Weekend Data Dump

For whatever reason, stupid things really seemed to annoy me more than usual in last week's data dump. I'm not sure this week will be any better.

Russians after the 2016 election promoted demonstrations both to support Trump and resist him (see point 57). On the latter protests organized by Russians, are liberals going to agree that their resistance is tainted by the fact that the Russians had the same goal as them?  Because I've been told that if anyone for horrible motivations does anything the way I do that my motivation must match their evil motive and so compel me to change what I do because "I'm better than that."

The Russian online intervention--that began in May 2014--in our election wasn't actually effective (as opposed to Democrats ripping open divisions in our country very successfully to excuse Clinton's loss--talk about a force multiplier). Do read all of that article (and tip to Instapundit) which notes what I have written--that the Russian effort was trivial in the big picture and clearly aimed at harming Clinton who was assumed to be the inevitable victor. Which at least legitimately explains the lack of Obama administration response to the lengthy Russian effort until after Trump won. But the FBI sure has been working overtime on the Russia Collusion issue even as they failed on other less important responsibilities. What do we have to do to get them to do their jobs? I'm not saying we (including the FBI) shouldn't stop the Russians. But don't inflate their reputation by giving them too much credit. Russia isn't the crack cyber-marksman we make them out to be. We formed a circular firing squad. Good Lord people, unless the Japanese persuaded the Army Air Corps to bomb Battleship Row and persuaded the Navy to shell the airfields, Russian meddling was nothing at all like Pearl Harbor as one overwrought and historically illiterate journalist (coughJonathanAltercough) tweeted.

It would be nice if the Army could own prop-driven combat planes, which are cheap and effective providers of close air support. While not likely to survive in high-threat air defense environments, they would be good for the fights we've been in since September 11, 2001. Really, wouldn't the Air Force be relieved to shed the job of low-level ground support?

America is selling coal to Ukraine. Which helps Ukraine reduce reliance on Russian energy and helps Ukraine keep American good will. When Ukraine can survive a winter without Russian energy, would we finally see a Ukrainian counterattack into the Donbas?

Lebanon's army looks the other way at Hezbollah's violation of Lebanon's sovereignty yet pledges to resist Israel no matter the cost if Israel enters Lebanon to fight Hezbollah. They keep using that word "sovereignty." I don't think it means what they think it means.

Can the German navy be saved? Well, I think it looks bad. And as I noted there and in a recent data dump, the Germans need to rebuild their navy to fight in the Baltic Sea and North Sea.

Michael Moore attended an anti-Trump rally organized by Russia. Did you attend? Did you cheer them on? Do you care if you did and question your motives?

The events surrounding the downing of an Iranian UAV and subsequent downing of an Israeli F-16 remain confusing to me. So Israel didn't respond to the loss of their plane by hitting Syrian air defenses, as Strategypage writes? I've gone back and forth on whether there was a second wave of Israeli strikes and now I am just confused. One interesting detail is that the Israeli airplane had a mechanical issue which prevented it from maneuvering to avoid the older Syrian SA-5 (S-200) missile, that was fired by the Syrians in a barrage to make up for their age.

Sweden is again worrying about Russian invasion. This is the first time I've read about a Swedish-Danish agreement to enable cooperation of their armed forces. Things like this create a grey area of NATO protections by enabling NATO countries to help non-NATO countries outside of NATO decisions. I'll note that I'm unwilling to accept Sweden into NATO before they take steps to rebuild their defenses.

France fails the global test. I thought they invented nuance?

The Army plans a new rifle (the M110 Semi-Automatic Sniper System, or SASS), which would be useful for the squad designated marksman (SDM). Although the rifle may be unrelated to the SDM plan. One appeal of the rifle is that it isn't obviously a sniper rifle.

The Navy and Marines are training for high intensity warfare in accordance with real world operational plans.

Good Lord: Canada welcomes "reformed" jihadis but will eject North Korean refugees? Is this how "love trumps hate" works?  Tip to Instapundit.

Good Lord: Wisconsin liberals weaponized a willing federal government to wage their political battle. Tip to Instapundit. Rule of law is a fragile thing. Foreigners obviously need it. Less obvious is that we need to defend it at home. And I'll note again that a federal government with less power over state issues would not be willingly used in this manner.

Islamist jihadis may pose the biggest threat to other Moslems, but they wouldn't be an international security issue if they didn't idealize the slaughter of non-Moslems, as jihadi murderers of the Fulani strain recently did in Nigeria with virtually no notice: "According to the Express, 'armed men stormed through 15 villages to massacre Christians and destroy their churches in a violent crackdown against the [Christian] religion in Nigeria … Dozens of people have been killed after the gangs ransacked towns and villages to clear them of all aspects of the Christian faith.'" No Western hashtag campaigns or Hollywood awards show speeches for these victims. I've mentioned these guys over the years. Tip to Instapundit.

Bastards! They know our weakness. I really hope that our most vital secrets are recorded on 3 x 5 cards kept in a safe rather than linked to the Internet behind whatever cyber-security we believe is sufficient.

Idiot; useful--1 ea. Honestly, I wasn't aware she was distinct from Joy Behar until recently. So 2 ea.

Ground zero in the war on women. They lecture us on how to be better people, recall. Granted, the definition is extremely broad. But that never mattered before to feminists who attacked men for the crimes of a few, so why should it be a defense for Hollywood's now?

Aside from not predicting the breadth and depth of "turn it to 11" resistance (because a Trump victory seemed inconceivable), my August 2016 prediction of the potential aftermath of a Trump victory holds up pretty well. I remain relieved Clinton is not president, notwithstanding regrettable presidential antics.

I started getting my "crumbs" from the 2017 tax cut. It is better than I thought it would be from online estimates. Unless the reduction in taxes is exaggerated by being accounted for in a shortened period because it took until February to be implemented.

From the War of Women: Nigerian Front: "More than 90 Nigerian schoolgirls are feared missing after Islamist insurgent group Boko Haram attacked a village in the northeastern state of Yobe, two sources told Reuters on Wednesday." Time to bring back #BringBackOurGirls, I guess. Luckily, most were rescued by non-Twitter hashtag means.

Ukraine is restoring their tank industry. Yes, as the author states, Ukraine would be outclassed by Russian armor in an expanded war. But every neighbor of Russia other than China would be in a similar position. And that doesn't mean that Russia could afford to fight such an expanded war. Consider that Russia didn't choose to wage an expanded war with their superior conventional forces since they attacked Ukraine four years ago.

Merchant ships are basically unable to arm themselves to defend their ships against pirate attack. So an enterprising crew threw boiling oil and water on the attackers. Very old school.  So would a ballista machine count as arming a merchant ship? Or maybe a harpoon gun, eh?

This article is another example of stupidity. Tip to Instapundit. I don't know why I don't drink more.

Strategypage looks at Thailand. It is a generally pro-American state with a too-powerful military and monarch that tests American support by crippling democracy when it is convenient. I don't pay attention too much to Thailand. Which doesn't mean it is unimportant. One can't pay attention to everything all the time. I hope my ability to not pay much attention continues.

Russians, especially when they were Soviets, have long interfered in American politics and have long been boosted by the American media. But it isn't collusion. Birds of a feather flock together.

America created three more good jihadis in Somalia.

While I find Representative Pelosi a revolting specimen of a politician, she's not totally insane to make her grass mowing comment. Anybody setting up a defensive belt would want to remove such concealment  along the perimeter if they can to clear lines of sight. While not superior to a wall, mowing grass along the border would help as long as there are border personnel there to see illegal crossers and stop or arrest them. Like I've said, any physical barrier that isn't defended can be penetrated. Ultimately, a barrier just slows crossers down and helps identify who is crossing and where, buying time for the defenders to get to the crossing location.

The Russian effort to sow divisions was just really singing to the choir and swayed nobody. (Tip to Instapundit) This is a variation of my system immunity theory. Funny enough, the New York Times uses my analogy, writing "Russian interference was a drop in the ocean." At this point, as much as I think we should of course stop the Russians (and return the favor), the issue isn't even mostly about Russia--they did what they do and I'm shocked this behavior is news to anybody. It's about rule of law. Weaken that in America and in addition to the problems it causes here, Russia benefits.

Yes, as much as people think Americans are dangerously divided believing their foes are dangerous enemies, our current situation pales in comparison to past divisions. I've said as much before, I believe. Social media just amplifies the smaller section of the population that earnestly believes that the other side in politics is composed of dangerous enemies. Trump is no fascist despite very real personal flaws that are ... unfortunate ... but not a threat to democracy. And the "deep state" worries are overblown despite very real violations of our norms of rule of law that should be fixed--and prosecuted in some cases. So I really hope that Trump and the overreaction to Trump don't become norms for our politics, but I'm not panicking. Tip to Instapundit. Come on people, those who disagree with you can be simply wrong without being evil or ignorant. And they might be right. Or are you really going to say that in your own life you've made the best decisions when you have the most information on yourself in order to make those decisions? Nothing at all that makes you say "well, it seemed like a good idea at the time?" You are wealthy and happy with a wonderful spouse, and your great decisions are the reason for all that? Huh. Yet somehow you think that you alone know what is right about a complex question without any humility that you might be wrong about key parts if not all of it? I like to think that I admit when I am unsure about things when I write on this blog. And I like to think that I admit that I am fully capable of being wrong even if I think my reasons and reasoning that led me to being wrong are valid. And I certainly don't think political foes are dangerous enemies. I know you come here for perspective.

Banana! Banana! Banana!

Those gradifi commercials that urge employers, out of gratitude for finding that employee, to pay off student loans of their employees really annoy me. Why is that student debt the company's problem? Maybe somebody should run commercials telling students not to borrow money they'll be paying off for 30 years in order to pay for graduation dresses, late-night pizza, and all the other expenses that are not tuition and fees that seem to pile up. Because maybe a company might like to hire somebody not quite that short-sighted and ignorant.

I am deeply suspicious of any "infrastructure' spending plan. But if we do, national security at least would be improved by hardening our electricity grid to be resilient.

Just a trip down memory lane when I wondered if unrest in Syria could be exploited by Iraqi Baathists and Sunni jihadis who might be a source of resistance to Assad. That's the team that created ISIL and they did just that.

I'm just not a "protest" or "rally" kind of man. Crowds at such things always seem to be far dumber than any individual participating and I want no part of them.

China is running the Beta Version of Dystopian Police State 2.0 in Xinjiang province. Let's hope it fails miserably before it spreads to the rest of China, including Hong Kong. Taiwan should take notice of China's attitude toward control the next time they consider their dangerously inadequate defense spending plans.

"See something, say something" is all well and good (but don't dare be wrong about what you see or social media will crucify you!), but government needs to follow "if you are told something, do something."

As microaggressions proliferate, my microcaring is dissipated across a broader scope. Seriously, they're just making stuff up for the humor value at this point, right? Tip to Instapundit.

Apparently our Abrams tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles with their current hardware are unable to use add-on active protection systems without degrading their performance. Well that sucks.

Romania wants to build 3 submarines. Which would give the Russians, who are very possessive about the Black Sea, fits.

The Assad-Iran-Russia alliance continues to assault and bombard the anti-Assad fighters and people on the outskirts of Damascus.