The Dogon people's militia in Mali probably has the most hardcore drip out there. Part post-apocalyptic, part tribal, part unclassifiable. Here are some photos.
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1. Man with a--yes, you guessed it--flintlock rifle. I'm willing to bet it works, too. 2. Machete.

Henrique Alvim Correa's nightmarish illustrations for H.G. Wells's novel, "The War of the Worlds." A thread.
In 1903, at the age of 27, Correa completed a set of drawings for the novel. He contacted Wells personally and asked his permission for their use in his book. Wells liked Correa's work more than that of the current illustrator, Warwick Goble.
They have achieved classic status. I like Goble's work as well, but Correa's images have a grainy, sinister patina that Wells found more suitable to the tone of his novel. A considerable amount of Correa's work was lost in the turbulence of the Great War and the Second World War.

1. Religion is a fundamental human activity, and attested from the very dawn of history. It persists, despite a thousand obstacles, because it serves basic psychological needs, and because societies have found it a useful advocate for public order and private morals. 2. Cut it down, and it grows anew. Ikhnaton tried to suppress the faith of Amon, but as soon as he died, the faith returned. Buddha's religious career was helped by the atheism prevalent in the India of his time.

Scams, frauds, and con jobs seem to be everywhere. Time to get wise to the techniques and hallmarks of the scammer. Both short and long con. Consider it part of your self-defense training.

I'm going to list the best movies about scams and cons, in no special order. 1. The Sting (1973). Maybe the grand-daddy of all scam movies, and it works every time. Redford and Newman team up to hit a mark who definitely has it coming. The movie covers all stages of the long con: the hook, the frame-up, and the sting.

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1. What was great about the original novel "All Quiet On The Western Front" was its sense of quiet, meditative, stoic sense of dignity and restraint.

It was old school. It was anti-war without TRYING to be anti-war. 2. The book derived its power from the stark simplicity of its descriptions, the beauty of its prose, but most of all, from the sense of LOVE and COMRADESHIP between the characters. The vivid portrayals of guys like Kat, the old scrounger, the stolid Tjaden, and

Friend is visiting the Heraklion Arcaeological Museum in Crete, Greece.
Here are some photos..
(@s_total_s2)

If a director were to do "Storm of Steel," he would have to do it right, and make it the most ambitious war picture ever made. The men of WW1 deserve nothing less. Would need:

1. A mandatory 30 day boot camp for all actors, living, eating, and sleeping in the mud and dirt. 2. Subject the men to authentic food, uniforms, and weapons of the period. You would need real Germans, real Frenchmen, real Britons, etc.

1. Military baffled as to why recruitment numbers dropping. It's no fucking secret, you ignorant assholes. To make the military attractive to young men, you have to speak their language and understand them. 2. Young men want to kick ass. They want glory, adventure, and pussy. They want to prove themselves and test their mettle against the world. They don't really even care that much about money. They are idealists. This is what drives them. You get this, you fuckheads?

Friend sent me additional photos of his visit to Petrarch's villa. They say it is the oldest writer's museum in the world. Probably true. For those who aren't familiar with him, he's considered by many to be the humanist who helped usher in the Renaissance.
The villa: The view from Petrarch's study. Probably not much different from how it looked in the 1360s.

More photos from Pella, and the tomb of Philip II of Macedon. My buddy is flooding me with photos...i will pass them on!

1. Training For Real-World Skills

It's important to train for real-world conditions and crises. I get the sense that some guys think showing up at the gym with a sleeveless shirt and headphones, doing sets and looking in the mirror, make them in shape. They do not. 2. Examples. When running, run through forests, hills, and up slopes. In both summer and winter. When swimming, every now and then swim with your clothes on. You'd have to do this is a ship went down. Be able to tread water for an hour. Be able to take your...

1. "The Northman": fantastic film, the kind of movie that makes going to the movies worthwhile. Has the right ingredients: a good plot, combined with its ability to recreate faithfully a different world. Steeped in the lore of the "Eddas" and other ancient myths, it treats... 2. ...the subject matter with seriousness and attention to the smallest detail. The plot is as timeless as it gets: a boy witnesses his father (a king) murdered by his uncle, and is forced into exile, from where he plans his revenge. But things are always complicated.

Real good example of a guy with negative, resentful limiting beliefs here. Let's look at this guy's quote tweet and talk about it.

What do we know?

1. He quote tweets something I said, so it clearly made an impression on him. He responds defensively, feeling the need... 2. ...to explain to me why he "lives" like he lives. Floating through life. With no concept of a mission, of an inner self that needs to be developed and polished, so that he can be the best version of himself.
But he's lying to himself. And he knows it. Deep down.

1. I've been enjoying myself looking at old photos of Queen Elizabeth with US presidents. It's amazing how the body language can be so revealing of personality. Human nature is the same, regardless of station. You may enjoy these. Let's begin with Harry Truman. 2. Truman, the country boy from Independence, Missouri, is captivated but so bashful. He cuts a chaste and modest picture.

1. Things looking extremely bad for Moscow right now. The gamble has already failed, if the original intention was to conduct a campaign like those in the past (the fast seizure of Crimea & quick war against Georgia). Everything is at risk now for Putin, including his throne. 2. Military ineptitude. The first days of the war exposed the Russian military machine as incompetent and retrograde. Air superiority not achieved. Speed of movement neglected. Public relations clumsy. Hard to know whose fault this was--was it Putin or his generals?

1. My guess is that Putin probably will occupy Ukraine. No way will he ever allow a foreign military alliance on his doorstep. He sees Ukraine as part of Russia, period. He has the cash reserves to ride out the storm. There will be big blowback from West, but he is ready. 2. You can't keep 100K men positioned for action indefinitely. He has to use them, or risk a humiliating climb-down. There will be lightning campaign & Kiev will be occupied in 1 day. West will bitch & moan, but will do little more than sanctions.

1. There are eleven G Manifesto tweet readings, and they cover 2018 to 2020. All of them are on my site, and can be downloaded for free. Use the search box to find the titles.

The first one was "The Surrealistic World of Michael Porfirio," which was released in 2018. 2. The titles of the other ten podcasts are (not in chronological order):

Moonlight Baboon Podcast: Courage and Recklessness, and Some Tweet Readings

1. Starting to believe my friend @Kayserili_Akin...the problem with Germany is the people. Their heads are so filled with soy that they don't even know what end is up any more.
Looking like these Green Party wackos there are poised to call the shots. 2. Germany's new foreign policy suprema is this dunce Annalena Baerbock. Qualifications? Was a trampoline gymnast. Never had a real job. Never did anything worthwhile in her life. A real leftoid wunderkind.

Most of this "business advice" or "startup advice" is vain, egotistical posturing by arrogant pencilnecks with agendas.
"Business" comes down to a few elementary rules. You will not get this advice at the Sloan School of Business. 1. Know what the fuck you're doing. No one is going to hire you or trust you if they have no confidence in you. Competence trumps all.

Fifth Columnist subversives in this era of media struggle come in various flavors:

1. The broke-dick defeatist type. These are the weak sister pathetics. The dregs, the bottom feeders, the butterball fatties who have given up on life. To them, nothing is worth anything. 2. The money-grubbing, "I'm James Bond" types. The big-baller braggart, always slinging his dick in everyone's face, telling you how great he is, and how you suck, unless you "follow his lead." Which leads inevitably to corruption and ruin.

1. It's amusing to learn that when Theodore (not Franklin) Roosevelt first met Winston Churchill, the two did not enjoy warm relations. Not hard to imagine why. Both were egotistical, and both loved being the center of attention. 2. TR considered Churchill a shameless self-promoter (which, in his youth, Churchill was). Things gradually improved between them. One suspects that had TR lived longer, he would have seen Churchill grow in maturity and stature.