Turkey has started testing the S-400 air defense missile system they bought from Russia. I don't know how long it will take for Russia to deliver the entire purchase. Unless this is all a Turkish ploy to turn over the S-400 data to NATO, Erdogan has essentially decided to withdraw Turkey from the integrated NATO air defense system--and thus not be a full ally. So be it. Let's cauterize the wound Erdogan inflicted.
European Union legislators will "symbolically" declare a climate emergency. Well? Is it or isn't it and emergency? Is the EU parliament willing to kill their economy for a fake emergency or not? If they have the votes for a symbolic declaration, don't they have the votes for real action? One of these days the apocalyptic loons who have adopted global warming as their religion and who think it is a real emergency rather than an article of faith will react very badly to the sham declarations that their presumed allies in power enact. I think their religious fervor will get very ugly--with real rather than fake blood--before Peak Stupid on this issue is reached. And even (via Instapundit) a believer in man-caused global warming who rejects their "the end of the world is nigh" drama will be a target of the nutballs.
So the whole Ukraine aid kerfuffle is just about normal politics in action (which Congress won)--with a dose of Democratic insanity mixed in? Sounds about right.Tip to Instapundit.
China suffered a huge blow in the Hong Kong elections and the local stock markets shot up? Seriously? Investors think the Hong Kong government--with China looking over their shoulder (and their arm up their nether region to move their lips) will resolve the protests with reasonable actions? I'm going to guess the markets drop down quite a bit after that bit of hopeful thinking. Tip to Instapundit.
Fascinating suggestion. Let's make such international agreements in order of each religion's founding and see how each one goes before doing the next one, okay? Seriously, that goes way beyond civil rights and freedom of religion.
Are some House Democrats having doubts about impeachment and willing to vote no? Makes sense given the weakness of the inquiry thus far. I wonder if Pelosi would punish or support those doubters? My Hitler video may still be good!
The media coverage of a "white supremacist" outrage is always orders of magnitude greater than the walk back. I'm beginning to think there isn't as much white supremacism in America as leftists say there is. Which is a good thing, no? Tip to Instapundit.
The Army is able to simulate Russian armored fighting vehicles using HMMWVs. This helps in opposition force training for our troops. That's great. And it is much more successful than our efforts to turn a Stryker into an infantry fighting vehicle (in a faux armored cavalry regiment).
Tucker Carlson is dead to me. I really don't care for his show, after my initial amusement from unsuspecting leftists brought on to say what they really think--until they got wise to that angle. I got bored with that. But this week it was on while I wasn't really paying attention. And he said that he frankly sided with Russia in the Russia-Ukraine War. To Hell with him. Democrats suddenly became anti-Russia in the Trump era; and I guess some conservatives became pro-Russian in response. Disgusting. You can recognize that it would be good to split Russia from China without siding with a dictator's aggression against a fledgling democracy.
The only "existential threat" is to Democratic sanity. I worry that the reckless language will inspire some of their loonier supporters to violence. What action isn't justified to fight an "existential threat?" Tip to Instapundit.
Yeah, I've noticed what a commenter on Michael Yon's video record of Hong Kong explained--Hong Kong protesters use Molotov Cocktails to create barriers rather than to attack police. I don't know if I've mentioned that. What I didn't know is that the tactic is injuring quite a few protesters.
Non-US NATO countries will contribute more to NATO common funds. Indeed. And the latest commitment is separate from the 2% pledge.
The idea that America should embrace socialism to reject dog-eat-dog unfettered capitalism founders on the very premise. Yes indeed, "What on earth are these people talking about? ... I mean, by the Hammer of Thor, every summer we get stories of kids being fined for running lemonade stands without a license." How ignorant do you have to be to think America has dog-eat-dog unfettered capitalism? We could actually use a little more free enterprise capitalism rather than crony capitalism that has too strong a foothold in our economy (and political system). Shame on conservatives who have joined the parade of stupid that the liberals have long led.
"Deaths of despair." For a lot of young leftists, this is a feature to hope for and not a bug to fix.
It looks like America will shift to backing Hiftar (Haftar) after formally supporting the jihadi-infused UN-recognized government that runs not much more than Tripoli in Libya. I've long wondered why we did not do that.
Oppression Envy on campus (tip to Instapundit).Well, the entire focus on micro-aggressions was necessary because of the micro-oppression they are unlucky enough to experience in this Golden Age. On the bright side, they are thankful for that.
Yemen. Resolving this civil war must not involve entrenching Iran on the Red Sea where they can threaten Saudi Arabia and Red Sea shipping.
Just as China's navy (and naval air/missile power) is rising, the rot in our surface shipbuilding industry is leaking into our nuclear submarine industry? Stop this. Now. Sea control is not our birthright. Despite being an Army guy, our Navy is the priority. Raise your hand if you want to be in the Army expeditionary force sent overseas that can't be reinforced or supplied because we can't win free use of the seas between America and the campaign area?
In a related issue from the above link, isn't the idea of saving money by spending more for nuclear reactors that don't need to be refueled in the 40-50 year lifespan of the carrier or submarine reliant on the vessel lasting that long? Isn't that a peacetime saving? I do hope that if we go to war that we put in cheaper reactors that last "only" a couple decades given that carrier and submarines lifespand in combat for control of the seas may be measured in weeks or months.
So critics of Trump who haven't met Conan the jihadi-hunting wonder dog are upset with Trump for calling Conan "he?" Isn't that criticism "problematic" as the kids say these days? Trump met Conan. Perhaps Conan identifies as a male dog, eh? The lamentations of the women are always fun, I must say.
Maybe this is why Schiff was close to tears as he gaveled his impeachment inquiry closed.
Reconnaissance pull in the offense. It's by Major Jennings who has been more active than I have in advocating for a stronger recon arm. I've cancelled articles planned because he is on it. FWIW I think that would work better with real armored cavalry units--and not the pseudo ACR the Army is building with the Europe-based Stryker brigade.
By now my tradition of watching the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Pangs" to commemorate Thanksgiving is well established. A ritual sacrifice, with pie.
Americans have a patriotic duty to be informed about events? Sure, you can make an argument for that, although that treads dangerously on violating the right not to care about what the media cares about.. But to be informed they should basically believe what our media presents to them? Now we have a clear problem. The media as a rule are biased and ignorant. The whole argument could be an example of the observation that false patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, it seems. Tip to Instapundit.
President Trump made a surprise visit to Afghanistan to meet that country's president and visit our troops.
The Turkey didn't kill itself.
Why is Turkey apparently immune from global criticism for striking a deal with its former colonial subjects in Libya to take over some Libyan security duties at sea?
Turkey is complaining that NATO pays attention to Baltic state security threats but not to their own from Syrian Kurds. Well, Turkey doesn't face an existential threat as the Baltic states do from Russian threats. The fact that Turkey faces no existential military threat is bolstered by Turkey's decision to buy Russian S-400 air defense missiles. Try again, Sultan Erdogan. Face it, for NATO the Black Sea region is a economy-of-force front.
Well good Lord, I certainly hope that the construction of the second Ford-class carrier will learn from all the problems in building the lead ship in the class! That is the basic minimum you'd expect from sentient beings and not something to pass out bonuses and medals for.
The Second Battle of Fallujah was fifteen years ago. Time flies. My thoughts thirteen years ago. We did better than the enemy thought we would. But I still think the battle is a warning against embracing urban warfare.
Fingers crossed that the polling that shows Johnson heading for a "big win" in Britain is correct. Brexit's only hope is his victory. And Brexit is the only hope for the triumph of rule of law in Britain--as belated as it will be, there will be damage but perhaps not irreparable. So far it looks like the election is Johnson's barring "events." Of course, what really scares me is that someone as reprehensible as Corbyn could succeed here in today's Democratic Party. ... And here's an event.
I'm not sure whether I should laugh at Alyssa Milano or feel sorry for her. Question: on this Thanksgiving, would the North American Indians of four centuries ago have wished to have "lines in the sand" that keep immigrants from Europe out? How'd that open border work out for them? Just asking.
If there was such a thing as widespread Islamophobia in the West, the historical record would justify it.
I did say this vaping panic is ridiculous, didn't I?
Russian fake moos.
Special forces operators in the field will be able to be the "weapons officer" on Air Force drones.
No! Way! Tip to Instapundit.
No! Way!
The Army is working on an exoskeleton. In this failed effort in an Army contest on future warfare, I paired the exoskeleton with liquid armor.
Has Germany--and Europe--rejected China's Huawei Trojan Horse?
The problems with the A400M transport plane have kept the C-17 production line open. Which is a nice safety net, in my opinion, should we suddenly need to produce a lot more of the plane.
The British suffered a terror attack from another one of those jihadi
Bernie and Warren complained that Bloomberg is trying to buy the election. Keep in mind that the election he is trying to win is the Democratic primary. So the accusation is that Democratic voters will be bought. Fortunately for Bernie and Warren, Bloomberg isn't catching on despite the money blitz. It is sort of amusing that Bernie and Warren are accusing Bloomberg of trying to buy an election with his personal wealth. Bernie and Warren are doing the same thing, with the only difference being they are promising to spend our money after the election to buy victory.
Well, this was cool, anyway (EA-18s, BTW):
The United States became a net petroleum exporter. A month's worth, anyway. Tip to Instapundit.
Going to sea--even in port--is no job for raw crews.
There was more nuance to causes of the Opium War than I was aware of.
Deterrence, reassurance, and risk: The issue of America's nuclear weapons in Europe.
The not-a-Kurdish-genocide continues in the Turkish buffer zone in Syria. Not that I am defending the Turkish invasion or denying that people died in the invasion--Erdogan is no friend of ours. But the hysteria over what would happen because Trump refused to go to war with Turkey to stop the Turks was quite the thing in our news for a time. Until the hysterics moved on to other issues they previously ignored--like Ukraine. Although the attempted Lebanon hysteria didn't get off the ground, it seems.
