Archive for March, 2022

Thinking about after Russia invades Ukraine

Posted: March 5, 2022 by ng36b in Uncategorized

It’s time to start thinking what happens after Ukraine falls.

You might be forgiven for thinking that all the stories of plucky defenders of Ukraine indicate the war is going well. It’s not. While Ukraine didn’t fall quickly like Georgia or the Crimea peninsula, it is fairly obvious that the war is not going well for them.

The Russians are on the doorsteps of Kyiv. Yes, taking one’s capital isn’t nearly as important as it once was, but it is a big symbol and will give Russia the chance to setup a government body. It’ll be 100% illegitimate, but if Russia enforces it, it doesn’t matter.

They have nearly taken all of the southern land that borders the Black Sea. That’s really important for two reasons. First, that means you can’t resupply directly from the sea, which is the quickest way to bring heavy units like tanks and armor into your country. Second, it means that if anyone was to bring a carrier strike group into the Black Sea, they have to overfly Russian territory that is sure to be crawling with anti-air guns and missiles.

The Russians recently took a nuclear power plant responsible for a pretty large percentage of power in the region. Not only do they have the brainpower to run the plant, but now they can start cutting power to Ukraine.

And we’re only a little over a week in. Remember that it took 100 days to kick Iraq out of Kuwait, and around two months to take out Taliban leadership in Afghanistan. Russia isn’t on the timetable they want, but they aren’t nearly as bogged down as people want to believe.

So what happens when Russia wins? First, you better believe that China is taking notes about Taiwan. Every single sanction we throw at Russia is going to cause the Chinese to build defenses. Kicking out of SWIFT? China already has an alternative, called CIPS, that you can bet they will push as better than SWIFT over the summer. I’d expect China to crack down on its wealthy people with wealth outside of China, disguised as accusing them of “tax evasion.” Essentially, China will make China an island that can be (mostly) self sufficient in order to insulate itself from sanctions.

Europe? The good news is maybe the Europeans will finally get serious about their own militaries. Europe has been comfortable under a US military umbrella, but Ukraine is making them really uncomfortable about now. Remember when President Trump told Germany to pay its fair share of military costs for NATO? Remember when he told France that too? Wonder why Russia doesn’t take those two countries seriously, and what the consequences could be? Well, now you know.

Lastly, I’d put money on Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Kazakhstan pursuing nuclear weapons. Let’s be completely honest, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea could build them tomorrow if they wanted to. They possess the technology and brainpower to do it, and as they watch Ukraine, they are going to want their own assurance that China won’t decide to hurt them. Saudi Arabia would likely just purchase them, potentially from Israel or India, or even North Korea. They won’t wait for the US to not respond to an Iranian attack. Kazakhstan, which dismantled the nuclear weapons left in its territory by the Russians, is likely regretting that decision, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they buy weapons and secretly ship them into the country.

It’s not pleasant, but we should be thinking about what comes after Russia dissolves Ukraine. It might take them a month…but sadly, short of significant powers getting involved, its going to happen.

This post represents the views of the author and not those of the Department of Defense, Department of the Navy, or any other government agency. If you enjoyed this, please consider purchasing one of the authors books for you or a friend.

OK Kids Who Wants to Be Drafted First?

Posted: March 5, 2022 by datechguy in war

We are being bombarded with messages to support Ukraine as they defend themselves from a Russian invention. We’re seeing as I noted collectives punishment put on Russians, people censored for supporting Russia and polls showing Americans are supporting arming Ukraine across the board.

Ukraine’s president will be speaking the the US senate by Zoom to lobby for more aid, a no fly zone and NATO membership. All of this is of course his prerogative and makes a whole lot of sense. If my country was being attacked I’d be going all out to get support from anyone and everyone who will listen and might give help.

But let’s get down to reality, while Ukraine is putting up a good fight the only way to beat a mobilized army is with another mobilized army. Ukrainians might be able to conduct a pretty solid patrician war if it falls and it might be able to hold out until the cost for Putin to achieve his war objectives is too high to keep fighting but without troops the chances of the Ukraine actually defeating Russia are below slim.

And that brings us to the headline above.

There is one indisputable fact concerning American war-making since the mid 70’s. It’s done by an increasingly smaller portion of our population. The all volunteer army means that in some areas, particularly liberal ones you are not going to find a whole lot of people who know soldiers or military families. That slice of our population that chooses to be boots on the ground has become i smaller and furthermore this administration and the Obama administration before it has fought a cultural war against those who choose to serve.

So what happens when you have a decreasing base of soldiers and the pressure on your country increases for military action?

Two words: A Draft!

All of these moves seem practically designed to foster a new draft on the youth of America The problem is that unlike the days of World War 2 and Korea parents generally don’t have all that <a href="http://<a href='https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/fertility-rate'>Sourcemany kids to draft:

Source http://www.Macrotrends.net

Conscription was not all that popular when the average woman (and I’m talking actual women not mentally ill folks who think they are) was having three or more children when parents are having one, maybe two even less and that was before people started making pitches for us to go save Ukraine from Russia.

What’s even funnier is the prospect of drafting teen and twenty somethings who are being taught to need safe spaces from microaggressions. It’s one thing for such youth trained in narcissism and virtue signaling to put a virtue signaling Ukrainian flag on their social media accounts. It’s quite another to teach such snowflakes to fight.

Yet all the signs and all the moves of the left keep pointing in this direction.

So before you ask me why I don’t have a Ukrainian flag or my twitter or why I’m not calling for a no-fly zone or NATO membership for Ukraine let me ask one simple question.

Who’s ready to sign up to fight?

I’m VERY iffy About the Use of Guilt By Association Business to Counter Russia

Posted: March 4, 2022 by datechguy in war
Tags: , ,

Let’s stipulate two things at the start of this post:

It is my opinion, even after hearing Lee Stranahan case for it, that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is wrong and they should pull out of the country at once.

It is my opinion that the sudden unity (which frankly I find suspicious but that’s a post for another day) in the world in punishing ordinary Russians in general and wealthy Russians in particular, is, short of actual military intervention, the most likely method to succeed in at the very worst bringing Putin to the table and at best causing him to rethink the invasion.

Nevertheless, I don’t like it, I don’t like it one bit for a couple of reasons:

It sets a terrible precedent or rather revives one:

The idea that any group of people can be targeted collectively for actions (real or imagined) that are disliked by either leaders or prominent leaders of such a group is an easy way to get abuses. Three examples instantly come to mind. During the settlement of North America it was not uncommon for settlers who had been raided or various tribes for that matter) , to retaliate with little discrimination against the surrounding Indian Tribes, or other white settlers. This cycle of collective guilt was used to justify all kinds of violence not to mention ignoring various treaties protecting tribal rights. In Germany’s Jews were collectively blamed for the nations defeat in world war 1 and the grief afterwards (what the basis for that claim was still alludes me) but the basis for that claim directly took us to the death camps, in fact even today many Arab nations use collective guilt against Jews for any action by the state of Israel that they dislike or even actions taken decades ago. Look at the Jim Crow south and you’ll see this in play. (In fact CRT is the same thing on steroids’ not just guilt by association for people actions but for people’s actions centuries ago) This type of thing doesn’t end well.

Russia is not as “free” as it pretends

You could make the case that the people of the Confederacy could be held responsible for their acts because their representatives were freely elected and you could make the case that the white population of South Africa could be held responsible for their abuses as they elected the leaders who maintained apartheid but Russia is a different matter:

Russia’s parliamentary elections in less than two weeks’ time are shaping up to be the least free since Vladimir Putin came to power 21 years ago, warn opposition leaders and independent election observers.

The details are not a big surprise to anyone who pays attention:

Nonetheless few Putin opponents doubt United Russia will win the elections handsomely, thanks to ballot-rigging, the silencing of Putin critics, the barring of independent candidates, voter intimidation and cash handouts to voters.

“The thinly veiled bribery of voters, all sorts of manipulations, mobilizing administrative [resources] and persecution of the critics of the regime — these are the election tactics of Putin and his party in 2021,” according to Fyodor Krashennikov, an opposition political commentator.

Krashennikov recently left Russia for Europe, joining an exodus of opposition figures who say they’re being chased out by a crackdown on dissent, which has seen dozens of independent media outlets and civic groups forced to shut after being designated “foreign agents” or extremist organizations in a ramping up of repression up ahead of the elections.

Given that Putin is Ex KGB none of this is a big surprise, but this is why the wave of making not the Russian Nation but making individual Russians pariahs who are not connected to the government, that’s just wrong.

And don’t think the precedent of confiscating of their private propriety will end with them, just as the freezing of donors to the Truckers bank accounts in Canada will be the end of it.

I understand the desire to be seen to do something but there seems to be a virtue signaling race (like banning Russian Cats from cat shows, yes you’re reading that right) to be seen to do so and as I’ve already said, doing something, particularly the wrong thing that creates a bad precedent for the sake of doing or being seen to do something is a lot worse than doing nothing.

Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address was a dumpster fire full of mistruths and outright lies

Posted: March 3, 2022 by Jon Fournier in Uncategorized
Tags: , , ,

After reading the transcript of Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address, I am overcome by a strong sense of irony.  The sense of irony is triggered by the fact that the Biden regime declared that those who spread lies and mistruths are domestic terrorists.  Lies and mistruths made up the majority of his speech.

All quotes for this article are from here: Full Text: President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address (breitbart.com).  It is the transcript of the actual speech Biden was suppose to give.  It is free of vocal mumbles, stumbles, and bizarre ad libs.

With a duty to one another to the American people to the Constitution.  And with an unwavering resolve that freedom will always triumph over tyranny.

This first quote pings the irony meter.  Since Biden was installed in the White House a year ago, he has trampled on the Constitution and proved to be a true tyrant.

Tonight I say to the Russian oligarchs and corrupt leaders who have bilked billions of dollars off this violent regime no more.

Putin, the Russian oligarchs, and corrupt leaders have received the bulk of their funding from all of the Biden energy policies, which are the polar opposite of Trump’s energy policies.

To all Americans, I will be honest with you, as I’ve always promised. A Russian dictator, invading a foreign country, has costs around the world.  And I’m taking robust action to make sure the pain of our sanctions  is targeted at Russia’s economy. And I will use every tool at our disposal to protect American businesses and consumers.

The sanctions Biden imposed have not caused Putin any meaningful pain, and they will not.

The pandemic has been punishing.  And so many families are living paycheck to paycheck, struggling to keep up with the rising cost of food, gas, housing, and so much more.  I understand.

The pandemic had nothing to do with the skyrocketing cost of food, gas, housing, and everything.  The run away inflation was caused by Biden’s disastrous economic policies.

And unlike the $2 Trillion tax cut passed in the previous administration that benefitted the top 1% of Americans, the American Rescue Plan helped working people—and left no one behind

Of course Biden repeats the all too common lie that the Trump tax cuts only benefited the wealthy.

In fact—our economy created over 6.5 Million new jobs just last year, more jobs created in one year than ever before in the history of America.  Our economy grew at a rate of 5.7% last year, the strongest growth in nearly 40 years, the first step in bringing fundamental change to an economy that hasn’t worked for the working people of this nation for too long.  For the past 40 years we were told that if we gave tax breaks to those at the very top, the benefits would trickle down to everyone else.  But that trickle-down theory led to weaker economic growth, lower wages, bigger deficits, and the widest gap between those at the top and everyone else in nearly a century.

That last paragraph is laughable in the extreme.  There is no evidence at all backing those frivolous claims.

America used to have the best roads, bridges, and airports on Earth. Now our infrastructure is ranked 13th in the world.  We won’t be able to compete for the jobs of the 21st Century if we don’t fix that.  That’s why it was so important to pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—the most sweeping investment to rebuild America in history.

Biden’s infrastructure plan was nothing more than a socialist wet dream.  It would have destroyed the American economy and would not have rebuilt anything.

Inflation is robbing them of the gains they might otherwise feel.  I get it. That’s why my top priority is getting prices under control.  Look, our economy roared back faster than most predicted, but the pandemic meant that businesses had a hard time hiring enough workers to keep up production in their factories.  The pandemic also disrupted global supply chains.  When factories close, it takes longer to make goods and get them from the warehouse to the store, and prices go up.

The economy has not roared back, and Biden’s policies. not the pandemic, has disrupted everything.

First – cut the cost of prescription drugs. Just look at insulin. One in ten Americans has diabetes. In Virginia, I met a 13-year-old boy named Joshua Davis.

Oh the irony !!! The cost of insulin skyrocketed because Biden canceled Trump’s executive order that specifically slashed the price of insulin

Second – cut energy costs for families an average of $500 a year by combatting climate change.  Let’s provide investments and tax credits to weatherize your homes and businesses to be energy efficient and you get a tax credit; double America’s clean energy production in solar, wind, and so much more;  lower the price of electric vehicles, saving you another $80 a month because you’ll never have to pay at the gas pump again.

Climate change is nothing but a fairy tail, a complete farce, to convince the gullable to give up their rights and money.

And under my plan, nobody earning less than $400,000 a year will pay an additional penny in new taxes. Nobody.  The one thing all Americans agree on is that the tax system is not fair. We have to fix it.  I’m not looking to punish anyone. But let’s make sure corporations and the wealthiest Americans start paying their fair share.

What a crock.  Under Biden’s tax plan those earning way under $400,000 a year will pay more, and the wealthiest pay more than their fair share.

We got more than 130 countries to agree on a global minimum tax rate so companies can’t get out of paying their taxes at home by shipping jobs and factories overseas.

Biden has no business involving the US in a scheme like this.  It is unconstitutional.

By the end of this year, the deficit will be down to less than half what it was before I took office. The only president ever to cut the deficit by more than one trillion dollars in a single year.

All I can do with this statement is laugh uncontrollably.

Because of the progress we’ve made, because of your resilience and the tools we have, tonight I can say we are moving forward safely, back to more normal routines.  We’ve reached a new moment in the fight against COVID-19, with severe cases down to a level not seen since last July. Just a few days ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—the CDC—issued new mask guidelines.

It is laughable that Biden is taking credit for the decline in COVID cases.  That happened because we’ve reached herd immunity.

First, stay protected with vaccines and treatments. We know how incredibly effective vaccines are. If you’re vaccinated and boosted you have the highest degree of protection.

The COVID vaccines have been a complete disaster.

And with 75% of adult Americans fully vaccinated and hospitalizations down by 77%, most Americans can remove their masks, return to work, stay in the classroom, and move forward safely.  We achieved this because we provided free vaccines, treatments, tests, and masks.

The COVID vaccines and mandates did nothing to reduce the case numbers.  It was  a virus doing what viruses normally do.

I ask Congress to pass proven measures to reduce gun violence. Pass universal background checks. Why should anyone on a terrorist list be able to purchase a weapon? Ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.  Repeal the liability shield that makes gun manufacturers the only industry in America that can’t be sued.  These laws don’t infringe on the Second Amendment. They save lives.

All of these measures would most assuredly violate the Second Amendment and would only lead to more mass shootings and more crime.  Biden was of course lying about the liability shield for gun manufacturers.

In state after state, new laws have been passed, not only to suppress the vote, but to subvert entire elections.  We cannot let this happen.  Tonight. I call on the Senate to: Pass the Freedom to Vote Act. Pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. And while you’re at it, pass the Disclose Act so Americans can know who is funding our elections.

Lies, lies, and more lies.  That last paragraph is nothing but lies.

And if we are to advance liberty and justice, we need to secure the Border and fix the immigration system.

Oh the absolute irony.

Advancing liberty and justice also requires protecting the rights of women.  The constitutional right affirmed in Roe v. Wade—standing precedent for half a century—is under attack as never before.  If we want to go forward—not backward—we must protect access to health care. Preserve a woman’s right to choose. And let’s continue to  advance maternal health care in America.

Abortion is murder.  No one has a right to commit murder.  Liberty is striped away from the murdered unborn child.  Abortion has absolutely nothing to do with health care.

I am far from alone when it comes to writing about all lies and mistruths spoken by Biden during his State of the Union address.  Check out these four articles.

Mark Alexander: Fact-Check: Biden’s Big SOTU Obfuscations and Lies | The Patriot Post

17 Disgusting Lies Biden Told During His State Of The Union Speech – Geller Report

Eight Absurd Moments from Biden’s First State of the Union Address (townhall.com)

17 Absurd Lies Biden Told During His State Of The Union Speech (thefederalist.com)

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