Thursday, March 20, 1975. Electrical attack.

The New World Liberation Front bombed PG&E transmission towers in Oakland and San Mateo, demanding that PG&E cut utility rates in half for the poor.

Last edition:

Wednesday, March 19, 1975. Abandoning Huế.

Labels: 1970s, 1975, Chinese Civil War, Huế Vietnam, People's Republic of China, Saigon Vietnam, South Vietnam, Vietnam, Vietnam War

Friday, March 19, 1875. The execution of Tiburcio Vásquez.

 Legendary Californio bandido Tiburcio Vásquez was executed at age 39.

The March 1875 Southeast tornado outbreak struck the Southern United States producing no less than 19 tornadoes.

Last edition:

Saturday, March 13, 1875. Sheep.

Labels: 1870s, 1875, Agriculture, Sheep, Wyoming

Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist. 72nd Edition. Carbon Comparison and Contrast.

L.A. Fires Revive Calls for a ‘Climate Superfund’ Law in California

New York and Vermont recently passed laws like these, which require energy companies to pay climate damages and will likely face fierce challenges.

and: 

‘Make Carbon Dioxide Great Again’ law would ban carbon reduction efforts in Wyoming

Sen. Steinmetz wants to repeal Wyoming’s carbon capture mandate for coal plants.

The thing that those living in Wyoming fail to appreciate (I'm not using the word Wyomingite intentionally, as I think a lot of actual Wyomingites do get it) is that the entire population of Wyoming would amount to what Californians would regard as a mid sized city.

Yes, Trump will have the keys to the Executive Power of the US over the next four years, or until age or J. D. Vance removes him, but that is temporary and even with the dictatorial powers he aspires to, he doesn't have complete dictatorial control.  The clock is really winding down on this one, and the lawsuits about to begin.

Big Tobacco anyone?

Last edition:

Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist. 71st Edition. DiscrLabels: California, Canada, Commentary, Disaster, Greenland, Je me souviens, Lies, Mental Health, Nazi Party, Populism, Radio, The Madness of King Donald, The Second Trump Administration, Zeitgeistediting himself and the rest of us in turn.

How did so many of us, become so mean?

Indeed I tremble for my country when reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever: that considering numbers, nature and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel of fortune, an exchange of situation, is among possible events: that it may become probable by supernatural interference!

Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia

An item from Cowboy State Daily columnist Dave Simpson (who is not from Wyoming, like so many of Wyoming's far right are not):

Dave Simpson: Wyoming Paid Us To Cut Dead Trees

Within the column:

Apparently California hasn't had the good sense to encourage landowners to clear their land of the brush that went up in flames around Los Angeles last week, taking 24 lives and destroying 12,000 homes so far. One report explained that landowners clearing brush could be fined for killing rare, protected plants.

Good grief.

Here in Wyoming, we made our places less prone to fire.

Too bad California didn't encourage landowners to do the same.

They're paying the price now.

What a massively ignorant and mean thing to say.

The replies on twitter, at least, were not clueless:

Stephanie Hewitt@Stephhewitt1 2h

But even with thinning the forest, the Snowy Range would not survive with hurricane force winds during a forest fire. Stop the grandstanding.

Indeed the recent fire in Albany and Carbon Counties more than proved that. 

Buckwild @veedawhoo 3h

Don't break your arm patting yourself on the back chief🙄

Exactly. 

Traveler@JuniperMesa 1h

Fill Sky will massive amounts heat trapping gases, catastrophically overheat Planet = catastrophic climate change, Aridification, Megadrought, FireStorms gone Runaway, beyond Apocalyptic self reinforcing feedback loop, not "potential", Rocky Mountain Ecosystem, not built for heat

And right again.

Of course, as Simpson, who actual Wyomingites would not regard as a Wyomingite (you have to be born here or in a neighboring state, wondering in as an adult doesn't count), is from the far right, and as a far right migrant who didn't grow up here with winters were real, probably is in the climate change is a fib category.

It isn't.

The old saying is "paybacks are a bitch". 

How naive and clueless can a person be to not realize that an urban fire.

There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge.

Raymond Chandler, Red Wind: A Collection of Short Stories

The fires were driven by Santa Ana winds, strong, extremely dry katabatic winds that originate inland and affect coastal Southern California and northern Baja California.

Chandler wasn't kidding. They're something else, and indeed "Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks."

I fear that Wyoming is about to get a real dope slap.

California contributes five times more to the Federal coffers than it receives.

Then I rapped upon a house with a U.S. flag upon display

I said, "Could you help me out, I got some friends down the way"

The man said, "Get out of here, I'll tear you limb from limb"

I said, You know, they refused Jesus, too, " he said, "You're not him

Get out of here before I break your bones, I ain't your pop"

I decided to have him arrested, and I went looking for a cop

Bob Dylan 115th Street Dream.

Wyoming receives more than it gives.

Sitting there smug with a 307 beer can isn't going to change that.

And we have disasters, including fire related disasters, every year.

This year, the Hageman homestead was burned in one such fire.

Guess the Hageman's didn't know enough to clear the underbrush?

I suspect nobody is going to say that.

And if the fires return here next summer, and its been a very dry winter, what will people who hold such mean spirted views say?

And will Wyoming, which had its hand out for disaster relief in 2024, be too embarrassed to ask for it in 2024.  Simpson speaks for a common view here, and the GOP is threatening to hold disaster aid to California up.  Indeed, our Senator, in his new whip role, has hinted at that.

Nature and events have a terrible way of humbling the arrogant.

Every proud heart is an abomination to the LORD; be assured that none will go unpunished.

Proverbs, 16:5

Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist. 71st Edition. Discrediting himself and the rest of us in turn.

One of the more remarkable things to observe right now is Donald Trump claiming that Canadians wish for their country to join the United States, which we absolutely do not, while Canada contributes fire fighting aircraft to the terrible fires in California.

This speaks highly in favor of Canadians, who continue to support the US in this sort of aid while the putative future chief executive insults their intelligence and sovereignty.

Of course, the same supposed economic genius has said Canada has nothing the US wants, quite the statement in regard to one of the US's largest trading partners, which begs the question why the aged wanna be Napoleon of the West wants it.  Is there some club in Moscow where you get a key to the special dining room by threatening this kind of stuff?

Of course, the same childish brain that has insulted Canada, Panama and Denmark in the last couple of weeks  (a Danish friend of mine who lives in Greenland refers to him as the "Orange Clown") also has assigned one of his sophomoric nicknames to California's Governor, and is blaming him for the forest fires that the "drill baby drill" mentality is contributing to.

The 25th Amendment can 't be invoked soon enough.

According to the Quality of Life Index, one way of measuring the Quality of Life, in 2025 these were the countries with the top ten rank in that category. We've included some others as well.

The flag of Luxembourg.  Luxembourg doesn't want to be part of the US, but I'm sure Donald Trump thinks it does.

Country.  Quality of Life, Purchasing Power, Safety Index, Cost of Living, Traffic, Pollution, Climate

1 Luxembourg 220.1 184.3 65.8 75.2 64.8 8.6 27.0 23.3 82.6

2 Netherlands 211.3 134.5 73.1 79.3 60.5 7.7 23.5 21.6 87.2

3 Denmark 209.9 137.3 74.0 78.4 66.9 6.5 27.8 20.6 82.5

4 Oman 208.9 153.8 81.7 65.1 39.8 3.1 22.1 35.6 67.2

5 Switzerland 205.0 164.8 73.5 71.5 98.4 11.0 33.0 23.1 79.2

6 Finland 203.8 127.6 73.2 77.5 58.7 8.0 25.5 11.8 58.6

7 Iceland 202.0 127.9 74.3 67.6 83.4 6.7 21.4 16.0 68.8

8 Norway 195.0 122.7 67.0 75.6 69.0 8.4 26.4 18.3 68.5

9 Qatar 193.3 185.7 84.2 73.4 47.5 5.2 29.0 60.0 36.0

10 Sweden 193.2 133.8 52.0 68.3 54.2 7.7 28.7 17.6 76.5

11 Austria 192.9 110.0 70.5 77.9 60.7 11.5 23.8 20.9 77.8

12 New Zealand 192.5 134.4 51.8 68.4 55.3 7.3 32.2 26.1 95.5

13 Australia 192.2 140.0 52.7 73.4 60.9 8.1 37.4 26.8 93.8

14 Germany 190.2 130.7 60.6 71.9 58.4 8.9 29.7 28.9 82.9

15 United States 188.8 152.1 50.8 67.8 64.9 3.3 32.9 36.7 78.5

16 Estonia 185.7 86.0 76.3 75.5 49.4 11.4 21.5 17.0 64.3

17 Japan 185.2 122.7 77.1 80.0 45.6 12.2 40.7 38.5 85.3

18 Spain 184.4 101.4 63.4 77.3 43.5 8.5 26.8 35.7 93.6

19 Slovenia 179.3 86.1 76.2 66.1 46.2 13.0 25.2 22.2 76.1

20 United Arab Emirates 177.0 133.9 84.5 70.6 54.1 7.0 35.7 48.1 45.8

21 Saudi Arabia 177.0 149.2 76.1 61.8 41.9 3.1 29.9 62.5 55.3

22 Czech Republic 174.8 91.1 73.5 75.5 42.6 13.5 28.9 34.6 80.1

23 Croatia 174.6 80.8 74.5 64.7 43.2 12.8 25.3 31.2 89.2

24 United Kingdom 174.5 124.0 51.7 72.7 59.2 8.8 34.7 40.7 87.2

25 Lithuania 173.0 81.8 67.6 75.0 44.0 12.4 23.6 26.3 67.8

26 Belgium 169.3 119.1 50.6 75.9 56.5 6.8 34.8 49.2 86.0

27 Portugal 167.8 61.9 67.9 72.2 41.2 14.7 28.5 28.8 97.3

28 Ireland 166.5 113.4 52.4 51.5 59.8 6.7 37.7 35.0 87.8

29 Canada 166.4 112.9 54.3 68.7 58.7 10.2 33.5 29.8 57.8

30 France 166.3 112.8 44.6 77.7 58.0 10.3 34.5 43.5 90.2

31 Latvia 164.7 77.2 62.9 62.4 43.4 8.6 28.7 30.3 74.7

32 Israel 163.6 113.3 68.2 73.2 65.2 13.7 36.5 56.8 93.8

33 Taiwan 160.7 103.5 82.9 86.5 44.4 21.3 32.7 64.2 84.4

34 Kuwait 160.6 180.3 67.2 58.4 40.4 7.3 35.3 69.4 20.2

35 Cyprus 158.5 83.1 66.9 57.1 49.5 8.2 23.6 55.3 92.2

36 Slovakia 157.6 75.8 69.0 58.4 42.1 14.0 27.5 37.1 78.1

37 Poland 153.9 94.2 71.0 58.0 38.9 11.0 31.9 55.4 75.9

38 Singapore 152.8 98.3 77.4 71.8 79.1 23.2 40.7 32.6 57.5

39 South Africa 152.4 114.2 25.3 63.8 30.0 3.2 38.6 56.6 95.3

40 Italy 151.0 87.3 53.1 65.1 51.0 9.5 32.4 53.5 90.2

41 South Korea 147.7 107.2 75.1 82.8 56.5 22.2 40.3 60.9 68.4

42 Hungary 144.6 72.4 66.3 54.3 36.6 13.0 35.6 46.5 78.7

43 Bulgaria 143.8 76.0 63.9 58.1 35.4 9.3 29.2 62.8 82.8

44 Romania 142.2 74.7 67.7 56.5 34.0 10.3 33.4 58.7 76.2

45 Uruguay 139.8 55.2 48.0 68.6 46.3 13.0 39.5 43.5 98.0

46 Greece 138.1 60.7 53.6 58.5 46.5 13.0 32.8 49.4 91.8

47 Malaysia 135.8 85.6 51.1 70.3 29.7 8.7 37.3 61.0 56.6

48 Bosnia And Herzegovina 134.8 64.3 58.3 55.6 31.6 13.2 26.0 59.7 80.5

49 Hong Kong (China) 134.0 105.5 78.5 66.1 73.6 29.1 41.8 66.5 83.6

50 Malta 132.7 77.8 57.0 52.5 48.0 11.2 28.1 75.5 97.4

51 Turkey 131.1 52.6 58.8 71.2 34.7 10.7 43.7 64.3 93.3

52 Costa Rica 129.4 52.3 45.9 64.3 50.1 10.3 60.0 42.0 99.5

53 Ecuador 128.5 46.6 37.5 77.1 30.0 11.9 36.6 59.0 98.7

54 Belarus 127.5 56.1 50.2 48.5 25.0 12.8 31.2 44.9 64.4

55 Mexico 126.3 48.3 46.6 72.5 34.5 11.8 39.1 58.4 85.3

56 Jordan 125.0 52.6 60.0 65.2 37.2 7.0 39.4 77.1 89.0

57 Georgia 124.9 40.8 73.7 55.6 30.4 12.7 38.4 67.8 88.5

58 Serbia 124.8 59.1 62.8 52.1 35.9 16.0 30.7 65.8 83.2

59 Panama 124.4 47.9 57.3 60.7 43.9 11.2 35.2 55.6 67.8

60 India 124.0 83.9 55.7 65.5 19.5 10.9 46.5 72.9 63.3

61 China 121.4 80.0 76.0 68.7 30.7 28.5 38.7 77.3 79.2

62 North Macedonia 120.3 60.7 58.9 55.1 30.3 12.3 24.9 79.6 76.3

63 Armenia 119.7 38.8 77.9 59.0 39.6 19.4 29.3 62.3 63.4

64 Argentina 118.0 41.9 36.6 68.0 35.7 17.7 43.8 50.8 98.3

65 Brazil 117.9 43.2 35.5 59.1 25.6 15.2 40.4 52.9 97.4

66 Tunisia 117.3 35.3 54.9 57.2 25.5 12.2 33.4 70.1 93.2

67 Russia 116.6 57.6 61.3 61.5 22.3 14.3 43.3 59.0 47.4

68 Ukraine 115.0 47.4 53.0 55.9 24.6 13.6 37.9 62.1 70.7

69 Azerbaijan 113.5 42.4 68.2 48.3 29.5 15.6 40.6 72.7 91.4

70 Morocco 110.8 42.6 52.2 46.8 27.2 13.4 35.2 68.7 85.2

71 Colombia 108.8 36.9 39.1 68.6 26.0 18.1 47.0 62.5 98.4

72 Chile 107.3 52.2 39.5 63.5 35.1 15.6 36.0 77.5 90.2

73 Kazakhstan 106.8 52.3 54.8 60.7 26.6 9.9 35.5 73.2 39.8

74 Thailand 106.2 47.2 62.7 77.5 33.7 25.2 38.4 75.7 69.4

75 Albania 104.3 43.7 55.3 48.2 39.9 15.3 36.7 77.0 86.4

76 Pakistan 104.2 30.9 56.3 59.3 17.8 14.3 38.0 73.3 71.9

77 Indonesia 102.4 34.7 54.0 60.9 24.6 14.9 42.8 68.0 63.8

78 Kenya 101.7 35.9 44.0 62.0 28.2 18.5 50.6 69.0 99.8

79 Lebanon 100.1 36.0 53.2 63.7 38.8 15.0 38.7 89.4 94.7

80 Philippines 96.9 38.1 56.9 67.3 28.8 22.2 41.3 72.4 61.2

81 Vietnam 95.8 43.4 59.2 61.3 26.6 25.8 29.7 84.2 71.2

82 Peru 86.0 39.1 32.9 56.3 29.4 18.4 49.8 82.4 97.7

83 Iran 85.6 29.1 49.5 52.8 23.6 19.7 46.7 75.2 71.0

84 Egypt 85.3 21.4 52.7 47.3 19.0 18.2 48.0 82.7 92.0

85 Sri Lanka 81.1 18.5 57.9 71.4 33.5 34.2 54.5 57.9 59.1

86 Venezuela 79.7 16.0 19.3 38.7 35.9 15.1 32.8 75.1 99.9

87 Bangladesh 73.9 35.9 38.4 42.2 20.9 12.8 57.1 85.4 71.3

88 Nigeria 21.5 11.1 33.4 49.1 26.4 45.7 65.3 87.9 60.8

So, as you can see, we're number 15.

Denmark, whose possession Donald Trump is demanding, is 3.

Canada does come in at 29, to my surprise.  Lower than I would have thought.

Flag of Finland, which also doesn't want to be part of the US.

How about happiness?  I.e., the countries with the happiest populations?

This is how that comes out.  The number next to the country is its rank:

Finland 1 7.74 -0.06 1 7.8 1 7.82

Denmark 2 7.58 -0.01 2 7.59 2 7.64

Iceland 3 7.53 3 7.53 3 7.56

Sweden 4 7.34 -0.05 6 7.39 7 7.38

Israel 5 7.34 -0.13 4 7.47 9 7.36

Netherlands 6 7.32 -0.08 5 7.4 5 7.42

Norway 7 7.3 -0.02 7 7.32 8 7.37

Luxembourg 8 7.12 -0.11 9 7.23 6 7.4

Switzerland 9 7.06 -0.18 8 7.24 4 7.51

Australia 10 7.06 -0.04 12 7.09 12 7.16

New Zealand 11 7.03 -0.09 10 7.12 10 7.2

Costa Rica 12 6.96 0.35 23 6.61 23 6.58

Kuwait 13 6.95 50 6.11

Austria 14 6.91 -0.19 11 7.1 11 7.16

Canada 15 6.9 -0.06 13 6.96 15 7.03

Belgium 16 6.89 0.03 17 6.86 19 6.8

Ireland 17 6.84 -0.07 14 6.91 13 7.04

Czech Republic 18 6.82 -0.02 18 6.84 18 6.92

Lithuania 19 6.82 0.06 20 6.76 34 6.45

United Kingdom 20 6.75 -0.05 19 6.8 17 6.94

Slovenia 21 6.74 0.09 22 6.65 22 6.63

United Arab Emirates 22 6.73 0.16 26 6.57 24 6.58

United States 23 6.73 -0.16 15 6.89 16 6.98

Germany 24 6.72 -0.17 16 6.89 14 7.03

Mexico 25 6.68 0.35 36 6.33 46 6.13

Uruguay 26 6.61 0.12 28 6.49 30 6.47

France 27 6.61 -0.05 21 6.66 20 6.69

Saudi Arabia 28 6.59 0.13 30 6.46 25 6.52

Singapore 30 6.52 -0.07 25 6.59 27 6.48

Taiwan 31 6.5 -0.04 27 6.54 26 6.51

Romania 32 6.49 -0.1 24 6.59 28 6.48

El Salvador 33 6.47 0.35 50 6.12 49 6.12

Estonia 34 6.45 0 31 6.46 36 6.34

Poland 35 6.44 0.18 39 6.26 48 6.12

Spain 36 6.42 -0.02 32 6.44 29 6.48

Serbia 37 6.41 0.27 45 6.14 43 6.18

Chile 38 6.36 0.03 35 6.33 44 6.17

Panama 39 6.36 0.1 38 6.26 37 6.31

Malta 40 6.35 0.05 37 6.3 33 6.45

Italy 41 6.32 -0.08 33 6.41 31 6.47

Guatemala 42 6.29 0.14 43 6.15 39 6.26

Nicaragua 43 6.28 0.02 40 6.26 45 6.17

Brazil 44 6.27 0.14 49 6.13 38 6.29

Slovakia 45 6.26 -0.21 29 6.47 35 6.39

Latvia 46 6.23 0.02 41 6.21 42 6.18

Uzbekistan 47 6.2 0.19 54 6.01 53 6.06

Argentina 48 6.19 0.17 52 6.02 57 5.97

Kazakhstan 49 6.19 0.05 44 6.14 40 6.23

Cyprus 50 6.07 -0.06 46 6.13 41 6.22

Japan 51 6.06 -0.07 47 6.13 54 6.04

South Korea 52 6.06 0.11 57 5.95 59 5.93

Philippines 53 6.05 0.53 76 5.52 60 5.9

Vietnam 54 6.04 0.28 65 5.76 77 5.49

Portugal 55 6.03 0.06 56 5.97 56 6.02

Hungary 56 6.02 -0.02 51 6.04 51 6.09

Paraguay 57 5.98 0.24 66 5.74 73 5.58

Thailand 58 5.98 0.14 60 5.84 61 5.89

Malaysia 59 5.98 -0.03 55 6.01 70 5.71

China 60 5.97 0.15 64 5.82 72 5.58

Honduras 61 5.97 -0.05 53 6.02 55 6.02

Bahrain 62 5.96 -0.21 42 6.17 21 6.65

Croatia 63 5.94 -0.18 48 6.13 47 6.13

Greece 64 5.93 0 58 5.93 58 5.95

Bosnia and Herzegovina 65 5.88 0.25 71 5.63 67 5.77

Libya 66 5.87 86 5.33

Jamaica 67 5.84 0.14 68 5.7 63 5.85

Peru 68 5.84 0.31 75 5.53 74 5.56

Dominican Republic 69 5.82 0.25 73 5.57 69 5.74

Mauritius 70 5.82 -0.08 59 5.9 52 6.07

Moldova 71 5.82 0 63 5.82 62 5.86

Russia 72 5.79 0.13 70 5.66 80 5.46

Bolivia 73 5.78 0.1 69 5.68 71 5.6

Ecuador 74 5.73 0.17 74 5.56 76 5.55

Montenegro 75 5.71 -0.01 67 5.72 75 5.55

Mongolia 77 5.7 -0.14 61 5.84 68 5.76

Colombia 78 5.7 0.07 72 5.63 66 5.78

Venezuela 79 5.61 0.4 88 5.21 108 4.92

Indonesia 80 5.57 0.29 84 5.28 87 5.24

Bulgaria 81 5.46 -0.01 77 5.47 85 5.37

Armenia 82 5.46 0.12 79 5.34 82 5.4

South Africa 83 5.42 0.14 85 5.28 91 5.19

North Macedonia 84 5.37 0.12 87 5.25 89 5.2

Algeria 85 5.36 0.03 81 5.33 96 5.12

Hong Kong 86 5.32 0.01 82 5.31 81 5.42

Albania 87 5.3 0.02 83 5.28 90 5.2

Tajikistan 88 5.28 -0.05 80 5.33 83 5.38

Republic of the Congo 89 5.22 -0.05 86 5.27 99 5.08

Mozambique 90 5.22 0.27 97 4.95 101 5.05

Georgia 91 5.19 0.08 90 5.11 105 4.97

Iraq 92 5.17 0.23 98 4.94 107 4.94

Nepal 93 5.16 -0.2 78 5.36 84 5.38

Laos 94 5.14 0.03 89 5.11 95 5.14

Gabon 95 5.11 0.08 94 5.04 106 4.96

Ivory Coast 96 5.08 0.03 93 5.05 88 5.24

Guinea 97 5.02 -0.05 91 5.07 109 4.89

Turkey 98 4.98 0.37 106 4.61 112 4.74

Senegal 99 4.97 0.11 102 4.86 103 5.05

Iran 100 4.92 0.04 101 4.88 110 4.89

Azerbaijan 101 4.89 92 5.17

Nigeria 102 4.88 -0.1 95 4.98 118 4.55

Palestine 103 4.88 -0.03 99 4.91 122 4.48

Cameroon 104 4.87 -0.1 96 4.97 102 5.05

Ukraine 105 4.87 -0.2 92 5.07 98 5.08

Namibia 106 4.83 0.2 105 4.63 124 4.46

Morocco 107 4.8 -0.1 100 4.9 100 5.06

Pakistan 108 4.66 0.11 108 4.55 121 4.52

Niger 109 4.56 0.06 109 4.5 104 5

Burkina Faso 110 4.55 -0.09 104 4.64 113 4.67

Mauritania 111 4.51 -0.21 103 4.72 133 4.15

Gambia 112 4.49 0.21 119 4.28 93 5.16

Chad 113 4.47 0.07 114 4.4 130 4.25

Kenya 114 4.47 -0.02 111 4.49 119 4.54

Tunisia 115 4.42 -0.08 110 4.5 120 4.52

Benin 116 4.38 0.01 116 4.37 115 4.62

Uganda 117 4.37 -0.06 113 4.43 117 4.6

Myanmar 118 4.35 -0.02 117 4.37 126 4.39

Cambodia 119 4.34 -0.05 115 4.39 114 4.64

Ghana 120 4.29 -0.32 107 4.61 111 4.87

Liberia 121 4.27 0.23 125 4.04 97 5.12

Mali 122 4.23 0.03 120 4.2 123 4.48

Madagascar 123 4.23 0.21 127 4.02 128 4.34

Togo 124 4.21 0.07 122 4.14 135 4.11

Jordan 125 4.19 0.07 123 4.12 134 4.15

India 126 4.05 0.01 126 4.04 136 3.78

Egypt 127 3.98 -0.19 121 4.17 129 4.29

Sri Lanka 128 3.9 -0.54 112 4.44 127 4.36

Bangladesh 129 3.89 -0.39 118 4.28 94 5.16

Ethiopia 130 3.86 -0.23 124 4.09 131 4.24

Tanzania 131 3.78 0.09 129 3.69 139 3.7

Comoros 132 3.57 0.02 130 3.54 116 4.61

Yemen 133 3.56 132 4.2

Zambia 134 3.5 -0.48 128 3.98 137 3.76

Eswatini 135 3.5 125 4.4

Malawi 136 3.42 -0.08 131 3.5 138 3.75

Botswana 137 3.38 -0.06 132 3.44 142 3.47

Zimbabwe 138 3.34 0.14 134 3.2 144 3

DR Congo 139 3.3 0.09 133 3.21

Sierra Leone 140 3.25 0.11 135 3.14 140 3.57

Lesotho 141 3.19 141 3.51

Lebanon 142 2.71 0.32 136 2.39 145 2.96

Afghanistan 143 1.72 -0.14 137 1.86 146 2.4

Rwanda 143 3.27

Belarus 65 5.82

Turkmenistan 78 5.47

Kyrgyzstan 62 5.83 64 5.83

The US comes in at 23, right between the UAE and Germany.

Canada is 15. Denmark is 2. 

Finland is No. 1, as it always is. Denmark always rates way high.

Why do I note this?

As one of my foreign friend, a Dane living in Greenland, calls him, The Orange Clown has been doing a lot of babbling about how Canadians and Greenlanders want to join the US.

They do not, which has not stopped our putative president elect from spreading lies about how they do.

The excellent British We Have Ways podcast, very early in its history (I've just started listening to it), has a really good description of German radios, which were promoted by the Nazis during their reign, and how the non stop repetition of lies eventually convinced a lot of Germans of what the Nazis were spouting.*

It's worth listening to.

It's worth listening to as its interesting history, but it's also worth listening to as its an example of history rhyming.  Our current putative president elect lies at an epic rate.  But people believe him and fall in line.  Indeed the gap between lie and full scale Republican adoption of the lie now moves at warp speed.  If Trump declared he was going to nuke Alabama, Tommy Tuberville would have reasons why it was a good thing to nuke Alabama and Fox News would soon declare that Alabama had always been a Monarchist Communist Fascist den of iniquity that deserved nuking.

Indeed, within the last week, a fellow I know who is very well educated, but who really isn't well informed, insisted on telling me that Canada wants to join the US and that the Chinese were running the Panama Canal, both lies, but he believes them.

Interesting times.

Footnotes:

*The radios were Volksempfänger and made to be as cheap as possible.  It's interesting here to note the use of the word "Volk" in that context, which of course means "the people", or "the German people".  Even today people will get into debates on whether the Nazi Party was a socialist party, as its name indicated, or a fascist party, or something sui generis.  At the end of the day, it was, no matter what else it was, a populist party, and like most successful populist movements, it had to shine its populism back in the face of "the people" so they felt that the party represented them.  The other notable "Volk" item was, of course, the Volkswagen, or "people's car", which was likewise designed for mass production.

Last edition:

Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist. 70th Edition. But for Wales, Welcome to Appalachia and pointless Presidential Sedevacantism musing.

Labels: 2020s, 2025, Donald Trump, Government, J. D. Vance, Populism, Predictions, Republican Party, Sedevacantism, The 2021 Insurrection, The Second Trump Administration, Wyoming, Wyoming Freedom Caucus, Zeitgeist