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OCTOBER 3,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

A WARNING – FROM COLLEGE FIX:   A professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Pittsburgh who came to America 30 years ago as a refugee from the Soviet Union is sounding the alarm on the growing anti-racism movement in the U.S., saying it’s basically a rehashing of Marxism and socialism.  Professor Michael Vanyukov, a professor of pharmaceutical sciences, psychiatry and human genetics at the University of Pittsburgh, warns that essentially race has taken the place of class warfare in the narrative.  “Like the Soviet communists, who used class-based hate and rhetoric to control the ‘masses’ and build the society of ideological slaves, the ‘Diversity’ departments use race. In a way, that is worse, because one can change one’s class, but race is forever,” Vanyukov told The College Fix in an email.  Vanyukov recently took a stand against the University of Pittsburgh’s Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion’s push for anti-racism on campus and its reliance on Ibram X. Kendi’s work.  “[Kendi’s] demagoguery is no different than what the Soviet propaganda taught about the West and capitalism,” Vanyukov wrote in a letter to the editor in UPitt’s University Times.  He is right, of course, but he will get in trouble.  The American left has become frightening in its willingness to sacrifice freedom for ideology, and in its intolerance of others.  Vanyukov has a target on his back.  I wonder what Pitt will do with him.

October 3, 2021       Permalink

TAIWAN CONTINUED – OVERNIGHT:  I said that we'd follow the Taiwan situation closely.  It is tense, it is dangerous, and a potential disaster for the United States.  From NEWSMAX: 

Taiwan's foreign minister is warning of war with China and is asking Australia for aid with intelligence, Australian Broadcasting reports.

The news comes after the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China flew dozens of sorties into Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) beginning on Friday.

On ABC's "China Tonight," Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said that if the PLA launches an actual strike, Taiwan is ready to repel it.

"The defense of Taiwan is in our own hands, and we are absolutely committed to that," Wu said.
The statement comes after Taiwan sharply criticized China on Saturday after Beijing marked the founding of the People's Republic of China with the largest ever incursion by the Chinese air force into the island's air defense zone.

Taiwan, a democratically governed island that is claimed by China, has complained for more than a year of repeated missions near it by China's air force, often in the southwestern part of its air defense zone close to the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands.

Taiwanese fighters scrambled against 38 Chinese aircraft in two waves on Friday, the Taiwan Defence Ministry said. It said Taiwan sent combat aircraft to warn away the Chinese aircraft, while missile systems were deployed to monitor them.

"China has been wantonly engaged in military aggression, damaging regional peace," Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang told reporters on Saturday morning.

The first wave of incursions comprised 18 J-16 and four Su-30 fighter jets plus two nuclear-capable H-6 bombers and an anti-submarine aircraft, while the second had 10 J-16s, 2 H-6s and an early warning aircraft, the ministry said.

The first batch of Chinese aircraft all flew in an area close to the Pratas Islands, with the two bombers flying closest to the atoll, according to a map issued by the ministry.

The second group flew down into the Bashi Channel that separates Taiwan from the Philippines, a key waterway that links the Pacific with the disputed South China Sea.

And then there's this, a reaction from the United States to China's antics.  But does it have teeth?  From The Hill: 

The State Department said on Sunday that the U.S. is "very concerned" about China's "provocative military activity near Taiwan" following Beijing's most recent show of air power near the self-governing island.

"The United States is very concerned by the People’s Republic of China’s provocative military activity near Taiwan, which is destabilizing, risks miscalculations, and undermines regional peace and stability. We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic, and economic pressure and coercion against Taiwan," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.

On Friday, China flew 38 military aircraft into Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone, believed to be Beijing's largest military provocation seen yet.

On Saturday, it sent 30 warplanes toward Taiwan.

COMMENT:  Does anyone take the United States seriously, after the Afghan debacle?  What would we actually do in the face of Chinese escalation over Taiwan?   Denounce?  Sanction?  Refuse to order takeout?

And will the Democratic Party actually support strong action against a country that is admired, not scorned, by its left wing?

October 3, 2021       Permalink

OCTOBER 2,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

THE FADING OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS – FROM AMERICAN THINKER:   Homeschooling numbers have increased over 300% in the last two years, according to federal government Census data. This spike does not include Americans engaged in virtual learning through a public or private school program due to COVID protocols. These are full-time homeschoolers.  The United States Census Bureau has been tasked with collecting data through nationwide surveys for over 80 years. The data are intended for use by other government agencies and elected officials for policy decisions. This is the first time the Census Bureau has sought to identify the total number of homeschoolers in America. Previous surveys only marked children who were un-enrolled in public or private school. That rate usually hovered around 3.3% and was as high as 5.4% in 2019.  Homeschool families have been traditionally seen as a small minority and have been largely ignored by elected representatives. In 2020, due to the COVID school closures, Census questions were modified to specifically identify the number of homeschoolers, and the results were shocking for many. In October 2020, 11.1% of 22–23 million U.S. households reported being full-time homeschoolers, without any enrollment in a public or private school. Besides Alaska, who reported 27.5% of households dedicated to full-time homeschool, Oklahoma led all states at 20.1%. Other notable states included Florida at 18.1%, Vermont at 16.9%, Georgia at 16.0%, and Tennessee and Arizona at 13.0%.  There was little surprise at the exodus from public and private schools due to COVID mask mandates and health concerns in 2020. What has been surprising is that many of these students did not re-enroll for the 2021–2022 school year. No doubt the push for Critical Race Theory, and the loss of confidence in the traditional institutions' ability to teach children via virtual technology, played a significant role in a shift toward full-time homeschooling.  Read the whole story.  This is a growing revolution, and has the potential to change the face of American education.   As the number of homeschoolers grows, political leaders must pay attention.  After all, homeschooling parents are voters.   I suspect that the next big move will be proposals to provide subsidies to homeschoolers equal to the amount they pay into the public school system through taxes.  I also have no doubt that homeschooling families will have their own social networks, and will provide a social life for homeschooled kids in their area.  But look also for the counterattack by teachers' unions, and attempts to have homeschooling banned. 

October 2, 2021       Permalink

AND IN THE REAL WORLD – OVERNIGHT:  We have warned repeatedly at Urgent Agenda that, in this period of American weakness, the government of China might well make a major move to take Taiwan.  Such an action would be a direct military challenge to the United States.  Every nation in Asia that we hope to keep as an ally would be watching with all available eyes. 

China is already probing.  From Fox: 

The Chinese air force has sent more aircraft into Taiwan’s air defense zone, Taiwan’s military said on Saturday, one day after the largest incursion ever into the zone.

China sent 20 aircraft, followed by a second wave hours later, toward Taiwan. It means that nearly 80 planes, including fighter jets and bombers, have now moved toward the democratically-run country in the last two days.

Beijing views Taiwan as a breakaway province and claims that it is part of its own territory. The two countries split in 1949 and China has been increasing pressure on the self-ruled nation, while opposing its involvement in international organizations such as at the United Nations.

The regime has been sending aircraft toward Taiwan on a near-daily basis in recent years, but this has ramped up dramatically in recent days.

The new incursions come a day after the communist behemoth marked the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 by sending two waves of aircraft toward Taiwan.

"China has been wantonly engaged in military aggression, damaging regional peace," Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang said on Saturday, according to Reuters.

The Chinese jets never violated Taiwan’s territory, but the Taiwan military did scramble fighter jets in response to the aggression. Taiwan also tracked the Chinese aircraft on its air defense systems, the island’s Defense Ministry said in a statement.

China had flown 24 jets toward Taiwan last week after it announced it would seek membership in a Pacific trade group that China is also applying to join. 

COMMENT:  I wonder what the Biden administration will say, and do, in response to these serious provocations.   My guess is that it will do nothing.  And there will be more Chinese actions, and possibly an outright invasion.  This is chilling stuff, and may make Afghanistan look like a minor scuffle.

October 2,  2021     Permalink