More Linky Links

More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- The invention of "climate risk" - politically brilliant but fatally flawed.

-  The real Watergate scandal. Reminder that the screenplay to All the President's Men was written by William Goldman (who was not exactly known for any documentaries). (HT Execupundit)

- How the Chiefs landed perhaps the most lopsided deal in NFL history. Great googly-moogly.

- From the archives: the origin of the use of "om" in meditation.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- The Peptide Craze. Take note that the potential adverse effects can be scary.

- Jonathan Turley on the Colbert cancellation.

- Seth Godin's Notes to Myself. Good life advice.

- Trump Conjures Nixon. I'd argue that it's more RealBusiness than Realpolitik though.

Quotes for Today

Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

Have a new Quotes for Today up on my Substack. As I've mentioned doing this as a way to thank those who have Subscribed. If you are a Subscriber - you should have received an email. Thanks!

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- The best months to visit each National Park. This is a bucket list item for me.

- Yet all the protesters are in the US, the UK, and Germany.

- Analysis true!

- Why Richard Nixon went to China

Quotes for Today

Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

Have a new Quotes for Today up on my Substack. As I've mentioned doing this as a way to thank those who have Subscribed. If you are a Subscriber - you would have received an email. Thanks!

More Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- US "No Fly List" leaks after being left on unsecure airline server. We're in the very best of hands.

- Exclusive behind the scenes look as Ivan Provorov tells his GM he won't wear the pride jersey. (Don't click the link if you're easily offended)

- National Debt - Your US Government at work

- Tucker Carlson on the Deep State and why Richard Nixon had to go.

Alternate History - USSR vs China

We often engage in historical "what if's" such as "what if Robert E. Lee had won at Gettysburg?" Or "what if Hitler had never opened a second front against Russia in WWII?"

This post about Communist China got me thinking once again about one of my favorite historical "what if's" - "what if Nixon had never gone to China?"

Most forget but in 1969 Russia and China were very close to an all-out war. According to Henry Kissinger, it was this fact that spurred much of the US's policies towards both countries with Nixon supporting China because he "decided that it was against American national interest to have China defeated." The side benefit of such a strategy, again according to Kissinger, was that "the opening to China facilitated the opening to Moscow and vice versa."

The first few years after the opening to China the biggest fear on the part of the Chinese was still an attack from Russia which made the nascent relationship with the US all the more important as a counterbalance against Soviet aggression. But, again, what if Nixon had never made the opening to China and instead allowed a conflict between Russia and China to play out?

I'm convinced the US followed the correct policy in the late 20th century of standing on the sidelines as the Iran-Iraq war played out with both sides fighting each other to a bloody standstill. What if we had done the same here? I'm guessing that Russia would have initially had the upper hand but the sheer numbers of the Chinese could have bled Russia white the way they later were in Afghanistan in the 1980's.

With both sides focusing their country's resources on each other there also would have been little or no support for either North Vietnam or North Korea. The history of both of those nations also could have been vastly different. We may even have had a unified Korea today as a result.

Taiwan, aka the Republic of China, could been allowed to grow and prosper in relative security with US arms and the protection of the US Navy. A strong Taiwan might have even been positioned to pick up the pieces from a failed Communist China after the shooting war ended.

Instead we have our current situation.

Of course another "what if" that has to be considered is what if the USSR was losing so much men and material that they decided it would be easier to just nuke Beijing? That's a "what if" that doesn't have such rosy outcomes.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Morgan Housel - Best Story Wins

- Christopher Walken in a  live-action version of Puss in Boots. This was a real thing! 

- Spacehey a "reincarnation" of MySpace and a "competitor" to Facebook. Wouldn't be surprised if things like Spacehey become more numerous and popular. Like upgraded message board communities without the exploitative big-brotherism of  Facebook.

-There should be a movie about Dick Tuck. It could end (or begin) with the Watergate break-in.

- "Thou Shalt Not Suffer a Cat to Live." The Catholic Church's forgotten war on cats. (But what about Christopher Walken as a cat?)

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Then: "Only Nixon could go to China." Now: "Only Trump could decouple from China." Internally Communist Chinese leaders know what time it is. The decoupling will happen and is happening. Western businesses have learned not to trust China - "China is asshole". Leaders in China are probably worried about feeding their nation and also that the middle class there will be looking for someone to blame once the shit really hits the fan... Questions arise over sports draining public resources. I'm OK with this because the resources aren't "public" in the sense that they are owned and paid for by the government. Quest Diagnostics and BioReference are private companies that charge fees for services. If BioReference wants to expedite NBA tests you can be sure that the NBA is paying a premium for it..With the demand this high would it shock anyone to see other labs step up to take some of the testing market share?.. Heh Heh... "No great thing is created suddenly." - Epictetus... Heh Heh... I've read Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged a couple of times but have never picked up Return of the Primitive. I honestly don't consider Rand a very good writer but after reading this post I added Return of the Primitive to my book wish list...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

15-years ago the New York Times actually had the headline "Can Angelina Jolie Really Save the World?" And it was in the business section! Just in case you were wondering if the NYT giving up on being a serious news organization was a new thing... This is the sort of thing that makes you believe peace in the Middle East is actually possible... Who knew? Richard Nixon and Otis Nixon shared the same birthday... A Christopher Hitchens quote that seems very relevant to the Impeachment hearings, "That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence"...  A racial crisis may materialize in two years for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Both steroids tainted Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens have two years of eligibility left to be elected to the Hall. If the white Clemens gets somehow elected at the last minute while the black Barry Bonds does not then the cries of "Racism!" will be loud and clear. And probably not wrong...  If the DNC really wanted to stick it to Bernie Sanders they could insure that someone at the next Democratic Debate asks Bernie if he's elected would he make his wife Secretary of Education...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Donald Trump is now the only sitting President to attend a UFC event. Richard Nixon was the only sitting President to attend a Kentucky Derby... Think this picture encapsulates how much fun this Boston Celtics team is to root for (versus last year's team which was almost a burden to root for)... When I see all those Baker Mayfield commercials on TV I am reminded that a young just off a Super Bowl win Tom Brady had lots of offers to do commercials but he was very selective. And Brady always made sure to include either his offensive linemen or receivers in the commercials he chose to do. Baker Mayfield is no Tom Brady (on many levels)... Heh Heh... There's been some controversy over the extent Trump was cheered or booed at the UFC event but that misses the point. Can you think of any Democrat running for President who would have elicited any reaction from a UFC crowd at all?... Man can Drew Brees bring the pre-game speech or what!...

Voyager Spacecraft and Richard Nixon

Outside the Apollo moon landing the Voyager Spacecraft may be NASA's signature program (argue the Mars rover if you like). The thing that often or always gets overlooked is the fact that the Voyager Spacecraft (Voyager I and Voyager II) would have never happened if it wasn't for Richard Nixon.

Yet Nixon never seems to get any credit.

Seriously. Can you find any mention of Nixon in the Wikipedia page on the Voyager program? Without Nixon granting NASA the money specifically for this project this never happens. Without Voyager there's no "pale blue dot". And without Carl Sagan's elegant words the appetite for space exploration probably is not close to what it is today.

Yet Nixon's name comes up less frequently when it comes to the Voyager program than Chuck Berry's.

And if you think I'm trying to give Nixon too much credit please remember that George McGovern stated in no uncertain terms that if he was elected President he was going to cut the space shuttle program and redirect those funds toward domestic programs. Do you think the Voyager science experiment would have got funding if it wasn't Nixon in office?

No chance. Yet Nixon never gets any credit.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Going to the moon was hard - but the benefits were huge.

- Good advice.

- I admit that as soon as I heard about Trump talking about Greenland my first thought was "That's a great idea!" And I still think that!

- The Choco Taco may seriously be my favorite dessert

- Nixon's haircut - that would be a good name for a band (or a tax cut)

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Is one of the underrated reasons for the fall of the Soviet Union the opening of China to the West by Nixon? The economy and military capabilities of China have greatly expanded in the years since Nixon's historic visit at a pace the Soviet Union could never match... I wonder what the hammer-throwing girl (Anya Major) from Apple's iconic 1984 commercial is doing these days... Pretty sure if the Earth were hit by a giant asteroid there are many who would somehow blame the event on man-made global warming... A healthy list indeed... In other news Syracuse University forced to change nickname of athletic teams after campus wide breakout of TDS... I did not know this...

Kissinger on Kissinger

A review copy of Kissinger on Kissinger: Reflections on Diplomacy, Grand Strategy, and Leadership by Winston Lord was sent to me. Winston Lord is credited as the author but the book is really a compilation of some discourses between Kissinger and Lord who was Kissinger's right hand man for many of the events talked about in the book.

It was a short book, just 140 pages, but well worth the time as it gave tremendous insight into the period of time where Henry Kissinger was on center stage in world events.

One of the core tenets underlying much of the events and strategies laid out by Kissinger during the Nixon years was the Nixon belief that "since you pay the same price for half-measures, you should adopt bold moves." And that when it came to leadership that the qualities most needed are character and courage." And with the hindsight of history you can appreciate how bold some of these moves by Nixon and Kissinger really were.

The partnership between Nixon and Kissinger was partly remarkable when you consider that the two had never met prior to Nixon appointing Kissinger to the NSA in 1968.

One thing that is forgotten by history is the fact that in 1969 Russia and China were very close to an all-out war. It was this fact that spurred much of the US's policy towards both counties with Nixon supporting China because he "decided that it was against American national interest to have China defeated." The side benefit was that "the opening to China facilitated the opening to Moscow and vice versa."

The first few years after the opening to China the biggest fear on the part of the Chinese was still an attack from Russia which made the nascent relationship all the more important as a counterbalance against Soviet aggression. It is mind-blowing to wonder what would have been the course of history if Nixon did not open China to the West (a path made possible by the groundwork of Kissinger). Today we worry about China as an economic rival but if that Nixon trip never happened we could easily today be worrying about the possible military aggression from a nation of 1.4 billion starving people.

The summit between Nixon and Brezhnev in 1972 was a direct result of Nixon opening China to the US. The book also goes into some detail about the Paris Accords and Vietnam as well as Kissinger's Shuttle Diplomacy in the Middle East. Well worth the read.

Kissinger also makes an interesting observation about the incivility that has invaded politics. "When I was a graduate student in the fifties, Harvard was 90 percent Democratic, as it has remained and maybe increased, but when Republican Cabinet members showed up at Harvard, they were treated with respect. The political debate in America in the fifties and early sixties was about the adequacy of policies. Sometime in the sixties, the political debate turned into a debate about the motivation of leaders and their inherent moral adequacy."

We have gotten away from discussing policies and solutions to our current issues. That has to change and in a strange twist President Trump may be making that possible. He takes so many hits on the personal level but shrugs them off. His supporters point to his policies and accomplishments and the debate sooner or later has to turn to address those because discussion about Trump's many personal failings are falling on deaf ears. The majority have tuned those out "scandals" out.

Kentucky Derby Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous Kentucky Derby related thoughts and observations.

The New England Patriots were once again well represented at the Kentucky Derby with both the Hall of Fame coach and QB looking spiffy... Richard Nixon remains the only sitting US President to attend the run for the roses. He's alo the only President to meet both Elvis and Robocop... How funny would it be if instead of elaborate hats women (and Johnny Weir) had to wear elaborate fake beards? My mind works differently than most... As far as my bets I did not have either the winner Country House (or the DQ'd winner Maximum Security) in my five-horse trifecta box but I made money on the day because I loaded up on Code of Honor to show. I figured with a sloppy track the experience of jockey Johnny Valazquez  would make a big difference and that Johnny V would find a way to get his horse into the money. I was right.

Some Thoughts on China

Before Richard Nixon opened China to the West in 1972 the US's trade with China was less than the US's trade with Honduras. It wasn't just exposure to the West that helped start the economic revolution in China. It was practicality.

And when it comes to practicality it's tough to beat farmers who always seem to have both common sense and courage to do what's right (especially when it comes to their families). It doesn't matter if it's in China or in Plymouth Plantation.

Interesting stats (if correct) - "Top 100 companies by market cap in 2007: Europe 40, US 35 and China 10. Today: US 55, Europe 20, China 10." Seems to be an indictment of the European Union. But if China doesn't have a big percentage of the top market cap companies - how has their growth been accomplished? From small and mid cap companies of course - just like the backbone of the US economy. And speaking of...

The US economy grew a "surprising" 3.2% in Q1. I like to think the growth is due in part to the Trump Administration actively getting rid of unneeded regulations that hamper small and mid-size business.

Now just think on how the US economy will do when the China trade tariff disputes finally get settled.

Presidential Poker

Probably the two best poker players to occupy the Oval Office in the 20th century were Harry S. Truman and Richard Nixon. However, before I can discuss them in poker terms I need to point out that I hold to the theory that poker players fall into four basic categories. 

1. Players who don’t know what they are doing. These of course are the best ones to play against. 

2. Players who try to judge the others players around the table. Amateur psychologists who play the person as much or more than the cards. They try to figure out who raises when they have nothing and who raises when they are loaded and play accordingly. They will stay in to the end with shit cards if they think the other guy is bluffing. 

3. Players who play the odds. They know the probabilities and do not stay in a hand unless the odds are in their favor. An extreme example of this type of player is the guy who will only stay in a 7-stud game if his hole cards are a pair or Ace/King. (If you just played the odds you are almost guaranteed to win but poker wouldn't be much fun.) 

4. This guy is a combination of the player who can player the other players around the table as well as know the probabilities involved with the cards exposed at the table. This is the most dangerous type of player to play against. Basically, anyone who has ever made it to the final table at the World Series of Poker would fall into this category. (By the way - just like everyone thinks they have a sense of humor - everyone who plays poker sees themselves as a category 4 player.) 

Harry S. Truman fell into this forth category. Truman was a regular at Vice President John Nance Garner'’s poker game when Truman was a Senator. (Interestingly – Truman would later replace Garner as VP. Garner is also the man who described the job of VP not being worth a warm jug of spit.) At these games Truman became friends with Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn and members of the House from both parties. Truman’s reputation as honest, smart and humorous came in large part from participating in these poker games. 

Truman would often play poker a few nights a week. The games could be with friends from back home in Missouri, newspapermen when he was traveling or other Senators back in Washington. Poker is something Truman did for fun and relaxation. It is a habit he kept throughout his time in Washington including all his time as President. (I should note that although poker may have been a habit with Truman – losing was not. Truman was an excellent poker player.) 

Richard Nixon was a very different person from Truman and they also differed greatly when it came to poker. 

Nixon was raised a Quaker but that did not stop him from either joining the Navy or from making a tidy sum playing poker in the service. 

Nixon was poor (as was Truman) but didn’t have Truman’'s ease with people. Nixon, however, had a great analytical mind. At his height, Nixon was a category four player but in his heart he was really a category three player. Nixon knew the odds and liked to take advantage of them when they were in his favor. 

Nixon was such a good poker player that he was able to finance his first run for Congress with $10,000 he won playing poker in the service (that was quite a bit of money back then). The higher Nixon rose, however, the less poker he played. By the time he became Vice President – Nixon had stopped playing altogether, 

I have to think that if Nixon had kept his wit and person reading/interaction skills sharp by playing poker that his Presidency would have had a much different ending. 

Richard Nixon

Love this picture of Richard Nixon playing the piano (via Super 70's Sports).

It's right up there with the iconic picture of Nixon bowling.

Or even his Nixon meets Elvis.

But it's still only second best in terms of photos of Presidents playing piano. That top spot belongs to Harry Truman with a young leggy Lauren Bacall (I don't care that Truman was only Vice President at the time of the photo).

Voyager Spacecraft and Richard Nixon

Outside the Apollo moon landing the Voyager Spacecraft may be NASA's signature program (argue the Mars rover if you like). The thing that often or always gets overlooked is the fact that the Voyager Spacecraft (Voyager I and Voyager II) would have never happened if it wasn't for Richard Nixon.

Yet Nixon never seems to get any credit.

Seriously. Can you find any mention of Nixon in the Wikipedia page on the Voyager program? Without Nixon granting NASA the money specifically for this project this never happens. Without Voyager there's no "pale blue dot". And without Carl Sagan's elegant words the appetite for space exploration probably is not close to what it is today.

Yet Nixon's name comes up less frequently when it comes to the Voyager program than Chuck Berry's.

And if you think I'm trying to give Nixon too much credit please remember that George McGovern stated in no uncertain terms that if he was elected President he was going to cut the space shuttle program and redirect those funds toward domestic programs. Do you think the Voyager science experiment would have got funding if it wasn't Nixon in office?

No chance. Yet Nixon never gets any credit.