Mosque in Kabul targeted in ISIS suicide bombing leaving 50 dead.

 

File photo of Khalifa Sahib Mosque. The Daily Mail.

A mosque in Kabul was targeted by an ISIS suicide bomber leaving 50 people dead. Reuters/The Daily Mail. The exact numbers are unclear but many more may have been injured in the attack and the death toll could grow, with one source claiming as many as 200 deaths. The Zikr prayers that were being performed in the mosque are considered heretical by hardline Sunni groups like ISIS. The attack happened on the last Friday of Ramadan, Islam's holy month and a common time for terror attacks. ISIS has made a resurgence in Afghanistan after the Taliban took over, with today's attack being one in a series of attacks mostly targeting mosques. 

My Comment:

I apologize for using the Daily Fail as a source here but to be fair, it's not like I had many options. Reuters appears to be the only wire service picking this story up and I'm out of free articles from them this month. The only other news outlet I found reporting on this was The Guardian and their article wasn't as good as The Daily Mail's. I honestly think the reporting is fine at The Daily Mail, it's just the sidebar links are so distasteful. 

I am not surprised that the media is mostly ignoring ISIS's resurgence in Afghanistan. It brings up the uncomfortable fact that Joe Biden totally screwed up Afghanistan. They would prefer the country remain out of the news for the foreseeable future lest people remember that when Trump left office the Taliban hadn't taken over and ISIS was mostly destroyed. 

But I get the feeling that Afghanistan is going to be in the news more often now. The Taliban's hold on the country is fragile and ISIS is running amok at the moment. It's also now fighting season in Afghanistan so if a civil war were to break out now would be the time. ISIS is clearly gearing up their terror attacks with this major bombing just being the most severe and most recent. It's hardly the only one though as several other mosques have been bombed as well. 

I am not sure what the actual problem with the Zikr prayers are. ISIS has a problem with it but from what I understand it's a Sunni Islam practice. ISIS usually targets Shiite Muslims but also regularly target Sunni ones that they disagree with and I guess that's reasoning enough for them. It doesn't make much sense to me though. 

ISIS has also started to attack Pakistan as well and I worry that they might used the failed state of Afghanistan to continue to do so. The Taliban's hold on the country is not strong in all places and they might be too busy just trying to survive to deal with ISIS. 

The other problem for the Taliban is that their opponent is fairly evenly matched. It was US airpower and fire support that helped the former Afghan government get ISIS under control. The Taliban will not have that this time around and it will essentially be light infantry vs light infantry, which neither side will have that much of an advantage. The Taliban do have a major artillery advantage and captured a lot of US gear but even then it's not going to be a curbstomp when the two sides finally do engage in warfare. 

As for ISIS I do fear a resurgence from them. Many of their enemies are distracted right now. Russia is obviously bogged down in Ukraine while all of Europe watches on. The United States is just plain out to lunch with a President that probably doesn't even remember his own name half the time, let alone knows what to do about ISIS. 

The good news is that Afghanistan is isolated enough that even if ISIS were to take over much of the country it would only be a long term threat, not a short term one. There isn't much infrastructure left to capture there and that is what is needed for ISIS to launch major international attacks like they were doing between 2013 and 2016. Without wealth ISIS will remain on the backburner. 

Joe Biden request $33 billion (!) in new funding for the Ukraine War...

 

Joe Biden has requested an additional $33 billion in new funding for the Ukraine War. BBC. The money would include $20 billion in military aid, $8.5 billion in economic aid and $3 billion for humanitarian aid. Despite the massive escalation Biden insisted he was not at war with Russia. Biden made the announcement on a day that the American economy declining 1.4% in the first quarter. Despite this, the massive spending will likely be approved by congress. 

My Comment:

This is a classic example of throwing good money after bad. The Russians have started to succeed in Ukraine and are probably going to win the war. All the military aid in the world will not help if there is nowhere to deliver the weapons. And given that the Russians are now targeting supply convoys many of this aid will never reach the front lines in the first place. 

I also think that the aid that the Ukrainians are going to get isn't going to help that much. Russia has learned from the initial stages of the invasion and is now changing tactics. Instead of their mass tank attacks and airborne assaults, they are using mass artillery strikes to destroy Ukrainian units. Anti-tank and anti-air missiles won't do much against artillery. 

And this money could be spent on so many other things. Though I am opposed to reducing student loan debt, $33 billion would go a long way to accomplishing that. And it could be used to help fix our struggling economy. Or simply not spend the money at all, given the Biden administration's penchant for wasting money. 

 I hate that there is no honest debate about the Ukraine War. It doesn't help that pro-Russian sources are being censored. I am not a supporter of Russia but I do think they should have a right to make their case without western media lying about what that case is. And Biden just announced that he's making his own version of a Ministry of Truth to make sure that any Ukraine skeptical viewpoints are further marginalized and blocked. Regardless, I doubt that there will be any serious resistance against this spending bill from either party in Congress. 

What really scares me about this is that Biden is obviously lying about the United States not being at war with Russia. It's very clear to me that his goal is regime change in Russia and if America is going to have to eat a couple hundred nukes to accomplish that goal that's a price Biden is willing to pay. 

Russia, very obviously, knows this and have admitted as much on their state television channels. They are weighing the costs and benefits of using nuclear arms and given Biden's constant efforts to make every single issue way worse than it has to be I wouldn't be surprised if the Russians decide that they have no other choice. 

I am not expecting any resistance to this bill but if there is it will because social media has largely moved on. The news cycle moves fast now and Ukraine and Russia are not anywhere near the biggest news story. Elon Musk buying Twitter killed the story dead for most of the country. But even with that I expect this bill to pass and for America to get closer to a war with Russia that nobody should want.

The Department of Homeland Security will create a disinformation governance board...

 

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Fox News/AP.

The Department of Homeland Security will cerate a disinformation governance board. Fox News. Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the board would be created during house testimony. A representative had asked him what DHS was going to do about supposed disinformation among minority communities.  Nina Jankowicz has been tapped to head up the board. 

My Comment:

The mainstream media is largely ignoring the story though it has not gone unnoticed on Twitter. They have dubbed it the Ministry of Truth, after the novel 1984. The concern here is obvious, the Department of Homeland Security is going to try to censor information in minority communities. With that being said, there is not a lot of information about this other than what the Mayorkas and Jankowicz have said. But it's obviously a disturbing development. Jankowicz has been on record saying that the Hunter Biden laptop story was "Russian disinformation" showing how committed to the truth she is. 

It's also very obvious that this is nothing more than a cynical ploy to try to somehow prop up the Democrats 2022 chances. The Democrats know that many minorities are sick of them and their approval rates among Hispanics especially have dropped massively. Even African Americans are reducing their support of Democrats. 

Of course the Democrats could have instead tried to change their policies to appeal to these groups but that doesn't seem to be in the cards. They could simply drop the woke crap that Hispanics dislike (like calling them Latinx) or actually do something, anything, for the black community. But no, they are going to censor things instead. 

Supposedly this effort is going to focus on "disinformation" based on immigration and Ukraine. I am guessing that means that if you say true things about both, such as illegal immigrants are criminals or Ukraine and Russia are different sides of the same coin you could get a visit from DHS. Perhaps it will only target foreign news outlets and individuals but I have zero faith in that even if such a thing was desirable in anyway. 

The most disturbing thing about this is that a government agency is going to pretend to decide what is real and what is not for pretty obvious political gain. The government is not supposed to do that and it's a sure sign that the government is no longer legitimate. I also consider it to be election interference, it's an obvious attempt to make people vote the "right way" and not the way that is best for the people. 

Another problem is that far too often "disinformation" is often just what happened. I mean how many times have we heard a story was false only to find out that it was in fact true? The Hunter Biden story, the lab leak theory, Hillary Clinton's e-mails and so on and so forth. The media had to eat crow on all of those but if there is a government agency making sure that those stories die, what chance do we have to learn the truth? 

If there is good news about this it's that Republicans will defund this when they take power in 2022. Things are going so bad for the Democrats that even government censorship can't help them much. Inflation is totally out of control and historically the ruling party loses seats in the 1st midterm election. Hopefully by that point they can legislate this Ministry of Truth out of existence. 

Russia cuts off natural gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria.

 

A gas worker in Belarus. Fox Business/AP.

Russia has cut off natural gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria after the two countries refused to pay for gas in rubles. Fox Business. The suspensions would be the first after Russia told "unfriendly" countries that they would have to pay in rubles or be cut off. Only Hungry has agreed with this demand. Poland and Bulgaria will suffer greatly due to the cut off since Poland gets 45% of their natural gas from Russia while Bulgaria gets 90% of their gas from Russia. The shipments will stop this Wednesday. Europe is especially vulnerable to cutoffs of natural gas as much of their energy comes from the fuel. 

My Comment:

Looks like Russia is playing hardball. This is going to utterly cripple the economy of Poland and Bulgaria. They are largely dependent on Russia's natural gas and don't have alternate sources set up. They are going to lose billions of dollars if this issue isn't resolved quickly. 

The only good thing is that home heating isn't quite as relevant now that it is spring. I'm no expert on European climate but I am guessing they are past the point where people will freeze to death if they can't heat their homes. It will be uncomfortable to be sure but you can survive it. 

But heating homes is just one of the problems. People won't be able to afford to buy electricity either and that's a major problem in a modern country. Without power the economy shuts down and you can't do much of anything. And people could die because of it, if you can't power things like hospitals and traffic lights. 

Will the people of Bulgaria and Poland put up with this? I am not sure. I do know that both countries hate Russia and want them to suffer but living without power or heat is not something that most people can tolerate. If the governments can't offer a solution, and soon, it's very possible they will face huge pressure to either change this policy or change their government... 

I don't think that Russia will suffer too much from this policy. They are going to lose out on some money but they have switched their focus to selling to non-European countries. They have largely recovered already from Western sanctions and I think they can afford to cut off a few countries. If they cut all of Europe off at once they will be in trouble but this strategy should work better. 

I also understand why Russia chose these two countries. Poland has been crucial in the effort to supply Ukraine with weapons. If they were somehow pressured into giving up that, or become unstable due to the effects of this cut off it would make it much harder to supply Ukraine. And Bulgaria just happened to be a country that just left Russia's orbit. It makes sense that they would be punished as well. 

I think that Europe is having to pay a massive price here for questionable goals. The United States has admitted that their goal is to cripple the Russian military and if it means that Europe goes without energy that's a small price to pay. I understand that Europe does have good reason to be afraid of Russia, of course, but it makes little sense to cripple their economy over the whims of the United States... 

US war goal in Ukraine? Cripple the Russian military...

 

Sec Defense Lloyd Austin and Sec State Antony Blinken with Zelenskyy. BBC/EPA.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin says that the US goal in Ukraine is to weaken the Russian military. BBC. Austin made the comments after meeting Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He said that the United States wants the Russian military crippled to the point that it can not do something like it was doing in Ukraine again. He was also optimistic that Zelenskyy could still win the war against Russia. The comments are unusually strong and may anger Russia, who has accused the United States of attempting to destroy Russia. 

My Comment:

There it is again, a Biden official saying the quite part out loud. This is not helpful rhetoric and will likely infuriate Russia. Russia is already mad at us for everything we are doing to them and given that they are a nuclear armed nation it would be wise if Austin would tone down the rhetoric. 

I think this strategy is an extremely wasteful one, largely because I don't think Ukraine can actually win the war against Russia. To be fair, I don't think that Russia can beat Ukraine in terms of taking over the whole country either, but it's not going to go the other way, where Ukraine pushes Russia out of the areas they have conquered as well as the Donbass republics and Crimea. We are just throwing good money after bad here. 

Is Russia being weakened in Ukraine? I think so. Though it's hard to tell how much damage has been done, but they have lost a lot of armored vehicles along with a few airplanes. Not to mention some of their best troops. From what I understand, Russia's airborne units, the VDV, have largely been destroyed. Plus they lost the cruiser Moskva, which is not something they can easily replace. 

But I don't think they have lost that much in the way of capability. They still have huge numbers of tanks, fighter jets and ships. I don't see them being able to simultaneously invade another country right now but if the war in Ukraine ends I think they would be able to do the same thing again. Their losses are heavy but most of them are replaceable. 

The other problem is that Western sanctions have not been anywhere near as effective as they suspected. Most non-Western countries have ignored the sanctions, most notably China, India and Brazil. Plus Europe has been unable to ween themselves off of Russian oil and gas. They may have lost access to some supplies but they should be able to rebuild their forces. 

I do think that our efforts to punish Russia have ended up weakening us. We may lose the dollar being the reserve currency, which would be an utter disaster. That's the worst case scenario but even then, we are depleting our stocks of anti-tank and anti-air missiles, which could be a real problem if China gets frisky with Taiwan. Sanctions have also hurt the west a lot more than it has hurt Russia. We need Russian oil, gas, fertilizer and crops and it's going to be extremely painful economically to continue these sanctions. 

Twitter accepts Elon Musk's bid to buy the company.

 

Elon Musk. Wikipedia user Duncan Hull.

Twitter has accepted a multi-billion dollar deal from Elon Musk to buy the company. CNBC. The deal is for $54.20 a share, which would be worth $44 billion. The move would make Twitter a private company again but it would need shareholder and regulator approval. Musk has been interested in purchasing Twitter on free speech grounds. Twitter regularly bans user accounts for opinions. Musk has a history of using twitter and is one of the most popular users there. If the deal goes through Musk has said he will add new features to twitter, including more transparency on algorithms, defeating spambots and allowing all users to be verified. 

🚀💫♥️ Yesss!!! ♥️💫🚀 pic.twitter.com/0T9HzUHuh6

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 25, 2022

My Comment:

From a purely economic standpoint, I don't think this deal is worth it for Musk. There is no way that Twitter is worth $44 billion, indeed, I would be surprised it is worth $1 billion. Twitter never seems to make money and they don't really seem to have a functional way to monetize content compared to other social media. I know they have advertisements and sponsored tweets, but that's about it. 

But I don't think this about money for Elon Musk. I generally think it's more about his image and brand. Musk is a social media creation and much of his brand is dependent on him being able to reach millions of people via Twitter. If Twitter were to ban him (and believe me they were considering it before this drama) he would probably lose millions of dollars. 

With that being said, I do think Musk is a true believer in free speech. Twitter is the public square, receives money from the federal government and often deletes content and bans users on the whims of government officials. Musk wants them to live up to the commitment to free speech and stop banning users over nonsense. 

What, exactly, that entails is still a mystery. People are acting like Musk will simply undo the banhammer that was dropped on millions of accounts but it's not that simple. We might see some of the users banned in the past, including President Donald Trump, back on Twitter but it's also possible that we won't. 

I also don't think that free speech will be totally free on Twitter even with Musk in charge. For example, I doubt you would be able to say the n-word on there, though I have no idea why you would want to. And I think you would still be able to catch a ban for legal but offensive speech. I doubt it will be the kind of free for all you see on Gab, for example, but it will still probably be better than it is now. 

But I do hope that moderation is looser than it is now. I have gotten a ban for something that is undoubtedly protected speech. I called Kyle Rittenhouse a hero before he was acquitted and caught a 24 hour ban. Given that I was right and Rittenhouse acted in self defense, it was infuriating. Hopefully new Twitter will acknowledge that there is more than one side to an issue and allow different views. 

Even if nothing changes but what Musk said in his Twitter post it will be a major improvement for Twitter. Simply understanding how the algorithm functions would make Twitter a lot more useable. And Musk is right, the spambots are out of control on Twitter. I can't tell you how many times I have seen dozens or even hundreds of accounts saying exactly the same thing. And as for verification, I haven't even tried to get a blue checkmark because Twitter is notorious for not handing them out to conservatives. If you are a liberal who works at buzzfeed and you have 25 followers, you will get verified but even some of the biggest stars on the right in this country have not had their accounts verified or even more stupidly, have had their verifications taken away.  

But keep in mind that this isn't quite a done deal just yet. The shareholders and the federal government could end up blocking this deal. I am not worried about the shareholders at all but the Biden White House might want to stop this. Biden owes his fake presidency to social media censorship and I don't even think that's controversial. If the Democrats lose Twitter they lose the White House in 2024, no question. That means they might just do anything, legal or otherwise, to stop this deal from happening.... 

Emmanuel Macron wins 2nd term in France.

 

Emmanuel Macron celebrates his win. CNBC/AFP.

Emmanuel Macron has won a 2nd term as President of France against Marine Le Pen. CNBC. Macron got about 58% of the vote compared to Le Pen's 41% in an election that had widespread disinterest from voters. Compared to 2017 2% fewer voters participated in the 2nd round of elections. Macron ran as a pro-EU centrist while Le Pen softened her right wing views and focused on the economy. Macron is the first French president to win a 2nd term in more than two decades. 

My Comment:

As expected Macron won a 2nd term. There was some hope that Le Pen would overcome her name but it didn't happen. Le Pen has lost three times now and I think it is long past time to replace her as the presidential candidates. She has always been hampered by her father, who was credibly accused of racism, and even though people shouldn't judge people based on their families, she always has been. From what I understand she also did pretty terrible in her debate against Macron, which probably didn't help things.

It also seemed like neither candidate really excited people. Turnout was low and was even less than 2017. People didn't really like either candidate. Macron is a smarmy globalist and Le Pen is a black hole of charisma who is tainted by her family. Both the far left and far right had better candidates to support and once they were eliminated neither side wanted to vote for the lesser evil. 

I think for France this is essentially status quo ante. I don't think Macron will go too nuts after being reelected, he does have to worry about parliamentary elections. But he will still be doing things I disagree with, like sending aid to Ukraine and strengthening the EU. But I do think that Macron has moved closer to the center compared to his first term. Time will tell if that was just a ploy for reelection or if he really is more centrist. 

I don't put too much stock into reports that riots have broken out due to the results of the elections. France's national sport is to riot and it would be more surprising if they didn't riot. I don't expect anything to come from this, just like nothing much happened from the Yellow Vests protests. 

One major problem for Le Pen was that one of her signature issues, Islamic terrorism, is no longer the hot button issue it once was. France still has major problem with their Islamic population but ever since ISIS was destroyed it's no longer a salient issue. I think the people of France were foolish to ignore the issue and will pay a high cost for it in the future. 

Western officials concede that Russia can still win the war in Ukraine.

 

A damaged building in Mariupol. Reuters.

Western officials concede that Russia can still win the war in Ukraine despite heavy casualties and some failed objectives. Reuters. Vladimir Putin did not manage to capture the capital of Kiev and has retreated from the northern part of Ukraine, but is starting a major offensive in the Donbass region. An official said to Reuters that if Putin is able to get his forces to take the area he would create a land bridge to Crimea, which would be a major victory in the war. Russia then would be in position to launch further attacks against the capital of Kiev. Western officials have also said that Russia is getting better at command and control, with armored formations being more effective with less traffic jams compared to the initial stages of the war. 

My Comment:

Russia certainly has seen some major setbacks in the war against Ukraine. Their northern offensive targeting Kiev is largely seen as a failure. Even if you buy that the entire campaign was an effort to draw forces away from the Donbass region, making the forces there easier to destroy, you have to admit that the Russians paid dearly for that distraction.

Even worse, Russia has had some major embarrassments during the war. They have had several minor attacks inside their borders by Ukrainian forces, including incredibly embarrassing helicopter attacks. But the biggest embarrassment of them all was the loss of their flagship, the guided missile cruiser Moskva.  

Russia clearly made some mistakes in the war. I don't think they thought that the Ukrainians would put up as much of a fight as they did. They underestimated how effective western arms would be against their tanks and aircraft. And they also never seemed to get their logistics together in the Northern front. Plus, they foolishly decided to invade during "mud season" meaning that many of their attacks were not able to deviate from the highways unless they wanted to get stuck in the mud. 

With that being said, I do think it is likely that Russia manages to take Donbass from Ukraine. Though they have taken heavy casualties they can still win a more limited war where they focus on taking Donbass and establishing their land bridge to Crimea. 

Why? There are several factors that are in their favor. First, the terrain in Donbass is a lot more open and less urban than the area around Kiev that bogged them down in the North. This means their tanks and APC's should be able to maneuver better. It's also no longer mud season so they also should be able to take their armor off road. 

Ukraine is also on their last legs. They have gone through weapons so fast that the western governments are running out of anti-tank and anti-air missiles. Germany has said they have no more supplies to give and I don't think it will be long before the same is true for other European countries. The United States can do so for longer but I have already heard grumblings about how much we are spending on Ukraine. 

I also think that their casualties have been as bad or worse than Russia's and they are less able to sustain them as well. More pointedly, they lost a ton of their best troops in the Mariupol region, which is now under Russian control. It's a lot easier to replace weapons than it is to replace people and unlike Russia they don't have a near limitless supply of conscripts to do so with. 

Americans also don't seem to understand Russian psychology at all. I am far from an expert but I do think that the Russians are a lot more tolerant to casualties than we are in the United States. World War II is in living memory for these people and to say that Russians are used to tragedy is an understatement. I don't think we will see people turning on Putin just because casualties are high. 

I also think that the Western strategy for cutting Russia from the world economy has worked at all. The Ruble has largely recovered since the war and Europe is buying more Russian oil, not less. And much of the world does not seem to care about Western sanctions at all, with major economies such as China, India and Brazil continuing normal trade with Russia. The sanctions have been more damaging to the United States and Europe than it ever was to Russia. 

Could Russia lose the war? I am not sure. I can't see the Ukrainians mustering up a large enough offensive to push Russia out of all the territory they have taken just in this current war, not to mention Crimea and the Donbass Republics. I also don't see even a status quo antebellum happening either, where Russia keeps Crimea and the Donbass Republics, but nothing else. 

I could see Russia's offensive in Donbass sputtering out and the front lines stabilizing, leading to a stalemate. They have lost a lot of arms and equipment and cannot easily replace them and if the Ukrainians fight hard enough they could stop the offensive. I do not find that likely though. 

But I also don't see a total Russian victory, where they capture Kiev and hang Zelenskyy, likely either. I don't see them taking Kiev given the high costs that it would entail and the fact they tried once and failed. There is a tiny chance that the Ukrainian military collapses but I don't see that happening. 

I think the most likely outcome is that Russia captures Donbass, says enough is enough, and then ends the war. That would accomplish most of their goals and would put Ukraine in a position that they would have to accept at least some of the Russian demands. They won't get their territory back and won't join NATO and when that happens the killing should stop. 

Will it be worth it for Russia? That's a good question. I know they didn't want Ukraine in NATO and were losing millions of dollars providing water and other resources to Crimea via ship. And the sanctions against them likely won't last and are doing more damage to their enemies then they are doing to themselves. 

But on the other hand, they have lost a lot of face during this war. The losses they have suffered will be hard to replace and I don't see western relations with Russia recovering anytime soon. Some of their losses, such as the cruiser Moskva, will not be replaced period. It might end up being the very definition of a pyrrhic victory...

Bernie Sanders hints that he may run in 2024...

 

Bernie Sanders has hinted that he may run in 2024 if the Democrats have an open primary. Fox News. Bernie Sanders was the runner up for the Democrats in 2016 and 2020. Sanders sent out a memo to his supporters saying that he had not ruled out a run in 2024. Sanders is notable in that he is even older, at 80, than Joe Biden, who is 79. If he were to be elected he would be the oldest President ever. However, it is unknown if Sanders would run if Joe Biden were to run, which he has already indicated that he will. 

My Comment:

I have no idea if Sanders is serious here but it would be funny if the Democrats trotted out someone who is even older than Joe Biden for their candidate in 2024. To be fair to Sanders, he is a lot more healthy, spry and articulate than Biden, though that isn't saying much. Still, you have to wonder about the wisdom of having a man in his 80's running for President. 

I kinda think that Sanders just wants to raise money again. He probably realizes that he is too old to run again but he could act as a king maker if the 2022 and 2024 elections. If he fools his supporters into giving him a ton of money he could put that money to progressive causes. 

But it could be real. There is no doubt that the Democrats are getting sick of Biden and progressives are more frustrated than anyone else in that side of the political spectrum. There is absolutely an opportunity for someone to steal the nomination for Biden. Biden's approval rating is in the gutter and he has broken many of the promises he made during the campaign. 

I think there is also a real chance that Biden won't even run in 2024. He's an old unhealthy man and he might not even be alive at this point, or so senile that they can no longer hide it. There is also a decent chance he gets removed from office if the Republicans take the house and senate in a landslide and they get a few Democrats on board for a 25th amendment or impeachment. And even if he is still healthy he might just decide that he either can't win or it's no longer worth trying. 

I also have to wonder who else the Democrats would even choose at this point? A lot of their more credible candidates have been tainted by their association with the Biden administration. Kamala Harris is even more unpopular than Biden, somehow. And why would they go with someone like Hillary Clinton, who has already proven she can't beat Donald Trump?

On the other hand, a lot of Democrats despise Bernie Sanders, going so far as to rig the primaries against him. Remember, Sanders was the front runner until all the other candidates dropped out before South Carolina, where Biden was able to get the foothold he needed to be the candidate. Many Democrats see Sanders as an unelectable socialist who isn't even a member of the Democratic Party. I could see them screwing him over yet again... 

As for me personally, I don't like Bernie Sanders but I do prefer him over Joe Biden any day of the week. Biden is a terrible president and I also don't think Sanders would be a good one. But I think that Sanders would be a better president in terms of foreign policy. Sanders may have many terrible faults, but he is a lot more anti-war than Biden. He would ensure that America collapses but it would be a long term one, not one triggered by a nuclear conflict with Russia. That alone makes me hope that if he does run against Biden he wins. 

The Biden Administration will sue to reinstate mask mandates on planes.

 

People wearing masks on a flight. New York Post. 

The CDC has instructed the Justice Department to prepare to appeal a federal judges ruling ending the mask mandate on federal transportations. New York Post. The ruling ended mandatory masking on US flights. There was uncertainty with what the federal government was going to do but today they announced that they will appeal the decision. The CDC claims that masks help against the Coronavirus and the mandate is necessary for public health. This is despite the fact that almost all other mandates on the federal, local and international level have been removed as the virus fades in relevance and danger. 

My Comment:

Well, I was planning a possible vacation soon, but those plans are all on hold now. There is zero chance of me getting on a plane if these restrictions are in effect. I don't believe that masks help all that much but more importantly I don't believe that the federal government should have the authority to make us wear them. 

I think the CDC's arguments here are baffling. The current strains of the Coronavirus are not a threat to the vast majority of people. The vast majority of people have been exposed to the virus and have natural antibodies and though the efficacy of the vaccines are debatable, most people have taken it. Most cases of the Coronavirus now are either minor or totally asymptomatic.

In short, there is no reason to do this, so I think it's more about power. Biden and the CDC do not like the fact that a federal judge overturned them. They want to be able to impose their will on others and won't let a single judge do a thing to stop them. 

What is shocking about this is that it was a free off ramp for the Democrats. Mandatory masking was and is a losing issue for them. Nobody cares about the Coronavirus, outside of China, anymore. Sure, there is a small minority of people that will be wearing masks the rest of their lives, but those folks are an extremely loud but extremely minor group that isn't actually important. And they would vote for Democrats regardless, so there is no downside in just letting this ruling stand. 

But they are not and I think it will cost them. People were ecstatic when the ruling was lifted and I don't think they can put the genie back in the bottle. Getting rid of the mask mandate was one of the rare good news events we have had since Biden took the White House and to take it away again is just cruel. People aren't going to see this as a necessary medical intervention, they will see it as a petty act from a tyrant and they will want to see the people responsible for it kicked out of office. 

Of course the issue will be moot if they lose this case as well. Will that happen? I have no idea. In a perfect world the Justice Department would laugh this out of court but I have very little faith left in the courts to do the right thing instead of what they think the federal government wants. It's very possible that the ruling will remain in place but I don't think you can put money on it either way. 

Joe Biden has told Barack Obama that he actually intends to run in 2024...

 

Joe Biden and Barack Obama. New York Post/AFP.

Joe Biden has told former President Barack Obama that he actually intends to run in 2024. New York Post. Biden is 79 and if he were to serve for both terms he would be 86 by the time the 2nd term ended. Most people assumed that Biden was not telling the truth about running in 2024, thinking it a ploy to avoid accusations of being a "lame duck" president. Biden reportedly thinks that he is the only Democrat that has a chance to beat Donald Trump in 2024. Polling suggests that Biden would struggle against Trump and his approval rating has cratered since he took the White House. Biden has also said repeatedly that he would keep Kamala Harris as her VP. 

My Comment:

It's important to note that the original report only relied on anonymous sources. There were two of them but still, they don't identify who the people are and how they came to got this information. I tend to believe this story as it matches what Biden has said publicly but I would be remiss not to mention that I always have a level of distrust for stories that rely on anonymous sources. 

I do have to say that even ignoring every single political aspect of this I don't think Joe Biden has any business running for president in 2024. It's very clear that he is in no way healthy enough to remain president, let alone run in 2024. He has gone through a major mental decline just since he has taken office, let alone from his days as Vice President. To be clear, I don't think it's just his age that is a factor here, it's the fact that he is going senile and may not be able to function at all by the end of the year, let alone in 2024. 

Politically speaking, I can't imagine that Biden actually runs. Biden's approval ratings are falling to the point where most people disapprove of him and Donald Trump was doing much better at his point of the presidency than Biden. Almost everyone is disgusted with him and do not agree with anything that he is doing. 

The Democrats have to know this and I can't imagine that they are happy with Biden's job performance. Though he is just a puppet, he has made many huge gaffes and mistakes. His personality is abrasive and he has presided over an economic collapse. 

I can't see Biden beating Donald Trump (or even Ron DeSantis). People will remember the years 2016-2019 and know that since then it has been terrible. Biden was in charge for much of that and people will likely want to go back. I don't think Biden legitimately beat Trump in the first place so the rematch will likely favor Trump. 

If Biden does run there is going to be a primary challenge. And barring something incredible happening, I think he loses. The Democrats don't have much in the way of a bench, but even someone like Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, both of which have had failed presidential campaigns, would do better than Biden. I can't imagine people wanting to stay on the sinking ship that is Biden. 

All of this assumes that Biden makes it to 2024. His health is declining quite quickly and there is a very good chance he doesn't make it to campaign season. And it's possible that the stress of a renewed campaign could kill him dead. And that's not even mentioning the fact that he might be totally senile by then. 

There is also a decent chance that Biden gets impeached and removed. I don't think many, if any, Democrats would go along with that but it is possible that the Democrats get wiped out in 2022. If that happens then Biden could be removed from office, for any of a dozen or so valid reasons. He could also be removed via the 25th amendment, I think he qualifies given his obvious senility right now, let alone as his condition will decline...

The mask mandate for US airliners and other forms of transport is finally done...

 

Travelers in Miami International Airport on Labor Day weekend 2021. CNBC/Getty. 

A federal judge has overruled the CDC's federal mask mandate for airlines and other public transportation with the TSA saying that they will no longer enforce the mandates. CNBC. The judge said that CDC did not provide enough reasoning to justify the mandate and did not allow the public to comment on the rule change. The CDC says it will still recommend masks on planes. The mandate had just been extended to May 3rd but is now gone. The mandate was one of the few still in effect for the United States despite a major drop in cases and weaker coronavirus variants being widespread. 

WATCH: Passengers applaud as Delta flight crew announces masks are optional, effective immediately

pic.twitter.com/ai8oAXEsEL

— Election Wizard 🇺🇸 (@ElectionWiz) April 19, 2022

My Comment:

Much like yesterday's post about China's lockdown, the CDC's mask mandate made no sense. The Coronavirus is now endemic and the current variants aren't a threat to anyone but the most weak and vulnerable people in the country. It is somewhere between a flu and a cold in terms of severity. 

The other problem is that I don't think masks do all that much. The viral particles are small enough that they can get through cloth masks and even n-95 masks. They may help a little but given the almost zero threat for people that have either been exposed to the virus and/or have been vaccinated, there is no reason to keep the masks. We don't enforce masking for cold viruses or flu viruses and it's clear that the current strains of the virus are at that level now. 

It's strange that the government was still pushing the mask mandate. The virus is nowhere near the threat it once was and masks did very little. I know there is an argument that planes and other forms of public transportation are especially good for spreading the virus but I am not even sure that is true. In airplanes at least the air goes through filters pretty often so it probably isn't any worse than being that close to a large number of people inside a building. 

The other thing is that pretty much all other mandates have been gotten rid of. I know for me personally I haven't worn a mask outside of work for more than a year and I haven't worn one at work for months. I also haven't heard of anyone even getting the virus since the winter. For all intents and purposes the pandemic is over. 

I am glad that the Biden administration appears to have admitted that they have lost here. I don't know if they will file an appeal but they are at least following the judges ruling. Biden has ignored those rulings before when he feels like it. At least in this case he hasn't ordered the TSA to ignore the ruling. 

As for myself, I might actually decide to take a vacation this year. I haven't been on one since my trip to Las Vegas in 2017. I was planning one for 2020 but that was ruined by the pandemic and I told myself I was not going to fly until the restrictions have been lifted. With the restrictions finally gone I might be able to take a trip this year. 

China's Coronavirus shutdowns spread beyond Shanghai...

 

Chinese workers wearing protective clothing in Shanghai. PBS/Reuters.

China's coronavirus shutdowns have spread beyond Shanghai which may lead to major economic harm. AP. Though Shanghai has loosened some restrictions, many other smaller cities are beginning to lock down as well. This will have effects on the Chinese economy which could lead to a rescission. Another fear is that China's lockdowns may disrupt the planting season, at a time when a global food crisis already seems imminent. China has pursued a "zero-covid" strategy long after most governments have abandoned most or all coronavirus restrictions. Despite the restrictions, coronavirus cases have increased in China. 

My Comment:

First, the good news. The major lockdowns and restrictions in China has had one good economic effect here in the United States. Gas prices have fallen around 50 cents due to a lower amount of demand for fuel in China. Turns out when you shut down huge cities like Shanghai demand craters and that has been good for the US consumer. 

But the rest of this news? It's absolutely terrible. The cities that are being shut down by China are some of the biggest ports and manufacturing hubs in the world. Products are not being made and the ones that are being made aren't being shipped. This will make our current supply crisis even worse than it was already and will likely contribute to the logistical crisis that also plagues our ports. 

I'm especially concerned about China disrupting their own planting season. There is already a food crisis, not only in China but globally. I have written about how wheat prices are going to skyrocket, not only because of the war in Ukraine, but because of failing winter wheat crops in both China and the United States. Keeping those farmers home and not in the fields will only make this problem worse. I don't think the Chinese will starve but their actions may cause people in the third world to starve as it will increase prices and perhaps make food too expensive for third world countries to afford.  

I do get the sense that people in China are near their breaking point. A lot of people are losing everything to these restrictions and many are afraid that they won't even be fed. That is why there are videos on social media of people getting into fights with the police and health officials. At this point they have very little to lose. 

The sad thing is how completely unnecessary this is. The current strains of the Coronavirus are not a threat to any but the most unhealthy people. Even in Shanghai, the vast majority of cases are completely asymptomatic. The virus now is the equivalent to a bad cold or a weak flu for most people and not anywhere near the threat the original Wuhan strain of the virus was. 

It makes me wonder if the Chinese people understand this. In my state pretty much all restrictions are gone and everyone is basically living normal lives now. Do people in China see how people here in the United States are living? Or even how people in formally restrictive countries in Europe are living now? If they are, how can it not be building resentment? 

I just don't understand why China is still using the "zero-covid" strategy. Other countries that have are giving it up because the damage it does is not worth the supposed benefits. Plus, it doesn't work, the virus will spread eventually because it is now endemic in the human population. It's impossible to stop an outbreak now and given how harmless the virus now is, you shouldn't even try. 

It almost makes me wonder if there isn't more going on here. Many in the media have speculated that China's vaccines are garbage but that shouldn't matter because the West's vaccines aren't much better. My guess is that China is worried that the virus is more dangerous long term than we realize. Given it most likely escaped from one of their bioresearch lab, I fear that might be possible. But given the facts of the matter it seems very unlikely and could just be an example of China's paranoia. 

Either way, China has proven again to be a totalitarian state. No free country would lock people in their apartments without access to money or food over a virus that hardly kills anyone anymore. They have gone far beyond what is reasonable or sane to stop this virus and part of me hope that the Chinese people rise up and overthrow the communist regime in China... 

Russia claims that most of Mariupol is under their control...

 

A street in the contested city of Mariupol.

Russia claims that all urban areas of Mariupol, a critical port city on the Sea of Azov are now under their control. Reuters. Only a few Ukrainian fighters remain in the hotly contested Azovstal Steelworks. The Russians say that the only way for those soldiers to survive is to lay down their arms. Russia claims to have killed 4000 soldiers in the fight with 1,464 soldiers surrendering as well. Ukraine has made no comment on Russia's claims in Mariupol. 

My Comment:

Russia is in need of a victory in Ukraine. After their retreat from the Kiev region and the loss of their cruiser, Moskva, they need any good news they can get. Taking a major city in Ukraine would go a long way to boosting morale and giving them a much needed victory. 

Are the Russians right though? I am not sure. The Ukrainians would probably deny it but I don't trust them any more than the Russians. And I am also not sure I trust any of the third party map makers as many of them take Ukraine's word at face value (or the Russians if they are aliened that way). 

I do know that Mariupol is major priority of the Russians. It lies smack dab in the middle of both of the breakaway Russia aligned Republics, Luhansk and Donetsk.  It's a major port as well, at least it was before the war destroyed much of it. Capturing it appears to be necessary in order to further Russia's plans for Ukraine. It might be what the major Russian offensive in the Donbass region is waiting on, once Mariupol is fully taken it will free up the troops that are fighting there to help with the new campaign. 

I think that the Ukrainian fighters would probably be best off surrendering. There isn't that many of them left and those that are there are likely cut off from supplies. Fighting to the last man isn't really going to gain the Ukrainian government much and at this point nobody should fault them for surrendering, they did put up a fierce fight. 

I do wonder though if the fighters holed up in the metal works are in fact from the far right Nazi aligned militias, like the Azov Battalion. Mariupol was always their headquarters and if those are the fighters that left maybe that means they can't expect to surrender. One of the major reasons why Russia started the war was to destroy these fighters and given the fact that many of them have committed war crimes I can't expect they would receive a warm welcome if they lay down their arms. 

As for the current state of the war itself, I am not sure. I certainly have not been impressed with Russia's military. They have been fighting with one hand behind their backs though, as it wasn't until yesterday that they used heavy bombers in combat, but even beyond that they have taken massive casualties. Indeed, between the retreat from Kiev, the destruction of the Moskva and the major losses in vehicles and men, the war has not gone well for the Russians. 

But I do think that they will probably win out in the end, for a given definition of winning. I don't think they can or will take over all of Ukraine, but I do think that they can take the Donbass region and make a land bridge to Crimea. 

It's all going to depend on the next big offensive, which I think will start when Mariupol is totally secure. And they may have a better time of it than they did in the North of the country. That region was highly urbanized while most of Donbass is plains, perfectly suited to tank warfare. And given the major losses the Ukrainians have taken they might not be able to stop the Russians when they do come. 

If the offensive fails though? Then I think Russia is out of luck. Their losses are not sustainable if the war drags out much beyond this. I don't think we will ever see Russia withdraw from Crimea and the Republics will remain out of control of Ukraine, but that's status quo ante. If that's all the Russians get out of this war it will go down as a massive mistake on their part. 

Russia loses a guided missile cruiser, the Moskva

 

The cruiser Moskva. BBC/AFP.

Russia has lost their guided missile cruiser, the Moskva. BBC. The cruiser had been damaged though Russia and Ukraine had different versions of what happened. Russia says that the ship had been damaged when a fire spread to the ships magazine. The ship then sank as it was being towed back to port. The Ukrainians claim that they hit the cruiser with Neptune anti-ship missiles. If the Ukranian claim is correct then it would be the largest warship lost since World War II and the second major naval vessel destroyed by the Ukrainians. Last month the Russians lost the Saratov, a landing ship, to a missile strike. 

My Comment:

This is another of those situations where we don't know which side is telling the truth. I don't trust either side of this conflict and both sides have a huge motivation to lie here. Ukraine needs a morale boost and Russia doesn't want to admit they lost a ship. 

I do find either scenario plausible though. It's not like Ukraine doesn't have these missiles and it's very possible that they hit the ship. And if the missiles did hit than it makes sense that it would sink and be destroyed. 

But the Ukrainians have not offered much in the way of evidence that they actually did do this. The only evidence I have seen is a twitter video that was of so low of quality it was impossible to verify anything, other than whoever posted it needed a new video camera. And they obviously have a reason to lie about it. 

The alternate scenario is just as plausible. The Moskva would not be the first ship lost to an out of control fire that spread to the magazine. Fires happen all the time and it's an easy way to lose the ship. And it wouldn't have to happen in combat either. 

I slightly suspect the Russian scenario, largely because it's still extremely embarrassing to the Russians to lose the ship to an accident. Indeed, I think it's so much more embarrassing for them to lose the ship to a fire compared to enemy action.  

I have to say that this is another example of the Russian military not being anywhere near as impressive as we all thought. Losing a ship in either scenario does not inspire confidence in the Russians. Either way it looks horrible for them. And it's not the first incident that has shown that the Russians are not doing as well as they should be. 

It really makes me wonder why the Russians have not focused on using all of their weapons. You would have thought that missile sites like the one that may have launched this attack would have been the first destroyed in air raids. But Russian air power has not been a huge factor in this war. I don't know if it's because of fear of losing their assets, lack of supplies, fear of civilian casualties or just different tactical doctrine. Regardless of the reason, they should change course fast if they don't want to lose more ships like this. 

Joe Biden's approval rating continues to crater...

 

Joe Biden during a meeting with the Prime Minster of India. CNBC/Getty.

Joe Biden's approval rating has continued to fall, reaching his lowest point ever in a CNBC poll. CNBC. Only 38% of people in the survey support Biden's presidency. Economic pessimism is also very high with 47% of people saying the economy is poor. This is the forth survey in a row where Biden's approval rating has dropped. Biden's approval has dipped in many different issues, but inflation is a huge driver of the fall in rating. Survey takers cited inflation as the biggest issue facing the country with 48% saying it was the biggest issue or the 2nd biggest issue, with other issues like Ukraine, Immigration and the Coronavirus not coming close. 

My Comment:

This was not the only bad poll for Biden. A Reuters poll found him at 41%, which is bad for that poll and Quinnipiac found him at 33% . With the three polls I am guessing that a little over 1/3rd of people still approve of Joe Biden's job performance. 

My question is what are those people thinking? Is it just pure partisan, my side is always right? Is it residual hatred for Donald Trump? Are they just that cut off from the world that they have no idea what is going on? 

I think it's different than it was under Donald Trump. Trump had flaws and was never free from controversy. But his supporters could point to things that he was doing that they liked. For example, Trump had mean tweets but he did seem to solve immigration, helped the economy and fought against the media, all things that his supporters could cite as why they still supported him.

What do the Democrats and other Biden supporters have to point to? Even ignoring Biden's failures, he has not delivered on his promises. He hasn't forgiven student debt, he hasn't gone after Donald Trump, he hasn't even increased the minimum wage. What has he done for the people that voted for him? As far as I can see he hasn't done a thing. 

I don't even think that the media is covering for him anymore. They have been fairly critical about his failures to handle inflation, as the above links show. Indeed, I think the media is getting ready to cut Biden loose. I don't know if they want Kamala Harris in the Oval Office, or if they are trying to salvage something out of the 2022 elections, but the fact remains that they aren't covering for him as much. 

For me personally, I don't think Biden ever had a chance to win me over. I don't think he won the election legitimately and even if he had, he had the taint of the Obama administration on him. But even I have been surprised that Biden has faceplanted as hard as he has. I can't think of a single issue or crisis he had handled competently. I can't think of an issue he hasn't made worse. It is baffling to me that anyone supports him at all. 

Inflation breaks records again with the Consumer Price Index raising to 8.5%.

 

Gas prices in Washington DC. Fox Business/AP.

Inflation rates have broken records again with the Consumer Price Index for March reaching 8.5%, the worst in 40 years. Fox Business. The rate of inflation rose 1.2% just between February and March, the largest increase since 2005. Prices have gone up across the board with energy and food prices contributing the most. About the only good news is that used car prices, up 35.3% since last year, has decreased between February and March by 1.8%. The inflation has canceled out wage growth for workers. 

My Comment:

This is probably the most impactful news story of the day. If it hadn't been for a mass shooting in New York this would be the top story everywhere. But unfortunately that is not the case and the story has largely died already. 

The Fox Business article did not place much blame on anyone for this but I place the lion's share of blame falls on Joe Biden. I know his administration is trying to blame all of this on Russia but that doesn't make any sense. The inflation began long before Russia invaded Ukraine. 

And of course, Biden had a lot to do with the effects that actually were from the Ukraine conflict. We never had to sanction Russia. Not buying Russian gas caused a large increase in gas prices and didn't seem to hurt Russia at all. All it did was hurt the American consumers. 

Gas prices in general are due to Biden's policies. Canceling pipelines, preventing new drilling and generally being anti-energy has hurt things quite a bit. Biden has also completely alienated our allies in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States won't even take Biden's phone calls, let alone increase oil production for us. Biden even tried to get Venezuela and Iran to increase production but he failed there as well. 

I blame much of the inflation due to monetary policy. For the past couple of years they have been printing money like it has been going out of style. Sending everyone $1200 checks was not worth it because they never paid for it, they just printed new money. In order to stop this inflation the government would have to stop doing this but I don't see it happening anytime soon.

With that being said, I don't think everything is the Biden administration's fault. Food prices are going up due to forces beyond his control. The Ukraine war has increased wheat prices, not helped by China's failed winter wheat crop as well as the droughts we are having here in the United States.  This is causing a major food crisis. Though I don't blame Biden for the crisis I do blame him for seemingly doing nothing about it. 

Are things going to get better? I doubt it. Like I said, they would have to change course to stop this and all the Biden administration does is double down on everything. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if we get hyper-inflation just because Biden won't back down. 

Biden bans making your own firearms...

 

Joe Biden. Fox News/AP.

Joe Biden has redefined the legal definition of a firearm making it illegal to make your own firearms with a parts kit without undergoing a background check. Fox News. Biden called this a ban on "ghost guns" which are made from kits. This would mean that gun kits would require serial numbers and would only be able to sold by licensed gun dealers. Critics blasted the move as it bypassed Congress, which is responsible for making laws. They also argue that the move will be a clear violation of the 2nd Amendment. The White House also claims that ghost guns are used in crime, but did not cite any evidence. 

My Comment:

Yet another utterly disgusting move by the Joe Biden administration. There is absolutely no reason to do this other than to punish gun owners. It is nothing more than a middle finger to American gun owners and the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution. 

I don't buy Biden's argument that there are a lot of crimes that used these gun kits. Criminals don't build their own guns as doing so requires an amount of skill they don't have. The vast majority of guns used in crimes are either stolen, purchased legally or purchased through a proxy, also known as a straw buyer. If any kit built weapons are used in crimes it's because they were stolen, criminals are not building their own guns. 

Indeed, this seems like another example of gun hobbyists being targeted by the gun control crowd. People that build their own guns likely have a dramatically lower rate of committing crimes. Punishing them by adding yet another hoop to jump through won't do a think to stop crime. 

Speaking of stopping crime, why isn't that the goal here? I have said a long time that imprisoning criminals is the way to stop gun crime. A lot of people that commit crimes have committed them before. Plus, the government hasn't even tried to crack down on straw buyers or people that steal guns. Doing that would probably solve the majority of our gun crime but that apparently is not an option. 

I do expect that this will be challenged in court. I have no idea if it would succeed though. I have little trust in the courts anymore, they have consistently not defended the 2nd Amendment. I do wonder if they would win in this case though due to Thomas Massie's argument that it's a violation of Article 1 Section 1 of the constitution. It's a good argument as no act of congress has been passed to give Biden the power to redefine what a gun is.

What is so frustrating about this is that the gun control argument is beyond dead. I considered it dead in 2020, but it's beyond dead now. The Coronavirus outbreak showed how quickly things could go bad and how much you needed a gun when it did. And the 2020 riots showed that the government will not protect you if people come to burn your house down or murder your family. And now Ukraine has shown that even Democrats agree that people should have firearms during a war. 

I also don't know anyone who is asking for this, other than the few people gun control advocates that are left. People aren't buying the arguments of gun control anymore. What are they buying? Guns. Lots of guns. We have had record breaking gun sales for two years in a row and a ton of those guns are going to 1st time gun owners of all races, creeds and political alignment. 

I expect this to be a major issue for the 2022 race, at least it should be if the Republicans want to win. Nobody is calling for gun control and Biden is pushing for it anyways. Republicans can rightly point out that the Democrats are pushing for this instead of trying to solve actual problems, like inflation, high gas prices and foreign policy. It's crazy to me that Biden can try and ban gun kits but can't do a thing to stop the actual problems that are happening in this country. 

Residents in Shanghai are suffering under China's draconian Coronavirus restrictions.

 

An almost deserted street in Shanghai. The Daily Beast/Vcg

Residents in Shanghai are suffering under China's draconian Coronavirus restrictions. The Daily Beast. Shanghai is China's largest city and has been under lockdown since April 5th. Residents are not allowed to leave their homes even for food and are relying on the government to give them rations. Anyone that tests positive for the virus are sent to quarantine camps. People had little chance to prepare for the lockdown as it happened quickly, with no chance to stock up on supplies. The lockdowns are in response to elevated Coronavirus case levels with almost 30,000 cases reported on Sunday. However, the vast majority of cases are asymptomatic. China has admitted that food deliveries have been a mess. Video from the city has shown people screaming in the night, fighting with police and drones telling people to remain in their homes. 

What the?? This video taken yesterday in Shanghai, China, by the father of a close friend of mine. She verified its authenticity: People screaming out of their windows after a week of total lockdown, no leaving your apartment for any reason. pic.twitter.com/iHGOO8D8Cz

— Patrick Madrid ✌🏼 (@patrickmadrid) April 9, 2022

As seen on Weibo: Shanghai residents go to their balconies to sing & protest lack of supplies. A drone appears: “Please comply w covid restrictions. Control your soul’s desire for freedom. Do not open the window or sing.” https://t.co/0ZTc8fznaV pic.twitter.com/pAnEGOlBIh

— Alice Su (@aliceysu) April 6, 2022

food riot in shanghai—china’s largest and wealthiest city—under covid lockdown. pic.twitter.com/w0kBR2Pbmp

— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) April 9, 2022

My Comment:

As you can see things are not going well in China today. This lockdown is a disaster and the insane thing is that it appears to be for no reason whatsoever. The current strains of Coronavirus are extremely weak, somewhere between the common cold and the flu in terms of severity. It can still kill some people with health problems but that's about it. The solution is to protect those people, not shut down an entire city.

Keep in mind this is at a time when the rest of the world has almost entirely dropped their coronavirus restrictions. Indeed, outside of the news I haven't thought much about the virus in months. There isn't a thing that I did in 2019 that I am not doing now, there are no restrictions that affect my life that I am aware of. For all intents and purposes the pandemic is over. 

But China? They are going all out. The restrictions they are putting their people under are above and beyond even the worst excesses we saw in blue state America and Europe. These people aren't even allowed out of their houses to buy groceries. Nobody is working and everything is shut down. How are people going to handle that?

It's clear that they are not. The people are losing it and for good reason. People can't live like this and they are showing that they can't. They are afraid of starving to death and with good reason. The Chinese people have a long history of being starved to death by their government and it's not impossible that the same thing could happen again. And that's why they are starting to riot.

I just can't get a handle on this. Is the Chinese government acting out of incompetence here or are they doing this on purpose? I mean, every other country in the world is dropping restrictions and the world is not falling, well other than the war in Ukraine. Things are mostly back to normal and China is pissing away billions of dollars, infuriating their people and causing untold amounts of damage. And for what? A virus that isn't anywhere near the threat it used to be?

So what is the reason? Part of me thinks that the Chinese know something we don't. They are sticking with a zero covid long after the rest of the world has given up. Does this mean that the virus is a bigger deal than we know? After all it did come from one of their labs...

Still, I suspect this is just China being China. They are a communist country and communists are not known for subtlety. They don't now how to deal with a problem without being tyrannical, it's in their nature. 

This will have knockdown effects throughout the global economy, some of which we are already seeing. Not all of these effects are bad however, gas prices have collapsed lately and I think this is a major reason why. Lockdowns have reduced the demand for gasoline and we have seen a nice drop, that is probably temporary. 

The real problem is that the logistics nightmare the world has been undergoing since the pandemic began will be even worse. Shanghai is a major city that produces a lot of product and right now that is all shut down. This is already having effects on cargo shipping as ships are starting to pile up. Given how dependent our economy is on China's that's going to hurt.   

Government fails to get convictions in the Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping case. Two acquittals, two mistrials.

 

The four defendants. Clockwise from left, Adam Fox, Barry Croft, Brandon Casereta and Daniel Harris. The Detroit News.

The government failed to get convictions in the Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping case with jurors finding two of the four men not-guilty while being unable to reach a verdict in two more cases. The Detroit News. The men were charged with a conspiracy to commit  kidnapping and other crimes. There was evidence of them building weapons and practicing with firearms However, the case fell apart for the government due to accusations of entrapment. One of the key informants in the case, Stephan Robeson was arrested on gun charges. There were also multiple scandals with the FBI agents assigned to the case, with one being arrested for domestic abuse and another accused of trying to gain infamy in the investigation to start his own cybersecurity firm. But it was accusations of entrapment by the FBI and their informants that appears to derail convictions. An informant named Dan Chappel was accused by the defense of masterminding the entire plot and plying the defendants with marijuana. 

My Comment:

I had read a long form article about this case long before it went to trial. It was all about the FBI informants, Dan Chappel and Stephan Robeson, and how they had largely created the case out of thin air. I have looked for the article again, but I don't remember what news outlet it was from and I have had no luck finding it. But it had convinced me that this case as an obvious example of entrapment. 

With that being said, I do think that Gretchen Whitmer is an absolutely terrible governor and it was not at all surprising that people wanted her gone. She massively overstepped her bounds as governor during the pandemic and introduced many draconian and even baffling restrictions on normal life in the state of Michigan. The motive was here. I don't doubt that these people wanted her gone because I feel the same way, and most rational people would agree. That doesn't mean I support a plot like this, obviously, but I understand wanting to do so. 

But the real question is if the government starts a plot to kidnap someone is the plot real? I don't think there was much in the way of evidence that these men would have done anything if it hadn't been for the FBI and their informants and it appears that the jury agreed in two out of the four cases tried here and had enough doubt that they couldn't reach a unanimous verdict in the other two cases. 

This is, of course, a major problem with the FBI these days. They rarely focus on solving actual crimes and instead focus on creating plots and then arresting people when the plot moves forward. Some of those people are admittedly bad guys but in many of the cases the people would not be criminals if it wasn't for the FBI helping them. They are a government agency that seems to specialize in entrapment and I am glad to see it blowing up in their face. 

Thankfully this time nobody got hurt but that isn't always the case. Most famously the FBI used the same tactics against ISIS, leading to the Curtis Culwell attack in Garland Texas. In that case the FBI had helped two ISIS sympathizers and were actually tracking the men as they opened fire on the Islam cartoon event, leading to the death of the two men and an innocent security guard getting injured. Something similar could have happened in this case and though I have no love for Governor Whitmer, it would be sad to see innocent people hurt because the FBI can't actually investigate crimes. 

With all that being said I do have to say that the FBI's tactics has done a lot to quell right wing dissent. This case, along with similar accusations against the January 6th protests have taken the wind out of the sails of right wing protest movements and we have seen the results of that. A good example is of the American version of the Freedom Convoy protests in Canada. The Canadian protests were effective and disruptive because they weren't afraid of the the government infiltrating the movement.

 But the American version? A total joke that accomplished absolutely nothing. Some of that was due to changing circumstances, Coronavirus restrictions had largely gone away by the time the convoy had been organized and Ukraine sucked all the air out of the room, but much of it was because the organizers were too afraid to use effective tactics, such as blocking the borders or locking down city streets. 

Which brings up a very important question for right wing Americans. How do you peacefully protest the government without getting the FBI to entrap and arrest you? It's a huge problem and not one I have any kind of solution too. But I do know that allowing the Biden Administration and the Democratic Party to run roughshod over the American people because everyone is too afraid of the "glowies" to do anything is not a solution...  

Another terror attack in Israel, two killed eight wounded in mass shooting.

 

Security forces respond to the attack. CBC News/AFP/Getty.

Another terror attack has occurred in Tel Aviv Israel leaving two killed and seven wounded in a mass shooting. CBS News. The attacker opened fire at a crowded restaurant before fleeing and has not been captured. A manhunt is underway to try and locate and arrest the attacker. Israel has faced a wave of terror attacks recently with the most recent one being the fourth. There are fears that the attacks could lead to another war as last years attacks during Ramadan, which is also occurring now, lead to a short war.

A separate video shows the moment of the attack on Dizengoff Street. pic.twitter.com/83CWlnoazz

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) April 7, 2022

My Comment:

Just a short update to an ongoing problem in Israel. This is the fourth attack in a couple of weeks and it's very concerning that the attacker was able to escape. That of course means that there could be follow up attacks or injuries and/or deaths in the police operations to apprehend the attacker. 

I am surprised that the CBS article did not mention ISIS. In the other terror attacks it was said that the attackers were linked to ISIS, with one attacker having been arrested in the past for trying to join the group. It's unclear if this attack is related to the terror group or not, but it seems like the elephant in the room since at least a couple of the attacks were related to them if my memory serves. 

It is important that the attack is occurring during Ramadan. Islam's holy month has long been a season of terror attacks. I think that means that there could be more terror attacks in both Israel and the greater world. Groups like ISIS thrive during Ramadan and they have an incentive to attack more people. 

This attack was fairly minor but as a trend it's disturbing. It may even lead to war. These attacks are being launched from somewhere and there probably are terrorist supporters in Palestine that the Israelis may want to deal with. The last thing the world needs right now is yet another war but we may be seeing one shortly.