Canadian Prime Minister Carney came to Washington, DC, to meet President Trump at the White House. President Trump offered Canada statehood, vastly lower taxes, military protection (which they already get free of charge), no trade barriers, and the US Dollar. Carney said that Canada wasn’t for sale. President Trump said, “Never say never.” Then he said the US doesn’t want Canadian-made automobiles, steel, aluminium, or anything else. All the US wants is Canadian friendship, and we won’t be paying $200 billion a year in buddy dues for the friendship anymore to subsidize their socialist agenda.
The USA doesn’t need maple syrup, though Quebec’s decision on what to do with its unsold maple products was not discussed. Maybe China or North Korea will develop a taste for pancakes and waffles?
President Trump did take credit in part for Carney’s political victory. Carney badmouthed President Trump and the USA. That tactic was said to have propelled him over the top in the Canadian general election.
The India-Pakistan War
Will it be a limited war? Will China enter on the side of Pakistan? Will it go nuclear as they measure dicks (not the Chinese, that wouldn’t work out well and they’d be embarrassed so never mind). A friend asked my opinion, and because I don’t know anything more than anyone else…
Following a terrorist attack on tourists visiting the region of Jammu and Kashmir, armed skirmishes between India and Pakistan were reported along the Line of Control (LoC) beginning on 24 April, raising fears of a potential escalation between the two nuclear-armed neighbors. The standoffs were followed by a diplomatic crisis that emerged between the two countries, as India accused Pakistan of sponsoring the attack.
On the night of 6 May 2025, the Director-General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) of Pakistan, Lt. General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, confirmed that India had launched a series of missile strikes on Pakistani territory. The strikes targeted nine locations, including Kotli and Muzaffarabad in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Ahmed Pur East in the Bahawalpur District of Punjab. According to Pakistani authorities, the missile attacks resulted in the deaths of at least three civilians, including a child, and injured at least 12 others. Despite these civilian casualties, India claimed the strikes were aimed at alleged “terrorist bases” operating within Pakistan. However, no independent verification of these targets was provided, and Pakistan strongly rejected the justification as baseless and provocative.
Speaking to the media, DG ISPR stated that the attacks were unprovoked and that Pakistan would respond “at the time and place of our choosing.” He further noted that the Pakistan Air Force was on alert, which prevented Indian aircraft from entering Pakistani airspace. Damage assessments were underway, and further information was expected to follow.
Earlier reports indicated multiple explosions were heard—four in Ahmed Pur East and three in Muzaffarabad.
Losses – India
- 1 BSF soldier captured
- 1 soldier killed and 2 soldiers wounded
Per Pakistan:[12] - 1 UAV shot down (in Barnala sector)
- 5 fighter jets shot down (3 Dassault Rafale, 1 Sukhoi Su-30MKI, 1 Mikoyan MiG-29)
- 1 Brigade headquarters destroyed
Losses – Pakistan
- 8 civilians (including women and children) killed, 35 wounded
On 6 May 2025, India stated that its forces had launched “Operation Sindoor,” hitting “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan. Indian forces struck nine sites in Pakistan with missiles. According to reports, intense shelling and loud explosions took place in the border areas of Pakistani-administered Kashmir. Pakistan vowed to respond to the “cowardly attack”. The Indian Air Force deployed Rafale jets armed with SCALP missiles and AASM Hammer bombs in the 23-minute-long Operation Sindoor early in the morning of 7 May 2025
Bullet Points:
** The German domestic intelligence agency officially classified the Alternative für Germany party as a “proven Right-wing extremist organisation.” The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) announcement means Germany’s main opposition party is no longer just under suspicion of extremism after a months-long investigation. AfD is the most popular, or at worst, the second-most popular party in Germany. The German establishment is closing ranks to protect its privileges–in the name of “democracy!”
** The nature of prejudice (pre-judging) changes as we age and have a great deal of experience to fall back on. Fool me once, shame on you — fool me twice, shame on me.
** Weight is the worst enemy of all attempts at making a viable light tank. Since the 1980s, the US has repeatedly tried and failed to field a light tank capable of aircraft deployment. The last successful attempt was the M551 Sheridan, which was only light enough to be delivered by aircraft. The vehicle was considered a failure for being too lightly armed and armored. Then, we built the M-10 Booker, only to cancel the program after only a single year of it having been accepted for service, and with 80 units having been delivered, when initial training with the vehicle led to the discovery that it was too heavy for the bridges in the training facility. Didn’t they realise it was overweight before they bought it?
That something was accepted for service only to be found to be overweight so quickly, or much too late, speaks to corruption in the procurement process. Will people be fired (or hanged by the neck), or will they be promoted? How many retired generals are employed by General Dynamics Land Systems? The estimated cost per unit for the M10 Booker combat vehicle is around $13.1 million. Now that they’re built at around $100 million, they’ll be warehoused because they can’t be used as planned.
** Romanticism’s obsession with oppression increases and intensifies as actual oppression declines. That explains why the most spoiled and catered-to humans in Western civilization—elite college students—constantly rebel against abstractions, imagined oppressions, and other whirlwinds in the thorn tree. Romanticism manifests itself with resentment toward the system and modernity itself.
** It’s time to tell tales – share for the good of other readers about your favorite educated idiot. Somebody you worked with or perhaps an in-law.
** Job opportunity. Do you want to be your own boss and make $1.5 million annually? No, it’s not clickbait.
** St. George and the Dragon – revisited. Was St. George a Turk or an Arab? Can he be the patron saint of Turks instead of the English? Was the dragon’s murder a result of anti-dragon prejudice, or was it somehow justified?
** Instead of refurbishing Alcatraz, many people suggest building a big, beautiful wall around San Francisco. It would cost less and give the Federal Bureau of Prisons more capacity.
** Marketwatch.com: “Ford Motor Co. late Monday pulled its 2025 guidance, citing significant near-term risks, and said it expects a tariff hit of about $1.5 billion for the year as U.S. automakers grapple with economic uncertainty and some consumers shy away from big-ticket expenses. Ford listed four “material” reasons it was pulling the year’s outlook, saying it sees potential for an industrywide supply-chain disruption hurting production; for additional or increased tariffs in the U.S.; for changes in tariff implementation, including the possibility that countries would enact their retaliatory tariffs and other restrictions; and ongoing policy uncertainty around tax and emissions policy. “These are substantial industry risks, which could have significant impacts on financial results, and that make updating full-year guidance challenging right now given the potential range of outcomes,” Ford said.”
** NY Post – In China – Protests from furious factory workers in China demanding back pay are spreading across the country after President Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports began impacting the communist nation’s economy. According to Radio Free Asia, unrest has been reported across the country as workers have taken to the streets to protest unpaid wages and challenge unfair dismissals following the closures of factories squeezed by US tariffs.
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Squatters
“It was once said that possession is nine-tenths of the law, an acknowledgement that the possessor of property generally has the advantage in keeping it. This principle has been taken to absurd extremes in some squatter cases, where people invade homes and then demand the right to stay pending long legal challenges. Today, under our housing and immigration laws, mere occupation often appears to be nine-tenths of our laws.
Unlawful immigrants are not the same as squatters. Some of these migrants have legitimate asylum and other claims. We must separate those meritorious cases from the vast majority with no cognizable claims. Yet, our legal system is failing the public by allowing unlawful immigrants with no meritorious claims to game the system for years and then vanish into the nation.
In courtrooms across the country, the nation seems trapped in Squatter Syndrome, a macro version of the housing cases. The slow removal process is used to keep millions in the country indefinitely. It may prove to be President Joe Biden’s most lasting legacy, a de facto residency by simply overwhelming the system by the sheer number of unlawful entries.”
There is another perspective. It’s called “I’ll use my backhoe to plant the squatters who moved into my house while I was on vacation and not bother with the legal system solution. ” In some quarters, it’s called Arizona justice.
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Limpet Mines on Russian Oil Tankers?
(h/t Claudio) Make what you will of this report from Strategypage. Russia has a mystery on its hands. Its oil tankers visiting ports in the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas have been subject to explosions on the hulls of their ships. The explosions have taken place in empty tankers. The explosions were not large, so the boats did not take on a lot of water, and the damage could easily be repaired. No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks. It is unknown where or when the explosives were placed on the hulls of the ships. It is a mystery how the explosions were set off. Was it with timers or some other unknown method? So far, these mysterious events are unexplained.
Editorial Note: I was sort of in the limpet mine attaching business many years ago. They’re easy to place above the waterline and can be detonated by command or timer. Placing them BELOW the waterline (unless attaching them to a propeller or rudder) is more challenging because of marine growth. If it’s a clean hull, that’s not a problem, but most hulls are not that clean. Usually, they will damage ballast tanks when they detonate, which is a problem short of sinking the ship, but it is a problem for cargo or oil haulers.
If the war in Ukraine draws down, I expect the sabotage problem will diminish, but sabotage is always a concern.
What’s Going on With the Druz?
(h/t Claudio) (Long War Journal) Sectarian tensions are flaring again in Syria after a series of clashes erupted in the Damascus suburb of Jaramana, a diverse area home to Druze, Christian, and Muslim communities. Reports indicate that 14 people were killed in fights between armed groups in the town.
The latest incident follows a March altercation in Jaramana in which local Druze militias killed two General Security Service members. In response to the previous round of violence, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to “prepare to defend” Jaramana. However, the IDF ultimately did not intervene. The conflict was later resolved through negotiations between local leadership and Syria’s Ministry of Interior. In contrast, this week’s escalation is more serious and could have broader implications.
The latest clashes started after an alleged audio recording was released of a Druze man insulting the Prophet Mohammed, sparking outrage amongst Muslims. The leaked recording spread on social media and was attributed to a leader in the Druze community, Marwan Keewan, who later denied involvement. (more) Would the cultural exchange intensify if the Druz hosted a “draw Mohammed contest” in Damascus? It was a big hit in Texas.
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BOOM
After 250,000 years of dormancy, Bolivia’s Uturuncu volcano has started rumbling, emitting gas, and experiencing over 1,700 mini quakes. While scientists say it isn’t erupting yet, the volcano’s activity suggests it’s waking up. Positioned atop a massive magma blob, its “sombrero” shape could signal future instability, posing risks to Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina.
Uturuncu is 6,008 metres (19,711 ft) high, has two summit peaks, and consists of a complex of lava domes and lava flows with a total volume estimated to be 50–85 km3. Source: Daily Mail
Meanwhile, Mount Spurr in Alaska, which last erupted in 1992, also shows increased activity. Potential ash clouds could threaten one of the world’s busiest cargo airports, disrupting Anchorage, and causing instability in the fault line leading to a 9.0 quake. (as mentioned in a previous blog post)
Where is the green movement when you need somebody to throw themselves into the volcano, propitiate the fire gods, and stop the CO2? There are active (but not erupting yet) volcanoes in Northern Arizona. Lucky for me, many woke people in Flagstaff are available to be tossed in, to try and stop an eruption if one threatens. They have to be good for something.
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More on Volcanic Arcs –
Dr. Nick Zentner – The Broken Plate Under The Cascades – Lecture 2 of 3. Nick is a great teacher, and a good man.
***
Identify the Armor
1
This vehicle class is more challenging to ID because they have standard features. Take a shot.
2
3
There’s a telling hint if you look hard.
4 & 5
6
Parting Shot
I don’t know if their coffee is any good. I liked the ad. Black rifles matter.
Late breaking news…
End
Upate on the War in India/Pakistan – Reports indicate significant damage to multiple Pakistan Army posts in Kupwara and Rajouri-Poonch sectors, with several military casualties. Heavy artillery crossfire is ongoing in these areas.
Oh most wise and connected purveyor of inside information…re: India/ Pakistan. Why now/what’s different? Terror attacks from the Pak proxys or elsewhere are not that unusual. Abrogating a 65 yr old treaty and cutting off Indus water is. Didn’t do it during other conflicts in the past, but they led with that this time around. That is a MAJOR thing that would really stir up the Pak’s. Looks like they are using the attack as an excuse to get aggressive. How come?
They’re becoming aggressive because they can. In the past, Pakistan had a relationship with the US and toyed with China. Today, the Paks have gone all in with China, and the US and India are close. VP Vance has an Indian wife, and they see that as a blood relationship (of sorts). China is openly hostile toward India, which is no longer a Russian client.
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Because of a client relationship, I’m actually closer to this issue than I’m willing to disclose on the blog. And it’s a big mess that could get much bigger. It’s exceptionally complex. On the Pakistani side, there is the de facto military dictatorship with ISI calling the shots. On the Indian side, there is a renewed sense of will and confidence. And nuclear weapons are pointing in each direction with grudges that go back to the days of the Raj. And there is China.
OK…so the line of who is on which side is clearer at the moment…the Chinese are busy dealing with a crap economy and accelerating internal dissent because of the tariffs and the Paks are internally all screwed up politically and half of the military is dealing with Taliban related terror issues elsewhere in the country. From the Indian point of view ‘opportunity knocks’, or… ‘Never let a good crisis go to waste.’
“ the Chinese are busy dealing with a crap economy and accelerating internal dissent”
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Please please please don’t let some shot-caller in China be thinking “what we need is a short victorious war”.
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As to India v. Pakistan, please don’t let it go hot(ter). And for the love of Heimdallr, no influx of “refugees” into the US or Canada. We don’t need more, and Canada seems like a supersaturated solution already. Missisauga might as well be a part of the subcontinent. (And Markham, ON and Burnaby, BC are essentially Chinese turf, among many others.)
Black Rifle Coffee Company: They made fun videos and played up the 2A angle and the veteran angle, bigly. Then BRCC CEO Evan Hafer made clear his views on supporters of Kyle Rittenhouse and Jan 6th. To put it in the kindest possible light, he basically pulled a Rachel Zeigler, saying that “we don’t need your business, White extremists.” (Paraphrased)
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I have no idea what their coffee tastes like. I’m not much of a coffee drinker, and even if I were, screw Hafer. He’s of course allowed his views. But after all their guns-and-vets branding? Go screw yourself. I’d rather deal with openly left wing jackasses who are at least transparent and consistent. (Not that I buy Ben and Jerry’s either,even though I’m quite partial to Cherry Garcia.)
Yes, Evan Hafer – sort of the Dan Crenshaw of the coffee world.
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I’m old enough to remember the original Tea Party. It was a grassroots movement that was later hijacked for political purposes and rebranded by people who wanted to attach themselves to the votes without having the philosophy underpinning it. I was at the gathering at (actually near) Harry Reid’s house at Searchlight, Nevada in March 2010. I parked my Toyota FJ out in the desert about 50′ from Andrew Breitbart’s motorhome. I was there with Breitbart, Palin, and the OGs of the Tea Party world, and later at the rally at the school auditorium where Coulter and the others spoke. The Nevada Highway Patrol closed the highway because so many people showed up. There were about 10,000 who eventually showed up, and nobody expected that many people to protest Rep. Reid (D-NV), who is long dead now.
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Because I had my 4×4, I could drive where I wanted to drive and park where I wanted to park. And I parked at the center of the action and hung with the people creating that political movement. For those of you (and there are some who still visit this blog), I had Opus #6 in tow. Those were the days that caused me to begin blogging. There were people who came along later who claimed to have been there at Searchlight, at the center of things. But I was there and hung with the people there and saw who I saw and heard what I heard. There were people who believed in Constitutional principles and values present. Later there were the exploiters and the populists.
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I’m ranting on the blog in this way because so many of the people who came along later were fakers. I think that Hafer and Crenshaw (who came much later to the show) were in that group of fakers. Some like Steve Bannon were kind of twisted – not my favorite politicians.
I cannot express how envious I am of your experience right now. Wow, what a great time to be alive!
RSH, I’ve been very fortunate to have aggressively positioned myself in life. A lot comes with how I was raised – poor – and everything I have or have done required action (and success) on my part.
Excellence and all do respect for your m.o. ” If you want it, work for it”
NV experience, h/t for sharing;
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Had friends who were descendants of members the John Birch society. Still have friends that are aware of the Grove and all things conspiracy. Had a business association with a pillar of the local tea party in Pendleton. Sincere folks that could i.d. the problems. Eventually they felt dissolutioned. Not seeing solutions.
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Circa 2020 a new face arose in our town. She was a local country girl, and I believe truly sincere. The 3% movement I believe it was. She went public with the petition drive to impeach the unelected governess dictator, K.Brown. Which I signed.
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Also addressing other issues at hand as well in the meetings, and on Social media, Country girl reached out to one of my coworkers feeling a need for security detail.
I drove by a couple of the meetings, held at a city park. My concern was the few ” clean cut types with the sunglasses ” also attending. They appeared in that same park the morning of one of several scheduled BLM protests. I made a random, curiosity, preliminary drive just to check it out.
Across the street that afternoon the Oath keepers and Proud boy types all assembled behind the blue line. A couple hrs of shouting hate and slogans at the kids across the street on the park side that were bussed in. Their side was a real clown show.
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Why was I there? I committed to help a friend hold up signs he’d made. ” Stop the hate” and some Christian like phrases. Also sacrificed a whole roll of blue painters tape all along that block to remind the locals, several that I knew, to stay on the sidewalk and respect the P.O.’s doing their job standing in the street facing both sides.
I always thought Michelle Bachmann jumped on the TEA Party Bandwagon , and brought in an evangelical flavor to the “taxed enough already” theme and purpose . The tea party was a neat idea , similar to the occupy wall street without the broken glass , pot smoke, and patchouli hippie smell , not exactly but it was about the same time frame and was a vocalized dissatisfaction with the dysfunction of government to the citizens . I’m not saying it right , but it is in their somewhere .
I studied Kashmir post military under a Prof named Murray Leaf (Leafe?) . He was a player in the green revolution in Punjab in some fashion. I remember a plebiscite was promised to Kashmir in 1947 that never materialized . Also there were two characters , Maharaja Hari Singh and another fellow called the “Lion of Kashmir” involved somehow . Kashmir sounded quite beautiful and was an escape for Indians who could afford the trip to escape the terrible heat of lower India . Just scraping some flickering brain cells , but I liked the studies and remember that much . We discussed the region as a potential powder keg back then in the late 90’s .
there not their , spelling error , lack of coffee.
Bachmann was a later arrival, and the evangelicals stacked up later in the game, hijacking the simple opposition to excessive taxation without giving adequate voice to those taxed. Adding abortion and other more religious issues to the basic approach of the early grassroots movement. They wanted to make it a religious movement and it was secular in its origin.
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I wrote for Indian defense journals circa 1992-3 and through the 90s, as well as some Inter-Service Journals in Pakistan in the same period. I was engaged (I’m trying to find the right word) in the Afghan situation pre-Taliban and through the rise of the Taliban movement (sponsored as a wholly owned enterprise of Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence Agency) to include all of the early players on both the Afghan and Pak side of the equation, Dr. Barnett Rubin, from NYU, etc. Though it wasn’t the Kashmir/Jammu issue on point, that was very much in play in those days, as you may recall.
“ They wanted to make it a religious movement and it was secular in its origin.”
It makes me wonder how much of that was “organic” from genuinely religious people, or from grifters, versus how much was the (overwhelmingly non-Christian) lugenpresse encouraging and/or exaggerating it to paint the Tea Party as “a bunch of cousin-humping Bible Belt retarded racists” because to the lugenpresse all those characteristics are inseparable from each other.
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I would never call for violence against the Fourth Estate, of course, but I do like how Coach handles the big shot journalist in this movie. The only problem with this tactic is that today’s journalist might not feel shame over being caught porking actual pork.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kgwdWbp9B4A&pp=ygUhQ29hY2ggbWFrZXMgYmxhY2ttYWlsIGxvb2sgY2xhc3N5
Mike_C: Back in the days when I took a few college classes there was a group who frequently stood at a major sidewalk intersection and yelled insults at students passing by, all while claiming to be some religious group. I sometimes wondered if they were really some militant atheists who were working at discrediting religion. Nowadays I also wonder who was paying them for their time.
For a second I thought you were doing an American version of Old as Moses and meant the ‘original’ Tea Party (Boston).
I’m not THAT old. Some mornings when the joints are stiff, I feel that old.
Rumor has it that Old NFO may have been a participant in the ‘original’ Tea Party…
Old NFO, willing to counter that?
I know that feeling… I was in NOVA but did chip in for the ‘original’ Tea Party group. No WN, I was NOT at the OG tea party…LOL Re the late arrivals, that is now the norm more than the exception…sigh… They see the bandwagon taking off and scratch and claw their way to the front then proclaim they were there all along…
Yes to all that. Gave up on BRCC when that came out. Only got taken for $20 of starucksesque over roasted, which was a gift to a friend.
Regarding Cherry Garcia:
https://soundcloud.com/edward-bonderenka/ice-cream-time?si=3d43236139b34086af4bd8a0b68da763&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
Ice Cream Time!
👍
🎉
IDA-
1. Type 16 Maneuver Combat Vehicle (MCV) of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF).
2. M -1 Abrahams tank
3. Mowag Piranha IIIC 8×8 DF90 Fire Support Vehicle, part of the Belgian Army’s Motorized Brigade.
4. BMD-2
5. M-3 Bradley Armored fighting vehicle
6. US Army T39 prototype engineering vehicle on an M26/M46 chassis. Never entered production…
Well Done!
My LEAST favorite educated idiot: I had just taken over as the Special Forces Weather Flight Manager.
We had an LT that was hired by the Less than outstanding previous management. After several problems (both personal and professional) with this LT during training deployments, I came to suspect that he had faked his degree in Meteorology (Yes, the failures were that Bad).
I called the University of Hawaii, and talked to the Head of their Met dept. He remembered the guy, and said:
“He never could do the work, but he was a nice guy so we passed him.”
Then he added: “He’s not doing actual Forecasting is he?”
Funny part is, this LT is NOT my Least favorite educated idiot:
Myself and my Commander got all of this information along with all of his failures during deployments documented and put into a referral OPR so the unit could cut him loose.
The JAG Office called the Commander and told him to burn the referral OPR and give him firewall ratings, because and I quote “He might file a discrimination claim against us”. (Because he was Philippino) THAT JAG officer is my LEAST Favorite of all time.
Happy note though: 2 weeks after 911 the LT transferred to a staff position answering phones inside an HQ, after the Commander convinced him it would be much better for his career and long term health.
MSG Grumpy
Newly minted graduate of something called “process engineering” skool who could not do basic math without a calculator and was unable to follow a process flow chart. Trig was far beyond his capabilities. He informed those in our group with engineering degrees that he had no respect for anyone not so equipped. Also opined he had been hired to take over the department and expected that to occur rapidly. We think “arrogance” may have been his middle name. The second time I took him out on a site visit was also the second time he would not do what I told him to do in front of customers, so I told the boss there would not be a third. Two years in, he still had no basic idea how our products worked and in what applications they were best suited and had totally alienated the sales and manufacturing departments. He somehow parlayed those two years into an outside sales job with one of our vendors and it was very much like watching your ex-wife go over the side of a cliff in her attorney’s new Cadillac with the attorney driving. Thus, was equilibrium restored to our little universe.
Ford is just distracting people from their $5 billion in e.v. losses by blam8ng Trump. There’s no Alan Muhlally around to saveWilliam Clay from his gullability this time. It would help to start moving purchasing back from India to get back on track.
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/ford-projects-mounting-ev-losses-2025-q4-profit-up-2025-02-05/
Identify the Armor:
1. Type 16 maneuver combat vehicle
2. M1 Abrams
3. MOWAG Piranha IIIC
4. BMD-2
5. M2 Bradley
6. T39 Engineer Armored Vehicle
Squatters- Here in the US we used to value property rights, not so much anymore it seems. Squatters moving in when you’re on vacation to shoplifting teams being allowed to take what they want.
IMHO
This was marked by a major change in the songs sung in kindergarten to 6th grade and around summer campfires (primarily in the Northeast and California)
from America the Beautiful in the ’40s and ‘early 50s to Kumbaya taught by the teachers in our public institutions in the latter ’50s through the ’80s
We went from a culture of G-d, family, and hard work to “G-d”, in this case meaning the gubbmint, will provide everything we need with no effort on our part
and anything extra that we have, “G-d” commands us to give to “those in need”
My father served on a destroyer in Korea. They would watch as howitzers were pulled from caves, wait until they were fired upon, and then return fire. They were never hit, and they never hit those that fired upon them. By the time they were returning fire, the howitzers were dragged back into the caves. Other than sailing through a typhoon, that was the only story he shared with me about the Korean War.
Larry, one question regarding those present at the initial gathering of the 2nd Tea Party. Was Rick Santelli of CNBC fame anywhere close to that event?
No.
Reference Ford pouring useful capex into a hole and setting it on fire in the name of evs Ford CEO Jim Farley is driving a Chinese ev Xiaomi SU7. The car isn’t made by Ford, and Ford has no ownership or business relationship with the maker. Of note the car isn’t available in the USA as it does not meet our legal safety regulations. Yet, he has one and drives it on us highways. His excuse is he needs to understand the ev competitors.
You don’t need a backhoe if you have wild boars or gators in the area.
They do a more comprehensive job of composting.
My favorite idiot? Actually, it’s my older sister’s favorite idiot.
She was doing her midwifery training at Groote Schuur hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, during the 1960’s. The hospital was experiencing a spate of so-called “blue babies”, where the infant was born with the umbilical cord around its neck, choking it and preventing it from breathing. The matron in charge of the course wanted to alert her students to the hazard, and so put up a large poster on the break room notice-board. In big red letters, it read: “THE FIRST FIVE MINUTES OF LIFE ARE THE MOST DANGEROUS!!!”
It didn’t take long for someone to add underneath, in black Sharpie: “THE LAST FIVE MINUTES ARE A BIT DODGY, TOO!”
Definitely an idiotic move by the matron. I mean, what other response could she expect?
:-)
Canada will probably buy its own maple syrup for their national maple syrup reserve. Yes, there really is a Canadian maple syrup reserve. Mindboggling, but you got to do what you got to do.
During prohibition, Canada was a large smuggling base for those in the booze trade. Maybe this will open the door to maple syrup smuggling. But that’s a sticky business.
Maybe John Ringo’s space aliens will show up and corner the market. “All your maple syrup are belong to us.”
Kahiltna Birchworks in Alaska is busy gearing up for the syrup run this year (birch, not maple), but they’re not missing a beat; I’ve already gotten a flyer in the inbox touting their tariff-free status.
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Maybe this will encourage more American production. It’s hard work, though. Those poor saps.
I get my maple syrup from a farm in New Hampshire.
educated idiot
Several come to mind. One, an engineer, was credited with mismanaging the construction of two new types of Washington State Ferries. He was then hired as President/CEO of the modular home manufacturer I worked for. He could f**k up a cup of coffee. Endless pointless meetings, deferred critical decisions, and seemingly endless negotiations were his management style. I bailed and started running a skylight company (great job, things were always looking up). He was able to bankrupt the modular home company in nine months.
Another? Myself. My dealing with senior management and co-workers was, “Get the hell out of my way”. Perfect attitude for a car salesman.
The header picture is hauntingly beautiful.
I was working at a plant and one day I had time to drive by it and explore the industrial park it was in.
Diagonally from the rear of the plant, I saw a BRCC roasting facility.
I was wanting a coffee anyways, so I pulled into the lot in front of a small store attached to the facility.
I walked in and they had plenty of coffee. All of it in cans and bags.
The guy working the store had a thermos and offered me a cup od his coffee. Tactisquatch.
Marvelous, smooth coffee.
I’ve never had coffee so good.
We don’t need Canadian maple syrup, plenty is made here, and lots more
could be, across the northern tier of States.
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Wisconsin: I thought that was a 130mm M-46 battery? Where would the
Norks even get 155s?
– Kle.
Re the M-10 Booker, are you or anyone ‘really’ surprised? All those feeding at GDLS had to get their ‘oar’ in the water to justify their cash cow.
No, not surprised.
Why they didn’t just put a remote 105mm gun turret, like those found on the Stryker gun system, on top of a friggin Bradley chassis? That would have made the Brad Gun Track mass out about 30 tons, max, well under the 38 tons (or more) of the Booker.
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You’d think that commonality of parts and continuing the Bradley production line would have won out but… no… Gotta go totally stupid and screw it up.
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A tanker I comment with on another blog said the Bradley’s turret ring is smaller than the one on the Stryker so they couldn’t just put the Stryker’s gun mount on a Bradley but, still, you’d think that someone would have figured out this.
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Heck, even a 2 manned turret mounting the 105mm autoloader and forgetting the TOW mounts would put you under 30 tons.
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Military procurement is so… borked.
It’s not wartime production. It’s about profit without regard for design requirements and juicing the deal out to the end so that retired generals and military industrial fatcats can cash their bonus checks.
*grins* Kept it out of the sand trap, the water hazard, and didn’t hit and golfers or carts? Ended with the shiny side up and the dirty side down? That’s a good landing.
Any landing you an walk away from is a good landing.