Damn, China.

 China has issues.

Protests - Nothing New Under The Sun

A lot of people including former leftists and now libertarian Tim Pool feel like America is on the verge of a civil war because of what's happening in Seattle and across the country.  He says he takes a broader view and it's true, but he and others do not seem to take history into consideration.  In 1967 I was one year old.  But I know it was a summer of riots.  There were a lot of riots in the United States' history Watts (1965),  the Democrat convention protests in 1968, Kent State (1970), the Rodney King riots of 1992,  Occupy Wall Street in 2011, Ferguson (2014) to mention some of the long history.

Washington D.C. 1968

This is not going to end America, or cause a civil war, as many on both the left and right (or center, as in the case of Tim Pool) claim.  This is nothing new under the sun. Violence and protests, whether justified or stupid and radical are a sign of a healthy free society.  You think this could happen in China or Russia or Yemen?  That is not to say there is no cause for concern; a lot of what is happening is a sign that there is a vast underclass with respect to historical knowledge and American pride.

America is the greatest country on earth - this coming from a non-American who has nevertheless been to your country countless time and truly appreciates it.  And yet this under-educated (or deliberately mis-educated) generation, along with similarly misinformed special interest groups are going to come away from this with the same sense of self-importance of the similarly coddled baby-boom generation - thinking that they either succeeded or tried to change the world.

If they succeed it will have been for the worse.  I argued when president Obama used to argue for change and people were clamoring for it, that not all change is for the good.  A meteorite hitting a populated city is a change, and also a disaster.  So too is every weakening of the founding principles of America.  

But my own myopic  thoughts come into play here too.  I used to think that America could withstand 4 years, then 8 years of an Obama presidency. But while I was confident, I was not 100% certain of it.  America did survive, and it will survive this apparent revolutionary fervor of today.  

That's not the real threat though is it?  The real threat is the evolutionary march of socialists to slowly crumble the truly brilliant notion of what America stands for  - individual liberty, individual responsibility, free markets and equal opportunity for all.  Socialists, the Soviets, China, post modernists, communists and ill informed wealthy glitterati have all been trying to slowly chip away at those ideas, through education, entertainment, legal institutions and any other avenue possible for as long as they have been around.  Because that too is nothing new under the sun.  And that, is the real threat to America.

Where's the social distancing, rioters?

I was saying this days ago.

On Trumpian fundraising

Fox Business reports that president Trump's fundraising is going well, despite the protesters trying to prevent even donations to the president:

Trans-Mountain pipeline in Canada moving ahead despite "outcry"

Okay, there is no outcry in Canada, or anywhere.  Just lame excuses as to why not to expand it:

Think I'll take a knee on watching the NFL for a while.

I'm a die hard NFL fan - not just any football, NFL football. I started watching decades ago. I used to also watch a lot of college football but drifted away from it over the years.  But you know what, I might drift back.  It seems to be largely politics free, despite the overlay of progressive liberalism that infects so many university and college campuses.

I watch football to see spectacular plays, not watch millionaires and near-millionaires, regardless of color and ethnicity, disrespect the American flag and national anthem in a misguided protest because the emotional snowflakes have got their feelings hurt by a president who is equally and unapologetically speaks out against those who put politics ahead of their country and ahead of their job.

Why should I support a league that supports people who will put their opinions ahead of their product - entertaining viewers who are looking for an escape from politics - something that has become increasingly hard to do in news coverage, TV shows, movies, music and education.  The constant drumbeat of progressive dogma had one unalterable respite - sports.  The NFL seems to have self-excluded from that club.  So now it's NCAA football or maybe NASCAR. At least that's going to be my approach until the NFL comes to its senses. 

Wisconsin protests and fake doctors notes

An interesting video from the MacIver Institute on phony sick notes for Wisconsin protesters.  It's not clear if the doctors were real doctors or not, but the doctors' notes clearly are.



As the video description states;

[Madison, WI] As tens of thousands of public employees skipped work this week to attend protest rallies outside the Wisconsin State Capitol, many wondered if they would face any disciplinary action for unexcused absences.

On Saturday, a group of men and women in lab coats purporting to be doctors were handing out medical excuse notes, without examining the 'patients.'

Unions are always ethical. Now what about those students?

Pelosi on the wrong side of reality again

She gets protests wrong all the time.

Hey Wisconsin Students: Not your fight

A bill that is being hotly protested in Wisconsin is also a bill that is not being hotly debated as Democrats have fled the state rather than debate the bill. What's really lacking in these protests is some common sense from some of the protesters - the students. Teacher's unions of course you would expect them to say that the Governor is going to ruin the state - he's going to change their state of ease and comfort. But students, this is not your fight.

Troubled Sunday Coming in Iran?

According a report from PBS Tehran Bureau, the opposition leader from the last election and subsequent uprising, Mousavi, has called for demonstrations on Sunday.  What makes it even more of a concern is the conflict within the Revolutionary Guard:

12:00 p.m./Feb 18 As we described on the eve of the 25 Bahman demonstrations, there was a report that Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, the Revolutionary Guard commander, had expressed his doubt that Guard enlisted men would be willing to use violence against marchers. The Telegraph reports that reluctance of that sort is now being voiced at much higher ranks:

Senior officers in Iran's Revolutionary Guards have written a letter to their commanding officer demanding assurances that they will not be required to open fire on anti-government demonstrators. 

Following the recent violence that occurred during anti-government protests in Egypt, the officers argue that it is against the principles of Shi'ite Islamic law to use violence against their own people.

In a suggestion of a major split within the Islamic Republic's ruling hierarchy over its handling of anti-government protests, the letter has been circulated widely throughout the ranks of the Revolutionary Guards, the body responsible for defending religious system.

The letter, a copy of which has been seen by the Daily Telegraph, is addressed to Major Gen Jafar [...] It calls on [him] to issue guidance to both the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij paramilitary militia to use restraint when handling anti-government protests.

While trouble flares across the Middle East and North Africa in the wake of events in Egypt, Yemen and Tunisia, the biggest questions remaining are (1) how Egypt turns out and (1A) what happens in Iran.