The image displays a highly detailed, chaotic page of handwritten notes and sketches from the working notebooks of the famous Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky,p specifically detailing his planning for his final masterpiece, The Brothers Karamazov.

Cannot Classify German Afd as Just a Conservative/Right Party

Most Germans Do Not Support AfD

2024 Around one-in-five Germans (19%) see AfD favorably, but a large majority (79%) have a negative opinion of the party.

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/09/20/7-facts-about-germanys-afd-party/

But support is increasing.  2026  Nationwide opinion polls in Germany show that support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party hovers around 26% to 28%, making it one of the most popular political forces in the country. Support is significantly higher in eastern regional states, where recent state elections demonstrated backing reaching roughly 41% to 44%. 

Why is AfD of concern? Nazi slogans, Holocaust trivialization and more.

Björn Höcke, leader of the AfD party in the state of Thuringia, has twice been fined by a German court for using a banned Nazi slogan.  The phrase, “Everything for Germany” (“Alles für Deutschland”) was a slogan of the Nazi stormtroopers and engraved on their daggers.

In a 2017 speech to the AfD youth wing, Höcke bemoaned German’s culture of remembrance of the Holocaust, saying, “We Germans, our people, are the only people in the world who planted a monument of shame in the middle of our national capital.” He called for Germany to stop atoning for Nazi crimes and make a "180-degree turn" in how it remembers its past.

Alexander Gauland, an AfD co-founder, former party leader, and current Member of Parliament, has engaged in Holocaust trivialization on several occasions.  In a 2018 speech to the AfD youth wing, he said, “Hitler and the Nazis are just a speck of bird poop in more than 1,000 years of successful German history.”  Gauland also said in 2017 that Germans should be “proud of the achievements of German soldiers in two world wars.”

And the party supports aligning more with Russia than the west.  A large part of the far-right and right-wing populist German political party Alternative for Germany (AfD) supports Russia, its foreign policy, and its allies.  Former Bundestag member Waldemar Herdt considers the Russian Crimea referendum to be legitimate, denying any occupation. During the 2018 Russian presidential election, seven AfD members visited Russian-occupied Crimea as observers.^[8][9]

Russian occupation of Donbas

In March 2019, then party co-leader Alexander Gauland said in an interview with the Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda that they consider the war in Donbas to be a Ukrainian internal matter, and that Germany should not get involved in the internal affairs of Ukraine or Russia. He also said the AfD is against international sanctions imposed on Russia.^[10]

In September 2022, the three state parliament members Christian Blex, Hans-Thomas Tillschneider and Daniel Wald traveled to Russia and also wanted to visit the Russian-occupied Donbas in eastern Ukraine. After criticism from the German public, they canceled the trip.^[11][12][13]

In August 2023 The Insider and Der Spiegel published a joint investigation into actions of Russian citizen Vladimir Sergienko who proxied money and instructions from Russia to AfD politicians, who filed a constitutional complaint in Germany against its supplies of weapons to Ukraine. Sergienko coordinated a number of other AfD initiatives, such as sending letters to the Pope and drafting an anti-Ukrainian declaration of Harald Weyel in PACE.^[14]

DEI University Job Evaluations

 

blurb is from OSU's Department of French and Italian:

https://www.nas.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/French_Francophone_Studies_Black_France_OSU_Redacted.pdf

Teams move too soon at the start

False Start: Offense moves too early

Offside: Offensive or defensive player lined up in the zone when ball snaps or crosses the line 

Encroachment: Defender touches someone before the snap

NZI: Defender crosses line, makes an O-lineman jump  (Neutral zone infraction)

Rules about movement for the offense and defense

Defense Movement Rules

Free movement: Defenders can shift, run, or adjust their positions anywhere on their side of the line of scrimmage before the snap.
Restrictions: They cannot cross the neutral zone (offside/encroachment) or use abrupt, jerky fake signals meant to trick the offense into a false start. [1, 2, 3]

Offense Movement Rules

The stationary rule: All offensive players must come to a complete, dead stop for at least one full second in a set formation before the ball is snapped. [1]
Pre-snap motion exception: Exactly one offensive player (usually a wide receiver or running back) is allowed to be moving at the snap, provided they move laterally or backward, and not forward toward the line of scrimmage. [1, 2]
Linemen: Offensive linemen (tackles, guards, center) cannot move or shift at all once they take their stance.




While the majority of the offense must be completely still, football rules allow for specific exceptions, most notably a player in motion.
Here is exactly how the rules break down for the offense before the ball is snapped:
1. The Pre-Snap Set
Before anyone can go into motion, all 11 offensive players must come to a complete stop simultaneously. They must remain completely stationary for at least one full second.
2. Player in Motion
After that one-second pause, one offensive player who is lined up in the backfield (not on the line of scrimmage) is allowed to go into motion.
The Rule: This player can move parallel to or away from the line of scrimmage.
The Restriction: They absolutely cannot move forward toward the line of scrimmage at the time of the snap. If they are moving forward when the ball is snapped, it is a penalty for illegal motion or a false start.

Ariely on Rationalizing Dishonesty

 

People like to think of themselves as honest. However, dishonesty pays—and it often pays well. How do people resolve this tension? This research shows that people behave dishonestly enough to profit but honestly enough to delude themselves of their own integrity. A little bit of dishonesty gives a taste of profit without spoiling a positive self-view. Two mechanisms allow for such self-concept maintenance: inattention to moral standards and categorization malleability. Six experiments support the authors’ theory of self-concept maintenance and offer practical applications for curbing dishonesty in everyday life.

Grading the UK Kings Since Alfred the Great

 

Military Pilot Pass Rate by Sociodemographics

 

Media Reporting On Minnesota Somali Fraud before 2024 (including in 2013)

 

For everyone who thinks Nick Shirley was the first person to report on fraud in MN, get a clue. Here’s a very short and not at all comprehensive list of previous reporting from YEARS ago. 

1.  Jeff Baillon (Fox 9 / KMSP, Minneapolis) – Lead investigative reporter on multiple stories about daycare fraud, including overbilling, kickbacks, cash in suitcases leaving MSP airport, and Somali-owned centers under investigation. Key 2018 piece: “Millions of dollars in suitcases fly out of MSP, but why?” (May 2018; builds on earlier Fox 9 work from ~2013–2015). fox9.com 

2.  Chris Serres (Star Tribune / Minneapolis Star Tribune) – Covered raids, charges, overbilling at specific centers (often involving Somali operators), and community responses. Example: “May 23: Minneapolis child care center accused of illegally billing state program” (2015, on Salama Child Care Center raid/overbilling). Also reported 2016 charges and 2018 Somali providers’ pushback. startribune.com 

3.  Scott W. Johnson (City Journal / Power Line) – Independent/policy journalist who wrote on the scale of daycare fraud involving mostly Somali-owned centers and assimilation questions. Article: “Mogadishu, Minnesota” (May 2018). city-journal.org 

4.  Kim Crockett (Center of the American Experiment) – Policy writer/fellow who covered welfare/child-care fraud, the 2018 Fox 9 reporting, Somali community involvement in cases, and the 2019 legislative auditor review. Piece: “Child care welfare fraud” (Spring 2019, Thinking Minnesota). americanexperiment.org 

5.  Alpha News / Megan Olson (and related Alpha News coverage) – Local independent outlet that reported on the 2019 Office of the Legislative Auditor findings regarding CCAP fraud allegations (stemming from earlier Fox 9/Somali-linked cases). Article: “Child Care Fraud Confirmed by State Auditor’s New Report” (March 2019). (Liz Collin, associated with Alpha News, has covered related Minnesota fraud extensively in later years; the outlet tracked these issues in the period.) alphanews.org 

6.  Laura Yuen (MPR News) – Reported on state investigations of the 10 daycare providers (many Somali-owned), official responses to Fox 9 claims, and related context. Example: “Fox 9 reporting on day care fraud called into question” (May 2018). mprnews.org 

7.  J. Patrick Coolican (Star Tribune) – Covered the 2019 legislative auditor report responding to the 2018 fraud allegations (including Somali-linked cases and unproven terror-funding claims). Article: “Audit: Fraud in Minnesota’s child care program not $100 million but still troubling” (March 2019). startribune.com 

8.  Bill Glahn (Center of the American Experiment) – Policy analyst who has extensively tracked Minnesota welfare/child-care fraud (including early Somali-linked cases from ~2016 onward); his documentation and commentary reference the 2015–2019 period. Later tracker work builds on that era (e.g., references to 2018 reporting and auditor findings). Example context from his ongoing work: coverage tying back to the period’s cases. 

Middle Class Is Shrinking Because They Are Becoming Upper Income

 

Mamdani & Trump Think Previously Failed Policies (Socialism & Protectionism) Will Succeed with Them

 

BROS: Mamdani and Trump Think Alike (Like Children) 1. Mamdani: Even though Socialism has a miserable and predictable track record of abject failure everywhere in the world and anytime in history it’s been tried (e.g., Soviet Union, Cuba, North Korea, Venezuela), my new brand of Socialism, for the first time in history, will somehow succeed wildly in NYC thanks to my childlike political “leadership.” 2. Trump: Even though Protectionism has a miserable and predictable track record of abject failure everywhere and anytime it’s been tried (e.g., the Great Depression’s Smoot-Hawley Act), my new brand of Protectionism, for the time in history, will somehow succeed wildly in the USA thanks to my childlike political “leadership.”