11 Days Remaining (10/23/26 - 7 min)

Top 3 - None this edition.

***

Hope Celine was Good

While his country is besieged and reduced to cinders, French President, Emmanuel Macron, managed to take in a Celine Dion concert Friday night. Reminds me of LA mayor Karen Bass who went on a jaunt to Ghana while LA was being consumed by wildfire. What is it with flames and junkets?

In case anybody is wondering if the grievances leading to the conflagration and insurrection of Western Europe's 3rd largest country have anything to do with France's restrictive social policies...they don't. France is 3rd in social benefits spending in the world, behind only Austria and Finland. They also formally recognized Palestinian statehood in 2025. Thank you very much.

Here's a few anecdotes that better highlight why it is no coincidence France is going down the tubes.

Sign outside the Louvre: "Dear visitors, apologies for the temporary closing for a student social movement." Oh yeah...that and we're on fire.

Allahu Akbar: Protestors are taking prayer breaks before they finish looting Louis Vuitton.

Open Doors: 20% of Paris' population are immigrants. Half the Muslim population of France, now 10%, was born in Africa.  Catholicism is down from 85% of the French population in 1985 to 43% now.  57% of a poll conducted among ages 15 to 24 said Sharia law should trump French law.

Not Just France: 4,102 babies were born in England and Wales with the last name "Smith" in 2025. 3,772 were born with the surname "Khan". In 1996 every first name in the top 10 in Britain was of established British origin. By 2025, only 3 of 10. Mohammed is the most common name for boys born in Britain now.

Pretty simple, no? Like the French madame said..."Assimilation is a myth". Recognize Palestine - Become Palestine. Import the 3rd World - Become the 3rd World. Racist? Probably. Survivalist - You Bet.

For the record, Italy is experiencing similar but far less widespread uprisings. At least PM Giorgia Meloni is taking some action. Sending 500 troops to Milan. Too bad, Tony Soprano's not still with us. Along with Paulie and Sil, T woulda fixed this in a heartbeat. Dollars to Doughnuts, UK is next.

Persian Gulf oil exports have surpassed prewar levels,

An improvised shipping system under U.S. protection is helping tankers move oil through one of Iran’s fiercest waves of attacks in the Strait of Hormuz. Middle East oil flows, including shipments through Hormuz and alternative routes across the region, averaged more than 24 million barrels a day in the week through Oct. 18, surpassing prewar levels of 23.3 million, according to ship tracker Kpler.

Preliminary figures show Hormuz oil flows, including offshore transfers in the Gulf of Oman, came to around 14 million barrels a day on average for the same period, or 82% of prewar levels.

AI: China Forging Ahead

China now trains more AI talent than any other country. It has a pool of 51,000 active AI researchers compared with 14,000 in the United States, according to data from Digital Science

From the Goldman Sachs China Report:

·  China accounts for 77% of global token usage but only 22% of token spending. This is what widespread AI adoption at low prices looks like. And it is the channel through which Chinese competition will pressure prices elsewhere.

·  China shipped 97% of humanoid robots in the first half of 2026. Alongside China’s 75% share of EV production and 80% of battery production, China basically owns the physical side of AI and AI-adjacent technologies.

·   The industrial base behind the AI buildout is already concentrated in China: 60% of global transformer production capacity, 60% of PCB and optical-module production, 77% of new foundry capacity, and 90% of rare-earth refining.

Bollocksing Ukraine

Gotta say Trump is making a hash up out of the Ukraine war. His was a great idea to make Euros pay for the missiles etc. that Ukraine needed to fend off the Russkies. But these latest moves are very short-sighted.

Determined to leave no stone unturned to lower gas and diesel prices before midterms, Trump is playing ball with Putin. He struck a deal to acquire diesel from Russia, is relieving sanctions and is urging Ukraine to give up lands occupied during the war.

Last week Trump announced yet another bogus truce under which both Russia and Ukraine would stop bombing each other's oil depots. Ukraine obeyed. Russia did not. It's ridiculous that we should be asking Ukraine to stop attacking their enemy's main source of funding. Isn't that what we are doing in Iran?

Real bad look on Trump's part especially since no way it makes a difference on November 3rd. Ick.

A Gift to Democrats

Trump is completing plans to create a sovereign wealth fund, which is not uncommon especially for oil-rich, Middle Eastern nations. He plans to use this vehicle to buy stakes in up to 40 privately held corporations...initially.

Just to remind...While this may sound like a good idea - you know the government earns a return when these companies prosper - in fact, it is not. Why? Because someday the Democrats will be in charge. Can you imagine how they would influence oil and gas companies, defense contractors and anybody else that doesn't play ball or fit their agenda?

WNBA Players Walk Out on Anthem

What are these people thinking? What are League officials and team owners smoking?

Both WNBA teams competing for the championship walked off the court during the Star Spangled banner. What kind of a rock do they live under? Did they not learn anything from Nike, the NFL and other anti-American displays. First they diss Caitlyn who is singularly responsible for all the attention and money they're receiving.

Update: Did it again.

Sorry, Lebron's a Jackass

Practicing his golf swing during the national anthem. Not the first time.

One thing to hate Trump and disagree with his party or policies. Quite another to disrespect the flag that so many young men and women died to protect. Classless ingrate.

What Do Saudi Problems Say about Future Wars?

The ragtag thugs from Yemen, the Houthis, just drone-attacked Saudi Arabia's main airport killing 13 and injuring 300. Things are so bad even Britain got off its butt and sent jets to help. Egypt and Israel too.

Now get this. Saudi Arabia has been on a decades long spending spree to upgrade its military. The Saudis are now 8th in the world in military spending. What the hell are they buying when drones costing a pittance can do this kind of damage?

Illuminates brightly two things. Low cost attack capability overwhelms high end interceptors every time. The world, meaning U.S. principally, can't produce enough Patriots and other high end interceptors to keep the thugs off their backs.

Fake polls Have Big Consequences

Wedgewood Polls announced they intentionally put out bogus polling data. Wedgewood Polls has admitted that it fabricated polling data. The revelation broke on October 20, 2026, after an investigation exposed serious inconsistencies in its purported survey results. The scandal is particularly significant because its polls had been cited by major news outlets and election-polling aggregators. The firm admitted the results were fake.

After being challenged, Wedgewood publicly described its operation as an experiment intended to expose weaknesses in political polling and demonstrate how easily fabricated results could enter the news cycle.

The impact of polls is not limited to voter influence. It directs campaign donations and ad spending.

Fact: Arab leaders rejected the 1947 UN partition plan for Palestine, which would have created a Jewish state and an Arab state. 

The Arab side would have received a larger share of the land than Israel ultimately controlled after the 1948 war.

Obama campaigning in Michigan for El-Sayed just got up again and lied. He boldly accused Israel of "taking Palestine from the Palestinians" during Israel's founding in 1948. Lies, lies, lies. Sure, Abdul El-Sayed was never connected to the Muslim Brotherhood. Only his mother and sister were and he himself declared his connection a few years back. Heck, Obama himself put his sister on the terrorist "watch list'. Sure, Ilhan Omar didn't commit immigration fraud or marry her brother to get in. Sure.

Oh yeah, Abraham lived in what is now Israel about 4000 years ago.

Musings:

Sound like Anyone You Know?

"We opened our borders and outsourced our industry. We allowed our militaries to wither and to decay.

The word nationalism became a dirty word. So we tore down our monuments, we condemned our own history, and in too many places we taught our children to be ashamed of the country they would inherit.

With every passing year, we outsourced more of our sovereignty, transferring our decisions to global bureaucracies far beyond the reach of our control.

As the West's confidence faltered, its adversaries and rivals only grew more assertive.

Fanatics, like the radical mullahs of Iran, were emboldened with their cult of death that hails child suicide bombers as national heroes and portrays martyrdom as an end to itself. Our heroes may be willing to die for their cause, but our heroes do not worship death. 

Against that backdrop, then, as now, many came to believe that the West's age of dominance had come to an end, and that our future is destined to be a faint and feeble echo of our past. But together, we must recognize that decline was a choice, and it is a choice we refuse to make.

We do not need allies shackled by guilt and shame. We want allies that are proud of our culture and our heritage, and understand that we are heirs to the same great and noble civilization. And who, together with us, are willing and able to defend it.

We don't want allies to rationalize the broken status quo, but rather reckon with what is necessary to fix it. For we, in America, have no interest in being polite and orderly caretakers of the West's decline. We do not seek to separate, but to revitalize an old friendship and renew the greatest civilization in human history."

Sounds reaghanesque but was actually Secretary of State, Marco Rubio speaking to NATO allies from the steps of the Parthenon in Athens, Greece. Damn, I wish he gave Trump's speeches.

Sad but Oh So True.

Democrats warn: Abolishment of the Department of Education could result in kids being too smart to vote for Democrats.

Young people warn: "Stop Trump before we all end up with jobs!"

Older People lament: "Sorry but I'm too old to live under socialism. I've become addicted to toilet paper, two kinds of bread, electricity and shoes."

Isn't...

Abject loyalty the abdication of judgment?

Enjoy your weekend. Go early vote...please.