How “Wokeness” May Impact a Possible U.S.-China Kinetic Conflict

As tensions increase between the China and the United States during China’s Unrestricted Warfare to collapse America, there are concerns about Unrestricted Warfare moving into a Shooting War over issues like Taiwan.  The American military’s dalliance with “woke” ideologies are concerning and are tangibly degrading professionalism, operational planning, and output of the Defense Industrial Base.

Administration officials such as Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth deny “wokeness” is an issue and the Army has been pushing their interpretation of internal polling data that “safety” is the real issue in regards to failures to meet recruiting and retention goals – which immediately triggered Republican Congressional requests to see the complete, unredacted data instead of the Army official interpretation of the data.

Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Milley blamed allegations of “wokeness” as the real issue causing recruiting and retention – concurrently with West Point being sued for left leaning admission policies.

Despite denials from Administration officials of the existence of wokeness, there is growing evidence that the U.S. Military is in a crisis and this can possibly translate into catastrophic consequences for the U.S. military in kinetic conflict with China.

 Negative Effect on U.S. Navy and Air Force Readiness

The Navy and Air Force are the lead services in deterring Chinese aggression and responding to hostility in the Western Pacific.  Woke policies have reduced readiness of the ships and aircraft as well as the combat effectiveness and morale of the Service Members.

The key metric describing readiness for U.S. Military units is what is known as “Operational Readiness” (OR) rates.  Things are not looking good in this area.  In a stunning admission, the Commandant of the Marine Corps revealed that the OR rate for the 31 Amphibious Vessels of the U.S. Navy was 32%.

That means of the 31 ships, only 9 were ready.  Each deployed Expeditionary Strike Group normally has three of these ships, so the rest of the amphibious ships (22) have various maintenance issues preventing them from deploying.

Not a good situation in anyway – this means only 9 of the 31 Amphibious ships are available for worldwide contingencies.  The USS Boxer, one of the large and valuable amphibious warfare ships will shortly and incredulously be out of service for a year and a half for maintenance issues.

The Air Force has similar issues.  The premier incoming fighter for the Air Force is the F-35A, the Air Force version of the Marine F-35B which unexplainedly ejected a pilot in 2023 after takeoff from Charleston Air Force Base in South Carolina.

The Air Force OR rate for the F-35A is 55% and repairs are slow.  This OR rate is falling, not climbing as more F-35s are introduced into service, an odd phenomena – OR rates should be climbing as more and more of the force becomes more familiar on how to keep these critical assets mission ready.

So how does wokeness play into these hard metrics?  A lot. There is a direct correlation between OR rates and training, cohesion, and lethality of frontline units.

When the Navy obsesses over terms to be more gender-inclusive, when the Air Force Academy promotes critical race theory over combat knowledge, when the Department of Defense embraces corrosive DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) training, these ideologies steal valuable time from focusing on the true mission of the Military, deterring conflict and if necessary winning.

General Milley was infamously curious about “White Rage”, he should have been just as curious on true causal factors of poor OR rates such as wokeness – which will directly lead to more American casualties and losses in possible conflict with China.

Unnecessary American Casualties

 In the Army War College Parameters Journal, an article come out that ignited a debate.  In the article, the authors identified casualties of 3,600 a day in future conflict, losses not seen since the American Civil War, and thus their intuitive conclusion:  Bring back the draft.

This paper purports to be interested in intellectual truth but avoided any possible correlation between the political indoctrination of wokeness and a poorly trained and led military that can lead to these high casualties.

An American aircraft carrier has approximately 5,000 Sailors on board between the ship’s crew and Air Wing.  If the carrier is going in harm’s way with fewer escort vessels and aircraft because of poor OR rates – this could lead to mass casualties and loss of life.

This is sons, daughters, husbands, wives, friends, and loved ones unnecessarily put at risk because of the focus on DEI over military readiness.  The Arleigh Burke Destroyers – the most numerous combat vessel in the U.S. Navy, has been delivered for years with a vacant position for a much needed, Close In Weapons System to protect the ship from Chinese missiles.

It is intuitive that our ships need to have maximum protection in harm’s way, yet the Services prioritize wokism over making sure American ships are fully equipped.

Loss of Territory to Advancing Chinese Forces

 Although some American military leaders theorize wokeness is a strength – it only emboldens China.  The debacle of Afghan withdrawal was woke theater and communicated loss of resolve and strength by America.

The Joint Staff and the Central Command Staff were once the most brilliant military staffs in the world but have been overtaken by wokeness and have lost their military art form.  This is a green light for China to advance and seize territory.

A U.S. military hampered by wokeness could struggle to respond with decisive force before Chinese troops dig in with their gains.  Having to retake seized land would require bloody amphibious operations hindered further by fewer amphibious ships available due to low OR rates.

A highly trained and equipped military focused on readiness would be far better at deterring conflict with China.  Woke ideologies will cause severe human and strategic costs to America.

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Renewables’ Head-On Collision With Reality

The explosive growth of data centers is the pacing item for energy demand growth across the United States

Mr. Walsh told me: “The country is woefully short of electricity now with the displacement of coal and gas by the Biden Administration. The Supreme Court handed coal a victory—but the perception and behavior are still to drive coal out of the market. Only continuous load, fossil fuel plants can provide the energy growth and reliability needed, and data centers and population growth are driving the demand for energy growth.”

The promise of “green” or “renewable” energy will move the growth of energy in the tenths of a percentage point per annum at some distant point in the future, but the chasm of shortfalls in energy delivery through renewables is mathematically insurmountable.

AI Needs Data, Data Needs More Data Centers, Data Centers Need More Energy

 The California and Texas grids have been facing rolling brownouts for years and are getting worse. Much of this is due to the ideology of green energy that has failed to deliver. The explosive growth of data centers is the pacing item for energy demand growth across the United States.

The battle for artificial intelligence (AI) dominance is a key part of the data center boom. AI needs voluminous and growing data, data needs data centers, and data centers need energy. The routers, servers, and air conditioning for the resilience of these data centers must have reliable, constant pull energy.

Virginia has historically been the epicenter of data centers since early U.S. government work on ARPANET, and has only grown since then. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has ensured that competitive terms are offered to data center providers to keep this boom going.

The original big name of AOL, America Online, was one of the first internet miracle companies in Data Center Alley, the corridor from Washington, D.C. proper to Dulles Airport. The former AOL campus is now being bulldozed and re-purposed as the new tech giants of Amazon, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and others dominate the available building space in Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William counties.

The growth of data centers is relentless, but it is not clear what the pathway is in Virginia to deliver the increased energy demands.

Small Modular Nuclear Reactors Sound Great but Are 10–15 Years Away

Mr. Youngkin has worked with the Virginia House of Delegates and Senate to pass legislation on small modular nuclear reactors in the 2024 session. Currently, two large, legacy nuclear plants in Virginia at Lake Anna and Surry provide 30 percent of the energy for Virginia.

This successful legislative push was only one step on a long pathway to small modular reactors, and according to Mr. Walsh, this process could possibly be another 10 or more years before energy is delivered out of this initiative. At 7 percent growth in energy demand increase per year, the math is not adding up.

Although the Supreme Court ruled in favor of coal, Virginia is still bound by a 2020 law that mandates 100 percent renewables by 2050—but the major Virginia utility of Dominion is reportedly leveraging an escape clause in the law that cites reliability and is stating in its Integrated Resource Plan that it will build more fossil fuel plants. Mr. Walsh reports that in the last 90 days, there has been a substantial increase in orders for natural gas-powered turbines.

The United States is the dominant world maker of natural gas-powered power plant turbines, and these have a low Chinese component dependency. At some point in the future, small modular nuclear reactors may be part of the solution; however, data centers need energy now, and the only realistic pathway forward is fossil fuels, despite the unicorn promises of “renewables.”

Natural gas turbines are the easiest to build and deploy to support the voracious energy growth of data centers.

All viewpoints are personal and do not reflect the viewpoints of any organization.

This article first appeared in Epoch Times and was reprinted with permission.

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The Big Three Election Integrity Issues for 2024

There are three key issues that are being leveraged by those seeking to compromise Elections in America.  The threat actors will constantly evolve to evade the security and remediation established to address the last successful play – so expect something different in 2024.  Vigilance, awareness, and publicly addressing matters in a vigorous manner are a deterrent.  The perpetrators behave differently when they know they are being watched.

The most important factor in the November 2024 election will be the involvement of the citizen.  For those wanting election integrity, the best thing is to become a sworn election officer and work behind the counter counting votes.  How do you do this?  Go to the website for your county, city, township, or whatever the administrative structure is in your state and sign up to be a sworn election official.  I’ve done this for many elections since 2000.

It’s hard to put out tactical guidance on exactly what to look for in election misappropriation because of the different election laws in each state and the roughly 3,300 counties and county equivalents across the country.  But there are three issues that stand out as common opportunities for mischievous behavior by those intent on throwing elections.  Arabella, Soros, and China have the money to buy elections, but we have most of the population behind us.

Failure of States to validate that voters being registered at the time of Driver Licensing are Lawful Voters

Common to many states is the failure of State and County Officials to establish that names derived from those seeking Drivers Licenses are eligible to vote in a Federal Election.  County Officials most often called “Registrars” are normally the responsible, legal, sworn, constitutional official for ensuring a voter is a lawful voter.  The National Voter Registration Act Of 1993 (NVRA) (often called “Motor Voter”) mandated the option to register to vote when applying for a Driver’s License in 44 states.  The first line of most states’ driver license form is a selection for yes/no on whether the registrant wants to register to vote.  All else on the form must be RealID Act compliant.  The RealID Act requires hard to counterfeit Identification such as a passport.  Maybe that’s why the Federal Government has allowed delays of RealID Act compliance until 2025.

There is no demonstrable process in any state I am aware of where County Registrars have a trusted methodology or capability to assure that names being projected or shared from the State Department of Motor Vehicles data bases from that first line of the form, are vetted to ensure the lawful nature of the registering voter.  There are at least two basic facts to be established when that name comes to the County Registrar from the State DMV data base – they must be a US Citizen (18 U.S. Code § 611 – Voting by Aliens) or not already being a registered voter in another state.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) and State GOPs should demand that State Election Commissioners and County Registrars demonstrate a trusted process to ensure proper validation that ensures only eligible voters for Federal Elections are transmitted in Department of Motor Vehicle database exchanges with State and County voter rolls.  Local activists at the County or Township level should form Citizen Grand Juries to compel the Registrar to demonstrate a trusted process for vetting names from the DMV database.  Fractal Analysis can play a key role in validating the names at cyber speed.

Transparency, accuracy, and accessibility to Voter Rolls

Voter rolls, which are essentially data bases, have no demonstrable process to validate authoritative source of truth and accuracy.  They are updated countless times daily with no public official being held accountable for these matters.  Often, the rolls are considered restricted access or very expensive to obtain.  This is public information that should be available, accurate, and incur a very nominal charge for access.  Closely tied into integrity is the ability to match drop off/mail in ballots with a trusted roll.  Two things could make drop off/mail-in ballots acceptable:  accurate rolls and trusted ballots.

The Republican National Committee and State GOPs (or other national groups) should demand that State Election Commissioners and County Registrars demonstrate a trusted process to ensure accuracy of the rolls, appoint a legally responsible official, and make rolls available for a fraction of the normal cost.  Local activists at the County or Township level should seek to compel action out of their Election Board and Election Registrar on this matter.

Illegals voting and inflating census counts

The strategy for the Biden illegal alien surge is to drive them through the Motor Voter Registration process.  With no legitimate capability in place to validate the names being generated by State DMVs, the illegal aliens seeking a driver’s license will become part of the voter rolls.  This is a twofer – the illegals in addition are being counted by a weaponized Census Bureau which drives the apportionment of House Seats in Congress.  Texas, Florida, and other Red States were robbed of multiple House Seats with the 2020 fake Census Count.  The Census Bureau is one of those obscure but heavily weaponized government entities that must be de-weaponized.

This issue is a national focus and the RNC should lead the charge to petition and compel the Census Bureau to separate out illegal residents and use only legal citizens as the correct count for the apportionment of House Seats and related matters.  There are Federal and national level issues, state matters, and also county and local actions to take well before November 2024.  The voting season begins in September for some states.  We have to play the ball where it lays when it comes to election matters and the imperative is to stop bellowing on social media, put down the bowl of loudmouth soup, get off the couch, get in the game, and compel action by your county/township Election Board and the Election Registrar.  Also work behind the counter and count the votes as an Election Officer (which is not poll watching – don’t waste time with that canard).

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Is there a Rob Malley 2.0 Inside the Biden Team?

Until October 7, 2023, and the murderous Hamas attack into Israel, the Biden Team had been focused on the mysterious Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran.

The terms and conditions of the agreement has been chronicled by the United States Government, but at the same time, there has been vagueness on what the JCPOA was or said.  A senior State Department official said in 2015, “The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is not a treaty or an executive agreement, and is not a signed document,”

If the Obama era JCPOA is not a treaty, not an executive agreement, and not a signed document, just what is it?  If it was none of these, why did John Kerry, Secretary of State at the time, beg Iran not to talk publicly about how he had been out maneuvered by Iran on JCPOA language?

Why did Ben Rhodes have to be disingenuous and mischievous to sell the JCPOA which he was lauded for in an infamous New York Times piece.  There has been a lot of drama on the JCPOA since the document, which was not a treaty, not an agreement, was not signed in 2015.  But now the multi-year intrigue is getting even more cloudy and unclear as the Iran lead for the Biden Team, Rob Malley, has been removed from his position.

Rob Malley 1.0 still being investigated

Rob Malley was the State Department Special Envoy for Iran negotiations, but has been on unpaid leave status while under investigation for security matters.  State Department has forgotten to purge his biography.

Malley seems to possess a broad and deep experience on Middle East matters, however he is at the center of what has been identified as an Iranian influence operation to penetrate the Biden policy making process.

Per the “The Atlantic”, a blue leaning journal, “The emails look bad” and point toward the role of a non-profit called the International Crisis Group where Malley had been President before joining the Biden team.

Malley seems to have ensured the placement of two key personnel Ariane M. Tabatabai and Ali Vaez who are identified as Iranian active sympathizers, or worse, as his key personnel with his office.  Both U.S. Government Employees are identified as being part of the Iranian Government, “Iranian Experts Initiative” to influence U.S. Government policy on Iran.

Ali Vaez, admitted on X (formerly Twitter) that he solicited Iranian Government feedback on an Op-Ed to be published before it was published (while he was in the U.S. Government).  “I look forward to your comments and feedback” his email to the Iranians read.

It is unclear where Ms. Tabatabai is, her presence is pervasive in most progressive think tanks such as Belfer, a typical place on the bench for blue leaning personalities.

She may or may not be the Chief of Staff for the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations (ASD SOLIC), but she doesn’t appear on the website.  A reasonable question for Congress to ask immediately – what role did any of these three have in determining the Intelligence Community priorities stack and were all things Hamas and Israel above or below the “cut line” of priorities.

A Rob Malley 2.0 now outed on the Biden Team?

Now there is a potential Rob Malley 2.0 on the Biden Team.  His name is Maher Bitar and he is Director for Intelligence and Defense on the National Security Staff at the White House.  Maher’s Bio seems to be a who’s who listing of globalist and Deep State accomplishments.

He has worked for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the same organization that has received billions over the years to accomplish nothing in the Gaza Strip, and had multiple members participate in the bloody October 7 attack into Israel.  He’s a Young Leader with the World Economic Forum.  Maher was part of the coup against President Trump where he worked for noteworthy Congressmen such as Adam Schiff.

His Linkedin profile is a bit lame – it shows that he is linked to Dr. Michael Sulmeyer, another Biden political who has been appointed, but not yet confirmed to be the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy in the Department of Defense. 

The UNRWA accomplishment is quite noteworthy, I doubt that there’s more than one or two others inside the U.S. Government that have worked for UNRWA.  But wait there’s more.  Maher was the President of the SJP, Students for Justice in Palestine while at Georgetown University. 

The SJP is a radical student group that has been quite vocal and violent against Jewish students and Pro-Palestinian causes on college campuses.

Crucial role a National Security Staff Member plays in decisioning on speed of aid to Israel

America is a diverse country and in 2024, there will be multiple backgrounds represented inside the U.S. Government, as there should be.  However, the National Security Council position that Maher encumbers maintains significant influence on policy inside any Administration.

If weapons shipments are being slow walked to Israel, there’s a small number of fingerprints that would be on this Action Memo circulated in and through the top levels of the Inter-Agency proceedings of the White House and Departments and Agencies, and Maher’s fingerprints would very likely be part of this finite set.

Having someone with the provocative and extremist job experience of Bitar’s is brazen and over the top.  If Maher wants to be a Palestinian activist, that is totally acceptable – he just needs to be a professional and leave government service.  Doing it on or off the clock like a Portland public school teacher for Antifa is unacceptable.

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The Gaza Pier Situation is Tenuous and a Possible Set Up for Beirut Barracks 2.0

As the American domestic scene is distracted by the sudden appearance of the Palestinian “protesters” (née Antifers, née violent Transgenders, née Trust Fund malcontents), the Gaza Pier building exercise has been out of the spotlight.  The real question should be, after at least 15 years of about a $1 Billion Dollars of year of funding donated directly to the UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) – why has a modern port not already been made in Gaza?  For some reason $1 Billion Dollars a year was not enough to at least have a simple seaport and pier.

The Biden Team made a policy decision to generate and deploy U.S. Army and U.S. Navy resources to create such a pier.  The whole endeavor was announced simultaneously with the release of the Fiscal Year 2025 budget submission to Congress which eliminated more aircraft and ships than were lost at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.  Every line item of resources relevant to the Gaza Pier building went downward, which meant for every floating modular causeway section used, there were no replacements bought, and the likelihood of these sections being recovered and re-used is low.  The pier building project was just completed and has now received its first hostile fire from Hamas.

Where is the mini-Iron Dome to cover the pier and American military?

The on-going operation to marshal the American flotilla, unload and build the floating modular causeway system (72 feet by 270 feet long), excavate and dump backfill to create the earthen pier to connect with the floating section has now received fire from terrorist elements.  On April 24, the site of the pier building exercise came under fire and received two incoming mortar rounds.  No injuries were reported, and assembly and construction continued.  The Biden Team has insisted that no American Boots will be placed on the ground.  It is hard to believe that during JLOTS (Joint Logistics Over The Shore) Operations no U.S. Military personnel will step onto the beach, which defies the meaning of the JLOTS acronym.  There seems to be some creative wordsmithing going on.

In a military operation like this, establishing security is usually the first step.  So where is the necessary equipment to detect and shoot down the mortar rounds?  The Army has the Centurion system which has worked pretty effectively to protect the American base camps across the Middle East.  Why this system was not immediately deployed and set up to protect the U.S. Forces is unclear.  Even if the Biden Team is serious about “No Boots” on the ground, a Centurion System or two should have been set up on sections of the floating causeway.

Key U.S. Military ship supporting pier construction breaks down

Approximately four smaller and two medium Army ships have been committed to Gaza along with three large Navy vessels.  One of the Navy vessels, the USNS, 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo had an engine fire and limped home to the U.S. on its remaining engine for repairs.  The ship is named for the recipient of the Marine Corps Medal of Honor, who was killed in Vietnam in 1967.

The USNS Bobo is a very large transport ship, almost as long as a Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier and weighs in at 55,000 tons fully loaded.  It was built during the Reagan buildup in the 1980s to provide a large ship that can roll on/roll off wheeled cargo.  The USNS Bobo was constructed in the General Dynamics Quincy Shipbuilding Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts – a historic and mighty shipyard that no longer exists.  Although pushing 40 years old, the ship has relatively low mileage and usage, but the breakdown indicates maintenance issues and was not a good start to the Gaza pier building effort.  Ships do breakdown, but when they do, they can be out of service for a long time as they wait for limited drydock space and spare parts that may not exist anymore due to their age.  The loss of even one ship affects operations worldwide as other missions are decremented to support the higher priority missions.

Israeli siege constricting the Raffah Redoubt – what’s next?

The pier has just completed its initial construction phase and commercial vessels should shortly begin shuttling aid from close by Cyprus.  The Pentagon says the pier has cost $320 million.  Sabrina Singh, Pentagon spokeswoman, told reporters the cost is a rough estimate for the project.  Pentagon cost accounting is bad (I’m being generous) – they’ve failed audit six years in a row, so the $320 million dollar is likely a swag that some poor Joint Staff Action Officer threw at the DOD Press Office when they needed an answer in five minutes.  Meanwhile the Israeli’s are bringing the Raffah siege to its final phases as they pursue Hamas.

The Biden Team seems to be slow walking ammunition to the Israelis – possibly because another Rob Malley like, collaborator has been found in the Biden Team at the highest levels.  His name is Maher Bitar and he is now Senior Director for Intelligence on the National Security Council.  Maher has a long track record of extremist behavior, including amazingly working at the corrupt UNRWA.  Israel is very close to finishing off Hamas and will, despite the interference of the Biden Team.  This war has to be put in context and is part of the worldwide orchestrated Chinese campaign to topple America, so even when Hamas falls, there will be a next phase of battle in the Middle East Theater of Operations and the Gaza Pier is a vulnerable target for terrorists seeking to attack Americans.

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Chinese ‘Spy Cranes’ Targeted in Port Security Executive Order Shortly Before Baltimore Disaster

  

Commentary

ZPMC is the largest manufacturer of cranes in the world. Its assembly yard is a vast facility on Changxing Island at the mouth of the Yangtze River in Shanghai. The massive yard has ample layout space to fabricate and assemble the iconic container cranes seen at ports around the world. Typically, the cranes are shipped assembled, and the ZPMC yard has a large wharf to load them onto specially designed, heavy-lift ships and then deliver them all over the world.

ZPMC’s factory is next to another important facility for China. The flagship shipyard of China’s frenetic naval expansion is Jiangnan Shipyard, adjacent to ZPMC, where the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Aircraft Carrier 003, the Fujian, is fitting out, and the first PLAN nuclear-powered Aircraft Carrier 004 is being built.

The ZPMC cranes are replete with similar cameras that analysts in China could use to count and examine shipments. Signals could also be sent to the cranes to make them potentially unsafe or inoperable.

In the new guidance, the Coast Guard “will have the express authority to respond to malicious cyber activity in the nation’s MTS [Marine Transportation System] by requiring vessels and waterfront facilities to mitigate cyber conditions that may endanger the safety of a vessel, facility, or harbor.”

The DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) made initial comments, and then a quiet time ensued—most likely because the U.S. government was convening working groups to study, assess, and make recommendations.

Starting in December 2023, the public comments of CISA Director Jen Easterly, FBI Director Christopher Wray, and the new Cyber Command/National Security Agency Director General Timothy Haugh began to reveal the outcome of this analysis period, and the officials were ready to share the findings in a loud, vocal, and unequivocal manner in multiple appearances before Congress and in public statements.

Mr. Wray was more precise when he said, “It’s difficult to know the intent of the preparation, but it was aligned with China’s broader goal to stop the United States from defending Taiwan.”

The removal of Chinese “spy cranes” and the fortification of American ports have led the Chinese to surge Volt Typhoon to ensure that they have diversity in all possible aspects of U.S. critical infrastructure.

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