Recruiting the Army.
I'll give credit where credit is due. I am shocked.
I despair that we will ever reach Peak Stupid. What is wrong with these people? Seriously, what is their major malfunction? Tip to Instapundit.
Yes, the people constantly dividing us by race (and hearing racist dog whistles) are the ones stoking racial division. I've long said that the liberals have a vocal (and media amplified) segment as ludicrous as the birthers on the right. Birthers thought Obama was literally born in Kenya and was a secret Moslem. Today the sophisticated types think Trump was figuratively born in Russia and is a secret Nazi. Of course, the birthers were mocked and ridiculed by the media. So that's different.
The problem is that Palestinians are great as abstract victims. But in real life they are often awful people and are ruled by corrupt and evil scum. The Intersectional Civil War could be spectacular.
In related news, I wonder how the actual American people in their districts feel about these representatives acting as if they represent Palestinians? We shall see in 2020. And if the voters return them to office? Well, enjoy your gift to foreigners of representation in Congress.
Well if Putin says that their nuclear accident poses no radiation leak threat, what more do we need to sleep well at night?
When given the option to pay their fair share in taxes, people who say taxes should be higher don't actually take advantage of that. I guess they haven't reached the point where they've made enough money.
"Caring" had unintended harmful consequences for our poor. But are rich liberal Americans not only returning to that era of errors and upping their harm by abandoning even the pretense of caring by basically wrecking America with an embrace of status beliefs? If you recall the leftist outrage over the advice of "graduate, work, marry, have children (if you want them)--in that order" (and the advice isn't bad even if people prone to success cause that sequence rather than the sequence causing success) that wealthy people actually follow, it seems all too plausible.
Green is the color of hate. If I understand the rules correctly, if any hater holds any view of a wider movement, the wider movement must immediately reject that view or be complicit in the hate. What? One of the rules says that rule only apply to conservatives? Well, never mind. Move along. Nothing to see here. Besides, it has always been clear that greens hate people in general rather than certain people, even if the effects of their policies hurt some groups more than others. Tip to Instapundit.
A tour of Syria. With the hilarious description of how Turkey's embrace of Russia isn't working out very well in Syria (Russia led a strike on a Turkish convoy bringing ammunition to Turkey's jihadi allies). Alienating America really wasn't Erdogan's best idea.
Russia's aircraft industry is running on fumes. Russia is becoming a regional power despite having transcontinental defense needs. If Russia would make up with the West, Russia could revive their economy and buy Western aircraft to hold off an increasingly powerful China that has territorial claims on Russian Far East territory.
Work the No-Deal Brexit problems and carry on. No need to panic. Just a need to anticipate and act. That traditional British stiff upper lip isn't just useful for eating avocado toast, you know.
China will take what it can in the South China Sea until somebody with something to lose fights to hold what they have. No small power can defeat China in war. But small powers can win battles with international support for their legal position, forcing China to decide on whether to escalate to war to reverse defeat in battle and risk the collateral damage that escalation could impose on China.
The problem with pardoning all people in prison because of marijuana (or more broadly, drug) possession is that we don't know how many formally in jail for possession were prosecuted and sentenced for that lesser charge despite having committed a much worse crime.
There is no Amagun.com.
The Chinese, not satisfied with our colleges being anti-American, want them to be pro-Chinese. But I guess this collusion for money to host Confucius Institutes is okay. Tip to Instapundit.
Peak Throwing-up-a-little-bit-in-my-mouth hasn't arrived yet. To be fair, they go well with man-buns.
That is certainly a fascinating question. But the more relevant question is can The Resistance lie America into a recession? Tip to Instapundit.
So the Left says Russia had such deep knowledge of American society that they could swing an election with paltry sums of money spent on propaganda--but American Google could not do that with far more resources at its disposal. I have no means to judge the latter claims, but I do find it fascinating to note the contradictions on the Left over what is possible and what is not.
If we are ever to get to Peak Stupid, people have to stop doing things like this.
Well, that seems wise given Iran's recent actions. But is this a tanker thing or an Achille Lauro thing? Just what prompted this training?
Australia will join the effort to protect Persian Gulf shipping from Iranian interference.
What is wrong with the UAE? Are the Houthis defeated? Is Iran less of a threat? This is why I don't pay close attention to Yemen. The musical chairs-style civil war waxes and wanes but never really goes away.
How fake news is made. So the NYT basically admits it focused on the Russia collusion story, but that now it has proven to be a fantasy made by Trump's enemies. Instead of continuing that story to see how the collusion narrative was created (tip to Instapundit), the NYT will move on to another story to hurt Trump: the equally fantasy-level story of how America is all slavery all the time and for all time in perpetuity.
Oh, and the so-called 1619 project focus will be for the next two years. This intense focus wasn't considered important before. And the editors will exhaust the stories of the issue in two years. The project will end the day the major Democratic legislative agenda has been passed and signed into law in mid-2021, I assume. May the editors rot in Hell. Wait. What? No! Way! Tip to Instapundit.
Singapore is serious about having a navy with new submarines and aviation-capable ships. I hope they remember that the last time the island was conquered it was from the land side, making all their coastal defenses worthless.
Seriously, if America is as horrible as the 1619 project says, and if slavery was so central to building America (it wasn't), America would never have given up slavery. I mean, duh. Slavery was stunningly horrible. It hurts to see what slave owners did to the people they owned. But slavery has existed around the world throughout history--making slavery a world sin and not just an American sin--and still exists quietly in other parts of the world. America violently ended slavery (losing 365,000 soldiers to do it) and has worked to make up for that legacy. That, at least, we can be proud of.
Let's hope that Erdogan's visions of neo-Ottoman Empire glory gives him a bloody nose in Libya, where he has intervened on the side of the jihadi-friendly, UN-recognized government that still holds northwest Libya.
The Rohingya and Myanmar.
I don't know what the heck Trump is thinking when he mentions letting Russia back into the G-7 group of advanced industrial nations. Trump should not welcome Russia back.
The media doesn't like to mention that the Half Squad trip to "Palestine" was sponsored by a group that supports jihadis and repeats Nazi propaganda about Jews. Tip to Instapundit.
Thoughts on Hong Kong and China's disinformation to justify killing people.
China's carrier plans. In some sense it is confusing. China itself is a giant "carrier" for operations in the western Pacific. Carriers are most useful for power projection and not for sea control against opposition. So where does China plan to project power against less capable enemies?
It is insane to argue that Trump is using an anti-semitic trope of "dual loyalty" for wondering why American Jews largely vote for Democrats. People, Trump wants their votes! In what alternate universe does a politician--one who says he is a nationalist--try to get the votes of a group of people by saying those voters are more loyal to a country other than America? If American Jews hope to keep Israel as a sanctuary so "never again" means something, it's hard to argue Trump is wrong to wonder why American Jews favor Democrats. It wasn't anywhere nearly as true in the past although there was a glimmer of truth. But it was easy to vote with other priorities knowing that the anti-Semites were unlikely to wield influence. But the current "progressive" surge in the Democratic Party makes it bloody obviously true at this moment (tip to Instapundit). Maybe the surge of anti-Israel sentiment in the Democratic Party will peak and fade in the future. But now? Come on.
I assumed Kamala Harris had the winds of the media under her wings to carry her to victory in the Democratic presidential contest. Well, they'd best start blowing harder. That's one poll, of course. We'll see.
If Palestinians didn't support killing Jews with suicide bombs or whatever they can get, Tlaib might have a point. But they do and so she doesn't. Gosh, why would Israel keep her out except for the narrow purpose of visiting her grandmother--which she declined to do.
The US will sell Taiwan 66 late-model F-16s. This is in addition to an army package. And recall that an earlier package will update the 150 early-model F-16s that Taiwan has.
Budget deficits will be even worse than earlier forecasts. Duh. Spending money we don't have is the only lasting bipartisan consensus that has endured our bitter partisan divide.
It makes some sense for America to buy Greenland. Trump was a little too thin skinned in his reaction to Denmark's dismissive refusal to sell. Keep in mind that China has seemed to have their eye on Greenland--perhaps to make their "near-Arctic" status claim more based on geography--as I noted that article in this September 2018 data dump post.
Michael Yon continues to cover Hong Kong protests for freedom (or at least freedom until the agreed upon end date of 2047 when China is legally allowed to crush lingering freedom).
Why the Navy is getting rid of touch screens for manual Ship Control Console controls on ship driving.
Once again, Iran announces a totally awesome weapon system that will force the Pentagon into a thumb-sucking fetal position. Honestly, with all the high tech that Iran develops, I have to believe them when they say they aren't seeking nuclear weapons. Why would they need them, eh?
A look at China's People's Armed Police, the army with the people as their designated enemy. This is relevant given the months-long protests in Hong Kong that oppose China's attempts to impose a dictatorship ahead of schedule in 2047. The PLA Army, the executioners at Tienanmen Square in 1989, get all the attention. But "the other guys" have a role in combat whether against external or internal enemies.
What is the major malfunction in South Korea these days? Are they so secure that they can afford to alienate Japan, which might be needed if North Korea or China attacks South Korea? But hey, at least South Korea made China smile.
Here are some suggestions for conditions on readmitting Russia to the G-7. Essentially it amounts to Russia not being a Putin-led self-destructive country. So that's not happening.
Ah, our friend Erdogan: "The Iranian oil tanker that the U.S. sought to seize in Gibraltar has changed its heading to southern Turkey, raising concern that its cargo will end up in Syria." Ya think?
I"m so old that I remember when violence was justified as God's will (well, for Allah's will that sentiment is still thriving). Now the justification for punching someone is that it is "for the children." Sure, technically that's just rhetorical. But I'm also old enough to remember when Democrats charged that rhetoric or symbols incite actual violence.
To be fair, the Left has a history only liking American veterans who lie about committing atrocities and who aren't even veterans. Heh. Guess what happened to him. Shocking, I know.
Before Deplorables there were Stupid People. I just randomly ran across that post.
Michael Mann has lost big time his libel suit against Dr. Ball in Canada. Because Mann wouldn't reveal his data that led to his now-discredited "hockey stick" graph of global warming. Nothing screams "settled science" like hiding your data, eh? Mark Steyn, who in America is enduring his own lengthy lawsuit from Mann, comments on the consensus enforcement that continues despite the win for the good guys. You may recall the post that started Mann's suit.
Explain to me again how this isn't exactly what racists want. Tip to Instapundit.
A yak corps for bad terrain.
Iran's Zarif flew into the G-7 meeting in France at Macron's invitation. Thanks a heap France! Our quasi-ally in action. Iran must be desperate to participate in this stunt. Not that Zarif will be admitted to the talks, but he's there.
I sometimes despair of ever reaching Peak Stupid.
America tested a ground-launched cruise missile with a range greater than the now-dead INF treaty. Perhaps Russia will regret trying to get an edge by cheating on the treaty. More here.
American airlift and tanker support is insufficient for the tyranny of distance in INDOPACOM. Although to be fair, demand will always exceed supply. And we are the best at long-range logistics. But other countries don't have the distance to cover that America does.
In a country well north of 300 million, it isn't hard to find a handful of haters. They represent nobody but themselves.
Climate mission accomplished as temperatures in the US lower 48 plateaued in 2005. To be fair that isn't relevant to global warming. Which if I understand it has leveled off since 1997 or so.
With the renamed INDOPACOM, America's military sees a unified command across the Pacific and Indian Oceans. So increased American defense industry cooperation with India and Australia is important.
