100 years ago: the Battle of Verdun at Fort Douaumont

Verdun; from The History Learning Site
The Battle of Verdun in 1916 was the longest single battle of World War One. The casualties from Verdun and the impact the battle had on the French Army was a primary reason for the British starting the Battle of the Somme in July 1916 in an effort to take German pressure off of the French at Verdun. The Battle of Verdun started on February 21st 1916 and ended on December 16th in 1916. It was to make General Philippe Pétain a hero in France.
. . . 
"The loss of life and those wounded was huge at Verdun. Reference books frequently give differing figures such was the magnitude of loss. It is probable that an accurate figure will never be known. It is said that the French lost over 360,000 and the Germans nearly 340,000. To relieve the pressure being felt by the French, the British launched the Battle of the Somme in July 1916. It was hoped that a swift British victory here would force the Germans to remove troops from the Verdun area. However, like the French, the British got involved in a battle that was to last months rather than days."

The relation between Verdun and The Somme



Nothing grows there today and it remains a no-go zone



Fort Douaumont before the battle for Verdun

Fort Douaumont after shelling, 1916

Fort Douaumont today

Vin Scully’s Call Of Angel Pagan Body-Slamming A Field Invader Is Amazing

NESN  "Vin Scully calling the game and Pagan taking out a kid who ran into left field. And ending it with "When in SF' "

"It’s moments like these where we’ll miss Vin Scully the most. The 88-year-old retiring Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster was in the booth when L.A. lost to the San Francisco Giants on Friday night, and fortunately for us he captured the moment when a few people ran onto the field. The fans ran to position players and handed them white flowers, apparently to raise awareness for an animal rights protest. Giants left fielder Angel Pagan was none too impressed with the antics, luring in one of the field invaders before body-slamming him to the ground. But Scully’s call, which you can hear. . . "

Does Trump Really Want to Win?

Power Line Blog  "From the very beginning I’ve wondered whether Trump was really running for president thinking he’d be a real contender, or whether this was just a yuuuge business branding exercise. Because once again the Trump presidential campaign is looking more like a college frat prank that got out of hand.

"I thought that Trump’s Twitter feed had been brought under control, but in the middle of the night last night Trump couldn’t resist continuing what John called yesterday “Trump’s off-message detour” with a series of tweets about the expanding Miss Universe Alicia Machado. Every moment spent prolonging this sideshow is a moment lost with a decent attack message on Hillary Clinton."

We Are the Third World

Perhaps what is most disturbing about this whole affair is the affirmative response Obama has received in some corners. Many Americans are unabashed in their support for what he said. Of course, they are not a majority, but they are nevertheless a sizable portion of the public. That in itself is sufficient evidence of how Obama has managed to Third-Worldize the minds of many Americans.*

Timothy Birdnow    "In the presidential debate last Monday Donald Trump warned America that she's "become a third-world country" to the guffaws and disdain of the liberals, the media (but I repeat myself) and Hillary Rodham Clinton, who later accused Trump of talking smack about the country she wants to loot, er, lead.

"One must ask, is Trump correct or do we continue to occupy the apex of the first world? Is there evidence to support Mr. Trump's claim?

"Let me offer exhibit A.  

"According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Two years after the University of Missouri closed the state’s lone hospital for treating tuberculosis and other infectious diseases, state health officials are looking at opening a new facility.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services is seeking bids for a study that could provide officials with a roadmap for opening a new treatment center to replace the current process of sending patients to other states.

It comes amid a nationwide increase in the number of people contracting the airborne bacterial disease that attacks the lungs.

According to the request, Missouri has averaged 90 active tuberculosis cases in each of the past three years

. . .  "According to the CDC 88% of all antibiotic-resistant TB in the U.S. comes from immigrants.

"And that is just one infectious disease. Consider that last year we had 15 cases of bubonic plague in the U.S. Bubonic plague is clearly a third-world disease, one long absent in America." . . .

. . . "As I have noted, East St. Louis has levels of violence comparable to Honduras and other hellholes. 

. . . 

"No Third World country is complete without vote fraud to keep the ruling junta in power. Consider the fact that fraud may well be the reason Obama won re-election last time. 

"A nation without the rule of law is a banana republic. Banana republics are inherently third world."

"So Hillary and the Left may dismiss Mr. Trump's argument that America is becoming third world, but the facts belie their claims. "

*A bit of corroboration:

Why Obama is a third world president  . . . "As a naturalized American who grew up in the Third World, I saw firsthand the shenanigans that Third World leaders (who should at best be called misleaders) used on their people.

"Consequently, I am much more concerned about preserving America’s greatness than about conforming to the mindless mantra among many minorities that this president is a great leader. He is not. I came to America when Ronald Reagan was president. He was a great leader. And he was a president who was unmistakably proud to be American—not a man who went around the world apologizing for America." . . .

Here Are The Mainstream Reporters Who Are Open About Their Anti-Trump Bias

Daily Caller  "Reporters covering the presidential election from a myriad publications including The New York Times and NBC have expressed negative opinions about Republican nominee Donald Trump in writing, a Daily Caller investigation reveals.

"The journalists all expressed their thoughts about Trump over the past year on Twitter. New York Times political reporter Ashley Parker referred to “Peak Trump” in a retweet of someone saying the GOP nominee had gone “apes--t.” A fellow New York Times reporter Jeremy Peters dismissed Trump’s run as a publicity stunt and connected the GOP nominee to racism and xenophobia a month after his announcement speech. “What Trump sought to bolster by running for president — his brand – is now tarnished by associations with xenophobia and racism,” Peters tweeted in July.

"Fellow New York Times reporters Alex Burns and Jonathan Martin have mocked the GOP nominee relentlessly on Twitter. Politico’s political reporters are a little more openly biased towards Trump than those at The New York Times. Politico’s chief political correspondent Glenn Thrush wrote “exactly” in a retweet that referenced Trump that said, “so black people are to blame because they oppose a racist? It’s the voters fault and not the candidate’s? Ok.”

"Politico political reporter Eli Stokols said in September, “Trump’s constantly contradictory rhetoric requires a lot of cognitive dissonance-but only if you presume he means anything he says.”

"In another tweet, Stokols referred to Trump’s “racist birtherism.” NBC News and MSNBC political reporter Benjy Sarlin has also been open about his disdain towards Trump." . . .

Insightful: Hillary Names Merkel As Her "Favorite World Leader"

Infidel Bloggers Alliance 

"Nothing could more disqualify Hillary for President than this revealing statement.

"From Politico:

Hillary Clinton trolled two White House opponents with a single response, dinging Gary Johnson and Donald Trump by naming Angela Merkel as her favorite world leader. The Democratic presidential nominee on Thursday joined the discussion about politicians’ favorite world leaders, a topic that went viral when Johnson, the Libertarian nominee, drew a blank when asked Wednesday to name a world leader he looks up to and respects.

What Obama refers to as "my military": Military budget for gender reassignment treatments

This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

. . . There are between 1,320 and 6,630 transgender troops in the active-duty force of 1.3 million, according the RAND Corp. which conducted a study for the Pentagon. Of those troops, RAND estimates that between 30 and 140 would like hormone treatment, and 25 to 130 would seek surgery.The Defense Department policy states if a service member’s ability to serve is hindered by a “medical condition or medical treatment related to their gender identity,” they will be treated. When an active duty service member receives approval from a military medical provider to undergo gender transition, the commander must approve the timing of medical treatment.

"Funny how there’s always a discussion and a report involved when these things come out of Congress, but not this time – it goes straight to the field." . . .

Dead Democrats Vote in Rigged Election

americanthinker.cartoons

Infowars "The FBI is investigating allegations of voter registration fraud after officials say almost 20 voter applications were turned in under the names of dead people."

Then there is the rush to process immigrants in time for the election:

Why Immigrants Vote for Democrats  . . . "I would venture that a large majority of immigrants, whether they are from Greece, Iraq, India, or anywhere else, have similar presuppositions regarding government. Although some of these countries are quasi-democratic in their government structure, they all have one thing in common: They are all socialistic to one extent or another. There is government-run healthcare, pension systems, and a host of other benefits." . . .

UC President: It’s Freedom of Speech, not Freedom from Speech

" . . .Napolitano’s acknowledgment that American universities are facing a crisis of free speech, and her sharp criticism of illiberal activism, is an important step forward for the movement to save universities from the forces of censorship and intolerance. Let’s hope that a critical mass of students and faculty will back her up."

The American Interest  "Janet Napolitano, President Obama’s former Head of the Department of Homeland Security and now leader of the largest university system in the United States, is the latest high-profile college administrator to come out and forcefully criticize the campus crusade against liberal norms of speech and expression. A passage from her op-ed in the Boston Globe:

As president of the University of California system, I write to show how far we have moved from freedom of speech on campuses to freedom from speech. If it hurts, if it’s controversial, if it articulates an extreme point of view, then speech has become the new bête noire of the academy. Speakers are disinvited, faculty are vilified, and administrators like me are constantly asked to intervene.

The goal of our university education today should be to prepare students who are thoughtful, well-informed, and resilient. " . . .

St. Louis U. Requires Prof to Give Trigger Warning Remarks Before Allen West Speech   . . . "First, an administrator banned members of the campus conservative club from including the words “radical Islam” on advertisements for the event, claiming Lt. Col. West, a veteran of Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom, did not have enough “experience” to speak on that topic." . . .

UNC Chapel Hill Marked First Amendment Day With Panel on Safe Spaces  "Paging George Orwell…"

"Only on a college campus, could the First Amendment be celebrated by talking about the importance of safe spaces.

"Campus Reform reported:" . . .