Season’s Sensibilities

 

Bullet Points

** Just when you think there’s no hope, remember the lobsters in the tank at the Titanic’s restaurant.

** “Juicy” (yes, I know it became a brand), the word is worn by many women on their clothing. It’s also used by homosexuals in the USA (who can forget “Juicy Smolette” of Chicago fame?). The same is true of “Pink“, as with juicy, which is often displayed on the ass of women’s clothing.  Sometimes it may be an accurate adjective, but all too often, I believe it is false advertising. I’ve pointed this out to women in public before when I was in one of those moods. Their reactions varied.

** JTF-SB, in partnership with CBP and the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), is conducting the most extensive emplacement of C-wire in U.S. history. In just a few months, 43,000 rolls of C-wire have been delivered and strategically placed across the southern border to secure our border further, deter illegal entries, and protect American communities.

** US President Donald Trump has argued that the principle of birthright citizenship was introduced to protect the children of enslaved people, and not, as he claimed, for “wealthy foreigners” traveling to the country to give birth.

** Letters of Marque and Reprisal – Dec 12, 2025 (Bloomberg) –Two so-called ghost oil ships are currently loading off the coast of Venezuela, highlighting the challenges the Trump administration faces trying to disrupt exports of the South American country’s primary source of revenue. The supertankers, the largest class of vessels used to move crude, are loading at the Venezuelan government-controlled port of Jose, according to a shipping report seen by Bloomberg. This month, up to Friday, Venezuela has loaded almost 880,000 barrels a day of crude oil, according to preliminary data from shipping reports and vessel movements tracked by Bloomberg. That’s up from an average of 586,000 barrels a day in November.  If they sail, I expect the US Coast Guard will seize them on the high seas with assistance from the USN.

** VDH weighs in on Europe.

** The Ukrainian Navy sank a Russian Kilo II-class (636.3 ‘Varshavyanka) submarine in port yesterday using a “naval drone” – is that code word for torpedo?

In 2010, construction began on the first of six new submarines ordered for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. This batch of 636.3 submarines was delivered between 2014 and 2016. Improved Kilo II submarines measure 242 feet long with a 32.5-foot beam and 20-foot draft. They are powered by two diesel generators with a single seven-bladed fixed-pitch propeller. This provides a top speed of 17 knots surfaced or 20 knots submerged. The submarines have a 45-day endurance and operate with a crew of 52. Maximum diving depth has been widely reported as 984 feet. All Kilo-class submarines are fitted with six 21-inch bow torpedo tubes that can launch torpedoes or naval mines. Only four Kalibr missiles can reportedly be included as part of the Kilo armament mix. Russian Black Sea Fleet 636.3 submarines have made extensive use of the Kalibr missile to attack Ukraine.

Russia had six Kilo II-class subs (B-265 Krasnodar, B-268 Novorossiysk, B-271 Kolpino, B-237 Rostov, B-261 Novorossiysk, B-262 Rostov-on-Don) assigned to the Black Sea Fleet. The names can vary in reports. Rostov-on-Don was damaged by a drone previously. I don’t know which one of the five remaining in service was destroyed yesterday. This will reduce the deployable sumarines to one or two at a time because of ongoing maintenance problems. Tough luck, Ivan.

** For the first time since World War II, a combat-ready German brigade is being permanently deployed abroad, to Lithuania, a country once brutally occupied by the Nazis. It’s interesting to see the faint whisperings of a German revival to the threat posed by an ambitious Russia. They’re even discussing conscription to fill the ranks.

** Prominent Chinese Communist (termite) Wang Yi used a trip to Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE this week to lobby the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to conclude the talks as a “strong signal defending multilateralism.” China is keen to deepen economic, trade, and investment ties with the GCC, Wang said. The GCC is negotiating several other trade deals, including ones with the EU and the UK. Still, an agreement with China presents some thorny issues: There is a huge trade surplus in the GCC’s favor, and regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and the UAE are both developing manufacturing bases that will increasingly pit their domestic industries against Chinese competitors. The Chinese official’s visit comes a month after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with US President Donald Trump in Washington, in a sign of how the kingdom is increasingly positioning itself as an ally of both countries, even as China-US relations become increasingly adversarial. Nobody really wants what Communist China is selling anymore. – Bye, Wang.

** I’ve heard that it’s so cold in Massachusetts that Sen. Warren (D-MA) is pretending to be an Eskimo.

** Governor Newsom (D-CA) posted a video of his comments, along with a snipe at Musk, apparently comparing his relationship with his trans-identifying godson to Musk’s with his son. Musk replied, ‘I assume you’re referring to my son, Xavier, who has a tragic mental illness caused by the evil woke mind virus you push.’

 

 

Cause and Effect?

I’ve held off on discussing the mass murder that took place in Sidney, Australia, recently. RCC kept me updated on events (Thanks, RCC) via e-mail. The disarmed society was slaughtered, and once again, there will be a hue and cry over firearms being the problem rather than the shitheads that used them as instruments of murder. I was waiting to see how the murders would be handled in the press and how the public would react to these members of the Religion of Peace engaging in mass murder.

(Mail) Pig heads have been thrown onto Muslim graves at a western Sydney cemetery in a disturbing act of retribution following the Bondi Beach terror attack.

So far, 16 people have died, including gunman Sajid Akram, while a further 42 people, including four children, were taken to hospital. Police confirmed 14 people died at the scene, with two others dying overnight in the hospital. Victims ranged in age from 10 to 87 years old.

Fast Fact: Australia deported Novak Djokovic, the world’s top-ranked player, for failing to meet vaccination requirements, but allowed Naveed Akram & his dad to stay in the country unchecked. Under PM Anthony Albanese’s administration, over a million immigrants have entered Australia since 2022, many without vetting, fueling concerns about radicalization and violence.

While superstar Djokovic, who arrived to play in the Australian Open armed with a medical exemption, was booted from the country for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, even though he had a recent test and contributed millions to the economy. Djokovic was handcuffed and exiled due to ‘greater safety concerns.’ However, the Bondi Beach gunmen slipped through the system unchecked.

One observer said Australia uses deportation powers immediately against the unvaccinated but hesitates against those who pose genuine threats. The attack happened at a celebration hosted by the Chabad of Bondi, marking the first night of Hanukkah. New South Wales police confirmed the incident was a targeted terrorist assault on the Jewish community, with one gunman killed in a shootout and a second in critical condition after arrest.

Muslim leaders in Australia have asserted that “Muslims don’t do this sort of thing.” Unfortunately, the Religion of Peace has an unambiguous track record in this regard. One question hangs in the air (and it hangs in the air in the USA and UK as well). Why does a civil society allow the immigration of savage people such as this into its midst? It’s not “racist” or “Islamophobic” or “homophobic” or any other tagline to ask the question. Europe struggles with this daily – how do we reverse the curse?

Australia, I thought you passed the strictest gun control laws in Western Civilization, so nothing like this could happen?!? It’s almost like criminals don’t follow laws!  Throw in some culturally enriching death cult worshipping psychopaths, and you have the perfect storm of Orwellian overreach and government incompetence. You owe your taxpayers a refund.

 

Two Crossed Axes and a Flaming Grenade

The origin of the “axe racks” of the companies of “grenadiers”, ancestors of pioneers, dates back to the 18th century. Their creation, in 1747, resumed a practice that had existed in the Prussian army among the “carpenter soldiers”. Fighting closest to the enemy, grenadiers were considered elite soldiers, which granted them privileges such as wearing specific insignia (hence the grenade’s origin) and a mustache.

Under the Consulate and the Empire, the “sappers” are ostensibly distinguished by wearing the beard and moustache, the axe, gloves, and already the leather apron (called pontoonnier apron), as well as the famous fur cap (or “cubs” hats) of the grenadiers.

The custom of wearing a moustache and beard was formalized and made mandatory for the Foreign Legion in 1844.

Saper detachments in the regiments were abolished after the Second Empire, but the Legion preserved the traditions. Companies of “pioneers” were created in 1920. Made up of specialists, they were destined to participate in the realization of major works (roads, tunnels… ) as part of the pacification of Morocco. In Morocco in 1928, the sapper company of the 3rd Foreign Legion Regiment created a tunnel from Foum Zabbel (the “Legionary Tunnel”) and opened the road to the Ziz. For weeks and months, the men relayed to force granite, to the pick and to the bar at mine…

At the entrance of the tunnel, a plaque greeted their achievement, bearing this inscription: “The mountain was blocking our way. The order was given anyway. The energy of their muscles And their unquenchable will was their only means.

On April 30, 1931, a section of “pioneers” of the 3rd R.E.I. opened the parade during ceremonies organized in Sidi-Bel-Abbès on the occasion of the centenary of the creation of the Foreign Legion. It was the consecration of a tradition that has endured to this day. When the Foreign Legion was created in 1831, sapper detachments were on the order of battle for each battalion. They were in the same uniform as the rest of the troop, but they wore the Sapeurs badge on their sleeve (two axes crossed by a grenade).

 

US National Deficit – at a Five-Year Low

(Epoch) President Donald Trump’s tariffs helped shrink the U.S. trade deficit to its lowest monthly level in more than five years, according to new data released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis on Dec. 11. The U.S. goods and services trade deficit narrowed by 10.9 percent in September to $52.8 billion—the lowest monthly deficit since June 2020—down from $59.3 billion registered in August. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a September trade deficit of $63.3 billion.

 

Tactical Reprise

Detail from the painting “Sword of Virginia”. At the time, I just happened to have a Napoleonic French Cuirassier sword that Colonel Skinner carried, and I was able to pose the model with it. https://artofdontroiani.com/

BATTLE of 2nd MANASSAS

AUGUST 30, 1862

By the time the Civil War engulfed Virginia, Frederick Gustavus Skinner had seen much of the world and won renown for his exploits as a sportsman. He was born in Annapolis in 1814 but spent some of his youth in Egypt and attended school in France as the ward of his father’s friend and every American’s favorite Frenchman, the Marquis de Lafayette. Frederick’s father established the field of sporting journalism in North America by founding the American Turf Register and similar publications. The younger Skinner reveled in fox hunting and horse breeding. After the Civil War, he wrote extensively for a broad audience on those topics.

When Virginia seceded, Skinner received a commission as a major in the 1st Virginia Infantry, a regiment composed chiefly of young Richmonders. He had passed his 47th birthday just a few weeks before, but still boasted a powerful physique and tremendous stamina. Skinner “attracted swift attention” wherever he went, a contemporary noted, because he was “immensely tall, great-boned and of tremendous strength.”

The major’s bellicose temperament matched his appearance. The wife of Jefferson Davis’ private secretary called him “that picturesque old warrior and fire-eater.”

Soldiers in the ranks of the 1st Virginia admired Skinner, “Old Fred” as they called him with youthful nonchalance, “our good-natured old colonel.” Later in 1861, Skinner advanced to lieutenant colonel of the regiment. His men liked the colonel’s eccentricities and colorful style. One wrote that he “chewed tobacco like a sailor.”

Frederick Skinner’s war ended in a dramatic moment at the climax of a great Southern victory. On the afternoon of August 30, 1862, as triumphant Confederates pushed Yankees off the Second Manassas battlefield, the 1st Virginia ran into a determined stand by Federals on Chinn Ridge. Guns of the 5th Maine Battery poured fire into the attackers’ faces.

As he thundered toward the roaring cannons, Colonel Skinner brandished his tremendous sword, a French Cuirassier saber he had brought home from Europe as a youth. The massive straight blade measured 38 inches long and bore an engraved maker’s imprint of August 1814. “In his cups,” a Confederate staff officer wrote, “the fine old Colonel would swear he should die happy could he have one chance to use that steel on the enemy.” That chance loomed large at Manassas.

Skinner’s mount, “Old Fox,” a sorrel famed for prowess as a hunter, galloped well ahead of the infantrymen racing to keep up with their leader—”40 or 50 yds.” in advance, an eyewitness wrote.

The advance by cheering veterans of the 1st Virginia Infantry generated so much momentum that it surely would have surged over the Federal gun positions in any event, but circumstances also aided the attackers. The horses and limbers of the Maine battery had headed for safety in the rear soon after dropping the gun trails. That left the artillerists manning the pieces with relatively few rounds readily available.

After a final volley of canister into the faces of the rapidly approaching Virginians, most of the Northern gunners fled. Skinner rode into the midst of the handful of brave men striving to reload. As one of them endeavored to yank the lanyard, Skinner raised in his stirrup and sabered the gunner with a mighty thrust. A Yankee pistol bullet tore through the colonel’s ear and wounded him in the arm and in his chest, shattered three ribs, and hurt him desperately. In falling, the stricken enemy soldier dragged Skinner off his horse: “the weight of his body,” Skinner recalled, “drew my sword out and I fell off my horse almost upon him.” The Maine battery reported 16 casualties at the hands of the 1st Virginia and its sword-wielding leader.

The dire wounds he suffered on the plains of Manassas prostrated Frederick Skinner for long months and kept him out of Confederate service for the rest of the war. Despite his maimed condition, Skinner received promotion to full colonel in July 1863. He eventually retired formally to the Invalid Corps early in 1865, and survived until the spring of 1894, nearly 32 years after his dramatic mounted charge at Manassas.

 

The Angevin Empire

The Angevin Empire was the collection of lands ruled by the House of Plantagenet during the 12th and early 13th centuries.

It was established in 1154 by Henry II, who, through inheritance and his strategic marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine, came to control a massive domain stretching from the Scottish border to the Pyrenees, covering all of England and approximately half of France, including Normandy, Anjou, and Aquitaine. Despite its name, a modern term, as contemporaries had no single name for it, it was not a unified state but a loose feudal assemblage often centered on its continental possessions rather than England. The French Capetian kings constantly challenged the Empire’s power, and it largely collapsed under Henry’s youngest son, King John, who lost Normandy, Anjou, and most of the French lands to Philip II of France by 1204, thereby forcing the Plantagenets to focus definitively on England.

 

UK Royal Fleet Auxiliary – Poster Child for Bad Management

The British Royal Auxiliary Fleet is considering ANOTHER strike. They received a pay package in January 2025, but they want more.  They joined a union because pay stagnation led to significant real-terms pay cuts (around 30-36%), poor working conditions, staffing shortages, and a lack of competitiveness with commercial maritime rates, prompting strikes by RMT (enlisted) and Nautilus (commissioned) unions for better pay, conditions, and retention solutions, ultimately leading to a new deal in early 2025. 

A military fleet (and auxiliaries) should not be subject to the conditions demanded by a labor union. I’m not anti-union, but military units need to respond to military needs without regard to labor contracts. They need to be paid adequately to compete with civilian jobs. Maybe pay them 10% more than their union cousins receive as a matter of goodwill.

I don’t blame the Royal Fleet Auxiliary members for being unhappy. Since they are unionized, they can strike. But there shouldn’t be a union arguing about maternity leave.

The Royal Navy is circling the drain, and we all know it. The British Army is in no better shape, but the national priority is the National Health Service (also broken) and providing a guaranteed income to all (the welfare state). The UK faces severe capability gaps (personnel, ammo), costly legacy projects (nuclear subs), and economic pressures (inflation, debt), making significant sustained increases difficult, despite current government commitments to reach 2.5-3% of GDP by 2027/2030.

 

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Identify the Aircraft

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No ID necessary

(USN Photo) Ha-101-class transport submarines Ha-105, Ha-106 and Ha-109, 1945. ‍370 tonnes. The official designation of this submarine was Sen’yu-type submarine. They are tied up alongside the Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier Ibuki at Sasebo, Japan, in 1945.

 

Parting Shot

 

 

End