If this had happened to Republicans, CNN would have gone into overdrive on damning coverage. Tip to Instapundit.
About that Xi Jinping Flu vaccine hesitancy that Democrats mock and condemn now: "Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were themselves the most prominent of anti-vaxxers, and if some people took their skepticism too seriously, they have only themselves to blame. But there is more: Drew Holden did an excellent job, back in November 2020, of reminding us that anti-vaccine sentiment was widespread on the Left right up to the 2020 election." In related "that was different" news: "The Biden administration took one giant step closer to admitting that the coronavirus was leaked from a Chinese lab, a theory once derided as fanciful fiction." The ways of science are mysterious. Tips to Instapundit.
I wonder how they've kept busy? "Back in 2016 NATO and Ukraine agreed to have NATO personnel help train and expand Ukrainian special operations forces. ... Despite the personnel shortage, [Ukraine Special Operations Forces] have continually upgraded their skills to meet NATO standards and are now certified to serve as part of the NATO Response Force."
I completely overlooked my 19th bloggiversary on July 12th. Huh.
I believe one day that people will look back with horror and disgust at our left's obsession with race and racial hate. The left will look as bad as old-style segregationists--as they are.
Our friends we haven't made yet, the Iranians: "Two Iranian warships are nearing the English Channel, according to satellite photographs reviewed by USNI News. The ships are thought to be headed to the Baltic Sea to represent Iran in a July 25 naval parade off the coast of St. Petersburg to commemorate the 325th anniversary of the Russian Navy."
Well, it's the Alien Citizen and Sedition Act given that illegal aliens are a favored future constituency of the Democratic Party.
This is to be expected given Russian ground forces weakness and Chinese naval power: "President Joe Biden’s 2022 budget would continue a trend of providing a growing portion of the military’s resources to air and naval forces— raising questions about how low the Army’s topline will go as a share of the Pentagon’s fiscal pie in coming years." American ground power added to NATO forces will have to do in Europe. But even though I think the Army has a potential big role in Asia, naval power badly needs work. Although with the F-35, air power has a strong foundation going forward. Although long-range strike needs renewal with bombers and aerial refueling, too.
I really don't understand why Democrats blame Trump for Xi Jinping Flu vaccine hesitancy now. Trump actually created the programs that created the vaccines in record time. He is clearly not against the vaccines. And Democrats were highly skeptical of "Trump's" vaccine prior to the election. And in fact, vaccine resistance to cope with the Covid-19 is global. Trump must have global support, if the Democrats are to be believed. We'll not mention that Trump initiated the projects to bring vaccines to America rapidly.
Smart move. Unlike the border security issue, Harris has a ready-made excuse for not going to space as part of her responsibilities: "In May, the Biden administration announced that Vice President Kamala Harris would be taking over a revived National Space Council." But maybe Harris will pleasantly surprise me and be just as inattentive to space as Obama was--which enabled private space programs to flourish.
The "cleaner" that scrubbed signs of past life from Mars (via Instapundit)?
Iran's efforts to fight its enemies to the last dead Arab continue.
Poland may provide the MC-145: " U.S. SOCOM (Special Operations Command) is seeking 75 ground attack aircraft for use overseas in areas where there are no hostile air-defenses and a need for propeller-driven ground attack aircraft to support SOCOM missions. There are five companies submitting proposals for this Armed Overwatch program and one of them is an armed version of the existing SOCOM C-145A, which is an unarmed transport used under the same conditions the new attack aircraft are meant for."
At 10 nuclear warheads per missile, China will have a potent first-strike counter-force arsenal. Of course, I'm not sure if America, India, or Russia should worry more.
Unless it is CNN+ actual news, who cares?
Uh oh: "HMS Defender, recently at the centre of a diplomatic row with Russia following a voyage off the Crimean peninsula, is the only vessel of the class [of six ships] without an issue." I was worried that the Royal Navy would be a carrier and its escorts. Was I right?
I'll admit there is room for such tactics when dealing with an actual threat. Doing this makes possible terrorist recruits wary of putting their thoughts into violent action because they have doubt about whether the group they want to join is penetrated by or controlled by the government. But the tactic can run amok and go fully into entrapment territory when there is no major underlying threat. Seriously (via Instapundit), was it a federal agency plot to kidnap a governor?
What the Hell did South Africa do to itself? Tip to Instapundit.
The ranks of the Xi Jinping Flu "conspiracy theory" expands into the White House. The Chinese communists sure are touchy about the subject: "The Chinese are warning about an impending nuclear war if the United States does not cease its investigation into the origins of the COVID pandemic." Meanwhile, the pangolins are still waiting to get their reputations back.
China treats us as their enemy, so we should accept that: "The Justice Department announced Monday that a federal grand jury has indicted four Chinese nationals with a widespread cyberattack campaign that targeted dozens of companies, colleges and government agencies from 2011 to 2018."
Our women's soccer team had this humiliating loss: "The United States women’s soccer team didn’t just lose their Olympic
opener to Sweden 3-0 here on Wednesday. They were dominated in the kind
of shocking fashion that rarely happens to the Americans." I have so little desire to watch the Olympics because I'm not sure if "America" fielded Olympics athletes this year. I know most of our athletes are not these kinds of scum. But the scum ruin everything, as the woke do wherever they go. I do feel a bit bad for the loss because it looks like two of the players stood while the rest knelt in honor of a Marxist racist hate group. So there is hope. We should enforce representing America and if any athletes who qualify don't want to represent America, let them be a team without a country to compete without our flag to disgrace.
Canada reboots its aging fleet with a new emphasis on defending its Arctic sovereignty. It's about time.
I'm pleased that Jeff Bezos made it to space. The craft stayed up just 5 minutes so there is no word about whether sub-orbital space enjoyed it, too.
The world in 2040? Spoiler alerts on the big picture: China falters, Russia shatters, the European Union dissolves, America endures. Fingers crossed. When I looked to 2040, 13 years ago I saw a weakened Chinese government, a weaker Russia losing de facto sovereignty over some of its territory, an EU that becomes an autocracy to maintain power (and I did not see Brexit coming), while America retains enough regional allies to be the most powerful power in total strength.
Well of course Japan will base its new F-35Bs in the south. That's where the China threat is.
Should America build several dozen 1,000 ton-corvettes? I can see a handful for niche situations like the Persian Gulf region. But my understanding is that American warships need a certain minimum size. Because unlike a lot of other countries that use corvettes, those ships basically only need to leave port to be in the combat zone. Our ships have to cross oceans before reaching combat zones and be fit to fight once there. Can small ships and crews take that kind of a pounding by the sea and still fight? So I'm thinking dozens of corvettes are a bad idea.
Let's set aside the farcical premise that the European Union could prevent Belarus from being a failed state. Because Belarus is the most important territory in Europe today, Russia will funnel the money in to keep the target of its subliminal Anschluss stable enough to use. It will be a Crimea on Europe's doorstep--not a Donbas. Which means it is a problem for NATO. The EU is only capable of bossing around its own member states, not confronting and beating a nuclear armed power in its own region. Really, if the EU gets seriously involved with the future of Belarus, I expect things to go the opposite of solving the problem. Because the EU is out to solve a totally different problem, eh?
It's justice delayed. We'll see if it is token justice for a few sacrificial lambs, too.
Hillary taught her Padawan well. But did Biden wipe it, like with a cloth?
I used to at least respect the Democrats for being for blue collar people and the First Amendment. But they've gone dangerously insane. Tip to Instapundit.
Destroying a country for prophet and profit.
Biden signed a deal with Germany on the Russian pipeline to German, bypassing Poland and Ukraine: "The United States and Germany struck an agreement that will allow the
completion of the pipeline, which will transport gas directly from
Russia to Germany." But no worries, Germany and America will invest some money in green energy for Ukraine. To be fair to Biden, Trump is out of office so it is safe to embrace Russia and throw Ukraine under the bus. In related news, Merkel to Ukraine: Lie back and think of Germany. "German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday that a compromise deal
that will allow the completion of a Russian gas pipeline to Europe
without the imposition of further U.S. sanctions is 'good for Ukraine.'" Truly, it is hard to fathom why Biden is doing this.
The Texas Democrat clown jet saga bounced the rubble of media credibility: "If our media is going to suddenly dial down the COVID hysterics because the political party they agree with are the rubes in this instance, it’s worth wondering what anyone needs them for." Tell me this wouldn't by called a "super spreader event" if Republicans had caused it.
American and Australian troops practiced "shoot and scoot" anti-ship fires in Australia.
American troops did not destroy a truck operated by an Iran-backed Iraqi militia in Syria as I recently noted. Might have been the CIA. Or someone else battling Iran, I suppose.
Jihadis continue to do what they do best: "ISIS has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that occurred in Iraq on Monday, killing 30 people and wounded 50 others." But at least these jihadis are busy enough killing "over there" and not trying to kill us "over here" with the same level of focus.
American and other countries will conduct joint exercises with the Georgian military.
An Army National Guard armored brigade completes its deployment in CENTCOM.
In defense of Battle Drill 6. I must say that I don't recall the author being refuted as saying room clearing is not needed. I recall the author saying it is used too much when not appropriate. I fully agree with the notion that just because you can do something doesn't mean that you should to it. Which applies to the bigger picture. If troops have to clear rooms carefully in a mega-city to avoid needless civilian casualties, I say we can't afford to take a mega-city. American troop casualties will be way too high. Just because troops can execute Battle Drill 6 doesn't mean we should plunge into casualty sponges.
The Russians are upset that the Black Sea isn't their lake any more: "Russian military actions in the Black Sea during a multinational exercise reflect an increasingly aggressive effort to control the region, said a top U.S. admiral and analysts calling for an assertive response from the U.S. and NATO allies."
A Palletized Weapon System: "Rapid Dragon advances a roll-on/off capability that uses standard airdrop procedures without modification to the aircraft, transforming combat transport aircraft into lethal strike weapon platforms that complement or augment the strike capacity of tactical fighters and strategic bombers." It's sort of an aerial version of the modularized auxiliary cruiser that I proposed in Military Review. It would only be fully analogous if civilian aircraft could have the weapon system mounted on them.
China has evolved into something more accurately called fascist rather than communist. The fact that it evolved that way with economic growth rather than to democracy is instructive. But more importantly, can the Chinese party-controlled government survive? There is definitely a looming crisis: "Despite the tight censorship on Chinese Internet social media there is an increasing amount of chatter by recent university graduates about the need for change. Attempts to fix the core problem, corruption, are not working for most Chinese, especially new university grads and that is seen as menacing by Chinese in general. Historically Chinese dynasties usually fell because they were weakened, and torn apart by rebels enraged by the corruption. That's one reason why communists gained power in 1949. But their virtuous new government began to show signs of corruption within a decade, and it's gotten much worse since communist economic policies were dumped in the 1980s. What goes around, comes around, slowly and inexorably. " The CCP could survive that crisis. But I don't rule out "all of the above" when judging China's future.
Is Ethiopia on the verge of a coup? That is Egypt's avenue to getting a deal on the GERD Nile River dam.
The Russians are quite desperate to reverse their population decline.
Well, good: "The Biden administration announced new sanctions Thursday against a number of Cuban officials deemed directly involved in human rights abuses during a government crackdown on widespread protests earlier this month." Via PJ Media.
It occurred to me that America is experiencing racial animosity inflation. Once upon a time, "racists" were those who wanted to use the power of government to impose laws and behaviors on other races to keep them down. People who simply had poor views of other races or ethnicities were "bigots". Which isn't nice but at least leaves minorities alone without legal discrimination. Today, our laws protect against the legal discrimination. And polls show even bigotry is lower when measured by things like caring about whether a person of another race lives in your neighborhood and by inter-racial marriage rates. Yet today, the left says the problem is "racism" that is so rampant that it is "systemic". What planet do these leftists live on, anyway? And as an aside, the Democrats or those further to the left run the cities and institutions where we are told systemic racism rages on. What's up with that? Bigotry surely still exists--among a lot of races and ethnicities. But racism? That's damned rare. We should be happy about that and not look for the tiniest clues "proving" its vastness.
Iran, a charter member of the Axis of Evil, throws in its lot with the Axis of El Vil: "Iran has been working to increase its footprint in Latin America and join forces with autocratic governments in the region, including Venezuela. The new coordination between Iran and Cuba is another sign that Tehran is trying to empower enemies located in the United States' backyard even as the two countries negotiate a new nuclear deal."
The Biden administration simultaneously excuses African Americans and "Latinx" for not wanting to get vaccinated against the Xi Jinping Flu. Yet simultaneously the administration blames gap-toothed, well-armed rural Trump-supporting hicks for missing its vaccination goals. Well: "The states with low vaccination rates also tend to have larger minority populations. And blacks are the least likely racial or ethnic group to have been vaccinated, with Hispanics the second least likely, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation." And the anti-vaxxer influencers online are not exactly a microcosm of the red side of the aisle. Huh. Tip to Instapundit.
Strengthening Taiwan's horrible reserve system is a good idea.
Democrats (and those further to the left) control our big cities--which they've deemed hotbeds of "systemic racism". Why are Democrats allowed to control our cities given their admitted racist record?
The British carrier task force exercised with the Indian Navy.
Well, the Cleveland Indians decide to rename their team after Space Force troops. The baseball team will now be known as the Cleveland Guardians. In a place like China, erasing the cultural imagery of a minority is genocidal. Here it is woke moral superiority. Odd, that is. If they had to change their name, it should have been to the Cleveland Rocks!
I've seen these "affordable" condominium "sales" around here. It is basically just a subsidized rental property that functions like a poor non-Indian reservation with real ownership denied to the so-called "owners." It is folly and cruel. And pray tell, what incentives are there for the poor owners to maintain or improve their unit when they will never gain money from appreciation? And what opportunities to actually buy a home in a less pricey area that actually appreciates to the benefit of the owner will be lost? But the people around the folly and cruelty can claim moral superiority for their "caring". So of course it will continue. But no worries. Words mean what the left says they mean. For as long as it is beneficial to them to define words any particular way. Tip to Instapundit.
To be fair, the White House only told us that we in the public wouldn't know who bought Hunter's "art". Tip to The Morning Briefing.
There is a myth that Republicans have become far-right extremists in recent decades. But polling data shows that it is the Democrats who have veered way left while Republicans have shifted marginally right. What has happened on the right is that many Republicans became nearly as loud as the Democrats. I also suspect that since the media has shifted left along with their Democratic allies that the dramatic shift left has been normalized as "moderate".
This is supposed to be a joke:
Science. Denier panic in 3, 2, 1 ... . Tip to Instapundit.
Iranian demonstrations against drought. One day the suffering and outrage will reach a tipping point when enough people say "Enough!" with the mullah theocracy.
The Xi Jinping Flu virus is already most deadly against the elderly. Now this: "A new study suggests that a Sinopharm vaccine offers poor protection from COVID-19 among the elderly, raising questions for dozens of countries that have given the Chinese company’s shots to their most vulnerable populations." One day we'll find out this virus was engineered by the CCP to kill off their elderly population and "solve" their social security problem of old people without a state pension safety net and without an extended family safety net, won't we? I'm just saying they're cold enough to do that.
How is this possible? "A nation that led the world in commercial shipbuilding as recently as America’s bicentennial year today builds less than 10 vessels for oceangoing commerce in a typical year." We need to correct this strategic weakness.
What the Hell is the NSA doing unmasking an American television host? Of course, I knew it was true when you parsed the Clintonian defense that Carlson was not the "target" of surveillance. A true statement that is not a response to the question is a dead give away. Tip to Instapundit.
Endorsed: "The Democrats lost my vote for life when they tried to destroy Brett Kavanaugh. That was the last straw. If they don’t have the sense to knock it off already, let them keep alienating normal people." I believe I mentioned the same thing: "Don't get me started on the unforgivable 2018 Democratic/media attempt to smear Kavanaugh. Yeah, that outrage is not forgotten and it is not forgiven. That ended my willingness to vote for Democrats at lower levels of government. If my drains work, I once thought, why not reelect the Democratic drain commissioner? After Kavanaugh? Screw 'em. I decided I'd never vote for any Democrat again. For anything."
When demonstrations against the Cuban government began, I'll I wanted America to do materially was provide Internet access to the people of Cuba. But no (tip to Instapundit): "The State Department is slow-walking plans to provide wireless internet access to Cuba as the country's communist government shuts down social media sites in response to pro-democracy protests." To be fair to the Biden administration, it doesn't want Americans to have access to a free and open Internet, either.
Why should we care if people, by their own choice, don't get vaccinated against the Xi Jinping Flu? The rest of us can be vaccinated, wear a mask, and/or stay home if that worried. In time, enough people will be safe either from vaccination or surviving the Covid-19 virus. Either way, it works. And with the Delta variant spreading fast but not killing many people, there are two paths to get to herd immunity. I'm going out without a mask confident from the vaccine that I won't die from the Chinese-engineered virus. Other people can do what they want. By all means, reach out to people who don't want the vaccine for various reasons. I'm not saying abandon that path. But why bother fighting over this as a political issue when herd immunity will arrive regardless?
"Insurrection". Via Instapundit.
War on terror stubbornly continues: "The U.S. military said it carried out an airstrike on Friday against al Shabaab militants in Somalia, in the second such action this week." The enemy gets a vote, recall.
Democrats keep saying they would require perfect plans to deal with post-combat phase activities. Yeah: "Afghan Air Force pilots have run out of laser-guided weaponry due to the sudden loss of support from the United States and NATO after President Joe Biden decided to exit Afghanistan, according to a senior Afghan lawmaker."
Iraq is trying to prop up Lebanon via a trade of Iraqi oil for Lebanese services. I worry that Iran will divert money to Hezbollah.
Well of course China's communist rulers are bitching about something: "China denounced NBC for displaying what the nation called an 'incomplete map' of its territory during the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics, Reuters reports." Didn't NBC get Xi's memo?
Hard to argue with this: "Facebook and the rest [of social media] make their living by welcoming all who come, but they particularly welcome idiots with the ability to write and attract vast numbers of other idiots, who can be sold useless things and who come to believe the madness being pedaled." They sure pedaled the idea of a sentient Joe Biden for president successfully.
Who spoofed the Automated Identification System at Odessa, Ukraine?
Huh: "Nigeria's hipster herders - the funky Fulanis[.]" Thanks BBC! They're funky hipsters! We'll downplay the whole killing farmers in a wide-scale range war aspect of that funkiness: "The farmer versus herder violence in northern and central Nigeria is mainly about land and who controls it. While the herders are often militant Fulani Moslems, most of the farmers they battle in the north are also Moslem. Many Fulani agree with Boko Haram about how killing non-Moslems is what devout Moslems should do as often as possible. Most of the farmers killed by Fulani are Christians and in 2018 the Fulani herders killed more Christians in Nigeria than had Boko Haram. That trend has continued." But the colorful clothing!
Palestinian "activists" attacked Israel: "Incendiary balloons launched from the Gaza Strip on Sunday caused at
least three blazes in southern Israel, Israeli media reported, raising
the possibility of renewed Israeli strikes on the Hamas-run territory." If Palestinians spent a fraction of the effort they devote to killing Jews to making Gaza a better place, Gaza would be a far better place.
If Big Lies aren't reported as such by the media, did it happen? Tip to Instapundit.
