President Trump is an inspiration.
A fine line exists between success and failure, often defined by discipline and persistence. Sometimes, insurmountable setbacks block the path we hoped for, but there is a way forward as long as we draw breath. Sometimes, it’s not the way forward we hoped for (if wishes were horses, beggars would ride), but taking what we have and making the very best of it is the difference between a happy life and a life of disappointment. The only easy day was yesterday. That’s the thought of the day, and it’s heartfelt.
Bullet Points:
** The more generous and kind we can be as we move through life, the more fulfilled our lives will be. The opposite is also true.
** In 1918, Woodrow Wilson had a debilitating stroke and was semi-coherent, much as Joe Biden was for most of his Presidency. Wilson and Biden’s wives did all they could to hide their condition from the public as advisors attempted to fill in for crippled Presidents. In 1918, The Spanish Flu broke out. It was a worldwide pandemic that claimed 50 million lives. Even though more deadly, it wasn’t bungled as severely as COVID-19 since governments did not have the power or ability to lock down populations as they did in 2020, and in general, populations were much less servile than today.
Warren Harding became president in 1920, and the Conservatives held the White House for 12 years until the Stock Market Crash and the Great Depression ushered in FDR in 1932. So, following that logic, if history does indeed rhyme, this youth shift to the right may be here to stay. And that will have BIG repercussions in the next decade or two.
** A Historical Footnote – During WW2, the Americans supplied the UK with limited HVAP ammunition, commonly called APCR – Armour Piercing Composite Rigid. The British used APCBC and developed the superior APDS (sabot rounds). For reasons that remain a mystery, the British rebranded the new ammunition as Composite Rigid Armour Piercing or CRAP for a short time before it was decided that sending out containers marked with ‘CRAP ammunition’ written on the sides was demoralizing.
** Cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin, is not currency. Many people who use or trade in crypto forget this. In the U.S., crypto is considered a digital asset, and the IRS treats it generally like stocks, bonds, and other capital assets. Like these assets, the money you gain from crypto is taxed at different rates, either as capital gains or as income, depending on how you got your crypto and how long you held it. Assume you bought crypto at one price on day one and bought a pizza with it on day two. If it had increased in value in the intervening period, you’d owe capital gains to the IRS on the pizza purchase.
** Mexico is a corrupt Narco-State in the pocket of violent Cartels funneling dangerous narcotics into the US. Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum filed a controversial series of changes to the country’s constitution that would essentially block any investigation or action by foreign law enforcement agencies without their permission. The provisions enable Mexico to pursue anyone involved in those investigations criminally. The changes come after the United States designated six Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and announced the intent to eradicate them. Pres. Sheinbaum is part of the drug cartel infrastructure.
The Israelis want a Big Dig and a New Canal.
Egypt predictably doesn’t like the idea.
VDH
VDH and I are about the same age. We both grew up in small agrarian communities and lived in homes with our grandparents. We both grew up in situations of humble means. We come from the same frame of reference, and we both take note of the social rot celebrated by the coastal elites.
Tank Trivia – T-52
It was a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun with armament in a ball-type turret that resembled a giant B-17 ball turret.
A tank-based SPAAG would have more armor, and be able to keep up with tanks as they advanced.
In 1941, the US began a project that attempted to mount a 75 mm anti-aircraft gun on the chassis of an M3 medium. This would gradually morph into the 40 mm Gun Motor Carriage T36, another strange creation that deserves an article of its own.
In early 1942, the US Ordnance Department and Army Ground Forces established requirements for a new self-propelled anti-aircraft gun based on the M4 Sherman. It was to be armed with an automatic 40 mm cannon and two .50 caliber machine guns.
Firestone Tire and Rubber Company had already designed a turret that could fulfill these requirements, so it was ordered for testing. Firestone finished the first turret in October 1942, and tests began with the completed vehicle—the Carriage, Motor, 40 mm Gun, T52—in March 1943.
Firestone had designed a strange ball-like turret separated into two main parts. The lower part sat in the Sherman’s turret ring and controlled the turret’s lateral movement. The T52 was based on a relatively standard M4A2 Sherman hull.
The upper part sat within this and pivoted up and down on a trunnion for the turret’s vertical movement.
The T52’s main armament was a 40 mm M1 gun, the US version of the Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft gun. It was mounted in the turret’s center and fired just under 100 rounds per minute.
The 40 mm was supplied with only 64 rounds. On either side of the turret was a .50 caliber machine gun, which carried 1,000 rounds of ammunition on board.
The turret was protected by 1.5 inches (38 mm) of steel, which is respectable for the role.
In total, a crew of four operated the T52. Two were on the front of the hull on the left and right sides, as in a standard Sherman, while a gunner and a loader were in the turret. The turret functioned similarly to the B-17 Flying Fortress’ famous ball turret.
Only having two in the turret was a severe limitation for the T52. The gunner was positioned on the right of the turret and had to operate the guns, but he also had to reload the .50 caliber machine gun to his right. Meanwhile, the loader had it even worse. Naturally, he was tasked with loading the 40 mm and the left-side .50 caliber machine gun, but he also had to spot targets for the gunner, set the range for the guns, and manage any stoppages.
Identify the Aircraft
1
Two Photos
Can you also identify the unguided folding fin aerial rockets that “saved the day” and infrared-guided AIM missiles?
2
Identify the Tank
3
Not a Cromwell
4
5
The tank was never made to fight WWI battles. It was developed to cross the German Siegfried line and the wide German Anti-Tank ditches trenches under heavy fire.
End
1 is Northrop F-89 Scorpion D model
Armed with Mk 4 Folding-Fin Aerial Rocket (FFAR), also known as “Mighty Mouse“
3 is a Comet tank. Updated Cromwell with lower profile and 77 mm high velocity gun
(1) Northrup F-89 Scorpion with Mighty Mouse FFAR and Falcon missiles.
(2) IAR 80
(3) Maybe a Cavalier?
(4) M3 Lee.
(5) TOG II
*
– Kle.
Excellent!
Identify the Aircraft:
1. Northrop F-89H Scorpion, 2.75-inch Mighty Mouse FFAR and Falcon AAM
2. IAR 80
Identify the Tank:
3. Cavalier
4. M3 Lee
5. TOG2
Very good!
Ag upbringing- Brothers and myself as well. Semi rural surrounded by legacy farms, Boy Scouts, church, “the woods and creek”, etc. M&D paid $23k for the childhood home…on some land…in a good school district, and we were wont for nothing and never burdened with adult “things”. Took a while to discover we kids were extremely lucky.
***
Excellent opening salvo…personally I’m not ready to “ring the bell”, God willing.
My brother…
Mexico-
The cartels are in the business of smuggling anything into the USA that pays well and Mexico is “now” legally protecting the cartels?
One way to look at that is that Mexico is now in the same business as the cartels…. Maybe a better way to say it Mexico & the cartels are now joined like Mexico/Cartels? Maybe a hyphen between Mexico & the cartels would be better (Mexico-Cartels)?
Not really good neighbors now that they have stopped pretending. What often happens when neighboring nations have serious difficulties? History tells me that war often happens. If that was to happen, & we won what do we want from Mexico? Since there are no guarantees in life (or war) what would Mexico want if they won? That can’t happen you say?
The last 50 years say this is not the same America it used to be.. not the same world either, what if Mexico needs a friend and looks to China?
Then they will at best find a master.
*
China does not make nor have “friends”.
*
– Kle.
During the Spanish Flu, Idaho did not shutter church worship, schools, or groups meeting with their elected representatives. One eastern state attempted to close down churches, but was defeated in court because of constitutional limitations on government. There is a strong argument that both officials and citizens were better versed in the US Constitution at that time preventing the debacle we all went through in the SARS CoV-2.
X2…yup…and now the facts are coming out, supported by huge date sets, that was a total Psy-Op that the trusting parts of society went fully hook, line, and sinker, like a trout, only to now turn into a crappie with the Not-A-Vax (more damning data emerging on that secondary bio-weapon).
Here in Michigan, when Whitler shut down the churches, a friend of mine threatened a federal lawsuit.
That night the churches were no longer constrained by the government.
However, to their shame, most of them stayed shut, for optics. “A good witness”.
They aren’t principles until you defend them or it costs you something…like contending for the Faith, one either folds at the first sign of pressure or SISU’s up and tells them to go pound sand. Your friend is a Christ Warrior (you as well).
“Composite Rigid Armour Piercing or CRAP”
I’m assuming the expression “it’s the shit” is derived from AAVE or similarly humble origin, so would not have been acceptable in WWII Britain. But these days the ad writes itself: CRAP bullets — They’re the real shit! (Yes, I know the whole round is not called a “bullet” but this is for advertistical purposes and license is taken.)
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I don’t know what President Sheinbaum might be up to, nor why, but pretty sure she’s got a long way to go before she can challenge President Zelenskyy’s record.
Speaking of Cocaine Man Good, the knives are coming out, eh? Good. So is this a Preference Cascade, or was The Press simply hiding all reports of internal dissention up to now? Among others, the mayor of Kiev (yes, Kiev, damnit) is clearly NOT a fan.
First read I was thinking ‘CRAP’ was named by Clarkson and the Top Gear BBC boys…sounds like something they would do….with Clarkson painting it on the side of James May’s epic roadtrip vehicle in the middle of the night. heheh
Spanish Flu. I recall someone telling about an interview they did with an old man who was, IIRC, about age 8 during the flu. He and his family lived on a rural farm somewhere in the Midwest. His entire family were ill at the same time. He survived and woke up one morning somewhat on the road to recovery. It was the custom of the house that whom ever was up first was to re-kindle the banked fire. The young lad did this. Then he went to check on the rest of his family. Everyone was dead. He decided to make his way to a neighboring farm for help. Everyone there was dead too. The old man recalled that the thought entered his young mind that he might be the last person left alive on the planet, and for a moment he considered taking his own life. He then decided to make for the next farm over, and there he found some folks alive.
Wow. And you wonder, given the ruralness, how it spread to them so uniformly.
Likely as mentioned above, schools and churches.
Must have been. Maybe a church social.
I remember reading of an Irish monk during the Black Plague who buried all his brethren and saw no one for months. He seriously wrote down his thoughts and the fear that he might be the last man on Earth, and why God had chosen him for such a fate.
So, explain to me how we have a “right” to go into a sovereign nation and investigate crime there. Please.
“Winners do what losers won’t”. Jackie Cooper
Still keeps me going.
Bongino explaining his decision to give up his business for a time after accepting the FBI Deputy Director position (roughly accurate quote): “I can’t sit here all comfortable doing my podcast and show while spouting off on government problems with the expectation someone else will take care of it…it’s all in the do, and I just have to do.”
During the Spanish flu outbreak, there were a couple of old guys running a saw mill by the river about 1/2 mile from where my dad was living on the farm. His dad sent my 7 yr old dad and his younger sister down there with food once a week. He said his dad had 4 other sons all older, so he thought they were expendable or something like that, and it was the right thing to do! Too much Dutch in them to get sick I guess.
Most likely all the fresh air and was probably a dry spell.
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Moisture, dank air, is seen as one of the reasons it spread in the trenches and in cities. Spain was going through a very wet time when it hit Spain.
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The origins of the damn thing are incredible. From Western China (where all great plagues come from) was carried and mutated by illegal Chinese immigrants into Canada, carried on rail cars that then were used to carry US recruits to training depots which said recruits were then shipped to England where they were shipped to France and…
What killed the majority of people during the Spanish flu epidemics were secondary infections, mainly bacterial pneumonia as “masks” were mandated and were de rigueur at the time and because disposable masks were not yet invented at the time and wore cloth masks that were not cleaned or sanitized and were worn for days. Much like we saw during our scamdemic and the fact normal people didn’t keep their “damn dirty paws” off the masks.
Same same with most any plague. The secondaries are what kills. With Spanish Flu, overprescribing and overtaking Aspirin, which held the fever down, kept the bug alive instead of burning it out, thus allowing it to go to the pneumonia stages.
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With COVID, few, if any, actually died from the actual virus. What killed them was lack of support early in the suppression of the secondary infections. And, of course, villainizing Ivermectin and HydroCloroquin. Whomever made those ‘illegal’ to prescribe should have been shot, hung, end-of-lifed.
Trump 2.0 is a very different beast than the previous iteration.
Good luck with the dam tailors. See KENT HASTE. Just my tuppence worth.
Yep, an Isreali canal ‘could’ upset the middle east applecart in a hurry!
And I hope they do it. The Suez is too narrow and shallow for modern super ships and Egypt can’t widen and deepen it without shutting or slowing down traffic.
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The same with the proposed Mexican canal. The Panama, even with the Panamax locks, is too congested and is a block on the amount of traffic that can transit from the Pacific to the Atlantic and vise-versa.
well let’s just “investigate” the cartels remotely with 500 lb jdams. what are they going to do about it? then create a no-man’s land 10 miles or so wide south of the rio grande. problem solved.
Attack the cartels by taking out their banking systems, killi.ng their leadership and rank-and-file, destroying their infrastructure. Wait 6 months and Mexico falls apart, walk in and create a dead-zone 20 miles deep.
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It could be done. It can be done. Does anyone in the US leadership have the fortitude to follow this plan?