Picto Diary - 08 to 15 October 2023 - Hoover Institution's Unequivocal Support for Israel

Above: Bonneville Salt Flats. Tooele County, UT. 10 October 2023.

Above: Fire pit. Stanford Park Hotel, Menlo Park, CA. 11 October 2023.

Hoover program tomorrow being rearranged on the fly in view of Hamas atrocity.

Above: Condoleezza Rice, Executive Director Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA. 12 October 2023. (file image).

Hamas is funded, equipped and trained by Iran. Per SDT notes from Condi Rice talk at Hoover Institution fall retreat.

Condi: Important to differentiate plausible claims on territorial rights from human barbarism.

Above: Map of Israel. Hoover Institution Fall Retreat. Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA. 12 October 2023.

Peter Berkowitz. Unedited, contemporaneous, SDT notes: Slow response. Brave response. Check one house at a time. Waves of air strikes on Gaza city. Hitting Hamas sites mean civilian deaths but authorized by rules of war. Blockade. Blockade taken down when hostages are released. Catastrophic Intel failure. Biden. Unequivocal US support for Israel. Fri October 6. North front. Hezbollah. In possession of 105K missiles. Relatively quiet. South front. False impression the Hamas leaders more interested in wellbeing of their own citizens. Saudi deal included: New weapons for Saudi. Civil nuke program. Formal security guarantees. Iran can't have been happy. Iran 2021: $6 billion cash reserves. $8 billion oil earnings. Now $38 billion and $40 billion thanks to Biden release of Pompeo strictures. Oct 7. Netanyahu: Israel at war. But not same as other wars...or operations. No longer just suppressing rocket fire. Now mission is to destroy Hamas. Change the face of Gaza looking forward 50 years. Possibility of multi theater fight. West bank. Hezbollah in North. Syria. Israel Arab citizens. Three considerations. 1. Divided country? 2. Increase Iran hegemony? 3. Saudi deal? But real cause is Hamas jihad against Jews. Secularists in US don't understand power of religion. Hamas is fighting to conquer the land of Israel. Cares little about people wellbeing. Hamas war crime claim is misleading. Every aspect is war crime and maybe "crime against humanity." Final consideration. Defeat unequivocally Hamas. Shows that a moment of great danger US stands with friends. Show Iran. Return to Pompeo pressure campaign. Freeze $6mm. Allow noncombatant Gazans to leave. US strike Hamas.

Above: Hoover Tower. Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA. 12 October 2023.

Memorial service for Israel. Hoover stands behind Israel. Condoleezza Rice and Peter Berkowitz.

Above: Bari Weiss (file image). Hoover Institution Spring Retreat. Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA. 12 October 2023.

As interviewed by Condoleezza Rice. Unedited, contemporaneous, SDT notes. Learned from Brett Stephens at WSJ how words can shape the world. Niall Ferguson to me: "You're a coyote. You get things into the Times that no one else can." I became journalist to report the truth, so I left NYT. So, now: Free Press. Now I'm an entrepreneur. Our institutions are shattering before our eyes. Now need to build new institutions. Most people are useful idiots. Couldn't locate Israel on map. They sign up without thinking to an idea of moral rot. New ideology: Some are oppressed. Some are oppressors. This weekend may make many of these illusions fall away. We are awash in an Orwellian language. That hides the truth. Brilliant, old-school people are leaving the academy. We need to bring them back. Donors need to hold schools to account! Your child is precious, not the fancy school! We are in a weird in between zone. Old media has glossiness and prestige. New media has the audience. Listen to Tucker Carlson's Vivek Ramaswamy podcast.

Above: Ben Ginsberg slide for his presentation on election 2024 outlook. 13 October 2023. Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA. SDT unedited, contemporaneous notes.

After beaucoup "on the one hand" and "on the other hands," DJT in pretty good shape going into the primaries. Highly professional campaign organization unlike 2016. Court cases likely not showstoppers. As of now, Biden not expected to give up running as incumbent. He won't be ousted by party insiders. So, likely Biden versus Trump in 2024 presidential election. Too early to call victor.

Above: GoodFellows'. H.R. McMaster, John Cochrane, and Niall Ferguson. Moderator, Bill Whelan. Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA. 13 October 2023.

Recorded live at the Hoover Institution’s fall retreat: Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson, H.R. McMaster, and John Cochrane discuss unfolding events in the Middle East—Israel’s response, failures in intelligence gathering, plus America’s strategic choices vis-à-vis a complicit Iran.

Above: Forest Avenue, Palo Alto, CA. 8:00 AM. 14 October 2023.
LSDM Walkers.

Per image. Clean enough. Safe enough. Yet knowledge of nearby San Francisco's descent into third world urban status causes this power walker to be attentive, if not wary. Is Palo Alto trending San Francisco? Last night at Hoover Institution dinner, my 85-year-old, widow, dinner partner told of a recent daylight robbery at not far away Stanford Mall Gucci store. She reported that a dozen expensive purses were taken. A Palo Alto local, and heretofore believing the Stanford Mall to be a safe place, she now refuses to go there sans a male companion. Urban California's crime rate has been rising for some time. Notwithstanding, Californians voted in a recall election, September 2021, to retain their current governor. My guess is that a majority of Palo Alto voters voted to reaffirm Gavin Newson (D) as governor, so one has to assume they view rising crime in their community as a price worth paying to attenuate social inequities which they believe to be rife in their state. On my walkabout in downtown Palo Alto this AM I saw two or three single males who, by their dress and demeanor, looked to be outliers. None were threatening and two of them greeted me with a "good morning."

Above: Goldfish. High Hand Ranch Conservatory and Cafe. Loomis, CA. 14 October 2023.

Lunch. Nursery, retail store, cafe, brewery, brewpub. Adapted from fruit growing operation. Excellent food and service. Found by internet search. We'll return.

Above: Sprinter shadow. I-80, Humboldt County, NV. 14 October 2023.

Above: Fashion Place Mall, Murray, UT. 15 October 2023.

Increased or decreased risk of being keyed?

Addendum

Loved the fall photos. Spent the day yesterday at Lost Creek (Nielsen Ranch) gathering some cattle and hauling them back home to the Salina farm for the winter. The drought over the past five years has dropped the number of cattle significantly and as a result the bottom has fallen out of the hay market in a year when we have had record hay crops. Farmers can’t win for losing. I will feed most of my hay to the cows and calves and hope to recoup some hay losses with the gain on the calves. For the time being the calve market remains at record levels. See you on the 19th Harmon Building 5:30.

The Monk,
Salina, UT

Hi Steve:

Thanks for the link re: Aerostich.

Movies: I've 3/4ths of those on your list as favorites as mine also - especially Blazing Saddles. And Casa Blanca - "play it again Sam."

Now in/out of my winter base of Chiang Mai for next 5-6 months - getting over here was a bi*** on my old body - 3-5 days of travel time. Really beat me up, even with drugs for pain/sleep, etc. Now in recovery mode for next 2-3 days.

Stay safe on the slopes in the coming months. I'll try to stay safe here in the world's #1 motorcyclist killing zone - 20-30 per day.

Best,

Dr. G,
Chiang Mai,
Thailand

Nice. Thanks for sharing

Mano,
San Jose, CA