More Shenanigans
Once again Blogger has been moving comments from regulars to the Spam folder. Eric Hines alerted me to the matter, and I found that a number of valued regulars had commented but had them vanish. We seem to have rounds of this irregularly, for reasons that Alphabet leaves opaque but would probably blame on AI if there were any way to ask them.
If this happens to you, please let me know. I can restore them, and have, if they’ve been sent to Spam.
A Happier Story
Separated from her family and lost since Hurricane Helene, local cat Gabby was reunited with her family thanks to a microchip.
Georgia 2020
I told you it was stolen way back when (as did Rasmussen, and 2022 didn't look clean either). At least the documentation is finally following; it would be nice if people came to realize how crooked this system really is.
So FDR in '44 I buy. It's a plausible result. 2020 was plainly stolen.
Massive scandal:Fulton County admits they "violated" the rules in 2020 when they certified ≈315K early votes that lacked poll workers' signatures"We don't dispute the allegation."
Here's the map:
Fulton County reported at 72% for Biden; even more in neighboring Dekalb County. Wikipedia notes that this was the first time that anyone had broken 70% in Fulton County since FDR did it 1944, at the height of the war when Georgia was part of the "Solid South." Here's what that map looked like, when FDR did it, for comparison.
Acts of War and War Crimes
The field that likes to call itself "international law" has rules that are functionally guidelines ignored by the powerful. It has rules even if it lacks any power to enforce them on anyone. This makes them a laughingstock, but they seem devoted to the project even if it never goes anywhere. (One might think of the devotees of Esperanto as a world language on similar terms.)
We're getting a chance to observe this right now as the Trump administration commits acts of war against Venezuela. These are not necessarily crimes in any sense, even the 'international law' sense: nations are permitted to conduct wars against each other. A blockade of Venezuela is by definition an act of war; it isn't obviously a crime.
However, blockades can become crimes -- either war crimes or crimes against humanity -- if they meet certain criteria. Although otherwise legal, there are limits in the rules as to how the nations are allowed to fight.
Meanwhile, the imposition of the blockade by the United States in order to extract control of Venezuela's oil fields -- which the President outright says is his intention -- may be an act of aggression. Aggression is a crime, indeed in some sense it is the crime, under the international laws of war. The only argument against this being US aggression is that Venezuela decades ago nationalized oil fields that US companies had developed, which the President describes as theft (as, indeed, it was; but nations are permitted to steal, too, at least things in their own territories). So far none of these companies are agreeing to take back their old facilities even if the President can extract them by blockade or other force. What happens if you conquer an oil field and nobody will operate it?
An aside: Venezuela asked for a UN Security Council emergency meeting to discuss the charge of US aggression, which led to a rather laughable display by the Chinese Communist government, backing Venezuela's play:
“China supports Venezuela’s request to convene an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a news conference in Beijing.Guo said China “opposes all forms of unilateral bullying and supports countries in safeguarding their sovereignty and national dignity,” according to the Beijing-based daily Global Times.
Yes, famously; tell it to the Philippines, to say nothing of Taiwan. Tibet and the Uighur have their national aspirations suppressed genocidally, but sure. Still, just because the Chinese government are hypocrites doesn't mean they're not right that the US is engaging in the war crime of aggression here: very likely the administration is committing that crime before our eyes.
To return to the discussion: Blowing up Venezuelan-based cartel smugglers is not necessarily an act of war, since it's aimed at stateless actors not clearly aligned with any government. There is some discussion of whether it is nevertheless a war crime. It might seem strange that an act of non-war could be a war crime, and there's only a narrow path to finding it so, but that's where you end up with 'international law.'
It seems very likely to me that the Trump administration is committing the war crime of aggression by blockading Venezuela; it is certainly already committing acts of war against Venezuela, which means that even absent a declaration we are already at war with Venezuela. That doesn't matter legally, since the United States is a permanent member of the Security Council and will certainly veto any attempt to hold it responsible for doing so.
It merits notice, at least. We should at least speak the truth. These laws aren't really laws, and they're not enforceable, and the institutions that claim the power to enforce them are jokes at best; the diplomacy around it is hypocritical to the point of being ridiculous. Nevertheless, it does look as if the US is committing an act of war that is a war crime against a nation that has not in fact attacked us in any way that would violate the rules.
Custody agreement done
In my neighbor's custody case, mom, dad, and grandma have all signed an agreed order giving custody to grandma and arranging for the minimal child support that is all the unemployed mom and dad can afford. Dad's auxiliary disability benefits for his daughter have been duly transferred to grandma. Dad continues to show signs of good faith in reconciling with his alarmed daughter, and she's very willing to try, as well, as long as he's not threatening to remove her from grandma's home. I can't say enough good things about grandma's family lawyer, who was worth every penny.The granddaughter turned 14 a few weeks ago. In four years, she'll be past even the threat of this kind of thing.
Two Articles on Military Change
Reportedly the US military is about to make a major adjustment to the Combatant Command structure, one that aligns with the Trump administration's view of foreign policy.
If adopted, the plan would usher in some of the most significant changes at the military’s highest ranks in decades, in part following through on Hegseth’s promise to break the status quo and slash the number of four-star generals in the military. It would reduce in prominence the headquarters of U.S. Central Command, U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command by placing them under the control of a new organization known as U.S. International Command, according to five people familiar with the matter....The plan also calls for realigning U.S. Southern Command and U.S. Northern Command, which oversee military operations throughout the Western Hemisphere, under a new headquarters to be known as U.S. Americas Command, or Americom, people familiar with the matter said... Combined, the moves would reduce the number of top military headquarters — known as combatant commands — from 11 to eight while cutting the number of four-star generals and admirals who report directly to Hegseth. Other remaining combatant commands would be U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, U.S. Cyber Command, U.S. Special Operations Command, U.S. Space Command, U.S. Strategic Command and U.S. Transportation Command.
USEUCOM and USAFRICOM used to be one command, and are both still co-located in Stuttgart, Germany. AFRICOM remains small, and won't be a particular problem to re-integrate.
That's not true for USCENTCOM. I used to work at Central Command years ago. It is a huge headquarters, really a whole compound of various buildings and trailers on MacDill AFB near Tampa. They also have a forward deployed headquarters at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. Trying to integrate that monster into an even larger command with massive responsibilities is going to be a fun exercise.
I wonder if this is the latest version of the 'pivot to Asia' we've been hearing about since the Obama terms, which the military has found difficult to actualize. I notice that USINDOPACOM is not on the chopping block; if the idea is to radically shrink our commitments in the Middle East and Europe, we could focus on the Western hemisphere and on keeping China hemmed in behind the first island chain.
Separately, another article that came to my attention was a significant re-thinking of information warfare by the US Army. It was published in Small Wars Journal. Very long-time readers will remember that I wrote for SWJ in 2007, as an embedded correspondent with Special Operations forces conducting combat operations against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Abu Sayyaf. Since then SWJ joined the Foundation for Defense of Democracies for a long stint, but now is no longer there: they've moved out to Arizona State University since the death of their founder, Dave Dillege (another name that long-timer readers will recognize). It's good to see the US Army is using them to release major publications; clearly the move out of the Swamp hasn't hurt their influence in the community.
The problem they're talking about is one I wrote about extensively during the Security Studies Group era; it's a problem that is bigger than the Army, too. If this latest reshuffle solves every problem the Army has (which is likely won't, though it may improve things), the USG will still have significant issues coordinating its information warfare efforts. If you want a brief introduction to the problem, this panel on Russian disinformation efforts opens with a short talk on that topic.
No Whining
Here is a poem that occurred to me this morning as I awoke from a dream. I don't recall the dream, as I usually do not, but I assume someone was annoying me with whining in it given the content of the verse I woke up with today.
I’m tired of whiny people
No matter how many there be;
It doesn’t matter if one or two
A half a dozen or quite a slew;
It doesn’t matter if there’s only three
Their whining does not interest me.
The Pardoner's Tale
Technically, we all received a Federal pardon today.
I never expected to receive a Presidential pardon, but I once knew a man who had received one. Dewey Clarridge was quite proud of his. He kept it framed on the wall of his house all the days of his life.
Australia
Not a great start to Hannukah, but the hero who wrestled a gun out of the hands of the killers was also a Muslim. Islam is a false religion, and Muhammad is no prophet but a liar; but all the same, good men are sometimes Muslims. It happens fairly often, as good men occur everywhere that there are men.
UPDATE: Of course. It's the only way the ratchet is allowed to turn. Strip the people of power, make them weak and submissive before the State, and refuse to acknowledge the truth.
UPDATE: There were in fact four men (3 men and one heroic woman, as Tom points out in the comments) who attempted what only one succeeded in doing. Three died in the attempt. Such gallantry should never be forgotten.
A Healthy Pizza
There's really no reason pizza shouldn't be healthy to eat, according to this article from the Cambridge University Press.
This is empirical science following from a reasoned theory: the stuff is just bread, tomato sauce, cheese and some toppings that could include vitamins and dietary fiber. If we made it nutritionally-balanced instead of salt- and fat-heavy, in principle it would be perfectly fine to eat as a stand-alone meal. So, let's try it and see if people like it. Empirically, people did.
The reformulated pizza is only slightly different in appearance and virtually identical in taste to the original pizza recipe, and is still prepared using traditional Italian baking methods....The pizza was rated very highly for both appearance and taste by both children and adult tasters... Among the children, 46 % rated the pizza as good as their usual one and 35 % rated it better (i.e. 81 % at least as good as), moreover 41 % would eat the pizza instead of their usual one. Most adults (57 %) rated the pizza as good as their usual one, with 20 % better (i.e. 77 % found it at least as good as their usual pizza); 69 % of the adults would buy it instead of their usual one. Most would be willing to pay an extra 50 pence for a nutritionally balanced pizza....
Our study therefore shows that, perhaps contrary to popular opinion, it is perfectly possible to have an attractive, nutritionally balanced meal as a single-item pizza meal.
"An extra 50 pence" is, if I understand correctly, about sixty-seven cents.
A Thirteen Year Old Man
This is almost two weeks ago now, but in Afghanistan a young man was granted the opportunity to execute his family's killer.
This is framed carefully by the British newspaper as a horrifying specter of abuse.
In a disturbing return to the dark days of the Taliban's first rule, tens of thousands of Afghan spectators flocked to a sports stadium to witness a 13-year-old boy carry out a public execution.... The incident brings to 12 the number of men publicly put to death since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, in the wake of the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces.The alarming spike in public executions comes as Western travel influencers post glowing videos on Instagram about their adventures in Afghanistan, even as the UN warns of a rapid human rights deterioration.The 13-year-old boy shot his family's killer three times in front of 80,000 Afghan sports stadium spectators, after his relatives refused the Taliban's offer to pardon the convicted criminal.
The same story provides details that suggest another interpretation.
The country's supreme court said the victim, identified as Mangal, was guilty of having slaughtered 13 members of the teenager's family, including several children and three women....The executions are carried out as part of the Taliban’s implementation of 'Qisas', which translates as 'retaliation in kind' – effectively an eye for an eye.... The execution was ordered after a death sentence was passed down by a court, an appeals court and the top court itself, and approved by Afghanistan's supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada.The man had been convicted along with others of entering a family home in Khost province and shooting to death an extended family in January 2025.He had been sentenced to 'retaliatory punishment' for murder after his case was 'examined very precisely and repeatedly', the court said.'The families of the victims were offered amnesty and peace, but they refused,' it added.
That's actually quite a lot of due process, with the additional step of allowing the victimized family to forgo vengeance and reconcile instead if it wished. No American court would allow the family to waive the state's judgment. Neither would they allow the family to be the ones to avenge their dead. The cult of the state is too strong for either of those things in all of the West.
One may doubt the quality of the Taliban's courts -- or ours, frankly -- and one may reasonably abhor Sharia law. Nevertheless, the 'eye for an eye' concept is far more ancient than Islam, and this system preserves the centrality of the family in a way that ours does not. One might also add that the Taliban won their sovereignty the hard way, against the USSR and then our own military might. They have the right to do things according to their own ideas: they won that right the same way we won ours.
I doubt that young man will grow up into a man I could be friends with; our ideals and ways of life are too different for true friendship. I can respect, however, the kind of man he is even at his young age.
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