Antifa

This is just a sample of what "Antifa" has done:

https://mynorthwest.com/3940877/rantz-inside-look-seattle-antifa-antisemites-starbucks/

"Several dozen activists surrounded the Starbucks Roastery. Many of them were dressed in black bloc, a style of clothing intended to hide personally identifiable characteristics so that police have trouble making arrests. It’s a hallmark of Antifa action.

The video shows one masked activist tagging the building with the phrase “Free Palestine” in spray paint. They also spray-painted the Palestinian flag, anarchist symbols and messages like 

“Never Again,” “Free Gaza,” “River to Ses,” “You are genocide supporters” and “Land Back.” "

That's quite a list of agendas.

As to the people who perpetrated this action, the article describes a person arrested as follows:

"On a TikTik account (@_thesphinx_) that appears to belong to the 25-year-old suspect, Youssef described himself as a transgender, polyamorous, pansexual, anti-capitalist, autistic Egyptian who is an “honorary member of Trantifa” (a name for transgender Antifa members)."

Immigration

Let us consider a fact, the position of the ADL on immigration:

https://www.adl.org/what-we-do/protect-civil-rights/immigration

"ADL fights tirelessly for immigrants and refugees seeking safety and a better life in the U.S. Through legislative advocacy, amicus briefs, and public awareness efforts, we have promoted just and humane immigration and refugee protection policies throughout the decades."

So the ADL has been an advocate for immigration into America.

Does the ADL represent all Jews?

No, of course not.

But I would venture to suggest that if you are looking for an organization that represents the mainstream of the Jewish community, an organization that sometimes fractious Jews can most agree on, 

it is the ADL.

What we (the U.S.) need to do in Syria

What prompted this post was

"A split emerges as Biden struggles to deter attacks on U.S. troops"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/11/19/iranian-proxy-attacks-us-troops/

That article contains a map showing numerous bases of U.S. forces in Syria.

Now, my question is (pardon my French) "What the fuck is the U.S. military doing in Syria?".

Syria has absolutely nothing to do with U.S. security, or the U.S. national interest.

Why should we put our troops in harms way there, subject to attack?

I can see absolutely no reason for that from the point of view of the U.S.

So the answer to the question in the subject line is:

"Get the hell out."

For another report on this conflict, see

https://www.stripes.com/theaters/middle_east/2023-11-19/us-responding-attacks-military-militias-12100017.html

Why Garrett M. Graff is wrong, and stupid

I want to compare and contrast two public statements, by two public figures, 

Garrett M. Graff and Christopher Karl Mellon.

First, from Graff, in

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/11/16/us-government-ufos-military-00127376

Graff wrote

<blockquote>the project needs to be removed from the realm of the military and intelligence...</blockquote>

referring to government investigation of UFOs, or UAP.

That clearly brings up the issue of what should be, and needs to be, classified.

Now, consider what Christopher Mellon said, publicly, during an interview

https://youtu.be/aUUOracxDQY?t=12m25s

<blockquote>CUOMO: What is your baseline understanding of 

WHY the level of disclosure to the American public about anything related to UFOs or UAP or whatever you want to call them 

is zero?

...

https://youtu.be/aUUOracxDQY?t=13m30s

MELLON: Someone in the bureaucracy created what they call a "classification guide" 

that took the extreme position that anything to do with UAP 

shold automatically be classified...

...

----

https://youtu.be/aUUOracxDQY?t=18m05s

[F]ormer DNI Ratcliffe mentioned that we have satellite imagery of UAP.

He didn't describe it, he didn't go further in that description.

I think if that information were released or characterized it would go a considerable way towards helping the public and scientific community better understand what we're dealing with.

I'm aware of some of this information.

The problem is that many of these same sensors are used to support warfighting

and there is legitimate concern about compromising anything that gives our people an edge in combat.

Some of these sensors, the public and our adversaries don't even know exist.

Some of the most useful sensors in some cases are that highly classified and secret.

There are other cases like satellite imagery 

where the issue is trying to disguise the degree of resolution that we can get, and that sort of thing to make it harder for adversaries to plan around it.

Sometimes they don't draw the line in the right place, even some DoD officials have acknowledged to me.

...

But we do run into a legitimate problem in many cases with trying to share the information without compromising the capability.

---------

https://youtu.be/aUUOracxDQY?t=30m30s

[T]here absolutely is information the government has not shared 

and there's information they haven't even shared with Congress, 

classified information 

and that gets a bit arcane and complex.</blockquote>

So, according to Mellon, some of the sources being used to collect information about UFOs 

must be shrouded in secrecy, for national security reasons.

Who can argue with that?

My opinion:

To really investigate UAP, we Americans need to use America's very best sensors.

And, surprise, surprise, those best sensors are very classified, as to both their capabilities and, according to Christopher Mellon, in some cases their very existence.

Was that too hard for Graff to understand?

Or put in his article?

Utterly fucked up

https://www.arlnow.com/2023/11/13/new-docs-show-aps-had-no-formal-contract-with-kaiser-which-admits-it-dropped-the-ball/

See, for example, 

"The most recent revelation is that APS says it has no record of a formal contract with Kaiser Permanente, with whom it instead had yearly extension agreements.

[Huh?

Extensions of what?]

The healthcare provider, however, says it was under the impression it had a continuously operating contract since 1986"

And on and on, with utter confusion.

-------

For an interesting comparison, see

https://www.arlnow.com/2023/01/09/natl-audit-group-says-former-arlington-schools-auditor-was-asked-to-sign-a-bad-contract/

What on earth is the U.S. doing in Syria?

What is the reason?

There is no good one.

The U.S. military forces there just become targets.

The U.S. should not involve the U.S. with internal disputes in Syria.

For some background, see

https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/washingtons-continuing-shame-in-syria/

For the negative effect of our having military forces in Syria (and Iraq), the following makes a good argument::

https://sonar21.com/u-s-inching-towards-world-war-iii-while-biden-administration-hides-u-s-casualties/