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DECEMBER 9-10,  2022

A FIRM WARNING:  Despite its problems in Ukraine, Russia is expanding its nuclear capability.  Will America listen to the warning?  Remember, we just went through an entire political campaign without a single mention of foreign policy.  From The Hill: 

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Russia is “modernizing and expanding its nuclear arsenal” as its invasion of Ukraine continues and Russian President Vladimir Putin has made threats about using nuclear weapons in the conflict. 

Austin spoke on Friday at a ceremony for the new head of U.S. Strategic Command (Stratcom), Anthony Cotton. The agency is responsible for strategic nuclear deterrence, nuclear operations and missile defense. Cotton took over for Charles Richard, who had served in the role since 2019 and retired Friday. 

Austin acknowledged several challenges facing Stratcom in the near future, including the expanding Russian nuclear arsenal and Chinese nuclear forces that are growing, modernizing and diversifying. 

“And as the Kremlin continues its cruel and unprovoked war of choice against Ukraine, the whole world has seen Putin engage in deeply irresponsible nuclear saber-rattling,” he said. 
“So make no mistake. Nuclear powers have a profound responsibility to avoid provocative behavior, and to lower the risk of proliferation, and to prevent escalation and nuclear war,” he continued. 

Putin this week insisted that Russia’s nuclear arsenal would only be a “factor of deterrence” in the war with Ukraine, but he has repeatedly made threats throughout the nine-month war that have concerned U.S. and other officials worldwide. 

He has said that Russia would be willing to use nuclear weapons to defend its territory, but has clarified that includes the four regions of Ukraine that Russia seized and illegally annexed through illegitimate referendums in September. 

The referendums in the four regions — Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson — passed overwhelmingly but were condemned as not free or fair by much of the international community. 

Putin said in October that Russia does not intend to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, but President Biden questioned his intentions, noting that the Russian president repeatedly talks about nuclear weapons. 

Austin said Stratcom’s goal is to deter conflict and keep the peace, which he said means a secure, safe and effective U.S. nuclear arsenal as the “ultimate backstop” against attacks on the U.S. and its allies. 

COMMENT:  Bottom line, Russia remains exceptionally dangerous.  Many thought it had been neutralized by losing the Cold War, but Moscow is crawling back, and using advanced technology to do so.  Recall that Germany was on the losing end of World War I, yet started World War II 21 years later.

But, as a nation, we seem so uninterested.

December 10,  2022     Permalink

FINALLY, SOME REAL ATTENTION:  Attacks on power stations this week were not random, or minor.  We can expect more.  From MSN: 

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - Following what authorities are calling a targeted gunfire attack towards power substations in North Carolina over the weekend, a federal memo warned substations in Oregon and Washington recently had “physical attacks on substations using handtools, arson, firearms, and metal chains possibly in response to an online call for attacks on critical infrastructure.”

The memo goes on to say the aim is “to cause widespread power failures with the potential impact of social disruption and violent anti-government criminal activity.”

Randall Blazak, a sociology professor and extremism researcher says there’s a reason behind substations being hit.

“We are seeing more chatter in the wake of the mid-term elections,” said Blazak.

“These are soft targets. Power stations aren’t surrounded by armed guards. The surveillance is minimal and it’s relatively easy to take a pot shot at a reservoir or a sub station and get away with it.”

In Woodland, Cowlitz PUD confirmed two of its substations had been vandalized.
“Cowlitz PUD is aware of vandalism on two of our substations in the Woodland area which occurred in Mid-November. At this time we do not have any further comment as this is an active investigation and we are cooperating with local, state and federal law enforcement. Our facilities have since been repaired.”

PGE also confirmed one of its substations in Clackamas County had been hit. A spokesperson for PGE said as it’s still an ongoing investigation, many details cannot be released at this time, but provided the following statement:

“PGE is coordinating closely with multiple law enforcement agencies on the investigation, including the FBI. The attack occurred at one of our substations in the Clackamas area. Attacks on electric infrastructure are serious crimes regardless of whether inspired by malicious intent or simple vandalism, and community members who see evidence of vandalism to electrical equipment or suspect a threat should report these to law enforcement.”

COMMENT:  Read the rest.  Don't be shocked if you get up one morning and find your lights out and your computer screen dark.  We've been warned about attacks on the power grid for yours.  As is usual with democracies, we don't notice until it actually happens.

December 9, 2022       Permalink

DECEMBER 7-8,  2022

CRISIS IN THE CLASSROOM:  We write regularly of the parents' revolt against our deteriorating educational system – especially the unwanted transformation of our public schools into indoctrination centers of the political left.  But, no matter how much hell we raise, the left remains relentless, undeterred, pursuing its religion, and it is especially strong in the colleges.  Students are literally living in fear.  From College Fix: 

A record number of college students reported fear of sharing an opinion in the classroom that might differ from their peers, according to the William F. Buckley, Jr. Program’s eighth annual survey.

“Of the students surveyed, 58%, a record high, reported feeling intimidated in sharing an opinion that was different than a professor’s, 8% higher than last year,” the group recently announced. “The number reporting never having had this issue fell to a record low of 38%.”
“A higher 63% reported feeling intimidated in sharing opinions different than their peers, also a record high and a jump of 13% from the 2021 survey,” according to the results of the national survey of more than 800 college students.

The Buckley Program is an intellectual diversity and free speech group based at Yale University.

College students have picked up on the effects of cancel culture and political correctness, the spokesperson for the Buckley Program told The College Fix via email.

Students “across the spectrum” now realize that “one wrong comment, one tweet supporting the wrong person, or one joke that offends someone could be the end of their college career, academically or socially,” Ari Schaffer said.

He identified preferred pronouns and diversity statements as two areas of concern. The survey found that half of students, faculty and staff introduce themselves with their preferred pronouns. 

“It may seem like a tautology, but if you aren’t free to say whatever you want, or to not say whatever you want for that matter, your speech isn’t free,” Schaffer said. “Requirements to state pronouns or subscribe to diversity statements should be of particular concern to professors or other faculty who care about academic freedom on the university campus.”

Moving forward, Schaffer expressed the necessity of Yale and other universities to show they are on the side of free speech and are not looking to suppress it.

“Professors who retaliate against students for their opinions, political or otherwise, should likewise be reprimanded,” Schaffer said.

The survey also found that “67% believe that their college or university should require all professors and administrators to make statements in favor of diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

Half of students believe “America is inextricably linked to white supremacy” while 42 percent think “America is moving forward.”

And a greater percentage of students, 33 percent, would prefer to live under a socialist system than a capitalist one, 31 percent, according to the survey.

“The college student disillusionment with free speech is growing at an alarming pace,” Buckley Program founder and Executive Director Lauren Noble said in a news release.

“More students are intimidated from speaking freely and more students are willing to intimidate others from speaking freely than at any time in the history of the survey.”

“In many ways, America’s undergraduate student body seems to be abandoning the very ideas that made America the great country it is today.”

COMMENT:  We ask, at what point does the damage become permanent?  At what point have we lost America?  There are no guarantees that this country will continue, or continue as a free nation.

Some say that the average life of a democracy is about 250 years.  The Declaration of Independence was written in 1776, some 246 years ago. 

Getting close.

December 8, 2022       Permalink

AND SO IT BEGINS:  It seems to be all politics, all the time, in the United States.  Even before the 2022 ballots were counted, the 2024 presidential campaign began.  We get no relief, not even the traditional two-weeks-a-year vacation.

It isn't right.  There's more to life than politics, plenty more, but we're stuck in this obsession.  Whatever happened to musical comedy?  Indeed, whatever happened to comedy?  I used to work for Johnny Carson.  He put American to bed laughing every night, and the country survived.  Those were the days. 

At any rate, the polling for 2024 has begun.  And this is what it says, from the Jerusalem Post: 

Former US President Donald Trump is 5 percentage points behind upstart Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll released Thursday.

DeSantis, who was re-elected as Florida governor on November 8th by the largest margin of victory since 1982, has been floated as a potential challenger to the controversial Trump as a string of indictments and investigations shrouds his post-Presidential career.

A similar poll of Iowa Republicans released in late November also showed that Republican voters preferred DeSantis over Trump as their first-choice candidate by a margin of 32% to 30%, respectively.

DeSantis also seems to have more support than Trump in a potential general election against Democratic incumbent Joe Biden – registered voters across the political spectrum who participated in the poll were split between the Florida governor and Biden at a figure of 44% each, whereas 45% of voters polled preferred Biden over Trump, who garnered 42%.

No other Republican candidate reached more than 5% support for the candidacy, indicating the Republican primary will very much be a two-man race.

The 44-year-old Florida native has become a formidable figure in American politics since his narrow 30,000-vote victory over Democrat Andrew Gillum in 2018. DeSantis has largely staked his reputation on Florida’s pandemic response policies, which did not force businesses to close or enforce pandemic-related restrictions that became commonplace around the world, such as lockdowns and mask mandates.

“We chose facts over fear. We chose education over indoctrination. We chose law and order over rioting and disorder. Florida was a refuge of sanity when the world went mad. We stood as a citadel of freedom for people across this country and indeed across the world,” DeSantis declared in his re-election speech this November. 

DeSantis was even listed as a finalist for TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year award, as he was named alongside Xi Jinping and Volodymyr Zelensky – who was ultimately awarded with the honor – and other prominent names from around the globe.

COMMENT:  We shall go through the usual cautions.  It's only one poll.  It's early.  A poll is just a snapshot in time.  Polls depend on how the question is asked. 

Any other suggestions?

One thing is becoming increasingly clear – that former President Trump, recently thought to be a shoo-in for the 2024 presidential nomination, isn't a shoo-in for anything.  He has largely brought this on himself.  But, no matter what the cause, the Republican 2024 nomination is open for business.  It won't be dull.

December 8, 2022       Permalink

THIS DAY:  A couple of days ago a friend and I agreed that they don't talk much about Pearl Harbor anymore. 

It's not the way it was when we were young.  December 7, 1941, was etched in our minds, vividly, passionately.  It was the day "the war" started for the United States.  It was the day that hundreds of Japanese carrier-based aircraft attacked the home of the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and other military and air bases on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.  On the day it was attacked, millions of Americans had never heard of Pearl Harbor.  For years after the raid, the name was a central theme of their lives. 

For we who were still young in the decades following that bloody Sunday, December 7th has always been a day of reverence.  But memories fade, and disappear with the generations.  The youngest uniformed American veteran of the attack would be about 98 today.  Soon, all who were there will be gone. 

What does our young generation know of Pearl Harbor?  I haven't taken a survey, but I'll bet they know next to nothing.  It's simply not in style to teach about America being attacked, especially by those of a different race.  I suspect many young Americans believe, from their schools, that Japan had "legitimate grievances," or faced "American racism." 

But they must be taught the real history, and must learn its lessons – that we were unprepared, that we hadn't been sufficiently alarmed by Japanese actions in Asia, that America is worth fighting for.  Who will teach those things? 

There is today a parents' revolt underway throughout the United States.  It is succeeding in many areas, shining a needed spotlight on the corruption of school systems and the nearly hopeless leftism in our universities.  We must demand, as part of that revolution, that the true history of World War II be taught, that the meaning of Pearl Harbor must be understood, and restored for a new generation.  It can be done, with the right people elected to office.

Some still commemorate.  From ABC News, via AP:

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii -- A handful of centenarian survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor are expected to gather at the scene of the Japanese bombing on Wednesday to commemorate those who perished 81 years ago.

That's fewer than in recent years, when a dozen or more traveled to Hawaii from across the country to pay their respects at the annual remembrance ceremony.

Part of the decline reflects the dwindling number of survivors as they age. The youngest active-duty military personnel on Dec. 7, 1941, would have been about 17, making them 98 today. Many of those still alive are at least 100.

About 2,400 servicemen were killed in the bombing, which launched the U.S. into World War II. The USS Arizona alone lost 1,177 sailors and Marines, nearly half the death toll.

Robert John Lee recalls being a 20-year-old civilian living at his parents' home on the naval base where his father ran the water pumping station. The home was just about 1 mile across the harbor from where the USS Arizona was moored on battleship row.

The first explosions before 8 a.m. woke him up, making him think a door was slamming in the wind. He got up to yell for someone to shut the door only to look out the window at Japanese planes dropping torpedoes from the sky.

He saw the hull of the USS Arizona turn a deep orange-red after an aerial bomb hit it.
“Within a few seconds, that explosion then came out with huge tongues of flame right straight up over the ship itself — but hundreds of feet up,” Lee said in an interview Monday after a boat tour of the harbor.

He still remembers the hissing sound of the fire.

Sailors jumped into the water to escape their burning ships and swam to the landing near Lee's house. Many were covered in the thick, heavy oil that coated the harbor. Lee and his mother used Fels-Naptha soap to help wash them. Sailors who were able to boarded small boats that shuttled them back to their vessels.

“Very heroic, I thought," Lee said of them.

Lee joined the Hawaii Territorial Guard the next day, and later the U.S. Navy. He worked for Pan American World Airways for 30 years after the war.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs doesn’t have statistics for how many Pearl Harbor survivors are still living. But department data show that of the 16 million who served in World War II, only about 240,000 were alive as of August and some 230 die each day.
There were about 87,000 military personnel on Oahu at the time of the attack, according to a rough estimate compiled by military historian J. Michael Wenger.

COMMENT:  There was a World War II song, "Remember Pearl Harbor."  It's a good thought.  But remember it correctly.

December 7, 2022       Permalink