Sesquipedalian

Blog Post
Larry-Lambert

Caption Header: tending to use long or cumbersome words.

Caption Graphic: We’re celebrating mostly peaceful Pagans on the Solstice here at Virtual Mirage.

Many liberals you’ll find on college campuses will tell you that, before the coming of the dreaded white man with his Christian faith, native peoples lived in complete harmony with their neighbors and with nature in a perfectly pagan world. Those same people can’t decide which bathroom to use, so I wouldn’t put much stock in their theories.

 

 

Today is the YULE solstice, one of two critical days of observance if you’re a pagan.

Vikings show how it’s accomplished – Happy Pagan Day!

Don’t forget that it’s hug-a-Pagan day…

 

Bullet Points:

** The Grocery Store…friend or foe?

** Do things go better with Santa Claus?

** The Senate passed the $901 billion National Defense Authorization Act in a 77–20 bipartisan vote, sending the sweeping defense package to President Trump’s desk. The package unlocks funding for several of the Trump administration’s national defense priorities.

** Utah lawmakers fear they’re running out of things to make illegal.

** Everything you ever wanted to know about the Eazy-Eight, but were afraid to ask. Compare and contrast.

** An interesting discussion of submarine warfare (note the comments on locking out of torpedo tubes) and anti-submarine warfare with a focus on NATO and GIUK. There are three ways for special warfare types to exit a submerged submarine. (1) The escape trunk – normally fore and aft – is designed to allow the crew to abandon a submerged submarine up to x depth. It’s an easy exit. (2) If there is a SEAL Delivery Vehicle/Swimmer Delivery Vehicle attached to the back of the boat like a lamprey, it will likely be stored in a drydock container (DDS). A hatch on the back of the submarine allows access to that Dry Dock Shelter. (see below)  (3) Torpedo tubes work because they can load the combat swimmer into the tube (not for the claustrophobic), flood the tube, and give him (I don’t think a woman has ever done it) a light slug of air that shoots him out. The tubes are greased by the torpedoes, so that part is pre-done. The fact that the Germans are suggesting that’s the go-to egress method from their boats is weird. Once out, you’re not coming back in through the tubes, or I’ve never heard of that happening because of the mechanics. Yes, it can be done, and it’s always trained, but – Germans – go figure.

** The Russians do not want firm guarantees for Ukraine’s security after a peace agreement. It makes one think the Russians want to take a break, re-arm, and attack Ukraine again.

** 1/3 of all people who take Social Security Benefits do so at age 62.

** His Majesty’s Native Allies  –  Reenactors say that it’s more fun to pretend to be an Indian than to be a colonist. Sen. Elizabeth (Pokahantus) Warren (D-MA) agrees—something to ponder on hug-a-Pagan Day.

** Attorneys representing former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have strongly opposed requests from House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer to have the couple testify in person. The demand is tied to the committee’s ongoing investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. Bill doesn’t want to answer the questions about him wearing a blue dress…

** Meathead always pushed for gun control when he should have been pushing for knife control.

** Naphthas: Refined or partly refined light distillates with an approximate boiling point range between 122 and 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Blended further or mixed with other materials, they make high-grade motor gasoline or jet fuel. There is a Russian tanker attempting to dock in Venezuela and deliver naptha. Without it, Venezuelan oil (thick, dense, sour oil) can’t be pumped from the ground and exported. US warships have been blocking the tanker. Blockades have traditionally been treated as permissible “instruments of war.”

 

Dry Dock Shelters 

A few candid shots (historical) USS Cavala and MK-VIII SDV – training exercise in the Sea of Cortez – 1994

 

In Turkey

Turkey’s Konya Plain, a vital farming region, is seeing farmland collapse as sinkholes over 30 meters deep form, with authorities identifying 684 sinkholes so far.

The sudden rise in sinkholes has alarmed farmers, as fertile fields are being damaged or rendered unusable without warning.

Scientists say the surge is caused by extreme drought combined with decades of heavy groundwater overpumping to support irrigation. The region lies on karst terrain made of soluble rocks, where falling groundwater levels remove support and trigger sudden collapses. Studies show groundwater in parts of the Konya Basin has dropped by tens of meters, with some areas losing up to 60 meters since the 1970s.

 

In Japan

The Japanese now realize that they are likely to face a shooting war with the People’s Republic of China. The odds of that happening increase as instability within the PRC grows. Purges and bellicose behavior by the Celestials, designed to cow the Japanese and other potential adversaries, have had the opposite effect.

Below: Highlights from a wide-ranging interview with General Hiroaki Uchikura, Chairman of the Japan Self-Defense Forces’ Joint Staff. In short, the most senior uniformed officer in Japan. It’s relatively uncommon to see an interview with a military officer at this level in English in Japan.

-Japan must “fundamentally reinforce” its detection, tracking, and interception capabilities, which will require upgrading Japan’s fixed warning and control radars, but also a newer version of the Japan Aerospace Defense Ground Environment (JADGE) — an automated command-and-control, battle management, and communications system.

-To tackle new threats such as hypersonic weapons, he said, Japan is already upgrading its Patriot air-defense systems, preparing to field two new Aegis-equipped air-defense warships, co-developing a hypersonic missile interceptor with the U.S., and improving and acquiring advanced weapons to defend against ballistic missiles

– Japan is developing or acquiring counterstrike capabilities — such as Tomahawks, upgraded Type-12 missiles, and hypersonic weapons — that enable it to strike bases and command-and-control nodes from beyond the range of enemy defenses, as Japan seeks to deter and, if necessary, respond to attacks.

-Tokyo is aiming to build a drone “shield,” a multilayered coastal defense system covering the air, sea, and land that incorporates unmanned assets as well as strengthened standoff defense capabilities. Employing large numbers of “inexpensive unmanned aerial, surface and underwater vehicles” — for both reconnaissance and attack purposes — the Synchronized, Hybrid, Integrated and Enhanced Littoral Defense (SHIELD) drone system is due to be put in place by the end of fiscal 2027

-For a country like Japan, boosting deterrence also means deepening and expanding defense and security relations, both with its ally, the United States, and with like-minded nations such as Australia, Canada, South Korea, India, New Zealand, the Philippines, and others.

-“When it comes to strengthening our defense capabilities, the focus should not be on the ratio of GDP, but rather on the substance of the defense capability itself.”

(h/t Claudio) The Japanese are softening their resolve not to develop and deploy nuclear weapons. The South Korean military will likely develop nuclear weapons or will be allowed to purchase weapons from the United States within the decade. The Ukrainian lesson (giving them up and leaving itself vulnerable) and the reliability of “allies” who encouraged them to relinquish their nuclear arsenal is not lost on the Pacific Rim nations. Perhaps the Japanese will begin by allowing the USA to store its nuclear weapons in Japan?

 

Boating with EdB

 

Identify the Aircraft:

1

 

2

 

Identify the Ship:

3

 

Identify the Armor

4

 

Parting Shot

 

End

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58 thoughts on “Sesquipedalian”

  2. 1 – USN North American CT-39G Sabreliner –
    Buried an old friend this year – 95 Yr USAF Major Retired – His last stint was flying T29’s – He started out flying F-86’s in Korea – From Sabres to Saberliners
    2 – USN Lockheed SP-2H Neptune – Also known as P2V-7
    3 – Bangladeshi Navy frigate BNS Osman
    4 – German Wiesel Armored Weapons Carrier

  3. Identify the Aircraft:
    1. North American CT-39G
    2. Lockheed SP-2H Neptune
    Identify the Ship::
    3. BNS Osman
    Identify the Armor:
    4. Wiesel 1 MK20

  4. The Weisel is sooo cute! Though the super-Weisel, longer, extra bogie, bigger VW engine, is more useful. Still cute.
    –
    As to Pagans, I’d trust a Native American more than a paynim. Though both will lie to you and kill you at any chance they had.

    1. Beans, typical American mistake with German words….Wiesel not Weisel….completely changes the meaning. I make the same mistake frequently when attempting to deal with spouse’s native language.

    1. The sailboat has the right of way, it was on the starboard tack as well so the power boat was double wrong and should feel bad.

  6. Personally, I celebrate the 22nd of December since the daylight upon our hemisphere starts to lengthen.

    1. Pagans have some good parties via the debauchery, food and drink. The blood sacrifice stuff not so much.
      *
      Wiesel… would be great at White Wolf Mine with the 20 mm auto cannon. Roll out of the garage… engage… roll back in.
      *
      But on a more thoughtful side, the Wiesel might be a good stop gap start at anti drone defense for infantry. Could mount quite a variety of close in weapons. In any event having a a few 20 mm auto cannons that are air droppable is helpful. I know we always like bigger is better but it makes a good heavy weapons magnet so maybe the drones would skip my dugout.
      *
      Japan wants its SHIELD system funding underway by 2027. Good for them. Maybe we can get some ideas from them on what works doesn’t work before we spend a trillion dollars on the same idea and come up with a yet again a solution that doesn’t work.
      *
      Torpedo tube exit. I guess if drowning or go, I’d go.

      1. I suspect that it’s better to BE a pagan than to be subjugated by pagans. It’s only speculation on my part.
        .
        The Japan Shield is undoubtedly a better way to beta-test the system than spending money to do it yourself.

  7. **Turkey’s Konya Plain**
    Build a desalinization plant to clean water from the Mediterranean, power it with a nuke & pump the water back into the ground and you’ll limit the number of new small lakes in that farm region.
    ~~
    **The Japanese now realize that they are likely to face a shooting war with the People’s Republic of China.**
    The Japanese are rearming, Germany is rearming… and it’s been 80 years since WW2 ended. That will make a nice footnote on someone’s history paper!
    ~~
    ** The Ukrainian lesson (giving them {WMD} up and leaving itself vulnerable)** The Libyans learned this lesson too.

    1. That works in many places in the Middle East (burning petroleum or nuke energy). The Turkish economy is in the toilet. I don’t think they have the funds to do it. Guns or butter.

    1. It’s mostly accurate. You can buy Mexican children in Tijuana for about US$100 – US$300 depending on the child, age, etc. The trafficking is out in the open. People buy them (tenth child for example) from poor families for $30 or $40 and drive them north to the market. I don’t know that the Super Bowl has anything to do with it. It’s been going on for decades. We’ve discussed it on the blog before. If you want more information (granular details) I can share them.

      1. not just for pedo/sick sex. I personally know one American couple, unable to have children, who went to TJ and bought a child (and went through the adoption process in New York state) to raise her as their own; now a lovely woman in her 50s with her own family.

        1. Glad to hear that one girl at least had a good outcome.
          But:
          1. Shall we guess the ratio of bad intentions [a] vs good intentions among the total pool of buyers? I suspect 90:10 is very optimistic. I’d bet 99:1 is more like it.
          2. This sort of “rescue” still supports the human traffickers and slavers [b].
          —
          [a] No, it’s not all pedosex. Stipulated [in the legal-terminology sense: i.e. I accept that claim as true without argument]. But there are many kinds of bad intentions. Household servant (slave) would be fairly benign on the list of [non-sex] fates for those children that I could come up with off the top of my head.
          [b] I see parallels with those doubtless well-meaning people who “buy the freedom” of negroes being sold for slaves in current-day Africa. I understand that those people want to help, and think they are doing a good thing, but they’re sustaining the market. It’s a complicated problem, and what I consider to be the best (least bad) solution is politically unpalatable.

          1. As Rob states below, the article talked about renting servile Mexican children for use during the Super Bowl. The question of what you’d do with them after the game comes to mind. I know about the trafficking but know very little about the individual stories 20 or 30 years later. The ICE deportations will certainly shut up the household servants who are in the US illegally.
            .
            The conditions under which one is a slave vary from master to master, obviously. Rome had strict rules for the treatment of slaves and you couldn’t kill them if they displeased you. It’s an interesting study. In the US where enslavement of Fujinese (Chinese) and Latin Americans is more common than you’d think, there are no rules beyond the penal codes of states or USC Title 18.
            .
            I had a black guy work for me (Cal DOJ Supervising Special Agent), and (to make a long story short) I ended up taking him on a tour of Chinese restaurants near my office in Santa Ana, CA, and showed him Chinese slaves who worked, and slept in the restaurants. It’s a very common situation. These people are essentially indentured for life and are bought and sold.

          2. >Rome had strict rules for the treatment of slaves and you couldn’t kill them if they displeased you
            —
            Indeed. Same with the Germanics (and the Nordics who are a subbranch, at least linguistically) wherein thralls had enumerated and unalienable rights. And there was a pathway to freedman, and (generationally) to yeoman (karl) status. As an interesting bit of trivia, the Rohirrim probably had this social structure in LOTR. There is an almost throwaway scene where Theoden after his healing by Gandalf, riding with his host to the Isen Fords, addresses a messenger as “Ceorl”. This is generally taken as a given name in the fan commentary on LOTR, but it’s also a social rank. Ceorl is a cognate of karl. I suspect Theoden was addressing the man by his rank, not by name.
            —
            Incidentally, while we’re having fun mocking pagans, Rome, in IMNSHO its greatest glory, was thoroughly pagan. And so was classical Greece. Now one can’t blame them for their paganism seeing as they pre-dated Christ, but still. Also, as I’ve said many a time, the foundational, best, and most honorable roots of our society are Greco-Romano-Germanic, with an overlay of Christianity that binds the whole together within its ethico-philosophical framework. I completely reject anyone else who hyphenates themselves into the mix. Because it’s nonsense. Many of the regulars here are both Christian and ammosexual. Supposedly the Chinese invented gunpowder. Do you therefore have Sino-Christian values? Is America a Sino-Christian society?
            —
            >Chinese slaves who worked, and slept in the restaurants
            I strongly suspect not only Chinese slaves, but also Latino/Latina slaves.
            e.g.
            https://youtu.be/ZSjwqKoD6rM?si=9ZUu2uYLDqMA1dDp

      2. I had the impression they were renting the kids out for the Superbowl festivities … I really don’t need any details about the trafficking in children, just knowing it is going on is more than enough.
        I was lucky in my time in the Coast Guard, I missed the floating children and the frozen ones, someone else had the duty those days and undoubtedly the memories…
        I appreciate you taking the time to answer, thank you.

        1. Once bought, you are not able to return the child if you’re not satisfied. The traffickers have a no-return policy. Kill the child or turn them out onto the street homeless. It’s a horrible thing.

  9. “Retire” at 62 vs. 67: Rush would say people make their major life decisions based on the asinine tax code…a REALLY lousy modus operandi WTP have been forced into by government and Wall Street. Me?…did the math…62(ish) was fine for taking back some portion of what ‘the they’ had forcibly confiscated since I was fifteen (only to rob the fund). The 62 vs.67 differential was minor in my mind, and figured ‘better now than later’, especially with those fools in charge. Yet now, if you listen to SSA, 70 or 72 is even a better retirement age (gee, wonder why that might be as they subjected people with a culling agent, hoping many would drop dead before that age). To top it off, IRS rules demand you start taking dividends from your retirement account by72 or you’ll be penalized…as if government has any right to make such demands on personal funds. But they justify it…again..because of convoluted tax laws that they created in order to keep more of our hard-earned money.

    2. I had four brothers that never made it to retirement age. While their spouses were eligible for the funds from their husbands, they too worked and had their own Social Security. Considering 15% of every dollar earned by all was placed in the fund by confiscation, it’s no wonder the grubby fingers of government couldn’t resist finding ways to rob the fund for financing their grift.

      A simple spread sheet tells you how long it takes to supposedly receive the same amount of Social Security over time. Waiting will allow more funds in a shorter period of time, but after seventy, the difference may mean 8 years of trudging to the same job without enjoying the good parts of retirement. Waiting may insure your surviving spouse is the only one to enjoy the retirement funds more needed for helping some baby’s momma that had an emotional crises when the baby’s daddy moved in with a neighbor.

    3. I was offered a special package “layoff” six weeks before I turned 62, so I started SS at 62. A friend of a friend and fellow engineer had a 3″ thick notebook full of simulations of various things that could happen if you retired at 62. His summary was “retire early and often if you have to…” That is, if you have to go back to work. The layoff was because of a slowdown in their commercial aviation business, and they had been grappling with the puzzle of how get rid of us old guys nicely. I learned from a woman in the HR department that we were referred to as the “fortunate 500.”

      1. >“retire early and often if you have to…”
        Yeah. For sure.
        So a good (work) friend was employed by what was back then a major industry player in the medical imaging field. He, and a whole bunch of senior engineers, were offered early retirement with extremely generous terms, including payouts in the high six-figures. My friend took the offer. Other friends at that company (our hospital/research group collaborated VERY closely with this company and I made quite a few friends there) did not take the first offer. A year later, the offer of early retirement was again floated, with LESS generous terms. Two years after that, people flat out got laid off, no severance package. I’ve not been offered/had to make this choice, but the experiences of my friends will sure be in the back of my head if ever it happens.
        —
        Incidentally, my friend who took the early retirement from [redacted] got bored with retirement and applied for a job with (former) rival company. I learned this because friend called me with “Hey, so I applied to [redacted2] on a lark. They gave me an offer during the interview. A really good offer. I just wanted to say thanks!” I was completely confused by the thanks and said so. Friend explained: “You made me a co-author on those papers you published. [Redacted2] really liked that. They said that it showed rare initiative on my part.” I was glad for my friend, but it annoyed me about medical culture. There is a tendency to withhold authorships from the technical (engineers, technicians) side because only MDs “count” apparently. This is such bullshit. Our projects could not have been done without the crucial/essential work of my engineer friend. Of course, his software alone could not have done the project without me doing my part either, but the point is that we could not have done it without ALL of the team. F*cking medical culture. Anyway, my friend ended up NOT taking the job with Redacted2. He decided to “live as a woman,” bought a sailboat, and commenced on a solo circumnavigation of the globe. It’s a strange world. Good guy (or whatever) though.

        1. I now pull down three retirement checks each month, Mike_C – shamelessly. I contributed and now I cash out.

    2. Also in the first half, guest hosts detailed three classic movies I’ve yet to see. White Christmas, The best days of our lives, and Holiday Inn. Excellent overview and educational history of various foreign cultures that originated many modern Christmas traditions.
      –
      As y’all can tell, Ed will never tire nor retire; just as our fearless V.M. author.

  11. In Idaho we refer to Utahans as Utards. I worked with them in Arizona and Idaho for 50 years and Utards certainly fits. I told my wife about 15 years ago that I would never set foot in Utah again after not being able in Park City on a Friday afternoon during ski season to get a drink at 2:00 in the afternoon. They have the Quorum of 12 sitting at the temple in Salt Lake figuring out what more can they do to piss off a gentile from getting a drink. Of course Bringham had a stocked cabinet at his house in 1859(for medicinal purposes). What would you do with 87 wives?
    Took my SS at 62, 18 years ago and never looked back. My financial advisor said it would take 18 years to make up the difference and here we are.

  12. >Turkey’s Konya Plain, a vital farming region, is seeing farmland collapse as sinkholes over 30 meters deep form, with authorities identifying 684 sinkholes so far.
    —
    Minor premise: It’s Türkiye! Show some respect, damnit!!!
    Major premise: Since the cornerstone of “American” (i.e. Deep State) foreign policy is giving huge gobs of cash to “allies” who despise us and actively work against American interests, we’re gonna end up giving money to our medium-great ally Türkiye to mitigate this disaster [doubtless caused by global warming]. In that case, we should demand recognition for our aid by having them name the sinkholes after prominent Americans. In the photo above I see Mount Sanders on the right (unintended irony) and Mount Occasio-Cortez on the left. The biggest holes will be dubbed Mount Schumer, Mount Newsom, and Mount Schiff.
    —
    No, I wasn’t setting up a syllogism, though one could doubtless be constructed if one tries hard enough….

      1. Compromise: let’s forthwith, and forever and anon, refer to the land of Padisha-of-Padishas Ergoğan [genuflect genuflect genuflect] as the great nation of Meleagris.

  13. Interesting little video there. The German kinda ‘overstates’ their capability, but no surprise there. The 200 series boats were/are hard to find, but not impossible. Re the P-8 section, sigh… they just ‘had’ to use the Gay Knights… I’d put the Crawfishers of VP-94 against them any day with their old P-3s or P-2V7s!

    The DDS’s did make a ‘bit’ of noise, so I always liked working against a boat with one installed. Dead giveaway!

      1. It’s not quite cavitating, but the same thought. Gurgling…
        .
        The MK-VIII SDVs worked, but like the MK-IX SDVs, they are nowhere near optimal. The Navy continues to struggle to find a genuinely good SDV that isn’t as big as an SSBN.

  14. Turkey sinkholes
    Soon to bee seen in mid America? Perhaps the geology is different (underlying karst). The aquifer pumping at the ongoing rate is unsustainable.
    Utah
    Prior to the Olympics you could join “private clubs” for a few buck at the door and bring your own booze.
    Submarine exits
    My simplistic solution is to not get on one to start.

    1. How much time has been spent studying the leaching of all those wonderful chemicals, working their way down into the aquifer. Between the earlier city dumping of wonderful stuff, plus the current agricultural Spray Everything culture, I wonder what kind of time bomb we’re leaving for the future.

  15. Re: Picture on top
    You might be interested in a couple of books by Allan Eckert:
    “The Frontiersman: A Narrative”, basically about Simon Kenton and others in Kentucky and the Northwest Territories
    “Wilderness Empire”, The French-Indian wars and the Indians caught between English and French forces

  17. A diving imission in the Sea of Cortez? Nice!
    Can I imagine the Team going ashore at Cabo San Lucas for fish tacos and Coronas?

  19. Cute little wiesel; the M5 Ripsaw developed by the twin Howe Brothers is an interesting platform that’s been toyed with for over a decade. Last year taskandpurpose @ youtube described the upgrades and improvements about 1/2 way in the 20 minute overview of the competitive field of unmanned tracked A.V. Are these a viable accessory for ground troops or forerunner’s for L.A.V’s?

  20. >>BREAKING<< Dec 21 (Reuters) – The U.S. Coast Guard is pursuing an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela, officials told Reuters on Sunday, in what would be the second such operation this weekend and the third in less than two weeks if successful.
    .
    “The United States Coast Guard is in active pursuit of a sanctioned dark fleet vessel that is part of Venezuela’s illegal sanctions evasion,” a U.S. official said. “It is flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order.”

  21. I couldn’t see the brand name on the new boat, but I like the idea of a hybrid wind/gas boat. It should go far. Might want to reorient the hulls though, so they point the same direction.

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