Bullet Points:
** (right) better to have and not need than to need and not have.
** Will Global Warming save us all? Some scientists think that it might.
** The economy drives everything at the end of the day. Economic opportunity always wins, all of the time. People will quickly forget this period when they see the opportunity there because voters worry about their families, wealth, retirement, the opportunity ahead of them, and security. All of these things are better under an economic union. Every single measure there is better. Everyone will forget about this noise, and Trump is not changing. It’s never going to change. What matters is the signal and the policy.
** President Trump: “We terminated Joe Biden’s security clearance. He was essentially found guilty, but they said he was incompetent. I would’ve rather been found guilty than what they found with him. They said he didn’t know what the hell he was doing.”
** Saturn has dozens of new moons, bringing it to 274. All the new moons are between 2 and 4 kilometers wide, but at what point is a rock too small to be a moon? (h/t Claudio)
** In 1971, Mohammad Zahir, the king of Afghanistan, went hunting in a forested area northeast of Khan Ghulam Sarwar Nasr. While hunting, he unexpectedly came across the ruins of an ancient settlement. Three years later, a group of French archaeologists led by Paul Bernard started digging at the site. They made a significant discovery, one of the most important in ancient history. The place was named ‘I-Khanum,’ which means ‘Lady-Moon’ in Uzbek. It had all the features of a classical Greek city. Initially, Alexandria Oxiana, one of the 20 cities built by Alexander the Great in the late 4th century BC, was believed to be lost to history. However, later excavations showed that the city was built in 260 BC by King Antiochus of the Seleucid Empire.
** Rep. Darrell Issa: “Democrats have been registering non-citizens with motor voter, collecting ballots door to door, and changing the rules to benefit themselves for decades. It’s time we stood up to defend the integrity of our electoral process.”
** The “No Tax Dollars for Colleges Encampments Act” would stop federal tax dollars from supporting colleges that “act as safe havens for anti-American harassment and violence.”
** American fighter jets shot down multiple Houthi drones fired from Yemen over several hours Sunday. The interceptions over the Red Sea mark the first time in more than two months that Houthis targeted U.S. Navy ships and come a day after the Truman Carrier Strike Group bombed several targets inside Yemen. Anyone would think that the US and Iran are at war. Hmmm.
** The Golden Dome missile defense program.
A Preview
The second book of short stories (still only a working title) continues, and I thought I’d give you a preview of one of the stories. I’m not giving anything up—not really—because the story featured below, which acts as a preface for one of the shorts, was published in the NYT. The gripping story is somewhat different but has a similar cast of characters.
The second book combines general and science fiction, based on a true story and nonfiction. I’m editing it as I type this, and in editing, spell-checking, and musing about the content, there is always the question of whether there’s enough and whether what is there is good enough. This upcoming book doesn’t have a section on “How to make money by being a government informant.”
The part I hate the most about these stories is fabricating the cover. That might sound strange to you since I make graphics for the VM blog every day I work on it. Still, it’s the case. I don’t know when the collection will be ready for press, but it’s coming together.
Carmen – Non Fiction
Longtime American Fugitive Is Arrested Selling Time Shares at Airport in Mexico – July 15, 2012 – by Michael Schwirtz, New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/16/us/us-drug-fugitive-walters-is-arrested-in-cancun-mexico.html
When he fled the United States over two decades ago, Vincent Legrend Walters was considered a violent drug dealer, accused of killing a woman in a botched kidnapping before vanishing, presumably with a small fortune.
But when agents from the United States Marshals Service last week tracked down Mr. Walters, who was on their list of the 15 most wanted fugitives, they were surprised to find him in a more sedate career: selling timeshares to tourists in the Mexican resort town of Cancún.
“We were under the impression that he left with a good amount of money and thought he would have stayed in the illegal drug trade,” Steve Jurman, a spokesman for the Marshals Service, said by telephone on Sunday. “Now it appears that he had to work for a living.”
At the behest of the Marshals Service, Mexican police officials took Mr. Walters, 45, into custody on Friday after a fingerprint analysis determined that he was the man federal agents had been seeking since September 1988. He was arrested at his workplace at Cancún International Airport.
It was an ignominious ending for Mr. Walters, who seemed to have an uncanny ability to elude detection even in plain sight. Only fugitives whose cases are under heightened scrutiny appear on the Marshals Service’s most wanted list, and Mr. Walters holds the record for being on the list longer than anyone else, Mr. Jurman said.
Mr. Walters, who was born in Mexico but grew up in California, was living in the San Diego area when he became mired in a dispute with other drug dealers over a cache of methamphetamine, according to the Marshals Service.
He had already appeared on the Drug Enforcement Administration’s radar, the Marshals Service said in a statement, for reportedly buying $20,000 worth of chemicals to make methamphetamine and then, unbeknown to him, entering into negotiations with undercover agents for more supplies.
The year was 1988. An associate of Mr. Walters, fearing arrest, gave his supply of finished methamphetamine to another dealer, who then passed it on to someone else.
Mr. Walters, though, wanted the drugs back, the statement said.
The Marshals Service said Mr. Walters kidnapped the dealer who initially passed on the drugs, a friend of the dealer, and the friend’s girlfriend, a woman named Christina Reyes, and he offered to exchange them for the drugs, which were being held by a man named Jay Bareno.
Mr. Bareno agreed to the exchange and returned the drugs, the statement said. The two men were released, but Ms. Reyes died after she was gagged with a rag soaked in chemicals.
Mr. Walters disappeared after the episode.
How he escaped is unclear, especially since he was already under surveillance.
His brother, Martin Walters, was arrested almost immediately and was eventually convicted of participating in the kidnapping. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
In July 1989, a federal grand jury indicted Vincent Walters on conspiracy to manufacture, possess, and distribute crystal methamphetamine, carrying firearms during a drug trafficking crime, and possession of unregistered firearms and explosives.
His mother, Martha Walters, and her sister, Carmen Elenes-Fonseca, were sentenced to 37 months in prison in 1990 for trying to hire a hit man to kill two witnesses in the case against the Walters brothers, according to The San Diego Evening Tribune.
Information detailing how the authorities were able to track down Mr. Walters remains classified, said Mr. Jurman, the Marshals Service spokesman. He said investigators were working to piece together the last 24 years of Mr. Walters’s life, trying to determine, for instance, whether he was ever again involved in the drug trade.
The Marshals Service stated that Mr. Walters had bragged to others that he was a wanted fugitive in the United States. The authorities said he was living under the name Oscar Rivera and working out of a stall in the Cancún airport. A spokesperson for the airport could not be reached for comment.
The authorities in Mexico have transferred Mr. Walters to Mexico City, where he will undergo the extradition procedures required by law because he is a Mexican citizen.
Given the horrendous violence associated with the Mexican drug trade these days and the seemingly intractable war with trafficking organizations, Mr. Walters’s crimes seem like a throwback to a bygone era. Nevertheless, federal authorities described his arrest as a victory.
“The U.S. Marshals are thrilled with the capture of this violent fugitive,” Steven Stafford, federal marshal for the Southern District of California, said in a statement. “This is a prime example of the sheer determination and persistence we have when tracking down a wanted criminal.”
[XXX]
For a time, Carmen had been a mistress of a prominent narco, José Contreras Subías (now deceased), the son of Leocadio Contreras Nuñez and Porfiria Subías Gonzalez.
You’ll have to wait for the book to get the whole story. As a special bonus, Mike Watson, Author of Hunting in the Shadows: Borneo and South Vietnam: 1964-1968, has agreed to add more of his previously unpublished experiences to the collection.
The previous book of short stories can be purchased here. Yes, it’s shamelessly blatant self-promotion.
California Needs a Loan – for Illegal Aliens
“Politico: California will need to borrow $3.44 billion to close a budget gap in the state’s Medicaid program, Newsom administration officials told lawmakers Wednesday in a letter obtained by POLITICO. That’s the maximum amount California can borrow, and will only be enough to cover bills for Medi-Cal — the state’s Medicaid program — through the end of the month, Department of Finance spokesperson H.D. Palmer separately told POLITICO.
The state initially estimated it would cost around $3 billion annually to insure [undocumented immigrants]. But one year after the program has been fully implemented, it’s turning out to be more expensive than anticipated.”
As Breitbart News reported at the time: “Beginning January 1, 2024, illegal aliens residing in California will become eligible for taxpayer-funded health insurance — the first state in the nation to enact such a policy.”
Governor Gavin Newsom had boasted of the budget agreement that made such a dramatic offer possible: “With these new investments [sic], California will become the first state to achieve universal access to health care coverage,” Newsom said in June 2022.
Queen of the Missouri River
c.1886. The steamer Rose Bud made 50 trips to Fort Benton, Montana, a record number of journeys to the world’s innermost port. The D.F. Barry photo was captured at Dead Man Rapids, 85 miles downstream (east) from Ft. Benton. Many wagon wheels were on the top deck. The steamer’s bell was suspended between the lower portions of the two stacks. PC users can click image to enlarge and better see details. Curiously, Barry used black ink on the negative, which appeared as white on prints, to obscure the Block P company logo between smokestacks and also the Rose Bud name on the pilot house.
Steamers initially carried supplies for hunters and took hides back. That changed to carrying supplies for the military and thousands of gold miners. Navigation had to wait for the “June Rise,” increased water levels from the melting of mountain snow.
The 177-foot craft was flat-bottomed for shallow waters and could carry 472,000 pounds, which would now require 10 trucks! The boat’s 1877 inaugural run was on the Yellowstone River, hauling building supplies and Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, Commanding General of the Army, who inspected the construction of Fort Keogh (Miles City) and Fort Custer (Hardin) in Eastern Montana—small-file digital photo restoration by Gary Coffrin.
Identify the Aircraft
1
It is still in production, and over sixty have been built. Customers include Pakistan, Libya, Ethiopia, Turkey, UAE, Azerbaijan, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Morocco.
2 & 3
4
Parting Shot
End
IDA-
1. Bayraktar Akınci AUAV. Possibly of the Azerbaijan Air Force.
2. de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito
3. Messerschmitt Me 410 Hornisse (Hornet)
4. Dornier Do 217
Well done.
1 is Turkish Bayraktar Akıncı drone
Wow, that boat is really low in the water. I live on a lake in a high wind area and it does not look like it could take 60 mph winds for 24 hours like we have been having lately. The five truck loads capacity is a useful number to understand. Sort of like one ship brought the same amount of stuff as three months of airlift at the start of the Iraq war.
The sidewheel boats are said to have been able to travel over a heavy morning dew. They didn’t draw much water.
Another steamer, the “Far West”
——
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_West_(steamship)
“Grasshopper spars…”
Yes, very shallow draft. And thin hulls. Which meant striking snags and dead heads (underwater tree trunks) was a very bad thing. But they maximize cargo by minimizing material.
–
And then there’s the location of the drive wheels.
–
Sidewheelers, where the drive wheels are on either side, around the middle of the ship, made for faster passage. And if the ship was stuck on a sandbank, the sidewheels could be used to drive or walk over the bank. But they took up a lot of space on either side and divided cargo operations. Though the individual wheels often could be turned independently which made maneuvering much easier.
–
Sternwheelers were slower, but more deck space was available for cargo and people. And made for a narrower boat. You could get a lot wider sidewheeler hull for the same width of hull-plus-sidewheels of a sidewheeler. But if stuck, could only try to back off the bank, no walking over like on a sidewheeler. And much less maneuverable.
Your typical “across the fence” MACV SOG load-out.
Queen of the Missouri, did it port out of St Louis?
CA Congressmen Issa, will there be a real plan of action carried out to ” defend the integrity of our electoral process”? As my best friend ( V.M. follower) has said, ” paper ballots, finger print ( no double voting) I’m so weary of all the pundits polished speech, tickling ears with what WTP actually want/ need done. Then the issues go to committee, and like to the tune of $3M or $3B later, buried on the 3rd page WTP get to find out nothing substantial for our benefit is being done. Examples; Mueller Report, Ferguson MO, DACA, and you name it.
CA Medicaid budget for illegals, I just can’t imagine a government project going over budget. Has this ever happened before?
Hunting in the woods/ Lady – Moon arc site; my Geography assignment for today is incomplete. I googled “Khan Ghulam Sarwar Nasr” and wow! A long list of medical providers but hardly a clue to the geographic location. Afghanistan or Uzbekistan? For multiple choice, I’m guessing the former. Trying to learn a few things on V.M. each day. Had not not known the Greek or rather Seleucid empire expanded so far.
Book Cover; All the best in your final decision. The first shorts will be my next Kindle read. The Amazon reviews are what actually sold me. Your on graphics are really thought provoking i.m.h.o.
Yesterday on Red Mist; Great page turner! The news and comments related to our Summers, living on the southern Oregon coast. Volcanic activities. Cascadia Subduction Zone? Tsunamis?
Identify the Aircraft:
1. Baykar Bayraktar Akıncı
2. front: Messerschmitt Me 410 Hornisse
3. back: De Havilland Mosquito night fighter
4. Dornier Do 217
Yes!
Taxpayer funded support of illegals in California (and elsewhere). Like stray cats, you feed ’em once and they’ll never leave. I’m reminded of that series Gerard Van der Leun (R.I.P.) used to run, Japanese: Nuked Too Much or Not Enough?
VDH video – the closed captioning printing out Net Yahoo, and at first I was ????? As for losing influence, he could write a book and call it America Alone, or something…
Book two of the shorts… thank goodness. The dry spell of no reading material has been killing me.
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As to a cover… I’m sure Jules who lives across the pond, once she sobers up from Saint Patty Day, could create a suitable cover in a few hours.
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Thank you Mike Watson for adding more to your story. I look forward to the read.
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The “better to have than need” picture was a bit small to see a lot if details. But I did not see a favorite personal edged weapon. Did I miss it?
As far as Saturn’s moons and if they qualify:
https://www.xkcd.com/3063/
Biden was incompetent when they hid him in the basement before he was “elected”. Anything he supposedly signed should be ascertained by him on an affidavit he personally signs to confirm any important document signed with his autopen. If he can’t ascertain the document, it should immediately be voided. That, and anyone that had access to his autopen investigated for fraud, and/or sedition.
I think that Pedo Joe should appear in public before a blue ribbon committee and discuss the auto pen signings if they’re to stand.
I think we all (?IDK who we-all is) know that Sleepy Joe was not competent, even as a candidate.
OK, so he appears before a House/Senate committee; his answers at this point mean nothing: the usual would only prate that his problems became manifest immediately prior to his resignation from the ’24 race
IMHO, these TVized procedings will only make us look like dumb A$$es before the whole world (from any direction, in any which way you care to name)
in any case, even if he were found to be incompetent (even) prior to inauguration, what could we do about that wouldn’t make us look worse before the same audience; any revenge would only be biting ourselves in the big, well-upholstered sitting area
Rep. Darrell Issa – Better late than never I suppose.
***
The Gav: Same as with Issa, like this guy didn’t know they were seriously underwater…or…maybe he did and figured Harris – had she stolen the last election like her predecessor – would send her WTP’s cash (or the printing presses running full bore) to bail out a level of incompetence and grift only grifters like him could gin-up.
***
The Bern is a grifter extraordinaire…never worked a day in his life but somehow managed to become a multimillionaire. Maybe it was the money his wife took from the college she tanked. Yet…the real rub…Vermonter’s keep electing the guy even as he enters the “passed warranty” life phase…which is weird as this bit in White Christmas indicates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P0ovii4DI8
Like a political locust infestation, destroys everything in its path, except now they have no rudder…works for me.
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LL Shorts/MikeW’s addition: I have heard the best authors write from personal experience…very similar to playing the Blues, hafta experience it before you can express it with the right notes.
Love that movie. Except for the routines “Snow” and “Sisters”.
That scene also reminds one of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKhOtZ3F3_k
Or: https://youtu.be/PzEKlIvYTso
Does Vermont have mail in voting like “The People’s Republic Of what was Oregon ” ? Just beginning to wonder after the obvious steal in AZ, AND the tardiness of the totals in CA.
from the ’50s onwards, I always thought there was something in the water in Vermont that unfortunately flowed (up/down?hill) into New Hampshire; probably even further north
“Anyone would think that the US and Iran are at war.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/17/donald-trump-iran-will-be-held-responsible-for-houthi-attacks
It’s coming.
The Shock and Awe phase into Bagdad 22 years ago during OIF I should have been just the start. On the ground there were rumblings of us not stopping until we hit Tehran. Maybe we should have kept going.?
We could have re-armed Saddam’s Army, which hated Iran and sent them in as the point of the spear. It’s what Gen. Patton wanted to do with defeated German troops against the Soviet Russians.
Tip of the spear, cannon fodder, meat waves whatever you want to call them, “Patton was right”. We could’ve and should have done it while we had the chance! Could have avoided this war terror machine and everyone would have still gotten rich w/o a quarter century of Tom fuckery and misery!
Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses
Evil minds that plot destruction
Sorcerer of death’s construction
In the fields, the bodies burning
As the war machine keeps turning
Death and hatred to mankind
Poisoning their brainwashed minds
Oh lord, yeah!
Politicians hide themselves away
They only started the war
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor, yeah
Time will tell on their power minds
Making war just for fun
Treating people just like pawns in chess
Wait till their judgement day comes, yeah!
Now in darkness, world stops turning
Ashes where their bodies burning
No more war pigs have the power
Hand of God has struck the hour
Day of judgement, God is calling
On their knees, the war pigs crawling
Begging mercy for their sins
Satan laughing, spreads his wings
Oh lord, yeah!
Songwriters: Ozzy Osbourne / Terence Michael Butler / William T. Ward / F. Frank Iommi
is that Black Sabbath’s War Pigs?
Sounded familiar.
Patton was right about a number of things.
The Home Front had no stomach for more war.
It was politically untenable.
I meant WW2.
Houthis, Hamas, Hezbollah, et al
Time to cut the head off the snake. For sure, Israel knows how.
I’m not privy to the war plans of nations but we all know the funding mechanisms that are in place to fund Islamic terrorism. Some of it came through USGOV to USAID. Some of it came from Saudi Arabia. Much of it came through Iran. We can perform decapitation strike after strike but we need to address the money flow.
I think Musk wants materially smaller government, but Trump doesn’t care to change anything except to have less war. Vance, however, continuing the history of VP as head neocon, wants war with (whose turn is it?) Iran.
.
How many months until the Musk-Trump falling out duplicating the Bannon-Trump falling out over real reform vs. make-believe? We’ve already heard ‘why do you want to sign a spending bill containing a bunch of waste I just identified?’
From a functional point of view the balance between government employees and taxpayers/businesses who support them financially are out of balance. The financial relationships between the US and other nations are also out of balance. The US also protects industries (see sugar). The question of balance between domestic protectionism and open export markets is a delicate one for all nations. The taxation rate vs the deficit is another political balance for the US in particular.
.
I expect to see the US (or Israel or both) eliminating Iran’s capacity to refine uranium sooner than later. Given that Iran has vowed to use nuclear weapons as a first-use option against Israel and potentially the USA, and given the attacks by Iran through proxies against US vessels in the Red Sea a case can be made.
BREAKING NEWS: “A Chicago Federal District Judge Orders Astronauts Back to the ISS because Musk and Trump violated due process and ignored historic government protocols.” (h/t my older – yet wiser – brother)
***
Kidding of course, but never know with these activist judges who believe they are more powerful than the Executive Branch and are therefore afforded the ability to dictate to The President anything they conjure up in their deranged brains.
Looking forward to reading the next short stories! And yes, we ‘could’ have gone to Baghdad in 91, except that Kennedy and Gephardt cut off funds for fuel and food… damn them… If VP-46 hadn’t shot that highway of death photo, I think we’d have gone on to finish Iraq then, and yes, turned loose the Republican Guards on Iran.