The Downhill Slope of Reading and Books - Intellectual Takeout

Inspired by author David McCullough’s tribute to Herman Wouk in the former’s book, “History Matters,” I recently picked up a copy of Wouk’s “The Winds of War” and dove into the story. - Jeff Minick

• As I read, Wouk’s book triggered a couple of questions far removed from the storyline. 

My copy of “The Winds of War” is 885 pages of small print. 

With so many characters, the plot is complicated. 

To someone ignorant of the main events of that time, the history might be impossible. 

Yet the novel ran on bestseller lists for months. 

Sales soared in 1983, following a miniseries based on the book.

• Given its size and its assumptions, I wondered whether young American adults today would read a book like “The Winds of War?” 
• Could they even read this 50-year-old novel with any comprehension?

Unfortunately, all evidence points to a negative response to both questions...

Massive fraud: Prosecutors charge Haitian migrants in $7 million SNAP scam * WorldNetDaily * by Jim Hoft, the Gateway Pundit

Massive fraud: Prosecutors charge Haitian migrants in $7 million SNAP scam * WorldNetDaily * by Jim Hoft, the Gateway Pundit: 

Federal prosecutors unsealed a major fraud indictment Wednesday, charging two Haitian migrants with operating a $7 million Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit trafficking scheme out of two small retail storefronts in Boston's Mattapan neighborhood. According to a newly filed federal criminal complaint, Antonio Bonheur, 74, and Saul Alisme, 21, are each charged with one count of SNAP fraud for trafficking millions of dollars in SNAP (food stamp) benefits, turning a program meant to feed struggling families into a cash machine for fraudsters.

Case Adjourned When Jurors Can't Be Found Who Are Willing to Convict

Assimilate or go home - Don Surber

They want to turn America into theThey want to turn America into the lands they left behind. lands they left behind.

NYT buried in Paragraph 13, 

“The Justice Department previously also said it would make denaturalization a priority this year. In a memo distributed in the summer, officials laid out their approach, saying they would target individuals in an array of categories beyond committing fraud in obtaining citizenship. Categories of eligible people include gang members, those who committed financial fraud, individuals connected to drug cartels and violent criminals, according to the department.”

The real problem with immigration—both legal and illegal—is a determined resistance to assimilation, which is the key successful immigration. 

• Being a gang member terrorizing the people of Aurora, Colorado, is not an honest mistake on citizenship paperwork.
• Distributing fentanyl that turns Americans into corpses or zombies is not an honest mistake on citizenship paperwork.
• Ripping off $8 billion—$8,000,000,000—from the government in Minnesota is not an honest mistake on citizenship paperwork.
• Marrying your brother to dodge immigration law is not an honest mistake on citizenship paperwork...

Lunch video-----Anti-Israel Reporter Nearly FAINTS When Douglas Murray Goes Off Script To Say This.

Noon-toon

 

'Staggering, industrial-scale fraud': More than $9B looted from Minnesota medicaid programs * WorldNetDaily * by Daily Caller News Foundation

'Staggering, industrial-scale fraud': More than $9B looted from Minnesota medicaid programs * WorldNetDaily * by Daily Caller News Foundation: 

As much as half of the roughly $18 billion Minnesota has spent since 2018 on 14 Medicaid programs particularly vulnerable to abuse may have been siphoned off by fraudsters, according to U.S. Assistant Attorney Joe Thompson. Thompson made the remarks as prosecutors announced additional charges in the ongoing investigation of the "staggering, industrial-scale" fraud engulfing the state. "The fraud is not small. It isn't isolated. The magnitude cannot be overstated," Thompson said.

More money seems to equal dumber students>

 

That Thing We Were Told Didn't Happen During the 2020 Election Happened After All

Some Republicans have argued for years that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. - Amy Curtis

• The truth is, we'll never get a clear answer on everything that went on during that year, but there was undoubtedly some questionable and shady stuff, and anyone who believes in democracy and election integrity should work tirelessly to make sure nothing like that ever happens again.

That's why this story is so damning and alarming. 

It shows that one county in Georgia didn't bother following the rules in 2020, and it means the state's electoral votes — as well as the Senate race — could have gone in a different direction. 

• Officials in Fulton County, Georgia — home of the state's capital, Atlanta — admitted they "violated" election rules in 2020 and accepted more than 300,000 early ballots that lacked poll worker signatures...

Let's never forget what they did!

 

The West keeps praying for something that doesn’t exist. Moderate Muslims exist — but a “moderate Islam” does not.

Until leaders understand the difference between individuals and doctrine, we’ll keep sleepwalking into decisions we can’t undo. - Nation of Sleepers

• If we’re going to have an honest conversation about the future of Europe and the West, we have to start by telling the truth — not comforting fantasies.

#1 This day 1977-----Bee Gees - How Deep Is Your Love

PURE HAPPINESS!

This 16-year-old girl was disappointed that she had to miss a Jonas Brothers concert because she's undergoing chemotherapy treatment. - Restoring Your Faith in Humanity@HumanityChad

•  But then, she got a surprise right in her hospital room  

Thank you@jonasbrothers

Yet, the media and entire democrat party ignores this!

 

Person of interest ID'd in deadly Brown U. shooting; warrant issued: Multiple reports | Blaze Media

Person of interest ID'd in deadly Brown U. shooting; warrant issued: Multiple reports | Blaze Media:  

A person of interest has been identified in connection with the deadly Brown University shooting Saturday, a warrant has been issued, and authorities are investigating possible ties between the Brown shooting and the fatal shooting of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor days later, according to multiple reports.

Total baloney! Ukraine will never pay it back. And Russia will get it's frozens back!-----EU Leaders Agree on $105 Billion Loan to Fund Ukraine Without Using Russian Frozen Assets | The Epoch Times

The European Union will borrow money for a 90 billion euro ($105 billion) loan to Ukraine to fund the country’s defense over the next two years, rather than use frozen Russian assets, the 27-nation bloc said on Dec. 19.

“As a matter of urgency, we will provide a loan backed by the EU budget. 

This will address the urgent financial needs of Ukraine. 

And Ukraine will only repay this loan once Russia pays reparations.”

• Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic agreed to let the scheme go ahead as long as it was agreed that they would not be held financially liable for the loan...
• “This plan would have dragged Europe into war and imposed a financial burden of 1000 billion [Hungarian forints] ($3 billion) on Hungary. We succeeded in protecting Hungarian families from this,” he said...
• “If Ukraine is unable to repay the loan, those European countries will have to cover the repayment,” Orban said...

AM Fruitcake

 

History for December 20

History for December 20 - On-This-Day.com 

Max Lerner 1902

• 1606 - The "Susan Constant," "Godspeed" and "Discovery" set sail from London. Their landing at Jamestown, VA, was the start of the first permanent English settlement in America.
• 1790 - The first successful cotton mill in the United States began operating at Pawtucket, RI.
• 1803 - The United States Senate ratified a treaty that included the Louisiana Territories from France for $15 million. The transfer was completed with formal ceremonies in New Orleans.
• 1820 - The state of Missouri enacted legislation to tax bachelors between the ages of 21-50 for being unmarried. The tax was $1 a year.
• 1990 - The world's first website and server go live at CERN. The first website was http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html.

Cops Arrest Man Reportedly Targeting ICE Agents, Tie Him To Leftist Terror Group | The Daily Caller

Cops Arrest Man Reportedly Targeting ICE Agents, Tie Him To Leftist Terror Group | The Daily Caller: 

Federal authorities arrested a former U.S. Marine in Louisiana Friday after investigators say he plotted violence against federal immigration agents and maintained ties to a left-wing extremist network linked to a foiled New Year’s Eve bombing scheme.

The way we were-----The Lewinsky Scandal

‘Finished’: Albanese’s reputation destroyed after failing to attend Bond...

Put Dems on the Spot With Small but Popular Affordability Hacks

While we let the Trump agenda kick in, let’s do some minor things, things that people can get their heads around and that make a difference to them.  - Kurt Schlichter

Things like these…
1. Outlaw Subscription Scams: 
2. “Dynamic Pricing” Scams: 
3. Corporations Buying Up Houses: 
6. Speak American: 
7. Baloney Fees: “Resort fees,” “convenience fees,” and “we just want more of your money fees” are out of control. Mandate that every mandatory charge be included in the base advertised fee...
8. Planned Obsolescence: Remember how your mom's lime green refrigerator from 1974 was still cooling away in 2014?.. 
9. Young People's Home Loans: We want young people to buy houses...Give married couples – we want them married – in their 20s a $5,000 credit if they buy a home. And give them a kicker for every kid during their 20s.
10. Catastrophic Health Insurance Policies: Young people should be allowed to skip all the bells and whistles and just get covered for if they get hit by a bus. Yeah, you’d have to pay for your own check-ups, but you’d be surprised how reasonable they are when the doctors know they’re getting cash or a credit card upfront...

• None of these initiatives is going to change the world. 
• That’s not the point...

Young women’s complaints prompt Michigan State U. to restore single-sex dorm showers

‘All-gender’ bathrooms were based on ‘researching best practices’ for dorms: university spokesperson - Lauren Boyer - University of Delaware

All of the complaints about new “gender neutral” bathrooms, including showers, in a dorm at Michigan State University came from female residents, prompting the public institution to revert some of them back to single-sex spaces this fall, according to a survey obtained by The College Fix...
The honors residence hall recently was renovated and re-opened for the fall semester. 

The renovations included making all the bathrooms, including shower areas, “gender neutral.”..

Poll: Plurality Want Less or Zero Legal Migration

Poll: Plurality Want Less or Zero Legal Migration: 

Amid the partisan polarization, there is a two-to-one plurality for less migration vs more migration. Just 18 percent of citizens want legalized migration to be increased, while 35 percent want it decreased or zeroed. Twenty-five percent said the number should not be changed, even though establishment outlets rarely described the actual inflow of legalized migrants each year. Under Joe Biden, the inflow of all migrants was roughly level with the number of births.