The Riots in France Will Likely Result in a Le Pen Presidency

(YouTube screenshot of rioter shooting flamethrower into a woman's face via The Telegraph)

For the past month, France has been under siege by protests which have devolved into riots. The protest which initially began in the middle of last month concerning conditions in a school in suburban Paris.

By early October, the unrest had spread nationwide with violence escalating including footage of a woman who tried to stop the violence being burned with the face with a flamethrower. This weekend, a town hall was torched, shops were looted and a synagogue was vandalized. Not helping matters is French Communist Party leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon egging and encouraging acts of hooliganism. 

The French presidential election is just over six months away. Should this violence persist then I am afraid Marine Le Pen will become France's next President. 

It is clear that the centrism of President Macron isn't working and the populace is turning towards extremism. While much can happen in six months, barring a viable alternative, there's a good chance we could see a runoff between Le Pen and Mélenchon. In which case, I believe most French voters will choose Le Pen's offer of law and order over the chaos and unrest embraced by Mélenchon.

As I have previously argued, I do not trust Le Pen no matter how much she tries to sanitize her father and her party's anti-Semitic foundation. Aside from the threat I still believe Le Pen and her party would pose to Jews, she is little more than another Russian stooge and a compatriot of President Trump.

It is all the more reason for the violence in France to cease at once. Stop now and perhaps whatever necessary reforms can be implemented thus clipping the wings of both Le Pen and Mélenchon. 

But if Le Pen takes up residence in the Elysee Palace, the hooligans and rioters attacking women with blowtorches, vandalizing shops and synagogues and torching town halls will have only themselves to blame. They will get the government they deserve.

Ottawa Redblacks Avoid Winless Season with Upset Victory Over Toronto Argonauts

(YouTube screenshot of Ottawa Redblacks QB Bryson Barnes shortly after throwing a go-ahead TD vs. Toronto Argonauts on October 16, 2026)

Stop the presses!!!

The Ottawa Redblacks won a game.

They were in danger of becoming the first team in the history of the CFL to go winless.

With two games left in the season, the Redblacks had a record of 0-16 with 22 losses in a row going back to last season. Their lone Grey Cup championship a decade ago seems so much further removed.

But tonight the Redblacks pulled off a last minute 40-39 victory over the playoff bound Toronto Argonauts on the strength of quarterback Bryson Barnes, who was making his first career start. Barnes completed 27 of 37 passes for 335 yards with two touchdown passes to wide receiver Ayden Eberhardt. 

As some of you may know, I lived in Ottawa for most of the 1990s where I attended Carleton University as an undergraduate and graduate student with some time spent working in the civil service before making my way to Boston in 2000. 

For several years, I lived in the Glebe and was within walking distance of Lansdowne Park (later known as Frank Clair Stadium and now known as TD Place) and attended a handful of Ottawa Rough Riders games. The Rough Riders were not very good when I lived in Ottawa and would disband in 1996. Brent Dowdall, who was a classmate of mine at Carleton, would write a book about the fall of the Rough Riders in 1999 called Turnover. 

In 2002, football would return to the National Capital Region with the establishment of the Ottawa Renegades. But they too were mired in failure and would be gone by 2008. The CFL took another chance on Ottawa in 2014 with the founding of the Redblacks.

Like their predecessors, there has been more failure than success with only three winning seasons. Even when they won the Grey Cup, they actually had a losing record of 8-9-1 but would finish first in a weak CFL East Division. So weak in fact that the Redblacks had to play East final against the Edmonton Eskimos in a crossover format before upsetting the Calgary Stampeders in the Grey Cup. 

Back to the present, the Redblacks have one more regular season game next week against the Hamilton Tiger Cats. The Ticats are 5-12 this season. Could the Redblack win two in a row? Stranger things have happened.

Obama Continues To Say Dumb Things About Jews & Israel

(Screenshot from LinkedIn of former President Obama being interviewed by Susan McKay at the O2 Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland on October 13, 2026)

Former President Obama has long held a deep-seated hostility towards Israel.

This hostility manifested itself during remarks Obama during an appearance on Tuesday in Belfast, Northern Ireland in which he declared:

The fact is that the Jewish people, for millennia, were oppressed, discriminated against, killed. Europe was responsible for much of it. They understandably sought a refuge.

That is undeniable. What is also undeniable is that they took land off people and they were expelled. And those people understandably said, ‘This is injustice and I want my land back.’

At some point to break the cycle, a stronger partner has a responsibility by virtue of its strength.

If the attitude of Israel is, now that we are the strongest, the most technologically advanced in the region, then our security will depend on us simply doing whatever we need and taking whatever we want, and not making any concessions to anyone.

That may work short-term... but you have ceded moral ground if that is the position you take.

I would say the current Israeli government appears to have taken that. It is incumbent on them to recognize that 7m Palestinians are not going anywhere.

Took land?

This is an utterly dishonest statement. In point of fact, Jews legally purchased land in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Obama also ignores the fact an estimated 850,000 Jews were expelled from Arab countries in the two decades following the establishment of the State of Israel as well as an estimated 70,000 who fled Iran after the Khomeini Revolution in 1979.

Perhaps most egregious of all is the failure of Obama to acknowledge that the 1947 UN Partition Plan established both a Jewish and an Arab state. The Jews said yes and the Arabs (latter day Palestinians) said no. 

From there, Obama relies on erecting strawmen such as his allegation that the Israeli government should recognize the Palestinians aren't going anywhere.

Perhaps Obama has forgotten former Secretary of State Madeline Albright chasing Yasser Arafat before the Palestinians missed another opportunity to miss another opportunity with the 2000 Camp David Accords. 

No, Israel is quite mindful of the fact the Palestinians aren't going anywhere. The problem is the Palestinians are led by people whose raison d'être is to indoctrinate their populace with Jew hatred 24/7 while rewarding those who kill Jews. It is the Palestinians and their supporters who chant, "Palestine will be free, from the river to the sea." Israel accepts there are 7 million Palestinians while the Palestinians believe one Jew is one Jew too many.

Let us also keep in mind that Obama has seen fit to pal around with anti-Semitic figures like New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and will soon campaign for Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. From where I sit, President Obama is no position to lecture Israel about a moral high ground which he himself does not occupy.

Brewers Sweep Dodgers to Win 1st NL Pennant; Earn 1st Trip to World Series Since 1982

The Milwaukee Brewers have swept the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the 2026 NLCS and with it their first NL pennant.

Tonight, they bested Dodgers 6-4 at Chavez Ravine and with it LA's dream of becoming the first NL club to win three consecutive World Series titles. The Brewers were down 4-0 early in the game on the strength of a 3-run HR by an otherwise struggling Shohei Ohtani.

Milwaukee battled its way back on a Jake Bauers two-run double in the fourth and RBI single by David Hamilton in the fifth to cut the Dodgers' lead to 4-3.

I have been wanting to watch a bit of the post-season at a sports pub near Porter Square, but it's usually dominated by the Bruins, Celtics or college football. While most people were paying attention to the Chargers-Seahawks game, there were plenty of TVs tuned to the Brewers-Dodgers.

I got to the pub in time to watch the Brewers tie it in the bottom of the fifth with a bases loaded walk. In the bottom of the sixth, the Brewers went ahead on a Garrett Mitchell home run. I came back home after that half inning. The Brewers would add an insurance run in the 9th on a HR by Hamilton. 

This is a remarkable achievement by the Brewers considering how they were swept by the Dodgers in the NLCS last year. Milwaukee has reached the post-season 8 of the last 9 seasons winning the NL Central title in the last four seasons and five times in six years. But until now the Brewers couldn't punch their ticket to the World Series.

Although this is the Brewers first NL pennant, it is their second trip to the World Series. Of course, the Brewers were originally an AL team and won the AL pennant in 1982 but would lose to the St. Louis Cardinals in 7 games. 

I remember that 1982 Brewers team well. Managed by Harvey Kuenn, it included Hall of Famers Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, Rollie Fingers and Ted Simmons. There was also Cecil Cooper, Jim Gantner, Ben Ogilive, Gorman Thomas, Charlie Moore, the DH platoon of Roy Howell and Don Money and AL Cy Young winner Pete Vukovich. 

Back to the present, Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers earned the NLCS MVP. Bauers went 4 for 14 with a HR and 6 RBI. Aside from tonight's bases loaded walk to tie the game, Bauers earned an 11-pitch against the previously invincible Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2 that would spark a Brewers rally. In Game 3, Bauers would force Blake Snell to throw 12 pitches before he took him deep for a go-ahead 2-run HR. He was in the middle of the action at the most crucial time in the game. If that doesn't a most valuable player, then nothing does. Perhaps most remarkably, Bauers nearly quit the game after bouncing around with the Tampa Bay Rays, Cleveland Guardians, Seattle Mariners and the New York Yankees before having a career year this season with 26 HR and 86 RBI.

The 2026 World Series will commence a week from Friday. As of this writing, the Cleveland Guardians have a 2-1 lead in the ALCS against the Tampa Bay Rays. Should the Guardians prevail, the World Series will see a contest between a Cleveland franchise which hasn't won a World Series since 1948 against a Brewers club which has never won a World Series since the franchise was originally known as the Seattle Pilots in 1969. Should the Rays prevail, it will be the first World Series since 1980 in which neither team has previously won a World Series.

Pillay's Plea to Prosecute Netanyahu Proves Her Prize is For Pillorying Israel Not For Promoting Peace

This year's Nobel Peace Prize winner Navi Pillay has called for the prosecution of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu along with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

This, of course, is the reason Pillay was bestowed with the Nobel Peace Prize. Pillay uses the prestige of this prize to pillory Israel. It has nothing to do with promoting peace.

The Uyghur Muslims, who have actually been victims of a genocide at the hands of China, certainly don't view Pillay as a voice of peace as reflected in this announcement from the World Uyghur Congress:

On 9 October 2026, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Navanethem “Navi” Pillay in recognition of her efforts to promote peace and international law. The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) expresses serious concerns about this decision in light of actions taken by Pillay during her tenure as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014.

Under her leadership the NGO liaison office shared the names of Uyghur and other Chinese human rights defenders, as well as information about their participation in the UN Human Rights Council, with the Chinese government without their consent and despite the potential risks to the individuals concerned and their families.

Among those affected was Dolkun Isa, former president of the WUC, who faced significant obstacles in obtaining accreditation and accessing the UN Human Rights Council between 2012 and 2013. Isa described the disclosure of information to the Chinese government as “a profound betrayal of trust by an institution that should have protected us.”

Suffice it to say, I don't think Pillay will be using her platform to champion the rights of Uyghurs, let alone other Chinese dissidents. Why would she? Aside from the fact that she does not want to be on the receiving end of Beijing's ire, she has no reason to speak on behalf of the Uyghurs because it would take time away from her agenda of pillorying Israel. 

In Trump's World Zelensky is a Dictator & Putin Isn't

While in Alaska on Tuesday to campaign for incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan, President Trump was asked about his disagreement with Sullivan concerning Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Sullivan believes Putin is a dictator while Trump...well, I'll let him say it:

Well, look, I have to make deals with people so I don’t go around calling them names. I’m a deal maker. I’ve always been a very good deal maker. I became very rich because of deals. So I don’t go around mocking people. 

As one can imagine much of the commentary to this statement revolves around Trump's dubious claim that he does not mock people. Name calling and mocking people is Trump's stock and trade. In the past few days, Trump has mocked a woman assaulted at his rally in Youngstown, Ohio, referred to South Carolina Democratic Senate candidate Annie Andrews as Trannie Andrews and just this past Wednesday afternoon referred to Arizona Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs as "a dumb person."

But I want to focus for a moment around Trump's unwillingness to describe Putin as a dictator because he is perfectly happy to describe Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelensky as a dictator as he did in February 2025. This was not long before Trump and JD Vance publicly berated Zelensky at the White House in front of the whole world. 

It will come as no surprise that Putin has also referred to Ukraine as "a dictatorship." It is even less surprising to know this isn't the first time Trump has declined to refer Putin as a dictator. During a White House visit by French President Macron days before he and Vance ambushed Zelensky, Trump was asked if he considered Putin a dictator. He replied, "I don't use those words lightly."

Trump uses words lightly all the time. He certainly used the word dictator lightly when describing Zelensky. But where it concerns Putin, Trump treads carefully. He doesn't want to displease his boss.

Mattingly Earned The Chance To Be The Phillies Full-Time Manager

I'm glad the Philadelphia Phillies came to their senses and announced last night that Don Mattingly would remain as the team's manager for the next two seasons after serving on an interim basis in 2026.

All Mattingly did was take a team headed for disaster, right the ship and make their way to the post-season.

Yet an early exit against the Atlanta Braves was sufficient for the team to seek out former Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora who declined the position. 

As it stands, Mattingly is popular with his players, and I think hiring a new manager at this time would have done more harm than good.

Don Mattingly earned the chance to be the Phillies full-time manager and it's about time the club removed the interim tag.