Monthly Archives: January 2023

One More Instance

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…of NATO’s European members, especially its central and western European members, shying away from honoring their commitments to NATO—and to their mutual defense generally.

When France wanted to send Leclerc tanks to bolster the defenses of NATO ally Romania in September, fellow alliance member Germany opposed trucking them across its highways. The problem wasn’t peace protesters or political opposition. It was the heavy French tank-transporters.
The flatbeds’ weight on each axle exceeded the legal limits for most German roads, said government authorities, who proposed a route that Paris deemed unacceptable. Instead, France sent the tanks by rail, delaying the shipment.

And

The EU invests billions of euros annually in transportation infrastructure, but has rarely made military mobility a concern.

And

Retired General [ex-CG United States Army Europe, Ben] Hodges says national regulations remain too onerous and governments aren’t sufficiently focused on the problems. “Until I see money being applied to it and real changes, we’re not going to get this fixed,” he said.

Logistics is where wars are won or lost. Neither the combat skills and courage of the soldiers, nor their equipment or technological advantages, matter if they can’t be supplied and resupplied. Even those central and western European government men and women understand that.

They just don’t care.

He’s Right

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Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov says it’s…silly (my term)…to negotiate with the Russian barbarians while they’re still inside Ukraine.

“There’s no way to have conversations with them; you can’t talk with terrorists,”…citing Russia’s attacks on civilian infrastructure during a brutal winter. The war will not end, he continued, until the Ukrainian forces “turn everything back—all the territories.”

And

“Everything will be linked once again, including Crimea,” Danilov said. “Not one meter will be left for the taking of the enemy.”

Indeed. How is it even possible to negotiate with an entity whose first and only goal is the utter dissolution of your nation?

Readers of this blog know the peace terms I’ve been advocating for Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to require.

California Gun Control

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California has a new law, with effect at the start of this year, that requires semiautomatic pistols sold there to have microstamping capability on the pistols’ firing pins. The tech would stamp the brass when the pistol discharges a round, and from that, the brass could be tied back to the pistol that fired it.

As part of the implementation, the California Department of Justice now asks Firearm manufacturers and Interested Parties a number of questions about how the rule should be implemented. These questions include

  • Who is best suited to provide the microstamp to the DOJ?
  • When should the microstamp be provided to the DOJ?
  • How should the microstamp be provided to the DOJ?
  • If a microstamp part needs to be replaced, should the regulated replacement part have the same microstamp as the original?

This Interested Party offers some answers, even though I’m not a citizen of California, being glad instead to be a citizen of Texas:

  • No one
  • Never
  • N/A, see above
  • N/A, see above

California’s move is just another in a long chain of efforts by gun control…persons…to build up a database of who has what firearms so they can be seized at a later date.

No Speaker of the House

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The Wall Street Journal had a brief blurb on what to expect from the House of Representatives while it has no Speaker.

With no speaker, the House is at a standstill. The members have not been sworn-in, meaning there technically isn’t a House of Representatives in the country right now. Committees can’t be organized and they can’t vote on legislation.

That last bit—no legislation—is key for me. With the House unable to vote on legislation, so long as there’s no Speaker, that means the Federal debt ceiling can’t be raised, taxes can’t be raised, and spending can’t be increased. Ultimately (later rather than sooner) the Federal government would be forced to vastly curtail operations. Curtail, not close as so many sensationalist journalists and in-office politicians so loudly bleat, because existing taxes would continue to be collected, and existing spending programs would continue to spend.

For me, that lack of legislation is a major plus; although it would be useful were the Idiot Five to get out of the way so a Speaker could be chosen, and the Republican-led House set about returning to Republican roots and reduce tax rates, reallocate (tightly controlled and reduced) spending away from current welfare cages and toward securing our border, supporting Ukraine seriously against the barbarian invasion, (re)arming the Republic of China, greatly reducing Federal regulations.

Anti-Semitism

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…and hypocrisy.

Much is made by what passes for the press in the United States about the anti-Semitic actions—both real and imagined—of a few famous Americans, like Kyrie Irving, who tweeted about an anti-Semitic movie, and former President Donald Trump (R), who shared a meal with a couple of unsavory persons.

But that same gang of “journalists,” in the main, carefully avert their eyes and keypads when it comes to their favored institutions, like the United Nations.

The United Nations General Assembly last year passed 15 resolutions critical of Israel, while passing just 13 resolutions on other countries, according to a non-governmental watchdog [UN Watch Director].

Those other countries, given a once-over-lightly, included such terrorist-supporting and human rights abusing nations as Russia, Afghanistan, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, and Syria. The UN also was careful to single out the US for its special opprobrium. Meanwhile, Venezuela and genocidal People’s Republic of China got complete passes, no mention at all by the UN of their abuses.

But Israel: that nation, a bastion of democracy and religious freedom in the Middle East and core participant in the Abraham Accords, is especially hated by the UN.

Hypocrisy. And bigotry.