Bullet Points:
** Kamala lands a job in the fast food industry. (Elsa) Then there is studying political speeches (is it anything like nursing school?). Just do it.
** More boating with EdB.
** Lions and tigers and bears (oh my).
** Are the fish sourced locally? It’s a fair question when you want good fish and chips.
** Sloppy Russians – (h/t Claudio) – I harken back to the days when the frost broke with the USSR; I went on the Admiral Vinagrodov, which was new then, and witnessed the Russian tech for myself. The officers confided in me that they hoped to get one volley of missiles off from the main battery at the Americans before we sank them. They had no damage control, there were no seals on the hatches (they were not waterproof when dogged), and the counter NBC system was rusted shut even though it was new.
** National brain trust.
Housekeeping: I continually receive texts (several a day) urging me to endorse Donald J. Trump and J. D. Vance for President and Vice President of the United States, respectively. I hereby do so. Of course, the texts are pretexts for asking me to send them money. Irrespective of how much money I send, they will still ask for more, and the calls will keep coming. Nevertheless, the official endorsement is made.
Drone Aircraft
Some of you may know that I was involved in designing and manufacturing very innovative and cutting-edge drones beginning in 2014 as a type of collateral duty even though I was the Chief Products Officer of the company comprised of Cal Tech professors who quit their day jobs to do this. In Tucker’s interview with Eric Prince, Prince points the way to the future. I’m no longer doing that, but I was deeply involved with the project funded by IARPA and private capital for about three years. It doesn’t feel like ten years have passed, but they certainly have.
RIP
Marc and I were friends and swim buddies from the first, which was a long time ago. We did some ops, and he was one of those people you could always trust to have your back. Post-Navy, I had a slipped 36′ Sea Ray, and he’d come up to Alamitos Bay. We’d motor across the Catalina Channel, get a few dives in before the afternoon chop developed, head back to Seal Beach, and grab lunch. We did that every month or so on a Friday/Saturday evolution. We dove Farnsworth, Eagle Reef, and Ship Rock; if a good shot developed, we’d spear a fish or eight. Sometimes, we’d spend Saturday BBQing the catch on the boat and returning Saturday night once the ocean calmed. It was that sort of easy friendship. He came by the White Wolf Mine about three months ago on his way home from somewhere and hung out on the deck. We swapped lies and burned some steaks.
He decided to move to Florida. As with many in our line of work, he had his demons and a couple of failed marriages, but things came together for him. He texted or called me at least three days a week about how he was doing this or that, a house in escrow, the love of a long-term girlfriend, and the problems seemed to be in his rearview mirror. He kept himself in shape and had belts in hard Shoto, and in earlier years, we sparred (hard). He was exceptionally fast. He had enough money, more firearms, knives, demo, and ammo than an operational platoon. He could have stormed the Bastille single-handedly and prevailed. He sent photos like the one above. They were all joyful, happy, and hopeful. He paid cash for a new Jeep Rubicon. We made plans for me to go there and fish for Tarpon. Then his brother called two weeks ago to inform me that he ended in suicide. There are a million unanswered questions, as there always are.
There will be a service later this month at Ft. Rosecrans (San Diego), and his ashes will be interred. I’ll be there with a few other old men to see him off, but we will meet again soon enough, diving that big reef in the eternal sea, and he can tell me what the heck happened.
Red China Blues
(h/t Claudio via RFA) China’s economy is slowing, the regime is struggling, and the people in the worker’s paradise (where everyone works) are finding unemployment. The poverty that comes with it is gumming up the plan.
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I’m not a huge fan of Peter Zeitan. He’s a weird cat—maybe so am I. Anyway, he recently hit the nail on the head with China.
The lesson of the day is that if the Chinese government starts censoring a topic, it’s probably time to investigate. Today, we’ll examine China’s economy, which is heading into ‘garbage time’.
For the non-athletes that follow me, garbage time is a sports term that refers to the final minutes of a play when there is no chance for the losing team to recover, yet play must continue. So, if we apply that to the Chinese economy, it would suggest that China has crossed the point of no return.
If you trust the data coming out of China, the economy is stagnant, and the demographic picture is grim. If you take your Chinese data with a grain of salt, the economy and demography of China are in an unrecoverable nose dive. So, to say that China is ‘laying flat’ and in ‘garbage time’ is no exaggeration.
Strong international trade would help China hold on. Unfortunately, many countries are withdrawing from deals with China, removing that last sliver of hope for the Chinese.
China counters by building auto plants in Mexico in the hopes that a corrupt US government will allow them to sell into the American market. They’re expanding in Latin America to the extent possible, but all that could end abruptly during a Trump presidency. I think that the “hard times call for desperate measures” philosophy is too little, too late, even with a Harris regime in the White House.
Yes, they could invade Taiwan and lay waste to the island. It would end their foreign trade abruptly, and since they couldn’t feed themselves, it would inevitably lead to famine. They thought that Australia would fall like a domino, but that hasn’t turned out to be the case. A military invasion of Australia would inevitably end in a nuclear war between the US and China, with Russia coming south to pick up the bones. Harris might not push the button, but the shot callers wouldn’t give her the football anymore than they gave it to Pedo Joe.
China doubled down on the Philippines, and the P.I. tossed them out. The PRC is PNG’d in the PI. Four new US bases with anti-shipping missiles on the Philippines soil make a hard power play to do anything there unlikely. The Chinese have a big navy, but the PI is a hill they’d die on, and they know it. The Japanese and the rest of Asia are arming to confront China. We owe it all to Xi.
I’ll end with Kipling and The Gods of the Copybook Headings (read the whole thing here)
As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man,
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began.
That the Dog returns to his Vomit, and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool’s bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;
And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!
Identify the Flying Things
1
2
Hint: Not a Mustang
3
Identify the Feature Film
End
1) Atlas?
2) Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation CA-15 Kangaroo
3) Uhhh…
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Yup. Atlas D to be perzact.
Sorry for your loss.Suicide is a bitter thing all around.
Lost two cousins and other people that way. Depression mostly it seems but not all of them.
Spoke to one cousin on Friday evening two years ago and he hanged himself by lunchtime Saturday. Made it that his mother outlived all her children. She died last week (96) and her grandson and I are trying to sort things out.
Nuclear could wipe most of Australia’s population out quickly as very concentrated. But lots of empty space. I am well out of town but not that far straight line from major Air Force base so would probably be in trouble.
You are actually safer now than in the 60’s. Weapons are far more precise in their targeting, so they don’t have to be big enough to cover probability-of-error.
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Key things are, of course, distance from the blast, any terrain features blocking said blast and wind direction. All things to be considered in one’s survival.
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In the mid 60’s, my dad was stationed at Vandenberg AFB on the west coast of California, between Los Angeles and San Francisco. He got a house in Santa Maria, coincidentally to the north of both Vandenberg and Los Alamos and with some serious hills between both primary targets and Santa Maria. Met all three conditions.
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Took me years to figure that one out.
Sorry for Marc, this is rough.
Oz is quite safe should it invest in more reserve Army units and additional air cover. Only a D-Day class invasion would suffice, and good luck crossing the Pacific with that.
Identify the Flying Things:
1. Atlas D
2. CAC CA-15
3. Beech AT-10 fitted with V-tail as part of testing for Beech Model 34 development.
Identify the Feature Film:
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
IDFT-
1. Convair SM-65D Atlas
2, CAC CA-15 Kangaroo
3. Beech 26 XAT-10A Wichita
IDFF-
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Sorry to hear about your friend Marc. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
not to quibble, but I’m confused:
is that Peter Zeitan or Peter Zeihan?
BTW: did I hear BRICS? did someone say BRICS?
in re your friend Marc
Sorry for your loss
there are many who knowingly walk at the edge of the precipice; you can point out to them that sometimes the edge isn’t as solid as they’ve come to believe, but you just can’t hold their hand 24/7
Sorry for your loss.
Harris…a total poseur, and now looks “more black (‘Black’?) than five years ago as her handlers groom the puppet. Now we get the most asinine moron trotted out as “her” (aka. The Cesspool”) so-called running mate. That one is another tool, too dull to anything useful or productive in the constructive…he’ll told what to do and what to say…just like Harris who still nervous-laughs her way through every comment (because she knows she’s a dumb**). TPTB are flooding the airwaves with her countenance to remake the addled image while desperate to erase her past fubar mode. Despite demands Trump debate this latest installed Village Idiot, it will never happen as her spun brain would not play well on national TV. Will it work? Already the ignorant/self-loathing low info voter (h/t Rush) are climbing on board the Harris rotten train.
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Many prayers of comfort to you and your friends with this tragic loss. God has him now…and as we come to believe in our hearts, he is at peace.
One flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, a defining movie that set my future in psych nursing, I wanted to be Nurse Ratchet, an unsung and maligned role. With almost ten years of that and you could set your monthly calendar by the same patients being admitted over and over. That and become aware that is a tremendous scam perpetuated in the medical community. I went into a more productive area of the hospital in saving lives and healing.
I sat in many lectures that were exactly like listening to kamala la la ding dong. That waitress had a nice, bouncy tush that I would order fish and chips for every meal, every day… I have actually asked drivers if I could back up their vehicle and trailer to unload or load their boats so that I didn’t spend hours trying to do the same and I have had those same drivers ask me how I learned to back up so effortlessly… My response, take driving lessons at a truck driving school with an old, grumpy truck driver instructor, like a DI, you will learn and trust your mirrors, not that damn nanny-cam mounted in your ass end of your car/truck.
There’s a meme that shows a woman on a lawn chair at a launch offering to back up trailers for $5.
Many have suggested my wife take that up as a side gig.
On one occasion while waiting forever for a guy, I told him to stop and I dragged his trailer into position.
I was lucky (in more ways than one) to grow up as a young lad on our ranch in the California Gold Rush country. We had a surplus WWII jeep and trailer. I learned to drive the jeep by age 8, and improved my skills backing with the trailer as time went on. It served me well during my Army hitch in West Germany during the mid-70’s.
Correction: “unload or load their boats so that I didn’t spend hours trying” Should have read I didn’t spend hours ‘waiting’ for them to do the same…
Damn, sorry to read about your friend Marc. Depression is truly a terrible thing if that was the cause. Hopefully you and Marc’s other friends can remember the good times.
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“The Gods of the Copybook Headings”. Kipling has an amazing amount of wisdom in his poems. This is one of my favorites.
“Shit happens, deal with it”, isn’t enough when we don’t know why the shit happened. Sorry for the loss of you friend.
About five miles from Banner’s apartment is a former Atlas site. Tours are no longer offered but those who have toured say it is mainly intact. https://poudreheritage.org/locations/missile-site-park/
During WW II it was the site of a German POW camp. A portion of the buildings was moved to Garden City (Greeley) as a VFW Post.
> very innovative and cutting-edge drones
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Cleverly disguised as a George Foreman Grill!
Nurse Crachett was a most talented and wonderful woman
That’s why I let my wife do it.
https://youtu.be/l9UdUpeK9tM
Was your wife a truck driver in another life? She is excellent backer! I am impressed!
X2…well done!
I’m sorry for your loss, sir.
As I read on and hit the part about your friend Marc and your recollection of him, it became obvious he was no longer with us in body.
My nephew did himself in last year (drinking was involved) and I was asked to do the funeral.
My condolences to you.
Condolences to the family and to you. I suggest readers check any meds they are taking. I had horrible side effects with the latest and greatest allergy med I was prescribed. It became an expensive learning experience. I can put up with sneezing better than I did with that.
A word of caution on China and it’s economic demise, nothing can believed from the media until triple checked. And then it is only partly correct.
Im truly sorry for your loss. It seems the ones who hid it well leave the biggest impact on their families and friends.
So very sorry to hear of your friend.
I graduated high school in ’76, just a few months after watching Cuckoo’s Nest. Apparently an uncle of mine had been treated with electroshock in the Salem (OR) psychiatric hospital. Details remain obscure, but WWII or shortly afterward, and apparently medically discharged/pensioned. Treatment helped, but it was not a cure – of course. (He died of natural causes in his fifties.)
I (and we all) appreciate your knowledge, honesty, and ability to say what needs to be said.
Sorry about Marc.
I grew up with five brothers on a dairy farm, I was number 5 out of 6. If you tried to back something and had to pull forward more than twice, they drug you out of the cab, offered some reeducation remediation, then put you back in so you could “do it right!” Nothing like trying to back a four wheel hay trailer. The holy grail of backing.
Why do you say Zeihan’s “weird”? I don’t know too much about the guy. Tried listening to some of his videos, and something struck me as “off”. Couldn’t put a finger on it, but it bothered me.
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Then I read some transcripts of his talks (in hopes this would eliminate any subconscious reaction I might have to his affect as opposed to his intellectual content). I’m thinking that he uses manipulative speech to persuade. I don’t mean rhetoric that appeals to your patriotism, or faith, or love of family. Nothing lofty like that. He uses stuff like “so now you know. And if anyone tells you otherwise, tell them they’re idiots. Because you’re smarter than that.”
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This is just low. It preys on the weak-minded and insecure. Gee, Peter. If I go along with your assertion then I’m smart? Because YOU said so. Gosh what a prize. What a worthy accolade! I don’t need to score points off of idiots. (I’d rather walk away. 😉) And I don’t need Zeihan’s approval. Convince me with logic and facts and reasoning. A pat on the head from you, speaking as if ex cathedra, yet, is not convincing. But the tactic works well on insecure midwits.
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As a general thing, people who use “you’re smarter than that” or “you’re better than that” (again, 😉) are not nearly as clever as they think they are. And it’s the opposite of morally persuasive.
May your swim buddy rest in peace.
Sorry to hear about your friend, and I hope you get that explanation on the other side.
I remember your involvement with the drones. And then you find one day, ten years have got behind you…
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Please accept my sincerest condolences on the loss of your friend. I’ve been fortunate enough to have made a few friends like that. It hurts when they leave us.
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LL… reference Marc….
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May the memories of the experiences you had together inspire you as you continue to travel in this complex world without him. Cherish the time you had together. Condolences.
Sorry for loss of your swim buddy. The Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery is beautiful. If he is on the east slope, he’ll be able to keep an eye on North Island, the Coronado Hotel and if course BUDS!
On the west slopes he’ll be watching beautiful sunsets for eternity.
Sorry to hear about your lost friend, LL. You can never have enough good friends.
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– Kle.
Very sorry to hear this. Rest assured of my prayers and intention at the Altar.