California's magazine ban upheld...

 

80% lowers for sale in California. Fox News/AP.

A federal court upheld California's magazine ban, in a massive blow for gun rights. Fox News. The San Francisco based 9th Circuit Court made the ruling on a 7-4 basis.  They falsely claimed that magazine limits do not ban firearms and do not prevent people from defending their homes. The court overruled other rulings, including a 2-1 ruling from their own court. The dissenters on the court argued that comparable laws in other states would end with the confiscation of 50% of all firearms.  

My Comment:

What an absolutely idiotic ruling from a corrupt court. Every single one of these judges that voted for this should be recalled and forever barred from holding any government position. I'd go farther than that but I don't think I can. 

There argument is ludicrous. The California magazine ban targets standard capacity magazines, not high capacity. If this law was in effect here in my state it would make both my handgun and my AR illegal, as the standard capacity for both is 16 for the pistol and 30 for the rifle. It would ban pretty much everyone from owning normal firearms and has no place in the United States. As for larger magazines? They are pretty rare to begin with and have numerous problems that usually outweigh their advantages. They are prone to jamming and causing misfeeds, not to mention they can be awkward to handle and store. 

And it wouldn't do a thing to stop any mass shooting. Reloading magazines is incredibly easy and if you are at all talented at it you can swap magazines in seconds. There is basically no difference between one 30 round magazine and a 10 round magazine. 

The ruling is also completely unenforceable. When the rule was originally overturned there was a grace period where millions of Californians bought standard and high capacity magazines. As far as I am aware those magazines are still legal, it's just illegal to sell any new ones. This means that standard magazines are everywhere in California so the rule is completely pointless to begin with. 

Furthermore, it's not something anyone is asking for. Gun Control support is at the lowest levels in recent history. The combined crisis's of the Coronavirus and the George Floyd riots was the best argument for gun control last year. And now the crime wave that is currently ruining the country is an even better one, unbelievably. Nobody wants gun control other than the most radical of liberals, which unfortunately dominates California. 

If there is good news I think this ruling is an outlier. Like I said the argument for gun control is basically dead. Even the Supreme Court is likely overrule some gun control laws. And this ruling will not effect any state that isn't both in the 9th Circuit Court and has a magazine ban. And it won't happen here in Wisconsin. 

Still, though, this is a demoralizing story. I guess it is possible the Supreme Court could overturn this but I don't know, it doesn't seem likely. As I said before the argument on gun control is over and the gun grabbers lost. The idea that the very idea of magazine bans could even come up in 2021, let alone be ruled in favor of, is beyond me. 

Supreme Court asked to reinstate conviction for Bill Cosby, raising civil rights concerns.

 

Bill Cosby at his sentencing hearing in 2018. Fox News/AP.

The Supreme Court has been asked to reinstate a conviction for disgraced actor Bill Cosby, raising civil rights concerns. Fox News. Cosby's conviction was tossed because the evidence was based on open testimony that Cosby only gained through an agreement with prosecutors to not prosecute him. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court said the prosecution under those circumstances was an "affront to fundamental fairness". Prosecutors argue that the ruling would endanger other cases, with charges dropped in one case already. It is unclear if the case will be taken by the Supreme Court. 

My Comment:

Let me be clear, I believe the charges against Bill Cosby. I think he raped women and is a horrible abuser. He certainly deserves to be in prison and it's not great that he is out of jail. Two years in prison was not enough for what he did.

With that being said, this really isn't about Bill Cosby. It's about civil rights. Cosby should have never been convicted in the first place. The evidence against him was collected illegally. He made an agreement with a prosecutor and then another prosecutor went back on his word and ended up trying and convicting him. 

That was a huge violation of the 5th amendment. You can't compel someone to testify against themselves and that's what the prosecutors did in this case. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court agreed and let Cosby out of jail. That was the right thing to have happened. 

I don't buy the prosecutors argument. Sure, some criminals may not be prosecuted but that's a good thing. Going back on deals is not something we should ever encourage. And if the crime was so serious that doing so is even something people would consider than perhaps the prosecutor should be fired. We should not be encouraging prosecutors from doing this kind of thing. 

I think it would backfire on prosecutors long term. Nobody is going to want to make a deal in Pennsylvania if they know that many years down the line they can have their own words used against them regardless of any deal they made. That means there will be fewer convictions and fewer deals made, meaning more criminals on the streets. 

And remember, the deal made with Bill Cosby was all about getting justice. There really was not enough evidence to convict him without his testimony being used against him. The deal ended with his reputation ruined and his victims getting some compensation. That is better than nothing. 

As for what the Supreme Court will do, I have no idea. I would hope that they would rule in Cosby's favor, but they haven't had the best record on defending civil rights. But I don't know enough about their current thoughts on the 5th amendment to say either way. My guess is that they don't even take the case and we probably won't hear about this again. 

South African doctor who discovered the Omicron variant says the symptoms are very mild.

 

A woman in South Africa trying to deal with canceled flights. Reuters. 

The South African doctor who discovered the Omicron variant says that they symptoms are very mild. Reuters. Dr. Angelique Coetzee said she had an influx of patients with symptoms that were different than the dominant Delta strain. In these cases the patients complained only of a couple days worth of fatigue along with headaches and body aches. None of the patients showed other primary signs of Coronavirus infections such as loss of smell and taste and low oxygen levels. All of the patients avoided being hospitalized and were able to be treated at home. About half of the patients were vaccinated. Many countries have banned travel to South Africa and other neighboring nations, a decision which South Africa has protested against. 

My Comment:

The Omicron variant remains the main story throughout the world. I have covered it a lot recently but that's because other stories are getting drowned out. Normally I would write this story off as yet another media hype that could be safely ignored but I do think it's important to point this particular aspect of this case out. 

The media and world governments are trying to work people up into a panic over the Omicron variant. If you listen to them you would think that Omicron is worse than Delta and that it will, not might, will kill you dead. And the only way to save yourself is to get a vaccination/booster and submit to lockdowns. 

But it appears what I suspected is correct about the Omicron variant. As viruses evolve they often become less deadly and easier to transmit. That's virology 101 and we have seen it in recent pandemics, including the recent Ebola epidemics. The people that the doctor treated for Omicron had symptoms that seem less severe than the average flu. 

Keep in mind that the media and the government are saying that we need to lockdown for this. If the initial case studies are right and this variant is a joke that is just insane. Even worse is that they want us to take a vaccine that doesn't appear to be effective against Omicron despite the high risk of side effects. I'm not saying you shouldn't get vaccinated as it does seem to help a little bit with Delta but Omicron? It's not worth the risk. Also remember that the vaccines were developed for the original Wuhan strain that has been extinct for a long time now.

I mentioned before that locking down for Omicron might be a terrible idea. If the virus is significantly less deadly than Omicron that means that letting it spread would be the best thing we could do. It seems likely that it would be able to outcompete the Delta variant, which seems to kill people a lot more effectively than Omicron. I do think there is some case for caution, but it's very possible that the Omicron variant is our way out of this mess. 

I am starting to wonder if the powers that be know all of this and want to lockdown anyways. Keep in mind the economy is unraveling as it is and right now people are not buying the Coronavirus as an excuse. In America people are correctly blaming Joe Biden for his economic policies. But if there was another lockdown he could just say "well, it's the Omicron variant, nothing I could do". The sad thing is I don't think it will work, so they are doing this for no reason. 

Biden announces new travel ban to eight African countries...

 

Travelers in South Africa. Politico/AP.

Joe Biden has announced a new travel ban to eight African countries citing fear of a newly discovered variant of the Coronavirus. Politico. The restrictions will begin on Monday and will not include US citizens. The countries affected include South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini (Swaziland), Mozambique and Malawi. The new variant has been named Omicron and it is feared to be more infectious than the Delta variant, which currently accounts for 99% of all cases. Biden urged vaccinations even though the new variant is reported to be vaccine resistant. Fears of the new variant caused major economic effects, with stock markets taking a major hit. 

My Comment:

I won't spend too much time talking about the new variant, Omicron, as I covered that yesterday. In short, I find the panic about the new virus to be overstated to say the least, with my only fear from it being original antigenic sin. The Omicron variant is more contagious and vaccine resistant but I haven't heard a thing about it being more lethal or even as lethal as the Delta variant. Indeed, I suspect that like most viruses, Omicron will be less deadly that previous strains as that is usually how viruses evolve. 

This post will instead mostly be about Joe Biden. First of all, he is a massive hypocrite here. To the point where it is actually disgusting. Regardless of the prudence of this measure, Biden joined the chorus of Democratic voices that blasted President Trump for making a similar decision against China. Well, if Trump was racist for doing that to China isn't Biden twice as bad for doing it to Africa? Aren't blacks higher in the progressive stack than Chinese (not that all South Africans are black, many are White or Indian)?

Was it the right call? I honestly don't think it matters either way. The fact is that the variant has already spread to other countries. That means the cat is out of the bag, if the virus really is that contagious than it is almost certainly here already. Even if it isn't the travel ban will probably just delay things. 

And it's not like there is any certainty on this variant of the virus. It could be that slowing it down is the exact wrong thing to do. It's not like when Trump did his ban, back then there was a hope that we would be able to contain the virus entirely. That's not what is happening now, at worst this new variant will replace Delta as the dominant strain. If the virus is less lethal that could very well be a good thing. I will say that the information isn't there so slowing the virus down a bit buy putting in a travel ban might be a good step, but I do think there is potential for blowback here. It's a tough call. 

What isn't a tough call is the idea that vaccination is going to be the way to deal with the Omicron variant. Biden sounds like a fool here. We don't know much about Omicron but the reason everyone is panicking about it is because the vaccines aren't effective against it. Given that my main criticism against the current "vaccinate at all costs" strategy is that the current vaccines are based on the original strain and not Delta, that seems to be a fools errand at best. Unless we come up with a new and better vaccine or update the old ones, vaccination won't stop Omicron any better than it did Delta, and that includes boosters. 

Again though, the whole issue may be moot. Omicron might be the next big thing or it could be a joke. It could evade the vaccine or it could fail to compete with Delta and just be another forgotten variant (remember Beta? Remember Mu? No, of course not). It's too early to tell. 

But what I do know is that Biden and the media are not doing anyone any favors by inciting a panic. The stock markets took a major hit today and it's pretty much their faults. People wanted good news and the doomsaying is not helping things. Like I said, Omicron might be a positive if it takes over, but Biden is going full apocalypses with his statements and it's not helping a damn thing. 

Media fueling panic over new Coronavirus variant originating in South Africa.

 

A social distancing sign in the United Kingdom. Reuters. 

A new variant of the Coronavirus is causing major concern in the United Kingdom. Reuters. The new variant has not been given a popular name but is called  B.1.1.529. The new variant is majorly mutated on the spike protein, raising concerns that vaccines will not be effective against it. The variant was discovered in South Africa and has spread to the neighboring African countries, leading to a travel ban from the United Kingdom. However, it is unclear if the variant is more deadly or spreads easier than the original or Delta variants.  

My Comment:

Here we go again. As expected new variants are evolving and it looks like this one is the one the media is going to focus on. This was always going to happen but it remains to be seen if the new variant is more dangerous or infectious than the currently dominant Delta variant. 

 Indeed, there is reason to believe that new variants will be less dangerous than the original virus. That is what usually happens with viruses. They become easier to spread but much less deadly. So this new variant would be gamechanger if it is less deadly than Delta variant. 

The media is panicking over the possibility of the virus being resistant to the vaccines and it seems pretty obvious that will happen. Indeed, that is probably the reason why we are having so many problems with Delta. That variant is not totally suppressed by the vaccines and this new mutant type could be even worse, possibly. 

This should have been totally expected given the common knowledge of viral mutation and the fact that the vaccines were developed for the original virus. That virus is pretty much extinct now and has been for awhile. None of our vaccines are going to be effective against this virus because it has a different spike protein. 

The real fear is that the new variant might trigger original antigenic sin. In short, the immune system has trouble dealing with viral threats that they have dealt with before if the new virus is similar but distinct. The immune system gets locked into responding to the old virus and will not be able to deal with the new virus. However, it is unclear if this will happen with this variant or not at it seems like the threat has not materialized with earlier coronavirus variants. 

The limited effect of vaccines on new variants and the threat of OAS means I think we should transition away from our current vaccines. It's been clear for awhile that we will not vaccinate our way out of this mess, at least not with the current vaccines. It's insane to me that treatments are not getting more coverage and funding and even worse, we aren't trying to update the current vaccines or create new ones. Given the danger of new variants, including this new one from South Africa, we should change course. 

Editor's Note: Happy Thanksgiving!

 For all of my American readers, I hope you are having a safe and happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for all of you that read my blog and wish the best for you! Thanks again for reading! 

Locals in Waukesha are furious that suspect Darrell Brooks was out on bail.

 

Darrell Brooks arrest photo. Fox News/Wisconsin DOJ.

Local residents in Waukesha are furious that the suspect in the car ramming attack, Darrell Brooks, was out on bail. Fox News. Brooks paid an $1000 bond to get out of jail despite being arrested for multiple crimes, including felonies and a bail jumping charge. He also had a long criminal history, including sex offenses and other incidents where he hit people with his car. Local residents feel that Brooks never should have been on the streets. 

My Comment:

I think the people of Waukesha have a right to be upset about this case. As you may know the death count has increased by one as an eight year old boy died of his injuries in the case. With his death the total is now six. 

And Darrell Brooks? He is someone that never should have ever been out on the streets. His rap sheet is very long and include some very horrible crimes, including sex offenses on children and another car ramming incident. To let him out on bail was a huge mistake and it lead to these six deaths and dozens of injuries. 

From what I understand there were a couple of reasons why he got out on such a small amount. Part of it is the policies that Democrats put into place when it comes to bail reform. Indeed, AOC was tweeting about bail reform even after this incident. Their claim is that high bails discriminate against African Americans as many of them cannot pay (funny they don't frame it as discriminating against poor people..). The problem is that if you allow people with pending charges out on bail it means they are free to commit further crimes. Especially when the bond is a small amount of money that people aren't going to be too upset to lose. 

Incidentally, I think that is why we are seeing the framing of this issue the way it is instead of the racial angle I expected. I don't have any doubt in my mind that this was a racially motivated attack, given Brooks social media history. Given that he posted in support of Black Lives Matter and black supremacy groups, I assumed that would be the angle that conservative media would go with (with the mainstream media ignoring the case).

Instead, I think conservatives understand that bail reform is a dangerous issue for Democrats. They have made bail priority a major objective for them along with criminal justice reform in general. But now they have a major case that shows the obvious danger of such reforms. And to continue to advocate for it is a major mistake but one I don't think they can avoid. The inmates, like The Squad, are running the asylum in the Democratic Party so this is an extremely vulnerable issue for them. 

I do think that we need some kind of reform for our criminal justice system. Part of the reason why Brooks was out in the streets is because the backlog was so bad in Milwaukee County that he was given bail because the prosecution couldn't give him his right to a speedy trial. When crime is so bad that you have to release criminals before their trial something has to be done. 

Regardless, the people of Waukesha probably don't care too much about that. They just know that they were attacked by someone that had no business being on the streets, or, if they are honest, even being alive. These people had no reason to think that they were going to be attacked at a Christmas Parade, of all thigs. 

There was a lot of handwringing of whether this was a terror attack or not. I think the question is mostly academic and is mostly happening because the mainstream media actually liked Brooks rhetoric and beliefs. Compare this case to the Charlottesville incident where James Allen Fields hit several people with his car. He was denounced by the media instantly because of his politics even though he had a plausible case for self defense. Brooks doesn't even have that but the media isn't calling him a terrorist. He might technically not be as his motive has not been released but again, the media is totally hypocritical. 

Europe rocked by riots and protests against vaccine mandates.

 

A protester in Austria. New York Post/AP.

Europe has been rocked by a new wave of protests and riots aimed against vaccine mandates. New York Post. Protests and riots have broken out in Austria, Croatia, Italy, Northern Ireland, The Netherlands and even the French territory of Guadeloupe. In The Netherlands, riots and protests continued even after police opened fire on protesters yesterday. The country, which is 70% vaccinated, imposed a lockdown for three weeks. In Italy, people are protesting against Italy's so called "green pass" vaccine mandate. Riots even broke out in Guadeloupe, a Caribbean colony of France. 

My Comment:

Europe seems to be doubling down on things that have been proven not to work against the Coronavirus pandemic. They are going back to lockdowns and vaccine mandates even though those things have not worked in the past to stop the pandemic. We know that the original lockdowns failed to stop the spread of the virus and if the vaccine was going to stop it, it would have done so by now.  And those actions have a cost. 

Though the governments actions in Europe remain shockingly popular, there are a lot of people that have had enough. And they are, in the great European tradition, they are rioting to show their displeasure. To be sure, not all of the protests are violent, not even most. But there are a lot of people that are destroying things and being violent. 

I have mixed feelings on that. On the one hand I hate civil disorder and rioting. I said back during the Black Lives Matter riots back in 2020 that even if I were to agree with the rioters goals (I absolutely did not) I did not approve of the violence and damage to property. I have a visceral disgust of rioting in general.

On the other hand, I think these European countries are totally out of control. They have no right to demand people stay in their houses and take a vaccine they may not want. It's tyranny and tyranny should be opposed by any means available. 

But I usually think riots are unproductive at best and counterproductive at worse. I know a lot of people share my disgust with civil disorder and violence and it will turn those people off even if they agree with the rioters goals. And the people that don't agree? It will just allow them to demonize their opponents and for once they will probably have a point. 

What else can be done though? These governments are totally out of control and what other option do these people have? The elections might change things but that's a long term solution to a short term problem. And that's about the only other way I see this nonsense ending. 

Of course, I do think that the virus will probably go away on its own eventually. As I have said for a long time the virus is weakening and with so many people with natural immunity now, there are fewer people to infect. I have been saying for awhile now, at least here in Wisconsin, it's hard to tell there is a pandemic at all.

Once the virus does go away I do think there should be a reckoning. This pandemic was mishandled in 2020 but things got so much worse in 2021. We lost so many freedoms and for what? The virus spread even further and the governments did nothing to stop it. They gambled everything on the vaccine, and though it wasn't totally useless, it did not stop the pandemic. They need to pay a price for that. 

Car plows through Christmas Parade in Waukesha Wisconsin.

 

The aftermath of the incident. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 

A car has plowed through a Christmas parade in Waukesha Wisconsin, causing more than 20 injuries as well as fatalities. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Police said that 11 adults and 12 children were taken to hospitals but there is no word on confirmed deaths. The red SUV drove through the crowds and struck many people. Reports of shots fired were confirmed but it was from police officers trying to stop the incident, with nobody hit by the gunfire. At least one suspect is in custody while the vehicle has been recovered. No motive for the incident has been released. 

My Comment:

This is a breaking news story and as such the information here might be out of date fairly quickly. There is a lot of video of this incident on social media but because of the terms of service I am not going to be reposting anything here. There are live updates from both local and national sources. 

It is unclear if this was a deliberate planned attack or something else. Though I don't think it matters too much, even if this wasn't a deliberate attack a lot of people are hurt, traumatized and even dead. It's a terrible thing regardless. 

One of the rumors that I have heard on social media was that this incident was not a planned attack but was instead someone fleeing from a crime. If true that means this attack is even worse since instead of some political cause or terrorism plot this was just some guys trying to escape the police. Killing multiple people and injuring even more, including a bunch of children and elderly people just because you don't want to go to prison is horrible. 

It is possible that this was an planned attack. After all, ISIS pulled off a lot of these style of attacks before, most notably in Nice, France. Car ramming attacks have become depressively common so it's very possible that this attack is a copycat. 

As for motive, who knows? It could be anything at this point and like I said before the rumor is that this wasn't an attack at all. But I think everyone is thinking that this could be a retaliation for the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict. After all that happened in Wisconsin (in the same general area as well) and the suspects are black. Rittenhouse was defamed and called a white supremacist (even though he isn't and only shot white people), so I guess it is possible that this was some kind of demented revenge. And I guess it's also possible that it was an ISIS inspired terror attack as well. 

I personally don't know if this was an attack or not. Watching the videos it did seem like the driver was avoiding people at first. Indeed, there was a scary video of the SUV driving right by a small girl that he could have easily hit. It was only when the vehicle was blocked by a marching band that he started to run people over. That makes me think that the incident was not a deliberate attack. 

Regardless, even if it wasn't an attack, they need to throw the book at this person. If it was an attack, the reasons are obvious. But if it was not, it was one of the most selfish things I have ever seen. The driver didn't try to honk his horn to get people to move or get them out of the way, he didn't stop when he was hitting people and he fled the scene of the crime. I hope he never gets out of jail (assuming he acted alone). 

I have to say that I always though these kinds of events were extremely vulnerable to attacks. Though police were on the scene they were not able to stop the attack. The barriers that they had didn't do a thing to stop the driver and once that happened there wasn't much they could do to prevent the casualties. That is true for most parades that don't have some kind of concrete barrier. Plus, since this guy came from behind and people were playing loud music, there was no warning for the victims until the music stopped and people started screaming. 

Finally, it is very strange for me to be writing about my home state. I don't live in that part of the state, but I do know people in the area and I was briefly worried that someone I knew might have been injured or killed. I think everyone is fine but the fact that I was even was thinking about that makes this case a lot more personal than most of these kinds of incidents... 

Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all counts

 

Kyle Rittenhouse reacts to the verdict. Fox News/Reuters.

Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17 year old that shot and killed two rioters and wounded one more during the Kenosha riots, was acquitted on all counts today after a lengthy jury trial. Fox News. Rittenhouse had been charged with two counts of 1st degree intentional homicide, one count of 1st degree reckless homicide and two counts of 1st degree reckless endangerment. Two weapons charges were dropped by the judge after it was clear that he hadn't met the conditions of the charges. Rittenhouse showed great emotion during the reading of the verdict and briefly collapsed. The judge praised the jury in the case and reminded them that they were under no obligation to speak about the case. 

WATCH AGAIN: KYLE RITTENHOUSE LEARNS HIS FATE AT KENOSHA TRIAL pic.twitter.com/XgGnuzypzf

— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 19, 2021

My Comment:

I have been waiting to write this post all week. I had figured that the jury would be done deliberating in minutes, not days and it is amazing that the deliberations lasted as long as they did. From what I understand there was a couple of holdouts and I guess they got worn down over time. Thankfully this case is finally over. 

It's very obvious by looking at the reactions to this case who was actually paying attention to this story and who was not. I saw a lot of bad takes on Twitter and Facebook about this case that had absolutely no knowledge of either the simple facts of the case or the laws in my great state of Wisconsin. It has been obvious for a long time that Kyle Rittenhouse did nothing wrong under the laws of Wisconsin. 

Video was probably the deciding factor of the case. The video showed very clearly that Rittenhouse was attacked and only opened fire after trying to retreat. It showed Joseph Rosenbaum acting like a terrible person, picking fights, saying the N-word and generally being a menace. It showed Rosenbaum chasing Rittenhouse and Rittenhouse only shooting when he was cornered and could no longer flee. It also showed Anthony Huber beating Rittenhouse with a skateboard after he fell and Gaige Grosskreutz pulling a hand gun before getting shot. With that video being out there and the jury apparently understanding Wisconsin's use of force law, no other outcome was really possible. 

There was fear though that the jury would pull a reverse jury nullification due to intimidation. Nothing was done to keep Antifa and BLM away from the jurors and MSNBC went so far as to send a reporter to tail the bus the jurors were on. Many people felt that the holdouts were doing so because they were afraid of retaliation. So far it's unclear if that was the hold up or if the jury was stuck on some aspect of the case. 

I honestly don't think we will see any riots over this verdict. For one thing it's November in Wisconsin. Rioting is not a winter activity and with temps below freezing I can't see people staying in the streets. If it was summer I wouldn't be so sure but right now I doubt it will happen. Plus I don't see the Democrats gaining anything from allowing and encouraging riots this far out from a Presidential election. 

I do think that the Rittenhouse case did essentially stop the 2020 summer of love that destroyed so many of our inner cities. Kenosha was the last hurrah of 2020's violence (other than Portland where it continues to this day) and I think Rittenhouse was the cause of that. His actions, fully justified by self defense, showed Antifa and BLM that there actually were going to be consequences for their actions if they continued doing what they were doing. Plus I think the Democrats finally caught on that people were sick and tired of the rioting after the outpouring of support for Rittenhouse. They finally and quietly pulled the plug on both groups since then.

What was clear though is that both the traditional and tech media really screwed this case up. They disparaged Rittenhouse from the start, falsely calling him a White Supremacist and lying about the facts of the case. Big tech was hardly any better, banning support of Rittenhouse even though it was pretty clear that he was innocent. I myself caught a 12 hour ban on Twitter for saying that Rittenhouse was a hero and the people he shot were communist scum, a statement I continue to stand by. All of these people should be brought to heel and I hope that Rittenhouse sues the pants off of them.

I do fear that Rittenhouse may not be out of the woods yet. The federal government could potentially charge him as well, though for what I have no idea. The case was open and shut self defense and I can't think of a federal crime he committed but the FBI also has no soul and neither does the current occupants of the executive branch. If that happens expect a major backlash against the federal government, beyond what is already happening. 

As for Rittenhouse I do hope that he keeps a low profile from now on. I don't want him to turn out like George Zimmerman. Zimmerman was correctly acquitted as well, but his life turned into a joke after that and he largely embarrassed himself with his behavior afterwards. I don't want to see Rittenhouse go down the same path and I want the kid to have a good life. 

I do think that the Rittenhouse case does have some good lessons for people. I don't have a problem with him going to Kenosha to try and help people but I do think he made some major tactical mistakes. The most obvious is that he didn't have anyone to watch his back. Though Joseph Rosenbaum was totally unhinged and possibly suicidal he probably would not have picked this fight if Rittenhouse was backed up by a few of his buddies. Going it alone is why Rittenhouse got into this mess and if there is a lesson learned here it's make sure you have someone watching your back. 

I also have to say that I find the people on the left praising Rosenbaum, Huber and Grosskreutz baffling at best and disgusting at worse. All three had criminal records and none of them acted with any honor that night. Rosenbaum was by far the worst being a serial abuser and rapist of children and also somehow gets a free pass at using the N-word. And Grosskreutz had his life spared by Rittenhouse, who had every right to shoot him when he came up on him with a gun while he was on the ground and incapable of fleeing. He then raised his hands and when Rittenhouse lowered hid gun, Grosskreutz tried to murder him. How he escaped with out an attempted murder charge is beyond me. None of these people were in anyway good and the left trying to say otherwise is a joke. 

This was a big win for the idea of self defense. If there had been a conviction in this case the right to self defense would simply no longer exist in America. The fact that charges were even filed was extremely disturbing. But it seems clear that, in Wisconsin at least, you still have a right to use deadly force if your life is threatened. As a citizen of the state I am relieved. 

I do think there should be consequences for the prosecutors in this case. Their actions were totally out of control and I think the judge would have been justified in dismissing the case with prejudice. I think the only reason he didn't is because he would have been crucified in the media by doing so, but their actions were bad enough that it would have been worth it in my mind.

Indeed, the prosecutors tried to use Rittenhouse's silence against him, a huge violation. They also ignored the judges orders and even went so far as to screw the defense out of exonerating video that showed Rittenhouse never raised his rifle until he was attacked. If the left was smart they would actually work with Republicans who are outraged with this case to get some kind of prosecutorial reform passed, but that simply won't happen. 

Even ignoring the flat out unethical way the prosecution was handled, I have to say that the prosecutors should just be fired based on performance issues. Their own witnesses hurt their cases greatly and it wasn't a good look for them to constantly badger witnesses. They came off as bullying and extremely unlikeable.

As for the defense, a lot has been made of them not objecting enough but it seems to have worked out. A lot of people questioned putting Rittenhouse on the stand but I think it was a gamble that pulled off. Having him explain in his own words what happened that night probably helped him with the jury and absolutely did with the court of public opinion. Not everyone agrees with that though and I can easily see how it could have backfired spectacularly. But in a high profile case like this it's important to get your defendants story out there. 

Finally, I have to say that I personally was disgusted that this case was every filed in the first place. It caused me to lose whatever little faith I had in the system, and even Rittenhouse's acquittal doesn't change that. It was clear from the start that he was not guilty of the charges he was brought up on and that they were only filed because he was inconvenient to the powers that be. They wanted to punish him, not because he did anything wrong, but because he screwed up their plans to try and win the 2020 election. They should face consequences for that... 

MSNBC booted from Kyle Rittenhouse trial after a producer was arrested for tailing the jury.

 

Judge Bruce Schroeder. The Federalist. 

MSNBC has been banned from filming the Kyle Rittenhouse trial after a producers was arrested for blowing a red light while tailing a bus that the jury was on. The Federalist. The jury is in deliberations for the case and are taken home in a blacked out bus everyday. The producer, James J. Morrison, was described by Kenosha police as following the bus and was pulled over after blowing a red light. He was cited for the traffic violation and released. However, police believe that he was trying to photograph the jurors. NBC News confirmed the details of the case but argued that Morrison had never intended to take any photographs, raising the question as to why they would have Morrison follow the jury in the first place. Judge Schroeder called the incident very serious as he banned the new outlet from the trial. 

Judge: "A person who identified as James Jim Morrison and claimed that he was a producer with NBC News, MSNBC under the supervision of someone named Irene Byon" was pulled over for following the bus of Kyle Rittenhouse jurors last night.

Judge bans MSNBC from courthouse pic.twitter.com/PQ6RPCdDtz

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) November 18, 2021

My Comment:

I was hoping I would be posting about the verdict in the Rittenhouse trial at this point but jury deliberations are taking much longer than expected. Indeed, it's actions like MSNBC's here that appear to be the reason. From what I understand there are rumors that the holdouts in the case are worried about retribution which is why they haven't come back with a not guilty verdict. I am sure we will find out if that is true or not soon enough. 

Regardless, MSNBC and the media in general look terrible here. Even if the explanation given for these actions is true, that the media is just trying to get the jurors information so they can interview them after the trial, it's really scummy and could potentially damage the integrity of this trial. The jurors have to now be aware that, at the very least, people are following them home and it's not clear how much they know about the reasons why.

But I honestly doubt that MSNBC was acting, well, not in good faith, but within the normal bounds of scummy media behavior. I think they were trying to influence the outcome of this trial. It seems very clear that they wanted to send a message to these jurors. We know where you live and know who you are. Find Rittenhouse guilty regardless of the evidence or else. 

Can we prove that is what happened? Not yet. Indeed, it would take the communications between the MSNBC reporter, Irene Byon and this freelance producer, James Morrison. The good news is that if/when Rittenhouse is acquitted he is almost certainly going to sue MSNBC to find out. This goes beyond liable and it seems pretty obvious that the media was directly trying to harm Kyle Rittenhouse. 

I also have to point out that even if the slightly less disgusting explanation is true, the fact of the matter is that MSNBC knew or should have known how their actions would be taken. It was widely reported on Twitter that the case was deadlocked because of fear of retribution. Regardless if that is true or not (I tend to believe it but you never really know)

Either way, this trial has gone on for way too long. I think the judge should have declared a mistrial at least a dozen times as they prosecutors were totally out of control. Along with the media intimidation and the fact that nobody has cleared out antifa and BLM from the courthouse I am certain that Kyle Rittenhouse is not getting a fair trial. 

Could Kamala Harris be fired as Vice President?

 

Kamala Harris and Jill Biden. Fox News/AP.

Fox News had a report suggesting that Joe Biden could be looking to remove Kamala Harris as Vice President. Citing the apparent bad relationship between the Biden and Harris camp and her extreme unpopularity, the Fox News hosts suggested that Harris could be replaced, either during the 2024 campaign or even before that. A report from a congressional source said that both the Senate and House were preparing for the possibility of a confirmation hearing for Vice President. However, Biden's camp denied any tensions between Harris and the Biden camp and downplayed any rumors. 

My Comment:

I have to admit that this report is extremely thin. It's just based on opinion and one anonymous source that said that congress might be preparing for it. That's not much to go on. Indeed, this story could end up being absolutely nothing. 

Indeed, I usually don't post things about stories that are this thin. I have to admit to this being wishful thinking on my part. Though I am no fan of Joe Biden to say the least, I have more trust for him being President than Harris. Considering I think that Biden is completely senile and possibly deliberately destroying America, that's really saying something. I think Harris is incompetent, annoying, evil and stupid and I would love to see her replaced. 

I do think that there is some obvious tensions between Biden and Harris though. That makes sense as the wheels have come off of the Biden White House almost from the beginning. I don't think I have to list all the problems America has that doesn't seem to matter to the White House, but there are a lot of them. And we can see that Americans are sick of it. Both Biden and Harris have negative approval now and the 2021 elections were widely seen as a rejection of the Biden agenda. 

I think part of the tension between the Biden and Harris camps is how poorly that Harris handled the immigration issue. Famously she absolutely flubbed the question on why she hadn't visited the border. It made her look dishonest, annoying and arrogant and after that she has basically disappeared into the background. That is probably a major reason why Harris is causing problems, she basically had nothing to do now, which for an ambitious person like her probably has to be hell. 

I think the best evidence of the tension is the fact that the White House denied to so specifically. If the story was obviously false they would have just ignored the story but they specifically denied it. It makes me think that there probably is something there. 

Biden may be thinking that he should get rid of the dead weight. By getting rid of Harris, he would get rid of her rock bottom approval rating and could perhaps get a boost from another running mate in 2024. Hiring someone like Pete Buttigieg could do that pretty easily, even though he has his own competence issues. 

I do think some people would be very upset if Biden cuts Harris loose though. Harris was supposed to be the first black/indian woman to hold high office and to have her resign or be fired in disgrace would infuriate the people that actually care about those things. As much as I would love to see those people angry, I don't know that Biden does. 

We do have to consider that there may be an alternative explanation to the report that congress is considering VP confirmations. And that is the fact that Biden is in poor health and in rapid decline. I have said for awhile now that this is not the Biden we knew from the Obama White House or even the 2020 campaign trail. He seems to be in the early stages of dementia and is in poor health and could simply drop dead at anytime. 

But it is possible that he is either going to resign on his own or even be pushed out. Like I said Kamala is an ambitious woman and she might be planning on getting rid of him. And I think deep down Biden and his handlers know that he is no longer capable of taking care of himself, let alone being President of the United States. I generally think that congress is preparing for Biden to step down or die as that seems more likely than Harris getting cut loose. 

Coronavirus cases are spiking again. What is the cause?

 

By Alexey Solodovnikov (Idea, Producer, CG, Editor), Valeria Arkhipova (Scientific Сonsultant) - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, 

As you may be aware Coronavirus cases are spiking in the United States and Europe. Europe is getting so bad that new lockdowns may be going into place. And things are getting relatively bad in the United States as well. 

So why is this happening? I think some of this is part of the usual winter surge that happens with all respiratory viruses in northern climates. Since the weather is turning and getting cold, people are going inside and spreading the virus. This also explains why Florida is having fewer cases recently, all the people that were staying inside are now coming out due to lower temperature. 

That explains some of it. But it doesn't explain it all. The Coronavirus was basically gone in the United States over the summer before the delta variant spread here. And the vaccination campaign looked successful in many states, with most states having more than 70% vaccination rates for qualified people. 

I think part of this is due to widespread testing. Many companies have instituted mandatory testing for the virus, including mine. Some of these cases are probably false positives from these tests. Others are minor cases that people wouldn't even realize that they were sick. This probably accounts for some of the case increase because of Biden's mandates.  

The elephant in the room though is the vaccine is not the panacea we thought it would be. We now know that the vaccine does not keep people from catching and spreading the virus. It may be somewhat effective in preventing hospitalization and deaths and may have some reduction in transmission (or it could be worse) but it is far from the solution we thought it should be. 

As an aside, I am not anti-vax. I took it myself and I encourage people that are in vulnerable categories (the elderly, the obese, people with immune system problems and so on). I probably won't be getting the booster but both my parents did and I didn't have a problem with that. But I also wouldn't recommend it for children unless there is a damn good reason to do so.

So why are the vaccines having problems? I think the big problem is that they have not been updated in anyway since the delta variant came out. They are all based on the original Wuhan strain with I believe is functionally extinct. The virus has mutated quiet a bit since the original strain and the vaccines have not caught up. 

With the reduction of effectiveness from the vaccines it has given an opportunity to bounce back and we aren't really that close to getting herd immunity. With the virus spreading we will probably reach it someday but I don't think the vaccines will get us out of this pandemic. We will just have to wait until enough people get it and then it will fade into the background. It won't ever go away completely though. 

Given the vaccines fading effectiveness, it is fairly idiotic that the global focus seems to be on vaccination and vaccination alone. It's been clear for awhile though that we won't vaccinate our way out of this with our current vaccines. I know a few more are in development, such as Novavax and a few others, but they might have the same problems. 

I think it would better to focus on getting effective treatments. But the media and medical community have been shooting down every treatment, usually with studies that don't even address how the drug is supposed to function. I know that a few companies have drugs in trials but we need those drugs now and doing so would be a much better use of our resources. 

People need to understand that we have only eliminated two diseases, and one of them, Rinderpest, wasn't even a human disease. Smallpox was different as it was only found in humans. Unlike smallpox, Coronavirus is able to infect most mammals, to the point where they are vaccinating zoo animals now. But we can't vaccinate everything and even if we did, we now know that they could still get sick and spread the disease. For what it is worth, we can't eliminate this disease with our current levels of technology. 

I am hoping this last major wave of the virus though. At some point it will run out of people that haven't been infected. People will have natural antibodies and eventually it will fade into the background. I don't think it will ever go away but I think it will fade into the background like most other cold and flu viruses. We just need to hold out until that point. 

Fishing year in review...

The biggest fish I caught this year. 12.4 lbs Channel Catfish. 

It's been a slow news weekend and I haven't been able to think of anything else to post about so I thought I would do a little review of how I did fishing this year. As you may know, though I have been fishing my entire life, this year I went more than I have ever gone before. I've been exploring the fishing spots up here in Northeast Wisconsin and I have caught a ton of fish. 

Indeed, I have caught quite a few new species, including smallmouth bass, white perch, white bass, white crappie and round gobies (ugh). I have also broken my personal best for several species, including channel catfish (twice, first a six pounder and then the above pictured 12.4 pounder), sheepshead (freshwater drum, 6 pounds) and possibly green sunfish. Some other notable catches include a 5 pound sheepshead, and quite a few eater size catfish. 

But it hasn't been all good. I was trying to catch walleyes or sauger all year and I never caught one once. I also missed out on northern pike and muskie even though I had a pike on the line and at least saw a couple of muskies. I have caught pike before but I have never caught a muskie, so it was a bit disappointing. I also lost a ton of lures and lost a couple of decent fish. I had a couple of times where I was either skunked or only caught round gobies (which are extremely common in Lake Michigan and its tributaries). 

I also had a few species that I kind of wanted to cross of the list but didn't. There is the aforementioned muskies but I also wanted to catch lake whitefish as well. I saw a bunch of them caught (or more accurately snagged) but I didn't get one myself. I also wanted to cross off black crappie from my list but the only ones I caught were white crappies. 

I guess I am done fishing for 2021. I know the fish are still out there but my chances to do so are basically done since daylight savings time. I rarely have free time in the early afternoon or morning so it's either trying night fishing or staying at home and I'm not set up well for night fishing. 

I do have goals for 2022 for fishing. I might try ice fishing again, which I haven't done since I was a kid. And I might try fishing specifically for lake whitefish, though I have heard they are somewhat difficult to catch. And next year I might get a trout stamp and try to get brownies or salmon during their spawning run. 

The one thing I didn't do is try and cook anything I caught. Part of that is due to the water I fish tends to be pretty polluted. As much as I like catfish, I sure wouldn't want to eat them out of the rivers I catch them out of. I had considered keeping some of the perch I caught but I never caught enough to make it worthwhile. I think I want to try and catch, clean and eat fish next year. I'm not very good at cleaning fish but I don't think I would have any problem cooking them. 

Another thing I am considering is buying a boat or fishing kayak. The problem with both is storage and transportation but I am hoping I figure out a way to get past it. Doing one or the other would probably greatly increase my chances of catching big fish. To be honest though I had a lot of luck with shore fishing this year, so it really isn't necessary. 

 

Appeals court affirms hold on Biden's vaccine mandate.

 

Biden speaks. Fox Business/Getty.

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the hold on Joe Biden's vaccine mandate. Fox Business. The court ordered OSHA to take no action to implement the mandate until further court orders. Biden had ordered that all businesses with at least 100 employees had to either vaccinate all their workers or force unvaccinated workers to take mandatory Coronavirus tests, with the testing option discouraged and not paid for by the government. After dozens of lawsuits were filed, the 5th Circuit Court put a hold on the mandate but the order was largely ignored by the Biden administration. In the affirmation, the Appeals Court said the mandate could cause massive financial damage and could decimate the workforce. 

My Comment:

The legal case against the vaccine mandate continues. Of course it won't matter to the Biden White House. They have told businesses that they should prepare to follow the mandate anyways, even though the mandate is likely to be overturned. Biden has done this before with his idiotic handling of the eviction moratorium. The courts said it was unconstitutional and let it be because it was expiring anyways but then Biden had to go and extend it and was quickly overruled by the court. I expect Biden to do the same thing here, ignoring this court order. 

I still think that the case will likely overturn the order. The Fifth Circuit Court sure seems to think it is a major violation of rights and hugely damaging as well. And they point out that the risk for the unvaccinated isn't uniform with people who have already gotten the virus being protected by natural antibodies. 

The logic is circular as well. In order to protect the unvaccinated we have to fire them so they won't spread the virus to other unvaccinated people? It makes zero sense, especially for much of the workforce that is at very low risk from the Coronavirus. I don't see the virus being a major threat any more with most people either vaccinated or with natural antibodies. 

I also have long argued that the vaccine is not the way out of this mess. At least not with the current vaccines. They were, of course, developed from the original Wuhan strain of the Coronavirus. That strain has been extinct for quite some time now (though I am sure it still exists in the Wuhan lab that accidently let it out). Now the Delta variant is out there and though the vaccine has some effectiveness against it, it isn't anywhere near enough to stop the pandemic. Mandating these vaccines might have worked against the original strain, but it makes no sense now that the virus has outpaced them. 

I am sure the Biden White House knows this and it makes me wonder why on earth they would mandate the vaccine? It's clear that it won't stop the pandemic and has major side effects, up to and including death. 

On the one hand I want to conclude that Biden and his administration is just actively waging war on people that disagree with them. We have seen that with his political prosecutions of the January 6th protesters and his recent targeting of Project Veritas. It's very clear that the Democratic Party no longer believes in the idea that the rest of the country deserves anything but scorn. Putting millions of people out of work who probably disagree with Biden on a lot of things is just punishment in their minds. They don't care that a huge number of their own supporters will suffer as well (vaccine hesitancy is high among the black community). 

But that almost seems like giving Biden too much credit. His administration has been a dumpster fire with dumb move following dumb move. It's hard to figure out what their goals are because they honestly seem totally untethered from reality. They have been arguing that inflation isn't happening and when they finally admit that it is they say it is a good thing. They truly seem to be high on their own supply. 

Part of it might just be an aspect of the current liberal mindset. Unlike most conservatives who see the Coronavirus as just a hardship that must be endured, the left seems to think that the virus is a problem that can and will be solved through human intervention. Never mind the fact that we have only ever been able to destroy one virus through vaccination and even then it took decades to stop smallpox. In their mind there is a tech solution and the reason it is failing is because not enough people are taking the vaccine. It never even occurs to them that maybe, just maybe, it's beyond our current capabilities even if we had 100% vaccination. To me that seems incredibly obvious but I am guessing that many on the left and in the Biden administration don't understand it. 

What I do know is that these vaccine mandates are doing incredible damage to the United States. A lot of good workers are getting fired for essentially no reason. Many of these workers are totally irreplaceable during normal times, let alone during a time of economic chaos. All of our economic woes, and there are many of them, will be compounded by firing these people but Biden wants to go ahead with it. I just hope the courts stop him with prejudice. 

Finally, I have to say that the whole vaccine mandate has been a total stab in the back to America's critical workers (of which I am one). These people put their lives on the live all through 2020 at a time when no vaccine, no treatment and even no PPE was available to them. A whole lot of them got sick and some even died. 

For awhile they were called heroes for keeping the country up and running. Your doctors and nurses, your truck drivers and grocery store workers, and all the other people that never got to work from home and worked through the entire pandemic. Now many of these people are being utterly demonized by the left. As far as I am concerned, if you were a critical worker you more than earned the right to have control over what you put into your body. They already did their part, don't punish them now. 

Consumer price index spiked 6.2% raising fears over out of control inflation.

 

A help wanted sign. New York Post/AFP.

The consumer price index spiked 6.2% in October compared to this time last year. New York Post. It was up 5.4% in September and is the biggest increase in the measure since 1990. It is the fifth month in a row that inflation has been over 5%. Prices increased across the board with energy, shelter, food and new and used cars causing much of the issue. Medical care and furniture also saw increases while air fair and alcohol actually decreased in value. Some of the inflation is due to the growth of travel industries that were hurt by the Coronavirus. The inflation is wiping out wage growth with real wages falling at .5%

My Comment:

This story broke yesterday but I thought it was important to cover. In short everything is getting expensive as hell and I largely blame it on the policies of the Biden administration. It's not entirely the fault of policy makers but a lot of it is. 

I do think that some of this inflation is natural. There is an effect from the Coronavirus lingering. People are traveling again and spending money on vacations, which is causing some growth in those industries. That was probably inevitable and not much can be done. Indeed, if it wasn't for the rest of the inflation, it would probably be a good thing. 

The car shortage is causing a part of the inflation as well. Most of that is due to the lack of new cars due to the problems they are having in China making computer chips. That means a lot of factories don't have the parts they need to build new cars, which means prices for both used and new cars are increasing in prices. Indeed, I checked the value of my cars and my SUV is worth more than I paid for it two years ago and the 11 year old sedan I have more than doubled it's value compared to a couple years ago when I was considering trading it in. Most of this is organic but I do think Biden has compounded the supply issues due to his ineptitude at handling logistics. 

The majority of this inflation is due to Biden's incompetence and terrible policy. The most obvious is the fact that the Biden administration is printing money like it is going out of style. He and the Democrats are spending trillions of dollars and is paying for it by just printing money. That is an obvious and dangerous source of inflation and it's going to get worse with the effects of the stupid and unnecessary infrastructure bill. 

Giving tons of people a lot of money for nothing in the name of coronavirus recovery has cause a lot of this as well. All those people got paid in printed money and then they spent a lot of it instead of saving it. They didn't really pay their bills, they just generated more of them and it hasn't helped things. 

But I think more than anything else it is Biden's stupid, unconstitutional and evil vaccine mandate that is going to cause the most problems. Firing 20% of the workforce is going to destroy the economy in so many ways but raising prices is the most prominent. And even if people take the testing options, the government isn't paying for it so the costs will be passed onto the consumer. 

It will also make our logistic nightmare even worse, further raising the costs of transportation. Truckers and other transportation employees are probably even more vax resistance than the general population. Firing them will cause dramatic problems and may make the inflation problem irrelevant. 

So how do we lower prices? Simple, stop doing everything Biden wants. Higher tariffs on products would result in other countries devaluing their currency, lowering prices. Drilling for oil and building new pipelines will lower gas prices. And stopping printing money would do a lot to slow this inflation.

None of this will happen under Biden though. He and the Democrats appear to be totally unable to change course and that means that things won't change until 2022 at the earliest, assuming the Republicans take the house and senate. The real question is if the country will last that long...  

Could the migration crisis between Poland and Belarus lead to war?

 

Polish troops put up barbed wire on the border. Politico/AFP/Getty.

A migrant crisis between Poland and Belarus is raising fears of a major European war. Politico. The weapon is 2000 migrants stuck between Poland and Belarus. Poland does not want the migrants but Belarus will not let them back in. Poland has closed their border with Belarus in response and have accused Moscow of coordinating the move. Belarus' leader, Alexander Lukashenko, would have difficulty launching a war against Poland but it is possible that the situation spirals out of control. Poland is a NATO member and Belarus is allied with Russia, which could lead to a major war. But a smaller scale conflict is more likely than a major European war. 

My Comment:

The long period of European peace has been a historical oddity and one that will not last forever. I do think that a major war in Europe is likely and perhaps inevitable. We have seen a few small flare ups but remember, Europe is a continent that has seen war since human habitation begun. This situation could be the think that sets it off. 

I'm not convinced that this is a conspiracy with Russia though. Belarus does not need Russia to tell them to try and get rid of their migrants, that seems like a very logical and basic thing to do. Nobody wants these supposed refugees and everyone understands that they are more of an invasion force than anything else. Pushing them off on Poland makes sense. 

And, of course, Poland's refusal to take these people makes sense as well. Poland is a more conservative country and seem to better recognize the threat that unchecked migration can cause. They have no real need for these people and don't want to take care of them. 

As for the migrants themselves, they should just head back to where they came from. It's one thing to try and get a better life but it is another to be used as a hand grenade that could be used to start up a war. Plus hanging outside in November weather where they are has to be uncomfortable. Wouldn't it be better for these people to just go home? Even Afghanistan sounds a bit better than this. 

Could a war break out? Sure. Border skirmishes have turned into actual wars before. And Belarus has been extremely aggressive lately, to the point where they have even cut down the fences that Poland has put up. All it takes is one person firing a shot or throwing a punch and it could escalate into a shootout. 

I don't think either country is ready for a war though. Poland's more ready, as they have been improving their army quite a bit. They also have a bit of combat experience in Iran and Afghanistan, so I think their army is competent enough. Belarus though is a basket case and I don't see them being able to do much of anything. They have an Army that is dramatically smaller than Poland (62,000 to 150,000) and their equipment is outdated. 

The situation does remind me of World War I. That war, a small conflict between relatively unimportant countries brought the whole continent to war. That could happen again. NATO would almost certainly support Poland and Russia could support Belarus. And I think hawks in the west are going to exploit this situation to make the Ukraine situation even worse (incredibly some Republicans are calling for deploying troops there). 

I do think that the situation will probably be resolved peacefully. One thing Poland could do is take the migrants in and then just deport them. The EU might like it, but it would totally defuse the situation. Plus even if there is some kind of skirmish that doesn't mean there would be a full scale war. We saw similar situations recently, India vs China, Russia vs Turkey, India vs Pakistan and so on and so forth. My guess is that peace will probably prevail but it is something to pay attention too. 

Biden Administration says they are looking at shutting down the Line 5 pipeline in Michigan, which would lead to exploding fuel prices.

 

Pete Buttigieg and Karine Jean-Pierre. Fox News/Getty.

The Biden Administration admitted today that they are studying shutting down the Line 5 pipeline in Michigan, a move that would almost certainly lead to exploding fuel prices in the Midwest. Fox News. Spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said reports that the administration was planning to shut down the pipeline were "false" but did say that the issue was being studied by the Army Corp of Engineers for environmental impact. There have been talks about replacing the pipeline, which is the source of a dispute between Michigan and Canada, but this is unrelated to the issue. The pipeline caries 540,000 barrels of oil a day from Canada. With energy prices surging people are afraid that shutting down the pipeline would cause even more economic damage. 

The Embridge Line 5 Pipeline in Read. RetireLine5.org

My Comment:

I should point out that I live in Wisconsin so I am not anywhere near objective on this issue. Indeed, this seems like a dagger pointed at our throats and I am angry that this is even being proposed, let alone be studied. 

The core of this dispute is the environmental impact of the line. In general environmentalists hate fuel lines period. Which forces fuel to be transported via train and truck, which increased the costs, fuel use and environmental impact. In short it is nonsense. 

An actual concern is that the pipeline could leak and given it's location between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron that would be a problem. But it one that is easily solved by regular maintenance. I think the chances of a pipeline leak is extremely low. And it's not like the alternate routes are much better in that respect. 

What is really concerning about this is that it is causing an international incident with Canada. Canada is dependent on the United States and its fuel imports for much of its economy. Closing this line would cause them untold economic damage. It's not something they would go to war over but it is something that will sour our relationship with them and make it much more difficult to gain concessions from them on other issues. Given my extremely low opinion of Canada's current leadership and the electorate that hasn't tarred and feathered him, I do feel a bit of schadenfreude here, but still, it's not wise to piss off one of our stronger allies for basically no reason. 

I have said before that if Biden's Administration was actively making war on the lower and middle classes you wouldn't be able to tell the difference from what he is actually doing right now. My guess is that he's mostly incompetent but I can't help but see malice in trying to shut down Line 5. Gas prices are high enough already and other than rent it's one of people's biggest expenses. I know I have been paying about $10 more each fuel up and that has only been going up. 

This has trickle down effects on the entire economy. Everything that is transported gets more expensive when fuel prices go up. And people have a lot less money to spend on goods and services if they are putting a large portion of their paychecks into their gas tanks or home heating bills. It is a huge drain on the economy. 

And our economy is in shambles right now anyways. Not only are energy prices going up, inflation is as well. Plus we are in a nationwide logistics disaster with goods sitting in ports for weeks and shortages showing up everywhere. Putting more pressure on a system that looks close to total collapse seems absolutely stupid, as if their goal is to destroy the United States and its economy. 

Finally, I have to say that all of this was unnecessary. Under President Trump our fuel prices were low, production was up and we were energy independent. Indeed, we were so energy independent that we were actually exporting energy, and making a mint at it too. But now? It's amazing how much damage Biden and his administration has done. 

Kamala Harris approval rating is even worse than Joe Biden.

 

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. USA Today/AFP.

USA Today released a poll today showing bad news for Joe Biden and his agenda. That's fairly big news on itself but I think they are ignoring something very important. Kamala Harris, the supposed Vice President, has an even lower approval rating than Biden. 

Biden is limping along with a 38% approval rating. That's pretty terrible, and in line with other polling I have seen. People do not like him to say the least and say he is doing a bad job. He's also doing damage to his party and many Democrats are wishing he would just go away. 

But if Biden were to leave the White House, Kamala Harris would be President. That thought should terrify Democrats based on this polling. According to the USA Today poll, Kamala's approval rating is only 28%, with 51% disapproving. 1 in 5 don't have an opinion on her at all. That's a huge problem for the Democrats as I don't know if Biden will make it through the end of 2024. If she does become President I see her polling being the worst in the modern era. 

Speaking of 2024, Kamala Harris is the heir apparent for the Democrats against Trump, or whoever the Republicans put up assuming he doesn't run. Nobody thinks that Biden will be willing or able to run in 2024 and that leaves Harris. But given her massive unpopularity there is a very good chance that someone else could beat her in the primaries. Who is a good question, I think that the Democrats have utterly exhausted their bench in 2020 and beyond. 

Why is Harris so unpopular? I think there are a ton of reasons. The most obvious is her personality. Harris always struck me as an insincere, annoying and arrogant person. Her voice is shrill and mocking and she does not have any warmness or even toughness. She's just not that good of a politician. Honestly, Hillary Clinton did a better job of being likeable and that's really saying something. 

But I think her job performance as Vice President has been pretty terrible as well. Indeed, the fact that 1 in 5 people don't have an opinion on her at all shows that she has been basically invisible. When she has made the news, it has not been good for her. She was put in charge of the border and that has been an absolute unmitigated disaster. Even other Democrats hated what happened with the Haitian migrants and she has widely been seen as ignoring her job on the issue. She also had a clueless answer when she was challenged about not visiting the border. She said she hadn't been to Europe instead. 

Harris defenders will probably say that people dislike her because of her gender and color. I don't think that has much to do with it. There are other female politicians that are more liked than her and there certainly non-white ones as well. There might be a few racists that dislike her for that, but I would think even most of them dislike her for her personality and policies. 

As I said, the Harris invisibility is a big problem as well. Showing up and being incompetent would be one thing, and it was bad for her. But now? She isn't making the news at all. I can't remember a single thing she had done lately, she has totally faded into the background. It's like we don't even have a Vice President right now. 

Some of the Harris dislike is just because Biden is unpopular as well. And the Biden policies have been disastrous at best. But it goes beyond that. Harris is personally unlikeable and I don't see her having much of a future. Her performance as Vice President might not keep her from being President, after all she is only a heartbeat away from the position. But I can't see her ever winning a national election again and with these poll numbers she shouldn't even try. 

Biden's vaccine mandate put on hold, judge cites "grave statutory and constitutional" issues with mandate.

 

Joe Biden. Reuters.

Biden's vaccine mandate has been put on hold by a 5th circuit court judge citing "grave statutory and constitutional" issues with the order. Reuters. Biden had said the rule would go into effect on January 4th, which would require vaccination for all employers with 100 or more employees, with a possible weekly testing alternative. 100 million people fell under that rule. As soon as it was announced, dozens of lawsuits were filed by states and private parties. It was the Texas lawsuit that resulted in the stay. The Biden administration is expected to fight the ruling. 

My Comment:

Well, that didn't take long did it? As expected a court ruled that Biden was in the wrong with his mandate. Generally speaking everyone was expecting this as the kind of action goes far beyond the scope of OSHA and was almost certainly going to face a major legal challenge. Indeed, this is not the only lawsuit and I am honestly expecting more stays like this one and for the mandate to be overturned eventually. I doubt it will ever actually go into effect. 

But the damage is being done regardless. Many of the companies in America are following the mandate even though it isn't in effect now and isn't likely to be in the future. Indeed, my place of employment has begun weekly testing for the unvaccinated (and even random testing for those of us that got the jab). They haven't fired anyone for not taking the vaccine but other companies are and it is causing absolute chaos. 

Firing people over vaccine mandates is stupid, even if it's not required by the government. It's stupid during the best of times as you are letting go of a lot of valuable employees that will not be easy to replace. Especially since many of these people are you best workers. But now with an employment shortage? It's incredibly stupid and damaging as those people will largely not be replaced. This is going to result in a major brain drain for American businesses and I don't think they realize it. 

I do think that the Biden White House expected this mandate to fail. OSHA mandates like this often fail and the legal grounds for the mandate were never good in the first place. It's very possible that this is like Biden's attempt to keep the illegal eviction moratorium that the CDC had no authority over. In that case the Supreme Court warned him that it would be overturned but he did it anyways. 

Why do it like this? For a couple of reasons. For some reason, a few Democrats are still extremely worried about the Coronavirus and want something, anything, to be done. The vaccine mandate would do next to nothing to stop the spread of the virus but it would look like something was being done. And when the courts overturn it? Well, then Biden can just use that as an excuse if the virus comes back. 

But honestly that seems like giving Biden too much credit. Instead of incompetence it might have just been malice. It seems as though just about everything domestic that Joe Biden has done in his short term in office has been to punish normal working and middle class people. He seems to hate them personally for some reason, and you know his party does. It really may be as something as petty as wanting to see people that disagree with him suffer. 

I do worry that the Supreme Court might be iffy on this issue. They have refused to take cases about vaccine mandates for colleges, inexplicably. It's possible that Justice Roberts isn't the only one on the court that it corrupt...  

If the cases all fail what then? Nothing good. This mandate will not be tolerated by the millions of workers that would be effected by that. We have already seen that the soapbox has been taken away from us. And the ballot box will do us no good since there isn't an election between now and when the mandate takes effect (on purpose I might add as it would have likely changed the outcome of the already suspicious New Jersey race). With the Jury box failing that only leaves one box left... I better not say what that box is but at this point it seems inevitable that our country is heading to violence.