Totalitarian forces held at bay--- for now

Oct 23rd, 2026

The video is no longer supported and therefore cannot be seen. But the transcript is still there, or should I say HERE.

June 18th, 2012

Courtesy of Ace's blog, I found this video about threats to the First Amendment.  This president is at war with our culture.  The Bill of Rights is key to that culture.  This is but just one example of how that part of our culture is being attacked.

Fossil fuels saved the whales

10/14/26:

It's been awhile since I heard anybody mention the whales.

They must be doing okay.

Maybe we should be worried about other things, like our freedom.

Nov 17, 2012: The original post is below:

There aren't too many folks who haven't heard the environmentalist's pleas to save the whales.  Human beings are so cruel, they claim.  Only humans would hunt whales to extinction for their blubber.  In the old days, whale blubber was turned into whale oil, which was used to light homes before there was such a thing as electricity.

If it wasn't for oil, whales would have been hunted to extinction for sure by now.

If it wasn't for coal, forests would have been denuded of trees by now.

If we go Barak to the future, the trees and the whales won't be safe.  But those who won't think for themselves believe what the environmentalists say.  They will stop the fossil fuel industry from saving the whales and the trees.

Yeah, I know it all sounds so extreme.  But truth is extreme.  So are lies.  You don't find the truth by splitting the difference.

Save the whales.  Keep the fossil fuel industry going.

Most polls say we are on the wrong track, but do you know why?

9/19/26:

Where did the Limits to Growth idea come from? Was it one of the Frankfurt School ideas? It has been long known that Marxism seems to take root amongst the poor nations as opposed to the richer nations. As a nation prospers, so does the allure of Marxism.

The Frankfurt School came into being because of this fact. It wasn't supposed to be that way. The Revolution was supposed to be in the rich nations.

So the Marxists started trying to tear down the rich nations. Lo and behold, the USA, being a rich nation, has to be convinced that its properity is a bad thing. So now the population has been indocrinated in this Limits to Growth, and whaddaya know? The USA has suffered from low growth from all these years. It is almost as if that was somebody's IDEA.

So now we've got AI threatening to create all kinds of new properity, and these Marxists just cannot have that. Hence the leftist attack on AI.

Make no mistake. AI just might get DANGEROUS. So can fire. But we didn't abandon fire. If it wasn't for fire, we'd be living in caves with no hope of ever getting out of the caves.

In other words, there's trade-offs. The Marxists don't want us to abandon AI. Nope, they want to control us with FEAR. Then they can control how much the world will grow. It will only grow as much as the Marxists think they need it grow.

Marxists didn't abandon fire. They didn't abandon electricity. They didn't abandon the airplane. Or the internet. Or anything else. But they sure as hell want to be in control. It is about power with the Marxists. If they want to scare people about AI, it is only because they fear losing control.

If we are on the wrong track, it is because we've given the Marxists too much control already. Time to take it back.

8/7/13: The original post is below:

How many of those polls ask why?

Why are we on the wrong track?

I'd bet less than 1 in a million will know the true reason why we are on the wrong track.

If I'd guess about the zeitgeist, the majority might say that the rich is getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.  This is misleading.  The truth is that everybody is getting poorer, but the rich suffer the least.  So, the resentment focuses in on the rich.  Taxing the rich more isn't the answer anymore than killing the goose that lays the golden egg will produce more golden eggs.

I think that we are on the wrong track because the zeitgeist has drunk the kool aid of the Limits to Growth crowd.  So, we end up with politicians who want to spread the wealth as opposed to creating new wealth.  What we get is less wealth and more equality, but that equality comes at a fearful price.  That price will get more and more fearful as the Limits to Growth philosophy becomes hard wired and institutionalized.  We are almost there now.

This Limits to Growth zeitgeist has all but rejected nuclear power.  But the rejection of nuclear power all but guarantees that future growth will become impossible.  Read the link above to see my reasoning upon this subject.  Boiled down to its most salient point is this:  an advanced society requires kinetic energy, which can only be supplied by nuclear energy.  The physics of this cannot be willed out of existence.  It cannot be bargained with or reasoned with.  It cannot be fudged.  There is no other way to continue growth but by embracing nuclear energy.  It's all in the physics.

So, we have to make a choice.  Go backwards into chaos and self-destruction, or forward into a new golden age of growth and prosperity.  The way towards that is nuclear energy.  It is against the paradigm at the moment, but that can change.  The only way to change that paradigm is to get the message out.  You can be sure that the Limits to Growth crowd do not want this message to get out.

More information about Declaration Entertainment

9/15/26:

I'm proud to have participated in this for a time. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to have caught fire. Maybe the post-modernist, wokist horde is going to take over. Maybe the zombified left have eaten your brains after all.

We've got some real push-overs out there who are going to be our saviors. Lovely. They are so weak that they can be overthrown with the greatest of ease. They can be so easily confused that they will betray everything that they claim to believe in.

What a world.

But I'm crazy enough to believe that we can still win. It may not be easy, but it isn't impossible. Just don't give up. Whatever you do, don't give up.

If you do that, then it will really be over.



8/3/11: The original post is below:

...and a new film being produced, which is called "The Arroyo".

SYNOPSIS: 40 miles north of America’s southern border, nightfall marks the beginning of a mass migration of men and drugs the likes of which the world has never seen. For the ranchers whose acreage is in the path of this exodus, the horror of finding the dead bodies, raped women, and destroyed property is second only to the feeling of betrayal by a government that is happy to take their money, but not to guard their rights and land. Jim Weatherford has taken horror and betrayal alike in stride, but there are some things a man simply cannot abide, and some lines that must be defended.

Update:

Here's another film they are making, which is a scifi movie called Aurora.

By: Bill Whittle

Synopsis:

The Time: the Near Future. Life in America grows ever more regimented, regulated and controlled. But far out in the Mojave Desert, a small band of renegade entrepreneurs and engineers are building a vehicle capable of opening the entire Solar System to colonization and free enterprise, beyond the reach of bureaucracy.

After a catastrophic failure of their nuclear engine and the loss of their primary crew, this small but dedicated team races to re-design and re-crew Aurora, reaching back into NASA’s best days to move forward into the future – a future that depends on protecting and preserving the quintessential American frontier values: courage, optimism, ingenuity and daring.

Backed by oil money, running on nuclear power, Aurora and her crew set a course for the worst place there is: mighty Jupiter - a miniature solar system and a cyclotron of radiation; a place of unparalleled danger and grandeur. En route they will face death and disaster, and nothing but raw courage and sacrifice will bring them back alive.

You can join this organization for about 10 bucks a month as a citizen producer. You get a download of each movie that they make. Hmmmmmm.

Laying that guilt trip on thick

9/13/26:

So there's this white woman running for office in North Carolina. That one is making the rounds. Hey, Trump's the fascist, right? One little problem: She seems to be advocating the use of Hitler's ovens to do in the MAGA folks. Is that projection much? For those in Rio Linda, projection is accusing others of what you do yourself.

All the stupidity is coming from SOMEWHERE, now isn't it? Seems to be coming from the AWFL's. This particular one in North Carolina got herself in a little trouble with her party. It just won't do to be too obvious about your stupidity. By the way, Hitler was a man of the left because he used their own language. Do these idiots even know what they are talking about with this fascism accusation? Or are they just stupid? Either way, it is bad.

6/8/26:

A thought: Guilt-tripping is suicidal empathy?  Update:   Probably not.  Continue:Most folks know about white guilt. It was spoken of during the Obama campaign in 2008. "White folks are so bad that they cannot be allowed to exist"--I've seen something like that on the web.

I can figure non-whites getting into that kind of hate-mode. But why would white people do it, or allow themselves to be brainwashed into it?

Maybe because they think it makes them good people. They're not good. They're stupid.

Never underestimate the power of stupid.

Ah, yes! Never say never unless it is a rule.



Updated on 4/28/23; Originally posted on Dec 14th, 2010

There is a girl from Germany who posts on YouTube. She talked about Adolf Hitler and World War II. When she got to the history of the event, she said something that reminded me of all the guilt tripping that has been laid upon the West. This is communist inspired, I suspect.

As usual, the left doesn't care about the Holocaust. They just want to use it as a political device that can gain them more power. Once you recognize this tactic, you may be able to start counter-acting it. Without any counter, you are totally defenseless against it.

There was a video posted here about how Hitler overthrew the Weimar Republic. The same kind of tactics are being employed today, which is quite an irony. The left wants to impose guilt so that they can get you to disarm yourselves, and become completely subjugated to their will. Hitler disarmed all Germans, it should be noted. Hitler had his Brownshirts. Hitler used his Brownshirts to quell opposition. At the end of the Weimar Republic, Hitler's Nazi Party was declared as the only legal party in Germany. As a coup de grace, Hitler had all allegiance sworn to him PERSONALLY.

Hitler's Brownshirts were led by a notorious homosexual, Ernst Roehm. When Roehm was no longer useful to him, he had Roehm liquidated. A Christian would not have done that. The commies have the homosexuals believing that Hitler was a Christian, and that Christians would have all homosexuals sent to the concentration camps and gassed. All fascists must be Christians, so all Christians are super guilty because they caused Hitler to come to power. Or so it goes.

Germany was put through a huge, huge guilt trip. That has spread all over the West. We are constantly reminded of the past, and how the West colonized the world. The West was responsible for slavery and degradation of the environment. You get the picture. All of this inspires GUILT. Guilt must be expiated somehow. What better way for an enemy to destroy you than to get you to blame all evil on your own existence? Then you commit suicide, as this is the only way to bring justice for all the harm you allegedly did. This is what is happening to the West. The West is characterized as evil, and the only justice is for it to be eradicated.

The appropriate way to address what Hitler did was not to go on some super duper guilt trip. It is to rationally deduce what went wrong, and to correct it so that it won't happen again. Evidently, that isn't happening, for many of the same things that brought down the Weimar Republic are happening right here in the USA this very day.

The US Supreme Court had the chance to address the issue of oaths of office in the elections controversy. They refused the case. If this was addressed, then the oath of office would be treated seriously, which it is not. If it is not treated seriously, then what prevents a private oath of loyalty, such as the one to Adolf Hitler, from being made? The Supreme Court failed us. If there is no importance to the oath, then what inspires loyalty to the document? Anything at all? If there's no loyalty to the founding document, then what is going to preserve it? This could explain the rapidly deteriorating civil liberties that is found in the USA today. If the oath is not preserved, then what preserves the right to vote, the right to free speech and association, and the rest of the Bill of Rights?

The political left has gotten a lot of political mileage out of the guilt tripping. These people make it a religion to feel so guilty. They feel holier than thou when they feel so guilty. But they solve nothing that caused what happened in Germany in the Third Reich. The errors that brought the Nazis to power are being repeated this very day. American democracy and freedom will not be preserved, because that is the Big Lie. The Big Lie is what the Nazis liked to employ, and that is being repeated here as well. The Big Lie is that the left cares about Democracy and Freedom. They only seek to use these words as a means to power. This is what they care about.

Wake up America.

original post

Aaron Sorkin has joined in the kick Palin chorus.  It's the old emotional manipulation of laying out the old guilt trip. Sorkin wants Palin to feel ultra guilty.

Sorkin was furious that the documentary showed Palin hunting and killing a caribou. Although she made it clear that she intended to eat the animal, according to Sorkin, she had committed an act of murder and torture. 

Notice how it has to be justified on the grounds that the animal had to be eaten in order for this to be acceptable.  But even that justification isn't even acceptable to Sorkin, who wants to push vegetarianism, if one is to take this to it logical conclusion.

Why does Palin have to justify herself to Sorkin?  Why should Palin have to justify herself in hunting caribou for whatever reason?  Who cares what Sorkin thinks?  Evidently, there are those who do.  Hence, the technique is used because it works.

The left can use this tactic in order to manipulate others.  It only works if you accept their moral authority.  But who gives Sorkin or any others like him the moral authority?  Question their authority, I say.  They don't have any unless you recognize it.

Here is an previous example that I posted on this phenomenon.  

Fuera de serie

9/8/26:

Once upon a time, I had a Latino friend who offered to teach me Spanish if I would teach him English. I declined, as I felt that we'd be correcting each other so much that we couldn't say anything at all in our conversations. Eventually he became fluent in English. Not necessarily from what I said to him, but I like to think I helped him a little, at least.

The last time I talked to him was on the phone. That would've been impossible when I first met him. So he had come a long, long way.

That's okay. I'm not in Mexico. By the way, he wasn't from Mexico. He is from El Salvador. He didn't seem to like Mexicans, for some reason.



Aug. 8th, 2015: The original post was below:

Seems like I remember that show that was in Spanish.  I watched it to try to learn some Spanish, but gave up on the project.  I think the words meant "out and about".  But Google translate doesn't render it that way.  Google renders it "off the charts."  And the phrase "out and about" is rendered in Spanish as "fuera y sobre."

I'm "out and about", senores, whatever the hell the way is to say it.  Posting will be lighter, amigos.

Who were the Luddites?

9/7/26:

Yesterday, I was researching a bit on that last quote from Shirer's book about the Third Reich. In the political discourse, the term "right-wing" gets used a lot, but do people hearing this term actually know what it means? I would suggest that they do not, because not enough effort went into teaching people how to think for themselves. Therefore, the natural thing is for people to accept way too much of what they hear as being true, without having any attribution to facts and evidence. Indeed, the post modernist framework encourages people to have a lazy mind.

How that affects us all? Well, I had forgotten all about how to do research. Re-reading Shirer's book showed the Bibiography of his research. In other words, as Bongino would say, he brought his "receipts". He had his evidence, and he presented in the form of footnotes, that you can look up for where he got his information. It turns out that Hitler described in his own book how to undermine and overthrow the current order, and by golly, that is exactly what he did to Germany.

Now if you watch the rhetoric of Democrats (commies), you'll notice that it follows Hitler's script almost to the letter. Not only that, they accuse Trump of being Hitler! This is monstrous, as I've mentioned. Yet, the public, which has been trained to be almost like mindless seals that clap at every word and claim that comes forth from the commies, do not examine the claims, and consequently are led like lemmings to the edge of the cliff, so that they can all jump over the cliff to their own destruction.

Yours truly does not believe all of this is organic. It didn't happen just as a consequence. An enemy did this.

What does this have to do with Luddites? Actually, nothing. But what it may show is that Luddite thinking could be easily adopted by a non-critical public if that is what these string-pullers want. I suspect that that is exactly what the string-pullers DO want.

Why? Well, they may not even know themselves because they may also be caught up in this post modernist way of being that denies that there's any such thing as TRUTH.

We are in a lot of trouble.

6/5/12: The original post is below:

It may be a good idea to visit that topic.  The term gets used a lot, and I'd like to know what it means- exactly.

You can swallow the red pill or the blue one.  If you swallow the red one, you want to know.  That is the path of knowledge.  The path of ignorance is to swallow the blue pill.  Then you can believe whatever you want to believe- you'll substitute your beliefs for actual knowledge.  But you will be ignorant, just the same. The blue pill may be seen as the easy way out, hence its attractiveness.  The red pill may be seen as the hard way, and it might scare off most people.

Anything new is frightening.  But it may be no easier or harder than what already exists.  You only exchange one set of problems with another.  Problems will always exist.  Problems are good.  The only people with no problems are the ones in graveyards.  If you have a problem, it means you are alive.

Short but not so sweet post

9/4/26:

I don't recall this at all. Not that it didn't happen, because I'm not going to make up stuff.

As best as I can figure, I must've had some sort of technical difficulty, and it resolved itself rather quickly. So I prompty forgot about thw whole thing. That's all I can say right now without racking my brain trying to remember what this was about.

It's not worth it to me to going on some sort of quest to figure this out. So that's all, folks.

10/22/23: Update from yesterday's post:

An explanation for this glitch yesterday. The system wouldn't let me in, but the password was okay. This set off alarm bells, and I jumped to conclusions, I'm afaid. After backtracking a bit, and with a bit of anxiety, I managed to deduce that Google was making me jump through some hoops in order to determine that I was who I was supposed to be. So, I think I satisfied Google that I wasn't trying to hack myself, so I managed to get things running again. What a relief.

This was written to assure that the unnecessary drama was unnecessary and superfluous. Also too much, too. Know what I mean, Vern?

end update

Update:

2.

Gotta be Google. I have to follow a certain procedure, or it does whack-job things. Or that's the working theory. Anyway, time to carry on.

1.

Something is a bit whacky, but I signed back in okay. Must be some Google thing. For the time-being, I'll continue on as before. Am I worried about hacking? You better bereave it, kid.

 

Things appear to be screwed up. I'm not sure at this point, but the blog may have been hacked. If what happened is what I think, I may not be able to blog on this account again. This may be the final message from me. Until I find out otherwise, then this sign-off could log me out forever.

Culinary type post

9/3/26:

A reaction to a reaction. In the computer biz, this is called recursion.

Or did I forget something again???

It reminds me that I cooked a lot using a microwave... It turns out that I can cook some steak by using the defrost setting on this microwave I'm using now. Run it about 30 minutes or so, and it comes out ok. Just ok??? Hey, I'm not picky. Just lazy. Cooking this way takes little energy from me. It might not even take all that much electric energy. It's low power mostly. It doesn't seem like enough to cook, but I noticed awhile back that it really will cook something if you leave it in there long enough. But what about that tendency to cook around the edges only? Put some water in a clear casserole dish, and the water will heat up and spread out the energy so that it will cook evenly. Worked for me this morning!

6/26/26:

Lot of Word Crimes here, eh?

Maybe food crimes, too... Now, the idea about cooking with the fewest calories is indeed an idea worth considering...

Update a little later...:

I've watched a few gourmets on TeeVee. Here's a video of one that you may enjoy: Justin Wilson. If Louisiana fare is not your thing, well I have another one I watched on PBS: (PBS! Yep.). He went by the moniker of Frugal Gourmet. If were to do gourmet videos, I'd make one thing plain. I'm no gourmet. The name? The Lazy Man "Gourmet". I cook for convenience. It may not be fine cuisine, but it is good enough to eat. Not trying to put on airs here. Just telling it the way it is.

May 3, 2018:

Fancy word for cooking, that is.

Been experimenting with my cooking lately.  Yesterday, I boiled an egg in water.  So what?  Well, the egg was cracked and out of the shell.  It was boiled in water, which is no calories.  The problem with this cooking technique was that the egg stuck on the aluminum foil.  So, I got some Pam, and sprayed it on the aluminum this morning.  Yep.  It worked good.  How was the boiled eggs?  Well, they tasted like, ahem, boiled eggs.

I don't know if that counts as a success.  What was the objective?  To cook without oil, and to use as little energy as possible.  This latter part was achieved by cooking on the lowest possible setting on the propane stove.  A small amount of water did reach boiling point, provided that, you cover the top with foil as well.  This traps all the heat, and allows boiling point to be reached.

The eggs were on for about twenty minutes.  They were fully cooked.

Eggs like this are pretty bland.  How do you fix them up to taste better?  I like cheese on my eggs, so the next time, I will add sharp cheddar to it.

Add some bacon bits, and maybe some tomato, and that's good eating.   At least it is by my standards.

Latest Ann Barnhardt interview

9/2/26:

Looks like I've hit something, but hard to say what it IS. Anyway, I wrote a little about religion on this blog. Here's a little more.

For the last several months, or perhaps longer, I've watched a few religious oriented movies on Tubi. There is also something that I discovered on Amazon Prime, called blank-out (forgot it , drat it). Discovering the Apostle Paul, I think it was.

Firstly, about the Video series:

Link to the Discovering Apostle Paul documentary series:

Now, here's an AI generated post on the Apostle Paul:



The Apostle Paul

There was a 1986 TeeVee series on the Apostle Paul shown on Amazon Prime video. So, once again, I get the idea of asking AI. This time, I used the Brave AI, which is Free, as opposed to the GAB AI, which I pay a small monthly fee to access.

Question for Brave AI:

Discuss for me please, the historical and religious figure of the Apostle Paul, originally known as Saul of Tarsus

Answer

Paul the Apostle, originally known as **Saul of Tarsus**, was a pivotal first-century Christian missionary and theologian who transformed Christianity from a Jewish sect into a global faith. Born around **5–10 CE** in **Tarsus, Cilicia** (modern-day Turkey), he was a **Roman citizen** and a devout **Pharisee** trained under the rabbi **Gamaliel** in Jerusalem. Initially a fierce **persecutor** of early Christians, believing the new movement threatened Jewish law, his life changed radically during a visionary encounter with the risen **Jesus** on the road to **Damascus**. This conversion led to his blindness, healing by **Ananias**, and his commissioning as the **Apostle to the Gentiles**.

Paul’s missionary journeys across the **Roman Empire** established key Christian communities in cities such as **Philippi**, **Corinth**, and **Ephesus**. He argued that **Gentile** converts did not need to adhere to strict **Jewish law** (such as circumcision), a stance solidified at the **Jerusalem Council**. This theological shift helped separate Christianity from Judaism and emphasized salvation by **grace through faith**. His **13 epistles** in the New Testament form a significant portion of Christian scripture, addressing core doctrines like justification, the resurrection, and the nature of the **Church** as the body of Christ.

Paul’s legacy extends beyond theology; he is often regarded as the most influential figure in Christianity after **Jesus** himself. His strategic use of **Roman citizenship** to appeal to **Caesar** allowed him to spread the gospel widely and protect his mission. Blending **Greco-Roman rhetoric** with **Jewish scriptural exegesis**, Paul’s writings laid the intellectual foundations for Christian doctrine and influenced Western philosophy and human rights concepts. He is traditionally believed to have been martyred in **Rome** around **64–67 CE**.



Question: Elaborate

Answer: ## The Man Before the Road



Saul of Tarsus was born into a privileged, bilingual world. Tarsus, in modern-day southern Turkey, was a major Greco-Roman intellectual center — a fact Paul himself references in Acts 21:39, where he reminds a Roman tribune that he is "a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed strictly according to our father's law." This dual identity — Roman citizen, Hellenistic-educated, and rigorously trained in Jewish Torah — would define his entire ministry. He was also a Pharisee of the sect of the Pharisees (Acts 26:5), meaning he belonged to the most law-observant and politically influential Jewish group of the era.

His occupation was tent-making (Acts 18:3), a modest trade that likely provided financial independence for his later travels. He was present at the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, "keeping the garments of those who killed him" (Acts 7:58) — a detail that underscores how deeply embedded he was in the apparatus of persecution.

## The Conversion in Detail

The conversion narrative appears three times in Acts (chapters 9, 22, and 26), each with a different audience and emphasis. The core sequence:

- **The encounter:** As Saul traveled to Damascus (roughly 130 miles / 210 km northeast of Jerusalem, a six-day journey) with letters from the Sanhedrin authorizing him to arrest Christians, "a light from heaven flashed around him." He fell to the ground and heard the voice: *"Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"* When he asked who was speaking, the reply was: *"I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting"* (Acts 9:4–5).

- **The blindness:** Saul was struck blind. His companions, who heard the voice but saw no one, led him by the hand into Damascus.

- **The three days:** In Damascus, on a street called Straight, at the house of a man named Judas, Saul remained blind and fasted for three days — a period of profound spiritual crisis and reorientation.

- **Ananias:** A disciple named Ananias received a vision from Jesus instructing him to go to Saul. Ananias was initially terrified, knowing Saul's reputation. He laid hands on Saul, Saul's sight was restored, he was baptized, and he received the Holy Spirit.

- **The commission:** Jesus told Saul he was chosen "as a witness of what you have seen of me, and I will send you far away to the Gentiles" (Acts 22:15). This commissioning as the **Apostle to the Gentiles** was the single most consequential theological decision in early Christianity.

A scholarly nuance worth noting: some commentators (notably R.C. Lenski) argue that the *conversion* proper — the internal acceptance of the gospel — was completed in Damascus through Ananias's ministry, not on the road itself. The road was the moment of *conviction*; Damascus was the moment of *faith*.

## The Four Missionary Journeys

Paul traveled an estimated **10,000 miles** (16,000 km) by land and sea over roughly 14 years, moving through what is now Turkey, Greece, Syria, and Israel. His journeys are recorded in Acts chapters 13–28.

| Journey | Approx. Dates | Route | Key Events | |---|---|---|---|

| **First** | c. 46–48 CE | Antioch → Cyprus → Pamphylia → Galatia (Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe) | Confrontation with the sorcerer Elymas in Paphos; conversion of the proconsul Sergius Paulus; Paul stoned and left for dead in Lystra |

| **Second** | c. 51–54 CE | Antioch → Galatia → Troas → Macedonia → Achaia (Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, Corinth) | The "Macedonian Call" vision at Troas; the first European convert, Lydia, in Philippi; Paul and Silas imprisoned and freed by earthquake; the famous **Areopagus sermon** in Athens; 18 months in Corinth |

| **Third** | c. 53–57 CE | Antioch → Galatia → Phrygia → Ephesus (3 years) → Macedonia → Achaia → Jerusalem | Three years of teaching at the school of Tyrannus in Ephesus; the riot of the silversmiths; final visit to Jerusalem |

| **Fourth** (implied) | c. 60–62 CE | Rome → Spain? | Alluded to in Philemon 22 and 2 Timothy 4:21; the destination "Spain" is speculative |

The **Jerusalem Council** (Acts 15, c. 49 CE) was a watershed: Paul and Barnabas presented the case that Gentile converts did not need to be circumcised or keep the Mosaic law. The council agreed, issuing a decree requiring only abstinence from food polluted by idols, sexual immorality, and blood — a decision that effectively separated the Christian mission from Jewish legal obligation.

## Theology: The Architecture of Paul's Thought

Paul's 13 epistles (the earliest surviving Christian texts, written before any of the Gospels) develop a theological system of extraordinary density. The major pillars:

**Justification by Faith.** This is the backbone of Pauline theology, especially in Romans and Galatians. Paul argues that no one — Jew or Gentile — can be declared righteous before God by keeping the Mosaic law. "A man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ" (Galatians 2:16). His proof text is Genesis 15:6: "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." Abraham was justified by faith *four centuries before* the law was given at Sinai, so the law cannot be the basis of salvation. This doctrine would later become the central slogan of the Protestant Reformation (*sola fide*), though Paul's own context was a dispute with "Judaizers" who insisted Gentile converts must also be circumcised.

**Grace.** Closely tied to justification: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Ephesians 2:8–9). Grace (*charis*) is unmerited divine favor — the radical claim that God's acceptance of sinners is not earned but freely given.

**The Church as the Body of Christ.** In 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12, Paul develops the metaphor of the Church as a single body with many members, each with different functions but united in one Spirit. This was a revolutionary social vision in a world rigidly stratified by class, gender, and ethnicity: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28).

**The Resurrection.** In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul gives the most extensive early treatment of the resurrection, calling it "the firstfruits" of a general resurrection to come. He even lists the order of appearances of the risen Jesus, making his letter a key historical source for the post-crucifixion events.

**The Law and the Spirit.** Paul does not simply discard the Torah. Rather, he argues the law served as a "tutor" or "guardian" (*paidagōgos*) leading people to Christ (Galatians 3:24). The Spirit fulfills what the law could only point toward: the internal transformation of the heart.

## The Epistles: A Literary and Historical Corpus

The thirteen letters attributed to Paul (Romans, 1–2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1–2 Thessalonians, 1–2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon) were written between roughly 48 and 67 CE, making them the **oldest Christian documents in existence** — predating the earliest Gospels by at least a decade or two. Scholars generally agree that seven of these (Romans, 1–2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, Philemon) are authentically Pauline; the remaining six (Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Thessalonians, 1–2 Timothy, Titus) are debated, with many modern scholars classifying them as "Deutero-Pauline" — written by later followers in his name and style.

The letters were not originally composed as theology textbooks. They were **pastoral correspondence** — responses to specific crises in specific churches. The Galatians were being pressured to adopt circumcision; the Corinthians had factional disputes, sexual immorality, and confusion about resurrection; the Romans were a church Paul had not yet visited but wanted to prepare for his planned mission to Spain. This situational character gives the letters an immediacy and urgency that pure systematic theology rarely achieves.

## Suffering, Imprisonment, and Death

Paul's ministry was marked by relentless hardship. In 2 Corinthians 11:23–27, he gives a staggering résumé: "In labors more abundant, in beatings no less, in deaths often. Five times I received from the Jews the thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have been adrift. On the road often, in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own people, in danger from the Gentiles, in danger in the city, in danger in the wilderness, in danger at sea, in danger from false brothers."

He was imprisoned in Philippi (where the earthquake freed him and Silas), in Caesarea (where he was held for two years under Governor Festus), and in Rome (where he was under house arrest for two years, writing what are called the "Prison Epistles"). Tradition holds that he was executed by beheading in Rome under Nero, around 64–67 CE, likely during the persecution following the Great Fire of Rome in 64 CE. His Roman citizenship would have spared him the crucifixion reserved for non-citizens, making beheading the method of execution.

## Legacy

Paul the Apostle is, by most scholarly and confessional accounts, the single most influential figure in Christianity after Jesus himself. His letters constitute roughly a third of the New Testament. His theological framework — justification by faith, grace, the universality of the gospel, the Church as a trans-ethnic body — shaped every subsequent Christian tradition, from the early Church Fathers through the Reformation to modern evangelicalism. His method of using Roman infrastructure (roads, ports, legal rights) to spread a religious message across the Mediterranean was, in a sense, the first act of global religious communication. And his personal trajectory — from the church's most zealous enemy to its most zealous apostle — remains the paradigmatic narrative of conversion in Western culture, so much so that a "Damascus moment" is now a common idiom for any sudden, transformative change of mind.



9/1/26:

This is one of the most sympathetic posts that I've think I've ever written about anyone. However, I don't believe Barnhardt is any "Paula" Revere. This is absurd. She knocks the American Founding. She's no patriot. I definitely recall that she wrote that the American system has sunk to the bottom like the Titanic. Well, to me that is a bit premature.

She seems to be about one thing, the Catholic Church. I don't find any fault with that, although I'm no Catholic. Nor Jewish. Nor any organized religious denomination.

I DO believe that Jesus is Lord. I think the Lord is badly served.

This blog isn't about religion. I believe the Lord helps those who help themselves. That's a concept that seems alien to all too many people these days. There's way too many who'd rather listen to people who want to destroy us, as opposed to listening to people who want to help. Knowing who is true and who is false is an important thing to know. My "pearl of great price" is the truth. Take that as you will.

12/24/14: The original post follows:

Some of this is very chilling.  She fills in some blanks that I didn't know about.

For instance, she says she wasn't audited until she did her Koran burning video.  In other words, it was a politically motivated audit that occurred before she declared a tax strike.

Another chilling disclosure is that her books were clean, yet they still kept coming after her.  She does say that they came after her after she declared a tax strike.  Even so, what's chilling about it is where is the basis for the IRS to continue to come after her if she has been financially ruined already?  Is it not also politically motivated?  How much money can she owe the IRS if she's already been ruined by their previous audit that found no tax liabilities were due?

She presents herself in such a way, if you find her credible enough, as a modern "Paula" Revere, who is warning us about the advancing oppression of a regime that will crush all opposition and all dissent.  She is, again if you find her credible enough, as someone that the Rush Limbaughs out there pretend to be.  She's taking it on the chin for you so that you can be forewarned, and can do all that you can to defend yourself against what's coming soon for YOU.

Personally, I think her tax strike was a mistake.  Otherwise, she is quite credible to me.  Even a tragic figure.

Think the Rush Limbaughs out there will take her story and push it to the front row and center?  Not a chance.  Rush pretends to be Paul Revere, but Paul Revere risked his neck for the cause of freedom.  Rush won't risk his show, nor his millions for the sake of Ann Barnhardt, who is really doing the job that he pretends to do.

Note on update of 9/2/26:  This video isn't available.  Why not?  I have no idea. 

What is truth?

9/1/26:

There is a post coming soon, which will expand on these ideas. Stay tuned.

1/26/13: The original post is below:

When I was in junior high school, called a "middle school" these days, the science teacher gave the definition of scientist.  A scientist is a seeker of truth, he said.

The truth is a slippery thing, I've written.  I accept that definition for myself.  A seeker of truth.  Since truth is slippery, maybe I have it, maybe I don't.  Maybe I'm like Pilate who asked Jesus, "what is truth?"

The Incredible Pliability of Fact and Statistics

8/31/26:

The truth can be a way of life. Lies can be the way of death. Which will it be? Males aren't the same as females. Only a liberal would have trouble with that statement. As for the title, without re-reading it, I'd say it is another way of lying with statistics. Well, maybe you've heard of the saying: "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics."

3/25/12: The original post is below:

americanthinker

quote:

Lord Monckton's reply was moving. Gently, and sadly, he said, "We shall lose the West unless we can restore the use of reason to pre-eminence in our institutions of what was once learning. It was the age of reason that built the West and made it prosperous and free. The age of reason gave you your great Constitution of liberty. It is the power of reason, the second of the three great powers of the soul in Christian theology, that marks our species out from the rest of the visible creation, and makes us closest to the image and likeness of our Creator. I cannot stand by and let the forces of darkness drive us unprotesting into a new Dark Age."

 Comment:

My sentiments exactly.

Gravestone doji

8/28/26:

This stuff never worked for me in my trading. Never. The only thing that seem like a lead-pipe cinch to be meaningful is a head-and-shoulders chart.

The Dow Jones showed one back in 2008, not long before the crash. I traded it, and made money off of it. Other than this, can't say that I've had any luck with Candlestick analysis.

As for the Dow having a Head and Shoulders chart, it wasn't a permanent decline. The Dow rallied into the stratosphere. Yep, I'd say that there's a risk in the markets about now.

There's a lot of rosy talk, too.

But on a serious note, the future isn't certain. As Yogi Berra once said: Predictions are hard, especially about the future. But here's another thought: Why bring this up now? There's an election. Somebody stands to gain if there's a stock market sell-off... I'm just saying it to put it out there....

12/16/14: The original post follows:

Japanese candlestick analysis is but one of many methods to read the financial tea leaves as a manner of speaking.  Just noticed a gravestone doji pattern in both the stock market and the gold market.

What does it mean?  Nothing good, I don't think.  Doji patterns indicate indecision---the market doesn't know what it's direction is to be.  In this pattern, it starts and ends at about the same price, but has a rally intraday.  Clearly, the rally will not hold, so this is not good.

Here's today's chart, courtesy Yahoo.  Note the rally and the opening and closing prices.

The Japanese Candlestick pattern for this would look like a horizontal line connecting the open and close, with a line going up to the high.  It looks like a gravestone, hence gravestone doji.

The fundamentals behind all of this is the FED.  If the FED attempts to normalize interest rates, the party is over and a bear market should ensue.

We'll see.

Update:

The gravestone doji analysis just died big time. What can I say?  These things are not science.

Update:

There's a press release from the FED which suggests that normalization of interest rates won't be happening soon.  That's what probably moved the markets yesterday.  It only proves that the markets are addicted to easy money.  The easy money has to end sometime.  Evidently, not now.

Electron-Phonon Coupling at the Tungsten Surface

8/27/26:

The struggles in the political realm can give clues as to why this theory is not accepted as correct. Since Donald Trump came down the escalator in 2015, there has been an unrelentling campaign to run him out of the political sphere. It isn't because he did anything WRONG, but is because the political realm will not accept his existence.

The truth of the matter is that protectionism isn't endemic to America, but to the world. If America gives up protection of its vital industries, then the rest of the world will swooop down and take it over. Since WWII, that is exactly what has happened.

This has lessons in the political sphere. Indeed, the rejection of this theory may be political in nature. There are those with too much to lose by this acceptance, and they will fight it to the very end.

The fallacy is that there's no political motivations behind the rejection of Cold Fusion.

But that's nothing new. Not really. It has been suspected all along.

It is also nothing new in the history of science. Galileo was imprisioned. Quantum mechanics theory wasn't accepted at first. There are other examples, I'm sure. Human nature doesn't change even if science is involved.

But how do you prove it? That's a discussion in a seemingly unrelated post coming up soon.

7/25/11: The original post is below:

Another BECNF post here.  At first blush, this may not seem relevant since BECNF doesn't mention this coupling.  I got interested in it because of phonons, as phonons can act as bosons, which are relevant to the theory.

There may also be an objection with respect to Tungsten, since the BECNF is about Ni H systems, not tungsten.

What caught my attention, besides the phonon reference was this quote near the end:

This is an important dissipation channel for energy and will affect chemical reactions at surfaces, such as reactions on catalysts. Another interesting implication is the possibility of an electron-phonon-mediated superconductivity that is confined to the surfaces of metals and has a greatly enhanced critical temperature as compared to ordinary superconductors. [emphasis added]

As I noted before, "cold fusion" has been said to be a surface effect phenomenon.

A closer look at this paper allows another quote that I find interesting:

Since these "many-body" effects are often more prominent in physical systems with less than three dimensions  [ comment: as you would find on the surface] carefully prepared surfaces furnish good two-dimensional test beds for examining these effects in detail.

BCEs in this context probably qualify as a type of "many-body" effects referred to here.

Rossi's catalyst then, could be key.  Maybe that is why it is such a big secret.

At San Jacinto

8/26/26:

Anybody remember the Pearl of Great Price post? Can you guess why I mentioned it?

12/18/10: The original post follows:

Just got back from the San Jacinto Battleground.  I went there to take some pictures. The location really isn't unfamiliar with me since I've been there many times before.  But this time, I decide to look around the park and get the lay of the land.  I took several pictures ( about 25 ) of the various markers which show the disposition of the opposing forces on that day in 1836.

I wanted to get the feel for the situation on the ground just before the battle.  How did Santa Anna manage to get beaten so badly?  It was more of a slaughter than a battle.  Sam Houston's army didn't suffer that many casualties; hardly more than a handful.  On the other hand, Santa Anna lost hundreds of men and/ or hundreds more captured.

No doubt, the element of surprise figured significantly in the outcome of the battle.  But looking over the terrain, it is hard to see how anyone could manage to surprise anyone else.  The land is very flat and the grass and bushes don't provide much cover.

I recall reading that Houston's army used a "rise" as cover.  I looked for these and didn't find many, but there are some places that are low.  Of course, the closer you get to the marshes, the more cover there is.  Unless Houston's army was hanging out in the marshes, he didn't have all that much cover.

Another possiblity was the tall prairie grass that grew in those days.  The park management is trying to bring that back, but it is still too low to the ground.  In those days, the tall grass couldn't have shielded a larger force than what would appear to be the case today.

The battleground doesn't look all that large in area.  But one has to keep in mind that they didn't have cars in those days.  I found out the distances when walking around the park a bit.  Things have a different scale when you are on foot.

Sam Houston was shot out from under his horse in the midst of battle.  There was a marker there to indicate the spot.  Just a hundred yards away or loss is another marker for the position in which a cannon was in place.

That seems pretty close range for a cannon.  But Houston was hit by a bullet in his ankle.  Given the surprise, the Mexican army may not have had time to get off a cannon shot.

Marker where Sam Houston was shot from his horse.  About 100 yards from cannon marker.



Of course, there is the legend of the Yellow Rose who distracted the Mexican general with her charms.

Note: this picture wasn't taken today.  I took it several months ago.

What a misfortune for Mexico to have that kind of failure as a leader.  On the other hand, the Texians were lucky.  There was at least one other General in Texas during that war who would not have made that mistake. Just goes to show what could happen when the wrong man is in charge.

Santa Anna was captured.  And Fannin and his men were massacred at Goliad under Santa Anna's orders.


Both are examples are poor leadership and its consequences.

The Electric Car Boondoggle

8/25/26:

Once upon a time, I invested in a battery manufacturing company. It didn't work out. Perhaps I developed some skepticism about batteries, or did I bet on the wrong horse? One thing that I've learned over the years--- Do not underestimate Elon Musk.

But the pinkos want to destroy Musk because he bought Twitter, and ended their press monopoly ( to a certain extent). All this proves that the left doesn't give a rat's rear end about what they claim to care about. "Green" tech is just a prop, not a raison d'etere. You can develop that into a principle. The principle being that the left is totally full of ****.

2/22/14: The original post is below:

American Thinker

comment:

I've done this type of comparisons before on this blog.  My opinion is a lot more friendly to electric cars, but there is still a problem.  Particularly with the battery powered vehicles, like the Tesla and the Volt.

The author's analysis is probably a bit off because it is an apples-to-oranges comparison.  This is two different kinds of locomotion and how they'll stack up is going to depend a lot upon other factors not taken into account.

An example is to include the cost of replacing a battery.  Since the battery is expensive in a vehicle like this, this adds a great deal to the cost per mile calculation.  The second example is the resale cost after 150k miles.  It is deemed by this author that the Tesla may not have much of a resale value after 150k miles, but if the battery is good for 8 years, then replacing it at 8 leaves 6 more years of service left.  That should increase the resale value of the car, especially since it should be more economical to drive.  Finally, some other costs are not considered, like repair costs.  It is assumed that there wouldn't be any repair costs to gas-powered engines---oil changes, tune-ups, emission repairs, etc.

Another unrelated thought: since coal powered energy is the cheapest, and since the Obama administration is closing down coal powered plants, he is effectively raising the cost of energy that is required to operate an electric vehicle.  This won't help keep costs down.  It is counter productive, in other words.  They would possibly sell more electric cars if they keep energy prices as low as possible---which they won't do, oddly enough.

Recovery? Just 16 States Have Gained Jobs Under Obama

8/25/26:

Probably the only thing that the Obama economy grew was the government. Talking about debt! The DEMS Commie Pinkos want to run on the debt that THEY CREATED.

The so-called AFFORDABLE OBAMACARE is now unaffordable, so they have to keeping subsidizing the hell out of it with taxpayer money in order to keep it afloat. This was BY DESIGN in order to socialize it.  This is where some of the waste, fraud, and abuse that the Administration is having to deal with.

The GOP ESTABLISHMENT helped the commie pinkos keep this UNCONSTITUTIONAL system in effect. But it is all Trump's fault, I suppose.

Memories are short. It would help if the GOP actually would remind the public about this history, in order to illustrate what the commie pinkos are trying to pull. The black pillers and doomers are doing their part to keep the public in the dark. Where do these black pillers and doomers get their money????

5/21/12: The original post starts below:

investors.com  h/t Instapundit

quote:

IBD also compared state job growth with business friendliness. States that rank highest on this measure — which typically focuses on tax rates, regulations, tort reform and the size of the state government — have experienced faster job growth rates than those ranking lowest.

Comment:

California scores poorly in business friendliness, Texas scores highly.  The jobs numbers correlate perfectly.

Nuff said.

Elon Musk's Hyperloop

8/24/26:

Wasn't the hyperloop connected to another Elon Musk company called The Boring Company? Just a speculation here without making any attempt at a deep-dive. The thing is that he's got these self-driving 2-seater cab thingies he calls "blank-out" (CyberCab?). Whatever it is called, they can be mass produced at a competitive price. The problem may be in their adoption. Now if you were to mate these things with predetermined routes that are dug out in tunnels, maybe you'll have something.

They got something like this in Las Vegas, if memory serves. How is it working out? That's a discussion for another day.

8/13/13: The original post is below:

The pdf file was rather long and takes too long to read this morning.  For reference purposes, here's the embedded Scribd version for anyone who is interested:

A couple points:

1. Musk doesn't plan to build it himself
2. It is said to be open-source, meaning anyone can contribute ideas to it

Musk said he was disappointed with the existing plans to develop a high speed train in California.  It is too slow and costs too much.  This is an attempt to improve upon that.

The real problem is that the government isn't doing it in order to improve anything.  They are doing it in order to enrich themselves at everyone else's expense.

Update:

Popular Mechanics has a short writeup here.

Hyperloop Alpha

A launch pad located on the moon

8/22/26:

The calculations were a bit foolish of me to post. It's embarrassing. I'm not trained in the physics, obviously.

Nevertheless, one does not need to know too much about it in order to see that that delta-v from the lunar surface to lunar orbit is rather low in comparison to Earth.

The lunar lander during the Apollo Era used about half the wet mass of vehicle in order to touch down on the surface. Thus, if the lander masses at about 35,000 lbs, then the mass on the surface would be 17,500 approx.

Likewise, the return to lunar orbit requires that the vehicle have approx 1/2 of its mass as propellant.

In the case of the lunar modules ascent stage, that was about 10k for the upper part of the LEM, for a propellant load requirement of about 5k lbs.

Using different propellants would change the numbers a bit, but it's a good approximation. That is, unless you start doing things like the Parkin concept. Then it would require much less propellant to get to lunar orbit. That's because the ISP would be comparable to a nuclear thermal rocket, which was around 900.

It makes a lot of sense to use the moon as a waystation on the journey to Mars. Perhaps that's why Elon Musk is going to go to the moon.

Of course, that means a lot of preparation first.

11/14/12: The original post follows:

Fiddling around with idea to use beamed energy to get a lander/ascender to/from the lunar surface.  It would be about the size of the lunar module from the Apollo Era.  To guide me in the calculations, I used the link below:

Here's a link to calculate the energy

Potential energy (PE) is just weight multiplied by distance upward; this is the same weight multiplied by distance upward, which is the same as mass multiplied by acceleration of gravity, multiplied by distance:

PE = w * h = m * g * h

g for earth is about 6 times that of the moon
g for moon is 1.622 meters/sec2

 Kinetic energy is just half the mass, multiplied by the square of the velocity:

KE = ½ * m * v2

calculations for 100 km above moon:

PE = (1 kg) x (100,000 m) x ( 1.622 meters/sec2 ) equal 162200 joules
KE for escape velocity moon 2.38 km/s equal 5664400 joules
KE for 2/3 escape velocity 1271375 joules, added together to get total energy required:  equal 1,433,575 joules

A Kilowatt-Hour is 1000 Watts for one hour, which is 1000 Joules per second for 3600 seconds, or 3.6 million Joules.

Therefore to roughly approximate, to launch 1 kg in lunar orbit at 100 km is equal to   1,433,575 joules /   3,600,000  Joules or about 0.4 kilowatt hour per kg.

That equals 1810 kilowatt hours energy for lunar orbit approximately for a mass about the size of the lunar module ascent stage which was 10000 pounds or 4500 kg.

Now guessing that to deliver 20 megawatt/hr of power for .1 hr or 6 minutes would be enough energy to get to lunar orbit--- to deliver that much energy would require 200 fuel cell units that could deliver 100 kilowatts each.

The idea here is to use Parkin's concept of microwave beam energy to land and take off from the moon.  It would have a performance ISP equal to a nuclear thermal rocket, about 850 sec., which would save mass in landing and taking off.  You would have to have a fuel supply on hand for taking off, of course.  Having the fuel depot located on the moon obviates the need to bring the landing fuel with you, simplifying matters greatly.

To execute this idea, you would need a crash landing trajectory that would be interrupted by the beamed energy to slow the spacecraft down to a soft landing.  That is to say, there would be no orbiting first.  That would require even more energy than the calculations above--- but not too much more.

You would place a microwave unit on the moon with an energy source to run it.  The energy would be beamed to the incoming lander as it gets into range.  You would have to slow down from about 5000k mph to zero in less than a few minutes ( without doing the calculations).  That's true because the beam may not have a range more than say 150 miles.  At 5000k mph, you will cover that distance quickly.

Taking off, just reverse the process.  After filling up the fuel tank of course.

The next question is: how big must the microwave unit(s) be to deliver say 30 Megawatts of power?  The current guess is that you could deliver these microwave dishes in a number of landings to a yet to be determined location on the lunar surface.  Each unit itself would be about the size of the lunar lander in the Apollo Era.  The microwave dish would be on top instead of the ascent stage.  Each dish would be an integrated unit complete with power source.

How many dishes to deliver the required power?

The rest of the topic is for later discussion.

Update:

You may need multiple launches of a the new big ass rocket being developed for a pretty penny.



Source: SPACE.com: All about our solar system, outer space and exploration

Falcon XX would have lift capacity equivalent to Saturn V or new SLS rocket

Or, you could use SpaceX's new family of Super Heavy Lifters.

Don't look now, but Trump may win in a landslide

8/21/26:

Doggone! There wasn't a landslide in the popular vote, but he did get about the same number of electoral votes in the actual election. He didn't get the number of black and Latino voters, but he got more than the usual GOp nominee gets.

Looking back on this, the left has managed to hold on to their voters just enough to avoid catastrophe. But how they did it is something that should worry patriots. All the phony scandals and lawfare. The disappointing part is that people fall for the nonsense.

Trump has got the be the best president in my lifetime. Better than Reagan. So what's the deal with Trump?

He's a constant promoter. Perhaps that turns people off. Well, there's that abrasive quality about him, too. If he was like Reagan in the Teflon coating department, there's no telling what he could have accomplished.

As for yours truly, I am of a practical bent. I don't give a hoot's hell about somebody's STYLE. I look for results. Which reminds me of what Lincoln was supposed to have said about General Grant. When folks objected to Grant's drinking, Lincoln replied that he understood that it was no longer a problem. But if he was still drinking, he'd inquire around and see what he was drinking and he'd give a barrel of it to the rest of his generals. Lincoln liked Grants results. He didn't give a flip about his drinking. I'm with Lincoln in that regard.

12/29/15: The original post starts just below:

What is the basis of such a speculation?  It comes from none other than the 538 site that I linked to awhile back.  Also, a poll, which claims that Trump could get 40% of the black vote and 45% of the latino vote.

That seems like a big stretch, but maybe not.  Considering that Trump is running something of a populist campaign, his appeal could result in a big victory that includes non-college educated whites, blacks, and latinos.

Testing that theory, I plugged in turnout numbers and voting percentages that came close to the poll.  What the poll didn't indicate is turnout, so I played with that number a bit.  The numbers I used were the following:

• college educated whites vote in same percentage, but turnout falls to non-college educated whites
• non-college educate whites vote in same percentage, but turnout rises to college educated whites
• blacks 61-39% in favor of Dems, but with turnout of college educated whites
• latinos 57-43% in favor of Dems with turnout the same
• asians unchanged

results  Trump wins with 53.3% of the vote and 322 electoral votes.

Thus, a populist campaign can win.  It would rely upon the demographic breakdowns that were in the poll, and a smattering perhaps of wishful thinking.  The wishful thinking relates to how this poll stacks up to anything in the real world.

If Trump is actually doing better than this poll, especially amongst whites, it's a landslide.