Health of Empress Alexandra

 

 

From Nicholas II:

During her life, Alexandra carried much grief, worry and sorrow on her shoulders, all of which began at an early age. She lost her brother Friedrich to haemophilia in May 1873; her sister Marie died of diphtheria in November 1878; and the following month, her beloved mother Princess Alice also died of diphtheria in December 1878.

After her mother and sister’s deaths, Alix became more reserved and withdrawn. She described her childhood before her mother and sister’s death as “unclouded, happy babyhood, of perpetual sunshine, then of a great cloud.”

In March 1892, her father Grand Duke Louis IV, died of a heart attack. According to Baroness Sophie Buxhoeveden, Alix regarded the death of her father as perhaps “the greatest sorrow of her life”. Buxhoeveden recalled in her 1928 biography [The Life and Tragedy of Alexandra Feodorovna] that “for years she could not speak of him, and long after when she was in Russia, anything that reminded her of him would bring her to the verge of tears”. This loss was probably so much greater for Alix because Grand Duke Louis IV had been Alix’s only remaining parent since she was six years of age. (Read more.)

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Badass

 From James Howard Kunstler:

The capture of Nicolás Maduro is driving the Lefty-left batshit crazy for a very good reason: it portends the extinction of their financial life-support, since Señor Maduro used his country as a money laundry for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and, in turn, cartel drug money, to funnel gazillions through Cuba to America’s Democratic Party and its political satellites. Not even George and Alex Soros can fill that hole.

For a nearly failed state, Cuba has been able to exert undue influence on US political life through the decades. Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles was trained-up in Marxist revolution there in the 1970s and traveled to Cuba many times during her stint in Congress. Reps. Ilhan Omar and Pramila Jayapal dropped into Havana during the last election year. NGOs such as the Center for Democracy in the Americas act as distribution nodes for money that comes through Cuba and supports Lefty-left activists around the USA. Don’t be surprised if a lot of this laundered money ended up in the bank accounts of US congresspersons and senators, too. Remember this when you watch them howl on your screens. (Read more.)

 

From Tierney's Real News:

Dear America,

Here’s a question for everyone who hates Donald Trump, and I ask it with genuine curiosity and just a touch of smug clarity:

So tell me, what would you do? Because so far, all I hear is outrage with no operating instructions.

You inherit a country with $30+ trillion in debt, a border that was effectively unenforced for decades, trade deals that hollowed out manufacturing towns, endless foreign wars with no victory conditions, NATO allies who openly admitted they weren’t paying their share, a federal bureaucracy that outlives presidents, and a media class that abandoned neutrality a long time ago.

Those are facts. Not vibes. Not opinions.

Now answer the question.

Do you renegotiate trade deals and bring jobs back knowing Wall Street will scream? Or do you keep the status quo and call it “global cooperation”?

Do you pressure NATO allies to finally pay their bills, something they later admitted they did because of Trump, or do you keep sending American money so no one calls you rude?

Do you enforce existing immigration law, which Congress already passed, and accept the media hysteria? Or do you selectively ignore the law and pretend that’s compassion?

Do you pull troops out of endless wars and get accused of abandoning allies, or keep Americans dying indefinitely because withdrawal looks messy?

Do you confront a bureaucracy that slow-walks orders and leaks to the press, or do you pretend that unelected agencies undermining elected authority is just “how government works”?

And now let’s add the newest example everyone’s suddenly hyperventilating over: What do you do with Maduro?

A narco-trafficking dictator with a U.S. arrest warrant. A man who ran his country into the ground, starved his people, crushed dissent, and turned Venezuela into a cartel-run failed state.

Do you: Look the other way because “international norms”? Issue strongly worded statements while people suffer? Or do you take him into custody, put him on a plane, and let a federal court handle it, like we do with criminals?

Because that’s what leadership looks like.

This isn’t “running Venezuela for oil.” This isn’t imperialism. This isn’t some Marvel-villain fantasy. It’s law enforcement at the international level, something we used to understand before performative outrage replaced common sense.

And notice the irony: Venezuelans are dancing in the streets, while the left are losing their minds from their couches screaming about legality. (Read more.)

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Pathologizing Ourselves

 From What Would Jess Say?:

This industry wants us to think we have mental health issues. The more of us are using the system, the more money they make.

The more acceptable the language becomes, the easier it is for people to identify with it, internalise it, and ultimately adopt psychiatric frameworks voluntarily. Not because the evidence has improved, and not because the science has evolved, but because the vocabulary has been redesigned to feel less threatening, less stigmatising, and more aligned with everyday human experiences.

The end result? Millions of people now describe themselves using psychiatric terminology, often casually, often inaccurately, and often in ways that encourage self-pathologisation. Everything from ‘my depression’ through to ‘I’m a bit psycho.’ Psychiatry wormed its way in, and now everyone is using the language - but let me ask you something?

Would you consider yourself insane? A lunatic? Would you call yourself sick in the head? Are you deranged? Are you abnormal? Disordered?

Or would you prefer to say that you have ‘mental health’?

Mmmhmmm. (Read more.)

 

The limits of expertise. From The Public Discourse:

When speaking with parents about the potential negative effects of social media on youth mental health, it would have been easy to present them with all the same graphs and social scientific studies Haidt shared. For instance, it would be easy to tell them that, on average, more than three hours a day on social media is statistically associated with a higher likelihood of depression among adolescents. This has been empirically demonstrated as more common for girls than boys, and for time spent on platforms such as TikTok (passive reception of videos) as opposed to Reddit (active engagement with words). The former Surgeon General’s advisory on the topic, another touchstone in the movement, is full of such evidence from the social sciences.  

And yet herein lies immense irony. The highly technical collection and sharing of this evidence is predicated on the basic assumption that individual parents are otherwise ill-equipped to discern when their child’s engagement on social media has made them depressed (including the factors—age, sex, content—that make them most depressed). At the most extreme, studies that produce the “three hours” statistic presume parents don’t know their children at all and, further, that they must make decisions for their children based on the outcome of some statistical analysis based on data from kids that, paradoxically, are also unknown to them.  

As I have experienced it, when one talks to actual parents, most (perhaps all) know that their child—this child, the one in front of their eyes daily, the one that they have intimately observed since their birth—is addicted to social media, and that it is bad for their mental health (among other parts of their life). Because it is their child, they know what their behavior and mood were like before they signed up for TikTok, and they can see firsthand the changes to their behavior and mood afterwards. There is no need for statistical controls or sophisticated computational models to help them discern this difference. Jonathan Haidt and company, while helpful, are not required. What is required, rather, is the courage and patience to look.  

Further, from all the focus groups I’ve participated in, discussions about why this is happening to their child and what to do about it are best done with other parents going through the same experiences, as opposed to fully delegating this work to a remote social scientist who has no direct connection with the families reading his work. When these parents I’ve spoken with were allowed to openly discuss what social media were doing to their kids, the basic situation was quickly discerned, and some practical, ground-up solutions were often identified. No “evidence-based recommendations” are needed. Further, the kinds of solutions identified are rarely limited to mere “risk management practices,” (e.g., cut off TikTok after three hours) but tended toward environmental reform—the kinds of practices, policies, and cultural habits that can be changed to reduce the risk of this harm for those vulnerable to otherwise inhabiting a world constantly subjected to it (e.g., several neighborhood groups are bringing back landlines). The best part of any presentation I’ve given was when my presentation on “the evidence” stopped, and discussion between parents and teachers—the messy work of politics—began. I’ve seen it happen many times. (Read more.)

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"Queen of the Bean"

From Writing the Renaissance:

The Feast of the Epiphany occasioned much merriment--and expense--at the French court during the Renaissance. The tradition of sharing a galette des rois--a cake containing a concealed bean--traces back to early sixteenth century celebrations of Twelfth Night. The person who found the bean in his or her piece of cake became the de facto ruler for the duration of the festivities. Whereas in England the choice of a "king," or Lord of Misrule, predominated, across the channel it was the election of the "Queen of the Bean" that evolved into an elaborate ritual.

According to Robert Knecht in his book The French Renaissance Court (p. 75-76), it was custom at the court of François I to chose not only a Queen of the Bean, but a bevy of eighteen ladies to attend her. The women wore beautiful new clothes, which the King provided: undergarments of crimson velvet with slashed sleeves held together by gold clasps and outer garments of grey satin fringed with velvet and lined with mink. Matching belts, necklaces and bracelets complemented the attire; the Queen wore a plumed bonnet atop a long golden or silver snood adorned with precious stones. When it was time for supper, the Queen of the Bean rose from her seat next to the true queen, Eléanore, and took the King's hand. The monarch led her and her ladies into the hall where two tables had been set. The Queen of the Bean sat above Queen Eléanore, the dauphin's wife Catherine de' Medici, and the King's sister Marguerite de Navarre at the shorter table; the King joined the eighteen attendants at the second table. During the meal, the Bean Queen was served with the ceremony normally reserved for the real queen, who surrendered any precedence during the twenty-four hours of her rival's reign.

(Read more.)

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Trump Acted. Raskin Whined.

 From Direct Line News:

Let’s start with the core reality Raskin tiptoes around while pretending to acknowledge it: Nicolás Maduro is not a normal head of state. He is not a misunderstood reformer. He is a narco-dictator indicted by the United States, accused of turning an entire nation into a cocaine pipeline while starving its people and exporting chaos throughout the hemisphere. When the U.S. government acts against someone like Maduro, it is not “imperialism.” It is law enforcement on a scale.

Raskin’s constitutional argument collapses under scrutiny. The president did not declare war on Venezuela. He authorized a targeted military operation to apprehend an indicted criminal enemy of the United States. Presidents of both parties have conducted such operations for decades without prior congressional approval against terrorists, warlords, pirates, and narco-traffickers. Congress is not consulted before every special operation any more than a judge convenes a jury before issuing an arrest warrant. The Constitution makes the president commander-in-chief for a reason.

Raskin’s second claim that drug trafficking was merely a “pretext” is even more detached from reality. The U.S. Department of Justice has spent years building a case against Maduro, accusing him of conspiring to flood the United States with cocaine using state institutions and foreign terrorist groups. This is not speculative. It is documented. Maduro’s regime has been sanctioned, indicted, and internationally isolated precisely because it operates as a criminal enterprise masquerading as a government.

To distract from that reality, Raskin points to President Trump’s pardon of former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández. This is classic whataboutism masquerading as moral clarity. Hernández’s pardon, controversial or not, does not magically erase Maduro’s crimes. Nor does it invalidate the mountains of evidence against the Venezuelan regime. Law enforcement does not stop arresting bank robbers because one criminal elsewhere received clemency. That argument would be laughed out of any courtroom. (Read more.)

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The Legend of Uther Pendragon, King Arthur’s Father

 From The Collector:

In the legends of King Arthur, many of the members of Arthur’s family have names which make sense in an early Post-Roman, Romano-British context. Arthur’s own name likely comes from “Artorius,” while Arthur has uncles named Aurelius Ambrosius and Constans. Within this context, the name “Uther Pendragon” stands out as decidedly unusual. What is the reason for this?

The legends themselves make it clear that “Pendragon” was simply an epithet applied to this king. In fact, medieval Welsh apply this to other figures as well. Its meaning is quite obvious. The word “pen” is Welsh for “head,” often in the sense of “chief.” The word “dragon,” meanwhile, is frequently used in poetry to denote a warrior. Therefore, this is a title meaning “Chief Warrior.”

As for “Uther,” this could be explained as a corruption of the Latin name “Victor.” Normally, in Welsh, that would be “Gwythyr,” but the corruption of this into “Uthyr” is attested in Welsh texts. Alternatively, and perhaps more probably, it comes from the Welsh word “uthr,” meaning “fearsome,” and is actually part of the “Pendragon” title. (Read more.)

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The Lord of Misrule

It is the Twelfth Night.

Fisheaters has everything you need to know about Twelfth Night, including a poem by Robert Herrick:

Twelfth Night: Or King and Queen

Now, now the mirth comes
With the cake full of plums,
Where bean's the king of the sport here;
Beside we must know,
The pea also
Must revel, as queen, in the court here.

Begin then to choose,
This night as ye use,
Who shall for the present delight here,
Be a king by the lot,
And who shall not
Be Twelfth-day queen for the night here.

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Venezuela & RICO

 From Tierney's Real News:

I could write a book about Team Trump’s operation to arrest Maduro in Venezuela but I distilled the most important points down to a 10 minute read. By now, you’ve all read about how the operation happened - I’m going to discuss why it happened and cover viewpoints that the fake news isn’t talking about.

President Trump’s sanctioning of Venezuelan oil, destroying drug boats and seizing or blockading the tanker ghost fleet was having stupendous repercussions in not only Venezuela, but their allies in Cuba, Iran, Russia and Communist China:

1. Severe weakening of the Maduro cartel regime.

2. Severe weakening of the Cuban Communist regime.

3. Choking off the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, which took Venezuelan oil to sell for cash.

4. Leaving the Chinese Communist Party without reliable oil from Venezuela and Iran.

Trump’s embargo in Venezuela was also likely the final straw to neuter the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and start the Iranian revolution and economic collapse that’s going on right now in Iran. It’s ALL connected. (Read more.)

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Cardinal Sarah on Sacred Music

From The National Catholic Register:

The vital importance of sacred music to the liturgy, the need for every Catholic to be watchful and prepared for the Four Last Things, and the recognition that only Christ’s kingship will bring true peace were among the key messages Cardinal Robert Sarah brought to the United States late last year.

Cardinal Sarah’s visit to the U.S. was centered around the launch of his new book, The Song of the Lamb: Sacred Music and Heavenly Liturgy, co-written with Church musician Peter Carter. 

In two talks on Nov. 21 and 22, 2025, delivered at Princeton University, where Carter serves as director of sacred music for the Aquinas Institute, Cardinal Sarah underscored that at a time when, for decades, the Church’s liturgy has “too often been instrumentalized,” it is important to understand what the liturgy is and why sacred music is a central part of divine worship. 

Noting that the liturgy “has become politicized” in recent decades, the prefect emeritus of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments also defended those who have legitimately highlighted abuses, denouncing as “wrong” the fact that some Church authorities have “persecuted and excluded” these critics.

Recalling Benedict XVI’s hermeneutic of continuity between the reformed and pre-reformed liturgy and the late pontiff’s emphasis on “what earlier generations held as sacred remains sacred and great for us too,” Cardinal Sarah said liturgical abuse detracts from the twofold nature and purpose of the liturgy: to “render to Almighty God the worship that is his due” and to recognize that the liturgy “is not about what we do,” but rather about what the Lord “does for us and in us.” 

Through the worship offered by the Church in her liturgical rites, “we are sanctified,” Cardinal Sarah stressed, which is why “full, conscious and actual participation in the liturgy is essential.” By participation, he said he was not referring to many external actions but rather attuning “our minds and hearts and souls” to the “meaning of the sacred rites and chants and prayers of the Church’s liturgy.”  

“That is how we ‘plug-in’ to, or connect with, the saving action of our Lord Jesus Christ in the liturgical rites,” he said. “This, my friends, is why the liturgy is ‘sacred.’” (Read more.)

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