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HALF-FULL REPORT 09/18/15

After discussing Carly’s triumph and all the Hillary-inspired hit pieces on her, plus a variety of takeaways from Wednesday’s debate, we come to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

As the moderate leader of the Labor Party (the Brits’ Democrats) from 1994-2007, he’s aghast that his party would elect as its leader a 100% Marxist Moonbat on the side of every Moslem terrorist group there is, Jeremy Corbyn. This happened last Saturday (9/12).

Yet Blair sees something far larger than just Brit party politics. He sees what’s in common with political manias over Jeremy Corbyn, Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, Alexis Tsipras in Greece, Marine Le Pen in France and elsewhere. He calls it the Politics of Parallel Reality, “in which reason is an irritation, evidence a distraction, emotional impact is king and the only thing that counts is feeling good about it all.”

We discuss illegal immigration, worse in Europe than even in the US – and how TTP’s long-expressed fears of the real reason behind our flood of illegals became clear yesterday.

There’s hopeful news: Breitbart is reporting (9/14) that the odds are growing for Boehner’s removal as Speaker. Puzzling news about Scott Walker – and great news about The PIAPS: her support among Democrat women has collapsed – down 29% in the last 8 weeks, 71% in July to 42% now.

There’s lots here in the HFR this week, including unusually inspiring Heroes of the Week. Let’s get started.

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SUMMER DAYS SUMMER NIGHTS ARE GONE

Summer Days Summer Nights Are Gone is a funky Bob Dylan rocker from his Love and Theft album of 2001. He’s performed it all over the world – the link is a video of his doing so in Tel Aviv in June 2011.

A very appropriate location – which we’ll discuss after we talk about this verse of the song and the Pub debate last night (9/16):

Well the fog's so thick you can't spy the land
Well the fog's so thick that you can't even spy the land
What good are you anyway if you can't stand up to some old businessman

Weddin' bells are ringin' and the choir is beginning to sing
Yes, the weddin' bells are ringin' and the choir's beginning to sing
What looks good in the day, at night is another thing

Yes, what we saw last night was summer days coming to an end for The Donald. Here’s how it happened. Then we’ll see how summer days are gone for Israel as well. As they should be.

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THE TRUTH ABOUT CARLY

The consensus is clear: Carly Fiorina won both the first and now second Republican Primary debates. As a result she is climbing in the polls and into the top tier of candidates. Her rise has led pundits to speculate about her tenure as CEO of Hewlett-Packard.

I was a member of the HP Board of Directors much of the time Carly was the CEO (1999-2005). I was in the room for many of the decisions she made. I can attest to the strength of Carly’s leadership, the accuracy of her vision and the quality of her management.

Carly was an excellent CEO. She led HP through one of the worst economic times in decades. While other Silicon Valley icons like Sun Microsystems disappeared, Carly’s vision and execution not only helped to save HP but made it a strong, more versatile company that could compete in the changing technology sector.

Critics often claim was fired at HP because she was unsuccessful. As a member of the board, I can tell you this is not true. Here’s what really happened.

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FROM A BLACK GLIB EGOMANIAC TO A WHITE GLIB EGOMANIAC

In a country with more than 300 million people, it is remarkable how obsessed the media have become with just one — Donald Trump.

What is even more remarkable is that, after six years of repeated disasters, both domestically and internationally under a glib egomaniac in the White House, so many potential voters are turning to another glib egomaniac to be his successor.

No doubt much of the stampede of Republican voters toward Trump is based on their disgust with the Republican establishment. The fact that the next two biggest vote getters in the polls are also complete outsiders — Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina — reinforces the idea this is a protest.

It is easy to understand why there would be pent-up resentments among Republican voters. But are elections held for the purpose of venting emotions?

An election is not a popularity contest, or an award for showmanship. If you want to fulfill your duty as a citizen, then you need to become an informed voter. And if you are not informed, then the most patriotic thing you can do on Election Day is stay home.

Otherwise your vote, based on whims or emotions, is playing Russian roulette with the fate of this nation.

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HALF-FULL REPORT 9/11/15: 14 Years Later, They’re Winning

"I wish none of this had happened."

"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."

-- J.R.R. Tolkien, the Fellowship of the Ring

Fourteen years ago, the world changed. What we didn't fully realize was the nature of the change that was coming. But come it has. Come it will. From Iran and Europe to Bergdahl and Bernie, Trump trolling to economic engineering, Culture wars, Catholicism, and Whiskey Firenados - I bring you the Half-Full Report. Tragedies, thoughts, hopes, and triumphs await...

 

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THE LAST SHANGRI-LA

Shangri-La

Lo Manthang, Kingdom of Lo, Mustang, Nepal. “Shangri-La” is, of course imaginary, the fictional invention of an “earthly paradise” by author James Hilton in his 1933 novel Lost Horizon.

Shangri-La in the minds of millions epitomizes the spiritual serenity and wisdom of the exotic Orient. That’s why the Tibetan Kingdom of Lo with its 600 year-old medieval walled capital city of Lo Manthang in an almost inaccessibly remote region of Nepal called Mustang, on the border with Chinese-occupied Tibet, is so often described as the real, or the last, Shangri-La.

But is it such an earthly paradise that you would want to live here? No. Besides living so utterly isolated from the rest of the world with very few “mod-cons” (modern conveniences of daily life), you’d also be living in that four-letter word that Zero is so full of.

 

The Lo-pa live with their animals. You might be able to handle sheep pellets, albeit they are in uncountable numbers. The cattle cowpies splattered along every alley in Lo Manthang is another matter. Any walk you take in the ancient walled city is a hopscotch.

Thus the Kingdom of Lo is not Shangri-La. Is there another? One place left on our planet, the Last Shangri-La?

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EUROPE’S CAMP OF THE SAINTS CRISIS: A 3-WAY STRATEGIC FULCRUM

TheCampOfTheSaints-220pxThis article has been given a major update. It includes an overview of recent events to give readers a sense of the ground truth, and looks more deeply into the strategic fulcrum around Islam. Note esp. the time conjunction with al-Qaeda's 20 Year Plan.

The biggest immigration issue on the globe has very little to do with America. Its resolution will change the world.

European debates about immigration - or more accurately, the demographic replacement of local populations to benefit political elites - have been suppressed for a long time. As European economies falter, and huge waves of new refugees pile up on its shores, the elites are losing their ability to control the debate. Anti-immigration parties are rising, some countries are flat-out insisting on Christian refugees only, and the EU's erasure of internal border controls is under fire. Glenn "Instapundit Reynolds" ddid a great job laying out recent developments. That's your shot. "Germany's Muslim Demographic Revolution" from The Gatestone Institute is your chaser. What these briefings don't fully explain is why Americans need to pay attention.

This "Camp of the Saints" refugee wave is a strategic fulcrum - in 3 different ways...

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THE SYRIA CRISIS IS NOT A TEMPORARY PHENOMENON

The flood of refugees into Europe from the Middle East and Africa has only just begun as states disintegrate in a maelstrom of religious war, the United Nations has warned.

"We cannot comfort ourselves that this is a temporary phenomenon," said Peter Sutherland, the UN's special envoy for migrants and refugees.

Quite apart from Syria, much of the Sahel across sub-Saharan Africa is hanging by a thread, and ISIS is expanding into every country of the Maghreb.

Here's the EU migrant crisis explained in a 90 second video ...

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TEMPTATION AND SELF-MASTERY

Aristotle, in his Nicomachean Ethics, called it akrasia – a weakness of will, acting in a way contrary to our consciously held moral values. It’s the quality that most distinguishes criminals from the rest of us; and the quality that most distinguishes less successful people from those who are more successful.

The ability to resist our short-term impulses and desires and to focus instead on our long-term values and goals is the most important capacity for living well.

In the late 1960s, Walter Mischel, a professor at Stanford University, conducted one of the most important experiments in psychology. It’s now called The Marshmallow Test, but marshmallows were only one of a variety of treats used to tempt young limbic systems to indulge in their immediate desires.

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Europe’s Camp of the Saints Crisis: 9/11/15 Update

Per Brant's recommendation, we are making this update its own article. TTPers who want to understand the 3 strategic fulcrums linked to this crisis should read the original anchor article

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As of September 11, 2015, "Refugees" continue to pour into Europe. This is only the start. European reactions to date ensure the flood's continuation, and so does the sheer number of likely entrants. Violence is guaranteed to accompany any reversal of this flow, via riots and terrorism. The same is true for any non-reversal.

As things stand, Al-Qaeda's 20-Year Plan seems ready to hit the Total Confrontation phase and include Europe more or less on schedule. That phase was planned to begin around 2017. This update clarifies the scale and scope of both the flood, and the effects it's having within Europe. It also looks at the real political mechanism behind the crisis, and offers some projections into possible futures.

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HALF-FULL REPORT 09/04/15: What Profiteth a Man?

If you're a fan of outrage porn or kabuki theater, I ain't your guy. Which makes me unqualified to report on 90% of what passes for "news" these days. The treasonous sellout to Iran hit a new milestone; Europe's Camp of the Saints crisis continues to evolve; and the crook who managed to get herself kicked off of the Watergate Committee by another Democrat can't get kicked off of her own farcical repetition quite so easily. Funny how life is.

Screen-Shot-2015-09-03-at-12.09.24-PM

We'll mention some of that stuff, but as we cover the news we're going to look past the symptoms. It's becoming blindingly obvious that the federal GOP may die a suicide. Meanwhile, people talk about Trump, but what's behind his rise? A familiar but unconventional source says that there's much more to it than just the political landscape. Can doing the wrong thing legally be the right thing? Are we thinking the right way about education and about sex offender registries? Are we thinking the right way about the political war we're caught in? We've got some provocative proposals and a masterclass for that last one. And at least one of your fellow Americans will make you very proud. Here we go...

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THE LONG STRANGE TRIP

Kathmandu, Nepal. Years ago, Joel Wade and I were here after completing a month-long expedition across the entire Tibetan Plateau and through the Himalayas. We spotted a t-shirt in the bazaar with an embroidered map of the world with the words stitched around it: What A Long Strange Trip It’s Been.

That’s the famous refrain of the Grateful Dead’s Truckin’ from 1970, and it was so appropriate for what we had just experienced that of course we each got one.

Being here now sparked that memory, causing me to reflect on how appropriate a description it is for the totally bizarre spasm of masochism America has suffered over the last seven years under Zero. The experience of being here now is, on the other hand, a surprising lesson on how to repair the incredible damage Zero has wrought upon our country.

We’ve had spasms of craziness before – the Hippie 60s come to mind – but nothing like this, where Americans en masse are acquiescing to the murder of their country, willfully placing the perp in the White House not once but twice. Here’s the lesson to learn.

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ONLY HELICOPTER MONEY CAN SAVE CHINA’S CRUMBLING ECONOMY

CHINA CURRENCY YUAN DEVALUED
China has bungled its attempt to slow the economy gently and is sliding into “imminent recession”, threatening to take the world with it over coming months, Citigroup has warned.

Willem Buiter, the bank’s chief economist, said the country needs a major blast of fiscal spending financed by outright "helicopter" money from the bank to avert a deepening crisis.

Speaking on a panel at the Council of Foreign Relations in New York, Mr Buiter said the dollar will ...

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