Caption: I think of it as something like one hand clapping…
Bullet Points:
** Spears vs Swords – what are the odds?
** Do German Muslims get awards for the most group rapes? The German government cautioned that “group rape” is not a separate criminal offense or standardized police category. Officials generated the figures by filtering recorded rape cases in which suspects were listed as not acting alone. There must be some sort of tax advantage, or maybe only if the rapes result in a pregnancy? The situation there is explored on Fox. (h/t Claudio) Police identified 1,087 suspects in the cases, including 509 German citizens and 578 non-German nationals. Syrians were the largest foreign-national group, with 110 suspects, followed by Afghans with 64, Iraqis with 46, and Turks with 44.
** The proposed Nuclear Rate Stabilization Act would help make sure that clean electricity investment tax credits (ITCs) deliver their full intended value to new nuclear projects by (1) lowering financing costs during reactor construction; (2) making nuclear energy more affordable for customers; and (3) increasing the likelihood that future nuclear projects move forward. When a utility builds a nuclear reactor, it’s eligible for a clean electricity tax credit equal to 30-50% of the reactor’s construction cost. Accessing that financing can make new nuclear projects more affordable and help bring a new clean energy future online more quickly. Some current rules need to change. Current rules require regulated utilities to spread the value of the clean electricity tax credit over the life of the reactor, instead of lowering consumer rates more directly. Because nuclear plants operate for 40 years or more, this delays the cost benefits that consumers would otherwise receive from the credit. Second, existing law prevents developers and utilities from transferring tax credits claimed during construction. That’s money that could otherwise be used to reduce financing costs during the project’s most expensive phase. The Act would address those problems.
** The Brits are fiddling the books with their new Navy budget (shocked?). A bigger issue is that the rest of the world owns more of the UK than the UK owns of the rest of the world.
** U.S. Central Command deployed three Corsairs as one-way attack drones to successfully strike a submarine and ship maintenance facility at the Bandar Abbas Naval Base in Iran. The Saronic Corsair is an advanced, 24-foot autonomous surface vessel (ASV) built by Austin-based Saronic Technologies. Costing around $1 million each, these drone boats can hit speeds over 35 knots, carry a 1,000-pound payload, and operate for more than 1,000 nautical miles. Here’s the video.
** CDRSAL points out Chinese territorial ambitions and posits whether Japan/P.I./Taiwan could get there first. Anything to stop the expansionist termites.
** On this day in 1882, outlaw Johnny Ringo was found shot dead near Tombstone, Arizona. While ruled a suicide, doubts persist given Ringo’s long list of enemies and lawman Wyatt Earp’s later claim for the killing.
** OPEC cut its growth forecast for world oil demand this year by 20% — its third straight downward revision. The producer group still sees the Iran war denting consumption less than the International Energy Agency does, and it raised its 2027 growth forecast by 12% to 1.94 million barrels per day, citing expectations of a stronger second half. The Strait of Hormuz has been closed for much of the period since March, stripping millions of barrels from Middle East supply and making the OPEC+ quota increases agreed in April unachievable. Output is recovering — the group pumped 36.28 million barrels per day in June, roughly 3 million more than in May, as Gulf producers restarted halted fields. The UAE, which left OPEC in May but will continue to report production figures to the group for the rest of the year, is free of quotas and opened the spigots last month, boosting crude output by 80%.
Tracking the Russian Doomsday Plane
The Russian “doomsday plane” formation has been tracked and landed at Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran. On July 13, Eastern Time, according to global aviation tracking data, the Tu-214PU airborne command post (call sign RSD420), known as Russia’s “doomsday plane,” landed at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport. Accompanying it were several other Russian military and government special-purpose aircraft, including an Il-76 long-range strategic transport aircraft and an Il-96 high-ranking executive aircraft.
The “PU” in Tu-214PU stands for “Punkt Upravleniya” (Russian for “control point/command post”). It is an air command post specially modified for Russia’s top leadership and strategic air force fleet, and its function is similar to that of the US presidential aircraft or emergency command aircraft.
This aircraft is a heavily modified version of a standard Tu-214 passenger plane, with its fuselage and electronics undergoing comprehensive radiation and electromagnetic pulse protection, as well as hardware hardening. Even if ground infrastructure is paralyzed in a nuclear war or major crisis, the nation’s top leadership can still issue military orders to strategic forces from 10,000 meters above the ground via encrypted satellite communication on board the aircraft and the entire military’s command chain system.
The flight was operated by the Russian Special Flight Squadron, which is affiliated with the Kremlin. Flight tracking data shows that after taking off from Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport, the aircraft took a highly geopolitical and covert route, flying directly over the Caspian Sea into Iranian airspace, strictly avoiding the airspace of other Middle Eastern countries and sensitive areas along the way.
Identify the Aircraft
1
981 built
2
End
Identify the Aircraft
1 – Ilyushin II-76MD-90A
2 – Beriev A-50 AEWAC – Based on above aircraft
Excellent
Tu; Thanks Putin. Take it out, may it’s grave be in Teran, and never fly again. Why would Moscow give us a bullseye? Are we fighting Russia on 2 fronts?
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Drone boats. H/T for posting details.
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Caption art work; A standing ovation for continued pleasure for my half open eyes to wake up to. To what genre does she dance to?
It would have to be salsa.
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo3kAroH6Ps
Caption art work…. she needs a silver cross necklace along with hoop ear rings.
Good catch. Yes, they’d complete the ensemble.
LL,
IMHO: she’s utterly perfect as is; I think you’ve captured her total essence; she is aware of and enjoys who she is.
She is dancing for herself, no one else, expressing her joie de vivre.
One of your more absolutely spectacular creations.
I only wish that you could transform this one onto canvas with oils precisely as is.
I’d title it: “Ebullience”.
It’s beautiful.
X2
> Are we fighting Russia on 2 fronts?
Better question: Why are we fighting Russia at all?
“We” screwed Tsarist Russia by several means. First by us (because Jacob Schiff was first and foremost an American, never forget that) giving Japan the financial means to modernize its navy, thereby defeating the Russians in the far east and making the Tsar and the Whites look weak. (It also screwed Korea and China [1] and eventually much of Asia. Thanks, Jacob Schiff.)
Second we sent Lenin back in a sealed car. We did nothing to stop the bloody revolution that took tens of millions of Russian lives, impoverished nearly all the rest, and left the survivors living in penury and terror for decades. This expanded into the USSR to cover much of eastern Europe and the Baltic states.
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After the whole “fall of the USSR” thing, “experts” principally from Harvard laid out the framework for the looting of the remnants of the USSR into the hands of a small group of oligarchs.
Currently, and for several decades ongoing, our own Neocons (many whose ancestors hailed from Russia or the Ukraine) have been slavering for the dissolution of Russia through war and through economic means.
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How much is the problem with Russia per se, and how much with the people who seem to hate the Russians as a people? And who are now firmly ensconced in the heart of American power both left and right?
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[1] While I am no fan of the thuggish Chiang Kai-Shek, it should be noted that the forces of the Republic of China (now in exile on Taiwan) were fighting (at least in theory) both the Japanese invaders AND the Maoists. (And definitely let’s not talk about Mikhail “Borodin” Mao’s advisor.) Perhaps if Japan were not busy committing its atrocities in China the ROC might have defeated the Reds. So, thanks again, Schiff; you definitely screwed the Russian people, and probably screwed the Chinese as well.
Mike, according to your post, Jacob Schiff was proficient at screwing people. Since Adam Schiff is an expert in attempting to screw and often succeeding to screw American conservatives, I wonder if he is a descendant of ole Jacob.
🫨
>wonder if he is a descendant
Good question. I have no idea, but it would not surprise me.
“Adam’s a piece of Schiff off of ye olde block.”
I’m guessing you didn’t count that rather lame attempt by the US to help White Russia in 1919 :)
Do German Muslims get awards for the most group rapes? Uh, every woman should be carrying…shoot the scumbags on the spot, would only take one dead in the street and the other cowards would run off.
Sounds like that gal who a few moons back got attacked on CSU’s asinine ‘gun free’ campus, then sued to allow woman to carry for protection, even if only a Byrna, and won (actually had some dolt of a woman administrator say she should call for help while kicking her attacker, as if that would work…as in, ‘first get attacked then call for help’. Likely the same dope marching for LBGTQRST+/- “rights” baloney). Thing is, after the ruling, campus attacks dropped like a rock because as this young woman said, “Perpetrators have no idea which woman may be carrying.” Simple.
German woman, or any other country for that matter, should get armed then shoot the bast***rds no matter what these idiot ‘leaders’ say you are allowed or not to o to defend yourself…better to be safe than ‘run over’ by a pack of unhinged evil-doer takers who’s “religion” allows such atrocities against woman. Incidentally, same goes for Barrett and Kagan coming out yesterday demanding SCOTUS whining they need personal protection due to “threats”. Peterson is correct with woman in positions of power, not made for the fray. Sorry gals, you go against WTP’s Constitutional freedoms you too get to live by your idiotic rulings…you are not special.
SCOTUS whining here (their request, these two, is ‘rich’ considering their rulings): https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/07/14/supreme-court-requests-additional-budget-for-security-against-threats/
Opening Suggestion: Assuming no one is watching I can wear the Speedo. (ok, I’ll leave now😣)
Nobody wants to see you dance in a banana hammock outside of San Francisco.
I do.
This puts a heavy burden on PaulM to supply photos PRIVATELY, NOT ON THIS BLOG, if he is so inclined.
😂
Jules… auction the photos off on your blog…
I don’t even want to see me in a Speedo! 🤣This, despite men at my age, especially Floridians, completely overlook the optics and flaunt whatever God gave them at this point in their lives, more so if sporting a tan, because tans make one look thinner. Beer belly, what beer belly?🫣
Jules, don’t egg him on, not helpful when all men are emotional 12yo boys inside.
Dance like nobody’s watching: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF_gPyp6O9s
I’m almost certain it was Plato – in Plato’s Republic – and later reaffirmed by Saint Augustine of Hippo, in The City of God.
Russian specialist squadron – Trump is always gonna be Trump, but this is
why (one of the many whys) we shouldn’t have allowed any Iranian
airports to be functional.
– Kle.
It’s not too late to crater them all.
With the Russian craft? That sounds a little provocative.
I’d wait for the Russians to unload their stuff, take on gold, and fly away before turning it into the Dark Side of the Moon.
Is sending the TU a Trojan horse move. Thinking… Ruskie chess move?
You see, this is what happens when you ignore the “Wet Paint” sign! Strictly Come Sliding and leave a weather system in your wake.
Why did I not know Art Philosophy was going on here?
We are heavy with art philosophy at VM. Not at the “full philosopher” level – that’s why you’re here.
Excellent. It’d be distasteful to usurp me.
And dangerous.
This is what happens when you get beyond dance… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3i-DLGJPSY
Never tick off an ahh-teest with two wolf hybrids at her command, way worse result than a sword or spear.
Word choices – I suspect some might read ‘slurp’ instead of ‘usurp’. That would also likely be dangerous.
Dance – in the days of my youth, when I still had working knees, I took a dance class. The instructor was happy that I could follow the beat and not tromp all over her toes.
Today…I would likely inspire people to call 911.
You and me both…seems no matter athletic ability and sure-footedness in ones…ahem…much earlier years, foot placement after 65 is less than…shall we say…positive. Maybe I need those special shoes with velcro closures.
Meh, here we go again with the 9 dash line off China. That was simply drawn on a map in 1947 by China, and has NEVER been official. UNCLOS even said it’s not legal multiple times, the last, I believe, in 2020… It’s an amateurish attempt to ‘prove’ their claim, and means nothing. That is why the USN and other countries routinely conduct FONs between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland.
Wife and I saw “Young Washington” today. Over all, well done. Today was its last day in the theater. Maybe a dozen in the audience, mostly grey hair. We all applauded. This trailer caught my eye–
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EURriesRel0
I want to see that!
Yep.
I’ve been to Johnny Ringo’s grave three times. It’s on the banks of Turkey Creek down in Cochise County. The current property owner maintains the site and allows public access (donations accepted). End of the road for Johnny. After the Vendetta Ride the party was over for the Cowboys and he just couldn’t handle it. Better he’d gone out guns blazing than drinking himself to death and blowing his own brains out. It’s a bit of a sad spot. We always play ‘Streets of Laredo’ and ‘Ghostriders in the Sky’ on the way out.
Wyatt Earp had a storied life, but by no means an easy one.
** Spears vs Swords – what are the odds?
Watching the video one omission stands out; not using the butt of the spear in close. Now I’ve never fought with either a sword or a spear but in 1963 Basic Training spent an hour a day doing bayonet drills. Horizontal and vertical butt strokes were emphasized along with long and short thrusts with the bayonet. We also had a day of doing the same moves with an extended entrenching tool.
A spear is a quarterstaff with a sharp end.
I agree with LL. Practical.
That video was painful to watch. Oh so very painful.
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And here’s why.
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Spear wins at spear (long) range, almost every time. Yes, the spear can be quarterstaffed and you can strike with the butt-end. But that’s only if you can get past the swordsman’s sword. Sword can do a long lunge and poke the speardude, if the speardude isn’t paying attention. Otherwise it’s a waiting game for the swordman to leave an exploitable hole. Spear can poke leg, hip, groin, central body, arms and head. My favorite move is to wait for the opponent to crook one elbow or another and then fire my spear right above the elbow into the body. Works almost every time.
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Sword wins at close range almost every time. Swordsman waits for the spear to thrust, sweeps the spear, charges and then just starts whooping ass from inside the spear’s range. Only defense is to go quarterstaff and push swordguy out back to spearthrust range, or to choke up. Of course the best way for spearguy is to keep one hand on spear and grab his dagger and go all stabby on swordguy.
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Adding a shield helps the swordsman. Not a buckler, a shield, you know, one at least the size of the torso. The buckler, if it’s strapped to the back of the hand leaving the fingers available to grab, can work, and the swordguy needs to grab the shaft and get control of the spear and then close and gack the spearguy as many times as he can.
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Larger shields make it easier for the swordguy to block the first shot, turtle up, close rapidly and when you feel the shield hit the spearguy, start whacking and poking.
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Spear vs sword/shield, 1 on 1, the swordsman has to start defensively and go explosively offensive. Else he’s gonna play the spearguy’s game. Gotta close for sword to kill. Gotta keep the range for the spear to kill.
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Spears work better in multiples or with shield support. Multiple spears, held one handed and thrust overhand, or held two handed and working as a team, with one spearman calling the shots, works well. Two spearmen working behind one shield, or two shields and one spear or (best from my experience) a kill team of two shields in front, one spear and one poleax/glaive/halberd/random pole arm.
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The spearman has to be mobile, has to be able to dart in and back, almost like fencing but with an 8 or 9 foot twohanded weapon, lunging for the stab, sometimes even going for an extra-long lunge by taking a huge step with your backfoot to the front and going one-hand lunge (like with a rapier) with the spear and you can get a lot of range. But if it doesn’t work you have to be able to get the heck out of dodge, which can be done by turning the lunge into a retreat by turning 180 degrees, running away while dragging the spear, and, yes, it works more than you think it would.
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Spearguy’s armor needs to be body armor, off-side shoulder paulder (the side that isn’t your dominant hand, off-side leads so it needs to be covered) and upper leg harness. Forearm armor (vambraces) and gauntlets at least in order to protect your fingers.
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I’ve fought all styles while in the SCA. I love spear. I love being a spearman. But it has lots of limitations. I love spear on spear. I love going up against a static shield wall with a spear as I was able to get past even locked shields by using my mass to push the shields around. But spear against sword? Only if it’s a newbie sword/shield user as I was never a track star. I am more of a, like, um, a KV-1. Slow, well armored, hitting far harder than my opponent.
Wow…I can picture all that in my mind, incredibly descriptive.
There are nights that I still dream of fighting, sometimes even doing the motions in bed, which peeves the wife and the dog. I suck at boxing, but put a stick in my hand and, well, yeah.
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What LL said about armor. Armor, both what the user and the target are wearing, has a massive effect on both attack and defense. Most of those thrusts and slashes in the video would be worthless against semi-rigid or rigid armor. Those two guys are basically ‘fencing’ with heavy weapons. Which doesn’t work against even padded armor (which was usually made of 4 layers of fabric with the warp of the layers rotated, which sounds silly but it actually works to slow and stop stabs and slashes (it’s why the fabric in aramid vests alternates.) Combine that with the padding, either tight rolls of fabric or horse hair or loose wool stuffed into the layers, and padded armor is actually really halfway decent. Some of the same effect can be gotten by wearing 3-4 layers of fabric, especially tightly woven linen tunics.
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In the SCA, you call the shot that hits you. You do it. If you don’t feel it, or if you barely feel it, call it “Light” and keep going. There has to be a reasonable amount of force behind the blow for it to be ‘good’ enough for loss of limb usage or death. It takes a lot of force to penetrate either with a hack or even a stab.
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Against an armored opponent, the trick is to find the lesser-armored areas (joints like the crotch or armpits) or unarmored places. Like when someone is wearing 3/4 armor (torso, arms, upper legs, neck and head) you aim for the lower leg. Fake to elsewhere, take the leg. With a spear it’s rather easy to target legs, especially lower legs.
As we’ve discussed here on VM before, armor was recycled. Bodies on the battlefield were stripped completely (at Waterloo they also took the teeth for dentures back home) So if you wore armor it was often previously owned. Does that mean that it didn’t work well? Interesting question.
The video didn’t include armor as a subset of both sword or shield. Boiled leather is good, chainmail is good, metal is good, a gambeson will do in the absence of other options. None of it replaces skill or numbers or even terrain considerations. Plate and a poleaxe had advantages over a sword and no armor or a spear because you wore the shield. If you were knee-deep in mud – uh, change of plans.