More Chinese Communist Party "Confucius Institutes" are closing down on our campuses. But there is some resistance. Why?! Do those universities pine for Aryan Institutes or Putin Institutes, too? But where is the CCP shifting their effort? Don't be foolish enough to think that closing the institutes necessarily reduces the espionage and propaganda that the institutes practiced. The colleges continue to collude with the genocidal fascists in Peking. And shame on the University of Michigan for being one of the campuses trying to maintain links.
Full-rate production of the F-35 (160+/year) should begin in March. Already, 440 have been delivered to all customers.
The battle against H1N1 did not go well, and America got lucky. Sixty million Americans got that?! While I remember hearing about it, I never remember hearing any alarming news. I certainly don't remember being alarmed and I have no mentions of it back then on this blog. Nor do I ever recall any discussions of closing the economy or schools. And both of my children were in school back then. I guess there was no political need to stoke a panic.
I don't think North Korea is a worse problem because of Trump, but I was never hopeful that Trump's charm offensive with North Korea would work. But given Obama's failed deals with Iran and Syria, I am positive that Democrats would not have been better with stopping North Korea. In related news of that point more broadly, the idea that Republican hawks can think Biden will defend American interests more aggressively than Trump is stunningly stupid. If Democrats actually do use the military more readily, it will be after cutting the defense budget and so we'd get the worst of both worlds.
More testing shows more Xi Jinping Flu covid19 cases. Duh. Which is why I prefer to watch deaths. But with false positives, are we making the pandemic look worse than it is? And what does that say about the dread "asymptomatic" spreader threat?
So what will China do with their rapidly built high-technology "sea control navy with global reach"? And will the Navy thwart China where such ambitions threaten America and our allies?
This is interesting: Russia's influence in Syria's government is pretty thin and so it has links to the opposition as a fallback position. And basically, Russia needs Syria more than Syria needs Russia.
If America truly is systemically racist, you'd think the system could have held the line closer to slavery rather than retreat from that baseline to electing the first African-American president and achieving the tremendous progress America has made in civil rights. But of course, America isn't systemically racist and the accusation is a dangerous lie. Although it is kind of funny that universities--run by obvious leftists--are supposedly such concentrated Hell holes of racism (on top of rape and sexism, as we've been told). Via Instapundit.
That's pretty funny.
I easily could have come to look forward to Trump leaving after one term, having served his main role of stopping the corrupt Clinton. I wasn't worried one bit about the insane worries about dictatorship and concentration camps that the Left peddled. I was worried about Trump embracing his inner New York City liberal. But then the Resistance began its unhinged 24/7 turn-it-to-11 opposition. And that included the insane notion that Russia colluded with Trump to put Trump in office, leading to the despicable impeachment attempt over Ukraine. It really has been an attempted coup under color of law. The probe deserved about a month of examination before dismissing it as a partisan hit job on Trump. Instead it became its own scandal. People must pay the price for inflicting that on America.
Was it a year ago that we were all chuckling about the Storm Area 51 notion? Ah, good times. Good times.
Don't be so eager to favorably compare Europe to America in responding to the Xi Jinping Flu pandemic. They are on different path and now cases are jumping up in Europe. Compare when this is over. And don't compare apples to oranges.
Seriously, we can vote in person. Really.
Is anybody shocked to find that Navalny was poisoned? If Putin isn't evil, he's close enough for government work.
He was made to "care."
Why there is an ammunition shortage in America.
As far as I can tell, Biden's plan for dealing with the Xi Jinping Flu pandemic--five months after lockdowns started and five months before Biden could begin to implement them--is basically what Trump has been doing. With one exception--Biden wants rapid testing. Uh oh.
More on the Turkish-Greek dispute plus Germany, France, and the EU.
The Russians are shocked that people don't trust their "Sputnik V" Xi Jinping Flu vaccine. To be fair, the original Sputnik was a beeping sphere that did nothing.
Hiftar is not fooled by the "ceasefire" announced by the Turkish-backed GNA in Libya. The Turks are building up forces behind the cover of the ceasefire. Ceasefires are only useful if you need the pause to continue fighting. If you don't need it, don't agree to it and focus on winning.
Huh. To be fair, Hope and Change make anything good, from kids in cages to spies. Tip to Instapundit.
Space debris is a thing.
The "reality-based" community, indeed. If Democratic mayors and governors won't protect their residents, eventually the residents will protect themselves. Do Democrats want street battles and casualties? Is Bleeding Kansas coming to a city or state near you? [PRE-PUBLICATION UPDATE: Well, too late. And the Antifa scum flat out murdered a Trump supporter. I've warned that vigilantes and self defense force will form in the absence of state protection. Can we step back from expanding street battles? I'm glad I have sufficient ammo. Not that I expect to need it. But things can change rapidly. I think the Portland murder is the moment that changed things. If the state and city continue to refuse to maintain peace and order, Trump may need to federalize Oregon Army National Guard troops to seal off Portland--not enter--and send in federal civilian law enforcement to arrest Antifa and BLM Marxists no matter what the mayor and state governor want. This is approaching Bleeding Kansas territory.]
Yo, Russia! We were in the neighborhood so thought we'd say hi.
Hahaha! Somebody reacted to the same way I reacted to the whole "under God" so-called fact check that I mentioned last week.
How lies gain traction in the left. How many will never know that another horrible thing they believe is false?
Pelosi is a horrible person. Let's make sure she isn't an ally of that state. It was actually her (and her party's) obsession with getting Trump that harmed America.
As long as Britain doesn't let the EU frighten Britain into delaying Brexit, who cares if the EU drags its feet on Brexit? If it is to be a no-deal Brexit, so be it. The EU is eager to cave in to far less economically important Iran to gain trade deals. I guarantee the EU will deal with Britain.
When do the Democrats provide "proof of life" for Biden who continues to be hidden away even as he is supposedly that party's presidential candidate?
China's rise has inspired fear, anger, and worry rather than respect. Because the rise has emboldened China to be more assertive in dangerous ways to other countries.
Yes, the Xi Jinping Flu pandemic is bad, but the media's effort to make it seem like America is worse than other countries is ridiculous. Our record by comparison is pretty good. I'll add that the cases chart seems to show a double hit. But America is big enough that I'd like to see two charts based on latitude to see if there are really two single curves from northern states versus southern states that simply look like a second wave when combined. I don't know what the dividing line would be but I'm sure there are standards of climate that would suggest the right place. Via Instapundit.
Pondering potential paths China could go to war.
I know this is true. Remember the spring when peaceful but openly armed lockdown protesters were portrayed as barely restrained insurrectionists who we should all fear (and condemn for not socially distancing and wearing masks!)? I'm disgusted by the media's portrayal of conservative protests as barely concealed insurrection while they constantly describe Marxist BLM/Antifa rioting and looting as "protests." You wonder why I've long mistrusted the media?
I'm sure we'll properly file China's protest that America observed their naval exercises:
Information on the Mali situation plus background.
Are we going to find out that the unhinged Democratic charges of colluding with the Russians is going to end up showing this was a huge smokescreen to conceal Democratic collusion with Russians?
Wow. Putting a small cubesat into orbit pretty cheaply.
Again, three weeks into cancelling my "cable" TV and I don't miss the woke sports or the news about the latest insanity from the Left. I'm not alone on the sports thing: "Increasingly, those who once most mattered to sports — fans, patrons — don’t care about the sports that so clearly and in so many instances don’t care about them."
"Thinking about last night’s Republican Convention today at the gym, I realized that Trump isn’t just running for re-election: The story he’s telling at the RNC is also about saving America from the race war that the left is trying to foment. The left wants it to be black vs. white, immigrant vs. native, etc. Trump’s making clear that it’s about people who are constructive, productive, and generally happy, vs. people who are destructive, parasitic, and generally miserable, and that that difference transcends things like race. This is a huge, underappreciated — and very traditionally American — message. By promoting it at this crucial time, Trump may very well be saving America." It is grimly ironic that liberals have been so awful in their "destroy the country in order to save it from Trump" excesses and silence in the face of spreading violence that they have turned Trump into the defender of our institutions and rule of law.
The Navy is looking at how it could repair damaged ships during a war beyond the inadequate Navy yards.
Sure, an Indian anti-shipping campaign against China in the Indian Ocean isn't cost-free or easy--but the objection of boarding and seizing Chinese ships is odd since in a war the ships would simply be sunk--it would be India's best theater in a war. I admit that my judgment rests on my assumption that China would have trouble sustaining a naval deployment to the Indian Ocean in the face of India's home field advantage. If that's wrong then things change. But if India gets allies in Southeast Asia to help interdict the Chinese PLAN, then China has major problems.
In his most biting attack on Trump yet, Biden demanded Trump "get off his lawn."
As Marxist riots and looting continue and expand across the United States--with the Democrats and media denying it is taking place--I'm starting to be relieved that our police have Army surplus armored vehicles in their force structure. I had been against that. But then again, I never imagined that Democrats and their media auxiliaries would aid and abet the riots and looting.
In five years, frowny-face liberals will bemoan the "retail deserts" in cities that were hollowed out by violent riots and looting this year that radical leftists cheered on.
Neat astronomy development.
Following the Doctor Jill Biden strategy, I see.
BLM Marxists abusively demand that you salute them. Be this guy:
Remember, of course Black lives matter. They must matter under our Constitution and it is our duty to make sure we live up to our ideals. But the organization BLM is just a violent hate group that rejects our Constitution and masquerades as a civil rights group. Do not become confused.
Iran has given the IAEA permission--at some time in the future--to look at two suspicious sites. I assume that the Iranians believe they have cleaned the sites of nuclear equipment and residue enough for whatever limited access the IAEA will be granted.
This had best be an actual accident. The Russians say it was the Americans' fault. But lying is in Russia's DNA, so there's that. The US DOD issued a statement.
The US has sanctioned a big time Chinese fentanyl dealer. That drug kills way too many Americans every year (over 31,000 in 2018).
Hong Kong democracy activist Andy Li was captured by the Chinese coast guard while trying to flee to Taiwan. Will this become a "boat people" humanitarian crisis? Is Seventh Fleet capable of rescuing a mass exodus attempt? What would the Chinese order their coast guard and navy to do? Taiwan is a good choice to flee to, of course.
Two NBA teams decided to boycott the rest of the season. Oddly it was not about the NBA's ties to communist China. I haven't followed the NBA since the late 1980s, so this doesn't affect me. But if this woke trend is picked up by the NHL, NFL, and NCAA football, they're dead to me. I'm sure I can find other things to do with my time. Hey, maybe professional soccer could find an opening in this fiasco by appealing to that niche market of sports-loving Patriotic Americans.
It's almost funny how Democrats get outraged over things Trump does that they didn't even blink over when Obama did them. It's like the Resistance isn't even trying any more. They've gone from Russia collusion to the Hatch Act? What? Has Mailboxgate joined Murder Hornets as a failed crisis already? By the election Democrats will be outraged that Trump ends sentences with a preposition.
My! What are the odds of having all three of the Marxists shot in Kenosha (two killed) being total scumbags? Not that they deserved to be shot (arrested, shunned, and marginalized, sure); and arresting the shooter seems appropriate. We don't want street warfare breaking out. Yet I don't know what charges--if any other than for firearm possession, given evidence of self defense--are justified. But it's a damn shame Democratic mayors and governors plus their enablers in the media haven't been willing to nip this sacking of our cities by barbarians in the bud before people started taking action on their own in the absence of police protection.
"Two weeks to bend the curve." Add that lockdown solution to the pandemic to the two biggest lies. So it is three lies, now. Or, since younger Americans don't have a clue about checks in the mail, just dump that one and add the two weeks thing to keep it at two lies.
PhDs work hard to destroy the reputation of their degrees. Tip to Instapundit.
Democrats keep pushing toward the inevitable decision to keep the addled Biden off of a debate stage with Trump.
Hahaha.
A lot of Trump supporters are really fanboys (and girls). I don't get that. I didn't get Democratic Obama worship, either. Mind you, I find Trump despite his flaws to be orders of magnitude superior to Biden--or whoever he is replaced with before election day. Hmmm. Could early mail voting promoted by Democrats screw up any notion of replacing Biden before the election because so many Democratic votes would be nullified?
In related thoughts, my support for Republicans was long based on defense, foreign policy, and economics. But I had respect for Democrats for blue collar support (I grew up in Detroit, first to go to college) and civil liberties. Over time Democrats became the party of wealthy progressives, racial and ethnic Balkanization, and cancel culture censors, which erased my former grudging respect. Under Trump there has been some backsliding in the Republican party on foreign policy and economics, but not enough to make Democrats superior. And the Resistance behavior has forfeited any chance Democrats would have to gain my support.
So they're saying drinking bleach has been a cure for a century? Sorry. But I just can't believe so many people wrongly believe Trump suggested drinking bleach (or any other disinfectant) to combat the Xi Jinping Flu. Tip to Instapundit.
Minneapolis tells still-willing business owners to lie back and think of BLM. Come on, man! Rioting and looting--not window shutters--give the impression the area is "unsafe" and "troublesome." Via Instapundit.
Non-lethal lasers--and how China naturally abuses the technology.
So these people claim they were "only" feeding the rioters and looters? Armies march on their stomachs. Arrest the logistics "tail" just like you'd arrest the violent "teeth."
Enforcing sanctions. Can Iran bypass the sanctions as they have in the past to some degree?
Watching the communist (BLM and Antifa) riots and looting alienate Americans, I'm reminded of a Nazi bookstore that set up in my Detroit neighborhood when I was in high school. Communists in their red vests and helmets marched outside protesting them. A friend and I went to watch. I mocked the Nazis, yelling "Heil Shicklgruber!" at the barricaded Nazis. But what was really funny was when the blue collar guys ran out of the bar across the street (probably there after their auto factory shift) and started yelling at the communists. The communists actually protested, "No, we're good! We're against the Nazis." The yelling men replied "You're as bad as they (the Nazis) are!" Times don't change much, it seems. Communists are just Nazis with media support.
Because there is as yet no replacement for mobile protected firepower.
The Navy wants long-range aerial sea mines. Excellent. That will hurt the Chinese navy. Mines are underappreciated.
I'm not sure this is satire, sadly.
Thank you drill sergeant for training my mind and my body!
Every time I hear "Build back better" I just shake my head over how lame that Biden election slogan is. It is truly awful. Terrible notion. A complete failure.
Abe announced his resignation as prime minister because his ulcerative colitis has returned. I hope he will be okay and that his successor will maintain close American-Japanese ties, which our defense secretaries reinforced.
Your periodic reminder that thinking "liberal minded" is a synonym for "open minded" is a crime against language. Ah, tolerance.
How can any of this California taxing scheme even be legal? On the bright side, California has set the precedent that other states that wish to attract California billionaires can declare themselves sanctuary states exempt from California's extraterritorial money grab. Tip to Instapundit.
Polling data caused changes of opinion where basic human decency had no effect. Remember this when you vote.
The Russians exercised their Pacific fleet near America. The threat is likely to come from the south.
Last week I noted that the Saudis would naturally want nukes if Iran gets them. The Saudis had funded Pakistan's nuclear program to get a "Moslem bomb" just in case. It is doubtful that Pakistan will supply warheads these days.
Just ... wow. Listen to the science, indeed.
I'm reading Six Frigates by Ian W. Toll. In 1797, when Philadelphia lost 10% of its population in an epidemic, this stood out: "Jefferson professed to regret the general decline in civility: 'Men who have been intimate all their lives cross the street to avoid meeting and turn their heads another way, lest they should be obliged to touch their hats (that is, to extend a greeting).'" Let's not pretend that until Trump we were always a united people. We can get through our current divisions. But let's try to tamp down the violence before the fabric of our society is strained even more because there is no guarantee we will get through today's decline in civility. Although I continue to hope that 99% of the decline in civility today is coming from the 1% of a-holes on Twitter all the time. Well, them and the barbarians sacking our cities.
Huh. Still, I'd like to know how the police let the suspect walk around the front of his car to the driver side to reach the point of risking Blake picking up a weapon. At that point, the police had the choice of shooting Blake or risking Blake kill or wound the officers. It seems like the police could have stopped him before they pretty much had to shoot him. We'll see.
Yeah, I don't get it either.
Hurricane Laura slammed into our Gulf coast. The storm was bad, but so far it seems that the death toll was reduced by advanced preparations. Let's hope the recovery effort goes smoothly.
Since dropping TV services I've been using YouTube more. Lately I've been watching Tim Pool more. He's a lefty and I have a lot of differences with him. But he is interesting in that he will--reluctantly but enthusiastically--vote for Trump based on the obvious Democratic support for the far Left sacking of our cities the last three months, and the left's abandonment of civil liberties in favor of identity politics which reeks of racism (and every other "ism," I'll add).
China has a secret weapon that cripples India's navy. And given that secret weapon, this Indian decision just increases the power of that secret weapon. Oh how the CCP rulers must be smiling as India deprives its military of good weapons.
Xi Jinping indicates that China has no intention of loosening its grip on its Tibet conquest.
I saw an article at the top of my Yahoo! news that said X number of people died during the Republican convention. Do you wonder why I despise our news media? What the ef did the latter have to do with the former? Nothing! Oh, and I never saw that headline for the Democratic convention. The bias is scary and that kind of putting a thumb on the electoral scale can't be rewarded with political victory.
Yeah, I don't get it either.
Enjoy your prison time jihad fangirl.
This week Michigan exceeded 100,000 cumulative Xi Jinping Flu COVID-19 cases. Tell me that if we had a Republican governor that the media wouldn't have gone into overdrive noting this "grim milestone."
What is Erdogan's major malfunction, anyway? Is France the country to get Turkey to back down from war with Greece? Is Turkey itching to be expelled from NATO by pushing Greece to war in this crisis? I don't want it to reach that point because I don't want Russia to have free access through the Turkish Straits. And I'm hoping that post-Erdogan that Turkey can return to being a good NATO ally. And again, I really hope we've quietly withdrawn our nuclear warheads from the Incirlik air base.
Hahahaha!
It saddens me that it is up to Trump of all people to defend a free market, rule of law, and strong defense America that doesn't ignore blue collar people. And it is bizarre that Trump is needed to defend the idea that rioting and looting are not acceptable. But it is what it is.
Over the last few years the United States has finally started to combat Chinese espionage in the United States. It may frighten the non-professionals collaborating with the Chinese.
Could be. Sometimes it seems like the Democratic strategy is to blackmail America by saying that they will encourage the sacking of American cities until Americans reject Trump. Although for some on the Left, even that isn't enough. Only the rejection of America itself will do. Democrats claim Trump is stoking fear and evoking a "dark" future. But Democrats are the ones stoking riots, arson, and looting that create the justifiable fear of a dark future. Still, there is a lot of time until the election and there are a lot of unknowns. So I won't assume that take is right. But I know how I'm voting. How can anybody reward what the Democrats are doing?
Brave man to demand debate and not indoctrination. Tip to Instapundit.
How is it even remotely a good idea to make them too smart to make bacon out of them? Via Instapundit.
Instead of invoking the Insurrection Act, maybe Trump should order a full 24/7 lockdown in Portland to battle the pandemic. I mean, while Democrats deny they need federal help to put down Marxist looters and rioters, Democrats keep saying they want Trump to do more to fight the Xi Jinping Flu rather than let states take the lead.
The blue collar shift to the Republicans.
I just don't get nuance. If France of all places can't contain the Xi Jinping Flu pandemic, who can? Face it, this ends when there is herd immunity, the virus mutates to be less deadly, or we get a vaccine.
Large protests over the rigged election continue in Belarus. But is that enough to make Lukashenko lose his nerve and resign? Or would that be the trigger that sends Russian forces into the country?
Hezbollah will step back a bit in Lebanese politics to try to ride out the Lebanese rage over the port explosion and resume normal programming once people aren't paying as much attention again.
No! Way!
I hope Democrats return to sanity. I worked with Democrats at the state level for two decades and they were fine people, though I did not agree with them on policy for the most part. But I don't even recognize today's Democrats who I see at the national level. I hope the national voices don't reflect the state people. I don't like being disgusted with the Democrats. It seems wrong. But it is what it is--with ample evidence. I cannot trust them after seeing the Resistance in action for four years.
