Perfect timing Michelin! Is this Michelin guide supposed to entice out-of-state gourmands to visit The Lone Star State? Texas has become an epicenter of mass shootings in the US.

"In an average year, 4,122 people die and 7,726 are wounded by guns in Texas. Texas has the 29th highest rate of gun violence in the US."

By contrast, in 2021 the entire country of Canada (41,454,393 people) suffered 788 homicides.

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Gal Tuesday
Years ago I knew somebody who was an ex-Scientologist (Dianetics). This person confided me to that many adherents who had spent years and money "getting clear" and moving up the Dianetics ladder realized too late what a waste it all was. This person informed me since they invested so much time and money in the Church of Scientology, they'd rather be on top of a phony pyramid than at the bottom of a real swamp. They couldn't face the reality that they spent a lifetime wasting thousands and thousands of dollars, while alienating their family and friends. This reminded me of Cipher from "The Matrix." Fortunately this person was able to get de-programmed and leave Scientology, restoring normal friends, family, and finances to his life. Sadly, advising someone that they belong to a cult is a waste of time.

"Italy's shaped like a boot! Who knew?"

Luigi Risotto from The Simpsons.

Amazing the crossroads that 21st-century America is approaching (again), strangely predicted by fiction writers over 60 years ago.

Joseph Condon's 1959 novel "The Manchurian Candidate" predicted a foreign power planting a nefarious agent at the apex of the US political system. I recommend reading the book; however, the film adaptation by John Frankenheimer is excellent and will save you time. The music and cinematography are splendid. This Frank Sinatra movie was also the first to demonstrate karate in a Hollywood movie (as opposed to judo or ju-jitsu; James Cagney had that honor two decades earlier in 1945 with "Blood on the Sun").

Moreover, exactly two months before JFK was assassinated, a TV show called the "Outer Limits" aired an episode where a foreign power switches in a perfect doppleganger to replace the VPOTUS.

So, here we are in the 21st century and the FBI's "Crossfire Hurricane" investigation, Robert Mueller, and Jack Smith (so far) were unsuccessful in neutralizing the foreign threat to America's democracy. The net results of Congress's two impeachments of "45" seem to be pyrrhic victories for the historical record.

America, quo vadis?

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Let's have another war! What better way to distract the American people from the reality that a 1% super-elite control 99% of our wealth? Instead of discussing universal healthcare for all Americans (like every NATO country enjoys, including tiny Albania), JD Vance is beating the war drums. I seriously doubt the Iranians, who invented chess and the term zigzag, would risk war with the US and Israel (who would pile on). The hint of a perceived threat will of course increase security measures for the supposed target, but informant and source reporting must be thoroughly vetted before going to DEFCON IV.

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And, ladies and gentlemen, if the young assassin was successful, Putin too would have been "hoisted on his own petard," to wit: Putin's potential savior in the Ukraine War would have been murdered with the assault weapon of choice for the NRA, an organization the Kremlin secretly funded through the likes of Maria Butina (and others).

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Meanwhile back at the Kremlin, Putin was delighted that Judge Cannon saved #45 with her incredible interpretation of the US Constitution, but was then horrified to see his protege almost get killed, Putin's best chance to divide NATO and isolate Ukraine. Too bad Putin can't send a FSB detail to the US to augment the USSS in order to protect his investment.

To Mr. JD Vance from the Bard of Avon:

"More of your conversation would infect my brain, being the herdsmen of the beastly plebeians. I will be bold to take my leave of you."

(Coriolanus, Act II, Scene I)

This Yale Law School graduate, who in 2005 was a USMC combat correspondent in Iraq, is somehow still concerned about WMDs, and of all places with our #1 NATO ally. Incredibly, this new "apprentice" remains unconcerned about Vladimir Putin's WMDs, the thousands of deaths the Kremlin has caused in Ukraine, or the increased amount of Russian sabotage attacks against European infrastructure. The VPOTUS candidate is slinging s#@t against Islam, but his boss "loves the Saudis". The hypocrisy is staggering.

Sidebar: Is there a weird resemblance between JD Vance and a bearded DJT Jr? Please compare images in links below.

https://wpcdn.us-east-1.vip.tn-cloud.net/www.klkntv.com/content/uploads/2020/10/Donald-Trump-Jr- 1024x768.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._D._Vance

Nota Bene: Because of the increased threat of Russian sabotage in Europe, USEUCOM recently heightened CI/OPSEC measures.

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Former POTUS Barack Obama must be surely empathizing with his former VPOTUS who must unenviably deal with Messrs Vladimir Putin, Donald J. Trump, and Benjamin Netanyahu. Odysseus had an easier time dealing with Scylla and Charybdis.

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Breathtaking outrage from the supporters of a man who stated: "I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and wouldn't lose any voters, ok? It's, like, incredible."

You can hear it exactly at the link below.

I have yet to find such a video or speech from the Democratic incumbent occupying the White House, but I am still looking.

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USLE or the USIC cannot interrogate a corpse. Now USLE, the MSM and the blogosphere must read into the mind of a dead young man who threw his life away trying to assassinate an ex-POTUS. The USSS were just plain lucky the putative assassin was a "bad shot" (according to the members of his high school rifle team).

The assassination attempt was reminiscent of the final chapter of Stephen King's "The Dead Zone" when a hidden Johnny Smith shoots and misses at nefarious GOP US Senate candidate Greg Stillson.

If the USSS PSD and CAT team employed non-lethal rounds (plastic or rubber), they might have a living suspect today to interrogate and determine motive. Non lethal rounds fired center mass at 800-1,100 FPS will have stunned and injured the suspect sufficiently to render him ineffective.

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A former US Marine, Yale University Law School graduate, and NYT best-selling novelist who once called Donald J. Trump "America's Hitler," is the GOP VPOTUS candidate.

Fly "Old Glory" upside down once again.

I can only wonder what my old USMC buddies are thinking right now.

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You are most welcome, Doc Sarvis.

Prima facie, the four most intelligent minds in antebellum America were: Henry David Thoreau, Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and John Brown. This is just off the top of my head. And I have thought for years why John Brown is not honored on US currency like ethnic cleansing POTUS Andrew Jackson who blights our ubiquitous $20 bill.

We are lucky that Wiki uses a terrific portrait of John Brown (my favorite one). When you look at his eyes, you'll see why.

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Concur with all above. Vladimir Putin enjoys hearing about every mass shooting in the US, which is another demographic brick out of America's 341,893,694 house. No wonder Putin's hybrid warfare campaign clandestinely supported the NRA. And Maria Butina is acclaimed as a "Hero of the Motherland."

Meanwhile to our north, 41,448,740 Canadians suffer less than one homicide per day.

Thank you NRA, Republicans, Fox News, the surviving Koch brother, Elon Musk, and ALEC.

E0M

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Concur with all above. Sadly, most of the Russian people are awake, but impotent to act against the dense security service network that Putin controls. Many of these Russian casualties are just fellows that wanted to be musicians, IT engineers, artists, or writers. Think of the Vietnam War and the student protests in the 1960s: five KIA at Kent State University; but the punishments are far worse in Russia. The rabid Russians following Putin deserve their fate in Ukraine, like the zealous Nazis and SS of the Third Reich. The Kiev government advertises the fate of Russians on social media platforms with "DIU" or "KIU," particularly the officer corps.

Thank you, Doc Sarvis. Yes, Sergeant Reilly was branded with a "D" and he was made to watch the Irishmen who followed him (after official war was declared) hang, but they forgave and loved him. BTW: Congressman Abraham Lincoln was called "Spotty" Lincoln by the press because in Congress he would ask the war-mongers to "show him the spot on the map where the Mexicans attacked US forces". One hundred years later Mexican Air Force pilots would fly with the USAAC against Japan. They communicated in Spanish and several pilots were killed.

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To Doc Sarvis
Yes, you are correct about my term "conscript." The Irishmen were recruited with the promise of speeded up US citizenship. Nevertheless, they were treated as conscripts by the Protestant leadership. The UCMJ was correctly applied on John Reilly on the technicality you mentioned, but he was terribly whipped. I gave the book to my friend, so I can't tell you how many lashes he received, but I recall it was a merciless number.
Also, the Mexican-American War was a testing ground for West Point graduates, including Robert E. Lee who engineered a nearly impossible assault in Mexico City. Brothers who fought side-by-side with each other at the company and battalion level would face off against each other within 15 years at the brigade and division level.
Thank you for the correction.
C0RI0LANUS

During the Mexican-American War, Irish conscripts (emigrating from harsh British rule and the famine) were so terribly treated by the US Army company grade officers and NCOs for being Catholic, many of them defected to the Mexican Army where they were better treated. This was the era of the No-Nothing Party and anti-Catholic xenophobia. The St. Patrick's Battalion distinguished themselves in battle and to this day, the Mexican people honor "Los Patricios." There are a plethora of books about them as well as a movie starring Tom Berenger: "One Man's Hero." The film does an excellent job of summarizing the book.

Footnote: Thanks to General Santa Anna who chewed a natural gum called "chicle", his secretary would later invent Chiclets gum. For a time, General Santa Anna lived in Staten Island, NY as an exile and businessman.

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Frankenstein, arguably the first book about artificial intelligence (AI), deserves to be #1. Amongst other things in the novel, the sapient creature decries the fate of the darker indigenous peoples of North America at the hands of the colonists (and Mary Shelley wrote this in 1818).

I was surprised not to see John Wyndham ("Day of the Triffids", "The Midwich Cuckoos", and "The Kraken Wakes"). His 1955 novel "The Chrysalids" coined the term "Spider-Man" and used the term "mutants" for intelligent people born with extra powers. Marvel Comics creator Stan Lee must have read this novel as Spider-Man and the X-Men comics soon followed in 1961 or 1962.

D.F. Jones and the "Colossus" trilogy might have been honorable mentions.

This just goes to show that everyone, including the curator from Esquire who organized the list, have different tastes.

Ironically, one of Vladimir Putin's goals was to amalgamate all of the Slavic peoples under the Kremlin and protect the "Russian Nation" to counter the EU/NATO to his West, but also as a demographic counterweight to China's burgeoning 1.45 billion population to his East. Before the invasion, Russia's population was in steep decline because of slumping birth rates and emigration. Their demography is already gender-skewed as their women are asking: "Where are all the men?"

The war has caused mass exodus and horrific casualty rates for both Russia and Ukraine which will exponentially decrease the future population of the Slavic peoples as a "nation", the exact opposite of Putin's initial goal of a robust "Pan-Slavic Nation" led by the Kremlin.

Putin might also be wondering if a post-Lukashenko Belarus in the future will be pro-Moscow as their people today are opposed to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

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As posted on this website a few days ago, some states are now allowing ammunition to be sold through vending machines which will no doubt add to the numbers of homicides, suicides, and accidental killings recorded in the well maintained Gun Violence Archive.

"In 2021, there were a total of 48,830 firearm deaths in the US, an increase of 3,608 or 8% from 2020." The total number includes suicide, homicide, and accidental shootings.

Total US military personnel KIA during the Vietnam War: 58,281

So, who needs the Afghan Taliban, al-Qaida, the Viet Cong, the NVA, ISIS, or the Fedayeen Saddam (FS) to kill Americans when we are doing a terrific job of it ourselves by suicide, homicide, or accident every year?

By contrast, below are statistics from our neighbor to the north who have approximately 1/10th the US population:

"In 2021, there were 297 victims of homicide in Canada where shooting was the primary cause of death, a rate of 0.78 per 100,000 population. This marked the highest rate since 1992."

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Remarkable that San Antonio will spend $550 million dollars on a relic to miliary aggression against Mexico when the city is facing increased homelessness, a recent major hospital closure, and a history of power outages because of severe weather and poor infrastructure.

None of this should be a surprise to anyone. Dysfunctional people can't discern dysfunctional environments. When Republicans tell me "America is the greatest country in the world," I ask them politely: "Well, what's wrong with Germany or Finland, with their low crime rates, living wages, universal healthcare, high environmental standards, and accessible (even free) colleges?" Answers: "Don't know, don't care; I've never been there, never going."

Most of the greatest goniffs and frauds America incubated over the past several decades have been white male hypocrites and/or kleptocrats who achieved either power, wealth, and/or iconic status, to wit: Michael Milken, Alex Jones, Ted Cruz, Jack Welch, Ron DeSantis, Jim (and Tammy Faye) Bakker, Mitch McConnell, Jeffrey Epstein, Armand Hammer, J. Edgar Hoover, PV1 Michael Flynn, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Dick Cheney, Bernie Madoff, Erik Prince, Lindsey Graham, Joseph McCarthy, Richard M. Nixon, Harvey Weinstein, Donald J. Trump, "Dubya", and now we must all hold our noses for emigre megalomaniac Elon Musk.

a) Did we miss anyone? b) Are posting citations necessary?

Nota Bene: From a veteran's perspective, Dick Cheney, Dan Quayle, Mitt Romney, "W", and "45" all found ways to evade military service in Vietnam. Meanwhile standing on his principles, the legendary heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali was stripped of his championship title on 28 April 1967 for refusing induction to the US Army. One of his most vocal advocates was a sportscaster named Howard Cosell.

Now compare the rogue's gallery at the top with President Jimmy Carter (who eventually commanded a nuclear submarine after graduating with distinction from the USNA) and JFK (who was awarded a Purple Heart in the USN during WWII). Finally, recall President Barack "No Drama" Obama who delivered to the American people the ACA (Obamacare) and Osama Bin Laden, who suffered zero scandals in his two-term tenure.

Endnote: The unelected Politburo known as SCOTUS deserves a separate screed.