I am pleasantly surprised that the Biden administration has "deep concerns" about WHO and Chinese information about the early Xi Jinping Flu epidemic--before it became a pandemic. The more the CCP and its hand puppets in WHO obscure that early data, the more I have to conclude the transition to pandemic was deliberate. I had been betting on CCP secrecy and a desire to avoid losing face, and possibly power, from such an epidemic. But I begin to wonder. Not that I think the Covid-19 virus was engineered to be a weapon, mind you. But at some point I wonder if the CCP said, "Ef it, we're not suffering through this alone."
"Climate change is a real, manmade problem. But its impacts are much lower than breathless climate reporting would suggest. " Because of that, massive climate spending and draconian goals for carbon emission reductions will cause far more harm than any climate change. I dispute that climate change is a "manmade problem." Oh, I certainly believe modern humans contribute to global warming. That's been a factor for about 70 years, I think. But I don't think we know nearly enough to conclude that humanity drives the climate rather than being a perhaps small part of it. And even if 100% of the problem is on mankind's shoulders, the left-wing solutions are harmful in the long run. Tip to Instapundit.
Don't believe that the Saudi coalition is at fault for the humanitarian crisis in Yemen: "The seven years of fighting in Yemen have further damaged an already
crippled (by corruption and mismanagement) economy and caused a lot more
deaths due to hunger, poor medical care and outbreaks of diseases like
cholera. The rebels blame it all on Arab coalition air strikes but even
UN investigators now agree that Shia rebel theft of foreign aid and
denying “hostile populations” access to such aid have caused a large
portion of the civilian deaths. Nearly all these deaths occur in the
rebel controlled north because in the south foreign aid is delivered
through several ports and distributed to whoever needs it." And don't forget that the Houthi use human shields to protect their assets from Saudi coalition air strikes. America helped the Saudis hit those targets with fewer civilian deaths--deaths totally the responsibility of the Houthi who use human shields.
I suspect that Senate Minority Leader McConnell is playing nice with Senate Majority Leader Schumer because of some deal that includes ruling out D.C. statehood or killing the filibuster over the next two years. It is even possible that Pelosi's fury over how Schumer handled Pelosi's impeachment in the Senate indicates something is up in the Senate. I could be wrong. If both "banned" events are seriously pushed I'm clearly wrong. I'm just saying I'm not willing to declare McConnell an honorary Democrat.
We should certainly worry about nutball Shia Islamist Iran becoming a nuclear-armed power. Do we worry enough about nuclear-armed Pakistan becoming increasingly nutball Sunni Islamist? I wonder if America and India have contingency plans regarding Pakistan's nuclear arsenal should Pakistan descend into Islamist-inspired chaos or if there is an Islamist coup?
That CBS reporter is probably as biased toward Democrats as you believe. But her words did not on their face minimize the falsified evidence House Democrats presented in the Senate. I was fully prepared to hear Trump's lawyer put a biased reporter in her place. But I didn't see it. Even after replay. Although I think it is clear that the lawyer believed he heard the reporter minimize the falsification. But she did not use the words he said he heard. Let's not fall for the Democratic sin over the last four-plus years of hearing what they feared and not what Republicans said. The lawyer could have said all the correct things he did about the biased media without that specific accusation.
All along I figured the Lincoln Project of anti-Trump Republicans had nothing to do with saving the Republican Party. The name honors John Wilkes Booth and not Lincoln. And now it has disintegrated in a toxic miasma of financial mismanagement and/or fraud and sexual harassment. I think all Republicans can be grateful that the members loudly separated themselves from the Republican Party and fully aligned with the Democrats. Grenade avoided.
I'm against making community college "free." Until K-12 public schools are fixed to actually educate our children why should we believe that government control--through funding--of two more years of schooling will be anything other than stretching failure out to 14 years? Fix K-12 and we can discuss community college funding.
As I watch birds eat at my bird feeder, it amazes me that they sometimes just sprawl in the seeds that spill into the tray and just eat around them. Sometimes I feel like I should dump Doritos on my floor, get naked, and bask amongst the chips, reaching around to eat. But perhaps I share too much.
I heard that some Republicans want to form an anti-Trump political party. Wait. What? The Democratic Party isn't enough?
Macron seems serious about filtering out Islamist fanaticism from France. The effort includes new legislation. As I said, the problem doesn't get easier if they delay the fight.
I think this age of woke persecutors will eventually be seen as a quasi-religious movement that hunted non-existent witches. It's all quite bizarre.
A violent clusterfuck with a UN seat.
Misleading politics just won't end. VP Harris is reported to have claimed there was no vaccine distribution plan. Fauci refuted that. But the anti-Trump spin seems to be more from the media and not from Harris herself. Some of that spin is from the bias of the media class and Democrats for federal action rather than state and local action. Why would Trump have made a federal distribution plan when it thought sending vaccines to the states to do as they see fit is superior? And our own eyes tell us that vaccinations have been given across the country since December despite lack of a detailed federal distribution plan. Reality is unforgiving on this. Biden promised one million vaccinations per day through his first 100 days. Which is a rate that was achieved by the time Biden was sworn in. As for Harris' claim there was no vaccine stockpile? Huh? Should there be? I'm no public health expert. But when every vaccine dose is needed now, isn't holding some back counterproductive? Shouldn't we be pushing them out to the states as fast as they are produced?
Prepaid burial-at-sea contracts: Iran's subs will kill more Iranian sailors than they will American sailors.
The Army is testing sending satellite imagery directly to troops in the field. Finally! The satellite boys (and girls) held that information so tightly that when Google Earth came around that quick information troops used it rather than wait for superior imagery that arrived way too late to help.
Why on Earth would the Navy get rid of these new small patrol boats? Is the Persian Gulf not a problem now?
I've worried about Taiwanese determination to resist a Chinese invasion. I've read things that make me question the fighting spirit of the Taiwanese army. But that's an old post. Is it true now? Was it true then? And in this podcast, Strategypage says the Taiwanese are absolutely determined to fight. I hope that is true. I keep my eye out for information on that issue. Rarely do I see anything that supports the Strategypage position.
Hmmm. That's disturbing. I admit I've long worried about the longevity of South Korea's alliance with America. And without America there, can their democracy and rule of law long survive? Democracy might not survive with America there. Although I have some worries about America itself these days.
The New York Times Firing of Don McNeil Shows How a Super Privileged Rich Kid Has More Influence There Than a Veteran Reporter[.] The reporters should live in fear of being labeled "very bad people" who thinks bad things and getting sent to the corn field. Which is swell and really good, of course:
On YouTube I saw a headline for a CNN story that said "Trump has a *lot* of money problems." Isn't that an extra unneeded word on the end? Because CNN spent four years telling us that Trump was using the presidency to enrich himself.
Sometimes the jihadis make more good jihadis by accident. Thirty, this time. Let's just hope it was the final exam. And thank God the classroom seats aren't socially distanced. Tip to Instapundit.
So not the Black Plague, then: "The risk of death from COVID-19 is more than triple that from seasonal flu, researchers in Canada say." And yes, I understand that the Xi Jinping Flu spreads far more easily. That dramatically increases the denominator compared to the seasonal flu. But perhaps the restrictions from a year ago when we didn't know how much more deadly this virus is (and greatly inflated that death risk) aren't justified now. Tip to Instapundit.
We need other sources of rare earth elements. And in the meantime I hope we have good stockpiles. Just in case.
Fingers crossed for a good Mars landing. Although we'll know what happened before this is published. Let's hope no Chinese craft ram it to stake out sacred Chinese territory. Tip to Instapundit.
The Navy seized large numbers of Russian-style infantry weapons heading for Yemen. No doubt supplied by Iran. The U.S. expressed outrage over a rocket attack on a base housing American troops. An Iran-backed group is responsible. More details on the attack. Again, you don't need CSI: Tehran to figure this out. Perhaps the lesson will be to fight back against Iran. Perhaps the lesson will be bigger pallets of cash. Could go either way.
Iraqi forces and pro-American Syrian militias rely on American air power to fight ISIL.
Biden delayed calling the Israeli contrary to tradition, making people wonder if Israel is on double secret probation, of something. But inertia keeps the relationship going in the short run: "American and Israeli troops are practicing ballistic missile defense and
collaborative crisis response in this year’s iteration of the Juniper
Falcon exercise." Biden finally spoke to Netanyahu on Wednesday.
This article says India has detected South African and Brazilian variants of the pandemic virus. Variants of what virus, you may ask. Of the Wuhan Flu virus. No, that's not it. The China Virus. No, wrong again. Those terms identifying geographic places of virus origin are racist, we've been told over and over. Well it's a variant of something and quite newsworthy, it seems. Move along. And don't beat up South Africans or Brazilians.
With all the officially sanctioned misinformation about the Capitol Building riot (horrible but not an insurrection) out there, it's like Congress and Biden have their own domestic Tonkin Gulf Incident to justify a war on conservatives.
France, jihadis, ethnic divisions, corruption, and Mali.
Biden refuses to cancel $50K in student loan debt by executive action. Good. But it would be better if he threatened to veto whatever Congress sends him. And who knows if Biden's view on executive action will "evolve" without Congressional action.
Good Lord, PolitiFact hit Peak Stupid. For the moment. What? No "context" for the false claim? Tip to Instapundit.
I was told our allies would welcome America "back" after the so-called disaster of Trump. Our allies are getting it good and hard: "[The Biden administration] is also discovering that U.S. allies are not quite as happy with Mr.
Biden’s Feb. 4 announcement that “America is back” as many Democrats
might have hoped." Yeah:
So ... the Xi Jinping Flu is just going away in India?
Pakistan used to be America's Black Sheep ally. America tired of Pakistan's behavior. And by switching to China, Pakistan ... chose poorly.
I'm just going to say that I hope Biden does lots of town hall meetings.
No! Way! "The Afghan Taliban have kept up a close relationship with Al Qaeda despite having pledged to stop cooperating with terrorist groups, permitting the militants to conduct training in Afghanistan and deploy fighters alongside its forces, according to the head of a U.N. panel monitoring the insurgency." You may recall that I was never happy with Trump's deal with the Taliban. Because I was never a cheerleader.
Jihadis in Europe: "Shotguns, a rifle and 'things that can be used to make a bomb,' were found as 14 people were arrested in Denmark and Germany on suspicion of preparing one or several attacks in the two countries, Danish police said Friday." But not an "imminent" threat. So no worries.
The logic of alliances. Spoiler alert: at their core they're transactional.
Of all of Iraq's problems, I worry about corruption the most. Rule of law must be built if democracy is to be real and last. I was worried about that even before the Iraq War.
My dad absolutely loved the late Rush Limbaugh. Dad made quite the journey from union Democrat. I'm not sure when he went past me from hard core Democratic loyalist to hard core Republican loyalist. Somewhere during the Reagan era, I'm sure. I'm sorry dad missed the election of Trump.
Even as America gets better and better on race issues, the woke get more and more shrill in claiming "systemic" racism. That's nonsense. Tip to Instapundit. And as I've observed, you'd think a "systemically racist" country could have held the line on African-American achievement and integration closer to slavery than to the White House. As I've also said, Obama's election said more good things about the American people than it did about the skills of Obama. We can always make things better. But denying the tremendous progress our country has made is insane. As is thinking the rest of the world is a racial relations paradise compared to the uniquely sinful America.
I don't actually think Biden made an excuse for abusive tyranny But can you imagine the media reaction if Trump had said something like that? Maybe Biden excused China's tyranny. But I think Biden was telling Xi Jinping that Biden's criticisms of China's human rights are just "something American culture requires Biden to do." So the implication is that Xi shouldn't worry about actual American action. Which is actually worse. Communists tyrants are going to act like tyrants. What's Biden's excuse for just going through the motions of standing up to tyrants?
Spring is in the air, so naturally "peace" talks in Afghanistan are threatened by an expected Taliban offensive. Also from our "peace partner."
Can't you just feel the appeal of reaching out to Iran? "Fifteen people arrested in Ethiopia were part of what American and Israeli officials said was a foiled Iranian plot against diplomats from the United Arab Emirates." I know, defenders of the original Iran deal say this is exactly why a deal is needed. But the first deal paved the way for Iran's nukes without having any effect on Iran's behavior. And nukes will be a shield for exactly this kind of terrorist behavior. Remember, Iran went hunting in Africa to search for easier targets for their terrorism. The mullahs must be defeated and not coddled.
The Navy is practicing how everybody is in the sea control fight: "A Navy carrier strike group got a first glimpse at what future operations could look like, with SEALs providing forward targeting data and Marines on expeditionary bases providing another missile strike option to supplement the strike group’s aircraft- and surface ship-based weapons."
The Navy said it conducted a Freedom of Navigation Operation near Spratly Islands. We really have diluted the concept of a FONOP. The warship merely defied unlawful requirements for "innocent passage." Innocent passage means your ship goes through foreign territory quickly and without doing anything a warship can uniquely do. True FONOPs--I thought--deny territorial claims by operating as a warship in that territory.
The modern Democratic Party has decided to screw blue collar workers in favor of their extremist Green faction. Labor unions thought they were special. Not so much. Tip to Instapundit.
Never let a crisis go to waste. Even when the crisis is declining and the proposed massive "response" will interfere with recovering from the crisis. It's mostly stimulating failure at this point.
Ben Rhodes thinks America's media is way too pro-Israeli? Where was it when that media was wrapped around his finger to promote the garbage Iran nuclear deal? I guess those darned Jews will get what's coming to them now that Biden is in office. To be fair to Rhodes, I guess it isn't mutually exclusive to think the media is pro-Israeli and ignorant.
In the vast Pacific, tiny dots with air fields are very important. The Australians need to pay attention, too.
Iran-al Qaeda ties. Good enough for government terrorist work?
American social media is waging war on domestic "enemies." There is collateral damage: "Facebook made the sudden decision to ban media content on its platform in Australia Thursday, creating chaos when other entities — including a government weather agency and state health department — were also inadvertently blocked." Even though the government site blocking was inadvertent, the capability to do that on purpose is clear. As I noted a month ago, " If the president of the United States can be banned, who's next? What else might foreigners begin to fear American big tech can do to them at a whim? Big tech is taking a shot at Trump and Republicans. But the collateral damage could be worldwide and end up hurting big tech. Might Europeans decide they need their own Internet? Might a European decide there is profit in seeking the "niche" market of American conservatives with competitors to Twitter and Facebook?"
That's just sad. Tip to Instapundit.
I don't let politics interfere with life. The problem is a lot of other people do. As I've said in the context of war, it only takes one side to make conflict. Two sides just make it longer and costlier. Which needlessly complicates dating life where I live. But perhaps I share too much. I have no doubt we'll look back on this era as one of mass and multiple hysterias. Or "collective madness" is a fine term. At this point my hope is that the hysteria dies down enough for my children to enjoy life without the burdens that the mass hysteria places on good people.
I don't know how inflation can't be a looming problem. All I know is that for reasons I can't fathom it hasn't been so far. Which means that when experts generally aren't worried about inflation I take no comfort.
As the Biden administration figures out what to do in Afghanistan, let me say two things. One, don't forget that our effort created a government that instead of producing terrorists is one that is out there killing terrorists every day. That government is imperfect. But it does fight our mutual enemies. And two, don't make the mistake of thinking counter-terrorism is a cheap alternative to counter-insurgency. The latter enables the former. And without the latter being done by someone, the former ends up being just bombing empty tents or full weddings.
Democrats will find lots of dumb excuses to keep troops garrisoning Washington, D.C. forever. Next month it will be the anniversary of the Iraq War. Then tax day. The month after, Memorial Day. Then Flag Day. Then Independence Day. And August? Well, just in case. It is one of those months without an (R) in it. Symbolic? Then we're up to 9/11, so duh. And more fences and more barbed wire each month, I suppose. It looks like a coup really took place. But I'll only really worry if VP Harris starts sporting an Army uniform and sunglasses. Tip to Instapundit.
While it is shameful for Democrats to punish Trump with legislation to prohibit his burial at Arlington, I don't know if it is illegal. It isn't a criminal punishment. And it technically is only aimed at anybody impeached twice (so Bill Clinton is fine). In Michigan, such wording is used to get around state constitution's prohibition of laws for specific municipalities. But if you make a law for all cities with at least 1,000,000 people? Oh well, it's a big coincidence it only applies to Detroit. There was legislative scrambling as Detroit's population shrank. Or maybe cities over 200,000 in counties of at least 500,000 with a port or an international airport. There were ways. I remember once somebody from out of state was astounded that such a thing was upheld by our courts. I don't know what federal limitations are. If any. If the bill is passed, Trump should direct that following his death that he will be cremated with his remains divided between his primary place of final resting and the Congressional districts of every bill co-sponsor. Let them enjoy the pro-Trump tourists:
"A convicted murderer-turned-community activist in Baltimore has a radical approach to combating the city’s stunning murder rate: Pay criminals not to kill." We're not going to get to Peak Stupid ever, are we? Or maybe it is Peak Immorality. How is it justice to reward criminals and say yes, crime does pay? As one writer commented about his long history of not killing people: "And all this time… I’ve been doing it for free??? What a dope!"
The myths of the Capitol Building riot. They conveniently support the ridiculous notion that it was an insurrection. The riot was bad. Those involved in entering the Capitol Building should be punished. But it was no insurrection. Which is what Democrats want you to think to justify wide-ranging actions against Republicans. Right now the only reason for keeping National Guard troops in Washington, D.C. is to support Insurrection Theater. Tip to Instapundit.
The Russians slowly kill Ukrainian troops on the static frontline in eastern Donbas. And the Ukrainians are just taking it. I guess the subliminal Ukrainian counteroffensive is over. Russia has succeeded in getting Ukraine to pretend that the local separatists and not Russia are the real enemy to talk to. But if the Ukrainians attack to liberate the area, doesn't Russia's diplomatic success backfire by making it more difficult to openly fight the Ukrainians? Or maybe I overestimate Russian sense of shame and they'd shift on little notice to open warfare.
I used to mock Thomas Friedman. I decided to ignore him after his horrible suggestion to exploit Russia's 2014 invasion of Ukraine in order to get higher gasoline taxes. I found that despicable. But I can't resist noting this:
As I would say when I read his columns: I won't say you can't drown in a pool of Friedman's wisdom. But you would have to be drunk and face down to do so.
The Israelis want more F-35s. Which should settle the question of whether or not the plane is capable.
The Army faces a choice of modernization or numbers in a tighter budget as available resources flow to the Navy, Air Force, and Space Force. Thank God for the Coast Guard! I'd bet on modernization given that over the last two decades so much modernization was screwed up or took second place during the Middle East campaigns.
Marines who arrived in Norway for cancelled (because of the Xi Jinping Flu pandemic) multinational exercises will conduct Arctic training as long as they are there.
"Gulf War Syndrome" in troops sent to the Persian Gulf War (1990-1991) was not caused by depleted uranium rounds. Researchers think low-level Iraqi poison gas exposure combined with gas antidotes and exposure to pesticide are the cause. Depleted uranium seemed like a too convenient cause ("nuculer!!") from leftist activists to be true. And going to exotic climates with unfamiliar diseases has long been a problem for Western troops. What is the comparison between Western troops and Arab troops?
The British may reduce or cancel upgrades for their infantry fighting vehicle. Which makes sense for their new (old) off-shore strategy that abandons toe-to-toe combat with the Russkies. Although options are limited if the troops going ashore are too light.
NATO will increase its training mission in Iraq by 500 troops to 4,000 total. Good! I assume this means non-American NATO troops. Training is an ongoing process. Too many people like to say "we've been there for two decades and they still aren't trained! Get out now!" You don't train an army and put it on a shelf to be taken down in pristine condition when needed.
Last week I looked at Xi Jinping Flu cases and the dramatic trend down led me to write that "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." Well: "There is reason to think the country is racing toward an extremely low
level of infection. As more people have been infected, most of whom have
mild or no symptoms, there are fewer Americans left to be infected. At
the current trajectory, I expect Covid will be mostly gone by April,
allowing Americans to resume normal life." If current trends hold, of course. Including vaccination efforts which should continue to go up. Fingers crossed. I'd be happy not to lose another summer to this Chinese Communist Party export. Not to be selfish here. But that would help everyone, too. Including our budget if the epidemic fades before we spend too much money we don't have for no good reason. But if spending that money can be used to credit Biden with an economic and pandemic recovery that would happen without spending a single dime, Democrats will find that well worth the price.
Biden tells Europeans that "America is back." And Europeans "push back." But America never left. We reinforced NATO and strengthened NATO over the last four years, in fact. The two strongest EU powers pushed back at Biden. As the article explains, what France wants is an EU military. That weakens NATO and minimizes American influence in Europe. And Germany wants to reach out to Russia and China regardless of where America wants to lead. In general,I think Europeans want an America that doesn't ask Europeans to carry any burden or pay any price for the alliance burdens. So yeah, those EU states only want an America "back" to not leading Europeans. Which they welcome very much.
More Science! People aren't rejecting science. People are rejecting partisan politics dressed up as science to avoid the unpleasant need to justify political policies.
But don't you dare call them anti-American:
I have never fallen for the organic food hype and don't buy any of it. Well, it may have pushed conventional farming to get better. And organic meats that don't over-use antibiotics that risk human resistance to that important treatment are a good thing. But only if that niche practice has an effect on conventional meat production. There is no reason to buy organic now for health benefits. The organic fervor all too often is a way to (somehow) proclaim your moral superiority over non-organic consumers. Tip to Instapundit. Oh, and heh:
Putin will send Navalny to a "penal colony." I see there is a new term for "gulag."
Algerians are calling for freedom and democracy. The Arab Spring is a long season.
Russia invests a lot in expanding their nuclear arsenal, especially shorter range weapons outside of New START restrictions on American and Russian long-range weapons. In part this is to compensate for Russia's conventional forces weakness compared to their massive borders. But I do wonder if Russia's bluster is to conceal a Potemkin nuclear deterrent.
A Shia group rocketed an Iraqi base where American contractors service Iraqi F-16s. I'm sure the attack was just part of Iran's cultural traditions for saying "Let's talk and be friends." We're to respect such differences, I've been led to believe. Ah the rich tapestry of Persian culture!
Huh: "Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday issued a decree ordering the respect of freedom of expression ahead of legislative elections in May, a step demanded by Palestinian factions who discussed the polls in Egypt-hosted talks this month." Maybe the lesson Palestinians should take from this is that regular and frequent elections might lead their rulers to respect freedoms more frequently.
As I've noted, four years of insanely biased anti-Trump coverage may have been the biggest source of election fraud. So a year of insanity on Trump's pandemic record is hardly a shocking thing to ponder. Quite true, of course. But it was just one part of a broad media offensive. Tip to Instapundit.
The American secretary of defense called for more NATO help against China. I surely hope for more European help on intelligence, economic, and diplomatic efforts to resist China. But NATO is a military alliance. I'd rather have NATO take its neighborhood more seriously. Be able to stop Russia, police the Mediterranean Sea, and contribute to stabilizing the Middle East first. Then we can look at NATO projecting power all the way to Asia a bit more, eh? We'll see if Europeans really want America to lead them.
Move along. Nothing to see: "In northern North Korea (Chagang Province) it was recently revealed that a new (late 2020) Ganggye Chemical Factory for producing paint and varnishes was actually producing chemical weapons. This was revealed because the factory was next to the Changja River. The truth about the factory was revealed when people living downstream along the Changja River noted lots of dead fish in the river. Since people get drinking water from and wash clothes in that river this caused some alarm."
I'm confused: "In comments made to the Defense Writers Group, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown explained that the Air Force would like a new, from-scratch fighter to replace the F-16 with what seems to be capabilities somewhere in between the F-16 and the F-35." Huh? I thought the F-35 is the replacement for the F-16. Just as the F-22 was the replacement for the F-15. And if you really want something almost as capable as the F-35 but presumably cheaper, couldn't you strip down the stealth features of the F-35 a bit? Maybe make it frontal stealth only? Wouldn't that cut down on production and maintenance costs? How did the F-35 become the Ferrari of the Air Force?
Thank God we don't rely on these people to staff our military. Tip to Instapundit.
Sometimes the good guys lose: "Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has admitted the protest movement against dictator Alexander Lukashneko “seems to have lost” after being on the verge of toppling his regime last year." Last week I mentioned that Lukashenko seemed like he endured the worst. And given that Russia would have sent in their troops if Lukashenko fell, the only question might have been the form of the protest movement loss. This time.
The U.S. intends to retaliate for Russia's massive hacking attack last year. We'll see.
