(There is a small residential neighborhood named Briarwick located in Houston, Texas. They do not have a water tower fitted out like a spacecraft, but I think that they need one. The truth is out there.)
Bullet Points:
** Defund the police. (Bee) Defunding the police and judiciary is telling me that it’s open season with no bag limit.
** What happens when you want to mount an invasion of a peaceful people who are not a threat to you and also threaten to nuke your neighbors? They buy up all the anti-shipping missiles on the shelves. It’s called cause and effect.
** It’s expected to rain in the Arizona highlands for the next 10 days on a daily basis. Wild monsoon.
** I have two daughters who are school teachers (teaching at junior high schools) in Southern California. They have reported losses of students that are due to move-outs to free states, falling birth rates (too expensive to have children), ICE apprehensions, and self-deportations. The latest count puts statewide enrollment at about 5.73 million, down 1.3% in a year. Los Angeles Unified shows the trend at its sharpest, with enrollment projected to fall to 375,661 by 2027-28, nearly half below its 2002-03 peak of 724,113. Declines have hit coastal regions hardest. Because funding follows enrollment and attendance, fewer students mean thinner budgets, raising the prospect of layoffs, program cuts, and school closures.
** Claudio reports that what was old is new again. Go Navy. Let’s talk about EMALS.
** President Donald Trump is taking a “low-key” approach to squeezing Iran economically, while his energy secretary says as many as 15 million per day of the prewar 20 million barrels of oil that passed through the Strait of Hormuz are making it to consumers. It’s clear that these flows are helping to keep prices below $100 a barrel despite nearly six months of disruption. Washington is maintaining its war posture. The Wall Street Journal reported that a new US aircraft carrier will relieve one that spent a record-breaking 250+ consecutive days at sea. The US Secretary of War insisted the naval blockade of Iran can continue “indefinitely.”
** If it sounds familiar, you should feel a vague sense of disquiet.
** Does anti-matter matter to you? Does matter matter? The article discusses what keeps everything together – maybe. In ten years maybe it will be something else? If you’re dead, what will it matter? Understanding the nature of reality is different than living in the “world.” Not everything that counts can be counted. Not everything that can be counted counts.
** I’m not sure why women always seem to love vampires in art and literature. Is it a bad boy complex? That’s the question of the day.
** Police in California arrested Heidi Beirich, formerly with the beleaguered Southern Poverty Law Center, on charges that she oversaw secret payments to informants inside of white supremacist groups—including payments to an informant who allegedly was her neo-Nazi boyfriend to the tune of one million dollars. Love isn’t cheap when you’re both porcine and homley. That tops the $650,000 in taxpayer money (also fat, sweaty, and ugly) Fani Willis gave her lover boy, Nathan Wade, to prosecute bogus charges against President Trump. Wade’s “prior prosecutorial experience was largely limited to handling misdemeanors and traffic citations in the late 1990s. This payment and their relationship sparked significant controversy, leading to allegations that Wade used funds from the contract to pay for vacations taken with Willis.” (VM Comment: It must take a LOT of viagra to get those guys to answer the bell when mama rings it and comes waddling in like a cartoon hippo wearing a too-too – maybe they have pumps surgically installed to manage the business without chemical intervention? Other less charitable people think that there’s not enough whiskey in Texas…)
** The Russian Airhead to Africa – (h/t Claudio) Other than bragging rights, what does Russia get out of their adventures in Niger? As nasty as duty in the Central Sahel is, you may live longer than you would if you deployed to the Ukraine Front alongside the expendable yet willing Norks. (North Koreans consider duty, no matter how short-lived, better than if they were in Norkland. I doubt that the Russians de-worm them before sending them to the trenches.)
**Flock Safety, the company behind more than 120,000 license plate cameras nationwide, announced sweeping reforms Thursday following a bipartisan backlash over mass surveillance and police misuse of its network. They promise not to flock the public as hard as they used to. The biggest change: Images will now be deleted after seven days instead of 30.
** SPMAGTF is not a long enough acronym. Not if you’re going walkabout down under. (h/t Claudio)
** How do our earliest life experiences shape our willingness to help others later in life?” Nina Marsh, author of the paper, told Phys.org.
From the White House
On August 13, President Trump signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum directing the most significant naval expansion since the Reagan era. The order establishes the first new naval shipyard in more than 80 years, creates a dedicated submarine component repair center, and directs a comprehensive reorganization of Naval Sea Systems Command to address chronic delays and cost overruns. The administration’s “Finland model” permits foreign shipbuilders to temporarily construct vessels in their home shipyards while investing in American facilities and training American workers — a rapid-scaling pathway that complements the nearly $9 billion already allocated for Arctic security cutters and a sweeping buildup of new submarines, destroyers, and aircraft carriers.
Also on August 13, President Trump signed a proclamation imposing new tariffs on drones and their components — 100% on large drones or those equipped with thermal imaging, and 25% on smaller commercial drones — to protect U.S. national security and accelerate domestic drone manufacturing.
The administration simultaneously released “The Great Transshipment Scam,” a bombshell report exposing how foreign adversaries, primarily China, have exploited third-country trade routes to disguise the origin of their goods and evade U.S. tariffs — undermining American trade enforcement and domestic industry for years.
Prices continued to fall across the American economy. CPI declined in July, with prescription drug prices recording their steepest monthly drop in more than 60 years — powered by TrumpRx, executive actions on drug pricing, and renewed market competition. On August 13, Apple opened its Advanced Manufacturing Center in Houston, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick joining CEO Tim Cook for the ribbon cutting — a major milestone in Apple’s commitment to expand its U.S. manufacturing footprint. Stanley Black & Decker announced a $1 billion investment in American manufacturing and skilled trades workforce development, further building out the domestic industrial base.
Identify the Ship
1
4 in commission.
2
3
This frigate recently earned a measure of fame. What is its name/class and where is it now?
Parting Shot
|
$5 leads to 10 robocalls a day asking for more money and letters with even more forceful demands.
End
1?
2 is UAE’s first Falaj-3 offshore patrol vessel
3 was IRIS Dena a Moudge-class frigate in the Southern Fleet of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy recently sunk.
Why is it that everyone else in the world can basically build a functioning and useful LCS class vessel but we who invented the damned things suck rotten donkey balls over them?
–
I mean, I know, corruption and the military industrial complex/rotating admirals thingy. Trump just needs to reform the system by shooting most of the retired admirals that are working for the MIC.
The thing is, Beans, I can recall clearly sitting and eating a hamburger (at Hodad’s) with Old NFO when they were first discussing the LCS, and we were talking about what pieces of shit they were and how NOBODY wanted them.
1 is Egyptian Naval Force
Ezzat / Ambassador MK III class Fast Missile Craft.
Outstanding RCC – right, #3 is at the bottom of the Indian Ocean.
Hi LL
Did you get my email about the search warrant I signed last Sunday? Free enterprise reselling medical MJ.
Yes, I did, but I’ve been on the road, and I’m sorry that I didn’t respond.
First time I have had a drug warrant for medical cannabis. Plenty over the years for the usual illegal stuff.
Visiting Darwin –
March onwards for six months is not too bad as it the start of winter dry season. The daytime average is only 90 F with 60 to 70 percent humidity. As opposed to summer where its not much hotter but humidity can be 98 percent.
One of my nieces (army reserve electrician) just went there for six months on a joint regular army/navy deployment. She is based in Sydney. She was a qualified electrician before she joined the army.
Summer or winter deployment?
She is there for July to December at the moment. Which is mid winter, if you call 80 to 90 winter. These things can change.
Up to October is ok then it starts to get extreme again. There have been infantry die of heat during training exercises outside of Darwin. The humidity makes it very difficult.
Hopefully, there are NCOs there looking out for her well-being.
Identify the Ship:
1. Egyptain Ambassador MK III missile boat S. Ezzat
2. UAE Falaj 3-class patrol boat Altaf
3. Moudge-class frigate IRIS Dena. Sunk in March by USS Charlotte.
Excellent
School attendance down in California is akin to the country’s lowest cattle herd in 75 years, and that’s not because of ranchers moving to other states to get away from the Dementors purposely wrecking everything they touch in the name of [name your Unicorn outrage] coupled to intentional destruction of certain independent (from them) industries…all from power center cities overriding 85% of the rest of the state.
***
Vampires. & Woman: ‘Twilight’ series (books and movies)…box office revenues were enormous, catering to woman who found Edward attractive.
MrsPaulM, “What does she see in him…skinny arms, no chest, and pale?” 🤣
***
Lunch Break: Maybe if you offered to bring McDonald’s he’d reconsider meeting with you, which is about $15 now, so a triple win. Altho, likely, his Mickey-D’s is way better than the greck that is being sold at franchises that upsets the stomach after two bites…made like the old burgers and fries when Ray Croc was running the shop; beef tallow and pure cane sugar soda, not Canola byproduct and aspartame (gag) because bean-counters and business majors cut corners to make the bottom line better instead of heading, ‘If it works…don’t fix it.’
***
Briarwick should have that for a water tower, the ‘Pending’ would change quickly with Art Bell adherents…look what they did for Roswell.
He has a chef in the White House who makes custom McDonald’s… I have (obv) been invited for a big sit-down in the chain email. I wonder if I can order off the menu?
.
It would help if Congress would get off its (fat) ass and address the beef issues. I don’t know if USDA has the political will to address the packing house issue – lots of lobby money there.
I swear the Big 3 Processor K-Street lobbyists (spit!spit!) are at the center of why Congress won’t do anything, although our IntSec has been moving quickly to reopen WTP’s lands for resource capture…this could be next on his To-Do List.
“…better than the greck…”
perhaps a slip of the digits, but I think the word you may have meant is “dreck”: auf deutsch der Dreck into Yiddish דרעק and thence into modern parlance as dreck meaning crap, trash, rubbish.
I’d devour them when I could afford them at 1/100 of today’s price – and my gut could digest them.
I doubt that many would disagree that the “better for you” fats and weight-loss sweeteners vs. the originals give you far more gut-exanding gas which makes you feel more replete sooner.
Heh…I made it up to sound like what I was thinking coupled to a gag reflex…but yes, dreck is the correct word.
PaulM – If you want to make money as an author, write a lonely hearts book about a woman who takes up with Vampires. There is the Stephanie Myers series, True Blood, and a host of others in print and film. There is an enduring seduction fantasy involving surgeons (h/t Mike_C), vampires and the sort. Having his vampire baby too, seems to be another somewhat unholy but appealing thing to female readers.
You summed up Twilight from Meyers in two emotive sentences…sold gazillions to the ‘target audience’, some of whom have become our illustrious PITA ‘Karen’s’, likely empowered by the series protagonist.
If I did write such drivel (couldn’t think a good word combining drooling with dreck – h/t boron), what should I use for a nom de plume? If it sounded French, might sell more books.
(PS…might lose my man card by admitting this, but I have watched the series with MrsPaulM on the rare day off. Mindless entertainment with good cinema requiring suspending all disbelief…altho, would rather they extend Joe Buck a few more seasons, but they left us men hanging…so to speak.)
$5. True. Obviously one can get the same result by subscribing to an online political news letter or some such for free. Just ask my better half. In no time at all, the robo calls, spam emails, and fishing texts come rolling in, all eventually claiming to be from this or that high profile politician in your chosen party. Filtering is useless because they simply use a new fake address with each transmission.
45
Yeah, I’ve bought that t-shirt too.
$5 leads to 10 robocalls a day
It’s like paying off hostage takers.
Disregard the “45” in my comment. Must have missed the shift key when I started typing.
>What happens when you want to mount an invasion of a peaceful people who are not a threat to you and also threaten to nuke your neighbors?
This is NOT a question that we are allowed to ask in the Occupied West.
—
>women always seem to love vampires […] Is it a bad boy complex?
Apparently the three most popular “types” of males in bodice rippers are: Vampires, Billionaires, Surgeons. Make of that what you will.
As to the bad boy thing, there are positive and negative selection aspects. The positive is that a man who will not stand up TO you cannot stand up FOR you, so it is natural/logical for women to be attracted to at least a part of the bad-boy archetype. The negatives are of course getting involved with some chronically unemployed cheating slob who knocks you up and beats you. So there is a concerted effort to eliminate ALL assertive masculinity. The disasters from this are legion, basically the slow-motion collapse of society. I am NOT being hyperbolic here. Yet our civilization has been hijacked, and at least half of it is run by HR types and HOA ladies who want men to be compliant and weak.
—
And we see the disastrous effects of de-balled men and shrieking harridans every day in the Fallen West. Which really isn’t even the West any longer. I’m here in Toronto and major suburbs such as Brampton (>790k inhabitants, over 50% Indian/South Asian) and Mississauga (>700k people, >60% nonwhite) look NOTHING like the Canada I remember from even 30 years ago, much less my childhood. Incidentally, I witnessed intra-Indian hatred the other night in London (Ontario). I saw a man speak Hindi to a Malayalam speaker (South Indian language). Both bristled upon mutual non-intelligibility. The Hindi speaker then said, in English, by way of snide false apology: “Oh, I thought you were one of us. Because, you know [pointing to his own face].” This did not appease the offended South Indian.
—
Subtext about the face thing: The Hindi speaker was light skinned [for values of “light’], so was the Malayalam guy, somewhat atypically. The northerner was slipping in a jibe about “southern darkies”. Because skin color matters a LOT in many parts of the world. [And we Americans are supposedly “the racists”. /eyeroll.] Also for the record, the South Indian guy was actually quite handsome, while the Hindi speaker was rather … unhandsome. Hah! He was also a pushy dick.
Of course, surgeons – they populate daytime and primetime TV, cable, and satellites with true hospital drama. I take it that since people of color, homos and trannies are the only people featured on the big pharma commercials these days (sometimes a token old white or Asian woman) that they’re the only ones with chronic health issues. It goes to show you that the system is working for the patriarchy.
.
Slum-dogging it in Toronto…since when was Canada “the West”? I think they gave up a claim to that some years ago with the possible exception of Alberta, who wants nothing to do with the rest of them.
Mike_C needs to add that bit to his ‘An ER Doc’s Travels, Anecdote’s From Abroad’ anthology.
I thought Vampires, Surgeons were Billionaires.
They all are. They’re also humble.
UAE Falaj-3… Zippy the Pinhead rendered as a patrol boat.
“…why women always seem to love vampires…”
I hesitate to bring biology into this debate, but does this attraction/love occur mensally?
I’m not an expert, but women do bleed.
Girls like Older bad boys that like to neck, stay up late and aren’t afraid of a little blood on a first date.
Apparently.
Females are attracted to bad boys because they want to be bad girls, IMO. In addition, they think they can change him and upstage other females.
Well, yes, they always think the vampire can be manipulated by them, no other woman can.
“** Does anti-matter matter to you?”
TNX 4 the update. I wish I still had the math to understand the mechanisms – and where they’re leading (definitely future tense) – Vonnegut beware!
Most of what I learned 60 years has slipped away and even re-reading Feynman doesn’t help all that much.
When the hard disk (in my case anyhoo) starts to get too full, it writes over the sections I don’t visit every day.
Keep buying copies of The Confederate Cipher and reading it each time as if it were the first!! (pro tip)
Why didn’t I think of that?
I would send them the $5 but they would hound the shit out of me begging for more. Nope, they don’t get anything.
X2…While I support PDJT, I despise the weakling dithering Republican’s who constantly snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
I’m glad someone is getting rain in Arizona. Down here in the southern part of the state, the monsoon has been hit or miss…
Meanwhile at Lake Powell it needs Biblical flooding.
https://coloradorivermonitor.com/
Some spots like Kingman (4″ in 20 minutes) and part of Flagstaff have been hard hit, but for the most part, it’s been moderate rain daily – temps in the 80s. Lake Powell is ending up like Lake Mead with the upstream Colorado River users taking their fill. I don’t want to get into river politics because I’m nowhere near knowledgeable. The Arizona 50 mile pipeline from the Gulf of California to desalination seems stalled. Maybe Pres. Trump needs to annex part of Mexico as a water corridor (joking sorta). I have no problem paying the Mexicans for the use. OR Musk’s Boring Company can drill a line 2000 feet down from the Ocean to Arizona.
Hopefully your daughters will escape the fallout of LA schools failing, but if not, AZ is not a bad state :-)
What happens when all the people who earn money and employ people flee California?
Oh, of course, Detroit.
People tell me the Motor City’s looking better albeit way, way smaller than it was even a decade ago. Huh.