Older and more mature now, in matters of the heart I have come to the same conclusion as Dave Barry, who said “never again will I underestimate the persuasive power of a woman with legal training and big tits.” If love is the spice of life, flirting is the syrup, or better yet, the Caesar salad dressing, or roast chicken breasts, or grilled sea bass with wedge potatoes. Maybe my doctor is right, there are two things I shouldn’t do when I’m hungry: go to the supermarket and write. Be that as it may, in summer we move from our natural habitat. And just as the swallow mates with the swallow wherever nature calls, no matter how far from its nest it may be, men are stunned by the exotic beauty of girls from other latitudes, and do whatever it takes to pick them up. Okay, flirting and mating are not synonyms, or at least, they shouldn’t be. For some strange reason, men, upon observing young ladies on vacation abroad, assume that they’re dying to party, drink, and flirt. The obstacles men encounter in that critical moment of love are threefold: language, cultural differences, and the six-foot-four dude on the girl’s arm. Flirting In French In French “I love you” is Je t’aime, but it’s too soon for you to say that to a French woman. Besides, like all Gallicisms, it sounds like you’re going to be leading a float at Gay Pride. But if you love a French girl you should speak to her in French, so you can try tu es la plus belle des fleurs des champs (you are the prettiest of the flowers of the field). Tell her and either she runs away, or she smiles; and, if a Frenchwoman smiles at you, French love knows no bounds. Look at Macron, he married his grandmother. Flirting In German Almost all German is just like your own language, but shouting, dropping consonants as if you were clearing your throat, gesticulating like Hitler, and accentuating vowels as if you had just consumed the cannibal drug. The bad thing about German women is that, if they have to choose between saving a kitten’s life or yours, you’re dead. Flirting in Albanian If for some strange circumstance you need to pick up an Albanian woman, tell her Te dua. I don’t know what the hell it means, but if it’s something bad I’m sure her husband will explain it to you with the help of one of those Kalashnikovs that every good Albanian keeps in the attic. Flirting on the Highway The ultimate place to flirt when language is an insurmountable barrier is the car. From your car you can just look at her and smile, and that — I think — is a universal language. If you’re going to do it alone, check first that the girl you want to pick up is in her own car and not driving a police van. It’s happened to me. Spoiler: they’re sick to death of the “hey, officer, could you handcuff me?” joke. Flirting in Italian I love Italian women, but they are not as easy to conquer as you might think. Among other things because I’m told that one of their favorite compliments is sei una ragazza di acqua e sapone, which means “you are a girl of water and soap.” Careful. Say this only if she’s Italian, and I mean very Italian (it’s not enough for her to look like Laura Pausini). If she’s German, for example, she’ll think you’re telling her she smells bad, and if a German girl slaps you, you could end up flying around the world and be back to square one in a matter of seconds. And then she’ll slap you again. Flirting in a Pub The universal pub language is dancing. Try not to speak that language if you are not sure you master it. If she seems up for it and she is Latin American, buy her a drink. But be careful, if she is European, especially if she is Nordic, as she could be one of those half-crazed feminists who think that a man buying them a drink is micromachismo. They bark, but they drink the drink. If you’re not sure of the girl’s country of origin, don’t leave your drink alone, you might get roofied and next thing you know you’ve woken up chained to a bed, surrounded by tattooed gang members with butterfly knives, in some clandestine basement on the outskirts of town, hidden under a marijuana plantation. Flirting in Spanish From Spain If you want to flirt in my native language with a Spanish woman say eres preciosa (you are beautiful). It won’t work, but they usually find it funny when you try to speak their language while tripping on the R’s. Maybe she’ll fall in love with you out of pity. Every little bit helps. Spanish girls kiss with real passion, but only with foreigners, so I speak from hearsay. My country is strange. The girls are very pretty, but the ones under 40 listen to shitty music and move their asses way too much when they dance. Flirting in Thai Thai women are very beautiful. If you want to tell her that you love them try pronouncing C̄hạn rạk khuṇ. My advice is don’t say it in the plural when you’re with several of them or you’ll be taken for a sex tourist. And, by the way, before you propose, check that the frying pan has no handle. I have been told by my informants that over there gender is not fluid, but gaseous. Flirting in Swahili You need to speak Swahili if you’re going to pick up girls in Somalia, Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, and places like that. They’re not the best places in the world to fall in love, but if you can’t help yourself, walk up to a girl and say Bia tafadhali. This means you want a beer and it’s going to be cheaper than saying “I love you” to a random girl in a part of the world where most guys have a lot of wives, little patience, and are usually armed with military weaponry imported by the government with the clever blessing of the UN, and subsequently passed on to the black market, no pun intended. READ MORE from Itxu Diaz: Social Democratic Dictatorship: European Commission Threatens Musk for Interviewing Trump Hobbies for Boring Days Around the House Woke? Nope. Back to Sleep. The post Flirting With a Foreigner appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

Every Western fan has a favorite John Wayne film. Some titles immediately come to the fore: Red River, where Wayne first revealed his versatility as an actor; John Ford’s Cavalry Trilogy; and most obviously The Searchers, often regarded as the greatest Western ever made. I would also add his last film, The Shootist, which was worthy of an Academy Award in my opinion as Wayne (who himself was dying) played one the West’s last great lawman dying of cancer. The domestic scenes with the Quaker family, where a quizzical Wayne watches and comes to enjoy their peaceful lifestyle, are charming. As a long time John Wayne fan, I hold these films in high regard, but I have a soft spot for one that is often passed over in discussions of Wayne’s films: The Angel and the Badman, made in 1947 just as his career would enter its greatest phase.  The film was the first occasion that Wayne served as producer and was the work of one of Wayne’s best friends, James Edward Grant, who would write many of Wayne’s films, including Hondo, Island in the Sky, The Alamo, and one of Wayne’s personal favorites, The Sands of Iwo Jima. Grant was a hard drinking, former newspaperman who had a way of writing dialogue that Wayne felt suited his image. He is listed as the director of Angel and the Badman, though Bruce Cabot, one of the many of Wayne’s Hollywood buddies who played the villain, claims that Wayne directed much of the film.  The story is a simple one. Wayne is a wounded gunman named Quirt Evans, who arrives unconscious at the farm of a Quaker family, is taken in, and nursed back to health by the family. In the process, he falls in love with the daughter, played by Gail Russell in one of her best roles. The scenes between Wayne and Russell hold the film together. Russell’s performance mixes a quiet beauty and a sense of humor as she schools an unbelieving Wayne in her faith in non-violence. The theme of salvation runs through the film as Wayne in the end rejects violence for her. Wayne had a soft spot for Russell, who would struggle with alcoholism her whole life. His wife would claim that they had an affair, but that was just divorce talk. In reality, Wayne felt sorry for her and believed that she was shy and all she needed was for “someone to show her kindness.” She had cost Wayne and Republic Pictures $125,000 for her services, and Wayne threw in some extra money for her. Unfortunately, no one could help her drinking, and she died of alcoholism in 1961 at just 36 years of age. There are a couple of scenes in the film that are worthy of the best John Ford-John Wayne work. Wayne becomes domesticated, even helping in the kitchen and around the farm. As Wayne recovers, he discovers that a nearby miserly farmer controls the water needed for the farmers in the valley. He rides to confront the farmer, played with wonderful grouchiness by character actor Paul Hurst. The farmer is belligerent, until Quirt Evans reveals his name to the farmer. A frightened Hurst immediately opens the sluices. He meets Russell’s family and is softened by their kindness to him. The farmer’s wife cures a boil on his neck and gives him fresh baked goods. Like Wayne, the hardened Hurst is won over by the family’s Quaker kindness. In one of the key scenes in the film, the men who wounded Wayne, led by Cabot, arrive at the farm to confront him. The still weak Wayne takes out his gun only to discover the family had removed all the bullets. He sits in a chair, holding the empty gun, and bluffs Cabot and his gang.  Angel and the Badman is also notable for the legendary Western actor Harry Carey making one of his last appearances in a film. Carey was one of the few Hollywood types who Wayne himself hero-worshipped (John Ford was the other). Wayne copied Carey’s Western dress as well as his laconic low-keyed acting style. The sick Carey — he would die shortly after the film premiered — plays a marshal who is after Wayne. In one scene, he warns Russell that Wayne is no good and is beyond redemption, but she says her love will save him. (READ MORE: The Star Trek Election III: Men vs. Women) In the climactic final scene in the film, Carey kills Cabot and his cohorts, saving Wayne from doing so and going back on his oath to Russell that he wouldn’t resort to violence again. Wayne and Russell ride off together, with Carey smiling and waving his hat.  Wayne would pay homage to Carey in many of his Westerns, particularly the last scene of The Searchers, where, framed against on open door, he looks back on Olive Carey, Harry’s real-life wife, who plays a key role in the film, and holds his arms in the unique way that her husband did in many of his films. When they shot that scene, Olive Carey said she just cried. Not a lot happens in the plot line of Angel and the Badman other than the developing relationship between Wayne and Russell. The domestic scenes with the Quaker family, where a quizzical Wayne watches and comes to enjoy their peaceful lifestyle, are charming. At a picnic, Wayne is given a new Bible by the Quakers in thanks for securing the water for their farms. One of his friends rides up and tells him about an opportunity to rustle a herd of cattle. Wayne is tempted, but seeing Russell being wooed by a young Quaker lad, he turns his back on the scheme. He has been redeemed. (READ MORE: We’ll Never Have Paris) Angel and the Badman was one of Republic Pictures’ big successes in 1947. It made $4 million at the box office, the equivalent of $50 million today. It is one of the rare films where Wayne, a well know Hollywood conservative, played something like a peace convert, eschewing violence. He accepted the Quaker way of life. But in the end, it is The Duke at his best. John P. Rossi is Professor Emeritus of History at LaSalle University in Philadelphia. The post A Little-Known Film Is a John Wayne Gem appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

Sports pages used to be sane alternatives to the insanity of the news pages. No more. Normal Americanos have just gotten their heads around the fact that two guys, or at least non-women, fought for the gold medal in women’s boxing in the most woke Olympics in history, when we see, to our displeasure, that the odious Colin Kaepernick is weaseling his way back into public discussion. Plus, Colin now would have a hell of a time getting an NFL helmet around his magnificent Afro, which has grown larger than some of the closer planets. He’s still flogging the tired idea that he has a future as an NFL quarterback. If the current Colin Kaepernick is NFL quarterback material, I’m the next Archbishop of Canterbury. Before we move on, let’s linger just a bit on IOC head Thomas Bach’s declaration that chromosomes no longer determine sex. Who knew? Bach must have gotten his MD degree from Woke U. This nutso announcement should retire the gold in the freestyle leftist bloviation competition. Chromosomes — no matter what the trans-obsessives insist — and the resulting hormones and muscle mass do separate the boys from the girls. In a combat sport like boxing, if biology isn’t destiny, it’s way the hell ahead of whatever’s in second place. And one is entitled to wonder what those original  Greek Olympians, who competed nude in various hairy-chested sports, think of this abomination, and of such new Olympic “sports” as break dancing and skate boarding. What’s next? Crocheting? But I digress … Back to Colin. A new Alice in Wonderland wrinkle in the sorry Kaepernick saga was added this week when we learned (be seated for this one) that Jim Harbaugh, the Los Angeles chargers’ new head coach, has offered Colin a spot on his coaching staff. I’m not making this up, and I’m not quoting from The Babylon Bee. Funny, Harbaugh doesn’t look stupid. And I doubt he’s conferred with Chargers ownership before launching this fool’s errand. Kaepernick on the payroll, on the field or on the sidelines, would surely lead to ticket sales Hell. Harbaugh didn’t specify what Kaepernick’s coaching duties would be. Perhaps he could instruct chargers players on different kneeling positions they could assume during the playing of the national anthem and tell them where to buy the best pig socks. Harbaugh has won both a college championship and a Super Bowl, His Super Bowl win coming in 2013 with the San Francisco Forty-Niners with Kaepernick as his quarterback. Perhaps he’s allowing sentiment to cloud his judgment. But most sports outlets tell us Kaepernick insists he wants to play again. Of course Kaepernick doesn’t deserve another shot as a player in the NFL. Not just for his delusional politics and his anti-American antics, though these are the main charges and specifications against him and would be enough. Also while the helmets weren’t leather when Colin took his last snap in the NFL, his career is fast fading into the distant past. We’re talking serious ring rust here. Colin is 36, an awkward age for an NFL player. Not every QB can be Tom Brady. And Colin certainly sure as hell wasn’t. Kaepernick Wants a Whipping Boy But for all the sound and fury, I don’t believe for a second that Colin really wants to play football again. He just wants the NFL as a whipping boy and as an excuse for his racialist rants, as well as a way to stay in the public eye, ear, nose, and throat. I’m sure he’s grasped that it’s far more lucrative and less dangerous endorsing the products of woke corporations than getting the stem-winding crap knocked out of him on the football field on Sundays. He’s been out of the game long enough to have forgotten the soul-freezing feeling of a 320-pound lineman with one big eye in the middle of his forehead breathing like a landfill bearing down on him with malicious intent. Plus, Colin now would have a hell of a time getting an NFL helmet around his magnificent Afro, which has grown larger than some of the closer planets. I’m well struck in years now, but my health is good. So perhaps I’ll live long enough to see Colin Kaepernick where he deserves to be, washed up as just another tarry shingle on the beach of old and forgotten news. READ MORE from Larry Thornberry: RIP Mike Marshall Flags Unlimited — Zebras on Steroids? The post Will Wearisome Kaepernick Ever Leave? appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

For years, policymakers and regulators have created a hostile regulatory environment for America’s tech sector. This “techlash” has usually manifested in the form of various proposals targeting these companies’ core products. This includes services like social media, app stores, or online commerce. However, these regulatory efforts have been largely unsuccessful, and now the misguided anti-tech crowd seems to have pivoted toward attacking data centers. Data centers are part of  the vital infrastructure behind consumer-facing services, and they now find themselves in the crosshairs. By weaponizing permitting and zoning laws, emissions and electricity regulations, and tax hikes, policymakers aim to sabotage operations altogether. Policymakers should not fall prey to the anti-tech rhetoric disguised as environmental and energy concerns. As Americans continue to lead increasingly digital lives and artificial intelligence (AI) development continues to soar, computing power has become a precious resource. This has spurred a need for companies to set up data centers in various regions of the country. These have become necessary infrastructure for the modern digital economy. State governments across the country were initially enthusiastic about the prospect of hosting data centers within their borders. These facilities often translated into multi-million-dollar land and construction investments and increases in property tax revenues. Some states were perhaps too enthusiastic, offering myriad tax credits and utility rate discounts in what could be considered state-level industrial policy efforts.  More Energy for Data Centers Unsurprisingly, data centers’ resource-intensive operation requires a significant amount of energy to run properly. This has given anti-tech politicians the perfect excuse to put forward hostile regulations, as the country struggles with a strained energy grid. Under the guise of protecting the energy grid or limiting emissions, local and state governments have enacted regulations that limit companies’ ability to build new data centers.  By constraining fuel choices for backup generators, or raising fees for their basic infrastructure, governments have put the squeeze on America’s tech sector. For example, Arizona, Illinois, and Arkansas passed laws that either suspended data center development or restricted where they can be built. Prince William County in Virginia recently passed a tax hike of 70 percent on their computer equipment.  While a strained electric grid in an increasingly digital economy is a cause for concern, a lot of claims about data centers tend to be hyperbolic or ignorant. Data centers have an economic incentive to lower their energy consumption as much as possible, as energy costs are one of their main operational costs. Not for nothing, most of the data center operators sign lengthy power-purchase agreements to lock-in energy rates to constrain these costs. Not only do they push for a lower rate, but they aim to use energy more efficiently, investing millions of dollars into research and development to optimize their energy consumption. In addition, data centers are a perfect example of an economy of scale producing greater efficiency. It is undoubtedly more energy efficient for hospitals, offices, manufacturers, and other data-intensive industries to contract with data centers versus each running their own server farms. Some companies have even gone so far as developing self-powered centers. In some cases, these facilities have gone from being energy consumers to being energy providers, sending off excess energy back to the grid. Ultimately, in an economy that increasingly relies on digital commerce — and will likely become more dependent on AI — purposefully limiting the country’s computing power would be a strategical blunder. While some politically motivated actors feel compelled to attack the tech industry’s operation by crippling its operating capacity, it will be consumers who will face the costs of diminished computing power. It could also harm the provision of basic government services. If emergency lines like the 911 line are embracing AI to optimize their operations, undermining data center capacity would be an ill-advised policy.  This all goes without mentioning the security tradeoffs of penalizing data center development and storage in the United States. Government’s should avoid unintentionally incentivizing data centers that serve Americans to move overseas. Policymakers should not fall prey to the anti-tech rhetoric disguised as environmental and energy concerns that surrounds these data center bills. Instead of stifling the United States’ computing capacity, policymakers should find ways to maximize its energy production and aid these data centers in becoming more energy efficient. Prioritizing permitting reform, for example, can help them develop the necessary infrastructure to offset their energy consumption in a cost-efficient and timely manner. Juan Londoño is a senior policy analyst at the Taxpayers Protection Alliance.  READ MORE: Harris Can Avoid Reporters But Not Economics America Needs a Rational Energy Policy The post Don’t Regulate Data Centers Out of Existence appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

from Liberty Sentinel: TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/

"Grandpa, what's a Psyop?" pic.twitter.com/8GzZ13a2Vw — Keri Smith ?Deprogrammed (@RealKeriSmith) August 17, 2024

by Mac Slavo, SHTF Plan: The Israel-Gaza war has reached a bloody new milestone. Over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched an incursion and war on Hamas following the group’s October 7th attack on the Jewish state’s civilians. The health ministry in the enclave said Thursday, that this is yet another dark milestone in […]