Allies at War: How the Struggles Between the Allied Powers Shaped the War and the World By Tim Bouverie Crown,  1,007 pp., $38 Tim Bouverie, the author of the best study of the Origins of World War II, Appeasement: Chamberlain, Churchill, Hitler and the Road to War (2019), has continued his analysis of the conflicts and collaborations of the Allied statesman that shaped the course of the war. Allies at War is old fashioned diplomatic history at its best, disentangling the vicissitudes of the relations not only of the Big Three, Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin, who determined the direction of the war, but also the roles played, often with surprising affect, by lesser statesman such as de Gaulle, de Valera, and Tito among others. If there is a hero in the book it would have to be Churchill…. he … eventually read Stalin and the Russians better than the other Allied leaders. Bouverie is a great admirer of Churchill, whom he argues played a weak hand brilliantly at times as Britain’s weakness viz a viz the United States and the Soviet Union became apparent as the war unfolded. Churchill, he notes, entered the war with an optimism regarding France’s military performance not warranted by facts. The collapse of France in six weeks (really five days if one accepts Premier Paul Reynaud’s verdict that France had lost the war on May 15 when the Germans broke through at Sedan) shattered British confidence in her future. Churchill stood by France until the French decided to seek an armistice. In late May, Churchill convinced the Cabinet to reject French suggestions to open negotiations with Germany through an approach to Mussolini. Churchill recognized that this would mean that Britain would have to fight alone as well as risk possible invasion. That decision, Bouverie notes, led to the second important Churchill decision: to cultivate the United States and win her away from a policy, if not quite isolation, at least indifference, to what was happening in Europe and its significance for the world. Churchill’s cultivation of President Roosevelt — “no lover ever studied every whim of his mistress as I did those of President Roosevelt” — paid handsome dividends for Britain. Lend Lease and the steady flow of arms and increasingly aggressive American naval action in the Atlantic helped Britain through what could be described as a deadly time for her. Britain’s performance militarily in the year after the fall of France was not impressive. The defeat of France was followed by a series of military and diplomatic setbacks in Yugoslavia, Greece, and North Africa. What saved Churchill was the German attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941 and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, followed by an unexpected Hitler decision to declare war on the United States. Churchill knew that whatever happened Britain was saved. As he wrote, the night after the news of Pearl Harbor, he went to bed “sleeping the sleep of the saved.” From 1942, especially after the German debacle at Stalingrad, the Soviet Union not only dominated but played the key role in winning the war, as any glance at the statistics in numbers involved and casualties incurred would prove. Churchill recognized this and what its consequences would be while Bouverie argues that Roosevelt deluded himself into believing that he had a special connection with Stalin. He once told Churchill that Stalin hates your guts but likes me and, even more foolishly, believed, as he told Ambassador Robert Murphy: “I can handle him.” Many of America’s diplomatic mistakes on the war arose from that delusion. Bouverie has a high opinion of Stalin’s diplomatic gifts. He ruthlessly exploited Russia’s position as the nation playing the major role in defeating Germany, which eventually gave him control over most of Central and Eastern Europe. He outmaneuvered both Churchill, and especially Roosevelt, throughout the war. The various diplomatic conferences from Casablanca (1943) on saw the Big Three working and overcoming difficulties to bring about the defeat of Germany. Churchill had a number of objectives which given his weak hand as the lesser of the three, he played well. Bouverie notes that he wanted to keep the United States involved in European affairs after the war, to parry the spread of Soviet control into the heart of Europe, and in a point often overlooked, he worked to see that France was recognized as a major power. Neither Stalin nor Roosevelt had much time for de Gaulle. Roosevelt worked through Vichy French contacts until the American and British invasion of North Africa in November 1942 and continually tried to undermine de Gaulle’s credibility. Bouverie is both fascinated and repelled by de Gaulle, arguing that he performed miracles at times. Starting as a virtual unknown with no basis of power he managed to recruit an army of 35,000 and force his way into the top Allied circles often at the cost of angering his friends, especially Churchill. One of the best parts of Bouverie’s study is his capsule portraits of key figures. Anthony Eden, for example, fascinated him: “half mad baronet, half beautiful woman” as his rival Rab Butler once described him, Eden possessed good looks, charm and intelligence, vitiated by vanity and a high-strung temperament, qualities that would destroy his premiership in 1956 during the Suez crisis. If there is a hero in the book it would have to be Churchill. With all his flaws and idiosyncrasies, he saw clearer than Roosevelt, was more realistic than de Gaulle, and eventually read Stalin and the Russians better than the other Allied leaders. He called the last volume of his History of the Second World War, Triumph and Tragedy, a perfect description for how the conflict ended. Earlier than any other Allied leader he recognized what Soviet control meant for the West, particularly Europe. In the spring and fall of 1945 he began using the term “Iron Curtain” in his letters to describe what was happening in Central and Eastern Europe. As his Iron Curtain speech in March 1946 would prove, this time the Free World was listening. Bouverie has written what is in my view the best single volume overview of the diplomatic wrangling among the Great Powers during World War II. It is not only a good read but it also contains one of the best bibliographies for anyone interested in the further study of the topic. READ MORE from John P. Rossi: Graham Greene’s The End of the Affair: A Reflection Is Orwell Heading to the Memory Hole? Tim Robey’s Box Office Poison: Hollywood’s Story in a Century of Flops John P. Rossi is a professor emeritus of history at La Salle University in Philadelphia

The signs are clear that a new tax revolt is brewing in America, this time to finally put an end to the property tax. With homeowners facing the growing pressure of increasingly higher housing costs as property taxes continue to rise, the national movement to finally abolish property taxes has been picking up steam. Most recently, various states across the nation, including Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida, have proposed legislation to either limit or completely eliminate property taxes. Instead of having young home buyers negotiate with potential home sellers, government steps in and arbitrarily raises property assessments. Yet, while most of the opposition to property taxes has come from older folks, including the elderly with fixed incomes and low-income households, what’s surprising is that the main demographic that will play a vital role in ending the property tax isn’t Boomers or GenX but rather Generation Z — those aged 18-29 years. But where does GenZ line up with previous generations when it comes to homeownership? Despite being new to the market, 26.3 percent of GenZ already own homes. Though GenZ’s numbers appear to be growing and surprising observers, their percentage is nothing when compared to their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. As of recent, Baby Boomers still represent the highest percentage of any generation when it comes to homeownership, with 78 percent owning a home, followed by GenX with 69 percent, and Millennial with 52 percent. It’s no secret that homeownership has become dramatically more expensive for younger Americans, and the data tells that story. When taking a look at the average sale price of a home over the past few decades, the price of a home has gone up immensely. For example, the average sale price of a home in 1963 was $19,300, but today the average sale price is $512,200. When looking at the average salary of a first-time buyer, in the 1990s for example, it was around $35,000. Today it’s around $97,000. The data clearly shows that while housing prices have risen astronomically over the decades, they have risen significantly faster than the incomes of first-time buyers. This relationship would help explain why the age of your average first-time buyer today is 38, a nine-year increase compared to when the average age was 29 in the 1980s. Even more surprising is how many of today’s first-time buyers don’t have kids. Today, 73 percent of first-time buyers don’t have children under the age of 18, compared to 42 percent in 1985. As the costs of homeownership and childcare have significantly increased, so have young Americans forgoing or delaying the decision to have kids. Though GenZ has started to show signs of breaking into the housing market, they are still largely renting. And it is easy to see why. Between GenZ’s extensive student loan debt — the average monthly payment for GenZ is about $526, higher than the national average of $284 — and holding the highest personal debt of any previous generation, adding the cost of buying a home is not viable. Moreover, the ability to afford anything these days has become even more bleak as GenZ struggles to find jobs amidst shrinking opportunities for entry-level positions. When taking these factors into account, it’s no wonder that Gen Z holds a rather pessimistic outlook towards property taxes. As the average property value has significantly increased — 27 percent since 2020 — so has the average property tax burden, increasing 30 percent over the past five years. This pressure isn’t just putting homeownership out of reach, it’s also affecting the affordability of rent, as the tax burden on landlords is transferred to renters. Yet what makes the situation even more disturbing for GenZ is that property taxes don’t exclusively affect homeowners and renters. They also affect businesses. What many Americans might not know is that companies are heavily affected by property taxes more than other forms of state and local taxes. As reported by the Tax Foundation, 60 percent of companies’ tax burden went to property taxes. Additionally, property taxes that companies pay extend beyond real property assets; for instance, companies also pay property taxes on tangible personal property such as machines and vehicles. When property taxes increase, businesses are less likely to invest in equipment and machines, less willing to employ more people, and often seek out more business friendly climates in less tax hungry jurisdictions. This is the vicious cycle of property taxes that is finally causing so many Americans see how detrimental this form of taxation is. The simple truth is that property taxes are simply not smart policy. Despite claims about the benefits of property taxes (e.g. they are a stable source of revenue for schools) and how reform might be better than abolition, there is little evidence that taking this approach has made it easier for GenZ to afford homes. No matter what policies are adopted to make housing more affordable — such as preventing large-banks from buying up property or having the Federal Reserve cut interest rates — they won’t fix the inherent flaws of property taxes. These taxes simply reject economic reality. Rather than promoting economic growth, property taxes have been shown to hinder the economy by distorting the housing and tangible property markets via arbitrary assessments. Unlike the free-market, where the buyer and seller determine the value of property, property taxes rely on government assessments of value, and assessments rarely reflect current market conditions or homeowners’ ability to pay. Instead of having young home buyers negotiate with potential home sellers, government steps in and arbitrarily raises property assessments. It takes the freedom out of being able to own a piece of land by allowing the government to say: “you don’t own your land, we do.” If someone fails to pay their property taxes, the local government can take away your property via tax foreclosures. The truth is that no one truly owns their property under the auspices of a property tax. In the end, Americans of all generations want to achieve and enjoy the fruits of the American Dream. GenZ wants the chance to enjoy the independence that homeownership offers and be able to obtain good jobs. Yet high property taxes are making it unaffordable to do so. The fight to abolish property taxes for GenZ isn’t about getting rid of taxes for its own sake. Rather it’s about making the American Dream affordable again and giving future generations a chance to do the same. READ MORE from Hunter Oswald: The Folly of Tucker Carlson’s Neo-Feudalism The New Marxists and the Red Menace Restoring America’s Constitutional Order: Article V      

from The National Pulse: WHAT HAPPENED: Interstellar object 3I/ATLAS is set to reach its perihelion, the closest point to the Sun on its trajectory, on October 29. ?WHO WAS INVOLVED: Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb, NASA scientist Tom Statler, and the broader scientific community. ?WHEN & WHERE: October 29, 2025; the object is currently on the opposite side of the Sun […]

President Trump departs Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, en route to Tokyo, Japan.

Michael Savage explained on his Newsmax show why he wants Andrew Cuomo to win the New York City mayoral race next month. Andrew Cuomo has many faults and we have shown him no mercy on the Sentinel but he was good with the New York budget. Curtis Sliwa has never run anything, including a budget, […] The post Michael Savage Takes on the NYC Mayoral Race with the Commie Islamist appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM For children born with ADA-SCID, a rare genetic disease that severely compromises the immune system, everyday germs can be fatal. ADA-SCID (short for severe combined immunodeficiency due to adenosine deaminase deficiency) leaves the body unable to fight off infections. Untreated, many children do not survive past age two. A life-threatening diagnosis, a life-saving breakthrough But hope has arrived in the form of an ingenious gene therapy. In a study recently published in The New England Journal of Medicine, an experimental treatment saved the lives of 62 children diagnosed with ADA-SCID. The therapy, administered in just a single dose, has shown a remarkable 100 percent survival rate in patients followed for more than a decade. Among them is Eliana Nachem, who received the therapy ten years ago. Her father, Jeff, recalls how their family had to isolate completely to protect her. “My wife didn’t leave the house, I had to shower and change clothes before I could even hold Eliana,” he shared. Now, Eliana is thriving: she plays basketball, sings in the school choir, and is thriving at school. “It’s incredible,” Jeff said. How the therapy works The therapy works by extracting blood stem cells from a child, inserting a healthy copy of the faulty ADA gene using a lentivirus, and reinfusing the modified cells into the body. This treatment gives these isolated children a working immune system, and the chance at a liberated childhood. “To me, cure means a lifelong absence of disease,” said Dr. Donald Kohn of UCLA, who led the research. “We can’t say that definitively yet, but the clinical benefits have remained stable over 7 to 12 years.” Unlike earlier treatments such as weekly enzyme injections or risky bone marrow transplants, this approach may offer a safer and more lasting solution. Kohn’s team has also improved the process by freezing the altered cells, allowing treatments to be shipped and administered globally, offering an important step toward broader access. Cost, access, and the challenge of rare diseases Despite its promise, the therapy comes with a hefty price tag—up to one million euros per treatment. While the cost is steep, Dr. Kohn noted that current enzyme therapies are also expensive and must be continued for years. “So within a few years after the ‘one and done’ gene therapy, the overall costs should be less,” he said. Similar gene therapies, like Strimvelis, have also shown strong results but struggled with commercialization. Developed in Milan and approved in 2016, Strimvelis was eventually dropped by its pharmaceutical backers due to financial challenges. The Telethon Foundation now maintains its availability. Safety remains a concern, too. One child treated with Strimvelis developed leukemia from unintended DNA changes. The new therapy, however, uses lentiviruses rather than retroviruses and has not shown such side effects to date. Juan Antonio Bueren of CIEMAT in Madrid praised the results but cautioned about cost barriers. “There is a problem with commercializing gene therapies for rare diseases,” he said. “They require extensive production and long-term monitoring, making them very expensive.” A path forward for future therapies Though commercialization has stalled in the past, momentum is building. Kohn and colleagues founded a company, Rarity PBC, to bring the therapy to more families. With a $14.7 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, they are developing scalable production methods. So far, lentivirus-based therapies have shown potential in treating around 15 rare diseases. But as Bueren notes, pricing models remain a challenge, especially in public health systems across Europe. Despite these hurdles, families and researchers alike remain hopeful. “I don’t know what’s fair to charge,” said Jeff Nachem, “but this kind of treatment shouldn’t be denied to a small child who needs it to survive.” This latest success is more than a medical milestone; it’s a testament to what’s possible when science, persistence, and compassion converge. For dozens of children once confined to sterile rooms and a life of fear, it’s not just a treatment. It’s the freedom to live. Source study: The New England Journal of Medicine—Long-term safety and efficacy of gene therapy for adenosine deaminase deficiencyThe post A one-time gene therapy is helping kids beat a deadly immune disease first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM As the temperatures drop, mice are on the move, looking for a warm, cozy place to call home. If you’ve spotted signs of these uninvited guests, such as chewed food boxes, droppings, or the pitter-patter of tiny feet, don’t panic. Understanding how mice get inside and what draws them to your space can go a long way in keeping your home rodent-free. 1. Small gaps and hidden holes Mice are masters of squeezing through impossibly tiny openings. Just a quarter-inch wide is enough for their bodies to wiggle through. Their sharp teeth make the problem worse, allowing them to chew through wood, insulation, and drywall to create new entrances. Do a walk-around inspection of your home’s exterior. Pay special attention to cracks in your foundation, holes beneath decks, and areas where pipes or cables enter. Seal gaps with steel wool and caulk or use hardware cloth for larger openings. 2. Doors, windows, and pet entries Loose door sweeps, misaligned weatherstripping, and even pet doors give mice a red carpet welcome. They’re also excellent climbers, capable of scaling brick, trellises, and even trees to reach open upper windows. Check for air drafts near windows and under doors. If air can escape, mice can enter. Replace worn-out seals and consider installing rodent-proof door sweeps. 3. Plumbing and drains It’s rare, but mice have been known to wriggle through drainpipes and emerge from toilets or sinks. Though they dislike water, desperate rodents will use this route if other access points are blocked. Inspect your drain system for cracks, broken joints, or poor seals. Cover floor drains with metal screens, and keep toilet lids closed in basements or unused bathrooms. 4. Roofs and attic vents To a mouse, your roof is a welcome mat. They’ll scale gutters, shimmy along wires, and leap from trees to reach attic vents or chimney flues. Once inside, they make nests in insulation and chew through wires and wood. Install wire mesh over vents, chimney openings, and downspouts. Trim tree branches back at least six feet from the roof to make jumping more difficult. 5. Stored items and secondhand furniture That old couch in the garage? Prime mouse real estate. Rodents love nesting in cardboard boxes, mattresses, and upholstered furniture, especially when stored in quiet corners of basements or sheds. Before bringing anything from storage into your home, inspect it carefully. When possible, use sealed plastic bins instead of cardboard boxes. Why mice move in: common attractants Easy-access food Mice can survive on just a tenth of an ounce of food per day, and on top o f that they’re not picky. Grains, sweets, pet food, and even crumbs are fair game. They also chew through paper and plastic packaging with ease. Store food (including pet treats) in airtight containers made of glass, metal, or heavy-duty plastic. Clean up spills right away, and take the trash out regularly. Warmth and shelter Mice migrate indoors as the temperature drops, especially into homes with central heating, cluttered spaces, or cozy hiding spots like wall voids. They’re also drawn to the warmth of appliances such as ovens, dryers, and water heaters. Declutter storage areas, seal access to wall cavities, and check behind appliances regularly. Water and moisture Though most mice get moisture from food, they won’t turn down a sip from a pet water bowl or a leaky tap. They’re also drawn to condensation on windows and damp areas like basements. Fix leaks, use dehumidifiers if needed, and empty standing water from plant trays or drip pans. Lush gardens A thriving vegetable patch or fruit tree can be a rodent buffet. Gardens offer both food and shelter, especially if overgrown or close to the house. Install rodent-proof fencing and store compost securely. Clear weeds and fallen fruit to reduce hiding spots.The post How to mouse-proof your home this fall: 5 entry points to seal and what attracts them first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.

LSU has made the move to fire their head coach Brian Kelly