Reach

Blog Post
Larry-Lambert

Caption: It must exceed your grasp – or what else is heaven for?  (referencing a famous line from Robert Browning’s poem Andrea del Sarto)

 

Bullet Points:

** My daughter, her husband, and my youngest grandson visit Bearizona (zoo and wildlife theme park)- an hour and a half from the White Wolf Mine. (right) Not all of them are hibernating.

After Bearizona came (the next afternoon and evening), the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff. The observatory still has active science ongoing at the research telescopes, such as the Lowell Discovery Telescope (LDT) and the Navy Interferometer, which are at remote sites near Lake Mary Road/Anderson Mesa (closer to the isolated White Wolf Mine). For those of you who are interested, they do offer tours at the Discovery Telescope facility during daylight hours of the summer months. The tours and presentations focused more on mapping Mars, the discovery of Pluto (legally a planet in Arizona), and other fun stuff. Grandson Mikey is now torn between raising bears and wolves at home and becoming an astronomer.

** (h/t Claudio) SpaceX reconfigures – it’s an interesting article with some discussions of the coming Solar Minimum.

** The SNAP lifestyle.

** It isn’t easy to get a commercial flight in Mexico, south from Tijuana. The narcos (including friends and family) all seem to be relocating into the interior, where it may be more difficult for US Special Operations Forces to arrest and rendition/extradite them. The current US Military activities have the Mexican narcos jittery. Since they’ve been tagged as “foreign terrorists,” the US range of options to deal with them has expanded.

** Exoplanets, gravitational lensing, and expanded views of the universe. (h/t Claudio)

** Your Mexican word of the day.

** Surveillance – In other but related news, a source close to the matter advised that the Israelis are considering another air campaign over Iran to ‘finish what they started.’ The ayatollahs can’t stop themselves from creating problems and planning assassinations in Israel and the United States. FAFO, rag heads.

** Katie Hopkins expresses opinions that are forbidden in the United Kingdom.

** Civil forfeiture – Pres. Trump isn’t “Pirating Ships” — he must seize and sell 300 Venezuelan oil tankers to satisfy an international court judgment owed to U.S. companies. A lot of people are reacting emotionally to the idea of oil tankers being seized, but most of the outrage stems from misunderstanding what is actually being discussed. This is judgment enforcement — the same principle used every day when courts seize bank accounts, property, aircraft, or cargo from someone who lost in court and refuses to pay.

** The Trump administration has filed suit against Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D) for declining to hand over voter registration and election records. (more here)

** (WSJ) A state-backed threat group, likely Red Chinese state actors, crossed a threshold in September that cybersecurity experts have warned about for years. According to a report by Anthropic, attackers manipulated Anthropic’s AI system, Claude Code, to conduct what appears to be the first large-scale espionage operation executed primarily by AI. The report states “with high confidence” that China was behind the attack.

 

When in doubt, wave a Sword

Ultimate example of bringing a knife to a gunfight. To be fair, he had the best Russian and Chinese weapons money can buy, including 11 of the new Chinese super-duper stealth-detecting radars. And apparently, the Cuban military did their best to protect him.

For decades, Russia has tried to stop conflicts in the Middle East, where socialist dictators have bought lots of their weaponry (a major source of hard currency). When they went up against American weapons, things went poorly for them.

 

Thoughts on Venezuelan Oil

When the Venezuelan heavy-oil market tightened, US oil companies went to Canada and invested around US$500 billion to develop a similar heavy-oil market. The offer from USGOV to “come and compete with yourselves in Canada is meeting with some disbelief. Yes, the bean counters are burning up their abacuses today. The reality of the situation is more challenging to come to terms with than just giving or listening to a political speech. It may amount to more of a “come to Venezuela, and you can CONTROL the amount of oil produced and dumped onto the market – and protect your Canadian investment.” Again, the situation is not as clear-cut or as simple as the talking heads on the evening news would have you believe. As much as cheap oil is sought after, reliability and price stability/predictability are a more desirable goal.

My guess (yes, you heard it here first) is that USGOV will become an equity stakeholder in Venezuelan oil (investing your tax money) and will own some percentage of the new infrastructure, encouraging US business to follow. Would that mean some sort of foreign military US basing agreement in Venezuela? Read the tea leaves. This would be a Trump Doctrine move. The Iraqis are looking for a similar arrangement with the US, for the historical record. The theory is that the US will defend what it owns (in part).

You’re going to ask about the Chinese investment. Well, they weren’t able to protect it, were they?

 

Will Russia Surrender Territory in the Far East?

(h/t Claudio & Strategy Page) The Russia-Ukraine war enters 2026 despite Russia’s cash and soldier shortages. Russia has hired thousands of North Korean soldiers as a stopgap, but this is a limited resource. North Korea is demanding help with its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. This angers China, the last major ally Russia has. Not only is China reducing economic cooperation with Russia, but it has also raised the issue of extensive portions of Russia’s Far Eastern Pacific coastal provinces that China claims. Over the last few centuries, Russia has taken many of these territories from China, and now China sees an opportunity to get them back, or simply take them back. If this happens, Russia could lose up to twenty percent of its territory.

VM Comment/Opinion – It’s very unlikely that Russia would gift/return territory to China so that it can prolong the forever war in Ukraine. Putin has a tiger by the tail. He doesn’t want to hold on, and he dares not let go. The Russians as a people have a history of enduring horrible privation and senseless slaughter for the sake of a ruler’s whim (see Stalin). The Chinese went through a different but similar situation during the Cultural Revolution.

Pres. Xi would seem to want to renew the Cultural Revolution with a modern spin. The loss of Venezuela, where they dumped so much prestige and treasure, is a loss to them in the Western Hemisphere that will likely echo in Brazil and other places where they made inroads. China might like to take the oil-rich Tyumen Region and Eastern China, and the Russian forces that used to be garrisoned by forces that have been hollowed out to feed meat into the Ukraine War, but if they make that move, there’s a 100% chance of Russia responding with tactical nuclear weapons that would lead to an inevitable escalation.

 

Identify the Aircraft

1

 

2

“The Egg Beater”

 

3

 

Identify the Pistol

4

 

 

Parting Shots

h/t Mad Max

 

h/t Claudio

 

End

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66 thoughts on “Reach”

  2. (1) XB-24N
    (2) Kellet XR-8
    (3) Bristol Brigand
    (4) IDK. Maybe RCC has it above? I thought Pattersons were open-top, though?
    – Kle.

  3. 1 – Consolidated XB-24N Liberator prototype – second attempt to fit a single vertical tail to the B-24
    2 – Kellett XR-8
    3 – Bristol Brigand Type 164
    4 – Smith & Wesson Model No. 2 Army

  4. AZ voter roll cleanup;
    I really like U.S. DCJ Liburdi’s ruling in the private lawsuit defending ” erroneously disenfranchised voters” based on evidence of “retraction reports.” Now Bondi and the wolverine, Dhillon, are going for the juggler on the AZ SOS, who has told DOJ official Jesus Oeste, “to go pound sand.” Dhillon has an impressive W-L record. Defended churches and businesses in CA during the scamdemic. She also repped Andy Ngo vs Rose City Antifa and how, I can’t imagine, found favor to the tune off 300k. Pennies, I know in the Beltway, but a knockdown blow to the B.S. mimic of O’Biden and others bold faced lying that A- is an ideology and not even an organization. Well, maybe the deep state set it not up to be, but dude, it’s militantly organized, and the payout, imho is further proof.
    –
    The hank of rope for Election fraud and sedition and conspiring a coup may only bring $tranglization and some cush fed time, but i really still hope the bulldog bite is not released, no matter how long it takes.
    –
    Im unapologetically not able to let go of the thievery of WTP’s liberties during the plannedemic. May the echoes of these bells tolling be forever recorded in history. Viva La Republica, and don’t tread on our Constitution!

    1. X2…waiting to see what happens with Griswold (Colorado) on this as well, with ultimately – hopefully – releasing Tina Peters who’s been languishing in prison since shortly after the 2020 [stolen] election when she refused to destroy the election backup drive because doing so would go against actual state law she took an oath to uphold (unlike Griswold and her Denver cronies).

      1. Griswold. While not doubting her (P)regressive credentials, she is a terrible administrator with a 200% staff turnover. Perhaps there isn’t anyone in her department smart enough to find the records.

  5. Possible gift idea for Grandson Mikey,
    A couple of years ago I got a new fangled telescope. I was in the market because the back had Vetoed the hundred+ pounds of current telescope, AND packing and hauling it on trips was beginning to get a bit much.
    So my new fangled telescope connects to the phone, can be easily carried with one hand, gets Great pictures of deep sky objects and does great on the Moon and Solar viewing. But the thing that really got me was how easy the software was to learn, even old guy brain cells had it up and running within an hour out of the box.
    I bought the Seestar S50, they now have the S30 and S30 Pro.
    I can’t speak to the abilities of the other scopes, but the software is the same so easy set-up and learning curve.
    (Note: this little scope works well even under light polluted skies)
    I have no stock or financial interest in this company, I just like the results!
    MSG Grumpy

    1. I’ll check it out. I have another grandson, a decade older than Mikey, who is a more avid sky watcher.

  6. AZ Fontes: Another installed Democrat cheat. The fix is not hard: Received a postcard mailpiece in the POB from the Secretary of State , with a picture of her and PDJT front and center: “Montana has made it clear, only citizens should be allowed to vote.” “Non-citizen voting will not be tolerated”…stating the state will be implementing a verification program to strengthen election integrity.
    More of that please!
    Colorado has no such ‘verification’, only what they symbolically call BallotTrax, which is an after the fact voting verification, ‘your ballot has been received/counted!’…which is not verifiable by the voter. Vote integrity starts BEFORE the booth, as well as after…and if the SecState doesn’t want proper voter ID (like they demand for everything else WTP have to do under their oppressive purvey) then WTP know the Dems will commit election fraud, hence why this AZ cheat won’t hand over voter roles. (The ‘sensitive data’ thing is a smokescreen, the IRS already has all of that, so Fontes is grasping to keep his Democrat cheatery – always Democrats – underwraps.)
    Threat of indictment might have an effect.

  7. Identify the Aircraft:
    1. Consolidated XB-24N
    2. Kellett XR-8
    3. Bristol Brigand
    Identify the Pistol:
    4. No idea.

  8. It was my understanding that US oil companies went to Venezuela many decades ago to build the infrastructure necessary to get their oil – not steal it, but a contractual arrangement for both parties to profit. Then came the ‘nationalization’ of these companies by dictators that essentially stole that equipment and voided the contracts. We finally have a leader with the ballz to right a wrong and help both the US and Venezuela, as well as the rest of the world, by making even more oil available. It was not a move to steal their resources as the MSM would have everyone believe.

  9. Lowell Observatory is the home of Bearizona? The only surprise there is that it’s an observatory and they don’t have much to do with bears. Anything to do with bears, really, except trying not to get your day ruined by the bears.
    ~~
    I’ve been to the observatory but that was around 35 years ago.

    1. No, one is down the I-40 from the other. But when in Flagstaff, it’s something to do.
      .
      Lowell Observatory is still doing work. Here’s the blurb: The Lowell Discovery Telescope (LDT), formerly the Discovery Channel Telescope (DCT), is a 4.3 m (170 in) aperture telescope owned and operated by Lowell Observatory. The LDT was built at a dark sky site in the Coconino National Forest near Happy Jack, Arizona. Happy Jack is located at an elevation of 2,360 m (7,740 ft) and is approximately 65 km (40 mi) south-south-east of Flagstaff. The project was initially a partnership between Discovery Communications and Lowell Observatory. The research partnerships have been extended to include Boston University, the University of Maryland, the University of Toledo, Northern Arizona University, and Yale University. The telescope cost $53 million. It significantly enhances Lowell Observatory’s observational capabilities and enables pioneering studies in several important research areas.
      .
      With its 4-meter class primary mirror, the Lowell Discovery Telescope is the fifth-largest telescope in the continental United States (as of 2019).
      .
      Final construction of the telescope was completed in February 2012, and first-light images were taken in April 2012.

  11. There’s a theory floating around out there saying part of the snatching of Maduro was a dress rehearsal, and example, for those so willing to ignore U.S. laws and provide sanctuary to illegals in the United States. All that’s left for Trump to do is an official proclamation for them to stand down, and if they don’t, he doesn’t have to deal with the meddling of Congress, or the courts, to invoke the Insurrection Act, bring in the military, and solve some problems. After all, if he can send troops across oceans to snatch a country’s leader, snatching a sanctuary city mayor in Los Angeles, or New York City, would be a cake walk. Armed resistance would be disastrous for a small security detail, and I doubt they would even try.

    1. Yes, the rumors abound. The Mexican narcos are in hiding, hoping that they live long enough to spend their clabos (hidden stashes of US currency).

  12. I am disappointed.
    “…the bean counters are burning up their abacuses today.”
    Being lazy this AM I first went to Wiktionary, my on-line dictionary (hasn’t failed me yet) and, surprised at what I found, I then decided to lean over to the bottom rack of my bookshelf and pull my copy of the OED (1937, printed well before “black culture words” with very limited lifespan found their way into this noble enterprise) and again I was surprised by what I found;
    abacus: pl. abaci, no alternatives, such as abacuses.
    I am greatly disappointed.

    1. I actually checked before I used “abacuses,” and the word is legitimately in use. Now, whether it is a black culture word or a more legitimate word is a fair debate.

    2. Excuse me? Why is “black” not capitalized? That is a macro-aggression.
      So is the phrase “BCW” itself, because it’s African-American Vernacular English (AAVE), a completely legitimate, albeit underappreciated (because of Systemic Racism) scholarly field AND a living, evolving, and vibrant language.
      Also, I believe it’s “Black culture wordz”. [Ahem!]
      —
      I have no opinion on “abacuses” except that it’s much more contemporary English-y than Latin, which is not necessarily a bad thing. (I also reject the prohibition against splitting infinitives.)

      1. I consider myself censured for my insensitivity to Afro-American vernacular. Abacus would be a great name for an at risk inner city youth. Abacus Jackson – the next basketball forward for the Harlem Globe Trotters.

        1. What about Asian feelings? Abacus use started there centuries ago. What about Microsoft founders? Wasn’t MS-DOS an electronic abacus? Are you striving to be an equal opportunity offender?

        2. Double excuse me?!!
          “Afro-American” (AmeriKKKan). Afro is a hairstyle. African-American is a sacred race and cultural identity!!!
          Get it straight. Ooh, homophobic. Er … um right? No! Can’t say right either. Damn!
          —
          If you try hard enough, everything can be offensive.
          —
          Or you can choose to not be offended when clearly no offense is meant. So in the mid 1950s my dad was driving through western Colorado with a couple of Chinese grad students (who sounded like right losers) when they stopped at a general store/diner in the middle of nowhere. The proprietor, a man who looked like an alcoholic Gabby Hayes, greeted them with enthusiastic delight. “Welcome, boys! Welcome! You boys Chinks, Japs, or Filipinos?”
          What did you say to him, Papa? asked 7-yo me.
          My dad looked me in the eye: “I said we were Chinks.”
          —
          Turned out ol Gabby had been in stationed in the Far East and had really liked it. After he served thr Chink boys lunch he brought out a big shoe box of souvenirs and asked my dad to translate various pamphlets and postcards. The guy was very friendly and genuinely interested in all things Chinese.
          —
          What happened next, Dad?
          Well we got food poisoning and spent the whole afternoon stopping every 15 minutes by the side of the road because we all had the shits real bad.
          —
          There may be several important moral lessons in this tale, but it’ll take a better man than me to extract them.

          1. Do YOU have a problem with the Afro hair style? I’m all about Afro-American whatever – don’t they have a month or something? Kwanzaa is coming in 2026. Mark your calendar. You don’t want to miss it.

          2. When I first visited China, not many Europeans had been there. A few Russians, but very few, had been there. Everyone wanted to touch my nose. I was not offended.

          1. I saw what you did there, Ed.
            .
            Now as to the ersatz Gabby Hayes gentleman, “for ways that are dark and for tricks that are vain, the heathen Colorado Redneck is (or anyway, used to be) peculiar.”

      2. Heh…nice one Mike_C (as usual), I never know when to use ‘B’ or ‘b’…as either is color, except at the beginning of a sentence. Maybe it’s just me being culturally ignorant to ‘that class’ of folks who scream when they don’t get their own way (aka ‘freebies’ on the backs of others).
        –
        I agree with Boron about a plethora of ‘abacuses’, being ‘abaci’, sounds exceptionally more blue-blood highbrow elite class (usually self-appointed, but hey, spitballing here). In fact, to complete the presentation, go ahead and add the smarmy tone with little finger extended. (okay, I leave now)

  13. “I am pleased to announce that the Interim Authorities in Venezuela will be turning over between 30 and 50 MILLION Barrels of High Quality, Sanctioned Oil, to the United States of America.”
    Have we, in the entire history of our country, a president who understands international finance as well as The Donald?
    I’m watching the markets closely to see whether this will have a closely limited effect on energy or will affect the broad market.
    It appears (in my mind anyhoo) that The Donald has now become CEO of “USA, inc. Will this move attacked in court (probably)?

    1. The move will satisfy judgments entered by the courts. Naturally, being lawyers billing by the hour, there will be endless arguments for and against. I suspect that in the process, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve will be refilled.

  14. Grandson should go with bears while he is young, can run (trip your coworker first), until the inevitable well that’s enough of this then once the bear scratches, teeth mauling heal up move on to astronomy.
    *
    The Lowell folks run a nice program for the kids. Been there with the family on a Grand Canyon NP trip.
    *
    Knew the Liberator prototype. I’m on a roll this week! First a ship, now a plane.

  15. >>BREAKING<< Despite Russia deploying a submarine and warships to protect the oil tanker Bella 1, U.S. airborne forces began helicopter landings on the vessel minutes ago. Reports indicate U.S. forces have boarded and are attempting to seize a renamed Venezuelan oil tanker flying Russian flags, believed to be part of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet. The operation is unfolding in the North Sea, even as the tanker remains under Russian naval escort. . And for Trump’s next trick? He’s about to make the left openly pro-Russia, trying to explain why the U.S. shouldn’t stop a Russian shadow fleet from moving oil under fake flags.

    1. U.S. European Command confirmed the capture of the M/T Marinera—the vessel formerly known as Bella 1—in the North Atlantic following weeks of pursuit by the Coast Guard cutter Munro. “The vessel was seized in the North Atlantic pursuant to a warrant issued by a U.S. federal court after being tracked by USCGC Munro,” the command stated.

      1. More of that please! (‘MOTP!’ is my new ‘winning’ phrase with an encouragement aspect.)

        1. I must regretfully inform you that “MOTP”, due to excessive politeness, is an underhanded micro-aggression.

          Kudos to MSG Grumpy for pointing out the Seestar S50/ S30, much appreciated.

          2. What’s a ‘micro-aggression’, underhanded or otherwise? Is that like getting quietly peeved at the pizza shop for including anchovies when specifically not ordered then saying ever so politely, “uh, can you remove those please, they give me the heebie-jeebies”? (heh)

          3. There apparently is a difference between naked aggression, microaggression, gaslighting, and blowing a dog whistle. First, only conservatives can engage in this behavior. When liberals, antifa, or black lives matter do it, it’s called justice against the white man.
            .
            I’m thinking of changing my name to “Abacus” so that I can’t be accused of aggression.

          4. Forgot ‘Astroturfing’…whatever the hay that is.
            –
            ‘Abacus Lambert’, a pretty good Gladiator-era accountant name…altho your daughters might go, ‘he’s lost it now’ when you call the grand kids ‘Abaci’.

    2. A few days ago Trump said he wasn’t happy with Putin. Wonder if any intel is available on the impounded ships.
      Between this and the fraud investigations, I hope they keep the ball rolling and not give these people any time to catch their breath.
      Another thought – any international court rulings about the Chinese fishing fleet?

  16. another note of little to no interest:
    I receive (per email) “The latest update from the OED” which contains/defines:
    New Words & Phrases: Over 500 additions, including DM, brainfart, and chug.
    Revised Entries: More than 1,000 entries updated, from snooker and troll to a rich brew of coffee-related terms.

    1. 21st Century English, Boron. What about brain freeze? A side effect of slurping a Slurpee.

    2. Hi, Boron. The word chug, or, alternatively, chugged, has been around in Australia for as long as I can remember. I recall it being used back when I was a boy. Usually used in the context of drinking beer. You might say “He chugged that schooner ( 15 fl. oz. beer glass) really fast” or “he chugged that down” when somebody drank the glass of beer very fast or, as a question to someone preparing to drink said beer, “Are you going to chug that?” meaning is said person going to drink the beer very quickly.

  17. sorry, accidently hit the wong key.
    plus Global English: Fresh contributions from West African, Maltese, Japanese, and South Korean English.
    I’m wondering, since it’s published in Britain, when they’re going to provide a full translation and transliteration of all Arabic words used in the Koran and found in daily street speech

  18. “The theory is that the US will defend what it owns”
    seemingly except its own citizenry

  19. Sidebar: Minneapolis goes full anarchy against ICE Agents who got stuck in the snow while out doing their jobs. Then the ‘seriously misinformed about Federal law’ mayor, and Mr. Walz-ing Matilda, aka. The Nudge, aka. No Shotgun Willie, immediately support the [now dead] woman who tried to run over agents, going straight into excoriating the officers who were defending themselves from this insane woman who would not heed their warnings.
    Part of me wants the Fed’s to exit the city, cut off all Federal funding, then leave this dystopian lost city of crazies to their own devices…they won’t last the Winter.
    –
    Side Note: U-Haul has the new moving data with a list: Mass exodus from Dem run cities is at an all time high.

    1. I think that they tried, but they backed off. She’s too popular. Law of diminishing returns or something along those lines.

  21. Agree with Paul M and Oldvet. Saves me typing a long answer. Oldvet is correct that there was a ‘joint’ plan for Venezuelan oil back in the 30s. Gulf, Shell, and Standard Oil were the big players back then.

    1. Aldrich (Rick) Ames has met his maker. I can’t think that it’s a comfortable situation for him.

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