Without American special forces on the ground in Somalia with our local allies, our drone strikes seeking to kill jihadis could actually be counter-productive. People forget that without old fashioned meat sack sources on the ground, the high tech strike systems could just be a means to kill the wrong people for the wrong people.
The Japanese navy is the second largest in Asia and very high quality.
The United States set a record for the number of Navy transits through the Taiwan Strait this year, which China obviously claims as their territorial waters in defiance of international law. Note that the next day Taiwan shadowed a Chinese carrier battle group going through the strait. Taiwan knows who is a threat to it.
Somebody fired rockets at the American embassy in Baghdad, which is defended by C-RAM defenses that were activated. Iran is the usual suspect. I wonder if Democrats will be demanding American retaliation for their favorite pet psycho regime? There does seem to be outrage that Trump has not openly condemned Russia for the apparently successful hacks.
So far, severe allergic reactions to Xi Jinping Flu vaccines have been rare.
No. I do NOT want to lock in behavior during the Xi Jinping Flu lockdowns and will return to normal--indeed more enthusiastic normal--when I can. Screw these proto-fascist control freaks. Tip to Instapundit.
Robot wars in the South China Sea? But beware the peacetime threats to the robots: "
That's fine for wartime. But I'd be careful about unmanned ships
without serious overwatch simply patrolling the South China Sea in
peacetime because I figure the Chinese would try to ram or board an
unmanned ship even if treating a manned ship that way is far less
likely." Heck, I'm already worried about those threats to our manned ships.
This successful use of UV light isn't against the Xi Jinping Flu virus, but it is promising. Tip to Instapundit.
Victor Hanson thoughts on the incoming Biden administration. We really can't afford to have Biden meet foreign leaders in person. Better to have them suspect he is in cognitive decline than have them confirm it first hand. I was going to write that this will be hard to pull off for four years, but we all know it won't have to be that long. Biden should have a personal protection detail composed of Iranian, Chinese, and Russian nationals. Lord knows they will defend Biden to the death for the sake of their motherlands.
Rwandan troops are already in the Central African Republic under the UN flag. Both Rwanda and Russia have sent forces outside of the UN which could fight as rebels threaten the capital.
We have probably spent too much time trying to find voter fraud or hacking when the real election manipulation was in plain sight.
Why can't American moviegoers have nice things? Tip to Instapundit.
USS Georgia, one of our four cruise missile submarines (capable of hauling around 154 of them) went through the Strait of Hormuz in a not too subtle "don't ef with us" signal to Iran. Although I'd think the Biden presidency is a "be smart and wait for the glories of a Reset" signal to Iran that is more likely to keep Iran quiet for now. Iran is our enemy. Why can't Biden and Europeans see that they can't achieve peace for our time with these mullah thugs?
Of course progressives are least likely to take pride in America. And when they do, it is usually only when progressives are running the country. Which means they take pride in progressives and not America. I don't understand how anybody isn't proud of America.
Oh good, despite the fact that Trump was just more vocal than Obama in insisting Germany pay for its defense (the 2% NATO standard was agreed to in the Obama era) the coming Biden administration is letting the Euro-weenies stand up and take pride in being Euro-weenies. Instead, Germany should abandon all guilt about being a defense free rider and focus on (cheaper) cyber warfare expertise. As if Germany would lead any type of counter-attack. Hah! I'm close to being fed up with the Germans.
The Army awarded a contract to update the Abrams tank over the next eight years: "The Abrams M1A2 SEPV3, described as the most reliable of the Abrams family, is a version of the current SEPV2 production model with significant improvements in the areas of survivability, maintainability, and network capability, General Dynamics said." And improved ammunition flexibility.
This is an interesting article on how the Army got ahead of the ISIL small drone threat in Iraq. Kudos. But the drones will get better than civilian conversions we defeated. And swarms will threaten to overwhelm ground-based defenses. Maybe then my aerial drone defenders idea that I advocated in Army magazine will be needed.
It's not that I'm for Confederate statues. It's just that I'm against the preening hypocrites and/or stunningly ignorant fools who bask in the glory of taking them down.
Oh I get it, in Oregon communists can riot, burn, and occupy territory without getting armored vehicles sent to immediately disperse them; but people on the right get the full treatment if they protest and attempt to observe the legislature in session, as is their right. Oregon likes standards so much that they have two of them!
North Korea is planting anti-personnel mines along their border with China to cut down on smuggling (goods in and information out) and to keep the Xi Jinping Flu out. How long before anti-tank mines are placed on the natural invasion routes from China?
I assume the Tyranny Porn aficionados will turn their attention to a daily 2-minute hate against Trump supporters to stoke their baseless obsession when Trump oddly doesn't stage a coup to remain in power.
A reminder that "science" changes on a dime for non-scientific reasons. I was always pro-mask even when we were being told not to use medical-grade masks. It was clear by listening to them closely that they were not saying masks are ineffective but that medical staff needed the scarce items more.
The Chinese are outraged that Australians are oddly treating China like an enemy. Where on Earth would the Australians get the idea that China is their enemy?
I'm not upset that members of Congress are "line cutting" to get the Xi Jinping Flu vaccine first. First of all, 538 shots are not going to deprive anybody lower down a vaccine. That's a drop in the bucket, an it is important for our federal legislative body to be able to work together. Second, can you imagine if they did not get it first and were accused of using the rest of America as test subjects to make sure it is safe for them to get the vaccine later? You'll have better chances to trigger my outrage if higher income Americans in general get the vaccine first, including professional athletes and actors. And I'm going to admit that I'm experiencing whiplash from the left saying that they will never trust the "Trump" vaccine to overnight saying minorities should have vaccination priority. Whoa.
Wow, the Cornell student government is learning all the tricks of despots manipulating a formal democracy to simply do what they want. Tip to Instapundit.
Britain is waiting to see how rough the European Union's punishment will be as Britain finally leaves the EU. Given how eager the EU is to trade with the far smaller Iran, perhaps Britain--which already has nukes--should threaten to bomb Brussels to get a little more respect and cooperation from the EU.
Good luck to Detroit on its lawsuit against BLM. I wish more cities would do this.
Surely you recall how the hopenchange transformed soul crushing unemployment under Bush to "funemployment" opportunity under Obama. With a bonus "new normal" of high unemployment argument. How long before our "dark winter" pandemic that Biden predicted under Trump becomes a Biden era "fundemic" of entertainment?
Biden will respond "in kind" to Russia's SolarWinds hack? Why do we assume we are not now? And what credibility does he have for that statement when the Obama-Biden administration launched its "reset" with Russia in 2009 despite Russia's invasion of Georgia in 2008?
UAV's disguised as birds. It will be interesting to see what countries start shooting birds routinely out of sheer paranoia.
Turkey's parliament extended by 18 months the authorization to have troops in Libya. The eastern Libyans threaten to target them.
The chutzpah is breathtaking. Given Swalwell's record and high profile over the past four years, his downfall will be well deserved and glorious to behold. Will Pelosi and the media back him despite the last four years of hyperventilating over imaginary Russian collusion?
The Nigeria-Boko Haram fight continues.
It is not hard to think that male progressives like Warnock are simply camouflaging their misogyny.
Another discussion of Sweden edging toward NATO membership.
Silly me, I thought the horrible music killed disco.
Do it! Do it! Do it now! Make sure no games are played with these serious issues next year.
The Air Force will practice deploying to different Pacific islands. Good, hop on those islands before anyone takes them to use against us. Land-based air power counts for controlling the seas despite not being part of a navy.
It's an interesting story, but the deployment of a Navy versus a Coast Guard ship would not be a big deal absent a paranoid angle of wondering what Trump is up to. Give it a rest, people. I guess this was also an outrageous use of Navy assets for non-military tasks.
Uh, cancel the latest Xi Jinping Flu mutation red alert. Tip to Instapundit.
A Brexit trade deal is close, apparently. ... and the deal was concluded ... in principle. So we'll see if the EU tries to make this work or tries to punish Britain through the deal. Johnson seems happy enough. I'm relieved. Although I'll only relax when 2021 arrives. It would be nice if we could come to a trade deal with Britain to help them out.
The pandemic relief bill is not actually only a covid relief bill. It is a combination covid relief bill and "normal" omnibus appropriations bill. So the crap in the spending bill is the usual crap that gets into spending bills. By all means be upset with that enduring problem. But the the relief portion is smaller than the Democrats wanted it to be--stuffed with partisan junk disguised as relief. So I'm not sure why conservatives are complaining about this spending bill. I think opening up the economy rather than spending money is the answer on the covid issue. But the short-term relief spending could be worse--and will be if we wait until next year. And conservatives should be worried that Democrats are celebrating Trump's desire for bigger relief checks. Trump earned conservative support with a number of conservative policies that rejected his liberal history. He certainly earned my support because of the last four years despite my longstanding personal distaste for him. If Trump is returning to his liberal populist instincts, conservatives should be wary of embracing every Trump priority. The spending is just insane.
A tour around Israel: a reminder that a Biden reset with Iran will allow Iran to fund Hamas and Fatah which have been cut off from major Arab funding because the Arabs are sick of the Palestinian attitudes; and Iran is moving the Houthi offensive effort to the Red Sea to attack shipping (perhaps the Israeli sub sent toward Iran is related to this?). One of those mines scored a hit.
Iran is trying to get Democrats worked up over Trump voters with "Enemies of the People" disinformation. Which will come in handy when Democrats want to dismiss Republican complaints about rewarding the mullah-run Iranian regime.
I have as little respect for conservatives spouting off about secession as I did about leftists spouting off about secession after 2016. I think it is all venting. Which is fine. Restoring federalism would be a soft-secession that we should all want to reduce polarization at the national level.
Will Erdogan face a stronger domestic opposition?
The Navy will get a new lightweight torpedo that has defensive capabilities, too. It will be small enough to be useful on unmanned systems, too. I wondered if the offensive light-weight torpedo could be the payload of our anti-ship cruise missiles--one-use drones, really--to focus on weaker anti-torpedo defenses.
The Air Force in Europe is starting to regain its command and control dispersal skills.
What an outrage that Trump isn't waiting until his last day in office to issue pardons! Settle down.
What is the CDC's major malfunction?! If woke non-science has this much influence under Trump, what will it look like under Biden/Harris?!
Have Xi Jinping Flu deaths in America been inflated by 13%? I've long said we are over-counting with a monetary incentive to count deaths with covid19 as deaths because of covid19. I dismissed claims that say the overwhelming majority of deaths are not from the pandemic. So this estimate at least seems reasonable. I imagine this will be corrected the day after Biden is sworn in so it looks like he lowered deaths. And again, wait to compare country or state efforts until this is over and when we have uniform definitions for the purpose of comparison.
I'm really getting annoyed at those meal delivery kits with very well off young people starting off saying how they like to eat "healthy." They have a fantastic kitchen larger than my living area and they decided that they have to buy expensive mail-order food ingredients to eat "healthy." Yeah, nobody could do that before companies started marketing expensive mail-order kits to yuppies. I wish these people would just admit that they like to eat "expensively" in a way that advertises their wealth and moral superiority to everybody who knows them.
Our new head-spinning media standard operating procedures. Had those journalistic standards been in effect the last four years, Trump would have beaten Ham Sandwich (D).
Hong Kong democracy advocate Jimmy Lai was released by Chinese authorities on bail, but with severe restrictions on his ability to make his case to the world. Let's see if he finds a loophole.
Signals. Please. Iran already knows they just need a little patience to get more pallets of cash to pretend not to want nuclear weapons.
Yeah, in the CCP's dreams. Seriously, they dream about it. So the Navy needs to be careful.
It's just a meme so space is limited, of course, unless you want 2-point font at the top:
Israel's war with Iran continues.
Good Lord, how can you (allegedly) murder your own daughter over your religious beliefs?! How feminists aren't the most militant anti-Islamists is beyond me.
How many generations is this commenter removed from farms to be that hilariously ignorant and woke?
Please dear God, be a joke. I'm not sure if I can make it the rest of this year if it isn't a joke.
I'm starting to think that Xi Jinping Flu suppression "science" requires California to have a wall around it--except in the south of course, you racist--to keep anybody from leaving and infecting the rest of us. while they inflict their social justice "science" on themselves. Tips to Instapundit.
Oh yeah, that's totally normal parenting. If true, of course. Or it could be worse if the parent kept their child completely isolated from everyone.
Bulldozing your way to victory.
That's disturbing, but have you seen their dating pool?!
So "political correctness, after all, functions as the cutting edge of a bourgeoisie culture that prizes civility and gentleness in manners.” That's not the defense of political correctness those authors think it is. The figurative cutting edge in practice is the guillotine that cancels people for bad-think. So far socially and economically. But how long before the Red Guards get more cutting edge literally?
Russia is always promising working weapons so I don't have major worries of Russian promises of having 76 Su-57 stealth fighters by 2028. And the plane (formerly known as the T-50) isn't 360-degree stealthy, recall.
Couldn't happen to a nicer proto-empire.
"Nearly 60 percent of the country thinks poorly of Progressive darling Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and 75 percent want nothing to do with the socialism she preaches." That's a pretty good result given that a pretty face is making the case for socialism. Although I'd be happier if it was all people and not just likely voters.Although maybe I'm assuming wrongly that all people would be more favorable to both. I guess I'll just be happy that people who vote reject both. Never forget the failure of socialism as this Soviet-era joke highlights: A man orders a car and is informed that the car will be available in two years. The man, unfazed, asks whether it will be there in the morning or the afternoon. The man taking the order is stunned and asks how it could possibly matter whether the car that will be available in two years will be there in the afternoon or morning! The man replies that he has a washing machine repairman coming in the afternoon. That is socialism.
Letting the Xi Jinping Flu do Lukashenko's dirty work for him.
Remember my view: It isn't a disproportionate response if Israel's enemies keep trying to kill Israelis.
So in regard to fighting the Xi Jinping Flu, exactly what version of "science" are we supposed to follow? Tip to Instapundit.
I forget things. When I wrote about an off-shore British strategy I forgot I noted that shift earlier in the year. I'm fairly consistent, at least.
For anyone eager for a reckoning on the future direction of America by means of violence if necessary, I recommend a look at post-World War II Europe, which I note in this post. Violence destroys a lot if you want a decisive decision. Let's use evolution rather than revolution to determine our direction.
Bending the knee and defending the faith.
What fresh Hell is this? Best and brightest, indeed. Tip to Instapundit.
The horror. The horror ... . Via Instapundit.
Let's not think there isn't a bright side to the pandemic lock downs: "During the quarter ending in September, when the overall unemployment
rate averaged 8.5 percent, 52 percent of actors, 55 percent of dancers
and 27 percent of musicians were out of work, according to the National
Endowment for the Arts." Hey, they voted for the people ordering the lock downs. Let's just hope it is 100% for mimes. Again, Instapundit.
