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Route 66 Turns 100 Today

On November 11, 1926, the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) formally adopted the U.S. Highway Numbering System, officially creating U.S. Route 66. While the proposal for the double-digit number “66” had been submitted earlier that year by highway promoters Cyrus Avery and John Woodruff, November 11 is the date the route map and designation were federally signed into law. The Birth of the Mother Road (1920s–1930s) Before Route 66, long-distance driving across the United States meant navigating a patchwork of unpaved dirt trails and localized auto trails. Route 66 bridged that gap by linking existing regional roads into a continuous 2,448-mile ribbon connecting Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, California. The Dust Bowl Exodus: During the 1930s Great Depression and Dust Bowl, Route 66 became the primary escape corridor for hundreds of thousands of displaced farm families migrating west to California. This journey was immortalized by John Steinbeck in The Grapes of Wrath, where he famously dubbed it “The Mother Road.” Paving the Way: By 1938, Route 66 achieved a major infrastructure milestone, becoming the first completely paved transcontinental highway in the U.S. Post-War Boom and Pop Culture (1940s–1960s) After World War II, growing automobile ownership transformed Route 66

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UN Chief Joins List of Doomsayers: World to End on Friday?

United Nations Secretary-General António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres is warning that unless “fossil fuels go the way of dinosaurs,” the world is on the path to extinction, or thereabouts. Yeah, right, and according to Al Gore, Santa Monica, California, was supposed to be underwater six years ago because of global warming and melting ice caps. Doomsday predictions are a global sport. Most of the early predictions were tied into religious beliefs, but a 1960 doomsday warning — based on population growth — predicted that the world would end this Friday, November 13, 2026. The “Doomsday: Friday, 13 November, A.D. 2026” paper was a famous, provocative scientific study published in the journal Science on November 4, 1960. Co-authored by Austrian-American physicist and cyberneticist Heinz von Foerster alongside researchers Patricia M. Mora and Lawrence W. Amiot, it gained lasting fame by calculating a precise, mathematically derived date for the end of humanity — this Friday. And it used science, not religion, to reach its conclusion. That prediction, which saw humanity squeezing itself to death, eventually died the death of all doomsday events. Reality caught up with it. It seems that some eight billion people can now happily live together without squeezing the

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IranWeapons
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Iran Rebuilds While Trump Waffles

After his election drubbing a week ago, President Trump initially softened his Iran rhetoric to the point of saying that resumption of strikes on the country is “highly unlikely.” Today, he even met with Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani to discuss diplomatic avenues to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.  After the meeting, the president confirmed that he would rather see a peaceful solution with Iran, but warned that the US is “ready to go ‌anytime we want” with strikes. Iran says it’s impossible to move towards peace unless the U.S. lifts its naval blockade, releases seized assets, and lifts sanctions. Of course, so long as Trump insists that Iran give up its nuclear ambitions, a deal seems far off, if not downright impossible. In addition, the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) claims the Strait belongs to Iran. The group says that, since the strategic environment has changed due to the war, it will not give up its sovereignty over the Strait – neither during the negotiations with the United States nor after the war. Iran is also rapidly rebuilding its weapons stockpile, hiding most of it underground. Senior IRGC officials

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My Take

Dems to Get Free Ride to the White House in ’28

With President Trump set to veto everything they do, the Democrats’ path to the White House in 2028 is lined with gold. All they have to do is pass a zillion populist measures, maybe even Medicare for All, and then argue that the Republicans — as evidenced by Trumpian vetoes — are against them. Voila! “Here comes Santa Claus, Here Comes Santa Claus, Right down Trumpy House Lane.” Can you imagine the inauguration? They’ll celebrate in the Trump Ballroom! The main caveat for the DemoFiends is if they go overboard on the investigations and impeachments and skimp on passing legislation for Trump to veto. Otherwise, the Dems should be in great shape. A secondary, and corollary, caveat is if the Centrists (that’s an oxymoron for the Dem Party) and the Leftists get bogged down in intraparty feuding and get little done. However, I see success even if they do prove to be unfit for governing. I also see AOC as the head of the 2028 ticket, with either Mamdani or El-Sayed as her running mate, probably the latter to avoid a NYC-NYC ticket.

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The Parallel Descents of Viktor Orbán and Donald Trump

While unfolding within fundamentally distinct constitutional frameworks, the political fall of Viktor Orbán’s regime in Hungary in April 2026 and the historic midterm electoral backlash against Donald Trump and the Republican Party in the United States in November 2026 exhibit striking structural parallels. In both nations, voter repudiation reflected deep fatigue with conservative governance, persistent economic pressure, systemic corruption, and foreign policy overreach, culminating in the consolidation of broad opposition coalitions. Despite these shared dynamics, the structural architecture of each nation—specifically constitutional mechanics and the relative resilience of democratic institutions—dictated markedly different outcomes: Hungary underwent an immediate and comprehensive executive transition, whereas the United States entered an era of polarized, divided government. 1. Divergent Systemic Frameworks The institutional mechanisms through which voters registered their discontent reflect the divergent constitutional foundations of Budapest and Washington: Dimension Viktor Orbán & Fidesz (Hungary) Donald Trump & GOP (United States) Institutional Mechanism Direct parliamentary election defeat ending 16 consecutive years of executive dominance. Legislative midterm repudiation curtailing executive power and setting the parameters of a final two-year term. Systemic Obstacles An entrenched “illiberal democracy” defined by engineered electoral laws, state-controlled media, and targeted administrative levers. A decentralized constitutional system anchored by federalism, institutional checks

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Hey, There, Mr. Tough Guy, Come Be Press Secretary

President Trump has offered UFC boss Dana White the job as White House Press Secretary in a move that appears to echo his elevation of Stephen Miller to Chief of Staff: “We’re going tough, baby!” “I am pleased to announce that the Great Dana White, a violent Fighter and Warrior, has been offered the job of Press Secretary of the United States,” the president wrote on Truth Social. White is expected to meet with Trump to discuss the position. Trump even suggested that White bring a bevy of UFC fighters to the fray to help fight the rising tide of leftist politicians. “We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left. Dana will be a Press Secretary like none other. Dana, please take the job!” Meanwhile, Trump’s first Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, appears to be the only member of the Trump administration to have survived her tenure unscathed. She left in August and eventually joined Fox News as a correspondent. She thus escaped the administration’s public repudiation at the polls this past Tuesday. White was in London for a boxing match today as Trump made his social media offer to the UFC head. POSTSCRIPT: Two days later, Trump

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Churchill
My Take

Churchill: Best Argument Against Democracy — A Talk with the Average Voter

I’ve had it up to the gills with Donald Trump and his egomania and self-serving politics, but I also know that the Democrats have only one goal: Absolute, eternal control of the nation and the end of the Constitution. Therefore, in this week’s election, I voted solidly anti-Dem. Not so the rest of the country, which fell prey to base instincts and judgments, ignoring what the future might hold under Demofiend control. For starters, the fiends are going to stack the Supreme Court, so only their viewpoint prevails for eternity. In addition, they’re going to make Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia states, giving them four more Senators and eternal control of Congress. Of course, they’ll have to wait until 2029 to do these things since Trump will veto them through 2028. Once they’ve elected a leftista president, which at this time in history seems almost a guarantee, here comes the end of democracy. After this week’s debacle for the GOP and for the future of the nation, I take solace in Winston Churchill’s immortal observation: “The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.”

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