Global Warming and Cooling at the Same Time! While the US East Coast has been hammered by cold weather, it’s been summer all winter in the Southwest. I went to Sedona, AZ, for lunch, and it was 80 degrees. Therefore, I declare that spring has sprung – thanks, groundhog. Casting about for a sermonette, that’s all that I can think of. Easter is still six weeks away. Passover is a little closer for those of you who are keeping track.
Letters of Marque and Reprisal
A surprising number of you (great minds think alike) have written to me about an appetite in the US Congress to issue letters of marque and reprisal to US maritime companies. (more here) Yes, it’s certainly appealing. I think it would be useful (and very cathartic) to outfit a Q ship to draw the pirates in and shred them with chainguns. Could I draw weapons and ammunition from US Naval stores if I had a fast ship that I intended to sail in harm’s way?
What about raiders? HogsbreathSS and a few marines in a landing force in Yemen. Could we receive payment for scalps? What about booty seized? I’d tie up the Hoothies with chauvanches and raid them from the sea.
The US Navy is scrapping its Mk-VI Patrol Boats (below). Would they donate them to the American pirate navy? With a squadron of these bad boys, a Q-ship and a couple of LSTs to land fast “technicals” with mercenaries, I could wrap up the coast of Yemen in short order. The key would be the authorization from Congress to make war, take prizes, and such booty as we could find on land.
Iran recently declared war on us (again). I think that the US ignored it as a nuisance, but if we could take tankers with Iranian crude in their tanks as prizes, it would add to the incentive. Could we raid Iran itself? I’m just asking while I’m on the rant. If we’re going to Iran, I must draw a few dozen FIM-92 Stingers — man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS) from inventory. I’m happy to sign for them with EdB’s name. If they won’t accept EdB, I can sign “Hillary Clinton” – for those of you who recall Benghazi. We’ll simultaneously sink their Persian ships at anchor from the shore and sea.
Fast Food
Last week the Globe reported on a new study by the Berkeley Research Group admitting that California’s $20 minimum wage for fast food workers has led to job losses, higher food prices, and increased automation in the industry.
The BRG study found that “California’s fast-food restaurants lost 10,700 jobs between June 2023 and June 2024, making it the worst-performing year outside of a recession and the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, food prices at local restaurants have increased by 14.5% since the legislation was signed, nearly double the national average.
The Employment Policies Institute (EPI), which has consistently reported on the economic devastation caused by the $20 minimum wage for fast food workers, weighs in on the SEIU study. EPI notes that the evidence is from an unexpected source: “…the same labor union that pushed for the $20 policy.”
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h/t Frank
It’s spring – and time to take that spring vacation.
Voting Behavior
Bullet Points:
** The people screaming so loudly about President Trump auditing federal spending are the SAME people who wanted to hire 80,000+ new IRS agents to audit the American people under President Biden. If it weren’t for double standards, there wouldn’t be any standards in DC.
** Disgraced former FBI Director Jim (Big Jim) Comey sent two female FBI special agents into the Trump campaign in a honeypot operation. (more here) “The case had no predicated foundation, so Comey personally directed the investigation without creating an official case file in Sentinel or any other FBI system,” said the whistleblower’s disclosure, obtained by the Times. “The FBI has multiple methods of protecting highly sensitive investigations, so Comey did not have a legitimate reason not to officially create an official investigation file or have a file number.”
** It’s weird being the same age as old people. Just because I’m old doesn’t mean you’re out of range.
** Tranny athletes, stay home. Rubio’s State Department issued a directive on February 24 placing a “permanent fraud bar” on applicants who “misrepresent” their sex while applying for a visa to enter the U.S. to compete in sports.
** Senator Lindsey Graham on Zelensky’s now-infamous Oval Office stunt: “He’s got such a chip on his shoulder he wants to lecture everybody all the time. He asked JD [Vance], have you ever been to Ukraine? Well, I’ve been there nine freaking times. And yeah, I was offended.”
** In the Snow with PaulM.
** Boating with EdB. And you know that it doesn’t end there because it’s SPRING. Yes, you can keep boating with EdB.
** When DRJIM decides it’s time to go sand-skipping with SLW.
** Rodeo with Wandering Neurons.
** Mars and Venus.
In Ukraine
NY Times: “Ukraine controls more than 100 significant deposits of critical minerals, according to a study by the Kyiv School of Economics, along with modest oil and natural gas reserves. Ukraine has deposits of 20 of the 50 minerals the U.S. Geological Survey lists as critical for America’s economic development and defense, including Titanium, which is used in construction, airplanes, orthopedic implants, and as an additive in paint and cosmetics, including sunscreen, among many other things. Titanium mines in central Ukraine account for about 6 percent of global production.
Lithium is a crucial element in batteries, electric vehicles, and other industrial products, including some medications. Ukraine has a third of Europe’s total reserves, although some sites are in war-contested areas. Before the war with Russia, Ukrainian officials suggested that Elon Musk invest in Ukrainian lithium mines.
Ukraine has the largest uranium reserves in Europe.
Rare earths are a group of more than a dozen metals, much less abundant than Titanium or Lithium, that are used in many high-tech sectors, including green energy, electronics, and aerospace. Ukraine has substantial, mostly untapped reserves, and how expensive they would be to extract is unclear.
Ukraine could help break a Chinese near-monopoly on rare earth metals used in mobile phones, other electronics, and possibly future technologies.”
Beyond that, we have Z-skyy. He doesn’t get to choose who he negotiates with for peace or a ceasefire. By the nature of war, enemies who hate each other are forced to deal with each other.
Zelenskyy can’t repeatedly say that he can’t negotiate with Putin. That is not his choice. Z-skyy is not Ukraine. . At best, he represents the nation, though whether the Ukrainians leave him in that position is not yet decided. There is nobody else in Russia with whom he can negotiate.
Ukraine is losing the war and losing more and more land. Ukraine is losing more and more men. The USA and Europeans are not going to send manpower to push Russia out of eastern Ukraine. That would lead to World War Three and nobody wants to face nuclear annihilation for Z-skyy’s sake or the sake of Ukrainian satisfaction.
As VDH put it, March 2025 is not March 2022, after the heroic saving of Kyiv—but three years and 1.5 million dead and wounded later. Zelenskyy is no longer the international heartthrob with the glamorous entourage. He has postponed elections, outlawed opposition media and parties, suspended habeas corpus and walked out of negotiations when he had an even hand in Spring 2022 and even now when he does not in Spring 2025.
Before Bridges were Common
𝟭𝟴𝟵𝟲. L.A. Huffman’s photo reminded us that bridges were scarce. Crossing required a ferry, fording at a low point, or ice thick enough to be safe.
The gent on the right pulls the ferry loaded with a buggy and a wagon. On the left, a person is on the opposite bank. Huffman lived in Miles City (MT), along the Yellowstone River. However, the ferry was on the Missouri River on the Mandan Indian (now Fort Berthold) Reservation in ND.
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In Hawaii
(captain) (h/t Claudio) “Hawaii and Alaska are forced to pay billions in extra costs because of a shipping law that Congress had no constitutional authority to create,” said Joshua Thompson, senior attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation. “The Port Preference Clause was designed to prevent this exact type of economic discrimination.”
The Koloa Rum Company v. Noem case seeks a declaratory judgment that the Jones Act’s cabotage provisions are unconstitutional as applied to interstate commerce between Hawaii and the mainland United States. Additionally, the lawsuit requests a permanent injunction to prevent federal officials from enforcing these provisions against Koloa Rum Company.
The legal challenge can potentially reshape maritime commerce regulations and set a precedent for other businesses adversely affected by the Jones Act. As the case progresses, it will undoubtedly draw significant attention from industries reliant on maritime shipping, policymakers, and legal experts nationwide.
Identify the Armor
1
No, it’s not the best angle and most precise picture, but there’s enough for you to decide to shoot or not shoot.
2
AFVs are happy to be mentioned on VM
Identify the Aircraft
3
4
5
Be careful with this one. Hint: An aircraft and crew from 338 Squadron, which was
primarily made up of Norwegians who escaped Nazi occupation.
Parting Shot
End
Second day of autumn down here a cool 90 degrees and a tropical cyclone (hurricane) coming down the coast and predicted to make landfall on Thursday just north of the state capital. Well south (but not the record) of the usual route.
5 is a Northrop N-3PB Nomad ordered by Norway before the German invasion but not delivered. Flown out of Greenland as anti submarine patrol.
5 is Northrop N-3PB Nomad
Ordered by Norway but not delivered before the GermN invasion. Flown out of Greenland as anti submarine patrol.
Yes it is!
Me thinks that steer those long haired cowboys were trying to ride didn’t want his ugly hide raked with spurs.
Bull riders looking for that extra edge pay a price on occasions. Some 62 years later that lesson is still remembered.
No kidding
Looks like an amateur event. And painful. Got friends that have tangled with bulls and bull riding, but not me. One friend got attacked by a bull several times. Bull was renamed “A$$hole”. After third attempted goring, a .45 caliber projectile was inserted at high velocity, dead bull subsequently slaughtered and frozen.
Several years after the final event, that friend hosts bbq’s, and we are still being served A$$hole (capital A, not lower-case a).
Thx for the kind mention!
Identify the Armor:
1. Ukrainian Leopard 2A6
2. Polish M120 Rak mortar on SMK 120 chassis
Identify the Aircraft:
3. Fairey Swordfish
4. Kawasaki Ki-61 Tony
5. Northrop N-3PB
Perfect
FYI: the photo of patrol ships shows the circa 300 ton Cyclone-class patrol boats of which only three are still available for use.
We could make do with 3. They need to be refitted with Harpoon missiles, and a RAM mount.
We’ve had both global warming and cooling here in east Kansas, sometimes both in the same day. A couple weeks ago we had sub-zero temperatures, the next week it hit 70 a couple times. Currently it’s 28, but is supposed to reach 60 this afternoon.
It’s a head scratcher. Do we pay taxes to cool the globe more or to warm it?
Periodic Table:
I’d put 82 in the green category and 12 and 20 in the red.
Bullet Point #3: you’re not old; talk to me about it as you’re creeping up on 85 – or vice versa
“Letters of Marque and Reprisal”
if you’ve got a position that requires sitting for hours on end in front of a screen at minimum pay with lousy food, I know a guy …
There are many local roads with the names of the ferries that they once serviced. Now, I think there are only three in the entire state of Texas, with the Galveston Ferry the most well known. If the Bolivar Peninsula had white sand, and emerald water, a causeway would have been built decades ago. Still, on some days, six ferries will run to handle the traffic. At night, if you happen to drive up when the ferry is leaving, you have a one hour wait, and if you’re on the Bolivar side, there are raccoons to entertain as they dumpster dive.
I’ll keep that in mind. Maybe bring snacks for the raccoons.
Same road-naming convention in Tennessee. Harper’s Ferry ring bells?
There was a road between Nashville and Ashland City, TN, that still required a ferry to cross the river, and I remember the thrill as a child of watching and riding the Cumberland at that crossing.
Letters of Marque and Reprisal-
I think we could and should wrap up the Yemen in short order especially if we went in ahead of time and destroyed their main staple,(Abyssinian Tea, African Salad, Catha, Chat, Kat, Miraa, Oat, Qat, Quaadka.) With this being the third day of Ramadan I could foresee a lot of pissed off Houthis but nonetheless we’d have them “cut down” in short order with many scalps to be had and pirated booty plentiful. I think the key is selling Congress on starting a war would be to convince them that we would need to conduct VBSS operations off the coast of Yemen due to the fact that the Houthis are a threat to our national security by pirating our merchant ships and challenging our fleet. Have all weapons and ammo checked out under the name Hillary Rodham Clinton and lastly I want my scalps! Given by the heads of 100 or more dead Houthis terrorists! That way we could take them back and pin them up in the halls of Congress to keep the bleeding heart Soros liberals out of the capital. End of rant.
I like the way you think.
Glad we are friends….
I thought of a Business that I think you could easily get going. Talk to Worldwide Shipping Co. Get their Permission to set up on Board their ship , and when the Pirates come in for their Booty, the Night Visioned Hunters go into action. Kind of Like Hunting Hogs with Night Vision in some of USA Southern States. Get Letters of Marques to make it Legal and enough special opps Guys to make it safe. I think as a Business it would easily Make Bank.
Recreation!
Every mans needs a hobby….and if crazies hopped up on khat decide to become targets, who are we to object.
Some hobbies require more testicular fortitude, training, and adrenaline. Flying, scuba diving, BASE jumping bull riding. Add Hunting Bad People for Fun to the list fits right in. Not a bad combo.
Reading MikeW’s Hunting In The Shadows proves your point…and some do it so the rest of us can benefit by not having these nasty people around. As Prager says, “If Hamas first laid down their ams, there would be peace; If Israel first laid down their arms…they’d be dead.”
It was 82 degrees yesterday. I woke up to 32 degrees this morning here in SE Georgia. According to the extended forecast we have another cold snap in three weeks.
A plane that is flown by women no longer has a cockpit, it is now called a box office.
You’re too bad Tsquared
i once saw a nobel physicist, wish i could remember his name dangit, explain that the climate change idiot’s theory required carbon dioxide to be a heating agent and then a cooling agent as well. in his words,”it just doesn’t work that way.” that was the final deciding factor for me……even with the tank id’d as uke, i’m conflicted on shoot or no-shoot…..does yemen have anything of value enough to risk the pirate life? what’s the opposite of “arrgh” in pirate speak?
You want to make sure you kill/capture the Iranians calling the shots in Yemen.
Wouldn’t you have to freeze the hydrogen before you could lick it?
Double dog dare indeed.
Speaking of old, at least a couple of those Endeavor Flight Attendants (I’m Stewardesses years old) look to me like they’re in high school.
Rare Earth:
Lithium for batteries? All this time I thought it was used for helping crazy people calm down. Maybe that’s why the EU is so invested in the Ukraine.
They need to put it in the food. I’m with you 100%
It is weird being the same age as old people, but another level is that the first thought that comes up when you hear anything about someone you watched while growing up is, “are they still alive?”
I ask that question too.
I’m surprised I still am (okay Lord, don’t listen to me)
That R/V would probably work better on an M548 chassis. I would love that.
– Kle.
Old people and old age. They don’t last forever.
Thank heavens
It’s not for the feint of heart for sure (now pass the Blue-Emu).
RV…CW had one I really want, called it “Stubby” https://dailytimewaster.blogspot.com/2025/03/they-named-it-stubby.html
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Hawaii- Figures…hoping PDJT uncovers so much garbage NOT in the Constitution, or within the (self-appointed) purvey of the Federal government overlords (small ‘o’ on purpose) that these sorts of expensive hamstringing regulations go the way of the Dodo. When your government gives itself the power of theft WeThe People at all levels suffer. Time For A Regulatory Reset ™
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Guessing it’s everyone’s turn in the barrel today…funny stuff. I know two things: 1) Jesus was the Son of God and could walk on water, 2) I’m [clearly] not Him…and sink like a rock.
Altho….had a well connected tech businessman drop by my office, sits down and tells me his friend needs product design work done. Says he told him I’m the one to talk to and “could walk on water”..then says “It’s your job to find the rocks just under the surface” then walks out.
Ski’s with speed does work (like that sand sled or Water Skeeter I saw on a lake in Canada going about 50)… but not snowshoes (like a submarine with screen doors).
“Z-skyy. He doesn’t get to choose who he negotiates with for peace or a ceasefire. ”
.
“UK Pledges Support for Ukraine’s Air Defense as Leaders Discuss Plans to End War. Starmer added that ‘intense discussions’ to obtain a security guarantee from the United States are one of the three components of lasting peace.”
https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/uk-france-ukraine-agree-to-work-on-cease-fire-plan-to-present-to-us-5818634?utm_source=ref_share&utm_campaign=copy
Gee, now they act, how big of them….now that PDJT has laid down the gauntlet. But if it works, then great.
That’s pretty cool! I’ll bet with some big rubber tubing I could slingshot her down the slope with enough velocity to make it all the way across!
Somehow I knew that you’d re-engineer it to make it more efficient!
Regarding “Letters of Marque and Reprisal,” heck yeah. And do one for land groups, too.
–
The perfect Q Ship would be, of course, a mid-sized container ship. The containers can be locked together to make landing platforms for helos. Containers can be fitted with drop sides to mask heavy gun emplacements. And, of course, containers can be outfitted as living quarters or prisons. Even better, captured pirates can be placed in a container and then sent over the side, no, that’s wasteful of containers…
–
Outfitted containers can, of course, be added to regular container ships for additional troops and weapons.
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The big thing is, of course, that said “Letters…” only pertain to US flagged vessels, from what I understand. Now… does that cover foreign vessels leased by a US company? If so, well, the possibilities are endless for Q Ship-ping.
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Be fun to militarize a small cruise liner, though that in this day and age of immediate information, get out to the bad guys too quickly. Any military looking vessel would be too… militaristic target to pirates, though having some smaller armed fast movers as backups might be a good idea, but with the vast expanses visually and radar-wise, they’d have to be far away to stay out of contact range. Some armed mid-sized yachts could be used, but they’d only work a few times in a theater area before the pirates get the idea, and yachts usually aren’t able to handle much damage before becoming floating toast, though they tend to be faster than normal merchant ships.
–
So… mid-sized container ships. One looks like another looks like another. Only close up when the pirates can see the names and markings on the ship can the deception be detected. And they can be fitted out ‘mission specific’ for whatever needs. Start out with a container ‘package’ and add whatever containers are needed for the area. Helos? Drones, both recon and drone? Fast boats? Rescue Boats? Assault boats? Heck, small sea planes or amphibians can all be carried and stored on or in container ships. You know what can also be carried? Actual cargo. Or reloads.
–
The possibilities are endless. And have been talked about in science fiction and military fiction for a long time. And was supposed to be part of the capabilities of the stupid LCS systems. Though the South Koreans and Japanese seem to have made modular container packages for some of their ships.
–
As to land based ‘privateers,’ I can see the standard 53′ long trailer or… shipping containers being used modularly on both roads and railroads. Can you imagine how much fun could be had in places like Los Angeles if the cargo thief rats tried to rob a manned-and-armed container train? Ah, the fun one could have, the pearls that would be clutched if said privateer train opened up some whup-ass on a pile of ghetto-rats.