Paul Goble
DO BASHKIR PROTESTS PORTEND THE BREAKUP OF RUSSIA?
[TTP has been predicting developments like this since the onset of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine almost two years ago. I have known Paul Goble since the 80s when we worked together on implementing the Reagan Doctrine. He is one of the world’s preeminent experts on the inner workings of Russia. See his Tatarstan Capitalizes On China’s Expanding Role In Middle Volga, TTP, Sept 27, 2023. --JW]
What’s happening now:
Mass protests in Bashkortostan featured calls for the independence of the Middle Volga republic and have shattered the image that Russia is united behind Putin.
These events have convinced Bashkirs and other non-Russians that their time is coming, and Kyiv believes that the non-Russian peoples will act soon enough to affect the course of Moscow’s war against Ukraine.
The demonstrations have sparked fears in the Kremlin and prompted some Russian nationalists to arm themselves to put down any non-Russian actions.
Here are the details.
SKYE’S LINKS 01/18/24
The Woke Agenda
Running on Fumes
They thought the easy way to make money was to secure special political privileges through the woke agenda. But the political class behind ESG, DEI, and the rest of the rot never understood the nature of work. Maybe any warm body can fill a government job billet. Maybe.
But the private sector is different. Performance matters there.
They assumed all work was government work. A widespread shock like a blast of this week’s arctic winds over most of the nation has met the heads of woke corporations as they face massive liability for defective products and incompetent service.
Our sock-puppet Secretary of Defense was AWOL for days before anybody noticed. No wonder we ran from the field in Afghanistan. First as a trickle and now as a torrent, Americans are fighting back against woke foolishness.
Come on over to Skye’s Links. Lots of good things are happening out there…
CHILDLESS CHINA
[The most arguably pertinent question to ask of any developing country is: Does this country have time to get rich before it gets old? In China’s case that question has now been answered. The answer is No.]
China’s total population declined for a second consecutive year in 2023 due to a record-low birth rate and an uptick in Covid-19 deaths. The decline will inevitably deter the economy’s growth potential and continue to strain a nation where the elderly overwhelmingly outnumber the young.
The National Bureau of Statistics, a Chinese government agency, reported that the total number of people in China decreased by 2.08 million in 2023. Overall, the population declined by 0.15 percent, from 1.411 billion to 1.409 billion in 2023. China’s population aged 60 and over reached 296.97 million in 2023, accounting for about 21.1 percent of its total population.
As new births fell 5.7 percent to 9.02 million, the 2023 Chinese birth rate also hit a new record. With only 6.39 births per 1,000 people, the 2023 birth rate was even lower than 2022’s record of 6.77 births per 1,000 people.
HOW BADLY WILL SCOTUS WOUND THE ADMINISTRATIVE STATE?
[Skye’s Links 12/21/23 gave you a heads up here: This could lead to the most important Supreme Court win in the past century – no kidding. The case is Loper Bright v Raimondo. SCOTUS arguments start Jan 17 for why at least 5 Justices should overthrow a 1984 Court monstrosity called “Chevron Deference” allowing administrative agencies like ATF to act as lawmakers. They create “rules” and “regulations” based on existing law, then use Chevron to affirm their rule change as “reasonable.” This is a Very Big Deal!]
On Wednesday (1/17), The Supreme Court’s conservatives appeared inclined to cut back the regulatory power of federal agencies, with several justices during a pair of arguments seeming ready to overrule a legal doctrine that has bolstered agencies’ authority for decades.
Over more than three hours of argument, the justices put the Biden administration’s top Supreme Court lawyer on defense as she sought to preserve Chevron deference, which instructs courts to defer to agencies’ interpretation of federal law if it could have multiple meanings.
THE VOTERS’ REPUDIATION OF OUR FILTHY DIRTY JUSTICE SYSTEM IN IOWA
One wonders what it's like to be Jack Smith, Alvin Bragg, Leticia James, or Fani Willis waking up to watch CNN this morning.
Here's CNN: “Former President Donald Trump’s huge win in the Iowa caucuses on Monday enshrines one of the most astonishing comebacks in American political history.”
Astonishing to them, of course. It sounds like the voters have some unfinished business they'd like to take care of. More to the point, it's a vote of no confidence in our justice system. Everyone can see that the charges against Trump are about politics, not justice.
What we saw in Iowa yesterday (1/15) was the repudiation of what the justice system has become -- politicized, unfair, unjust, and filthy-dirty. That has propelled Trump to his powerful win, because voters can see some unfinished business they need to take care of -- immediately -- in their votes for Trump.
LAWFARE AGAINST TRUMP IS IN A DOOM LOOP
Four state and federal prosecutors claim they all came to the same disinterested conclusions that Donald Trump should be indicted for various crimes and put on trial during the campaign season of 2024.
Yet now they are in a doom loop of discovering that the more they seek to rush to judgment before the election and gag Trump from speaking publicly about these star-chamber proceedings, the more he rises in the polls.
In truth, each succeeding cycle of corrupt leftwing lawfare that ends in failure—the Russian collusion hoax, the weaponized impeachments, the pathetic attempt to erase Trump from state ballots, and the unfolding Fani Willis moral debacle—does not return things to zero.
Rather, they serve as force multipliers for each other. Each overreach geometrically increases the dangers to democracy, ever more turns the public off, and ironically cascades sympathy and poll numbers for the very target of their paranoias.
HALF-FULL REPORT 01/12/24
The Arc of History
Postmodern Failure
Jack is leading another of his incredible tours this week and will return next week.
Watching the news, studying the journals and events of the week, from a Boeing 737 Max airliner losing a door in flight to the strange absence of the president, secretary of defense, and assistant secretary from the chain of command, at the same time, with no designated responsible persons identified, made me ponder just what is going on?
Whether intentional or accidental, the week's news did everything possible to hold up shiny objects and divert attention from the collapse of the Trump persecution in Georgia and the woes of Hunter Biden before Congress and the IRS.
So what is going on? We are watching the failure of Postmodernist philosophy and a scramble by the left to find a new totalitarianism.
SKYE’S LINKS 01/11/24
It is still morning in America - if you vote with your feet:
Entry-Level Jobs Pay Six Figures In This Gritty Part Of America
On the other hand, if you haven't voted with your feet, you are all too likely to be stuck in a far left swamp of cult beliefs:
The 5 Strangest Features Of The Modern Left
But there is hope! The omni-BS is failing in more and more situations as more and more people push back against the official unreality For example:
St. Louis Mask Mandate Rescinded Less Than 24 Hours After Woke Health Officials Get Trigger Happy
There’s lots more cool stuff – jump onboard!
FANI, YOU IN A WHOLE HEAP A’ TROUBLE, GIRL!
The news out of Georgia is getting interesting. According to one of the co-defendants in the case that Fulton County DA Fani Willis brought against Trump and others who challenged election results, Willis’s special prosecutor, Nathan Wade, not only raked in $654,000 but is also Willis’s lover-boyfriend.
That’s shocking corruption on its face. However, things got even more interesting when Wade’s bills showed him having long conferences with the White House in 2022.
Michael Roman is one of the co-defendants in Willis’s case alleging that challenging an election in Georgia (something Stacey Abrams has been doing professionally for years now) is a criminal act when Donald Trump does it. On Monday (1/08), Roman filed an absolutely stunning motion with the trial court alleging that Willis was having an affair with Wade.
Let’s not stop there, though. As the old Ginsu knife commercials used to say… But wait! There’s more! We can add a whole new level of stench to the smell coming out of Fulton County.
ASHES, ASHES, AND WE ALL FALL DOWN
American law enforcement is working through a historic question of purpose and direction. The public and the national thinkers have a broad spectrum of things they believe about what we should be doing, and how we should be doing it.
There is an equally large debate mirroring this within law enforcement. Are we nurturers? Warriors? Secretaries? Mental health specialists? Role models? Ideas abound. Meanwhile, the calls for service keep coming and all politicians want us to help them get elected.
Jack asked me to comment on this article from the American Thinker titled, “If it all goes wrong, with whom will the police side?” The police aren’t supposed to have a “side”; our mandate is to enforce the law. But, the American understanding of law and order in some circles is devolving into a strongman concept of the legitimacy and exercise of power-- if you have it, use it; and the implications be damned.
Democratic considerations are an obstacle to getting what we want; not a responsibility to uphold. This is not American thinking. It is Soviet, Mongol, Mexican, or fascist thinking, and it is getting the nod from way too many people who ought to know better in governments across the nation at all levels.
The question in this article is: “Should our government decide “our democracy” is in imminent danger and it’s necessary to suppress dangerous insurrectionists like Catholics and soccer moms, would America’s federal, state and local police play along?”
MEXICO’S OBRADOR BLACKMAILS BIDEN
In Mexico, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO for short) knows a fool when he sees one.
So now that Joe Biden has let illegal border crossings balloon into a full-blown crisis, with millions of illegal aliens now flowing into the U.S., he's got Biden over a barrel.
Like any sharp mafioso or three-card monte player, he's now raising his price to solving the problem ... and it won't come cheap. The $20 billion payout he wants upfront is just the start.
RUSSIA ENTERS THIRD YEAR OF WAR DIMINISHED, DEGRADED, AND JOYLESS
It produced another failure, however, as most missiles were intercepted by Ukraine’s air defenses (Meduza.io, December 29). As many as 35 innocent civilians were killed, though the missiles hit nothing of military significance. In contrast, the earlier Ukrainian missile strike on Feodosia on December 26 resulted in a spectacular explosion of the large Russian landing ship Novocherkassk (Svoboda.org, December 29, see video above).
Despite putting on a strong front, Putin increasingly struggles to shield the failure to achieve any progress in Russia’s most recent offensive from the domestic population and will likely be unable to avoid the prospect of even more failures in 2024.
SKYE’S LINKS 01/04/24
This famous cartoon from the Irish magazine Weekly Freeman in 1881 depicts law-abiding Pat Murphy being goaded by a policeman and soldier into fighting so it can be blamed on him – with the Emergency Man behind them saying, “That's right! Prod him and club him, ‘till he turns on you! That’s our little game.”
That will be the Democrat/Woke Left game for 2024. Expect them to create a whole flock of Black Swans between now and the election, their purpose being to goad patriots into over-reaction which can be demonized – even to the extent of declaring martial law by November.
J6 was just a prelude to:
Welcome to 2024. “May you live in interesting times,” the Chinese saying warns, and so we are, ready or not. Here we go…
FORGET WHAT THEY ARE SAYING AND LOOK AT WHAT THEY ARE DOING
[This is to introduce a new feature on TTP -- a column by TTPer of many years who often posts insightfully on the Forum: Mark Deuce. After serving America as an Army paratrooper, Mark’s career has been in community law enforcement. He brings life-long street experience to the reality of today. His column is entitled – what else? – Deuces Wild. Welcome, Mark!]
One lesson I have learned in law enforcement is to be attentive to the behavior of humans you encounter. A cop’s job is dealing with people—often at their worst. Most other cop skills can be taught; but an inability to assess and react appropriately to human behavior will guarantee your ineffectiveness.
For cops, a common sign of trouble with a person you contact is them not obeying your lawful verbal instructions that you give them in order for you to do your job. For officer safety, you need to mentally switch gears when you see this in an encounter and regardless of what they are saying, notice: (1) you gave them a command and (2) they haven’t obeyed it.
Let’s apply this thinking to how we deal with most Democrats, RINOs and liberals. We have given them numerous commands—to keep our streets safe, to secure our border, not to steal from us, leave our freedom alone – and they keep refusing to obey. What’s to be done?
TRAGIC! HAMAS LOSES TWO LEADERS IN ONE DAY
January 2, 2024 — Hamas is reeling after losing two of their most cherished leaders on the same day, military commander Saleh al-Arouri, and Harvard President Claudine Gay.
"This is a devastating loss for our organization and the world," said Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh while throwing a dart at a dartboard with a picture of a Jew on it. "Al-Arouri helped mastermind our glorious murder/rape party of October 7th, 2023. Claudine Gay presided over the preaching of our message of Jew-hatred in America's Ivy League. This is an incalculable loss."
Ismail Haniyeh then went back to his game of darts while sitting in a jacuzzi and having his shoulders massaged by a high-priced escort from Dubai.
Eyewitnesses confirmed that al-Arouri was blown up by a rocket while innocently meeting with other innocent Hamas officials planning totally innocent and harmless military operations in the West Bank. Sources also verified that Claudine Gay was forced to step down. Both attacks are being blamed on the Jews.
At publishing time, Hamas had put two “help wanted" ads in the New York Times to help them fill both positions.
- Babylon Bee reporting
XI JINPING AND CHINA FACE ANOTHER TOUGH YEAR
Every year on December 31st, a glimpse is revealed of an impenetrable world. On Chinese state television, Xi Jinping delivers his new-year address to the nation.
China’s netizens pore over the footage: on no other occasion do they get to see their leader sitting at what purports to be his desk. They swap analysis of Mr.. Xi’s collection of photographs displayed on bookshelves behind him. And they parse his ponderously delivered words.
“Along the way, we are bound to encounter headwinds,” he said this year. Many will see that as an understatement of China’s current woes.
The economy failed to gather momentum. Youth unemployment soared and the property market continued to slump. Foreign investors in China grew more nervous. The headwinds were fierce.
That was 2023. 2024 looks hardly less troubled.
THE UTTER INSANITY OF JOE BIDEN’S BORDER
There have been more than 8 million illegal entries into the United States since Joe Biden was elected president. He appointed Alejandro Mayorkas as Secretary of Homeland Security, whose apparent prime directive was to destroy the southern border.
That task is precisely what Mayorkas has now accomplished. The result is that the border is neither “porous” nor “problematic,” but nonexistent, kaput, vanished—and by design.
In one of the most surreal experiences in the history of the United States, each night Americans see video clips of thousands of foreign nationals crossing the border en masse with complete impunity—as if the entire corpus of federal immigration law has been dynamited.
But by whom? And why?
DISPROVING DEMOCRATS
AUGUSTA, ME — In a move designed to push back against criticism that they have a track record of rigging elections in secret, Democrats have now adopted a policy of rigging elections in broad daylight so everyone in the country can see it.
"We are being entirely transparent about our election interference," said Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows after announcing former President Donald Trump will not be allowed on the 2024 primary ballot. "Any wild allegations of covert efforts to rig elections are simply preposterous. As anyone can clearly see, the steps we are taking to interfere with and rig the outcome of our elections are being done in plain sight. This is a win for democracy."
Bellows's decision to rule Trump ineligible to be included on the state's ballot came on the heels of a hotly debated ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court that also attempted to keep Trump's name off the ballot in that state. Though serious questions have been raised regarding the legitimacy of elections, Democrats deny any secret plots. "We aren't hiding anything," Bellows said. "Everyone can see what the FBI and DOJ are doing. All these baseless indictments aren't being made in secret. Heck, I made a public announcement about taking him off the ballot. I don't know where these accusations of us covertly rigging the election are coming from."
At publishing time, top Democrat powerbrokers were reportedly also preparing to begin operations in every state to rule all Republican voters ineligible to vote in any elections in order to save democracy. Babylon Bee reporting
SKYE’S LINKS 12/28/23
"Protecting our democracy" doesn't mean what you may think it does. The Woke catch-phrase means “they are protecting their democracy; not a democracy of the people, but now merely a word used to fig leaf the ever-expanding slither of socialist socialite statism, the velvet fascism that is deftly hammering its way through the society and the culture.” A very worthwhile read:
The Velvet Fascism Of "Protect Our Democracy"
How do all those illegal migrants get here? Ever notice that these hordes are always wearing clean serviceable clothes not filthy rags in tatters? That they’re not dying of thirst or hunger? Where do they get food, water, clothes, shelter, transportation? How is all this and more provided and by whom? It is a grand racket:
"Mass Migration Blueprints" Reveal NGOs "Carefully Planned" US Migrant Invasion, Report Says
Here we go!
CHEERING FOR MASS MURDER
In 1862, Dakota Sioux Indians went on a mass murder spree, butchering more than 600 innocent whites, mostly women and children at New Ulm, Minnesota.
The Indians murdered babies, beating their brains out and nailing them to trees. They tortured children. They engaged in gang rape of women on a mass scale. Their rampage was enabled by the fact that many Minnesota men were away, fighting in the Civil War.
That slaughter was the worst massacre by either whites or Indians from 1492 to the present. On a per capita basis, it was five times the carnage of September 11.
If the narrative sounds familiar, it should. What the Dakota did in 1862 was remarkably similar to what Gazans did on October 7. And the reaction, too, was similar.
THE WORLD’S STRANGEST DICTATOR
Argentina's new president, Javier Milei, has unleashed a slew of new deregulations on the Argentinian public, doing exactly what he promised the public during his election campaign. For giving Argentina less government not more, the Left is hysterically denouncing him as a “dictator.”
From this report: Argentina: Javier Milei Signs Executive Order Weakening or Ending 350 Socialist Policies. And yeah, it’s a lot of stuff. The edict was put into effect late last week (12/21). What happened: Food prices dropped 15% overnight.
Milei was like a mad anarcho-capitalist all right, just as he calls himself, running wild through the prison of Argentina's economy and opening every last cage to let the prisoners out, everybody out, all at once.
The Argentine Left can’t stand it. It’s glorious - and instructive - fun to watch.
2024 – THE YEAR OF OUR RECKONING
We should remember the now modern proverb of Nixon-era economic advisor Herb Stein to the effect that what cannot go on (without destroying the nation), simply will not go on.
In some sense, the country for recent years has been cruising on the fumes from prior and likely better wiser generations and institutions. In 2024, the tab for our current apathy, toxic politics, and incompetence will come due.
So next year we will likely see the climax to a number of current dangerous ideas, events, and forces, which finally will either overwhelm us or be addressed and remedied. We live in a Neronian age but can recover if we first understand how we got here and the nature of the suicide we are committing.
Then we can answer: What then do the campaign and election of 2024 foreordain?
THE EVOLUTION OF IDENTITY IN TAIWAN
[This is a useful nutshell history of Taiwan since WWII, helpful in understanding its tussle with Chicom China.]
The problem of identity is the most important issue in Taiwanese politics, occupying the center stage for both presidential campaigns and cross-strait relations. In recent years, there has been a notable decline in Chinese identification in Taiwan.
This decline is the result of the People’s Republic of China (PRC)’s monopolization of Chinese identity since the 1970s. Beijing’s goal is to use Chinese nationalism and cultural appeal to draw Taiwan closer to the mainland. However, it backfires by pushing Taiwan away; Taiwanese people are searching for an alternative identity to demonstrate their difference with the PRC.
Here’s how that evolved.
SKYE’S LINKS 12/21/23
This could lead to the most important Supreme Court win in the past century - no kidding. The case is Loper Bright v Raimondo. SCOTUS arguments start Jan 17 for why at least 5 Justices should overthrow a 1984 Court monstrosity called “Chevron Deference” allowing administrative agencies like ATF to act as lawmakers. They create "rules" and "regulations" based on existing law, then use Chevron to affirm their rule change as "reasonable." This is a Very Big Deal!
Could This Supreme Court Case End Government Overreach By Three-Letter Agencies?
Are you ready to LOL? The FBI agent who started the Trump-Russia conspiracy investigation just got sentenced to 50 months in Federal prison for.... conspiring with Russia!
Let’s roll!
WE ARE WELL BEYOND HYPOCRISY
The abject narcissism of the insular Left is startling. They apparently believe the American public is amnesiac enough to forget what leftists once did, now that they’re doing the utter opposite.
And they assume we are to discount their hypocrisy and self-absorption simply because they self-identify as erudite and moral and assume their opponents are irredeemable and deplorable.
Apparently, for example, we have never appreciated the supposedly unnecessary and cruel encumbrance on a president when his son is indicted. So, we are told that a son’s legal exposure is an unfair weight on a president.
Have we again forgotten the subpoenaed Trump children, much less the four weaponized indictments of Trump himself? Does anyone wish to compare the drug-addicted, prostitute-hiring, gun-losing, pornographic-photo-taking, shake-down grifting of Hunter with the conduct of the five Trump children?
LET’S PHASE OUT CLIMATE CHANGE INSTEAD
At the COP28 climate summit in Dubai this December, the climate change world was waiting with bated breath for a final document that would declare war on fossil fuels.
The 70,000 delegates at the United Nations-sponsored event in the oil-rich nation of the United Arab Emirates hoped for a radical turning point where countries might agree to the “phase-out” of the production and consumption of oil, gas, and coal by mid-century.
For much of the conference, the debate was centered on whether to use the term “phase-out” or “phase-down” to describe the pace of the process to keep world temperature increase frozen at 1.5 degrees Celsius. Either term would put energy companies on notice that their days are numbered.
The climate-change movement has been waiting for this strong commitment since 1995. However, delegates were horrified to learn that the final draft document consisted of a watered-down agreement that did not mention fossil fuels and recommended actions that “could” be taken to reduce carbon footprints. There was no sense of urgency, drastic action plans, or concrete timelines.
Yep, it happened again:
THE SOURCE OF DONALD TRUMP’S RESILIENCE
Why is Donald Trump so resilient? Here’s a clue – its source goes back centuries.
As 2023 draws to a close, the ex-president is on track to win the Republican nomination and beat Joe Biden come November.
If the election were today, Trump would get his second term.
Yet he’s charged with crimes that run a gamut from election interference to mishandling classified information. He’s under gag orders and lost a $5 million civil suit this year.
Why don’t voters care — or if they do, why are they rewarding Trump, not punishing him?
A hint can be found in the work of a great historian who died last week at age 99, J.G.A. Pocock.
SKYE’S LINKS 12/14/23
All the shock and headlines over presidents of three of our most prestigious universities – Harvard, UPenn, and MIT – turning out to be woke fascisti comes as no surprise to famed conservative historian, Niall Ferguson. He explains how academics helped to destroy Western Civilization nearly a century ago, and the lessons that we can learn from this as a very similar racist academic treason unfolds again today.
History doesn't repeat itself, but it sure does rhyme with a period of about 90 years. A must-read of the week!
Niall Ferguson: The Treason of the Intellectuals
And if you’re an investor: from Rabobank; why the tolerance of rabid antisemitism on campus is a challenge to future investment strategies:
Western Academia Is Just As Morally And Intellectually Corrupt As Congress, If Not Worse
Here we go – another mind-grabbing edition of Skye’s Links. Jump on in!
GET WHITEY!
In the calculus of blame, whites are the new Jews.
Racebaiting superstar Ibram X. Kendi made this clear when he remarked on a panel recently that white people—globally—have failed to “reckon with how much their own personal identity is shaped by constructions of whiteness.” He went on to explain how “that construction of whiteness prevents white people from connecting to humanity.”
The discourse about “whiteness” comes in whole-cloth from the rhetoric of classical antisemitism. Ever wonder why Kendi-style racial debate sounds so familiar? You just have to substitute “white” for “Jew” and it all falls into place.
Antisemitism still exists, of course, but it is the sharp and narrow end of the anti-whiteness spear. The realignment of Leftist animosity has brought all struggle under the banner of anti-whiteness, or as Ibram X. Kendi would probably put it offstage, “Get Whitey.”
WHY CHINA WON’T INVADE TAIWAN…. FOR NOW
On the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leader’s Meeting in San Francisco last month, Chinese leader Xi Jinping told U.S. President Joe Biden that Taiwan is the “biggest” and “most dangerous issue” between the United States and China.
In response, Biden asserted the U.S. commitment to defending “Indo-Pacific allies.” Should the U.S. worry about an impending invasion in the Taiwan Strait?
In contrast to the constant bombardment of warnings on Taiwan’s perilous future, the Biden-Xi summit, and evolving China-Taiwan-U.S. dynamics suggest a slim probability of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan in the short-term. While China’s long-term intention for Taiwan remains unchanged, there are reasons to believe that peace will hold in the Taiwan Strait, for now. Here are the reasons why.
OH, PLEASE — NOT ‘TRUMP THE DICTATOR’ AGAIN!
It is “Trump Will Destroy Democracy” season again. And predictably the Left has gone hysterical, after experiencing a trifecta of frightening 2024 news.
One, current polls in the primaries and in a general election for now show that Trump would win.
Two, unequivocal evidence is mounting that the Bidens are one of the most corrupt political families in American presidential history.
Three, Joe Biden’s cognitive decline and feebleness have reached a point where he is one fall, one bad cold, or one long brain-freeze away from incapacity. He clearly is not running the country.
Truth is, the Left has shown itself to be grotesquely dictatorial for years now – let’s itemize what they’ve done.
RESURGENT DREAMS OF INDEPENDENCE FROM RUSSIA IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS
[The Caucasus Mountains run east to west from the Caspian to Black Seas. The peoples of the North Caucasus (north of the east-west watershed) have been fighting for the freedom from Russian imperial conquest since 1800. For historical background, please consider reading about the great warrior leader of the Caucasus’ struggle in the 19th century, Shamil. He remains a legendary hero to this day. The Caucasus soldiers fighting in Ukraine against Russia’s occupation call themselves the Imam Shamil Battalion.]
Russia’s war against Ukraine has significantly altered the geopolitical terrain of Eastern Europe, and its repercussions have extended into the North Caucasus.
One of the most notable consequences has been the reawakening of aspirations for independence among the dozens of ethnic groups that populate the region. On November 7 and 8, a major milestone was reached when the Congress of the Peoples of the North Caucasus convened in the European Parliament (Caucasusfree.com, November 9; YouTube, December 7).
Circassian, Chechen, Dagestani, and Ingush pro-independence representatives gathered to discuss their shared goal of independence from Russia. With most of Moscow’s attention fixated on the war, these movements have gained traction in recent months and will likely build on that momentum as the fighting in Ukraine rages on.
SKYE’S LINKS 12/07/23
TEXIT!! Some people are getting really fed up with the central government's shenanigans. Heard of the Texas Nationalist Movement? It has over 600,000 supporters and growing. Until SCOTUS starts giving 10th Amendment rights for real back to the states, more states are going down this path:
TEXIT Progress: Secession Question Expected To Appear on March 2024 Texas Primary Ballot
https://www.2thepointnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/MissingTapes.mp4
Shenanigans like this. Nothing to see here folks, so just move along… right. It’s the folks on the Jan 6 Committee who should be rotting in the Capitol Police Gulag, not the patriots there now with no justice whatever.
Jan. 6 Committee Tapes Have Disappeared, Says House Republican
OK, here we go! A lot here, and cool memes too. Jump on in!
THE POTEMKIN PRESIDENCY OF JOE BIDEN
Have you heard about Joe Biden’s historic presidency? Or about the historic accomplishments of Joe Biden’s first term?
I have. Repeatedly. I force myself to watch “Morning Joe” on MSNBC, Jake Tapper on CNN, and Jonathan Karl on ABC, so I’m well-informed about the thinking of left-wing elites and their game plan for keeping Donald Trump out of office.
Apparently, part of the plan is to convince the American public that Joe Biden has been a great president, mostly when you weren’t looking.
In a sense, this is the political equivalent of the recent cleanup of San Francisco by California Gov. Gavin Newsom to make the dangerous and dirty city look better for the arrival of the Chinese Communist leader Xi Jinping.
But here’s the real explanation for why the media thinks that Joe Biden is a great president and the rest of us think he is an addlepated place keeper.
CHINA EXPLOITS RUSSIA’S VULNERABILITIES
According to reports from Chinese media in late November, Beijing has refused to invest in the construction of the Power of Siberia-2 natural gas pipeline, proposing instead that Moscow fully cover the multibillion-dollar project. China also insists on substantial discounts for Russian gas, demonstrating strong “bargaining power” in negotiations with the Kremlin (South China Morning Post, November 24).
Power of Siberia-2 is pivotal for Russia in mitigating the losses incurred after Gazprom’s withdrawal from the European market. As Western sanctions have weakened Moscow’s geopolitical leverage with its energy resources, Beijing has capitalized on the situation to increase energy flows to China at cheaper prices.
Most economists argue that Moscow cannot fully compensate for the losses resulting from limited access to European markets. They also point out that the gas supplies currently flowing through the Power of Siberia-1 pipeline are already being sold to China at almost half the price of rates for the European Union and Turkey
WEIMAR AMERICA
Something eerie, something creepy, is happening in the world—and now in America as well. The dark mood is brought on by elite universities, the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion industry, and massive immigration from illiberal nations and anti-Enlightenment societies.
At Hillcrest High School in Queens, New York, hundreds of students rioted on news that a single teacher in her private social media account had expressed support for Israel.
Waving Palestinian flags, and screaming violent threats, the student mob rioted, destroyed school property, sought the teacher out and tried to crash into her classroom—before she was saved from violence by other teachers and an eventual police arrival.
Hundreds of such incidents are now occurring on a daily basis—as the country is leaving its Weimar phase and heading at warp speed into normalizing Jew-hatred and worse. What explains the collective madness?
UKRAINE AID’S BEST-KEPT SECRET
Here is the best-kept secret about U.S. military aid to Ukraine: Most of the money is being spent here in the United States.
That’s right: Funds that lawmakers approve to arm Ukraine are not going directly to Ukraine but are being used stateside to build new weapons or to replace weapons sent to Kyiv from U.S. stockpiles.
Of the $68 billion in military and related assistance Congress has approved since Russia invaded Ukraine, almost 90 percent is going to Americans, one analysis found.
At a time when both major parties are competing to win working-class votes and strengthen the U.S. manufacturing base, our military aid to Ukraine does exactly that — it is providing a major cash infusion into factories across the country that directly benefits American workers.
SKYE’S LINKS 11/30/23
Will Conor McGregor be the next Prime Minister (“Taoiseach”) of Ireland? He may be the man to save the Irish from themselves, who elected a woke girlieman to apologize for their country’s existence. McGregor rightly called Leo Varadkar a “disgrace” for describing the return of 9-year old Emily Hand to her Israeli parents from being held hostage by Hamas terrorists as her being “lost” then “found”:
Conor Mcgregor Torches Ireland's PM Over Response To Hamas Release Of Child Hostage
In fascist response, Varadkar ordered a witch hunt to persecute McGregor!
There’s so much cool stuff in this week’s links – jump right in and enjoy!
I WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
With less than one year to go until Election Day, the polls show that we are beating Joe Biden by wide margins both nationally and in the battleground states—and young people are a major part of the reason why.
A recent NBC News poll found that we are leading Biden 46 percent to 42 percent nationally among voters ages 18 to 34—a clear sign that young Americans are rejecting Joe Biden's reign of failure, incompetence, and corruption.
Sadly, many younger Americans are putting their lives on hold because they think the Biden economy leaves them no choice. Sadly, many younger Americans are putting their lives on hold because they think the Biden economy leaves them no choice.
Under Joe Biden, we are a nation in decline and rapidly losing the American Dream.
When I take the oath of office as the 47th President of the United States, I will rapidly rebuild the greatest economy in the history of the world so that young people can thrive and prosper. Here’s how.
WHY UKRAINE CAN AND WILL WIN
All too often, one hears claims that, in the long run, Russia will win over Ukraine because it has a much larger economy and population. Historically, that is a flawed conclusion. Historical precedence suggests that Ukraine is more likely to win, so let’s take a look at the reasons why.
Motivation
This is the most important factor in a war. Ukrainians know why they are fighting. They are defending their nation's existence. If they stop fighting, Ukraine will cease to exist as an independent state.
Russians, by contrast, don't really know why they are fighting. Most seem to fight for fear of being killed by their own, while their families are supposed to be richly paid if they die.
Other reasons are…