The Houthis fired missiles at a US aircraft carrier. They have announced that no US ships will be permitted to sail through the Red Sea. Trump is a President who is doing all that he can to keep this nation out of conflict. However, the US cannot ignore a state sponsored terrorist group telling the US that they cannot sail in a given area. The first time this was done has caused the Marines to sing about it for over 200 years after President Madison ordered them to go kick some Barbary ass. The Navy has a long tradition of enforcing freedom of navigation. That is the entire reason why we have a Navy.
In response, Trump could probably order US aircraft to do some serious damage to the Houthi encampments. That will be time consuming and expensive, but he will probably do it. More effective in my opinion would be to go ahead and back up his warning to Iran. They are supplying the weapons, they pay the price.
Initiate Praying Mantis II. For those who don’t remember, Praying Mantis was a naval action in 1988 that saw the Iranian navy get its ass kicked over an 8 hour period by the US Navy. I don’t think that they learned their lesson the first time.
The Iranian navy has 6 submarines, 7 frigates, 3 corvettes, and a whole bunch of smaller craft. I think that sinking most of their Navy would perhaps be appropriate. It shouldn’t take more than a couple of days. If they try to defend those ships with aircraft, shooting most of them down would also be appropriate. If the UN and International court don’t like it, that’s just too damned bad.
The Florida law that prohibits minors from purchasing firearms does not violate the Second and Fourteenth Amendments because it is consistent with our historical tradition of firearm regulation. From the founding to the late-nineteenth century, our law limited the purchase of firearms by minors in different ways. The Florida law also limits the purchase of firearms by minors. And it does so for the same reason: to stop immature and impulsive individuals, like Nikolas Cruz, from harming themselves and others with deadly weapons.
The 11th Circuit on Friday ruled that the laws at the time of the nation’s founding restricted the purchase of firearms by minors and defined a minor as someone under the age of 21. The court stated that minors needed parental consent to access guns, even if they were performing militia service.
“First, minors generally could not purchase firearms because they lacked the judgment and discretion to enter contracts and to receive the wages of their labor. Second, minors were subject to the power of their parents and depended on their parents’ consent to exercise rights and deal with others in society,” Chief U.S. Circuit Judge William Pryor wrote on behalf of the majority.
Except Nikolas Cruz wasn’t a minor. He was over the age of 18 when he bought that rifle. This means that those citizens who are 18, 19, and 20 years old are not adults, if one is to accept this reading of the US Constitution. If one were to accept this definition, then those in that age group cannot enter contracts, receive wages, and must be dependent upon their parents consent to exercise rights or deal with others in society. To say otherwise means that those in this age group are second class citizens.
This is a court that is clearly twisting the law to mean whatever they decide it will mean in order to achieve their desired results. Anyone who depends upon the courts to save them is sadly delusional.
Again, there is only one sure result- this nation will fall. Whatever replaces it is likely to not look like it did in George Washington’s day, or even in Teddy Roosevelt’s day. Those days are gone forever and will not return.
Proving that Trump is merely trying to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic, a total of 26 Republicans in the Senate voted to keep funding USAID in full. Of course, some of them made vague claims in order to make it seem pragmatic that they do so. The Republicans have both houses of Congress AND the White House, yet don’t seem willing to use that power to do anything useful. You have to admire the Democrats- they at least know how to get shit done. When they had power, they forced things through.
There is no saving this nation. We will keep spending until the entire thing collapses. Why? Because everyone agrees that cuts need to be made, but no one wants to actually make them.
This nation is doomed to failure, and anyone who can use a calculator should be able to see that.
Just because Democrats are your enemy doesn’t mean that the Republicans are your friends. They are all, every politician, in it for money and unchecked power.
Trump talked about the graft and corruption that has been the modus operandi of our government when he mentioned that Stacey Abrams was one of the leaders of a coalition of NGOs that got $2 billion to reduce carbon emissions. The left immediately circled the wagons to say that Trump had been “debunked.”
“Stacey Abrams has not received a penny of this EPA grant,”
Of course there isn’t going to be a check that reads “kickbacks” or “corruption” in the memo line, but let’s look at what she herself had to say:
In 2023 and 2024, I led a program called Vitalizing De Soto. We worked in a tiny town in south Georgia to demonstrate that by replacing energy-inefficient appliances with efficient appliances, you can lower your cost. And in fact, we accomplished that for 75% of the community. They got appliances that are lowering their bills,
Look at the facts:
There are 400 people in Desoto, Georgia living in 125 households. If she bought new appliances for 75% of them, that makes new appliances for 94 households. She claims that each household got 6 appliances. At $2,000 per appliance, the entire project should cost no more than two and a quarter million. Setting aside the fact that this project to reduce electric bills through buying new appliances is an incredibly inefficient way to do it, one has to wonder how many people skimmed off the top, received kickbacks, and were paid inflated salaries.
If the goal is to get people to purchase new, energy saving appliances, all the government had to do was give a tax rebate for people who buy new appliances. Instead, this was obviously a Democratic strategy that used taxpayer funds to hand out freebies in the contested state of Georgia in the run up to the 2024 election. That funds were skimmed off the top and pain to corrupt politicians was also part of the plan. That’s how so many in Congress get rich.
This is the story about how cops will try to lie to gain entry to your house. As an example, I am going to use the story of Stephanie Rapkin, a woman who lived in Shorewood, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee. She was 64 years old at the time of these events. She was on her way home in 2020 when BLM decided to stage a protest in front of her house. They were blocking traffic and wouldn’t allow her to get to her house. She got in a confrontation with a 17 year old protester and wound up spitting in his face. The confrontation was caught on film. She then went inside of her home. Police were called. She was arrested then released due to COVID restrictions.
This is what BLM and their willing accomplices do- they provoke a confrontation while filming it. Then the cops come over and arrest you. That’s exactly what happened here. Never open your door or speak to police, they aren’t there with your best interests in mind. This continued the next day, when BLM decided to protest directly in front of her house. This is how the press characterized it:
peaceful protesters showed up on the sidewalk of Rapkin’s home to denounce the actions she took the day prior. The woman came out of her home and again started arguing with the demonstrators. That exchange led to her slapping and shoving one of the protestors.
Shortly after, police arrived at Rapkin’s residence and attempted to arrest her. At that time Rapkin kneed an officer in the groin before she was placed in the cop car. Rapkin is (still alive and) now facing criminal charges for battery, disorderly conduct, resisting an officer and battery to law enforcement,
The cops spent the next 30 minutes knocking on her door, but she didn’t answer. Good for her. Eventually, the cops decided that she wasn’t opening the door because she was probably committing suicide, even though there was no evidence that this was the case. They used this pretext to kick down her door, enter her home, search her home, and arrest her. Rapkin, who is an attorney, pointed out to them that they were illegally in her home without a warrant, but they arrested her for disorderly conduct anyway, claiming that they were there to check on her welfare and didn’t need a warrant due to exigent circumstances. During the arrest, she kicked one of the cops in the balls. Good for her.
The police were caught on camera before they entered the home, discussing how they were going to arrest her on sight, and discussing how to find a pretext to enter her home. Rapkin sued them, and the discussions about circumventing her rights were enough to prove that the cops knowingly violated Rapkin’s constitutional rights, thus removing their qualified immunity. The case was settled out of court for $760,000.
Zone three cities are areas where violence has has taken place with little to no attempt at mitigating response from local authorities. Additionally, police and/or prosecutors are likely to bring the full weight of the law down upon those who attempt to defend themselves from these actors, or those who speak out against them.
Don’t think that, just because Trump won the election, that the cops, officials, and communists in Milwaukee have simply given up or decided to follow the law. No, they are simply biding their time until they can attack again. Stay out of Milwaukee. I wonder what the loss of USAID slush fund money has done to the movement?
Why does the EU/UK need the US to be involved in the Ukraine affair? All you have to do is look at the numbers.
The EU has a population that is 50% larger than the US- 518 million, compared to our 340 million. (UK 68 million, EU 450 million).
The GDP of the UK/EU is $20.5 Trillion, compared to the US $27.2 Trillion.
The UK/EU spends $394 Billion (UK $68.3 Billion, EU $326 Billion) on defense. That is 1.9% of its GDP.
The UK/EU spends $1.2 trillion on medical care and $4.5 trillion on welfare benefits. That’s a total of $5.7 trillion, or more than a quarter of their GDP. That’s why they can’t afford a military, but that’s OK, the US will supply that, am I right?
The US spends $1 trillion on defense, or 3.7% of its GDP, with a fifth of that going to support the defense of Europe. A third of the money spent on Europe’s defense comes from the US, with the other 2/3s coming from the 32 countries of Europe.
Europe has been spending their money on free healthcare, vacations, and baubles because they can afford to. The US is taking care of the defense budget. That’s what Trump has been complaining about- the nations of Europe are, like teenagers, spending all of their money on music and fast food because the US is acting like parents, and taking care of the groceries and home expenses.
Now tell me why American money needs to go to Europe, why Americans have to enter a war and die, all so Europe can continue partying like it’s a Frat party funded by Europe and the US.
It’s time for that to end. There is no reason why the nations of Europe can’t take care of Russia. The US has a bigger problem to deal with- China. The thing is, what is going to be needed to deal with the Chinese threat isn’t going to be the same as needed for Russia.
Russia only has 8 surface warships in service that are less than 25 years old and larger than 1,000 tons, and they are all Frigates. The remainder of their surface Navy is more than 25 years old, in drydock, or a Corvette (similar to a Coast Guard cutter).
They have one nuclear attack submarine that was built this century, the rest are cold war relics. The only attack submarines they have that are less than 25 years old are diesels.
That’s OK for shallow water operations, but they are no longer a blue water navy. They can’t protect SLOCs, nor can they project power. The Russian navy is not really a force projecting service any longer.
I am not saying that the US has no business interests in Europe, because that is false. The US has business interests in every nation in the world. That isn’t the same thing as a vital national interest. Our military doesn’t exist to make sure that no business venture in the world has risks. No American should die just so some businessman somewhere doesn’t lose money. The US military isn’t here to provide a risk free business environment for all of the nations of the earth.
It’s time that we stop being Uncle Sugar, the World Police, and stop borrowing money that we don’t have to provide security to Europe while they enjoy all of the fruits of our labor, our blood, and our treasure.
At about 1730 on Saturday evening, a knife wielding man was chasing people while being armed with a knife. The people being chased ran into a Chick Fil A. It so happens than an off duty Boston cop was eating dinner inside at the time. He identified himself and told the assailant to drop the knife. Instead of doing so, he charged the cop and stabbed him. (Tueller drill?) The cop shot his attacker, who was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
All told, it appears to be a good and righteous shoot by one of the few people in Boston who can legally carry a firearm. That would normally be the end of the story, and may or may not earn a blog post here. Except the mayor and police commissioner got involved.
Joe Blow decides to call me stupid for stating that the Ukraine/Russia war is a stalemate. Normally, comments attacking me like that wouldn’t make the blog, but Joe is a long time commenter and has earned a bit of grace. He just needs some facts.
The fact is that Russia only controls 19% of Ukraine, and about a quarter of that was the territory in the Crimea that was taken a decade ago. The fact is that the front lines have been largely in the same place for the past three years. This is where the lines were in November of 2022:
Now look to see where the front lines are now:
Nearly two and a half years later, and there is virtually no difference. In fact, in terms of territory held, there have been no gains since the first year of the war.
You can see that the Russians made huge gains in the initial two months of the war, then Ukraine won back some territory within six months, then the lines have remained virtually stable since. That’s called a stalemate. In the meantime, over one million lives and half a trillion dollars have been lost, and for what?
I see absolutely no US national interest in this war. None. The “oh, we need to defend Ukraine or the Russians will take over Europe like Hitler did” is simply a weak imitation of the domino theory, a stupid holdover from the Cold War that has been used as justification for every stupid useless war that the US has been involved in for the past 80 years.
There is not a reason to spill a single drop of American blood, nor waste a single American dollar on a war that simply isn’t our problem. Let Europe worry about this one. I don’t think that Russia is going to go to war with the European Union unless the EU keeps beating war drums and trying to start one. We need to stop letting France, Britain, Russia, and Germany drag us into the wars that they have been fighting in Europe for over 1,300 years. If they want to keep fighting, let them, but there is no reason for us to be involved.
The fact that members of the EU have been refusing to allow US military units to purchase supplies is beyond the pale. For example, a Norway company recently refused to allow a US submarine to purchase diesel fuel for their backup generator, and called for other companies to do the same. The Norwegian government quickly backed away from this boycott, which is good for the EU, because if I were Trump, my first step would have been to pull all nuclear weapons from EU bases. All of them. It’s something that is quick and easy to do, and sends an unmistakable message to the EU: our military cooperation with your country can disappear overnight, if you want to fuck around.
The US is NATO and the EU has been taking advantage of the US security guarantee to increase social spending while ignoring defense. The number of main battle tanks in EU member states has decreased from 15,000 in 2000 to 5,000 today. The US has 4,657 main battle tanks in NATO territory, meaning that the US is 50% of NATO’s military strength. Even THAT statistic is misleading. Italy, for example, has about 200 Ariete tanks, but only 50 of them are fully operational, with the rest of them being in various stages of disrepair. If this is typical of NATO member states, the US forces in Europe make up 80% of the entire NATO force. What do we get in return for that?
This is why the EU has so much money to spend on social programs. The US military has 100,000 troops in Europe. That equals ten percent of our entire military, costing the US about $200 billion a year. What do we get in return for that?
The message being sent by Trump is unmistakable- the days of Uncle Sugar being exploited are over. The EU can screw around with Russia, but at the end of the day, they don’t have the forces to take on a large war.
In the entirety of the biological world, the strong seek to prey on the week. Every living thing in the world is in competition with other living things for food, shelter, and someone with whom to make offspring. Similarly, throughout recorded history, weaker nations have been conquered by stronger nations. That’s just how life works.
If you are the leader of a weaker nation, you need to seek the protection of a strong ally, or a coalition of allies who together are strong enough to fend off an aggressor. For the past 80 or so years, that ally has been the United States. The nations of the world have turned to the US and begged for help from the US time and time again. The US has responded by lending out its treasure and the lives of its sons and daughters over and over again, largely without ever asking for or receiving anything in return. Many of the nations receiving that help have then criticized and bad mouthed the US the entire time they were receiving handouts.
It hasn’t just been other nations. The citizens of the world keep coming here, sneaking into our country, accepting handouts, then badmouthing the country the entire time. The American people are tired of it. We are no longer willing to be your bitches. So we have elected Trump.
Trump is the embodiment of a business ethos- you want our help? What is in it for us? The only thing that Ukraine and Zelensky have to offer us is mineral rights. Zelensky doesn’t want to do that. Trump has him over a barrel- you grant us mineral rights, and we will help you by securing a peace deal. Refuse that deal and continue the war, you are going to do it without our blood and treasure. That’s just how it is. We are under no requirement to fight the wars of the entire world.
If Ukraine can’t accept those terms, they are free to ask the European Union, the UK, or Canada. When those nations pledge their help and can’t deliver it, the US will be happy to come to an agreement to loan them some money on terms that both nations find acceptable. No more free rides.
With that being said, the reality is that Ukraine can’t win against Russia without outside help. Even with all of the help they have been given, the best that Ukraine has done is fight to a bloody 3 year long stalemate. At this point, Ukraine has been given nearly $400 billion in aid over the past three years, including $120 billion in weapons. That places Ukraine in 6th place for military spending worldwide in terms of real money, and as a percentage of GDP, Ukraine is spending three and a half times as much as any other nation.
I have heard Europeans call the US every name in the book because we won’t just give them our money. Whatever. Every time you insult us, the cost of our help should increase. Show some gratitude and come to a deal or fuck off.
My social media feed is filled with people from Poland, Canada, and the Czech Republic who are calling the US bullies and other names because we won’t go to war with Russia on Ukraine’s behalf. There are also tons of lefty Americans demanding the same. To those of you who are aren’t American- pressure your own country to go to war with Russia. To those of you who ARE American, put your money where your mouth is:
