Friday, July 24, 2026
I don't think this dingbat has ever read the Odyssey or even cares what it says
Did Nolan?
Nolan’s ‘Odyssey’ Confronts Civilization’s Original Sin
... I was struck by the deeper prophetic truth of the film’s final statement: Someday, the dawn will break, and all will be made new. And like Odysseus, the leader of the house will return—welcoming the humblest beggar, wielding justice like a well-strung bow, and offering mercy to all who lay down their arms before him.
Cunning Odysseus only had slaughter in mind, not mercy, hid the weapons, and slew them all, save two righteous for whom Telemachus his son had interceded:
So, noble Odysseus remained in the hall, planning with Athene’s aid how to kill the Suitors. At once he spoke to Telemachus winged words: ‘We must hide the weapons away, all of them, Telemachus. If the Suitors miss them and question you, deceive them with placatory words, and say: “I’ve moved them out of the smoke from the fire, since they no longer look as they did when Odysseus left them behind and sailed for Troy, but are all grimy where the draught from the hearth has reached them. Zeus, son of Cronos, has filled my heart with an even greater fear, that you might start a quarrel amongst yourselves, and wound each other, and so bring shame on the feast and your cause. Iron itself draws a man towards it.”’ ...
-- Homer, Odyssey XIX
... When the Suitors saw Antinous fall, there was uproar throughout the hall, and they leapt from their seats in fear, running to the walls to find a shield or a stout spear of which there were no sign.
... Leodes ran forward and clasped Odysseus’ knees, and begged with winged words: ‘Odysseus, respect the suppliant at your knees: I ask for mercy. I swear I have never wantonly wronged a woman of your house, in word or deed. Instead I tried to restrain others from doing so. But they would not listen, or keep their hands from evil, and so through foolish wantonness they meet a cruel fate. And I, though I am only their innocent priest, will die with them. It is true one gets no thanks for good deeds.’
Resourceful Odysseus gave him an angry look and said: ‘If you were really their priest you must often have prayed that the day of my joyful return would be long delayed and that my loyal wife would go with you and bear you children. For that you will not escape a sorry death.’
With this he grasped the sword in his strong hand that Agelaus had dropped on the ground nearby as he fell, and struck Leodes hard on the neck, so that while he was still trying to speak his head bit the dust. ...
-- Odyssey XXII
That's a rate of 33.3k per month, which after four years will mean 1.6 million deportations in a country with at least 11 million illegal aliens
Promise the moon and deliver a pizza.
ICE nears 600,000 deportations since Trump took office
... The new ICE data is the first update the agency has published since April. ...
Trump's Pentagon plays games with Iran War deaths, apparently didn't get the memo that hostilities formally resumed on July 7th
Or is the reasoning, which clearly isn't Trump's, that the four new deaths belong to Iran War II, not Iran War I?
Pentagon lowers official Iran war death toll, omitting four killed this month
... Three military officials told the Times that the four service members killed this past weekend — three in Jordan and one in northern Iraq — were struck from the list because their deaths came after President Donald Trump declared a ceasefire in April. All of the deaths listed on Thursday U.S. time on the website, which said it was updated as of Wednesday, occurred in March. ... Trump himself has used the higher figure for the death toll. At an event on Thursday, he said, “I had a very sad day yesterday. I went to Dover, four great American patriots killed. That’s 18 … and one is too many, but it’s 18.”
Trump sends Congress formal notice that Iran conflict has resumed
WASHINGTON, July 13 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has sent Congress formal notification that hostilities against Iran resumed on July 7, a letter his administration sees as opening a new 60-day window to use the military in the region without congressional approval. ...
Thursday, July 23, 2026
John Thune tells the White House to get off its dead ass and make some phone calls
That's the spirit, John.
Thune responds to Leavitt quip that Trump’s patience with him ‘running out’ over SAVE America Act
...“Maybe she or somebody else ought to get on the phone and get the votes. Right? It’s 50 around here,” Thune shot back when asked about Leavitt’s statement to reporters at a press briefing earlier Thursday.
“Instead of pointing the finger at Republicans, they might think about going after the people who are stopping it on the floor, which is the Democrats,” the senator added, appearing somewhat irritated by the critical comment. “And if there are Republicans they think are gettable, get on the phone.”
...“As I’ve said before, you got to get to 50, and I can’t count to 50 right now on a budget resolution”...
The fix for Social Security is easy, lawmakers just don't have the balls to do it
Raise the tax rate two points, split between employer and employee, and raise the full retirement age from 67 to 69. Phase both in same as was done starting in the 1980s. That process concluded, by the way, only just this year.
It was going on all along and you never even noticed.
Doing this again will make Social Security solvent until 2100.
AARP to Congress: ‘We strongly object to fast-tracking Social Security changes’
Middle East tanker transits July 16-22, 2026: Strait of Hormuz 2.0/day, Bab-el-Mandeb Strait 14.6/day
BAM transits fell in JMIC Update 075 to 10.0/day since the Houthi Rebels announced on July 20 a blockade of Saudi shipping through the chokepoint. SE traffic fell to 4.0/day.
A product tanker is at anchor in the Red Sea off the coast of Saudi Arabia after it was attacked by the Houthis on July 22.
Professional observers report some tankers abandoning their runs SE and turning back NW while Chinese VLCCs apparently are being green-lighted through despite loading with Saudi oil at Yanbu.
VLCCs fully laden cannot transit the Suez Canal due to size constraints and must partially off-load before transiting and then re-load on the Mediterranean side of the canal.
Wednesday, July 22, 2026
Middle East tanker transits July 14-20, 2026: Strait of Hormuz 3.4/day, Bab-el-Mandeb Strait 17.3/day
From JMIC Update 074:
... According to regional reporting, Iran has instructed the Houthis to stand ready to close the Red Sea oil route should the United States strike Iranian power infrastructure. Sources close to the group stated that the Houthis have completed preparations to attack shipping, including the deployment of missiles and drones positioned near Bab el-Mandeb. ...
Since it's not about Homer let me fix that for ya
Somebody should make a movie about the actual Odyssey, instead of a movie about the West's Achilles heel, its introspective conscience since the defeat of Athens in 404 BC, the volume on which was turned up to 11 by Christianity.
Nothing defines the West like its failure of nerve.
Idiot Doug Bandow isn't paying attention to what Bernie & Co. actually stand for
... Nevertheless, no one of note is advocating the wholesale federal takeover of private property, including businesses and other enterprises. ...
First, Do No Harm: AI Under Democracy
... AI was built on our data and our labor; we should own a piece of it. Senator Bernie Sanders’s American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act would transfer 50% equity from the largest AI companies into public hands. I support that effort and propose to take it one step further because Americans deserve a seat at the table. ...
Mad King Ludwig: To stop Iran from getting The Bomb we have to let Saudi Arabia get The Bomb
Saudis Reach Deal With U.S. That Could Let Them Enrich Nuclear Fuel
... Prince Mohammed has vowed he would build nuclear weapons if Iran does so, even insisting in one interview he would do so “without a doubt.”
... Mr. Trump’s concessions to the Saudis on the terms of the nuclear deal are significant. When the United States entered into a similar agreement with the United Arab Emirates, which went into force in 2009, there were far more restrictive conditions. The U.A.E. agreed to the stringent inspections, signing what is called an “additional protocol” with the International Atomic Energy Agency. And it agreed to forgo the right to produce its own fuel, cutting off the possibility that it would have the infrastructure to produce a weapon.
That agreement became known as the “gold standard” for nuclear nonproliferation. And while the administration plans to argue that it will have other restrictions in place — including joint partnerships with the Saudis that will allow Washington to keep a close eye on the kingdom’s program — the fact remains that Mr. Trump has retreated from the restrictions negotiated by the Bush and Obama administrations.
While the bulk of the negotiations with the U.A.E. took place while President George W. Bush was in office, it was finished by President Barack Obama and went into effect in 2009. ...
Tuesday, July 21, 2026
Updated temperature graphs for Grand Rapids, MI
Trend for lowest minimum temperature is still down, despite 30 years of moderating lows.
Trend for highest maximum temperature is still down.
Trend for average temperature is up about 1.0 degree F in 125+ years. The graph is probably the best one for showing the colder years of the mid-20th century flanked by the warmer periods before and after.
Trend for cooling degree days is basically flat.
Trend for heating degree days is down, about 450 HDD or 6.5% over 120 years. Again, the last 30 years have been trending milder.
As always, click on the graphs to enlarge.
Monday, July 20, 2026
In the first story ICE murdered a U.S. citizen in March 2025, a woman's son, in the second story a drunk illegal alien murdered a U.S. citizen in late 2024, a man's daughter
In both cases our incompetent government is ultimately to blame, Joe, but only in your case will someone pay any price.
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