CONGO’S DECEMBER ELECTIONS AND YOUR LIFESTYLE: We live in interesting times. (Bumped — a special bump for those who love love love electric cars.)

RELATED: Cocktails from Hell, Chapter 6: Congo: Anarchic Violence, Cyclic Intervention, and Mineral Wealth

MURPHY’S LAW: China’s ruling Communists crackdown on radical Communist demands. The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sees “…students of Communism agitating for the return of labor unions” as a threat to CCP control. The irony alone makes this post worth reading.

CONGO’S DECEMBER ELECTIONS AND YOUR LIFESTYLE: We live in interesting times.

RELATED: Cocktails from Hell, Chapter 6: Congo: Anarchic Violence, Cyclic Intervention, and Mineral Wealth

3RD ARMORED CAV JAVELIN IN IRAQ: Soldiers from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment live fire a Javelin anti-tank missile on a range near Al Asad Air Base, Iraq.

ALLIED AIR SHOW OVER THE ENGLISH CHANNEL: A Royal Air Force F-35 Lightning II, a USAF F-15E Strike Eagle and a French Air Force Rafale trail a USAF KC-135 Stratotanker during an exercise held Nov. 27, 2018. The caption points out the exercise was an opportunity for fourth-generation fighters (F-15E and Rafale) to exercise with a fifth-generation fighter (the F-35).

THE BIG ONE IN AMERICA’S HEARTLAND: The big earthquake, in the New Madrid (Missouri) Seismic Zone. But don’t start quaking in your running shoes and try to escape to Texas because it’s comparatively geologically stable. Here’s why: In 1971 I heard a very informed discussion of the New Madrid Fault, which is centered in New Madrid. In one geologist’s opinion, that unfortunate “piston” (the word he used) could have generated a mega-quake some time in the 1970s or early 1980s. That mega-quake did not occur. However, the geologist was not making a prediction — he was assessing the fault’s instability based on data he had seen. That noted, I still recall the description of the 1811 New Madrid mega-quake.

This linked article sketches the disaster:

Back in 1811, New Madrid, Missouri, itself had only 400 people, St. Louis to the north had about 1,500 residents and Memphis to the south wasn’t even a twinkle in its founders’ eyes, according to the Central United States Earthquake Consortium. Damage was reported as far away as Charleston, South Carolina, and the District of Columbia; and the quakes, estimated at 7.5 to 7.7 magnitude, were felt more than 1,000 miles away in Connecticut.

The article includes this 21st century assessment:

Seismologists estimate that the New Madrid Seismic Zone has a 25 percent to 40 percent chance of producing a significant quake within the next 50 years, according to Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government. USGS studies have concluded that the zone has generated magnitude 7 to 8 earthquakes about every 500 years for the past 1,200 years.

Read the entire article — it’s an accessible description of the geological threat. As for escaping to Texas, please stay away. It’s absolutely terrible down here. We have hurricanes and tornadoes and sweltering summers and gazillions of feral hogs. The worst of it: increasingly terrible traffic thanks to tax migrants fleeing California.

INDIA AND THE U.S. CONTINUE THE DIPLOMATIC ROMANCE: My latest Creators Syndicate column. Expansionist China is the reason. The Washington-New Delhi relationship isn’t an alliance — not yet. However, the Quad has caught China’s attention. And it should. The second link leads to a column from April 2018 which discusses the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue. Chapter 3 of my new book Cocktails from Hell: Five Complex Wars Shaping the 21st Century examines Chinese imperialism in the South China Sea and the Himalayas. It will be published December 18. Pre-order now and get it by Christmas!

VERY RELATED: Stephen Green’s post at 7:56 am on forced tech transfer.

SECDEF MATTIS AND INDIA’S SITHARAMAN CONDUCT MEANINGFUL PUBLIC DIPLOMACY: China is their target audience.

USS GEORGE H. W. BUSH HONORS THE 41ST PRESIDENT: A night photo snapped on December 2 while the aircraft carrier was underway in the Atlantic. Sailors with lights form the 41st president’s initials and the number 41. The former president died November 30. As the caption notes, George H. W. Bush flew 58 combat missions as a Navy pilot during World War 2.

USS MICHAEL MONSOOR ARRIVES IN SAN DIEGO: The second ship in the Navy’s Zumwalt-class of guided- missile destroyers will be commissioned in January 2019.

TODAY IN AUSTIN, TEXAS: The Humanities Texas Holiday Book Fair. Book signing December 8 from 10 AM to 1 PM in the restored Byrne-Reed mansion, 1410 Rio Grande (corner of Rio Grande and West 15th Street). I’ll be signing copies of Cocktails from Hell: 5 Complex Wars Shaping the 21st Century. (bumped)

LIGHTING UP THE ALASKAN NIGHT: Soldiers in the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, fire an M120 120 mm mortar.

SATURDAY DECEMBER 8 IN AUSTIN, TEXAS: The Humanities Texas Holiday Book Fair. Book signing from 10 AM to 1 PM in the restored Byrne-Reed mansion, 1410 Rio Grande (corner of Rio Grande and West 15th Street). I’ll be signing copies of Cocktails from Hell: 5 Complex Wars Shaping the 21st Century. (bumped)

WARTHOG IN THE DESERT: An A-10 prepares to takeoff from an airstrip at Ft. Irwin, California.

SATURDAY DECEMBER 8 IN AUSTIN, TEXAS: The Humanities Texas Holiday Book Fair. Book signing from 10 AM to 1 PM in the restored Byrne-Reed mansion, 1410 Rio Grande (corner of Rio Grande and West 15th Street). I’ll be signing copies of Cocktails from Hell: 5 Complex Wars Shaping the 21st Century.

MEXICO’S NEW PRESIDENT CONFRONTS VIOLENCE AND IMPUNITY.

BOOK FAIR THIS COMING SATURDAY IN AUSTIN, TEXAS: The Humanities Texas Holiday Book Fair. Book signing from 10 AM to 1 PM in the restored Byrne-Reed mansion, 1410 Rio Grande (corner of Rio Grande and West 15th Street).

COMPETITION AMONG ELITES FOR POWER, IMPOVERISHING THE COMMON CITIZENRY AND VETERANS: A review of The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic.

Written primarily for those not very familiar with this era in Roman history, The Storm before the Storm is a particularly valuable read for laymen, given that the events discussed are frequently cited – albeit usually erroneously – by politicians and pundits seeking to make points about modern America.

Ouch. A short and sharp review. Read the whole thing.

JACK DANIELS GIVES UP WHISKEY SECRETS: Well, not quite. Voice of America has a short, informative and fun video on the whiskey and the Lynchburg, Tennessee distillery.

UKRAINE CALLS UP RESERVES AMID TENSIONS WITH RUSSIA: Here’s part of a report from the Associated Press.

Ukraine’s president on Monday announced a partial call-up of reservists for training amid tensions with Russia, saying the country needs to beef up its defenses to counter the threat of a Russian invasion. The Kremlin dismissed the Ukrainian leader’s statement as an “absurd” attempt to inflame tensions.

Relations between the two neighbors have been strained further following a Nov. 25 incident in which the Russian coast guard fired upon and seized three Ukrainian naval vessels and their crews off the Crimean Peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko responded by introducing martial law for 30 days in much of Ukraine. For the duration of martial law, Ukrainian authorities barred entry to all Russian males aged 16 to 60 in a move the Ukrainian leader said was needed to prevent Russia from further destabilizing the country. Poroshenko said Monday that some reservists will be summoned for training as part of martial law. He also said that some military units will be redeployed to strengthen the nation’s defenses.

“Ukraine is taking its own steps in response to the threat of a large-scale Russian invasion,” the Ukrainian leader said.

Ukraine is mobilizing for war. Bluff? Political posturing? Reinforcements to deter Russian attack? Could be all three. Time will tell. Read the entire report.

BACKGROUND ANALYSIS AND CONTEXT: Here’s a column from November 2004 that helps establish the historical context. Forgive the [?] hash on the webpage– it’s a track from a cyber attack that occurred about a decade ago.

A Russian bid to return to super-power status is the truly big story behind Ukraine’s rigged election.

At the moment Russia is a European also-ran, a one-time giant with deteriorating clout. However, Russia, plus Ukraine, plus Belarus, plus Khazakstan is a geo-strategic formula for a global power re-born.

This isn’t a new discovery. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, U.S. analysts concluded that the communist leadership would spin off the Baltic and Caucaus Soviet Union. At the same time, however, they would try to keep or link the core empire strength: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan (RUBK, pronounced “rubik,” as in the tricky, tough to solve puzzle called Rubik’s Cube.)

My new book, Cocktails from Hell: 5 Complex Wars Shaping the 21st Century elaborates on the Kremlin’s shenanigans. It will be published December 18.

This recent Creators Syndicate column discusses the attack on the three Ukrainian naval vessels (the Kerch Strait incident) and examines some of its implications.

UPDATE: The StrategyPage webmaster just informed me the hash marks were from a re-format. All the hack “stuff” has been fixed. My apologies. He’s fixed the format error.

GOING VERTICAL: An F-35B conducts a flight test above the Royal Navy’s HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier.

LT (JG) GEORGE H. W. BUSH: A photo taken in 1944 of Navy pilot Lt. j.g. George H. W. Bush in his Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bomber (bumped from yesterday). The former president and combat veteran led a full life. May he rest in peace.

MARINES AND SAILORS IN NORWAY: Marines and sailors put tire chains to a Light Armored Vehicle as part of Exercise Trident Juncture 18 in Norway, Nov. 2, 2018.

LT (JG) GEORGE H. W. BUSH: A photo taken in 1944 of Navy pilot Lt. j.g. George H. W. Bush in his Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bomber. The former president led a full life. May he rest in peace.

LIGHTNING POWER: A formation of F-35A Lightning IIs, from the 388th and 419th Fighter Wings refuel over the Utah Test and Training Range.