More than 200 Marines have been discharged for not taking the Coronavirus vaccine...

 

Marines during the evacuation of Kabul. Fox News/DOD. 

206 Marines have been discharged from the service for not taking the Coronavirus vaccines. Fox News. The military gave members until December 15th to take one of the three vaccines. 95% of Marines have been vaccinated. Several Marines commented that they felt the order was unconstitutional and considered it to be a "political purge". Very few Marines got exemptions for religious objections, as the vaccines were developed using fetal cell lines obtained from abortions. 

My Comment:

This has to be one of the dumbest military actions the US government has ever done. Purging up to 5% of the Marine Corps and similar numbers of the other branches of the military is hugely stupid even during peacetime. Given the high tensions with Russia and China we could very well need those 5% of the Marine Corps. 

And it is for very little reason now. The average Marine had very little to fear from the Coronavirus at all. Most Marines are young and in good physical shape so only the extremely unlucky would have any chance of dying from the virus. The government had little interest in vaccinating these people given the low risk. 

And that was before it was proven that the vaccines were not what they were promised. We hear everyday about how the Omicron variant is largely unaffected by the vaccines and may even effect vaccinated people worse. From what I understand there is little difference between the vaccinated and unvaccinated with Omicron, though that is not true with other Coronavirus variants, like Delta. 

I do agree that this seems like a major political purge. I think this has almost nothing to do with the virus and everything with purging people who might question other unethical orders. Forcing people to take a vaccine that doesn't have much effect against a virus is a good litmus test as what people will accept. The people that question that are going to be gone so if the military wants to order them to, for example, shoot on US civilians there will be fewer people object to it. 

I do hope that when the Republicans take back control that they reverse this order and bring as many of these Marines back as will be willing to do so. These Marines deserve better than what they got and it's disgusting that they are having their careers destroyed for no real reason. 

What is really stupid is that the pandemic is in its death throes. Everyone is going to get Omicron and once they do the virus will burn itself out rather quickly. I am thinking that in a couple of months the pandemic will be pretty much over. The next couple of months might be a bit rough, after all everyone getting a bad cold/weak flu at the same time could cause some problems. But soon it will be over. 

Ghislaine Maxwell convicted of five of six sex trafficking counts in connection to Jeffrey Epstein case.

 

Ghislaine Maxwell with Jeffrey Epstein. BBC/US Attorney's office.

Ghislaine Maxwell has been convicted of five of six sex trafficking counts in connection to the Jeffrey Epstein case. BBC. Maxwell was accused of trafficking underage girls for Jeffrey Epstein and could spend the rest of her life in prison. Maxwell was convicted of the following crimes: 

-sex trafficking of a minor, which carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison

-transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years

-conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, which carries a maximum sentence of five years

-conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, which carries a maximum sentence of five years

-conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors, which also carries a maximum sentence of five years

Maxwell was acquitted on one charge, enticement of a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts. The Maxwell case captivated America after the death of Jeffrey Epstein in prison. Many politicians and even royalty were also connected to the case including Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew. Four victims testified that Maxwell had trafficked them for sex abuse and even participated in the abuse herself, while her defense argued she was a scapegoat for Epstein. 

My Comment:

I have mixed feelings about this case. On the one hand, Maxwell was clearly guilty and she will likely spend the rest of her life in prison. She committed some pretty terrible crimes and she should go to prison for that. That's a good thing. 

But this isn't the outcome that anyone wanted except for the elite. This entire trial was largely uncovered by the news, likely due to the baffling decision to not allow cameras in the courtroom. Nobody really got to see the testimony and without video of it many of the crimes and criminals were not exposed. 

The other problem is that we learned almost nothing about the Epstein network. We know that a lot of very powerful people were implicated in his sex ring but we heard very little about it that we didn't already know at the trial. People like Bill Clinton, Alan Dershowitz and Prince Andrew were not exposed any more than they already were. 

And there are still major questions about Epstein and Maxwell. Epstein was largely speculated to be an intelligence agent, running a blackmail scheme. The details of that scheme and who he was working for were not exposed. We also don't know why he died and if he killed himself or was murdered. A lot of people wanted him dead...

What is even more concerning is that the Federal Government is now in control of Epstein's blackmail material (even if it wasn't collected for that reason). The Justice Department now has a lot of leverage over some very powerful people. As someone that thinks the Federal Police are completely out of control in the first place that's not a good thing. 

As for Maxwell herself, I never bought her argument that she was a scapegoat. Enough people testified that she was basically Epstein's pimp and even participated in sex crimes. She was a criminal who was knee deep in Epstein's sex ring. 

I think the entire Epstein case was an eye opener for a lot of people. Before his 2nd arrest and death, people thought elite pedophile rings were just a conspiracy theory, but his case pretty much proved it to be at least partially true. And nobody seems to believe that he killed himself. It was one of those cases where a lot of masks were dropped and people got to see how the sausage was made for once.

What happens next? I know Maxwell is going to appeal but I can't see how she wins. I also don't expect her to turn government's witness to actually prosecute any of the rich and powerful that were implicated in this affair. My guess is by this time tomorrow the Maxwell case will be memory holed by the United States media without a second thought... 

Coronavirus cases explode due to Omicron but deaths remain flat.

 

An ICU unit. Bloomberg.

Coronavirus cases have exploded globally due to the new Omicron variant but deaths remain flat. Bloomberg.  More than 1.4 million cases were reported yesterday, which is a record. The seven day average is also at its highest level ever. The increase is due to the Omicron variant, which spreads much quicker than the Delta variant and is quickly replacing it. Global deaths however have stayed flat despite the huge case count. This is likely due to the Omicron variant being much weaker than other variants of the Coronavirus. 

My Comment:

This is more confirmation to my theory about how the pandemic was going to play out. Much like the Russian flu back in the day the Coronavirus is evolving into a much less lethal virus. Right now Omicron is somewhere between a serious cold or a mild flu and I am guessing it will be replaced by a variant that is essentially a common cold. 

This is evidenced by the death rate. It's largely flat and even looks like it is declining a bit. I am guessing that almost all of those deaths are due to the remaining Delta cases and other variants. Omicron seems to be causing almost zero deaths and I don't expect that to change anytime soon. 

Not only is Omicron largely weaker than other variants, it also has less fertile ground to work with. Though natural antibodies and vaccines do not prevent Omicron infection, they do help keeping an already weak virus less deadly. Plus, many of the most vulnerable people have either been wiped out by the other variants or have some antibody protection. 

It also seems clear that basically everyone is going to get the Omicron variant. It is spreading like wildfire and even countries with draconian restrictions, like China, can't seem to get it under control. Most things we have tried failed to stop Delta, which did not spread like Omicron does. Mask mandates, vaccine mandates, lockdowns, nothing will stop this virus. 

This could be a problem, though not the doomsday scenario the media is portraying it as. Much of it is that the quarantine protocols that most governments have. If millions of people get a severe cold, that's not a big deal. But if everyone that gets it has to miss a week of work that will cause major problems. This is probably the reason why the CDC now recommends a five day quarantine rather than ten days. 

Keep in mind though that these numbers a bit deceptive. The majority of active Omicron variant infections are totally asymptomatic. These people will not even get sick after they get infected, due to whatever reason. Some of them would have immunity from previous infections, some are just not as vulnerable to genetics. And some may have cross immunity from other Coronavirus infections, such as the ones that cause the common colds. 

The good news is that the pandemic will almost certainly end after the Omicron variant spreads. With so many people getting the virus herd immunity will finally show up. The rate of case growth is not sustainable. With so many cases happening so fast there won't be a chance for a new variant to emerge. New cases will eventually collapse to the point where it will essentially be impossible to detect. The virus will still be around, much like the other Coronavirus cold variants, but the pandemic will be over. 

What happens then is the real question. The pandemic is in its last gasps and the current restrictions have been proven to not work. Once the virus burns itself out all restrictions should be removed, assuming they still have them. In my state the only restrictions are either Federal in nature or imposed by private businesses. But hundreds of restrictions are still in place nationally and globally. In theory those restrictions should be gone by this spring. If they are not, then we know that they were never about the virus in the first place... 

Russia withdraws 10,000 troops from border with Ukraine.

 

Russian Frigate Admiral Gorshkov launches a hypersonic missile. Fox News/Russian defense photo. 

Russia has begun to withdraw 10,000 troops from the border with Ukraine. Fox News. The troops were participating in drills, but Western media had claimed that they were there to invade Ukraine. At the peak, there were 100,000 troops massed on the border with Ukraine. Vladimir Putin has gone on record saying that there was no plan to invade and the claims he was doing so was to justify NATO troop movements on the other side of the border. Biden and Putin are scheduled to meet next year to discuss Russian security concerns about NATO expansion. 

My Comment:

Well, there goes that narrative. For about a month the US media has been stoking the flames saying that Russia was going to invade Ukraine. That's despite the fact that it is the middle of winter there and nobody launches an invasion in the middle of winter. That's despite the fact that Russia had nowhere near the number of troops it would need to do so. That's depite the fact that the media never really defined why Russia would want to do such a thing in the first place. 

But now? The Russian troops are heading back to their base, just as expected. This was nothing other than saber rattling by Russia and NATO. There wasn't really any short term chance of war. None of the signs of that were happening. There wasn't a general mobilization, logistics forces weren't being put into place, leaves weren't canceled and there was no diplomatic push to try and make a deal. It just wasn't happening. 

And I also don't like how the media has downplayed the United States actions in Ukraine. The CIA helped overthrow the pro-Russian leader of the country and replaced him with someone just as corrupt but one that they owned. They helped start the war in Donbass and armed actual Nazis to fight Russian speaking minorities, which the Ukrainian government were actively discriminating against racially. Not that Russia has been a choir boy in Ukraine either, but it's insane to me that we only ever hear one side of the story. 

The biggest problem is that the United States seems to want Ukraine to join NATO and to use the country as a base. Is it any wonder why Russia is upset with that? Imagine if Mexico or Canada joined Russia in a defensive pact and Russia started shipping over missiles and other lethal weapons. It would be the Cuban Missile Crisis all over again. Russia's actions do appear to be logical and justified by current events. 

I am also reminded by the Able Archer incident back in 1983. That was a major NATO exercise that was just an exercise. But the Soviet leadership was so paranoid and unhinged at that point that it almost started a nuclear war because they thought they were going to be invaded. The Western reaction to Russia's exercise this year seems similar. As unlikely as an invasion of Ukraine was our leaders sure were acting like it was going to happen, and if you can say anything about the Biden administration it's that they are out of touch with reality. 

I do have to say that it has never been explained to the American people why Russia has to be our foe. The cold war is over and we have very little interest in Europe anymore. Russia isn't even close to our number one geopolitical foe and I would much rather have brought Russia into NATO as a counter balance against China, the true threat, than our current situation. 

The good news is that diplomacy seems to be breaking out. Biden and Putin are meeting and I hope that some solution can be found, despite Biden's proclivity of screwing everything up. I don't think Putin wants war and I know damn sure that nobody outside of a few neocons wants war with Russia here in the United States. That tells me that some deal will probably be made. 

Dad tells Joe Biden "Let's Go Brandon" and Biden agrees?

 

Joe and Jill Biden. Fox News/AP.

During an NORAD Santa tracker call in, a parent said "Let's Go Brandon" to Joe Biden, which Biden responded to. Fox News. Let's Go Brandon has been used as a short hand for "F Joe Biden" after an incident at a NASCAR event had the crowd yell it and a report claimed they were saying Let's Go Brandon instead. Biden inexpiably agreed and repeated the phrase himself. The phone call dropped then and Biden showed no reaction to the phrase, though Jill Biden did. 

BREAKING: Joe Biden was taking calls from the NORAD Santa tracking program and a dad ended the call with "Merry Christmas, and Let's Go Brandon."

Biden replied with: "Let's Go Brandon, I agree" pic.twitter.com/Hc0pLWGRx1

— Benny (@bennyjohnson) December 24, 2021

My Comment:

This is a fairly minor story, but it is Christmas Eve, there isn't going to be a lot to talk about. But I also think it says a lot about Joe Biden and his popularity, along with his rapid decline in heatlh, so I think it's worth covering. 

I personally think the comment was in poor taste. I am no fan of Joe Biden and I think if I ever met the guy I would probably just tell him to fuck off directly using those exact words. I wouldn't censor myself with this Let's Go Brandon nonsense. But I also think there is a time and place for everything. A kids event for tracking Santa? Not the time and place.  

I do think this is a good example of how disliked Biden is though. He can't even get through a Christmas event without people heckling him. Nobody likes Biden except core Democrats and his poll numbers sure prove it. And everywhere he goes he gets heckled like this. President Trump got heckled once in awhile as well, but he had parts of the country where he would have thousands of his supporters show up too. Not so much for Biden. He has entire sports stadiums shouting the phrase. It's incredible. 

What is truly shocking to me is that Biden didn't seem to recognize the phrase at all. That seems utterly impossible for me. There have been hundreds, maybe thousands of news articles about the phrase Let's Go Brandon, not to mention dozens of tv news reports on it. Democratic politicians have made statements about it and I am sure the party itself has internal documents about it. 

How is it that Biden didn't recognize the phrase? Is he just that out of touch that nobody told him the meaning of what everyone is yelling at him? Are his aides protecting him, not showing him the coverage of people chanting it basically everywhere? Does he know and somehow not care? I guess the last option is possible, since it was a children's event but I didn't see anything in the clips I saw that showed any sort of recognition from Biden. Jill seemed to know what was up, but Joe certainly did not. 

I don't think any of those things are that likely. I am guessing that Biden did know and was briefed at some point. Anyone with even the most basic knowledge of US politics right now knows the meaning of the phrase. I'm convinced that Biden did indeed know what the phrase meant, at some point. 

What is scary is that I am convinced that he just forgot it. Biden is clearly having memory issues and seems to be in the early to mid phases of dementia or Alzheimer's disease. I had a family member that had the disease, tragically enough, and I recognize the symptoms. The confusion, the loss of memory, repeating stories all the time, the major mood swings, these are all symptoms and I think it's becoming more clear than ever that Biden should not be in charge. 

It's almost enough to make me feel for the guy. I wouldn't wish dementia on anyone, it's a horrible way to live your last years. Biden's been a terrible president and I think he's a bad person in general, given the accusations of sexual abuse and corruption against him, but even I think that he doesn't deserve dementia. In a perfect world, Biden would have just remained at home in Delaware and lived out his remaining years in peace. But that's not the path he chose and we are all paying the price for it now. 

President Donald Trump pushes vaccines. Will it hurt his 2024 chances?

 

President Donald Trump.

In an interview with Candace Owens Donald Trump defended the vaccines as effective and safe. The Hill. Trump took credit for the rapid pace that the vaccines were developed and said all three were effective. Trump also claimed that the vaccines were safe and that "people weren't dying from them". In an interview with Bill O'Reilly Trump admitted that he had gotten a booster shot, despite having already contracted the virus. The vaccines are one of the rare things that Donald Trump and Joe Biden agree on and Trump has been praised by the Biden administration for his efforts to get people vaccinated. 

My Comment:

I think this is a bad political move for President Trump. I understand why he is doing it, Trump considers the development of the vaccines to be a major accomplishment and one of the highlights of his Presidency. 

In order to take the credit for the vaccines you also have to take blame when they have largely failed in ending the pandemic. Not only did the vaccines not stop the pandemic, they did not stop the emergence of the Delta variant, which spread globally. It also didn't do anything to stop the new Omicron variant, though again I have been saying since the variant emerged, Omicron is not a threat. 

I do think that the vaccines were, on balance, a good thing. I think a lot of vulnerable people were indeed protected from death or severe illness. I took the first two doses myself and given the circumstances of when that happened it was probably the right choice. With the original and Alpha variants the threat was big enough that it was worth the risk. 

With that being said there is a major risk with these vaccines, to the point where the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was almost pulled and is no longer recommended if there is any other choice. That particular vaccine absolutely killed at least a few people due to blood clots. The other two vaccines seems safer but they have had side effects as well. 

I don't think that the vaccines will be looked on as a major scientific miracle that President Trump wants it to be. It didn't end the pandemic and has had some major side effects. Trump is simply wrong on this issue, even if the vaccine might be useful in a case by case basis. I honestly don't fault Trump himself for taking the booster given his age and health but I also don't think the booster is right for me. 

A bigger problem is that there are a lot of people that think the vaccines are at best literal poison and at worst some plot to kill everyone. I don't give those theories credence, the vaccines are not as effective and safe as they were sold but they aren't the development of some evil plot. Many of those people also voted for Donald Trump. 

With opinions on the vaccines likely to turn and millions of his supporters totally against the Coronavirus vaccines, could it effect Donald Trump's 2024 reelection campaign? I think it's going to depend on how relevant the issue is in 2024. I think it would be extremely unlikely that the Coronavirus pandemic will still be going on by then. Indeed, I think it's essentially over as soon as Omicron wipes out Delta and the virus is no longer a threat. 

The worst case scenario would be for the vaccines to have unknown long term side effects that haven't shown up yet. That seems extremely unlikely to me but if it happens Trump can't possibly win after taking credit for the vaccines, and I think at that point he wouldn't deserve it. 

With that being said I think that this will be a dead issue by the time 2024 comes around. The pandemic is essentially over and I can't imagine we will still be arguing about vaccines beyond spring of 2022, let alone in 2024. Trump might have burned a few bridges with the most extreme anti-vax supporters, but the 2024 election will likely be decided by 2024 issues. 

And that's assuming that Donald Trump will even run. I think he wants to but he is getting to be an old man. I don't think he would be willing to run if his health degrades to Joe Biden levels of dysfunction. But if his health is good I think he will run, and given the utter weakness of Joe Biden I think he would win. 

140 million new Omicron infections in the next two months?

 

People waiting for their rapid Coronavirus test results. USA Today/AP

Experts are saying that America could see 140 million new cases of the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus in the next two months. USA Today. The experts say that between January 1st and March 1st we could see 140 million cases with the peak happening sometime in January with 2.8 million cases a day. Up to 60% of Americans could contract the disease. There is good news as up to 90% of those cases could be asymptomatic, compared with 40% under the Delta variant. The Omicron variant also appears to be dramatically weaker than Delta and the original strains of Coronavirus. Hospitalizations are expected to be 90 to 96% less compared to Delta and deaths will be 97 to 99% as well. That translates to a variant that will be less serious than influenza. 

My Comment:

They really buried the lede in this article. Though a ton of people might catch the Omicron variant the vast majority of them won't even know they are sick, let alone have to go to the hospital for it. There should be practically zero deaths as well. Indeed, I haven't heard of anyone that has been confirmed to have died from Omicron at all, though I wouldn't be entirely surprised that some people could die from it. 

 Indeed, it sure seems like this variant of the virus is the best thing that has happened in the pandemic so far. You can get the virus, recover and now have antibodies for the more dangerous strains. With it spreading so fast it is already outcompeting the Delta variant, which will probably join the original and Alpha strains in the extinction bin. 

This was, of course, expected. Many people believe that the Russian Flu was also a Coronavirus pandemic and the virus is still around. You probably know it as the common cold. This is common behavior for viruses. Deadly viruses kill too fast to infect a lot of people but viruses that spread easy and allow people to continue normal activities spread like wildfire. That means those viruses outcompete more deadly versions of the disease. All the evidence shows that this is what has happened to the SARS-COV-2 virus. It's now basically somewhere between a common cold and the flu in seriousness. 

What is frustrating is that Omicron seems like an obvious off-ramp for pandemic restrictions and I have no trust that our "leadership" is willing to take it. Indeed, they seem to be doubling down on all the nonsense that has utterly failed to stop the pandemic so far. 

Indeed, it seems like previous methods of stopping the virus will be even less effective in stopping Omicron. The vaccines are not formulated to stop it and even booster won't stop you from catching the virus. Masks won't help much due misuse and how easily Omicron spread. And lockdowns? All that will do is crash the economy. None of these methods will do much in stopping the virus from spreading. 

What is really crazy is that once Omicron is everywhere the only way that people will tell that the virus is around is because the massive testing campaign going on. People are getting random tests at work and popping up hot even though they are not feeling sick. Other people will have mild colds and get tested. But most people won't even know they are sick and the few people will get ill will likely survive. I have been saying for months now that it hasn't felt like a pandemic, but the next few months when Omicron is everywhere? I am guessing other than media coverage it will be impossible to detect. 

Protesters against Coronavirus restrictions in Romania almost storm parliament.

 

Protesters in Romania. Reuters. 

Protesters against Coronavirus restrictions in Romania almost stormed parliament. Reuters. The protesters were kept out of parliament but they were able to block traffic and vandalize cars. The protests are a rejection of proposed restrictions on normal human activity based on the Coronavirus pandemic. No bill has been proposed yet but they have been discussing a system that would restrict participation in the economy without proof of either vaccination, recovery or a negative test. Romanians have largely rejected restrictions and are among the least vaccinated countries in Europe with only 40% being vaccinated.

My Comment:

The protests rocking Europe have been largely ignored by western media. They have been massive and have sometimes devolved into violence. This was probably the most serious as who knows what would have happened if they had managed to get into parliament?

These protests have been downplayed on purpose. The media does not want people to realize that people are rejecting these Coronvirus restrictions to the point of protests, marches and even riots. They want people that reject these restrictions to feel outnumbered and powerless when the exact opposite is true. 

Of course the restrictions are only happening because people are tolerating it. When people stand up and say enough it will end. Indeed, I am guessing that this proposed bill will not pass and nothing will come from it. I think the legislators will see this as an obvious warning to not proceed. 

Romania has been pretty skeptical about vaccines and I am not sure why. I am far from an expert on eastern Europe. My guess is that the people of Romania have seen this song and dance before and don't like it when the government tries to push them into doing something. They likely have little trust of the government.

What really gets me is that they are still trying to propose these restrictions in the wake of the Omicron variant. It seems very clear that the new variant is not a threat and is probably the off ramp for the pandemic. Not only does it seem to be less threatening than the formally dominant Delta, it seems like it is less dangerous than your average flu virus. As far as I can tell Omicron's death toll is in the single digits, and that's only people who have died with the virus, not necessarily from it. It's crazy to me that governments aren't backing down at this point... 

Saudi Arabia attacks airport in Yemen.

 

Sanaa International Airport. BBC/Getty.

Saudi Arabia has launched a major airstrike against targets at Sanaa International Airport in Yemen. BBC. The Saudi led coalition hit the airport because they claimed that it was being used to launch drone attacks against Saudi Arabia. The strikes were supposedly limited in nature, only targeting areas used for the drone forces. It is unclear how much damage has been done but Saudi Arabia claims that air travel will not be affected. The war in Yemen started in 2014 and has raged since, with spillover attacks targeting Saudi Arabia becoming common. 

My Comment:

Just a quick post about one of the more forgotten wars in the world right now. The Yemeni conflict, which is actually a proxy conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia, has killed and displaced thousands of people. It has fallen out of the headlines though, despite the hybrid warfare being rather extreme. After all, how many civil wars involve launching drone and ballistic missile strikes against oil refineries? 

It is those attacks that this airstrike was in response to. Drones have been a huge threat against the Saudi Arabians and have been used in several major attacks that did millions of dollars of damage. They are probably even a bigger threat than the Yemeni ballistic missiles that were launched earlier in the war. I haven't heard of any recent attacks with those missiles, so I am assuming they ran out, but the drones are still a major threat. 

It does seem like the Houthi rebels were being pretty smart with their drone forces, which were probably supplied and trained by the Iranians. Saudi Arabia was probably very risk averse from hitting targets at this airports. Taking out the drone forces would be good but they risked bad publicity, civilian casualties and stopping much of the relief and charity efforts centered in Sanaa. Without the airport that relief would have more difficulty to get in.

It's unclear if that result happened. I think if it had though the Houthi rebels would be telling every news outlet in the world that would listen that it did. My guess is that the strike was successful and the Houthi rebels are going to have a much more difficult time launching drone attacks in Yemen and beyond. 

As for the war itself I don't see it ending anytime soon. In general the war seems to be mostly stagnant with neither side being able to wipe out the other. Saudi Arabia and their allies do not seem strong enough to put down the rebels. They could launch a full scale invasion but even that might not be enough. And the Houthis aren't strong enough to push out the Saudi backed government, even with Iran's help. I fear it will be status quo there for quite some time, even if this strike changes the calculus a little bit. 

What happens if the GOP wins back the house in 2022? Major investigations into the Biden administration.

 

Kevin McCarthy. Axios/Getty.

The Republican Party has plans to investigate the Biden administration on several major issues if they retake the house in 2022. Axios. The Republicans are widely expected to win back the house in 2022 due to poor polling for the Democrats and strong disapproval of the Biden administration. Documents obtained by Axios show that their goal in the house will be investigating several scandals in the Biden administration. Kevin McCarthy is expected to send a letter ordering Biden officials to preserve documents for these investigations. The investigations will include the circumstances of the fall of Afghanistan, the NSA spying on Tucker Carlson, the Justice Department targeting parents at school board meetings, the disaster at the border and the origins of the Coronavirus and the Biden administration's response. 

My Comment:

This is not surprising as it is revenge for what the Democrats did to President Trump in 2018. Unlike Trump though, the Democrats have some major real scandals that could be blown up by congressional investigations. Many of the issues raised above are things that the Biden administration did not answer for and people deserve to go to prison for. 

Of these I think the most serious ones are the NSA spying and the Justice Department targeting parents. Neither of those things had any right to happen and it seemed very clear that peoples civil rights were violated just because of their political beliefs. There was never any threat at these meetings, other than the ubiquitous threats that anyone in the public spotlight receives. Hell, I have gotten death threats just for my social media activity. It's idiotic to take it seriously, and the point was never to protect the school boards, it was to shut up the critics of critical race theory and covid restrictions. 

The other issues mentioned are more examples of incompetence than any criminal behavior. Afghanistan was of course a debacle and one that people absolutely should be fired over. Same with the border and the Coronavirus. The GOP should investigate these issues but I don't know if anyone should go to jail over them. 

Will anything happen with these probes? Probably about the same as what is happening with the Democrats asinine January 6th commission. A lot of sound and fury that signifies nothing. There isn't likely to be any action about these things with only the house under GOP control. 

I personally think both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris should be impeached and removed as they have been criminally incompetent and the circumstances around their election were not even close to being legitimate. That probably won't happen either, though an impeachment is possible if the Republicans take back the Senate as well. I just don't think they will get the votes to remove them. 

Speaking of the 2020 election, I do think there should be a major congressional investigation into both voter fraud and collusion between the Democrats, Big Tech and the national news media. Not seeing that among McCarthy's investigations is extremely worrying as it seems to imply that the Republicans will ignore what happened in 2020, which means they are at risk of having it happen again in 2022 and 2024... 

The Witcher season 2 review...

 

The Witcher Season 2 promo image. 

It's been a long time since I have done a review on this blog and I think that it is time that I changed that. I ended up marathoning the newest season of The Witcher this weekend and I figured I could review it even though I never did the same for the first season. There will be spoilers in this review. 

First a few comments about my relationship with the series. Like many, I was introduced to the series via the video games, more specifically The Witcher 3. I got it on sale on Steam and bought it for like $10 and it was the best $10 I ever spent. It was seriously one of my all time favorite games and I recommend it to anyone who has even a passing interest in video games. 

While I was working my way through the video game I purchased the book series. They are on average pretty good, with the two short story books being a bit better than the later novels. They are good fantasy novels, which isn't a genera I usually read.

About this time the 1st season of The Witcher was released. I had mixed feelings about the series when it came out. It really was a mixed bag of actually decent TV and mediocracy. The casting was a mixed bag with Henry Cavil being the absolutely perfect Geralt of Rivia, but the rest of the cast either being fairly miscast. The worst probably being Fringilla. In the books Fringilla was noted for having pale skin to the point it got annoying hearing about it every time the character came up. Plus she was noted to being similar looking to Yennifer, which she isn't. Nothing against the actress cast in the role but it seemed to be purposely going against what was in the book and video games. 

That's just one example of the series being greatly hurt by wokeness . The fact is that the series is so bent on checking off diversity marks that it actually distracts from the narrative. Whatever you think of diversity, doing it in a way that makes sense narratively is a lot better than just shoehorning it in there. I know the games were criticized for being lily white but there are ways to change that in a way that doesn't look silly and they did not do that. 

What about Season 2 though? It was a mixed bag at best. Again, Henry Cavil blew it away as Geralt and I have to say that it's obvious that he cares greatly about the series. Freya Allen had an improved performance as Ciri. The rest of the cast was at least decent, though the casting issues remain. I do have to say that it did help immensely that they fixed Anna Shaffer's hair in the 2nd season. Her casting wasn't as bad as others but making her dye her hair red and growing it out made her more similar to the book and video game version of Triss Merigold. 

I also think that there was a major increase in production value in the 2nd season. Gone were the stupid armor for the Nilfgardian military, replaced by something that actual resembles armor. The special effects were greatly improved as well. Compare the monsters in season 2 to the somewhat embarrassing dragons in season 1 and you will agree. In general, everything just looks better. My guess is the budget got increased, which makes sense given how big of a success the show was for Netflix. 

I also have to say that it was nice that they toned down the sex scenes this season. I have never been a huge fan of sex scenes and nudity in TV regardless as it usually ads very little to the narrative. Sure, sometimes it's nice to look at but in general it's not needed. I know that people actually complained about this compared to season 1 but I was not one of them. 

There was a lot I didn't like this season though. One of the biggest sins they did is that they keep killing off characters that are still alive in the books and games. Last season it was Mousesack and this time it was Eskel. And they did my boy Eskel dirty. Not only did they kill him off, they kind of destroyed his character. Indeed, they seemed like they mixed him up with Lambert, Geralt's other witcher friend, which is odd because Lambert was there with his original personality. Eskel was a jerkass in this season to the point where it limited the emotional impact when he died. Since Eskel was always a nice guy in the books and games it's kind of sad that they made him into a creepy asshole in the series that barely lasts more than an episode. 

The biggest problem with the second season is that the pacing was way off. In short, the plot did not advance at all. The entire season was going through the book Blood of Elves but it never really got to the point. Indeed, the 2nd book had a perfect place to end the season, the wizard revolution, but we never even got close to that point. And the actual end of the Blood of Elves, was largely passed over. The only reason I can think of that they did this is because they want to stretch out the series. 

This meant a lot of the 2nd season was filled with filler plots, most of which were new to the franchise. The entire story about the demon, Voleth Meir, was original, and I think that was a major problem with the season. It did not add much to the plot, other than adding characterization to the relationship between Geralt, Yennifer and Ciri. At least the monsters in that part of the season were cool looking. 

I also have a major problem with the portrayal of the elves in the 2nd season. This was my biggest fear of the 2nd season and it has come to pass. In the books, the elves started fighting with the Northern Kingdoms largely because they were racist as well. Nilfgard helped them but it was something they wanted to do in the first place. Indeed, the original short story Edge of the World was all about how the elves were persisting in their racism even though it would lead to their destruction. 

Again, this is where the wokeness of the showrunners hurt the point of the series. If I got anything out of the book series it was that racism is universal and is bad for everyone. Just because the elves had been treated badly in the past, it shouldn't excuse what they do in the present. But that's the opposite of what happened in this season. The Northern Kingdoms started their pogrom in response to the elves killing everyone, but in the series it was the exact opposite. To be fair they did show the elves doing nasty things but only in response to provocation. 

This is one of the worst things about current media. There isn't any room for grey morality. The books were a lot less cut and dry about who was in the right and who was in the wrong. Both the elves and the Northern Kingdoms had points in their conflict and there were good and bad people on both sides. But now it seems like the elves are getting a free pass. 

Still, the series is watchable at least. If you aren't a fan of the books or the games it's probably good enough. The production values are good enough and Henry Cavil is so good in the role of Geralt of Rivia that it's worth watching based on that alone. But I do think that the series could have been so much better than it actually is. I will probably watch Season 3 when it comes out but I do wish that the showrunners understood the series a bit better. 

 

Federal appeals court overturns lower court ruling stopping Biden's vaccine mandate...

 

Biden holds a facemask instead of wearing it. Fox Business/AP.

The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a lower court ruling stopping Biden's vaccine mandate. Fox Business. The mandate would require employers with over 100 employees to either vaccinate everyone or have a weekly testing protocol in place. The ruling was a 2-1 decision that over ruled a 5th Circuit Court judge who argued that the mandate far exceeded the constitution and would have devastating impacts on the economy and employees.  The case will almost certainly head to the Supreme Court, but may end up being heard by the entire 6th Circuit Court. 

My Comment:

What a terrible development, which seems to have been just bad luck by drawing the wrong judges. I don't buy for a second that this mandate is the right solution and thus the court decision is wrong on its face. Legally it seems completely out of left field as well.

The argument that the court made was completely asinine and had little to no relation to reality. A vaccine mandate would do nothing to stop the virus. Indeed, we are seeing major outbreaks now in places like Gibraltar with almost 100% vaccination rates. The vaccine does not stop the virus from spreading so that along destroys the argument the court made. 

But it gets worse. The mandate will not stop the virus but it will have an extreme effect on America's workforce. Millions of people will likely be fired and even if the testing option is allowed, millions more will have to undergo what is essentially harassment over a private medical decision that the government and their employers have no business knowing about whatsoever. This will have a ripple effect through the entire economy as the unvaccinated and the undervacinated are the people who make this country run. It will massively increase the already unsustainable labor shortage we are experiencing and make the supply chain issue catastrophic. 

What really scares me is the shifting goalposts among the medical community when it comes to vaccination. There are millions of people that are currently "fully vaccinated" which won't be if the definition changes to needing booster shots as well, myself included. As someone who has evaluated the relative risks of the vaccine and the current strains of the virus, I will not get a booster shot. That means that if this policy goes into effect and they change the definition of vaccinated, I might be out of a job as well. 

But what is most annoying about this is the fact that the entire world outside of government has moved on. Here in Wisconsin almost all restrictions have been lifted and life is basically back to normal. I have been on vacation this week and the entire time I only saw a few people even wearing masks and that's only because I went shopping in the AM instead of the PM like I usually do and all the old people were shopping. Though people are still testing positive and getting sick, the actual pandemic in terms of public reaction has been over for months now. Nobody cares anymore and they haven't for a long time.

It's even stranger that they are pushing so hard for this now. It's clear that the vaccine won't end the pandemic. If it was going to do so it would have done so by now. Pushing for vaccination isn't going to change anything so the only thing I can think of is that the Biden regime is incapable of doing anything other than doubling down on every issue. And with yesterdays' news about the Johnson & Johnson vaccine causing deaths via clotting, the argument for the vaccine got weaker. 

Plus, it's also clear that the Omicron variant, which is well on the way to being the more dominant  strain, is not anywhere near as deadly as Delta was, which was in turn less deadly than the original strains. You still get sick with Omicron but it usually doesn't send you to the hospital and as far as I can tell it won't kill you either. I have heard of exactly one death with Omicron and it's not clear if the British man who died with it died from the disease itself. It's essentially a new virus and one that is no more worrisome than the average influenza strain. 

In short this is a huge violation of civil rights, with absolutely devastating side effects that greatly reduce the stability of the country and could lead to violence or even outright warfare. All for marginal benefits at best. It's utterly insane and we have to hope that further court reviews reverse this reversal. 

And if it doesn't? At this point I have to advocate for active protest and outright refusal. If enough people refuse to go along with this nonsense it will stop. Send letters to your elected officials, write op-eds, do anything you can to stand up and say "no more". And refuse to go along with any of this nonsense. Make them fire you and make it as painful and expensive to do so as possible. Protest, and adapt the practices of the far left. The people that make these decisions have lives that can be disrupted. 

And if all that doesn't work, what then? I don't even know, but I do know that it will be ugly. If things reach that point the country is going to be too far gone to matter. Biden's standing in a fireworks warehouse with a book of matches and is doing his best to light it up... 

CDC recommends not taking Johnson & Johnson vaccine if others are available.

 

A dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Fox Business/AP.

The CDC recommends not taking the Johnson & Johnson vaccine if other vaccines are available. Fox Business. The J&J vaccine was already pulled back in April due to fears over blood clotting but the benefits were weighed to outweigh the risks. However, new FDA data shows that the clotting issue could be more common than thought. At least 9 deaths and 54 cases of clotting have been confirmed with two more deaths suspected. If someone has been vaccinated with the J&J shot they are recommended to choose Moderna or Pfizer if they want a booster shot. The J&J shot is a viral vector vaccine and the other major vaccine of that type, AstraZeneca's, has had similar clotting issues in Europe. The J&J vaccine was not used as much as the other two vaccines with only 16 million doses being given. 

My Comment:

I think this is another example of a phenomenon that I have noticed with any discussion of the vaccines. Nobody, including myself, seems to differentiate between the various vaccines. There are three in the United States alone, Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, with AstraZeneca being used in Europe as well. Not to mention the Russian and Chinese vaccines. 

This is a problem as these vaccines are not all the same. They have different actions and effectiveness and they have a lot of different side effects. I am sure people will use this news to attack the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines but that should not be done. Those vaccines have their own issues and can and should be discussed, but don't conflate the three vaccines. 

As for the J&J vaccine, I have always wondered why it was approved in the first place. The effectiveness was nowhere near the level of the other two vaccines even back when the vaccines were formulated for the dominant variants. And it had a long history of dangerous side effects with the clotting issue from the start. I don't think the situation was so dire with vaccinations that we really had to approve this shot. 

The clotting issue seems to be pretty serious. Obviously people have died from taking the shot. It's possible that those people would have died if they got the virus but my guess is that they would not have. And they probably would have survived as well if they had taken the other two vaccines instead. 

Do those deaths outweigh the people that may have been protected from the virus with the J&J vaccine? That's the million dollar question. My gut says that it was probably not. If the J&J vaccine was the only game in town it would probably have been worth it to vaccinate the highest risk people with it, but it never was. There were two other options in the United States and I think we probably could have shelved J&J long before the current date. 

But what is really shocking is the fact that the CDC didn't just pull the vaccine. I am not sure why if they think it is dangerous enough to not recommend it why they would let it stay in circulation. Just pull it now. I think that they don't want to further cause resistance to the vaccines but that ship has already sailed a long time ago. 

I also think that the argument for the vaccines have been overstated. I am not opposed to the vaccines for many people, maybe even most. But I also think that for a lot of people the vaccine may have been more of a risk than the virus. That appears to be especially true for the J&J vaccine. I know for me personally, I took the Pfizer vaccine last March but I don't know if I would have done it today and I won't be getting the boosters. 

Of course the vaccination policy has made little sense from the beginning. In a perfect world people would have weighed the costs and benefits of the vaccines against the threat of the Coronavirus and made an informed choice. That is not what is happening now, everyone is supposed to get vaccines, even children who are at almost no risk from the virus. 

I do think that there should be an accounting from the medical industry and the powers that be over the Coronavirus response. I know that vaccine injuries are lawsuit proof due to how our vaccine system works. Everyone who is injured has to go through the VAERS system and that could take a long time for it to pay out. But I do think that someone should pay for these deaths. 

Will Hillary Clinton run in 2024? Yep you heard me.

 

Hillary Clinton in 2016. Gage Skidmore. 

A slightly out of format post tonight. I saw a couple of articles that I won't bother linking too here suggesting that the last best hope for Democrats in 2024 is a name you are all familiar with, Hillary Clinton. Yes, the same Hillary Clinton that got beaten in 2016. No, that's not a joke, though I do think it is hilarious. 

But I do think this is a semi-serious post as it shows the weakness of the 2024 field already if they are brining back Hillary Clinton. It's pretty obvious that Joe Biden does not have a future in politics, assuming he even lives to 2024. Even with the media covering for him, it's very obvious that he is in no condition to run in 2024. 

Biden's old, senile, scandal ridden and has failed on pretty much every major issue happening right now. He's also in no way capable of running a new campaign, let alone the country. I can't see him running in 2024, and the fact that his team isn't admitting that he isn't running is baffling to me. 

Indeed, if he does run than his team should probably go to prison. I am not even joking, to make someone run for President in that condition is a crime. It would likely kill Joe Biden dead and despite my intense dislike of the man, that isn't acceptable. 

With Biden likely out of the race, the Democrats have very few options, and almost all of them are bad. The other major name is Kamala Harris and she has been a train wreck as VP. She rarely makes headlines and when she does it's for bad news. She also has even lower approval numbers than Biden himself, which is really saying something as he is in the mid to low thirties for approval now. Harris is in the low twenties. 

Who does that leave for the Democrats? Bernie Sanders is ancient and the party elite hates him so he's out. Elizabeth Warren is now a joke and Amy Klobucher is irrelevant. Andrew Cuomo was probably the heir apparent but his career has imploded and he couldn't run for dogcatcher in Toledo, let alone be President. 

And a lot of the Democrats up and comers are now not viable. Pete Buttgieg has been tainted with his association with the Biden White House and I have to say I have been incredibly disappointed with his performance as Sec Transportation. Tulsi Gabbard is now persona non-grata among the Democrats for cozying up with Tucker Carlson while Andrew Yang isn't even in the party anymore. 

So who does that leave? Old Hillary Clinton herself. The woman who lost to Donald Trump and one of the most unlikable candidates the party has ever had. The woman who is scandal ridden and obviously corrupt. One of the most hated people in the country. And probably the Democrats best hope.

But will Clinton even want to run? Keep in mind she's 74 right now and will be 77 in 2024. She was having health problems way back in 2016 and famously collapsed at an 9/11 anniversary. And she will most likely be going up against Donald Trump again, a man she couldn't stand to lose to again. If she was smart she would stay out of it. 

Still though, the fact that Hillary Clinton is being floated as a candidate shows how bereft of talent the Democrats bench is. The party is grasping at straws at this point if they are trying to draft a multiple election loser like Hillary Clinton... Of course it is just the media saying this for now, so time will tell if this is a serious story or not. 

Israel's war plans with Iran foiled by lack of support from the United States.

 

A KC 46A Pegasus refueling plane. Breaking Defense/USAF photo.

Israel's plans to strike Iran's nuclear research facilities has been largely foiled because of a lack of support from the United States. Breaking Defense. Israel has long wanted to strike Iran's nuclear sites due to fears of a nuclear strike from the Islamic country. However, those plans would require long range fueling planes, which Israel does not have. They have tried to get the United States to lend them some planes for the operation but the Biden administration has refused. They also will not speed up the purchase of two KC-46A refueling planes, scheduled for delivery in 2023-2024. The Biden administration has been focusing on getting a new nuclear deal with Iran in place, but Israel has said that they would not tolerate a bad deal and would act to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons. With a more traditional strike out of the question short term, it is assumed that Israel will continue their non-conventional "shadow war" against Iran. 

My Comment:

I actually agree, somewhat, that war with Iran is not in our best interests at this time, even if it is just supporting Israeli air strikes. That would have a major effect on the economy, could damage relations with out other Middle Eastern allies and could start a larger regional conflict with Iranian sleeper cells being activated. 

Plus, I don't really buy that Iran is close to creating a nuclear weapon. Much like Fusion power, it's always just a few years away but never seems to actually show up. I don't think Iran has competent scientists or the resources to pull a nuclear weapon off anytime soon.

But I am sure that the Israelis are seething about this. They currently do not have the capabilities to launch an attack against Iran through conventional means. And given the hardened conditions that these Iranian research labs are under it would be difficult if not impossible to do anything other than a conventional airstrike against them. 

That of course requires refueling planes, which Israel does not have. Why they waited so long to purchase them is beyond me. You would think that would have been a priority for them years ago given that Iran is their major enemy in the region. But I guess not and now they are paying the price. 

I don't see the United States offering up our refueling planes anytime soon. The Biden administration wants another stupid deal with Iran, that won't actually fix anything but will enrich the Iranian government. They want the status quo ante and they might even cite the reasons I wrote about above as reasons to avoid war with Iran. 

Indeed, I wonder if these refueling planes will be delivered at all. After all, it seems clear that the planes are the only thing stopping the Israelis from starting a war. If the United States really doesn't want there to be a war with Iran they could stop it pretty easily if they just simply stopped the sale of these planes to Israel. 

I have no doubt that Israel will see all of this as a betrayal but I don't see how much they can actually do about it. Israel's diplomatic power has been greatly exaggerated by people that hate the country and they can't actually order us to do anything. They might have some ways to get back at the Biden administration but I don't see that happening anytime soon. 

Israel's best option is to probably keep doing what they are doing. Their shadow war against Iran has been fairly successful. They have destroyed some labs, killed some scientists and slowed Iran's progress in the field of nuclear power. These actions are a lot harder to pull off than the airstrikes so that's why they are upset, but I think they can get most of what they want if they just keep doing what they are doing. And if not, they only have to wait until 2023 to get what they want anyways.. 

Are Democrats losing the Hispanic vote?

 

A Hispanic woman supporting President Trump. CNBC.

Democrats are sounding the alarm that they may be losing support from Hispanics, America's biggest minority and a formally solid Democratic voting block. The Hill. A poll from Wall Street Journal showed that only 44% of Hispanics would vote for Joe Biden in 2024 compared to 43% for Donald Trump. Democrats also feel that Hispanic Republicans cost them Texas and Florida in the 2020 election. Though some Hispanics, such as Cubans and Venezuelans, have been solidly Republican, other groups are no in play as well. 

My Comment:

The Hill post commented a lot on what is happening but not at all on why it is happening. I think it is pretty obvious that the Hispanic community is in no way the solid voting block it used to be for Democrats. Indeed, I've seen the change myself. I work with many Hispanics and I have heard a few of them trashing Joe Biden. And we have seen solid blue Hispanic congressional districts in Texas and Florida flip to the Republicans since 2020. 

So what is causing this? It's important to note that some Hispanics have been Republicans from the start. The Cubans and Venezuelans are especially strong GOP voters for what should be obvious reasons. They hate communism, having experienced it personally, and see the Democrats, correctly in my view, heading down that same direction. It's no surprise that they would go for the Republicans instead. 

Some of it has to be due to how utterly incompetent Joe Biden has been at his job. I know I sound like a broken record at this point but Biden screwed up Afghanistan, wrecked the economy, failed to manage the pandemic and has been a huge embarrassment. When your party is lead by someone as terrible as Joe Biden you are going to have defections. 

I think the culture war has a lot to do with this as well. I don't think Hispanics are really into "woke" politics. Nothing is more illustrative of this than the furor over the term "Latinx". Most Hispanics call themselves Hispanic's, or Latinos/Latinas. Others call themselves after the country of orgin, like Cubans or Mexicans. But what are the not calling themselves? Latinx. 

Indeed, the term is extremely unpopular among Hispanics but the, mostly white, Democrats are pushing it. It's for gender politics reasons as Spanish is a "gendered" language and the woke left hates anything to do with traditional gender roles. So that's why they ditch Latino/Latina for Latinx. As someone who works with Hispanics, they are all about traditional gender roles and don't appreciate this kind of thing being pushed on them. And that's just the most obvious example, there are many others. 

I also think that immigration is not the silver bullet Democrats think it is for them. A lot of Hispanics are resentful of illegal immigration, especially if they are recent legal immigrants themselves. They don't like to see people being rewarded for skipping ahead in the line. Plus, it's not like Hispanics are some homogenous group. Why should we expect Mexican or Cuban Americans to be angry if a bunch of Central Americans are getting deported? They aren't the same group and it's silly for the Democrats to think that they are. 

It should be noted that Republicans deserve credit for peeling off quite a few Hispanic voters. They have made a push for them and made getting their votes a priority. Not the way that the Democrats do it, but by reasoning it out with them. Indeed, the GOP has tried to expand it's tent lately and it's not just Hispanics they have been going after. We have seen inroads with Asians, Blacks and even LGB (though probably not T) voters. 

But the Democrats? I think they have been taking almost all of their voters for granted. Indeed, in The Hill article all the Democrats had to say is that the so called "Build Back Better" bill would fix everything. Which is going to be very awkward for them if it doesn't pass. Regardless, when I see the Democrats interacting with the Hispanic community at all, it's usually in the form of a woke lecture, like with the Latinx issue. 

Keep in mind though that the Republicans don't have to win the vote of every single Hispanic voter in the country. All they need to do is peel off enough of them to keep purple states in play and defend red states. If the Republicans can really get Hispanics down to a 50/50 split than the Democrats are in serious trouble in 2022 and 2024. 

US inflation up 6.8%, the worst rate in almost 40 years.

 

Gas prices. AP.

The US inflation rate has gone up 6.8% compared to last year, which is the worst since 1982. AP. The massive increase in prices has effected gasoline/energy, food, housing, and automobiles. The inflation has many causes including trillions of dollars of government spending, low interest rates and high demand for products. Raising wages have contributed to the issue as well as many companies are dealing with a major worker shortage. The higher prices are hitting lower income workers hard as inflation cancels out any wage growth. Inflation is also hitting globally, with many countries seeing the same major rise in prices.

My Comment:

I have seen this major increase in prices myself. Just last year I would go to the grocery store and usually spend around $60 to $80 for food. This year? If it's less than $100 then I am amazed. I am still buying the same stuff, but the prices have skyrocketed. It's even seen at the vending machines at work, there is hardly anything in there under $1 now... 

I have gotten several raises to help out but I think that they won't be enough. I still rent and I am expecting a major rate hike soon. That will likely wipe out my wage increase and with gas and groceries I will be lucky if I end up treading water in terms of actual wealth, instead of losing money. 

It's like this all over the world right now and I think the US government and the leadership of the country (or lack there of) are causing it. The government threw trillions of dollars into the economy since 2020 and it is starting to show. People were given thousands of dollars for nothing and that caused a spending wave. With all that new money in circulation prices will of course increase. 

If that wasn't enough our energy policy is contributing to the problem as well. Joe Biden's first move was to cancel pipelines and stop drilling for oil and gas. Predictably that lead to massive increases in energy costs and that has a trickle down effect on the economy. As gas prices go up, it gets more expensive to ship products and that price is passed on to the consumer. 

Speaking of shipping, Biden has done a lot to destroy that industry as well. With all the free money being thrown around, a lot of people have realized that work sucks and it's better to have the government pay for you. A lot of these people won't be coming back to work and it is causing massive shortages in workers, which is causing major shipping problems throughout the world. 

And don't let Biden get away with blaming this on the Coronavirus pandemic. It is related to the pandemic but it is not the pandemic's fault. It's Biden's actions on the pandemic that is causing the inflation, not the pandemic itself. The constant state of panic in the government is making people wary and I can't think of a worse policy than vaccine mandates when we are already in a worker shortage. The pandemic did damage the economy but we would be well on our way to recovery if it wasn't for the actions of the US government. 

If there is any good news here it's that people will remember this inflation when it comes to 2022's midterms. The Democratic Party is going to take the lion's share of the blame for this, along with Joe Biden himself. It would take a massive amount of voter fraud for the Democrats to keep the house and senate under these conditions, and I haven't seen a thing to indicate that Biden will be able to get inflation under control. Indeed, he seems incapable of doing anything other than doubling down, no matter what the situation is. 

Still, it's extremely frustrating to have to deal with this. I was hoping to maybe buy a house next year but under these circumstances it will be extremely difficult. And like I said, I was finally starting to pull ahead financially and it's just disgusting to see all that progress being erased because of Biden's policies... 

Editor's Note: Vacation

 

Just as an FYI, I am on vacation starting today. I will be off for a week and as usual that means posting may be infrequent or at unusual times. I don't have a whole lot of plans other than getting my Christmas shopping done, but it will be nice to get off of work regardless. 

I also gotta say that this vacation is very welcome. It's been a crazy couple of months and I need to unwind. I was planning a short vacation in November, but I had to use those days when I was sick with hand foot and mouth, of all things. 

I may even go fishing, as crazy as it sounds. It's going to depend on the weather up here in Wisconsin which is an easy way of saying I don't know. Currently half the state is in a winter storm watch while the other is in a tornado watch. If the weather holds out and the river doesn't freeze over I think I will try some December fishing, which is not something I have done before. 

Actor Jussie Smollett found guilty on five of six counts for faking a hate crime.

 

Jussie Smollett. BBC/Getty.

Actor Jussie Smollett has been found guilty of five of six charges for faking a hate crime. BBC. Smollett had claimed that two men had attacked him with a noose, dumped bleach on him and said "welcome to MAGA country". However, his claims rapidly fell apart. The supposed attack occurred during a blizzard and cold snap and involved white Republicans in Chicago, a major Democrat stronghold. During the trial two Nigerian brothers said that Smollett had paid them $3500 to stage the attack. Prosecutors argued that he staged the attack in order to gain leverage in pay negotiations. Smollett denied these claims and continues to say that he was attacked. Each charge Smollett was convicted of carried up to a 3 year sentence, but with no criminal record it is likely that Smollett will not serve anytime in prison. 

My Comment:

I am glad the jury reached the correct verdict. Smollett slandered half the country that supports President Trump and made race relations even worse. His action wasted thousands of hours of police time (in a city where crime is exploding) and probably hurt anyone who wants to report a real hate crime. 

Of course Smollett's charges never made any sense. Most notable was the idea that anyone knew who he was. I know that the show Empire got decent ratings but I don't know a single person who watches the show. From what little I know about it, it seems like a show designed to a very specific demographic with no appeal to anyone else. Smollett seemed awfully arrogant to assume that not only did two random white guy Trump supporters would not only watch his show but care enough about it to attack an actor on it. Plus knowing that he was gay, which I don't think anyone cares about anyways. 

It got even stupider. I remember when this happen and it was one of the coldest days of the year, right after a major storm. I can tell you, nobody goes out to commit a hate crime in the middle of winter during one of the coldest days of the year. The conditions outside that night were literally life threatening, nobody was going to be outside looking to beat someone up in that weather. 

Even more ridiculous was the idea that Chicago, of all places, had roving gangs of Trump supporters running around beating up third rate actors. In case you are somehow unaware, Chicago is one of the biggest Democratic strongholds in the country. There are probably some Republicans in the city, somewhere, but they are totally outnumbered. And, again, we would have no reason to believe that the average Trump supporter would know who Smollett is, know that he is gay and know that he is a Democrat and risk a lengthy prison sentence to attack him. None of those things seem likely. 

I also want to point out that it was pure luck that nobody matching the description that Smollett gave was found. It would have been very possible for innocent men to have been arrested, and perhaps even convicted and imprisoned, due to Smollett's lies. Let me repeat that. The only reason innocent peoples lives were not destroyed in this case was due to dumb luck. 

With those being the facts of the case, Smollett had little defense. He could only claim that the two Nigerian brothers were lying about things while at the same time claiming that the attack totally did happen, just trust me. His story made no sense but him faking an attack did. A conviction was not surprising at all in this case. 

A lot of people should face a reckoning for this case. Kamala Harris being one of them. Many of these politicians and celebrities used his "attack" to denigrate Republicans and, in some cases, commit racism. These people should be called out for this nonsense. 

I do hope that somehow Smollett serves hard prison time. If I had my way he would serve as long as anyone convicted for his "attack" would have been. That won't happen but I do think that he should serve some time, the maximum possible. But that won't happen. He absolutely deserves the maximum sentence but as a celebrity with no record he will probably get out on probation... 

Are Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping working together against the United States?

 

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Newsweek/AFP/Getty.

Russia and China may be working together to box the United States in. Newsweek. Both Russia and China are saber rattling over Ukraine and Taiwan, respectively. Should a war break out the United States could face a two front war that it would be totally unprepared for. Russia has built up forces near the Ukrainian border while China has threatened the independence of Taiwan. The leaders of both countries appear to be taking advantage of Joe Biden's weakness. More evidence of China and Russia working together is the fact that the countries have launched joint training operations.

My Comment:

I personally don't think a war is happening anytime soon. In general, I think the Ukraine threat is massively overblown. There is a military build up but there is no sign that the Russians are actually prepared for war. This is just them saber rattling and I don't see them invading in the middle of winter. 

And for China? There is no way they invade Taiwan right now. First of all they have no where near the fleet and transports ships they would need to do so. They are building up their forces but have a long way to go before they are ready to do so. And they are, of course, hosting the Winter Olympics in 2022, and there is no chance that they would start a war before then. 

But I do see this as being a huge amount of pressure on the United States. War doesn't have to happen to put the United States in the position they want. Russia wants less interference in Ukraine ( and I don't blame them, until Ukraine stops discriminating against Russian speakers anything that happens is on them) and China wants Taiwan back. What they are doing right now is forcing Joe Biden to take a pretty unpopular position. Nobody in the United States wants to send our troops to Ukraine or Taiwan. 

Nobody here wants war, with the exception of the few remaining neocons and crazed Democrats that still blame Russia for the 2016 election. Indeed, we are still exhausted from the last war, in Afghanistan. We have not recovered at all, and fighting a major war is not in our interests. 

 I do think we have some interests in Taiwan. We foolishly supply much of our technology from the country and that is a strategic interest there. But Ukraine? We have absolutely no interest there and I can't think of a single reason to fight for them. And it's not like they have been blameless in the Donbass conflict, they aren't a country that we should back. 

I do think it is very obvious that Russia and China are taking advantage of American weakness now. I think the days of America being the main power in the world are over, and it's almost entirely due to Joe Biden. The withdrawal from Afghanistan was more of a humiliation, it showed our weakness. Biden didn't make any hard calls there at all and it led to a major terror attack and the utter embarrassment of the evacuation. 

I don't think Putin and Xi are coordinating things that closely. I also don't think they would defend each other if a war were to break out. They are not allies and are only working together for the sake of convince. 

Indeed, I think Putin is making a major mistake working with China at all. You can not trust the Communist government there and once the United States has been neutralized, Russia would have to stand alone against China, with Europe threatening him as well. In a more perfect world Russia would have allied with us against China, but I think that ship has sailed a long time ago... 

Kamala Harris called a bully and accused of "soul destroying" management style.

 

Kamala Harris. New York Post/AFP.

Kamala Harris has been called a bully and accused of a "soul destroying" management style. New York Post. The report comes in the wake of high turnover among Harris' staff. Former aide Gil Duran was the source of the report, which originally appeared in the Washington Post. He said that Harris was the common issue with most of the resignations. Harris is accused of not paying attention during briefings and then blaming her staff when she was unprepared. She was also accused of having low self esteem and being extremely critical of her staff because of it. Other former staffers defended Harris saying she was a tough but fair boss.

My Comment:

It's very possible that this is just sour grapes from a former employee but I tend to believe it. For me, Harris is one of the most insufferable politicians to ever appear and I honestly think that even Hillary Clinton, one of the most unlikable candidates for president ever, is a lot warmer and more human than she is. 

What makes me think it is real is how much it conforms to my idea of what Kamala Harris is right. I know that isn't much of an argument but still. Harris always struck me as someone who would be extremely terrible to work for. And I do think she does have massive self esteem issues, she is not someone who strikes me as someone who is confident. 

The major staff exodus seems to confirm this view. This includes Symone Sanders, Harris' spokeswoman. Staff turnover is a good indication of a bad boss. And it seems like people are fleeing from a sinking ship.

I also think that Harris has been a failure as a Vice President. She was picked because she checked the right boxes, not because of any merits and I think she knows and resents that. She's got a major chip on her shoulder and it really shows. 

And she has no real accomplishments as well. Her biggest news story as VP was her utter failure to handle the immigration crisis. Not only did she not accomplish there she had one of the biggest gaffes in recent memory when she responded to a question about not visiting the border by saying she hadn't visited Europe either. 

Just imagine being her staffer there. You try to brief her on the border crisis and she doesn't pay attention. When she predictably screws up she screams at you and blames you for the backlash. You didn't do anything wrong but you are taking the blame. Is it any wonder why they would quit?

Normally this would just be a funny story about failure but keep in mind that Harris is just one heartbeat away from being President herself. She's proving that she can't handle the position she's in, let alone being POTUS. Biden has a good chance of not making it through 2024 and if that happens then we are in a large amount of trouble. 

I think that's why there are so many rumors about Harris being kicked out of office, kicked up stairs to the Supreme Court or not being asked to turn in 2024. And I think that's part of why there are so many negative articles about Harris right now. Remember, the original source wasn't the New York Post, it was the Washington Post. If they are the ones complaining about Harris, it's clear that the Democrats are not happy with Harris. 

Indeed, Harris is one of the most unpopular VP's in recent memories. It's to the point where even Biden, who's approval rating is cratering, has a good 10 to 15 point advantage in approval ratings. To say that would be shocking is an understatement giving how terribly Biden's presidency is doing. Harris is just completely unlikeable and isn't very good at her job and the reports from her staffers just seem to confirm that.