Your Federal Retirement Thrift Fund
(h/t Claudio) Most retired federal workers assume that the thrift fund they contributed to is quietly compounding in safe, boring funds. A significant portion of your Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) — the $1 trillion federal retirement fund — beyond the top ten international holdings is hidden. To find out where your own money is traveling, file a FOIA request.
Even with China and Hong Kong formally excluded, federal retirement money still ends up supporting companies that advance Beijing’s strategic ambitions. Part of your portfolio indirectly backs a Thai hospital partnered with BGI — a genomics giant blacklisted by Washington for aiding China’s military and repression in Xinjiang. Other holdings prop up a major Chinese shipbuilder and banks that help Beijing expand across Southeast Asia.
The fund also holds stakes in companies still buying Russian energy or doing business with Russian financial institutions, even as the U.S. tries to choke off capital flows to Moscow. None of this is illegal — the TSP follows sanctions law, and the system hasn’t kept pace with today’s era of strategic competition. Complete transparency and more investor choice would let federal workers know exactly what geopolitical projects their savings might be fueling.
Letters of Marque and Reprisal
The U.S. seized a 20-year-old oil tanker called The Skipper off the coast of Venezuela yesterday, three sources familiar with the matter told CBS News, after months of heightened tensions between the Trump administration and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
The operation to seize the tanker began Wednesday morning, after the ship had just left port in Venezuela, according to a senior military official and a source familiar with the operation.
The mission was launched from the USS Gerald R. Ford, an aircraft carrier that has been in the area for weeks as part of a broader buildup of U.S. forces in the region, the sources told CBS News.
It involved two helicopters, special operations forces, 10 members of the U.S. Coast Guard, and 10 Marines, the sources said. The boarding team was composed of the Coast Guard’s Maritime Security and Response Team, an elite maritime interdiction unit based in Chesapeake, Virginia.
Attorney General Pam Bondi posted a 45-second video of the operation on X, showing armed personnel descending onto the vessel’s deck from a helicopter. She said the U.S. executed a seizure warrant on the ship, and that the tanker was “used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.”
While the U.S. government — particularly the Justice Department and Homeland Security Investigations — has seized sanctioned oil tankers before, conducting a fast-rope boarding from helicopters at sea is rare. However, the boarding team trains for it, U.S. officials said.
The operation was led by the Coast Guard, supported by Navy forces, the officials told CBS News. Any such operation would legally require the Coast Guard to be the lead agency because the authorities used for these seizures fall under Coast Guard jurisdiction.
The Skipper was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2022 for its alleged role in an oil smuggling network that helped fund the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group backed by Iran. The ship — then known as Adisa in 2022 — is among the vessels controlled by sanctioned Russian oil magnate Viktor Artemov, the Treasury said in a statement. At the time, the Treasury noted that Artemov transported Iranian oil using an expansive network of ships that were often registered in obscure ways to skirt U.S. restrictions on Iranian petroleum exports.
The Treasury’s 2022 sanctions announcement didn’t mention Venezuela. But oil networks involving both Iran and Venezuela have been reported for years, drawing pushback from the United States. The two countries are major petroleum producers with some of the world’s largest oil reserves, but heavy U.S. sanctions restrict trade.
The tanker is controlled by Nigeria-based management company Thomarose Global Ventures LTD and owned by a firm linked to Artemov, according to publicly available data.
The ship is 20 years old and was initially named The Toyo in 2005. At 333 meters (about 1,092 feet) in length, it was one of the largest tankers in the world at the time it was built. Bondi said the boat was sanctioned “due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations.”
“This seizure, conducted off the coast of Venezuela, was conducted safely and securely — and our investigation alongside the Department of Homeland Security to prevent the transport of sanctioned oil continues,” the attorney general said.
Venezuela’s government said in a statement that it “strongly denounces and repudiates what constitutes a shameless robbery and an act of international piracy.” (VM Comment – of course they do)
***
EdB is showing me what they’re making in Michigan to counter the Islamic Horde.
I guess they’ll only sell them to people who live in his zip code.
The Japanese Intelligence Structure
What should we make of the announcement that Japan intends to create a “National Intelligence Bureau” to operate alongside the “National Security Secretariat?” It’s an evolutionary measure that seeks to break down interagency intelligence stovepipes and improve the information being provided to the highest levels of government. The action was already signaled in the LDP-Nippon Ishin coalition agreement. While it will likely draw some scrutiny in domestic media from opposition criticism, the legislation will probably pass the Diet without too much fuss.
In 2013, then-PM Shinzo Abe passed legislation to create a “U.S.-style” National Security Council. At the same time, the Abe administration recognized that Japan needed to improve its intelligence & information protection (in part because it was so far behind the “Five Eyes” countries in policies & practices). This is where the Special Secrets Protection Act came in. This bill was intended to address the policy issues, but they had to create the underlying legal framework first. While they have been working through the policy issues, the Japanese government knows it needs to fix the practical problems.
The existing Cabinet Intelligence & Research Office is constrained in its authority and capacity. Created in 1986, CIRO has reported directly to the Prime Minister and is intended to aggregate key intelligence from relevant ministries & agencies. It’s been more of a supplementary office than a leading one.
The idea is to replicate the success they had with the National Security Council/Secretariat. Still, whereas the NSC/NSS handles Policy, the National Intelligence Council/Bureau will handle Intel & information sharing.
Working out the Details
(Telegraph) In a call with President Trump on November 21, Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro asked to keep $200 million of his private wealth (purloined funds), amnesty for his officials, and safe harbor in a friendly country as part of a deal with Donald Trump to step down and flee. Those familiar with the phone call between the two leaders told The Telegraph that the plan fell apart because Nicolás Maduro’s demands for a blanket amnesty for as many as 100 top officials.
During the 15-minute call, the two leaders also disagreed on how to set up a transitional government and on the location Mr. Maduro would flee to from Venezuela. Mr. Trump suggested Communist China or Russia, according to one source. At the same time, the Venezuelan president was intent on staying in the Western hemisphere, in a friendly country such as Cuba, where he could continue to influence events in the region.
Since the call on November 21, Mr. Trump has stepped up pressure on the hardline Venezuelan government.
The USA has put a $50 million bounty on Maduro’s head. VM Note: it wasn’t a dead-or-alive bounty (drat).
The Department of State and the Department of Justice are announcing a reward offer increase of up to $50 million under the Narcotics Rewards Program (NRP) for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Nicolás Maduro for violating U.S. narcotics laws. For over a decade, Maduro has been a leader of Cartel de los Soles, which is responsible for trafficking drugs into the United States. On July 25, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury designated Cartel de Los Soles as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).
Bullet Points:
** NSS 2025 – Continental Europe has been losing share of global GDP—down from 25 percent in 1990 to 14 percent today—partly owing to national and transnational regulations that undermine creativity and industriousness. But this economic decline is eclipsed by the real and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure. The larger issues facing Europe include activities of the European Union and other transnational bodies that undermine political liberty and sovereignty, migration policies that are transforming the continent and creating strife, censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition, cratering birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-confidence. Should present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less. As such, it is far from obvious whether certain European countries will have economies and militaries strong enough to remain reliable allies. Many of these nations are currently doubling down on their present path. We want Europe to stay European, regain its civilizational self-confidence, and abandon its failed focus on regulatory suffocation.
Europe in the 21st Century cannot continue to expect the USA to be its guard as it engages in vanity politics and institutional sloth
** Christmas in the UK is discussed.
** A discussion of arrowheads used in Medieval Europe (primarily on the longbow). Were they detachable? Nasty piece of work.
** The termites are mad at the Japanese.
** (NY POST) New York state has released nearly 7,000 known illegal migrant criminals without notifying ICE since President Trump took office — including killers, sexual predators, and a maniac booted from the US eight times who attacked an Ithaca cop with a machete, The Post has learned. The rap sheets behind the rogue’s gallery include 29 homicides, thousands of assaults, and hundreds of burglaries, robberies, drug offenses, weapons offenses, and sexual predatory offenses, the Department of Homeland Security revealed Monday. All of them were protected by state and local sanctuary laws that dramatically restrict how local authorities can communicate with ICE, DHS says.
** Jules Visits Austria and discovers a Krampus Crisis. (more here)
In Oregon
Despite having lower homicide rates than its peer states, Oregon is making national headlines. The concentration of violence and civil unrest in Portland has prompted controversial policy changes, and we wanted to get to the bottom of it.
Our latest report is a deep dive into crime in Oregon. Here are the highlights:
- Oregon’s homicide rate was 32% below the national average in 2024.
- Portland has the highest violent crime rate (700 per 100,000 people) in the state.
- Portland ranks 6th for violent crimes among cities with similar population sizes.
Violent crime rates don’t reflect the civil unrest in Portland, but it’s interesting to compare that state to others. If you’re interested in learning about crime in Oregon, read the full report here:
https://ammo.com/research/oregon-homicide-rate
Oh Those Crazy Ivans
The Russians have a knack for making friends wherever they go. More here from the AP – DOUANKARA, Mauritania (AP) — A new Russian military unit that replaced the Wagner mercenary group is carrying out abuses, including rapes and beheadings, as it teams up with Mali‘s military to hunt down extremists, dozens of civilians who fled the fighting have told The Associated Press. The Africa Corps is using the same tactics as Wagner, the refugees said, in accounts that international media have not reported until now. Two refugees showed videos of villages burned by the “white men.” Two others said they found bodies of loved ones with liver and kidneys missing, an abuse the AP previously reported around Wagner.
Red China v. Japan
China’s J-15 fighter jets — launched from the Liaoning carrier — locked their fire-control radar TWICE onto Japan’s F-15s. That’s pointing a loaded gun at someone’s head and resting your finger on the trigger. In any military situation, that’s grounds to fire back. Beijing bet that Japan wouldn’t and they didn’t.
The Liaoning sailed into Japan’s ADIZ, launched fighters, and those fighters illuminated Japanese jets with fire-control radar twice.
China howls, “Japan endangered our training!” That’s like breaking into someone’s house with a baseball bat and yelling, “Why are you attacking me?!” Classic CCP information warfare: Lie fast. Lie loud. Lie confidently.
This was political warfare against Japan’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi — the toughest Japanese leader Beijing has faced in decades. She said the quiet part out loud: A Taiwan crisis is a Japanese survival crisis. Beijing hates that. So they escalate, hoping to spook Japan’s public and political class.
Instead? Her approval rating goes up. Tokyo isn’t backing down — it’s leveling up.
And Xi Jinping keeps making the same strategic mistake: Every attempt to intimidate Japan strengthens Japan. He destroyed Hong Kong → Taiwan ran the other way. He backed Russia → Europe woke up. He harassed Southeast Asia → U.S. alliances tightened. He threatened Japan → Japan rearmed. And now Japan is doing something unimaginable a decade ago: Preparing to export weapons. Tokyo is considering selling its Type-03 missile system — the same model deployed on Yonaguni, just 110 km from Taiwan — to the Philippines.
Japan, the post-war pacifist state, has become a defense exporter because Beijing has made the region so dangerous that pacifism is no longer an option. A new coalition is forming across the entire first island chain. Beijing complains Japan is “militarizing too fast.” Translation: “Our intimidation strategy failed.” All thanks to Chairman Xi —The man who accidentally united everyone against him.
Identify the Aircraft
1
There was only one.
2
3
Parting Bomb Load
Arclight – Charlie didn’t see them or hear them.
End
1 looks like Hughes H-4 Hercules (commonly known as the Spruce Goose
2 is Hawker Sea Hawk
yes!
Hi LL
Did you get the email with the emu photos?
No. I’ll check.
No, not yet. When did you send them. I can search old e-mail by date.
Sent them Monday this week.
Had emu walk up to parked car last trip.
Something you don’t get in your area (failed emu farms in Texas aside)
Please resend! I checked and it wasn’t in any of the mail boxes.
I had one try to sell me insurance recently.
🤣 (and to be more annoying they lead off too many YT videos, and getting stupider by the day.)
(1) Hughes Hercules.
(2) Hawker Sea Hawk with weird-looking British rockets and bombs on.
(3) Hawker-Siddeley P-1127 Kestrel.
– Kle.
(3a) Some version of the Sikorsky S-55, presumably Westland Whirlwind-flavored,
in the background.
– Kle.
Very good!
Identify the Aircraft:
1. Hughes H-4 Hercules
2. Hawker Sea Hawk
3. Hawker Siddeley P.1127
Perfect!!
1 – Hughes H-4 Hercules Spruce Goose
2 – Hawker Sea Hawk FGA.6
3 – Hawker P.1127
Ed’s U.P. lightest tactical; Is this scratch built, or a Nissan, hi lux mod? Certainly lighter and faster than the Paramount Marauder which can transport a full crew over IED territory. The lifted short wheel based ORV’s are great slow rock crawlers, but as the photo shows, a designed, destined, fast 0-60 mph that is prone to roll overs. Compared to the Mercedes price point of the Marauders, mass robotic production should feesably deliver these U.P. tactical’s to any zip code in the V.M. blogosphere. Is there a rice grinding, bullet proof 22R or a KA24DE under the hood? A few chapters back, my daily drivers were an Isuzu Pup diesel and later a diesel “Caddy” VW, almost a pickup. If ones of those engine types are under the hood, w/o turbo, the roll over issue is mute. The best ORV daily driver I had was a 67 Jeepster Commando.
There’s a number of non-Toyota tactical vehicles out there with various anonymous sheet metal/plastic exteriors. Nice setups but not available to the average Joe, Tom, Dick, or Harry. Shame though, they’re nice vehicles, sturdy, diesel, well-built. Purpose-built…
Seen and played with a few…
Portlandia; The downtown and the eastside are like TJ is to rural life in the rest of Mexico. We have relatives that live in the mostly peaceful suburbs on the west side. The rest of the state has it’s beauties and for the most part good folks, that are varied yes, but ruralite and respectful. In the 90’s Bend and Southern Oregon were flooded with Cali folks cashing in and reinvesting. After yrs of serving these new property owners I gave up criticisms of those smart enough to move away from the crowds and chaos. As stated before, we avoid stopping for fuel or food when passing through these dark, cold hearted hell holes that Demolition Party rules, including the City of Roses, where I grew up visiting often in my elementary years. H/T for citing Ammo. Lars Larson is another good resource for calling out the criminals parents in Portlandia. I’m referring to the 503 area code PTB and all their “projects.”
“Demolition Party”…perfect moniker.
Our ColoExit – after 40+ years – saw the declining trend from Californians moving in over decades, which has increased exponentially after “legal MJ” was passed by those same early invaders. In recent years it was getting worse and more expensive. Have a fire in your Front Range Communistic community (you know which one) and lose entire neighborhoods packed together like sardines, because some idiot let his shed burn, the State Insurance Grand Poohbah says everybody now pays to ‘spread the cost’. Baloney, I had nothing to do with it from 130 miles away in a rural ranch setting, yet homeowners gets jacked up 62% the following year…with ZERO recourse. Colorado got way overbearing, and in some instances, criminal. It’s a shame…it, like Oregon, is beautiful. But, as you call them – The Demolition Party – can’t help but destroy every place they inhabit. So now we watch from a safe distance.
Yeah Paul, the 5 leaf clover was highly cultivated in The People’s Democratic Republic of Oregon BEFORE they decided to start taxing it. Then like 7/11’s on every other corner, the green cross pharmacies popped up. Now the clover leaf is displayed like coat of of alarms and won’t be surprised if they change the flag with it on there. State’s #3 export behind Nike and lumber. Small town defensive driving became like a third world survival adventure. Then they talked the voter’s into legitimizing hard drugs, sold on supposed success in Portugal… till the O.D. deaths rose so high that state legislature declared “the voting populace has not be able choose properly,” and “our betters” as y’all put it, rescinded the laws they misrepresented in the first place.
–
When a state mixes blue with red it turns purple. And then, IF full on leftist lunatic blue, it’s time to go Galt.
I’m not one who should be blowing to much hot air, like my export hunch, I’m still going back to the worker’s paradise for the sake of family and business every summer. And the priorities of fishing and hunting!
–
BTW there is a hidden sales tax now as well, paid by any business grossing over certain amounts, like a restaurant or small doctors office.
Of course it increases pricing without consumers seeing it. ( After the voter’s had turned it down at least 5 times). It was sold on “let’s tax the rich so you don’t have to pay.” Oh and have you heard? You can pump your own gas now, so pump prices should be lower, not?
Took away all those gas station attendant program jobs I see. Okay for them to do, but you or me…or PDJT excising (aka. DOGE’g) the fat and corruption, and – man alive – the Left goes ballistic as if you shot their rabid dog.
More Details; Norkland is too cold and Cuba is too close and far to comfortable for Big Heart. His bravery to bid for 100 accomplices to join him could be rewarded as such; An hour south of Brawley CA lies a geothermal plant that is below sea level, smells of sulfur, and Guantanamo 2.0 could be developed nearby. Without a/c or warm clothing for both months of winter, a non electric adobe solitary confinement could be a convenient location for indefinite detainment as “pArt of the deal.” Did I mention no glass in the windows? Wouldn’t want any accidental deaths to occur. The kind of gnats that horde to the eyes,ears, and nose, AND bite abound far more than the daytime flying mosquitos that carry dengue fever in such regions.
“Taking care of business…”, I’ve always like that song!
👍
**Classic CCP information warfare: Lie fast. Lie loud. Lie confidently.**
Sounds like our democrats and their extensive use of the Big Lie doesn’t it?
It’s a winning strategy that is time-tested. Admit nothing, deny everything, demand proof, make counterallegations, find a scapegoat.
From the WWW Department of Extremely Bad Ideas:
.
1) Considering it’s been 80-years or so since a Japanese submarine torpedoed an aircraft carrier, perhaps it’s high time they resurrected traditions long since held in abeyance.
.
2) If Maduro wants to stay in this hemisphere, drop him off at Tampon Tim’s house. I’m sure they could make beautiful music together.
.
I suppose there are good and sufficient reasons for not doing either of these, but ignorant knuckle-dragger that I am, I can’t think of any off hand.
Maduro could always do life at the Florence Colorado ADMAX. Tampon Tim could be his cellmate and bitch.
He’d have to be queer and I’m not sure how he identifies.
How about giving him a hammer and dropping him off at Pelosi’s house?
I believe Japan learned from her lessons 84 years ago and is waiting for the actual first shot to be fired by the ChiComs, that way they can employ the ‘American Response’ and unleash the full can of whoop-ass without being seen as the bad guy (well, except by the UN, the news media, the leftists, the Democratic Party of the USA…)
–
Who knows? Even the ROKs are so tired of Beijing’s crap that they’ve grudgingly managed to come to some agreement with the hated Japanese. That takes some work by the ChiComs.
Maybe Portland actually sends in correct data on crimes….or not. I bet they don’t, so their ranking in crimes is probably just another boiler house report. Even if the data is correct, I doubt the free-range loonies report crimes.
I envy Jules. But not the foam part.
“New York state has released nearly 7,000 known illegal migrant criminals”
There’s no promise they’ll stay in New York, is there?
Moving to soon to be Sanc. City Miami.
The problem with Maduro types is they tend to exit stage left then pop up somewhere else to continue their evil plans. He needs to meet God, not be coddled.
***
TSP: Same with SSA for us normal schlubs. What stops The Thieves in Charge from quietly raiding that as well like they did with Social Security? Nothing. But they promise to ‘pay it back’. Yeah, never happening. Thieves and criminals, the lot of them. The Fed reduced interest 1/4 percent…how magnanimous of them. “Thank you sir may I have another.”
***
Portland “unrest”: See above comments by others. The Dem Party believes their own idiocy, enacts insane “policy’s”, then piles more bad policy on top to fix the ensuing mess from the first round of stupidity, which makes worse. Take for instance New Jersey, a mess by any standard, yet The Fools In Charge…likely emboldened by a Ms. MadMommie win, is “toying” (aka. It’ll happen) with a ban ‘single use’ sporks, forks, spoons, and knives”. That’s important, like paper straws to help Gaia from imploding.
***
EdB is onto something with that rig…curious what the boat he’s dragging behind looks like with one forward gun in the Hilux and the boat gun pointing backwards covering the rear while speeding down lousy Michigan roads to the office. I’d pay good money to see that.
Exactly how much good money?
Terms are negotiable…need to have ‘Proof of Rig’ first, then we’ll talk.
>> BREAKING << HOUSTON/LONDON, Dec 10 (Reuters) – More than 30 U.S.-sanctioned oil vessels doing business in Venezuela could face punishment by Washington after the Coast Guard seized a supertanker carrying Venezuelan crude for export, according to shipping data. . The U.S. action, as Trump ratchets up pressure on the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, has put many vessel owners, operators and shipping agencies on alert, with many reconsidering whether to set sail from Venezuelan waters in the coming days as planned, shipping sources said. . Previous sanctions on Venezuela-related vessels or oil flows have left a swirl of loaded tankers waiting for weeks and even months to depart to avoid conflicts. On Wednesday, more than 80 vessels loaded or waiting to load oil were in Venezuelan waters or near its coast, including more than 30 under U.S. sanctions, according to data compiled by TankerTrackers.com.
.
The global shadow fleet includes 1,423 tankers, of which 921 are subject to U.S., British or European sanctions, according to analysis from maritime data specialist Lloyd’s List Intelligence. They are typically old, their ownership opaque and they sail without top-tier insurance cover to meet international standards for oil majors and many ports. The ships mostly transport sanctioned oil from Russia, Iran and Venezuela to Asian destinations, according to vessel monitoring data. Many have made separate voyages carrying Iranian or Venezuelan oil and then Russian cargoes.
.
In the case of Venezuela, they load at ports operated by state-run PDVSA under fake names, shipping and company data show. They typically disguise their locations until long after departure while crossing the Atlantic Ocean heading to Malaysia or China.
Use the ‘recovered’ oil to refill Biden’s reserve depletion.
Brilliant!
Apparently, said oil tanker was also falsifying location tracking data. Maybe by placing the transponder on another vessel temporarily then relocating it to the real ship later while in-transit? Or has someone hacked the transponder to report falsely?
“Yo-ho-ho and a barrel of sweet crude” as the song goes…
Fast roping from a helicopter onto a ship is harder than it looks. Just doing it onto Mother Earth and not twisting an ankle was enough in younger days.
*
Venezuela and Cuba. Both need to go.
*
Spruce goose. Finally knew one this week.
*
China should be careful with Japan. At a certain point Japan is liable to respond in a very unexpected violent manner with China missing a ship or two and some aircraft as a result.
Fast roping onto a ship when you have more than one person on the rope at a time to expedite things is VERY tricky because no matter whether the ship is going up or down when you hit the deck, you’re committed to a speed and must clear the rope and potentially engage hostiles/tangos. Parachuting into the ocean is likewise tricky because you want to cut the canopy loose BEFORE you hit the surface, and the sea is featureless. Worse at night. The sea is a harsh mistress.
Thirty tankers filled with oil would be a big claw for the Trump Administration. Condemn the ships and their cargoes at a prize court or whatever they call them these days, and drop the money into the treasury. OFAC SDN rules allow for that and have been in place for decades. Communists in Congress can scream, but they voted for the Patriot Act and all the other associated laws on the books.
This is how it’s done.
https://youtu.be/SSW-SYzyinI?si=gQPjhfglMznvGLXQ
Replacing a motor in a home furnace?
No. Stupid Youtube.
https://youtu.be/ywSQNlbK73U?si=SHX5JR2oNRCSc6BK&t=11
I’m with you about YouTube changing the address while I’m trying to snap the address. I don’t know if it is because of the next video settings or if it is something else.
** It appears to my highly myopic (as well as badly astigmatized) eyes that The Donald is playing a very well-known (though I forget the name of it right now) NYC children’s game.
Is he dancing at the edge of an intra-hemispheric/(? Americas landmass) conflict where the aggrevieved party may, at any moment, request the assistance of extra-hemispheric players, who may already be fully armed and in residence?
** In re “Portland”
beginning ~ 20 or so miles both east and west of the Portand-Ashland corridor Oregon becomes a semi-rural state merging into a fully rural one with people, aims, and politics fully compatible with a similar area in the middle of North Dakota (just my observations and bias)
my suggestion:
build a gated wall along this corridor allowing in (but nothing out) food stuffs, medical supplies (including, but not limited to) all Schedule I substances requested as well as any and all undocumented aliens requesting residence in the U.S.A.
At least the finally got The Skipper… They’ve been trying to locate her in a place where the US could confiscate her. Yay!
That Philomena one about Father Christmas, that one kid saying he’ll make it because the police don’t know when he’s coming, priceless
–
As to arrows, sure, makes sense for war. I’m sure for hunting having fixed arrowheads might matter, or not. Nice he acknowledged bodkins, as most people assume medieval arrowheads are some form of broadheads. Also good to see blunt-heads, used for fowl or small game. I love (actually hate with a passion) the survivorist tv shows where someone’s using a broadhead on a ptarmagin or a rabbit. Dude, that’s what blunts are for.)
–
Actual medieval European arrowheads are a wide and varied lot, from armor piercing to whistling and flame-carrying arrows (not like what they show on the movies, quite…) Get into Asian arrowheads and they really get crazy in design and usage. People today can carry on about all the variations of bullets just for one gun but don’t realize arrows and arrowheads were just as or more specialized.
Thank you, Jules, for a most wondrous travel report. Reminds me of many times my wife and I tried to do the actual vacation thingy and arrived either too early or too late for BIG FESTIVE EVENT!!!. Which usually worked for us due to our ever-growing misanthropic feelings.
Ha! I see you’re getting Technical.
i can’t say i agree on the tankers. what is there to stop ours being seized by putin or xi, or even rocketman?