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Tuesday, December 02, 2025

What Happens Next Will Be Ugly and Dangerous.


Monday, December 01, 2025

We hear a lot about the canaries in the coal mine these days. But we were reminded last week that dead canaries are littered all around us. We never imagined that death could undo so many. 1 read more


Corruption, lawlessness, and evil inside Trump's inner circle.


Last year, the price of eggs was a hot item for many people in the election. Now, the villain seems to be shifting. The new culprit is the price of electricity, which keeps going up and up. Many people believe it is due to the AI data centers, which are slurping up every watt they can find, causing shortages and driving prices up. read more


Sunday, November 30, 2025

...and thieves


Comments

#4 Flag: Palate cleanser ...

I will take my time this time
I'm gonna make a
Rhyme this time
I'll ring the bell this time
The dreaming's over
I'm gonna sing "Gotta Wing" this time

:-)

snip ...

In medieval and early-modern Europe, the death of a king was less a constitutional process than a high-stakes reality show. Every court had its factions around sons, nephews, queens, favorites, and warlords. The Wars of the Roses in England were one long, bloody reminder that once "divine right" is attached to a bloodline instead of an office, every cousin with a sword and a herald (the medieval equivalent of a TikTok influencer on staff) has an argument for the throne.

The Ottomans solved this problem their own way. New sultans often began their reign by quietly strangling their brothers, because they understood exactly what ambitious princelings do once the old man is gone. "Succession planning," in that context, meant the Court Strangler had a job to do.

Strip the tapestry and incense away and you see a familiar pattern. Everyone closest to the throne claims perfect loyalty while the king is strong. Everyone closest to the throne also runs an internal calculation about what happens after his last breath. They are not there by accident. They got close because they like power, and they plan to keep it.

The twentieth century dressed the same story in ideological uniforms and party titles.

Stalin's death in 1953 did not produce a smooth, dignified transition to the next "wise leader of the working class."

It produced a cage match in the Politburo. Stalin left no clear successor, only a terror machine and a room full of men who had survived him by being ruthless and cautious in equal measure.


History may not repeat itself exactly, but often times it sure does rhyme.

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