Mars Colony?
I am skeptical of the viability of a human Mars colony in the foreseeable future. Ray Bradbury notwithstanding.
There is a lot of water on Mars under the surface. Ground-penetrating radar confirms that. How much water and how deep are other questions because there are limits to ground-penetrating radar at present. It exists as brine. We don’t know the composition nor whether it’s uniform (in a general sense). Extracting the water from the solution would likely require a nuclear-based power generator. And once you’ve stripped out the water, will the void created collapse under you?
The European Space Agency’s Mars Express Orbiter found water ice on the surface of Korolev Crater, which lies near Mars’s north polar region and spans about 50 miles (81 kilometers) across. Its floor sits unusually deep below the surrounding landscape, creating the conditions that preserve the ice. The crater’s bowl acts like a natural cold trap. Air above the ice cools and becomes denser, settling over the crater floor as an insulating layer that limits warming and keeps the water ice stable throughout the Martian year. The ice deposit is not a liquid lake, and its exact depth is difficult to see from the image alone, but the frozen water remains a striking real feature of the crater floor.
All well and good, but doing anything on Mars (which is toxic to organic life) will be difficult, and sending humans there as opposed to robots requires an extensive (and expensive) support system.
Bullet Points:
** Civilization has always involved mutual obligations. Today I may need you, but tomorrow, you may need me. There are plenty of examples – communities care for people who cannot care for themselves, neighbors help neighbors after disasters, families support members who fall on hard times. Governments also provide public goods that individuals cannot efficiently provide on their own. None of this violates the principle because reciprocity remains embedded in the arrangement. The problem begins when assistance ceases to be reciprocal insurance against misfortune and becomes a permanent assignment of responsibility from one class of citizens to another; at that point, the mathematical reality becomes brutal. A legitimate social contract must contain reciprocity. Rights must be accompanied by duties, and assistance must preserve responsibility rather than extinguish it. Those capable of contributing must remain expected to contribute, because no civilization can permanently divide itself into people entitled to receive and people obligated to provide.
** From “Best of Show”.
** What’s going on with Jules? Does she eat plants because she likes them or does she eat plants because she hates them?
** Those in the suits focus on growing profits. Those in the coveralls focus on the product.
** Should you be drinking more wine? Napa Valley wine growers are struggling to survive as their grapes rot on the vines due to plummeting demand. Rancher William Hill opened up about the devastating impact it’s had on his business, saying it is one of the worst downturns in his 50 years in the industry. Now you have an excuse to drink before the sun is over the yard arm – to save the rich guys and their vineyards.
** Female recruits in the US Navy. Are we hiring by the pound now?…enough said.
** Should Pres. Trump exchange the word tariff for “Carbon Tax” as a sop to progressives?
** The White Wolf Mine is still selling biodiversity credits to anyone interested. It’s money well spent. I’m considering adding a spa room to the hovel where I live, and the credits you pay could go toward the hot tub, steam room, plunge pool, or sauna. It’s a very woke concept.
** (h/t Claudio) Reports indicating that Brazilian organized-crime Primeiro Comando da Capital networks are exploring access to long-range 20 mm weapon systems represent a potentially significant escalation in the threat profile associated with “novo cangaço” and high-value armored-cash attacks. A platform conceptually comparable to the 20 mm Oerlikon Mk4 would move criminal firepower beyond conventional rifles toward a heavy-caliber anti-materiel capability, potentially intended to defeat protected vehicles, engage security positions at extended stand-off distances, or overwhelm armored transport during coordinated assaults. While publicly confirmed investigations currently focus primarily on illicit rifles, components, and international trafficking networks, the strategic concern lies in the criminal demand signal itself: the convergence of sophisticated logistics, cross-border arms trafficking, and attacks against high-value targets could progressively increase pressure on Brazil’s armored-vehicle and cash-in-transit security architecture.
Letters of Marque and Reprisal
We’ve chatted about this on the VM blog before now. Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 says Congress has the power to declare war, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water. The Justice Department is preparing to activate a long-dormant maritime war court to streamline military capture of Iranian oil tankers as U.S. prizes, according to three people familiar with the plans. On top of that, Senator Mike Lee and Congressman Tim Burchett proposed bills that would authorize the president to issue letters of marque against drug cartels.
It has been centuries since we issued such a letter (to Nicholas Millin, captain of the brig Prince of Neuchâtel, on December 12, 1814). President Madison used them to battle the British and Canadians in the War of 1812. Historian Faye Kert found more than 600 American private armed vessels received at least 1,172 letters of marque during the war. The ships needed a letter for each deployment. They were signed by Madison and co-signed by his Secretary of State, James Monroe. If the letters were good enough for the author of the Constitution, they are good enough for President Trump.
Bloomberg reported: The Justice Department is preparing to activate a long-dormant maritime war court to streamline military capture of Iranian oil tankers as US prizes, according to three people familiar with the plans. Reviving prize courts, which is expected to face legal challenges, is intended to strengthen the blockade of Iran and offset the cost of the conflict.
Aaron Reitz, the Houston-based US attorney whose office is partnering with the department’s headquarters on the initiative, confirmed that the DOJ is “now reviving” prize courts, which he described as an “ancient body of maritime law.” The unfinalized plans, if adopted, would offer a faster path for federal prosecutors to claim oil and other cargo taken from enemy or neutral vessels as US property. The seized goods would then be sold with proceeds transferred to the Treasury. Iran already uses pirates from Somalia to do its bidding. On top of that, Iran uses terrorists in Gaza, Lebanon, and Yemen. They ignore international law; why can’t we?
The people who oppose this are the same people who whined all summer about gasoline prices and now protest Trump acquiring 65 billion barrels of oil in Venezuela.
Ron Paul proposed using letters of marque in the Global War on Terrorism. You can read about it at the link.
In Guiana
The Border Conflict Escalates: The Guyana Defense Force has reported three new separate armed attacks launched from the Venezuelan side along the Cuyuni River, in the same sector where six Guyanese soldiers were shot and injured on February 17th during routine border patrols. These incidents come amid heightened tensions surrounding Venezuela’s longstanding territorial claim over the oil-rich Essequibo region.
According to official Guyanese sources, these ambush-style assaults were carried out by Venezuelan special operations units using fast boats and reconnaissance drones reportedly provided by Iran. The attackers, dressed in civilian clothing, opened fire from concealed riverbanks between Eteringbang and Makapa, suggesting a coordinated effort to destabilize the frontier and provoke a reaction from the GDF.
Of particular concern is the report that some of the vessels used in these operations are Iranian-built Peykaap-III-class fast-attack craft, delivered in 2023. (see below) Each vessel can be armed with up to two anti-ship missiles, either the Kowsar (with a range of up to 20 km and a 29 kg warhead) or the Nasr-1 (with a range of up to 35 km and a 150 kg warhead). These boats may also carry two lightweight anti-ship torpedoes and multiple heavy machine guns, significantly enhancing the firepower and reach of Venezuelan riverine forces operating in contested areas.
The Venezuelan “Sócrates Sandino” Special Forces-Irregular Fighting Battalion (SF-BLI), named after the Sandinista BLI, plans to deploy a dozen UAVs near the borders with Guyana and Brazil in the Essequibo and Roraima regions for border patrol operations. The mission, supported by IRGC advisors, also aims to test the drones in a tropical jungle combat environment.
The Government of Guyana has strongly condemned these attacks and reiterated its commitment to defending national sovereignty. Authorities believe the Venezuelan units were operating in tandem with elements of the Sindicarto gang, known for cross-border extortion and criminal activity in the region.
In response, Georgetown has pledged to closely monitor developments and has declared that it will “take all appropriate action where necessary” to preserve the nation’s territorial integrity. United States Ambassador to Guyana, Nicole Theriot, commented: “These are criminals engaging in criminal activity, and the United States stands ready to support the GDF in its effort to eradicate this activity along Guyana’s frontier and to ensure the safety and security of Guyana’s people.”
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Identify the Weapon
1
Identify the Aircraft
2
Identify the Boat
3
End
(1) IDK. It isn’t the BAT.
(2) Convair R3Y Tradewind
(3) Looks like some version of a IJN Daihatsu.
– Kle.
Good with 2 & 3.
Identify the Aircraft
1 – Ryan KDA-1 Target Drone
2 – Convair R3Y-2 Flying Boat
Identify the Boat
3 – Japanese Daihatsu landing craft
Exactly, ML – the Diahatsu landing craft was so well armored that .50 cal ball ammo carried by PT boats wouldn’t penetrate the hull. 20mm ammo went through the armor like a hot knife through butter (possibly because of AP ammo?).
I am also dubious of Martian colony success at our current technology level.
I think we should try anyway, though. If we stop trying great things, we die as
a society, and eventually as a species.
*
Maybe we are selecting naval recruits for reserve buoyancy?
Not that I can talk…
– Kle.
If the proposal is to send AI-based robotic systems first to set up a Mars Colony, it would make more sense. At some time it might be ready for humans, but it’s too far and too hostile in the near term.
That is exactly what Musk has planned. And he finally realized that a lunar colony/habitat is a great test-platform for Mars.
Sending robots to do the dirty work on the outer worlds.
Dealing with the results would make a good movie.
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Would we be going as expansion of the human race, scientific research or industrial/mining.
Only one of those requires humans.
What if the sentinent robo’s excel at the later 2, and even return with an expansion of their ” races” to reclaim ” their” ancestral homeland? How well would out machine learning defenses hold up?
Will the sentient robots send some of their kind to the bottom of deep lakes to the sites of EdB’s boating mishaps to recover the firearms? Asking for a friend.
If the sentient robots get out of hand on Earth will have to create a class of detective to track them down. We can call them blade runners.
What a great idea.
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Do androids dream of electric sheep?
Buoyancy, or ballast?
😮
We need to try, the technology we needs comes from having to invent it to do something that looks impossible. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!
Best In Show – Hilarious movie.
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Lake America – Apple Maps has changed the name also now
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California Wine – Fading Fad? Like the craft beer fad – Overhyped, overproduced and the Utes are drinking less.
A new lake naming may be in the offing – see VM tomorrow for the big news.
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There is part of me that enjoys the wine hype and the lavish wedding parties (that I can attend without footing the bill) at the wineries.
Speaking of wedding wine, Jesus instantly made the most divine (heh) wedding wine ever…in huge water jugs. Now that’s a tough act to follow.
>Ray Bradbury notwithstanding.
I never understood the characterization of Bradbury as primarily a science fiction writer vs, say, Heinlein, or Anderson, or Piper, to pick a few roughly contemporary authors. (Yes, yes of course also there were short-eyed [allegedly] Arthur C. Clarke, and Upper West Side commie [1] and serial sexual assaulter of women Isaac Asimov, but I never liked the writings of either of those two. Both struck me as having fundamentally in-human perspectives.) But perhaps I should read Fahrenheit 451 again. I was made to read it in junior high, and told exactly what I should think about it [2]. I suspect many books have been ruined for many people that way.
[1] Being a commie (or commie adjacent) while living in the Upper West Side (Manhattan, naturally) is like being a slut to promote abstinence.
[2] Stunning and brave allegory inbound! This just in: Book-burning Nazis bad!
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>A legitimate social contract must contain reciprocity.
Very true. And that reciprocity is lacking in our society today. I get that you’re talking about useless eaters vs the productive (my hate speech, not claiming it’s yours; that said, my “hateful” terminology is fundamentally correct; rude, but correct) but it’s also a problem on the other end of the economic scale. Do Fink, or Singer, or Gates, or Ellison, to take but a few examples, seem to feel any reciprocal responsibility toward us insects? (Claiming to want to do “good things” UNTO US, a la Gates and his pseudomedical would-be diktats, is not what I am talking about. Gates’ attitude is more like wildlife management. No, strike that, more like being a breeder of food or fur-bearing animals [3]. We’re not even pets; owners feel genuine affection toward pets.)
[3] Actually the Gates thing is even worse. Pig farmers, or people who raise mink for fur, typically don’t spend time on a dodgy millionaire’s island having sex (allegedly) with shoats or baby mink.
No, our betters feel no affection for us – even up to the level of the minor appreciation of a slave. I think that they have a dim awareness of our need to breed more slaves for their use in the biological function sense of the word.
I tried reading Bradbury and found him to be boring and overrated. I enjoyed Asimov until I read the Foundation Trilogy, which is just a sickening socialist bullscat piece of work. All about controlling the people using psychological means. Gah. No.
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Heinlein, especially the Juveniles, totally great. Did not like it when he had a minor stroke and went all child incestish.
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David Weber, John Ringo, Travis Taylor, all are much better sci-fi writers.
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Ringo’s “The Last Centurion” is a graduate-level exposition on what a real pandemic would look like. And a graduate-level exposition on modern farming. A graduate-level exposition on climate change. And politics. With some serious kick-ass military stuff thrown in.
At my age, the chances are zero I’ll actually see anything approaching a Mars colony, but I pray I make it long enough to see Americans landing on Mars even if it’s something like Apollo-style. Land there, declare “been here done that” and start the long ride home.
The level of success of the burgeoning Moon Base (to be) will signal our readiness to send humans to Mars (even for a bounce trip).
Good questions on Mars, and the scientists have no good answers. Just like much of the ‘water’ supposedly existing on the various moons, asteroids, etc. the real question is, is it even water or is it something like liquid methane?
The drone was known as the Firebee, and was used extensively by the Navy at both Point Magu (VX-4) and Barking Sands (Kauai) for testing of ‘various’ things. Last time I was at PMRF, the early Firebee was still on a stick over by Ops.
Mars is warm enough that I don’t think methane is the answer, but a complex and salty melange for sure, and not necessarily all the same chems across the planet. It’s not a renewable resource on Mars the way it is on Earth. Once it hits the atmosphere, it will evaporate and with nothing much to hold it, a percentage will be lost to space. Maybe in the deep canyons that would be different. We don’t have those answers yet.
Yes, lots of ‘conjecture’ very little facts. I forget the exact amount of gravity needed to hold atmosphere, but I think it’s around .37G depending on the size of the planet.
Good Lord, can you imagine if there was no wine?
Costco is no longer the largest wine retailer in the United States, having been surpassed by Total Wine & More. I’ve never heard of Total Wine, but since I’m not a big consumer of the sugary beverage, I’m not a representative sample. Costco sells $3.5 billion in wine each year. Costco is still widely considered one of the largest and most influential wine buyers in the world due to its massive bulk purchasing. I’m more of a rotisserie chicken and dog/soda purchaser at Costco. Blaggard me if you must. I’m not doing anything to keep the wine industry alive.
.
If the song is correct – well, you will have to make up your own mind. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HlKpWdrq-4
>not a big consumer of the sugary beverage
>>Blaggard me if you must.
Wilco. Blaggarding incoming: SUGARY beverage? Unless it’s proper dessert wine, what kind of swill are you (not) drinking?
RHT447 has it right with California Zinfandels, the quintessentially American wine [1]. Sonoma zinfandels to be precise, so far as I am concerned. I don’t have anything against Napa wines, as wines, but have long been put off by the faux chateaux and other pretentiousness of Napa. (As the joke goes, the Napa winery is called “Folie a Deux” and the Sonoma counterpart is “Smothers Brothers”. Okay, it’s funny if you’re a wine nerd circa 30 years ago.) And I’m not big on Lodi, well, anything. Amador zins are generally not my style. Nothing wrong, just not my style. But if I could afford it, I’d be drinking Oregon (Willamette) pinots. That’s if I drank much wine these days. Chemotherapy messed up my sense of taste. Sigh.
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So far as “wine culture” goes, it can be fun so long as you don’t invest your ego into it. (Just like any other hobby or endeavor — take the activity seriously, but not yourself as the doer of the activity.) I’m amused by the term “wine connoisseur” but deeply suspicious of anyone who SELF identifies as such. It’s pretentious and the guy — or gal — is highly likely to be a prick. I much prefer the designation “wino” or possibly “functional wino”. Anyway, it’s pretty frequently that some people want to learn about “wine stuff” — usually in the context of “what do I do at a fancy restaurant?” This scenario is usually imagined in the setting of a “big date” or a business dinner where you want to look “sophisticated”. There’s a basic 5 to 15 minute spiel on how to look like you’re comfortable (not knowledgeable) and how to not get pushed around (or ritually mocked to your face) by a sneering waiter. (NEVER sniff the damn cork, for one thing.)
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[1] The case for Zinfandel as The American Grape. Zin’s origin is somewhat mysterious. It’s a proper vinifera (not our horrible native labrusca, for example) but not aristocratic like the stereotypical Bordeau or Burgundy grapes. You can make amazingly powerful yet elegant reds from it, or dessert wines even (high sugar content), or you can make cheerful pink slop that you can drink with ice on a hot summer day and not feel guilty about it. So basically zin is a versatile mutt that can “clean up real nice” or be comfortable at a NASCAR watching backyard party. Very American. As to the “mutt” part, it’s been linked to the Italian primitivo grape, and to something from Croatia that I can’t spell, but that unspellable thing is itself linked to something called plavac mali. Again, very American. There’s a great book by David Darlington called Angels’ Visits: An Inquiry Into the Mystery of Zinfandel that was published in 1991, if one is curious about it. I’m sure the over 30-year old book is out of date on the inquiry into the genetics of zin, but the writing is excellent.
Exactly Jules…What will we drink with a nice dinner out (or in for that matter) to look more sophisticated? Maybe sweat tea with ice and a lemon wedge, but, as Dave Ramsey says, ‘Too much lobster and it starts tasting like soap.” Need options here, and beer is so pedestrian (Ok, just ticked off half the crowd).
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Re-watch ‘A Good Year’ and the passion for the vine fruit (‘fwee’ in French if you must) will be rekindled as it should be.
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PS. Hess (Napa) has no shortage, just got a nice shipment of their Cab and a few others.
No wine lover here. Back in the dark ages in the Army, there were heated arguments regarding whether Thunderbird or MD 20/20 was best to mix with Everclear.
(I’ll see myself out)
MD for sure everywhere I was. That fact that it was a little cheaper at the PX sealed that deal.
Mad Dog 20-20
None of that for me, it makes you cross-eyed and too much makes you stupid. College party I drove out to Happy Valley (Penn State) to see buddies and friends who were going to main campus. 4 hour drive, needed a refreshment, pal hands me a cup of ‘punch’…yeah, Everclear. If I was short on fuel for the Datsun 260z that would have been an adequate substitute. No thanks.
Puhleeze! Neither MadDog nor Thunderbird. When I get home tonight it’s a hearty mug of “Zero Sugar Sparkling Ice” (they hand out bottles of this soft drink in the Amtrak Lounge at Penn Station) with a generous sloosh of “Granite State” vodka from the New Hampshire (govt monopoly) Booze Store. Granite State is about $4 for a 750ml bottle. :-) Because I’m a classy guy and I’m worth it.
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Did not see any stabbings in Manhattan today, though there was an incident on the subway literally as we were passing under Times Square (42nd st stop). A man got on with a loudly-playing boombox slung from a strap over his right shoulder. Anywhere from a rough 20’s to early 40’s, about 5’8″ and 150 lbs. Curly dark shoulder-length hair, about two days of stubble, birth control (or “problematic Karen”) black plastic frame glasses. Olive complexion. Not a particularly big nose, but accentuated by his markedly underslung chin. The rather AOC-style teeth did not improve his pulchritude. Neon-blue tank top, dark blue trousers. Car is fairly crowded, and we’re basically trying to ignore him, but people are looking around at each other with “can you believe this?” expressions. Chinless wonder is strap-hanging and not making eye contact with anyone, but plenty of people are looking around. I’m sitting, and roll my eyes at CW and mime the universal “jacking off” sign. Across from me is a probably-Latina in “Canadian tuxedo” (jeans jacket and blue jeans). Next to her is a big, fit looking American black dude in construction-worker clothes. They both smirk. Then the music adds lyrics by a male voice. Some blather about performing fellatio on other men. Over and over. People are now giving CW dirty looks, and the poor girl sitting directly in front of straphanging CW tries to move away as much as she can in the crowded car. Construction Guy catches my eye and makes a “what can you do?” shrug. I reply unquietly, “This kind of shit is why the rest of the country hates New York” and he starts laughing. Anyway, Chinless Wonder got off at the next stop, but he made a point of traversing the entire car instead of getting out from the nearest door. Jackass.
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This is actually not the typical Manhattan subway encounter, at least in my limited experience. It’s generally not bad. The only other “incident” in the last two months was a mysterious 15-foot clear space in an otherwise crowded car. When I got on I learned why. An emaciated older black man was passed out facedown on the bench. Below was a little puddle of urine that was lightly sloshing on the floor with small irregularities in the tracks. I sat on the end of the bench anyway. The urine wasn’t gonna slosh that far, and besides had already begun evaporating in a sort of auto-squeege effect. And the guy was deeply passed out (or dead).
> Maybe sweat tea with ice and a lemon wedge,
Sorry, Paul M, but I don’t think a bit of lemon will improve the glass of sweat. Blech.
For the record, I’m not big on the Japanese “sports drink” called Pocari Sweat either.
Hahah…now THAT was my typo error…mea culpa on my end for blowing the joke. But I still contend that all the remaining typos are the iPad’s fault (but of course)…or was it because the septic guy called and distracted me while typing? Maybe both.
Oh, and leave it to you, a well traveled renaissance man, to even know about Pocari Sweat (in italics no less, something I have not figured out how to do on this here blog)…major h/t reference…you should ask LL for a few VM Biodiversity Shekels.
Wine. Just one more thing the current youth seem to neither know nor care about. Sad. I also get it that buggy whips had their day too. When I was a young lad in the California Gold Rush country, my mother used drink locally produced Zinfandel wine, from vines planted by Italian immigrants in the late 1800’s. Came in one gallon glass jugs with a finger hook. I went to grade school with some kids from those families. After my Army hitch, went back to school at CSUC in Chico, CA. Took the beginning wine class as an elective from professor Marion Baldy. Being over 21, I did not have to spit the tasting samples into a cup.
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Navy recruits. Well after all, the song is “ANCHORS Aweigh”.
Admittedly I’m an American barbarian. I associate the deep wine culture in the US with either pretentious people with money or with the bums drinking Ripple and Old Thunderbird from a screwtop. I think that the middle class (while still guzzling $3.5 billion worth from Costco alone) is abandoning the culture. Maybe it’s being replaced by canabis. There are a lot of marijuana stores around. (see the series TULSA with Sylvester Stallone)
Point taken. I’ve always been fascinated by the wine making process, especially the effects of varying weather, seasons, and terrain. Never been particularly interested in the culture aspect. I refer to the wine I drink (a half glass with dinner most evenings) as “highly select”. I like it, I select it. Don’t care if the grapes came from vineyards on the flats around Lodi, CA. I am perfectly content with my 1.5L bottle of Barefoot Cab from Total Wine for $8.99. My wife prefers their Riesling.
As a teen, I started out with Boones Farm, or Boonatelli as we called it.
I hit Germany and had dinner at a friends whose Italian wife served a Lambrusco with dinner and it seemed so dry.
I then started to work across Italy and started drinking dryer varieties.
An Italian American Engineer told me at one point, “You have to try this. The old timers say it’s the best they ever drank.”
I reminded him that they probably couldn’t remember more than two weeks ago and he agreed.
But it was good.
When I was leaving, I thought I’d try a Lambrusco with dinner.
At that point, it reminded me of drinking cough syrup.
My kids won’t drink wine (I’m not permitted any more); they’ve all seem to developed a taste for Peg Leg Porker black label.
You can get plenty of decent dinner wines for $10 and under…as LL said, Costco sells a bunch, and they are fairly decent. (For the record, I am not the family wine ‘anything’, being a more ‘meat and potatoes’ type it took me a while to appreciate the grape, brother is an expert, and MrsPaulM has an amazing palette so I defer to her when selecting anything.)
Trump acquiring 65 mm bbls of Venezuelan oil. Recent article indicates that the 65 mm bbls will net $19/bbl to the Venezuelans. I don’t recall what “Sleepy” sold the SPR reserves for, but with adding a few bucks for handling, transportation, etc. I’d say Trump cut a fat hog to refill the SPR with this agreement. There are some issues with refining the heavy crude, but most refineries along the Gulf Coast are capable of handling it. And, the SPR is located close to a number of those same refineries.
Trump’s deal also allows the Canuk Prime Minister and Canadian industry to determine if product from the oil sands can be used to flush their Canuk toilets.
**I’m using “mm” as it was intended in years past…..to indicate “million”
Cletus admits suffering from eyesight issues related to age. I wrote million and I stand corrected….billion…. Seems Trump cut a whole sounder of fat hogs!
with the assistance of Alejandro Betancourt who heads North American Blue Energy Partners?
On another note – had to laugh when I read elsewhere that the EU is trying to separate itself from any Microsoft products. If the government blobs over there do their usual thing it will be quite the interesting spectacle. Popcorn futures may be looking up.
“Should Pres. Trump exchange the word tariff for “Carbon Tax” as a sop to progressives?” Yes! Playing by the Dementor’s rules works for me…watch as they rework their rules to become the exact opposite.
***
‘Letters of Marque and Reprisal’: Are We The people going forward or backwards? “…to streamline military capture of Iranian oil tankers as U.S. prizes”.
Forget that, take the tankers, continue turning drug boats into fish food, blow Somali pirate skiffs into Davey Jones Locker residents, and smoke any foreign enemy of the state to send a clear message America will not be messed with…and tell the Left/Democrats ‘Tough darts, wanna mess with the Big Dog, get the teeth.” ‘Big Stick’ tactics work.
***
“Female recruits in the US Navy.”: Just make sure side-to-side boat loading is maintained, wouldn’t want to tip over.
***
WWM Sauna: Here, an easy-peasy weekend project for ya (especially if you need a few more critical power tools to make it happen…THE #1 DIY Rule): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZLJszuPrtk
Letters of Marque and Reprisal. Et tu, Britain?
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https://x.com/TRobinsonNewEra/status/2095143700196118827
** Female recruits in the US Navy video.
Likely a Future Sailor Prepatory Course mixed sex group. Seem more than 6% over maximum weight allowance. To their credit, they are maintaining a decent pace.
Plus 12 on the movie A Good Year,, my brides fave watch it once a year. It’s a chic flick but fun.
Of topic but important
https://www.yahoo.com/news/world/articles/jack-mann-veteran-sas-sbs-163613973.html
Huge clanking balls
Mann, oh Mann!
Wow…quite the Mann.
“Are we hiring by the pound now?”
I’m pretty certain there were some dudes in there.
From the blurb:
“They showed up already knowing they exceeded body-fat standards. Instead of walking away, they signed up for up to 90 days of structured physical training, nutrition coaching, and hard work just to earn the chance to start basic training. They’re deliberately choosing to change their bodies, their habits, and their futures so they can serve.”
Sounds good to me.
X2
1. Mars’ gravity is fAR too small/low – won’t hold an atmosphere
2. Mars’ temperature too low – too far away from the Sun (until it expands sometime in the future)
3. Mar’s orbit is too eccentric – seasonal variations are too great
IMHO
were it in my power, I would try to move Venus to a mathematically corrected L3 (Antichthon) – and then, over the years (centuries/millenia?) attempt to add atmosphere
(y’know – like in a really slinky nightclub – baritone/alto sax/clarinet, bass, quiet piano, trombone/French horn – and yes! I can still remember the first one I was in like it was yesterday – they say that about old people, don’t they?)
totally off topic:
is there any plan to discuss the Department of War’s Office of Strategic Capital which appears to have become a National/Federal (?) investment firm totally under/within the Executive?
(or have I missed this discussion?)
Well, if there was a discussion I certainly missed it. So what do YOU think, boron?
I don’t know enough to have an opinion: Alls I know is OSC Director Dave Lorch is a Cerberus Capital guy (because of course he is), just like Steve Feinberg who appears to be the actual brains of the leadership of DEPWAR. What can I say. Maybe I will have TWO slooshes of Granite State vodka-for-derelicts tonight.
This stuff gets more complicated and intertwined (The Nebula) every year…who can keep track and make sense of all the machinations?
Me, a little Wyoming Whiskey on the Montana temp hovel cabin front porch as the stars come out on a (finally) clear night will do the trick of clearing the machine.