Rebane's Ruminations

About

April 2026
S M T W T F S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
2627282930  

ARCHIVES

OUR LINKS

YubaNet
White House Blog
Watts Up With That?
The Union
Sierra Thread
RL “Bob” Crabb
Barry Pruett Blog

  • Sandbox – 12aug25

    [NYC’s Mamdani is a communist in socialist’s clothing.  He is now polling at the 40+% level and sure to be the city’s next mayor.  On his current Hate Trump tour he is telling his double dummies that he’s willing to work with Trump as long as the president is ready to federally subsidize his ‘affordability’ projects like free city transit rides and cheap food from city-owned grocery stores.  Gerald Baker in the 12aug25 WSJ (here) posits that Mamdani may herald a new kind of class struggle – “It’s the overeducated elites, not laborers or the masses, who are getting behind socialism today.” gjr]

    Posted at

    in

  • Donbas et al – Sudetenland Quietly Ignored

    [This commentary was also published in the 15aug25 edition of The Union (here)]

    George Rebane

    As President Trump prepares to welcome Putin to Alaska, where he won’t be arrested, the meeting draws much attention and has little chance of producing anything useful because President Zelinsky of Ukraine remains uninvited.  All anticipatory reports of the coming proceedings have Trump willing to cede parts of Russian conquered Ukraine – e.g. Donbas et al – to Putin without Zelinsky having much say in the matter.

    Putin has convinced his own population and many in the West (see Barry Pruett’s ‘Report from Moscow’) that Russia had to invade Ukraine in order to guarantee the rights and safety of ethnic Russians who concentrate in eastern Ukraine bordering Russia.  The students of history, a diminishing population, will see the stark similarities between Putin in 2022 and Hitler in 1938 when the latter annexed Czechoslovakia’s bohemian territories, called Sudetenland by the heavily populated ethnic Germans who were treated as second class citizens by the Czech regime.

    Both dictators did their deeds for the same reason – lebensraum.  However, Hitler’s ante-bellum conquest was highly criticized worldwide, save for a klatch of British appeasers led by Chamberlain of ‘Peace in our time’ fame.  Today we don’t hear much about Putin having to withdraw from conquered Ukrainian territories.  The new realpolitik is that we have to give him anything he wants in order “to stop the killing”.  Hitler used the post-annex hiatus to prepare for the invasion of Poland which included the complete takeover of Czechoslovakia.  Putin’s plans are identical.  He needs a respite to rebuild and refurbish the Russian Army so that he can continue his avowed historical destiny to restore Russia to its Czarist/USSR borders.

    The gambit of invading neighbors to protect the rights of your ethnic and cultural relatives living there is an old one.  Stalin spent his entire tenure exporting Slavic Russians to inhabit conquered borderlands ranging from Kazakhstan to Estonia.  At the same time he stationed Red Army units reciprocally from diametric locales in order to suppress any uprisings.  He figured correctly that Kazakhstanis would have no problem firing on Estonians, and vice versa.

    So why don’t we hear some of these talking heads on the media comparing Donbas and Sudetenland in their analyses of the coming peace negotiations to end the Russo-Ukrainian war?  Shouldn’t there be some comparison made between the goose and the gander?

    Posted at

    in

    , ,
    9 comments on Donbas et al – Sudetenland Quietly Ignored

  • Report from Moscow

    [This is the first of which I hope will be several reports from Barry Pruett in Russia.  Barry is a friend and a longtime reader of RR.  We all wish him safe travels in a very harsh part of the world.  gjr]

    Barry Pruett

    Well, it seems that Trump and Putin are going to meet and then after that they will both meet with Zelenskyy. It is interesting that Europe is being left out – a fact that has been pointed out extensively here. I do not think that the Russians have a huge problem with America right now, as they seem to be more disgusted with western Europe (Merz, Macron, Stamer). My prayer is that they can find a way to end the war, because there are a lot of people dying for no reason. I also hope that they meet and achieve peace while we are here. That would make the trip even more special than it already has been.

    What is happening on the front in Ukraine is highly relevant to these negotiations. Russia is lava-rolling Ukraine in western Ukraine. It is not a question, but a simple and undeniable fact. Russia has Pokrovsk and Myrnograd (major logistical hubs for the war in Donbass) basically surrounded. Russians dropped leaflets to the Ukrainians holding out in Pokrovsk warning them to surrender before Russia closes the loop. Russia has acquired 100% of Lugansk, the bulk of Donetsk, and more than half of Kherson and Zaporozhia. Russia believes that it is more important to achieve its military objects than have a rapprochement with the USA.

    As such, Russia has three main objectives. Istanbul Plus so to speak, similar to the agreement that Ukraine and Russia had in March of 2022 which was torpedoed by the West. First, Russia is taking the four above-referenced territories by force or by agreement. Second, Ukraine will never enter NATO. Third, Ukraine's military must be substantially reduced. It appears that these three items are existential for Russia, so until they are agreed or forced, the war will continue. Indeed, and in addition to NATO enlargement to Ukraine and Georgia (Black Sea access) which is a much more in-depth conversation, much of the problem stemmed from the western half of Ukraine being predominantly ethnic Russians.

    Prior to the war, these ethnic Russians were previously being persecuted by the Ukrainian government dominated by western (NATO) interests. Such persecution included but is not limited to restrictions on Russian language in schools and restrictions on Orthodox churches. Indeed, the in-law of a friend of mine had a church in Ukraine near Kharkov in 2022 when the war started. His family fled to Voronezh. He stayed with his church. Shortly after his family fled, the Ukrainians burned down his church and my friend's in-law disappeared. It is unknown whether they killed him or whether he was conscripted and sent to the front. In any event, his family has not heard from him in over three years.

    Also, as Ukraine runs short on manpower, they are intensifying conscriptions and sending unwilling participants to the front. I saw a video yesterday of a man who was in the process of being detained for conscription. He looked to be in his mid-50s. He pulled the pin on a grenade that he was holding and told the conscriptors that if he goes, they go. My understating is that he was eventually detained.

    Ukraine also passed a law men over 60 to enlist. Indeed, they are running out of bodies to put into the grinder and things are desperate. No doubt, these events are what is, in part, driving Trump's urgency. NATO is going to lose Biden's war, and there is nothing NATO can do about it. Of course, Putin and Trump want an offramp, but like in any mediation, they have been too far apart to get an agreement. With the front changing and the lava-rolling continuing, reality may be setting in for Ukraine and the West that it is only a matter of time and consequently the parties are getting closer to where this thing is going to end.

    That's it for today. I have to get back to work! I would be glad to talk to you in more detail in a Zoom conference (if Zoom works) or by some other video method. We leave here in October and with then be in eastern Europe until Christmas. See you then hopefully.

    [Later]  Also, while you slept, Kirill Dmitiriev (Witkoff’s counterpart) announced that the meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin next week has the potential to be “historic.”. The location has been chosen, but has not been released yet. That’s not really like that Russian hype stuff up like Trump does. They must’ve made a deal already.

    Posted at

    in

    ,
    12 comments on Report from Moscow

  • Sandbox – 3aug25

    [Today the ongoing jeans/genes dustup shows how depraved is the progressive mind.  I wonder  if there are any local liberals who would care to stand up for the idiot commentators on lamestream media who have again proudly discovered that Republicans really are racists and white supremacists now soaked in the Left's promoted eugenics of yesteryear.  Here’s a little video that summarizes their madness.  gjr]

    Posted at

    in

  • Scattershots – 28jul25 (updated 1aug25)

    George Rebane

    People don’t like the BBB that’s now law.  Latest WSJ poll shows 42% support, 52% oppose the law. “At least half of poll respondents said the legislation would harm poor people, the working class, Social Security beneficiaries, the US economy, Medicaid recipients nutrition-assistance recipients and the federal budget deficit.”  Every one of these claims is reported by the lamestream and is dead wrong.  The truth is that illegals and ineligibles will no longer receive benefits they’re not entitled to, and every working class will benefit from the new tax law which avoided the biggest US tax increase in history.  But the Dem sleazebags know that their constituents are not capable of refuting any of their claims. (more here)

    Epstein files – Trump’s request to unseal and release the grand jury transcripts is a matter of record.  It’s a federal district judge who has ruled against their release, and none of that is reported by the lamestream media  Dumb Dem voters continue believing their lying politicians and leftwing reporters that it is Trump who is  trying to hide the dirt in the Epstein files.  I guess stupid is forever.

    [update] The Gonnas – The Democrat lying machine is in fine fettle telling their double dummies that the BBB law is gonna starve the children, gonna decimate Medicare and Medicaid, gonna take away Social Security from the retirees, gonna separate children from parents, gonna cause inflation, gonna take money from the poor, gonna enrich the rich, gonna kill democracy, and on and on.  None of it has happened or is true as a simple reading of the law will inform the literate of which there seem to be a diminishing number among the country’s leftwingers – RR is also testimony to this.  The Democrats have NO POLICIES OF THEIR OWN to offer – save from their embarrassing communist in NYC – so all they can do is concoct a dire picture of the future for America under Republicans.  Their ludicrous litany should be evaluated on the basis of all the gonnas they have predicted over the last 20 years – e.g. no party and administration has so mistreated children as have Bumblebrain and his Democrats letting in hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied illegal minors, and then without any accounting allowing them to disappear into the countryside to suffer from unimaginable ordeals as human trafficked child laborers, sex workers, street criminals, homeless waifs, … .

    [1aug25 update] $100M, poof gone. The celebrity filled FireAid concert raised this amount for the benefit of last January’s thousands of LA area wildfire victims who lost their homes.  To date the money is all gone with none of it to help the intended victims.  Congressman Kevin Kiley is launching an investigation of how these monies were stolen by TBD LA politicians who spirited the funds into the coffers of leftwing 501c3 outfits that promote California’s ongoing disastrous public policies and progressive politicians.  Government fraud, waste, and abuse for all to see.

    Posted at

    in

    , , ,
    56 comments on Scattershots – 28jul25 (updated 1aug25)

  • ‘More UN climate nonsense’ (updated 24jul25)

    George Rebane

    James Freeman in the 23jul25 WSJ writes a telling article on the intended confusion that surrounds ‘sustainable energy’ costs – i.e. the comparison of wind, solar, and hydro to fossil fuels.  The latest pile of steaming bullshit was regurgitated by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in an AP interview as reported here.  I am going to freely cut and paste purloined snatches from Freeman’s paywalled article.

    “Backers of inefficient and unreliable energy production used to say that wind and solar breakthroughs were just around the corner. But one can use this argument to secure government subsidies for only so many decades before taxpayers start asking why they have to support an infant industry that’s older than they are. These days it’s become more common for environmentalists to assert that the future has arrived and alternative energy is now dirt cheap. This ought to make it even harder to explain why government support should continue, but it also may create the misimpression that the massively expensive wind and solar experiment is finally working.”

    According to Guterres, “over 90% of new renewables worldwide produced electricity for less than the cheapest new fossil fuel alternative.”  His confused copy continued with “emphasizing his desire for central planning. He called for ‘new national climate plans to go all-out on the energy transition’ and said, ‘Governments must aim to meet all new electricity demand with renewables.’ ”

    “But if renewables are clearly better — and in fact unstoppable (since cheaper) — why does government need to plan or aim for anything—won’t producers and consumers choose such energy sources on their own?

    Continue reading ‘More UN climate nonsense’ (updated 24jul25) »

    Posted at

    in

    , , , ,
    No comments on ‘More UN climate nonsense’ (updated 24jul25)

  • ‘More UN climate nonsense’ (updated 3aug25)

    George Rebane

    James Freeman in the 23jul25 WSJ writes a telling article on the intended confusion that surrounds ‘sustainable energy’ costs – i.e. the comparison of wind, solar, and hydro to fossil fuels.  The latest pile of steaming bullshit was regurgitated by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in an AP interview as reported here.  I am going to freely cut and paste purloined snatches from Freeman’s paywalled article.

    “Backers of inefficient and unreliable energy production used to say that wind and solar breakthroughs were just around the corner. But one can use this argument to secure government subsidies for only so many decades before taxpayers start asking why they have to support an infant industry that’s older than they are. These days it’s become more common for environmentalists to assert that the future has arrived and alternative energy is now dirt cheap. This ought to make it even harder to explain why government support should continue, but it also may create the misimpression that the massively expensive wind and solar experiment is finally working.”

    According to Guterres, “over 90% of new renewables worldwide produced electricity for less than the cheapest new fossil fuel alternative.”  His confused copy continued with “emphasizing his desire for central planning. He called for ‘new national climate plans to go all-out on the energy transition’ and said, ‘Governments must aim to meet all new electricity demand with renewables.’ ”

    “But if renewables are clearly better — and in fact unstoppable (since cheaper) — why does government need to plan or aim for anything—won’t producers and consumers choose such energy sources on their own?

    (more…)

    Posted at

    in

    , , , ,
    No comments on ‘More UN climate nonsense’ (updated 3aug25)

  • Sandbox – 23jul25

    [The progressives’ inability to think logically, or even coherently, is on parade again across the nation.  ICE officers arresting illegal aliens may not wear face coverings to hide their personal identity (their official identity is visible from their uniforms, labeled jackets/vests, and badges) to prevent terrorists’ doxing their residences thereby threatening their families.  But it’s OK for leftwingers to support obvious criminals to wear identity-concealing face coverings as they riot, pillage, and burn while attacking law enforcement officers on the streets of America’s cities.  gjr]

    Posted at

    in

  • Scattershots – 16jul25 (updated 22jul25)

    George Rebane

    Trump almost gets it with Putin.  There is no need for Trump’s 50-day grace period for the thug’s decision to come to the table.  Five days would have been more than enough for Putin to tell the world how he wants to continue his war with Ukraine.  But at least our president is beginning to understand that he has been played by Putin, the mullahs, the ugly fat kid, and China’s Xi, the most clever of them all.  This ain’t New York real estate.

    Polymarket is a crowd-sourced prediction website (here) that lets people bet money on the outcome of future events on all kinds of topics.  It has shown its results to be prescient way beyond what polls report, and is today in a good position to put a lot of polls out of business.  This is abetted by the recent closing of two federal investigations into its operations (here).  We see an example of the value of polls from some of our liberal commenters who have gleefully announced Trump’s downfall from polling results over most of the last decade.  Such leftwing people have never been influenced by realworld results.  Now they are planning to give communism another try in NYC.

    The deportation record for illegal aliens under recent presidents is one of lamestream media’s current big lies.  They are telling their lightly read audiences that deportations of those innocent, hard-working “undocumented immigrants” was President Trump’s racist idea.  They are silent on the other presidents’ records – Obama deported 3.1M, Biden deported 3.4M, Trump has deported 1.4M.  The anti-American left (aka Democrats) do not recognize the laws that make illegal entry into the US a crime, and ALL such illegal aliens in our country criminals subject to summary deportation.  Illegal aliens do not have the complete slate of constitutional rights enjoyed by American citizens.  (more here)

    [19jul25 update]  Epstein files, who is preventing their release?  It turns out that it is our legal system instead of the flood of lamestream lies that the Trump DoJ is trying to hide something that would damage the president.  The reasons for a limited release of Epstein documents involve extant legal restrictions, victim protection, and ongoing appeals.  The controversy surrounding the Trump administration’s handling of the files, including “calls for transparency” have no merit whatsoever, but just political potboilers from Democrats who have nothing besides Trump hatred to offer voters.  For more google 'Who is preventing release of Epstein files evidence?' or go here.

    [22jul25 update]  Stephen Colbert’s pink slip from CBS still gives the know-nothing, late night, unfunny man ten months to spew his TDS, copy that has left him with dregs of stupid viewers while costing the network $40M in annual losses.  But what is really perverse about this is the legion of talking heads today on lamestream media, as shown on FN, who are howling that canning Colbert represents a new and dangerous level of “censorship by Trump’s authoritarian administration.”  According to their propaganda CBS has no right to avoid losses and rid itself of content that has a dwindling audience and dismal ratings.  I remind RR readers that this is another in the flood of evidence of how the intrinsically evil Democrats are trying to influence their poorly informed and undereducated constituents. (more here)

    Iran’s nuclear facilities were not only “seriously damaged” but “destroyed” according to Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi as interviewed by Bret Baier on Fox News yesterday (here).  This again gives lie to the leftwing lamestream’s charges that America’s B-2s’ raid earlier this monthly was ineffective in eliminating Iran’s nuclear weaponization capability.  Their foreign minister clearly stated that “our facilities have been destroyed” (see video @ 8 minutes) and Iran’s “nuclear development has now stopped”.  Unfortunately Fox’s ongoing delinquent journalism omitted emphasizing the admission that the bombed facilities were indeed “destroyed” as reported by President Trump and subsequently mocked by the Left.

    BTW, Fox News is still America’s most comprehensive, reliable, and best source of news and commentary that you can access on your TV (in spite of my constant criticisms and nitpicking their reportage).  This fact is confirmed by every metric reporting viewership composition, ratings, profitability, and balanced reporting.  And it’s further confirmed by the number of international leaders who choose a single network on which to be interviewed and communicate to the American people.  No other network comes close, most certainly not CNN and MSNBC, the lamestream’s finest examples of junk journalism, unfortunately embraced by some of RR’s leftwing readers.

    Posted at

    in

    , ,
    21 comments on Scattershots – 16jul25 (updated 22jul25)

  • Sandbox – 14jul25

    [Apologies for the late delivery of new sand.  Happy Bastille Day.  gjr]

    Posted at

    in

RR FUNDAMENTALS

About the Bastiat Triangle

Glossary & Semantics

A Conservetarian Credo

Commenting Rules

RECENT POSTS

RECENT COMMENTS

CATEGORIES