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MARCH 12, 2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

A GOOD GUY IN A BAD SITUATION – FROM COLLEGE FIX: A University of Pittsburgh economics professor and ex-Ukrainian government official has jumped into action, raising a reported $5 million in humanitarian aid and reporting from the scene as bombings continue.
“You understand what is happening, right? Both countries are prepping for a continued war. Russia scrambles troops from possibly Syria, tries to provoke Belarus to join,” Professor Tymofiy Mylovanov tweeted Friday from Ukraine. “Ukraine has mobilized 100s of 1000s reservists and they have been training these two weeks. (We are safe for now).”
Mylovanov is an associate economics professor at the University of Pittsburgh and president of the Kyiv School of Economics in Ukraine. He is a Ukrainian citizen who splits time between Pittsburgh and Kyiv and was in the country when the invasion occurred and now must stay and help fight, TribLive reports. In a telephone interview with The College Fix on Friday, Mylovanov declined to say where exactly in the country he is, citing safety concerns. He said everyone is traumatized and worried, and there is tension everywhere.   I hope he's welcomed back to his campus as the hero he is, but the left will probably find a way to reject him.

March 12,  2022     Permalink

MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT RUSSIA'S ACTION IN UKRAINE WILL ONLY ENCOURAGE THE CHINESE TO TRY TO TAKE TAIWAN. AND THESE PEOPLE COULD BE RIGHT. FROM FOX:

Any country supporting Taiwan militarily would face the "worst consequences," China's government warned Saturday, adding that "no one and no force" would be able to stop the Communist Party if it took action against the island country, according to a report.

China’s relationship with Taiwan has come into focus against the backdrop of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with the island bolstering its own defenses since the war started in case of aggression from the mainland.

Taiwan said it planned to double its yearly missile-production capacity this year. The announcement from the defense ministry came after Taiwan approved an extra $8.6 billion for military spending over the next five years.

Beijing doesn’t see Taiwan as a sovereign country but rather as a breakaway province that can be absorbed back into China by force if deemed necessary.

The Communist Party’s warning came a day after Chinese President Xi Jinping held diplomatic talks with Australia, according to Sky News Australia.

China’s Ministry of National Defense accused Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton of "ideological bias" after he said the country would do "whatever we can" to keep China from attacking Taiwan, Sky News reported.

China has taken a more aggressive stance against the Democratic island nation lately, sending a record number of fighter jets into Taiwan’s air defense zone late last year.

And last month, as Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, nine Chinese aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defense zone, prompting a broadcast warning from the island nation.

Taiwan has been increasingly on edge since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, seeing parallels between their own situation with Beijing. After the invasion, the slogan "Today, Ukraine, tomorrow, Taiwan!" spread online, according to The New York Times.

According to some estimates, China spends more than $250 billion on its annual military budget, while Taiwan spends around $13 billion.

The Communist Party characteristically balked at Taiwan’s recent concerns in the wake of Moscow’s war in Ukraine, suggesting its exaggerated rhetoric meant to make Beijing look aggressive.

COMMENT:  I would not be shocked if China invaded Taiwan within the next year, and eventually captured it. What precisely would we do to stop the invasion?  Send ground troops to the beaches of Taiwan?  Send the Navy's Blue Angels over Taiwan in a show of support?  Threaten China with economic sanctions, but only if the sanctions didn't backfire against us?  Take the USS Missouri out of mothballs at Pearl Harbor to demonstrate how tough we once were? Ban Charlie Chan movies? The basic fact is that, having done so little about Ukraine, we are unlikely to do much more against a China that is much more formidable than Russia.  And our Asian allies will then see how valuable our promises really are.

March 12,  2022     Permalink 

We are limping along trying to repair as much of the electronic damage as possible that occurred here in the last few days.  We can operate, but some archival features of Urgent Agenda may take longer to bring back online than others.  We try to keep our expenses down, however we will have to modernize our software and install some new security bumps.  Some of our software dates from the Lincoln administration.

I preferred the old type in a stick.  No software.  No Russian hackers.

Pencil and paper, even better.

MARCH 11,  2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE:

MICKEY IS ANGRY – FROM FOX BUSINESS OVERNIGHT: The Walt Disney Company was confronted at its annual shareholder meeting Wednesday by an activist shareholder who accused the company of "complicity in China genocide," claiming the entertainment giant was being hypocritical for pulling its business away from Russia over human rights abuses but turning a blind eye to atrocities committed in China. The shareholder was the National Legal and Policy Center, an ethics watchdog that proposed a resolution requiring Disney to conduct an annual due diligence report "evaluating the human rights impacts of its business and associations with foreign entities," including foreign nations. The resolution failed. Paul Chesser, director of the NLPC's Corporate Integrity Project, presented the resolution and spoke at the meeting, lambasting the company for allegedly claiming such a report would be a waste of resources while it invests heavily in China and dedicates millions to social justice initiatives elsewhere. "They had the time and money to film ‘Mulan’ in the part of communist China with among the most disgusting and egregious human rights violations in the world – in Xinjiang," Chesser said in his remarks, referencing the Chinese province where more than a million Uyghur Muslims have been detained in concentration camps and purportedly used as slave labor. I'm shocked that someone found hypocrisy in Hollywood. All my illusions are being shattered. Does Minnnie know?

March 11, 2022 Permalink

ALTHOUGH OUR EYES ARE FOCUSED ON UKRAINE, WE SHOULD NEVER FORGET THAT WE HAVE A CRITICAL ELECTION IN NOVEMBER.  IT'S COMMON, WHEN AN INTERNATIONAL CRISIS ERUPTS, FOR PEOPLE TO DOWNGRADE THE IMPORTANCE OF DOMESTIC POLITICS.  PLEASE DON'T.  EVERY ELECTION AFFECTS OUR DESTINY.  FROM BREITBART: 

Conservative leaders are rallying around National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman Rick Scott’s (R-FL) “11-Point Plan to Rescue America.”

Eighty-eight conservative leaders from the Conservative Action Project signed a memo supporting Scott’s plan titled “Conservatives Applaud Sen. Rick Scott’s Plan to Rescue America.”

The memo said:

Politicians should tell voters what they are for, what they plan to do, and then they have to do it. This is the clarity – and the accountability – that voters want to see from their elected leaders. Conservatives should be talking about our ideas as much, if not more, than we talk about Democratic missteps and overreach. While not everyone will agree with every parameter of Sen. Scott’s agenda, he should be applauded for his willingness to step up to the plate and to lead. More elected leaders should be following his example.

The memo also condemned Scott’s Republican colleagues in the U.S. Senate who have attacked Scott for proposing his plan. “However, according to reports, Sen. Scott has been attacked by his own colleagues for leading where they have not,” the memo said.
“We condemn such attacks. The conservative movement has long asked for the type of visionary leadership that Sen. Scott has exhibited. We are proud to stand with him and urge more Senate leaders to follow his example.”

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) recently spoke out against Scott’s 11-point plan. “If we’re fortunate enough to have the majority next year, I’ll be the majority leader. I’ll decide in consultation with my members what to put on the floor,” McConnell said.

COMMENT:  Scott is right.  McConnell is wrong.  Voters prefer positive, affirmative ideas.  One of the things people admired most about Ronald Reagan was his willingness to say, "This is what I want to do," and then he'd do it.  Even his critics admired his forward motion, and positive, often cheerful demeanor. 

In the 1990s, Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich came up with his "contract with America," a formal promise of exactly what Republicans wanted to accomplish if they gained power.  It was a success, and contributed to Republican victories in congressional races.

This is not the time for us just to say what we're against.  The Republican Party is brimming with good ideas.  Don't get sold on simply attacking the bad guys.

March 11,  2022     Permalink