The media sure stopped talking about the pandemic and the need to stay locked down forever pretty darned fast. All it took was media-approved riots. To think that it was only last month that peaceful protests over the lockdowns were deemed by the media as terroristic and worthy of a harsh police response.
Huh.
Remember, that Minneapolis cop who was arrested for killing George Floyd was tolerated by a Democratic city administration despite the officer's record. Let's keep this list handy for reference for who runs which cities as you follow the riots. I swear, the media is just about ready to plant signs in front of the wrecked Target stores that say HEROES LOOT HERE. No
Egypt is still fighting jihadi scum in the Sinai.
It's good to see some of the Floyd protesters trying to shut down the Antifa scum trying to be the vanguard of the proletariat--or whatever they think they are. And here. Antifa just wants to start trouble to use protesters as their cannon fodder. The Antifa scum need to be rolled up and enjoy the hospitality of Club Fed for several years. The killing of Floyd was horrific. The protests are justified. The rioting and looting loses the sympathy of many moved by the first and risks losing the approval of the second. Nail those responsible for the riots.
The T-90M. Is it too expensive for Russia to buy very many?
I hope Minnesota enjoys having this man as their chief law enforcement officer. What a choice.
Shit happens in war. That was a poorly planned convoy mission, it seems. Good for those two soldiers to escape, evade, fight, and make it home. That's movie-level drama.
The National World War II Memorial was vandalized in the unrest. A memorial to Americans who fought and defeated actual fascists was likely vandalized by poser "anti-fascist" Antifa losers (with "fascist" defined as meaning "not them") who are actual threats to America.
This is a good article about why Michigan has had a high mortality rate for the Xi Jinping Flu. But it has an interesting way bias is present in news. When discussing the problems of knowing how to treat covid19 patients, it notes the now-known problems*[see last paragraph] with hydroxychloroquine, which the authors says "was promoted by President Donald Trump." That's true enough. But it's clearly an "Orange Drug Bad" slant. Yet when the author discusses now-known problems with ventilators, the story does not provide the context of how Democrats hammered Trump for not providing enough of them--when it wasn't all his responsibility, when we never ran short, and when we now find out they aren't as effective as we were told and may be counter-productive. There is no hinting that "Blue Machine Bad." And that is how bias creeps in to even a pretty good story.
The Scumbag Auxiliary in action. Hypothetically, of course. There was a time when higher education was a weapon against barbarism.
Even if we get rid of every Chinese Communist Party Confucius Institute on American college campuses, the CCP has burrowed in deeper than that.
If our home grown pampered revolutionaries want to commit terrorism, why can't we send them to Guantanamo Bay after their trial for a little taste of the consequences? Ah, a man can dream, can't he?
I was horrified that George Floyd died in police custody. The police should not have that power. My horror over that has been suspended for the duration of the nationwide Antifa-instigated rioting and looting, which is a greater horror affecting a lot more people. The question is whether my horror over Floyd's killing will be restored when the rioting and looting is over or whether my concern for Floyd-related issues in Democrat-run cities has been permanently reduced by the rioting and looting.
Russia has earned NATO precautions with two decades of unjustified hostility to NATO. Hopefully NATO took Russia's complaint and filed them in the proper place.
I mentioned that I had riot control training when I was in the Michigan Army National Guard. One thing that sucked was that while in formation I had to carry the riot baton right-handed. If it came to a scrum I was allowed to switch to left-handed grip.
2020 sucks. Two weeks ago governors and mayors wanted to arrest people who wanted to go to the beach. Now governors and mayors are cool with looting and rioting. Note to self: buy more ammo.
I can't emphasize this enough: Those Antifa scumbags want to use African American as cannon fodder for their effed up revolution. We should fill Guantanamo Bay with those cul-de-sac communists.
She thought the least the looters could do, considering her deep devotion to their cause, was destroy her business last. Oops. Tip to Instapundit.
Rule of His Law: "Vladimir Putin on Monday set a new date for a nationwide vote on constitutional reforms widely seen as a path toward his becoming president for life." The suspense was killing me. I guess Putin got tired of the musical chairs game he had been playing.
It's okay to call people who loot stores "looters." That's how definitions work. The idea that calling people "looters" implies that all protesters are looters is ridiculous. That's why we have separate words for the two activities. If leftists think the two groups are one, that's a confusion that protesters should take up with the left. This smacks of leftist indignation that using the word "terrorist" somehow implicated or insulted all Moslems. That always stunned me by the clear leftist assumption that "Moslems" and "terrorists" are interchangeable terms.
I've noted Turkey's imperial restoration efforts in the Mediterranean Sea. Here's more on that "Blue Homeland" project. Doesn't Turkey have enough problems in Syria and with Russia and Iran? Does Turkey really want to add Egypt and Israel--and God help me--NATO member Greece--to their list of problems? Honestly, thinking Turkey is a budding global power is delusional.
It seems like every month in the era of Trump the Democrats and their media partners give me another reason never to trust them again. From the 2016 election and their demonization of Trump voters to the BS Russia collusion hoax and the domestic spying it used, to the 24/7 turn-the-dial-to-11 Resistance, to the Kavanaugh hearings, to the Ukraine collusion hoax, to the Xi Jinpiing (Wuhan) Flu insanity, and now to the riots that have drowned out the unity we had over the unjust death of George Floyd. And I say that with dismay because in my career I worked with many fine people from both parties. While I'm sure that those fine people remain, unfortunately the national Democratic party has shifted too far left for me to trust in government--for anything.
The bleating about how horrible and dangerous it is to have active Army troops sent to restore law and order would, apparently, have precluded sending troops to Little Rock in 1954 or Detroit in 1967. Soldiers swear to defend the Constitution against enemies, foreign and domestic. Antifa is such a domestic enemy. Law enforcement can certainly handle them. So I'm not saying Army combat operations should begin against them. But the Army can certainly help law enforcement restore order if needed. I sincerely hope the Army isn't needed. Heck, I hoped that the Army National Guard wouldn't be needed. But local and state police were insufficient to contain and stop the rioting and looting.
Escape from New York was supposed to be science fiction and not a documentary.
Say, I wonder what all those criminals who were released from prison to avoid the pandemic are doing during the looting and riots?
No! Way!
The left doesn't care about the working poor who can die and lose jobs in pandemic and see hope burn up in Antifa-fueled riots and looting for all our left cares, if it can simply reduce Trump's polling average by a percent or two. The media should be ashamed of themselves.
I'm not even sorry to say this is effing hilarious. Those guys were assured they'd be last up against the wall come the revolution.
Detroit never recovered from the 1967 riots as people fled the city in droves. How many other American cities will hollow out after this year's riots, leaving the poorest and least educated behind? But hey, in fifty years, maybe pockets of young hipsters in gated high rises will return to those cities, too.
After seeing his performance as mayor in the pandemic and riots, I will say that I am grateful for Democratic primary voters decisively rejecting Bill DeBlasio when he wanted to run for president.
Syria does not have an integrated air defense system.
The government of the Philippines had decided not to cancel the Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States. That seems wise given Chinese claims and encroachment on Filipino territory.
Experts haven't exactly covered themselves in glory during the Xi Jinping Flu pandemic, so I take their activity risk scores with a grain of salt. So what's the risk score for staying inside, avoiding medical help, and losing your job and home? Maybe 10-ish?
So hurricane season is apparently here, FYI. Maybe 2020 will try to mend its ways and give us a break. That would be nice.
What on Earth are our Democrat-run cities doing?
The pandemic and riots will end. And then we can keep our eye on the prize concealed by the headlines. Things look rough now. But we'll be fine. To the immense annoyance of our foes and enemies.
I think America should match Britain's travel visa offer to Hong Kong residents under threat from China to compete for that pool of free people. In a fair world, in exchange China would take our Antifa thugs who would fit right in over there as prison guards and neighborhood snitches.
In New Jersey, protests that lead to riots are fine with the governor despite the threat of spreading Xi Jinping Flu; but people wanting to go outside without setting fire and stealing are still considered monsters who will just get grandmas killed. So that's how this is going to work, eh? A lot of governors and mayors seem to feel that way.
The United States is still trying to separate Maduro from his military supporters in Venezuela.
I won't exactly say I "enjoyed" reading this, but yeah. Tip to Instapundit.
There is something odd about Vegans only eating plants when there are meat-eating plants. Maybe I'm just insufficiently anti-plant and I should salute the anti-plant focus of the Vegans. Are Vegans the shock troops of the mammal world?
The Left: Step 1, only the police should have guns; step 2, get rid of the police.
Will China use military exercises in the South China Sea this summer to cover preparations to invade Taiwan's Pratas Island?
The new Space Force had a unit on hand to rescue the SpaceX crew during launch in case the crew needed to escape and return to the surface of the planet. I think we will be in a "new era" of space flight when the rescues involve Space Force SMODs (or STAR teams, I'm torn between the two) conducting rescues in space.
The India-China dispute, with a minor role for Pakistan.
If in a few weeks there is a spike in Xi Jinping Flu coronavirus infections in cities where mass protests and riots took place, I'm going to say that there will be people on the left accusing Trump of hating brown people for failing to get them off the streets sooner.
Let's hope the American effort to stop Russia's Nord Stream II Baltic Sea pipeline to Western Europe is successful.
Let's review the chain of command responsible for "systemic racism" in Minneapolis that is supposedly the cause of the unjustified killing of George Floyd by city police: "To start, you have as the city Mayor, Jacob Frey, an avowed leftist who follows a string of Democratic liberal leaders. The last time a Republican was elected to run the city was 1957. The police chief of Minneapolis is Medaria Arradondo, a black police official. The federal representative for the city, in Washington, is the famed female POC Ilhan Omar, and the top cop for the state is another POC and former head of the DNC, Attorney General Keith Ellison. Are these the leaders perpetuating the culture of white supremacy? [new para.] Just to add to the list, you have Minnesota headed by Democrat Tim Walz, the state is served by two Democrat senators, including Amy Klobuchar who spent years as an acting state attorney in a few offices, and even the sister city of Saint Paul has as its Mayor, Melvin Carter, another POC leader. These would be the people operating the 'racist and prejudicial system and culture'. Looking over these names, note how few have incurred the wrath and blame over the past week, while President Trump has been pointed at as responsible." Democrats like to falsely claim Republicans are racist. But when Democrats have run a community for decades, you think they'd work together among themselves to end that local institutional racism without even needing to get Republican cooperation. I feel the same way about college campuses that somehow are still bastions of racist hate according to the leftists who run the colleges. Based on the riots, you could be excused for thinking that the police weren't rather quickly fired and charged with the murder of Floyd. They were. You could be excused for thinking that anybody in power anywhere was defending the behavior of the police who controlled Floyd that day, taking actions that led directly to the man's death. Nobody did. But here we are. Maybe those leftists in charge find that the institutions work just fine as is to keep them in power. Tip to Instapundit.
I'm sad to report that Trump Derangement Syndrome finally broke Mattis. I had a lot of respect for Mattis as a Marine. But his dangerous hinting that extra-legal measures can stop Trump ("We can unite without him" is a little ambiguous for my tastes) should be rejected firmly. Has Mattis not paid attention to the last four years of Democrat/media demonization of Trump and his supporters? Mattis says divisiveness is all Trump's fault? Do you remember Obama's "bitter clingers" dismissal of Democratic primary voters? Do you remember Hillary's "basket of deplorables" dismissal of so many Americans? Is the absolute hatred Democrats have shown toward Trump voters since 2016 fading from memory? If you don't recall those cases, let's refresh memories with this new Biden comment about Americans: "There are probably anywhere from 10 to 15 per cent of the people out there that are just not very good people, but that’s not who we are." I'm so old I remember when Democrats and their media comrades called Mattis and other generals in the administration a symptom of Trump's authoritarian instincts. I assume that Mattis will get some of that strange new media respect that comes from "evolving" toward the left. I remain perplexed that after 3-1/2 years into his four-year term that Trump is still merely edging toward authoritarianism rather than just being the dictator I've been assured since his election that he wants to be. "Dog whistles" remain his chief tactic, it seems. If Mattis wanted to criticize the president for his church trip photo op, I'd be fine with that. But in his words he went well beyond just that. And he was wrong to do so.
Good news from China on the Xi Jinping Flu--if true.
A liberal reporter is in trouble with the left for stating the obvious: "Tracey warned, 'the left-wing activist/media world (there is no real distinction between the two) increasingly operates like some kind of New Age cult. There is plenty of cult-like behavior on the Right as well, but these left-wing activists are culturally ascendant, and they are total lunatics.'" The "culturally ascendant" angle is the important part. I've mentioned in the past that right wing cranks are dismissed, ridiculed, and marginalized by the media and culture. But the left wing cranks are celebrated and amplified by that culture and media.
The American aircraft readiness battle. We're missing our standard, but keep in mind that our readiness standards are pretty high compared to the rest of the world.
Has NYC reached its limit for blaming Trump for everything? Tip to Instapundit.
The 1889-1890 pandemic. It went away and they didn't know as much as we now (pretend to?) know about how such things spread. Well, to be fair we know much more now than then. But we just might now know what to do about it in a practical sense any better now than then.
Don't blame the pandemic for plans to add bike lanes and reduce vehicle access to downtown Ann Arbor. This is just an excuse to do what has been going on already, as far as I can see.
Well this is a damn good sign about restarting our economy. Perhaps the data is off and it will be revised to a less rosy picture in the future--which is routine--but speculating on political pressure to rig the numbers is almost certainly ridiculous. The permanent Resistance bureaucracy failed with three years of well-funded investigation to even manage to fake evidence for Russia-Trump collusion BS. You really think parts of it are up to this kind of fakery?
I'm old and out of touch, I guess. I just don't understand how it is progressive rather than racist to assume that African American college students can't do as well as any other race or ethnicity. Tip to Instapundit.
Democrats have been claiming Trump sends out racist dog whistles. I've long thought that was a pretty stupid position to take. But maybe I'm wrong about that. After all, if even all the city employees in a Democratic-majority Minneapolis in a Democratic-run state can be swayed into building racist institutions that committed a racist killing of George Floyd after he was clearly subdued, the only explanation is powerful presidential racist dog whistles, right? Which makes sense, because I swear to God the only people hearing those so-called dog whistles are Democrats.
The Navy aircraft carrier put out of action by the Xi Jinping Flu was able to go back to sea and resume operations.
You can tell it is an election year because Democrats have hauled out American flags for television background. Not that I'm saying Democrats aren't patriotic. But the political leaders don't seem to have much use for that symbol of our country in non-election years.
Antifa are violent scumbag a-holes (that's what the "A" in a circle really stands for), but don't ever make the mistake in thinking that the self-styled vanguard of the proletariat aren't organized violent scumbag a-holes. Tip to Instapundit.
Speaking of stupid positions to take, is it really a matter of an authoritarian streak for Trump to want security forces to contain lawless rioting and looting in our cities? Really? I don't understand why it is considered wrong to be horrified at Floyd's death, to defend the rights of peaceful protesters, to deplore the violent looting, to be determined to sweep up the Antifa scum fomenting trouble, and to want to protect Americans from the violent riots by using security forces to get the looters to go home. None of those things are inconsistent with the others.
Dissidents abroad apparently finally have somebody at Voice of America that has their back. The election season is here and an Obama-era replacement is finally in place. I don't like this trend of the continuous campaign that doesn't let the winner govern.
Well said.
While I am disgusted by the rioting and looting and repulsed by those on the left celebrating them, am I unworried that this is a budding insurrection (which is distinct worries about local damage) because I remember the 1992 Rodney King LA riots, the 1970s urban terrorism, and even have an awareness of the 1967 riots even though I don't remember any details? This too will pass. Hopefully people will understand that rioting is bad and not something to be celebrated, and does lasting damage to their communities even as the rest of the country moves on.
Drones down to fire team level, launched from a 40mm grenade launcher, are available to U. S. infantry if the price is considered worth it.
I'm not sure why I should care a whole lot if leftists want other leftists to destroy leftist cities. As I've said on the issue in foreign policy, I can't care more about other people than they care. My lack of caring is amplified by the bizarre blaming of Republicans for civil rights conditions in violence-wracked cities that have been run for generations by Democrats. Ah, who am I kidding? I do care. Poor and working class people who had nothing to do with the rioting and looting are being victimized by the violence and will continue to be harmed by the flight from cities by people and businesses that will no doubt take place--on top of the reaction to the Xi JInping Flu--in the decades that follow the current ... unpleasantness.
Good job France! "France says it has killed the leader of al-Qaeda in north Africa, Abdelmalek Droukdel, in an operation in Mali." I like more good jihadis.
Please God, let this hoax work.
I'm thinking the looters already got their second pandemic stimulus payment.
To be fair, the percentage is actually rather low.
An American destroyer made another transit of the Taiwan Strait. Which--as everything does--annoys the Chinese Communist Party.
I'm really sorry that an elderly man hit his head after stumbling back in a protest in Buffalo, but is it just me or is this being overblown? The man deliberately got in the way of the police and the officer barely pushed the man back. Perhaps the police shouldn't have done even that to a man with perhaps poor balance. But then again perhaps a man with poor balance should not have decided to be a more active protester and get in the path of the officers and engage with them. Watch the video and don't just stop at the truncated version of the moment of the push--which is replayed repeatedly. Wait until you see a more complete video of the man approaching the police, talking and gesturing, and the apparently light push by the officer that does not approach "pushed to the ground." And keep in mind that the members of the unit resigned from that volunteer unit (but not from the police force) in protest over how the officers in contact have been treated and not over the push. The man will be okay, the report says at the end. If that man turns out to have a long record of "activism," I'm going to say I strongly suspect he took a dive at the slightest touch.
I know, I know. It's ridiculous to call our media purveyors of fake news. I watched Trump say what he did about Floyd and equal rights and was stunned--like I was born yesterday, I guess--that they twisted it into that false story about unemployment numbers.
The Egyptian diplomatic effort for a ceasefire and withdrawal of foreign forces from Libya is an attempt to reverse the gains that the Turkish intervention has allowed the UN-recognized (but jihadi friendly) GNA government forces to make in recent months.
Pretty much:
I guess the South Koreans can thank the North Koreans in that accidental DMZ firing incident for exposing a problem with South Korea's remote weapon system on the DMZ. With a bonus reveal that poorly trained North Korean troops are on the DMZ. I thought the best trained and most disciplined were put there to avoid defection attempts or incidents.
I sincerely hope that the Xi Jinping Flu pandemic is a once-in-a-century event because we'll need that long to regain trust in our public health officials who supported "science" right up until their politics trumped the science.
At least this "plague" is large enough to be seen and killed.
I suppose we can be grateful that Antifa isn't as powerful as Hezbollah in Lebanon, where the Lebanese people have a need for way more than mass protests to solve their problem. Although Portland, Oregon may be close enough to what Lebanon experiences.
I find it hilarious that the head of the Second City comedy group stepped down over charges that the group is racist. After Trump was elected, in Toronto in summer 2017 the "comedy" show seemed to me to be about a third angry screaming rants directed at Trump, which was met with approving applause. It was a revival meeting and not a comedy show. I was disappointed that I couldn't escape the Resistance insanity out of the country. But with the resignation, I guess it was all a clever cover for its racism. Odd that I didn't catch the dog whistles.
So we're going to gloss over the fact that D-Day was a fight against actual fascists and not the Antifa definition of Nazis as anybody to the left of themselves, eh? I thought better of Mara Liasson until this shameful shout out to Antifa scumbag POS cul-de-sac communists. Tip to Instapundit.
FFS. I was all prepared to write this when I started reading that story: "If Democrats hadn't been so awful the last 3-1/2 years with their unrelenting turn-the-dial-to-11 Resistance BS, Trump Tweets like this could get me to reject his reelection. I don't care if Floyd was awful or not. He should not have been killed from police action. Saints and sinners have the same right to the delivery of justice via the judiciary." Although the way the media twists things, it may not be fair to pull one troublesome item out of the interview referenced as the reason for the presidential mention. As I continued reading after my initial reaction, given what the interviewer said that mirrors what I said about saints and sinners, why assume Trump wasn't agreeing with that framing of the interview he noted? And actually, the article I cited initially repeats the false claim that Trump claimed Floyd would be happy about our unemployment numbers. BOOM! goes the credibility. That, as I noted earlier, is a complete and foul misrepresentation. So I guess I have to retract my FFS directed at the president and wonder if this should go to the media yet again for reading minds and spinning the worst out of nothing. God I hate our media. I'm no big fan of Trump and never have been. But he looks so much better in comparison to his foes in the Democratic politics/media complex.
In Wonder Woman I was horrified that the Amazons used swords and bows. In the World War I setting, a German landing party of non-elite troops killed a lot of the Amazons with their basic rifles. A century later in Justice League the Amazons still hadn't managed to upgrade their weapons or tactics. Which I suppose is a lesson in how soldiers are superior to warriors.
*Wait. What? It's amazing how often Science! is ratified by whether it hurts the Bad Orange Man. I didn't assume chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine work because Trump has said good things about them. But I don't dismiss or demonize them because he has said good things about them. I just want to know if they work. I guess we still don't know. But I'm a science denier, or something.
