The guy does have a dark and handsome thing going on. Plus he pretended to be rich, so that makes it easier to lure women in. The whole knight in shining armor fantasy.
There is a significant Israeli presence in Romania. A lot of it is composed of those with origins in the country, particularly in the North.....Satu Mare is over-represented. It is the home of the hardcore Satmar Orthodox Jews. Israelis have bought up a lot of agricultural land in the country, for example.
Your recent post on PC--"Woke"--Gramsci--Frankfurt School, etc:
"What is now known as ‘woke’ was once referred to as “Political Correctness”. The thrust of PCism was to avoid offending..."
It would be good to see a reconsideration after reviewing this book, or at least the website: Willing Accomplices: How KGB Covert Influence Agents Created Political Correctness, and destroyed Normal American Culture.
Understanding the who/what/how/why/when/where of the successful operation to destroy Normal culture is vital to the next step--counter-acting those efforts.
While Gramsci and the Frankfort School were bit players, the operational plans and implementation behind the effort was Willi Muenzenberg--the Comintern's covert influence genius.
On an early BAPcast appearance you went into some detail on the history of AIDS that was very interesting. It struck me in a “what else have they been lying to me about” way. Would be an interesting poast.
You made the recommendation to list good books covering the Wars in the ex-YU. I can do that.
As for this request, it will be a key part of a book that I am slowly putting together as it's one of the things that I have somehow become best known for over the years.
If you're interested in an intro to the Yugoslavia wars, the "Targeted: Arkan" documentary on youtube is actually quite informative and only 45 minutes or so. Very lurid and trashy true-crime style, but has a lot more about the background than the Divac/Petrovic ESPN movie that I think you mentioned
Feb 11, 2022·edited Feb 11, 2022Liked by Niccolo Soldo
political journey posts have been awesome -- yes because of the human-interest of it being *your* political journey, but also just because...i'm retarded and don't have a solid grasp of historical currants or geopolitics, so it was really interesting to see it laid out in an engaging and approachable fashion. so i'd eat up more analysis along those lines.
i'm loving the travel stuff too. i guess again because it's giving me insights into stuff i wouldn't otherwise know.
maybe do some real, audio interviews. that would be dope.
(i guess that was kind of a useless answer -- just keep doing what you're doing, man!)
I love this Substack, so my chief recommendation is to just keep doing what you’re doing.
I’ve only started reading recently, but your “my political journey” posts are what first attracted me here. Please continue to tie in your experience (and family experience) into your essays.
Perhaps some standalone essays on your intellectual influences (Buchanan et al.)? God bless.
Sure I might like to know the niche interests but it is probably not knitting and I am pretty certain I will like what you write from what you have written.
Interesting that the best blogs in that now-neglected space had a coffee house quality that Substack can in theory open up into. That seems in keeping with the conversational quality you are looking to build. I don't exactly blame Twitter for putting pressure on long form and on discourse but for sure civil talk is not much in vogue these days, though I do think that in the long run it cannot really be replaced. My own view is that the current crisis, Fourth Turning or not, involves a whole series of end games and sudden, only apparently paradoxical/ironic, turns. And I expect discourse to be on the way back in, even if that is only eventually or, as Steve Sailer says tongue-in-cheek, Real Soon Now. So I am in favor of more posts about travel and accompanying conversations, and would be very interested in seeing where else the reportage and conversation might go.
For a time early in the millennium I wrote at the arts and culture blog 2Blowhards (now retired), which was to my mind a model of the coffeehouse mode. Then, as now, it is hard to find outlets that combine arts, culture and politics (and other things) under a more or less right-wing perspective. I don't know if your niche interests extend to film, architecture, literature, scholarship, history, film, or music, but any several of these plus politics and travel might be a way to go. If politics is downstream from culture it can be smart to head upstream for a while. There is a culture to be built, or revived.
That said, a coffee house environment is tough in this day and age since a lot of one's opponents like nothing better than to play hasbara mind games and a lot of one's friends are freaked out and angry and looking for a fight. So maybe coffee houses are a bridge too far until the crisis starts to break and decorum comes back in style. But I do think "the market" for that is out there, in part because current conditions suppress the spontaneity and goodwill on which the model depends.
In any event you have my vote in terms of opening up new topics and conversation.
As long as I have the floor for a moment here is something I wrote in a travel/politics mode just as people were realizing that Trump might be for real.
Thank you. Yes, keeping this place entirely devoted to politics would be dull as fuck. I also don't want to chase news cycles, because so many others are doing it, and it doesn't interest me either.
Would like to hear your thoughts on the coming apocalypse that is people waking up to modern intersexual dynamics. Morgan Stanley has a blog that reports how by 2030 45% or so of US women ages 18-45 will be single, never married, no children, and a modest career and what that's going to do with the economy, birth rates, public policy, politics in general, etc. Everyone is just dancing around this subject but it's going to have some serious ramifications when it comes to immigration, tax policy, governance, etc.
Not broken, don't fix it. That said, lots of photos of your travels, keep that up. The occasional piece on books that have influenced your thinking, in as much depth as you want, also good. Also, speculation about the future, and how we can get to a better place, because this current mess is depressing, would be nice. Be careful when you go to dicey places like Calabria, but don't stop going.
Many have mentioned interviews already. But the reason your interviews are so engaging is that you're actually creating a space for dialogue between a wide array of political positions . Your blog is a refreshing middle ground in the FOX-CNN dichotomy. I'd even go as far to say that constraining you in the right-wing populist quadrant is unfair, considering the breadth of your political discourse and experience, as described by The Journey. I'm a 22 year old relatively left-leaning student who discovered you and reads your material voraciously because I think identity politics are moral and societal poison, but the only people who shared my position in the popular space were bleach drinking Q-anon grand wizards. But low and behold someone who was giving an honest and intelligent exposition on the danger of these ideas, a guy I can imagine drinking a beer with, a normal down to earth real person. So find as many challenging and interesting people to interview, stay true to your no BS approach to politics, and of course never be afraid to challenge or offend your base - most of us come for that, otherwise we'd be reading Unz.
I don't know if this is the right word for it but more "theory". Stuff like your competing American/Chinese/French versions of governance post, or more abstract discussions on international relations.
That would be a book.
would love your take on “Tinder Swindler”
That Caleb guy?
No there’s a documentary on Netflix that has become very popular in Europe about a certain individual. Has a lot of themes you write about.
This - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tinder_Swindler
Yes. Specifically could he do this only because Nordic societies are high trust, or are all Wammen susceptible?
The guy does have a dark and handsome thing going on. Plus he pretended to be rich, so that makes it easier to lure women in. The whole knight in shining armor fantasy.
lol, I used to research Lev Leviev some 15 years ago.
From wiki:
"An Israeli man, born Shimon Hayut, traveled around Europe, presenting himself as the son of Russian-Israeli diamond mogul Lev Leviev"
Everybody in Romania is talking about him now.
There is a significant Israeli presence in Romania. A lot of it is composed of those with origins in the country, particularly in the North.....Satu Mare is over-represented. It is the home of the hardcore Satmar Orthodox Jews. Israelis have bought up a lot of agricultural land in the country, for example.
Your recent post on PC--"Woke"--Gramsci--Frankfurt School, etc:
"What is now known as ‘woke’ was once referred to as “Political Correctness”. The thrust of PCism was to avoid offending..."
It would be good to see a reconsideration after reviewing this book, or at least the website: Willing Accomplices: How KGB Covert Influence Agents Created Political Correctness, and destroyed Normal American Culture.
www.willingaccomplices.com
Understanding the who/what/how/why/when/where of the successful operation to destroy Normal culture is vital to the next step--counter-acting those efforts.
While Gramsci and the Frankfort School were bit players, the operational plans and implementation behind the effort was Willi Muenzenberg--the Comintern's covert influence genius.
Thanks.
Kent Clizbe
kent@kentclizbe.com
Never heard of this book. I will take a look at it in due time. Merci.
On an early BAPcast appearance you went into some detail on the history of AIDS that was very interesting. It struck me in a “what else have they been lying to me about” way. Would be an interesting poast.
You made the recommendation to list good books covering the Wars in the ex-YU. I can do that.
As for this request, it will be a key part of a book that I am slowly putting together as it's one of the things that I have somehow become best known for over the years.
I didn't see that thread, but read And the Band Played On in high school. The first 100 pages, about pre-AIDS bathhouse scenes, had me dry heaving.
If you're interested in an intro to the Yugoslavia wars, the "Targeted: Arkan" documentary on youtube is actually quite informative and only 45 minutes or so. Very lurid and trashy true-crime style, but has a lot more about the background than the Divac/Petrovic ESPN movie that I think you mentioned
Something about Franjo Tudjman, what he meant/means to you. (Or is that already in the plans for the next Political Journey post?)
That's also for the book as his is a wild story which has practical examples for today's right in Europe and North America (and beyond)
Your interviews get some of my biggest glols. I would love to read an interview with a subject who was not entirely hip to the format.
Working on that!
Future interviews: Renaud Camus, Adam Lehrer, Jake Shields, Dave Reaboi, Adam Korzeniewski, Thaïs D'Escufon.
No idea who half those guys are.
Renaud Camus (you know), Adam Lehrer (Substack: Based Safety & Cringe Propaganda), Jake Shields (MMA fighter), Dave Reaboi (you know), Adam Korzeniewski (Substack: Muzzle Velocity), Thaïs D'Escufon (young French identitarian).
I second the Jake Shields suggestion.
Mirko Cro Cop might also be an interesting interview
omg please roast Reaboi
political journey posts have been awesome -- yes because of the human-interest of it being *your* political journey, but also just because...i'm retarded and don't have a solid grasp of historical currants or geopolitics, so it was really interesting to see it laid out in an engaging and approachable fashion. so i'd eat up more analysis along those lines.
i'm loving the travel stuff too. i guess again because it's giving me insights into stuff i wouldn't otherwise know.
maybe do some real, audio interviews. that would be dope.
(i guess that was kind of a useless answer -- just keep doing what you're doing, man!)
haha thanks man
I love this Substack, so my chief recommendation is to just keep doing what you’re doing.
I’ve only started reading recently, but your “my political journey” posts are what first attracted me here. Please continue to tie in your experience (and family experience) into your essays.
Perhaps some standalone essays on your intellectual influences (Buchanan et al.)? God bless.
Sure I might like to know the niche interests but it is probably not knitting and I am pretty certain I will like what you write from what you have written.
Interesting that the best blogs in that now-neglected space had a coffee house quality that Substack can in theory open up into. That seems in keeping with the conversational quality you are looking to build. I don't exactly blame Twitter for putting pressure on long form and on discourse but for sure civil talk is not much in vogue these days, though I do think that in the long run it cannot really be replaced. My own view is that the current crisis, Fourth Turning or not, involves a whole series of end games and sudden, only apparently paradoxical/ironic, turns. And I expect discourse to be on the way back in, even if that is only eventually or, as Steve Sailer says tongue-in-cheek, Real Soon Now. So I am in favor of more posts about travel and accompanying conversations, and would be very interested in seeing where else the reportage and conversation might go.
For a time early in the millennium I wrote at the arts and culture blog 2Blowhards (now retired), which was to my mind a model of the coffeehouse mode. Then, as now, it is hard to find outlets that combine arts, culture and politics (and other things) under a more or less right-wing perspective. I don't know if your niche interests extend to film, architecture, literature, scholarship, history, film, or music, but any several of these plus politics and travel might be a way to go. If politics is downstream from culture it can be smart to head upstream for a while. There is a culture to be built, or revived.
That said, a coffee house environment is tough in this day and age since a lot of one's opponents like nothing better than to play hasbara mind games and a lot of one's friends are freaked out and angry and looking for a fight. So maybe coffee houses are a bridge too far until the crisis starts to break and decorum comes back in style. But I do think "the market" for that is out there, in part because current conditions suppress the spontaneity and goodwill on which the model depends.
In any event you have my vote in terms of opening up new topics and conversation.
As long as I have the floor for a moment here is something I wrote in a travel/politics mode just as people were realizing that Trump might be for real.
https://uncouthreflections.com/2016/03/20/letter-from-benelux/
Thank you. Yes, keeping this place entirely devoted to politics would be dull as fuck. I also don't want to chase news cycles, because so many others are doing it, and it doesn't interest me either.
1. Best Substack out there
2. More music/film - your culture tweets are under appreciated
3. Why can't we pay for this DOPE content via PayPal?
I should do a music thread, but it will date me horribly. I've put out two movie reviews so far. Might be time to try another one.
Substack is limited to Stripe in terms of payment processing. I don't think that there are plans to introduce PayPal.
Ok fair enough. Apple Pay is a pain in the ass though.
Anyway man keep ''em coming.
I suspect a huge part of your readership is Gen X and would dig your thoughts/revisions on late 80s/90s/early2000 music and music subculture.
Salut.
I love T777's FILMS for FROGS. Your Monica Vitti tribute was class. Be cool to read more. Cheers
Tomasso and I have known each other for 15 years or so now.
Would be cool to hear you team up on a podcast or something
Would like to hear your thoughts on the coming apocalypse that is people waking up to modern intersexual dynamics. Morgan Stanley has a blog that reports how by 2030 45% or so of US women ages 18-45 will be single, never married, no children, and a modest career and what that's going to do with the economy, birth rates, public policy, politics in general, etc. Everyone is just dancing around this subject but it's going to have some serious ramifications when it comes to immigration, tax policy, governance, etc.
There's a lot of numbers to crunch there
Not broken, don't fix it. That said, lots of photos of your travels, keep that up. The occasional piece on books that have influenced your thinking, in as much depth as you want, also good. Also, speculation about the future, and how we can get to a better place, because this current mess is depressing, would be nice. Be careful when you go to dicey places like Calabria, but don't stop going.
Many have mentioned interviews already. But the reason your interviews are so engaging is that you're actually creating a space for dialogue between a wide array of political positions . Your blog is a refreshing middle ground in the FOX-CNN dichotomy. I'd even go as far to say that constraining you in the right-wing populist quadrant is unfair, considering the breadth of your political discourse and experience, as described by The Journey. I'm a 22 year old relatively left-leaning student who discovered you and reads your material voraciously because I think identity politics are moral and societal poison, but the only people who shared my position in the popular space were bleach drinking Q-anon grand wizards. But low and behold someone who was giving an honest and intelligent exposition on the danger of these ideas, a guy I can imagine drinking a beer with, a normal down to earth real person. So find as many challenging and interesting people to interview, stay true to your no BS approach to politics, and of course never be afraid to challenge or offend your base - most of us come for that, otherwise we'd be reading Unz.
I don't know if this is the right word for it but more "theory". Stuff like your competing American/Chinese/French versions of governance post, or more abstract discussions on international relations.
I have something related to Europe on that brewing in my mind.
Areas of Interest to me:
DeGaulle's Coup D'etat
FSB apartment bombings
Khlysts/Doukhobors
Laurel Canyon/John Didion
Konstantin Mihailović
Guy Sajer
Opium wars/early Hong Kong
Zersetzung
Tom Wolfe
+1 for the apartment bombings