The US Dollar is losing its dominance in international trade.

 

AFP.

The US Dollar is losing its dominance in international trade. AFP. The US Dollar has been used for almost everything but more and more countries are moving away from the currency. Many developing countries want to move away from the Dollar and go to other currencies. Brazil just made an agreement with China to provide contracts in Chinese Yuan and Brazilian Reals. And Bangladesh has used Yuan to pay Russia for a nuclear powerplant. The use of Dollars is a  major economic advantage for the United States but the economic sanctions on Russia has encouraged countries to move away from it. Those countries are concerned about similar sanctions or even confiscation of property, like the ones that happened to many Russian citizens. China is trying to position themselves as the inheritor of the countries moving away from the Dollar, but the Yuan has its own problems, most notably that China could easily devalue the currency. 

My Comment:

Losing the Dollar as the dominant currency would be a major problem for the United States. The article didn't really explain it but from what I understand the fact that every other country holds a large amount of US currency is a major reason why our economy is doing as well as it is compared to other countries right now. 

The main effect is that America can afford to borrow money at a much lower rate than it would otherwise. Should the dominance of the dollar go away the cost of borrowing money would increase and the economic damage would be intense. Indeed, it might even push America into an economic collapse. 

The worst part of this is that this wound was entirely self inflicted. The sanctions against Russia, which haven't worked at all by the way, are what caused this and for good reason. Every country that uses Dollars now knows that at anytime the US government could sanction them and steal their property. And given how out of sorts our government is it could be done over something as inconsequential as LGBT rights or trading with the wrong country. Why would any government take that risk?

Of course the idea that China will be the one that takes over for the Dollar is somewhat unlikely. China has their own problems the most obvious one being that they could devalue their currency at anytime. But that's not the only problem. China has their own stability problems and though they don't seem to care what any one country does it's very possible that they too could decide to punish other countries for arbitrary reasons as well. The most obvious one is the fact that a war with Taiwan could happen at anytime. 

I do think we are moving to a multi-currency world. I do think that the Eurozone will likely continue to hold large amounts of Dollars but the rest of the world? I'm not so sure. Like I said, people are afraid of the the Biden administration and do not trust them to do the right thing. It's possible that China, Russia and other countries will be the main benefactors of the decline of the dollar. 

West Virginia governor Jim Justice announces run for Senator Joe Manchin's senate seat

 

West Virginia Governor Jim Justice. ABC News/AP.

West Virginia Governor Jim Justice has announced he is running for the Senate seat currently held by Joe Manchin. ABC News. He will be running against Representative Alex Mooney in the primary. It is unclear if he will face Manchin or not. Manchin, the long term and popular Democrat Senator, has not announced if he will run for another term, retire or even run for President. Manchin is one of the few remaining conservative Democrats left in power and he is seen as the only credible candidate that could keep the seat for the party. Picking up the seat would change the balance of power between the Republicans and Democrats in the Senate, especially with Ohio and Montana expected to be GOP pickups in 2024. However, Justice is fairly popular in the state as well and could actually beat Manchin. However, Justice is no lock to be the candidate as Alex Mooney is also fairly popular and has support from the party. Manchin has said he will not decide if he is going to run until December of this year.

My Comment:

I've been aware of Jim Justice for quite some time as he famously changed parties in 2017. He was elected as a Democrat but the party left behind. In that way he is a lot like Joe Manchin. There have always been rumors that Joe Manchin would eventually turn from being the most conservative Democrat in the Senate to being the most liberal Republican, but alas it never happened. And now Manchin might be out of a job. 

Of course we have no idea if Manchin is going to run or not. It's very possible he does but he's just as likely to retire. And he could indeed be a presidential candidate, and viable one as well. Manchin would have appeal for blue dog Democrats and cross party appeal for people that want a more centrist candidate than Biden but aren't interested in Donald Trump. Manchin would have zero appeal for progressives (which is a point in his favor in my mind) so that probably limits his realistic chances of being President, though I am guessing there will be an "anyone but Biden" candidate. But then again, the last conservative Democrat to run in a Presidential Race, Jim Webb, did not do well at all.

If Manchin does retire than it hardly matters who the GOP candidate is. I can't imagine that the Democrats could find someone credible to replace him. West Virginia tolerates Manchin because he's fairly conservative and because of the power of incumbency. They also like that he argues with the Biden administration. I can't imagine that anyone else in all of West Virginia would have that kind of advantage. 

If he runs though? It's a real question if he would keep the seat or not. Manchin is still popular but Justice and Mooney are as well. And given the backlash against the Democrats it's very possible that Machin's incumbency and relatively conservative beliefs won't help him. My guess is that if Manchin stays in the race the race is a toss up but if he doesn't the seat is an incredibly easy win for the Republicans. 

It's very possible that the seat could be the one that decides control of the senate. Right now the Senate is under control of the Democrats by a 51-49 margin (counting the Independents as Democrats). The Republicans only need two seats to win back the Senate and if Manchin doesn't run then the Republicans only need to win one more seat. With Ohio and Montana likely pickups as well it's very possible that if the Republicans win the White House they would have all three centers of power, plus the Supreme Court in 2024. 

The real question is if Joe Manchin cares about that. He probably does not given how angry he has been with the Biden Administration. He might just be tired of it all or he might be out for revenge. If Manchin runs for President then we know that Biden angered him enough for him to try and take him down personally... 

China will send a peace delegation to Ukraine in an effort to end the war.

 

President Xi Jinping and President  Volodymyr Zelenskyy. AP.

China will send a peace delegation to Ukraine in an effort to finally end the war between Ukraine and Russia. AP. China will also send delegations to other powers in the region but it is unclear if they will include Russia. China is trying to portray themselves as a neutral party between Russia and Ukraine and may have a chance to negotiate a peace deal. China appears to be concerned about heighten nuclear tensions, as Russia moves nuclear weapons in to Belarus. China released a statement calling for calm and saying that negotiation is the only way out of the war. 

My Comment:

China is actually well positioned to end the war in Ukraine. Unlike a lot of other parties they have good relations with both Ukraine and Russia. There aren't a whole lot of countries left that can say that. And there aren't too many countries that are even trying to end the war. 

Normally the Western world would be the ones that try to end a war but since this is a proxy war between Russia and NATO, there aren't any countries that are even trying. Plus, Russia has absolutely no reason to trust the west at this point. They would rightly point out that the west did not stay true to the Mink II agreement that was supposed to end the civil war in the first place. 

I do think that China is right to try and end the war. Things are not going well in terms of tensions. The west seems totally unhinged right now and I could see Biden blundering into a nuclear war. The fact that Russia is sending nukes into Belarus is a fairly major escalation. 

What is worse is that one of the Pentagon leaks said that the US had to talk Ukraine out of a major strike on Moscow on the year one anniversary of the war. Such a strike would have been a massive escalation and may have spiraled out of control quickly. China of course knows about that and have a very good reason to avoid an European nuclear war. 

I do think that both sides have a reason to want the war to end, though it might be Russia that is the sticking point. They were expecting an easy war but instead have gotten NATO in a very bad position and are on the verge of bankrupting the alliance. The problem is that they too are at a high risk of getting destroyed in a nuclear conflict if things spiral out of control. 

Ukraine's main problem is that the West too does not want to end the war. Even if Ukraine could get a decent deal at this point they would have to worry about NATO rejecting it. There are many warmongers in the Pentagon that don't seem to realize they aren't winning and are willing to defend Ukraine down to the last Ukrainian and last American. Hopefully Ukraine rejects these people and makes a deal. 

Joe Biden announces he's running again in 2024...

 

Joe Biden presidential portrait.

Joe Biden has announced that he is running again in 2024. BBC. Joe Biden is 80 years old and would be 82 if he is reelected. If he survived his 2nd term, which is no sure thing, he would be 86. The only saving grace for Biden's advanced age is that his probable opponent, Donald Trump, is also fairly old at 76 and would be 78 when sworn into office and 82 when he leaves if elected. Biden does face primary challenges, but his most credible threat, Senator Bernie Sanders, has declared that he is not running and is endorsing Biden. However, Biden faces a major popularity problem and a new poll said more than 70% of Americans, including half of Democrats, do not want him to run again, with his age being a major concern. 

My Comment:

It is extremely odd that the Democrats are going all in on Biden considering his obvious downsides and failures. There are absolutely other candidates that could run and perhaps win on their own merits in their party but instead they are doubling down on a massive mistake. Biden is a liability to them and I don't understand why they don't see it.

The BBC article harped on Biden's age and I do admit that it's a huge problem for him. Biden is 80 but if you said he was 100 I would believe it. Age is a concern with Donald Trump, but unlike Biden, Trump still has a sharp mind and has energy. Biden appears to be in the initial stages of dementia and has declined since taking office. He's nothing like he was when he was a Senator or even when he was Obama's VP. 

And the fact is that Biden could very obviously die in office if he gets elected and that's where another huge downside of Biden shows up. He is sticking with Kamala Harris, who is the only Democrat in the world that is less popular than he is, with the possible exception of Hillary Clinton. I don't think anyone wants a Kamala Harris presidency but that is a real possibility even today. 

I also think that Biden is hurt by the fact that nobody else seems to be running against him. Right now it's Marianne Williamson and Robert Kennedy Jr. are in the race as well. Williamson is not a serious candidate but RFK is. The media is constantly reminding people that he's an anti-vaxxer but he's also a member of a major political dynasty and has some cross the partisan divide to vote for him. Indeed, I have heard a few Republicans or independents saying they could vote for him in the primaries, if not the general, just to keep Biden out of the race. Indeed, if the GOP race isn't competitive in the 2024 race by the time it gets to Wisconsin and the Democrats are still in play, I might do the same thing, even though I don't like RFK that much. I think the "anything but Biden" voters are real and might back RFK or someone else that enters the race. 

The BBC didn't mention it but Biden's first term has been an absolute disaster. The economy is failing, banks are failing (including another one today) wages are stagnant and inflation is up. Foreign policy is even worse, Afghanistan was lost in humiliating fashion and face nuclear devastation because of our insane Ukraine policy. And Biden has been consistently on the wrong side of pretty much every social issue at a time when people are pushing back against such nonsense. Budweiser hired Dylan Mulvaney and lost billions of dollars in stock valuation and their brand is forever tainted, but Biden met with Mulvaney first. 

Of course the other elephant in the room is election security and the collusion between big tech and the Democratic party that handed Biden the White House in the first place. That is of course the Democrats biggest advantage when voters don't matter, only ballots do. And the Republicans do not seem to be willing to do anything about it. Indeed, many of the leadership of the Republican Party don't seem to think there is a problem in the first place. They are more concerned about pushing Ron DeSantis and keeping Trump out of office than making is possible to win elections. 

They do have a major advantage in that Twitter is now under the control of Elon Musk, who is dramatically less hostile to Republicans then the previous regime there. Since Trump won in 2016 largely because of social media it means they have a chance to right the ship if they actually try and do the same kind of shady ballot harvesting and vote by mail shenanigan's that the Democrats do. But will they even try or are they going to try and continue to pretend that the candidates actually matter anymore? 

Biden's team does not have confidence in the much ballyhooed "Ukrainian offensive".

 

A Ukrainian soldier. Politico/Getty. 

The Biden administration is quietly expressing doubt that a proposed summer Ukrainian offensive will succeed. Politico. The offensive is rumored to target the east or the south but it is unclear if such an offensive is even possible anymore. The failure of the offensive would cause major criticism for the Biden administration, both from warhawks who think Ukraine should get more equipment and critics of the war that don't think that the war can be won by Ukraine, along with US allies in the region that are tired of the war and want a political solution. Leaked documents from the Pentagon showed internal assessments saying that Ukraine would fall well short of its offensive goals. The idea that they could push Russia out of Crimea or overwhelm strong Russian defense in the East is not really supported in the intelligence community. Some are calling for a cease fire or a negotiated settlement for and end of the war. 

My Comment:

This admission should be shocking to people who only get their news from the media. To them Ukraine is winning the war and is only a couple of F-16's and obsolete tanks away from driving the Russians all the way back to Moscow. 

In reality I'm not even convinced that the offensive is even going to happen given how utterly stupid of an idea it would be. Attacking an entrenched enemy that has a major advantage in both air support and artillery is not something that is going to succeed. And from what I have seen from the leaked documents is that the offensive would only be made up of 30,000 men, not enough to face the hundreds of thousands the Russians have. 

And the troop quality is not going to be up to snuff either. If you have been reading any articles about the Ukraine war if they quote troops, you can expect that the soldiers will be in their 40's and 50's, sometimes even the 60's. And Ukraine is dragging people off the streets to be thrown into the meatgrinder in Bakhmut with almost no training whatsoever. They still have a core of competent soldiers left over from the pre-war period, but many of them are injured and all of them are overworked. Either this offensive would be made up of more old men and conscripts or they are going to throw away their best troops for very little gain. 

It would also play right into the Russian's war strategy. I've said this so many times but it never seems to sink in, this is a war of attrition. Russia's goal isn't to take or hold territory, it's to destroy men and equipment. They probably could have captured Bakhmut months ago but they are instead just pounding the Ukrainian soldiers their into dust. I could see Russia pulling back a bit when the offensive starts, if the offensive starts, and then using the salient that would be created as yet another cauldron to destroy Ukrainian forces.  

Which is why I think that the offensive will not happen. Indeed, they have a built in excuse now, they can simply say that the leaks from the Pentagon derailed the whole thing. Oops, sorry, can't launch the offensive now, the Russians know everything. And then they will probably launch a small attack that takes another small village and costs them 10,000 more casualties while all the NATO shills clap and bark like seals saying that Ukraine will win the war. 

As for the war itself, I'm not expecting it to end soon. Why would Russia end it? Europe is bankrupting themselves over the war and even America's economy is taking damage. Hungry might leave NATO and the resistance to the war is getting more traction. NATO has thrown about everything they have into the war and have little to show for it. 

The best time to end the war was in the early months of the war but the Biden administration torpedoed that. Even late last year Ukraine was in a better position to the point where they probably could have kept much of their territory. But now? Russia has zero reason to end the war at this point and every reason to continue the war... 

Public pessimism on the economy reaches record highs.

 

Approval rates for Joe Biden among Democrats and Independents. CNBC. 

Public pessimism on the economy has reached a record high in a new survey. CNBC. CNBC's All-American Economic Survey found 69% of respondents saying they had a negative view of the economy, which is the highest recorded in the survey's 17 year history. Two thirds of respondents said that their wages are not keeping up with inflation and that the economy is either already in a recession or heading towards one. The bad economic outlook has affected Biden's approval numbers. The only signs of positivity is that 63% of people are not worried about losing their jobs. However, a whopping 81% of people said they altering their spending to deal with the economic situation. 

My Comment:

I am surprised that people are as optimistic as they are. I am guessing that the 31% of people that aren't negative about the economy are either deep in denial or insulated by wealth that they aren't noticing it as much as everyone else. But for normal people, they are absolutely feeling the squeeze. 

Indeed, I myself just put off a major purchase due to concerns about the economy. I was supposed to buy a new phone today to replace my aging but still functional iPhone 8 Plus. But I was thinking to myself "can I really justify a new phone right now" and the answer ended up no. I will probably buy one soon eventually but after I've worked a few more overtime shifts to better pay for it. 

And I can absolutely say that my wages are not keeping up with inflation. I'm confident I will get another pay raise this year but with inflation it probably won't matter much. Inflation is down from it's peak but it's still over 5% and my pay raise is probably going to be around 3% (just like it was last year). That's not even treading water, it's falling behind and I'm lucky enough to be getting a raise in the first place! A lot of people don't have that security blanket like I do. 

I personally am not worried about losing my job, even though my company is not doing as well as it was under Trump. Even in a bad economy people will still need our product. But I am not sure if other people should feel so confident. We are already seeing mass layoffs in the tech industry and I wouldn't be surprised if it happens to other industries as well. 

One thing I didn't see mentioned is the absurd housing costs. I know I have seen my rent skyrocket and I'm also actively looking for a house and have been for a couple years now. I can tell you there is nothing more discouraging to save up tens of thousands of dollars and feel like you are treading water in terms of getting closer to purchasing a house. And then you hear something like this and it just makes you want to scream. 

Biden's asking someone like me, that has worked hard, made good financial decisions and managed my money well, to pay more for a home loan than people that have done the opposite. It's a total slap in the face and it just makes home ownership even further out of reach, to the point that it probably won't happen unless something major changes. That thing probably being the inevitable collapse of the economy... 

What really gets me is that there are still people that approve of Joe Biden. 39% of people in this survey still approve of the job he is doing and that is just baffling to me. I know some people are getting spoils from the Biden administration but those people are so few in number and dwindling every day. I know a lot of people didn't like Trump for his personality but I find it hard to believe that there are many people out there that aren't dramatically worse off now under Biden then they ever were with him. 

What's worse is there really isn't a silver lining for the Biden administration, much of the damage they are doing is either going to be difficult to reverse or impossible. The energy costs alone are not going down anytime soon giving how Biden has infuriated every oil producing nation in the world. Biden's been so abrasive that even Saudi Arabia and Iran have gotten together and put down their swords to face their common enemy. And more and more countries are turning to Russia and China for economic security. 

And I think everything is going to get worse before it gets better, which is another reason why I'm worried about the economy. Part of me is thinking I should be making big purchases now because it's very possible things won't be available in the future. If inflation truly gets out of control my money that I have saved could end up being pretty much worthless. But at the same time if inflation continues to outpace wages I might simply not be able to afford my bills. And that's me, who has been very good at managing my money, has cheap hobbies, lives in an inexpensive state and has no kids to take care of. I don't know how people on the margins are going to do it and I think a lot of people will drop out of the working classes and into abject poverty if things don't change. 

Police arrest man who opened fire on a six year old child after a basketball rolled into his yard. He was out on bond.

 

Robert Louis Singletary booking photo. ABC News.

Police have arrested a man who opened fire on a six year old girl, her parents and another neighbor after a basketball rolled into his yard. ABC News. Robert Louis Singletary turned himself in after an incident where he shot at four people, including the six year old girl. The girl's father is still in the hospital after shielding his daughter from the attack. The mother and daughter took grazing wounds from the attacker. Singletary was quoted saying "I'm going to kill you" before shooting at the family. Singletary had been charged in a previous incident where he assaulted and detained his girlfriend. He was out on bond for that case when the shooting happened. 

A local news station had an interview with the child that was shot. WSOC-TV.

My Comment:

I am surprised that this story is getting national news coverage given that respective races involved. It's still not getting the same amount of attention it would have gotten if this was a white man shooting a black girl, but it is still getting widespread news coverage. Indeed, I found the story on the top of Google News. Perhaps some crimes are so vile that even the American news media has to cover it. 

As terrible as this news story is, it would probably not be an important story if not for one thing. Singletary was out on bond. His other crime too was terrible. He beat his girlfriend with a hammer and could have easily killed her. He was out on bond for that case but was somehow able to get a gun and commit this attack. 

In a sane world a man who beats his girlfriend with a hammer would not be out on the street. But instead of tightening up on who gets out on bond and bail we have gone the exact opposite way. We don't keep people in jail anymore even when they are accused of violent crimes. Some of this is just because we simply don't have the resources to detain everyone. Even I think we do need some form of bail but I do think we need some reform so violent criminals aren't the ones that get it. 

But the reform we are getting is going the other way. Indeed, there are even "charitable" organizations that pay people's bonds for them. And many jurisdictions are allowing people to get out on bail no matter what they are accused of. This part of North Carolina is probably not one of them but the movement has been away from keeping suspects in jail until their court date. 

I think this is also a good example of how gun control doesn't work. Singletary is a convicted felon and was also out on bond. How did he get a gun? If he had tried to do so legally he would have failed his background check (unless it was a paperwork mess up). So he either bought and kept the gun from when he wasn't a felon or he simply got it illegally. 

As for the attack itself, we should recognize the heroism of the father in this case, William White. He tried to draw fire away from his family and ended up getting shot in the process. His family might have survived because of his actions so I'm comfortable calling him a genuine hero. 

I do have to wonder what possesses someone to do something like this. I mean, it's clear that Singletary is a scumbag, most decent people don't beat up their girlfriends with a hammer. But even by the standards of criminal scumbags, shooting a six year old is pretty low. And he wasn't even doing it for some political cause or some other kind of understandable reason. He shot at a family because a basketball rolled into a yard. Normal people either wouldn't react at all or, at worst, would be very slightly annoyed. But he got a gun and opened fire? Who acts like this? And what can be done about it? 

Senate UFO hearing: No evidence of extraterrestrial life but concerns about Russian and Chinese technology.

 

AARO Director Sean Kirkpatrick. Fox News.

At a Senate UFO hearing the head of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) said there was no evidence of extraterrestrial life but there are concerns about Russian and Chinese technology. Fox News. Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick said that there were indicators that many of the UFO sightings could be related to foreign capabilities. He didn't explain that comment but did say that both Russia and China are rapidly advancing in their technologies. The review was the 2nd Senate hearing on the UFO issue in many years following the 1st one in 50 years last May. UFO's, called UAP's by the Defense Department, have been seen more commonly recently and the stigma in reporting them is mostly gone since the release of several videos recorded by the military. The issue became even more relevant after the shoot-down of a Chinese spy balloon and several other unknown objects last February. 

My Comment:

This hearing wasn't widely reported on by the media but I do think it's pretty important. The question of what UFO's are is an incredibly important one and it's one that the government hasn't openly tried to solve until now. 

I have always said that none of the solutions to the question are good. Obviously if the UAP's really are extraterrestrial that's a whole new world we would be living it. It would pretty much change everything, even if the aliens were neutral or friendly. And if they were hostile? Well that's pretty much it then, as there would be likely nothing we could do about them. 

That was always the least likely answer to the question. It was always more likely that these objects were advanced earth tech, either from our government, a foreign government or even a private organization. Given the capabilities that some of these objects have shown that is deeply concerning since they are far beyond the capabilities of anything publicly known. 

Supposedly the idea that these things are American technology has been discredited by the government. Of course, given how untrustworthy the government is about everything else we have very little reason to trust them. Some people have argued that the entire UAP topic is just a way for the Pentagon to "soft-disclose" new technology but I doubt that is the case. 

I do think that many of these sightings have now been explained. I am guessing that many of these objects were in fact Chinese spy balloons like the one that was shot down this February. I doubt that the balloon was the first one that showed up and probably have been seen by American pilots. I think that probably explains many, if not all the UAP's seen recently. 

But there are still many that aren't explained and it's very possible that they are Chinese or Russians. I am thinking they are probably Chinese since I think if Russia did have advanced unknown technology we would be hearing about it considering they believe the Ukraine war to be an existential crisis. That leaves China as the most likely suspect and if it is their technology that might not bode well for a war between the United States and Taiwan. 

The final possibility is that these objects are from some shadow organization that has advanced technology but isn't beholden to any government. I find that fairly unlikely but it is possible. If true that would be a very disturbing situation as how would a private organization manage to create these things?

Either way it is good that these questions are being asked and that the government is at least appearing to be somewhat transparent on the issue. I am sure they are hiding quite a bit of things for us, but at least the issue is being discussed... 

Get ready for the next manufactured racial controversy...

 

Police at the scene of the shooting. Fox News/AP.

Police have arrested and released an 84 year old man that shot a 16 year old black male who was allegedly trying to enter his home. Fox News. Andrew Lester was in bed when his doorbell rang at 10:00 pm in Kansas City. He retrieved his gun, a .32 caliber revolver, and opened fire on Ralph Yarl, who Lester said was trying to open his door and break in. Yarl was shot twice, once in the head and once in the arm and expected to make a full recovery. Yarl's family claims he was trying to pick up his brothers and was at the wrong address. 

My Comment:

After years of false claims of racism in high profile self defense cases, I have zero belief that the media's narrative in this case is at all real. Is it possible that Yarl was really there for the reasons his family says he was? Yes, but I'm not taking the media's word for it. After all, these are the same people that lied about George Zimmerman, Officer Darren Wilson and Kyle Rittenhouse, why would they suddenly care about it now? It's very possible that Yarl and his family are indeed lying about what he was doing there and I won't believe it until we see the evidence in court. That doesn't mean I am pre-judging the merits of the arrest, it just means I am not going to pre-judge the guilt of Lester before any testimony is made or evidence is shown. 

That being said what Yarl was doing at that house was pretty much irrelevant. What matters is the Missouri law on self defense. Under Missouri law you can use deadly force if someone is breaking into your house with no duty to retreat. From what I understand there is a reasonable person standard which should mean that Lester will get off in the scenario he describes. 

Lester had every right to open fire in the scenario he outlined. A reasonable person would probably think that a stranger showing up at your home at 10:00pm and is currently trying to open a door. That's illegally trying to enter an occupied dwelling and that justifies lethal force. It makes zero difference at all if Yarl was or was not there by mistake and the whole thing was a tragic accident or not. 

There are things that could end up sinking Lester's self defense claims though. The first is the second shot, which reportedly happened on the ground after Yarl had already been shot in the head. Doing so might not be justified as Yarl may not have been a threat at that point. It really depends on how long after the first shot the second shot happened. If he was still falling down it might be fine but if it was after a couple of seconds then Lester might be in trouble legally. 

The other major question is if Yarl was actually trying to break in. If he was opening the outer glass door then he was indeed trying to break in legally (even if he claims he was doing something else). If all he did was ring the door bell and stand there than Lester was in the wrong. Without knowing the rest of the evidence we might only have the testimony of both Yarl and Lester to determine it and that might come down to the credibility of both. Lester might be harmed by this because he is an elderly and, to be rather rudely honest, haggard looking man while Yarl is a comparatively, attractive young man. If there is video evidence then things might be different. 

Finally, since race has to be an issue in all interracial incidents like this (unless the races involved are reversed or don't match the narrative), race might play a major role. Racial bias could indeed effect the case if his motivation wasn't self defense but wanting to kill someone for the color of their skin. So far I haven't seen any evidence that this is the case, other than the prosecutor saying there was a "racial component" to the case. But if there is any truth to it, it could end with Lester going to prison. It has happened before, the defendants in the Ahmaud Arbery case ended partially being convicted because they dropped the n-word after the shooting. It's possible that something like this happened here as well.

Regardless of the details of the case, the really sad thing isn't the shooting, it's the fact that the government and media are hyping it. I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't riots in Kansas City even though we know very little about the case and don't know if the case had anything to do with race at all. Indeed, Joe Biden saying he would meet with Yarl is hugely prejudicial and seems explicitly designed to inflame racial tensions. Will Biden apologize if the story falls apart and it turns out that Lester was legally and morally justified to shoot Yarl? Of course not. Even if that happens I fully expect Biden and his ilk to double down yet again. 

It's also a terriblely inconsequential crime. That doesn't mean I don't think it should be examined, but I do think that it's utterly absurd that we are discussing it at all. This should be a local news story at best and a minor one at that. There isn't any pressing need to cover it like it's the biggest story in the world, not when so much else is happening in the world. Nobody even died! But that's not the world we live in right now. 

What we do have is the Democrats and the powers that be pushing a largely false narrative that innocent black people are regularly being gunned down by white people. Anyone with even the basic knowledge of crime stats knows that the vast majority of interracial violence goes the other way and though it does happen occasionally it's basically a rounding error. 

Why would they do this? Because they think it drives voter turnout and I can't say they are wrong. I do think a lot of people were fired up by the 2020 black lives matter riots and protests and they could be trying to do it again, a little early.

 They also like the fact that it demonizes both gun rights and white people, which are popular scapegoats when they wish to distract against other failures. I mean, we aren't talking about the radicalization of transgender people any more. We aren't talking about the pentagon leaks that show our efforts in Ukraine are failing. We aren't talking about the economy failing or the debacle that was Afghanistan. Instead we are talking about an unclear shooting that may indeed prove to be self defense. Of course I am writing about this too instead of those things, but at least I am pointing out the controversy. 

Finally, I do have to say that I think Lester made a major mistake in opening the inner door in the first place (assuming his narrative is correct). I think he was right to get his gun given the circumstances but the right move was to not confront the intruder until he was actually in his house. He may have been legally justified in opening the door but doing it was not the right thing to do from a self defense standpoint. This would have never been an issue if he had just stayed inside and called the police. If Yarl had broken in this story would have never gotten the legs it had as there wouldn't be any question if it being self defense. And it's very possible that he wouldn't have to shoot anyone. If Yarl was indeed confused he would have eventually left and if he was trying to get in he might not have been able to if the door was secure. This situation probably could have been avoided had he been a bit smarter about what he was doing. 

Brazil talks with Russia's foreign minster and calls for an end to the war in Ukraine angers Biden administration.

 

Russian Foreign Minster Sergey Lavrov arrives in Brazil. The Hill/AP.

Brazil has began talks with Russia's Foreign Minster Sergey Lavrov which has angered the Biden administration. AP. Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has refused to supply weapons to Ukraine and has said they will join China in an effort to end the war there. Lula was also critical of Ukraine saying that they also decided to go to war with Russia. Lula also called on the United States to come to the negotiating table, stop sending weapons and allow a cease fire. Brazil's Foreign Minster Mauro Vieira also criticized sanctions against Russia which he says is causing suffering in third world countries. The Biden administration was apoplectic and said Brazil was repeating "Russian and Chinese propaganda".

My Comment:

I've been extremely critical of President Lula and consider him to be an illegitimate president who, much like Joe Biden, didn't actually win the election where he took power. But credit where credit is due, he's making a lot more sense here than our government. 

Brazil, of course, would gain from better relations with Russia and they have deep economic ties to the country now that BRICS is a thing. They are reliant on Russia and Russia is reliant on them. And they have little reason to oppose the war in Ukraine. 

And I also think that Ukraine absolutely deserves some, maybe most, of the blame for the war there. Russia did invade and that was a war of choice, which should be criticized, but Ukraine was absolutely provoking them. They were regularly shelling civilians in Donbass, encouraging neo-Nazi groups like the Azov Battalion and were doing incredibly racist things against their Russian-speaking citizens, including banning the Russian language. And their behavior hasn't been much better since the war started.  

Brazil has very little to gain from sending weapons to Ukraine. First of all, they don't have a huge military and don't have that much to give. And even if they did, why would they? Ukraine is losing the war, why prolong it? And why anger Russia when they are a huge economic partner? And it's not like the United States and Europe is going to do anything to make Brazil better if they do. 

I also agree that the sanctions against Russia have damaged the third world. If for no other reason that the energy sanctions have increased prices globally. And nothing hurts more than higher energy prices, the entire economy depends on it. We have been fairly insulated from the worst shocks because of higher prices but third world countries? They aren't so lucky. 

Of course, I don't know that either Russia or Ukraine would make a deal right now. The west is determined to "defend" Ukraine down to the last Ukrainian and if President Zelensky tried to negotiate he'd either get killed by the CIA or by his own people. 

And Russia? Right now they are accomplishing a lot and doing it on the cheap. They are slowly grinding the Ukrainian military into dust. Europe is bankrupting themselves trying to fight the war and even the United States is taking economic damage. And the war is pushing a lot of countries, including Brazil, into the arms of the Russians. They have little reason to end the war at this point, and zero trust in the west to deal fairly.

Violence and disorder erupts in downtown Chicago...

 

Hundreds of teens swarming downtown Chicago. Fox News.

Violence and disorder erupted in downtown Chicago as hundreds of teens smashed cars, blocked traffic and fought in the streets. Fox News. Two male teens, aged 16 and 17, were shot in the chaos. Both are in fair condition. Mayor elect Brandon Johnson condemned the violence but also defended the teens saying they had been denied opportunities. Johnson, a far left progressive, won against moderate Democrat Paul Vallas who ran on a law and order platform. Nine adults and six juveniles were arrested in the violence, which was advertised on social media as a flash mob. 

My Comment:

People tend to get the government they deserve and that is certainly the case in Chicago. After making a terrible mistake in electing Lori Lightfoot they went and picked someone who won't reverse her awful policies but will instead double down on. To be fair, Brandon Johnson, is not in power yet, but I have little faith in his ability to get crime in Chicago under control. 

This incident just shows how much disorder there is in American cities. People were smashing cars, wreaking stuff and then trying to fight and kill each other, just because they didn't have anything else to do. It's a miracle that nobody died. 

Some people have been making excuses, saying that these kids have been denied opportunities or that it's expected because of the unseasonably warm temps. But that's just making excuses. These people wanted to commit crimes and that's it. I have no idea why people want to give these people a pass. 

This was a flash mob, which is hard, but not impossible, to defend against. You really need people on social media following these flash mobs so when they show up police are there in force. Of course then you also have to be willing to crack skulls and throw these people in jail. But Chicago police are not able to do that because of pressure from the Democrat led city. Not that they have the resources to do so anyways, the police there can't handle the hundreds of murders in the city, let alone crimes like this. 

Is it any wonder why businesses are pulling out of Chicago? Walmart is closing stores because they have never been profitable in the entire time they are open due to the massive amounts of shoplifting. This is happening in other major cities with far-left governments, most notably Portland Oregon. And then the governments of these cities have the audacity to complain about these stores closing! 

The problem is that this lax attitude towards crime doesn't just affect the cities, it affects the entire region. Illinois itself is ruined because of Chicago, the rest of the state is mostly nice but Chicago rules them all. And it affects every state around Illinois. I live in Wisconsin and I know that many of these people end up leaving Chicago and end up acting like they do down there and quickly realize that we actually arrest people up here. 

The FBI has arrested the accused leaker of multiple classified documents, a 21 year old Air Force Airman.

 

Airman 1st Class Jack Teixeira. NBC News/Facebook photo. 

A 21 year old Air Force reserve Airman First Class was arrested by the FBI for leaking classified documents on Discord. NBC News. Jack Teixeira was taken into custody by the FBI without incident. Teixeira was assigned to the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis National Guard Base. The leaks caused a massive panic at the Pentagon as the information released, mostly about the Ukraine war, but including other sensitive secrets as well, was hugely embarrassing to the government. Teixeira released the information on the chat platform Discord. According to other members of the Discord chat he released the information to win arguments about Ukraine and to impress other members of the chat. The leaks had been occurring since January but went viral after the leaks spread to other websites like Telegram and 4chan. 

My Comment:

This is still hugely embarrassing for the Pentagon and I am assuming that Teixeira is going to get the book thrown at him. His leaks not only embarrassed them, it also embarrassed many of our allies (and "allies") including South Korea, Ukraine and others. He also exposed a lot of the lies about the Ukraine War which the powers that be are going to consider unforgivable. 

What gets me is the fact that he did this for no real reason. He wasn't a principled leaker like Edward Snowden who thought he was doing the right thing. He wasn't a fool like Reality Winner who was warped by Trump Derangement Syndrome. He was just a guy in a gaming discord that wanted to impress his friends and win arguments. And now his life is completely over. 

Supposedly it was the interview with the Washington Post that broke the case open, which is pretty embarrassing for the FBI. They had interviewed someone that was in the Discord group and that apparently broke things open. 

I think it's pretty obvious that the leaks are legit. That doesn't mean that they are all true though. I for one don't believe the casualty figures that they released, but I think they do believe it. Ukraine has been an intelligence failure from the start, so there are parts of the leaks I am questionable on. But regardless, it's clear that these leaks are at least mostly legit now.  

I do worry that this could lead to more censorship. I wouldn't care too much about Discord, but did you notice in the NBC report that they tried to blame this on 4chan? Sure, people posted the leaks there but they did on Twitter and Telegram as well, but you don't see them getting labeled like 4chan was. And given the powers that be are going to want to prevent this from happening again, I worry that some of these websites might be attacked. Indeed, I am worried that the other members of this Discord group could be in trouble as well, even though they had no responsibility to keep the documents secret. 

I know some people are questioning this arrest, but I don't really think this was some kind of false flag. The information that was released was too damaging for that. If this was some kind of intel op it wouldn't have involved all the embarrassing secrets released. The one I wrote about earlier in the week about Russia being able to jam our GPS weapons alone is so damaging that I can't imagine the Pentagon ever releasing it. 

As for Teixeira himself, I have little sympathy. If he had done this for some political purpose I would have been impressed as some of the information he released was very valuable for me and might cause a quicker end to the Ukraine War. But his motives, assuming the Discord witness was right, was so stupid that I can't really feel sorry for him. He ruined his life for no greater cause then himself... 

Russia has the capability to jam our smart bombs being used in Ukraine.

 

File photo of JDAM's. Politico/US Navy photo.

Russia has the capability to jam our smart bombs being used in the Ukraine War. Politico. The information was revealed among many other secrets in the recent leak that spread from Discord. The JDAM system converts "dumb" bombs into semi-guided smart bombs and have been issued to Ukrainian fighters. However, many of the bombs failed or did not land where they were aimed. The dud issue has since been corrected, but the bombs still were not landing where they were supposed to land. US forces did not confirm that Russian jamming was responsible for the high failure rate, but the leaked documents did and other sources have seemingly confirmed the failures. 

My Comment:

This is a fairly major revelation that is only really getting attention now. Russia is able to jam our JDAM's which means they could probably jam much of our other weapons that rely on GPS. Given how utterly dependent on GPS technology this means that Russia may have a major advantage over us thanks to their electronic warfare abilities. 

This is a huge deal because it also signals to our actual enemies, like China, that our weapons can be defeated. This means that if a conflict erupts over Taiwan they could possibly hard counter our weapons with the same kind of electronic warfare. Does China have that capability? I don't know. But Russia does and that means they could transfer the ability to China. That's a major advantage for China, one that might even win them any war with us. 

I do think that this leak is legit. Given the utter panic that the Pentagon is in right now and how angry they are I do think that at least some of these leaks are real. And I do think that this one is one of them. The anonymous source from the Politico doesn't mean much but I think if this was false the Pentagon would have actively denied it instead of going the no-comment route. 

I do wonder how they even gathered this data. Ukraine's air force has not been used much, and they don't have much left. Russia's air defenses are very good, just like Ukraine's, so air power has not had much of an impact on this war. Of course Ukraine might be using the same tactics that the Russians do, firing long range while still over their own territory and thus being protected by their own air defenses. Still, they must not have been happy for the few operations they have launched have failed like this. 

I still think that it is hilarious that all this damaging information has come out not because of high minded ideals, political outrage or even desire for money. It was because someone wanted to impress people on Discord on the Ukraine war. And now the whole world knows that Russia can jam our weapons. It's absurd. 

Airstrikes in Myanmar leave 100 people dead

 

Burned out motorcycles and debris in the aftermath of the bombing. AP. 

An airstrike in Myanmar has left at least 100 people dead. AP. Myanmar had a military coup in 2021 and has spawned a protest movement. The site of the strike was being used as a ceremony site for opponents of the military regime. Myanmar has used airstrikes against opponents before and have killed 3000 people since coming into power. A fighter jet had dropped the bomb and about half an hour later a military helicopter appeared and also opened fire. 150 people were at the site when the attack occurred and among the dead were 20 to 30 children. Myanmar acknowledged the strike but accused the opponents of being terrorists and said there was a secondary explosion and was the result of weapons on the ground exploding. 

My Comment:

I don't have a whole lot of time to cover this story but I do think it is important to document this massacre. When 100 people are bombed and destroyed it's probably worth writing about. And then they had a helicopter come in to strafe the survivors. Not a good thing at all. 

I don't really believe Myanmar's claim that these people were rebels. It is possible there was a secondary explosion as the damage looked a bit severe for a single bombing, but the extra damage could have been caused by the helicopter attack as well. Generally speaking though, rebels don't bring their kids into their meetings with them, for this very reason. It's possible they were there as a security option, blowing up children is obviously bad press, but that seems unlikely. 

This isn't even the first time Myanmar has done this. Indeed, I wrote about a similar bombing last year. That bombing as pretty similar to this one, a large gathering of civilians in a non-violent event. They got bombed then and it just happened again, expect this time the government of Myanmar decided to follow up the bombing with a helicopter attack as well. That's probably why there have been more casualties in the 2nd attack. 

That incident makes me have a lot less sympathy for Myanmar's claims. Why would we believe that these people were violent terrorists if there was another incident that clearly was targeting civilians? I have little doubt that this attack was targeting civilians. 

I do say that the Myanmar regime opponents need to be a lot wiser about what they do on the ground. These large gatherings are very vulnerable to these kinds of attacks, and it's pretty clear that someone is informing the government when they happen. Not giving the government an opportunity to kill a hundred people is probably a good thing.  

Louisville Kentucky police release bodycam footage of yesterday's bank shooting.

 

A makeshift memorial in Louisville Kentucky. BBC.

Police in Louisville Kentucky have released bodycam footage of yesterday's bank shooting. BBC. The video shows the police engaging with the shooter. One of the officers, Nickolas Wilt, was shot in the head by the attacker, while the other, Cory Galloway, was grazed. Galloway then shot the shooter after the suspect began firing at officers again. The attacker dropped and Galloway was able to secure the scene and help rescue the survivors. Wilt remains in critical condition and was only sworn into duty 10 days before the shooting. 

My Comment:

I wasn't going to bother writing up a post about this case but I do think that releasing the videos in these shootings is a genuinely good thing. Not only does it give closure to the people that are injured or otherwise traumatized in these attacks, I think it has a genuine deterrence factor when potential shooters see the final results of these attacks. 

Which is why I think the footage of the attacker should be uncensored. People should be able to see what happens to you if you decide to commit a mass shooting. You end up dead in a pile with blood pouring out of you. I know many of these people do want to die but I doubt many of them want to suffer or die in humiliating fashion. This shooter did both. 

I don't have much to say about the shooter himself, since he's pretty obviously a loser that had a grudge because he lost his job. It's probably notable that he had pronouns in his LinkedIn profile, but that was nuked pretty much instantly. He was a failure in life and now he's a failure in death. 

As for the police, they should, of course, be commended for their actions. They had a pretty bad tactical disadvantage there and it's fairly amazing that the shooter wasn't able to kill both of them. My guess is that the shooter wasn't very experienced with his weapon, which seems pretty obvious since he just bought it before the shooting. Galloway especially deserves credit because he was fighting while wounded and went into the gunfire not once but twice. I also have to say his reaction to being shot was a pretty cool combat roll, which is not something I would have seen ever outside of an action movie. 

Again, this shows how important police response is. Unlike the Uvalde police, these Kentucky officers stayed engaged with the shooter and put him down despite being shot at. They fought instead of waiting around and arresting parents who were wiling to run inside the school to engage the shooter. Though the shooting was bad, it could have been a lot worse if the cops had just inexplicably waited around for the shooter to kill more people.  

Hopefully both of my links to the video work. The BBC is edited but is also not age restricted like the YouTube video is. Hopefully that means that the people that can't or won't watch the video on YouTube can actually see video of the shootout. 

Pentagon in a panic after document leak scandal exposes weakness of Ukraine military.

 

File photo of the Pentagon. AP.

The Pentagon is panicked after a major document leak exposed a large number of secrets, including ones related to the Ukraine war. Politico. The documents have spread throughs social media over the past weeks and are the most robust leak since the Edward Snowden case. In addition to information about the Ukraine war, some of the leaked materials involved US efforts to spy on South Korea and Turkish cooperation for Israel. The Defense Department also does not know if there will be more leaks. It is unclear how many of the documents are accurate. 

The leaks originated from a Discord chatroom. AP. The leaks were posted on a Discord discussion room called "Thug Shaker Central" and were posted during debates on the Ukraine war. The documents then spread to other chatrooms and reached the wider internet. A member of the Discord group said the leaker was not motivated by efforts to embarrass the government or to expose secrets, but to simply impress the other members of the group. 

The leaked documents show many weaknesses of the Ukrainian military. NBC News. One of the analysis's posted claims that Ukraine will run out of air defense missiles completely by May, giving Russia total air superiority, which would dramatically limit actions by Ukraine. Ukraine's air defenses have been impressive and had been one of their few remaining advantages and forced Russia to avoid Ukrainian air space to avoid casualties. 

My Comment:

I find this whole situation hilarious. Some random defense worker got worked up in a Discord chat and decided he was going to not only risk his career but even his life just to win an argument about the Ukraine War. It wasn't for noble reasons or for money, but because he was butthurt about an internet argument. What a joke. 

The reaction to these documents has been entertaining. Just about everyone mentioned in them is embarrassed. Both Ukraine and Russia had some dirty laundry revealed and both of them are claiming the documents are fake (while Ukraine at the same time says they are changing battle plans because of the leak). And they aren't the only countries affected! The whole thing is a massive embarrassment. 

It's very unclear how much of the documents are real and how accurate they are. It's very possible that all the documents are real, but may be factually incorrect. I personally don't buy for a second the claims that Russia has taken more casualties than Ukraine, that makes zero sense, but it is something that the intel community repeats as if it has any basis in reality. 

The anti-aircraft missile issue is a pretty huge deal. Russia has indeed been pretty reluctant to risk their air forces over Ukraine due to how advanced and effective Ukraine's anti-air batteries are. They have been facing attrition for a long time though and I think it's very possible that they are indeed running out of missiles. 

And it's not like these weapons are easy to replace. Western anti-air weapons are not as effective and there aren't nearly enough of them to replace the losses. And it's not like there is an unlimited supply of them either. My guess is that Ukraine will shortly lose their biggest advantage in the war and Russia will gain air superiority. 

I personally have not been able to review these documents. For supposedly being everywhere I haven't seen too much on any of the social media sites I am on. And I go on some of the less mainstream websites like 4chan and even there I haven't seen much. From what I understand they are mostly being spread on Telegram, a social media platform popular in eastern Europe and is used by both Russians and Ukrainians. Like discord it's a chat app and I usually have zero interest in those but perhaps I should sign up? Seems like important stuff is going on there these days.

I do think that whoever leaked these documents is pretty screwed. I honestly think he should try to get out of the country as soon as possible. But given that these documents do not appear to have been released for any political reason and that it has pissed off just about everyone, I don't know where they would go. All I know is if they get caught they will have hell to pay.  

France's Emmanuel Macron says Europe needs to avoid following the United States into war with China and move away from the US dollar.

 

President Xi of China (right) and Emmanuel Macron of France. Politico/AFP.

The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, says that Europe needs to forge their own path on the Taiwan issue and move away from the US dollar. Politico. Macron said that Europe needed to be a "third superpower" and needed "strategic autonomy". Macron also said that Europe risked getting dragged into conflicts that are not theirs. He also warned against accelerating conflict in Taiwan by following the lead of China or the United States. Macron had just visited President Xi and contrasted the US approach to Taiwan. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced he was visiting Taiwan recently. More importantly, Macron said that overdependence on the US dollar could reduce Europe to mere vassals if a major war were to break out.

My Comment:

First of all, it's rather rich of Macron to be making these statements considering the situation. France would not be the leader of a supposed third superpower, especially considering the fact that he can't keep his home in order. France has been rioting and protesting for weeks now due to his own end run around his legislature.  

That being said, I do think that he has a point. A war between the United States and China over Taiwan would not be something Europe should get involved in. They would have nothing to gain and a whole lot to lose if they got involved in the war. Keeping out of it would mean they could play both sides and wouldn't have to worry about their own military power degraded. 

Of course France might not have much of a choice. They are obligated by NATO treaties to defend America if China attacks them. It wouldn't count if America got into a war of choice with China but that might not be how things go down. If China shoots first then France might be forced to join the war. And if that happens and they refuse? Well, NATO would be destroyed which means there would be a lot less deterrence against Russia. 

There is something to be said for France taking a middle route between China and the United States. Both are taking a hardline stance, which is not something that prevents wars. Doing so has a small chance of providing a solution that all sides can live with. The chances are not good but it's possible. 

I do think that Politico was burying the lede a bit. France moving away from the US dollar is a huge deal for the United States. Already many other countries are moving away from the dollar for oil purchases and it could have a major effect on the American economy. Doing so means we might have difficulty in getting new loans and paying down our debt, which means we would have to print money instead. That could lead to hyper inflation. The fact that France is discussing this as well does not bode well... 

Major terror attack in Burkina Faso leaves dozens dead.

 

A soldier in Burkina Faso. BBC/AFP.

A major terror attack in Burkina Faso has left at least 44 people dead in two locations. BBC. No group has taken credit for the attack but militants linked to both ISIS and al-Qaeda are active in the region. The attacks were in retaliation of a lynching of two jihadists who had been caught trying to steal cattle. Burkina Faso has had an Islamic insurgency since 2013 and the failure to deal with the insurgency has led to multiple coups against the government. The current leader, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, promised to take back territory held by the Jihadists and hold democratic elections in 2024. He also kicked French troops out of the country and may invite Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group to fight the Jihadis. 

My Comment:

Burkina Faso probably isn't on anyone's radar but this was a fairly large terror attack that left a lot of people dead. Both ISIS and al-Qaeda are very active in Africa and remain one of the few regions where they have any power at all. At this point it's mostly a regional problem but one that could quickly grow out of control. 

It's absurd that this happened due to cattle rustling, which is apparently still a thing in Africa. I understand the inclination to just lynch people that are trying to steal your livelihood but doing so in this case was probably a mistake. Doing so provoked a major response from the terror groups and you have to wonder why the people that killed the cattle rustlers didn't expect blowback from it. Perhaps they were just tired of the Jihadis and just wanted some petty revenge. Either way, it didn't work out well for them. 

It does appear that Burkina Faso is becoming rather unstable. They have a long history of major terror attacks and they keep having coups because the leadership seems unable to do anything about it. Kicking out the French probably didn't help things as, for all their faults, the French military is actually pretty good. I am assuming it is an anti-colonialism thing so I guess I can understand where they are coming from but it's not like Burkina Faso is able to deal with the Jihadi problem themselves. 

Sending in the Wagner Group might actually help things. They have plenty of experience fighting insurgencies in Africa and they are actually fairly competent fighters, excluding the prison cannon fodder that was used in Ukraine. They would be trading one colonial power for another one but at least the Russians won't fight with one hand behind their back. 

Still, Africa is another tinderbox to keep an eye on. A major collapse by the Burkina Faso government, which does not look stable right now, could lead to a major Jihadist victory in Africa. They could then use the area as a tax base and operational center to launch terror attacks inside and outside of the region. That seems fairly unlikely but so did the rise of ISIS last decade... 

Another transgender mass shooting averted.

 

The middle school that was targeted in the plans and the foiled shooter. KRDO.

A former Colorado transgender student was foiled in an attempt to commit a school shooting. KRDO. 19 year old William Whitworth, who is a male to female transgender and goes by "Lilly" was arrested for attempted murder and various other crimes. Whitworth was arrested after getting drunk and being reported to the police by a family member. When confronted by police Whitworth confirmed plans to shoot up Timberview Middle School in addition to other targets including churches. Police found a manifesto, bomb making material and floor plans of the school. In the manifesto Whitworth ranted about school shooters, serial killers, celebrities and politicians. 

My Comment:

I was expecting another transgender shooter eventually, but I hadn't expected it to be so soon. Fortunately, this attack was still in the planning stage and hadn't gone beyond planning and a frankly pathetic attempt to make a bomb. Whitworth was incompetent and the whole plot was blown up because he got drunk and belligerent and his family turned him in. 

This attack appears to have been at least partially politically motivated. Given the secondary targets were churches and the rants against conservative political figures like Donald Trump and Lauren Southern it seems like this person had an issue against right wingers. 

That being said, it appears Whitworth also was obsessed with school shooters and serial killers. It's possible that his obsession was a primary motivation as well. That obsession was certainly not healthy and it's bizarre that anyone would want to emulate school shooters. 

It's unclear which motivation was the primary one. It's also unclear how long this plot was in motion for. It's possible it predates the Nashville shooting committed by another transgender person and is most likely a terror attack done in the name of transgenderism. I don't think this was a plot that jut happened to be plotted by a transgender person but I also don't know if it was specifically in the name of transgenderism. 

Whitworth seems like an utter loser. Regardless of the transgender status of the shooter, it seems like he was a major failure at everything. Instead of going out and buying a gun he tried to google how to print out firearms. Presumably he could have simply purchased one instead. Of course he didn't seem like a very smart person considering his whole plot was exposed because he got drunk and ripped a door down and punched holes into his homes wall. 

Though Whitworth appears to have been incompetent, his brother or sister (the news report just calls them a "reporting person) did the right thing by turning him in. They probably didn't want to send Whitworth to prison but what choice did they have? When someone is threatening to shoot up a school you have to act and I am very glad that they did in this case. 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has joined the 2024 race as a Democratic challenger against Joe Biden.

 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Fox News. 

Joe Biden will be facing one more Democratic challenger as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has filed paperwork to run for president. Fox News. RFK is the 2nd Democrat to enter the race after Marianne Williamson. Kennedy is an environmental lawyer but is most well known for his anti-vaccine activism. Kennedy has gained followers because of his resistance to covid-vaccines but is also against regular vaccines as well. Kennedy is also well known as being a member of the Kennedy family, one of the most powerful political dynasties in American history. 

My Comment:

I don't know if RFK has a lane or not. He does have the advantage of having the Kennedy name, but how relevant is that today? Most of the Democrats voters are young and weren't around during the JFK and RFK days while Ted Kennedy is pretty notorious even among the Democrats these days. Indeed, I think more Republicans hold the Kennedys in high esteem then Democrats now. 

Another obvious issue is that RFK is very anti-vaccine. And not in the more defensible anti-covid vaccine way, but in the far less respectable and justifiable all vaccines mode. Though I am mostly against the covid vaccines (especially now after the virus has mutated so much and the elevated risks of it the vaccine) but it's absurd to be against normal conventional vaccines. 

That being said, there are quite a few people on the left that are antivax. Indeed, before the Coronavirus pandemic the stereotype for antivaxers was a left wing person. That stereotype has indeed flipped but I don't think every antivaxer is now a Republican. 

But still, his signature issue is one that is largely irrelevant today. The pandemic is pretty much over and only a few die-hards on either side still care about the issue. And most of the fanatic pro-vaccine people (outside of Donald Trump) are on the Democrats side on this. I can't imagine that they would vote for RFK Jr. 

RFK's main problem is that he is defined by this issue. He might have reasonable or interesting policies and opinions on other topics but he is obviously going to be defined by his opposition to vaccines. I think that makes him a candidate with niche appeal. And it gives Biden a very obvious angle of attack if he even bothers to debate. 

The other question I have is how extreme the opposition to Biden is on the left. Many Democrats are in full "my party right or wrong" mode with him, despite his obvious senility and massive failures as president. Many people in the Democrat camp do want fresh blood but I don't know if they will go for anyone but Biden. 

It is possible that there could be Republicans that cross over in the primaries to vote for RFK. Though the Republicans have a contested primary, nobody thinks that Trump is going to lose, especially now after the nonsense in New York. If they felt Trump was safe they might vote in the Democratic primaries just to get someone other than Biden and that could be RFK's role, with his anti-vaccine mandate policies. 

Still, I consider RFK Jr to be an obvious long shot candidate and not someone that has a real chance of winning the candidacy, let alone the presidency. If the whole vaccine mandate was still a relevant issue he might have a chance, but I don't see that happening. 

What might be interesting is if the old school blue dog Democrats that actually do respect the Kennedys might be turned off by the attacks that will be coming to RFK. Not that there are that many of them left, most of them have been chased out of the party long before now, but the ones that remain might not be happy with the media attacking RFK as an antivax "nutjob". Time will tell how that plays out, but still, I doubt he makes it to the first primary.