Bullet Points:
** Musk on the concept of sentient AI
** “The simple step of a courageous individual is not to take part in the lie. One word of truth outweighs the world.” — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
** Do you want a tip? Some places DEMAND a tip for simply ringing something up. I’ve run into those lately, and I turn into a raging jerk when it happens.
** U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Monday that the Treasury Department is issuing a temporary 30-day general license allowing “the most vulnerable nations” to access Russian oil cargoes currently stranded at sea, framing the move as an effort to stabilize global crude markets amid ongoing disruption tied to the Strait of Hormuz crisis. The announcement appears to expand on earlier Russia-related sanctions relief measures issued by OFAC in March, which temporarily authorized certain deliveries of Russian-origin crude that were already loaded before the sanctions deadlines. The new measure, according to Bessent, is intended to provide flexibility for energy-import dependent countries while also redirecting flows away from China’s discounted stockpiling activity.
** The Royal Navy’s Air Force struggles with its managed decline. UK F-35B availability between October 2024 and January 2025 was approximately three-fifths of the global F-35B fleet’s mission-capable rate and two-fifths of its full mission-capable rate. In practical terms, on a typical day, only around 10 or 11 of the 47 aircraft can fly, and perhaps 5 or 6 are fully combat-capable. Compare that with the stated ambition to deploy 24 aircraft on a single carrier. The NAO found that the Lightning Force was short of about 170 engineers and ground crew in 2025 and that it will take three to four years to fill these roles. At the supervisory level, just 58% of required posts were filled in 2024. These engineering constraints delayed the full stand-up of 809 NAS and contributed directly to low availability. The situation with aircrew is equally tight. Pilot-to-aircraft ratios are near 1:1, far below the 1.3 to 1.5 considered healthy in most air forces. In 2025, just 6 of 16 flying instructor posts on 207 Squadron were filled. Monthly flying hours per pilot had already been cut from 10 to approximately 7.5, yet even this reduced target was not met for all pilots. (h/t Claudio)
** Another interesting Kiriakou interview. Yeah, things are that strange. You can say what you want about John, and he was f-ed over, but he calls it the way it was. Here’s another one.
** It confirms to me that I never wanted to be a woman. Thanks dad.
** Chinese officials increasingly warn about the so-called “Thucydides Trap,” the idea that a rising China and an established United States are destined for war. But the historical comparison falls apart under closer examination. From ancient Athens and Sparta to modern America and China, Hanson explains why the analogy is flawed, why the United States is not a declining power, and why China may face deeper long-term problems than many in the West are willing to admit. Despite endless predictions of American decline, the United States still leads China in energy production, military power, food security, technological dominance, alliances, and economic productivity, while China faces mounting problems with demographics, debt, energy dependence, and slowing growth. VDH weighs in.
** The most famous fossil in Kansas is apparently not a participant in this blog – shocking news.
** The warrior tradition in Old Blighty. How many of those medals were awarded for valor in combat?
** Katie Hopkins is raising awareness in the UK.
** 44% of my book sales to date this month have been audiobook sales, which is significant. Thank you to those who have purchased my book products. I hope that you enjoyed them.
** Gallrein wins the house in the Kentucky race. Massie is out!
In the World of Frigates
(France beats the UK) Sweden has selected France’s Naval Group to supply four frigates for its Luleå class program, passing over a competing British bid from Babcock in partnership with Saab, the UK Defense Journal understands.
The four ships will be based on Naval Group’s Frégate de Défense et d’Intervention design, already in service with the French Navy and on order for Greece. Displacing around 4,000 tonnes, the vessels are designed for air defense and anti-submarine warfare. The first fully equipped frigate is planned for delivery in 2030, with the remaining three following by 2035. The four ships will be named HSwMS Luleå, Norrköping, Trelleborg, and Halmstad.
The Swedish government intends to equip the frigates with systems from the domestic industry, including Saab’s RBS15 anti-ship missile, Torpedo 47, G1X radar, and Trackfire weapon stations, as well as a 57mm gun and 40mm cannon from BAE Systems Bofors.
Does this mean that Babcock (UK) will shut down production just before the next national election? For the managed decline that the UK is going through, this is just another brick in the wall (apologies to Pink Floyd).
US Navy – The New SECNAV (by VDH)
The Trump administration saw Hung Cao and recognized the substance of his character rather than a woke checklist, valuing his grit and technical mastery over the color of his skin or his status as an immigrant. Fifty-one years ago, Cao arrived in Guam as a four-year-old refugee with nothing but two suitcases after his family had been rescued from the fall of Saigon by the very fleet he now oversees. On April 22 2026, he made history as the first Vietnamese refugee to lead the Department of the Navy as Acting Secretary, closing a fifty-year circle of service to the nation that pulled his family from the water. His commitment to the uniform is not a simple career choice but a debt of honor.
In 1979, while his family was living in Niger, West Africa, the Iranian Revolution sparked regional chaos, and the U.S. Marines brought his family into the embassy to stand watch over them until they were safe. He did not see bureaucrats that day; he saw heroes who stood between his family and the fire. That moment became his North Star. He did not join the Navy to climb a corporate ladder but to become the kind of person who stands the watch for others. That mission began on the deckplates in 1989 when he enlisted as a Seaman Recruit.
While many were battling the winter winds at the Great Lakes, Cao was sweating through his first sets of stencils in the Florida humidity of RTC Orlando, 1989. He served seven years in the enlisted ranks before earning admission to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1996. That Mustang journey gives him a perspective that cannot be taught in a seminar because he understands the weight of the sea bag on a sailor’s shoulder. Because of those rough edges, Cao has been blunt about the type of people the Navy needs to win wars. He has pushed back against woke recruiting efforts, stating that the Navy does not need checklists but needs alpha males and alpha females who are ready to do the grit-heavy work of combat.
For Cao, the Navy is not a place for optics; it is a place for the rip-out-their-own-guts level of toughness required for high-stakes survival. As a career Navy Diver and EOD Officer who led the recovery of John F. Kennedy Jr. and served combat tours in Iraq and Somalia, he knows that in the dark, under a hull, a rehearsed press release won’t save a mission. Technical mastery and individual character will save it. Even as he handles high-level financial reviews of carrier contracts, his focus remains on the sailors who man the watch. He is the first Secretary in a generation who knows what it is like to stand a mid-watch and rely on the equipment that the Pentagon buys. He is not there to fit in with the Ivory Tower. He is there to ensure that the world’s most powerful Navy is led by someone who has lived its reality from the bottom up.
West China (PRC) vs East China (Taiwan)
It’s interesting to watch these things unfold and to read the tea leaves. During his trip to China (heavily choreographed), President Trump said that the US had a non-interventionist policy toward Taiwan, just as our allies Japan and South Korea reaffirmed their support for East China’s independence from their predatory West Chinese neighbor… “We love you long time, Xi – but your other neighbors feel differently about the situation.”
The U.S.-Taiwan arms dynamic is currently centered on a pending $14 billion weapons package that is awaiting final approval from the Trump administration. Taiwan has authorized a supplemental $25 billion defense budget to purchase American arms, but the pending deal has been described by U.S. officials as a potential “negotiating chip” with China.
State of Utah vs Tyler James Robinson
Paul M asked what was going on with the Charlie Kirk murder trial.
I don’t know more than the general public does, but having handled several capital murder cases while I worked at the Orange County (CA) District Attorney’s Office for over 21 years, I will throw my cracker in the soup and see if it floats. The preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 6-10, 2026. Defense attorneys representing the accused shooter, Tyler James Robinson, are pushing Fourth District Court Judge Tony Graf to seal key evidence and close portions of the courtroom to the public. Robinson faces charges of aggravated murder in the sniper assassination of Charlie Kirk.
Nobody wants the case to be screwed up, so it’s being handled carefully.
Robinson’s legal team filed motions to seal dozens of exhibits and block video of the fatal shooting from public view. They argue that publicizing “reliable hearsay” and communication logs will taint the potential jury pool. I don’t disagree with that move. How do you get a fair jury after the media tries the case in public/social media? Media organizations and Charlie Kirk’s widow have actively fought for full public access and transparency. That is not always favorable to the prosecution, FYI. The key evidentiary hearing originally slated for May was delayed to July to give the defense time to review terabytes of data and thousands of files that the state turned over. That is a reasonable request. Utah County prosecutors plan to introduce a MASSIVE volume of evidence at trial.
Tyler Robinson shot Charlie Kirk. I don’t think there is any doubt of that in the minds of the people involved with the case. CONVICTING him of murder and getting a finding of special circumstances that would allow for execution is not the same thing, and it requires legal treatment in court. I don’t think that the usual arguments of diminished capacity (insanity), etc., will fly here because of the circumstances of the case.
Identify the Ship
1
It’s happy to see you.
Identify the Aircraft
2
3 Graphics to work with. It first flew on 29 March 1939.
3
149 built – Those who knocked around S/E Asia in the old days may remember seeing them.
4
A sister to #3 above. 544 built
Parting Shot
End
(1) Dutch DD Friesland.
(2) Sud-Est SE100.
(3&4) IDK, but that has to be one of the last cockpit-over-cabin airliner designs ever.
*
Underwater music – I now feel like I should make some sort of HAARP conspiracy
theory joke, but I’m too tired.
– Kle.
3 & 4 were not spectacularly successful designs. The engines were significantly underpowered and had low power-to-weight.
Identify the Ship
1 – Royal Netherlands Navy HNLMS Friesland
Identify the Aircraft
2 – SNCASE SE.100
3 – de Havilland DH.114 Heron 1B
4 – de Havilland DH-104 Devon C2
Exactly, ML Thomas. Well done.
Heyyyyy. Did you call your 2 Kansas readers Fossils? 🤭
Noooo. Not at all. Dinosaurs maybe (T-Rex style).
I’ve been called far worse.
Let’s give Dear Leader a bit more credit than that; he may have as many as three or four Kansas readers.
.
Hung Cao sounds like an interesting guy. Thank you for bringing him to our attention.
Identify the Ship:
1. HNLMS Friesland
Identify the Aircraft:
2. SNCASE SE.100
3. de Havilland Heron
4. de Havilland Dove
** Do you want a tip? Some places DEMAND a tip for simply ringing something up. I’ve run into those lately, and I turn into a raging jerk when it happens.**
I like the rule that says no tip if I ordered standing up.
It is intended to guilt a person into paying more for basic services rendered, as if you should pay more just because the point of sale device suggests so. I decline, unless it’s, say, at the local bakery and I’m eating in…I like to support the local shops that way. But places that are chains do not get a tip for doing their counter job. Same goes for ‘round up for some charity’. Never.
When some place asks me to round up to donate to a charity, I ask them if they’ll round down to donate to my retirement fund. So far, no contributions but numerous smiles.
👍
Kansas’ Oldest Fossil: Two points:
1) What’s the point of having a severe set of teeth if you don’t use them? (A metaphor)
2) Now, do Kentucky’s oldest living fossil. McConnell was set to retire in July… about 15 years too late a far as most people are concerned. Talk about a fossil…just.go.away. Hopefully Barr can do better and this changes the tide a little bit more. (Too bad Thune isn’t next to go.)
***
Robinson Trial: While I appreciate the excellent review of what’s going on, and your take based in experience, the law games maneuvering is sickening to normal thinking people. The court has been turned into a circus by a system that extends far too much liberty to obvious criminals, taking atleast two years per trial, and often four or five ‘to get started’. Really? How long does it truly take to prosecute a case such as this? Months-long ‘election voting period’ is fully analogous…the more time offered the more stupid slight of hand is available to use. But what do I know, I’m just an engineer-type. Same goes for Mangione…another idiotic mess. At least the two Mosque shooters (NOT ‘teenagers’, and likely both confused on their role in the world by a screwed up lefty educomeated system only government could create) decided to do us all a favor and end themselves…no trial, no reporter locust hoards, no stupid lawyer tricksters. Done. Over. Robinson needs to be dragged from his cell, given two minutes to say something, then off to the gallows. Piece of addled-brained garbage who decided he was saving the world from a good man. Boils the blood just thinking about it.
(Mini rant over)
***
Thanks for including the exceptional background on SecNav Cao, major hat-tip to someone ‘who knows’, has fought hard, and despite the odds, persevered. The definition of a true American…which is why The Dems and Left Demented don’t like him, he made something of himself from scratch. Good call Mr. president.
Capital murder cases (where a death penalty is to be rendered) always take a long time and generate automatic appeals.
…and a 5 foot tall pile of files boxes, on both sides. I get it, don’t want to convict an innocent person.
Friend once told me, “One lawyer in town is not well off, two lawyers in town are well off and often seen out to lunch together after fighting in court.”
We were friendly with most of the defense bar. This is the thing. If you’re in trouble you’ll need a lawyer. If you want to make a deal you select a lawyer who is friendly with the prosecutors and the judges. If you want to go to trial, you select a specialist in your area of peril to fight the system on your behalf (white collar, violent crimes, divorce, whatever). Orange County, CA had an affluent population on the whole and many lawyers. 6 received 90% of the business and every well paying case. The other 10% was divided among bottom feeders. Those 6 were worth the money you paid them.
100%…had the use of two lawyers in my life (yes, I’m apparently lucky in that small count), both experts in their fields. The most recent one was not inexpensive but fully professional and knew exactly what he was doing. He is well known by all in the county judicial system, and respected…a former sheriff chief who was a personal friend made the recommend (life is ALL about relationships). This attorney made all the difference, especially when the DA underling who looked like he just rolled out of bed, started spewing garbage. Thankfully the judge was sharp and knew BS when she heard it…watching her give him what for in support of my ‘testimony’ in a pretrial, a week later the DA bailed and dropped the mess…guessing the judge made a phone call. As for the bottom feeder types, all I can say is watching enough ‘cop’ programs, and seeing a coworker get taken down by some scummy DA wanting an easy win, too many get sentenced when they were actually innocent because of an incompetent lawyer. Bible says to settle before court…good enough for me, but getting harder as the system is designed for itself and makes little sense to normal people not exposed. It is, however, a necessary evil…because evil exists an must be dealt with. Unfortunately The Left has destroyed that confidence (eg. No cash bail, repeat offenders let out, etc.).
Regarding the Robinson case, since the 70s the legal system has been overwhelmingly weighted towards the criminal. Any harshness against said criminal during the process can result in higher court review and the case being retried or thrown out all-together.
–
Yes, it’s sickening. And revolting. But it’s what we have, so the case is going slowly and carefully. Could be worse, this could have happened during th
e Obama or Biden regimes (yes, I know, they’re the same regime but I’m going by the name of the nominal head of said regime…)
–
Think all of this posturing is bad? Go do landlord-tenant issues. A tenant, especially a squatter, can do all sorts of things that are treated by the system as a civil matter. If the landlord did it, it’d be a criminal matter.
I wonder if robotics are going to save the Japanese culture?
Dōmo Arigatōgozaimasu to Robots… (domo arigato, Mr. Roboto)
Already happening in elder care in some places.
I’m from an era when a tip was only for excellent service (by excellent I mean a 10 on a scale of 0►10), serving everyone at your table as though they were highly important visiting dignitaries.
And the only place a gratuity was proffered by those served was at a restaurant, everyone else was just expected to do their jobs to the best of their ability.
That ship has sailed.
IMHO:
as money gets tighter (for John Everyday), this problem is going to escalate – and suddenly, people are going to say, “Enough of this **” and stop visiting those establishments that automatically add a 25+% tip or a “cover charge” for tables of more than six people; or a “service” charge for what should be (and has been in the past) a service that was delivered with a smile (an attitude would probably have gotten you fired).
I call it “The Mamdani Effect”:
squeeze the suckers for all they’re worth; most of ’em’ll take it – up to a point – and then they’ll say “Stuff it!” and take their business elsewhere
Exactly. I don’t shop/buy from places that internally tax me through cover charges, mandatory tips and service fees for nothing. –
Demand a tip? Screw you, that’s how you get no tip.
–
Bitch that you’re going to sabotage whatever I’m buying? Enjoy unemployment as the business shuts down. And I don’t feel sorry for the owner of said company because he/she should have clamped down on the employees’ uppityness. Screw all you guys.
–
Now, treat me well as a customer, take care of me and mine at the restaurant, make sure our food is correct and the sodas are topped off and you only bother me when it’s needed and I’ll tip you. I’ve tipped as high as 50% for excellent service and that was on a $130ish dinner bill (an outrageously expensive meal at the time) for my wife and I. Yes, the service was fantastic and enhanced the enjoyment of the meal.
Hung Cao
There is no doubting his credentials. What I find unspoken was his ability to navigate the corporate Navy. He wasn’t “one of them” yet he prevailed.
DEI helped in his case.
Let’s see how he does. WSF reminded me reading up on John ‘OODA Loop’ Boyd…if memory serves he never gained higher rank because he didn’t play the military political games so was kept (I recall) a major…similar to Maverick in the latest Top Gun.
not enough to defeat mark warner, sadly. now i see why they pulled out the stops to hammer him. fairfax struck, again. i wish trump could have continued w/ doge which would have depopulated fairfax county and nova, making va great again. sadly i believe they have their hooks into trump now, draining the swamp is over.
RNAF is circling the drain… Those numbers are pathetic in a new airframe, and will only get worse. That they cannot find either instructor pilots or pilots is indicative of a serious accession/retention problem due to the low pay and other internal issues. Also, cutting flight hours is a serous problem. If you don’t fly, you cannot train. US pilots average 30-45 hours a month in the Lightnings just to maintain ‘proficiency! Instructors usually double those hours. MPA pilots/crews average 70-100 hours a month.
The SAS is resigning in large numbers. It’s not only the RNAF. The problem is service-wide. They have skeleton crews for the few ships in commission that are operational and a lot of them are DEI retentions.
Managed decline – I don’t understand how we’ve gotten to a place where politicians
can say this in public with a straight face. It just means “national suicide, but gradually”.
How do these guys get re-elected, and/or not dragged from their offices by mobs?
– Kle.
Are the Jooz and the CIA unindicted co conspirators?
.
“The first fully equipped frigate is planned for delivery in 2030,”
It CAN be done…..
The FF is likely destined for the Coast Guard. It won’t have AAW and ASW capability. I know what they’re saying today.