Cut and Run

For John, BLUF:  How are we going to explain to ourselves our withdrawal from Afghanistan?  Thank God we hung around Korea.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Why Commemorate Black April?

From Red State, by Mr Stu Cvrk, 30 Apr 2021, 11:00 AM ET.

Here is the lede plus one:

Today marks the 46th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, which signified the true end of the Vietnam War.  Who could forget that famous picture of people queued up on a Saigon building (mistakenly thought to have been the US Embassy), getting on a UH-1 helicopter leaving Vietnam, as shown in this video:

There were some other great pictures in that video, too.  However, the real last helicopter flight out was that of a CH-46 (Callsign “Swift 22”).  The video describes the helicopter evacuation operations that were part of Operation Frequent Wind, the largest such operation in history, which commenced on 25 April 1975

Further on the story reads:

The non-Communist Vietnamese who escaped the country have long referred to April 1975 as “Black April.”  Those who escaped to the US have become some of the most patriotic and anti-Communist of all Americans.  Many of them, as well as their progeny, mark Black April on 30 April each year.  Here is a typical comment from one person on the 40th anniversary that explains what Black April means:

For Van Truong Le in Boston, this is a painful day, a time he and others who fled Vietnam call “Black April.”

“Because that was when folks from South Vietnam lost our country to the North Communist regime,” he said.  “It was the day we lost our country.  So we refer to it as Black April 1975.  In fact for the last 40 years on April 30, the Vietnamese who have resettled here for the most part commemorate and observe that day as a day to commemorate the loss of Vietnam.”

For me the day I commemoorate is the day we stopped supporting Cambodia, in 1973.  I took leave and left Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, so that I wouldn't be part of our craven and cowardly withdrawal from supportng Cambodia.  But, 30 April seems appropriate enough.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Let's Not Go Back to Normal at School

For John, BLUF:  As you suspect, John, a lot of people think we should be doing testing of our students.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Pandemic Didn't Create Inequality. It Revealed How Broken Public Education Is | Opinion

From Newsweek, by Shaka Mitchell, 15 April 2021.

Here is the lede plus six:

One of the biggest impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic has been on parents.  In many states, the pandemic resulted in the immediate cancellation of in-person schooling and a pivot to virtual classes, which meant that this time last year, parents were in triage mode, navigating video conferences, Chromebook firewalls, and any number of connectivity issues.

It's well established by now that the challenges posed by the pandemic disproportionately affected students in high-poverty schools, in communities where the internet can be elusive, assistance nonexistent, and even food shortages common.  Parents who could not work remotely scrambled to find a place for their kids to spend the day.  Many quit their jobs altogether, and still, children in these communities fell even further behind.

But while the pandemic has exacerbated educational inequities, it did not create them.  And those urging us to "return to normal" would do well to recall just what "normal" meant for millions of students in the U.S:

Normal was a situation where, in my state of Tennessee, only one in three students reads at grade level.  For students of color, the number is closer to one in five.

Normal was a public school system in which students who look like me, a man of color, are suspended three times as often as their white counterparts.

Normal was only six percent of Black students meeting all four ACT college readiness benchmarks.

Who wants to get "back to normal"?

The Writer then goes on to discuss how the Pandemic has opened the eyes of parents to issues within their children's schools and school districts and the need for additional options for learning.

The Writer then goes on to tackle testing:

For instance, some proponents of the status quo have already proposed canceling academic testing so as not to traumatize students.  That's like being in the midst of a diabetes epidemic and throwing out scales because we don't want to body shame.  We owe it to our kids to know exactly how they are doing so that we can help.  That's what it means to be "student-centered."

Testing should not be just a way for racking and stacking students for college admissions or for determining graduation readiness.  It should also be a diagnostic tool for helping all of us see where we need more work within our school processes.  That our teachers unions are pressuring DESE (Commonwealth Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) to not resume testing is not a good thing.  It is a vote for "normal" when reform is needed.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Class in America in Action

For John, BLUF:  There are signs that peaceful protests that turn into riots extractic a high cost from the People they are supposed to be helping.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Working-class people of color hate the riots the lefty elite keeps cheering

From The NY Post, by Professor Glenn H. Reynolds, 29 April 2021, 7:28pm.

Here is the lede plus one:

When Americans fight about race or culture, the fight is almost always really about social class.  And that shows up in today’s discussions about riots and policing.

The Daily Caller recently sent a video correspondent to Brooklyn Center, Minn., scene of many police-shooting-related riots, and to Washington, DC, home of America’s ruling class, and asked people in both places when and if rioting was justified.  The answers differed sharply.

Remember, this is The New York Post, which, during the last national election had to be clamped down by Twitter for blurting out the truth about Mr Hunter Biden's laptop computer.  Who knows what kind of wild things they might publish.

The opinion piece ends:

That’s why the cavalier attitude of so many Democrats toward riots makes sense.  Democrats are now the party of Wall Street, Silicon Valley and upscale suburbs.  The people who have to deal with consequences will have to go somewhere else politically.  And they will.

We could be seeing the continuation of a major change in who supports which political party.  Yes, the Democratic Party always had its elite components, such as Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt, but the Republican Party was identified as the Party of Business.  This has been shifting for some time.  Yes, the Democrats, in the 1960s, took the Civil Rights Plank from the Republican Platform and made it their own.  In doing so they seemed to sluff off other [all] working class people.  And, now, it has become a class divide.

When Pollsters and Commentators note that college educated voters go Democrat, they are noting, but not noticing the class divide.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Messing With Mother Nature

For John, BLUF:  While I see COVID-19 as having originated at the Wuhan, China, Research Laboratory, I wonder to what extent Gain of Function research contributed to our COVID-19 Pandemic.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Fauci’s NIH funded controversial gain-of-function viral research at Wuhan lab to get around US ban on dangerous research.

From InstaPundit, by Ed Driscoll, 27 April 2021, 8:14 pm.

The Headline and Link go to an earlier post, which raises the question of if Dr Anthony Fauci's National Instatutes of Health was funding research at the Wuhan, Chna, lab that would have been illegal if done by a US Institution, in the US.

Is it possible Dr Fauci previously spent time at the FBI?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Rule of Law For Now

For John, BLUF:  While most of us tend to follow the law, some like to abuse the law to achieve higher goals.  In the process they alienate those who believe in the rule of law fr all.  This can lead to a breakdown in the Rule of Law, which will be bad for everyone.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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A Rigged System Can’t Last

Here is the sub-headline:

From Town Hall, by Columnist Kurt Schlichter, 26 Apr 2021, 12:01 AM.

Here is the lede plus two:

You can’t win, but that’s all part of the plan.

Reason, rules, processes – these are the foundations of a free society, which is why the cultural left is so dead set against them.  A citizen needs to be able to rely on clear rules and fixed processes to vindicate his rights in order to have any rights.  But the rights of free citizens – your rights – are an obstacle to the Lil’ Stalins who yearn to rule over us.  If the liberal establishment can create a society where you can’t appeal to facts, evidence, or law, then – until the peasants' revolt – its poobahs can wield undisputed, undiluted authority.  That’s their dream, a country where you live in terror of them because you can never be sure that what you are doing or failing to do is suddenly going to be criminalized.

Take the whole imbroglio about Stabby Girl, the teen psycho in Ohio who decided to filet a girl in front of a cop.  Not surprisingly, to people who aren’t idiots, the officer ventilated her, saving the life of the innocent victim.  But then, of course, the establishment and the media – including America’s #1 Matlock superfan – weighed in on how stopping this future felon was racist racism of racismness.  Normal people were baffled, but then, it’s only if you haven’t been paying attention that you might think that non-criminal black lives matter to Black Lives Matter.

I think he has some important points.

I especially liked this sentence, later in the essay:

There’s this basic Anglo-American premise in law – I know we’re supposed to pretend that our political and legal culture didn’t come down to us [from] the British Isles but it did – that you can use deadly force in the defense of yourself or another when some bad actor is trying to cause death or great bodily harm.

That seems pretty straight forward.  However, we need agreement on how the system should work.  It appears we don't have that agreement.  Moreover, it is not clear that those presuming to speak for Blacks speak for all Blacks.

The author worries that while one side is firmly bound by rules and obligations, the other is makung it up as it goes along.

Eventually, you will inevitably reach a breaking point.  And that’s coming.  Then the bad guys are going to miss the rules that they still expect to protect them.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Spreading the COVID Vaccine

For John, BLUF:  Immunity from COVID-19 needs immunization across the Globe,  Everyone is depending on the United States to make it happen.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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U.S. to share up to 60 million vaccine doses amid pressure to aid desperate countries

From The Wash Post, by Reporters Tyler Pager, Annie Linskey and Emily Rauhala, 26 April 2021, 7:45 p.m. EDT.

And, The Wall Street Journal is like it:

U.S. to Share AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccine Doses With World

Biden administration is facing growing pressure to share shots with developing countries

Here is the lede, plus two, from The Wash Post:

The United States will share up to 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine with other countries, the White House said Monday, as the Biden administration faces growing pressure to help vaccinate the global population and cases spike around the world.

The move comes as India in particular faces an increasingly dire situation, with its health system showing signs of collapse — adding to the sense of urgent global need.  The AstraZeneca vaccine, which is not authorized for use in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration, will be shipped out once it clears federal safety reviews, officials said.

The White House took pains to stress that the move will not affect the United States’ internal vaccination drive.  “We do not need to use AstraZeneca in our fight against covid,” press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters, noting that the domestic U.S. push relies on vaccines made by other companies.

The Whie House is walking a tricky line.  On the one hand there is real need for COVID-19 help for other nations across the Globe.  On the other hand, the Citizenry of These United States do not wish to feel they are being placed second in line.  I think up to this point the Biden Administration is walking that line well.♠

So far, so good.

However, India alone is 1.35 billion people.  It is going to take a lot more than 60 million doses, as many as those are.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Thanks in part to then President Trump's Operation WARP SPEED.

ID to Vote

For John, BLUF:  The majority of Americans think an Identification to vote is proper  Will our legislators expand this requirement nation wide?  I am doubtful, as they seem to be in a world of their own.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Fox News Poll:  77% support requiring photo ID for voting

From Fox News, by Reporter Dana Blanton, 26 April 2021.

Here is the lede plus three:

There is widespread agreement on requiring identification before being allowed to cast a ballot.

A new Fox News poll, released Monday, finds 77 percent of voters nationally think "a valid form of state or federally issued photo identification to prove U.S. citizenship" should be needed for voting.  That’s down from a high of 85 percent who felt that way when Fox first asked the same survey question 10 years ago.

The 8-point decline comes from a shift among Democrats and independents.  In 2011, 75 percent of Democrats and 86 percent of independents favored showing government-issued ID for voting.  Today, 60 percent of Democrats and 76 percent of independents support the prerequisite.

Virtually all Republicans favor providing identification and their views held steady:  95 percent today vs. 96 percent in 2011.

I like the sentiment, but this isn't about proving US Citizenship.  That needs to be done at the time one Registers to vote.  This should be about proving that you are the person whose name is on the voter roles at the time of voting.

And, it is a good way of adding confidence to our voting system.

For those who cry "Jim Crow 2.0", which is catchy, I see your cry as part of the soft bigotry of low expectations. Think of all the Blacks who serverd in the military, and thus had an ID, or learned to drive, and thus had an ID, or worked somewhere that required an ID to enter a building, and thus had an ID, or who cashed a check or rode in an airliner, and thus had an ID.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Iran Tape

For John, BLUF:  This is a multifacted story, with many interesting aspects.  Possible Administration hostility toward Israel, Mr John Kerry's willingness to beam off on his own, Israeli animosity toward Iran, and visa-versa, internal problems with the Iranian Government and the constant dangers of spies and spying.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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John Kerry:  up to his old tricks

From The New Neo, by Herself, 26 April 2021.

Here is the lede plus four:

Unfortunately, there is nothing surprising about this, to anyone who’s followed John Kerry’s illustrious career from the days when he met with the North Vietnamese in 1970 in Paris.

Here’s today’s story:

The New York Times is taking criticism for “burying” a report that former Secretary of State John Kerry told Iran that Israel had attacked Iranian interests in Syria at least 200 times.

The story focuses on leaked audio of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaking candidly about Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, the powerful branch of Iran’s Armed Forces and a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. However, 21 paragraphs into a 26-paragraph story, the Times dropped a major revelation.

“Former Secretary of State John Kerry informed him that Israel had attacked Iranian interests in Syria at least 200 times, to his astonishment, Mr. Zarif said,” Times reporter Farnaz Fassihi wrote.

The fact that Presidential Envoy John Kerry leaked US Confidential information to Iran is in dispute, but like Ms New Neo, I have my suspicions.  To do such a thing would be wrong and should be distasteful to all Americans.

The other interesting thing is the conflicts within the Iranian Government.  It would appear there is dissention within the Government.  And, one suspects, among the People of Iran.  If ever there is a breakdown in Iranian Civil Government I hope that the US will apply a very light touch, considering the alienation over the Mosaddegh Affair in 1953.

And, finally, who leaked the tape?  Was it internal politics or a spy ring in Iran?

Regards  —  Cliff

Free To Be Different

For John, BLUF:  The Supreme Court is considering if State Government my demand the donor list of a private advocacy group.  Secret Answer—Should not be allowed.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Supreme Court Seems Primed to Reverse Kamala Harris's Attack on Free Speech

Frim Pajama Media, by Reporter Tyler O'Neil, 26 April 2021, 1:30 PM ET.

Here is the lede plus three:

On Monday, the Supreme Court heard arguments in the key First Amendment case Americans for Prosperity v. Rodriguez, which centers on the State of California’s requirement that nonprofit organizations disclose their donor information to the state.  Back in 2015, then-Attorney General Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) demanded that two conservative nonprofits, Americans for Prosperity (AFP) and the Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), hand over their donor lists.  This demand threatened to reveal the identities of donors, potentially subjecting them to threats and harassment.

Legal representatives for AFP and TMLC said the Supreme Court justices’ questions and remarks suggested they are likely to strike down California’s requirement as an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment.

“The justices appreciated very well that membership and donations to an organization are protected by a right to privacy in association, not just a right to associate,” Kathleen Sullivan, legal counsel for Americans for Prosperity Foundation, said on a press call after the oral arguments on Monday.

She noted that the justices cited many friend-of-the-court briefs written by ideological opponents of AFP and TMLC that nonetheless support these conservative organizations’ rights to donor anonymity.  The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) proved particularly noteworthy in this regard.

A longish article, but it is an important Free Speech issue.  Remember, Free Speech, once lost, is hard to get back, and may lead to the loss of more Free Speech tights.

Free Speech, important for floating new ideas, means society being willing to tolerate speech that is distasteful.  If the speech is accepted by society as a whole, then there is no Free Speech issue.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Know Yourself

For John, BLUF:  This is all about the Comment in the linked Blog from Paddy O, about Theologian Jurgen Moltmann.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Activated women hitting new peaks of ineffectuality.

From Althouse, by Professor Ann Althouse, 23 April 2021.

Here is the lede plus four:

Here's what he had to say on ineffective activism in his book on the Holy Spirit:

If we compare the two ways of knowing, it is easy to see that modern men and women need at least a balance between the vita activa and the vita contemplative, the active and the contemplative life, if they are not to atrophy spiritually.  The pragmatic way of grasping things has very obvious limits, and beyond these limits the destruction of life begins.  This does not apply only to our dealings with other people.  It is true of our dealings with the natural environment too.

But the meditative way of understanding seems to be even more important when it is applied to our dealings with our own selves.  People take flight into relationships, into social action and into political praxis, because they cannot endure what they themselves are.

They have ‘fallen out’ with themselves.  So they cannot stand being alone.  To be alone is torture.  Silence is unendurable.  Solitude is felt to be ‘social death’.  Every disappointment becomes a torment which has to be avoided at all costs.

But the people who throw themselves into practical life because they cannot come to terms with themselves simply become a burden for other people.  Social praxis and political involvement are not a remedy for the weakness of our own personalities.

As you can see, one has to know oneself in order to do good.

The excerpt ends:

Only the person who has found his own self can give himself.  What else can he give?  It is only the person who knows that he is accepted who can accept others without dominating them.  The person who has become free in himself can liberate others and share their suffering.

Hat tip to Ann Althouse.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Non-Neutral Bureaucracy

For John, BLUF:  The sad thing is that I was not surprised by the FBI determined the Congressman Steve Scalise shooting was "Suicide by Cop".  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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An outrage from the FBI

From The Washington Examiner, by Columnist Byron York, 23 April 2021, 08:44 AM.

Here is the lede plus three:

AN OUTRAGE FROM THE FBI.  On June 14, 2017, a team of Republican lawmakers went to an athletic field in Alexandria, Virginia to practice for the annual Congressional Baseball Game for Charity.  As they worked out, a man armed with a semi-automatic rifle and pistol approached and opened fire.  Representative Steve Scalise, the House Republican whip, was gravely wounded.  A lobbyist was also seriously hurt, and a congressional aide and Capitol Police officer were wounded, as well.

The shooter, James Hodgkinson of Belleville, Illinois, was an active Bernie Sanders supporter who hated Republicans and particularly hated then-President Donald Trump.  "Trump is a Traitor.  Trump Has Destroyed Our Democracy.  It's Time to Destroy Trump & Co.," Hodgkinson posted on his Facebook page.  He thought of himself as part of the Resistance.  He joined Facebook groups like "Terminate The Republican Party" and "Join The Resistance Worldwide!!"

Hodgkinson came to the Washington area in 2017, living out of a van parked in Alexandria.  He brought his guns and developed a plan to attack Republicans.  He went to the baseball field with a list of several GOP members of Congress in his pocket, along with physical descriptions of some of them.  Before the attack, he asked Republican Representative Jeff Duncan, who was leaving practice early, whether the players on the field were Republicans or Democrats.  Duncan said it was the Republican team.  A short time later, Hodgkinson opened fire.  After a rampage of nearly ten minutes, he was killed by Capitol Police and Alexandria Police.

The attack was a clear act of violent, politically-motivated domestic terrorism.  There was simply no doubt about that.  And yet last week, Republican Representative Brad Wenstrup, who had been at the practice, revealed that the FBI concluded Hodgkinson was simply trying to commit "suicide by cop."

Interestingly, we were in Belleville, Illinois, at the time.  Our youngest, a lawyer in the Department of Justice, called us and gave us a heads up, in case there were like-minded individuals in Mr Hodgkinson's home town.

My conclusion is that while the FBI still carries guns, and can arrest you (and spy on you in contravention of the Bill of Rights), they are not a serious organization.  The likes of FBI Personnel such as Former Director James Comey and Agent Peter Strzok make that obvious.

The current witch hunt for ["right wing"] extremists, while marking the attack on the GOP Congression Baseball Team as "Suicide by Cop" is deplorable.

Now I have to ask myself if I violated my own admonition to show respect while critizing; "Do so respectfully".

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Fruits of the Spirit

For John, BLUF:  We are convincing ourselves that our fellow Citizens on the other side are terrible people, thus justifying our bad attitude toward them.  This is a wrong attitude.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Respectful in Dissent

From The Hal Lindsey Report, by Evangelist Hal Lindsey, 23 April 2021.

Here is the lede plus five:

Covid is not the only infection poisoning our world.  We also have an infection of rage.  It is the fashionable emotion of the moment.  We see it in all political parties, cultures, and generations.  It spreads from individual to individual and from group to group.  It is an important sign of the last days.  Sadly, it has infected many followers of Jesus.  But it doesn’t have to.

2 Timothy 3:2-7 gives a list of particulars about humanity’s mindset during the last days.  You could summarize it by saying that people of this time will have really bad attitudes.  Descriptive words include, “headstrong,” “proud,” “brutal,” and “haughty.”

Those words describe some of the ways people now express their displeasure with what they believe to be injustice.  But Christians should always manifest the fruit of the Spirit — “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:2223) — even in times of distress or abuse.

Don’t be infected by the rage of our times.  Stand against injustice and ungodliness.  But do so in just and godly ways.

Romans 13:1 says, “Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities.  For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.”  That does not mean we should obey every law.  God’s law should always trump human law.  But even in those severe cases when situations call for civil disobedience, we must do so respectfully.

That doesn’t mean every government is good.  When the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write Romans 13:1, Nero ruled most of the world.  He stands out as one of the worst scoundrels in history.  Nero was also in power when Peter wrote, “Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him…” (1 Peter 2:13-14)

I think Preacher and Author Hal Lindsey (eg, The Late Great Planet Earth (1970)) is making a good point.  The words I especially like are "do so respectfully."  We are dealing with our Brother and Sister Americans.  We may see them as wrong, but we should not disrespect them.  President Trump, who himself felt disrespected, could be disrespectful.  Representative Maxine Waters recent stunt in Minneapolis was an act of disrespect.

We need to do better.  If you think someone is wrong, say so, but don't call their parentage or race or other chharacteristic into question.  Those are not of the person's choice.

Hat tip to my friend Maureen.

Regards  —  Cliff

Making Space Flight Practical

For John, BLUF:  We have come a long way since Professor Robert Goddard, at Clark University, was doing early rocket experiments (and inventing the Bazooka), around the time of World War One.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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In a Huge First, SpaceX Just Launched Astronauts to The ISS on a Recycled Rocket

From Science Aert, by Reporter Issam Ahmed, 23 April 2021.

Here is the lede plus two:

SpaceX launched its third crew to the International Space Station an hour before sunrise Friday, recycling a rocket and spacecraft for the first time.

The Crew-2 mission, the first involving a European, blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 09:49 UTC (5:49 am Eastern Time).

"Endeavour launches once again - four astronauts from three countries on Crew-2, now making their way to the one and only International Space Station," announcer Gary Jordan said to loud cheers and applause.

A nice article by the Reporter.

The impressive thing about this launch is that Launch Company owner Elon Musk is recycling its equipment; in that both the Falcon 9 booster and Crew Dragon capsule were deployed on previous missions.

A translation note.  Where the Agence France Presse says "around 100 experiments in the diary during their six-month mission" the word diary means agenda.

The rendezvous with the Internation Space Station works because everyone involved believes 2 + 2 = 4, always.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Math Answers

For John, BLUF:  In an effort to stamp out racism, public education seems to be working overtime to dismiss "Western" learning, including Western math and science.  As a practical matter, this doesn't make sense to me.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Profs help push program that claims math is 'racist' because it requires a 'right answer'

Here is the sub-headline:

• A new program promoted by the Oregon Department of Education is designed to “dismantle” instances of “white supremacy culture in the mathematics classroom.”
• Professors at San Diego State University and Loyola Marymount University assisted in creating the program.

From Campus Reform, by Correspondent Wyatt Eichholz, 25 March 2021, 8:10 PM.

Here is the lede plus one:

An Oregon Department of Education newsletter from February promoted an online course designed to “dismantle” instances of “white supremacy culture in the mathematics classroom.”  One example of “white supremacy” highlighted by the course was “the concept of mathematics being purely objective,” an idea which the resource stated is “is unequivocally false."

The program, known as “A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction,” describes itself as “an integrated approach to mathematics that centers Black, Latinx, and Multilingual students” that provides “opportunities for ongoing self-reflection as they seek to develop an anti-racist math practice.”

The "feedback advisors" for a portion of the program include William Zahner, who is an associate professor at San Diego State University; Melissa Navarro Martell, who is an assistant professor at San Diego State University, and Elvira Armas, who is the Director of Programs and Partnerships for the Center for Equity for English Learners at Loyola Marymount University in California.

“White supremacy culture infiltrates math classrooms in everyday teacher actions,” the guide states.  “Coupled with the beliefs that underlie these actions, they perpetuate educational harm on Black, Latinx, and multilingual students, denying them full access to the world of mathematics.”

The newsletter pitched the program to educators “looking for a deeper dive into equity work,” offering to teach “key tools for engagement, develop strategies to improve equitable outcomes for Black, Latinx, and multilingual students, and join communities of practice.”

There are links in the original.

Back when I was somebody and flying fighter jets for the US Air Force, math, and the predictability of math, seemed to be important.  The ability to navigate from the launch airbase to turn points A, B, C, D, etc, to the recovery airbase depended on being able to determine a heading and distance, and based on airspeed, a time.  This, in turn, was used to calculate fuel consumption.  Running out of fuel and having to make an emergency divert, or worse, abandon the aircraft in mid-air, would be embarrassing.♠

It seems to me that math being consistent and predictable was very important to safe aviating, regardless of race or ethnicty. Whether in my Ar Force Academy Class it be me, or my Roommate Bill Perez, or my Cadet Squadron mate Willie T Sakahara or our distinguished classmate Fred Gregory.  It was all the same.

Maybe in the airline business it is different.  I wonder if the "feedback advisors" fly on airliners?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  With the F-4, all Marks, the Pilot's Handbook said a flame out landing was not recommended, and "High Key" (where you start the 360 degree turn to touchdown was 15,000 feet AGL (Above Ground Level)).  No typo.  One would have to lose almost three miles of altitude in a single turn from overhead the point of intended landing and touchdown.

Man Bites Dog?

For John, BLUF:  I try to reserve the initialism BLM for Bureau of Land Management, but to each his own.  If you live in Middlesex County, BLM isn't a big deal, but if you live in Alaska or the Rocky Mountains Region it can have a big impact.  Black Lives Matter has its own regional impacts.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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BLM Calls Out Biden:  Claims 'Our Communities...Terrorized' More Now than Under Trump

From MRCTV, by Reporter Nick Kangadis, 21 April 2021.

Here is the lede plus two:

The “useful idiots” are firing back against the hand the feeds them the attention they so consistently crave.

The Marxist Black Lives Matter (BLM) organization not only called out President Joe Biden on Tuesday, but they tweeted that his regime is treating their communities worse than former President Donald Trump, which might be the worst thing since Hitler that you can call a leftist.

BLM noted that Biden’s first 100 days in office are up very soon and that things have only become worse under his reign.  Essentially, BLM is upset about a practice that has been going on for years, which is the U.S. military providing police departments across the country with hand-me-downs that they're not going to use anymore.

I am not sure surplus military stocks are a real issue, although lethal arms could be.  Although in a sniper situation (active shooter) a couple of trained police personnel with M-16 (AR-15) rifles might be useful.

This does show that Democrat Politicians in DC do not have a unified front.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The March of Climate Change is Not Always Smooth

For John, BLUF:  The march of Climate Change is not always in one direction.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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So Far Germany Seeing Coldest April In 104 Years, Second Coldest Since 1881, Snowiest Since 1986

Here is the sub-headline:

It’s been a really frosty April this year across Central Europe.  Germany so far has seen it’s second coldest April since records began in 1881.

From Watts Up With That, by Blogger P Gosselin, 18 April 2021.

Here is the lede plus three:

April across much of Europe has been unusually cold, frosty and even snowy, and the media have been awfully quiet about it.…

With a mean temperature of 4.5°C for Germany, April so far continues to be the second coldest since 1881, according to German DWD national weather service records. Only 1917 was colder at a mean of 4.3°C.

Another cold blast forecast for next weekend

And it likely isn’t going to change too much, as the ECMWF model is forecasting yet another unusual April cold wave with snow and frost for next week. A warm up is forecast near the end of the month, but that is still some 10 days out.

My wife reminded me that when we were living in Bitburg, Germany, in 1968, there were three weeks of Summer.

Just a tad of humility on the part of the Climate Change fanatics would help to bring more on board to their cause.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The American Revolution Begins

For John, BLUF:  I think I had been fuzzy about the sequences of events in the American Revolution, but this helps to make it clearer,  The British march on Lexington and Concord and then later comes the Declaration of Independence.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Today Should Be a National Holiday:  An Annual Tradition.

Here is the sub-headline:

If there were any justice today would be a national holiday at least as big as Independence Day.  I’m not kidding.

From The Writer in Black, by Writer David L. Burkhead, 18 April 2021.

Here is the lede plus two:

Back in the 1770’s an unrest that had started more than a century before–with Colonial reaction to the English Civil War, the Catholic reign of James II, and the Glorious Revolution that followed–was growing in the American colonies, at least those along the Atlantic Seaboard from New Hampshire down through Georgia.  Protests over taxes imposed without the taxed having any voice in the matter, complaints about a distant monarch and legislative body making rules and laws over people to whom they are not beholden.

There had been clashes which fed that unrest, including the famous “Boston Massacre” where British troops fired into a rioting mob resulting in several deaths.  Think of it as the Kent State of the 18th century.

In an effort to quell the unrest, or at least have it be less of a threat to British officials, General Thomas Gage, Military governor of Massachusetts, under orders to take decisive action against the colonists, decided to confiscate firearms and ammunition from certain groups in the colony.  His forces marched on the night of April 18, 1775.

This is about the Battles of Lexington and Concord, which played out on the 19th of April 1775.  When Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote about Paul Revere and his mission to warn every Middlesex village and farm he is talking about the County in which I now live, and proudly so.

A lesson to be learned is that soldiers shooting into a crowd of rioters doesn't always work out well for the Government then in power.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Ignored Hinterland

For John, BLUF:  I looked at the photo in the article and it reminded me of a relative's home in Southwestern Pennsylvania, when we visited it in the Summer of 2016.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Trump didn't form a populist coalition.  He was the result of one

From The Washington Examiner, by Reporter Salena Zito, 18 April 2021, 12:00 AM.

Here is the lede plus three:

They're still there, planted in front of stately homes in wealthy suburban neighborhoods, on flag poles in middle-class communities, and along the front stoops of inner-city row houses.

Whether they say "Trump 2020" or simply "Trump," there are plenty of people who have left their sentiments planted on their own personal hill.

It is not just here in Pennsylvania.  The signs are not hard to spot as you travel to the Great Lakes, the Midwest, and Appalachia.

The reason is complex.  People who come from a variety of socioeconomic, religious, and political experiences formed a conservative populist coalition long before Donald Trump descended Trump Tower's escalator in June 2015 in New York City.

I believe Reporter Zito is correct in her assessment.

What that means is that if President Joe Biden were to shoot Former President Trump dead, in "the middle of 5th Avenue," the coalition would still be out there, looking for the next person to represent them in our Nation's Capitol.

And, as the article says, these voters are unhappy with the Republican Establishment, passing over 16 other well known candidates to pick Mr Trump.

And think about how President Joe Biden had no coat tail in 2020.  I call it an Ike Jacket Election.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Polar Opposite Views

For John, BLUF:  There are many who think that things out in the hinterlands is not are bad as portrayed.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Racism-Free Utopia Is Rural MAGA Land

From Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog, 13 April 2021.

The title says it all.  Go to the Comments Section of the Battleswarm Blog and dispute the assertion.  Then let me know what you said.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Protecting Your Civil Rights

For John, BLUF:  Protecting my rights as an ordinary Citizen means protecting everyone's rights.  Once some person or sub-group is identified as not being in a position to enforce his or its civil right those civil rights are like smoke.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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As the Left Trashes Due Process, Black Men Speak Up in its Defense

Here is the sub-headline:

The defenders of Western Civ are much more diverse than its enemies.

From The Stream, by Mr Mark Judge, 15 April 2021.

Here is the lede plus one:

For the past year I’ve been writing a series for The Stream about my experience in 2018.  That’s when my high school friend Brett Kavanaugh was nominated to the Supreme Court.  To sink his nomination, the left used oppo research, bad acting, witness tampering, lies, and lapdog media.  Liberals peddled the false charge that Brett sexually assaulted a girl then named Christine Blasey when we were all in high school.  Journalists and operatives tried to bully and extort me into testifying against my friend, who was innocent.  (The story is going to be a book.)

After it was all over in October 2018, liberal Atlantic writer Jemel Hill went to Ozy Media’s “Take On America” town hall series in Baltimore.  The gathering featured over 100 black men in the audience.  Coming on the heels of the Kavanaugh battle, Hill was positive she was going to hear a lot of anguish over the Republican victory.

Instead, she heard support for Kavanaugh.  Hill reported:

On Tuesday night, I was in an auditorium with 100 black men in the city of Baltimore, when the subject pivoted to Brett Kavanaugh.  I expected to hear frustration that the sexual-assault allegations against him had failed to derail his Supreme Court appointment.  Instead, I encountered sympathy.  One man stood up and asked, passionately, “What happened to due process?”  He was met with a smattering of applause, and an array of head nods.

Perhaps there is a Brotherhood of the falsely accused.

Perhaps there are Black Citizens who wish to have their Civil Rights protected.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Oops, There Goes Another Food Store

For John, BLUF:  Here is an example of Government meaning to do good, but actually doing harm, in several directions.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Kroger Closes 2 Stores in California City That Required ‘Hero Pay’

The Epoch Times, by Reporter Jack Phillips, 18 April 2021.

Here is the lede plus three:

Grocery chain Kroger said it closed down two California stores Saturday after the Long Beach City Council approved a COVID-19-related “hero pay” ordinance that increased wages by $4 per hour.

The pay increase, mandated in January, was for workers who were employed at pharmacies and retail stores with 300 or more employees in the Southern California city.

The move was announced earlier this year, but the Ralph’s and Food 4 Less—both operated by Kroger—were shut down on April 17, employees told local media outlets.

“As a result of the City of Long Beach’s decision to pass an ordinance mandating Extra Pay for grocery workers, we have made the difficult decision to permanently close long-struggling store locations in Long Beach,” said a spokesperson for Kroger several weeks ago. “This misguided action by the Long Beach City Council oversteps the traditional bargaining process and applies to some, but not all, grocery workers in the city.”

At least it wasn't Vons.  I have always liked Vons.

This is a signal that governments should be careful about sticking their oar in the waters of the free market.

Regards  —  Cliff

Doolittle Raid Anniversary

For John, BLUF:  The Doolittle Raid, named after MIT PhD Graduate and Army Air Corps Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle, was a real morale boost to the Americans, following the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 and the loss of Bataan on 10 April 1942.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

The Doolittle Raid

79th Anniversary
18 April 2021

Here is the Tom Cruise Tribute

Hat tip to my Classmate, Ken Sampson.

Regards  —  Cliff

Removing a President

For John, BLUF:  There is, to me, little doubt that Speaker Pelosi loathed President Trump and thought the Republic would be better off with him gone.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Presidential Impeachment/Removal Plans, 2016 to 2020

From Ehtics Alarms, by Mr Jack Marshall, 2021.

Here is the lede plus one:

There have been 20 Plans to abuse various processes, laws and theories, all put forward and promoted by members of the Democratic Party / ”resistance” / mainstream news media alliance since President Trump’s election in November of 2016.  This page has been added to the references on the Ethics Alarms home page for easy reference, and also because I view this conduct by that group to be the most irresponsible, undemocratic and dangerous attack on our national values and institutions at least since the 19th century.

The desired effect of this barrage, apart from serving the goal of removing an elected President without the bother (and risk) of an election, has been to make it impossible for the President to govern, and to destroy his support among the public.  So far, neither of these goals have been achieved.

There is much too much passion in politics these days.  Passion expressed openly.  We would all be better off holding some of our hotter opinions to ourselves.  We become angry and then we are more like The Hulk than like Saint Francis.  That is not good.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Nuclear Urge

For John, BLUF:  North Korea has been limping along economically for some time as it fights off sanctions for its nuclear development program and tries to make a command economy work.  For example, the Arduous March famine (94-98) killed some 240,000 to 3,500,000 North Koreans out of a total population of some 22 million.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Gaps between market prices in different North Korean regions are growing

Here is the sub-headline:

Chinese food product prices are 45% to 250% higher in Hoeryong than in Pyongsong

From The Daily NK, by Reporter Seulkee Jang, 8 April 2021, 10:00am.

Here is the lede plus four:

Amid North Korea’s attempts to strengthen control over its markets following the closure of the country’s borders last year, the gap between market prices in different regions has been growing more pronounced recently.

Differences in prices between regions in North Korea have steadily decreased as North Korean marketization has created more diverse means of transport.  Much of this can be attributed to the increase in North Korean servi-cha, which are vehicles that operate like a taxi or courier service and can traverse the entire country within a single day.

Despite the increase of oil prices due to international sanctions, there has been few gaps between commodity prices in different areas of the country.  However, as North Korean authorities tightened their control over travel between different areas of the country following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, markets – which rely on stable logistics networks to thrive – have suffered.

A source recently told Daily NK that 450 grams of Chinese flavor enhancer was selling for KPW 165,000 at a market in Hoeryong, North Hamgyong Province, on Mar. 25.  One kilogram of sugar cost KPW 45,000, while one kilogram of Chinese flour was KPW 28,000.

Before the authorities enforced the border blockade in January of last year, 450 grams of Chinese flavor enhancer sold at the same market for KPW 5,000, while one kilogram of sugar and flour sold for KPW 5,500 and KPW 4,700, respectively.

I don't see any way Noth Korean Dictator Kim Jung-un is giving up his nuclear weapons. None.  I am sure he drew conclusions from the way we treated Libya strongman Muammar Gaddafi after he gave up his own nuclear weapons program.

Neither China nor Russia have interest in helping us deal with North Korea.

Our hope of ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program rests in reunification of the Korean Peninsula following the collapse of the North Korean Government.  That collapse will result when the People have had enough and refuse to do more.  When is the $64 Question.  In the mean time North Korea limps along economically, with tens of thousands on the edge.

Regards  —  Cliff

Censorship in America

For John, BLUF:  Social Media is becoming an American version of China's Social Credit system, with censorship of unwoke ideas being used liberally.  Perhaps the most celebrated was Mr Hunter Biden's misplaced laptop, just before last November's Election.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Mike Lindell:  Free, Clean Speech Social Media Site Set to Launch Monday

From The Epoch Times, by Reporter Masooma Haq, 15 April 2021.

Here is the lede plus two:

MyPillow’s Mike Lindell announced on April 15 that his new social media platform called “Frank,” with the mission of providing a place for free speech as laid out in the U.S. Constitution, will launch on April 19.

In a video statement, Lindell said he’s taken steps to make sure the site is most secure, with his own servers, and will not be subject to censorship on the whims of big tech companies such as Amazon and Google.

“And we are going to get our voice of free speech out there,” Lindell said. “On Monday morning at 9 a.m., we’re going to have the biggest launch. … I call it a Frank-a-thon.”

With Big Tech censoring news items in ways that appear to be censorship of conservative or liberal ideas and news items, there is a desire out there for alternative outlets for people's ideas.  Government censorship and sanctions seems not to be the solution.  Perhaps the free market is the solution.

Good luck to Mr Mike Lindell.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Iconoclastic Richmond

For John, BLUF:  Richmond, Virginia used to have a stretch of road with many statues, mostly of Confederate States of America Civil War leaders, but also of Tennis Great Arthur Ashe, a Richmond native.  Now much has been torn down.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Richmond’s Rage of the Woke

Here is the sub-headline:

The city’s iconoclastic frenzy, supported by local leaders, has left a historic avenue with stumps and graffiti.

From City Journal, by Writer Catesby Leigh, 11 April 2021.

Here is the lede plus four:

Beautifully landscaped with ample medians and harmoniously lined with gracious houses in various historic styles, Richmond, Virginia’s block-paved Monument Avenue and its several statuary tributes to Confederate leaders were once recognized as a triumph of American urban design.  The residential frontages served admirably as a variegated frame for the monuments, creating a superb urban tableau that it made no sense to eradicate—especially as the monuments lost ideological currency with the passage of time, as monuments often do.  But after the mayhem triggered by George Floyd’s fatal arrest in Minneapolis in May 2020, the 14 blocks of the avenue comprising a National Historic Landmark District present a sorry spectacle. Bare pedestals, with the vandals’ graffiti not entirely washed away, stand on the avenue’s median. Statues of General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, the cavalry commander J. E. B. Stuart, Confederate president Jefferson Davis, and the world-renowned oceanographer Matthew Fontaine Maury, who played an inconspicuous role in the Confederate war effort, are gone—victims of fanaticism fueled by Twitter slogans drawing, in turn, on national-guilt and systemic-racism narratives in which Americans have been increasingly indoctrinated.

The magnificent bronze equestrian statue of Robert E. Lee still stands at the center of a turfed circle 200 feet wide that is Monument Avenue’s principal node and was the point of departure for its creation at the end of the nineteenth century.  But the monument’s majestically rusticated, 40-foot-tall granite pedestal has been hideously defaced by Black Lives Matter agitators’ spray-painting.  The circle, previously enclosed within a ring of heavily graffitied jersey barriers, and, since January, within an additional ring of chain-link fencing eight feet tall, degenerated into an anarchists’ playground last year.  The New York Times Style Magazine has perversely hailed the monument’s nihilistic “transformation” as the most influential work of “protest art” since World War II.

Located in the Confederacy’s capital, Monument Avenue was the South’s most important venue for commemoration of the Lost Cause.  The quality of its statuary was of a distinctly higher order than the many undistinguished, often cheaply mass-produced “Silent Sentinel” statues of lone Confederate soldiers, standing at parade rest in front of many a courthouse portico—not to mention Stone Mountain, Georgia’s huge, kitschy relief of Lee, Jackson, and Davis on horseback.

While Americans overwhelmingly deplore the vandalization or destruction of statues of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Frederick Douglass and other abolition advocates, as well as figures of Christ and the Virgin Mary, Confederate monuments have a far more precarious hold on public affections.  In recent years—and particularly during Donald Trump’s presidency—they have become increasingly controversial in the South itself.  Since the BLM protests erupted, dozens of these monuments have been banished from courthouse squares, parks, and other public spaces, from the Carolinas to Texas—in small towns as well as big cities.

In Virginia, which has seen the most dramatic outburst of defacement and officially sanctioned removal of monuments of any state, opinion has been split on the fate of the Confederate landmarks.  A September 2020 Associated Press poll found 46 percent of Virginians in favor of removal and 42 percent opposed, with a margin of error of 4 percent.  While the South leans red on the whole, Virginia is blue.  And despite years of mass-media vilification of all things Confederate, and Virginia Republicans generally treating the monuments issue like kryptonite, the state has seen nothing like a solid consensus supporting removal.  That hasn’t prevented politicians like Virginia governor Ralph Northam and Richmond mayor Levar Stoney from getting with the iconoclastic program.  The legality of their efforts is dubious in Richmond’s case.  But while the damage will almost certainly not be reversed where most of the city’s Confederate statues are concerned, Northam’s June 2020 order for the removal of the Lee equestrian is another matter.

We are talking rage here.  Rage is not, over the long haul, an attractive trait.  The other side of this coin is that it is not balancing out history, but rather throwing a cloak over it, so we can't see it.  If we can't see it we can't learn from it.  Do many think that ignoring history is better than learning from it?  I am sure, well, relatively sure, they didn't pull the Statue of Mr Arthur Ashe.

Better than tearing down statues is (1) learning history and (2) seeing if we can see any good, any growth, in misguided men, and reform ourselves.

In the short term this may be helpful to some, but in the long term this slows reconciliation.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Down Through History

For John, BLUF:  Things have been much worse than they were over the last 15 months.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Think 2020 was bad?  Historians say 536 was worst year ever to be alive

From United Press International, by Reporter Mark Puleo, 13 APRIL 2021, 1:37 PM.

Here is the lede plus four:

You wake up to a dark, dreary, glum-feeling, Monday-type of morning. For the 547th consecutive day. Just 18 months prior, you were a hard-working farmer gearing up for another bountiful crop season.

But then the skies went dark. From early 536 to 537, they stayed dark.

Across much of eastern Europe and throughout Asia, spring turned into summer and fall gave way to winter without a day of sunshine. Like a blackout curtain over the sun, millions of people across the world's most populated countries squinted through dim conditions, breathing in chokingly thick air and losing nearly every crop they were relying on to harvest.

This isn't the plot of a dystopian TV drama or a fantastical "docu-fiction" production. This was a harsh reality for the millions of people that lived through that literally dark time -- or, as some historians have declared, the very worst year ever to be alive.

"For the sun gave forth its light without brightness, like the moon, during this whole year, and it seemed exceedingly like the sun in eclipse, for the beams it shed were not clear nor such as it is accustomed to shed," was the grim account Procopius, a prominent scholar who became the principal Byzantine historian of the 6th century, gave in History of the Wars.

It reminds me of the old line, "Cheer up, things could be worse."  "So, I cheered up and things got worse.".

Here is a case of things being worse.  Much worse.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

An Education View From Korea

For John, BLUF:  These folks have seen the way China and North Korea have changed education and in doing so have destroyed (classic) liberal ideas about education and democracy.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Left-wing education destroying the world’s liberal democratic system

From One Korea Network, by Professor Jebong Lee, 14 April 2021.

Here is the lede plus three:

Many people believed that communism had come to an end after watching the collapse of the former Soviet Union and the communist states of Eastern Europe. And as communist China transformed itself into a more free-market economy, we expected that as their economy developed and its society became more diversified, it would inevitably lead them to develop into a freer and more democratic system.

However, the Communist ideology has not changed at all and its methods have evolved. They have infiltrated into all aspects of society—home, school, church, politics, economy, culture, media, etc., while calling themselves the New Left and Liberals.  Communist China also developed a new method of controlling the people by means of new technologies and have revised their strategies to further communization, such as dissemination of Communist ideas, industrial espionage, and mass indoctrination of pro-Chinese personnel through the Confucius Institutes.  Meanwhile, we were seduced by low-cost Chinese goods and have forgotten about the slave labor of the Chinese people and have even turned a blind eye to the pains of the Uighurs who have become victims of organ harvesting.  We didn’t even know that our children were taught in school that the Republic of Korea should not have been established, and that school education is being destroyed by teachers who reject the liberal democratic system.  Even though they knew that students’ rights were being violated, teachers pretended not to know because they are afraid of radical left teachers’ unions.  This article explains the threat of the world’s left-wing ideologies, specifically the infiltration methods of Communism into education, and will attempt to explain the reality of education in Korea, which has become a tool of left-wing educators.

The Spread of Left-wing Ideological Education

There are five main ways by which Communist ideas infiltrate into Western education, which are explained as follows:  (1) direct introduction, (2) blocking traditional ideas and culture, (3) encouraging a decline in basic learning skills such as reading, writing, etc., (4) infiltration of perverted notions of economic, gender, and class liberation, and (5) propagandizing selfishness, greed, and a mentality of self-indulgence.  On the other hand, in Asian communist countries like China, they destroy traditional culture and slaughter scholars and use “the art of deceiving people with distorted education and propaganda while cutting the pulse of cultural transmission.”  (Gupyong editorial department, 2019: 3-5)

In fact, left-wing ideological concept have continuously evolved.  They have developed into many fields, such as traditional Marxism, Neo-Marxism, subordinate theory, liberation theology, cultural colonialism, leftist feminism, leftist-postmodernism in academia and school education, and ideas and theories related to this are taught as subjects in many universities around the world.  Not all of their effects on academic development are negative.  There have been some modifications to the liberal democratic system, some that are self-declining, and others that have evolved.  However, the most worrisome thing about this is that many of these ideologies are intentionally aimed at overthrowing the liberal democratic system and the fact is that these theories serve as the ideological motivations of radical left-wing activists.

I don't see this as an imminant threat, but I do see it as a possible longer term future.  Of course, in things like this them do seem to be going along OK, and then the bottom drops out and it is too late.

Regards  —  Cliff

A Peaceful Spring in the Western Pacific?

For John, BLUF:  Once upon a time Formosa was independent, and then it wasn't and then Chiang Kai-Shek fled Mainland China with his Koumingtang Government and forces and declared he was still the head of China, in the face of control of the Mainland by Mao Zedong, and now, 72 years later, China wants Formosa (Taiwan) "back".  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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China Fighter Jets Will Fly Over Taiwan to Declare Sovereignty, State Media Says

From MSN (Newsweek), John Feng, 13 April 2021.

Here is the lede plus three:

Chinese fighter jets will fly over Taiwan to "declare sovereignty" if relations between Washington and Taipei continue to improve, a prominent state media figure said after Beijing sent 25 warplanes toward the island on Monday.

Hu Xijin, chief editor of China's nationalistic Communist Party newspaper the Global Times, fired back at recent comments by Secretary Antony Blinken and said the military operation was a response to the State Department's loosening of interaction guidelines between officials from the U.S. and Taiwan.

The People's Liberation Army would "step up military pressure" in the event of a further warming of U.S.-Taiwan ties, he said.  "If Taiwan forces open fire, that will be the moment of all-out war across the Taiwan Strait," he added.

The People's Republic of China claims ownership of democratic Taiwan despite having never governed it in the seven decades since its founding after the Chinese Civil War.  The Chinese government has never renounced the use of force in its ultimate goal of "reunifying" the island, while Taiwan continues to be run as a de facto state and maintains several unofficial, yet crucial, global partners in an ambiguous existence known as the status quo.

This is definitely a place where open conflict could erupt.  Not a guarantee, but we have seen shelling before.  On the other hand, if the US becomes embroiled in warfare in Ukraine it might be considered by China as being distracted and an ideal time to move on Taiwan.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Hounding the Free Speech Rebels

For John, BLUF:  We think of our Canadian neighbors, our Canadian Cousins as unsparingly polite, and they are, except when it comes to free speech.  In the area of free speech they tend totalitarian.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Update: Rebel News Face-off in Montreal

From Rebel News (Canada), by Editor Ezra Levant, 10 April 2021.

Here is the lede plus five:

50 heavily armed police just raided the hotel where our Rebel News reporters were staying in Montreal.

I told them they couldn’t come in without a search warrant.  So instead they manhandled me.  They handcuffed Keean Bexte.  And They just put David Menzies in the back of a police car.

Police have sealed off the AirBnb we were staying in with police tape — they say it’s a “crime scene”.

Of course it’s not.  In fact, when we asked them what the “crime” was, all they could come up with was that our staying in the hotel was an illegal “gathering," contrary to Quebec’s lockdown laws.

That’s obviously not true.  It is a registered, legal hotel rental on Airbnb.  In fact, we had fewer guests than the facility is built for.

This is the same Montreal police who have harassed and assaulted our reporters for weeks.  This is their revenge.  Because we report on their misconduct.

Remember, this is Canada, although it is Quebec.

I remember a video in which some Canadian Government lawyer reminded Editor Ezra Levant that there is no First Amendment in Canada.  Sad.  Very sad.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

It Is Never Enough

For John, BLUF:  How much diversity is enough diversity, and when will we begin to explore all the dimensions of diversity?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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BBC diversity chief says Idris Elba's TV detective Luther 'isn't black enough to be real' because 'he doesn't have any black friends and doesn't eat any Caribbean food'

Here is the sub-headline:

• Miranda Wayland said the hit BBC crime drama was only superficially diverse
• Bosses are now looking to portray minority groups in a more convincing way
• BBC will spend £100m of content budget on diverse programming over 3 years

From The Daily Mail. by Reporter Tom Pyman, 13 April 2021, 20:58 EDT.

Here is the lede plus two:

The BBC's diversity chief has claimed Idris Elba's TV detective Luther 'isn't black enough to be real' because 'he doesn't have any black friends and doesn't eat any Caribbean food'.

Miranda Wayland said the hit crime drama, which won plaudits for having a strong, black lead character, was only superficially diverse and that corporation bosses are now looking to portray minority groups in a more convincing and rounded way.

Elba, who first made his name across the Atlantic starring as Stringer Bell in The Wire, cemented his status as a worldwide star by picking up a Golden Globe, among other gongs, for his depiction of the obsessive John Luther between 2010 and 2019.

From Wikipedia, "Luther is a British psychological crime drama television series starring Idris Elba as DCI John Luther…."

We watched Luther! and we enjoyed it.  Truth be told, I also like Hinterland but may be the only one, except for Senator Joe Biden.

This seems over the top.  I don't eat Irish food.  Does this obviate my heritage?  As Undertaker John McDonough says, "The food is why we left Ireland."

Hat tip to Fox News Commentator Tucker Carlson.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Real Minimum Wage

For John, BLUF:  Doing bad doing good.  Shrinking entry level jobs is not helpful.  Some entry level jobs aren't worth $15 an hour.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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‘Dirty Jobs’ Star Mike Rowe Just Totally Debunked the Argument for a $15 Minimum Wage

Here is the sub-headline:

Rowe knows the value of hard work, so it’s worth taking his recent warning on minimum wage hikes seriously.

From Fee, by Reporter Brad Polumbo, 12 April 2021.

Here is the lede plus five:

Mike Rowe knows the value of hard work.  The former star of “Dirty Jobs” gained notoriety for the Discovery Channel program, which featured him going undercover at some of the toughest and grossest jobs imaginable.  From cleaning bat poop to testing shark suits by jumping into a shark feeding frenzy, Rowe has more appreciation than most for the dignity of labor.

So, it’s worth taking the actor’s recent warning on the perils of minimum wage hikes seriously.

Advocates for a federal $15 minimum wage argue that it’s the bare minimum that workers deserve and that more than doubling the mandated wage nationwide would uplift workers who are struggling to get by.  Critics often point out that minimum wage hikes cause unemployment.

However, in an interview with Fox Business, Rowe instead emphasized the way that such an arbitrarily high minimum wage would take away the first rung on the ladder that many workers eventually climb.

“I want everybody who works hard and plays fair to prosper," Rowe said.  "I want everybody to be able to support themselves.  But if you just pull the money out of midair you're going to create other problems.”

“There is a ladder of success that people climb,” he continued.  “Some of those jobs that are out there for seven, eight, nine dollars an hour, in my view, they're simply not intended to be careers.  They're not intended to be full-time jobs. They're rungs on a ladder."

I started out bussing tables and scrubbing pots in a cafateria.  Not worth jacking up the food prices for blue collar working men to give a high school student on summer break money he does not need to support a non-existent family.

And, this being the United States, one size does not fit all.  What $15 will buy in New York City is noticibly less than what it will buy in Zanesville, Ohio, or Meridian, Mississippi.

Regards  —  Cliff

Encouraging the Police

For John, BLUF:  People respond to incentives and if we make policing riskier, we will see police pulling back from policiing activities.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Maryland Strips Police Officers Of Substantive Due Process Rights:  Oh, THIS Will Work Out Well, Yessiree!

From Ethics Alarms, by Blogger Jack Marshall, 11 April 2021.

Here is the lede plus two:

I know this is the second appearance today of James Donald’s anguished coda at the end of “The Bridge Over The River Kwai,” but he arrives when it is appropriate.

Maryland’s Democrat-controlled legislature moved yesterday to pass a “police reform package “that includes the repeal of the state’s Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights (LEOBOR), overriding Republican Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto to do it.

The state’s police Bill of Rights covered due process for officers accused of misconduct.  You can read it here:  I have. I would call it a not especially radical or permissive document, and its provisions simple codify basic due process rights.  I view this move by the legislature as primarily symbolic, a virtue-signaling gesture of support for the individuals who break laws and against those who enforce them.

Actions that appear to withdraw legal protections from Law Enforcement Officers will tend to make law enforcement officers more cautious.  Perhaps not at first, but quickly as these new laws take effect.  This, in turn, will result in less policing.

This, in turn, will result in increases in crime.  The question is, will citizens intervene?  That could, in turn, result in more mayhem.  My youngest Son argues that the purpose of the police is to protect the sespected perp from irate Citizens.  That is not an unreasonable police function.  I heard someone say today that someone will control the streets.  In the United States we like to think it is Law Enforcement.  In much of Mexico it is the Criminal Cartels.  That said, in some parts of Mexico the People are pushing back.  Will we see that here?

Regards  —  Cliff

Stay in School

For John, BLUF:  More education, less unemployment.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Unemployment rate 3.7 percent for college grads, 6.7 percent for high school grads in March 2021

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Unemployment rate 3.7 percent for college grads, 6.7 percent for high school grads in March 2021 at BLM.

Here is the lede plus one:

The unemployment rate edged down to 6.0 percent in March 2021.  The rate is down considerably from its recent high in April 2020 but is 2.5 percentage points higher than before the pandemic in February 2020.  For those with a bachelor’s degree and higher, the unemployment rate was 3.7 percent in March, down from a high of 8.4 percent in April 2020.

Finishing High School makes a big difference, as does finishing a college degree.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Right to be Wrong

For John, BLUF:  We are facing a crackdown on dissident views the Victorians or the Puritans would be proud of.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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YouTube pulls Spectator editor interview with Trump lawyer John Eastman

Here is the sub-headline:

Big Tech threatens to ban nonprofit for discussing alleged election fraud

From The Spectator US, by "Cockburn", 5 April 2021, 9:54 am.

Here is the lede plus one:

Over three-quarters of Republicans believe that there was widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election and about a third of all Americans believe that President Biden’s win was illegitimate.  When tens of millions of Americans lose faith in the system, that spells serious trouble for democracy.  A normal and healthy country would allow a fair and open debate about whether or not fraud occurred, and, if so, how much fraud and what evidence exists to back up these claims.  Instead, Big Tech platforms have repeatedly censored any mention of voter fraud at all.

Such was the case late last week when YouTube and Vimeo pulled a video interview with Trump lawyer John Eastman.  Cockburn’s colleague and The Spectator‘s Washington editor, Amber Athey, is a fellow at the Steamboat Institute and was invited to conduct the interview with Eastman at an event in Colorado.  The event was called, ‘What Really Happened?  An Insider’s Perspective on Representing the President and Claims of Election Fraud.’

Information does want to be free, but Big Tech is going to try to stifle it.  Thus the old fashioned sin of gossip will still flourish in the age of electronics.  Unless we go to a totalitarian regime, where all fear being reported to "the authorities" by friends and relatives, people will exchange information on the side.  It is slower that the Main Stream Media, but works as well.  It is what fueled the exchange of ideas in pre-Revolutionary War America.  Even in the Soviet Union there was the Samizdat Press.

However, today we do face the practice of Social Credit, as practiced in China.  To quote Wikipedia,

The social credit initiative calls for the establishments of unified record system for individuals, businesses and the government to be tracked and evaluated for trustworthiness.  Initial reports suggested that the system utilized numerical score as the reward and punishment mechanism; recent reports suggest there are in fact multiple, different forms of the social credit system being experimented with.  Numerical system has been implemented only in several regional pilot programs, while the nationwide regulatory method has been based primarily on blacklisting and whitelisting.  The credit system is closely related to China's mass surveillance systems such as Skynet, which incorporates facial recognition system, big data analysis technology, AI and Project Maven.

But, back in the United States, we are doing a cancel culture thing, where one is considered PNG (persona non grata) for holding the wrong views.  Thus Big Tech censoring certain produced materials.  Until we rebuild a concensus that information needs to be free, so that approaches to problems can be democratically determined, we will have censorship,  Until we learn to tolerate the views of others we will not be a Democracy in the best sense of the world.  We need to learn that people have the right to be wrong.  They don't have the right to impose their wrong thinking on others, but they have the right to hold wrong views.

Hat tip to my Wife.

Regards  —  Cliff

"Updating" the Supreme Court

For John, BLUF:  So much for knowing what is going on in our Nation's Capitol, with slight of hand being done hither and yon.  This is trying to change the Supreme Court in order to ensure that legislation, heretofor considered of questionable Constitutionality, will be allowed to pass muster.  Nothing new here.  President Franklin Roosevelt tried it back in 1937.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Biden establishes commission to study expanding Supreme Court

From The Hill, by Reporters Morgan Chalfant and John Kruzel, 9 April 2021, 11:33 AM EDT, via Not the Bee.

Here is the lede plus three:

President Biden signed an executive order Friday establishing a commission to study whether to add seats to the Supreme Court and other reform proposals, the White House announced, fulfilling a promise he made on the campaign trail.

The commission will be chaired by former White House counsel Bob Bauer and Cristina Rodríguez, a Yale law school professor and former deputy assistant attorney general, and largely consists of academics and former officials from across the political spectrum.

It will delve into the issue of potentially expanding the court — an idea that has been floated by some progressives but heavily criticized by Republicans — and which Biden himself has been cool to, though without explicitly ruling out the option.

“The Commission’s purpose is to provide an analysis of the principal arguments in the contemporary public debate for and against Supreme Court reform, including an appraisal of the merits and legality of particular reform proposals,” the White House said in a release. “The topics it will examine include the genesis of the reform debate; the Court’s role in the Constitutional system; the length of service and turnover of justices on the Court; the membership and size of the Court; and the Court’s case selection, rules, and practices.”

So, here we go, off on a project to "pack" the US Supreme Court.  I frankly take this as one more effort to undo whatever the President Donald J Trump Administration has done.  And to find a way to slip it past the Congress and the People.

And when I say slip it by I mean just that.  Look at Candidate Biden back in October of last year.

Biden says voters ‘don’t deserve’ his stance on packing Supreme Court

Here are the first seven (short) paragraphs of the article: From The New York Post, By Reporter Mary Kay Linge, 10 October 2020, 1:22pm.

Voters don’t “deserve” to know Joe Biden’s stance on packing the Supreme Court, the Democratic nominee said this week.

In a prickly interview with a Las Vegas news station Friday, the Biden doubled down on his refusal to say whether he supports expanding the highest court in the land to more than nine justices.

“This is the number one thing that I’ve been asked about from viewers in the last couple of days,” began KTNV’s Ross DiMattei.

“Well, you’ve been asked by the viewers who are probably Republicans,” Biden sarcastically responded.

“Don’t the voters deserve to know where you stand on …” DiMattei continued.

“No, they don’t deserve,” Biden snapped. “I’m not going to play his game.”

So, while running for President, then Vice President Joe Biden took the position that there were certain things the voters don't deserve to know.  I wonder what other positions of Candidate Joe Biden the voters didn't deserve to know?

This kind of thinking makes elections like buying a pig in a poke.  Which is a way of saying not totally free and open.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Pitchers Cheating

For John, BLUF:  The question right now is if Professional Baseball has its eye on one pitcher in particular.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Trevor Bauer Affair:  “What’s Going On Here?”  Unclear So Far, But It’s About Ethics

From Ethics Alarms, by Mr Jack Marshall, 10 April 2021.

Here is the lede plus three:

This developing ethics story comes out of baseball, and if you skip the baseball ethics stories, this one shows why that is a mistake.  The erstwhile National Pastime is certainly off to a flying start this season in ethics controversies, what with the game’s bone-headed decision to get involved in race-baiting politics seeded by Joe Biden and Stacey Abrams.  This new controversy has the advantage of actually being about the game on the field.  It also has a marvelous jumble of factors, real and hinted:  history, tradition, real rules, unwritten ruled, rationalizations, hypocrisy, persecution, tarnished heroes, and maybe revenge.

Trevor Bauer is a pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers whose fame, reputation and salary ($34 million a year for three years) are out of proportion to his record, which stood at 75-64 as this season dawns.  At 30, this is roughly the equivalent of the success achieved by such immortals as Chris Young, Ben McDonald, and Chuck Dobson, mediocrities all.  But Bauer is 1) unusually articulate 2) a social media master, and 3) had his best two seasons, including winning a Cy Young Award in last year’s shortened, pseudo-season, just as he was nearing free agency.  Many players and his primary team in his career, the Cleveland Indians, don’t like Bauer, and not just because opinionated players are never popular with management.  He once knocked himself out a crucial post-season start by cutting a pitching hand finger playing with a drone (he loves drones).  In 2019, after allowing seven runs, Bauer threw a baseball over the centerfield wall, after seeing his manager Terry Francona come out of the dugout to remove him from the game.  Bauer apologized profusely, but it was the final straw, and the Indians traded him.

Bauer, among other opinions, has been among the most vocal critics (and one of the few player critics) of the Houston Astros in particular (see here), and cheating in baseball generally.

After the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, baseball cracked down on pitchers doctoring the ball with foreign substances or by marring the surface to make it do tricks.  Nonetheless, that many pitchers continued to try to slip spit, or Vaseline, or slippery elm, or pine tar onto the ball has been assumed, indeed known, ever since.  This year, as part of the game trying to cut down on strike-outs which have reached boring levels (baseball is more entertaining the more the ball is put in play), MLB announced that umpires would be checking the balls more carefully and regularly to ensure that the rule against doctoring the ball wasn’t being violated.  Lo and Behold, the first pitcher to have his thrown baseballs collected for inspection based on suspicion of doctoring was…Trevor Bauer!

While I have liked watching Baseball and cherished it as being as American as Apple Pie and Motherhood, it has seemed to be getting a little too big for its britches, but nowhere near the NBA or American Football.  Then came the hypocrisy and boot licking surrounding the All Star game.  If only the Commissioner had resigned from Agusta.  Alas, no.

A pitching scandal would just be icing on the cake.  It would not divert attention, but focus it.  And it would be sad.

Regards  —  Cliff