Briefly Noted: Various

Discontinuous bits—or are they?

Among the allegations made to justify the claim that Putin is a “dictator” and all around Bad Guy is the claim that he has conducted assassinations of Russians living in the West. The most recent one—I believe—is the attack on a former MI6 spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter, Yulia. Skripal was imprisoned in Russia for his spying in 2006, but was released in a prisoner swap in 2010. Five years ago, in 2018, he and his daughter were poisoned in the UK, allegedly with Novichok, which is an extremely deadly nerve agent. The Skripals survived, but are essentially in hiding—or in custody, if you prefer. The UK immediately accused Russia and Putin for the attack, but on closer examination many have come to suspect that this was, in fact, a deliberately designed MI6 provocation designed to whip up anti-Russian hysteria. Zerohedge has republished a summary of what is now known:

The Skripal Case 5 Years On: BS Then, BS Now

Authored by Kit Knightly via Off-Guardian.org,

I offer this for informational purposes. Obviously, if the claims against Putin in this case are false, the implications regarding the nature of governance in the West are extremely grave.

Tulsi Gabbard has some very grave concerns about our rulers here in the West, here in America, land of the Woke:

Tulsi Gabbard: Democrats Are The Party Of Division, Authoritarianism, & War

Authored by Liam Cosgrove via The Epoch Times,

There’s a 20 minute video at the link. Among other things that Gabbard has to say:

She accused Biden of “fanning the flames of divisiveness.”

“They reduce each of us to the color of our skin,” Gabbard said in her speech, saying the Democrats “have become the racists they claim to hate.”

Gabbard, now a registered independent, denounced her former political party for its reckless armament of Ukraine and warned that the policy of providing lethal aid is bringing the United States to the “brink of nuclear war.”

“They’ve sent now over $100 billion to fuel this proxy war,” she said.

…

On the topic of gender, Gabbard called out progressives for rejecting “the fact that there is such a thing as a woman.”

“All the ladies can attest here that we are in fact real,” she said, adding that Democrats are confusing fiction with reality.

“Truth becomes whatever those in power say it is at any given time.”

Quite a bit more at the link. At the least, Gabbard is performing a great public service in continuing to raise these issues with the public.

On the Forever War front:

Top US General Makes Rare Visit To Syria, Reaffirms Occupation

The Syrian government was, naturally, outraged at the appearance of Milley on Syria without a by your leave from the Syrian government. The Syrian government condemned Milley’s “illegal visit to an illegal US military base” and further maintained that ISIS is, in fact, the “illegitimate offspring of US intelligence.” A widely accepted view that is held by, among others, Gen. Michael Flynn.

Milley claimed that the continued US military presence in Syria—against the will of the Syrian government—is intended to “support our friends and allies in the region.” The number of US friends and allies in the region, as counted by legitimate governments, appears to get smaller every day. Even Turkey, a major NATO ally and neighbor to Syria, wants the US gone.

M. K. Bhadrakumar weighs in on this issue, as well:

US occupation of Syria will continue

MKB explains some of the background to the trip:

According to eyewitness accounts, as recently as last week, on 27 February, US troops transported at least 34 tankers filled with stolen Syrian oil through the illegal Al-Mahmoudiya border crossing to their bases in Iraq. In the estimation of the Syrian foreign ministry, the cumulative losses incurred by the country’s oil and gas sector on account of theft and other US actions were to the tune of $107 billion as of August last year. 

For a country the size of Syria, devastated by the collective West’s assault, $107 billion is a lot of money. Milley, of course, also claimed that he was there to assess the threat posed by ISIS:

Now, that is a stretch for two reasons — one, there are only around 900 US troops all in all in Syria and Milley doesn’t have to undertake such routine mission; two, there is actually no history of the Islamic State [ISIS] having ever attacked the US forces in Syria. 

On the contrary, the folklore among regional states is that the US mentors the Islamic State, gives training to the cadres of the shadowy militant group at the remote American base at Al-Tanf on the Syrian-Iraqi border, and even provides logistical support to the group’s operations in Syria’s desert region. 

... 

One plausible explanation will be that Milley came on White House instructions against the backdrop of a legislation to end the US involvement in Syria that will be up for a vote in the US Congress this week. US Congressman Matt Gaetz who last month introduced a  War Powers Resolution to direct President Joe Biden to remove the US Armed Forces from Syria has frontally attacked Milley’s visit. 

Gaetz said in a statement on Friday, “If General Milley wants this war so bad, he should explain what we are fighting for and why it is worth American treasure and blood. An America First foreign policy demands realism, rational thought, and seriousness.”

He pointed out that “Syria is a quagmire of a tinderbox. America has no discernible interest in continuing to fund a fight where alliances shift faster than the desert sands.” 

Again, lots more at the links.

At American Thinker, Andrea Widburg raises a topic that deserves serious reflection. She cleverly begins by quoting Pride and Prejudice:

The feminization of academia is a disaster for intellectual freedom

“Eliza Bennet,” said Miss Bingley, when the door was closed on her, “is one of those young ladies who seek to recommend themselves to the other sex by undervaluing their own; and with many men, I daresay, it succeeds; but, in my opinion, it is a paltry device, a very mean art.”—Jane Austin, Pride and Prejudice.

Widburg then proceeds to attack the disaster of the feminization of higher education by describing what the effects of that feminization have been. She cites four aspects. I’ll quote the headings, but Widburg provides details for each, so follow the link:

First, college-educated women are the most devoted Democrat demographic.

Second. women far outnumber men both in college enrollment and college graduation.

Third, according to Heather Mac Donald, all American colleges have become feminized, not just among students, but among faculty members:

…

Fourth, on campuses, woke faculty fanaticism is most prevalent amongst … you guessed it, female faculty members. …

Widburg offers no solution for this sorry state of affairs, simply noting that women on campus are now the champions of woke totalitarianism.

There’s another blog post out there today that approaches a related topic, but one with similar roots. I won’t link the post due to the vulgarity involved. The author points out that it is feminism—which denies the basic and essential, i.e., rooted in human nature, differences between men and women—that is to blame for many or even most of the abominations afflicting our society. He works from a recent court ruling that requires powerlifting competitions to allow men to compete as women. The author of the blog post asserts—and I will say, with considerable justice—that it’s up to American women to reclaim their lost status and dignity.

No doubt this sort of thing was not the intention of feminists. But the fundamental denial of human nature that is involved in feminism has enabled perverted men to act out their sicknesses. At the same time, feminists are paralyzed at this turn of events that uses their own ideology to enable queer men over women, while the voices of normal women have been largely silenced in the public square … by feminists and their cynical male supporters. These are serious, even existential, issues for us in the West. Anyone who objects to the views expressed above needs to get back to the roots of these problems in human nature. Back to the basics. Pretending that we can wish a different human nature into existence is what has landed us where we are now, with no end to the slippery slope yet in sight.