Riots continue in France over a police shooting...

 

A container burns in France. Reuters.

France has deployed 45,000 police to try and stem riots that have continued for three days. Reuters. Riots dominated the suburbs after a police shooting on Tuesday left a 17 year old Algerian/Moroccan dead. The officer who shot Nahel M. said the shooting death was accidental as he was aiming for his leg and was arrested for the incident. This did little to quell the riots which has seen large amounts of arson, looting and violence. It is considered the widest unrest France has seen since the yellow vest protests in 2018.

My Comment:

This is why American cops are trained to shoot to kill and not shoot if their lives aren't in danger. The officer involved in this case shot to wound and it ended up backfiring on not only him but his entire country. I'm not familiar with French laws on use of force but under American laws this would have been a bad shooting. 

With that being said, much like the various police shootings in the United States, I have next to no sympathy for the "victim" in this case. From what I understand he was a thief that was running from the police and generally being a nuisance. Should the cops have shot him? Probably not. Should we be upset about that? Not very. It certainly doesn't justify the rioting, looting and violence we are seeing in response to the shooting. 

As with all riots in France it's difficult to tell how serious these riots are. France is known to riot and protest for almost any reason, it's almost a national sport for them. The country has basically been protesting since 2018, with a brief lull during the pandemic. 

And the areas that are rioting? They tend to be the so called "no go" zones that are generally unstable anyways. France has long had a problem with people burning cars and the current wave of riots is no different. I am not surprised that they are doing this, the only real difference is the scale and the fact that it's spreading into other areas of the country. 

I also don't think that the people that are rioting are actually all that upset about the death of the 17 year old. Indeed, I think it's just like the Black Lives Matter riots in 2020 here in the United States. It's more about having a fun time, causing a ruckus and then getting away with free stuff that you loot. The shooting is just the excuse for the violence, as it was and as it will ever shall be. 

Still, the fact that Macron can't seem to get riots and disorder under control in his country is a pretty big back mark on his presidency. It's a minor miracle he is still in power given how unpopular he is and how badly his leadership has handled this particular issue. He has personally angered a lot of normal French people and it can't look good for him that the immigrant class is now running amok as well. It is amazing that he has been able to hang onto power...  

Supreme Court overrules Affirmative Action for colleges in blockbuster ruling.

 

People walk outside of the Supreme Court wearing masks to deal with air pollution. CBS News/Getty.

The Supreme Court has overruled affirmative action for colleges in a blockbuster ruling. CBS News. The cases alleged that Harvard and the University of North Carolina discriminated against potential students because they choose applicants based on their race, not merit. In a 6-3 and 6-2 ruling (Justice  Ketanji Brown Jackson recused herself in the Harvard case) the admission standards were overturned. The majority said that the admissions standards violated the equal protection clause. 

Chief Justice Roberts was quoted as saying "Both programs lack sufficiently focused and measurable objectives warranting the use of race, unavoidably employ race in a negative manner, involve racial stereotyping, and lack meaningful end points. We have never permitted admissions programs to work in that way, and we will not do so today." Roberts also said that students could cite their racial history as a factor in determining if they were a good applicant and that US military academies were exempt from the ruling. 

My Comment:

This was a fairly big win for America today as these admissions systems were explicitly racist and discriminated against Asian and White students. It was to the point where merit mattered not at all and no matter how good you were you could get rejected if you have the wrong skin color. To do that explicitly is institutional racism and the equal protection clause means that shouldn't happen. 

I personally think that affirmative action was an absolute disaster as it promoted people that had no ability to actually do the work, thus leading to lower standards and worse outcomes across society. This has been devastating for the level of competence at all levels of both commerce and government. 

It also increased racism against the people that supposedly benefit. Many people ended up higher then they could have gotten naturally and were overwhelmed or failed in their positions. And the ones that would have gotten there on merit? They became resented as people thought they both hadn't earned their place and that they had taken their spots from someone that deserved it more. 

I have never thought that promoting people based on their race due to real or perceived injustice made any sense whatsoever. Why on earth would you not want the best person for the job under all circumstances? I know the arguments in favor of diversity over anything else, but I think it's pretty clear that it hasn't worked out. 

As for the Court itself it has to be the biggest argument for Donald Trump being a good president for Republicans. We have gotten three massive rulings that have been major priorities for the right for years and without Trump we wouldn't have gotten any of them. In addition to this case we got Dobbs v Jackson, which overturned Roe v Wade and NYSRPA v Bruen which has overturned dozens of gun laws and completely hampered the gun control movement. And now we have this case which has ended affirmative action in colleges. 

The biggest winners of this has to be East Asian and Indian Asians. Though Whites were discriminated against as well, it was Asians that were getting the worst of it. Indeed, it's long been known that if people were picked based on merit instead of race they would dominate higher education more than they already do. 

I do expect that many of these colleges will do everything they can to continue to discriminate against Asian and White students and it is also true that Roberts left them a loophole. Allowing students to whine about discrimination means that these colleges still have a free pass to discriminate. I do think that many of these institutions, like Harvard, will probably go too far and run afoul of this ruling and I think it's another example of how they will benefit. Some of those students will become very wealthy when they sue Harvard and other big name universities for discrimination. 

Quran burning protest in Sweden causes outrage in the Muslim world.

 

Protester Salwan Momika ripping pages out of the Quran. Times of Israel/AFP.

A Quran burning protest in Sweden is causing outrage in the Muslim world. AFP. The protest, led by Salwan Momika, involved burning, ripping, placing bacon in and kicking the Muslim's holy book like it was a soccer ball. Sweden had granted the protest a permit over the objection of the police after an appeals court ruling. The protest caused major outrage throughout the Muslim world. The biggest repercussion might be Sweden's attempt to join NATO as Turkey was especially outraged and was opposed to Sweden joining in the first place due to their relations with the Kurds. Momika is an Iraqi refugee and is opposed to Islam. He is now under investigation for the protest due to the use of fire during a heat wave and for a possible hate crime for staging the protest in front of a mosque. 

 

#Sweden:

In Stockholm, Sweden, on the first day of Eid al-Adha, a person named Salwan Momika, of Iraqi origin, accompanied by police protection, burned the Holy Quran in front of a mosque.

Does Sweden have laws on hate crime or rabble-rousing?

pic.twitter.com/Su3uQIS3UC

— Aceu™ (@AceJaceu) June 28, 2023

My Comment:

I'm actually kind of surprised that Sweden actually stood up for free speech here. Far too often governments have chosen security over freedom and not offending the Muslim world over protecting free speech. And they did it even knowing that there were going to be consequences, most notably with Turkey. 

Turkey was already trying to keep Sweden out of NATO and now I think they will make sure that Sweden never joins the alliance. Allowing this protest has damaged relations with Turkey, relations that were already bad because of Sweden's support of the Kurds, and Sweden joining NATO was a longshot already. 

Turkey is probably the least of Sweden's problems. Protests like this have resulted in multiple terror attacks, riots and general disorder. Though Islamic terrorism is not the threat it once was, everyone involved in this protest has put a target on their heads and so has the Swedish government. Given the huge number of Muslim migrants in Sweden the potential for violence is extremely high.

As for the protest itself, I have mixed feelings. My general feeling is that people should be able to protest Islam if they want and if someone is violent in response that's on them. Offensive speech is the speech you should protect the most. I have always hated the fact that people back down when Muslims threaten people and I myself used an image of Mohamad, forbidden in Islam, as my profile picture on social media for a very long time in protest of the threats against such displays. 

That doesn't mean I think this was a good idea. Like I said, Islamic terrorism has faded into the background and this protest will likely inflame it all over again. Was it really necessary to protest this way? Probably not. I support the right for these protesters to protest Islam, Islam should not be free from criticism. But I also think it wasn't the time. 

Speaking of time, today was Eid al-Adha, a major Islamic holiday. Staging the protest today, on one of the biggest festivals in the Muslim world, was not a mistake and shows that these folks are more interested in trolling than actually making a point. That, and the fact that they staged this protest in front of a mosque makes me think that these guys are more about hating Muslims themselves rather than criticizing Islam itself. 

Indeed, the protests reminds me more of the Westboro Baptist Church. They had their beliefs too and I did support their rights to protests. But it was clear it was always more about making people angry than actually making a point. They would always protest at funerals and I don't see too much difference between them and this current protest. 

Still, like I always say, free speech isn't free if people with annoying or vile opinions aren't protected. Even though I don't think this protest was wise and it's clear that it was about trolling instead of any actual criticism, I do support the fact that it was allowed. Damn the consequences 

Air quality in the Midwest is terrible right now...

 

Smoke from a wildfire near Zama City in Canada. Reuters. 

Air quality in the Midwest is among the worst in the world due to smoke from Canadian wildfires. Yahoo News. Chicago had the worst air in the world among measured cities in terms of air quality, with much of the Midwest, including the rest of Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio, along with parts of Iowa, Minnesota, Kentucky and West Virginia, also having terrible air quality. The smoke is due to over 488 wildfires in Canada, half of which are out of control. The smoke has caused problems throughout the country with New York famously having major issues with smog earlier in the month. The poor quality air can cause major issues for even healthy people, let alone people with health issues. 

 My Comment:

In my corner of Northeast Wisconsin the air quality index is 172, which is terrible. Anything over 100 is considered unhealthy and we are well past that. And we have had major issues with smoke throughout the month of June and it isn't getting better. Seeing the sunrise through a huge amount of smog was pretty surreal this morning... 

For me it has been rough. I've never had a good reaction to smoke and this has been no exception. I've been stuffy and coughing for much of the month, with it being even worse than "normal" yesterday. It's like my spring allergies never went away but also not really because I'm coughing way more than I would be if I was having my allergies. It doesn't help that I have to go outside pretty regularly. 

I think much of the problem is the relative lack of rain we have had in the Midwest recently. Big thunderstorms or consistent rain can take a lot of the smoke out of the air. Indeed, over the weekend we had a couple of days of rain for the first time in awhile. It was great, I could go outside and not cough afterwards. 

Unfortunately it didn't last. The rain went away and the smoke followed it. The forecast says that most of the smoke will be gone from our area in the next couple of days but making it to that part won't be fun. There might be a chance of some small thunderstorms tonight and I am hoping that will happen for sure. 

I am not sure why the fires are so bad in Canada. Part of it is also probably the weather along with an arsonist or two. But I thought Canada was more competent and putting out fires than this. I know Canada is a huge country with not that many people but I wish something was being done. If Canada can't handle these fires then perhaps America could send some help?

Either way, I have to say I am utterly sick of the smoke in the air. Summer is about the only time of year I actually enjoy and I hate that the smoke is ruining it. I really like to go fishing and doing other things outside and though I can still do them I will absolutely pay a price for it... 

Russia is launching more airstrikes in Syria.

 

A fruit truck that was damaged in the bombing. BBC/EPA.

Russia has launched multiple airstrikes in Syria. BBC. Nine people were killed in a airstrike near Jisr al-Shughour while two more killed in an airstrike near Idlib city. Russia did not comment on the attack but Syria says terrorists and rebels were targeted and destroyed in the airstrikes. Rebel aligned groups like the White Helmets say the strikes hit civilians. Syria said the attacks were in retaliation for the deaths of several civilians by artillery and drone strikes. Fighting in Syria has died down since Turkey and Russia organized a ceasefire. Russia's air campaign has greatly helped Syria's forces in the civil war. 

My Comment:

The Syrian Civil War and the Russian precipitation in it has certainly fallen out of the news. Indeed, many people probably think the war is over. But these airstrikes certainly prove that the war is not over quite yet. 

Fighting has died down quite a bit, largely due to the rebel funding being cut off and the success of Russian forces. The war continues but at a much lower temperature and without the major duel threats of ISIS and al-Nusra, who are now shells of their former selves. 

It's pretty unclear who exactly was killed in this air raid. Syria says it was all terrorists and rebels while the rebel aligned White Helmets say it was just civilians. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, who strikes me as being more in the middle, says it was a mix of both. I would probably go with the latter as that makes the most sense but in war it's often hard to tell the difference between a fighter and a civilian. 

What is somewhat shocking to me is that Russia still has forces in Syria, given the scale and importance of the Ukraine conflict. Though airpower has not proven to be all that useful for either side in the conflict due to the quality of both sides air defenses you would think that Russia would want everything they have fighting there. 

I think it's another example of the war in Ukraine going better for Russia than is commonly reported. If Russia was truly in danger of losing there they would not have a bunch of fighter jets fighting in Syria. Though Syria is a big ally of Russia and the port there in Tartus is a strategic asset, it's not anywhere near as important as the Ukraine conflict so if Russia was losing they would have pulled out their fighters... 

Biden "jokes" about selling state secrets...

 

Today on Twitter a video of Joe Biden joking about selling state secrets has gone viral. The clip came from Biden's meeting with Indian Prime Minster Modi. Here's an example of the clip. 

BIDEN (last week): "I sold a lot of state secrets and a lot of very important things..." pic.twitter.com/eyEaQEevRp

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 26, 2023

The clip does cut off the fact that Biden said he was joking after that. Here's another clip:

 

Marjorie Taylor Greene and other conservatives are sharing a cut from a video that appears to show Joe Biden admitting to selling state secrets.

Some conservatives are claiming that this shows Biden is corrupt while others are claiming that it is evidence of dementia.

Context… pic.twitter.com/Tf19ySzplP

— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) June 27, 2023

Of course that clip was cut to remove the several seconds of senile old man rambling that Joe Biden made before then. Nobody here is really covering themselves in honesty here... 

With all that being said, this is an extremely bad look for Joe Biden. The joke came after reports saying both Hunter and Joe Biden accepted bribes from Bursima, an Ukrainian energy company and various other reports of corruption from the Biden family. Joking about that in this context? Terrible idea.

With Biden you never really know what he is thinking. It's possible that Biden was just joking, trying to downplay the news in front of the Indian leaders. It shows that he doesn't take the charges seriously and expects to survive them. 

It could even be a sarcastic but real confession. A message to his enemies that he's 100% guilty of the accusations against him and a middle finger to them because he knows that nobody will be able to do anything about it. He has the built in defense that he was joking too.  

Regardless, it's a horrible look for Biden and one that will confirm to a lot of people that he is indeed guilty of selling state secrets. It doesn't help his cause that the edited clip is the one that went viral, but it's not like the context is much better... 

My thoughts on the Wagner "coup attempt" in Russia

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin and former Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin during happier times. Russian government photo.

Unless you have been living under a rock you probably heard of the shocking coup attempt in Russia and the even more shocking resolution to the coup attempt. If you somehow missed it, the head of Russia's premier mercenary companies and the conquerors of Bakhmut, the Wagner Group, launched a coup. Yevgeny Prigozin led the coup and said he was going to go to Moscow and oust Putin's Defense Minister and Chief of the General staff. The coup failed, Wagner got integrated into the Russian military and Prigozhin is off to Belarus. 

When the news broke on Friday, I decided I was going to go fishing instead and since I worked overtime this weekend I haven't had a chance to cover the story until now. This is probably for the best because a lot of people got burned by this story, especially on the pro-Ukraine side. A lot of people thought that Wagner was going to succeed and that Putin's days would be numbers and somehow peace would break out in Ukraine and Russia would sign on to the Western program. 

Obviously none of that happened and I don't think Prigozhin ever had any kind of chance of removing Putin. Indeed, that wasn't his goal, he wanted to get rid of Putin's minsters, not him. From what I understand the Wagner rebellion had almost zero support, even among Wagner fighters. 

Why not? Much of it is due to Yevgeny Prigozhin himself. His behavior was becoming more and more erratic and much of his criticism of Putin and his government was unhinged. Indeed, he accused Putin's minsters of misleading him about the war, which was an extraordinary claim without much evidence. Either way, Prigozin was too busy trying to make a name for himself than doing his actual job, which was fighting the Ukrainians. 

The other reason is that most people don't want a new government in Russia. Putin was still very popular even before the war and is even more popular now. Most Russians believe that the war in Ukraine is an existential threat, and they aren't wrong. They aren't going to want to change leaders unless there is a valid reason to do so. And as far as the Russians are concerned there isn't one. 

Of course there are many people who say this whole thing is maskirovka, aka Russian military deception. That would make sense given that I think at least some of Prigozhin's comments were that in the past. I remember him whining about not having enough artillery shells in Bakhmut and shortly after Russia launched one of their biggest artillery strikes in the war. Supposedly Wagner was redeployed to threaten Kiev near the northern border with Russia. The question then becomes what on earth the maskirovka was supposed to accomplish? 

One possible reason is that this was an attempt to root out any disloyal people. This has happened before. The coup in Turkey certainly ended this way. It's very possible that Russia is at this very moment trying to find the people that wanted to support this coup and will be imprisoning and eliminating them... 

The other theory is that this was a NATO inspired coup that failed. Under this theory Prigozhin was offered a bribe and was going to be paid billions to overthrow Putin. The theory is certainly possible, NATO has done some incredibly stupid things during this war already. But if that was the case I can't imagine Prigozhin being allowed to live. 

My guess? I think Prigozhin realized that the war was nearing an end. Ukraine's offensive failed and Wagner was now on the backburner. He blamed Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov for this and decided to launch his rebellion. Once he realized that even his own troops didn't support him he called it off thanks to Lukashenko in Belarus offering a way out. His days are probably numbered... 

Regardless, I don't think this will be anything but a footnote. The NAFO trolls on Twitter and propagandists in governments are trying to show that this means Putin is weak but I don't see it that way. Prigozhin's coup failed largely because he didn't get any popular support. Like I said, the Russians know that it's basically Putin or bust at this point and if they don't win in Ukraine that's it. They didn't appreciate Prigozhin's attempt to start a civil war. 

Joe Biden plays down the fact that he called Chinese President Xi a "dictator".

 

Joe Biden. Politico/AP.

Joe Biden has attempted to play down the fact that he called Chinese President Xi a "dictator". Politico. Biden made the remarks on Tuesday which infuriated China. Biden was talking about this springs balloon incident, saying that Xi didn't know about it, also adding that "dictators" don't like it when they don't know things. Biden said that he doubted the remarks would have any real consequence and that he was planning to meet with Xi soon. Biden's remarks angered China enough that they sent an official protest and summoned America's ambassador with China. 

My Comment:

This was a huge verbal gaffe by Joe Biden and the fact that the news is still covering it two days after it happened is a big deal. It was not the right thing to say and he did it at one of the worst possible times. 

Is Joe Biden right? Is President Xi a dictator? Not really. China is a communist country but I don't think they really count as a dictatorship. In theory Xi could be removed by his party which isn't something you could say about someone like Kim Jong Un in North Korea, who is indeed a dictator. China isn't really a free country, but people are allowed to vote and could in theory change their system. I've been and will continue to be extremely critical of China and its communist government but I don't know if I would ever describe it as a dictatorship or Xi as a dictator. 

And it's not like Biden has any room to criticize anyone. He may call people like Xi and Putin dictators, but I really don't see any difference between them and him. Biden arrests his political opponents, is trying to roll back the rights of Americans and took office under extremely questionable circumstances to say the least. 

But regardless of it being true it was an idiotic thing to say. There is some important context that the Politico article didn't mention and it's the fact that Secretary of State Antony Blinken was just in China. That meeting was designed to try and improve relations with China and it was mostly a failure. But the little diplomatic accomplishments that were gained there were immediately ruined by Biden's remarks. 

Can you imagine what Blinken was thinking? He worked hard to get anything from the Chinese at all and then Biden goes and calls Xi a dictator, ruining anything and everything he accomplished. It I didn't think Blinken deserved it I would almost feel bad for him. 

If there is any possible out for Biden here it's the fact that China knows Biden is senile and not really in control of what he says anymore. China is too polite to mention the fact that Biden is senile but they certainly know it. They might forgive Biden for that.

Regardless, it just shows how different and ineffective Biden is at foreign policy than Donald Trump was. Trump would insult countries leaders in public but would then say nice things about them once it was clear that diplomacy could take place. Biden is doing the opposite, trying diplomacy and then undermining it for no real reason. 

Normally this would be nothing but a funny footnote of Biden's terrible presidency. But we can't really afford bad relations with China anymore. We aren't prepared for a war with them at all, and given how much they want Taiwan and how bad relations are with them it's possible we might see that war long before we are ready for it. And since we have given up much of our weapons reserves to Ukraine it might be a massive mistake... 

Ukraine President admits offensive is "slower than desired", Russian president observes "lull" in fighting.

 

An Ukrainian BMP-1 on the front line. Reuters.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has admitted that the country's summer offensive is moving "slower than desired" while Russian President Putin says he has observed a "lull" in fighting. Reuters. Zelenskyy has claimed that attacks in the south have taken 16 villages while defenses are holding in the Northeast, where it is rumored Russia has launched a counteroffensive of their own. However, Ukraine's offensive has fallen well short of their goals, with Ukrainian troops not even reaching Russia's first line of defense. Zelenskyy has blamed heavy minefields as a major reason why the offensive has been slow. 

My Comment:

That's about as big as a confirmation we are going to get from western media that the Ukrainian offensive has been a failure. Zelenskyy himself says the offensive is moving slower then they wanted and that's a huge admission of failure. 

Indeed, the Reuters report has again stated that Ukraine never even made it to Russia's 1st defensive line. Since Russia has three of them between Ukraine and their goal, the so called land bridge to Crimea, that's a fairly huge admission that the offensive hasn't even come close to accomplishing their goals.

There was no mention of how many casualties Ukraine has suffered but they have been severe. Indeed, many of Ukraine's newest vehicles, including Bradley Fighting Vehicles and Leopard Tanks have been destroyed, damaged or captured. The number of dead and wounded is harder to tell and to be fair it seems like the newer western weapons are allowing some of the troops in them to walk away. But I can't imagine it is going well. 

Keep in mind this comes after a major defeat for the Ukrainians in Bakhmut. Russia was able to take the city and destroy huge numbers of Ukrainian troops, many of them the best remaining in the country. Ukraine tried to counterattack there as well, but that appears to have failed, with fighting dying down to nothing. 

So why did the offensive fail so far? Zelenskyy is right about one thing and it's that mines were a huge problem for the Ukrainians. Especially since Ukraine's mine clearing Leopard tanks were destroyed fairly quickly into the offensive. That lead to several embarrassing defeats where Ukrainian armor had no choice but to try and charge through minefields with predictable results.  

But I think it was Russia's massive advantage in artillery and air power that hurt the Ukrainians the most. Supposedly Russia had a 10-1 advantage in artillery before the offensive and that might be even better now as attrition and lack of supplies reduce Ukraine's artillery units. Artillery is the queen of the battlefield and is an effective counter to both infantry assaults and armor. 

Air power has been a big factor in this battle as well, after being mostly irrelevant for both sides due to excellent air defenses. But Russia has slowly destroyed and expended Ukraine's air defenses, allowing them to use drones and helicopters, most notably the KA-52 Alligators, to blunt Ukraine's offensive. 

What happens next? If Ukraine was smart they would pull back their remaining troops and hide behind their defensive lines. They can't have a chance at actually accomplishing their goal of cutting off Crimea so going on the defensive would force Russia to expend their troops and equipment, starting with their offensive in the Northeast.

But Ukraine is not smart and I am expecting them to relaunch this offensive in a few days. Supposedly they got a new delivery of Challenger tanks from the UK to replace the Leopards they lost. I don't expect them to do any better this time around. Indeed, they are playing right into Russia's hands who have a main goal of destroying the Ukrainian army... 

Hunter Biden gets off, pleads guilty to two minor tax charges, avoids felony gun crime conviction.

 

Hunter Biden. AP.

Hunter Biden plead guilty to two minor tax charges and has avoided a felony gun crime conviction. AP. The tax charges are misdemeanors for owing $100,000 in back taxes over $1.5 million in income during the 2017 and 2018 tax years. The deal offered by prosecutors would give Hunter 24 months on probation and would quash the gun charges as long as he held to the terms of probation. Hunter was accused of lying on his background check when he purchased a Colt Cobra .38 special. Hunter is undeniably a drug user and part of form 4473 asks if you are an user of illegal drugs. If convicted Hunter Biden would have faced 10 years in prison and a felony conviction that would have prevented him from voting and purchasing firearms. Republicans criticized the appearance of favoritism given the extensive evidence of corruption by Hunter Biden as well as the charges against Donald Trump. 

My Comment:

In normal circumstances this would not be a big deal. A first time offender pleading down to lesser charges and serving no jail time is not uncommon. And arresting someone for violating form 4473 is fairly rare, though everyone is advised to not purchase firearms if they are using drugs because charges do happen. 

But these are not normal circumstances. Biden getting off on a serious gun crime with a slap on the wrist while Donald Trump faces a lifetime in prison for something that has never been charged before and that he is clearly not guilty off is a slap in the face to anyone that cares about fairness and sanity in the criminal justice system. 

It's also going to backfire on the Biden administration. If Hunter Biden had the book thrown at him it would remove a lot of the appearance of bias. Given the strong evidence of Biden being both a scumbag and corrupt it would not be hard to convict him of the gun crime. He's undoubtedly and inarguably guilty of lying on form 4473 and if he had gone to trial he would have been convicted. And it would show that there aren't two standards of justice. 

Of course that isn't the case. Hunter Biden is extremely unlikely to spend anytime in jail, let alone prison, for the multitude of crimes he has committed. The only way that happens now for these charges is if the judge rejects the plea deal or if Biden violates the conditions of his probation. The later is more likely that the former, Hunter Biden is a drug addict and given his idiotic habit of leaving evidence of his crimes at computer repair shops, I wouldn't be surprised if he does so again. Still, that's conditional on him making a mistake and it isn't real justice. 

What is so infuriating about this is that the Biden Administration has essentially gone on a crusade against gun rights. Hunter Biden violated the gun control laws that the Biden Administration say are so valuable. But he gets off while millions of Americans are made potential felons because they own a pistol brace? It's very obvious that the Biden Administration isn't interested in going after gun criminals if they have the right last name, but for the rest of us? We get screwed. 

What is even worse is that I could drive to Michigan right now, buy some legal pot and then go to prison for 10 years if I bought a gun afterwards. And there is a good chance of that happening if I publicized it at all because I'm anti-Biden. It's not about whether or not it's a good idea for people that smoke pot to buy guns, we can have that discussion and I welcome it, but it's about having one standard for one group of people and another standard for another. 

And this is all after Congress says they have a credible witness that says both Hunter and Joe Biden accepted a $5 million bribe each. With the investigation now closed these accusations will not get their day in court anytime soon. It's all so frustrating. 

New poll says 71% of Americans agree that Joe Biden is too old to be president, including half of Democrats.

 

Results from the Daily Mail poll. 

71% of Americans say that Joe Biden is too old to be president, including half of Democrats. The Daily Mail. Biden has laughed off concerns that he is too old to govern, but signs of declining mental sharpness have plagued him for years. Most recently he bizarrely said "God save the Queen" after an anti-gun speech, despite the fact that Queen Elizabeth has been dead since last year. Other candidates have hit Biden for being too old to run, including GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, who is 77 himself. However, Biden is 80 and would be 86 at the end of his second term. However, that 2nd term looks unlikely according to this poll as 52% of voters feel like they are worse off under Biden then they were under Trump. Critical groups, including independent voters and 45-64 year old voters said they are worse off under Biden. 

Percentage of voters that say they are worse off under Biden. Daily Mail. 

My Comment:

To be fair to Joe Biden this was a Daily Mail poll so I don't put too much faith in it. But I have seen other polling that matches these numbers. People are getting sick of Joe Biden and it's becoming very obvious that he's not really capable of being president anymore. 

Joe Biden is already the oldest president we have ever had and if he gets a 2nd term he would be 86 years old by the end of his 2nd term, assuming he survives. Though he has access to the best medical care money can buy, he is an old man and old men tend not to live much longer. 

Biden also has a lot of trouble even staying upright. He has slipped and fallen several times now and that is an extremely bad thing for someone of his advanced age. Any one of those incidents could have ended with Biden critically hurt, or, even worse, dead. 

Biden's mental acuity has dropped dramatically as well, even from what he was before he took office. He's no where near where he was when he was a senator or even Vice President. He's making even more bizarre statements like his "God Save the Queen" gaffe, stumbles on his words and gets angry for no reason. I have said for awhile now that Biden is displaying signs of senility and that is not something you want for a president. 

However, I don't know how much of a deal Biden's age will be for the 2024 election, assuming he's the candidate (RFK Jr is making pretty big waves). His presumed opponent, Donald Trump, is fairly old himself at 77. Unlike Biden, Trump is still sharp and speaks well, but it's still a major issue for him as he might not make it through his 2nd term either. He's got a lot better chances than Biden but even then, it's a concern. 

It's the 2nd part of this poll that is devastating to Joe Biden. People do not feel better off under Joe Biden than they did under Donald Trump. And given that Trump's term ended under the Coronavirus pandemic that is really saying something. 

It's easy to see why though, everything was cheaper back then, the country was at peace and it was still possible to buy a house. None of those things are true now under Biden and there is no indication that Biden is even trying to fix those issues. Biden's priority is gun bans and spending billions of dollars on Ukraine. Even Democrats are mad about that. 

Though the Daily Mail article focused on independent and 45-64 year old voters but I noticed that other critical democrat groups were angry with Biden as well. Hispanic voters are even more pessimistic about how they are doing than White people with 57% being unhappy compared to 55% of Whites. Even 29% of Blacks are doing worse off, with another 25% saying things are basically the same. That does not bode well for Biden's chances of being the nominee, let alone being the candidate. 

Ukraine is faltering in its offensive due to Russia's advantage in air power and artillery.

 

A Ukrainian serviceman on patrol. Wall Street Journal/AP.

Ukraine's summer offensive is faltering due to Russia's advantage in air power and artillery. Wall Street Journal. Ukrainian forces have had trouble getting past well prepared Russian defenses and minefields. But it is artillery and air power that are causing many casualties among the Ukrainian and blunting their offensive.  Helicopters are proving critical as even the British Intelligence Service admits that the Russians have an advantage. Helicopters are proving critical as they can fire from far beyond Ukraine's now limited air defenses. Russia has deployed 20 additional helicopters to the Southern region currently under attack. Near Bakhmut the Ukrainian offensive has also faltered after some early gains with most fighting dying down. Russia is also targeting Ukrainian cities to keep their air defenses tied down and depleted. All in all, Ukraine has not even reached, let alone penetrated, Russia's main line of defense. 

My Comment:

This isn't anything that new if you have been following the war in Ukraine at all this year. Ukraine has recently run out of short range air defenses and have been at an artillery disadvantage since the start of the war. What is new is that the news media is now admitting it. I believe this is an attempt to reduce the shock when the Ukrainian offensive fails. 

Though it seems clear that Ukraine is failing in their offensive, the real question is how badly. I have seen unconfirmed reports that an entire attack battalion was destroyed yesterday. Supposedly the battalion was destroyed near Orekhovo, due to good conditions for drone and helicopter attacks. I can't confirm that but if it is true then things are even worse than the Wall Street Journal admits. 

The West has never seemed to publicly admit Russia's strategy in this war, which was attritional warfare. Russia has used waves of cheap drones and missiles to drain Ukraine's air defenses. Many people were puzzled why Russian air power seemed so inept in the early parts of the war, and this is why. They wanted to grind down these defenses and now that they have done so they are starting to deploy their helicopters to massive effect. 

From what I understand it's the KA-52 Alligator that is doing much of the damage. These attack helicopters are fairly effective and unlike many other Russian helicopters they are able to attack Ukrainian armor from long range. Ukraine has been so far unable to counter these helicopter attacks and from what I understand they casualties the helicopters have suffered is light. 

A Russian KA-52 "Alligator". Alex Beltyukov.

With even the western media admitting that the Ukrainian offensive is faltering, what happens next? In a sane world the Ukrainians would call the offensive off and prepare for defensive warfare but that's not what is happening. Instead, NATO and America seems to be doubling down, trying to give Ukraine even more weapons even though it's pretty clear that we don't have the weapons to give them anymore. Indeed, we converted most of our anti-air units to conventional vehicles years ago, and without mobile air support Ukraine simply can't go on the offensive without massive casualties and little chance of success. 

But the west has put so much into this war that their credibility is on the line. If they fail then they lose any hope of being taken seriously by China and other global foes. Unfortunately for them they have essentially run out of options that include arming and training Ukrainian troops, it's clear that won't work. My real fear is that they will become so desperate that they will use nuclear weapons... 

Vladimir Putin confirms that tactical nuclear weapons are now in Belarus.

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin. BBC/Reuters.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed that tactical nuclear weapons have been delivered to Belarus. BBC. The weapons would only be used if Russia's territory or state was threatened, with the United States remarking that Russia is not planning any kind of strike. Tactical nuclear weapons are smaller weapons designed to be used on the battlefield with a minimum of fallout and collateral damage compared to strategic nuclear weapons. Belarus is a major Russian ally and has allowed the country to be used as a staging area for attacks on Ukraine. Putin remarked that the move was for "containment" and said that "extreme measures" could be used against those that would threaten Russian statehood. 

My Comment:

This is a fairly significant deployment and one that should hopefully deter a wider war in the region. There had been rumblings that Belarus should be invaded by certain NATO members but this would surly deter them. Well, hopefully, in a sane world any plans to attack Belarus while it was armed with nukes would be vetoed by the powers that be. Too bad we don't have a sane world anymore. 

I don't have any worry about these weapons being used by Putin. He has zero reason to use tactical nukes against NATO or against Ukraine for that matter. If the war turned against him to the point where Ukrainian tanks were threatening Moscow? Maybe then. But that's even more unlikely than Russian tanks threatening Paris. Putin has no reason to use nukes. 

What does worry me a bit about this is how secure these weapons are going to be. Belarus doesn't exactly strike me as a competent and secure country, it's possible these weapons could be lost, sold or stolen. My hope is that Putin will assign Russian troops to guard and operate these weapons and not leave it up the armed forces of Belarus or their commander, Aleksandr Lukashenko.

If a nuclear war does break out over Ukraine I think it would be more likely that NATO is the one that is responsible. They are getting more and more desperate as Ukraine's offensive has largely failed and the country is running out of equipment. It would be insane to deploy tactical nukes to Ukraine for use on Russian forces but I also thought it was insane to send German tanks and American F-16's to the war as well. Both of those things are now happening, so why not tactical nukes? It's not like our leadership cares that much about nuclear war, they think they will survive it and they don't give a damn if the people they are supposed to be responsible for get killed in a nuclear holocaust. 

Regardless, I do think this is another example of how the war in Ukraine has backfired in NATO. Before the war, keeping Belarus from having tactical nukes would have been a major priority for many obvious reasons. But now it has happened and isn't likely to be reversed anytime soon. It really didn't need to happen but it has and there is no going back. 

Daniel Penny indicted for incident where Jordan Neely, a homeless person, died after making threats.

 

Daniel Penny during his May 12th arrest. CBS News/Getty.

Marine veteran Daniel Penny has been indicted for manslaughter relating to an incident where Jordan Neeley, a homeless man making threats, died. CBS News. Neely was acting erratically and making death threats to Penny and other people on a subway train. Penny restrained Neely with a neckhold and Neely eventually died. Penny says he never intended to hurt Neely, instead he was trying to protect himself and others. The case and the indictment has caused outrage across the political spectrum. 

My Comment:

I have to admit that I failed here. I could not find a shareable video of the actual incident that didn't have censorship or some idiot giving commentary over it. I tried Google, Bing and Yandex and the best I could find was this tweet that did have the video but I was unable to embed it for some reason. The option wasn't even there. Even that tweet was pretty biased as well, though I do agree with it. 

I consider this a miscarriage of justice. It's obvious that Penny did the right thing when the restrained Neely. Everything we have heard about Neely is that he was a danger to himself and others. He had a long criminal history and I honestly don't care that he died. 

I also don't think that the prosecutors will be able to prove that Penny is guilty of 2nd Degree Manslaughter. Under New York law 2nd Degree Manslaughter requires someone to recklessly cause a death. It would require that Penny had engaged in conduct that causes a "substantial and unjustified" risk of death, he was aware that death could be result and that no reasonable person would agree was a justified reaction.

On all three counts Penny passes the test. The chokehold that Penny put Neely in might not have caused the death. Given he was having a mental issue and had a history of drug use it was possible, likely even, that he died because of his actions, not because of the chokehold. Given that Neely was alive when Penny let him go and that he died in the hospital it's very possible that he didn't even die from the actions of Penny. 

As for Penny being aware that he could cause a death, I am not sure he was. He didn't seem to think that the chokehold was harming Neely and, again, he was probably right. He was probably acting on his training in the Marine Corps and may have done the same thing in training with nobody getting hurt. Chokeholds can be dangerous but mostly when you knock someone out with them. Penny didn't do that. 

As for the reasonable person standard, I think it's pretty clear that most people are on Penny's side. Given that Neely was making death threats, acting erratically and could attack someone at any time I think Penny was more than justified in restraining Penny. It might not reach the standard of lethal force but, again, he didn't use lethal force. 

Even if the jury somehow decides that Penny doesn't pass that test they might decide to let him go anyways. This seems like a perfect case for jury nullification. There is no reason that even if the prosecution proves the case, which I don't think they can do, the jury can't decide to let him go. 

Regardless, I never understood the "outrage" in this case. Indeed, the vast majority of commentary praised Penny and was angry that the idea of charging him ever came up. Even in New York people wanted Penny to go free. 

Why? Because people are sick and tired of crime. Most people in New York have had encounters with crazed homeless people on public transportation and wish that they had someone like Penny to help them while being threatened, mugged or attacked. 

Hopefully this case will result in Penny going free. I do think that the pendulum is swinging against crime in this country. I mean, compare this case to the George Floyd case. The circumstances were similar, crazed drug user gets restrained and dies. In that case there was a conviction and riots, in this case though? I think we will see the opposite outcome.  

 

Russia shows video of captured Ukrainian Leopard tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles.

 

Screengrab of one of the captured Leopards. Reuters.

Russia shows video of captured Ukrainian Leopard tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles. Reuters. The Russian Defense Ministry said that they captured the vehicles on the Zaporizhzhia front, where Ukraine had launched their long-awaited offensive. Two tanks and two Bradley's were shown on the video, with the engines still running on some of them, which could show how quickly the retreat and abandonment came. The offensive for Ukraine has not gone well with several areas they captured having already been recaptured by Russian forces. 

My Comment:

More evidence that the offensive in Ukraine is not going well. These vehicles were not destroyed, they were abandoned. They were hit and the soldiers inside fled. Keep in mind these vehicles belonged to the western trained Ukrainians who were the best of what's left and they have failed. 

It is, of course, a propaganda coup for Russia. These captured vehicles will be paraded through Moscow and probably made into permanent propaganda pieces. It shows that NATO forces are indeed beatable and that Ukraine is not doing well in their latest offensive. It should be a boost of morale for Russian fighters and civilians. 

Compare the actual results to what the NATO trolls were saying when the deliveries of Leopard tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles were announced. If you listened to them you would think that they were going to drive all the way to Moscow with these weapons, with no casualties to boot! 

In reality modern warfare is exceptionally brutal and casualties were always going to be high. Tanks and IFV's are no match for airstrikes, anti-tank missiles, mines and drones. Sure, the Leopards and Bradley's are from the last generation of vehicles, but even if the tanks were new they would still be taking heavy casualties due to the environment they are operating in. 

This makes me wonder if the same thing will happen our M1 Abrams that we are supposedly sending to Ukraine. They are a bit more advanced than the Leopards but not by much and I don't see them able to withstand a full scale assault into Russian territory. Especially without the combined arms conditions that the tanks were designed to fight in.  

It makes me wonder if those tanks will ever even make it to Ukraine in the first place. The United States has good reason to not want their premiere battle tank destroyed or, even worse, captured and paraded by the Russians. If that happens why would other countries want to buy our tanks? 

US to send even more aid to Ukraine, $325 million in emergency aid along with $2 billion for longer term aid...

 

An American Stryker combat vehicle like one of the ones that will be sent to Ukraine. VOA/AP.

The United States will send even more aid to Ukraine, including $325 million in emergency aid along with $2 billion in longer term aid. VOA. The immediate aid will focus on providing Bradley and Stryker armored personal carriers to replace heavy losses in Ukraine's new offensive. They will also send missiles and rockets for various artillery systems. Ukraine lost more than a dozen Bradley fighting vehicles almost immediately during their offensive. The long term aid included Patriot Missile batteries to replace the one that was destroyed in a Russian airstrike along with small hand held Puma drones. 

My Comment:

The above video shows the aftermath of the destruction of Ukrainian Bradley fighting vehicles and Leopard Tanks. Sorry I couldn't find one without the commentary, where possible I try to post raw footage instead of commentary, but that wasn't possible in this case. Regardless, it does show how heavy casualties have been for the Ukrainians in their new offensive. 

From what I was able to gather the Leopard tanks that were equipped with mine clearing plows were destroyed or damaged and were unable to continue the attack. The Bradley's and the normal Leopard then tried to move around the mine clearer because they had no other options. This ended predictably with the tanks and APC's hit with mines and later by Russian drones and artillery. 

I also understand that Ukraine lost at least half of the six mine clearing Leopard Tanks and they won't be getting anymore of them soon. That means more armor could be destroyed by these mines and more offensives can be blunted. 

As for the offensive itself it has to be seen as a major disappointment so far. Ukraine has not made much progress, only capturing a few villages. Russia has largely survived and held, mostly due to their huge advantage in artillery, air support and drones. Ukraine was probably hoping for a major breakthrough and that does not seem to be happening anytime soon, perhaps never, due to the slow pace of the offensive so far and the extreme casualties. 

At first it seemed insane for Ukraine to even bother launching this attack, and even though I understand why they did it now, I still think Ukraine would have been wise to go on the defensive, not offensive. They are attacking the most fortified positions in Ukraine that have been taken by Russia and the results are predictable. 

So why attack where Russia is the strongest? It's pretty obvious, they want to cut off Crimea. Crimea is only supplied by one overland highway and the Kerch bridge. If they manage to block off the highway and then destroy the bridge Crimea would be cut off and Russia might be forced to end the war in order to save their people. It's a high risk high reward attack and it at least makes more sense than their idiotic defense of Bakhmut, but it's still not something that they should have done. And if it fails? It will probably be the last gasp of the Ukrainians going on the offensive. 

Which is why I don't think any of this aid is going to do much. The immediate aid isn't going to get there fast enough to help the offensive and even if it did (if the aid was pre-staged or something) the Ukrainians are rapidly running out of experienced troops. The 33rd Mech Brigade and 47th Assault Brigade involved in this offensive was western trained and have taken heavy casualties. Given the differences between NATO systems and the Soviet systems most Ukrainians are trained on it will be difficult to reconstitute the brigades decimated in this attack. 

And the long term aid? It's only going to be useful if Ukraine has a breakthrough and that seems more and more unlikely every day. Indeed, if the offensive fails I would not be surprised if Ukraine finally decides to come to the negotiating table (assuming Putin even wants to end the war at this point). At the very least serious questions are going to be made in Congress about the unlimited spending we are wasting in Ukraine. 

Russian ship fights off Ukrainian drone attack.

 

A Vishnya class intelligence ship similar to the Priazovye. Russian MOD photo.

A Russian intelligence ship fought off an Ukrainian drone attack in the Black Sea. Reuters. Six high speed kamakazie drone boats attacked the Russian ship Priazovye. The ship was there to protect pipelines and monitor the war in Ukraine. A US Global Hawk drone was in the vicinity of the ship during the attack. The pipelines supply Europe and Turkey with natural gas. 

⚡️#BREAKING The Russian MoD publish footage of them repelling the kamikaze boat attack on the Priazovie https://t.co/efLjGgQEVg pic.twitter.com/jLi1EISzGg

— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) June 11, 2023

My Comment:

This was a fairly embarrassing failure by the Ukrainians. It doesn't look like these drone boats came even close to destroying the Priazovye. Indeed, a lightly armed intelligence ship was able to easily destroy these drones without taking any damage. 

That isn't to say that there wasn't a threat here. If the Russians had been asleep at the wheel or under attack by other drones, or manned vehicles like a helicopter, they could have very easily lost their ship. Those drones were fairly large and made a big explosion when they were hit by the ship's cannons. 

But the attack failed, probably because the element of surprise was lost. Every article I have seen has made a big deal out of the fact that an American RQ-4 Global Hawk drone was in the area but I doubt it was the only one. My guess is that Russia had their own drone coverage and knew this attack was coming as it was launched. That probably allowed the crew to prepare and meant that they were able to destroy the drones. 

To be fair, it probably was important that we had one of our drones during this attack. My guess is that they were guiding these drones into their attacks. That probably crosses the line from simply supporting the Ukrainians to actually fighting in the war... 

The Ukraine war is probably one of the first real drone wars. Indeed, both sides have used thousands of drones and it's clear that it's a huge deal. However, I don't know if these boat drones are really going to be effective. Like I said above, it's possible they would have worked, but you really need to have the element of surprise and that wasn't present here. Still, I shudder to think what could have happened if these drones were used in terror attacks against civilians. Given the proliferation of Ukrainian weapons across the world it's very possible... 

As for the war itself, this seems like it was an attempt to try and get the bad news from the Ukrainian offensive by destroying a major Russian warship. The Priazovye is an important ship and was likely gathering intelligence and Ukrainian troop movements. Destroying it would have been a propaganda coup and would have been militarily valuable as well. Instead, it was just more embarrassing news for the Ukrainians. 

FBI document alleges that Joe Biden received $5 million from Ukrainian energy company.

 

Joe Biden and Hunter Biden. Fox News/AP.

An FBI document alleges that Joe Biden received $5 million from Ukrainian energy company Burisma. Fox News. The document originates from a confidential informant that said that Biden received the money through his son, Hunter Biden, who was on the board of Burisma. The source said that Joe and Hunter Biden received $5 million each. The money was to be used as a "retainer" to deal with a number of issues, most notably dealing with a Ukrainian prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, who was investigating Bursima for corruption. The FBI considered the confidential source reliable and has given them $200,000 since hiring them in 2010. As VP, Joe Biden pressured Ukraine to fire Shokin and then bragged about it in 2018. President Donald Trump was impeached for trying to investigate the issue. 

My Comment:

This story got buried today because of Biden's corrupt indictment of Donald Trump. Somehow doing the exact same thing that both Joe Biden and Mike Pence are accused of doing is worth an indictment but this isn't a big deal? One wonders if this was on purpose to bury this news. 

Regardless, this appears to be a smoking gun if the source is willing to testify to what they saw. Given how highly placed the informant was in Burisma it would be trivial to confirm what he or she said. I think the case is fairly strong that Biden is indeed corrupt. Given Biden's own words saying he pressured Ukraine to fire the prosecutor we have a motive for taking the bribe. 

Of course, anyone that has paid even the least bit of attention to Biden has known he has been corrupt. The main difference is if the document is legit and the source is able and willing to testify in court we can prove it. That wasn't the case in the past but it is true now and it could be a gamechanger. 

The problem is that I don't think anyone in the Republican Party has a spine. They will stand aside when the Democrats impeach Trump twice over nothing, do nothing as January 6th patriots rot in jail and do nothing to investigate voter fraud or try to use the Democrats new tactics against them. Impeaching Biden would require them to actually fight and outside of Trump very few seem likely to do so. 

Of course no matter how strong the case against Biden is there wouldn't be enough votes in the Senate to convict. You would need 2/3rds majority in the Senate and I doubt there are that many Democrats that would turn on Biden like that. Maybe if he was caught in bed with a dead woman or live boy but even then I can't see them removing Biden from office. Nobody wants Kamala Harris as President...

If there is any hope for this situation at all it is that it might help RFK Jr. in 2024. I'm no fan of RFK Jr. but I'm also team anyone but Biden and RFK is the one best positioned to take him out. RFK is many things, many of them bad, but corrupt is not one of them and Democrats might want to choose someone else over Biden. 

The problem is that the Biden administration has proven to be corrupt and that corruption extends to elections. They have gone so far as to order prosecutors to indict the main political opposition. If they can do it to Donald Trump they could do it to RFK Jr. Or Ron DeSantis and the rest of the 2024 GOP clown car. 

There is a real question now if there is any peaceful solution now. We have a corrupt president that is persecuting his political opposition. We don't have confidence in our elections. And we have to wonder if there is any realistic way out... 

What I do know is that Donald Trump will be the candidate. He was already the presumptive nominee already but his supporters are going to rally around him after Biden's stupid indictment. And it's clear that Biden has no high ground here whatsoever. 

Canadian wildfire smoke blankets northeast with smog.

 

The Statue of Liberty cloaked with smog. BBC. 

Smoke from Canada's massive wildfires has blanketed the northeast of America with smog, raising fears about health. BBC. New York is passing out N95 masks, not for coronavirus, but to filter out the smog. Much of the smoke is coming from the Canadian province of Quebec, where the majority of fires are. The fire season is already the worst the province has seen. Millions of Americans are now under air quality warnings and the smog is creating eerie scenes throughout the northwest. The air is a threat to people with respiratory problems. Canada had a very warm and dry spring which is driving the wildfires. 

My Comment:

The Northeast is now dealing with the same problem the Upper Midwest has had to deal with for awhile now. I don't think it was quite this bad in Northeast Wisconsin last week, but it was still pretty bad. We were under the same kind of air quality alert that much of the northeast is dealing with right now. 

I do sympathize with them. Even though I stayed mostly inside during the air quality alert I had several coughing fits because of the bad air. It didn't help that this is pollen season as well, so it was not a good time. The air quality has since improved here, probably because the winds blew all this crap to the east. 

Not helping things is how dry this spring/early summer has been so dry. Not only would a big rainstorm help put out the fires in Canada, it could take a lot of the smoke out of the air. Locally we are supposed to have storms this weekend, but I don't know if that will help out Canada or the northeast. 

I actually do think that masks would help in this case. Smoke particles are a lot larger than virus particles and even a cloth mask should be able to catch many of them. A N95 mask would do even better. That's what these masks were made for and I would consider wearing one myself if I had to go outside. 

I am betting at least some of these fires were set deliberately. Most were probably caused by natural causes like lightning or accidentally caused by people. But I would not be surprised if some of this was arson. The media is downplaying the possibility but it's very likely that at least some of the fires were deliberately set. 

Iran has reopened their embassy in Saudi Arabia.

 

 

The Iranian Embassy in Saudi Arabia. BBC/Reuters.

Iran has reopened their embassy in Saudi Arabia in a major sign of warming relations between the two former rivals. BBC. The move comes three months after both countries signed a deal that was brokered by China. The Saudis plan to reopen their embassy in Iran soon as well. Iran and Saudi Arabia were major regional rivals and were locked in proxy wars across the Middle East, including Syria and Yemen. Iran's deputy Prime Minster said that the two countries were "entering a new era".

My Comment:

This story is largely being ignored but it is in actuality a huge deal and major sign of the waning influence America has in the region. This would have been unthinkable even a few months ago but then China swooped in and brokered this deal. 

Keep in mind that the proxy conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia was one of the worst conflicts in the world. It was mostly concentrated in Yemen and it was a conflict that had the real possibility of spiraling out into a major conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Indeed, Iran's Houthi rebel proxies were regularly launching ballistic missiles and drone strikes on Saudi Arabia proper. 

Now? There is a real hope of the war in Yemen ending. It was always a proxy war so it shouldn't be hard for the Saudi and Iranian led factions to come to some kind of deal. Neither side has any reason to keep the war going now that they have normalized relations. Given how horrible that conflict has been it's a real accomplishment for both sides to end it. 

There are of course two huge losers because of this. Israel is probably the biggest one. Under Trump they were able to normalize relations throughout the Arab world but all of that is in jepordy now. The Gulf States mostly normalized relations because they needed allies against Iran. With that being largely irrelevant now, Israel has little power and could lose their new relationships. Their hopes of toppling the Iranian regime are pretty much gone. 

Speaking of people hoping to topple the Iranian regime, the neocons in the US government, including Biden himself, are going to be very disappointed again. Relations with Saudi Arabia are at rock bottom thanks to Biden insanely deciding that a long alliance with a critical military and economic partner was not anywhere near as important as the life of a stupid Washington Post "journalist" Jamal Khashoggi. Having the Saudis being so upset over Biden and his administration that they ran into the arms of an American enemy is quite a feather in Biden's bonnet...