receding. People are coming to their senses. This war has inflicted generational damage to Israel’s public image. People are beginning to ask, to what end? Protests are back. Calls for ceasefire, negotiations, and the release of the hostages. The “war cabinet” is in open revolt. There is no support in the mainstream for another year of this butchery. It’s an economic disaster. It’s the deadliest engagement for the IDF in decades. Morale is plummeting. So why can’t they call a truce, negotiate the hostage release, call an election, and turn the page? Because that scenario would be seen as a Hamas victory by the hard-core Jewish supremacists who are the support base for Netanyahu’s coalition government. These are the people determined to slaughter the seed of Amalek to the last man, woman, and child, like the Torah tells them to. That’s the background for the coming civil war. Who will prevail? The liberals waving Pride flags at anti-government demos? Or the religious fanatics carrying out a divine plan?

Canada issues warnings

Canada was really throwing its imaginary weight around last week. On January 12 we issued not one, but two warnings! In the morning we wagged our finger of righteousness at Yemen’s towelheads of terror who have been terrorizing the Red Sea in their attempts to blockade shipping to Israel. “We call on Houthis to cease their attacks immediately blahblahblah…” In the afternoon, we took on one of the world’s most sacred cows, the International Court of Justice. “We will follow the proceedings of South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice very closely… We must ensure that the procedural steps in this case are not used to foster Antisemitism and targeting of Jewish neighborhoods, businesses, and individuals…” Got that, ICJ? Canada is watching you! One false move, and… and what? We’ll report you to the ICJ? For my money that’s a lot of big talk from a country that took a pass on a Haiti mission because the Canadian Armed Forces are no match for Haitian street gangs, at least in the minds of senior Liberals currently “changing the culture” in the CAF. If we can’t handle Haitian street gangs we’re obviously outmatched by those terrorists in Yemen. As for ensuring the ICJ doesn’t spread Jew hate, here’s a thought; the most dangerous vector spreading Jew hate is Al Jazeera showing 24/7 dead and maimed Palestinian children. It’s high time to ban Al Jazeera. Perhaps that’s an initiative where Canada could play a leadership role.

Canadian Armed Forces surrender to Wokestan

If you ever find yourself wondering why things have gone off the rails at the CAF, you owe it to yourself to check out their Canadian Military Journal. Nothing in there of substance, ie nothing that actually pertains to national defence. Nope! Apparently Job 1 at the CAF is changing the culture of the CAF! To that end, we have a whole lotta interrogating of intersectionality. There’s more woke jargon here than you’d encounter in a 4th year soc seminar at York! These people aren’t kidding around. They’re serious about ending racism / sexism / white supremacy / classism / homophobia / transphobia / fatphobia / Islamophobia / antisemitism / ageism / ableism and, last but not least / the Patriarchy. Only once all those dragons have been slain will we be able to turn our attention to military practicalities, like addressing why nobody wants to join the CAF anymore.

$200 oil is just around the corner

With the monumentally stupid US/UK attack on Yemen today, the odds just went way up that oil exports through both the Suez/Red Sea route and the Straight of Hormuz will be seriously compromised. This is an exponential escalation of the Gaza war. It was launched by the USA/UK after Blinken spent the past four days traipsing around the Middle East claiming to be working hard to avoid escalation. It comes the day the International Court of Justice opened hearings into Israel's Gaza genocide. Coincidence? Two hundred bucks a barrel should translate into roughly four dollars a litre at the pumps. Consider it your "standing with Uncle Sam tax."

Canada joins Gaza war

Let it be known that WWIII was fought because a Houti blockade of the Red Sea causes a ten day delay in the trip of a container ship from China delivering the necessaries of life to Europe. The Houtis have been harassing Red Sea/ Suez Canal shipping in support of Hamas in Gaza. Tonight, UK and USA forces officially brought the Gaza war home by attacking Yemen. The Pentagon press release announcing this exponential escalation thanked Canada for our support. What support? We have zero military capacity to do anything whatsoever. Our “support” is limited to giving the Americans plausibility when they claim to have allies. We’ve now been dragged into Israel’s war on Gaza. The “regional war” Blinken has been eager to avert was just launched by the USA.

Important fart management considerations for seniors

It's almost mid-January here at Falling Downs, and I have yet to pick up a snow shovel. Yet another blessing in this hillbilly's life. Here's another one. A few minutes ago I stepped out on the stoop for a breath of fresh air, and since I was out there anyway, a piss. That's the beauty of country living. You can go whenever nature calls when your house is a quarter mile off the road. As that's going on, I feel a potential fart building up. A couple of years ago, this would have been problematic. Before I went gluten-free I was suffering a serious decline in fart predictability. That's where you think it's gonna be a fart, but... oopsie! That only has to happen once or twice before you're 100% paranoid about anything, ANYTHING, that might become a fart. But when I cut out the gluten, that changed almost overnight. I'm pleased to report I peeled off a triple-banger out there on the stoop in complete confidence!

Israel must be held to account for its war crimes

The Richmond Hill branch of Rich Kids of Tehran celebrated the downing of PS 752 today. In a display of their political shlepp, they had a bevy of political heavyweights on hand for the occasion, including top dog Chrystia Freeland and her sidekick PM Fluffy. As you may recall, the PS 752 tragedy unfolded in the wake of Trump’s assassination of the Iranian General Soleimani a few days prior. Iran was literally on a war footing, and for good reason. In the fog of war, shit happens, and 176 people died. PM Fluffy vowed his government would explore avenues to get the Iranian Republican Guards on our country’s “Terror List.” Right away you know he’s blowing smoke. If he were serious, he’d just declare them to be on the list. No “exploration of avenues” required. But he’s not serious. He’s just trying to mollify the Iranian-Canadian community. The Rich Kids of Tehran will settle for nothing less. That’s why Canada, in concert with fellow American Empire suck-ups Sweden, Ukraine, and UK, filed a complaint with the International Court of Justice last summer. Tehran must pay for those 176 innocent lives! The Poor Kids of Palestine, on the other hand, don’t seem to have any shlepp at all. I watched the news conference where Bibi and Gallant laid out their plans to commit genocide on the people of Gaza. Al Jazeera had it on live. They promised a “mighty vengeance.” They promised to withhold food, water, and power from Gaza. If that’s not a declaration of genocide, what is? They’ve delivered! Over 23,000 dead Palestinians in a mere 95 days! Mostly women and children. Where is PM Fluffy’s “feminist foreign policy?” Where is Roxworthy’s “responsibility to protect?” Canada is pursuing a case against Iran at the ICJ because of 176 deaths in a plane crash four years ago. The IDF has been killing Palestinians at the rate of 242 per day, every day, for 95 days in a row. Why are we not referring Israel’s IDF to the ICJ?

Boeing still playing fast and loose with their nuts

It was just a couple weeks ago the Pot-addled Hillbilly admonished the twats at Boeing to mind their nuts. Seems the temporary foreign workers assembling the birds had neglected to affix the fasteners that held the tail section to the fuselage. You'd think the corner office guys at Boeing would have taken that as a heads-up, but apparently not. Yesterday a Boeing 737 Max en route from Portland to California had some random side panels fall off. I had a side-panel fall off my rusted out Chevy Impala once, but the car was on the ground and I wasn't nearly as high as that 737. As luck would have it, nobody fell out and the plane returned to Portland safely, which was undoubtedly a mixed blessing to the plane-load of refugees hoping to escape the Woketopian republic. At least they're alive to try again.

Zelensky and Netanyahu have Biden by the balls

Remember the jubilation around “America is back?” That was a mere three years ago. The Biden administration kicked things off with diplomatic debacles as Blinken and Sullivan advised their Chinese and Russian counterparts there was a new sheriff in town, and they’d best mind their Ps and Qs if they know what’s good for them. America’s adversaries were not impressed. There followed the shambolic retreat from Kabul and the immediate collapse of our puppet regime there. America’s adversaries were underwhelmed. Next up, Ukraine. Oh, the amazing pain we would inflict on Putin. The ruble would be rubble and Bad Vlad would be pleading for mercy. As the weeks and months and years passed by, the refrain of “whatever it takes for as long as it takes” grew ever more strident and ever more hollow. Half a million dead Ukrainians later, America’s allies are getting nervous and our adversaries are laughing up their sleeves. And now the only democracy in the Middle East is laying a good old fashioned genocide on Gaza. Netanyahu waves off American protestations. Joe has an election to win and the wholesale slaughter of Palestinian civilians isn’t a good look. Be that as it may, that’s the look Biden is going into the campaign with; genocide enabler. Biden’s chances in the election and America’s reputation on the world stage both depend on the Biden admin being able to spin the current disasters as victories. That will require escalating support for both Israel and Ukraine. But how do you escalate support when the cupboard is bare? Looks to me like both Bibi and Zelly are driving America’s ship of state onto the rocky shoals of abject humiliation. On the bright side, the Peoples Liberation Army can breathe easy. It’ll be awhile before we’re ready to save freedom and democracy in Taiwan.