Ongoing blogging on Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues under this label.
Some years ago I noted that global temperatures seemed to be going up after a significant "pause" as the global warming advocates called it. The new pause is 7.5 years long now. Which is news to me. I just don't lose sleep over this. If it is a problem we'll figure it out. No need to wreck our economies and punish the poor because of the mental health issues of the fanatics.
I always assumed banning plastic grocery bags is counter-productive. I haven't bought a plastic trash bag box in forever. I re-use them for trash. And now I use them for cat litter instead of the special bags I initially used. But can you put an environmental price tag on feeling good about yourself? Tip to Instapundit.
Our elites (the 'Overclass") really do hate America and the West, in general. I'll ask again, why do we hate us? Our elites hate us because we aren't perfect. And they excuse--and God save us, sometimes celebrate--the bloody, backward behavior of our enemies because we aren't perfect. Democracy dies in wokeness.
Let's hope the Chinese military is as corrupt as the Russian military, and that it learns nothing from Russia's invasion failures. Although it will probably learn from the financial sanctions. And being much larger and more important to the global economy, blunt the effects.
The Marines want light amphibious warships and larger amphibious ships, but the Navy wants to truncate the latter. Perhaps there is room for converting LCS to LAW? At least as an experiment. I don't like the LAW concept as it stands. I'm not that happy with the money going into Ford-class carriers, for that matter. And the Atlantic Marines really should have tanks. I'm done.
Russia revived NATO. Well, I've long wanted NATO as a hedge against a revival of the Russian threat --with a robust American Army presence (see pp. 15-20). But China is still the main threat. European NATO states justifiably alarmed at Russia can handle the Russians with American help that doesn't weaken us in Asia.
Interesting: "Westerners do not realize how little most Russians know about the “Ukrainian operation”, as the invasion is called by the Russian government." You have to admit, if Russians think the West has reacted so extremely to a Russian mission to save Ukraine from Nazis, you'd rally around your leader, too.
A Marine task force in the Mediterranean Sea hopes to employ "stand-in" forces operating in small numbers undetected close to the enemy. The purpose is to "conduct sea denial operations in support of fleet operations, especially near maritime chokepoints[.]" I'm not worried about the Russians in the Mediterranean.
I think that capability in European waters is most useful in the Baltic
Sea to contain the Russia navy to gain free use of the Baltic to
support Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and potentially Sweden and Finland.
China thinks its economic ties to the world give it leverage over the West. But while cutting out a weak member of the Western herd can work, if the herd strikes back China may find that its Golden Handcuffs limit what China can do lest the prosperity the Chinese Communist Party relies on for legitimacy falters. So: "The Chinese have been lukewarm in their support of Putin’s war and need to remain on good terms with their Western trading partners."
I sure hope there isn't a war with China in the short run. Because if we wrongly assume we have time before China strikes we just saved the Chinese the trouble of sinking 5 Navy cruisers.
So what the heck kind of air-to-air missile is the Modular Advanced Missile?
Huh. An A-10 with lots of small diameter bombs that can hit targets 50 miles away goes a long way to addressing my worries about the plane over a modern battlefield.
Speak softly and carry a really fast stick: "The U.S. military kept a successful hypersonic missile test under wraps for two weeks in order to avoid raising tensions with Russia, a defense official confirmed to The Hill."
Russia's stumbling in Ukraine has to make China reconsider its strategy of pushing against America and its allies at sea while counting on Russia to keep America at least a little distracted. China knows it has a much easier target in Russia while counting on distance, the seas, and anger at Russia to keep Russia's sea flank quiet while it confronts Russia which stole Chinese territory in the Far East.
Well, Assad's alive and still sits behind the big desk: "A decade of civil war has left Syria with a lot of losers and no clear winner. The Assad government is technically in control of 90 percent of Syria but that control is weaker than it was before 2011. There are not enough trained police and soldiers to maintain order throughout Syria and many areas are still generally lawless and dominated by Islamic terrorists, outlaw militias and gangsters of all sorts." And this is why I called it a "multi-war" and not a "civil war": "Syria remains a battlefield for Islamic terrorists and Israeli, Turkish, Russian, Iranian, Syrian, and American forces to fight each other in a constantly changing web of alliances. For Syria peace will have to wait, possibly for a long time." American-led forces. There is a coalition.
Sky Dew. America used them in Iraq and Afghanistan. And sometimes just mounted on poles.
The Arab Spring was a sign of longing for alternatives to mullahs or autocrats running Arab lives and not a victory celebration for rule-of-law democracy. Still, this is sad: "Tunisian President Kais Saied’s orders to dissolve parliament and investigate its members for 'conspiracy' have pushed the country into deeper political turmoil and raised fears of a budding autocracy."
Russia will make Britain miss having heavy armor: "Among the changes to be implemented [from the Integrated Review] was a pivot to the Asia-Pacific
region and a transformation of the military towards hi-tech capabilities
like space, cyber, and artificial intelligence, away from conventional
weapons like main battle tanks." I miss the British Army of the Rhine as much as the next guy, but I'm not sure Britain has a choice given its new global ambitions unless Britain is willing to ramp up defense spending quite a bit to keep a couple heavy brigades.
Credentialed, politicized morons. Tip to Instapundit.
I keep seeing stories about the Xi Jinping Flu Covid-19 virus being more dangerous to people 60 and older. What I don't know is if there is something intrinsic about being 60+ that makes you more vulnerable. Or is it that people 60+ in general have more health problems that increase risk. So that the health problems and not simply being 60+ is the issue.
Putin has demonstrated the horrors that can follow from pretending to see Nazis where none exist. Tip to Instapundit. Too many need to see Nazis.
This article argues that contrary to the "myth" of the missing Russian cyberwar in Ukraine, Russia launched a massive cyberwar attack on Ukraine. Okay. I do recall some of those stories. But doesn't that just expose that Russia's cyber effort has had little apparent effect on the war? For all its size, what good did it do? It is possible that the failure lies in Russia's kinetic military to exploit what was done in cyber. That's possible. But I'm skeptical. At the very least, cyber is no silver bullet. Related American defensive moves (via Instapundit).
North Korea may detonate another nuclear device. I worry less about North Korea with nukes than I worry about the possibility that Iran freed from sanctions could afford to buy North Korean nukes.
More on American snipers and sharpshooters. I believe I mentioned the rifle last week.
Linda Sarsour "pinkwashes" Islamist anti-Semitism and anti-LGBTQ+ policies.
After two years of pandemic lockdowns, a "portion of" colleges students are disengaged according to professors: "'Stunning' is the word she uses to describe the level of disengagement she and her colleagues have witnessed across the Nebraska campus. 'I don’t seem to be capable of motivating them to read textbooks or complete assignments,' she says of that portion of her students. 'They are kind kids. They are really nice to know and talk with. I enjoy them as people.' But, she says, 'I can’t figure out how to help them learn.' Why does she need to figure out how to help them learn? When I was a student, the professors didn't waste any time trying to motivate me. They gave the assignments to us. And when we did the homework, took the tests, or wrote the papers, we got a grade based on how much of that work we did. If failing and wasting borrowed money that the government absolutely should not forgive doesn't motivate you, you have no business being in higher education. I reserve my sympathy for the K-12 students left behind during the lockdowns. They're effed and the teacher unions couldn't care less.
Let's hope these America-India talks smooth over some of the friction from criticism of India over not wanting to cut off Russia as a source of arms and a potential alliance against China.
Somalia continues to display zero evidence that it should be treated as a unified state.
Until 2014, corruption and Russian influence undermined Ukraine's military. Since then it improved morale, training, and equipment. Also, how Russia created their eastern Donbas hand puppets.
I've long wanted to flip Russia from its insane hostility toward NATO and jointly focus on our common threat of China. But the idea that Europe must "embrace" Russia for peace in Europe at the cost of "understanding" their deep roots of brutality is insane. Sure, the authors look to Russia changing. But all too often such "preconditions" fall away when the allure of "a grand deal" raises its ugly head. Then it will be the "you talk peace with enemies--not friends" nonsense. See Iran. I would be happy if Russia would embrace the West and reject those deep roots. I'm unwilling to embrace a Russia that embraces their roots. Oh, and bonus disgust for supporting more power for the EU in this. I don't trust the two authors. Your mileage may vary.
The government couldn't persuade a jury that Michigan men plotted to kidnap the governor. I'm conflicted. I do think there were way too many FBI agents and informers involved to make it a real plot. It smells of entrapment and taking civilians along for the ride. On the other hand, I like it that the government carries out these types of operations. Actual plotters--like jihadis--are forced to wonder if their comrades are working for the FBI. Which should reduce terrorism. I wish I could trust the FBI to avoid entrapping boastful but otherwise harmless people while protecting us from real terrorists.
It took a couple centuries to catch up to 18th century common criminal defendant practice. A useful lesson that our ancestors were not awful people who can be disregarded by our more enlightened contemporaries. Tip to Instapundit.
China is committed to Zero Covid outcomes and has turned Shanghai into a virtual death camp: "The brief, temporary lockdown has become indefinite. Because the entire population is stuck at home, there’s no way to get food except via delivery. And because everyone is ordering delivery, the odds that you’ll be lucky enough to land in the queue are slim." If the concept of "the Mandate of Heaven" that bolsters a government or delegitimizes it when withdrawn still applies because of the weight of China's long history, "Emperor" Xi Jinping and perhaps the entire Chinese Communist Party is skating on thin ice. Tip to Instapundit.
Four American troops at the Green Village base in eastern Syria were wounded in a rocket attack on the base. Could be Iran. Could be ISIL. No blame was assigned.
No! Way! "After weeks of tough talk about defense spending, Justin Trudeau’s
government unveiled a budget Thursday with only an incremental boost for
Canada’s military." You're as shocked as I am, I'm sure. To be fair, Trudeau is still busy hunting down Canadian trucker protesters.
LOL:
The Michigan World War II Legacy Memorial.
India relies on Russia for 60% of its defense equipment. But this will make India weaker compared to China: "India on Thursday said it would ramp up its production of military
equipment, including helicopters, tank engines, missiles and airborne
early warning systems, to offset any potential shortfall from its main
supplier Russia." Russian weapons are better than what India's corruption-plagued arms industry can produce. And India's sale of carrier-killer BrahMos missiles to the Philippines is endangered. Don't give China another benefit from Russia's war on Ukraine by pressuring India to lower arms and component imports from Russia.
Everybody in the Kaliningrad exclave is grateful to be stationed there: "Russia has staged war games in Kaliningrad - an exclave on the Baltic Sea sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania - the Russian news agency Interfax cited the Baltic Fleet Command as saying, days after a senior official warned European countries against any potential action against Kaliningrad." Why Kaliningrad matters to NATO.
It really angers me that there is even any discussion about taking money from the taxpaying blue collar to give it to the upper middle class.
Remember when leftists said Merkel's Germany was the real leader of the West? Well: "Angela Merkel's reputation has taken something of a battering in Germany in recent weeks. ... The war in Ukraine has not so much undone Mrs Merkel’s legacy as shine an unflattering light on parts of it most Germans used to prefer to ignore." Yeah, the appeasing Putin part.
Russia could default on debts. I was skeptical that Western sanctions on Russia could be effective in the long run. In the short run they appear to really hurt Russia. But I'll wait until the long run displays itself before admitting I'm wrong or claiming I was right. Also, how is Europe going to endure next winter without Russian energy?
Finland may apply for NATO membership as early as May. Russia under Putin is NATO's best recruiter. Hell, when does Belarus apply for membership?
Was China's delivery of anti-aircraft missiles to Russia's traditional ally Serbia in such a dramatic manner the first open Chinese effort to exploit Russia's more feeble military reputation?
