Fidel Castro, former dictator of Cuba; idol of the American Left; and one of the 20th Century's most prominent international arch-criminals died last night at the ripe old age of 90.
Castro's catalogue of crimes is so vast and the extent of human misery he unleashed on the world so widespread that detailing them all is probably best left to Another Judge before Whom Castro is answering as we write. But some of his more prominent villainies were:
*Overthrowing the legitimate Cuban government and looting the entire country.
*Numerous mass-murders committed while doing the above.
*Persecution of the Church.
*Driving thousands of innocent people into exile.
*Nearly starting WW3 by instigating the Cuban Missile Crisis.
*Suspected---not without good reason---of complicity in the murder of President John F. Kennedy.
*Sending abroad thugs like Che Guevara and his gang of bandits to terrorize and destabilize Latin America.
*Running international smuggling rings and funneling weapons and narcotics into the US.
*Covertly aiding Communist cells in the United States.
*Helping to impose Communist regimes in Nicaragua, Mozambique, Angola, Ethiopia, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe (former Rhodesia) among other places.
*The Mariel Boatlift.
*Nearly starting WW3 again by taking American hostages in Grenada.
Essentially, there were very few crimes that Castro wasn't involved in at one point or another. As if to put an exclamation point on his especially evil life, Castro was one of the few world leaders to endorse Hilary Clinton during the 2016 elections. In many ways, his character resembled that Hilary's husband, Bill Clinton. We reflect upon the lives of such men and find no point in their lives when they weren't utter blackguards. Such characters are a source of mystery and speculation. Many evildoers had a point in their lives that changed them; but in cases like Castro's, we look for one in vain.
As for the Cuban people, they doubtless feel as though a great weight were lifted off their shoulders. Obama may actually have unintentionally done something right in normalizing relations with Cuba; because now the Trump Administration now has a free hand deal with Cuba through non-military means. We await the future, but for the Cuban people a dark chapter in theirs---and the world's---history has finally closed.
Thanksgiving Day used to be the unofficial beginning of the holiday season in the United States; when we were still a very spiritual country. Today however, when money is a god and narcotics are the path to holiness; the appropriately-named Black Friday represents the real spirit moving postmodern America. Black Friday is an unofficial holiday where minimum-wage employees are subjected to 24 hours of abuse, as Prozac-fueled Ameroboobs storm department stores and butcher and maim one another.
Better that readers of our site stay home and enjoy an exciting film that combines a great story with uplifting the spirit and showing the better side of man. Our recommendation for this weekend is a forgotten classic: Noah's Ark.
Noah's Ark was released in 1928 by Warner Brothers Studios and starred George O'Brien and the beautiful Dolores Costello in the lead roles. There are two parallel stories that run in this film, with both emphasizing the Providence of God over the selfishness of man. The film had a budget equivalent to $15 million in today's dollars and grossed an equivalent of $33 million worldwide.
The story begins with two American friends on a tour Europe shortly before WW1. On board a train, a sinister Russian Communist starts a brawl with a Christian missionary, who is rescued by the two Americans. The train subsequently meets with a wreck, and Travis (O'Brien) rescues a German girl named Marie (Dolores Costello). The two marry and live in Europe until WW1 breaks out. Travis enlists with the Americans, while Marie joins a show entertaining the troops.
While separated, the couple experience some sad misfortunes. Travis' best friend dies in a friendly-fire incident, while Marie is discovered by the Communist from the train. She refuses his advances and---typical of most Leftists when they don't get their way---he frames her with false evidence that she is a German spy. Marie is sent to the firing squad, but Travis intervenes to stop the execution. Just then a German artillery barrage strikes; the couple take refugee in a mission which caves in on them. While trapped there, they discover that the Christian missionary they'd rescued from the train is trapped with them. In the midst of this hopeless situation, the missionary begins a sermon on the story of Noah.
The film then shifts to a genuine Biblical epic, with O'Brien playing Noah's son Japheth and Dolores Costello playing his lover, Miriam. Miriam is selected to be sacrificed to an idol and Japheth attempts to rescue her, but is captured. The Deluge interrupts these events, and Japheth rescues Miriam and brings her to the safety of the Ark at the last moment.
Will a divine miracle save Travis and Marie? One must watch Noah's Ark to see.
Modern critical reviews of Noah's Ark get so concerned with the technicalities of this story that they miss the film's entire point. This should be expected in an unspiritual age like ours. They complain that the two storylines are in conflict: why blend a fairly standard WW1 drama with a Biblical epic? This is because the story was meant to demonstrate that epics of Biblical proportions are enacted on a smaller scale in our modern lives and that God's Providence acts through all of it. As Christ taught in the New Testament, God sees even the sparrow that falls to the ground. The two storylines are not in conflict: they are in mutual dependence. In the eyes of man, the story of Japheth and Miriam are epic; while in the Eyes of God, the love of an American soldier and a German actress are equally epic and important. Humanity and Civilization may be defined by epic battles; but the day-to-day struggles of Good against Evil maintain both.
As for the epic scenes in Noah's Ark, they are cinematic masterpieces. The Flood Scene is probably the most realistic ever filmed. The producers actually constructed an artificial reservoir filled with over a million gallons of water, which was released for the filming and covered at multiple camera-angles. Three extras were actually injured in filming the Deluge Scene (modern critics' stories of the mass-casualties inflicted during this scene are wildly exaggerated; actually more people were injured on Black Friday today).
As of this writing, Noah's Ark is available only on DVD. It should be noted that the film was originally produced as a silent film, but some sound sections were added as 1928 was a transitional year for sound technology. These sequences don't detract from the film's merit, they are merely products of the technology of their time. As a interesting note of trivia: John Wayne was among the extras in the Deluge Scene, and the contemporary actress Drew Barrymore is Dolores Costello's granddaughter.
After the Clinton Machine was finally politically destroyed on November 8th, it became clear that the Democratic Party will have to rebuild. The Clintons' internal corruption and tyrannical imperiousness took the Party down with it on Election Night. This is not a bad thing, by any means. The Democratic Party has been in need of an overhaul since probably 1968---the last election where the Democratic candidate wasn't someone from the extreme Left.
It's a good bet, however, that Soros, Podesta, the Saudi Royal Family, and other interested parties aren't going to give up the franchise so easily. The Clintons and Obamas were useful pawns over the last three decades, but are now politically expendable. It's in the interest of these Beltway/Wall Street powerbrokers to move the Party even further Left. It's in the interest of actual American Democrats to move the Party back to the center, but that is beside the point.
To this end, Wall Street and the Corporate Media are promoting candidates who will be as divisive as possible. Symone Sanders, an obese, clipped-haired Black Lives Matter thug, who's now become a CNN political analyst (usually a six-figure salary job at CNN) stated on Wednesday that,
"In my opinion, we don't need white people running the Democratic Party right now. The Democratic Party is diverse; and that should be reflected as so in our leadership and throughout the staff, at the highest levels."
In case Symone hasn't noticed, Barack Obama---the first Black president---is a Democrat. His main achievements for the Democratic Party were losing control of Congress to the Republicans twice, and making the Democratic Party an international laughing-stock. The candidate he endorsed as his successor was beaten by a man who'd never held elective office in his life.
But Sanders is hired to say perverted and divisive things. Last week, she defended some Chicago carjackers who beat up a Trump supporter in the street.
The Democratic Party---if it hopes to be relevant again---needs to flush extremists out of its party along with the other corrupt elements. And Symone Sanders is another example of why the Mass Media needs reform as well. Crackpots like Sanders are simply on CNN to be inflammatory and contribute nothing of any value to our political discourse. The reason we've seen gutter-level politics in the US recently is because sleazy tabloid-level Corporate Media outlets like CNN promote it.
Most of us (maybe with the exception of students in postmodern schools) know the story of the Pilgrim Fathers and the First Thanksgiving. The holiday though was recognized by various states and not by the Federal Government as a national holiday until 1863, when President Lincoln established it by Executive Order.
The year 1863 was pivotal in the US Civil War. It was the year of the Emancipation Proclamation and two decisive victories over the Rebels; at Vicksburg and Gettysburg. The latter battle occasioned Lincoln's order to establish Thanksgiving Day; which in many ways is a uniquely American holiday celebrating both our Christian and Constitutional principles. The Secessionists hung on pointlessly for another year and a half; finally crowning all their crimes by treacherously assassinating Lincoln after he'd given them more generous peace terms than they deserved.
Abraham Lincoln's reputation has fallen on difficult times recently. The Radical Right hates Lincoln because they sympathize with the Secessionists; and the Radical Left hates him because he was a famous white male who accomplished great things. In many ways, there are parallels between Lincoln's career and our own recent election.
The Election of 1860 was also a divisive one. Like Trump, Lincoln faced a hostile press and opposition candidates bent on not accepting the election results, should he win. Like the Clinton Machine, the Democrat candidates stood for a corrupted, entrenched system and were teeming with radicals who'd been conspiring against the Constitution for years. Lincoln was also condemned by the then-Elites for his lack of experience and promises to unify a divided country.
Lincoln won the Election of 1860 with a plurality of popular votes, though decisively in the Electoral College, and this spawned the ancestors of the Not My President crowd of 2016 and the interested Elites into action. The Secessionists had been plotting an overthrow of the Government for some time. Jefferson Davis, the ringleader of the rebellion, married the daughter of President Taylor and floated the idea shortly after the 1848. Taylor's energetic response and pro-Union stand convinced the traitors that they had bet on the wrong horse. Taylor died under mysterious circumstances in 1849 and was succeeded by the ignorant and ineffectual President Fillmore. Matters grew worse in 1852, when the Democrats nominated the inept and alcoholic Franklin Pierce to the presidency. Davis served as Pierce's Defense Secretary and moved arsenals and military facilities to South; as well as flooding West Point with Southern-born cadets and appointing Robert E. Lee as its head. In 1856, the incapacitated Pierce declined re-election in favor of a weak and suspected homosexual James Buchanan who was on record as saying that secession was a Constitutional Right.
Like Trump, Lincoln took the presidency after a string of incompetent, weak, and corrupt leaders had primed America for internal collapse. Though he won the confidence of the people, Lincoln was fought by interested elites and cunning fanatics during his entire presidency. The treasonous Secessionists were even being covertly aided by the British; who were still smarting after their defeat in America during the War of 1812. But Lincoln never lost his Faith in God, his convictions, or his belief in humanity during four years of civil war.
During the war, Lincoln refused calls to suspend the 1864 Elections and was successfully re-elected against a pacifist candidate. He also refused Rebel demands on prisoner-of-war exchanges unless the Confederates agreed to give Black POWs the same status as Whites. Lincoln once also countermanded some anti-Semitic orders imposed by his military governors and issued orders protecting Jewish Americans.
Lincoln's Administration not only defeated the Secessionists. Many of his forward-looking policies set the course for future Americans. He established the Department of Agriculture and land-grants for agricultural colleges, which made the US the leading agricultural power for the next century. In 1862, he augmented these policies with the Homestead Act---which was responsible for creating thousands of family-farms in the West. Lincoln also authorized subsidies for the transcontinental railroad project---which would enable commerce on a previously-unrealized scale nationwide. In 1864, Lincoln issued Federal protection for the future Yosemite National Park.
In addition to freeing the slaves, Lincoln also proposed Indian policy reform following the Sioux Uprising of 1862. Lincoln pardoned over 200 Indians sentenced to death after their defeat, though the ringleaders were executed: according to some sources, because they were Confederate agents. He also stabilized the currency with some tax and banking reforms that were years ahead of their time. Lincoln nominated five Supreme Court Justices, among them the famous jurists Salmon P. Chase and Noah Swayne.
So on Thanksgiving 2016, we can see that the political and social turmoil we see around us today was present on the first Thanksgiving in 1863. Lincoln still stands tall as an example for us today: hold fast to faith, convictions, and a belief in man---and we can come through the current upheavals as our forefathers did in Lincoln's Era; better and stronger than before.
This holiday season is starting out as a very joyless one for certain segments of the Prozac Nation. When legal technicalities like Constitutional Law and Democratic Elections get in the way, some Americans seem to be experiencing a complete mental breakdown. Crashing the Canadian Immigration Service's website on Election Night was just the start. Now, hysterical Ameroboobs are running wild; wearing diaper pins, burning flags, and 'occupying' public bathrooms. Trying to manipulate/abolish the Electoral College. Demanding bogus vote recounts. Calling for national labor strikes. Making online threats against Trump and his supporters. Seriously talking about Secession. All of this is complete nonsense, and another national embarrassment---brought to us courtesy of the 'elite' Left.
Now, the day before the Holiday Season, the Left is advocating outright censorship. The European Union---a gang of Obama Administration/Clinton Foundation/George Soros shills---passed a resolution condemning Russian media outlets for allegedly interfering with the US Election; even going so far as to equate them with ISIS propaganda. This resolution was non-binding and totally symbolic, of course. The Obama Administration has had a long history of floating controversial subjects through the EU or UN.
There is a big push going on in the Corporate Media, not only to suppress foreign news, but using the Government to crackdown on so-called 'Fake News Sites.' They are also pressuring Facebook, Google, and Youtube (which is owned by Google) to shut down access to such sites. The Corporate Media is even circulating a list of targeted sites---every one of which is, of course, an openly Conservative sites. This list was devised by an obscure Professor of Communications at Merrimack College named Melissa Zimdars, a self-described 'Feminist Activist' whose boasted specialty seems to center on Fat-Shaming in the media.
Merrimack College is located in Massachusetts. It is a nominally Catholic school, once run by the Augustinians. Like many American parochial schools, however, they found the Federal Trough a more lucrative source of revenue than stipends from the Vatican; and that surrendering Catholic values for political correctness enhanced their popularity among the Cultural Elites. Merrimack's website boasts itself in "the Augustinian Tradition" which is a bit ironic considering that Augustinian friars take a Vow of Poverty. The tradition hardly seems to square with Merrimack's $37,000 annual tuition.
A Wikipedia list of Merrimack's 28 most notable alumni consists of 13 professional hockey players; 2 professional football players; 2 professional baseball players; 1 professional lacrosse player; the Director of the Boston Marathon; an actor; and 2 professional band members. The others were minor politicians and writers. Such is the scope and depth of what the Corporate Media considers a national-policy setting institution.
As for Professor Zimdars herself, she has only been employed at Merrimack a little more than a year; having graduated from the University of Iowa in 2014.
Sputnik News interviewed a real academic, Dr. Matthew Dal Santo of the University of Copenhagen.
"There is already an impression in many circles that the mainstream (American) press is selective in its choices of stories to report and in choice of terms to frame them." Professor Dal Santo said, "How will the reportage of fact be sifted from opinion? And what of cases where the truth simply isn't known? It would be very concerning if powerful individuals such as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who is worth $51 billion had the power to choose which websites to suppress. These aren't questions I would like to leave in the hands of Mr. Zuckerberg."
Dr. Dal Santo held up Election coverage as a prime example. "Most people expect the press to observe basic ethical standards regarding the truthfulness of its reporting. But numerous critics have pointed out the Corporate Media's biased coverage, complete with half-truths, fake polls, and other unethical approaches to journalism. This has resulted in a huge shift towards alternative, independent, and foreign media."
Not to mention that many journalists and Corporate Media outlets were donors to the Clinton Machine; and many of their parent-companies on Wall Street were given hefty government contracts through Clinton's influence.
It's sad that Massachusetts, a state originally founded by British refugees seeking liberty of conscience should be the epicenter of so much recent Anti-Democracy initiatives. And even worse, on Thanksgiving---a tradition started by these same refugees. As our last great president from Massachusetts once said:
Our 44th President's final official state visit came to a merciful conclusion in Lima, Peru yesterday. The annual Asia-Pacific Economic Conference saw an essential repeat of Obama's disastrous performance and diplomatic snubbing as October's G-20 Summit in China. Obama left Peru having accomplished absolutely nothing while his enemies, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, dominated the conference.
Donald Trump's announcement that he would shelve Obama's proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) plan in January, and the repudiation of Obama's policies during the last election effectively reduced Obama's influence at APEC to that of a figurehead. The day after Trump's announcement, the Japanese Empire threw up the sponge on TPP. Even Obama's arrival in Peru was greeted by 5,000 anti-TPP protestors, and things went downhill for him from there. Vladimir Putin, however, who widely admired in South America was greeted by throngs of cheering crowds.
But, like the G-20, it was China's president Xi Jinping who set the tone for the Summit. Obama's failed 'Pivot to Asia' combined with the collapse of TPP has created an enormous power vacuum in the Pacific. Corporate Media shilling for Obama and the distractions of the 2016 Presidential Campaign have left many Americans completely unaware of how just how badly Obama's policies in the Pacific have damaged American economic and political power in the region. The losses the US sustained in the Pacific this year were monumental and left China to fill the void.
The incoming Trump Administration is definitely going to be obliged to reconsider some of Trump's hardline campaign positions vis-à-vis China. During the last year alone, the US has lost The Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore as exclusive allies to the Chinese; while Vietnam and Japan are turning to Russia. Indonesia is pursuing a more independent course, while Okinawa and South Korea have fallen into deep political unrest. Taiwan's position is increasingly precarious. During this weekend's conference, Putin and Xi discussed connecting the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union with China's New Silk Road project.
South American participants at APEC also expressed optimism at greater relations with China. Another fact that few Americans realize is that China is Latin America's 2nd-largest trading partner both in imports and exports. That relationship has only strengthened during the Obama Administration. Obama scrapped the Bush Administration proposal to create a free-trade zone in Latin America; and China reaped the benefits of that neglect. Obama's skullduggery in Mexico, Ecuador, Paraguay and Brazil have not helped US-Latin American relations either.
These things considered, it is to be hoped that Trump will follow through on his political advisors' suggestions that Mitt Romney be nominated for Secretary of State. Romney, like Trump, is a former CEO---but unlike Trump has considerable experience negotiating foreign economic deals. Romney has a good rapport with China and is well-respected in Latin America. He would be able to handle foreign affairs capably while Trump concentrates on domestic issues and internal rebuilding---which seem to be his primary focus.
Many Conservatives have little interest in global geopolitics, but Obama's utter impotence at the last G-20, ASEAN, and APEC Summits are not like we would want to see Trump. Trump is right in that rebuilding the US needs to be a top priority; but we cannot allow ourselves to fall to 2nd or 3rd-rate status in the global economy either. Trump has already shown some positive inclinations in this direction; by speaking of a new 'Bilateral Approach' to world trade. Actually, bilateralism has been the secret to China's foreign trade successes under Xi Jinping. Trump's announcement today that Nicky Haley would be UN Ambassador is also a positive step, as she is a very popular political figure in Asia.
So let us hope that APEC 2016 is the final scene in a long string of American foreign policy embarrassments. A future, less politically-correct generation is going to assess the Obama Legacy in foreign policy as an unmitigated disaster---very likely among the worst, if not the worst, administration in its handling of foreign affairs.
Less than 24 hours after President-Elect Donald Trump sent arrogant representatives of the US Corporate Media from Trump Tower in humiliated shame, he turned his attention to the so-called 'Alternative Media'. This weekend's outburst of anti-American, pro-Nazi behavior at Richard Spencer's National Policy Institute led Trump to address this situation, which has been an irritant to his entire campaign.
"Of course I disavow and condemn them." Trump stated to the humbled press, "It's not a group I want to energize. And if they are energized, I want to find out why."
The last phrase---which has the ominous suggestion of potential official investigation--- has the Manosphere Red Pill Cult and their Nazi Allies feeling the pinch, to say the least. Spencer's downfall has taken two prominent Red Pills---Steve Sailer and Jack Donovan---down along with him. Sailer and Donovan both are writers for Spencer's various publications. Donovan, a homosexual and former ordained minister in the Church of Satan, is also a member of a neo-pagan White Supremacist cult called The Wolves of Vinland.
Mike Cernovich, as we mentioned yesterday, actually disavowed Spencer even before Trump. To his credit, he isn't backing down, despite a barrage of Red Pill and Nazi attacks. Apparently, angry Manospherians are even going so far as to troll his book reviews on Amazon and downvote them---such are the fanatics he dealt with. But hopefully, Cernovich is now seeing their true colors.
Vox Day, in contrast, is encouraging his disciples to go their safe spaces, to Manosphere echo-chambers like Gab. Vox' articles are sounding increasingly desperate, as his fantasies of Trump as God-Emperor who ethnically cleanses America and reduces women to sexual chattel are receding before reality. Vox claimed today that Trump's "approval or disapproval of them is irrelevant," and tried to claim Politico's firing of a writer who doxxed Spencer as some great victory. His confederate, Andrew Anglin of the Nazi blog The Daily Stormer tried to brush off Trump's disavowal as media pandering.
But there's no doubt now that the Red Pills and their Nazi camp-followers are running scared. Real America may have spoken by electing Trump; but the realization is dawning on the Far Right that aren't part of Real America after all.
