Saturday, December 18, 2021

18 December - Blogs I'm Following - 2 of 5

 10 pm MST

Balkinization6 hours ago
What the Senate Parliamentarian Could Learn from Justice Scalia
Late Thursday, Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough rejectedDemocrats’ third proposal to include relief for undocumented immigrants in the pending Build Back Better reconciliation bill. Specifically, she ruled that these provisions violate section 313(b)(1)(D) of the Congressional Budget Act, which allows a point of order to be raised against a provision “if it produces changes in outlays or revenues which are merely incidental to the non-budgetary components of the provision”. This was the same basis on which she rejected the Democrats’ two previous proposals. ... read more
Need for Speed: Why the Navy Needs New Weapons Yesterday
*Kris Osborn* *U.S. Navy, United States* Speed is increasingly vital to ocean warfare. New technologies are entering the sphere of Naval warfare all the time, greatly changing the tactical equation. *Here’s What You Need to Remember: *“Ubiquitous and persistent sensors, advanced battle networks, and weapons of increasing range and speed have driven us to a more dispersed type of fight . . . keeping ahead of our competitors requires us to rapidly field state-of-the-art systems,” CNO Adm. Michael Gilday noted in the document. “Speed matters.” The Navy is moving quickly to arm its ... read more
Report: Taliban Fires Provincial Officials as it Consolidates Control
*Trevor Filseth* *Taliban, Afghanistan* The Taliban has fired several American-trained government officials and replaced them with Taliban fighters, according to a report from the Institute for the Study of War. After its capture of Kabul in August 2021, the Taliban issued a number of public statements claiming that it intended to maintain stability and continuous government in the country. To this end, although some civil servants were dismissed for ostensibly religious reasons, the majority were urged to remain in their positions and continue providing services to the Afghan p... read more
The Last Refuge6 hours ago
Good News, Politico Is Rallying Support for Mitch McConnell
At first glance, it might seem odd to think that Politico diminishing the MAGA movement in defense of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is a good thing. However, in the background of that motive exists the reality – they need to defend him. …”And though the forest was shrinking, the trees kept voting for the […] The post Good News, Politico Is Rallying Support for Mitch McConnell appeared first on The Last Refuge. read more
Shallow M6.0 earthquake hits Prince Edward Islands region
A shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.0 hit Prince Edward Islands region at 20:05 UTC on December 18, 2021. The agency is reporting a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). EMSC is reporting M6.1 at a depth of 2 km (1.2 miles). The epicenter was located about 1 600...... Read more » read more
The Duran7 hours ago
Why the U.S. Will Reject Russia’s Proposed Peace-Settlement
Eric Zuesse On December 17th, Russia presented America with a proposed peace-settlement that would empower the U.N. to be not only nominally but in reality the one-and-only body that can create international laws. The proposed treaty would obliterate America’s effort to replace the U.N. by America’s never-defined ‘rules-based international order’, which was first proposed by […] read more
The Rag Blog7 hours ago
Robert C. Cottrell : POLITICAL VIOLENCE | The politics of assassination: An initial thought
Throughout the early postwar era and emphatically during the 1960s, the politics of assassination came into play. By Robert C. Cottrell | The Rag Blog | December 18, 2021 I’m writing this on the morning of December 4, 2021, the … Continue reading → read more
PrairiePundit7 hours ago
MIT molecular biologist says virus was 'engineered'
Red States: While the rest of the scientific community have conveniently forgotten that their role is to question and explore without having a foregone conclusion in mind, one scientist has been at the forefront of questioning the origins of COVID-19, but her work has been largely ignored by the media and scientific community. Alina Chan, a molecular biologist at the Broad Institute of MIT and a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard, told the UK Parliament Science and Technology Select Committee this week that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was likely engineered, and likely originated at the Wuha... read more
Medical Kidnap7 hours ago
The CDC Caught in their Own Lies: The Unvaccinated in the U.S. for COVID-19 is “Millions” More than Originally Reported
For almost a year now I have been stating that the CDC has been lying to the public about the COVID-19 shots, using their own data from VAERS to prove it. Now the corporate media is reporting the same thing: the CDC's statistics on COVID-19 "vaccines," in this case the total amount of people in the U.S. who are "vaccinated" with a COVID-19 shot, have been overstated by "millions." Yahoo News reports: "The U.S. government has overcounted the number of Americans who are at least partly vaccinated against the coronavirus, Bloomberg reports. Why it matters: Millions more people than... read more
Our New Christmas Tradition
Neil Oliver explains our new Christmas tradition, or as we say in Justin’s Canada, the “Holidays”. read more
Food Safety News8 hours ago
Recall underway for frozen whole kernel corn sold in British Columbia
Fraser Valley Meats is recalling frozen Whole Kernel Corn due to Microbial Contamination from Salmonella, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced Saturday The recalled product should not be consumed, used, sold, served, or distributed, according to CFIA. The recalled product is Fraser Valley Meats brand Whole Kernel Corn (frozen). Here are the details: Brand... Continue Reading read more
Kangaroo Court of Australia 2021 Christmas and New Year post
It has been by far the biggest year for the Kangaroo Court of Australia website with over 2,381,000 page views for the website, which should see the website averaging over 200,000 page […] The post Kangaroo Court of Australia 2021 Christmas and New Year post appeared first on Kangaroo Court of Australia. read more
Europe’s Energy Calamity Offers A Global Teaching Moment
Do not try this at home; There is a website that shows European power prices in the day-ahead market. It is a beauty – a simple map of Europe, with each country’s name and a single power price below. To make it even simpler for us that qualify as the ultra-lazy, the countries are colour-coded… Continue reading → read more
PrairiePundit7 hours ago
Biden vs. Manchin
Red States: ... Now, Biden has released a statement where he mentions Manchin three times and falsely claims that Manchin had agreed with him on a number. Biden statement on BBB: "I believe that we will bridge our differences and advance the Build Back Better plan." He says Manchin reiterated support for the framework's total funding level, and there'll be more talks next week. "We will – we must – get Build Back Better passed." pic.twitter.com/FrrripxzMN — Josh Wingrove (@josh_wingrove) December 16, 2021 ‘In these discussions, Senator Manchin has reiterated his support for Bu... read more
PrairiePundit7 hours ago
How Biden and the Democrats screwed up
Charles C.W. Cooke: It didn’t have to be this way. If he had wanted to, President Biden could have fulfilled the promises that he made during his campaign and set himself and his party up for a successful 2022. He could have ignored the hollow passions of Twitter and cable TV, lowered the temperatures that so mar our quotidian politics, and delivered the quiet, limited, competent leadership that he promised during his inconspicuous run for the office. Recognizing that his party enjoyed only the barest of congressional majorities, he could have scaled back his lofty ambitions and... read more
Saturday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. - David Bush discusses how the latest wave of COVID-19 would have been entirely avoidable if we hadn't allowed corporate interests to suppress vaccine availability and turn workplaces into super-spreaders, while Andreas Laupacis confirms that we had (and have) more than enough knowledge to rein it in if our leaders cared enough to bother. Clara-Laeila Laudette reports on new research showing that the Omicron variant is far more likely to cause reinfection than previous versions of COVID, but no milder when it does take hold. Alexander Quo... read more
The Russian Tu-22M3 Bomber Is Feared Around the World
*Charlie Gao* *Tu-22M3M, Russia* The Tu-22M3 bomber has been the face of the Russian air force all over the world. *Here's What You Need to Know*: The upgrading of Tu-22M3 bombers to the new M3M standard will start in 2018. While many features in this upgrade are oriented towards greater conventional capability such as the new Gefest precision bombing system, other upgrades may allow it to act as a strategic weapon. *(This article first appeared in 2017 and is reprinted due to reader interest.)* Recently, the Tu-22M3 bomber has been the face of the Russian air force all over t... read more
Kratos’s New Tactical UAV Is Not Your Average Drone
*Caleb Larson* *UAVs, * The company excels at building affordable but capable unmanned aerial vehicles, and their Off-Board Sensing Station appears to be no exception. Kratos, the company behind some interesting and advanced tactical unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), has publicly revealed their newest project the Off-Board Sensing Station (OBSS). Unfortunately, details about the latest UAV are scant, but here is what we know. Breaking Defense broke the Off-Board Sensing Station story in an interview with Steve Fendley, the president of Kratos’ Unmanned Systems Division. During the... read more
What Does the Build Back Better Delay Mean for the Child Tax Credit?
*Stephen Silver* *Build Back Better, * It’s unlikely child tax credit payments will go out in January unless the bill passes Congress quickly. Today is December 15, which means it’s the day families will receive their final payment from the expanded child tax credit that the American Rescue Plan Act put in place earlier this year. The law mandated direct payments to families with children each month from July to December, although these payments would only be in effect this year. President Joe Biden wants to continue the child tax credit payments, which studies have shown made a... read more
"A Look to the Heavens"
"The first identified compact galaxy group, Stephan's Quintet is featured in this eye-catching image constructed with data drawn from the extensive Hubble Legacy Archive. About 300 million light-years away, only four of these five galaxies are actually locked in a cosmic dance of repeated close encounters. The odd man out is easy to spot, though. The interacting galaxies, NGC 7319, 7318A, 7318B, and 7317 have an overall yellowish cast. They also tend to have distorted loops and tails, grown under the influence of disruptive gravitational tides. But the predominantly bluish galaxy, NG... read more
The Poet: Edward Hirsch, "I Was Never Able To Pray"
*"I Was Never Able To Pray"* "Wheel me down to the shore where the lighthouse was abandoned and the moon tolls in the rafters. Let me hear the wind paging through the trees and see the stars flaring out, one by one, like the forgotten faces of the dead. I was never able to pray, but let me inscribe my name in the book of waves and then stare into the dome of a sky that never ends and see my voice sail into the night." - Edward Hirsch read more
"All It Takes..."
"Not knowing you can't do something is sometimes all it takes to do it. " - Ally Carter read more
The Daily "Near You?"
Regensburg, Bayern, Germany. Thanks for stopping by! read more
"Return of the 10 Minute Eviction - Foreclosures and Evictions are Back"
*Full screen recommended.* Dan, iAllegedly, 12/18/21: *"Return of the 10 Minute Eviction - Foreclosures and Evictions are Back"* "The Rent Moratorium is over. Landlords are electing people by the hundreds. Some states are very pro landlord and people are being kicked out with just 10 minutes. Foreclosures are escalating as well." read more
The CDC Caught in their Own Lies: The Unvaccinated in the U.S. for COVID-19 is “Millions” More than Originally Reported
For almost a year now I have been stating that the CDC has been lying to the public about the COVID-19 shots, using their own data from VAERS to prove it. Now the corporate media is reporting the same thing: the CDC's statistics on COVID-19 "vaccines," in this case the total amount of people in the U.S. who are "vaccinated" with a COVID-19 shot, has been overstated by "millions." Yahoo News reports: "The U.S. government has overcounted the number of Americans who are at least partly vaccinated against the coronavirus, Bloomberg reports. Why it matters: Millions more people than ... read more
The Last Refuge8 hours ago
Reports Surface of CDC Overcounting U.S. Vaccine Rates
This is likely not surprising to many Americans; however, Bloomberg {LINK} and now Axios {LINK} are reporting that official U.S. CDC vaccination rates are considerably overstated. The issue stems from exceptionally high previous vaccination rates reported by the Centers for … Continue reading → The post Reports Surface of CDC Overcounting U.S. Vaccine Rates appeared first on The Last Refuge. read more
Virtual Mirage9 hours ago
Holidays
Captioned Photo: It has nothing to do with the Holiday Season except that it brightened up the area where it flew at night…WP flares and 20MM tracer. I don’t celebrate the solstice unless we’re counting it as just another brick in the wall. However, to those people who dance naked under the moon […] The post Holidays appeared first on Virtual Mirage. read more
Healing without Drugs: Western Culture has Lost its Way
by Brian ShilhavyEditor, Health Impact News For decades now western culture has taken great pride over “western medicine” as a product of modern times and the “age of science.” The belief that modern medicine has achieved great success in overcoming historical diseases that prior to the advent of modern medicine plagued and killed humanity is … Continue reading Healing without Drugs: Western Culture has Lost its Way → read more
Virgin Coconut Oil Supplementation Improves Diabetic Related Kidney Dysfunction
by Crystal LauerHealth Impact News With Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) on the rise, and its clear relationship to unmanaged blood sugar and blood pressure unquestioned, virgin coconut oil is proving a valuable addition to the fight with ameliorate kidney function parameters in suffers of CKD and can even be protective for those at risk for the … Continue reading Virgin Coconut Oil Supplementation Improves Diabetic Related Kidney Dysfunction → read more
Rising Food Prices Could Spark Famine, War, And Revolution In 2022
Washington – Already dealing with the economic fallout from a protracted pandemic, the rapidly rising prices of food and other key commodities have many fearing that unprecedented political and social instability could be just around the corner next year. With the clock ticking on student loan and rent debts, the price of a standard cart of food has jumped 6.4% in the past 12 months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with the cost of eating out in a restaurant similarly spiking, by 5.8% since November 2020. The most notable change has been in the price of meat, with bee... read more
Fred Meyer, QFC employees In Oregon Go On Strike
A weeklong strike is underway affecting a number of Oregon grocery stores, barely a week before Christmas Day. The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555, representing many employees at Fred Meyer and QFC stores, confirmed early Friday morning that it is moving ahead with a walkout at stores in Portland, Bend, Newberg and Klamath Falls. The details and specifics of a walkout are complicated. While the UFCW represents roughly 10,000 Fred Meyer employees, not all stores, departments or worker categories are participating in the strike. The union has been in labor negotiations ... read more
Freeing Julian Assange
The legal systems in the United Kingdom and the United States will not spare WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. The only way this political case will end is if U.S. officials conclude the cost is no longer worth the benefit of making an example out of him. Support for prosecuting Assange comes from within U.S. intelligence agencies (particularly the C.I.A.), the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Defense Department, the national security division of the U.S. Justice Department, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Virginia, and several influential senators and represe... read more
Cancel Student Debt Now
Student loans: many of us have them, all of us hate them. Over the past several decades, the student loan bubble has only continued to increase, now totaling around $1.7 trillion according to Federal Reserve estimates. There have been growing calls for the Biden administration to extend the moratorium on student loan repayments that has been in place since the beginning of the pandemic. Nevertheless, repayments are set to restart on February 1, 2022, at a time when over 3.3 million people in the U.S. have fallen into poverty during the pandemic; Covid-19 continues to spread throug... read more
Mown Down by Moderna
Sad to report your blogger is dealing with the *mild* side effects of his Moderna booster, and as a result a new post won't be forthcoming this evening. But there is something we can do to fill the gap, so here's an unseasona summery offering from a long time ago. read more
null9 hours ago
'Public Health Experts' in government & academia have exposed themselves as clueless charlatans
[image: undefined] There’s one thing that the “public health expert” class is certain about these days. They claim to have the “the tools” to stop this coronavirus. .@GStephanopoulos on COVID fatigue: “You must be exhausted yourself. What signs of hope can you point to in this holiday season?” Dr. Fauci: “We have the tools to protect ourselves, and that's the thing we keep saying over and over again.” https://t.co/QThiAol6tu pic.twitter.com/o8NYiS3cbZ — ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) December 12, 2021 Here’s where we’re at, New York: The COVID-19 winter surge is in full force. ... read more
null9 hours ago
Using Assange to Send a Three-Part Message
[image: undefined] When Julian Assange and Wikileaks disclosed evidence of dark-side activity, including war crimes, on the part of the US national-security establishment, US officials felt they had no choice but to use Assange to send a three-part message. The first message is to people within the national-security establishment who might be tempted, out of a crisis of conscience, to reveal dark-side activities of the national-security establishment. By doing everything they could to destroy Assange’s life and even maybe bring about his death, the national-security establishment ... read more
Without this One Company, America May Not Have a Nuclear Navy
*Dan Goure* *Aircraft Carriers, United States* One provider of nuclear reactors is supporting all this activity for the nuclear Navy: BWXT. To date, its performance has been outstanding. Its survival is a matter of national importance. *Key Point:* U.S. submarines and aircraft carriers, particularly the current generation Virginia class submarines and the new Ford class aircraft carriers, have a remarkable array of advanced systems that make them the best boats and ships of their kind in the world. But the core of their capabilities, the source of their power, is their nuclear re... read more
The last shall be first: our most righteous funding program revealed
Regional and rural individuals and organisations believed that their application for a grant would judged on merit. They were sadly mistaken. read more
SURPRISE! THE WINGNUTS FIND A VACCINE THEY LIKE. GUESS WHY!
In case you've been wondering whatever happened to America's best-educated wacky neighbor, Naomi Wolf: She's back! She appeared on Steve Bannon's radio show today. Gateway Pundit has the details: Dr. Naomi Wolf, a Rhodes Scholar and former Clinton Administration advisor, joined Steve Bannon on The War Room on Saturday. Earlier this week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expressed their preference for Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s mRNA COVID-19 vaccines over Johnson & Johnson’s jab. Naomi Wolf knows why. The NIAID doesn’t hold the patents of the J&J vaccine. *Nao... read more
West Point: Where the Best Army on Earth was Built
*Peter Suciu* *West Point, Americas* West Point, or more formally The United States Military Academy (USMA), is known today as being one of the oldest military service academies in the world. *Here’s What You Need to Remember: *After the war, several soldiers, as well as legislators, saw a need to eliminate America's reliance on foreign engineers and artillerists and called for the creation of an institution devoted to the arts and sciences of warfare. In 1802 President Thomas Jefferson signed legislation that established the United States Military Academy. West Point, or more ... read more
Could Russia be a Cyber-Security Partner with the U.S.?
*Peter Suciu* *Cyber Security, Eurasia* This week, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a news conference that Moscow believes that Russia and the United States could come closer together in cyberspace cooperation after a United Nations General Assembly First Committee passed its joint draft resolution. *Here's What You Need to Know: *It is true that some senior officials have described Russia as a “safe haven” for cybercriminals, but it seems that Moscow could be looking to address that issue. Even as Russia remains a near-peer adversary and is hardly wh... read more
Iran Says a Secret American Drone Shot Down an F-14 in 2012
*David Axe* *F-14, Iran* The Americans retired their F-14s in 2006, but around 40 of Iran’s Tomcats remain active. Their main role is defending Iran’s nuclear sites. *Here's What You Need to Know*: In 2012 one of the alleged flying robots reportedly also shot down an F-14 attempting to intercept it. Or at least some Iranians seem genuinely to believe so. Iran is the only other country besides the United States to operate arguably history’s most powerful interceptor aircraft, the F-14 Tomcat. And the Islamic republic has worked the twin-engine, swing-wing fighters *hard*. The F-1... read more
America's Littoral Combat Ships were Crushed in a Simulated South China Sea Battle
*David Axe* *Littoral Combat Ship, South China Sea* The mock battle raged near the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. In real life, The Philippines and China both claim the shoal. *Here's What You Need to Remember:* The Navy undoubtedly ran similar simulations of its own, with similar results, for a year after Mizokami played out the destruction of two LCSs. The U.S. Navy in late 2019 or 2020 expects to select a shipyard to build the fleet’s new guided-missile frigate. The 20 heavily-armed frigates will replace roughly half of the 50 or so Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) that... read more
China’s Inroads in Latin America and the Caribbean Demand a New Strategy
*Scott B. MacDonald* *Taiwan, Latin America* As Taiwan loses another diplomatic ally in Nicaragua, it's time for the Biden administration to consider how to balance against China in its own backyard. Nicaragua’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs formally dropped its diplomatic recognition of Taiwan and established relations with China last week. “The People’s Republic of China is the only legitimate government that represents all of China, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory,” the ministry said in a statement. The decision is a major blow to the island-state and a m... read more
The U.S.-Taiwan Relationship Needs Alliance Management
*Dan Blumenthal* *Taiwan, Asia* China’s abrogation of the One China Policy is an unfortunate development. But it opens up an opportunity to work with Taiwan to better deter war. After two decades of neglect, Washington is finally taking the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) threat of force against Taiwan seriously. While military re-posturing to stop China from taking Taiwan is a positive development, most of the ideas for a stronger deterrent are operational and tactical in nature when political and strategic adjustments are needed. The PRC made the political decision to abroga... read more
Has America’s Influence in the Middle East Really Declined?
*Mark N. Katz* *Middle East Policy, Middle East* Forty years ago, U.S. allies raised similar concerns about how America’s withdrawal from Indochina in 1973 and its “allowing” the downfall of the Shah in 1979 cast doubts on Washington’s commitment to its other allies. But America didn’t leave the Middle East then, and is not going to leave it now either. It has become commonplace to read or hear from commentators that America’s position in the Middle East has drastically declined. Some even see U.S. influence there as being on the way out altogether. But is U.S. influence in the ... read more
Has Communist China Created a New Civilization?
*Alexander Lukin* *China, Asia* The adoption by Chinese communists of civilizational theory marks a new stage in the indigenization of Marxism on Chinese soil. The recently held Sixth Plenary Session of the Nineteenth Chinese Communist Party (CPC) Central Committee is interesting for many reasons, and its materials are now discussed around the world. This is not surprising, given that the session spelled out the development strategy of the world’s largest power. But I would like to draw attention to the largely unnoticed fact that in these documents China claims to have created a... read more
Civilian Ferries Could Lead China's Invasion of Taiwan
*Kris Osborn* *Invasion of Taiwan, Asia-Pacific* In a recent military-civilian cross-sea troop maneuvering exercise, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) used the Chinese Rejuvenation ferry to transport more than a thousand personnel and vehicles more than a thousand miles. *Here’s What You Need to Remember: *U.S., Japanese and Australian forces would be well-positioned to see and destroy the ferry from the air or delay its arrival long enough to enable allies of Taiwan to intervene with defensive strikes. Given that a ferry of this size would seem to be easily detectable... read more
The Climate Response Cliff
Climate change is only one symptom of a broader ecological crisis; the rapid loss of wild life is equally critical. Most species other than humans and our livestock, (and pets and pests) have had horrifying drops in population within the last 70 years or so, even if they are not yet threatened with extinction. We and our livestock are now 96% of the mass of land vertebrates, leaving all wild creatures together to comprise a mere 4%. At this rate within another generation there may be virtually nothing left but us and our coterie—and we would not survive that, as we depend on a net... read more
The US Fears Chinese Model’s Impact In The Middle East
Notwithstanding that China is a relatively “shy participant” in Middle Eastern policy, the US hegemony, which claims exclusivity among the most “obedient” Arab countries (those which fall into its strategic sphere of influence), is threatened by it. The worrying aspect for the US is that Beijing seeks to present a different model that integrates and takes advantage of the US’s failed military experiences in many wars and direct political interference attempts over the past decades. China hopes for a non-aggressive economic-political breakthrough in the Middle East through a less f... read more

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