It seems there are a number of key drivers here…1.DJT clearly doesn’t like the way the EU leadership has been so cosy with Biden's administration, and the long standing underfunding of NATO by its principal beneficiaries has been a Trump gripe for ages. Z didn’t help himself by effectively appearing on the campaign trail for Sleazy Joe.
2. DJT recognizes the hole that the US economy has been driven into, not least by enormous military expenditure (to little effect), and if by withdrawing to a regional, North American empire rather than the current Democrat American Global Empire he can strengthen the US and cut costs, it seems to appeal. Hence the wacky comments about Canada, Greenland, Mexico and Panama. A sort of Monroe Doctrine on steroids. 3. The global implications are a push towards three global power blocs, rather as envisaged in '1984’. A new global security architecture. 4. Unlike Rubio, Kellogg's remarks seem a little off script, and he doesn’t seem to be regarded as integral to any peace process. 5. For us Brits, shivering away on Airstrip One, we seem to have the worst possible leadership at the most crucial time in living memory.
Can't disagree with any of that. Trump doesn't deal kindly with anyone who he feels has let him down. As for our leadership - Come back Liz Truss all is forgiven.
Personally I think kindness is the last quality I want to see deployed against the motley array of cretins, deviants and crooks who have done their best to trash a fine civilization.
I score Liz Truss highly on analysis and proposed solutions, much less so on backbone, and nowhere on implementation. She was deposed by a coup, but trying to implement her agenda in one hit without much preparation gave the coup leaders everything they needed to slaughter her. Both Milei and Trump have shown the benefits of speed, but crucially the absolute necessity of preparation.
You remind me of the Gilbert & Sullivan ditty about the punishment fitting the crime. Some amusement to be derived from thinking up the appropriate punishment for Obama, Biden, Pelosi, Schumer, Schaffer, etc. to say nothing of Blair, Brown, Sturmer, Milliband et al
I look forward to reading your blog from Japan. I first found your post in the comments section below an article on Moon of Alabama several months ago and have been checking your blog since then.
It is difficult for ordinary UK citizens, especially pensioners, to afford high electricity prices.
I watched a video in which Douglas Macgregor talked about the financial crisis looming in the UK.
In the video, he mentioned that it currently takes six weeks to purchase gold in London due to a significant shortage.
I thought that UK citizens might be losing confidence in the British pound and turning to gold as a safe asset, leading to a severe gold shortage.
London does not have a sufficient amount of gold compared to other nations, including the United States, Germany, Italy, France, Russia, China, Switzerland, India, and Japan.
Thanks for that Kumi. I don't know much about the gold situation but if I had money I would probably be buying it also. We are managing OK because my wife is working. Good to hear that I am being read in Japan.
I think there is panic in the US. This week we have had a spate of US companies making stock market bids to take over Australian businesses. I wonder if this is a world wide trend of the flight of US capital to safer places.
With Musk now focussing attention on the Department of Defence there is also panic in Washington, where real estate prices have plummeted, as defence gravy train riders take their exit. I can't wait to see what Musk's tech heads turn up, as they are now in the Pentagon.
Then there is Europe. For a long time people in Europe have been annoyed at unelected EU leaders committing their nations' finances to things that the general public has never agreed to. Vance's speech, so accurate and frank, caught everybody by surprise. Could the US sidelining of the EU re Ukraine spell the end of this atrophied body? The caging of the European and Ukrainian hawks has left them dumbfounded, but helpless to alter the course of history that Putin and Trump are now setting. I think that Putin and Trump's negotiations will be less about territory and more about business. Trump will be looking for the best financial outcome. Russia is open the return of US businesses to their thriving economy, and Trump's main goal is to have US companies able to exploit their share of the trillions worth of Ukrainian minerals that are in the territories that Russia has added to its federation.
It is amusing to see Starmer and Macron, both suffering badly from Relevancy Deprivation, trying to elbow their way into talks on Ukraine, while facing a shut door.
Trump has also indicated that he is unexcited about the continuation of NATO. A cartoon shows Putin handing Trump a spray can so that he can alter a NATO sign to read NYETO.
8e22c4d2-fb82-45c7-b465-3c9e3d90b53e_4000x2800
Putin said very early on Odessa would be the end game of the SMO. I know people in Sumy are hoping that they too, will become part of the Russian federation. Hopefully both will hold referenda and let the people decide what they want.
Chris Hedges is very pessimistic about Trump, and has added to the fear mongering about Musk devastating the Public Service. Musk has tackled, first up, the US institutions causing the most harm in the world - USAID ( and indirectly the CIA) and the DOD. However, he is also attacking institutions that have been trying to regulate his business interests, so he's a mixed bag. Certainly other nations like Georgia and Romania will thank him. The DOD budget is currently $884 billion. If, per head of population, it was reduced to China's level it would be only $73 billion. If compared to Russia's it would be ~ $209 billion. Considering Russia is at war theirs is tiny compared to that of the US.
We live in interesting times. Pass the popcorn.
Thanks again Rob for this very detailed summary of this week's events.
Thanks for that Joy - much appreciated. There's some interesting stuff there. I used that NYETO cartoon last week or the week before - brilliant. Putin knows Trump a little that's why his team produced a list of ex-Russian based US company losses at Riyadh. I agree that the EU and a US backed NATO could be on their way out. I love the phrase Relevancy Deprivation - so apt. Pass the popcorn indeed.
Some conversations regarding the narrative and framing of the world (dis)order are like an atheist arguing with a religious zealot about the existence of God. When a money laundering nazi thug is passed off a paragon of democratic leadership for years, it becomes difficult find points in common for conversation. I am reading Joshua Stylman's substack about extremely influential meta control of collective perceptions. While for some, "the Truth" is a means for predicting the day to day outcomes of life, others use the concept to provide comfort from the chaos of discordant information. The sinister part is that this idea of a universal reality is seen as a useful tool for manipulation, and advanced software and information management are making it more powerful.
I once said 'beware of philosophers bearing truth' referring the use of truth as comfort or satisfying the need people feel they have for certainty. But 'truths' are also used to deceive. Cheers.
Thanks Rob, excellent as always. We seem to be at an inflection point where activities accelerate.
I think the US is playing a double game, dumping Ukraine on the Europeans in an attempt to split Russia from China then having achieved that ramp up on China. For all of their rhetoric I don't see the US volunteering to become an ordinary country among many. They still wish to be top dog. Time will tell, but a somewhat cooling in Ukraine is welcome in any case.
Zelenskyy's act seems to be wearing a little thin now and most people ignore him apart from the European morons (posing as leaders)
I think the US has meddled with the facts a little in underplaying the previous regimes role in the disaster in Ukraine.
For example if they weren't the ones stirring shit up then why are they the ones that have given the most aid to Ukraine? And what was 'Fuck the EU' Vicky Nuland and US AIDs role over there pre 2014.
They may as well own up a bit even if it wasn't the current governments affairs.
But they are right in excluding the European warmongers, who of course have more to lose, but they are like rabid dogs to fuel the nazi regime and not look further into the conflict.
Most European politicians are pond life and the unelected bureaucrats in the EU are the worst.
Interesting that the idiots who burned Trump's books and cut-out had their full Azov insignia on display.
Just to think what that stands for should bring our leaders to their senses.
Opened & thrown out more like just like the irrelevant queer two-tier Starmageddon will be. Starmer's impending arrival in Washington D.C. next week will only highlight his astounding stupidity, far surpassing what we've previously attributed to him. The UK intelligence agency's involvement in the Russiagate scandal, particularly its role in the false Steele dossier, will not be forgotten. Nor will the dispatch of Starmer's 100 labour activists to the US to work against President Trump be overlooked. This blatant act of election interference far exceeds anything Russia could ever be accused of. I understand that President Trump won't even deign to meet with Starmer, instead, he will be greeted by VIP Vance, a calculated insult demonstrating the administration's disdain for this despicable mini-dictator the most hated person in the UK.
Having done a search, it seems the Spokesperson for the Whitehouse spells her forename with a 'K'.
Just saying. Great summary as usual Rob.
It seemed to me that the former occupiers of the Whitehouse and their media compradors were attempting to reframe the Ukraine narrative. However, the current occupiers seem to be in the process of flipping it completely alongside trying to maintain a 'tough guy' plus 'magnanimous' image with regard to the previous hubristic hegemonic image. Trump plays 'the emperor' role effortlessly, but it remains to be seen if he is able to play the 'presidential' role as effectively with the same ease - hubris won't cut it.
There is very little doubt about corruption, ignorance, incompetence and scamming going on there.
I would not trust MSM outlets like ABC and Wired to tell the truth about anything, much less this.
A lot of the MSM received USAID money and are absolutely corrupt themselves. That's why they only write about 'Trump meme coin bad' and 'Trump golf tournament bad' type articles and ignore or obfuscate the actual issues.
Anyway, I appreciate your Ukraine analysis. I’m a lifelong lefty sick of the neocon Uniparty and the billionaire grifters, warmongers and security state that surrounds them. That’s probably not the profile of most of your readers, but a wish for Peace and defense of civil liberties and free speech unite us.
I'm also a lifelong lefty wishing for peace, civil liberties and free speech and opposed to those ba...rds. But lefties are not like that nowadays - shame on them. I have no idea of the profile of my readers but judging by the comments on here I think many share our views.
My opinion is SS was created to transfer power and control over our own finances to government. More employees, more control of finances, more power-bingo.
OK thanks. I've double checked my source and it appears that Trump pointed out that people who have allegedly received SS payments are over 200 years old. But this is disputed so I'll leave it there. Anyway, it so good of people like Ally to point these things out in such a polite manner.
I believe there were few bicentenarian recipients. Mostly just people nobody bothered to declare as dead. That does pose problems for voting and other fraud scams.
Sorry to hear you are affected by Dupuytren. I was inspired to learn the drums after reading Riders on the Storm by the Doors drummer, John Densmore. I will never be a natural but i can still bang out a decent 4/4 particularly shuffle which i seem to have a natural affinity for. Ironically, Densmore is a corruption of Dunsmore, which is Pictish and originates from Newburgh, just across the water from my hometown.
Anyway, Densmore was a bandmate of James Douglas Morrison. Morrison had a great grandfather who shared the same name with the first commander of St Petersburg: Robert Bruce.
The Morrison's and the McDonald's, unlike the Campbells, were of Viking descent. The Campbell's were Gaels.
My mother's family originated in Anglesey which the Vikings once conquered and intermarried with the locals - so I could have got it from there. But my father - a Campbell - also had Dupuytrens.
I meant to add that John Wayne (Marion Morrison) and Van Morrison were of Viking descent like Jim Morrison with origins to the Isle of Lewis albeit their direct antecedents were settlers from N Ireland.
I wanted to add that your substack shows up just how awful the mainstream media has become. Excellent, invaluable work.
I do my best. Thanks.
It seems there are a number of key drivers here…1.DJT clearly doesn’t like the way the EU leadership has been so cosy with Biden's administration, and the long standing underfunding of NATO by its principal beneficiaries has been a Trump gripe for ages. Z didn’t help himself by effectively appearing on the campaign trail for Sleazy Joe.
2. DJT recognizes the hole that the US economy has been driven into, not least by enormous military expenditure (to little effect), and if by withdrawing to a regional, North American empire rather than the current Democrat American Global Empire he can strengthen the US and cut costs, it seems to appeal. Hence the wacky comments about Canada, Greenland, Mexico and Panama. A sort of Monroe Doctrine on steroids. 3. The global implications are a push towards three global power blocs, rather as envisaged in '1984’. A new global security architecture. 4. Unlike Rubio, Kellogg's remarks seem a little off script, and he doesn’t seem to be regarded as integral to any peace process. 5. For us Brits, shivering away on Airstrip One, we seem to have the worst possible leadership at the most crucial time in living memory.
Can't disagree with any of that. Trump doesn't deal kindly with anyone who he feels has let him down. As for our leadership - Come back Liz Truss all is forgiven.
Personally I think kindness is the last quality I want to see deployed against the motley array of cretins, deviants and crooks who have done their best to trash a fine civilization.
So true - I would like to see many of them put on trial.
I score Liz Truss highly on analysis and proposed solutions, much less so on backbone, and nowhere on implementation. She was deposed by a coup, but trying to implement her agenda in one hit without much preparation gave the coup leaders everything they needed to slaughter her. Both Milei and Trump have shown the benefits of speed, but crucially the absolute necessity of preparation.
You know more about Truss that I do - thanks.
They still have the death penalty in the US. Never thought I’d pine for it.
Nah - I'd like to see them doing hard labour for life. Does anyone still do that?
You remind me of the Gilbert & Sullivan ditty about the punishment fitting the crime. Some amusement to be derived from thinking up the appropriate punishment for Obama, Biden, Pelosi, Schumer, Schaffer, etc. to say nothing of Blair, Brown, Sturmer, Milliband et al
I'll think about that when I can't sleep - instead of counting sheep.
…Schiff…
What's that?
Oh spellcheck substituted 'Schaffer' for Schiff. Unfair on my Dupuytrens consultant.
I've got Dupuytrens. Some say it means we are descended from the Vikings.
We Vikings must stick together…
https://www.topdoctors.co.uk/doctor/richard-shaffer
Thanks for that.
It might be worth having a consultation with Dr Richard Schaffer. But he’s in London - a fair way from the Borders.
He seems to be further North nowadays.
I look forward to reading your blog from Japan. I first found your post in the comments section below an article on Moon of Alabama several months ago and have been checking your blog since then.
It is difficult for ordinary UK citizens, especially pensioners, to afford high electricity prices.
I watched a video in which Douglas Macgregor talked about the financial crisis looming in the UK.
https://youtu.be/iPhivsODaak?si=vQPkuj736PAWG_YS
In the video, he mentioned that it currently takes six weeks to purchase gold in London due to a significant shortage.
I thought that UK citizens might be losing confidence in the British pound and turning to gold as a safe asset, leading to a severe gold shortage.
London does not have a sufficient amount of gold compared to other nations, including the United States, Germany, Italy, France, Russia, China, Switzerland, India, and Japan.
Thanks for that Kumi. I don't know much about the gold situation but if I had money I would probably be buying it also. We are managing OK because my wife is working. Good to hear that I am being read in Japan.
Trump deliberately trolled Zelensky trying to get an over reaction. It was a setup, and then Trump truth bombed him.
Why?
Ukraine has been an enemy of Trump since the 2016 election. The steel dossier / Russiagate had a Ukrainian connection.
https://truthovernews.org/p/the-collapse-of-the-zelensky-cult?
And Trumps second impeachment had a huge Ukrainian connection.
It would not surprise me. Maybe Trump has a Scottish canniness inherited from his mum.
I think there is panic in the US. This week we have had a spate of US companies making stock market bids to take over Australian businesses. I wonder if this is a world wide trend of the flight of US capital to safer places.
With Musk now focussing attention on the Department of Defence there is also panic in Washington, where real estate prices have plummeted, as defence gravy train riders take their exit. I can't wait to see what Musk's tech heads turn up, as they are now in the Pentagon.
Then there is Europe. For a long time people in Europe have been annoyed at unelected EU leaders committing their nations' finances to things that the general public has never agreed to. Vance's speech, so accurate and frank, caught everybody by surprise. Could the US sidelining of the EU re Ukraine spell the end of this atrophied body? The caging of the European and Ukrainian hawks has left them dumbfounded, but helpless to alter the course of history that Putin and Trump are now setting. I think that Putin and Trump's negotiations will be less about territory and more about business. Trump will be looking for the best financial outcome. Russia is open the return of US businesses to their thriving economy, and Trump's main goal is to have US companies able to exploit their share of the trillions worth of Ukrainian minerals that are in the territories that Russia has added to its federation.
It is amusing to see Starmer and Macron, both suffering badly from Relevancy Deprivation, trying to elbow their way into talks on Ukraine, while facing a shut door.
Trump has also indicated that he is unexcited about the continuation of NATO. A cartoon shows Putin handing Trump a spray can so that he can alter a NATO sign to read NYETO.
8e22c4d2-fb82-45c7-b465-3c9e3d90b53e_4000x2800
Putin said very early on Odessa would be the end game of the SMO. I know people in Sumy are hoping that they too, will become part of the Russian federation. Hopefully both will hold referenda and let the people decide what they want.
Chris Hedges is very pessimistic about Trump, and has added to the fear mongering about Musk devastating the Public Service. Musk has tackled, first up, the US institutions causing the most harm in the world - USAID ( and indirectly the CIA) and the DOD. However, he is also attacking institutions that have been trying to regulate his business interests, so he's a mixed bag. Certainly other nations like Georgia and Romania will thank him. The DOD budget is currently $884 billion. If, per head of population, it was reduced to China's level it would be only $73 billion. If compared to Russia's it would be ~ $209 billion. Considering Russia is at war theirs is tiny compared to that of the US.
We live in interesting times. Pass the popcorn.
Thanks again Rob for this very detailed summary of this week's events.
Thanks for that Joy - much appreciated. There's some interesting stuff there. I used that NYETO cartoon last week or the week before - brilliant. Putin knows Trump a little that's why his team produced a list of ex-Russian based US company losses at Riyadh. I agree that the EU and a US backed NATO could be on their way out. I love the phrase Relevancy Deprivation - so apt. Pass the popcorn indeed.
Trump is not a revolution, but rather a counter revolution to a return to normalcy:
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1892840058555691152
And it’s well planned against an elite globalist opposition.
Some conversations regarding the narrative and framing of the world (dis)order are like an atheist arguing with a religious zealot about the existence of God. When a money laundering nazi thug is passed off a paragon of democratic leadership for years, it becomes difficult find points in common for conversation. I am reading Joshua Stylman's substack about extremely influential meta control of collective perceptions. While for some, "the Truth" is a means for predicting the day to day outcomes of life, others use the concept to provide comfort from the chaos of discordant information. The sinister part is that this idea of a universal reality is seen as a useful tool for manipulation, and advanced software and information management are making it more powerful.
I once said 'beware of philosophers bearing truth' referring the use of truth as comfort or satisfying the need people feel they have for certainty. But 'truths' are also used to deceive. Cheers.
Thanks Rob, excellent as always. We seem to be at an inflection point where activities accelerate.
I think the US is playing a double game, dumping Ukraine on the Europeans in an attempt to split Russia from China then having achieved that ramp up on China. For all of their rhetoric I don't see the US volunteering to become an ordinary country among many. They still wish to be top dog. Time will tell, but a somewhat cooling in Ukraine is welcome in any case.
Thanks Chris - I get the impression that things are about to accelerate as you say - but I've had that feeling for a while.
Great update Rob.
Zelenskyy's act seems to be wearing a little thin now and most people ignore him apart from the European morons (posing as leaders)
I think the US has meddled with the facts a little in underplaying the previous regimes role in the disaster in Ukraine.
For example if they weren't the ones stirring shit up then why are they the ones that have given the most aid to Ukraine? And what was 'Fuck the EU' Vicky Nuland and US AIDs role over there pre 2014.
They may as well own up a bit even if it wasn't the current governments affairs.
But they are right in excluding the European warmongers, who of course have more to lose, but they are like rabid dogs to fuel the nazi regime and not look further into the conflict.
Most European politicians are pond life and the unelected bureaucrats in the EU are the worst.
Interesting that the idiots who burned Trump's books and cut-out had their full Azov insignia on display.
Just to think what that stands for should bring our leaders to their senses.
Lets see what happens next week.
Indeed next week could bring some important developments. It seems as if Z is being shown the door but will he open it?
Opened & thrown out more like just like the irrelevant queer two-tier Starmageddon will be. Starmer's impending arrival in Washington D.C. next week will only highlight his astounding stupidity, far surpassing what we've previously attributed to him. The UK intelligence agency's involvement in the Russiagate scandal, particularly its role in the false Steele dossier, will not be forgotten. Nor will the dispatch of Starmer's 100 labour activists to the US to work against President Trump be overlooked. This blatant act of election interference far exceeds anything Russia could ever be accused of. I understand that President Trump won't even deign to meet with Starmer, instead, he will be greeted by VIP Vance, a calculated insult demonstrating the administration's disdain for this despicable mini-dictator the most hated person in the UK.
Thanks Martin. The embarrassment that is Lammy will be with Starmer - I wonder what Trump will have to say to him.
Having done a search, it seems the Spokesperson for the Whitehouse spells her forename with a 'K'.
Just saying. Great summary as usual Rob.
It seemed to me that the former occupiers of the Whitehouse and their media compradors were attempting to reframe the Ukraine narrative. However, the current occupiers seem to be in the process of flipping it completely alongside trying to maintain a 'tough guy' plus 'magnanimous' image with regard to the previous hubristic hegemonic image. Trump plays 'the emperor' role effortlessly, but it remains to be seen if he is able to play the 'presidential' role as effectively with the same ease - hubris won't cut it.
Thanks Dude, I've altered it.
Trump is certainly and enigma. Who knows what he'll be like in a year or two.
“ US Social Security System was also revealed to be corrupt.”
WTF are you talking about? Stick to Ukraine. Don’t slide your Musk talking points in on subjects you know nothing about.
Thanks Ally - looks as if I have misunderstood something so I've edited it out. What was the issue with social security?
Doge / Musk did a simple query, and found 22 million social security numbers of people over age 100. Per the U.S. census there are only 80,000.
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1891350795452654076?
Good summary of the issue:
https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/freedom-fried-tuesday-february-17?
The acting head of social security resigned after trying to block doge access.
And there are many social security recipients with no identifying information:
https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/musk-claims-150-year-olds-receiving-social-security-benefits
And it seems there was a deliberate effort to sign up illegal aliens for social security long term disability:
https://www.projectveritas.com/news/dept-of-education-operating-as-rogue-sanctuary-program-for-illegals
And there are 64 million more social security numbers active, than the population of the U.S.
https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/waterloo-monday-february-17-2025?
Thank for that Ray.
There is very little doubt about corruption, ignorance, incompetence and scamming going on there.
I would not trust MSM outlets like ABC and Wired to tell the truth about anything, much less this.
A lot of the MSM received USAID money and are absolutely corrupt themselves. That's why they only write about 'Trump meme coin bad' and 'Trump golf tournament bad' type articles and ignore or obfuscate the actual issues.
Musk was wrong about scammers in SS. He’s no computer genius. He misinterpreted the data. https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-doge-social-security-150-year-old-benefits/
Anyway, I appreciate your Ukraine analysis. I’m a lifelong lefty sick of the neocon Uniparty and the billionaire grifters, warmongers and security state that surrounds them. That’s probably not the profile of most of your readers, but a wish for Peace and defense of civil liberties and free speech unite us.
I'm also a lifelong lefty wishing for peace, civil liberties and free speech and opposed to those ba...rds. But lefties are not like that nowadays - shame on them. I have no idea of the profile of my readers but judging by the comments on here I think many share our views.
Here’s more on how stupid Musks claims are:
https://6abc.com/amp/post/new-social-security-chief-contradicts-claims-millions-dead-people-are-getting-payouts/15933337/
Musk didn’t know what he was looking at in SS computers.
https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-doge-social-security-150-year-old-benefits/
Yes - I could see that it was disputed that's why I edited it out. But its certainly sparked some discussion on here. Cheers
Wake and smell the coffee Ally, SS was created to empower and enrich its creator. (Govment)sp
If Ally doesn't come back can you explain please.
My opinion is SS was created to transfer power and control over our own finances to government. More employees, more control of finances, more power-bingo.
OK thanks. I've double checked my source and it appears that Trump pointed out that people who have allegedly received SS payments are over 200 years old. But this is disputed so I'll leave it there. Anyway, it so good of people like Ally to point these things out in such a polite manner.
I believe there were few bicentenarian recipients. Mostly just people nobody bothered to declare as dead. That does pose problems for voting and other fraud scams.
The question is how much fraud is there associated with social security numbers, and it’s just not social security payments fraud.
There seems to have been a willful effort to ignore the potential fraud issue and potential fixes. This seems to be endemic in the federal government.
I wonder, what impact the closing of USAID will have on US and foreign instability? My gut feeling is a huge reduction.
And I wonder if the fraud and crony spending is ended, could the U.S. federal budget be balanced?
https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-doge-social-security-150-year-old-benefits/
Another great piece.
Sorry to hear you are affected by Dupuytren. I was inspired to learn the drums after reading Riders on the Storm by the Doors drummer, John Densmore. I will never be a natural but i can still bang out a decent 4/4 particularly shuffle which i seem to have a natural affinity for. Ironically, Densmore is a corruption of Dunsmore, which is Pictish and originates from Newburgh, just across the water from my hometown.
Anyway, Densmore was a bandmate of James Douglas Morrison. Morrison had a great grandfather who shared the same name with the first commander of St Petersburg: Robert Bruce.
The Morrison's and the McDonald's, unlike the Campbells, were of Viking descent. The Campbell's were Gaels.
My mother's family originated in Anglesey which the Vikings once conquered and intermarried with the locals - so I could have got it from there. But my father - a Campbell - also had Dupuytrens.
I meant to add that John Wayne (Marion Morrison) and Van Morrison were of Viking descent like Jim Morrison with origins to the Isle of Lewis albeit their direct antecedents were settlers from N Ireland.