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MAY 1,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT: 

WATCH THIS STORY CAREFULLY – FROM FOX BUSINESS:   One hundred miles off the coast of China is the largest and most sophisticated microchip maker in the world – Taiwan. These chips power the world's cars, phones, and computers.   China consumes more than half of them and wants more as its economy grows and is increasingly casting an eye to their island neighbor to the east to get them – some worry by military force one day.   "Whoever controls the design and production of these microchips, they'll set the course for the 21st century," said Martijn Rasser, a senior fellow at the Washington-based think tank Center for a New American Security.  "By gaining control over Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, China would control the global market," Rasser said. "They would have access to the most advanced manufacturing capabilities and that is even more valuable than controlling the world's oil."   Last month, the outgoing top U.S. military commander in the Pacific warned China could invade Taiwan in the next six years.  Taiwan could prove to be one of the biggest flashpoints for the Biden administration, forcing it to defend the island Beijing sees as a renegade province, in part to preserve the vital semiconductor industry.  In recent days, China has flown dozens of aircraft, including jet fighters and long-range bombers, near Taiwan.   Some military analysts believe that in a military clash over Taiwan between China and the United States, China would win.  And how many Americans, given the left-wing slant of the information they're given, would even approve of American intervention to save Taiwan?

LOOKS LIKE A GOP HOLD – FROM NBC:   Republicans Susan Wright, the widow of former Congressman Ron Wright, and Jake Ellzey secured places in a U.S. House runoff for Wright's late husband’s seat Saturday night.  Wright finished with 19% of the vote in Texas' 6th Congressional District, while Ellzey garnered 14%. Democrat Jana Lynne Sanchez finished third with 13%.  Wright, a GOP activist, moved on with the backing of President Donald Trump, who waited until this week to formally make an endorsement in a crowded field of 23 candidates. Susan Wright's late husband died in February after being diagnosed with COVID-19. He was 67 and had also been battling lung cancer.  The date of the runoff has not yet been announced.  There's been concern that this district could flip to the Democrats, but it appears it is safe for the Republicans.  Some observers believe the district is a good bellwether for 2022.  I hope so.,

May 1,  2021     Permalink

VOTER I.D. – OVERNIGHT:  The Dems want to ban voter I.D. throughout the country.  The ban is already in a bill that the Dems are trying to ram through Congress.  The people of the United States strongly disagree.  From Breitbart: 

A majority of Americans believe basic voter ID requirements, such as requiring a valid photo ID prior to casting a ballot, would make elections “more fair,” despite the steady stream of mischaracterizations from top Democrats, who contend that such requirements are oppressive and akin to the Jim Crow era.

The survey provided a series of potential rules a state could implement regarding voting and asked respondents to rate if the suggested rule would make elections “more fair,” “less fair,” or the same.

Notably, 64 percent of respondents said requiring voters to provide photo identification before casting a ballot would make elections “more fair,” compared to 17 percent who said “less fair,” and 17 percent who said it “would not make much difference.”

A majority of voters, 65 percent, also said “ensuring that in-person voting before Election Day is available outside of normal business hours and on the weekends” would make elections “more fair,” and 51 percent said automatic voter registration would make elections “more fair,” as well.

Other proposals included:

• Allowing a voter to register at their polling place on election day
? 48 percent said “more fair,” 23 percent said “less fair”
• Allowing election officials to send absentee ballot applications to every registered voter in the state
? 42 percent said “more fair,” 36 percent said “less fair”
• Limiting access to ballot drop boxes to only those hours when polls are also open
? 34 percent said “more fair,” 41 percent said “less fair”
• Making it against the law to provide food or water to people waiting in line to vote
? 13 percent said “more fair,” 39 percent said “less fair,” but a plurality, 46 percent, said it “would to make much difference”

COMMENT:  Voter I.D. always wins among voters, but, somehow, banning Voter I.D. is a key goal of the Democratic Party.  Why would the party try to ban a practice that is so supported by voters?

I'll tell you why.  Absence of Voter I.D. would allow big-city political machines to steal elections by flooding the polls with people who couldn't otherwise qualify to vote.  Corrupt elections have symbolized some cities for decades.  It doesn't have to be that way.

May 1, 2021       Permalink

APRIL 30,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

SHOPPING IN SWEDEN – FROM THE JERUSALEM POST:   Sweden’s Security Service disclosed in its 2020 intelligence report that the Islamic Republic of Iran seeks Swedish technology for its nuclear weapons program, The Jerusalem Post can reveal.  Iran, China and Russia are Sweden’s biggest security threats, according to the report.  A damning section states that “Iran also conducts industrial espionage, which is mainly targeted against Swedish hi-tech industry and Swedish products, which can be used in nuclear weapons programs. Iran is investing heavy resources in this area and some of the resources are used in Sweden.  The revelations about Iran’s illicit nuclear weapons procurement activities in Sweden comes on the heels of a German intelligence document, which declared last week that Iran’s regime has not ceased its drive to obtain weapons of mass destruction during 2020.  The Swedish and German intelligence documents might add new glitches to the US calculus to rejoin the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the formal name for the Iran nuclear deal.  The US is indirectly negotiating with Iran’s regime in Vienna about reentering the accord, which permits Iran’s regime, according to critics, to enrich uranium for an atomic weapon within ten years.

JUST A FEW QUESTIONS – FROM FOX:    More than a dozen House Republicans Friday are questioning Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on whether there "was any political interference" in the final census numbers used to decide how many House members each state will get for the coming decade.
The letter, first obtained by Fox News, is led by Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee.  The Republican House members cited gaps between the number of House seats some right-leaning states were projected to gain -- or some left-leaning states were projected to lose -- and the final results announced this week.  They told Raimondo, overseeing the Census Bureau, that they "have questions about the methodology and the role the Biden White House may have played in releasing these numbers."
"The apportionment population results released by the Census Bureau are strikingly different from the population evaluation estimates released just months ago on December 22, 2020," the GOP members wrote. "Remarkably, the differences benefit traditionally blue states – which gained population compared to the estimates – over red states which tended to lose population compared to the estimates."  Oh, I'm sure everything was honest.  I mean, would liberals lie?  Stop laughing.

April 30, 2021       Permalink

CRUZ ON CORPORATE SUICIDE – OVERNIGHT:  Ted Cruz, who is making it clear that he'll probably run for president again in 2024, is also making clear what he thinks of America's corporations.  There's a role reversal in current American politics, with Democrats embracing the formerly hated corporate entities, and Republicans turning against them.  From Fox: 

EXCUSIVE: Sen. Ted Cruz says corporate America is trying to use its "economic power" to "punish" anyone who disagrees with President Biden’s agenda, warning that corporations are "playing with fire" by wading into politics.

Cruz, who acknowledged he is "of course" considering a 2024 presidential run, vowed to stop taking money from corporate PACs — and urged his Republican colleagues to do the same. The Texas Republican is turning his back on a gift horse with the move, as corporate PACs have previously contributed more than $2.6 million to his campaigns.

"A whole lot of Americans are fed up at the rise of woke corporate America," Cruz said in an interview with Fox News. "More and more, we are seeing giant companies who made a political decision to crawl in bed with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and to be the economic enforcers of the Democratic agenda."

Cruz was referring to large corporations, like Major League Baseball and Coca Cola, who were critical of Georgia’s new voting law — which critics claim make it more difficult for minorities to cast their ballots.

"In most instances, those CEOs have never read the law in question," Cruz said, adding they are "perfectly willing to lie" and use their "economic power to try to punish anyone who dares disagree with the agenda of the Biden-Harris administration."

Georgia’s new election law requires voter ID for absentee voting rather than relying on signature matching for verification, limiting ballot drop boxes to one per county or one per 100,000 voters, expanded early voting days, and standardized early voting hours to a minimum of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and a maximum of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The legislation also barred outside groups from passing out food and water to those in line, which Republicans say can be used as a method to illegally influence people waiting to vote.

Following the passage of the law, the MLB made the decision to move its All Star Game from Atlanta, and instead, hold the game in Denver.

"Never mind that Atlanta is 51% African-American and Denver is 9% African-American. So the MLB showed they care about racial justice so much that they will take $100 million of business away from predominantly African-American small businesses in Atlanta and move it, instead, to lily White Denver," Cruz said. "Which just shows just the utter hypocrisy at play."

COMMENT:  Cruz's comments are a not-so-subtle reminder that Republicans can be very cold to "woke" corporations if the GOP takes control of Congress in 2022.   And, of course, individual citizens can refuse to patronize corporations that take political positions.  Coca-Cola has apparently lost a goodly number of drinkers since denouncing the new Georgia election law. 

April 30,  2021     Permalink