Tues Blogcast: Our Egyptologist!; Brian Morra's Righteous Arrows; MMA dude

Just One Thing: Can this be America?

As cynical as I’ve become about today’s old children and young adults, it’s still disappointing and dismaying to see so many masked teens and 20-somethings wearing terrorist rags and masks, protesting on bridges and highways, yelling death to Israel, death to America, and Israel go to hell, along with a bunch of nonsense about how capitalism is genocide. Every one of these anti-civilization anti-freedom anti-rationality cretins represents a massive failure of something: mostly of higher education but also of parenting and media and even culture. I know there have always been rebellious and counter-culture young people in America. And plenty of them have thought socialism and free love and so on were good ideas. This is something different. This is supporting evil. I guess I’m not surprised they’re wearing masks. They should be ashamed of themselves.

-

Today's Guests

Khaled Lotfi was the guide and Egyptologist for our listener trip to Egypt in March. He's a true expert on Egypt with many years of study, not just a guy who read a few pamphlets that he regurgitates to visitors. We thoroughly enjoyed his knowledge and his company and thought it would be nice to share some with you today including some great personal stories. Khaled is in the middle of this picture:

--------

Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander ADM James Stavridis joins us to discuss the Israel/Iran situation. It's long been a tinderbox. Now someone's lit a match.

Admiral James Stavridis (admiralstav.com)

Israel, US Missile Defense Against Iran Was Amazing. It'll Get Harder. - Bloomberg

--------

Brian J Morra is a former Air Force Intelligence officer who joined the show a couple years back for his first great book, The Able Archers, based on historical events during which the US and the USSR probably reached their closest to actual nuclear war. Brian's new book, The Righteous Arrows, (published today!) is also historical fiction, this time about the end of Russia's time, and the beginning of the American misadventure, in Afghanistan.

Author Brian J. Morra (brianjmorra.com)

Brian has recently provided expert commentary on the Cold War for CBS, the BBC, and for Netflix’s upcoming docuseries “Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War,” releasing on March 12 (Trailer).

The Righteous Arrows: Morra, Brian J: 9798888242827: Amazon.com: Books

-

Other Stuff

Let's make sure the public understands just what's going on here: Colorado Democrats' plan to gut TABOR and redirect money to anti-poverty measure - Axios Denver

--------

Looks like Denver is taking me up on my request for the city to be less "welcoming" of illegals: Denver takes new immigrant policy to front lines, sending city officials to Texas - Axios Denver

--------

This is a big deal: Johnson Says House Will Vote on Stalled Aid to Israel and Ukraine - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

1 big thing: Johnson chooses showdown (Axios.com) https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-sneak-peek-3b0d722b-aae3-4eec-a485-d9e52c4655e5.html?chunk=0&utm_term=twsocialshare#story0

Quick thoughts: Selling off Russian assets is not obviously legal even though I understand the motivation and how it could be a popular thing with the public. Adding TikTok ban is nonsense.

But as a tactic this could work…could see all of the aid packages pass, some with more Dem support than others, and the far-right appeasement package fail.

--------

I probably won't talk about this on the show but it's a fun article for those who love language: Lost in Translation: An Illustrated Catalog of Beautiful Untranslatable Words from Around the World – The Marginalian

--------

Can't say I didn't warn you: The Truth Social trap is already happening as I told ya it would:

Trump Media falls 18% after filing plans to issue more DJT stock (cnbc.com)

Truth Social investing is about faith in Trump, not business fundamentals - The Washington Post

The ‘short’ story behind Donald Trump's Truth Social platform (nypost.com)

--------

I'm not expert to know if this case has merit. It sure does seem like these guys are at least close to monopolists, but close isn't the same as actual monopolists. Justice Department to File Antitrust Suit Against Live Nation - WSJ

--------

I guess it would be somewhat stunning to walk into a courtroom as potential juror and see the former president standing there: Potential jurors stunned as they file into New York courtroom and see Trump on trial

As Trump’s Manhattan Trial Begins, Prospective Jurors Are Dismissed in Dozens - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

How Americans view Trump's hush money case, per an AP-NORC poll | AP News

--------

I owe you this from yesterday:

‘My hoo haa is gonna be out’: US Olympians slam Nike for skimpy women’s track kit | USA Olympic team | The Guardian

--------

I am not nearly as confident as so many others that we've avoided recession. This one story doesn't mean one's coming. But there sure are a lot of big tech companies laying people off. (And, yes, Tesla is basically a tech company.) Tesla layoffs: 10% of employees impacted, read the Elon Musk memo (cnbc.com)

--------

Interesting stuff about marathons including about average finishing times and average winning times: The Popularity of Marathons - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

-

Today's Videos

This has a LOT of swearing. NOT for kids or the office. But how about a Brazilian MMA fighter, Renato "Money" Moicano, who loves the First Amendment, the Constitution, and Ludwig von Mises and Austrian economics?

The Premier of Alberta, Canada gets it right on the magical thinking behind powering everything with "green" energy

Exactly right