Archive for populism

and it got worse & worse & … [verbatim]

Posted in Books, Kids, pictures, Travel with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 23, 2025 by xi'an


“For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals. This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now (…) From the attack on my life in Butler, Pennsylvania, last year, which killed a husband and father, to the attacks on ICE agents, to the vicious murder of a health-care executive in the streets of New York, to the shooting of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and three others, radical-left political violence has hurt too many innocent people and taken too many lives.” – DT, 10 Sept 2024

“I really think that there’s got to be a change of government in Britain. You can’t – we don’t have another four years, or whenever the next election is, it’s too long.” – Elon Musk, 12 Sept 2025

“There is no separation of church and state. It’s a fabrication, it’s a fiction, it’s not in the Constitution. It’s made up by secular humanists.” – The Charlie Kirk Show, 6 July 2022

“If I see a Black pilot, I’m going to be like, boy, I hope he’s qualified.” – The Charlie Kirk Show, 23 Jan 2024

“If I’m dealing with somebody in customer service who’s a moronic Black woman, I wonder is she there because of her excellence, or is she there because of affirmative action?” – The Charlie Kirk Show, 3 Jan 2024

“We need to have a Nuremberg-style trial for every gender-affirming clinic doctor. We need it immediately.” – The Charlie Kirk Show, 1 April 2024

“The great replacement strategy, which is well under way every single day in our southern border, is a strategy to replace white rural America with something different.” – The Charlie Kirk Show, 1 March 2024

“[The UK is] a totalitarian third world hellhole. It’s tragic. I don’t say that with glib, I don’t say that with delight. It is sad. It’s chilling and it’s depressing.” – The Charlie Kirk Show, 22 May 2025

“The radicals on the right oftentimes are radical because they don’t want to see crime. The radicals on the left are the problem and they’re vicious and they’re horrible and they’re politically savvy. They want men in women’s sports, they want transgender people, they want open borders. The worst thing that happened to this country.” – DT, 12 Sept 2025

“There’s so much violence on the left, with our friend Charlie Kirk getting murdered in cold blood this week and people on the left celebrating it openly. The left is the party of murder and celebrating murder.” – Elon Musk, 12 Sept 2025

“I really think that there’s got to be a change of government in Britain. You can’t – we don’t have another four years, or whenever the next election is, it’s too long.” – Elon Musk, 12 Sept 2025

“If some amazing patriot out there in San Francisco or the Bay Area wants to really be a midterm hero, someone should go and bail [Paul Pelosi’s attacker] out.” – Charlie Kirk, 31 October 2022

back to the Dark Ages

Posted in Kids, pictures, Travel with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 10, 2025 by xi'an

and it only gets worse & worse & …

Posted in Books, Kids, pictures, Travel with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 13, 2025 by xi'an

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“We’re going to get some back. We’re going to get some switched. There will be some swapping of territories, to the betterment of both [Ukraine and Russia]. You’re looking at territory that’s been fought over for three and a half years, a lot of Russians have died. A lot of Ukrainians have died” – DT, 08 Aug

“I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements [by Dmitry Medvedev] are more than just that.  Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances.” – DT, 01 Aug

“[The 23 July Energy Department report] critically assesses many areas of ongoing scientific inquiry that are frequently assigned high levels of confidence — not by the scientists themselves but by the political bodies involved, such as the United Nations or previous presidential administrations. Unlike previous administrations, the Trump administration is committed to engaging in a more thoughtful and science-based conversation about climate change and energy.” – Ben Dietderich, DoE, 31 July

“Climate change is real, and it deserves attention. But it is not the greatest threat facing humanity. As someone who values data, I know that improving the human condition depends on expanding access to reliable, affordable energy. If we empower innovation rather than restrain it, America can lead the world in providing more abundant energy” Chris Wright, Secretary of Energy, 29 July

“Wow! Canada has just announced that it is backing statehood for Palestine. That will make it very hard for us to make a Trade Deal with them.” – DT, 31 July

“The Trump Administration dismantled American aid organisations in a politically-driven witch hunt for ‘waste, fraud, and abuse.’ Now, they are letting millions of dollars of lifesaving humanitarian aid go to waste. President Trump is preparing to let over $12 million worth of HIV-prevention supplies and contraceptives, which have already been purchased for use in developing countries, be destroyed, rather than let other countries or groups take control of and distribute the products. HIV is one of the deadliest diseases in the world. People will die because of this decision. Their lives are at risk because of President Trump.” – Senator Rosa DeLauro, 18 July

shoot the messenger & cook the books

Posted in Books, Statistics with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 2, 2025 by xi'an

Heads of Official Statistics Bureaux has been subjected to suspicion and sometimes prosecution from their governments in the recent past, the most notable cases being Agentina with Graciela Bevacqua and Greece (with Andreas Georgiou), while the ASA and the ISI expressed deep concern this year about the  dismissal of Dominik Rozkrut as President of Statistics Poland. Now this undemocratic tide against the independence of official statistics has reached America, with Agent Orange firing the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics because he did not like the (un)employment report!! Rather than reflecting on the massive impact on the economy of his own, chaotic, economic decisions and counter-decisions.

“What do we do when the president of the United States behaves [like a 5-year-old]? On Friday, President Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics — the nation’s workaday scorekeeper of employment, wages and productivity. Why? Because the data didn’t make Mr. Trump look good. The statistics were inconvenient. So the president didn’t just challenge the findings; he fired the statistician. That’s not governing. That’s board flipping (…) One danger certainly is that a future Bureau of Labor Statistics head might feel political pressure to fudge a jobs report. The deeper risk is cynicism, the quiet corrosion of faith in institutions. If we can’t believe the numbers, how do we believe anything?” f, Aug. 3

with allies like these, no need for enemies

Posted in Books, pictures, Travel with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 5, 2025 by xi'an

“More and more European capitals are going down the path of trampling over democratic norms. Of course, we do not want to interfere in France’s internal affairs, we have never done so… But in general, our observations of European capitals show that they are not at all reluctant to go beyond democracy during the political process.” Dmitry Peskov

“I know all about it and a lot of people thought she wasn’t going to be convicted for anything. She was banned for five years and she was the leading candidate. That sounds like this country, that sounds very much like this country.” Donald Trump

“I don’t know Marine Le Pen, but do appreciate how hard she worked for so many years. She suffered losses, but kept on going, and now, just before what would be a Big Victory, they get her on a minor charge that she probably knew nothing about – Sounds like a ‘bookkeeping’ error to me. It is all so bad for France, and the Great French People, no matter what side they are on.” Donald Trump

“[Marine Le Pen] is leading in some sociological surveys and they are trying to put her in prison for a very minor charge, which, by the way, concerns her employees, not Marine Le Pen herself. They want to put her in prison and remove her from the elections. Is this democracy?” JD Vance

“When the radical left can’t win via democratic vote, they abuse the legal system to jail their opponents. This is their standard playbook throughout the world [sic].” Elon Musk

“Je suis Marine!” Viktor Orban

“No one who truly believes in democracy can rejoice over a sentence that strikes the leader of a major party down, depriving millions of citizens of their representation.” Giorgia Meloni

“I am shocked by the incredible [sic] tough verdict against [Marine Le Pen]. I support and believe in her for the full 100% and I trust she will win the appeal and become President of France.” Geert Wilders

“The choice to dismiss an elected official should only belong to the people.” Jean-Luc Mélanchon

“Those who fear the judgment of the voters often find reassurance in the judgment of the courts. In Paris they condemned Marine Le Pen and would like to exclude her from political life. A bad film that we are also seeing in other countries such as Romania.” Matteo Salvini