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JUNE 3,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

NOW WE ARE ENLIGHTENED – FROM FOX:   Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez argued Thursday that authorities should stop building prisons and instead focus on underlying public health issues as New York City seeks to address a recent surge in violent crime.  New York Democrats, including Ocasio-Cortez, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Rep. Jamaal Bowman, called on Congress to earmark $400,000 toward a program called "Stand Up To Violence," which seeks to address gun violence through counseling and community outreach. Ocasio-Cortez said it was "not acceptable" to use jails as "garbage bins."  "If we want to reduce violent crime, if we want to reduce the number of people in our jails, the answer is to stop building more of them," Ocasio-Cortez said. "The answer is to make sure that we actually build more hospitals, we pay organizers, we get people mental health care and overall health care, employment, etc. It’s to support communities, not throw them away."  A nice thought, but we've found through sad experience that the most effective way to reduce crime is to apply the lessons of modern law enforcement.  One of those lessons is the certainty of punishment.  If would-be criminals believed they would almost certainly be punished, and incarcerated, they might well decide not to do the crime.  Remember, Rudy Giuliani reduced the murder rate in New York City by 80%. 

YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK – FROM GATEWAY PUNDIT:   Joe Biden is taking several days off to celebrate nurse Jill’s 70th birthday.  Biden arrived to Rehoboth Beach in Delaware Wednesday to spend a few days at home to celebrate nurse Jill’s 70th birthday.  Joe and Jill rode bikes in Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware on Thursday as bystanders cheered.  Of course this was all for show to make it look like Joe Biden is spry.  Sycophantic reporters showed their support for Joe Biden taking a leisurely bike ride in the middle of the week...Imagine the media’s reaction if Trump took off on a Wednesday and spent several days putting around as gas prices surged, ransomware hackers attacked infrastructure and migrant kids were stuffed in Covid-infested cages.   If Trump did it, impeachment would be proposed.  A full Congressional investigation would demand to know who paid for the bikes.  And the air in the tires.

June 3, 2021       Permalink

THE REVOLT GROWS – OVERNIGHT:  One by one we see Americans revolting against the views of the new, woke, Democratic Party.  Virginia has the spotlight tonight.  From bizpacreview.com: 

Thanks to its increasing anti-police extremism, the Democrat Party has lost three influential voters in Virginia.

The three influential voters — Sheriff Chip Shuler of Smyth County, Sheriff John McClanahan of Buchanan County and Sheriff Brian Hieatt of Tazewell County — were once all Democrats. But not anymore.

Shuler made his switch two Mondays ago when he formally filed a membership application with the Smyth County Republican Committee and the application was promptly approved, as reported by local station WJHL.

“I am changing to the Republican Party because of the relentless attack on law enforcement by Democrats in Richmond and Washington. My deputies work hard to serve and protect the citizens of Smyth County,” he said in a press release at the time.

“As sheriff, it has been difficult to watch my deputies try to move forward during this unprecedented assault on our profession,” he said in a press release. We remain an honorable profession and should not be judged by the bad acts of a few,” he added.

Smyth County Republican Committee chair Adam Tolbert didn’t hesitate a second to welcome a new Republican to the team.

Welcome to the Republican Party, Sheriff Shuler! https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/smyth-county-sheriff-leaves-democratic-party-joins-gop/

“I congratulate Sheriff Shuler on taking this bold move to leave the Democratic Party and join the Republican Party. We are thrilled to have him as a member of the Republican Party in Smyth County,” he told WJHL.

McClanahan and Hieatt both made their conversions in 2020.

“My career is a large part of my life and I consider it to be my calling. I have said it many times but the Democratic Party that we know today is no longer the party my grandfather was involved in,” McClanahan said in a statement last September.

“The ideologies of the party have shifted away from those traditional values. Currently, the Democratic Party is going against everything I stand for, pushing for defunding the police and the taking away of safeguards that have been put in place for us,” 

COMMENT:  It's hard to know how many voters will be influenced by these party switchers.  As a general rule, endorsements are no match for the direct appeal of candidates.  But a buildup of party switches by law enforcement leaders might well make a difference, especially in close races.

The problem we face in Virginia is that the northern counties, which border on sinful Washington, are overpopulated with infiltrators from liberal cities.  They have turned Virginia from a conservative state to one that is purple, and tilting more to the blue.  I hope more sheriffs come forward and wake up the people of Virginia.  I can't believe they want to become the new Illinois or New Jersey.

June 3,  2021     Permalink

JUNE 2, 2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT: 

FIGHTING THE LIE – FROM FOX:   Tucker Carlson called President Joe Biden's claims that the greatest threat to the U.S. was white supremacy a "disgusting lie" Wednesday on "Tucker Carlson Tonight," and Project 21 Co-Chairman Horace Cooper agreed the rhetoric was "sad."  Carlson pointed out that, according to available data from law enforcement, the statistics do not support what Biden claimed – noting that while there were about 60 killings reported as white supremacist between 2015 and 2019, nearly 800 civilians were murdered in Chicago in 2020 alone.  Biden also claimed that White Americans who belonged to the Ku Klux Klan were not embarrassed by their "hate" and that "that hate became embedded systematically and systemically in our laws and our culture."  "We do ourselves no favors by pretending none of this ever happened or it doesn't impact us today. Because it does still impact us today," Biden said.  Cooper said Biden's comments were part of "perhaps one of worst race hoaxes since the Jussie Smollett charge."  We have racism in America, but  America is emphatically NOT a racist country.  A racist country doesn't elect Barack Obama as president, Kamala Harris as vice president, not does it fight a civil war over slavery.  The political left, which now runs much of the Democratic Party, despises America and is trying to force a false narrative on us.  The result, if they are successful, will be a country in which black and white are separated, and a country too weak and divided to defend itself.

MORE DUMBING DOWN – FROM COLLEGE FIX:   The Board of Regents at the University of California system voted on May 21 to make all of their schools “test blind” for the 2023-24 school year, and to not use the SAT or ACT standardized tests after that.  The UC website reported this suspension will “allow the University to create a new test that better aligns with the content the University expects students to have mastered for college readiness. However, if a new test does not meet specified criteria in time for fall 2025 admission, UC will eliminate the standardized testing requirement for California students.”  The UC system had been one of many college systems in the country that went temporarily “test optional” in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether or not standardized tests come back at those other schools is currently up for grabs.  Long seen as a metric for academic success and aptitude, standardized testing has come under increased scrutiny in recent years by some educators and activists. The worldwide pandemic at least temporarily tipped things in their favor.  The anti-ACT/SAT group FairTest sent out a news release in early May announcing, “The number of accredited, bachelor-degree granting colleges and universities that will not require current high school juniors applying for fall 2022 admission to submit test scores has topped 1,400 schools. That’s more than 60% of the 2,330 undergraduate institutions in the United States.”   As Johnny Carson used to say, "Aren't we lucky."  You'd think that colleges would want to keep standardized tests as another tool to judge achievement.  But achievement ain't what many colleges are about these days.

June 2,  2021     Permalink

WE ARE UNDER ATTACK, CONSTANTLY – OVERNIGHT:  Cyber warfare is here.  Our defenses are inadequate.  It's probable that Vladimir Putin is testing President Biden a few weeks before their anticipated summit meeting.  From Fox: 

Top cybersecurity officials warned Wednesday that the U.S. can expect to see more ransomware attacks as the nation reels from recent hits on U.S interests, including meat supplies and fuel.

Chris Butera, head of Threat Hunting for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), said ransomware has "continued to increase, especially in our state, local governments, as well as our critical instructor space."

"The ransomware actors have become more brazen," he said during a virtual summit Wednesday. "They've started to exfiltrate data and try to extort payments."

"I do think we will continue to see that happen," Butera said, adding cybersecurity is a "primary priority" for the U.S. government.

Ransomware attacks have increasingly targeted American interests, most recently shutting down U.S. meat plants affiliated with the world’s largest meatpacker, Brazil-based JBS, earlier this week.

Butera said the government does not encourage companies to pay out ransoms on cyber-attacks but said the administration "understands" if private companies disagree.

"The government does not advocate paying ransoms," Butera said. "But we do understand that it is a significant, difficult decision for some of these organizations when they are put under the gun to try to manage their business operations during these times."

The Biden administration’s stance on handling ransomware aligns with the government’s traditional attitude when it comes to paying ransom to any criminal or terrorist group.

"This is a continuation of U.S. policy," Resident Fellow for the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) Klon Kitchen told Fox News. "We have always encouraged companies not to pay ransom, because it encourages future attacks."

And...

The White House has attributed the attacks on JBS and the East Coast’s Colonial pipeline – which struck the largest U.S. fuel pipeline last month – to criminal organizations within Russia.

Biden is expected to address the attacks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the June 16 summit in Geneva, White House officials announced Wednesday.

But the president has so far not said the Kremlin has had any affiliation with the ransomware attacks.

"It’s time for the United States to start putting heads on spikes when it comes to confronting and dismantling ransomware groups," Kitchen said.

"If President Biden does not confront Vladimir Putin about the ransomware groups perpetrating from within Russia, he will be failing in his duty to protect the United States from these types of attacks," he added.

COMMENT:  All this, and much more, was predicted by experts in digital warfare.  And on top of it, very much to be feared, is the possibility of an EMP attack on the United States.  A technologically advanced enemy would explode a nuclear device over our country.  The electronic pulses from the blast could wreck much of our computerized infrastructure, bringing the United States to a halt.  Don't be indifferent to this. 

Have a nice day.

June 2,  2021     Permalink