Caption: It would be a poor meal for a gator.
Bullet Points:
** The Rust Belt and US industrial policy – explained.
** It’s Think Fast Friday – Deploy the SuperDog!
** I recall Obama saying how beautiful the “Islamic call to prayer” in the morning was. Music to his rather large ears.
** VDH offers a market analysis.
** (Breitbart) “Iran is beating a retreat from Yemen, where it has backed the Houthi rebels, who in turn have launched missiles and drones against Israel, and have also attacked international shipping in the Red Sea, as well as western naval vessels. The reason: U.S. President Donald Trump has launched a relentless assault on the Houthis while also restoring a ‘maximum pressure’ campaign of sanctions that makes it impossible for Iran to sustain its overseas terror proxies.” That does not address the problem of Iran’s nuclear weapons program, which must be obliterated.
** Mail Bag—In response to a question, yes. I’m skeptical, cynical, curious, opinionated, and available for rent at bridal showers, bar mitzvahs, weddings, book signings, and wakes. (Rimshot!) I’ll be here all week.
** Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
** Is New Zealand ready for the ‘coming war with China’? (link) Past experiences notwithstanding, I have some doubts about New Zealand’s reliability. They’ve been cozy with the PRC over the past few years. I realize that’s starting to change – or maybe it’s beginning to change.
** A wealthy woman visits Dollar Tree.
** China reduces the number of US films shown there as they retaliate. Pres. Trump responds.
The Taiwan Gambit
(cause and effect) The people of Taiwan don’t want to be part of the People’s Republic of China. They don’t want to be ground under the heel of Beijing’s boot. Yet, Imperialist Bejing covets them and is willing to destroy them to have them.
As reported by the Liberty Times on April 4, 2025, the Taiwanese Navy deployed Hsiung Feng II (HF-2) and Hsiung Feng III (HF-3) anti-ship missiles to multiple locations across the Hengchun Peninsula in southern Taiwan. This action followed a significant multi-service military exercise east of Taiwan, designated Strait Thunder 2025A, conducted by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command. The Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense characterized these drills as a direct military provocation. In response, Taiwan initiated an immediate combat readiness exercise, during which missile launch platforms were raised and placed on alert across various sites in the southern region.
The communists seem to be prepared to go nuclear (even if it turns the island into a cinder) to prove a point. They like making points, so the tariffs on goods from China to the US are now 150%. If they are in Chinese factories in Cambodia or Vietnam, they can pay 150%, too.
And Taiwanese heavy high-tech industries are relocating to Arizona.
China’s Population is Shrinking
The Dire Haggis
Scientists at The Roslin Institute, famous for cloning Dolly the Sheep in 1997, have announced that the Dire Haggis was brought back from extinction after over 10,000 years. On Monday, the Pioneers in Animal Biosciences said its researchers had successfully facilitated the birth of two modern Dire Haggi – one six-month-old male named Haggulus and a three-month-old female named Khalhaggi. They used cloning and gene-editing techniques based on two ancient Dire Haggis DNA samples. The extinct species was recently made famous on the hit TV series Game of Thrones, where they featured heavily in The North and Beyond the Wall, as a homage to their Scottish ancestry.
Will scientists (tinkering with things best left alone) move on to the dreaded Flying Haggis next? When I lived in Scotland, tales were told of flying haggis that could strip flesh from bone faster than you could say Bonnie Prince Charlie!
Ambitions Genetecists will eventually move on to the giant cave jackalope, an ancient relative of the less dangerous present jackalope that roams America’s prairies and can be taken down by hunters with large-caliber rifles.
Do you want to know how to make a dire wolf?
Here at the White Wolf Mine in the Arizona highlands, we applaud the return of the original white wolf to the planet. They are Alpha wolves and, if released, will feed on the flesh of (belching) tourists (fools walk in where angels fear to tread), making the forest great again (MFGA). They do no need to eat game animals when softer prey is available, pre-packaged in toy haulers for their convenience. The only question is whether a steady diet of such fatty food will benefit them.
I’ll need to collect the abandoned vehicles and haul them off the mountain for sale to secondhand RV lots. They will self-refil and rinse/repeat will continue to provide provender for the dire wolves. Think of a lobster trap, and you get the idea.
Should the US Invade Panama?
This is an unscientific VM Blog Poll. Answer YES or NO (or don’t answer at all if you don’t care)
China’s influence over the Canal has grown since 2017, when Panama severed ties with Taiwan and established diplomatic relations with China. A Chinese company controls the largest port on the Atlantic side of the Canal, and a Hong Kong company, CK Hutchinson, controls ports on both ends of the Canal. Last month, BlackRock, an American investment firm, reached a deal to buy CK Hutchinson’s ports, but that deal could be in jeopardy of falling through. Chinese firms are also building a bridge across the Canal.
There is a case to be made that the US built the Canal, and we want to keep it safe from the hands of our mortal enemies.
Should we invade Panama before or after we obliterate the Iranian nuclear program? Thanks to new bilateral agreements (breaking news) negotiated by SECDEF Hedgseth, it may not be necessary. The Panamanian military bases are now Joint US/Panamanian bases. Throw them back across the Pacific.
Identify the Aircraft
1
2
3
4
5
6
Three photos to aid your identification of the drone.
Parting Shot
SkyNet is going active…
We already know that many AI programs will lie about and manipulate data, so this should be no surprise. One of the goals was to make AI “more human”. We seem to have succeeded, but perhaps not in the way we anticipated.
End
Identify the Aircraft:
1. Sukhoi Su-15 Flagon
2. ST Aerospace TA-4SU Super Skyhawk
3. Fairchild AC-123K Provider
4. Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master
5. JS Myōkō (repeat from yesterday)
6. Shenyang WZ-9 Divine Eagle
Well done!!
Speaking of Yuma, because of the infamous Territorial Prison, Yuma High School’s mascot is a “criminal”!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuma_High_School
It makes sense.
A cousin lives in Yuma and is an organizer for the “Hands Off” demonstrations. Most of her siblings are MAGA supporters. At family gatherings we avoid talking about politics.
Is it PPV?
No, but their little hissy fit is on Facebook. Rebbeca L. Roop
Aside from her politics, I admire her and the life she has lived. A Moffat County, CO product, fearless and tough.
the canal:
why take military action, just give the CIA (or whatever passes for that institution) a mission to replace a few people more amenable to our policies (IOW, a limited action)
so… the anawer would be a modified Yes!
I was thinking PDJT should move the IRS down there after eliminating Fed taxes…they all get to keep their jobs ‘bugging’ other people. I’d be okay tossing in a case of Deep Woods Off.
We did that once before, only we used the Military. Noriega?
long chain fatty acids are metabolized by different species in different ways, even humans under certain conditions, require an increased fat content in their diet.
my major problem in this regard concerns the trans fats: how does the wolf’s digestive system differentiate?
Easy. The trans fats are all Democrats.
– Kle.
You’re too bad, Kle.
🤣
#1: From the salt flats, if that’s where that is, an alternative universe where Craig Breedlove built jet aircraft instead of jet cars (Spirit of America).
Anybody named “Breed-love” has to build jet cars. It’s in his DNA.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion;
–
My email signature for our Fastmail business accounts;
–
“All men shall be secure in the Natural right, to worship Almighty God
according to the dictates of their consciences”
Oregon 1857, Bill of Rights, Article I Section 2.
“Whereas it is the duty of nations, as well as of men,
to owe their dependence upon the overruling power of God,
to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow,
yet with the assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon,
and to recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history,
that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.”
-Dwight D. Elisenhower Second Inaugural Address, January 21, 1957-
X2
❤
Think Fast Friday??? Hey, I’m not our 78 yo President running the youngin’s ragged, so there won’t be much fast thinking without a few cups of coffee to start the engine…some mornings are just like that…but burnin’ daylight…
***
Dire Wolf Ikea At Home Kit Video: Was that really a company promo? Hubris on steroids….do these people even hear themselves?
***
That drone looks like something I drew in 6th grade homeroom when I was really into Estes Rockets…the fact it flies is a testimony to whatever one can gin up.
Ps. Dire Haggis…thinking shotgun, not pepper spray iff’n one of those showed up trying to take out the barn cats…at least the bobcats are warier despite hating domestic cats.
The flying haggis is particularly pernicious. I can’t imagine what a dire flying haggis could do
So shotgun then, like skeet.
That’s a very dire situation you’re contemplating.
–
2lb Pom-Pom?
I see alot of John Wick in your Blog as of Late. Have you seen him do 3 Gun Comp. He is Smooth and very good .
Yes, he’s very accomplished.
He got Holly Berry to do 3-Gun during prep for JW2.
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Seems to be a good guy.
X2 a humanitarian man.
I was the telecom construction manager in Yuma 1980-1984. Loved it. Great place to live and eat.
It’s toasty in the summer in Yuma. Great place for a territorial prison (now a museum).
I think we should get the Canal back one way or another.
If it has to be invasion, okay.
*
We already destroyed one country and created another as a figleaf to get it built,
no point in getting squeamish now.
– Kle.
Sidebar – Greenland: “The commander of a U.S. Space Force base in Greenland has been fired after she sent a base-wide email breaking with official messaging following Vice President JD Vance’s visit…Col. Susan Meyers was removed as commander of Pituffik Space Base in Greenland over a “loss of confidence in her ability to lead”…after she sent the “base-wide email defending the base’s relationship with Denmark and Greenland following Vance’s visit two weeks ago.”
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Gotta check ones ego at the door when your boss, the Commander in Chief, and his A-Team – the adults in the room – mean business.
DEI promotion.
TDS de-motion.
.
Is there such a thing as mutiny in the Space Force?
DEI people are all victims. The colonel was insubordinate and I’m sure that she conflated that with being victimized.
She’ll be on The View next week expressing her unfair firing grievance.
If she’s still in the employ of the US military, then charge her with mutiny and whatever else counts as speaking against the CinC while ‘in uniform.’
Space her.
Heard Boeing is looking for volunteers to test their latest wessel.
In a correct world, she would be shoved out of an airlock on a Space Force ground-to-orbit spaceplane. Without a pressure or EVA suit.
We do not live in a correct world.
.
Thus conscience doth make cowards of us all,
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry
And lose the name of action.
Panama
Do we need to invade? There might be unintended consequences. The last time we did that, a junior officer qualified for a Combat Infantry Badge. He used that to weasel up the ranks to become Chief of Staff. Reference Slimy Milley.
Benedict Arnold was a hero and a general who turned coat. Milley just turned coat.
Panama; if it gets me closer to the stove… YES
–
Yuma; We lived 1.5 hrs south in a small community for a year. Worked both sides of the border while learning Spanish and training. Obtained an FM3 visa for future operations. A dear friend, now passed, worked his whole life in those produce fields. Others we knew, less fortunate and unable to obtain green cards
worked south of the border in asparagus and other produce. The middle class were producing wheat, cotton, and alfalfa. Our businesses were operating in the Imperial Valley. Great people on both sides. And yes, Yuma itself was a clean and noble little community back in the 1990’s.
Cmon Neo’s shooting VZ61 scorpions in 9mm why are 5.56 casings falling at his feet? Only in the Matrix.
The stake on Panama seem clear: Chinese control of the canal or US control. In the event of Chinese control locking us out, then war is justified.
But what is our end condition? When do we decide to hand things back, and how much are we keeping? Are we going to end up with yet another possession? Would we just roll it into Puerto Rico, or would it become a ball of suck and fail in the occupation, full of people who don’t like us, and don’t share our culture and values, attracting fanatics and fighters for a little war… guerilla… until we give up and pull out, leaving billions of dollars of equipment behind?
It seems militarily pretty straightforward, but I am very leery of the promises of a short, victorious war.
Based only on what I’ve read in the past week, the Panamanians have decided that a co-prosperity arrangement with US ships prioritizing over other nationalities in transit rights is in their best interest. They’ve identified three Panamanian military bases that have been earmarked as “joint bases with US forces.” They’re now our new best friends. They seem to recall Operation Just Cause (I was there) and don’t want a redo. The Chinese are seething. (hahahaha)
Regarding Panama. Mixed thoughts. Would be nice if the Panamanian government assisted in the removal of Joe Chink. Without US forces having to flex and shoot. But, yes, to remove the ChiComs, a military measure may be needed. Of course, the real question is how much have the ChiComs fortified the Canal Zone with their wunderwaffen and sturmtruppen?
–
There’s no telling, what with the complete failure of the American Intelligence Community over the last 20 years, what exactly we could expect. And I don’t want to know, as it’s not my responsibility nor my job to know. I just hope the correct intel is getting to the people that need it in order to plan Operation Boxer Rebellion or whatever they call it.
–
Then there’s the other question. Are our ground troops in any state after the last 4 years to initiate a ground assault properly? Or an airborne assault? Or a combined assault? Sure we could send in Special Forces teams, but they seem to be kinda busy all over the world. Can our Marine Corps and Army do the job they’re supposed to do after over 4 years of DEI bullscattery?
–
I hope so. But I have my worries.
It appears that the Panamanians have read the handwriting on the wall.
.
The writing on the wall in the biblical story of Belshazzar’s feast read “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN”. Daniel interpreted the words, “God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; you have been weighed and found wanting; your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
.
And they decided to throw in their lot with the US rather than with the Yellow Peril that comes from across the Pacific. The Chinese are not happy because they’ve spent billions in bribes and have begun to execute their plan (despite the handwriting on the wall).
If the chinks blow the Gatun damn ,,we got no canal. It looks to me ,it would be difficult/impossible to defend. Their are folks here who know this stuff much better than me.
They got water problems now,, or did.
Now we’ve reclaimed it officially, it would be an act of war. Then again so is EVERYTHING that the PRC does. Biden would have slept through an act of war. I don’t see President Trump as a pussy.
That video with the very-fast dog? Reminds me growing up. The guy behind us, William Leverette (yes, that Leverette, he who shot down 7 Stukas in one mission in the Med) built his own 30 speed bike. By taking a 3 speed rear wheel and adding all the gears and sprockets and stuff from a 10 speed. Got to ride it a couple times in the neighborhood. Fast on the flats but downshifting to take the curves sucked. And when I did get to ride, the two Afgan hounds from a few doors away really got to stretch their legs. I could go faster straight but they’d catch up on the curves.
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Good times.
Growing up in the country as I did, there were dogs that would chase my bicycle and would try to bite me as I peddled. My grandfather handed me a .22LR deringer with .22LR shot shells in it and told me to fire point blank into the dog’s rear as I rode. The dogs learned quickly. That may sound excessive to some readers, but it’s how I was raised, and — there you go.
I used my bike chain or a piece of broomstick which fit nicely in the clamps for a pump. Though there was the one dog I rammed, right in front of the owner.
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That was back in the late 70s, so it was a more wild time.
Right after reading Yuma, Arizona, some dark corner of my brain said that has the exact same rhythm as Gary, Indiana and I had to look up that song to verify it was from the movie The Music Man. Some places say it was written in 1958 and the movie released in 1962. And now, I can’t get “Yuma, Arizona, Yuma, Arizona, Yuma, Arizona, let me say it once again”…. out of my brain. Aaarrrgggghhhh!
** Is New Zealand ready for the ‘coming war with China’? (link) Past experiences notwithstanding, I have some doubts about New Zealand’s reliability. They’ve been cozy with the PRC over the past few years. I realize that’s starting to change – or maybe it’s beginning to change.
my initial thought-
does anyone recall last year’s (iirc) “grounding” of one of their few warships on a reef?
That may give a clue to the posed question.
Juan
DEI skipper ran the ship onto a reef. Maybe they learned?
Hahahaha – No. The Kiwi have been emasculated. So have the Aussies.