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Donald Trump on #Brexit

Statement Regarding British Referendum on E.U. Membership


The people of the United Kingdom have exercised the sacred right of all free peoples. They have declared their independence from the European Union, and have voted to reassert control over their own politics, borders and economy. A Trump Administration pledges to strengthen our ties with a free and independent Britain, deepening our bonds in commerce, culture and mutual defense. The whole world is more peaceful and stable when our two countries – and our two peoples – are united together, as they will be under a Trump Administration.


Come November, the American people will have the chance to re-declare their independence. Americans will have a chance to vote for trade, immigration and foreign policies that put our citizens first. They will have the chance to reject today’s rule by the global elite, and to embrace real change that delivers a government of, by and for the people. I hope America is watching, it will soon be time to believe in America again.


Let #Brexit be the beginning. Let the winds of nationalism rise around the world and sweep the New Babel of our globalist would-be rulers into the dust bin of history where it belongs.

England and Wales choose freedom

The Fourth Reich is rejected by a narrow margin, 52 percent to 48 percent, thanks to the actual British people, who outvoted the invaders, the traitors, the sell-outs, and the Scots:

The English shires and Labour’s northern heartlands led Britain out of the European Union in a victory for middle England.

Despite Britain’s biggest cities backing a Remain vote at yesterday’s historic referendum, the country overall headed for the Brexit door.

The results caused immediate turmoil in the markets as the pound collapsed by more than 10 per cent in the hours after the polls closed and the FTSE-100 braced for heavy losses.

Nigel Farage – who earlier appeared to concede defeat – made a jubilant victory speech at around 4am declaring it was a ‘victory for ordinary people’.

Tory constituencies across the south and midlands voted for Brexit in huge numbers.

Places such as Wellingborough, West Somerset and Chesterfield all voted for leave by more 60 per cent.

The referendum map was painted blue for Out across vast swathes of England – despite London and Scotland being bright yellow.

Mr Farage told a jubilant Leave.EU rally in central London: ‘Dare to dream that the dawn is breaking on an independent United Kingdom.

‘This, if the predictions now are right, this will be a victory for real people, a victory for ordinary people, a victory for decent people.

‘We have fought against the multinationals, we have fought against the big merchant banks, we have fought against big politics, we have fought against lies, corruption and deceit.

‘And today honesty, decency and belief in nation, I think now is going to win.

‘And we will have done it without having to fight, without a single bullet being fired, we’d have done it by damned hard work on the ground.’

Some thoughts on the successful #Brexit referendum.

  1. Nothing in his political career has become David Cameron like the manner of his leaving the Prime Ministership. He was dignified and graceful in defeat. I was genuinely surprised that he not only did the right thing, but did it very well. Even though he chose the wrong side and led the enemy charge, it must not be forgotten that he gave the British people their chance.
  2. The referendum was an exercise in the failure of Magic Dirt and why immigrants should never be granted the right to vote. Nor should their children or grandchildren. Few of them give a damn about Britain and it showed in their vote.
  3. Let Scotland hold their second referendum and then let them go. They are a huge political anchor that threatens England’s very survival.
  4. The war isn’t over. #Brexit is a victory, and an important one, but it was just a battle. The war goes on.
  5. “Remember Jo Cox” should be the response to anyone who calls for Parliament to ignore the clearly expressed will of the British people. If Parliament refuses to respect the referendum, violence will almost surely be among the various consequences.
  6. Bring on Fixit, Ixit, and Grexit! Nationalism has only begun to rise in Europe.

UK independence results

This is an open thread to discuss the UK referendum on the European Union. The general tone of the media is that it is going to be a close 52-48 vote for Remain. If so, the failure of Scotland to secede from the Kingdom will prove very costly for England.

The best place to track results is at the Guardian.

UPDATE: So far, REMAIN vote in Scottish and N Ireland strongholds is weaker than expected. It’s looking good for LEAVE barring big Remain overperformance in London.

UPDATE 2: Scotland has smaller margins with smaller turnouts than predicted. If there are 2-3 more big Leave overperformances, we can safely conclude Leave will win.

UPDATE 3: Turnout in LEAVE areas is 10 percent higher than reported. Basildon votes 2:1 for leave. That’s the first overperformance. At this point, we can begin to conclude Leave will win.

UPDATE 4: Second biggest city in Wales, Swansea, narrowly votes Leave. It’s a strong Labour city, and indicates Wales is overall going to vote Leave. That’s the second overperformance for Leave. I now conclude the result will be 55 Leave 45 Remain.

UPDATE 5: Prof. Thrasher forecasts 56 Leave 44 Remain result on Sky News on the basis of current returns vs pre-vote estimates. However, first Remain outperformance appears in Oxford.

UPDATE 6: First bad sign for Leave. First two London authorities are at 69 percent turnout, 76 percent Remain. However, Glasgow turnout was only 56 percent.

Very amusing to see how the talking heads on TV simply don’t understand the significance of turnout. And with that, I’ll turn it over to you all to track how it goes. I’m optimistic, but I’m not certain. I would have felt much more confident about Leave winning if the first London turnout had been under 65 percent.

The Disney bait-and-switch

Disney is now making use of the same trick to sell its movies that the Pink SF crowd has been pulling for decades, in this case, selling princess movies to the public under the guise of a film for boys.

The first teaser trailer for Disney’s new animated musical Moana has been released online, and it’s a little short on… Moana. The film’s titular heroine is a Polynesian princess (voiced by native Hawaiian teenager Auli’i Cravalho, in her film debut) who journeys across the sea to find a legendary island, with the help of demi-god Maui (voiced by Dwayne Johnson). When the film opens in November, Moana will be the newest Disney princess and is expected to be absorbed into the multibillion-dollar Disney Princess franchise. So why is the trailer (below) all about Maui?

It’s not because Dwayne Johnson is the biggest-name star in the film, although that is true. It’s just the latest example of a very specific Disney marketing strategy, designed to broaden the appeal of its fairy-tale movies by making them appear less girl-centric. Because a movie for the female half of the population is a “niche” film, whereas a movie aimed at boys is fun for the whole family! Or so the thinking goes.

This all began after 2009’s The Princess and the Frog underperformed at the box office. That film had a few notable issues — like a meandering story, in which the princess spent most of her time being a frog — but per the Los Angeles Times, Disney execs came to the conclusion that The Princess and the Frog didn’t attract an audience because boys didn’t want to see a movie about princesses. 

Which brings us to Moana. To its credit, Disney hasn’t excluded the main female character in its marketing to the extent that it did with Frozen and Tangled. The first image released from the film featured the princess and the demi-god side by side and a video posted online in October introduced actress Cravalho to the world. So it’s disheartening that the first teaser essentially excludes Moana. Maybe the full-length trailer will be a little more balanced?

The bait-and-switch of the trailers is also indicative of an issue with the princess films themselves: Since 1989’s The Little Mermaid, male characters have had the majority of dialogue in Disney fairy-tale movies. Even though the protagonists of these movies are girls, they exist in a world of male sidekicks and supporting characters who get the last word.

Boys don’t want to see movies about princesses. Boys don’t want to read books about romances either. But rather than simply making movies that boys want to see and publishing books that boys want to read, the SJWs in Hollywood and in publishing think that the secret to success is making princess movies and publishing romances, then deceiving everyone as to the content.

It’s remarkable what contempt they have for their customers; one imagines they must understand that even the most dimwitted boys and parents are going to eventually figure out the bait-and-switch and simply stop buying anything from them.

SJWs always lie. Always.

Vote LEAVE today

To my British readers,

For centuries, your nations have been at the forefront of Western civilization, which may have reached its peak under the Empire on which the sun never set. Now your empire is gone, your confidence is shaken, your faith is exhausted, your pews are empty, your cities are invaded, and you are ruled over by a hostile Continental power.

The current situation is what those great British leaders of the past, who from Napoleon to Hitler fought to prevent the domination of Europe by a single power, were desperate to prevent. Your nations were finally brought to heel through deceit rather than force, through persistent lies and propaganda rather than military might.

But today, you have been presented with an opportunity that is all too rare. You have been given the opportunity to reclaim your heritage, reclaime your birthright, reclaim your independence, reclaim your sovereignty, reclaim your freedom, and reclaim your nation. And you have been given the chance to do this peacefully!

Do not listen to those who have relentlessly lied to you for the last 65 years. Do not listen to the very voices that brought about your surrender and submission. They do not have your interests at heart, they simply want you to obediently accept your fall from a Great Power to a minor administrative region in their empire. Do not give into fear and despair and fatalism. As for my English readers, do not allow yourselves be the last English generation to be governed by the Magna Carta, Parliament, the Common Law, and the Rights of Englishmen!

Don’t be afraid of your freedom. Don’t be afraid to vote LEAVE today. And if you’re even modestly inclined to help your nation escape the chains of the European Union, stop reading this, drop everything, and go out and vote yourself free.

#Brexit

VASSAL doesn’t work on Windows 10

I can’t seem to get VASSAL working on Windows 10 with the latest Java. It installs fine, but upon running it, nothing happens. Anyone seen this before?

UPDATE: I tried installing a 32-bit version, Version 8 Update 91. Still no joy.

UPDATE 2: Finally figured it out. There was a VASSAL directory in the hidden User/Name/Appdata/Roaming directory, and the error log was showing old dates, presumably from a previously installed version of VASSAL. I deleted that VASSAL directory, emptied the Trash, then double-clicked on the VASSAL icon. It works like a charm, although I did need to re-select my VASL boards directory in order to get my ASL boards to show up properly.

Thanks to everyone who suggested fixes.

UPDATE 3: I’ve changed the name so it will show up on Google searches. If VASSAL 3.16 doesn’t run on Windows 10 with Java 8, the problem may be a previous installation. Don’t worry, there is a fix.

  1. Go to your C:/Users/YOURNAME directory, and under View, check the hidden items checkbox. This will reveal the hidden Appdata directory.
  2. Go to C:/Users/YOURNAME/Appdata/Roaming. There will be a VASSAL directory there. 
  3. Delete the VASSAL directory.
  4. Now try launching VASSAL again.

“We are going to put America first”

Donald Trump pulls no punches in his speech today on why he is running for president:

Our country lost its way when we stopped putting the American people first.

We got here because we switched from a policy of Americanism – focusing on what’s good for America’s middle class – to a policy of globalism, focusing on how to make money for large corporations who can move their wealth and workers to foreign countries all to the detriment of the American worker and the American economy.

We reward companies for offshoring, and we punish companies for doing business in America and keeping our workers employed.

This is not a rising tide that lifts all boats.

This is a wave of globalization that wipes out our middle class and our jobs.

We need to reform our economic system so that, once again, we can all succeed together, and America can become rich again.

That’s what we mean by America First.

Our country will be better off when we start making our own products again, bringing our once great manufacturing capabilities back to our shores.

Our Founders understood this.

One of the first major bills signed by George Washington called for “the encouragement and protection of manufactur[ing]” in America.

He’s got both economics and history on his side, regardless of what the corrupt globalist economists and historians will tell you.

I have to say, Trump the Candidate is saying far more of the right things than I would have even expected to hear from Ron Paul.

Joooooon Snow!


At this point, one would assume even the drooling halfwits at File 770 would be able to recognize that neither Jon Snow nor Ramsay Bolton were exactly liable to give Hannibal or Alexander a run for their money. One would assume wrongly, of course, but it’s understandable that one would be inclined to do so.

The military geniuses at File 770

I never stop finding it amusing how the File 770 idiots will defend literally ANY position rather than accept the fact that I am correct about anything, no matter how obvious. Aaron is reliably the least intelligent commenter there, as he demonstrates with this comment in defense of the tactical incompetence demonstrated by military commanders Jon Snow and Ramsay Bolton on A Game of Thrones:

I wonder if Beale actually watched the show, or if he just had it badly recounted to him. Bolton sent his cavalry first after goading Snow into the open, clearly hoping to kill Snow before help could arrive. It was only because the Stark cavalry counter charged that there was a cavalry battle. There was never an option for Bolton to receive the Stark cavalry with pikemen, because the Stark cavalry weren’t going to charge them but for Snow being exposed. For their part, the Starks had no pikemen to deploy against the Bolton cavalry.

All of Beale’s complaints about the battle that follow assume that Bolton could have simply waited for the Stark forces to launch their cavalry at the Bolton line and stop them with pikes, which would have required abject stupidity on the part of Snow. The complaint about not being prepared for the Knights of the Vale to arrive assume that Bolton could see the future and predict the arrival of reinforcements that even Snow didn’t know were coming. To be fair, Bolton should have had scouts out to look for additional forces, but he thought he knew the entire disposition of the Stark forces already.

In short, it seems that Beale didn’t pay attention to what was shown on screen, and didn’t understand what was happening.

That conclusion seems entirely credible, as anyone who has ever read A Throne of Bones, read any of the books by Lind or van Creveld published by Castalia, or played ASL will no doubt agree.

  1. Aaron is defending how Ramsay sent out his ENTIRE cavalry to ride down a single man on foot instead simply killing Snow with a single arrow himself, or having his entire archery contingent turn him into a pincushion with dozens of arrows. Bolton had absolutely no need to put his cavalry at risk, or even to issue an order to anyone at all, to kill the enemy general.
  2. What competent general would fail to understand that the enemy cavalry might ride out if he was dumb enough to give up his tactical and numerical advantages advancing it while leaving his infantry behind? At least the British tank commander who drove past his American infantry screen into the sights of the German tank destroyer in Band of Brothers was obeying what he knew to be suicidally stupid orders.
  3. There was an option for Bolton to receive the Stark cavalry with pikemen; all he had to do was order his cavalry to disengage and circle back as soon as the Stark cavalry charged while advancing his pikemen. Ancient and medieval armies did this sort of thing all the time, particularly experienced, well-equipped, well-trained armies of the sort Bolton was commanding. That would have actually been a barely credible ruse that would depend upon the Stark cavalry being dumb enough to a) believe Bolton was launching a cavalry-first attack and b) respond to it with their own charge.
  4. First, Bolton could have simply waited for Stark to launch their cavalry, or their infantry, for that matter, at them. Stark was attacking, after all, and Bolton had the leisure to choose to engage or not, as he saw fit. Second, the statement that it was implausible because it would have required “abject stupidity on the part of Snow” is laughable, considering that Snow is observably dumb enough to single-handedly charge the entire enemy army by himself.
  5. Bolton didn’t need to see the future to know the Knights of the Vale were on their way to the battlefield. As a West Pointer noted yesterday, this marks the fourth time on the show that reinforcements have unexpectedly arrived and saved the day, because apparently no one in Westeros has ever heard of pickets, patrols, or even establishing a command post on a hillside that provides good visibility of the surroundings in all four directions. And it’s not as if Bolton was unaware of the relationship between Littlefinger and his wife or should have failed to at least anticipate the possibility of the Vale’s intervention. Remember, Ramsay Bolton was the commander who beat the man lauded as the best general in Westeros.
  6. And there it is. The Gamma tell: “it seems….”

It’s clear that neither the producers of the episode, nor Aaron, has any idea how cavalry was, and is, used on the battlefield. It is a secondary arm; it is the infantry that is “the queen of the battlefield”. Hollywood likes horses because they are exciting and dramatic, but one should never allow oneself to be misguided into thinking that the tactics one is seeing on the screen are even remotely reasonable, let alone realistic or historically plausible.

It’s too bad, because during the planning session, it sounded as if they were setting up for a recreation of the Battle of Cannae and its famous double-envelopment. I wasn’t surprised when they didn’t, though, as soon as I saw the cavalry being prominently featured. Contra Hollywood, cavalry is primarily used to launch flanking and rear attacks, to strike the killing blow, and to exploit the victory that the infantry has already won, not to play the primary role in the outcome of the battle.