Good news if true. And it means that the Xi Jinping Flu lock downs can apply just to the vulnerable and those with active symptoms.
To be fair, a presidential transition period is a vulnerable time for enemies to exploit the transfer of power. So basically Ignatius is just punching out another Tyrant Porn piece while he can. Those clicks don't bait themselves, you know! But the basic foundation of his fantasy of a vulnerable period is true. Yet my real worry is not about the theoretical vulnerability now but the question of whether we are doomed once Biden is sworn in. Why would enemies strike now when they can assume Biden will send figurative pallets of cash to them or be unable to point to them on a map without a TelePrompter?
Die Hard is a Christmas movie that we need; and yes, Pope Francis is a grave disappointment. Francis has single-handedly destroyed the response "Is the pope Catholic?" by erasing the emphatic "yes" the question once demanded. How much damage will this pope do to the Church and its flock--and indeed to the West--before he passes the torch? Tip to Instapundit.
The F-4 Phantom continues to fade away as Japan finally retired its last contingent of those fighter planes. Greece, Turkey, and Iran still fly them.
The Iraqi government arrested people who attempted to bombard the American embassy. There is a lot more work to do before Iran's armed groups inside Iraq are eliminated.
Is Russia clawing back territory in the Caucasus under the guise of peacekeepers separating Armenia and Azerbaijan after their recent war? If so, it increases tensions with Turkey by pushing Russia's presence closer to Turkey and reinforcing it. Even temporary but doomed Turkish outreach requires a lack of a border through which Russia can threaten Turkey with invasion.
Even if you can't--from some serious personal moral defect--think that blue lives matter, can you at least agree that blue duty matters?
To be fair, CAIR is a horrible organization committed to running interference for our jihadi enemies.
The party requires absolute submission and will punish heretics. It's a farce to reference her "lawyer" as if navigating the rule of law there is even possible with sound legal advice.
Jack Tapper only sometimes pretends he isn't a biased and awful journalist. It's kind of like Iranian "moderate" mullahs"--"that mythical beast liberals assume exist because some mullah-approved Iranian leaders chant 'Death to America!' at half the average rate and with a quarter of the flying spittle, and who they believe are poised to rise within the Islamic state's power structure if only we say the right words[.]"
Sudan and South Sudan are retired. Is Darfur no longer an arena for budding genocidal maniacs to run around? Fingers crossed.
The Navy restores ship-naming tradition. Good! The movement has been gaining ground for a while, so I won't say it is out of fear of having to name a warship after Trump one day.
American Freedom of Navigation Operations aren't just for China and Russia, recall. I wonder when we take a stroll through the Sea of Azov?
Apparently you are still "problematic" if you only send 350,000 young white men to their deaths in order to free Black slaves. Tip to Instapundit.
Well that's good news on the Xi Jinping Flu front. Somehow I'm sure Biden is responsible, eh?
I mentioned the Iranian export halt last week. Now Iran has agreed to debt terms with Iraq to ensure Iraqi energy imports.
Will Russia play the "China card?" Please. There is no "China card" for Russia to play. The only play Russia has left for closer relations is to officially become a vassal state of China.
Trump dethroned Obama as "most admired." A small measure of justice. And good God, what drooling morons are in the 6% who selected Biden?!
Western Sahara's status is not in fact a big deal. It is a trivial American concession made to promote peace in the Middle East. Nobody in the Arab or African world is willing to fight Morocco to end its rule of the region. Even Algeria has given up seriously helping the rebels. Or perhaps explain to me why Americans would die to fight for the region's freedom? Bueller? Anyone?
Oops. Climate change has been a doomsday prediction for a long time--and always will be, I'm sure.
It's just a coincidence that it coincides precisely with the demise of the Soviet Union, I'm sure, that the world is more peaceful over the last 30 years. I didn't think there was any debate on the reduction of war-related deaths since the justly deserved demise of the USSR.
This seems like it will have benefits long after the Xi Jinping Flu is gone. But remember kids, don't try this at home. There are very wrong ways to use it.
Bill Clinton taught us to "parse" the statements of politicians, on the look for ways a statement could be technically true but hugely misleading. Fauci taught us to do that for the experts. We're at the point where we have to submit to the science to find out what's in it. Tip to Instapundit. What is really amazing is that Fauci tells the media what he did with the same pride that Obama's propagandist did over the misinformation to pass the Iran nuclear deal. So naturally my first inclination is to completely dismiss the validity of new dietary guidelines.
A change in ranking Xi Jinping Flu infections based on viral load. Just in time to reduce the panic level in the Biden administration! God forbid this had been done during the summer. Via Instapundit.
American cities getting what they reward. Who knew murderers are a core Democratic constituency? #BlueDutyMatters
Algeria is retired. The New Year's Day survey of world conflict is clearly being worked on.
When North Koreans and Chinese died in huge numbers for the Soviets. Which is interesting and a reminder that American and allied troops approaching the Yalu River in 1950 were not, themselves, the reason China intervened in the Korean War. Which runs contrary to the Cold War era assumption that America provoked Chinese intervention by appearing threatening to China. In fact, the Soviets had to push China to intervene.
Russia admits to the third-worst Xi Jinping Flu death toll after admitting to statistics that triple their previous pandemic death toll. Yet Russia still sucks up to China. Consider, too, the difference between Russia and America where we debate how much our official death toll is overstated.
The Olympics keep updating their sports to make them more relevant. I think we should have a new Winter Olympics biathlon--shoveling snow down a sidewalk and target shooting.
Germany recorded 1,000 Xi Jinping Flu deaths in one day for the first time. I'm not gloating. But I have been sick of people claiming Trump is the cause of deaths here and--and this really amazes and angers me--worldwide. Too bad America didn't have the sophistication of Europeans to avoid the worst, Democrats claim. Without noticing that the worst impact here clusters around New York City and California--not exactly hotbeds of Trump supporters, you must admit. Without New York City statistics in the spring and California now, America's pandemic numbers would look a lot better. But it is so much more emotionally satisfying to think Trump is at fault.
The Chinese Communist Party declared victory over "absolute poverty." It's a low if still significant victory when you consider the long history of China. But I wonder if several hundred million still very poor Chinese are worried that the mission accomplished banner means this is as good as it gets for them.
An actual gaffe or did Biden say the quiet part out loud?
Winter is coming. On inauguration day rather than late December by the calendar.
In a way, it is almost a relief that Biden will have to deal with the Hell holes many of our cities have turned into over 2020--here's the most recent one--because of Antifa and BLM aggression and violence rather than putting this clusterfuck on Trump. It won't be easy even with the loving wind beneath Biden's wings from the mainstream media and social media. Heck, the media will claim it is racist when people don't want to live in or do business in those cities. I mean, what else could it be?
Trump's people still haven't been able to put up actual evidence that a court or even a state legislature could act on to reverse voter fraud. We may have to conclude that fraud wasn't there in the scale needed to shift the election or that it was carried out too cleverly to be discovered. If the former, I'm relieved. Still disappointed at the lawful outcome, of course. But relieved for our system. And still upset with the relentless election influence of a partisan media and social media that painted a false picture of Orange Hitler. But we don't abandon the Constitution for even that gross violation of their proper roles. If the latter, the battle is to fix the system for next time and take the time to get the evidence to prosecute those who inflicted this on us. At that point, impeaching Biden and Harris would be an option--although God help us, Pelosi would be next in line over the next two years. Work the problems--don't make new and worse problems.
Once again I will say that Dictionary.com is dead to me. There was (language warning) a time when the word restrictions were mocked by the counter-culture.
I hope that in the new year a lot of people who demonized Trump supporters will finally hang their heads in shame, appalled at what they've said and done for these last four crazy years. It was a nationwide witch hunt with, naturally, no witches to find.
I've seen a lot of James Bond movies, so I'm pretty sure that this is the kind of thing that megalomaniac super villains plan.
Even if the media did cover the eco-terrorist pipeline bombing in Colorado, I'm sure they'd remind us that with a relatively small break in it, the pipeline is still "mostly intact" and so no big deal, really.
Thailand is retired. Although with the split between the royalists and their increasingly outrageous "it's good to be the king" monarch and democrats there is potential for trouble.
Why anybody would trust Chinese electronics is beyond me. I'm perhaps not as paranoid as I might have seemed 14 years ago, eh?
The Air Force will build a satellite to beam solar power to Earth. I recall citng this technology as a focal point of a science fiction story in a high school class and then again in a paper I wrote for my introductory writing class in college. And here we are 20 years into the 21st century and it still isn't a thing. The Air Force spacecraft will also work on providing power to other spacecraft, which could involve beaming energy to interplanetary space ships.
Critics on the left said it was a pure lie that Trump said we'd have a Xi Jinping Flu vaccine by the end of 2020. To be fair, back in the early part of 2020 that did seem ambitious given the vaccine development record. But we do have them and are beginning to give them to people. Yet now the critics on the left are complaining that the vaccine "we could never get in 2020" is being delivered slower than expected. Slower than expected by who? The people who said it wouldn't exist? And are you going to tell me that the fact that New York has only administered a third of the vaccines it has received--and that is actually higher than the national average--is somehow Trump's fault? If they had more doses, what would be the point? Still, reporting of the data might not have caught up. We'll see. Which is more than the blame-Orange Hitler crowd can manage.
Republican election chances die in darkness. Hey, it worked to drag Biden across the finish line. Why not Warnock, too?
Apparently, Xi Jinping Flu infection spikes aren't Gaia's punishment for red state deniers after all. Tip to Instapundit.
Perhaps the appeal of becoming an American fully integrated to our society is more appealing than being in a psychological ghetto than Democrats think. We're good at this yet somehow the woke left is against it. Bizarrely it is apparently racist to think anybody can become an American. Go figure.
In 2005, Democrats in Congress challenged the validity of Ohio's Electoral College vote. I know, I know. That's different because shut up.
In 2021 Turkey will command the NATO Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, built around a Turkish mechanized infantry brigade. Fingers crossed that NATO added enough adjectives to the force to make this work. And let's hope Turkey is enough of a NATO ally to allow its brigade to be used in case of an emergency.
Because of the international date line, those SOB Chinese Communist Party types got to end 2020 before America (well, Guam gives us a small taste) and Europe get to wave it goodbye.
Oh FFS! God give me strength. People like that give advanced degrees a bad name. Islamist murderous fanaticism long pre-dated European colonialism.
The left demonizes Trump for his supposed murderous failures over the Xi Jinping Flu yet somehow celebrates and ignores the failures of their clown duo in killing tens of thousands.
Australia's F-35A fleet has achieved initial operating capability. Good. Hopefully Australia is working on regional allies where the plan can deploy to reach targets in the South China Sea.
Let's look at the bright side of 2020: apparently Spain has ruled out going to war with Britain in 2021 with a land blockade over Gibraltar.
Another bright side for 2020 is that the University of Michigan didn't play a football bowl game. I am mystified that our results don't match the expectations from nearly limitless money and good recruits.
I had reason to buy some topical medication due to certain collateral damage from apparently blowing my colon out preparing for a colonoscopy a couple years ago. Nothing major, and rest assured I'm not about to over-share. Yet as I opened the package I was momentarily puzzled when I pulled out an obvious attachment for the tube. There are HOLES in it? What could that possibly be fo--OMG! HOW BAD CAN IT GET TO NEED THAT?!!
Talk about annus horribilis. Thank God 2020 was a minor bump in the road for that class of problem.
The Russians continue to be pointlessly annoying. Yet while the Russian flights are often dangerous, to be fair they don't seem to be crossing into national air space as opposed to flying into air identification zones.
This helicopter sale to Kuwait would be nice to combat small Iranian combatants mucking around in the northern Persian Gulf.
I guess when shipping pallets of cash to enemies is considered Smart Diplomacy, little "errors" like this can just kind of happen.
The Great California Gold Flush.
Back in July I decided to give up my YouTubeTV plan and haven't missed it very much at all. Another price increase with no benefit to me pushed me over the line. Now I get most sports and network programs through Locast.org at a small price and that is working out pretty well for my limited live TV needs. Sometimes I use the radio for games, like back in college. Although sometimes I have to watch football games inexplicably with Spanish-language announcers even though the commercials remain in English. Plus I have streaming stuff and other free options. I rather like Peacock, which is new. And I have discs of various sorts. I have not missed viewing and hearing the political insanity that has infected so much of news, entertainment, and even sports. And even if that dies down--and I doubt it will this decade--I'm just used to not spending that money despite staying home more during the pandemic.
Yes! It did not become December 32, 2020!
Well, it is 2021 and Britain is now out of the European Union--the first successful defiance of the Euro-Brezhnev Doctrine that rejected ever leaving the proto-empire.
Am I the only person who hesitates before throwing out a cork? Because for just a second you think you might need to char it in order to blacken your forehead and cheeks for some night mission? Somewhere between silly and delusional, I know. Still ...
I never really liked teacher unions but now I hate them with a passion. Educating the children is the last thing teacher unions are about.
When the climate changed without SUVs. I've never denied that humans affect the climate. What I "deny" is the faith-like certainty that the human impact is the decisive factor in our climate changes. And what I deny is that the "solutions" that the activists want would benefit humans.
So what's going on with Georgia's Electoral College votes?
The DOJ study of voter fraud in the 2020 election does not shock me. But a study is not proof of what happened so it is not a factor in any legal process. It is the basis for looking for proof of voter fraud. So it is useful. But I can't rely on a mere study for our actions. Or do you think the Xi Jinping Flu and climate change studies did a particularly good job of reflecting reality?
Well, some sanity in the federal bureaucracy actually occurred in 2020.
South Korea's modern submarine force.
Considering the Democratic outrage over unconfirmed intelligence that Russians offered bounties for dead American troops in Afghanistan, I assume that the Democrats will be equally fired up to punish China now. This certainly makes it harder for Biden to "reset" relations with China. But who knows what he wants or what he thinks the media will let him get away with? But it is possible that Trump and the Xi Jinping Flu have changed the debate so much from the pre-Trump era that Biden will have little room to "reset" relations with China.
In 2021 it is likely that North Korea will send out their usual signal to give them stuff for the laughably false promise to stop acting like North Korea. So I assume Kim's promise of better times in the new year just means a lovely fireworks show off their coast. Kim should be afraid. Biden will get a Nobel Peace Prize for nuclear disarmament if he orders our military to level North Korea. To the fawning applause of the media. Now that you ask, I am a bit bitter.
The media can't help themselves in fanning the flames of racial tensions, apparently. Via Instapundit.
If Biden is sworn in the withdrawal of American troops from Germany may not take place.
I wonder if any other spacefaring power thinks it has a responsibility to protect the planet. For most countries I'm just happy if they don't have a planetary destruction policy.
Thank goodness we don't look for signs that predict the future, because this wouldn't augur well would it?
Macron is bitching and moaning about Brexit. Probably because he fears taking on Germany within the EU alone.
I am not woke. I will never be woke. Because I am neither stupid nor an awful person. Just in case that has been unclear.
Iraqis discovered a mine attached to one of their tankers in the Persian Gulf. I assume Iran did it.
So what if some people have been driven out of California? Other people will be welcomed to replace them. What's the difference?
It may be a mistake to think that just because Xi Jinping has tightened his grip at home that this means he is more secure.
Four-legged robotic base security for the Air Force.
Yemen's government believes a Houthi missile attack was an attempt to kill the government cabinet. There is little doubt that Iran's fingerprints are all over this attack.
Man of the year. Hahahaha! They will make a movie of his life, The Spy Who Loved Me Long Time.
Don't miss Dave Barry's year in review for 2020. Just one taste: "President Trump escalates his attacks on TikTok, a Chinese-owned
social-media app that threatens our national security by causing
millions of Americans to learn stupid dances while Chinese people are
making useful products to sell to Americans. The president wants to
force TikTok to be sold to Microsoft, apparently in the hope that
Microsoft will render it unusable by means of 'updates.'" As long as we don't find that the Xi Jinping Flu has mutated into some Hellscape cyber form to be infectious through Zoom, I imagine we'll basically be fine pandemic-wise this year given some time.
I don't mind Republicans challenging Electoral College votes. Democrats did that the last three times Republicans won yet somehow it wasn't a threat to our democracy. So just stop the Tyrant Porn production. If it leads to a real inquiry into what certainly looks suspicious it will have a good effect regardless of what is concluded. What I don't like is suing Vice President Pence to execute a power he does not have--personally selecting the next president on his own authority. That's insane. So just stop that. It won't work and it looks ridiculous. And Lord knows that if legitimized that Democrats will try to use this ploy with friendly judges one day. Mind you, I bet if Trump had two years and an open budget he could prove decisive fraud in one or two states.
I find it amazing that Erdogan is willing to wreck Turkey's relations with America and NATO Europe over the S-400--a weapon system that probably sucks against Western technology anyway.
If I'd had some foresight I'd have given up dining in restaurants for Lent last year. This year I know what I'll do instead of giving up alcohol.
As we look at the Russian SolarWinds hacking effort it looks worse than we feared? But what is with the complaint that we had no warnings? We knew in the spring! The scope of this is just confusing to me.
I can only wish this is true: "After 2020, it will be hard to see corporate media as anything but a public relations arm of the Democratic Party following the former’s attempts to bury not one, not two, but three major allegations leveled against left-wing politicians." Via Instapundit.
Cheap, basic cars are disappearing (video). That bums me out. I like cheap and basic cars. I don't need all the gadgetry that drives up the price. All I want is a means to move myself, passengers, and my stuff safely. I actually liked hand crank windows because they are one less electronic component that can break. Sadly, I could not get that feature with my current car. When I finally have to replace my car--and if the model I wanted actually existed I would have done it by now--my options will be limited. I might have to consider a foreign car company. For that reason alone I assumed car companies would want cheaper cars in their dealerships. Or is building brand loyalty gone? Maybe. The last two brands I was loyal to went out of business. Still, surely somebody--even if not the major companies out there now--will see a market for all those people who want cheap and basic cars, right?
Pelosi's house was vandalized with some graffiti. That's awful, of course. But I don't know why the media is worked up about it given they think even a 7% rioting, injuring, killing, and burning rate is "mostly peaceful." It was probably anarchists, anyway--despite my initial impression from headlines that dastardly Republicans did it--who no longer find the ultra-wealthy Pelosi useful to battle Trump.
Five French troops were killed in Mali in two attacks by two jihadi IEDs.
Jihadis killed dozens of civilians in Niger. Obviously the jihadis were justly furious for those villagers for invading Iraq. Well, I spent years being told that invading Iraq was the reason jihadis try to kill Americans. So what else could it be?
I've been more diligent walking this winter so far. When the Xi Jinping Flu hit I vowed to exercise more rather than retreat to my couch. Except for a couple times over the years I tend to lose interest by late October at the latest until spring rekindles the health impulse. So far I've been walking. Not as far, but I am still walking. And today, Sunday, I walked despite the still snow-covered sidewalks. I did not want to wreck my walking shoes. Well, shoes I walk in. They are decent plus a discovered that arch supports really help. The Army informed me I had partially flat feet. For decades I tried different shoes and cushion inserts to no avail. The latest things I bought seem to work. But with snow I turned to my old black Army boots. I briefly wondered if I could walk in them instead of my shoes and not wreck my feet. Then it hit me. For the Army, these were walking shoes. While carrying stuff. Long distances. In a MOPP suit if needed. Heck, sometimes they were running shoes. And mind you, the Army told me I had problems with my feet. Apparently that was for informational purposes only because they never suggested anything to cope. Anyway, it wasn't the most pleasant thing. But my feet survived.
Sure it is outrageous. And pointless because if the revelers had brought a couple BLM signs they could have claimed they were in a prophylactic protest immune to the pandemic virus. But basically I figure they should enjoy what they persist in voting for.
Unfortunately, the F-35 full-rate production has been put off. As an aside, the TDS is just ridiculous for a fairly straightforward article on plane production. I mean, WTF? "[Trump is Biden's] predecessor who won’t go away"? Seriously? Trump is the president and won't be Biden's "predecessor" for a couple weeks! Indeed, the entire article but for a small portion dealing with the headline is a TDS monologue. God I hate these people.
