Bullet Points:
** Please remember both Peter and Dorothy in your prayers. Yes, I know that he’s home, out from under the knife, and he has as many stitches and staples as a character in “The Last Nightmare Before Christmas” (it’s October), but now is not the time to let up on wearing out the knees in your pajamas on his behalf.
** What about War Ravaged Portland?
** My favorite season is when the mosquitoes are dead.
** Fewer general officers and more GI’s. It appears that the woke generals will be gone. They’ll write books that nobody will read. The era of woke BS is over. No more fat, unfit, beard-and-dress-wearing warriors. The Secretary (following Raising Cain, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and preceding Pres. Trump) spoke before every general and admiral in the military, brought together under one roof for the first time in… well, maybe ever. So no misunderstandings. No, “Well, he told me one thing when we sat down in his office, and that thing is different than the thing YOU heard when he addressed YOU.” Every damn one of those flag officers now has the same marching orders.
Today’s military is not the same as yesterday’s. It will, in fact, return to the fit and fighting military we had in 1990, specifically. ALL standards will be those that the boy who won Desert Storm lived and worked to achieve. (The standards when this old warrior served.) He also eliminated the risk-averse, zero-defect culture. A blemish-free record means you are afraid to take any risk, in training or in war. This “walking on eggshells” policy is now gone, and the IG, which has been weaponized, is now to be refocused, with no frivolous or anonymous complaints.
** US Special Envoy to Ukraine General Keith Kellogg acknowledged that Ukraine has US permission to conduct long-range strikes against Russian territory.
** SRBOC – I’m not panning the system, but if that’s all there is between you and them, adding prayer wouldn’t be a bad idea.
** After his release from the hospital, EdB sold his sailboat to WSF – and bought a power boat. I thought it would be good to check in on him. (lower right)
** A bit about the Amish. Confessions of an Amish stripper in Vegas? She should be more careful out there among the English, PaulM.
**There are two kinds of people: those who are trained and those who are not. Once trained to use defensive handgun and edged weapons tactics effectively (training is an ongoing process), I maintain that you are obliged by basic moral decency to retain the capacity to exercise those defensive operational capabilities to defend the less capable. For that reason and others, the Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights constrained the government from abridging that activity. The Bill of Rights is there to defend your natural rights against the government. If you live outside the United States, you may encounter issues with this. That’s fine. It doesn’t apply to you.
** Do liberal men sit down to urinate? Tom says that they do. I agree with him.
** Will 100,000 federal government workers in DC lose their employment today? I’m not sure if it’s just bluster or if it will become a fact. Senate Majority Leader Thune confirmed it yesterday, so I sense that it’s likely. Will rents and housing prices decrease as needed to bring balance to market forces?
** President Trump has secured a $24.5 million settlement from YouTube (owned by Alphabet) in relation to the platform’s suspension of his account following the January 6, 2021, Capitol gathering, which was turned violent in places by the FBI and others. According to the settlement filing, $22 million will be donated—on Trump’s behalf—to the Trust for the National Mall, which supports construction efforts including a new White House State Ballroom. The remaining $2.5 million will be distributed to other plaintiffs, including the American Conservative Union, Naomi Wolf, and several additional parties. The article situates this settlement within the context of similar legal outcomes: Meta had previously settled for $25 million, and Twitter (now X) reportedly paid $10 million. The piece also notes that Trump’s lawsuit claimed the suspension violated his First Amendment rights, and that the YouTube channel was reinstated in March 2023.
** VDH on Big Jim Comey at American Greatness.
A Letter from Russia
h/t Claudio
As shared by Hannes Fassold – I received a short letter from a friend from Russia with a request to publish it, hoping that at least part of the world public will hear a Russian voice whose opinion differs from the narrative dictated by the Kremlin. Of course, he can’t publish his views in his country because the danger of reprisal is real. Here is the letter:
“Nowadays, many are wondering what happened to Russia and how to solve it. Let me explain to you that nothing happened to Russia. You are witnessing “normal” Russia. Russia has always been like this and will remain so as long as Russia is Russia.
Russian nationalism has always been present in Russian society, even during the Soviet era. Just like people in America have degrading jokes about rednecks, similarly, even during the Soviet days, the people from the Russian republic of the USSR had many insulting jokes about people from Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus, (the Tartars, and the Islamic Republics, and) the minorities that were a part of the Russian republic of the USSR.
Russian society has always been anti-Semitic and chauvinist, and has had resistance and prejudice against all different and alien ethnicities and nations. The unity was always held with force, and the government always imposed terror. All territories that now comprise the Russian Federation were acquired through force, bribery, or a combination of both. Imperial Russia acquired additional territories, Soviet Russia expanded its holdings, and today’s Russia continues to add territories.
A few examples: Imperial Russia occupied the North Caucasus tribes, Russia occupied Chinese territory, and Soviet Russia attacked and seized Finnish territories.
What today’s Russia does in Ukraine is the same as what Soviet Russia did in Finland. Russia was and still is an occupier.
Russia cannot be a decent democratic state because a decent democratic state will not be able to hold the territories Russia already has.
Russia attacked Ukraine dominantly because Russia needed to exercise the Russian world narrative. The current Russian doctrine perceives Ukraine as a breakaway region that must remain under Russian control. If Ukraine succeeds in escaping Russian dominance, other areas and republics, such as Kazan and the North Caucasus, might follow suit.
The global community must understand that ongoing madness and aggression will only grow if Russia succeeds in Ukraine. Russia will not stop. Russia can only be stopped. The West must stop Russia in Ukraine, and the West must disintegrate Russia, so that Russia will not attack ever again.”
China
H/t Claudio – I know that if it weren’t for Claudio, there would be nothing for me to blog about.
Via Ken Cao – Why China Will Explode Into Chaos (Not Just a Slowdown).
You’ve heard it before: “China will fall apart.” I’ve said it. You’ve probably thought it. But here’s the problem: most people stop at the headline. Almost nobody can explain why. What’s the mechanism? What’s the actual chain reaction that could turn China into a humanitarian disaster?
Today, I’m going to spell it out. Because once you see the logic, you’ll realize this isn’t just about China’s slowdown. It’s about chaos.
Strike One: The Economic Dominoes
An economy does two things: it provides jobs so people stay calm, and it generates revenue for the government, allowing the elites at the top to continue living comfortably. China’s government is the king of rent-seekers. They don’t create value. They extract it. And the extraction machine is breaking down. Land sales revenue — their lifeline — plunged nearly 15% year-on-year. Real estate? Collapsing. Unsold inventory sits for 14 months in Beijing and Shanghai, over 20 months in second-tier cities. Even with endless stimulus and rate cuts, the property market is dead. When property goes, government revenue goes.
That’s strike one.
Strike Two: Business Paralysis
Maybe businesses will pick up the slack, right? Wrong. Look at the money supply gap: M2 is soaring while M1 lags. Translation? Companies are hoarding cash, too scared to invest—creating a liquidity trap. The government pumps money, slashes reserve requirements, cuts rates — but when confidence disappears, cash sits idle.
Meanwhile, graduate employment collapsed to under 35%—over 10 million delivery riders — many elite university grads — now bike dumplings around cities. Debt defaults have exploded, with 8.41 million people under debt enforcement, a 68% increase since 2020. This isn’t growth. It’s paralysis.
That’s strike two.
Strike Three: Social Instability
Here’s where it gets dangerous. Japan had its “lost decades.” However, Japan also had a welfare system, safety nets, and a culture of trust. When the economy tanked, people tightened their belts — they didn’t eat each other alive. China is different. Welfare spending is barely 6% of GDP. There’s no safety net. Lose your job, you’re on your own. And when hundreds of millions are thrown into a survival game without support, you don’t get stability. You get chaos. Violence. Betrayal. Biologist Edward Wilson found that starving termite colonies cannibalize their weak. Humans aren’t termites — but in China, mistrust is already the default. Cooperation doesn’t exist. Free-riding does. (Here at VM, behind the paywall, where such things are discussed, I refer to the West Chinese as ‘termites’ for that very reason.)
The Bottom Line:
The economy is out of fuel. The government is broke. Businesses are frozen. Youth are unemployed. Society is wired for mistrust. Nobody — not the people, not the government — is willing to fix it. So the next time someone shrugs and says, “China might collapse,” don’t let it slide. Because now you know why China won’t just slow down.
(commentary) Claudio’s Christianity causes him to fear for the Chinese, who will descend into a dystopian Lord of the Flies situation. I see it differently. China has needed to balkanize for a very long time. It’s been both needed and wanted by many West Chinese. The People’s Liberation Army has been the glue that held the place together through a fiction that it’s all China. Warlords will re-emerge, and Shanghai will become its own country. Hong Kong will go back to being Hong Kong. Canton/Guangzhou will create its own kingdom, and minor fiefs will emerge as they attempt to find themselves post-Communism. In Beijing, zombies will feed on themselves, much like termites. They’ll forget about East China on its island.
Identify the Armor:
1
Identify the Aircraft
2
3
4
It has USAAF and ROK AF markings, but what is it?
Parting Shot
Yesterday – in History
The notorious Munich Agreement, in which Britain’s Neville Chamberlain encouraged Britain and France to appease Adolf Hitler’s demands in the hope of preventing World War II, was reached on this day in 1938. “Peace in our time…”
End
Portland – where rapper Ice Cube’s tour bus was firebombed because the locals saw ICE on the bus and thought it was the feds.
Life in DC – hope the delving is going well.
(1) Cheonma-2, I think.
(2) Looks like Beaufighter.
(3) Thought it was the Potez 230, but nope.
(4) IDK. I first thought Stearman, but nope. Doesn’t really look like an Avro Cadet, either.
– Kle.
1 – North Korean MBT
2 – Bristol Beaufort
3 – Curtiss P-40 Warhawk
4 – Japanese Tachikawa Ki-9 Spruce
Good, but revisit #3 (hint: British)
“China’s government is the king of rent-seekers. They don’t create value. They extract it.”
Sounds like “our” economic ruling class. I’m not talking Trump, or Musk. I’m thinking of people such as Paul Singer. (A man with such big “duck” (thanks autocorrect) energy that he managed to “duck” the entire nation of Peru. Singer also ducked Cabela’s, for that matter.) Those guys not only extract wealth, they cause widespread damage in the process. And they’re cleverer than PRC leadership, because “ours” have something like half the country admiring or even virtually worshiping them as “successful capitalists”. My bony yellow butt. Debt/finance vulture capitalism is the destroyer of nations, of peoples, of the human spirit.
We are clearly headed in that trajectory.
We are…however today’s “shutdown” activity, and the 2 parties pointing their bony fingers at each other by way of spouting pure posturing baloney to distract the General Public, shows TPTB are worried their ill-gotten is starting to come under closer scrutiny…as they should be. Funny thing (not) is how The Dem’s don’t ‘go there’ but rail against ‘”Billionaires” (said in that grifter Bernie voice) as if they had none who were the real criminals. About time the Takers are dropped a few pegs (or off a cliff, whatever suits).
“worried their ill-gotten is starting to come under closer scrutiny”
—
Noticing is Hate Crime. Why else did the otherwise useless Pam Blondi get up on her hind legs and give that schpiel about “free speech vs hate speech”? LawTubers that I actually like (eg Legal Mindset, Viva Frei) excoriated her for being so dumb as to spout that extremely Bad Take. But they were missing the point. Blondi was doing exactly what our owners want. She’s not necessarily stupid by any means.
—
In a similar vein, there’s a meme to the effect of “Of course they won’t take your hunting rifles. They’ll relabel them ‘Sniper Weapons’ first.” That was my second thought on hearing Charlie Kirk had been shot by someone using an old bolt action. (First thought was “Oh no! Oh, shit!” Which I think actually came out of my mouth when I read the text from a friend.)
“Noticing”…Geez, I’m toast then. We head out ‘into town’ and I’m brain pained keeping an eye on things within my 360 degree sphere. Per Gunslinger rules: Never sit with your back to the room or door.
Update:
1 – North Korean M-2020
Yes.
IDARMOR:
1. Chonma-2 Tanks
IDA:
2. Beaufighter TF Mark X
3. Curtiss P-40 Warhawk
4.Tachikawa Ki-9
Good, revisit #3.
3 – RAF Fairey Battle T – Trainer with dual cockpits
Yep.
Yes!!!
I tip my hat to you Sir!
Amazing.
If I’m at home, I sit down out of respect for my wife who would clean up any overspray I might not notice.
SRBOC. I would think that if I were designing a targeting system, I would have one that would ignore the sudden plume of SRBOC or it’s equivalent and assume that the target can’t maneuver much in that short distance of sudden appearance and last acquisition. Am I wrong?
A fighter jet can get away with it.
Maybe if you didn’t put the chaff right alongside you instead of behind?
They were designed in the – 70s, improved in the 80s, and are still on some ships, fifty years later. I recall that the first one I saw was on an old LST.
I expected RIFs on the spot.
He might be waiting for “self-deportations”.
If he RIF’ed everyone who needs to go, how bad would the chaos be, and would it tempt our enemies into trying to exploit it?
.
I look at this as a variation of the “Fork In The Road” email – warning to wrap up and turn over operations to those who won’t make it, for minimal disruption to the force as they exit into that good night. And if that doesn’t drain enough of the out, the RIF is coming. (It was coming the moment he did PT with the troops, setting expectations, but the capacity for self-delusion and clinging to normal routine in the face of screamingly obvious warnings is as universal to generals as Amish strippers.)
She was kinda dense.
.
General: “Hmm, should I retire or exercise…….”
I enlisted in the Marine Corps sixty years ago this month and I was almost 21. Being smart and having had experience in the workforce for four years, I kept my mouth shut and remained invisible for the next eight weeks. Boot camp was tough physically but not for an athlete. Mental—I can’t even begin to describe what that’s like for a seventeen year old dumba$$ from the deep south. Way too many **********’s to comprehend. We all made it through and became better men as a result. On active duty, we all stayed fit and trim because readiness was our job. I’m not feeling sorry for any service member today that can’t measure up. I can’t run anymore, but I can still take a ten mile bike ride. In addition, I can still shoot, live in the Rockies(redoubt) and eagerly await any foreign or domestic invasion.
The fitness and appearanc of the Navy military personnel that I see in my facility astounds me. USAF may be as renowned for lacking such discipline, but what I see takes this several levels beyond “this is an active-duty Sailor?!?!” Beards, haircuts, physical proportions and stature all seem way too far outside the norm for a military personnel. Even the non-flying officers share this lack of discipline. Astounding, and I’m glad that all are being called to the carpet.
i have to wonder if the dying beasts, either or both of them, will throw a hail mary / f u to the world on their way out or go out with a whimper….there’s a lot of scrambling this morning at the pentagon, lol. i hope they include sergeants major in that riot act.
Amish…or Mennoite (Amish-Lite)? Seems dancing is not part of the …ahem…program, at least to my knowledge (altho for some “patrons” the white bonnet might be a turn on, takes all kinds). But her “followed” story is a cautionary tale for the unaware to pay the hay attention (aka yellow alert) when out and about, especially in Vegas or [other, but usually Dem run cities]. The Byrna would be a good Amish/Mennonite weapon, not “the gun of the hand” as it were, but will dissuade criminals to allow escape while leaving ones ‘zero training in such matters’ conscience clear.
***
Looks like EdB got a better deal this time around, at least more of that vessel is out of the water than the last one.
***
Prayers of excellent healing for BRM…not like the movies where after a major surgery to repair five bullet wounds or some such injury our hero sits up in the hospital bed, yanks out the catheter, eats the last of the butterscotch pudding, easily puts his clothes back on, then sneaks out in a dead run down the hall to the exit.
Heh…self-editing or old[er] eyes? “Mennoite” (pronounced Men-Wah) is the French sect…she was clearly stateside, so ‘Mennonite’.
I asked my brother if he put the plug in.
He thought I meant the CD player power cord.
Thank you, Larry, for keeping Dorothy and I in the minds of your readers. We appreciate all your support and prayers. I hate to have to admit that I’m getting old, but bouncing back from these encounters with scalpels is getting harder as the years go by. (It is, however, amusing to watch the faces of the nurses as they check out my new scars, then suddenly realize that not all of them are new, and their eyes get wider and wider as they trace them around my body. I’m apparently more than usually decorative in that regard.)
Next step is October 7, when the staples are scheduled to be removed. (I’m not looking forward to having 33 of them yanked at the same time! Seems a little over-enthusiastic to me.) Thereafter it’ll be a couple of months of very light duty and physical therapy, followed by the balance of the tests on my old spine injury that they weren’t able to complete before the kidney got in the way. Once all those are completed, it’s heigh-ho for DFW for a second opinion, and then some big decisions about what can be done to keep me mobile.
Thanks again for your prayers and good wishes, friends. They are very welcome, and much appreciated.
Thank you, Larry.
Hanging out in the hospital trashed my immune system, but now I’ve got enough Augmentin onboarded to kill everything but my automatic reflex to try to do All The Things. The only reason my Calmer Half hasn’t noticed how slowly I’m moving is because he’s even further down… but with the stubbornness masquerading as discipline, routine, the help of friends, and the grace of G-d, we’re getting better.
X100…stay well, both of you…these ‘things’ are never easy, but slowly the body does wonders at healing.
👍
They have to take all the staples out at once, it’s how they test to see if you’re healed.
*
If anything important falls out, they staple you back up for another 2 weeks.
– Kle.
The Far Side cartoon…as some internal body part launches the surgeon says: “Hey, watch where that lands, we might need it later.” heh
It’s like when I take an automobile engine apart and put it back together. There are always “spare parts” left over and I have no idea where they should have gone. I sigh, and move on (my work there is done). So with surgeons.
** After his release from the hospital, EdB sold his sailboat to WSF
Maybe write him a spiffy add. He is a better word smith than me. Pro tip. Avoid even numbers – people mostly assume that is a starting point for negotiations. Oddball numbers shift the mental playing field in favor of the seller. Not$ 25,000. Use something like $25,419.37 (implies selling, not asking price). Buyer? Straight out of Negotiating 101, offer approximately 2/3 of the “asking” price. That will anger the seller. Angry people tend to make bad decisions. You may be there trying to make a friend. I don’t care who I piss off.
I was terrified of you when Banner backed your play. Now that he’s gone from vicious dire pitwolf to retired superhero, and FORMER wing-dog, not so much anymore.
Visited Banner two days ago. Living with Sisty he has slimmed down, not having people feeding him treats constantly. We discussed increasing his rations. As to terror, Sisty is far more dangerous than her brother. Iron sharpens iron and being nine years younger, fiercely competitive, she honed her skill set trying to best her big brother. My threat today is, “Don’t make me call my sister”.
As an example, I’ve seen her put five out of five into an abandoned stove at least two hundred feet away, off hand, with my Charter Arms Bulldog .44 Special. Heavy snow threatening to break tree branches? Use a 12 gauge shotgun to reduce the snow load.
She sounds like one of my granddaughters (Sisty in training).
Oh, and do you seriously have an “inside track” (paywall)? If so, is it invite-only or other?
No, I don’t. What you see is what you get. I barely have time to keep this going.
darn, i was hoping for more and better “edumacation” from someone behind the scenes. I feel so let down… :-)
No, I’m just happy to receive what you and others share here.
Stay well in your busy “retirement”.
I’m with you, LL. Pete was on good form. Admirals and Generals? Notoriously silent.
The boss had insisted they all be there in person and then he changed the rules, probably not the best time to do more than stand at attention as he left the room.
X2
>China has needed to balkanize for a very long time.
Guangzhou and Shanghai will be prominent of course, but what about Bod (Tibet) and Uyghuristan? (Not to mention Inner Mongolia, and other ethnic-minority regions.) Do the pro-Balkanization (Han) Chinese accept the price of de facto ethnic-minority emancipation (more or less) as the price for their vision and ambition?
—
Somewhat O/T, speaking of Uyghuristan, what’s the deal over actor Yu Menglong’s death from falling out of a high window? (Did he piss off Putin?) Or did he piss off some powerful Chinese person or persons. Was this a Forrestal-type “accident”, or a genuine drunken accident, or Epstein-level sordidness, or what?
—
Back to “China has needed to Balkanize”. What do you think of calls for the US to Balkanize? Serious question, particularly given the context of the PRC splitting up. And does anyone place credence in Joel Garreau’s “The Nine Nations of North America” as a model or predictor of the subsequent nation-states? I haven’t read the book and so can’t say for sure, but just looking at his map, not sure I agree with how he apparently sees things.
There are forces inside the US (and outside) who would welcome balkanization. Still, the people with the guns would end up “invading” their neighbors and re-ordering things, so it wouldn’t end up as balkanization with equally powerful political entities. Alberta is still making noise about legally seceding from Canada, but they have guns and oil, and the moment they were separate, they’d suddenly have a lot more guns. So it would be re-ordering. China is a different situation as I see it.
.
Yu Menglong was showing the money in his wallet when he fumbled it and, tumbling from his hands, he reached out to grab it, falling over the low railings typical in those buildings and cartwheeled down to his death. It’s a common scenario in China and Russia for people with a “love for money.” Or who “F” with the wrong person’s wife.
I think it would be better for everyone if the US remained intact.
However, in the medium term, I think America is over. I would like to
be proved wrong, but I don’t think I’ll live that long.
*
No, I think the “9 Nations” is sort of silly.
– Kle.