finding a replacement for Mike Johnson.
And that's likely to take forever.
Showing posts with label 119th Congress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 119th Congress. Show all posts
Friday, December 20, 2024
Monday, August 5, 2024
An existential wakeup call.
Just the other day, I ran this:
Lex Anteinternet: Intellectual disconnect. With everything on fire, ...: The weather report for today from the Trib: A headline from Cowboy State Daily: ‘It Was Armageddon’: Eastern Wyoming Community Evacuated By ...
Now, from Cowboy State Daily, we learn this:
Wildfire Burns Harriet Hageman’s Family Homestead, More Evacuations Ordered
By any measure, this is tragic. And the story is well written, and sympathetic. Indeed, it provides some details about Hageman that I was unaware of, including the size of her very large family I didn't realize that she was one of six siblings.
That frankly explains why she's a lawyer. The law was, and to some extent still remains, the occupation that agricultural parents often want to see a child go into, often due to the erroneous belief that lawyers don't really work.
That's not the point here, however. At some point in her post high school life Hageman turned to the very hard right, or at least seemed to, and has been part of the Wyoming position that's all in on unaltered fossil fuel production.
The degree to which agriculturalist refuse to accept the science on this in Wyoming is itself really remarkable. Farmers and ranchers depend on the land being sustainable, worry about drought and heat, and then go on to dismiss what they're seeing with their own eyes.
The article notes that the Hageman's tragically lost their early home on the ranch, with this one currently belonging to a nephew. I believe that nephew may have appeared in her campaign ads. It also related:
About 8,000 acres of Hugh Hageman’s 25,000-to-30,000-acre spread burned, taking away some of the pasture needed for his 1,000 head of cattle.
“It’s devastating,” said Hugh Hageman when reached by Cowboy State Daily late Friday.
I'm sure it is.
Reality calls up on us to recognize it, not hide from it.
This ought to be the state's Pearl Harbor moment.
Thursday, June 6, 2024
119th Congress, Part 3.
2011 Navalny designed poster about Putin's United Russia party, declaring it to be a "party of crooks and thieves".
March 29, 2024
The House of Representatives will see Speaker Mike Johnson push for funding for Ukraine through a bill that's been sitting in the dysfunctional House for a month when they return from their recess from not getting anything done.
Donald Putin, who loves Putin and hates Ukraine, has frustrated the advance of the Bill. Marjorie Taylor Green will push to being Johnson down.
Absolutely pathetic.
And this while Ukraine fights for its life.
April 15, 2024
Still not having achieved a thing, the House will apparently consider aid to Ukraine this week as it will, in the same bill, consider aid to Israel, the drive for which was heightened by the weekend airborne flop by Iran.
Following this MTG, who is in Congress for some unfathomable reason, will push to remove Mike Johnson, who will survive the attack, particularly as his Trump has given him his seal of approval.
April 16, 2024
Speaker of the House Johnson signed the bill of impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas, sending the issue of his performance in regard to the nation's immigration laws over to the Senate for rapid disposal, as this bill of impeachment is just theater.
April 20, 2024
About bloody time, and better late than never, assuming it's not too late.
Finally, Mike Johnson, who apparently prayed about the matter, found his courage.
May 2, 2024
Greene of Georgia is carrying through with her threat to force a vote to remove Speaker Johnson, calling to attention as she does so that he will rely upon Democratic votes to keep his job, as if that's some sort of character defect.
Going Feral: U.S. House of Representatives votes to remove wolv...
May 10, 2024
The ultimate MAGA House member, Marjorie Taylor Greene, took a run at removing Speaker of the House Johnson and failed.
May 15, 2024
Speaker Johnson, fresh from finding his backbone, appeared outside of the courtroom where Trump is being tried for allegedly having illicit sex with Stormy Daniels and then paying her to shut up about it, demonstrated that he is perfectly capable of reverting to sycophant.
June 6, 2024
President Biden signed an executive order which shuts the border down once there are 2,500 encounters on the same.
Last prior edition:
119th Congress, Part 2.
Tuesday, June 4, 2024
Friday, May 10, 2024
Wars and Rumors of War, 2024. Part 5. A Wider War.
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
Matthew, Chapter 24.
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse.
John Stuart Mill
April 14, 2024.
The Middle Eastern War.
This was mentioned yesterday, but in North America we're waking up to the news that Iran, the supplier of drones to Russia, used a huge number of drones in an airborne assault on Israel yesterday which was combined with missiles.
Because that's going to serve somebody's interest?
This was retaliatory in nature, of course, but it was also monumentally stupid on the part of Iran.
Almost all the Iranian munitions were shot down. The few that got through caused minor damage. The US participated in the airborne defense.
Russo Ukrainian War
Ukraine's defense chief warned that its battlefield situation has significantly worsened in recent days.
Mike Johnson, pick up your copy of John Stuart Mill.
April 17, 2024
Russo Ukrainian War
Ukrainian forces destroy Russian air defense systems in Crimea
The Middle Eastern War
Israel has carried out a retaliatory air strke on Iran. The details are sketchy at this time, but drones appear to be involved.
A big difference appears to be that Israel hit its targets, as opposed to Iran, which demonostrated an inability to get theirs through, although the US, UK and France helped Israel in its defense.
China v. US
A hacking campaign by China called Volt Typhoon has gained access to telecommunications, energy, water and 23 pipeline operators targeted, amongst other infrastrucure.
It should be obvious that China is preparing for war against the US, which will come over Taiwan.
April 19, 2024
Russo Ukrainian War/Middle Eastern War/China v. Taiwan.
Massively belatedly, the House of Representatives voted 316-94 to advance military aid to Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel. A final vote will come on Saturday, as this was procedural.
Isolationist are having a fit and will now take a run at removing Speaker Johnson, the latter having found his courage this week, at long last.
April 20, 2024
Russo Ukrainian War/Middle Eastern War/China v. Taiwan.
About bloody time, and better late than never, assuming it's not too late.
Finally, Mike Johnson, who apparently prayed about the matter, found his courage.
April 22, 2024
Russo Ukrainian War
In listing to This Week, I learned that a majority of GOP Congressman voted against aid to Ukraine.
Shameful.
Some of the commentary on the weekend shows suggest that Speaker Johnson may have changed his mind in part because of intelligence briefings. If that's the case, we ought to be truly fearful of Russia winning the war.
MJT tried to insert an amendment into the bill which would have required all those who voted for the bill to become Ukrainian conscripts.
Middle Eastern War
Air strikes in Razah killed 22 people.
The US is imposing sanctions on the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, a unit for ultra Orthodox Jews, most of whom do not serve in the Israeli military and who are exempted from universal male conscription that the country generally imposes.
It's difficult to see how attempting to sanction a single unit would work.
April 24, 2024
Middle Eastern War
Pro Palestinian demonstrations are causing havoc across campuses in the US as protesters.
Anti-Semitic elements in these protests have been very notable, including delusional ones such as LGBTQ supporting protesters supporting, effectively, Hamas, even though Hamas would likely put a 9mm to their heads if they were in Palestine.
Stay tuned to see if the Horst Wessel song reappears.
Russo Ukrainian War
The aid bill passed the Senate 79 to 18. Wyoming's two Senators, who normally would have voted yes, voted no, so they can bow down to the Populist Party.
Iran v. Everyone
Four Iranians were arrested for a hacking scheme aimed at Federal agencies.
April 25, 2024
Russo Ukrainian War
Ukraine deployed M57A1 ATACMS ballistic missiles against Russian targets in Crimea. The new missiles vastly increase Ukraine's ability to hit deep into Russian held territory.
The sudden appearance of the missiles suggest that Ukraine was supplied them prior to the recent funding bill, which was only signed into law yesterday, but withheld use of them until the bill was passed.
Russia, regarding the bill, predictably squealed like a stuck pig or like Donald Trump complaining about being on trial for his prurient interest, while it itself has used long range missiles fairly indiscriminately in Ukraine.
Pope Francis in an interview with CBS News declared that a "negotiated peace is better than a war without end", calling on warring parties in Ukraine and the Middle East to negotiate.
Of interset here, perhaps, the Vatican recently released its "Declaration of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith “Dignitas Infinita” on Human Dignity”, the same appearing on April 8. While I've noted it elsewhere, I suspect that Catholics in particular, or at least some Catholics, have grown so weary of documents issued by Pope Francis that they're being ignored and dreaded at this point. Indeed, many Catholics are holding their breath on what will come out of the Synod on Snyodality. Anyhow, Dignatas Infinita, which people were holding their breath on before it came out (it had been announced that something was coming out) didn't receive very much attention from the world at large and frankly from Catholics as well, as sure sign that just too darned much is being generated by this Papacy.
What notice it drew from Catholic circles tended to focus on the concept of "infinite dignity", and what that meant. I haven't followed the results of that, and there wasn't that much discussion of it to start with. The Pope, however, drew a lot of flak for his statements on transgenderism, which are perfectly in line with Catholic beliefs. We'll deal with that elsewhere.
What surprisingly didn't receive much attention was his statements on war, which were:
War
38. Another tragedy that denies human dignity, both in the past and today, is war: “War, terrorist attacks, racial or religious persecution, and many other affronts to human dignity […] ‘have become so common as to constitute a real ‘third world war’ fought piecemeal.’”[64] With its trail of destruction and suffering, war attacks human dignity in both the short and long term: “While reaffirming the inalienable right to self-defense and the responsibility to protect those whose lives are threatened, we must acknowledge that war is always a ‘defeat of humanity.’ No war is worth the tears of a mother who has seen her child mutilated or killed; no war is worth the loss of the life of even one human being, a sacred being created in the image and likeness of the Creator; no war is worth the poisoning of our common home; and no war is worth the despair of those who are forced to leave their homeland and are deprived, from one moment to the next, of their home and all the family, friendship, social and cultural ties that have been built up, sometimes over generations.”[65] All wars, by the mere fact that they contradict human dignity, are “conflicts that will not solve problems but only increase them.”[66] This point is even more critical in our time when it has become commonplace for so many innocent civilians to perish beyond the confines of a battlefield.
39. Therefore, even today, the Church cannot but make her own the words of the Pontiffs, repeating with Pope St. Paul VI: “jamais plus la guerre, jamais plus la guerre!” [“never again war, never again war!”].[67] Moreover, together with Pope St. John Paul II, the Church pleas “in the name of God and in the name of man: Do not kill! Do not prepare destruction and extermination for people! Think of your brothers and sisters who are suffering hunger and misery! Respect each one’s dignity and freedom!”[68] As much now as ever, this is the cry of the Church and of all humanity. Pope Francis underscores this by stating, “We can no longer think of war as a solution because its risks will probably always be greater than its supposed benefits. In view of this, it is very difficult nowadays to invoke the rational criteria elaborated in earlier centuries to speak of the possibility of a ‘just war.’ Never again war!”[69] Since humanity often falls back into the same mistakes of the past, “in order to make peace a reality, we must move away from the logic of the legitimacy of war.”[70] The intimate relationship between faith and human dignity means it would be contradictory for war to be based on religious convictions: “The one who calls upon God’s name to justify terrorism, violence, and war does not follow God’s path. War in the name of religion becomes a war against religion itself.”[71]
These statements are not really novel, but they certainly call into question the concept of a just war, while not abrogating it completely. This is interesting as well as certainly in the region itself the Ukrainian Catholic Church, if not backing the war openly, seems to be generally.
I would note here something that's widely misunderstood. Wars today, while they do feature civilian death, and Russia certainly has been indiscriminate in its use of airborne munitions on Ukraine, and Israel has been leveling parts of Gaza, is actually less destructive on civilians that it was some 80 years ago and that is the overall actual trend.
April 26, 2024
Middle Eastern War
Hamas proposed to lay down its arms if an independent Palestinian state, which we have a long dormant thread in the hopper on, were to be created.
More specifically, it proposed:
“a fully sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the return of Palestinian refugees in accordance with the international resolutions,”
Israel is unlikely to accept that, but more than that, is such a tiny rump state even viable?
Meanwhile, Hamas and Palestinian groups have shelled the construction area for the humanitarian pier.
May 1, 2024
Middle Eastern War
Russia and China are hosting a conference on "Palestinian reconciliation" which seeks to give Hamas a role in the West Bank.
The move is particularly cynical for China, which occupies a large landmass, Tibet, which was an actual independent nation with its own ethnicity more recently than Israel's gaining of independence and which further suppresses its Muslim population.
Further ironic are university protests across the nation effectively in support of Hamas which feature groups that, if they appeared in areas of their outright control, would be murdered. A person can imagine that these protests are in support of Levantine independence in the region, or against Israeli actions in Gaza, but you have to jump through some uncomfortable hoops to get there.
May 2, 2024
Middle Eastern War
College campus protests in the US have grown large.
Shades of 1968, or something else?
Columbia has severed ties with Israel.
Russo Ukrainian War
Ukraine will start operating F-16s after May 5.
May 3, 2024
Niger
Niger has invited Russian troop to encamp at an airfield used by US troops.
Middle Eastern War
Campus arrests in the US continued yesterday.
All of this is helping Trump, so the irony stands a good chance of being that the protests get Trump elected who 1) is more pro Israeli than Biden, 2) will be anti-Islamic, and 3) whose views on Putin stand a good chance of getting the US into a war with Russia when Russia invades a NATO country.
But, hey, protests are fun. You can feel like you are really doing something, even if you aren't doing anything positive.
The UN reports that it would take until 2040 to rebuild the homes in Gaza that have been destroyed.
Given that Gaza isn't economically viable and a crap hole, it shouldn't be rebuilt, which should be obvious to all, but won't be as the Arab nations don't want the Levantines to move, and the Levantines are too politically juvenile to grasp that their future is elsewhere.
May 5, 2024
Russo Ukrainian War
The Russians are in Ocheretyne and Arkhanhelske. Ukrainian forces have been struggling with a lack of artillery ammunition due to the circus in the U.S. Congress.
May 6, 2024
Middle Eastern War
Cease fire talks have broken down.
May 7, 2024
Middle Eastern War
Israeli ground forces entered Rafah following a series of air strikes.
Russo Ukrainian War
It appears clear that the Russians are building towards a more pronounced offensive in the north.
May 9, 2024
Russo Ukrainian War
The Ukrainian government has passed a bill to conscript prisoners.
Not a good sign, really.
The President has not signed it into law as of yet, and it doesn't allow conscription of those convicted of the worst offenses or having more than three years left on their sentence.
May 10, 2024
Middle Eastern War
Israeli ground forces entered actually only went as far as the crossing into Rafah, which they now control. President Biden has indicated that the US will scale back military support for Israel extensively if Israel enters the city. Israel has indicated that it intends to do so none the less.
The US has withheld a shipment of 3,000 areal bombs to Israel over the potential that they'd be used in Rafah.
And this concludes this edition.
Related threads:
Iron Domes and Chutzpah
Last prior edition:
Wars and Rumors of War, 2024. Part 4. "Maybe I shall find them among the dead."
Thursday, April 18, 2024
The Impeachment of Alejandro Mayorkas. Panem et circenses
April 17, 2024.
9.4 million illegal aliens have entered this country under President Biden, 1 million more than the population of New York City and more than 16x the population of Wyoming.
The unprecedented invasion is a direct result of the open borders agenda of
@POTUS
and Alejandro Mayorkas.
From a Twitter post of Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis.
Alejandro Mayorkas is not going to be removed from office.
Moreover, everyone with any political savvy knows this. Sen. Lummis knows this, as do the other members of Wyoming's Washington representation, one of whom will be a prosecutor in the impeachment trial, if an impeachment trial actually occurs, which I very much doubt.
Rather, the Senate Republicans will screw around with this until the Democrats dismiss it.
The validity of the impeachment process will be tarnished even more than it has been since the ill-advised GOP effort to impeach Bill Clinton brought us into the modern political impeachment era, and the border won't get address, in no small part because Donald Trump, who is in the first of what will be several trials, would rather have it as issue than address it.
Congress, of course, could have addressed this, but for following the Trump directive to the GOP. There's utterly no excuse for the GOP failure to act. If the bill wasn't prefect, it was much better than any others for years, and if they take a two house and Oval Office majority in November, which I doubt they will, they could have improved it. Indeed, their failure to act not only makes this look incredibly hypocritical, but puts them in jeopardy of losing the House.
We will see a Twitter storm of GOP tweets. Most will be ignored. The worshiping spectrum of the GOP, the ignorant populists masses, will swoon over every word while the now purifying corpse of the GOP elephant starts to stink even more, actual Republicans and conservatives not knowing how to remove it.
Indeed, on the Twitter Storm, populist far right Nebraska Senator Deb Fischer took to twitter to demand that Mayorkas receive a full trial in the Senate as, she suggested, the Constitution demands, while at least one of her critics noted she didn't feel that way when Trump was up for impeachment.
All this while very little gets done and Americans lose faith in their government, save for a tiny sliver who somehow feel the dissolution of a 200+ year old institution is serving democracy, when in fact it's destroying it.
April 18, 2024
And the Senate dismissed the articles of impeachment, making my prediction of no trial accurate. I thought there would be a motion to dismiss, and there was.
The motion came up immediately, and Chuck Schumer offered debate time, but Republicans, who apparently have no sense of procedure, rejected that, demanding a full trial, and thereby demonstrating the sort of hubris, ignorance and stupidity that criminal defendants sometimes do. Schumer replied and went right to the vote.
The vote was down the party line, Republicans who know better not having the guts to vote in favor of the motion.
By this point, the dysfunctional circus that Congress has become now attracts so little attention for even extraordinary events, which this fits into as it's an extraordinary dereliction of duty and common sense by those who voted for it in the House, that it doesn't even make the primary headlines.
No doubt Wyoming's Senators went home and breathed a sigh of relief, being spared acting on this absurdity, and also being spared the pangs of acting in contravention to their conscience. And the issue is preserved for red meat tweets, texts and speeches, so attacking the Democrats on an issue that Republicans refused to act on, when they had the chance, can still be done.
And hence this circus closed.
Saturday, March 23, 2024
119th Congress, Part 2.
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February 4, 2024
The House of Representatives will move forward with a $17.6 billion bill this week that provides military aid to Israel and replenishes U.S. weapons, but leaves out more help for Ukraine.
It will not pass the Senate.
The Senate apparently left the House out of its efforts to negotiate on these topics, which shows the level of dissention between the two bodies.
Ukraine has become an increasingly hot topic in the House, which is strongly influenced by Trump, who is a Putin fan.
February 5, 2024
Mexican Border Crisis
February 6, 2024
Yesterday Mitch McConnell urged Republicans to vote for the Senate bill then in a closed door meeting urged them to vote against it.
President Biden threatened to veto the House's stand-alone aid package to Israel.
Cont:
Cont:
The House failed to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas. All the Democrats voted against this, and the following Republicans retained their integrity on this matter; Rep. Tom McClintock (CA-05), Rep. Ken Buck (CO-04), and Rep. Mike Gallagher (WI-08). Rep. Blake Moore (UT-01) also voted no, but on procedural grounds to that this may be brought back up again, even though it should not.
Look for all four, including Moore, to suffer the same fate as Liz Cheney.
February 14, 2024
Yesterday the House managed to get the Big Top in order and the GOP was able to impeach Mayorkas.
This now goes to the Senate, which will have to deal with it, but he'll retain his job.
Wyoming's Congressman Harriet Hageman will be a Senate Trial Manager for the impeachment.
Impeachments, which were rare up until Bill Clinton was wrongfully impeached, were once rare. Now they're becoming extremely common, a sign of the collapse of American government.
The Senate voted aid for Ukraine. Wyoming's Senator John Barrasso voted against it, then came out with a statement noting his strong support for Ukraine. Clearly he's worried about the strong MAGA base in Wyoming.
February 26, 2025
February 28, 2024
One of life’s most underappreciated talents is to know when it’s time to move on to life’s next chapter, so I stand before you today ... to say that this will be my last term as Republican leader of the Senate.
Mitch McConnell, earlier today.
Personally, I suspect the almost certain election of Trump this Fall, and the descent of the GOP into a nativist, isolationist, Evangelist, Populist Party had a lot to do with this.
This is, frankly, not a good development at all.
March 1, 2024
The House passed a stopgap funding bill yesterday.
March 10, 2024
President Biden has signed the bill.
March 14, 2024
The House of Representatives took passed a bill which might ban TikTok due to its Chinese ownership and fears that it exploits information for the benefit of the PRC.
Oh my, what will over endowed teens and twenty-something girls now do?
I have to admit that I find it almost impossible to care about this, which in turn contributes to my cynicism. I don't know if the Chinese are mining vast amounts of data from TikTok and frnakly I'm in favor of banning the vast amount of the Internet that's hypersexualized porn of some sort in any event. But that's not why it's being banned. I can't help suspecting that its being banned as this is a feel good moment for a body that's done almost nothing.
Address the border? Nope.
Address Russian aggression in Ukraine? Nyet.
Let's ban TikTok instead.
Well, if I was there, I'd probably vote to ban it too. It's trash. I just find it amusing that this, and seemingly this alone, is the one thing they seem to be able to do.
March 21, 2024
Republican Congressmen have introduced a bill, the details of which I have not yet learned, to raise Social Security retirement age to 69.
Yikes.
This follows a series of comments by Republican figures recently, at first taken to have been made in a gadfly like fashion, that taking retirement is not a proper thing to be doing in the first place.
The Social Security System does need to be immediately addressed, and pushing the age limit up would help keep it funded, but there are other ways to do that and at some point it becomes manifestly unfair as well as a retardant on the economy. We already are enduring a gerontocracy in the US, and this would make it worse.
March 22, 2024
Wisconsin Rep. Mike Gallagher is leaving the House of Representatives next month, dropping the GOP majority in the House down to one vote. Meanwhile, Marjorie Taylor Greene has filed a motion to remove Johnson, but it's a motion that doesn't have to be taken up.
The chances of the Republicans losing the House before November are now about 50/50, and with each example of Republican dysfunction, the corpse of the dead GOP starts to smell more and more. While nobody is yet predicting it (I'm about to), the Democrats will take the House and the Senate in the Fall.
March 23, 2024
The Senate passed the budget bill so the government will avoid shutting down, again. This just before they went home on recess, again.
Last prior edition:
119th Congress, Part 1.
Sunday, March 3, 2024
Wars and Rumors of War, 2024. Part 3. The Putin's Cheerleaders Edition.
February 13, 2024
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
Matthew, Chapter 24.
If your position is being cheered by Vladimir Putin, it’s time to reconsider your position.
Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney, whom I did not care much for as a Presidential candidate, has gone on to be an absolute hero in the Senate. It's tragic that he's leaving this year.
Equally tragic is that the once pro defense Republican Party has not only retreated into isolationism, it's gone into America First isolationism, last seen advanced by the likes of the Bund and Lindbergh just prior to World War Two.
February 15, 2024
Russo Ukrainian War
The Ukrainians sank the Caesar Kunikov amphibious ship near Alupka with naval drones.
North Korea v. South Korea
North Korea announced that it will take a more aggressive approach to disputed waters near its border with South Korea.
Myanmar
Myanmar announced it will begin to commence its citizens, male and female, to fill a 60,000 man shortage.
February 17, 2024
Russo Ukrainian War
Avdiivka has fallen to the Russians after months of fighting.
Severe ammunition shortages are becoming a factor in Ukraine, something that has set in since Republicans following Putin Fan Boy Donald Trump's views have held up aid.
Germany and France both signed bilateral security agreements with Ukraine on February 16.
Putin was bragging up the T-90
M'eh
And now the Russian Navy.
2011 Navalny designed poster about Putin's United Russia party, declaring it to be a "party of crooks and thieves".
Alexei Navalny became the latest Putin opponent in Russia, or outside of it, to die under mysterious circumstances. The 47-year-old politician reportedly collapsed in a penal colony, where he was serving a sentence for "extremism". Trump mouthpiece Lord Haw Haw Carlson excused the death in an interview.
February 18, 2024
Russo Ukrainian War.
A series of rising reactions to the failure of the US to provide ongoing aid to Ukraine is resulting in ramping pressure on the weak Leader of the House, Mike Johnson.
Johnson came into office declaring himself on a mission from God (literally) but so far he's pretty much been a puppet of Trump's, the strings being his extraordinarily weak position, one that is now even weaker as Santos was predictably replaced with a Democrat. Between the refusal to act on the border due to Trump and Ukraine, there's frankly a pretty good chance, in my view, that the Democrats might flip the House in the fall.
At any rate, we'd first note that Congress went on vacation without acting. President Zelenskyy commented that dictators did not go on vacation.
President Biden urged Congress to act.
Vice President Harris pledged US support.
National Review has an editorial aimed at Johnson urging he get off his duff and do something.
A bill in the House provides 47.7 billion for Ukraine, $10.4 billion for Israel, with has strong House report for some interesting reasons, $4.9 billion for the Indo Pacific, including Taiwan and $2.4 billion for supporting U.S. Central Command operations, including funding to offset efforts to deter Houthi
militant attacks in the Red Sea.
Matt Gaetz stated: ". . . I think that is a lot more significant to my constituents than which dude gets to run Crimea"
Presumably one of those things is getting conscripted when Poland and the Baltic States are invaded, which may well be coming, and fighting the first real toe to toe, peer to peer war, since World War Two.
About 400 Russians have been arrested for attending Navalny memorials.
Mexican Border Crisis
Democrats are also exploiting the GOP's Trump ordered failure to act on the border by exploiting the topic, which is now becoming an asset for them.
February 19, 2024
Hamas Israeli War
Israel set a deadline for the start of Ramadan in which it will invade Rafah if its hostages are not freed.
That would be March 10.
While seemingly missed, this may be a change in position towards a negotiated resolution of the conflict, as prior to this Israel has essentially taken the position that it will not be restrained, no matter what.
Papua New Guinea Tribal Warfare
53 people were killed in intertribal warfare on Papua.
February 20, 2024
Russo Ukrainian War
I don’t like this reality. Vladimir Putin is an evil war criminal.Vladimir Putin will not lose this war.
Mike Johnson last week. Lindbergh said the same thing about Hitler.
Defecting Russian helicopter pilot Maxim Kuzminov was murdered in Spain.
Donald Trump posted that somehow the death of a Russian opposition leader who was put in a gulag by his Trump's buddy Putin, was sort of about him.
February 21, 2024
Hamas Israeli War
The US vetoed a cease fire resolution in the UN.
February 22, 2024
Trump in a Fox News interview stated, regarding nuclear war, the following:
I worry about their safety too. These people, everyone in this room is in great danger. We have a nuclear weapon that if you hit New York, South Carolina is gone
FWIW, and Trump is receiving criticism on this, the yield of a nuclear weapon is sufficient by a long measure to destroy South Carolina from a strike in New York. Prevailing wind patters, also, would not carry the fallout there.
Anyhow, I'm noting this here as a recent item on NPR's Politics discussed Trump's fear of nuclear war, which apparently is very pronounced.
I don't give Trump credit for deep thought s on very much. The Internet has allowed a lot of those in the shallow end of the pool to have voice as if they know what they're talking about, and frankly I'd include Trump in those in the shallow end of the pool. But apparently nuclear war is one thing he actually thinks about and has opinions on, and he's afraid of it.
That doesn't really surprise me too much.
Trump came of age in in the 1960s which was at a time that the fear of nuclear war was quite pronounced. It remained that way in the 1970s, and by the early 1980s I recall being forced to read A Republic Of Grass. which urged that we surrender to the Soviet Union, essentially, right then and there rather than face the prospect of nuclear war, which lefties were certain Ronald Reagan was going to get us into. I recall some on the right saying "there are worse things than death" in response to such things, which is harsh, but true.
But if your values end at yourself, maybe there aren't.
Russo Ukrainian War
Prominent Russian milblogger Andrei Morozov committed suicide after refusing Russian military command orders to delete his reports on high Russian casualty rates around Avdiivka.
Iranian sources told Reuters that the country provided hundreds of short-range ballistic missiles to Russia in early January.
That certainly helps Russia, but it also shows that industrially its a shadow of the former USSR.
Putin gave a car to the North Korean Communist Monarch.
February 23, 224
Houthi's
The Houthis on sent shippers and insurers a formal notice of a ban on vessels they deem linked to Israel, the U.S. and UK from sailing in waters bordering Yemen. They also declared they are going to use submarine weapons.
Russo Ukrainian War
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Ukraine has a right to use its Western-supplied weapons to defend itself against Russia, up to and including targeting sites within Russia.
February 24, 2024
Armenia is suspending its membership in Russia's Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
February 25, 2024
Houthi's
The US and UK struck 18 Houthi targets yesterday.
Cont:
Russo Ukrainian War
In a speech marking the two-year point in the war, President Zylenskyy indicated 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have lost their lives so far, which is actually about half of what I previously saw estimated some time ago.
Two separate measures are being introduced to provide aid to Ukraine that go around Mike Johnson, who has proven to be a Trump flunkie.
King Charles praised President Zylenskyy for his countrymen exhibiting something that Johnson is not, that being courage.
Nigeria
Fifteen Catholics were murdered at Sunday Mass.
February 26, 2024
Hamas v. Israel
The PM of Israel made it clear that it is Israel's intent to enter Rafah no matter what. A ceasefire will merely delay that.
Russo Ukrainian War
Two separate discharge petitions to bring funding for Ukraine are being introduced into the House on different bills, one being the bill that has already passed the Senate. There seems to be optimism that one of them, that being the unique House bill in particular, will pass in this end run around politically castrated Trump eunuch, Mike Johnson.
ISW reports that there were more Russians casualties taking Avdiivka, 47,000, than in the entire Soviet Afghan War.
February 29, 2024
Russo Ukrainian War
Russia has taken Stepove, seven miles northwest of Avdiivka. Ukrainian have pulled back from Stepove and the neighboring village of Sieverne.
Maybe the Russians will put up a monument to Mike Johnson there.
March 1, 2024
Russo Ukrainian War
A Ukrainian missile strike killed 19 troops, injured 12 and Colonel Roman Kozhukhov, a respected commander in the occupied Donetsk in Ukraine. They were at a medal ceremony.
Donald Trump's Minister of Propaganda, Tucker "Lord Haw Haw" Carlson, stated that Donald Trump's object of affection, Vlad Putin, was stating something "dumb" when he justified the assault on Ukraine on the object of denazification.
China v. Taiwan
The PRC Coast Guard patrolled prohibited and restricted waters around Taiwan-controlled Kinmen.
Mexican Border Crisis
Both President Biden and would be president Trump were on the Mexican border yesterday.
March 2, 2024
Hamas v. Israel
The United States is going to air drop humanitarian relief into Gaza.
Russo Ukrainian War
Transnistria, breakaway sliver of Moldova, which itself is a Cyrillic using region of Romania that's a separate country as the Russians oppose Moldova uniting with Romania, asked Russia for "protection" from Moldova.
March 3, 2024
Houthis v. the West
A fertilizer ship hit days ago by the Houthis has sunk.
Russo Ukrainian War
For unknown reasons, North Korean munitions shipments to Russia appear to have stopped.
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Tuesday, February 13, 2024
Wars and Rumors of War, 2024. Part 2. Only the dead
Mid-Holocene rock painting depiction of archers fighting, Cueva del Roure, Spain.
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
Matthew, Chapter 24.
Only the dead have seen the end of war.
George Santayana
February 1, 2024
Iran v. The United States
In retaliation for the death of three servicemen in Jordan, and implicitly the ongoing Iranian misbehavior through their Houthi proxies, and others, the US is going to engage in retaliatory strikes, including cyber strikes, outside of Iran, over a period of weeks.
This is a gigantic escalation in the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict, and frankly I feel it's an error. It's a big step towards war.
Not that this expresses sympathy with Iran, a dangerous theocracy basically at war with the world.
Ironically, it might be noted, Republicans have been shilling for a greater response. In response to this, for example, Nebraska Republican Senator Deb Fischer seemed to complain it was too late. Keeping track of wars that the GOP feels we're not in enough, or are in way too much, is becoming a chore.
Perhaps showing that Biden is on to something, Iranian backed militia Hezbollah has indicated it will knock off attacks on US installations. Iran has indicated it does not want war, but in the current Administration's view, it may have basically crossed that bridge already. The US does not seem to be willing to let the low grade conflict to continue, and it's hard to see Iran agreeing to back down.
Hamas v. Israel
Israel is flooding Hamas tunnels.
Russo Ukrainian War
Ukraine hit Crimea with a missile strike yesterday.
Cont:
Iran v. The United States
The administration wants to avoid "escalation" — but it's time to realize that our enemies have already escalated.
The only attacks President Biden is deterring are our own.
My gosh, this has a Gulf of Tonkin feel to it.
Cont:
Russo Ukrainian War
Ukraine sinks Russian missile corvette
Putin has been expressing displeasure with Russian scientist working on a hypersonic missile program.
February 8, 2024
Hamas Isreali War
Executive Order on Imposing Certain Sanctions on Persons Undermining Peace, Security, and Stability in the West BankBy the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) (NEA), section 212(f) and section 215(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (8 U.S.C. 1182(f) and 8 U.S.C. 1185(a)), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, find that the situation in the West Bank — in particular high levels of extremist settler violence, forced displacement of people and villages, and property destruction — has reached intolerable levels and constitutes a serious threat to the peace, security, and stability of the West Bank and Gaza, Israel, and the broader Middle East region. These actions undermine the foreign policy objectives of the United States, including the viability of a two-state solution and ensuring Israelis and Palestinians can attain equal measures of security, prosperity, and freedom. They also undermine the security of Israel and have the potential to lead to broader regional destabilization across the Middle East, threatening United States personnel and interests. For these reasons, these actions constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States. I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat. Accordingly, I hereby order:Section 1. All property and interests in property that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of any United States person, including any foreign branch, of the following persons are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in:(a) any foreign person determined by the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, or the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State:(i) to be responsible for or complicit in, or to have directly or indirectly engaged or attempted to engage in, any of the following:(A) actions — including directing, enacting, implementing, enforcing, or failing to enforce policies — that threaten the peace, security, or stability of the West Bank; or(B) planning, ordering, otherwise directing, or participating in any of the following actions affecting the West Bank:(1) an act of violence or threat of violence targeting civilians;(2) efforts to place civilians in reasonable fear of violence with the purpose or effect of necessitating a change of residence to avoid such violence;(3) property destruction; or(4) seizure or dispossession of property by private actors;(ii) to be or have been a leader or official of:(A) an entity, including any government entity, that has engaged in, or whose members have engaged in, any of the activities described in subsections (a) or (b) of this section related to the leader’s or official’s tenure; or(B) an entity whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order as a result of activities relating to the leader’s or official’s tenure;(iii) to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, any person blocked pursuant to this order; or(iv) to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person blocked pursuant to this order; or(b) any foreign person determined by the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury:(i) to have committed or have attempted to commit, to pose a significant risk of committing, or to have participated in training to commit acts of terrorism affecting the West Bank; or(ii) to be a leader or official of an entity sanctioned pursuant to subsection (b)(i) of this section.Sec. 2. The prohibitions in section 1 of this order apply except to the extent provided by statutes, or in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding any contract entered into or any license or permit granted before the date of this order.Sec. 3. The prohibitions in section 1 of this order include:(a) the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order; and(b) the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.Sec. 4. (a) The unrestricted immigrant and nonimmigrant entry into the United States of noncitizens determined to meet one or more of the criteria in section 1 of this order would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, and the entry of such persons into the United States, as immigrants or nonimmigrants, is hereby suspended, except when the Secretary of State or the Secretary of Homeland Security, as appropriate, determines that the person’s entry would not be contrary to the interests of the United States, including when the Secretary of State or the Secretary of Homeland Security, as appropriate, so determines, based on a recommendation of the Attorney General, that the person’s entry would further important United States law enforcement objectives.(b) The Secretary of State shall implement this order as it applies to visas pursuant to such procedures as the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, may establish.(c) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall implement this order as it applies to the entry of noncitizens pursuant to such procedures as the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, may establish.(d) Such persons shall be treated by this section in the same manner as persons covered by section 1 of Proclamation 8693 of July 24, 2011 (Suspension of Entry of Aliens Subject to United Nations Security Council Travel Bans and International Emergency Economic Powers Act Sanctions).Sec. 5. (a) Any transaction that evades or avoids, has the purpose of evading or avoiding, causes a violation of, or attempts to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.(b) Any conspiracy formed to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.Sec. 6. I hereby determine that the making of donations of the types of articles specified in section 203(b)(2) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1702(b)) by, to, or for the benefit of any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order would seriously impair my ability to deal with the national emergency declared in this order, and I hereby prohibit such donations as provided by section 1 of this order.Sec. 7. For the purposes of this order:(a) the term “entity” means a partnership, association, trust, joint venture, corporation, group, subgroup, or other organization;(b) the term “noncitizen” means any person who is not a citizen or noncitizen national of the United States;(c) the term “person” means an individual or entity;(d) the term “United States person” means any United States citizen, lawful permanent resident, entity organized under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States (including foreign branches), or any person in the United States; and(e) the term “terrorism” means an activity that:(i) involves a violent act or an act dangerous to human life, property, or infrastructure; and(ii) appears to be intended:(A) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;(B) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or(C) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, kidnapping, or hostage-taking.Sec. 8. For those persons whose property and interests in property are blocked or affected by this order who might have a constitutional presence in the United States, I find that because of the ability to transfer funds and other assets instantaneously, prior notice to such persons of measures to be taken pursuant to this order would render those measures ineffectual. I therefore determine that for these measures to be effective in addressing the national emergency declared in this order, there need be no prior notice of a listing or determination made pursuant to this order.Sec. 9. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, is authorized to take such actions, including the promulgation of rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the President by IEEPA as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this order. The Secretary of the Treasury may, consistent with applicable law, redelegate any of these functions within the Department of the Treasury. All executive departments and agencies of the United States shall take all appropriate measures within their authority to implement this order.Sec. 10. Nothing in this order shall prohibit transactions for the conduct of the official business of the Federal Government or the United Nations (including its specialized agencies, programs, funds, and related organizations) by employees, grantees, and contractors thereof.Sec. 11. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, is authorized to submit recurring and final reports to the Congress on the national emergency declared in this order, consistent with section 401(c) of the NEA (50 U.S.C. 1641(c)) and section 204(c) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1703(c)).Sec. 12. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.THE WHITE HOUSE,February 1, 2024.
February 2, 2024
Mexican Border Crisis
More Border Support: Governor Ron DeSantis Sends Additional Florida National Guard and Florida State Guard to Assist Texas.
On February 1, 2024, in News Releases, by StaffNational Guardsmen and State Guard Soldiers will join FHP, FWC and FDLE officers already assisting Texas at the southern borderTALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that Florida is deploying members of the Florida National Guard (FLNG) and members of the Florida State Guard (FSG) will be deployed to assist Texas in its efforts to stop the invasion at the southern border. Florida is offering up to a battalion of National Guard members (approximately 1,000 soldiers) to Texas, who will be deployed based on Texas’ needs. For more information about the announcement, click here.These deployments are in addition to the more than 90 officers from the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) that are currently deployed to the border. Additional law enforcement resources are standing by and ready to deploy as requested by Texas state officials. In December, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data showed that more than 302,000 illegal immigrants were encountered attempting to cross the southern border – the highest month ever recorded.“States have every right to defend their sovereignty and we are pleased to increase our support to Texas as the Lone Star State works to stop the invasion across the border,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “Our reinforcements will help Texas to add additional barriers, including razor wire along the border. We don’t have a country if we don’t have a border.”“This is not a new mission for us. For several years we have supported border security missions in Texas, to include both federal and state deployments,” said Major General John D. Haas, The Adjutant General of Florida. “Last spring the Florida National Guard was one of the first in the nation to deploy rotations of soldiers to support Operation Lone Star in Texas, and we have proudly and readily supported our own state’s efforts in similar roles here in Florida.”“The Florida State Guard is prepared to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with state agency partners in direct support of our brothers and sisters in Texas grappling with an unprecedented surge of illegal immigration along their border,” said Florida State Guard Director Mark Thieme. “The Florida State Guard is postured to deliver rapid emergency response, public safety operations and humanitarian assistance — wherever the need arises.”Since 2021, Florida has provided direct law enforcement and military assistance to Texas, including FLNG, which supported the Texas Military Department through mission sets including static observation points, roving patrols and engineer assistance with obstacle improvement. FHP has made contact with nearly 150,000 illegal aliens, conducted over 27,000 traffic stops, resulting in 2,102 Human Smuggling or Human Trafficking charges with 2,278 overall arrests.FDLE has sent rotations of officers to assist the Texas Department of Public Safety with arrests of violent felony suspects including gang members. Suspects were arrested on various Texas state charges including human smuggling, burglary, firearms, smuggling of persons, smuggling of persons with a firearm, child endangerment, escape from federal custody and possession of controlled substance. FWC has deployed a total of 540 FWC personnel, 525 four-wheel drive patrol trucks and 24 vessels.In Fiscal Year 2023, CBP recorded 2.5 million encounters – surpassing last year’s record. This includes 169 illegal immigrants on the terror watch list attempting to cross the southern border. Since Biden took office, more than 10 million illegal immigrants have crossed the border, including more than 1.7 million known gotaways. In December alone, roughly 260 million lethal doses of fentanyl were seized at the border.
Russia v. NATO
General Gheorghiță Vlad, Romania's chief of defense, issued a war warning in an interview with the Press, joining General Patrick Sanders, the United Kingdom's army chief, and Germany's Defense Minister Boris Pistorius in having recently said the same, and in urging their countries to prepare for war. They are not alone in this and this has been a common European theme in recent weeks.
Iran v the West
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force commander Brigadier General Esmail Qaani visited Baghdad to meet leaders of the Iraqi groups to try to stop military action against U.S. forces. The fear that the US is going to launch major strikes, which the US has said its preparing,and that this will lead to a wider war is clearly impacting Iran.
February 2, 2024
Iran v. the West
The US hit 85 targets in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for an Iranian backed militia strike that killed three U.S. Servicemen tin Jordan.
Nigeria
Unknown attackers killed Segun Aremu, the Olukoro of Koro, in Nigeria and kidnapped his wife.
February 4, 2024
Russo Ukrainian War
It appears the Ukrainians assassinated a Tu-95 pilot inside of Russia.
Soldiers' wives protested in Moscow, many were arrested.
Middle East
The US and UK hit 36 Houthi targets yesterday in Yemen.
Mexican Border Crisis
A Take Our Border Back rally is going on, on the border.
February 5, 2024
Middle East and the US and wars.
The weekend shows featured the bizarre spectacle of Republican politicians criticizing President Biden's actions against Iran for not going far enough when we're on the verge of an outright war right now.
Somehow, we're in the situation where for a lot of Republicans supporting Ukraine is bad, because Trump likes Putin, supporting Israel is paramount, as there's a vague underlying Evangelical feeling its nearly religiously mandated, and we ought to push Iran up to and maybe over the brink of war.
Mexican Border Crisis
On the weekend shows, a preview of the extensive bipartisan Senate border bill was featured. Mike Johnson is pretty clearly going to oppose it as he has orders from his puppet master. A Republican Senator threatened to push Johnson into a vote over his speakership, which apparently there had been a backdoor deal with Democratic Senators to try to prevent when he was nominated. This was based on the assertion that he'd broken his promises in that closed door meeting.
Governor Kristi Noem was banned from the Pine Ridge Reservation for declaring she wants to send razor wire and National Guardsmen to the Texas border.
Russo Ukrainian War
President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed of Ukraine’s top commander, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi. The failure of the spring/summer offensive contributed heavily to this. He will be replaced by Command of Land Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi.
February 11, 2024
Hamas v. Israel
Israel has announced that it intends to enter Rafah.
This is being treated as a surprise for some reason, although I think it's always been clear that it intends to enter 100% of Gaza in stages.
The civilian death toll in Gaza is about 28,000.
February 12, 2024
NATO
Donald Trump's off the cuff comment that he'd invite Russia to attack countries that are delinquent in their NATO contribution has resulted in a firestorm of controvesy.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg stated:
Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the US, and puts American and European soldiers at increased risk, I expect that regardless of who wins the presidential election the US will remain a strong and committed NATO Ally.
Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov stated; "I am still Putin’s press secretary, but not Trump’s".
Trump's cavalier comments were reckless and frankly weird, which is hardly an unusual thing for him. It does point out, however, the extent to which he's a reckless isolationist, perhaps in the early stages of dementia (he cannot seemingly control what he says) and bizarrely a Putin fanboy. The latter has never been adequately explained.
February 13, 2024
Russo Ukrainian War
From ISW:
Ukraine’s Main Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR) reported that elements of Lebanese Hezbollah (LH) and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are training Russian drone operators at the Shayrat Air Base in Syria.
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