Welcome to the Middle of the Long Weekend: Someone asked me what I’m doing these days. My only answer was “arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.”
I hope that you have a big, beautiful weekend.
Ovism – it’s your word of the day, and it’s the basis of the Sunday Sermonette. The Sunday Sermonette question is “Where do babies come from?” Yes, if you are an adult and are not mentally ill or cognitively impaired, the question may sound disarmingly simple. If you’re woke, you might scratch your head without a clue. Even US Supreme Court Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, an American African lady who has delivered and raised two daughters, said in her confirmation hearing that she had no idea what a woman was. I take her at her word. I’m sure she’s a splendid jurist despite her low IQ.
The link above discusses Ovism and Ovists – terms I was blissfully unaware of while researching the blog – but no more. Not-Any-More! Follow the link and learn for yourself.
In the Philippines
The Philippines is acquiring Coast Guard boats to counter the Chinese Coast Guard. (h/t Claudio) (more here). They’ve had their share of run-ins with the People’s Armed Police naval unit – China Coast Guard. The People’s Armed Police is a branch of the People’s Liberation Army, and it’s different than the People’s Liberation Army’s Navy – but their ships are warships, not boats. And they have a LOT of them. They are aggressive, and their crews have a lot of time at sea.
That means the only way to counter the China Coast Guard (CCG) is with warships capable of blue water operations that are more capable and can be built into task forces in greater numbers than China is putting in the water. That’s it. The Chinese respect strength, and despite their best efforts, they usually walk over the Filipino Navy’s resistance.
The Chinese will fish where they want to and destroy what they want, and the only thing that will back them off is a superior force and a willingness to use it. The CCG and its tactics are one reason that the P.I. rejected the Chinese and recently sided with the United States.
Mining News
Lithium is a foundational input in both the present and future of military and civilian technology. Ensuring secure access is a strategic priority for U.S. national security. However, there is a flip side. It leaks into food and water supplies, and they are going to find out why. Lithium has some valuable properties, but it is harmful if not handled correctly.
(Financial Times) ExxonMobil, Occidental Petroleum, and Equinor are among a dozen companies seeking to drill for lithium brines in Arkansas and neighboring states. They are piloting direct lithium extraction (DLE). Advocates say this emerging technology could support a multibillion-dollar industry in the US and loosen China’s current stranglehold over lithium-ion battery supply chains.
DLE could do for the US lithium industry and economy what fracking did for the US oil industry almost 20 years ago,” says Andy Robinson, a geoscientist and co-founder of Standard Lithium, which is seeking to develop a $1.5 billion project near El Dorado in partnership with Norwegian energy group Equinor. Proponents say DLE offers a faster and less environmentally damaging alternative to existing extraction methods.
Oil companies, which have extensive skills in drilling, pumping, and processing fluids, consider it a helpful way to diversify their businesses. “We can build an industry that provides good, well-paying jobs for decades and secures America’s supply of a key battery metal,” adds Robinson. The nascent industry has attracted powerful backers, including President Donald Trump, who is prioritizing critical minerals production at home and abroad. Last month, his administration selected Standard’s demonstration lithium plant as one of 10 critical minerals projects to benefit from a new fast-tracked permitting process. The venture had already secured a $225 million grant from the previous administration.
Upsize – Downsize
Senator John Kennedy dismantled the entire Democrat narrative with a few simple questions to RFK Jr.:
Bullet Points:
** The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which included Section 2 of the Hearing Protection Act, completely removing suppressors from the National Firearms Act (NFA). This effectively deregulates them. This means suppressors, also known as silencers, will no longer be subject to the NFA’s strict regulations, including needing a $200 tax stamp and registration. Instead, they will be treated as firearms and require a National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) background check at the point of sale. It will have the impact of bringing the price of suppressors down. This would impact me if I owned a silencer or a suppressor; since I don’t, it has no impact on me.
** Flying with MRSBRM (rotorhead) – If it’s an Alaska landing, you know…yeah, MRSBRM again.
** Nuclear Energy Update – Nuclear energy stocks surged on Friday following reports that President Trump signed an executive order to boost the nuclear industry. These orders are expected to invoke the Defense Production Act, declaring a national emergency over U.S. reliance on Russia and China for enriched uranium and nuclear fuel processing. They will also direct the Departments of Energy and Defense to accelerate reactor construction, streamline permitting, and identify federal land for new nuclear facilities.
President Trump is using the energy crisis to circumvent the courts. This opens up mining in the western states, something the courts and environmentalists have blocked for decades. Nothing will open up more rare earths than the energy crisis, and the courts can do nothing about it. This is a brilliant move after Barack and Hillary sold out the nation in the Uranium 1 deal to Russia (genuine Russian collusion). This will all be done with private capital, lower energy prices, and boost the economy.
** Hiring a geology expert for blasting excavation when mining makes sense – or you can employ your mentally challenged brother-in-law.
** Soul brother goes to school. FAFO.
In The Swamp
Catherine Hereidge (@C_Herridge): “NEW: Biden Administration Labeled Opponents Of Covid Mandates As “Domestic Violent Extremists,” Newly Released Documents Show — The designation infringed on the First Amendment and opened the door to investigating Americans for vaccine mandate skepticism. The Biden Administration labeled Americans who opposed the COVID-19 vaccination and mask mandates as “Domestic Violent Extremists,” or DVEs, according to newly declassified intelligence records obtained by Public @shellenberger @galexybrane and Catherine Herridge Reports.
The designation created an “articulable purpose” for FBI or other government agents to open an “assessment” of individuals, which is often the first step toward a formal investigation, said a former FBI agent.
The report, which the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, has declassified, claims that “anti-government or anti-authority violent extremists,” specifically militias, “characterize COVID-19 vaccination and mask mandates as evidence of government overreach.” A sweeping range of COVID narratives, the report states, “have resonated” with DVEs “motivated by QAnon.”
The FBI, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) coauthored the December 13, 2021 intelligence product titled “DVEs and Foreign Analogues May React Violently to COVID-19 Mitigation Mandates.” The report cites mandate criticism as “prominent narratives” related to violent extremism. These narratives include the belief that COVID-19 vaccines are unsafe, especially for children, are part of a government or global conspiracy to deprive individuals of their civil liberties and livelihoods, or are designed to start a new social or political order.
“It’s a way they could go to social media companies and say, ‘You don’t want to propagate domestic terrorism, so you should take down this content,’” said former FBI agent Steve Friend.”
Back and Forth
My friend JohnD, who lives near Oslo, Norway, and who reads this blog at times, and I went back and forth a little on Facebook about the European options in Ukraine. It’s a very sticky situation that does not have a clean resolution. This is what he wrote.
Putin has recently claimed that the Soviet Union was never legally dissolved, implying that the conflict in Ukraine is technically not a war. This narrative could provide Russia a legal and ideological framework to reframe its actions and mobilize state resources differently. By casting the invasion as a continuation of internal Soviet affairs, the Kremlin may argue that it is merely conducting a domestic stabilization effort rather than engaging in international aggression.
In this light, the so-called “special military operation” is likely to be portrayed as a kind of police action, aimed at suppressing alleged local extremists or “Nazis” who threaten the integrity of what Putin views as the historical Soviet space. This narrative attempts to legitimize Russian actions and evokes Soviet-era rhetoric that appeals to specific domestic and regional audiences.
It seems likely that Putin’s strategic creativity will continue to evolve, potentially allowing him to justify broader military engagement, including the use of regular Russian armed forces, under the guise of defending a unified post-Soviet homeland.
Meanwhile, most European countries appear reluctant to take bold steps to support Ukraine. Fear of escalation, internal political divisions, and economic vulnerability constrain their responses.
With President Trump back in office, the United States is shifting its strategic focus toward China and the mounting tensions in the South China Sea. This redirection of attention and resources means Europe may find itself increasingly on its own when confronting Russian aggression, placing greater pressure on European leaders to strengthen their defense capabilities and take more decisive geopolitical action.
A Few Thoughts: Europe is making noise about re-arming, which means that Germany is talking about raising a grand army. Ethnic Germans have very little enthusiasm (as a broad group) for military service, particularly service where they could end up in a kinetic conflict with Russia – a dirty war. Europe has the option of conscription to save Ukraine and face the Red Horde. I think that would not be popular, and in democracies, popularity is essential. Europe has the population to fight Russia to the last Russian, but at what cost?
As JohnD points out, America’s concern is the People’s Republic of China, which has been waging war on the USA (war by other means) for a generation. Can the US face down the Chinese Horde? It remains to be seen. Expelling Communist Chinese students from the USA isn’t a bad move, nor is prohibiting their funding of US Universities to co-opt them. There are other moves to be made as the US attacks the drug trade that targets America’s youth and originates in Red China. Let Europe deal with Europe while the US deals with the Communist shadow in Asia.
***
Identify the Ship and Class
1
2
3
It’s a modern multi-role ship, not a US knock-off like the Chinese Navy ships. How it would perform in a shooting environment remains to be seen.
4
Parting Shot
End
Identify the Ship and Class:
1. Russian Neustrashimy-class frigate Neustrashimy
2. Russian Admiral Grigorovich class frigate Admiral Essen
3. Russian Admiral Gorshkov class frigate Admiral Flota Kasatonov
4. Russian Nanuchka-class corvette Geyzer
Well done as usual, Surly.
I was pleased to see suppressors included in the bill. I always found their inclusion in the NFA to be senseless. Subjecting it to NICS is an improvement though I don’t see a need for that. I already see a number of them on the firing line at the range. Hopefully I’ll soon see more. Next up, lets free SBRs from NFA.
X2
I was informed that you still need to apply for a suppressor permit but that you do not need to pay the $200. A reconciliation bill only affects budgetary items.
As far as I know, in AZ, only the Federal check is more or less routine these days—$20 or something like that. They treat the suppressor like a firearm. If I were a machinist, I might go into that business. There isn’t much to a suppressor.
The definition of ‘arms’ in the 18th century when the 2nd Amendment was written meant ‘all weapons, all weapon accessories, all weapon carriers (carriages and ships and stuff) and also the means to make and maintain them (what was found in an armory or an arsenal.)
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Thus any control over any weapon, weapon accessory, weapon carriers and the means to make all of that is in clear violation of the 2nd Amendment. All.
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Brass knuckles and switchblades have always been ‘weapons of war.’ So are ‘short barreled rifles’ and short barreled muskets (and, thus also short barreled shotguns, because what else is a shotgun but a smoothbore gun.)’
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The NFA was supposed to exclude ‘weapons of war’ from its control. So, basically, any weapon or weapon accessory, used in warfare should not ever have been controlled. Like short barreled rifles, shotguns, pistols with shoulder stocks, pistols that convert to rifles and rifles that convert to pistols and all machine guns including smgs and all pistols. Because when the NFA was passed all of the above were commonly used in militaries of the times.
Don’t need no stinking geology expert for blasting a septic tank in Spur, Texas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzabmVIU6EQ
Uncle Jimmy’s dynamite adventure—there’s a lesson in this. Don’t hand six sticks of dynamite and blasting caps to a moron who wants to demo his (full)- out house. It’s classic. Thanks for sharing, Cletus. I checked. The population of Spur is declining. The population was 863 at the 2020 census, down from 1,318 at the 2010 census.
That guy will live forever on YouTube.
Another reason the PI went against China is Marco’s is in the Leadership role.
There are many things his Family did wrong ,However their Support of America is Very High.
And the People there are Great Folk, and very Staunch Allies.
For a while it looked as if they’d go full PRC. They changed their minds. Smart.
“motivated by QAnon.”
I read about QAnon on different blogs.Tthe things QAnon was saying were just odd and none of them were anything as it turned out (that I could see).
I figured that QAnon was a construct of the left to keep the other folks occupied and out of the way.
QAnon and the Proud Boys…
I wear “Domestic Violent Extremists” as a badge of honor!
As an FFL-SOT, I expect prices on silencers to rise due to the initial demand. The manufacturers are going to have to ramp up production to meet the demand by new customers.
People will also be able to make their own personal silencer without having to submit the Form 1.
** “MRSBRM again.”
does not appear to have been a carrier pilot
** and it’s not just Norway
I’m not certain if the proper word is invasion or infestation
No. It’s an invasion. Because anywhere they put a mosque is considered part of the land of islam, forever. You can remove the mosque, ship the people away and islamics will still consider that land to be part of islam, forever and ever.
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And, yes, this means islamics still think, today, that Spain is still part of the land of islam, the Dar al Islam.
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Can you imagine how they’d howl if Christians said anywhere there was a Christian church or holy site was still part of the Land of Christianity? Which, of course, is the real reason for the Crusades, to take back lands that the islamists took from Christians.
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Basically, what I’m trying to say is, no matter what we western Europeans and Americans do, THEY will always consider anywhere they occupy as part of islam. We live in the land of war, Dar al Harb, which exists only to be forcibly subjugated and brought into the land of islam.
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I tell ‘normal’ people this and they look at me like I’m crazy. But I’m not.
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And, yes, we need to get rid of the pests.
Domestic Violence Extremists
Both the woman I married in 1969 and I were on the FBI’s shit list. She was once hired as a reader for a government employed blind woman as a temporary. Her supervisor, when she was denied full employment, told her our combined FBI file was 2″ thick.
My question, to myself, was I automatically added to the revised list, or did I need to re-earn the distinction? I was publicly opposed to COVID shots, never had one, and wore the damned face diaper under my chin.
“Sir, you need to wear a mask”.
“Yes, I am wearing a mask”.
Then the trouble started.
My brother…
It’s being reported that El Perris has left the stage. Wonder if the reward money was high enough for someone to snitch him out?
Did he miss a payment to the federales?
a thought about “Back and Forth”
my mother’s family (3 sisters and 5 brothers extant in this country when I was a kid), who departed Europe in 1917, always considered themselves “Russian” even though they came from a shtetl 25 miles south of Zhytomyr and 93 miles SW of Kyiv.
what do the Euruns (or WEF/whatever) have against an amalgamated Russia (or an amalgamated U.S.A. for that matter) or do they just want it and its mineral wealth under their control?
My family is from Kiev, Poland.
did they speak Polish, Ukranian, Russian. or some other Slavic language (or a combination)?
(English a given) my mother’s family spoke, in addition to the three above, spoke the Russian/Ukranian idiom of Yiddish:
they could read Hebrew (recognize the written word and pronounce it, but never spoke it; it was a sacred language never to be used for anything but prayer at that time, though the Zionists in Russia were just beginning to use it as a spoken language)
Dad used to say on his side we were Polish, Hungarian, German, and Czech…but also…maybe Russian…because he’d say, “They never knew where the borders were back then.”…then raise his glass and say “Nostrovia”. Mom would roll her eyes, and he would then give us that ‘dad laugh’.
They spoke Polish. 1920 census lists him from Poland.
Re the Chinese CG… We had a few ‘interactions’ with them back in the day. They were forcing themselves into our ‘test’ area until our DDG showed up and they backed off with a quickness.
A few questions to set the record straight:
Dems: “You’re cutting Medicare to those that need it!”
RFKjr: “No Senator, only the fraud and waste by people gaming the system.”
Dems: “How dare you cut Medicare!”
Kudo’s to Senator Kennedy for driving this home, this thing that The Dems hate the facts and figures from one they are trying to discredit. Excellent interchange…won’t change any mind already indoctrinated to believe the opposite, like they drank some mind flip elixir.
***
Parting Shot: Yet another prime example of “Doers” versus “Processors”…government is loaded with processors, when something like the Afghan withdrawal occurs they blame someone else for their galactic blunder (and the deaths that ensued).
“Where do babies come from?”
Is that woman daft?
A cursory reading of the Bible and the story of Onan shows an understanding of the root cause.
Normal people and especially livestock farmers understood quite well.
*
Philosophers and the like, hanging around colleges and royal courts
and stuff, had much better things to do than become acquainted
with common sense.
– Kle.
** Flying with MRSBRM (rotorhead) Awareness.
I was in the boondocks in South Carolina during a major blizzard doing relief work with Deuce and a Halfs.
We had driven all night, 10 hours for 20 miles to support the local CD and were up all day driving.
We were told trucks couldn’t get in behind us to relieve us and drivers would be choppered in on Marine One which happened to be at our base.
I had a local guy with a tractor and blade clear a stretch of street for a landing pad.
The pilot landed in a field adjacent and everyone trudged through the snow.
I asked the pilot why and he pointed to the power lines.
But I got to fly out on Marine One.
Fancy!
That mind-exercise of Putin’s, that the USSR was never formally disbanded, is quite frightening. That means, if we follow his logic to the conclusion, means that he will be marching on Poland and what was East Germany, all the ‘stans’ that once were parts of the USSR and, well, all of Eastern Europe.
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So, yes, the Uke government has been, is and probably always will be corrupt as heck, and their current leader is a thief only second to the Biden crime family, but Ukraine is on the side of good (overall.)
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Putin should never have made that statement. Because he now has formally declared war on all of the former USSR’s lands that are now independent. And Finland should be and rightly is freaking out over Putin’s Russia.
As to the Philippine Coast Guard, ain’t no good to have fancy boats unless they’re armed with cannon and missiles. Because West Taiwan’s Coast Guard is, naturally, just an offshoot of their navy and are armed with guns and missiles.
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They, the Philippines, need armed ships and armed planes. Not fast non-armed ships.
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Which makes me wonder, are the new cutters being built with the intent of being armed once they get to the Philippines? Will decks be reinforced and power conduits be run in preparation for said arming? (This was a trick often used, back in the day, to provide ships and planes for ‘peaceful’ purposes to nations that wanted or needed weapons of war but were not ‘allowed’ to have armed ships or planes.)
Okay, the FOD rising to meet you? Thank you, they hadn’t covered that in helicopter ground yet. Now I have yet one more nightma… I mean, one more thing to ask about when we hit the emergency procedures (I checked, and tarps or the PSP rising to meet you is *not* in the emergency procedures we’ll cover. I’ll check the POH later…)
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Landing on ice… is not that different from landing on wet concrete, except the depth perception gets interesting, and you want to stay the heck away from the snowberms, as they can resemble frangible concrete at speed. …At taxi speed, much less stall speed.
A helo pilot I knew said that’s why they hover before landing. Blows all the trash and stuff out of the way. Supposedly. Of course, he was a tad weird, being a helo pilot in ‘Nam. Had his helo shot out by a crossbow firing bamboo bolts. He crashed and he and the troops got the crossbow team. Friggin heavy teak bow, took two people to cock it, one with feet on the bow pulling the bowstring to the cocking position, the other with his feet on the string pulling on the bow. Could have been hookum and humbug, but…