Trespass or Treason?

For John, BLUF:  I think the Democratic Leadership in the US House needs to be careful to not create the tensions it claims to be investigating.  There are smart History PhD Candidates, 20 Years on, who will replay the tape and hear a different story.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Regime vs. Regime

Here is the sub-headline:

We who swear to uphold the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic owe no allegiance whatever to the oligarchy that now runs this country.

From American Greatness, by Commentator Angelo Codevilla, 20 May 2021.

Here is the lede plus four:

The attempt of America’s ruling class to convict 455 persons of “armed insurrection”—i.e. of waging war against the United States, a species of treason—for protesting insufficient scrutiny of the 2020 election on January 6 in the Capitol, while at the same time it excuses and even cheers the burning and looting of courthouses, police stations, and downtowns all over America, is not the exercise of a “double standard.”

The people in and out of government who do this are not corrupt. Instead, acting as part of the regime—the oligarchy—they are replacing the American republic and waging war to crush its remains.

The sooner Americans realize that we are being governed by people at war with our Constitution and contemptuous of ourselves, the sooner those people may be treated as the enemies they are.

In the Washington Post, the Justice Department explained why the words of its indictments of those it claims trespassed on the Capitol will not result in the severe prison sentences they imply.  Those words try to fit acts prima facie of mostly peaceful protest into the Democratic Party’s and associated oligarchy’s narrative of “armed insurrection against our democracy.”  But in the Post story these “legal experts” mention regretfully that, their best efforts notwithstanding, what remains of the U.S. legal system cannot wholly erase the fact that “trespassing is still only trespassing, even in the U.S. Capitol,” and that “a misdemeanor is still only a misdemeanor.”  Drat, still!

Nevertheless, these prosecutors and friendly experts fill most of the article with how they combine unlimited pretrial detention under harsh circumstances and limitation of legal assistance to press the accused to accept maximum penalties and to forgo bringing cases to juries.

The Speaker is playing with fire, and could get burned.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Show Trial on Capitol Hill

For John, BLUF:  This is old, but pertinent.&nhsp; There isn't much of a case for the Lego Insurrection, that is not going to stop the bien-pensant from pressing forward and damaging as many Trump supports as they can.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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DOJ quietly acknowledges there was no sedition at the US Capitol

Here is the sub-headline:

Media hyperbole was the root cause of fabricating crimes that didn't exist

From The Law Officer Blog, by "Law Officer, 30 March 2021.

Here is the lede plus three:

Despite all the outrage and the threats of charging “insurrectionists” with sedition—the act of attempting to overthrow the government—proving them based upon actual facts and evidence seems to be increasingly unlikely.  For example, Michael Cantrell reported on America’s Sheriff that:

“Many of the trials for individuals involved in the Capitol riot of January 6th have started and much to the chagrin of liberals everywhere, the charges these folks are facing aren’t quite as serious as we were all led to believe they would be.  In fact, the Justice Department has now said that the body of evidence in these cases is not as damaging as it was previously thought to be.”

Further, developing reports indicate that none of the 400 people who have been arrested for their involvement in the riot have been charged with sedition, according to the Post Millennial.  The most serious charge that has been brought against a defendant in this incident has been assault.  To be clear, there is quite a leap between the charges of assault—and the charges of conspiring to overthrow the government.

Even more perplexing, while others have been charged with conspiracy and obstruction, there’s a rather inconvenient fact that prosecutors must reckon.  As the Post Millenial explained: “Others have been charged with conspiracy, and obstruction. While five people lost their lives during the riot, only one was killed with a weapon, and that was Ashli Babbit, who died after being shot by an unnamed Capitol Police Officer.”

Yes, this is old but the narrative is going one way and the actual story another, as the first day of House Hearings on the Lego Inurrection shows.

It seems unlikely to me that the trajectory of the House Hearings will change.  It seems equally unlikely that we will get to the historic truth, as opposed to the "truth" that Speaker Pelosi wishs to put forward.  This is like a Soviet Show Trial, and that is sad.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Thank You

For John, BLUF:  As another sign that the Pandemic, if not over, has at least retreaated, the City of Lowell has resumed honoring the Veteran of the Month.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

This is a Thank You Message to the City of Lowell

For Making me the Veteran of the Month, 27 July 2021

In a very nice ceremony the Mayor and City Council presented me with a citation.  This was, in its own way, a thank you to all the Veterans of Lowell.

Photos to follow.

Regards  —  Cliff

What We Are Focused On

For John, BLUF:  The Chinese Government is committing crimes in the US, but our Government is focused on proving its own Citizens traitors.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

DOJ Drops Charges Against 5 Possible Chinese Spies as FBI Focuses on January 6

Here is the sub-headline:

FBI Drops the Ball, DOJ Drops the Charges

From PJ Media, by Mr Kevin Downey, Jr, 26 July 2021, 3:37 PM ET.

Here is the lede plus three:

Joe Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) has dropped charges against five Chinese scientists spies who hid their involvement with the Chinese military in order to obtain work visas at American universities.

Prosecutors stated they would no longer pursue visa fraud and various other charges against the five scientists, who were looking to work at universities in California and Indiana.

FACT-O-RAMA! There are typically half a million Chinese students in the U.S. every year.

Judges have dismissed parts of the cases against two Chinese researchers after the FBI (shockingly?) failed to inform the suspects of their Miranda rights against self-incrimination.  Miranda rights are the rights every American with a TV has heard a thousand times:  the rights to remain silent or have your words used against you, and to have an attorney.

Yesterday was the Birthday of the FBI, back in 1909.

Yes, there was some bungling, but the FBI is laser focused on the Lego Insurrection.

Yesterday my Middle Brother sent me a link from The Old Gray Lady that started out:

Bret Stephens:  Hi, Gail [Collins]. I don’t think there’s much doubt among reasonably sane people about what happened at the Capitol on Jan. 6.  Do we really need a House committee to investigate it?

I think the Commentariat has a view as to what happened and thinks that view is widely shared.  They could be wrong.  And, I don't expect the FBI, or the House investigation of the Lego Insurrection to do anything but obscure the mostly peaceful demonstrations that day and the killing of Ms Ashli Babbit.

As they used to say in the Soviet Union, "The future is known; it’s the past which is always changing.”

I added a label, a tag, for President Donald J Trump, because even six months after he left office it is all about him.  You don't wish it to be about President Biden, do you?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Humans Adapt

For John, BLUF:  We have been fed a lot of bunk about past and future population busts.  This is a quick examination of what happened on East Island (the one with the big carved stone heads).  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Malthusian Myth Busting:  Easter Island Edition

From Watts Up With That, by Mr David Middleton, 15 July 2021.

Here is the lede plus several:

You know the story…

In just a few centuries, the people of Easter Island wiped out their forest, drove their plants and animals to extinction, and saw their complex society spiral into chaos and cannibalism. Are we about to follow their lead?

Jared Diamond, 2005

While it is true that the Easter Islanders deforested their island, forensic historians have now determined that by converting the forest to farmland and innovatively adapting to prolonged Little Ice Age droughts, they avoided collapse.

BingUNews Resilience, not collapse: What the Easter Island myth gets wrong

By Jennifer Micale
JULY 08, 2021

You probably know this story, or a version of it: On Easter Island, the people cut down every tree, perhaps to make fields for agriculture or to erect giant statues to honor their clans. This foolish decision led to a catastrophic collapse, with only a few thousand remaining to witness the first European boats landing on their remote shores in 1722.

But did the demographic collapse at the core of the Easter Island myth really happen? The answer, according to new research by Binghamton University anthropologists Robert DiNapoli and Carl Lipo, is no.

Their research, “Approximate Bayesian Computation of radiocarbon and paleoenvironmental record shows population resilience on Rapa Nui (Easter Island),” was recently published in the journal Nature Communications. Co-authors include Enrico Crema of the University of Cambridge, Timothy Rieth of the International Archaeological Research Institute and Terry Hunt of the University of Arizona.

Here is the money quote:

In short, the island never had more than a few thousand people prior to European contact, and their numbers were increasing rather than dwindling, their research shows.

One wonders how often decisions are made without having the full story?  I expect more than once.  Sometimes it is necessary, but not always.  Sometimes just a little more digging is what is required,

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Moon and Floods

For John, BLUF:  How long has this been going on?  The moon, our moon, wobbling, and impacting our tides?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

NASA predicts a "wobble" in the moon's orbit may lead to record flooding on Earth

From CBS News, by Reporter Sophie Lewis, 13 July 2021, 11:04 AM.

Here is the lede plus two:

Every coast in the U.S. is facing rapidly increasing high tide floods thanks to a "wobble" in the moon's orbit working in tandem with climate change-fueled rising sea levels.

A new study from NASA and the University of Hawaii, published recently in the journal Nature Climate Change, warns that upcoming changes in the moon's orbit could lead to record flooding on Earth in the next decade.

Through mapping the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) sea-level rise scenarios, flooding thresholds and astronomical cycles, researchers found flooding in American coastal cities could be several multiples worse in the 2030s, when the next moon "wobble" is expected to begin.  They expect the flooding to significantly damage infrastructure and displace communities.

Science is like that.  Things happen and we don't understand them, or we misunderstand them, until someone looks into it and uncovers previously unknown interactions.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

To Space Without Wings

For John, BLUF:  In a move that seems petty and woke and bureaucratic, the Federal Aviation Administration has changed the rules for issuing "Wings" to those who soar to 50 miles above the earth.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Rare FAA rules change means Blue Origin crew may not get official 'wings'

From United Press International, by Mr Kyle Barnett, 23 July 2021, 8:27 AM.

Here is the lede plus two:

Federal aviation regulators have made a rare change to the requirements for its Commercial Astronaut Wings Program, meaning Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos may not officially be recognized for his spaceflight this week.

The Federal Aviation Administration changed rules for the program on the same day Bezos, his brother and two others made their historic first commercial spaceflight on Tuesday.

For the first time in 17 years, the FAA updated its Commercial Astronaut Wings Program.  Before the change, all that was required to be recognized was to fly to at least an altitude of 50 miles.

Give me a break!

On the other hand, Mr Bezos has done something none of those FAA Weenies have done—gone into space.

It isn't the "wings", ...

... it is the adventure.

Here is the take from Law Professor Glenn Reynolds.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Be a Grownup

For John, BLUF:  You don't have to agree with someone's politics to approve of their stand on freedom.  Mr Van Jones, in my mind, has the right stand on freedom.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

The Best Anti-Fragility Speech Ever Came From a Surprising Source

Here is the sub-headline:

“It’s the best statement of anti-fragility I’ve ever seen,” says psychologist Jonathan Haidt, author of 'The Coddling of the American Mind.'

From Foundation for Economic Education, by FEE Managing Editor Jon Miltimore, 11 July 2021.

Here is the lede plus three:

Jonathan Haidt has become one of the thinkers I make a point of listening to when he speaks or writes. Like the late Christopher Hitchens and Charles Krauthammer—two thinkers I often disagreed with but deeply respected—I may not always agree with Haidt, a social psychologist and professor at New York University.  But his sheer intellect, creative way of exploring ideas, and perspective on (mis)communication have a way of challenging my thoughts and assumptions in a constructive and sometimes challenging way. So when I saw that Haidt recently delivered a speech at the University of Colorado Boulder on his bestselling book The Coddling of the American Mind, I decided to see what he had to say.  (The entire lecture can be viewed below.)

And here is the speech by Mr Van Jones that was quoted:

The comments come from a surprising source:  CNN Host Van Jones, a best-selling author and speaker who served in the Obama administration.  As Haidt points out, Jones isn’t a hard-nosed conservative.  He’s a progressive activist, but he sees serious problems with the approach many universities are taking to stifle open discourse and debate.

Jones’ comments, made during a panel discussion on safe spaces at the University of Chicago in 2017, have been posted in their entirety below so they can be read in their full context:

I don’t like bigots and bullies. I just want to point that out… But I got tough talk for my liberal colleagues on these campuses.  They don’t tend to like it but I think they like me so I get away with it.  I want to push this. There are two ideas about safe spaces: One is a very good idea and one is a terrible idea.  The idea of being physically safe on a campus—not being subjected to sexual harassment and physical abuse, or being targeted specifically, personally, for some kind of hate speech—“you are an n-word,” or whatever—I am perfectly fine with that.

But there’s another view that is now I think ascendant, which I think is just a horrible view, which is that “I need to be safe ideologically.  I need to be safe emotionally I just need to feel good all the time, and if someone says something that I don’t like, that’s a problem for everybody else including the administration.”

I think that is a terrible idea for the following reason:  I don’t want you to be safe, ideologically.  I don’t want you to be safe, emotionally.  I want you to be strong.  That’s different.

I’m not going to pave the jungle for you.  Put on some boots, and learn how to deal with adversity.  I’m not going to take all the weights out of the gym; that’s the whole point of the gym.  This is the gym.  You can’t live on a campus where people say stuff you don’t like?!  And these people can’t fire you, they can’t arrest you, they can’t beat you up, they can just say stuff you don’t like-and you get to say stuff back- and this you cannot bear?!

This is ridiculous BS liberals!  My parents, and Monica Elizabeth Peak’s parents [points to someone in the audience and greets her] were marched, they dealt with fire hoses!  They dealt with dogs!  They dealt with beatings!  You can’t deal with a mean tweet?!  You are creating a kind of liberalism that the minute it crosses the street into the real world is not just useless, but obnoxious and dangerous.  I want you to be offended every single day on this campus.  I want you to be deeply aggrieved and offended and upset, and then to learn how to speak back.  Because that is what we need from you in these communities.

Very well put.

And actully not tht surprising a source.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Dictating What is Good Taste

For John, BLUF:  One of the ideas behind a Presidential Czabinet is that it serves as a group of advisors to the President.  If you make it big enough it will fail in that function.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

No ministry of culture, please, we’re American

Here is the sub-headline:

The Founders knew what they were doing when they separated art and state.

By Jeff Jacoby Globe Columnist,Updated July 24, 2021, 3:00 a.m..

Here is the lede plus two:

On Aug. 18, 1787, at the constitutional convention in Philadelphia, Charles Pinckney of South Carolina proposed nearly a dozen powers with which he thought the new federal government should be invested.  Among them: the authority “to establish seminaries for the promotion of literature and the arts and sciences.”

Pinckney’s list was referred to the Committee on Detail, and some of his suggestions, such as federal responsibility for patents and copyright, were incorporated into the Constitution.  But his idea of empowering Congress to promote the arts was ignored.

The delegates were learned, cosmopolitan men who understood the value of literature, music, and art.  They knew that in the Old World it was normal for artists to be sustained by royal benefaction.  Indeed, King George III was an avid cultural patron whose largesse had made possible the founding of the Royal Academy of Arts.  But the men in Philadelphia intended the government they were fashioning to steer clear of such involvement.  Consequently, nothing in the Constitution so much as hints that overseeing art and culture is a job for the federal government.

Mr Jeff Jacoby has this by the right end.  We don't need a federal level culture minister.  The tastes in Maine are not likely to be the same as the tasts in Puerto Rico or San Diego or Honolulu or Fairbanks.  Well, maybe Fairbanks, but how about Seattle or Portland?

This project would be another boondoggle, costing the Taxpayers millions upon millions of dollars.  At the same time it would put the Federal Government in the business of picking winners and losers.  How will they know what is good art for today and for a century from today?

This kind of thing goes against the principle of subsidiarity.

Regards  —  Cliff

Divided We Fall

For John, BLUF:  We, as Americans, need to be looking for what we have in common.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Who Are The Real COVID Vaccine Refuseniks?  Hint:  It’s Not What You’ve Been Told

From Issues and Insights, by The Editorial Board, 23 July 2021.

Here is the lede plus three plus a graph:

The Biden administration, stung by missing its vaccine targets and the rising COVID-19 cases, has decided to blame Republicans.  That’s not surprising.  But it’s traditionally Democratic groups – minorities and the young – who aren’t getting vaccinated, and it’s leftists who are the most influential anti-vaxxers on the planet.

As Politico reported recently, “the Biden administration is casting conservative opponents of its COVID-19 vaccine campaign as dangerous and extreme.”

The administration points to state immunization rates as proof that anti-vaxxers on the right are to blame for the problem.  “State vaccine rates fall along red, blue divide,” is how The Hill reported it.

But wait a minute.  The states with low vaccination rates also tend to have larger minority populations.  And blacks are the least likely racial or ethnic group to have been vaccinated, with Hispanics the second least likely, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

I am sure they meant to write Caucasian, vice White, but ran out of space.

There is a lot of sociology wrapped up in this, and a lot of history.  For example, the Tuskeegee Syphilis Study (1932-1972) is reason enough for Blacks to be cautious of free government medical care.

The simple answer is that this is R vs D, deplorables vs Progressives.  However, as H L Mencken told us, life is much more complex.  To borrow a phrase, there is intersectionality.  Maybe a set of Venn Diagrams.

It would be good if we stop trying to divide things into two baskets and then comdemning those those holding the wrong basket.  Rather, we should see if we have anything in common.  Are we not on a common journey?

Perhaps the Biden Administration could help us along the path by reaching out to former President Trump and sincerely and whole heartedly inviting him to the White House to encourge those who aren't vaccinated to consider taking the risk and joining the vaccinated.  Maybe add former President Obama.  And maybe former President Bush.  I am hoping that President Biden will bring us all together.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Draft Back in the News

For John, BLUF:  If you wish for equal rights, the first place to look is Selective Service, where men solely bear the burden.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Senate Democrats propose requiring women to register for military draft

Here is the sub-headline:

Senate Armed Services Chair Jack Reed has proposed changing draft registration requirements to include all Americans.

From Politico, by reporters Burgess Everett and Connor O'Brien, 19 July 2021, 01:51 PM EDT.

Here is the lede plus one:

Senate Democrats are proposing a sweeping rewrite of the military draft laws aimed at requiring women to register for the Selective Service System, according to a draft authored by Senate Armed Services Chair Jack Reed and obtained by POLITICO.

The changes to Selective Service could be attached to the National Defense Authorization Act, a defense policy bill that’s one of the few pieces of legislation considered a “must-pass” by Congress. The move would reignite a contentious debate over whether women should be required to register for the draft, a move the House and Senate have each considered in recent years, though the change has never become law.

My vote is to do this, but with exemptions for pregnancy.

The InstaPundit says that to redress the inequity we should exempt men for a number of years.  I don't agree, but it is time to include the women.  And, the Militia Act of 1903 (Dick Act) provides for all males up to age 45 to be considered as in the Militia.  It needs to be amended to all Citizens.♠

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Should it be all Citizens or all people resident in the United States?

"Sanitarian Apartheid"

For John, BLUF:  In which the author, living behind enemy lines in France, takes the dystopian view of forced vaccinations.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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THE SEGREGATION OF CITIZEN COVID

Here is the sub-headline:

France brings out a SARS-CoV variant of leprostigma by fiat. Now where did I put my clapper and bell?

From the dissident frogman, Friday, July 16th anno domini 2021.

Here is the lede plus four:

YOU KNOW THAT FUNNY FEELING WHEN THE HEAD OF STATE ADDRESSES THE NATION AND DECLARES THAT YOU AND SOME OF YOUR FELLOW CITIZENS SHALL BE TREATED AS OUTCASTS AND ARBITRARILY DEPRIVED OF YOUR RIGHTS?

Or perhaps you don’t.

I know I didn’t until Emmanuel “Jupiter” Macron, President of Le Pays des Droits de l’Homme the “nation of human rights”, as some French like to call this country, appeared in the idiot box and announced, right on the eve of Bastille Day, that:

Our choice is simple:  to put the restrictions on the unvaccinated rather than on all.

Restrictions being Macron’s byword for segregation, to be implemented on people who have not been covaxxed into submission—whatever the reason we have, of which there are many, ranging from the borderline insane conspiracy theories to informed common sense and caution.

What ever happened to the battle cry, "My body, my choice"?  I guess it varies by location and year.

I have been vaccinated, but then I am over 60 and have co-morbidities.  Mine was a rational choice.  It I was 20 and in good health, then I might have considered an alternative choice.

For sure the varying offical word from the CDC and others does not inspire great confidence in the proclamations of the expert class.

Regards  —  Cliff

Black Lives Matter Changes Name?

For John, BLUF:  .  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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BLM Changes Name To 'Black And Brown Lives Matter Unless They Are Being Oppressed By Communists'

From The Babylon Bee, 15 July 2021.

Here is the lede:

After coming out against the Cuban protesters who are fighting for their liberties against the oppressive Communist government, BLM has been forced to change its name for clarity's sake.  Black Lives Matter will now be known as Black And Brown Lives Matter Unless They Are Being Oppressed By Communists, a "much more accurate, descriptive title," according to the organization.  The name is abbreviated as BABLMUTABOBC, pronounced, "Babblemute-a-bobk."

It is the Babylon Bee.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

No Carib Refugees

For John, BLUF:  While welcoming the refugees from Latin America, we are shutting the door on refugees from Cuba and Haiti.  Why?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Mayorkas to Cubans, Haitians: Do not come to the U.S.

Here is the sub-headline:

There isn't a surge in Cuban or Haitian migrants by sea so far, but the U.S. Coast Guard has deployed officials to monitor the situation given upheaval in both countries.

From Politico, by Reporter Sabrina Rodriguez, 13 July 2021, 05:16 PM EDT.

Here is the lede plus three:

Cuban-born Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday delivered a clear message to the Cuban and Haitian people amid upheaval in both Caribbean nations:  Do not come to the United States.

“The time is never right to attempt migration by sea,” Mayorkas said in a press conference at the U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters.  “To those who risk their lives doing so, this risk is not worth taking.”

“Allow me to be clear:  If you take to the sea, you will not come to the United States.”

Mayorkas’ message comes amid continued protests in Cuba calling for the end of the 62-year-old dictatorship and the recent assassination of the president of Haiti.

This seems very strange, given our open border with Mexico.

There is the theory abroad that the Administration thinks they will vote Republican.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Alternative View on Lego Insurrection

For John, BLUF:  This is about the views of Reporter Megan Kelly, who has strode an independent line for some time.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Megyn Kelly's Assessment of the January 6 Riot Definitely Brought Angry Liberals to Full Froth

From Town Hall, by Mr Matt Vespa, 15 July 2021, 8:00 PM.

Here is the lede plus:

Megyn Kelly may have angered the Trump base.  She left Fox News when her contract expired, but then had a weird stint at NBC News.  She’s been all over the place, but she offered her take on the events of January 6 which is the latest obsession with the Democratic Party.  No one cares about this but liberals and especially those with social media accounts.  Inflation is causing the price of everything to rise. Family budgets are being retooled as we speak.  The American people have more to worry about right now than the feelings of the corrupt political class who are still traumatized by what happened.  Was it a riot?  Sure.  Was it worse than the 9/11 attacks or Pearl Harbor?  No.  I mean, please keep talking about it if it means no tax increases, gun confiscation, or other lefty policy initiatives because an ungodly amount of time and resources are going to be wasted on this event that everyone has moved on except for the weak sauce politicians.  So, does Kelly agree with the ongoing and fake narrative that January 6 was an insurrection (via NY Post):

Conservative pundit Megyn Kelly is calling out national news outlets for misrepresenting the Jan. 6 Capitol riot in their coverage.
“There’s no question the media represented this as so much worse than it actually was,” the cable news vet said on her podcast.
She went on to note that mainstream media commentators and journalists have extended the words and actions of some of the people at the Capitol that day to all supporters of President Donald Trump.
[…]
“So they got tarred by the actions of some losers who went a different way.  And then the media did what it does, which is any bad behavior gets attributed to the entire group of Trump supporters.”
Kelly criticized her former peers on network news for lacking “nuance” in their coverage of the event, adding, “It wasn’t an ‘insurrection.’  It wasn’t.”
No, it wasn’t, yet this false narrative has taken hold in the minds of liberal Americans because facts don’t matter anymore.  There was the other narrative that Trump supporters killed Capito

I think Ms Kelly nails it.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Q-bans

For John, BLUF:  Not all of our states handle COVID-19 the same way.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Democrat Governors Afraid Cuban Desire For Freedom Could Spread To The U.S.

From The Babylon Bee, 13 July 2021.

Here is the lede plus two:

As Cubans cry for “freedom”—a common refrain of right-wing radicals—Democrats are starting to worry that this dangerous movement could gain momentum in the U.S.

“These Cubans—or Q-bans as I call them—have obviously been influenced by some radical Trump-type figure,” said California Governor Gavin Newsom.  “I’ve worked hard in my state to clamp down on freedom in order to fight COVID and climate change, and the last thing we need is people now thinking liberty is a good thing.”

Democrats have made dictating to American citizens what they can do a big part of all their plans, and this strategy has been especially prominent during the pandemic.  Now many governors and other Democratic politicians are afraid outside influences could turn people against their careful plans, such as randomly telling people when to wear masks.

It is The Bee.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Fête nationale (France)

For John, BLUF:  This is Bastille Day, the French holiday celebrating the French Revolution.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Bastille Day

The storming of the Bastille Prison in 1789 was a tipping point for the revolutionary fever gripping Paris and its surrounding areas.  In and of itself it was a minor event, but it was the spark that lit the fires of revolution:

At this point, the Bastille was nearly empty, housing only seven prisoners:  four forgers; James F.X. Whyte, a "lunatic" imprisoned at the request of his family; Auguste-Claude Tavernier, who had tried to assassinate Louis XV thirty years before; and one "deviant" aristocrat, the Comte de Solages, imprisoned by his father using a lettre de cachet (while the Marquis de Sade had been transferred out ten days earlier).

The French Revolution and its aftermath spread revolution across Europe, leading to the spread of democracy and freedom (more revolutions).  Perhaps the most important change was the sense of empowerment amongst the People.

Unlike our "Revolution," which was mostly about succession, the French Revolution included the inevitable result of revolutions, the "Revolutions eat their children."  This is not a good thing for those who get consumed.

Be thankful for our more evolutionary approach to changing government and ensuring the freedom of the People.

Regards  —  Cliff

You're A Grand Old Flag

For John, BLUF:  Here in the United States we are having a periodic hissy fit over if we have perfect freedom for all.  We don't, of course, but we are working on it and we have more than most.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

The Left Can't Stomach This Symbol That Inspires Freedom Fighters in Cuba, Hong Kong, Venezuela

From PJ Media, by Reporter Tyler O'Neil, 12 July 2021, 12:15 PM ET.

Here is the lede plus two:

On Sunday, protesters took to the streets in 32 cities across Cuba, calling for an end to the Communist regime’s oppression. These protesters carried a symbol of freedom in their arms — the same symbol that freedom fighters in Hong Kong used last year when they marched against Chinese Communist oppression. Yet many on the Left have demonized this same symbol, denouncing it as an icon of white supremacy and “institutional racism.”

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) pointed out the tragic irony.

“Across the globe, there is no more ubiquitous symbol for freedom than [the American flag]. [It] inspires billions; drives American Leftists crazy,” the senator remarked.

I think the late George M Cohan said it best.

You're a grand old flag,
You're a high-flying flag,
And forever in peace may you wave.
You're the emblem of the land I love,
The home of the free and the brave.
Ev'ry heart beats true
'Neath the Red, White and Blue,
Where there's never a boast or brag.
But should auld acquaintance be forgot,
Keep your eye on the grand old flag.

Let New York Times editorial board member Ms Mara Gay be free to express her fears of pickup trucks with American flags.  Let Olympian hopeful Gwen Berry protest the National Anthem.  We know, the whole world knows, this flag and its anthem stands for freedom.  Not perfect freedom, but more than most, and the aspiration for perfect freedom.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Funding the Police

For John, BLUF:  Our former Governor here in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Michael Dukakis, has come out against the idea of defunding the police.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Defunding the police is ‘nuts;’ Just ask Mike Dukakis

From The Boston Herald, by Reporter Peter Lucas, 11 July 2021, 4:50 p.m.

Here is the lede plus three:

Mike Dukakis, the quintessential liberal Democrat, may be opposed to defunding the police, but nobody on the left wants to know about it.  They don’t want you to know about it either.

Dukakis called the idea of defunding the police “nuts.”

If you have not heard about his comments, which run contrary to the anti-cop rhetoric of Massachusetts Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Eddie Markey, along with those of Rep. Ayanna Pressley, it is understandable.

That’s because the progressives in the Democrat Party and their fellow travelers in the left wing media, don’t want you to know that he is at odds with the accepted views of the nut jobs who have taken over the party he once headed.

The purposes of government include actions to "establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility."  Without the police that becomes the job of the military.  Frankly, that doesn't seem a good substitute for police.  The idea that we should defund the police seems like a temper tantrum with noone thinking about the consequences.  Apparently former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis has thought this through.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Farewell Montgomery C Meigs, III

For John, BLUF:  In life one sometimes meets and works with a person who is impressive in his actions and contributes.  General Meigs was such a person.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Montgomery Meigs, former commander of US Army Europe, dies at 76

From The Stars and Stripes, by Reporter John Vandiver, 9 July 2021.

Here is the lede plus one:

Retired Gen. Montgomery Meigs, a combat veteran who commanded the Army in Europe for four years and hailed from a storied line of military officers, died Tuesday in Texas.  He was 76.

Meigs led U.S. Army Europe from 1998 to 2002, overseeing about 60,000 soldiers on the Continent.  He also commanded NATO's peacekeeping force in Bosnia, when thousands of U.S. soldiers fanned out across the Balkans.

Back when I knew him, as Monty, he was an Army Colonel Section Chief in the Joint Staff (J-5) Strategy Division.  In that position he was not just innovative, buyt creative.  It was his work that changed the US Military Current Strategy to anticipate an Iraqi Attack on the critical oil facilities of the Arabian Peninsula.  Soon after the next Joint Strategic Capabilities Plan President Saddam Hussein attacked Kuwait.  By that time Monty had moved on to be Commander of an Armored Brigade..

I remember Colonel Meigs, a fine officer who adapted and created and worked well with people, above him, below him and as his peers.

He had the academic training to learn from the past, having a History PhD, which resulted in a book on the World War II Battle of the Atlantic, Slide Rules and Submrines.  My youngest Son, Randy, played a very small part, helping to retrieve the manuscript off of a computer hard drive that had crashed.

Farewell friend and patriot.

Regards  —  Cliff

Does Fraud Cancel a President?

For John, BLUF:  The quick answer is no, but this blog post lays out the thinking.  By the way, the Blogger lives in Massachusetts.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

What if the 2020 election audits end up revealing that Trump was actually the winner?

From The New Neo, by Herself, 10 July 2021.

Here is the lede plus two:

In this American Thinker article, Andrew W. Coy points out that the Constitution is silent on the question of what would happen if, after a president has been declared the winner and taken office, it was discovered that he or she won through election fraud.

I have long thought that in such a scenario there would be no remedy that would undo the wrong.  The remedy for such fraud after the person is already in office is to convict the perpetrators of fraud and to either fine them or send them to prison, or both.

Also, fraud is usually found in small, local elections, and it is difficult to prove even then.  Nor does it need to have affected or changed the results of an election in order to be actionable fraud. Proving that without the fraud the results would have been different is even more difficult.  But that is the situation that those challenging the idea that fraud occurred in 2020 would have the Trump-supporters prove in order to have any credibility at all, and even then it wouldn’t reverse things.

The only route to overthrowing President Biden is to take a page from the Democrats during the last Presidency.  Win back the House and the Senate from the Democrats and impeach the President and Vice President, allowing the Speaker of the House to step up.  That would be, of course, Donald J Trump.♠

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  For those who wonder, no, you do not have to be an elected member of the House of Representtives to be the Speaker of the House.

The Past Nags At Us

For John, BLUF:  There is a bit of snarkiness about about Trump supporters who are questioning of the outcome of the 2020 election.  The texter Martyr Made talks to that issue in thirty some tweets.  It is something worth contemplating if we are really serious about bringing this nation back together.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

I think I've had discussions w/enough Boomer-tier Trump supporters who believe the 2020 election was fraudulent to extract a general theory about their perspective. It is also the perspective of most of the people at the Capitol on 1/6, and probably even Trump himself.

From Thread Reader, by MartyrMade (Darryl Cooper), 8 July 2021.

Here are items two through six (of 35):

Most believe some or all of the theories involving midnight ballots, voting machines, etc, but what you find when you talk to them is that, while they'll defend those positions w/info they got from Hannity or Breitbart or whatever, they're not particularly attached to them.

Here are the facts - actual, confirmed facts - that shape their perspective:  1) The FBI/etc spied on the 2016 Trump campaign using evidence manufactured by the Clinton campaign. We now know that all involved knew it was fake from Day 1 (see:  Brennan's July 2016 memo, etc).

These are Tea Party people. The types who give their kids a pocket Constitution for their birthday and have Founding Fathers memes in their bios.  The intel community spying on a presidential campaign using fake evidence (incl forged documents) is a big deal to them.

Everyone involved lied about their involvement as long as they could.  We only learned the DNC paid for the manufactured evidence because of a court order.  Comey denied on TV knowing the DNC paid for it, when we have emails from a year earlier proving that he knew.

This was true with everyone, from CIA Dir Brennan & Adam Schiff - who were on TV saying they'd seen clear evidence of collusion w/Russia, while admitting under oath behind closed doors that they hadn't - all the way down the line.  In the end we learned that it was ALL fake.

The story goes on from there.  Disappointed and delusioned voters across the fruited plain.  Not Democrats.  Trump supporters and those who voted for him back in 2020.

This is not an indictment of the 2020 election, although I understand the doubt.  For me the thing that strains credulity is the continuious assertions that there was no cheating, no fraud, that ideas to the contrary are just "right wing" hysteria.  Does anyone, anywhere, believe there has ever been a perfect election, aside from Matthias (Acts 1:26)?  In my Wife's words, and William Shakespeare's, they doth protest too much.  The assertion of a perfect election is so Trumpian, and so unconvincing.  Do I see President Biden being removed from office before his term is over?  No, I do not.  However, I would appreciate my Democratic Party friends not being so sanctimonious.  When the quants, and historians, finally figure out what happened in 2020, there might be some crow to be consumed.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Turmoil in the Job Market

For John, BLUF:  The labor market is experiencing some degree of turmoil, with the jobless claims up again, per the Department of Labor, but having nine million unfilled job openings.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

What Is the Great Resignation of 2021? (If You Don't Know, You’ll Want to Read This)

Here is the sub-headline:

Central planners were warned that these kinds of problems would result from their policies, and yet they persisted anyway.

From Foundation for Economic Education, by Ms Hannah Cox, 8 July 2021.

Here is the lede plus three:

If you don’t spend your days on TikTok or Reddit, you may be blissfully unaware of a growing movement urging people to quit their jobs en masse this fall.

It’s called “The Great Resignation of 2021,” and for businesses already struggling to attract workers back to the office it could spell very bad news.

The social media trend coincides with broader disruptions in the labor market. Monster, a global employment website, recently reported 95 percent of employees are considering changing jobs. This is on top of the 4 million people who already followed through and resigned in April.

The country’s labor market is in a precarious position. The policies of the pandemic spurred the sharpest economic contraction in US history, millions lost their jobs and are still out of work, and yet businesses have been unable to fill their open positions.

This is an interesting sitution and one with opportunities for those in a position to take them.  However, it will create upheaval.  Constructive destruction.

What I worry about is the ability of our elected officials and the bureaucrats in DC to try to help out and only creating more chaos.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Saving the Humans

For John, BLUF:  For the Progressives in the United States there seems to be a sense that the Uyghurs are small potatos and their fate is not worth upsetting the climate apple card over.  How utilitarian of them.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Biden’s new Cold War with China will result in climate collapse, progressives warn

Here is the sub-headline:

A political fight is brewing among wings of the Democratic Party over Beijing’s help in curbing climate change versus curbing its human rights abuses.

From Politico, by Mr Alexander Ward, 7 July 2021, 05:05 PM EDT.

Here is the lede plus three:

As a new Cold War takes shape between the U.S. and China, progressives fear the result will be a dramatically warming planet.

Over 40 progressive groups sent a letter to President Joe Biden and lawmakers on Wednesday urging them to prioritize cooperation with China on climate change and curb its confrontational approach over issues like Beijing’s crackdown on Hong Kong and forced detention of Uyghur Muslims.

It's the latest salvo in the months-long drama between progressive Democrats who say cooperation on climate change should take precedence over competition with China, and moderates who think the administration can do both things at once.  As the Biden administration solidifies its China strategy, and as anti-China legislation moves through Congress, this intra-Democratic tussle could define the U.S.-China relationship for years to come.

The progressive organizations, including the Sunrise Movement and the Union of Concerned Scientists, “call on the Biden administration and all members of Congress to eschew the dominant antagonistic approach to U.S.-China relations and instead prioritize multilateralism, diplomacy, and cooperation with China to address the existential threat that is the climate crisis,” their letter reads.  “Nothing less than the future of our planet depends on ending the new Cold War between the United States and China.”

Frankly, there is not much we can o to save the Uygurs from their fate.  We can't effectively intervene to protect them.  If they leave China we can offer them refuge, but what are the odds that they can escape?  Unlike Cubans trying to escape to Florida, the Uygurs are landlocked, in the Western part of China.

On the other hand, should we just roll over on the issue of human rights?  Which leads to a deeper question.  Are human rights universal, as the Declaration of Independence states, or are they a construct given us by the state?  There are implications with the second option, including that our effort to provide equal rights to all is unique to us and some other nations who trace their governmental system back to 1215 AD an the meeting of the Barons with King John.♠ 

I think the Progressives petitioning the Biden Administration, and protesting at the White House, blocking entrances, have this stick by the wrong end.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  The implication is that if you think your freedom is limited here, it could be much worse in other places, even places your ancestors left hundreds of years ago.

Democrats Losing Working Class Voters

For John, BLUF:  The photo accompanying this article is of Democratic Party nominee for Mayor of New York City, Mr Eric Adams.  Mr Adams ran on a law and justice platform.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Dems are losing the multiracial working class on basic lifestyle issues

From The New York Post, by Glenn H. Reynolds, July 8, 2021, 8:17pm.

Here is the lede plus three:

The Democrats have a problem:  They have run away from their core voters.  And they are beginning to notice and worry.

Lefty blogger Kevin Drum noted this recently.  He observes that Republicans have moved slightly to the right, but Democrats have moved way, way to the left on social issues.

Drum says he is “personally happy” about the Democrats’ move left.  But he is worried, because while the Democratic Party has moved hard left, the voters it relies on to attain power haven’t.

Thus, in the 2020 election, former President Donald Trump — despite being called a white supremacist and a Hispanic-hater by all the mainstream media — picked up black and Hispanic votes.

I think that Mr Kevin Drum is not the only one to notice.  Just this week White House Spokesperson Jen Psaki tried to pass off "Defend the Police" as a Republican thing.  And Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams recently said, no, we aren't against ID to vote.

The Author, Law Professor Reynolds, goes on to say:

One reason for this is that racial polarization went down, but “education polarization” went up.  The Democrats are increasingly the party of the college- and graduate-school-educated white gentry class.  The Republicans are increasingly the party of the working class, which includes a lot of . . . blacks and Hispanics.

I think the Democrats see their error and are trying to reorient.  I see efforts to portray Republicans as the "authoritarian" party.  This is while the Biden Administration is abandoning all actions supporting subsidiarity and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra is saying "it is absolutely the government's business, it is taxpayers' business, if we have to continue to spend money to try to keep people from contracting COVID and helping re-open the economy."  In the mean time there is talk of Federal Health Stasi [Not Original With Me] going door to door, checking everyone's vaccination status.

I think the 2022 Elections could be interesting, even without Mr Trump.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

CRT Endored by NEA

For John, BLUF:  No, not the National Endownment for the Art.  The National Education Association, a powerful Teachers Union, although not here in Lowell.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Teachers’ union backs critical race theory

From Linking and Thinking on Education, by Joanne Jacobs, 5 July 2021.

Here is the lede plus five:

The National Education Association voted to teach social studies curriculum “informed” by critical race theory, promote its ideas and investigate its opponents, reports Michael Ruiz on Fox.

The nation’s largest teachers’ union passed New Business Item 39 at its annual meeting.

(It calls for) the accurate and honest teaching of social studies topics, including truthful and age-appropriate accountings of unpleasant aspects of American history, such as slavery, and the oppression and discrimination of Indigenous, Black, Brown, and other peoples of color, as well as the continued impact this history has on our current society.

(The union will publicize) an in-depth, study that critiques empire, white supremacy, anti-Blackness, anti-Indigeneity, racism, patriarchy, cisheteropatriarchy, capitalism, ableism, anthropocentrism, and other forms of power and oppression at the intersections of our society, and that we oppose attempts to ban critical race theory and/or The 1619 Project.

The NEA will “join with Black Lives Matter at School and the Zinn Education Project to call for a rally this year on October 14 — George Floyd’s birthday — as a national day of action to teach lessons about structural racism and oppression.”

Until now, CRT supporters had argued that the theory is not being taught in schools, writes Ruiz.

This is shifting terrain.  First the schools are not teaching it and then to oppose teaching it is to mess with the integrity of the teaching profession.  Television personality Joy Reid suggested, this last Wednesday, that those who are against teaching CRT are like QAnon people.

I am sad that my questioning the 1619 Project or CRT is seen as an indication, to my Progressive and Democratic Party fellow Citizens that I am somehow off the rails.  This is not a good look for Democracy in America.

Hat tip to Law Professor Gail Heriot, at the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Save The Uyghurs

For John, BLUF:  While some are calling for saving the environment, others are trying to save ethnic minorities, caught up in larger social movements.  Some ethnic minorities are not making the progressive cut.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

'Climate Change' vs. the Uyghurs

From The Pipeline, by Mr Tom Finnerty, 08 July 2021.

Here is the lede plus one:

Pretty shocking -- Politico reports on growing tensions within the Democratic coalition, with the environmental activist faction of the party objecting to even the mildest attempts by the Biden administration to confront China over its human rights violations and international aggression.

As a new Cold War takes shape between the U.S. and China, progressives fear the result will be a dramatically warming planet.  Over 40 progressive groups sent a letter to President Joe Biden and lawmakers on Wednesday urging them to prioritize cooperation with China on climate change and curb its confrontational approach over issues like Beijing’s crackdown on Hong Kong and forced detention of Uyghur Muslims.

The problem for the Biden administration is that American public opinion has shifted significantly against China in recent years, such that according to a recent Pew survey, 89 percent of Americans "consider China a competitor or enemy, rather than a partner."  This move began with Donald Trump calling out China's predatory trade policy and intellectual property violations before he was even president and continued through then-President Trump and Chairman Xi's trade war.  It was cemented, however, by the CCP's handling of the Covid-19 outbreak last year, which, if the no-longer-a-conspiracy-theory lab leak hypothesis turns out to be true, would mean that China is responsible for the most significant man-made disaster in human history.

The pronunciation of the ethnic group, the Uyghurs, is WEE-goorz.

The Uyghurs are an Islamic ethnic group, which has resisted assimilation into the larger Han population.  They have been sent to re-education camps, their reproductive freedom restricted, their women violated and their organs harvested.  Bad as all this is, there is little we can do about it, ecept scold and impose economic sanctions.  The Author notes that the Progressive Environmentalists want us to do nothing, for the sake of their ideology.

But for the environmentalists, none of this really matters.  They've convinced themselves that climate is the preeminent political issue, and no other consideration comes close.  Many of them would even argue that American capitalism and climate change are inseparable -- even indistinguishable -- political problems, never mind the fact that, while the U.S. has led the world in total carbon emissions decline since 2000, China's new coal-fired energy capacity alone outstripped the rest of the world by 300 percent in 2020.

When you think it is the end of the world in just a few years then your survival instincts kick in and all else falls away, including moral clarity.  Avoiding the Apocolypse becomes the focus.  I can understand it, and yet still I believe these are misguided thoughts.  We are not facing an existential climate disaster.  Is action required to secure our future?  Yes.  However, it should be doable within the larger context of our society.  We can think and engineer our way out of climate change issues, and in doing so guard against the consequences of the iron law:  "Every solution contains the seeds of a new problem."

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Fixing Illegal Activities at the Border

For John, BLUF:  I am against illegal immigration (or whatever our Commonwealth's Attorney General wishes to call it), but I am even more against this indirect encouragement of criminal activity in the name of humanitarianism.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Opening America’s Borders Is Not Compassionate, It’s Inhumane

Here is the sub-headline:

The more experienced hands in the emergency room diagnosed her almost at a glance. They had seen this novella many times. She was not the first, and she would not be the last.

From The Federalist, by Dr Jon Spiers, 5 July 2021.

Here is the lede plus five:

It was more than 25 years ago that we met as I worked in a border-area emergency room, but my memory of her remains crystal-clear even today.

Her coal-black eyes were piercing and never rested. They radiated fear and hatred. They engaged anyone who moved near her, digesting and assessing, as she tried to answer the ancient question: “Friend or foe?”

Her slow, cat-like movements were like clockwork: Clench her fists, flex her arms, flex her knees, slowly test the restraints on her wrists, look at the door, look at the window, look at the officer assigned to monitor her, strain to hear the sounds in the hall. She never seemed to worry with the 18-inch incision in her abdomen. She was ready to escape at the first opportunity. She had no time for her pain.

Yet it was pain that brought her here, and that saved her life. A week earlier, a call to emergency services had resulted in her passage through the doors of the emergency room and into the public health system.

A man arrived just after her who asked about her, although no one ever thought he was overly concerned about her. He vanished from the crowded waiting area soon after she was taken to surgery, where yards of dead bowel were removed, and the deadly meal she had ingested revealed.

She was a drug mule, carrying within her bowel packet after packet of cocaine, packed inside condoms she had swallowed. One of the condoms had ruptured, and the drug attacked her body, killing much of her intestines, pushing her heart to its limit, and driving her mind to near-insanity.

I feel a little like Émile Zola writing this, because I am accusing the Biden Administration and the Democratic Party of encouraging the abuse of human beings by their fellow human beings, engaged in criminal activity.

People who come across the US Southern Border are tied up in or at least touched by criminal activities, to include drug trafficking, human smuggling, prostitution and physical and sexual abuse.  These are wrong, and our current actions on the border only encourage this kind of activity.  Criminal activity.

The author ends this way:

While nothing good is ever free, the unlawful carries a price incalculable.  It is time Americans realize that to truly help the weak, the strong must stand united for lawful immigration and the value of all human life.

If the Democrats, and the Biden Administration, were truly concerned about helping the downtrodden they would (1) finish building the wall and (2) initiate some sort of free lift, by sea or air or both, from South and Central America, bringing to this Great Nation the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of other's teeming shores, the homeless, tempest-tossed seekers of a better life, lived based on freedom and hard word.

Not ideal, but better than the abuse of refugees and the encouragement of criminality and the building of (untaxed) criminal profits.

And, it might provide a dose of transparency.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Where We Came From

For John, BLUF:  If we accept the sciernce of evolution we know that our descendents 100,000 years from now may not look as we do today.  What will the future bring?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

How mankind really evolved:  Top geneticist DR ADAM RUTHERFORD says simple diagram of ape changing to man is 'so wrong' it should be removed from school books - and reveals the far messier Ascent of Man

Here is the sub-headline:

• Dr Adam Rutherford discusses why 'The Road To Homo Sapiens' is wrong
• He describes it as a 'convenient shorthand' to depict the evolution of man
• Discovery of a new skull suggests linear evolution of man is wrong, Dr Rutherford says

From The Daily Mail, by Dr Adam Rutherford (Geneticist) 4 July 2021, 05:46 EDT.

Here is the lede plus seven:

It's one of the most famous images in the history of scientific endeavour.  The Road To Homo Sapiens, by American-based artist Rudolph Zallinger, is a convenient shorthand to show the gradual evolution from primitive crawling apes to upright walking mankind.

The image was created for a children’s book in the mid-1960s and has since appeared in humorously subverted versions everywhere, from T-shirts to The Simpsons.  But the past few days have seen a new discovery which perfectly illustrates what scientists such as myself have long known:  the image is completely wrong.

A week ago, a huge prehistoric skull that had lain hidden in a Chinese well for 85 years resurfaced. Inconveniently, it doesn’t easily fit into the famous image, which shows us getting bigger and bigger brains as we evolve.

The head was first discovered in 1933 by workers building a bridge over the Songhua River in Harbin, northern China.  The labourers wrapped it in cloth and hid it in an old well to stop it falling into the hands of Japanese soldiers occupying the province.<

There it remained until 2018, when one of the workers told his grandson about the secret.  The grandson recovered the skull from its hiding place and gave it to researchers at Hebei Geo University, who declared it to be at least 146,000 years old.

They believe it comes from an unknown hominid – an early human species.  Once again, our species finds that we are going to have to rethink the story of humankind to fit in with new scientific discoveries.

Evolution by natural selection was Charles Darwin’s big idea and this year sees the 150th anniversary of the publication of his great book, The Descent Of Man, in which he applies his theory to humans.

Swathes of evidence have been amassed since Darwin’s time, from fossil bones to, more recently, DNA analysis.  This gives us a broader picture of our evolution, which we often imagine as a tree with different species branching off at different times since life on Earth began.

You have to go to the link to see the revised path of progression, as proposed by Dr Rutherford.

Hat tip to my Wife.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Source

For John, BLUF:  Why did it all of a sudden become acceptable to question the origin of COVID-19?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Sudden Shift in COVID-19 Lab Leak Narrative ‘Mysterious’:  Evolutionary Biologist

From The Epoch Times, by Reporters Isabel van Brugen and Jan Jekielek, 2 July 2021.

Here is the lede plus one:

The sudden shift in narrative over the possibility that COVID-19 could have emerged from a lab in Wuhan, China, is mysterious and contingent to “just how corrupt our system has become,” according to evolutionary biologist Bret Weinstein.

Weinstein, biologist and co-host of the DarkHorse Podcast, has since last year explored the possibility that COVID-19 could have emerged from a laboratory.  He told Epoch TV’s “American Thought Leaders” program (episode premiering on Sat. July 3) that the fact that the hypothesis is now receiving widespread recognition from the international community is “completely mysterious.”

How much of this is really about the media, including the technocrat managers of socoal media, trying to curate the story?.

Knowing, if we can, does not mean that justice will be done.  But, it will allow for a democratic process to sort through the the proper actions, within the law.

Regards  —  Cliff

Our Vanishing Diplomats

For John, BLUF:  Our Foreign Service, our Diplomats, is loosing career people at too high a rate to sustain a professional force.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Study Finds Nearly 1 in 3 U.S. Diplomats Eyeing the Exit Door

Here is the sub-headline:

Systemic management and morale issues plague the State Department, even after Trump era.

From Foreign Policy, by Reporters Amy Mackinnonrter and Robbie Gramer, 2 July 2021.

Here is the lede plus two:

New research has found that nearly a third of the U.S. State Department’s diplomats and professional support staff are considering leaving the department and are actively looking for new jobs, pointing to a crisis of morale and management inside America’s diplomatic corps.

The study, conducted by a team of graduate students at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and released on Friday by the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, surveyed nearly 3,000 foreign service officers and foreign service specialists, and found the projected attrition rate was higher than that projected by the State Department and nearly double the share of employees who left the department in 2016.

It follows four years of warnings from current and former diplomats about low morale and allegations of widespread mismanagement at the State Department under President Donald Trump’s administration. But the study also makes clear the problems at the department go beyond the Trump era, pointing to systemic management problems that will hinder the State Department’s ability to recruit and retain talent.

This is a serious problem, and one that goes beyond President Trumps troubles with Foggy Bottom.

The Report states:

The survey, taken by some 20 percent of the foreign service, found that the top concerns driving people to leave were related to their families, assignments, promotions, and bias.

There is the long standing suggestion that the Foreign Service is too “pale, male, and Yale”.  Very clever.  On the other hand, one of our US Navy friends, from our time in Naples, Italy, have a Daughter who became a Foreign Service Officer after being an IBM Sales Person, who has served as an Ambassador and did not graduate from an Ivy League school.

For sure, work is needed at the Department of State.  I fear the Biden Administration (and Secretary of State Tony Blinken) may think that "not-Trump" is a sufficient solution to the prioblem.  No.  This problem is much older.

Regards  —  Cliff

Independence Day

For John, BLUF:  Everything to see here; move about as proud Americans.

---

Happy Fourth of July

And a Special Thanks To

The Committee of Five

• John Adams, representative of Massachusetts, who later became the second president.
• Thomas Jefferson, representative of Virginia, who later became the third president.
• Benjamin Franklin, representative of Pennsylvania, known as one of the most famous intellectuals of the Founding Fathers, whose academic writings and press publications had a very significant influence in the American Revolution.
• Roger Sherman, representative of Connecticut, the only person to sign all four of the U.S. state papers: the Continental Association, the Declaration, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution.
• Robert Livingston, representative of New York, who later negotiated the Louisiana Purchase as the minister to France.

Who gave us the Declaration of Independence.

Regards  —  Cliff

Self-Hating West

For John, BLUF:  As the Chinese Communist Party celebrates its 100th Anniversary, and is pushing its own form of toltalitarianism, it seems the United States no longer has an attractive model for its own citizens and for those abroad, except for illegal immigrants.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Marketing optimistic Chinese self confidence vs Western managed decline

From The Belmont Club, by Mr Richard Fernandez, 1 July 2021.

Here is the lede:

Xi Jinping has projected himself as the ‘Strong Horse’ and painted China as an attractive future in contrast to Joe Biden and the self-hating West which cannot even find something good to say about itself.

"The self-hating West.  That sums up a serious problem.

Chinese Citizens, Uyighers and Tibetins aside, have a common narrative, and rhe Chinese Communist Party pushes that narrative on those who are Chinese descendents in other nations.  What do we have to offer on the 4th of July 2021?  Apparently no longer the Magna Carta and the Rights of Englishmen.

What is it that unites us in the United Statees this 4th of July?  Is it only our belief tht Caucasians are a special form of evil, as expressed in Critical Race Theory.  I understand the desire for revenge, but when revenge becomes self-defeating it is time to move on to forgiveness and a quest for unification.  Are we there yet?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Losing Our Civil Rights

For John, BLUF:  This morning I caught the first part of Democracy Now and was shocked and disappointed that News Reader Amy Goodman did not mention this terrible breach of Dr Bill Cosby's civil rights.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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ennsylvania’s Highest Court Overturns Bill Cosby’s Sex Assault Conviction

Here is the sub-headline:

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision bars any retrial.

From Legal Insurrection, by Ms Mary Chastain, 30 June 2021, 01:22pm.

Here is the lede plus one:

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned Bill Cosby’s sex assault conviction due to an agreement made with a former prosecutor that prevented the state from charging him.

Cosby has served three years of a three-to-10 year sentence for his conviction of drugging and molesting Andrea Constand in 2004.

What the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has set right is an outrageous breach of the Civil Rights of a US Citizen.  What is equally outrageous is that there is apparently no recourse againt the proscution staff that allowed this to happen.  Not just the prosecutor who did this, but his staff who stood around and let it happen.♠

It is pretty obvious tht Dr Crosby did wrong by Ms Andrea Constand, but this kind of proscutorial misconduct is the garden path to tyranny.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Remember, in the George Floyd case it wasn't just Officer Derek Chauvin who lost his job and was prosecuted.  The three with him lost their jobs and were prosecuted.

Top Ten Summer Concerns

For John, BLUF:  It promises to be a long, hot Summer, and interesting.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Top Ten Pending Eruptions

Here is the sub-headline:

From American Thinker, by Deanna Chadwell, 30 June 2021.

Here is the lede:

It’s shaping up to be a long, hot summer, one filled -- like Yellowstone Park -- with geysers and hot springs ready to blow at any moment.  But these are political eruptions, not nature's fury.  If I didn’t know that God has things under control I’d be terrified, but in the interest of keeping track of the truth let’s list the top 10 political eruptions we can expect to blow sometime soon.

The List:

1. Hunter Biden.
2. Joe’s mental state, but complicated by Kamala’s mental acuity.
3. Critical Race Theory and the communist infiltration in our schools.
4. Our 1st Amendment being challenged, and so is the 2nd Amendment.
5. Inner city violence.
6. Government spending and the national debt, resulting in inflation.
7. The border crises/invasion.
8. The whole mess with COVID-19 origins, treatment suppression, Fauci/Wuhan/Google/Gates and the vaccine side effects.
9. The election audit efforts.
10. China.

My top concern is number 3, COVID-19, complicated by items 9 and 1.

With regard to election audits, I believe that President Biden was elected by the Electoral College, and that is final.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff