"Hundreds of people smashed windows, stole from stores and clashed with police early Monday in Chicago's Magnificent Mile shopping district and other parts of the city's downtown." At one point police returned fire against the rioters. If nothing else gets the attention of Chicago rulers, this assault on the tourism and tax base will. I wonder if this was basically a logistics operation by Antifa and BLM to grab high-end goods for resale? If voters don't punish the Democrats for aiding and abetting this chaos, America is screwed.
How could that possibly be a source of potential voter fraud, eh?
Say what you will about the Chinese Communist Party, but crushing dissent in Hong Kong isn't just reserved for the little people.
No good deed goes unpunished. The dread "neocolonialism," indeed. As if Iran hasn't basically cornered that market for now.
One result of Democratic/media unrelenting opposition to Trump has been that Democrats forfeited their opportunity to forge spending deals with Trump over core conservative Republican opposition. As I've noted before, Democrats pushed Trump to be more conservative than he otherwise would have been, in my opinion. So in addition to their awful and dangerous perversion of being the "loyal opposition" that makes them an unpalatable alternative to Trump, Democrats made Trump a candidate easier for conservatives--and more relevant here, me--to support on the merits. Bravo, Democrats. Good job. Truly an astounding achievement. I can't be the only person so affected these last 4-1/2 years.
That was great, but Russia got their revenge from 1939 to 1989. Do you wonder why Poland wants NATO protection and American troops on the ground there? And do you wonder why we should be there? Why the Germans won't step up for NATO is beyond me. Tip to Instapundit.
I assume Biden has to accept the nomination at the convention before he is eased out as the presidential candidate lest Bernie Sanders claim the Iron Throne as next-biggest success in primary contest. Although Bernie might prefer to continue as the Rasputin behind the scenes given how much Biden has surrendered to the left after "defeating" them in the primary.
News from the "mostly peaceful" Islamist world.
The AI pilot doesn't need to be better than a human pilot, just good enough to make attrition between a pilot that takes years of training and practice to be good and an AI built in weeks work against the humans.
To be fair, the mainstream media was in a Hopeandchange-induced coma for 8 years. Via Instapundit.
Sadly, watching practice from a distance--I couldn't pull myself away for 20 minutes when I ran across it during a walk--will be my only college football this season.
Your feel-good story of the day. Tip to Insanity Wrap.
Republicans pounce! If the media won't notice that Black Lives Matter and Antifa are a radical leftist mob, somebody has to. Black lives of course matter. But the organization BLM and the Antifa scum are violent Marxists. If voters don't punish the Democrats for aiding and abetting this chaos, America is screwed.
The freaking Bubonic Plague in China?! Alert WHO. This will work out just swell, I'm sure. Thanks 2020!
Apparently riding a bike is proof of mental fitness to be president. Okaaay:
Blood for gas? Turkey seems determined to have everyone hate them.
I think the chance that Russia's S-70 Hunter combat drone will enter the Russian armory in 2024 is close to zero. The Russians love their weapons announcements!
No doubt the group was Islamophobic and deserved it.
Critics say that the payroll tax deductions don't help the unemployed. But by increasing take-home pay the measure will encourage people to take jobs rather than continue receiving enhanced unemployment benefits that sometimes provide more money than working.
The Iranians might sink more ships in the aftermath of their "Nimitz" fiasco.
To be fair, I'm sure the journalist is unaware that Gettysburg was in Union territory and that Union forces won the battle there.
Yeah, credibility was squandered by deeming some "gatherings" just okey dokey. The motorcyclist rally was ill-advised. But perhaps our Democratic leaders and public health officials would be kind enough to compile a list of allowed and prohibited gatherings that won't or will spread the Xi Jinping Flu coronavirus for future reference.
At this point, Seattle deserves what it gets. Which is still separate from police reform on a number of fronts--even if few cops deserve the scorn--that the now-forgotten George Floyd incident exposed. Even if the released body cam footage changes the narrative quite a bit, and made Floyd's death more negligence than murder as I first thought, police need to be more careful so they don't essentially pass a death sentence for a minor crime. Floyd was no saint, but he didn't need to be a saint. The issue at hand was passing a fake $20 bill. That's not a death penalty offense regardless of Floyd's contribution to his situation. And back to Seattle, can you blame the chief of police for not wanting to preside over that legislated fiasco?
Iran has a spreading oil and gas worker strike. I hadn't heard of that.
How would anti-satellite weapons take out 10,000+ small satellites and keep them from being replaced?
The Greeks started updating their navy just in time to face a Turkish threat at sea. And it seems that Greece is making a last ditch diplomatic effort with the EU before militarizing the sea dispute. Thanks Erdogan!
I assume Democrats and the media condemn the federal response to the Xi Jinping Flu pandemic because if you look at the state governors--where the responsibility properly lies in our federal system--Democratic governors would look bad. And one in particular. As if Democratic governors would have obeyed Trump! Have they obeyed his wishes to open up economies and schools? Would Democrats and the media be happier if Trump had the power to order a national response?
A Russian Xi Jinping Flu vaccine? I suspect this is as real as all the Russian weapon announcements of the past decade.
Local defense forces are a common development when fighting insurgents. We helped set them up in Iraq and Afghanistan because the government security forces can't be everywhere when needed. Sadly, local defense forces are needed in American cities because Democratic mayors won't let the security forces be everywhere when needed.
Cyber advanced persistent threats.
For once, Poland is not surrounded by enemies and alone.
I have no use for her personal conspiracy theories, but given the widespread Russia collusion conspiracy theorists in Congress already, who cares?
Despite China's brazen suppression of sparks of democracy in Hong Kong, the resistance is determined to keep fighting for democracy there. Perhaps the freedom protesters will benefit from the growing realization of large portions of the world that the Chinese Communist Party is a bunch of despotic and untrustworthy a-holes.
Kamala Harris is Biden's vice presidential running mate. Does she become their presidential candidate before the election? I assume Biden will get the formal convention nomination to prevent Bernie Sanders from arguing he should get the nomination as the second-place finisher. But will Sanders try to get the top spot or even settle for the running mate slot if the switch comes after the convention but before the election? Would the Democratic Party, which has expended so much effort in 2016 and 2020 denying
Well that's an obscure threat.
What fresh Hell is this? "Militants linked to the Islamic State group have seized a heavily-defended [Mocimboa da Praia] port in Mozambique after days of fighting, according to reports." AFRICOM has lots of ground to cover and few resources to do it, but this is a nice addition.
China sabotages the U.S. Navy via the Xi Jinping Flu.
I seriously worry that the Resistance is so worked up over the insane notion that Trump is (still) dog whistling his way to a dictatorship that someone from their ranks will make a serious effort to harm the president. Ditto on election fraud. These people bizarrely keep claiming that Trump is Hitler. What will some of those people do under that belief? Already they are rioting and looting our cities. What exactly would be out of bounds to "save" America from such a so-called threat even if the threat is just in their minds?
The American CENTCOM commander warned that ISIL is rebuilding in Syrian-conrolled territory in the west.
A local defense force in a Chicago neighborhood ejected the Marxist BLM invaders who tried to stir up trouble. Good job, Englewood. Have nothing to do with those scumbags who thought Englewood would be a nice source of cannon fodder. Tip to Instapundit.
I'm starting to think that elected officials in large cities, states, and the federal government should be forced as a condition of employment to send their children to public schools. The same goes for any employee of an education bureaucracy at any level.
Americans will reject the Left's vision for America, won't we? Not that I'm in the camp of Trump or the end of America. You only have to see Britain and the impact of Prime Minister Thatcher to know nothing is ever truly lost. So if Trump loses, there will be a peaceful transfer of power--and seriously, WTF is wrong with these coup porn nutjobs (oh, and one of the retired Army officers cited crazily--the technical term is that they are "bananas"--dreaming of using troops to eject Trump made an appearance in TDR for his idiocy on the cusp of the Surge/Awakening victory in Iraq; while another cited nutjob made it in way back then)?--and the political battle will go on. But we'll be heading in the wrong direction, to be sure.
Iran reminds the world that it is adjacent to the Strait of Hormuz. America has a reminder of its own.
France deployed ships in the eastern Mediterranean to bolster Greece in the intra-NATO dispute between Greece and Turkey. Recall that Turkey reportedly lit up with its fire control radar a French warship not long ago.
Biden perpetuates the Charlottesville "fine people" hoax. It is a divisive lie at this point to persist in repeating that fake news. And yes, it is fake news. No so-called "fact checker" will call him out on it. Oh, and Biden said he'd rely on Harris to question him and make sure he gets all the facts. Where was she on this lie?
Uh oh: "Chinese President Xi Jinping is urging people not to waste food as concerns grow over crop shortages stemming from the coronavirus pandemic and natural disasters."
I still don't really get the point of "Biden" selecting Kamala Harris for his VP candidate. Does she lock down California? Attract African-American voters? Biden had both, I thought. Her campaign skills when she failed to gain traction and dropped out of the race in 2019? And doesn't Harris alienate leftists given her record as an attorney general in viciously prosecuting minorities? Hah.
Doesn't that record repel minorities as much as attract any?
Racist sick kids!
Protesters in Portland burned a Bible or two before throwing American flags on the fire. And the media "debunks" the claim by arguing that while one or two Bibles were burned along with American flags, it is "disinformation" because a Russian source reported it. Apparently the Bible thing was okay because the protesters were using them as kindling. Okay, now do the Koran. The Russians are surely a-holes. But the American media apparently has a way to go in reporting if the Russians were better at it in this case. When Red Green demonstrates how to start a fire, no Bibles are harmed:
"Fact checkers" can ef themselves.
I still remember with fondness how President Obama told Putin to "cut it out" when Russia was discovered conducting an information operation to sow chaos in 2016. Good times, good times. As it turns out the "significant consequences" Obama warned about were measures Trump took to arm Ukraine and reinforce NATO. Life is funny that way.
American armored vehicles are starting to get active protection systems, beginning with the Abrams tank. Four armored brigades will have Trophy-equipped tanks. The tanks also have extra reactive armor to protect tracks and running gear. In another article that I can't find there was additional armor on the hull front and turret front. I assume they were reactive armor plates in layers.
Fairly recently there was some drama about Iranian tankers sending fuel to Venezuela to prop up Maduro. People speculated that there might be a confrontation at sea over them. America did not intercept them. But now America has taken legal action to stop the shipments.
Iraq is rather angry with Turkey for killing the occupants of an Iraqi jeep that included two border battalion commanders in a drone strike.
The riots around the federal courthouse in Portland continue despite the replacement of federal officers with state and local police on the streets outside the building. Rioter apologists insisted the riots were caused by the presence of the federal officers. The riots began well before federal agents were reinforced to keep rioters from destroying it, recall.
A much needed market correction.
I guess I've been distracted, but it looks like I haven't gotten Jane's defense news updates this year. I signed up 24 years ago. And now it appears gone. Or at least I didn't see it on the Jane's website.
It is kind of funny that in the Trump administration a lot of the permanent bureaucracy came out against actual elected Republicans carrying out foreign policy. The funny thing is that they made the same argument in the Bush 43 administration.
No thank you to near-free admission to a Xi Jinping Flu petri dish owned by the Chinese and likely filled with pre-election propaganda films.
That's the law Minneapolis wanted to enforce?
Why is there a mystery about why China is pushing self-driving cars? The real objective is to get self-driving tanks.
Hahahaha!
No doubt Hillary Clinton would accept a position if Biden wins! If Biden is foolish enough to appoint Hillary Clinton to his cabinet, everyone above her in the line of succession should immediately publish a video insisting that they would not and did not commit suicide.
You wonder why I have contempt for the media? When you go to this much effort to obscure the news you are not trying to enlighten your readers. Democracy dies in vagueness.
Once again, America is not abandoning Europe.
I think the QAnon stuff is rather stupid--although I only hear second hand references to it--but as long as liberals traffic in the fake Russia collusion I don't want to hear one damn thing from the left about it.
Yep:
This story is about Arab reaction to the UAE-Israel peace deal. But the writer amuses me by saying how the Palestinians want to set up a state on the West Bank, "territory captured by Israel in 1967[.]" Pray tell, who did Israel take it from? Well, Israel took it from Jordan. Which had no intention of making it a Palestinian state while it held it. Ditto for Gaza held by Egypt until 1967, I'll add.
I hear that Democrats worried about the trustworthiness of the Post Office delivering massive amounts of mail ballots in November will suggest that used car dealers transport them instead.
'Merica.
President Trump said following the UNSC rejection of continuing an arms embargo on Iran that America would pursue snapback sanctions allowed under the Iran nuclear deal. Which relies on Kerry in the Obama administration having done that properly. Yeah, good luck with that.
If teacher unions won't reopen schools, perhaps it is time to break their hold on K-12 education. I mean, if even the public school bureaucracy doesn't think the teachers are essential employees why should taxpayers disagree?
Air power--strikes, recon, and transport--are very important to the Afghan government. And the Taliban greatly fear the strikes, which Afghan aircraft contribute 25% of the total.
On the other side. Portland deserves what it gets. Tip to Instapundit.
ODIN will replace the troubled ALIS maintenance system for the F-35. I have been concerned about ALIS. Fingers crossed.
Well that's interesting, but I don't quite see the similarity between Australia's island defense strategy and France's continental position. The French army's Pacific efforts had best be limited to increasing local power to resist China while the French gear up for conventional combat in Europe to stop Russia.
I think Democrats are trying to run out the clock and bury the investigation into the "Obamagate" spying scandal that revolved around the fake Russia collusion allegation. If they win in November, they think they are safe. God help us if justice and rule of law is only dispensed when investigating the opposition party. Heck, maybe that's why Kamala Harris was selected as Biden's running mate. The former prosecutor and future president will have the skills and incentive to kill the investigation.
I don't understand why leftists who can see "microaggressions" can't see rioting and looting in our big cities, preferring to call them "mostly peaceful protests."
So that's my governor.
The president's brother passed away. I'm sure the Resistance will be as awful as you imagine they will be.
Well WTF do you expect will happen when the police fail to control leftist rioters and when prosecutors refuse to prosecute them? And don't think I'm siding with much of the counter-protesters, if their characterization by the media can be believed. But the media is suspect given this gem of so-called reporting about "nearly three months of protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody and President Donald Trump's 'law and order' response to demonstrations." For God's sake, how many times can we be fooled by this insane framing of what is going on? "A day of largely peaceful protests against racial injustice and police brutality ended in violent skirmishes between demonstrators and police in downtown Chicago, with two dozen arrests and multiple injuries." Again, protests are fine and legal. The riots and looting are not "protests" and the president is not trying to stop protests! This will not end well. Which is what the Marxist Antifa and BLM agitators want. Don't ever think they want justice--racial or otherwise.
