‘Tis the Season
Bullet Points:
** FBI infiltrates extremist Christian Terror Cell (Bee)
** Male support group TARGET – available during Christmas shopping.
** If you fall and can’t get up, now you can comfortably die right there! Canadian Life Alert. Push the button and save everyone the trouble of lifting you and dusting you off. (right) MAID made more convenient. It automatically alerts a meat wagon and notifies your next of kin where to claim your remains.
** “Always mystify, mislead, and surprise the enemy, if possible; and when you strike and overcome him, never let up in the pursuit so long as your men have strength to follow; for an army routed, if hotly pursued, becomes panic-stricken, and can then be destroyed by half their number. The other rule is, never fight against heavy odds, if by any possible maneuvering you can hurl your own force on only a part, and that the weakest part, of your enemy, and crush it. Such tactics will win every time, and a small army may thus destroy a large one in detail, and repeated victory will make it invincible.” LTGEN T. J. Jackson, CSA
** Pres. Trump discusses US policy.
** A business decision. Jim Beam is pulling back. The Clermont distillery is a central production facility in Kentucky, making the flagship brand as well as Basil Hayden, Knob Creek, and others. The company also operates a larger distillery in Boston, Ky., that will not be impacted, a spokesperson confirmed Saturday. It’s an interesting article and a sign of our times. The move comes as Kentucky’s $9 billion bourbon industry grapples with a glut of whiskey and a slump in demand at home. In response, the industry has pulled back production by more than 55 million proof-gallons (an industry unit of measurement) or more than 28% through August, the lowest level since 2018. There are a lot of hardcore drinkers in Canada. Canada has been boycotting American spirits since March in retaliation for President Trump’s ongoing trade war, and U.S. whiskey sales to that country are down by more than 60% through October, so much for holiday cheer.
** It’s a good policy to evaluate your position before taking action. This reminds me of Southern California.
** What happened to Mrs. Claus?
** Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA): “I’d like to remind you, it’s like, this was our bill, Obamacare. Not a single Republican voted for that, not one. And now, these extensions were put in place through COVID, and they were designed to expire at the end of this year. That wasn’t like a Republican thing. It was like that was the way it was designed, and now here it is.”
** No more New Year’s Eve Celebration in Paris due to Muslim terror concerns.
** EU Decline is discussed here.
BBG(X)
A few of you have emailed and texted asking for my opinion of the new BBG announced by the War Department. At first, I thought it was a joke or a hoax because it’s that stupid. The full might of US warship building manages to complete TWO destroyers (DDG-51 Class) per year. That’s it. We don’t build new CGs. Just the DDG-51s (Flight III), which are very capable and essentially replace ships we’re decommissioning due to age. Ok, we’re decommissioning more than we’re building. And along comes a — Battleship?
I am a fan of the Ticonderoga-class CGs (above)for several reasons, mainly because they pack a decent gun-and-missile punch. However, we should never forget that there are only submarines and targets. A new Trump Class Golden Battleship (whatever that is) is an even bigger target than the failed Zumwalts. The Zoomies are a CG with a DDG name attached to them and were designed for surface bombardment – gun…with rounds that topped $1 million each. They’re now being recarved to carry missiles at enormous expense. I don’t have any idea what the end cost will be of the three Zoomies. (Zumwalt, Michael Monsoor, and LBJ). Build a CG(X) and do away with the foolish ego of the Golden Fleet. It’s better to build three CG(X) cruisers than one golden battleship.
The Russians built the Kirov Class battlecruiser (all mothballed but the Peter the Great, which never goes to sea)
The US needs submarines, aircraft carriers, and cruisers more than it needs twenty golden battleships. We need a real FFG(X) that isn’t a Coast Guard cutter, too. The recently announced FFG (Cutter painted gray) is a glorified LCS without vertical launch missiles.
The U.S. Navy has confirmed that the armament package for its first “flight” of its new FF(X) frigates will not include a built-in Vertical Launch System (VLS). There had been widespread questions about whether the ships would consist of a VLS array after renderings were released, with no such feature readily apparent.
A lack of any VLS on the FF(X) design is a glaring omission that can only raise questions about the operational utility and flexibility of the ships. At the same time, the new frigates will be able to carry modular payloads, including containerized missile launchers, on their sterns. The Navy also has an explicit plan to employ the FF(X)s as “motherships” for uncrewed surface vessels (USVs), likely providing a distributed arsenal and additional sensors for the frigates to leverage during operations. Sure. I’d love to buy some magic beans and a bottle of snake oil.
A Pillar of Salt
(originally posted on VM May 8, 2023 – revisited with the Season)
The story of Lot’s wife begins in Genesis 19 after two angels arrived in Sodom at Eventide and were invited to spend the night at Lot’s home. The men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and demanded on pain of death that Lot offer up these men/angels; instead, Lot offered up his two daughters, but they were refused. The homosexuals of Sodom had no use for women.
As dawn was breaking, Lot’s visiting angels urged him to flee with his family, to avoid being caught in the impending disaster for the iniquity of the city. The command was given, “Flee for your life! Do not look behind you, nor stop anywhere in the Plain; flee to the hills, lest you be swept away.” While fleeing, Lot’s wife looked behind her at Sodom and was turned into a pillar of salt.
Lot’s wife, Edith (named in Jewish traditions), looked back with a longing for what she had left behind. Jesus mentioned Lot’s wife in Luke 17:32 in the context of warning his disciples about difficult times in the future when the Son of Man would return; he told them to remember Lot’s wife as a warning not to waver. (more here)
Letters of Marque and Reprisal
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) proposed issuing letters of marque to target cartel smuggling in the Caribbean.
Senator Lee introduced new legislation on December 18, 2025, to combat drug cartels and maritime smuggling operations in the Caribbean. The proposal would authorize President Donald Trump to issue Letters of Marque and Reprisal, empowering private American operators to target cartel vessels operating outside U.S. territory. The bill, titled the Cartel Marque and Reprisal Reauthorization Act, would allow the president to commission U.S. citizens to seize cartel property and detain individuals involved in trafficking activities on land or at sea beyond U.S. borders.
Letters of Marque and Reprisal have a historical precedent in American law. During the Revolutionary War, the U.S. government issued these licenses to private citizens, permitting them to arm their ships and engage British vessels on the high seas. In return, privateers were allowed to keep or sell the captured ships and cargo, supplementing the fledgling U.S. Navy. While exact figures vary, historians estimate that between 500 and 1,000 Letters of Marque were issued during the Revolutionary War, with some records citing approximately 834 authorizations over the course of the conflict.
Historically, the purpose of Letters of Marque was to expand naval capacity at minimal cost to the government by incentivizing private citizens to disrupt enemy commerce. Senator Lee’s proposal seeks to revive this constitutional mechanism as a modern tool against transnational criminal organizations operating in international waters.
Ah, the Russians – doing Russian things the Russian way…
(h/t Claudio) (ARS) The Russians plan to have their own space station. I’ll let you read the article. The “New Space Station” will essentially become a piece of orbiting space junk that will still rely on SpaceX to keep it flying to the extent that there is a crew. It’s a fun article. Russia is broke, but proud. They’re becoming the Norks.
Who Done It? More Russians doing things the Russian way?
On Yasenevaya Street in Moscow yesterday morning (22 December 2025), the vehicle carrying Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Operational Training Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff, was destroyed by an explosive device, killing him instantly.
Because it’s Russia and there wasn’t a convenient window for him to jump from, ten stories up, it’s difficult to know whether it was a “suicide,” a directed killing by Ukrainians, or by his own Главное управление специальных программ Президента Российской Федерации—Main Directorate of Special Programs of the President of the Russian Federation. It could also have been planted by his deputy with an eye toward winning the top spot.
Investigators reported that an improvised bomb had been affixed to the underside of his car and detonated as he began to drive away from a residential courtyard, indicating a deliberate and highly targeted assassination. The explosive charge was attached externally to the vehicle, most likely in the left wheel well and adjacent to the driver’s footwell, allowing it to detonate with lethal effect upon ignition.
Russian authorities have opened a criminal investigation into the incident and, while no group has officially claimed responsibility, the Investigative Committee has stated that one line of inquiry considers the involvement of Ukrainian intelligence services, who have been implicated in similar targeted operations against senior Russian military officers over the past year. Even if the Ukrainians didn’t do it, they’ll take credit for it.
As a note, the Russian festive season has yet to begin. Russians, primarily Russian Orthodox Christians, celebrate Christmas on January 7th because their church follows the older Julian calendar, which is about 13 days after the Western December 25th date. The celebration is marked by church services, with traditions like the First Star on Christmas Eve (Jan 6th) and a period of fasting. However, the biggest winter holiday in Russia remains the secular New Year’s Eve (Dec 31st/Jan 1st), with figures like Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost) bringing gifts. There may be more gifts under the Christmas trees of Russian officials this year.
Identify the Ship
1
2
3 & 4
It’s all part of the PLAN
Identify the Rocket Artillery (self-propelled)
5
Parting Shot
Rape statistics
End
1 is USNS Burlington, Spearhead class.
2?
3 is Chinese ship Guilin,Type 052D destroyer
4 is China’s second Type 054B frigate, the Qinzhou
5 is M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (M270 MLRS)
Outstanding!
The M270 pictured is named in honor of Private First Class Charles N. DeGlopper. His Medal of Honor citation:
He was a member of Company C, 325th Glider Infantry, on 9 June 1944 advancing with the forward platoon to secure a bridgehead across the Merderet River at La Fiere, France. At dawn the platoon had penetrated an outer line of machine guns and riflemen, but in so doing had become cut off from the rest of the company. Vastly superior forces began a decimation of the stricken unit and put in motion a flanking maneuver which would have completely exposed the American platoon in a shallow roadside ditch where it had taken cover. Detecting this danger, Pfc. DeGlopper volunteered to support his comrades by fire from his automatic rifle while they attempted a withdrawal through a break in a hedgerow 40 yards to the rear. Scorning a concentration of enemy automatic-weapons and rifle fire, he walked from the ditch onto the road in full view of the Germans and sprayed the hostile positions with assault fire. He was wounded, but he continued firing. Struck again, he started to fall; and yet his grim determination and valiant fighting spirit could not be broken. Kneeling in the roadway, weakened by his grievous wounds, he leveled his heavy weapon against the enemy and fired burst after burst until killed outright. He was successful in drawing the enemy action away from his fellow soldiers, who continued the fight from a more advantageous position and established the first bridgehead over the Merderet. In the area where he made his intrepid stand his comrades later found the ground strewn with dead Germans and many machine guns and automatic weapons which he had knocked out of action. Pfc. DeGlopper’s gallant sacrifice and unflinching heroism while facing unsurmountable odds were in great measure responsible for a highly important tactical victory in the Normandy Campaign.
And now we have horse cavalry charges vs drones??? If true, wacky.
That makes very little sense – not to saying it didn’t happen.
M270 MLRS
We were collecting tactical lidar data against a government furnished equipment (GFE) M270 one morning. We paid for the driver’s time and he would park the M270 out in what was later used as a LM JLTV test track. I managed to get my Jeep Cherokee stuck deeply in the mud when it was time to stop testing, and we easily pulled it out with the M270. Someone saw this minor rescue and got all knotted up because we had used a GFE piece of equipment for non-approved Jeep Cherokee extraction… Someone obviously didn’t have enough to do. It ended well as the driver explained that the M270 was already in the mud itself, and was not retrieved from the garage for the sole purpose of extraction.
Give the guy a tampon. Say it’s from his buddy Tim.
Was that the area over on Pioneer Pkwy just west of what was the MLRS Program building?
While that M270 was equipped with MLRS it can also carry the ATACMS or PrSM in pods that look like MLRS pods.
“…instead, Lot offered up his two daughters…”
That is so far beyond messed up. Too bad it wasn’t this poor excuse of a man that looked back.
And shame on the angels for saving such a despicable creature too!
If you look at humanity in general, God’s children have made a poor showing.
We are certainly flawed, hence the need for God…even if we don’t always follow His prescription or requests, which I’m pretty sure he anticipates.
“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” – Matthew 5:48
.
I realize that it’s aspirational – but it’s still a rule.
A man needs a goal (or goals) to strive. That’s a pretty hefty one, but not entirely unobtainable…at least partially.
It’s difficult to be humble when you’re cool.
>That is so far beyond messed up.
Agreed. But I think the real challenge in the story of Lot is finding something that is NOT messed up.
There’s reasons Alex (protagonist of A Clockwork Orange) takes up reading the Old Testament in prison, and none of the reasons include any religious impulse.
The OT is interesting if you want insight into human nature.
I have no wish to become involved in a biblical dispute, but perhaps Lot, well aware of their preference, was more than comfortable offering his daughters, in essence telling these men of Sodom to stuff it up their own noses (or whatever)
God was honoring a deal He made with Abraham to protect his nephew, his remaining kin, regardless of worthiness.
It could be said that Lot was preferring God’s agents (as if they couldn’t take care of themselves) over his daughters. The same daughters that later got Lot drunk so he would impregnate them.
Late thought on Lot. We first see him pitching his tent in the rural area near the city. After time goes by, we see him living inside the city. Seems to be a sermon there about getting accommodated to evil, and the results that come from that.
Identify the Ship:
1. USNS Burlington
2. North Korean destroyer Choe Hyon
3. Destroyer Guilin
4. Frigate Qinzhou
Identify the Rocket Artillery (self-propelled):
5. M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System
Very good, Surly
On evaluating your position before taking action: “Always be sure you are right, then go ahead.” David (NMI) Crockett
.
Freaking battleships. Are you freakin’ kiddin’ me? Sumdood needs to read the Crockett quotation above.
It must be some sort of troll. A CONVENTIONALLY POWERED ship of that size? Where’s the nuke plant? Where’s the beef? They want to run a lot of high energy stuff on that platform. Go nuclear or go home. Or build a CG(X) that’s a modern Tico.
1 – USNS Burlington
2 – North Korean Choe Hyon destroyer
3 – Chinese Type-052d destroyer Guilin
4 – Chinese Type-054b frigate Qinzhou
5 – M270 MLRS
Don’t know what happened in my earlier post
The dog ate the homework.
IDS-
1. USNS Burlington (T-EPF-10).
2. North Korean Choe Hyon-class destroyer.
3. The ship on the left is a Type 052D destroyer, identified by its hull number 164, and named the Guilin.
4. The ship on the right is a newer Type 054B frigate, identified by its hull number 555, and named the Qinzhou.
5. M270A1 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) same chassis as the Bradley.
-STA LETHAL
I think the M270 is a longer version of the Bradley chassis.
Thanks Steve.
.
I think it is, MKF.
I never worked on MLRS or G-MLRS, but a lot of my friends did. I did write a unsolicited white-paper for a laser/lidar-based HOB for ATACMS. The customer didn’t choose to fund it, but it was great fun.
If your job is fun, you never work a day in your life.
Testing prototype and new equipment is fun until the job has you standing in a muddy/icy field at night, wintertime, northern Nevada, while various Recon test articles attempt to find and fix your location by IR and light-amplification. Several times, IR signatures were spotted nearby but not identified. Could have been a bear, a cow, or chupacabra. BTDT, got the t-shirt that reads: “Don’t Laze Me Bro”.
That’s one of a few reasons I moved on to the job I have now.
Jim Beam: Read this bit on the subject: “ The Kentucky Distillers Association – a trade group for companies that make booze there – warned that distillers faced a “crushing” $75,000,000.00 in taxes on their inventory this year, because the state charges tax on ageing barrels of spirits.”
Nah, government taxation (aka “legal” takings) on anything ‘not moving’, which apparently includes corporate assets and inventory, got nuthin’ to do with JB’s difficulties in a down market.
***
Letters of Marque to combat drug cartels in the Caribbean: Brilliant idea! Now expand the program to border states…enough is enough, and CBP needs assistance wherever they can get it. Shut that pipeline down…hard.
***
France (and others) canceling Christmas celebrations: See ‘Parting Shot’, Poland isn’t canceling theirs…and we know the cause. Easy fix. Just wait until MadMommie shuts down NYC’s next year, no more ‘chestnuts roasting on an open fire’ or window displays might…maybe…just wake up the constituents.
***
Lots Wife and Jesus’ Admonition: ‘Life is forward’.
Thanks for the update on JB. The article didn’t say they were going out of business but it was clickbait and I bit.
USN – Yep. Apparently confirmed that at least the first flight of the new frigates
will be a useless waste of manpower at sea. Sigh. Maybe someday we can get
something worthwhile to replace them, and transfer the hulls to the Coasties,
who are _always_ short of ships. It’s crap for a frigate, but a good cutter design.
*
With the new Large, Slow Target for the USMC, that’s two worthless classes
of ship announced in a couple months, for our future sailors (and Marines)
to die in.
*
Battleship – I’m fine with this, provided we double the military budget to allow
for it, fix the graft and production inefficiencies, and improve shipbuilding
speed and scale to the degree needed. It isn’t a high priority, though. Things
we need more: increase SSN, SSGN, SSBN production and fleet numbers. We need
100 of the former, and about a dozen each of the other two. 12 CVN. 18 CAG –
real CAGS, with a (modern, all) medium bomber, fixed-wing ASW, actual, real tanker,
fleet air defense/air superiority fighter, etc. A real FFG – 50 to 100 of them, at least.
A real CG – 25-50 minimum. Once we have the USN back to a reasonable basic footing,
a dozen heavies would be cool.
– Kle.
If we’ve got to build it out to the extent you suggest (tongue in cheek), let’s build nukes and first strike the PRC and end it there. If there are pieces to pick up afterward, we can do that.
Or better still, use CRISPR to create a lethal virus that only kills off Han people (sorry Mike_C – you can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs).
Who would possibly create a genetically-targeted disease? Why, that would be … (gasp) unethical.
Apropos of nothing, what a strange coincidence that the first wave of covid hit Iranian leadership so hard. How curious.
And absolutely apropos of nothing, I wonder how much work is underway in various labs around the world targeting specific mitochondrial-DNA markers for infectious disease linkage.
—
>a lethal virus that only kills off Han people
Well, if that happens, I guess we’ll find out if all those Chinese that say “You’re not one of us” were literally correct.
Always a bright side.
> This reminds me of Southern California.
SRSLY? In what way could that little whytte supremacist power fantasy reflect Newsomlande? Other than two white rapists (all men are rapists; if they haven’t done it yet, they will) threatening a womyn of color and a man of more color. That part’s realistic because it happens literally dozens of times every day. Anyway, OF COURSE another genetically-oppressive colonizer comes in and “saves” the Asian and the negro. Such nonsense. Wimmenz don’t need no man to rescue them. Even “conventionally attractive” women have SOME agency, despite their obvious brainwashing by the patriarchy. Did she ASK for Mickey Rourke’s “help”? Did he receive Affirmative Consent from the cashier before he butted in? Perhaps a Wise Latina was just about to step in and mediate, de-escalating the situation without violence. Didja think about THAT, Mickey Rourke? Huh?!!
New battleship is supposedly 30,000 to 40,000 tons. Bismarck was 40,000 tons and Iowas were bigger. I was expecting something more robust like 70,000 tons. But considering the last 20 years of our shipbuilding I doubt I’ll ever see it underway. Thankfully we can still build submarines and an occasional aircraft carrier.
*
How good are these Chinese warships from a battle damage perspective? As bad as the Russian ones where the water tight doors don’t even have gaskets or robust like many of our ships?
Where to find a parking spot?
The Chinese haven’t fought a naval battle of any consequence for over 1000 years…
Battleships
Watching Trump operate, you wonder whose knickers he wants to bunch? Likely a misdirection to keep the deep state trolls guessing.
Trump must see himself as a wartime President. He is right.
Watched White Christmas (ya just have to)…mentions a letter to the General from The Dept. of War…no equivocation, no ‘eeww’ or turned up noses bent out of shape…just normal. PDJT is massively remaking America to where is was, and where it needs to be…anyone not on board can join Rosie.
USNS Burlington was a follow on to Westpac Express, built by Austel in Australia and tested out of Okinawa in the early 2000s. We did https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Fighter This little boat and the M1 Stiletto testing various hull forms. Fun times!
Total Sidebar: File this under “All I heard was seven wins in a row” (Moneyball). Yes, a win is a win, but there seems to be something wrong with offering a $1,776 bonus for eligible military service members while offering illegals $3,000 and a free plane ticket to whereevertheheck to self-deport.
Maybe it’s just me being cynical.
One is a bonus, and what is an incentive.
More winning? Review the recent posts on shipbuilding…
Are we tired of winning yet?
nd don’t get me started on live broadcast perp walks, orange jumpers, 25-life convictions or, as Les Zep put it- “hanging from the gallows pole”.
Though not today- I am eternally thankful for the birth of our Lord nd Savior
Jesus Christ.
Juan
Amen.
BTW, that’s an excellent Grinch cartoon! I assume that’s you driving the AI to make it.