Stopping China’s Spy Balloon

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called “Stopping China’s Spy Balloon.”

Unfortunately, the longer we gazed up at the sky, procrastinated, and let this Chinese surveillance craft collect and send important information to China, the worse it was for our global reputation, vital national security, deterrence for future military engagement, and priceless sovereignty and freedom. That balloon should have been found, shot down, and caught in real time off the Alaskan coast, not days later after traversing our country and so near our capital. This has been a national embarrassment and has presumably damaged vital global security interests.

(https://static.timesofisrael.com/blogs/uploads/2023/02/Balloon.jpeg)

Chocolate Tiger Sugar

Wow, that was a treat!

Tiger Sugar: brown sugar boba bubble tea with fresh cream and streaked with syrup.

This one was the chocolate malt version. 

You can see the bobas floating at the bottom.  

Watch out Starbucks, Tiger Sugar is gonna eat your lunch!  😉

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Putin Is A Mega Thief

Great explanation in the Wall Street Journal today for why Putin is focused in grabbing the east and south of Ukraine.

That’s where Ukraine’s energy reserves are!

To the tune of:

– $1 trillion of natural gas

– $400 billion of oil and condensate

– The worlds 6th-largest reserve of coal

And don’t forget the strategic ports of both the Black Sea and Sea of Azov.

Russia will control the energy supply chain for decades to come! 

The West’s nonsense sanctions against Putin don’t even make a dent compared to what Putin is getting out of this deal! 

Lesson from Putin is you can get away with massive theft and murder, and no one in this lawless world will stop you. 

What do you think China is going to do with Taiwan next?

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Our Deterrence Is Lost

As Russia bombs and invades Ukraine.

The U.S. is sitting on its hands. 

NATO is in total disarray. 

The United Nations is a joke!

As Russia looks mighty, we look ever so weak!

Total body blow to world democracy and human rights.

Russia is free to murder, take what it desires, do whatever it wants.

And China is gearing up for Taiwan next.  😉

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

People of Ukraine

It hit me today—with all the news about Russia preparing to invade Ukraine and devastate its people, unprovoked, there is nobody talking about the people of Ukraine. 

Our leaders and news media are so misguided and focused on the geopolitics of the thing, all they talk about is what the U.S. and EU will do in terms of some measly sanctions.

But they have completely forgotten the innocent people there—44 million of them—who face death and occupation. 

Where is our leadership????

Where are the speeches about the innocent people?  About freedom?  About democracy?  About human rights?  

Where is the United Nations????

They are supposed to safeguard and maintain peace and security around the globe.

Where are the outspoken liberals who call out occupation, apartheid, and human rights abuses????

Not a word from anyone. 

It’s incredible how prejudiced, biased, discriminatory and corrupt all these people can be. They can be brainwashed, bribed, and bought to speak out for those when it will somehow fit their agenda or benefit them!

But when the Russian or Chinese powerful aggressors are at the doorstep of Ukraine or Hong Kong/Taiwan—where is anybody to speak out?

Last night, I imagined the people of Ukraine sitting in fear, in worry about what will happen to them, their families, their homes. 

Do the world leaders care anything about the lives of real people—men, women, and children—or only about how any conflict makes them look, and how they are polling, and the next election?

Morality and conscience–is it on life support or dead in this narcissist world of the powerful and elite. 😉

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

U.S. Misses The Boat on Hypersonic Missiles

It’s great to be able to fight the old conventional ways. 

But the U.S. spends more than the next top 11 countries combined on defense. 

Yet, we have failed miserably at the next BIG thing in defense: hypersonic weapons!

Both China and Russia have hypersonic weapons ready to use on us.

China even claims they can use they can use their hypersonic missiles with heat seeking technology to destroy our most advanced fighter aircraft the F-35 and F-22.    

Yet as recently as November, the 3rd of the U.S. Air Force’s hypersonic missile tests failed!  

Now at best, the U.S. Navy is hoping to be able to perhaps deploy hypersonic weapons by 2025-2028.

In the meantime, the U.S. is vulnerable to its adversaries at a time when Russia and China are rearing their militaries for confrontations in Ukraine and Taiwan, respectively.

And that could be only the beginning, if we don’t get our military R&D together and fast. 

How could this happen with all the money we spend on defense?

Eyes wide shut like Pearl Harbor and 9/11 all over again!  😉

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Disastrous Politics

This Afghan withdrawal and the Taliban overrunning the country is a complete fiasco. 

– 20 years of blood and treasure: $2,000,000,000,000, and 2,500 lost US military personal and G-d knows how many casualties (oh, about another 20,000)!

Now complete and utter chaos, and a turnover to terrorism.

Reminiscent of Iran’s overthrow of the Shah and the U.S. hostage crisis for 444 days and when we lost Vietnam and the helicopters frantically evacuating US embassy personnel from the rooftop. 

BTW, what happened to our “Red Lines” on chemical weapons in Syria?

Where are our inherent values and the dependability of who we are and what we stand for?

Now we are once again emboldening Iran, North Korea, China, and Russia. 

Moreover, US Admiral says China is within 6 years of potentially taking Taiwan (guess where most of the computer chips are made and we already have a shortage)!!!

On top of this we have the Delta variant of Covid (and fears of worse coming) for this 1.5 year long pandemic with the CDC mask on again/off again non-sensical guidance. 

Then we have a $1,200,000,000,000 infrastructure bill and a $3,500,000,000,000 social welfare bill in the works to put on top of the US already almost $29,000,000,0000,000 national debt

Any ideas what that will do to the value of the US currency in the world and inflation rearing its ugly head.

I am starting to see a run on food and home stables in the stores again with items sold out.

Consumer confidence is shaking and the stock market is teetering off at a very high precipice. 

Oh, don’t forget the border crisis which is getting out of control again. 

What the F*** is going on here?  😉

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)