Caption: Habromania: Insanity featuring cheerful delusions. The word defines the democrat party in America.
Bullet Points:
** The Chinese lab Zhipu (also known as Z.ai) released a highly competitive AI model at a fraction of the cost of leading U.S. competitors. It quickly became one of the most popular models in the world, and the news reminded me of Jake Sullivan’s warning earlier this year that “technological power is translating directly and rapidly into geopolitical power to a degree the world hasn’t seen in years.” I hate to quote Sullivan (Biden toady), but he is on point here. This new reality demands a shift in Washington, he argues. “For decades, U.S. policy toward China rested on a quiet but powerful assumption: Beijing was essentially running the same race as the United States, just a few steps behind.” That assumption has proved incorrect time and again, and if Washington wants to retake the high ground in AI, semiconductors, biotechnology, and clean energy, Sullivan says it must be “the central task of American statecraft in the twenty-first century.”
** Tom Hanks’ Fantasy Island – The Greek Coast Guard has made it clear to Tom Hanks: “We’re coming to inspect your island.” Hanks, who’s been holed up off the coast of the Mediterranean country in a commercially disputed zone between the Greeks and Turkey, has enjoyed immunity from any jurisdiction at all. That ended when the two countries agreed to exclude the chain of islands Hanks is on, along with dozens of other internationally renowned creeps. Jeffrey Epstein had purchased one of the secluded islands just before his arrest in 2019. The Greek Coast Guard will be busy this week. The Turks also have jurisdiction now, but have said they’ll defer to Athens. They gave him time to handle any embarrassment rather than just dropping in.
** One upcoming rallying cry for the habromaniacs (see caption above) is the call for a 32-hour workweek in the US with no reduction of pay or benefits. So, as an employer, I have to expect a 20% reduction in productivity for the same overhead cost? Yeah, money for nothing and chicks for free. It costs the habromaniacs nothing to promise you more of other people’s money.
** Is drug addiction a PUBLIC health problem or is it a criminal problem? It’s an old argument, and there are valid claims on both sides. Under Medicaid, YOU pay for other people’s addictive behavior through massive expenditures. Is that correct? Locking people up is expensive, and locking them up ONLY because of that addiction is counterproductive. What is the solution? I’m only posting the question.
** Outside the Church of the Holy Spirit in Palermo — Ash and Iron.
** There won’t be much space left in space soon (h/t Claudio). European governments are trying to reduce their dependency on the United States for a number of critical defense enablers, including satellite intelligence, and ICEYE has benefited from efforts to close the gap. The company has said the U.S. halt of intelligence sharing in March 2025 really drove home the need in Europe for sovereign access to space-based intel.
** (left) The early universe contained galactic seeds (supermassive black holes) with almost nothing around them – that which became galaxies was to come later. (h/t Claudio) We live in an elegant universe.
** The Swedes are up-gunning. (Bloomberg) –Sweden is fitting machine guns to its civilian coast guard vessels to better counter what it views as an intensifying threat from Russia-linked vessels on the Baltic Sea. The weapons of the KSP 58-type will better allow coast guard staff to defend themselves at sea, Civil Defense Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin said during a visit to the vessel Triton on Sweden’s Baltic Sea island of Gotland.
** Reverend Manning discusses the MLK that he knew. Rip that bandaid off!
** It doesn’t require a comment from me.
** In Scotland – Economists have confirmed Scotland has officially entered what experts are calling a “pre-recession”, after millions of pounds disappeared from bank accounts in exchange for flights, hotels, match tickets, emergency replacement flights, emergency replacement emergency flights, and pints that somehow cost £25 each. With Scotland returning to the World Cup for the first time in a generation, fans collectively decided that financial stability was a problem for “future us.” Early figures suggest the Tartan Army single-handedly delivered an economic boom to every American city it visited, filling hotels, bars, restaurants, souvenir shops, taxi ranks, supermarkets, and any establishment capable of serving alcohol before noon. Unfortunately, those same figures now suggest Scotland itself has returned home absolutely skint.
** ICE Director Todd Lyons took the podium and announced a nationwide fraud bombshell: investigators have identified over 𝟏𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 claiming to work for “highly suspect employers” under the Optional Practical Training (OPT) visa program — and that’s only from the top 25 OPT employers. Director Lyons was explicit: this is “𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐠.” Shell company clusters share the same building, nearly identical websites, and management personnel, while claiming no business relationship. Some employers listed their HR and payroll departments in India. Investigators found 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 spanning multiple countries, complex transactions, potential malware-flagged websites, and a pattern of students who obtained work authorization and then never showed up. Biden’s DHS watched this fraud escalate for years and did nothing.
** The United Kingdom is reportedly once again without an attack submarine deployed at sea, as all five of the Royal Navy’s Astute-class nuclear-powered attack submarines are undergoing maintenance, repairs, or scheduled work simultaneously.
** A stroll down a street in Los Angeles – impossibly woke.
Thoughts
EdB recently quoted Boris Yeltsin at a Randall’s Grocery in Houston: “If the people of the Soviet Union were aware of the quality of the average American grocery store, there would be a revolution.” One of the most significant hurdles a defector to the US faces is the lack of government direction/suzernity. We who live in the West have 20+ varieties of orange juice for sale in every store and are accustomed to making selections simply because we’ve done it all of our lives. There are many places where that is not the case. So, in life, you have choices, and the accountability for most of those is not government-driven; it’s systemic, arising from that cosmic cause-and-effect balance.
Identify the Aircraft
1
2
There are many variants. Please be exact. – 54 built
3
As above, be exact – 228 built
4
Parting Shot
End
Identify the Aircraft:
1. North American F-82F Twin Mustang
2. Turkish McDonnell Douglas F-4E 2020 Phantom II
3. McDonnell Douglas F-4N Phantom II
4. Vickers Valiant
Surly, you need to get some sleep. Very well done!
Well, I got the twin Mustang….
X2. And the Phantom 2 F-4N.
It is landing on an aircraft carrier with arresting gear.
.
Though the name “Tailhook” is like an ice dagger in the heart of the Navy, the aircraft still have them.
I learned something new today.
Right click on the links and “Open in Split Window”
Then I don’t forget to come back.
Heh, my iPad does that all by itself, took me a minute to figure out the 3 dots are there for a reason and how to close the second window. And I’m supposed to be an engineer. 🤣
Back to the Hobbit birth citizen story. He’ll regret that decision. In about ten years when he’s sitting around the dinner table drinking out of a skull while talking to his wife. “What’s wrong with that boy. He wouldn’t even go to your brother’s sword fighting class anymore. How is he going to go to Warrior academy?” “Now dear, He likes pressing flowers in books and singing Hobbit songs. Leave him alone. Besides the Hobbits have a fine Academy down by the river for music.”
Internet Win for the day!
32 hour work week – having worked at a few places that continually called for above average work performance while, at the same time, saying that their average wages were good enough, I wouldn’t mind seeing some getting a good skeer put in them. Said places never did figure out why they had such a high turnover of employees.
Some businesses are natural training and filtering grounds for other businesses. They continually pay a ‘starting wage’ and are shocked when employees leave, once trained.
I worked 32 hours a week the last five years before retirement on an hourly basis. No big deal. Both side benefited. I provided new employees out and did my own work …
Habromaniac (learned a new word, almost read it as Hasbro Maniac, one who likes games): Reading your definition saw AOC, that new DSA chick who was election-frauded into place in Colorado (wonder how I voted), and a bunch of others who somehow got elected to congress despite being the lowest denominator…all dancing to this tune, which could be the Democrats new theme song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP4cOSqaS_Y
–
Speaking of Habromaniac’s….how is it our Finders and Founders left England and European oppression to carve out a new life with liberty and freedom only to have modern Democrats and Lefty’s, 250 years in, demand WTP revert back to the very standard we left as if it was some sort of example to emulate? Boggles the mind.
Note to Dem’s/DSA’s: America IS NOT Europe for good reason, you want ‘that’ – which is in obvious decline – you are free to leave, there’s the door. (But even Hanks, with his largess, isn’t immune and will quickly find out how reality bites.)
***
Yeltsin: Lucky for him he came during the Reagan era and not ‘some of the others’, especially Madmommie’s ‘free everything’ current run, or LA’s obvious decline…although, he could have said ‘America is so benevolent, in LA you can un into a store, steal $900 worth of food, run out, and no one chases you.’
***
Comment on the ‘No Comment’: The Police’s ‘Don’t Stand So Close to Me’ was immediate (that’ll be in my head all day now).
Los Angeles City and County are in trouble or are blighted. Some of the surrounding suburbs are not. Hollywood is being rebuilt in Las Vegas as Nevada welcomes the new studios. So it goes. CA just raised the gas tax again so they can blame Pres. Trump for higher prices.
Yet, even more astounding, those running the place into the ground either cannot see the obvious decline, or worse, think it is good, believing one can tax themselves into prosperity, a fully debunked concept. But there they go, headlong into the abyss while the 85% (as I call it) either continue to elect the cretins and low-grade intellects or feel so hamstrung to effect change.
– Sidebar: Has California finished counting the votes yet? That seems to have hit the MSM back-burner pretty quickly.
Que up yesterdays Primary election in Colorado. You were smart to COLOExit but you have the same infection on the West end of your state.
Better to be lucky than good.
Bozeman has a [terrific] university, inevitable it has become liberal-centrist, however nothing like Laramie or Fort Collins, even though ranchers look at it with a cautionary jaundiced eye.
Apart from your daily posting, I enjoy reading other 3 prior posts that are included each day. Each is a mini time machine about events from a few years ago.
Today your post “Remembering Father” from May 30, 2011 popped up. It was a fitting tribute to your father and other veterans on Memorial day that year. It was excellent.
Thank you.
VM is definitely not a fly-by-night blog – there is well over a decade of writing and bold predictions. To some extent, I consider it a mark of credibility. From day-one I called it correctly on Covid.
“** Is drug addiction a PUBLIC health problem…”
“What is the solution? I’m only posting the question.”
Hmmm. posing or posting? both work equally well.
I still say: If we have no moral problem taking the life of the speed boat people bringing these chemicals to our shores, what problem do we have removing these people from society – permanently?
“Oh! but we can cure them.”
Is this the same as “Oh! but they will become good, hard-working citizens.”
You may have noticed my very strong feelings about the use(s) to which my tax dollar is put.
Concur, essentially.
We should let the junkies etc. finish killing themselves in peace. I’m willing to extend
an offer of compromise to the “nice” people, and when the EMTs narcan one of them,
they can tattoo an “X” on their forehead. When there are three “X-es”, no more narcan.
*
As for “we can cure them”; I would suggest that the data indicate otherwise, overwhelmingly.
*
Some will say that drug addiction is a disease. I will not argue otherwise, but point out that
in almost all cases, it’s one you give yourself, voluntarily.
– Kle.
‘Disease of weakness’, we all have something in our nature we need to combat, some can’t.
@Boron: Good points. How is their ‘cure’ working out after billions upon billions of wasted taxpayer monies spent? Only got worse. Same with homelessness (excuse me…un-housed), alcohol, gambling, criminal behavior…the cure is not through government means but local communities and churches, and dare I say, mental institutions. Some are unable to be helped, a sad commentary on the modern empathetic do-gooder approach that said it could fix these people. Can’t.
I shouldn’t (though I’ve always been in favor of) but I do have a problem with “mental institutions” – somewhat along the flavor of “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Based upon criminal, self-destructive, or anti-societal actions? Who will make these determinations? Historically we’ve seen too many problems with the criteria and the judges.
Besides which, I/you have to pay for the entire total upkeep.
“Same with homelessness (excuse me…un-housed)”
… I prefer the Howie Carr nomenclature: “bums.”
What we used to call them back in the day, but those were mostly benign back then, today, they attack you.
I like the idea of a Narcan X (or 3 Xs). I think that a second X is enough. Your big heart is showing Kle.
I’ve made that statement since the 2000s.
–
There was this tv show called “Night Shift,” where they followed police, fire and EMS for a whole night’s shift in New Orleans.
–
One time they picked up a druggie overdosing, saved his ass, the EMS said it was their 3rd or 5th time saving him within a two week period. Followup on the case, well, he OD’d within 2 days of being released, OD’d forever. Good riddance.
–
My feeling about taking street drugs or using prescriptions illegally? It’s playing Suicide. So let them.
Reference Drug Addiction: Drug addiction is a soul problem that manifests itself as both a health problem and a criminal problem. The root cause is in the soul. Why do I need to take mind altering drugs (or get falling down drunk)? Is it for fun, for relaxation, for avoiding problems or because everyone else is doing it just like torn jeans? The Bible is clear on having a drink and not being drunk, but America has move on from the Bible and it shows throughout our society today.
Marijuana use spread more quickly in college campuses in the 60’s and 70s than beautiful Antifa, BLM, or We Hate Trump signs show up at supposed grassroots protests today. There is no way that the demand and supply for marijuana could be filled so quickly without assistance from big hitters a national level. Previously there were opiates in use and were relatively well controlled; however, when the War of Drugs arrived, marijuana and other drugs flourished and grew into household use. I served on the Idaho Federal Grand Jury for a year and watched as illegals had to have three felony arrests to be seen by the Federal court system including moving huge amounts of drugs.
Several Idahoans were included in the drug trafficking business including a grandmother who addicted her daughter and granddaughter by introducing them to marijuana and then to heavier drugs until they were all trafficking large amounts of drugs into the PNW and using their own trafficked drugs. Being unreliable is probably how the Feds got tipped onto to the family business. Every meth user testifying to the grand jury clearly stated that they started with a joint and that meth took away their very souls.
Is it criminal? Yes. Is it a health problem? Yes. Put them in isolated areas for rehab under strict conditions and teach them skills to stay clean. Make it clear that those in the drug trades are fair game to everyone. Shoot the traffickers, the cartel members in the US, the gang members in our towns and cities. Is that harsh? Yes, but not as harsh as other countries.
Nicaragua used to take glue sniffers and other drug users into the jungle and shoot them. That’s harsh.
So, the bottom line is have a drink don’t get drunk. And don’t take a toke as it puts you one toke over the line. Americans can take the time to visit Jesus before the trouble starts, when they hit rock bottom or when they are dead and see Him face to face. Before is the preferred path, but Americans today are trained to be hard set against biblical Christianity. So, build a firm foundation on Jesus Christ and don’t hide it under a basket as Christians have for the last 35 or 40 years.
I still can’t get the paragraph breaks. My sincere apologies.
>paragraph breaks
No one gets the paragraph breaks (so far as I know).
Just type something (I use two hyphens) and nothing else to create an artificial
—
paragraph break for better formatting. Even if it’s “fake and ghey” formatting.
You did well my brother.
No apology necessary, I can’t catch glaring typos to save my life.
Malaysia doesn’t have a significant drug problem. Neither does Singapore. I wonder why?
I wonder…..
Thinking about it closely – and although there are certain situations that could provide me with a more joyous weltanschauung, I definitely fall into one of Rush’s classes of amenomania
Drug problem. Say we make them legal and somewhat affordable (i.e. Colorado’s marijuana “Dispensaries”). Would we have more drug addicts? Would we have more crime? On the other hand, we would kneecap the cartels cash flow. No? What happened to the Mafia cash flow after prohibition ended? What would be the fate of those on the government tit now dealing with the “problems” who would become unemployed? So many questions, likely rhetorical.
No. They tax the pot, pushing people into the black market.
Moonshine still flourishes for the same reason.
Tobacco also.
…and drive by north Fort Collins Med-Red/Rec-Med shops, the lots are filled and lines out the door. Move along, nothing to see here folks. But I am convinced it is to make for a more compliant populace, aka useful idiots. Also has had the unintended consequences of driving while stoned, now a new traffic violation created on the heels of so-called ‘legalization’, let alone yungin’s moving into the state in droves to partake.
Good questions, but all of the following are IMHO answers.
the following per Grok:
*Ordered from Highest to Lowest Risk (Approximate % of Users Who Become Dependent/Addicted)
*Tobacco/Nicotine — ~67.5% (lifetime cumulative probability among users)
Nicotine is one of the most addictive substances. Among those who try it, a very high percentage develop dependence, especially with regular use.
*Opioids (including heroin and prescription opioids) — ~23% for heroin users; 3–12%+ for prescription opioid users (higher with long-term or misuse)
Risk varies significantly by type and duration of use. Heroin has a notably high dependence rate among users.
*Cocaine — ~20.9% (lifetime among users)
Cocaine has a relatively high addiction potential compared to cannabis.
*Alcohol — ~22.7% (lifetime among users)
Widespread use leads to many cases, though the per-user risk is moderate.
*Cannabis (THC) — ~8.9–10% overall (up to ~17% if use starts in adolescence; ~30% among regular/daily users)
Lowest among these, but still significant, especially with modern high-potency products and frequent use.
*Would we have more drug addicts?
Affordable is the tipping point. The Government (and or church-supported organizations) believe that affordable=free. Government obtains funds through taxation, NGOs through donations and grants. I posit the greater the ease of affordabilty, the more addicts.
*Would we have more crime? I would require your definition(s) of crime? I see multiple divisions.
*What happened to the Mafia cash flow after prohibition ended?
again per Grok
*When the 21st Amendment repealed Prohibition on December 5, 1933, the core revenue source dried up for many syndicates. Legal alcohol production and sales resumed (with regulation and taxation), reducing the profitability and necessity of large-scale bootlegging. Gangsters adapted by pivoting harder to established illegal enterprises:
Prostitution (often called “vice rackets”)
Gambling
Drug trafficking
Labor racketeering and extortion
Historical accounts note that the biggest gangs “shifted their operations away from alcohol and into secondary businesses like drugs, gambling and prostitution.” Organized crime “regroup[ed] and focus[ed] on other things,” with “lucrative vice rackets of prostitution and gambling” remaining key.
From my point of view, criminal activity will always be with us. The government should learn how to profit from it to the taxpayers’ advantage: either tax criminal organizations (those that make a profit from criminal activities) or put the CEOs up against a wall. The sheep will always “want to just give it try” whether it be just one cigarette or drink, just a flutter at the tables, or just one sniff of white powder; just to be “one of the boys.” Criminal activity will always be with us only because there are so, so many sheep.
As one who has been there—Reverend Manning is right on and I’m sure it’s worse today than my workforce of 49 years ago.
People are angry with Manning because he calls a spade a spade.
Groan…..
Insanity featuring cheerful delusions. The word defines the democrat party in America.
Yes, that and Satan.
Of course.
X2
The truth shall set you free!
Happy Birthday LSP!
They come around with annoying regularity, but we don’t want them to stop.
Not to be picky, but ‘technically’ the Rhino is an F-4S. When the Marines got the F-4s, they were modified from the F-4Js the Navy had…
Pictured was the F-4E 2020 (Turkish) -54 produced. The F-4S was a modified F-4J with smokeless engines, a reinforced airframe, and leading-edge slats for improved maneuverability. (302 converted), which you identified. As I understand it, the Turks are still flying the modified F-4E.