The RPI Challenge

After more than a decade, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) updated its Strategic Concept to name China as a chief global security threat to our "values." In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian accused the alliance of promoting "conflict and confrontation." "It is filled with the Cold War mentality and ideological prejudices," Lijian said. He's right, and NATO's prejudices extend to the very people who NATO claims to represent: China is a threat to the US-led...

President Joe Biden declared Tuesday at Twitter: “Due to the pandemic, kids are behind in math and reading.” This is yet another example of politicians’ blame shifting we have seen throughout the coronavirus scare. Kids in America have fallen behind in their educations during the coronavirus scare, but not because of coronavirus. They have fallen behind because of coronavirus crackdown actions supported by Biden and many other politicians in the name of protecting students, teachers, and staff...

The annual Ukraine Reform Conference has, since 2017, brought together Western officials and their local 'civil society' foot soldiers to discuss ways that Ukraine can reduce its rampant corruption. But this year, before getting underway this week in Lugano, Switzerland, it underwent a name change to the Ukraine Recovery Conference.  Perhaps drawing attention to the existence of the country’s endemic corruption isn’t convenient for those looking to avoid heavy criminal penalties set up to...

On July 1 at the White House, US President Joe Biden made a startling disclosure that “the idea we’re going to be able to click a switch, bring down the cost of gasoline, is not likely in the near term.”  American gas exporters have positioned themselves accordingly to fill the gap as Europe turns away from Russian imports. FT reported recently that “US liquefied natural gas producers have announced a string of deals to boost exports as the industry capitalises on shortages that have left...

Quite likely a majority of Americans would agree that it is wrong for the government or police to torture someone, though some would surely accept the “ticking time bomb” exemption, where a detainee is withholding information that could save many lives. It is in fact illegal to torture someone as well as it being morally wrong. Indeed, it could constitute a crime against humanity or a war crime depending on circumstances. The United States, which has signed the United Nations Convention...

It’s easy to see why, according to a new Harris poll, 71 percent of Americans said they do not want Joe Biden to run for re-election. As Americans face record gas prices and the highest inflation in 40 years, President Biden admits he could not care less. His Administration is committed to fight a proxy war with Russia through Ukraine and Americans just need to suck it up.Last week a New York Times reporter asked Biden how long he expects Americans to pay record gasoline prices over his...

On Independence Day, many Americans think about, at least briefly, the American Revolution. One important thing they should consider in this reflection is that the American Revolution is misnamed. A more appropriate name would be the American Secession. And an appropriate question for now, when the power of the United States government and Americans’ dissatisfaction have become immense, is whether the time is right for another American Secession. The misnamed American revolutionaries were not...

There is no doubt that Poland is and has been the leading voice in NATO and in the European Union advocating for a more aggressive approach to Russia in the context of the war in Ukraine. Apart from the daily reproaches of the Polish government and president against Moscow and in its perversely subservient line of support for Kiev, two recent developments are a clear testimony that Warsaw’s Eastern policy is becoming more and more of an aberration. On May 9th, the ambassador of the Russian...

The media, and the people who work in and around it, the Blue Checks™ of Twitter, have upped the ante over the past few years regarding how far they are willing to go to enforce various preferred narratives.  Pick any major story of the past three years—e.g. Lab Leak, Jussie Smollett, Russiagate, Ukrainian Biolabs, Ivermectin, Hospitalizations From COVID v. With Covid, January 6th, ‘Transitory’ Inflation, and of course  in the face!  All of the above links/stories were posted after Dr....

On Thursday, 68 journalists in the White House press corps sent a contentious letter to White House Press Secretary Karine Jeane-Pierre complaining about new means the Joe Biden administration, in contrast with previous presidential administrations, has been employing to limit and control journalists’ access to the president.The letter concludes with a call for a return to old norms, stating: Thank you for your attention to these ahistorical problems. We ask you to see to it that the protocols...

Russia’s Ukraine miscalculation dates to 2014 when the Kremlin refused the request of the Donbas Russians in Eastern Ukraine to be reunited with Russia. Historically part of Russia, the Donbas region was attached to the Ukrainian province of the Soviet Union by Soviet leaders as was Crimea. These Russian populated territories, historically part of Russia, rejected the anti-Russian rule installed in Kiev when Washington overthrew the Ukrainian government and installed a puppet regime. Had the...

Much belatedly now that there's a seemingly endless US weapons pipeline going into Ukraine, the Pentagon is worried they might end of in the "wrong hands" and is seeking to take steps to do something about it. It now wants to track serial numbers of US weaponry on the ground as the fight for Ukraine continues. As early as April US officials began admitting that once advanced systems like Javelin anti-tank weapons cross into Ukraine they have no idea where they go from there. There's...

Turkey’s President Erdoğan has officially withdrawn Ankara’s objection to the addition of Finland and Sweden to NATO membership, with the three countries signing a trilateral memorandum at a NATO summit in Madrid. The removal of Erdoğan’s objection was reportedly obtained via significant natsec concessions from the other two nations largely geared toward facilitating Turkey’s ongoing conflict with regional Kurdish factions, and it removes the final obstacle to Finland and Sweden beginning the...

I believe one of the reasons many Americans carry such negative feelings about the Russians is our collective failure to understand the price Russians paid to defeat Hitler. The sad truth is that most Americans have trouble identifying the warring parties in World War II and generally believe that terrible conflict was settled because of what America did. The American people are good folk at heart. They genuinely want to help the less fortunate or the beleaguered. But, during the last 75...

Russian forces are, to put it bluntly, mopping the floor with the Ukrainian military. Moscow is methodically sweeping up vast amounts of territory in the country’s east, as the Ukrainians remain badly outgunned and outmaneuvered by a superior army. Despite that reality, the Zelensky government's western allies all agree that now is not the time to negotiate an end to this conflict.  Not only has the economic war against Russia been an unmitigated disaster, but the kinetic proxy war is...

Imagine living in a country where armed soldiers crash through doors to arrest and imprison citizens merely for criticizing government officials. Imagine that in this very same country, you’re watched all the time, and if you look even a little bit suspicious, the police stop and frisk you or pull you over to search you on the off chance you’re doing something illegal. Keep in mind that if you have a firearm of any kind (or anything that resembled a firearm) while in this country, it may get...