Author: VD

An ugly legacy

In more ways than one. Stan Lee’s Marvel legacy is dissolving even as his health is failing:

Back in early February, fighting what he later called “a little bout of pneumonia,” 95-year-old Stan Lee had an argument with his 67-year-old daughter, J.C. This was hardly unusual, but it seems to have been a breaking point.

The comic book legend — whose creative tenure at the helm of Marvel Comics beginning in New York in the early 1960s spawned Spider-Man, Black Panther and the X-Men and laid the foundation for superhero dominance in Hollywood that continues with the April 27 release of Avengers: Infinity War — sat in the office of his attorney Tom Lallas and signed a blistering declaration.

The Feb. 13 document, obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, begins with some background, explaining that Lee and his late wife had arranged a trust for their daughter because she had trouble supporting herself and often overspent. “It is not uncommon for J.C. to charge, in any given month, $20,000 to $40,000 on credit cards, sometimes more,” the document states. It goes on to describe how, when he and his daughter disagree — “which is often” — she “typically yells and screams at me and cries hysterically if I do not capitulate.”

Lee explains that J.C. will, “from time to time,” demand changes to her trust, including the transfer of properties into her name. He has resisted such changes, he states, because they “would greatly increase the likelihood of her greatest fear: that after my death, she will become homeless and destitute.”

The declaration then explicates how three men with “bad intentions” — Jerardo “Jerry” Olivarez, Keya Morgan and J.C.’s attorney, Kirk Schenck — had improperly influenced his daughter, a woman with “very few adult friends.” The document claims the trio has “insinuated themselves into relationships with J.C. for an ulterior motive and purpose”: to take advantage of Lee and “gain control over my assets, property and money.”

Lee’s estate is estimated to be worth between $50 million and $70 million (it’s been reported he receives $1 million a year for his Marvel ties). And while his primary role with the company is now mostly ceremonial — including a cameo in nearly every film — he remains a deity in fanboy culture. Despite the fact that his health requires nursing care at home and on the road, up until his most recent illness, Lee was a jovial regular at international comic conventions, where he can draw thousands of paying autograph seekers.

A few days after the declaration was notarized, however, Lee changed his mind — or someone did. Whatever happened, Lallas was soon out as Lee’s attorney in a confrontation that grew tense enough that the LAPD was called to the legend’s Hollywood Hills home.

Whatever the truth of the matter is, it certainly isn’t pleasant.

Ashamed to be an Israeli

Martin van Creveld has some VERY strong words for his fellow countrymen:

I am ashamed to be an Israeli.

And not because the IDF killed some fifteen residents of Gaza during the demonstrations that took place on the 30th of April. I was not there, and neither was any of my acquaintances. So I cannot say whether the killing was “justified”—whether, in other words, the soldiers who opened fire really were in danger of their lives. Although I must say that, since the demonstrators did not carry weapons and since a great many of them were women and children, the number seems quite high. The more so because not a single Israeli was killed or injured.

Most of my readers not being Israelis, I cannot blame them for never having heard the name of Kobi Meidan. I myself hardly open my radio except to listen to classical music; hence I cannot say I am terribly familiar with the name either. I think I once talked to him over the phone, but that is all.

Mr. Meidan is a journalist. He works for Galei Zahal, the military broadcasting station that is one of the most popular in Israel. Referring to the demonstrations, he wrote that he was ashamed to be an Israeli. Please note that he did not say so while on the air. He did so on Facebook, in his capacity as a private individual in a free country.

No sooner had he done so than all hell broke loose. All over the country people demanded that he be fired.

While I certainly admire Martin’s characteristic courage in standing up for Kobi Meidan’s right to express his feelings about the most recent Gaza massacre, I think he is perhaps being a little hard on his country here. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that I think his expectations of it are perhaps a little higher than I would expect of Israel, the USA, or pretty much anywhere else.

The short-lived age of free speech, such as it is, is observably over. I am considerably less outraged by Israelis attempting to speech police one of their own who is criticizing their country than I am by Judeo-Christians in the United States launching a direct assault on the First Amendment rights of Americans by successfully criminalizing private and corporate speech that advocates the anti-Israel boycott, divest, and sanction movement.

But these are the new rules of the game, apparently. And we don’t make the rules. So, lament them if you are so inclined, but also learn them, master them, and begin enforcing those blasphemy and obscenity laws that are still on the books from more civilized, more Christian times.

Now, FFS, stop overreacting!

What did I tell you? What did I tell you, again? NEVER react to any statement, let alone tweet, by the God-Emperor, until at least two days have passed.

Donald J. Trump@realDonaldTrump
Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all! In any event, the United States, under my Administration, has done a great job of ridding the region of ISIS. Where is our “Thank you America?”

I’m getting more than a little tired of all the memory-impaired Chicken Littles freaking out every time the God-Emperor rattles his sabre, especially those of you who will promptly forget this latest incident and start running around proclaiming the sky is falling as soon as he tweets about military action in Iran or Uganda or wherever.

Try to recall that there is no inherent truth value in rhetoric and only an idiot makes a habit of openly declaring his every intended action to the vast collection of his enemies, foreign and domestic.

Not a wartime consigliere

Like the Tea Party, both Eric Cantor and Paul Ryan proved to be Congressional failures, if not frauds:

In the aftermath of the Democratic waves in 2008, Ryan, McCarthy, and Eric Cantor presented themselves to Republican voters as The Young Guns – a new generation of conservatives largely untainted by the poor decisions of the Bush Administration, ready to lead in a time when Republicans were downtrodden and Democrats ebullient about the possibilities of the Obama years. Of the three, only Ryan had something particularly interesting to say: he was a blue-eyed salesman for the cod liver oil of entitlement reform. And he achieved something truly amazing: he got Republicans, at least for a time, to grasp that third rail. They voted for his reform plans reluctantly at first, but once they discovered the “throw granny off a cliff” ads had little power, their cowardice gradually dissipated.

Ryan was the most important Republican in Washington from 2009 to 2016. He now seems like a throwback from a bygone era, when voters expected their politicians to be straight-laced, honest, and sincere. He was serious, and dedicated himself to trying to tell stories to the American people about the fiscal direction of the country – stories which voters mostly ignored because they always seemed to involve hard news and histograms. Wisconsin nice and a truly decent person, Ryan’s approach was doomed in an era that values none of those things. It values the ferocity, the abandon of confrontational politics, not grand bargains and compromise.

We’ll see if the same proves to be true of Kevin McCarthy or not. Ryan seemed to start off well enough, but he rapidly disappeared into the weeds of cuckservatism and rendered himself irrelevant even before he became an ineffectual candidate for Vice-President. He proved to be timid and feckless non-leader in a time of intensifying cultural war.

And while I always thought it was unattractive, doesn’t the ticket of Romney-Ryan look even more ludicrous in hindsight than it did at the time? Even if Ryan is not being retired at the God-Emperor’s behest due to a Dennis Hastert-style problem.

Evil in high places

It’s intriguing to see that the elite pizza-eating pagans are increasingly inclined to show their evil faces to the public. Apparently they are taking the “purloined letter” approach to their devil worship, hoping that three decades of irony will provide them with effective cover. “Oh, we’re just bored rich and powerful people having so much fun with all our spirit-cooking, fake cannibalism, and dining in Hell… doesn’t it sound like a hoot?” That, or they are getting increasingly desperate as the God-Emperor’s vengeful net continues to close in around them and amateur pedophile hunters routinely expose those lower on the pyramid.

Earlier this week, Hillary Clinton made an appearance in New York City at an exclusive women’s club called The Wing. The event was put together by co-founders Audrey Gelman and Lauren Kassan in honor of Hillary. They were able to converse on her new book What Happened, her legacy, and (unsurprisingly) Russian meddling. It was quite the typical post-election conversation to be expected from Hillary. However, on this occasion, there was one significant difference. This time Hillary was speaking to a group of women who practice witchcraft and openly call themselves a coven. According to The Wing’s Instagram page: “We’re a coven, not a sorority.” 

During the event, Hillary was awarded an honorary lifetime Wing membership and was welcomed by the interviewers as the “newest member of our coven” in front of a room filled with cheering members.

For decades it has been rumored that Hillary Clinton practiced witchcraft and was involved with various covens throughout the years. Most famously, former Clinton employee Larry Nichols described numerous times in which Hillary would practice witchcraft with a Californian-based coven one week and the next she would be going to church as if nothing happened. Up until Hillary lost the election, there was thought to be a concerted effort to hide her visits to these covens. Yet, she seems to be joining self-proclaimed covens right in the open and the media.

As Moira Greyland detailed in The Last Closet, these pagan things are almost always much worse than the whispers that normal, decent people find so hard to credit. I note that the two (((founders))), both of whom are 30, recently raised over $30 million for their “women’s club”. Probably just a really great business plan, right? Those must have been some spectacular Powerpoint slides.

Why there won’t be war

It seems people haven’t learned much from Trump’s largely bloodless accomplishments in North Korea. But the main reason I doubt there will be any real war – or rather, any more real war – in Syria is that the US-Israeli proxies, which is the polite way of saying ISIS, have already been defeated.

Trump will have difficulty not doing something impressive after denouncing “Animal Assad” and promising that the Syrian leader would “pay a price” for the gas attack. Trump has also denounced President Barak Obama for his timidity in his use of US military strength against President Bashar al-Assad, so the US may do something spectacular.

What is more doubtful is whether or not US air strikes will have much impact in the long term. In many respects, the political situation on the ground in Syria has gelled as Assad asserts his control over most of populated Syria. The last rebels are being evacuated from Eastern Ghouta on the outskirts of Damascus. Syrian troops and tanks are reported to be massing to overrun an Isis held stronghold in the south of the capital.

Syria is being divided into three zones of unequal size: Assad backed by Russia and Iran in much of the country; Sunni Arab factions backed by Turkey in Idlib, newly captured Afrin and territory north of Aleppo; and in the north and east, a large triangle of land east of the Euphrates held by the Kurds supported by 2,000 US troops able to call in massive air power. Even heavy US air strikes on a one-off basis will not significantly change this balance of power.

There may well be a few missiles lobbed as well as an air strike or ten. But that is nothing serious. And remember, all Trump has promised is missiles, which by Middle East standards is merely sabre-rattling 103.

Probably the Russians, right?

Will Vladimir Putin stop at nothing?

Sometime on or around April 1, 2018 Broward County Sheriff’s Deputy Jason Fitzsimons, 42 years old and in excellent state of mind and health, called in sick to his job. Shortly thereafter Fitzsimons was found dead on his sofa. There has been a complete “news blackout” of this curious and untimely death.

Deputy Fitzsimons wasn’t just any law enforcement officer. Unlike many of his peers, he took to social media to question the potential agenda behind the February 14 Marjory Stoneman High School mass shooting, suggesting that the event was being used to promote the Democratic Party’s gun control platform in anticipation of the 2018 midterm elections. One post found on Fitzsimons’ Facebook page depicts the Parkland massacre’s main spokesperson, David Hogg, in National Socialist regalia, with the caption, “We will March Until We Disarm Every American.”

How will President Trump respond to this outrageous Syrian attack on US soil? Animal Assad must be invaded at once! And Iran too! And the brave US soldiers must not stop until Moscow is occupied!

I hope he’s bluffing

Or this is some sort of sleight of hand meant to occupy the Deep State. The God-Emperor is already fighting one war, what possible benefit can come of discovering that the USA is no longer the global monopower it has been for the last 25 years? This posturing would appear to border on sheer lunacy.

Trump tweeted: “Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and “smart!”

“You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!”

The US President’s tweet esclates tensions to a new level amid reports of an imminent strike by US forces on the Syrian regime.

Russia are allies with dictator Bashar al-Assad and are expected to defend him should the US attack – with US accusing Putin of having “blood on his hands”.

The Russians don’t appear particularly frightened or impressed by the increased sabre-rattling:

US missiles fired at Syria will be shot down, and launch sites targeted, a Russian ambassador warned today.

The measures threatened by Alexander Zasypkin, Russia’s ambassador to Lebanon, could trigger a major escalation in the Syrian conflict.

In comments broadcast on Tuesday evening, said he was referring to a statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian armed forces chief of staff.

The Russian military said on March 13 that it would respond to any U.S. strike on Syria, targeting any missiles and launchers involved in such an attack. Russia is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s most powerful ally.

If the Saker and other Russian observers are to be believed, Russia has been preparing for this conflict for some time now. They have concluded that the USA is either crazy or duplicitous, and in either case, can no longer be trusted to abide by any agreement. The US, on the other hand, appears to believe it can simply continue to throw its weight around and treat the Russians as cavalierly as it has treated the Libyans, the Syrians, the Iraqis, and the Afghans.

The worrisome thing is that the Russians are more prepared for this potential war than they were for WWII and have the technological edge in a number of areas. Their limited resources have forced them to focus on efficiency and better technology. And if you know your military history, most powerful aggressors meet with defeat when they have an exaggerated confidence in their own abilities and an unjustified contempt for the limits of their enemies.

Sound relevant?

As for whether this war could possibly take place on such flimsy premises, remember that more than a few of the USA’s past wars have been based on false flags like the USS Maine and the Gulf of Tonkin incident. This is no different. Meanwhile, this report is little more than a melange of tragedy and farce:

Syria MISSILE STRIKE ‘within hours’: RAF on ALERT for possible launch. BRITISH and French forces could launch an imminent missile strike on Syria within a matter of hours, aviation monitors have revealed.

The RAF and the Armée de l’Air have less than 500 active combat aircraft between them. Anyhow, as will all things related to the God-Emperor, I advise waiting and watching before reaching any conclusions.

The Deep State striking back

It’s hard to know how much of this is genuine and how much is political smokescreen. But at this point, I’m a little surprised Trump hasn’t simply fired Mueller, Rosenstein, and everyone else who is part of, or playing along with, the legal charade:

President Donald Trump is considering firing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, multiple people familiar with the discussions tell CNN, a move that has gained urgency following the raid of the office of the President’s personal lawyer.

Such an action could potentially further Trump’s goal of trying to put greater limits on special counsel Robert Mueller.

This is one of several options — including going so far as to fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions — Trump is weighing in the aftermath of the FBI’s decision Monday to raid the office of Michael Cohen, the President’s personal lawyer and longtime confidant. Officials say if Trump acts, Rosenstein is his most likely target, but it’s unclear whether even such a dramatic firing like this would be enough to satisfy the President.

Trump has long been angry at top Justice Department officials, who he feels have not done enough to protect him from Mueller’s ongoing probe. But two sources said the raid could mark a tipping point that would prompt the President to take more aggressive action against the special counsel.

Firing Mueller could throw Trump’s presidency into crisis and not all of Trump’s legal advisers are on board. One source said Rosenstein wouldn’t be fired.

But some of Trump’s legal advisers are telling him they now have a stronger case against Rosenstein. They believe Rosenstein crossed the line in what he can and cannot pursue. And they consider him conflicted since he is a potential witness in the special counsel’s investigation because he wrote the memo that justified firing former FBI Director James Comey. The legal advisers also believe they have successfully argued to the American public that the FBI is tainted and think they can make the same case against Rosenstein.

A senior administration official said the White House has been discussing potential options with key congressional Republican leaders, fearful of “blindsiding them.” A person familiar with the conversations says a top congressional Republican advised the White House not to fire Rosenstein.

What a surprise that the do-nothing Republican leaders are fearful and advise doing nothing. That’s like saying that a fish recommends water. But President Trump not only has the legal authority to fire these jokers, thanks to Obama, he also has the legal authority to declare them enemies of the state and order drone strikes on them.