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FEBRUARY 5,  2022

HOW CLOSE ARE WE TO A WAR OVER UKRAINE? – OVERNIGHT:   The tensions are growing, Kamala Harris is learning that Ukraine isn't a type of building equipment, and people are worried.   So what's happening?  From Fox: 

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told lawmakers that Kyiv could fall within 72 hours if a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine takes place, multiple congressional sources tell Fox News.

Milley told lawmakers during closed-door briefings on Feb. 2 and 3 that a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine could result in the fall of Kyiv within 72-hours, and could come at a cost of 15,000 Ukrainian troop deaths and 4,000 Russian troop deaths.

Several lawmakers expressed concern that the Biden administration did not respond quickly to provide Ukraine with significant military aid, such as anti-aircraft and rocket launcher systems that would defend against an invasion from Russia.

Biden administration officials at the meetings responded to these concerns by saying that a significant supply of military aid to Ukraine could be used as a reason to invade Ukraine.

While Ukraine is receiving security assistance from the United States from a $200 million allocation made in December, it is also receiving $600 million in assistance from the United Kingdom and Baltic states, which the country is depending heavily upon and includes anti-tank Javelin missiles and older-version Stinger portable anti-aircraft missiles…

…The United States is also working to make preparations for a significant refugee and migrant crisis, one person familiar with the planning said. European allies are also leading discussions on housing and migrant flows under the assumption that Ukrainian nationals would flee to other portions of Europe.

COMMENT:  Not all are on board with the narrative that a Russian invasion is imminent.  No one actually knows.  The central idea here is not whether we love Ukraine or feel any obligation to that country.  The central idea is that a successful Russian invasion would destroy the whole principle of deterrence, which allowed us to win the Cold War without an enduring conflict.   Appeasement has its costs, which can be very bitter.

February 5,  2022     Permalink

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT: 

THE OLYMPICS AREN'T WINNING ANY GOLD MEDALS FOR NBC – FROM BREITBART:   “Thursday’s primetime coverage of the Beijing Winter Olympics averaged 7.25 million viewers on NBC, marking the smallest primetime Olympic audience ever on the network,” reports Sports Media Watch. “The previous low was 8.5 million for the final night of competition at last year’s Tokyo Summer Olympics.”  That’s a 55 percent drop from four years ago when 16 million tuned into the opening night coverage of the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea.  That’s also down a whopping 64 percent from the 2014 Summer Games.  These numbers are beyond a catastrophe, especially after NBC’s Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo last year also earned record low ratings. Those Olympics were widely ridiculed as the Woke Olympics. America tuned that fiasco out because of all the obnoxious left-wing politicking, virtue signaling, and propaganda — most of it performed by smug athletes who failed to win any medals.  At the time, the corporate media tried to gaslight the public into believing the off-putting woketardery had nothing to do with the ratings crash. Instead, they spread a bunch of wild-eyed misinformation, blaming the lack of interest on the China Flu delaying the games for a year — which is laughable. The one-year delay should’ve increased anticipation. What’s more, during the summer of 2021, millions of Americans were still hiding out at home from the pandemic.  Gee, I wonder what the corporate media’s excuse will be for NBC’s record low Genocide Games’ ratings?  There really doesn't seem to be much excitement.  The stands aren't filled with people because of the Covid 19 virus, which is local in China.  How can you have an Olympics without cheers?  The Chinese setting is also a downer.  China has the word "dictatorship" around its neck.  The neck is getting tired.

February 5, 2022       Permalink

FEBRUARY 4,  2022

AND NOW THE WINNERS, OR LOSERS – OVERNIGHT:  We wait eagerly for these rankings, far more important than the Oscars.  Which colleges have the worst records for safeguarding the free speech of students and faculty?  I don't know how anyone can live without this knowledge.  From Legal Insurrection: 

Like our collective obsession with Wordle, censorship is spreading fast.

In the 11th edition of the “10 Worst Colleges for Free Speech,” released today, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education pillories the worst campus censors over the last year. (And trust us, narrowing down the list was no easy task!) The 2022 “worst-of-the-worst” list features seven new campuses that haven’t made the cut before.

This year’s list includes other colleges guilty of many forms of censorship, including: suspending a student group for passing out stickers critical of China’s government; firing a Jewish professor for calling out the college president’s remark about “Jewish noses”; punishing a student for sending a satirical email; and using a former professor’s bogus lawsuit threat as a justification to censor (and then seize control of) the student newspaper.

The 10 Worst Colleges for Free Speech, in alphabetical order, are:

• Boise State University (Boise, Idaho)
• Collin College (McKinney, Texas)
• Emerson College (Boston, Mass.)
• Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.)
• Linfield University (McMinnville, Ore.)
• Stanford University (Stanford, Calif.)
• Tarleton State University (Stephenville, Texas)
• University of Florida (Gainesville, Fla.)
• University of Illinois Chicago (Chicago, Ill.)
• University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, N.C.)

Detailed descriptions of each college’s speech-chilling misdeeds are available on FIRE’s website.

COMMENT:  It's sad that we should have to have a listing like this, but some of the greatest assaults on freedom in America today occur on college campuses.  These are the places that we've looked to for enlightenment and wisdom, and many have let us down.  Once again we learn that there is little connection between education and freedom.  The most highly educated have too often embraced the way of the totalitarian. Beware the institutional salesmen of the "college education."

February 4,  2022     Permalink

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT: 

ANOTHER GENIUS AMONG US – OVERNIGHT:  THE DYING CNN NEEDS GREAT LEADERSHIP.  UH, YOU THINK THIS CHAP QUALIFIES?  FROM FOX:  The boss of CNN's new parent company said on Friday the network was "the leader in news to the left" – but his communications team soon scrambled to walk back the frank admission, insisting he wasn’t talking about politics.  Discovery CEO David Zaslav, whose media giant is set to close its merger with CNN’s owner WarnerMedia this spring, made the surprise remark during a discussion about the network’s future – days after the abrupt resignation of the network’s president, Jeff Zucker.  "We have this great entertainment menu, which should keep people in the home, from the kids to the grandparents. Why would they go anywhere else? And then we’re the leader in news to the left," Zaslav told CNBC on Friday.  I guess it's wishful thinking to believe that CNN will suddenly be raised from the ashes.  Any visionary would understand that there are actually ashes.  There used to be statesmen and stateswomen of journalism who could be called upon to save an institution.  Most of them are long gone.

February 4, 2022       Permalink