If the federal government is so eager to wage counterinsurgency against threats to our government, here's big whack across the head with a clue bat.
India is shifting to the American 5" naval gun.
I will concede that the people making this crazy accusation are the crazy fringe. But good God they really work hard to push Peak Stupid ever higher, don't they? Unless they were joking. Quite possible. But I have no doubt that some are serious and seriously crazy.
Good. Biden will keep Turkey out of the F-35 global supply chain. But I fear that Biden thinks we have an S-400 problem rather than an Erdogan problem. We need a break while Erdogan is in charge.
The Navy carried out a "freedom of navigation" operation near the Paracel Islands. Lack of notice does not make it a FONOP. Looking at the actual Navy statement it is clear that the Navy did not challenge sea ownership claims. The Navy only challenged advance notice requirements to conduct "innocent passage." It was not a useless operation. But it was not a true freedom of navigation operation. A true FONOP would require carrying out normal warship operations while transiting the seas illegally claimed. In the Obama administration, we carried out phony FONOPs.
Democrats held an impeachment trial well after Trump--the "tyrant"--left office without a fight. The basis is laughably flimsy: "In the last impeachment, I criticized the House leadership for impeaching Trump on the thinnest record in the shortest time in history. It then outdid itself by impeaching him a second time with no record and no hearing." You don't need a record or hearing for a show trial. My prediction of woke spirit show trials was spot on, right? And in the end, Democrats failed--again. Pelosi (0-2) was not happy at all. Well:
Germany: "The German Defence Ministry will leave planned air defense investments and other high-profile programs involving U.S. vendors unresolved in the final months of the Merkel government, officials have told lawmakers." And here I'd been led to believe that the departure of Trump would restore trans-Atlantic relations. But I guess the Germans don't want to take their glorious opportunity to show how Trump was wrong about German reluctance to have an actual military. I really don't know what Germany's major malfunction is these days.
Failed names for Space Force personnel. I suggested Spacors. The military also didn't listen to me on PAINCOM and I doubt Space Force will call its future close combat troop units SMOD. I keep giving the Pentagon golden ideas for free, but they don't listen to me.
Is Navalny really a threat to Putin's autocratic power?
So we have a liar trying to pull the victim sword from the rock. When I was a college student I had a police officer point his weapon at me, Somehow I managed not to work myself up into a police panic attack.
This is how we reach Idiocracy. I'm getting depressed. World War IV really will be fought with rocks and sticks. But without the nuclear World War III once thought necessary.
Private space flight versus government space flight. Government gives us weapons there. Which are sadly needed to defend use of space. And government gives us space selfies for prestige. But if we want to go to space to live and work for good, we need private space flight and exploitation. Even the government is wisely surveying the private side. Answer the survey quickly before Biden shuts them down. Tips to Instapundit.
Pelosi chose her impeachment team: "The nine Democratic lawmakers who will prosecute ex-President Donald Trump in his impeachment trial reflect America’s racial, ethnic and sexual diversity." Sure, Pelosi will be able to blame this pointless sham show trial clusterfuck on a diverse team of idiot cannon fodder. Well played, Speaker Pelosi. Well played.
Israel will train Greek fighter pilots. Turkey continues to enjoy Erdogan.
If Trump had done things like this (after Trump worked to undermine the spying and propaganda centers) and this the media would begin a four-year inquisition alleging China collusion. Huh. There is unexpected push-back on Biden's reversal of Trump's attack on Chinese Confucius Institutes on our campuses. In case you doubt what is going on. What else will Biden let slide to make China happy?
Not a fucking chance. I was pro-mask back when the CDC was telling us they are worthless except on health workers' faces. Perhaps Cold War chemical warfare training had an effect on me. But when this Xi Jinping Flu is over? MOPP level 0. I don't believe the survey.
Hard to argue with this: "[Environmentalism is] a vanity project of the jet set that directly harms working-class interests." I used to have respect for liberals' commitment to blue collar families even if I thought their solutions were wrong. At least they held blue collar people in some regard. But that era is over with a vengeance. As it their former loyalty to freedom of speech. What happened to liberals?
You know the woke far left in America is completely nuts when the French can see they lack nuance. The French haven't seen anything yet. But note that the French only noted this when they thought it could undermine French society. When American wokeness was only harming America they had no problem with it. Tips to Instapundit.
Two American carrier battle groups exercised in the South China Sea. Nice symbol but dangerous in war time. Although I'm sure the exercise was at the far end of the sea away from Chinese air bases. One carrier is basically on its way home after a long CENTCOM deployment. A French nuclear attack submarines went through the area, too.
President Biden figuratively steps on rakes all over the world stage.
Yes, pay attention to Venezuela's aggression against Guyana.
It's hard not to wonder if Nazi Germany would have gotten away with their crimes and aggression if the Nazis had Aryan Institutes on our campuses, produced our radios and record players, controlled much of our phone line system, and exported most of the world's aluminum needed for our warplanes.
Mostly peaceful protesters (tip to Insanity Wrap):
All communists are bastards. As an American I can at least dream of napalm, can't I? #RealACAB
Biden has ordered America to "re-engage" with the UN Human Rights Council. Trump had withdrawn from the corrupt tyrant-riddled body. It was an Orwellian body dedicated to preventing human rights from being improved. If Biden was capable of improving the horrible council I wouldn't mind. But I think America's presence will just be a validation of the UN body's horrible record and intent.
Iran attacks shipping with mines: "This sort of 'it wasn’t me' terrorism is a favorite tactic of Iran and it keeps getting used because the Iranians know how to back off (stop the mining) if the public outroar becomes too intense. Once the outrage has passed from the headlines, Iran will resume the unattributable attacks."
This could be right. I have been saying that the 2020 election rigging may have been in the 4 years of Democratic/media demonization of the Bad Orange Man rather than blatant voting fraud. Trump did not prove voter fraud in the time he had between the election and inauguration. He did prove lack of transparency and safeguards that provide confidence in honest elections. And the article recounts that process effort, too. Amazingly, the article proudly tells the tale of voter manipulation. It's tough to overcome that kind of relentless propaganda and censorship. Tip to Instapundit.
I don't think that China has a long-range planning ability. And when you compare America's 250-year rise to this point in history to China's 2,500 year rise to the same point, I don't know why the default position is that China is great at long-range planning which is superior to America's approach.
A free Taiwan is vital to Japanese national security. I quibble that the notion that Trump policies "magnified tensions" between China and America. It was not a better situation when China when about its plans with America calmly ignoring China. Magnified tensions are a result of finally opposing China. Which conflicts with Japanese parallel goals of improving relations with China, which is the greatest threat to Japan.
Greece and Egypt held naval exercises in the eastern Mediterranean Sea under their mutual worry about Turkish territorial ambitions there.
Let's make sure we have a Strategic National Stockpile that is relevant and adequate. So good for the Biden administration looking at this. It mentions my occasional mention of bolstering the electrical grid by storing transformers, which take a long time to build.
Yeah, I'm worried about a financial bubble. It's been on my mind but the Reddit/Robinhood story really made me worry. When stocks become a game unrelated to investing, that's a problem. I don't worry about a housing bubble because if my home price drops like it did the last housing bubble, the effect will be to lower my property taxes for a long time. Since I don't plan on selling my home, it would (again) be a paper loss. I worry more about bubbles that harm my retirement investments. I recently dumped my more volatile investments for what I hope are safer conservative options as the time to draw on that resource draws nearer. But can that withstand an "everything bubble?"
The commander of American naval forces in Europe says NATO ships are capable of dealing with Russia's newer submarines. I think that it is good to be able to escort convoys across the Atlantic. So this is good news. I don't think that attacking NATO convoys would be a priority for Russia. Protecting sea bastions for their nuclear ballistic missile submarines would be the highest priority. Although if we showed weakness in the North Atlantic the Russians might be highly tempted to exploit that vulnerability. Still, whatever mission they have, those submarines are rebounding from their post-USSR nadir.
The horrible Iran deal made it difficult to inspect declared nuclear facilities. Shockingly, the deal doesn't cover undeclared sites that Iran inconceivably uses. Remember, too, that Iran claimed that they never had a nuclear weapons program. Obama pretended to believe them. How determined is Biden to keep pretending?
The UAE's Mars mission has successfully entered Martian orbit.
In the beginning, on the Internet nobody could know if you were a dog. Now the Internet can make you a cat.
Oh great, cancel culture has come for the board games. I'm glad I have a copy of Nuclear War card game. That's gonna trigger people. Sadly I lost (or loaned) my original copy with additional hand-made population cards to expand the number of people who could play it. It was quite popular in high school and college. One nun really didn't like our "Nuclear War Team" t-shirts.
I'm starting to wonder if the pandemic really will be over practically speaking before spring is over. Is it really possible that vaccine production won't go up nearly as dramatically as it has already since December? Fingers crossed. Once we have high levels of vaccination people are going to say goodbye to "new normal" pretty darned fast no matter what the lockdown fans want.
I started to make my Saturday post one dedicated to the leftist purge threat. But I decided not to be all Resistance-level paranoid. I will assume that the vast majority of liberals aren't awful Twitter-addled leftist haters.
If Trump employed so much as one civilian law enforcement officer equipped with tactical gear to stop Antifa rioters, the media and Democrats screamed the Trumptatorship had finally arrived. But the media and Democrats are cool with thousands of actual combat troops garrisoning Washington, D.C. Which is really odd when you consider that some Democrats don't trust the military one bit.
Joss Whedon is accused of being horrible to women. Others agree.
Which brings up a point I've made in the past: why would racists or
sexists be anything but a Democrat given the cloak of invulnerability
that provides? So yeah, this rising political star will be just fine. Oh, and here's my point exactly. Tips to Instapundit.
Is China trying to create a gene-edited master race? Well, they think they already are. And I suspect that if the Chinese succeed with the technology that the CCP will edit the vast majority of their people for docility. Communists rank party monopoly on power the highest objective. As an aside, China has excess males because of the past CCP one-child policy that encouraged the killing of baby girls. Could American information operations spread rumors that the gene editing aims to make young men gay to cope with the imbalance? Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course. But it would be nice to throw a monkey in the wrench, eh? Tip to Instapundit.
The Burma (Myanmar) military coup is an opportunity for China to seek closer relations with the rulers. China used its UN Security Council veto to protect Myanmar from Western punishment efforts. A China-Burma alliance offers the promise of direct overland access to the Bay of Bengal. Which India would not like.
The UAE is strengthening Gulf Arab airborne early warning capabilities.
I haven't paid any attention to Trump Impeachment II: This Time It's Personal. I'll catch the next round of insane Democratic charges when it is timed to coincide with the 2022 election cycle.
Turkey may be willing to adjust its Russian S-400 air defense missile purchase to close the rift with America. America just has to abandon the Kurds. Wait. What? I thought Democrats said Trump abandoned the Kurds already? But I digress. Don't buy Erdogan's S-400 ploy. We have an Erdogan problem and not a S-400 problem. Erdogan should never have the F-35.
China denies it is building a time machine (tip to Instapundit). If they are, maybe China's rulers know their reputation in the West for long-range planning is BS. I mean, if time travel is possible, won't America be able to compensate for our supposed "next quarter" thinking horizon? Still, the eventual success of such a time travel program would totally explain the rise of Joe Biden.
Chinese genocide campaign. Allegedly. To be fair, you can't make a pure Han omelet without breaking a few Uighur eggs. Tip to Instapundit.
Democrats like to mock Trump for how much he likes his ego stroked. I won't argue with that. When you're right, you're right. But notice that Democrats love to have their egos stroked by foreigners.
The proposed new European tank may have a 130mm or 140mm main gun. I've long read that in the armor-gun race that such a move is on the horizon. Although we're reaching the limit of tank size and weight to hold increasingly large cannons.
I guess the Navy has a new term before it gets the capability: Maritime Integrated Distributed Force. I'm getting dizzy from the terminology changes. I've been talking about the concept--back when it was Network Centric Warfare--for a long time. Let's put a little more focus on the capabilities without trying to make a mark with a new, hip term.
Cities and cultivation aren't always on the northern latitudes model. Fascinating. I've read similar things about Amazon River settlements.
Merkel refusing to align Germany with America against an aggressive, master racing-creating, ethnic-cleansing China is rather, ah, problematic, isn't it? I mean, according to the Germans themselves, right?
Good: "After a 25-year absence, the Navy will start packing Harpoon ship-killer missiles on its attack submarines as the fleet looks for new ways to counter the growing Chinese navy." I was embarrassed to discover they were gone from the fleet. It was like Grecian Formula. It happened so gradually I didn't notice the change.
Restoring relations with allies: "You have to give it to Chancellor Merkel: She outmaneuvered Joe Biden in just three weeks. Merkel made it clear she would not take sides between communist China and capitalist America, reversed the 10,000 U.S. troop withdrawal that Trump previously announced and got the Biden administration to stop enforcing Nord Stream 2 sanctions." America under Biden will be much more popular with our allies than a Trump era that tried to pressure and shame allies into being allies.
Hollywood conformed their movies to Chinese Communist Party propaganda in order to gain access to the China market. The Chinese reverse engineered the product and now don't need Hollywood (tip to Instapundit). Bravo Hollywood! You alienated half of America for a futile attempt to gain the China market.
China's accelerating war on Hong Kong's dwindling freedom continues without much notice in the West. Say ... this sounds so familiar: "With no pan-democratic camp in the Legislative Council – Hong Kong’s equivalent of parliament – since last November, the authorities are free to discuss restricting speech under the guise of a ‘fake news’ law." As I've noted, I'd trade our Antifa communists to China on a one-for-one basis for Hong Kongers. Let both sides' dissidents move to paradise.
Well sure, in retrospect their decision looks stupid and self-defeating. Considering Trump didn't nullify the election and remain in power with his Buffalo-helmeted personal army as they seemed to fear ...
"The U.S. strategic objective regarding Taiwan should be to preserve its political and economic autonomy, its dynamism as a free society, and U.S.-allied deterrence—without triggering a Chinese attack on Taiwan." Um. Duh? Nice work if you can get it, I say. To be fair, it is a good point that our strategy for defending Taiwan can't be to escalate to a massive air and missile attack on mainland China ("Bombing Beijing" as the expression goes).
I wonder if McConnell traded his cooperative stand on impeachment for Schumer's commitment to maintain the filibuster. Tip to The Morning Briefing.
Maybe it isn't a good idea for leftists to organize a circular American firing squad.
To be fair, inflation is the best weapon of mass destruction to efficiently get rid of the pesky middle class. Tip to Instapundit.
So New York lied for political reasons. Somehow it is lost on people that gross errors in governance are something politics are supposed to address. Turning mistakes--that cost thousands of lives--into "political footballs" is what the sane, less partisan world calls holding those in power accountable for their actions. That is why we have regular elections! To judge the actions of those we choose to govern! But I guess that shouldn't be done when the" right" people have power. Also obsolete? "The cover up is worse than the crime." Now the cover up is okey dokey--for the "right" people. And thus far the left wing media coverage is of the "Republicans pounce!" variety.
India's light fighter is awful but politically protected. The bright side is that the next design could be much better. The bad news is that until then India's air force will face better enemies in the air to the west and north.
I wonder if the Biden administration will stop seriously enforcing border security in the south and use the predictable numbers to "prove" walls don't work. Which is a stupid conclusion, of course: "If another person says that a multi-billion dollar 'wall' along the US-Mexican border can be overcome with a $20 ladder, with a smirk that suggests they are oh so clever, I will simply scream in frustration. Any physical barrier can be overcome if it is not defended. The point of a barrier is to identify and slow down intruders--as even the Great Wall of China was intended--to give time for defenders to plug the breach. It is not to function as a stand-alone impenetrable barrier."
Deadly gravity. Yeah, that used to be a thing in Detroit.
My how the mighty have fallen. Like I said:
The Taiwanese say their relations with America remain strong. Fingers crossed. Reviews of policy are still going on and hardly set in the new administration. Inertia might be all the Taiwanese are seeing right now.
South Korea hopes precision missiles and precision air-delivered weapons can deter North Korean nukes. Air and missile defenses probably won't stop everything. The hope is that the conventional weapons are good enough to threaten the lives of leadership and destroy nuclear launchers.
The "Kent variant" of the Wuhan China Xi Jinping Flu pandemic of non-specific origin will become the dominant strain of Covid-19. Haters. The "Kent" variant? Are we now dog whistling permission to commit violence against British people? Hug a Brit to prove you aren't a hater.
RAND has a long study of the anti-ISIL air war. I'll have to read it. Or at least parts of it! But this framing in an article about the study seems odd: "The report authors detail the 2014 to 2019 timeline of the Operation Inherent Resolve campaign in phases and case studies. Their analysis paints a picture of an air war that was critical in the defeat of ISIS, but that differed in many ways from recent counterinsurgency operations and brought home key areas that need improvement for future conflicts." The fight against the Islamic State was not a counterinsurgency. So naturally it was quite different from recent counterinsurgency operations. But maybe I'm reading way too much in that wording to think there is a failure to appreciate the distinction. But it is worth pointing out in case article readers take away that misconception.
Truly a mystery of the age. In theory the French are determined to combat that.
I will say I thought she got a raw deal. As with so much, the true horrors often come from what is perfectly legal rather than from violating the law.
Elements of an American Amphibious Ready Group entered the Persian Gulf. I get nervous when we dangle capital ship bait before the Iranians. Putting Makin Island and a cruiser in the Gulf is not as crazy as putting super carriers there, but it is close.
Putin is shrugging off Biden's harsher rhetoric. Which is funny. Biden plays into Putin's hands. Putin prefers to be hated than ignored. So Trump's quiet actions to reinforce and strengthen NATO while refusing to call a fairly weak Russia the Big Bad was insulting. Putin will prefer a publicly hostile Biden who weakens NATO defenses.
The Russians, who invaded Ukraine in 2014 and continue to occupy Crimea and parts of the Donbas region, continue to be a-holes about the whole thing. But hey, they've gotten away with it. Perhaps in another 7 years we'll admit that Russia is occupying the Donbas rather than pretend "separatists" are in charge.
More historically accurate than funny:
Shit rolls downhill in North Korea. Blame is potentially lethal there. Will a survival mechanism kick in for those downslope?
The Israelis warn that Hamas has built up a rocket arsenal. It is dwarfed by Hezbollah's arsenal, but good enough for terrorist work.
Thank goodness, this one is just funny:
So what are the Iranians thinking of as they exercise ground forces near the Iraqi border?
Kenya is losing ground to al Shabab in northern Kenya. That's not good. AFRICOM should not be weakened too much.
Will China test Biden and seek to finally end their Taiwan problem? Will Australia help defend Taiwan? You might want to see this issue of Military Review which addresses the Taiwan defense subject. And not only because I have an article in it. The topics were sensitive enough that the issue was delayed for additional pre-publication reviews.
I've noted the alarming jihadi strength in Mozambique's north where the small security forces were knocked around. Mozambique seems to have rallied to check that advance. For now. We'll see how the jihadis regroup and try to seize the initiative again.
I seriously doubt that Wake Island will sink beneath rising waters in any time frame that would affect its usefulness to American air power in the Pacific. I've long been a fan of making sure we get use out of it. I'm more worried about typhoons.
Interesting: "Space Force officials are fleshing out the details of a unique approach to military service that combines Active-duty and Reserve commitments, hoping that design will provide more flexibility for families and ultimately keep people in uniform longer." Space Force may also want to retain a Space Force National Guard. So rather than a fully reserve Space Force Reserve and Space Force National Guard, there would just be a SFNG. Could elements of this work in larger services or is it only applicable to Space Force?
The media is no longer outraged at so-called illegal immigrant "family separation."
Man! Those people in the Lincoln Project aligned themselves fully with Democrats just in time! Is their defection long enough to screen them from the wrath of the media?
Let me understand this trained reporter's logic: Republican senators will acquit Trump of Democratic charges he incited violence. If Trump does in fact incite violence in the future after being acquitted of false charges now, the future violence will be on the heads of those senators. That was fun. Now do that for Democrats in case of any future voter fraud guilt. Tip to Instapundit.
Neither a stimulus nor a pandemic response. Biden's extra spending plan is at least 75% political gifts to Democratic constituencies, in my opinion.
The latest upgrade of the Bradley. Eventually we won't be able to upgrade it any more. Will the Army get its act together for a new infantry/cavalry carrier (and tank, while I'm asking)?
It's good to see that modernized and new Army infantry weapons are being pushed forward.
I wrote last week: "Is South Korea's weakening army at risk of losing should North Korea invade? I highly doubt that. Unless North Korea massively uses chemical weapons which cause a collapse of ROK army morale I don't see the rotting North Korean army marching far. But the ROK army may be too weak if the PLA marches south through North Korea." Case in point: "North Korea is ordering its military to play a greater role in economic construction after Kim Jong Un revealed a new five-year plan in January during the Eighth Party Congress." The bulk of the North Korean army has been a slave labor force that has the benefit of keeping young men in prime revolution years under party supervision. Now the troops will do even more non-military work. It's just nukes and spooks to protect the kooks now, as was the plan.
A new Army combat aviation brigade is rotating into Europe to support operations in eastern NATO. That's fine. But when we have enough practice in rebuilding lost Cold War skills of moving units from North America to Europe, I'd like to see more troops based in Europe. That's long been a goal of mine, as I wrote in Military Review long ago. I'd want a heavy corps now, though. The insurance role in case Russia got aggressive is gone and we need the heavy stuff to watch Russia.
Nice to know that San Francisco apparently thinks non-voter tourists are more acceptable crime victims. Not that residents are much higher in priority, of course. Tip to Instapundit.
Alternative lead sentence: "Eleven arrested in BLM attack Friday night preceded by quiet march through Midtown Manhattan to place of violence." Via Instapundit.
You can just feel the Biden administration repairing tattered relations with allies!
No more jihadis in cages? We'll see if Biden shuts Guantanamo prison down. Or will he think it should remain open to house Trump and his top supporters?
Female military pilots. It is interesting that a country as large as India without a huge air force needs to recruit women to be pilots. Also, unintended consequences in the Middle East: "American military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001 have had a tremendous impact on Moslem attitudes towards women in the military. Moslems seeing so many American women serving in the military and being competitive at it had a big impact." I wonder if in the long run that effect will be more significant for defeating the Islamist death cult than killing jihadis in the short run.
An attempted administration war on the media has its first casualty.
Governor Cuomo lied. People died. And the cooperative media was an accessory after the fact. Tip to Instapundit.
The Republican Party will be fine. I kept saying that Republican opposition to a Trump presidency made no sense to me. I could understand it. Truly I could. But the extreme opposition was foolish. Trying to throw an election in order to win a future election was silly and self-destructive. But that's the past. Only future problems and elections can be addressed. Work the problem. And that includes not purging every Republican who strays from the dominant way of thinking. Let their impeachment votes go. It's just not critical for the future. Eighty percent allies are better than opponents. Heck, 51% allies are better. Be smart. Tip to Instapundit.
Cause and effect. I refused to take many loans in college. At 17 I could look ahead and think, "I don't want to be paying that much money back." I worked. I lived cheaply. And I paid off the loans I took out. I saved money for my children's education. They don't have to take out loans. Although I only planned for a bachelor's degree coverage. Luckily things stretched out for a master's degree for my older child. A PhD is on him and he knows it. My youngest will be fine for at least as long. But if she still wants an MD when the time comes, you're darned right she can take out loans and repay them. The outrage of doing the right thing as a student and as a parent while seeing people rack up debt and plead for the government to rescue them is too much. If only I'd known I could have been selfish rather than a sucker, I'd have done things different. To Hell with these people who want to create these kinds of bad incentives. One by one government takes away incentives for people to be responsible adults. Why do we accept this?
There was a 7.3 earthquake off of Japan. No deaths reported early. And no tsunami from the quake. It doesn't seem like the Japanese will need to request assistance.
Well tough. Grow up and get over it. Because Brady, I suppose. The Lombardy Trophy isn't the freaking Holy Grail! And do you see what hockey players do with the Stanley Cup?
What the Hell could have destroyed 500 fuel tankers at an Afghan customs point on the Iran border? No attack is suggested, but good Lord, what happened?
Not quite the quagmire I've been told Afghanistan is.
I looked at national Xi Jinping Flu pandemic cases. The numbers have plummeted since the fall-winter peak. I wonder if we are far closer to beating this than we think. Not that the virus will be gone. But that it will be infrequent enough to resume normal life. I do not believe the predictions of two more years of restrictions. I just don't believe people will tolerate that despite polls that show people expect to wear masks and obey lockdowns for a couple more years. Ef that. I want normal. And I'm handling this fine. My doctor said I'm one of the few people to lose weight during the pandemic. And I should hold steady on that. I'm doing things and avoiding isolation. I even went to Las Vegas in the early fall. I'm fine. But it isn't normal. And a lot of people aren't fine. They need normal more than I do. I'd love to see a comparison of American behavior before and after the Spanish Flu. Was there a "new normal" after that raging pandemic?
