Interesting region which has often been in war... that's one reason it has both German and French culture.

Glad you're finally getting a taste of spring. Tomorrow is May Day, mid-spring, the Beltane.

I'm already having to mow, but with all the wildflowers it is minimal right now.

Thought this was interesting...

Senator Rand Paul says he now has the votes needed to block Trump’s tariffs in the Senate and is co-sponsoring a bipartisan resolution to do so.

Although Paul describes himself as a Trump supporter, he says he doesn’t want to live under emergency rule.

He argues that tariffs… pic.twitter.com/8hGCaJ5gNB

— Shadow of Ezra (@ShadowofEzra) April 29, 2025

Thanks for the OT!

1871, WWI, and WWII. It's mine! No, it's mine! Vaguely remember this from European history classes. It was a major cause of these wars.

Another French related item:

Jeff Rich Australian history enthusiast has promoted the work of French demographer/historian, Emmanuel Todd, on The Defeat of the West. The book has been translated in many languages but apparently not English, which is somewhat curious. Maybe he doesn't want to get doxed? Is that how you say it? Anyway Rich has three videos at least on Todd's analysis of the west's decline, focusing on the US. Rich apparently has read the French language version and summarizes the author's theories. It's quite apparent that Todd's approach, which is both statistical (demographic), historical and impressionistic (in my opinion) has made a big impression on Rich and he refers to Todd's analysis or model of US decline often.

Rich himself is an interesting analyst who often describes faults in US society and governance precisely and at other times misses the obvious because he is not American, and drifts off into esoteric riffs on moral and cultural failures in US society. For example, I don't think I've ever heard him make a reference to the Citizen's United decision of the US Supreme Court. I heard a presentation he made recently comparing currently US politics to the Qing Dynasty. Or the 2025 Project's objective to complete the Powell counterrevolution and completely dismantle or at least privatize what's left of the FDR/LBJ state institutions. This is not a chaotic response, but a deliberate policy objective.

Rich is opposed I think to accepting a model of fascism for current US political degeneration and associated institutional attacks, particularly as manifested in the Trump administration's reaction. I'm not sure why he's so convinced. The verdict is still out on this. I see fascism as the movement toward totalitarian rule, in a society where socialism is traditionally anathema. Such a movement is the anti-human imperialist drive, frustrated, turned inward upon the "dislocated" domestic society. I don't think this model from Hannah Arendt's dissection of totalitarianism can be rejected out of hand yet, particularly in light of all the recent wars, including the Palestinian genocide. fwiw

Thanks for the open thread QMS 從

I didn't know the meaning of 從. I thought you used this expression to mean friend? We had this conservation last Wednesday.

QMS I didn't recognize 從
@QMS

...and your usage here. I did know the simplified 从, but I thought it was a preposition. If I get it right, I would call you hyung 형 in Korean, familiar for brother, from the Chinese 兄. Am I on the right track, bro?

Yes, meaning friend
@soryang
should have used the simplified version
still new to mandarin

Best of luck with the mahogany!
I toured Alsace-Lorraine, had to keep pestering the tour guide with "What country are we in now?" questions.
Remember the Yellow Vests protests? We were in the middle of it, and the only vehicles that got through the protesters were those that put a yellow vest on their dash board.
Protests were once so cool, weren't they?
Thanks for the OT, friend!

from Burpee. I'll give up two potential weeks of growth (and several more potential freezes and heavy frosts) to get exactly what I want delivered, and at the time they think will be best for planting here in the near-vacuum of near-space. Who knew that space was Zone 5?

Meanwhile, here are the day's pretty pictures, and lame excuses, from 0H. No further comment on my part is required...

https://archive.ph/ld0JO