[PowerLine] A BUMBLEBEE NEEDS FINS LIKE A FISH NEEDS A...
An appellate court in California has held that bumblebees are fish:
The issue presented here is whether the bumble bee, a terrestrial invertebrate, falls within the definition of fish, as that term is used in the definitions of endangered species in section 2062, threatened species in section 2067, and candidate species (i.e., species being considered for listing as endangered or threatened species) in section 2068 of the Act.
We live in Heinlein's Crazy Years.
It takes 35 pages of tortured logic in an opinion that reads like a parody, but the court concludes that bumblebees indeed are fish within the meaning of California’s environmental laws. I take it that all other insects, by the court’s logic, are also fish. I identify as a Martian. It says so on my last census form.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
06/02/2022 00:00 ||
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#1
...I identify as a non-commissioned officer. My pronouns are 'Staff Sergeant'/'Sir'.
[AND Magazine] In 2001, We went into Afghanistan to destroy a terrorist safe haven and drive Al Qaida from that nation. Al Qaeda had blown up two of our embassies, almost sunk a U.S. Navy destroyer, and flown planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Thousands of Americans had been killed.
We succeeded brilliantly. With relative handfuls of men on the ground, we crushed the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden had to flee for his life to Pakistan.
Then we lost our way.
We spent twenty years trying to turn Afghanistan into ’Switzerland in Central Asia’. We paved roads, built schools and tried to teach Afghans about gender equality and liberal democracy. We lost focus, squandered blood and treasure, and made federal contractors rich.
We could have stopped, rationalized our approach, remembered why we were there and moved ahead. We did not. Under the direction of Joe Biden -easily the worst President in American history - we fled. We handed over billions in advanced weapons to Islamic jihadist thugs, abandoned our friends and allies, and flew away.
Ever since the Biden administration has attempted to paper over the debacle with vague assurances that somehow our national security is not negatively impacted. "Al Qaida is gone. The Taliban want only to be left alone. The threat is minimal."
#2
The point wasn't to defeat Al Qaeda. If it was, we would have done it. The point was to keep the war going so they could profit. Duh. Who doesn't know that by now? They weren't even trying to win.
If Al Qaeda is such a terrifying threat, why did we support them in Syria? We gave them Javelin missiles just like we're doing in Ukraine.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
06/02/2022 6:08 Comments ||
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#5
Wasn’t that a President Obama project?
Along with a Secretary of State, who had no problem abandoning her own ambassador to die at their hands.
It's the whole Marxist mindset that everyone is a victim and just misunderstood [at least those who are not white males that constitute classical western civilization].
[AlAhram] Has Tunisia at last emerged from the dark tunnel of chaos to the light of stability? Tunisian President Kais Saied has recently formed an advisory committee to draw up a new constitution to establish what he termed "the new republic".
According to his roadmap, the committee will submit the draft to him on 20 June and a referendum will be held on it on 25 July. Tunisia is thus emulating the course Egypt took after the Moslem Brüderbund rode the crest of anarchy to assume power in Egypt, just as the Ennahda Party did in Tunisia.
Also, just as the Moslem Brüderbund stalled the realisation of the new order to which the Egyptian revolution had aspired, so too did the empowered Ennahda engender a state of anarchy that lasted more than a decade.
Yet, whereas Egyptians rose up after only a year of the Moslem Brüderbund regime and asked the army to step in to end rule by the Supreme Guide, Tunisia continued to flounder in an endless cycle of political conflicts between civil forces pressing for modern democratic government and Islamists aspiring to a monopoly on power. The result was political and institutional paralysis causing unprecedented economic deterioration. Unemployment rose to 19 per cent. The poverty rate climbed to 15 per cent nationwide and to over 40 per cent in some governorates.
According to the Institut arabe des chefs d’entreprises (IACE), more than 300 foreign businesses and branches closed down and left the country. Then Covid-19 struck, costing the Tunisian economy more than eight billion Tunisian dinars ($2.75 billion), according to the Tunisian National Institute of Statistics. In light of the gravity of this decade-long crisis, President Saied took several extraordinary steps. He dissolved the parliament, dismissed the government and dissolved the High Judicial Council. More recently, he appointed a new electoral commission before forming the above-mentioned constitutional drafting committee. As he explained at the time, his aim is "to rescue and change Tunisia after a decade of ruin."
How similar yet how different Tunisia’s experience has been compared to that of Egypt, which surpassed all those problems years ago, enabling it to march boldly and rapidly towards reconstruction and comprehensive development.
They forgot shoulder to shoulder, but most of the standards are contained —an impressive piece of writing! — in that single sentence.
#3
12 videos created and posted to Ukrainian social media by rebellious Ukrainian units - available for viewing, with English subtitles, at sonar21.com, the blog of Larry Johnson, ex-CIA and Homeland Security analyst:
When I wrote this piece initially last week, I identified 6 Ukrainian units that filmed themselves rebelling against their chain of command. These “rebellion” videos came on the heels of the surrender of more than 2500 members of the AZOV battalion at Mariupol. Now the number is 12–that is 12 different units in the Donbas. They all voice the same complaints about their chain of command for not properly supplying them with the weapons and equipment they need to fight.
This is not your normal troop bitching about conditions. All soldiers in all wars throughout history have passed the time complaining about lousy food, terrible weather, inept commanders and stupid decisions. What you see below is unprecedented in my memory.
These soldiers still believe in fighting for Ukraine but are not keen on being used as a Russian punching bag. They believe their commanders are asking them to commit suicide. Below you can watch videos of soldiers from 12 units presenting a formal demand to President Zelensky and the Ukrainian General in Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This is appearing on Ukrainian social media. It is not a Russian propaganda piece. Here are the units:
13th Battalion of 58th Motorized Infantry Brigade
2nd Company of the 46th Rifle Battalion
3rd Platoon of the 46th Infantry Battalion
115th Brigade
3rd Platoon of the 115th Brigade
71st Jaeger Infantry Brigade
Ukrainian 14th Brigade: 6th Battalion, 4th, 5th, and 6th companies
Cherkasy Territorial Defense
95th Separate Airborne Assault Brigade
30th Mechanized Brigade 3rd Battalion 9th Company
57th Motorized Brigade
18th Marine Battalion of the 35th Brigade
#5
The war's almost over. Yet another leading European military expert explains why Russia is about to complete its domination of the entire Donbas region:
Austrian military expert Colonel Markus Reisner declared that Western countries are seriously mistaken in relying on large arms supplies for the Ukrainian army.
According to Col. Reisner, ''the Russian army continues to make solid progress in its offensive against Ukrainian positions in the Donbass, and it will be victorious in the region. This is evidenced by the fact that most of the territories of the DPR and LPR, including large cities, are already under the control of the Russian army. Russia also controls important facilities in southern Ukraine, on the shores of the Sea of Azov.''
Col. Reisner added that ''in the West they try not to talk about the obvious advance of the Russian armed forces and the Western media make a lot of efforts to hide the obvious successes of the Russians, which is a serious mistake''.
Reisner stressed that he is following the situation in Ukraine from various sources, and has concluded that the West is deeply mistaken in relying on large military aid supplies for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to Col. Reisner, ''it takes a lot of time to send weapons, and these weapons are spent literally in one day. And more often than not, these Western weapons do not even have time to fall into the hands of the Ukrainian military on the front line. According to the US defense department, the weapons that the West sends to Ukraine during the week run out within a day. This means that Western weapons are immediately used by the Ukrainians and most of these weapons are captured or destroyed by the Russians. The Russian army seizes a lot of weapons."
The Austrian colonel also drew attention to the high professionalism of the Russian special forces, which opposes the Ukrainian troops. Reisner notes that 'Russian special forces successfully track down groups of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and neutralize them. This means that the supply lines for the offensive of the Russian Armed Forces in the Donbass are not damaged''.
He also noted the well-coordinated work of the infantry and artillery of the Russian armed forces. ''The Russian offensive in the Donbass is currently slow but steady and thorough, with significant artillery and infantry support. This [slow, deliberate pace] is not a sign of weakness. Rather, it shows that the battalion tactical groups interact more closely with each other and are controlled centrally'', according to Col. Reisner.
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/02/2022 20:03 Comments ||
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#7
Yeah, slow advances are the hallmark of a well-trained, disciplined, competent military. It's totally not because they can barely manage to get out of their own way, being unable to communicate as any sane modern military needs.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
06/02/2022 21:18 Comments ||
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#8
"ultimately this war will only definitively end through diplomacy. Every negotiation reflects the facts on the ground. We [want Ukraine to] be in the strongest possible position at the negotiating table."
- Joseph R Biden Jr.
May 31, 2022
Posted by: Negotiatin Joe The Sellout ||
06/02/2022 22:18 Comments ||
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#9
^ "Peace in Our Time" 1939
"Peace With Honor" 1973
"Mission Accomplished" 2003
"Let's get the fuck outta here, so long suckers, turn off the lights" 2001 & 2002
#11
The media component of this war is fascinating. Component, hell! It's a whole separate war all on its own, with winners and losers and tales of heroics and barbarism. And we have a ringside seat, a little Ukraine of our own where we can watch it play out, thanks to people like Brother Skid and company who are out there hoovering up news from various 'sources' for our edification.
Commentary by Russian military journalist Bris Rozhin
[ColonelCassad] 1. Severodonetsk.
More than 80 percent of the city is under the control of the RF Armed Forces. The enemy is being held in the area of the Azot plant and the industrial zone. Ukrainian sources explain the benefits of the retreat to Lysichansk, which partially happened - part of the quarters of Severodonetsk was occupied by the RF Armed Forces without serious fighting in the mopping-up regime. The enemy hopes that due to the terrain in Lisichansk he will be able to hold out longer. The myth of the "Severodonetsk fortress" collapsed.
2. Avdievka.
Fighting north of Avdievka towards Krasnogorovka. There is no operational encirclement of the Avdievka group. The enemy, after the loss of the Avdievka-Konstantinovka highway, retains 2 roads through Orlovka to supply Avievka. Fighting on the southern outskirts of New York and near Novobakhmutovka.
3. Svetlodarsk.
Fighting in the area of Dolomitny, Novolugansk, Vozdvizhenka, Uglegorsk TPP. Significant progress in this area was not reported today. The key position here is the Uglegorsk TPP.
4. Artemovsk.
Fights for the fortified area in Pilipchatino. The enemy has transferred several dozen pieces of equipment to the city, strengthening the defense on the outskirts.
5. Soledar.
Fights for the Artemovsk-Lysichansk highway. The enemy threw into battle part of the reserves withdrawn from Artemovsk, trying to push our troops away from Berestovoye and Belogorovka. Due to the fire damage, it is difficult to use the Artemovsk-Lysichansk highway, part of the supply of the Severodonetsk grouping was transferred to the Artemovsk-Seversk-Lysichansk road. Fighting at Upper Kamenka.
6. Zolotoye.
More than 80% of Kamyshevakhi has been liberated. The enemy is reinforcing the defenses of Vrubovka, trying to prevent our troops from developing the offensive from the area of Toshkovka and Ustinovka.
7. Slavyansk.
Battles for Svyatogorsk. Most of the northern coast of the Seversky Donets river in the direction of Raygorodok has been cleared. Part of Shchurovo is occupied, advancement to Bogorodichnoye. Fighting on the outskirts of Lake.
8. Izyum.
Without changes. Positional battles in the area of Velikaya Kamyshevakha, Kurulka, Dolgenkiy.
9. Kharkov.
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation again seized the initiative here, methodically pushing the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the border to Kharkov. Today, the enemy left several small villages after a long fire defeat, including Tsupovka. In the Ternovaya area, after repulsing the attacks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation advanced towards Stary Saltov, leaving, incl. to the road from Stary Saltov to Kharkov.
In general, the “big counter-offensive near Kharkov” ended in nothing for the Armed Forces of Ukraine - significant forces were spent to take insignificant villages, some of which had to be given back. Attacks on Kharkiv and Chuguev can not yet be expected, as well as large-scale operations in the Chernihiv and Sumy directions, where the RF Armed Forces are limited to fire damage to the objects of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
10. Ugledar.
The enemy launched a counterattack in the direction of Pavlovka, suffered losses and did not achieve success. The battles near Novomikhailovka and Velikaya Novoselovka brought no changes to the situation at the front. In Marinka, no changes, the front froze in the area of the waste heap.
11. Nikolaev.
Attempts by the Armed Forces of Ukraine to launch attacks in the direction of Kherson from the Nikolaev and Kryvyi Rih directions ended in heavy losses for the Armed Forces of Ukraine in people and materiel. It was not possible to break through the defenses of the RF Armed Forces at Snegirevka and at Davydov Brod.
Attempts to achieve tactical success with a swoop turned into failure. It can be expected that the next attempts will prepare more thoroughly. One can note the use of the Kinburn Spit by Russian MLRS for shelling Ochakovo, where 2 small missile boats of the Ukrainian Navy were hit.
12. Odessa.
The enemy transferred part of the reserves to Nikolaev, revising the city's defense system. Part of the barriers were dismantled in the center. Preparations are underway for a second attack on about. Serpentine, which will be carried out with the support of the American MLRS HIMARS, which the United States plans to transfer from the territory of Romania. The Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation is taking measures to strengthen the defense of the island.
13. Zaporozhye.
On the front Kamenskoye-Orekhov-Gulyaipole-Velikaya Novoselovka - positional battles.
[Breitbart] A few weeks ago J.P. Morgan Chase chief Jamie Dimon warned that there were storm clouds looming over the U.S. economy.
Now he wants to upgrade the storm forecast to a hurricane warning.
"I said there were storm clouds, big storm clouds. It’s a hurricane," Dimon said at a conference Wednesday. "Right now it’s kind of sunny, things are doing fine, everyone thinks the Fed can handle it. That hurricane is right out there down the road coming our way. We don’t know if it’s a minor one or Superstorm Sandy. You better brace yourself."
Dimon’s remarks were reported by Bloomberg News.
Dimon warned that the Fed’s plan to shrink its balance sheet, often referred to as quantitative tightening or QT, was also introducing new risks.
"We’ve never had QT like this, so you’re looking at something you could be writing history books on for 50 years," Dimon added, according to CNBC.
The Fed has said it will begin to shrink its balance sheet this month by letting maturing bonds roll off at an initial pace of $47.5 billion per month. That is scheduled to double to $95 billion a month in September.
Also, color me unimpressed by the Fed's unwinding their balance sheet. It is EXACTLY the right ste to take--they should never, ever have let it balloon to $9B--but $47.5K is just about 1/2 of 1% per month. Impact to be not nearly enough.
Posted by: Tom ||
06/02/2022 14:25 Comments ||
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#2
Further to the point, Dimon says we've never had QT like this before.
This is a true statement, but it's only true because no Fed in history was every dumb enough to blow up its balance sheet to $9T. If you don't have anything to unwind, then you don't unwind. It really is that simple.
Posted by: Tom ||
06/02/2022 14:27 Comments ||
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[USA Watchdog] Author of the popular book "Deep State" and award-winning journalist Alex Newman says Deep State globalists are afraid the world is waking up to the tyranny they are trying to impose on every country on earth including America. Things are not going as smoothly into their so-called reset as they had envisioned. Newman explains, "The Deep State is in a ’do or die’ moment right now. They, the elites or predator class, recognize that they are now locked into this.
If they try to retreat, there is no retreat. People are waking up at such a rapid rate that they are in a moment where they are going to have to go for broke and try to impose the whole agenda and damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead or they are going to be in big trouble. They are going to be prosecuted. Right this moment, there are conversations in state attorney generals’ offices all across the country, and this is a problem. People are demanding prosecution. . . . Right now, the elites, or predator class, realize if they don’t move forward very quickly, they are going to lose everything. They could possibly end up facing true accountability.
I think we are in a very dangerous situation now. When people get into a position like that, they don’t have a whole lot of options. Either they cancel the election or they cheat like crazy or they just collapse everything. The way things are going right now with inflation out of control, the food crisis and famine just around the corner, of course, that they engineered, and the monkey pox and bird flu, they have all there crises lined up. . . . You realize they have a lot of options still to play. I suspect there will be some very interesting developments between now and the mid-term elections. If we had honest elections, they would be totally creamed. They would be toast, and they know that."
#1
I think we are in a very dangerous situation now. When people get into a position like that, they don’t have a whole lot of options. Either they cancel the election or they cheat like crazy or they just collapse everything.
#2
The only way the "deep state" gets prosecuted is by an anarchistic mob. As they have been trying to use anarchy to their own ends, that would be poetic justice, irony and just desserts all rolled into one.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
06/02/2022 8:12 Comments ||
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#3
The description of the classic "tipping point" is apt. I think the Puppet Show is seeing some disintegration of its cover as Jojo notices his awful polling and wonders if he is a fall guy (DUH), and the level of pain has begun to make the suburban "sheeple" restive and angry to the point of just wanting the old ways back and intolerant of more lectures by the "smart" people on the View. When they get to the angry, "just make it stop" mode, sweeping change looms in November.
Will the kleptocrat Marxists/Greens/Media/Technokrat cabal go all in for civil unrest and chaos? They laid the false "white-supremacist, militia, extremist" predicate after Jan 6, but I wonder if they have the stones to collectively pull the triggers?
#4
What and who comprises the Deep State? Who is the Deep State that they are willing to collapse governments, economies, foment wars and spread chaos.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[PowerLine] A BUMBLEBEE NEEDS FINS LIKE A FISH NEEDS A...
[AND Magazine] In 2001, We went into Afghanistan to destroy a terrorist safe haven and drive Al Qaida from that nation. Al Qaeda had blown up two of our embassies, almost sunk a U.S. Navy destroyer, and flown planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Thousands of Americans had been killed.
[USA Watchdog] Author of the popular book "Deep State" and award-winning journalist Alex Newman says Deep State globalists are afraid the world is waking up to the tyranny they are trying to impose on every country on earth including America. Things are not going as smoothly into their so-called reset as they had envisioned. Newman explains, "The Deep State is in a ’do or die’ moment right now. They, the elites or predator class, recognize that they are now locked into this. 
