Bullet Points:
** The timing of internal change in Iran is important. Iran’s clerical leadership has been in a ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ since Ali Khamenei was killed in February and his son Mojtaba Khamenei took over as supreme leader, a transition analysts say has left the regime’s internal security apparatus stretched thinner than at any point in years. As President Trump has said many times, “there isn’t anyone in charge.” Different regional commanders have (or had) missiles and local troops and equipment under their personal aegis.
** Are most of the elite people in the West disabled? “A diagnosis is a lever, and a lever can be pulled.” In a world where everyone is a victim, is anyone a victim? Victims are not always predators, but predators always dress themselves as victims.
** (Right) The U.S. Mint will begin producing a $1 gold coin featuring a portrait of President Donald Trump, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Wednesday. It’s a commemorative coin, and the price has not been announced.
** Do you have the right to moral and social predominance? Peterson asks the question.
** The United States has continued to strike Iranian military targets, including some targets further inland. Iranian regime media reported on July 15 that US forces struck the Artesh Ground Forces’ 388th Mechanized Assault Brigade barracks in Iranshahr, Sistan and Baluchistan Province. This strike is notable given that the 388th Brigade is located around 200 kilometers from the Iranian coast, while most US airstrikes in July have been concentrated around Iranโs southern coast. The Artesh has conducted operations throughout the war and most recently claimed on July 15 that it conducted drone strikes targeting US forces at Muwaffaq Salti Airbase in Azraq, Jordan.
** Cooking with the Marlboro Man and Spread Eagle. It doesn’t get any more real than this…
** In Kurdistan – An unknown actor launched six drones targeting Erbil International Airport and the US Consulate in Erbil, Erbil Province. It is unclear whether Iran or Iranian-backed Iraqi militias conducted this attack.
** Have you ever considered what might happen if you cut a photon in half? Ok, I know that DRJIM has, but what about the rest of you?
** German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized a Trump administration initiative offering nearly $5 million in grants to promote free speech, religious liberty and other democratic principles across Europe โ arguing the U.S. should not become involved in Germany’s political affairs.
** VDH and Bill O’Reilly discuss the 2020 election and how the elites sold creepy, sleepy, demented old Joe Biden to America.
** House Republicans ended a ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐๐-๐ฐ๐๐๐ค ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐๐ค๐๐๐ Tuesday, passing a procedural rule ๐๐๐-๐๐๐ that merges the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act into a fiscal 2027 appropriations bill funding the State Department and national security programs (The Hill, Fox News). A bloc of conservative hardliners had refused to let Speaker Mike Johnson’s floor agenda move at all, demanding the citizenship-and-voter-ID bill get a real vote instead of another promise. Tuesday’s rule finally teed up floor action, using a tactic Johnson calls โ๐๐๐๐๐ช๐ฏ๐จโ โ attaching SAVE Act language onto bills Democrats can’t easily block. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), one of the holdouts who forced the standoff, made clear the fight isn’t over: โ๐๐ง ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ข ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ฉ๐ฏ ๐๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฆ,โ she wrote, aiming the warning at her own party’s Senate majority leader. Johnson signaled this was only the first move. Asked about using the maneuver again, he told reporters: โ๐๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ต๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ต๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐๐๐๐ด.โ The bill itself requires ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐จ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ณ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ to register for federal elections and a ๐ฉ๐ก๐จ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ to cast a ballot. It now heads to floor votes on the underlying package, with the real fight still ahead in the Senate.
** Will data centers in space work? The discussion explains how they’re built and why they will do what they are designed to do.
** Are you ready to explain the void?
From Comments – Beans and LL on 7/15:
Beans: What LL said about armor. Armor, both what the user and the target are wearing, has a massive effect on both attack and defense. Most of those thrusts and slashes in the video would be worthless against semi-rigid or rigid armor. Those two guys are basically โfencingโ with heavy weapons. Which doesnโt work against even padded armor (which was usually made of 4 layers of fabric with the warp of the layers rotated, which sounds silly but it actually works to slow and stop stabs and slashes (itโs why the fabric in aramid vests alternates.) Combine that with the padding, either tight rolls of fabric, horse hair, or loose wool stuffed into the layers, and padded armor is actually really halfway decent. Some of the same effect can be gotten by wearing 3-4 layers of fabric, especially tightly woven linen tunics.
LL Amplifies: As weโve discussed here on VM before, armor was recycled. Bodies on the battlefield were stripped completely (at Waterloo, they also took the teeth for dentures back home). So if you wore armor, it was often used and previously owned. Does that mean that it didnโt work well? Interesting question.
Two Systems
Let’s move on to the Anglo-Saxon Fyrd (700-1066), which was divided: The Great Fyrd: A general levy of all able-bodied freemen called upon to defend their local shires against immediate threats like Viking raids. The Select Fyrd: A core of professional, land-owning aristocratic warriors (thegns) who served on rotation to join royal expeditions or garrison fortified towns. Feudal systems made military service compulsory (if you couldn’t go, you paid somebody to take your place if you were old or crippled). Serving in the fyrd was one of the three fundamental obligations of Anglo-Saxon landholders *, known as the trinoda necessitas. The basic organizational unit tied military duty to land ownership: one fully equipped soldier was expected for every five hides of land. Because they served for short periods, service often rotated so that local agricultural production didn’t completely halt. The levy was required during the military campaigning season. Training was situational and uneven, but it doesn’t require extensive training to stand in a shield wall. Warriors of the fyrd fought on foot in tight, disciplined shield walls, primarily armed with spears, swords, or axes, depending on their personal wealth. Combined arms situations were present at different times – archers and cavalry. Early cavalry rode ponies that were more for transportation than for fighting. More often than not, they were beasts of burden because they were too small to be used as what evolved to be war horses. Pre-Yew bow archers could use their bows unless it was raining, and their bowstrings stretched and turned their bows into staves. So, like horses, maybe they could be brought into play.
If you were rich enough, you could afford a man-at-arms or a huscarl, who was heavily armored and practiced with arms and armor. They were usually deployed around a high-value person and the standard, not in the general shield wall. They were infantry. When we review the Bayeux Tapestry ** (Hastings – 1066), we see that William brought combined arms across the Channel to Pevensy and used them against Harold Godwinson. His men were armed with helmets and chainmail and differed from the Anglo-Saxon Fyrd in both arms, armor, and tactics. William used his cavalry and archery with significant effect against Harold’s shield wall (killing Harold with an arrow).
The iconic English longbowman did not emerge as a dominant, organized military class until the 13th and 14th centuries. This occurred long after the traditional Anglo-Saxon fyrd system had been replaced by Norman feudalism.
* Norman feudalism was a highly centralized, strictly hierarchical system where the king legally owned all land. In contrast, the Anglo-Saxon system was a decentralized framework based on regional, customary Germanic/Nordic ties. The two systems were very much apples and oranges.
** The Bayeux Tapestry is a 70-meter (230-foot) embroidered linen cloth detailing the 1066 Norman Conquest of England. It functions as a medieval graphic novel, depicting the events leading up to the Battle of Hastings, culminating in the defeat of King Harold by William, Duke of Normandy. Much of what we know of the arms, armor, and tactics comes from the Tapestry.
Bringing God into it Directly
William brought a blessed Papal banner (gonfanon) to Hastings, legitimizing his invasion and transforming his military action into a holy war. By securing the endorsement of Pope Alexander II, William turned what could have been seen as a lawless, bloody land grab into a spiritually sanctioned crusade.ย William used the papal endorsement to recruit heavily from outside Normandy, drawing knights from Brittany, Flanders, and France. Carrying a banner blessed by Godโs representative on earth provided immense psychological motivation: (1) Soldiers believed that fighting under the papal standard meant they were acting as God’s agents. They believed that if they died in battle, their souls would go straight to heaven.ย It framed the Anglo-Saxon king, Harold Godwinson, not just as a political rival, but as an excommunicated, sacrilegious oath-breaker who had sinned against God. Thus, all who fought for Harold were condemned to eternal damnation in Hell.
Williamโs ambassadors successfully persuaded the Vatican that Harold had broken a sacred oath sworn on holy relics in 1064 to support William’s claim to the throne. The papal banner served as a visual “legal document” proving that Rome had judged Harold guilty of perjury and usurpation.ย The backing reflected a political quid pro quo between William and the Vatican. The papacy had been frustrated by the insular Anglo-Saxon Church, which tolerated clerical marriage and had appointed an archbishop (Stigand) recognized by an antipope.
After his victory at Hastings, the papal endorsement made it far easier for William to secure the submission of the remaining English clergy. He fulfilled his promise to Rome by purging Anglo-Saxon bishops, replacing them with loyal Normans (such as Lanfranc as Archbishop of Canterbury), and fundamentally reshaping English culture and politics
Identify the Aircraft
1
2 & 3
Did you get the livery correct too?
End
Identify the Aircraft:
1. Dornier Do 22
2. SIAI-Marchetti SF.260, Sri Lanka?
3. FMA IA 58 Pucarรก, Sri Lanka?
Well done, Surly. Yes, Sri Lanka.
#3 Appears to have a solo pilot. Some reason flying from the right seat?
the upgrade seems to be successful.
I’m still waiting for Skynet to become sentient and lead to an invasion of Terminator machines.
IDA-
1. Dornier Do 22K
2. Sri Lanka Air Force FMA IA 58 Pucarรก
3. Sri Lanka Air Force SIAI-Marchetti SF.260TP
Thought I’d share this…
https://x.com/AfterburnPod/status/2078203508830953646?s=20
I can imagine that the pilots/aviators are having the time of their lives. They live to put ordnance on target. I know that most of them would like to get more air-to-air kills but the Iranian air force is all in Pakistan on the ground.
SAVE ACT; h/t L.L. for the “news” you distill. This is why I come here 1st.
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Thanking God for Luna and will be praying for Thune and Senators. (1T2.1,2) Will there be any blue’s joining Fetterman and “grow a pair”?
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Caption art; I’ll refrain from the 1,000 word limit and contribute my 5 coppers. Manliness earns the company of Attractiveness. Even if it comes with blue Agave and smoke. Shadows are present. Perfect fingers and figures! A new Sheriff, or seasoned and re-elected?
I’m happy you’re getting something out of it. I try to keep it interesting.
Caption art reminded me of a retired couple I met in North Carolina. He had been a sheriff and she had started working as a prostitute. He managed to steer her out of that mess and into a job where she could hold her head up. As time went by feelings grew and they got married, and were still married after decades together.
I knew of a similar situation. She was an exotic dancerโฆ
That’s the way I imagined this.
The guy with the British accent narrating the astronomy videos always tries to convey the sense of wonder that comes with some of things he talks about, but there are things he never says.
~~
In this video about the void that our “local group” is in, the says, the void is about the biggest our models of the physics will allow. What he never mentions is that cases like this are exactly what should be studied because if they’re bigger than your models allow, it means the models are wrong. Find out why the models are wrong and correct them. Everybody realizes if your model doesn’t explain anything, it’s uselessly wrong. When your model explains everything except one detail, it’s still wrong.
Some of what we know seems to be right (a lot of duplicated science), but there is a great deal that we do not know, and we’re speculating about – spaghetti against a wall at best.
After giving us epicycles, astronomy now has to come up with NEW, IMPROVED explanations as to why their void theory isn’t null and void.
Battle of Hastingsโฆ pre battle donโt forget Halleyโs Comet was in April that year during Haroldโs coronation, very visible, and is on the tapestry. So instead of a good omen it was a bad omen for Harold.
*
Sri Lanka Air Force is surprisingly large at 25,000 to 30,000 in size. They fought a very long bloody civil war so they have a long history of close ground support. Of note they have a very good, modern, well organized, public Air Force aircraft, weapon, and uniform museum if you find yourself in Ratmalana.
*
Nice art work today.
Yes, I’d forgotten about the Comet. It came close to Earth that year, getting everyone’s attention.
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The Sky Panther…
Unlike the “Forever stamp”, I’d expect a one dollar coin to cost/be worth $1
I should mention that if the $1 gold coin with President Trump’s face can be purchased for/is worth a dollar, I might have to use a tighter weave for the pocket material in my pants.
It might become known as the “Gold Dust” coin
When I first heard about the dollar coin, I was curious how much it would cost to simply produce it – They’re not talking much about any of that.
SAVE Act: Is it just me or is this beyond ridiculous that a VERY SIMPLE Bill has been for six months hung up in the Senate despite 85% of WTP have been demanding our so-called representatives get it passed? All we hear are excuses only congress could conjure up while telling us โitโs hard to make it soโ when in fact this is dirt simple. Now we get this bigger more โletโs just tuck it in hereโ complicated mess – which is the typical response when operating inside the congressional dithering cul-de-sac that generates rpmโs with can-kicking while telling us โweโre working hard to get it passed but we just donโt have the votesโ.
What the hay is going on in DC? Looks like a game o Twister to me.
Ohโฆbut waitโฆthereโs more to cheer about: while these repโs canโt get a simple voter ID Bill passed they switch gears and are โworking hardโ on some โthingโ with DST that makes less than no sense because those representing WTP say this DST โreformโ (the ubiquitous add-on that makes it sound all warm and fuzzy) also allows states to opt out, making the moronic DST more of a mess than it already isโฆwhich, again, is typical when government gets involved. A child could do better than these clowns in nice suits.
PDJT needs to sign a Voter ID EO end-around, even if itโs temporary. And while heโs at it eliminate DST, donโt need Congress fiddling with our clocks any moreโฆand letโs add DEF in the mixโฆanother stupid K-Street deal that does nothing but generate empty box trash at the pump that WTP get to pay for just to drive a diesel pickup.
Freedom? None of this is freedomโฆbut so it goes when HOA Wannabe ninnyโs get involved in our lives. King George would be proud.
Voting shouldn’t be that difficult to work out. One citizen, one vote. They’ve been living on the steal for a long time.
That’s the 40grit rub, it’s not. But that’s Congress’s best play, massively over complicate the simplest of tasks. Wanna buy a $20 hammer for $1000, they’re your supplier.
The President can’t really do an EO over voter ID. Oh, he can, but it will be shot down lickety split by the Supreme Court, or should be.
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Why? Because it is Congress’ job to create laws to control voting. It’s the President’s job to enforce the laws. Kind of like the Supremes killing Trump’s EO on birthright citizenship. Which was a correct, but sad, ruling. The president can make emergency short-term changes via EOs, but they will and should be shot down if they go against current federal law. Again, that’s Congress’ one stinking job, to make laws that protect the vote, protect the American people and protect America.
“Two Systems”
Jerry Pournelle began to interest me in the clash of differing military armamentaria (as well as logistics and tactics) in his first book of the “Tran” series, “Janissaries”
not terribly/somewhat detailed (huh!)
different type of SciFi
Mike_C is the dedicated Pournelle fan.
At Hastings, it was the failure of the ‘common’ Fyrd to hold in position that truly spelled eventual doom for the Anglo-Saxons.
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The Normans had developed a feint, composed of a cavalry charge, with hard fighting, followed by a fake retreat to pull the defenders out of position by sucking them into chasing after ‘routing’ Normans. The trap, of course, was sprung when the mounted Normans wheeled around, formed up in a cavalry charge against the now streaming and uncoordinated movement of enemies coming at them.
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The Normans used this tactic against the Fyrd, not the more professional elite Fyrd and Huscarls at the center, but the Fyrd on the flanks. Sucking huge numbers of foot, that were very effective in close order when supporting each other but at a tactical disadvantage when not supported, into charging after ‘retreating and routed’ Norman cavalry. Trap sprung, the cavalry reformed and charged back up the hill at the Fyrd, supported by archers and followed by footmen. Which took away any numerical advantage the Anglo-Saxons had and reduced the tactical advantage of the Anglo-Saxon shieldwall lining Hastings Hill.
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I must say that the bowmen that were in the Norman army weren’t the later professional bowmen of the middle medieval period. Most of them were sailors or farmers or other light, unarmored troops who were using low-powered self-bows (a self-bow is a bow with no recurve or composite functions, just a shaped wooden bow. They can be like the Welsh/English longbow, up to 150lb pull, but the ones used by the Norman army were probably between 25 and 50lb pulls, basically stick versions of a standard bow used at Boy Scout camps. Not powerful enough to punch through armor at any great distance, they were effective against unarmored members of the Fyrd and to people who, like supposedly Harold, had unarmored portions of their mostly armored body hit. Like in the eye. Supposedly. “Hey, what’s that? Ow!!!”
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Also shown on the Bayeaux Embroidery (not a tapestry, and, yes, I am a pedantic butt-hole) are the portable wooden castles that William travelled with. Move to a new encampment area, throw up a wooden palisade and moat, assemble the keep on top of the mound of dirt at the center, et voila, William now had a protected supply base, encampment and the ability to see farther for future planning. Must have freaked the English out to see, on a hill miles away, a sudden square wooden keep spring up overnight.
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As to Harold, he (supposedly) swore an oath to support William’s claim to the English Throne (through William’s ancestors that got kicked out of England in the early 1000’s,) in front of bishops and archbishops over a font full of holy relics (saints’ bones and such.) That’s the reason for the papal support of William’s claim on England’s Crown.
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If you look up the Papal Gonfanon, it has a cross with 4 rondels between the arms, almost like the Jerusalem’s Cross of the Crusader Kingdom. https://saxonhistory.co.uk/hastings-warfare/norman-gonfanon-banners
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Rumored stories that Normans controlled popes by using 3 feet of steel pointed at said popes were and are just rumors. Normans were and are all good children of the Faith and would never purposefully do something so gauche as to threaten a prelate with physical harm if said prelate did not rule in favor of all those nice young men with slabs of pointy steel. No… Never happened.. (cough, cough…)
William’s modular castle isn’t that far off from the Roman system of building encampments every day on the march. Same concept, slightly different execution – but I suspect that it was conceived from Roman engineering.
Belike. And Norman priests visited Rome and Italy and brought Romanesque ideas back to Normandy. Considering the Vatican libraries, it would not be past said priests, often ex-soldiers, to have brought said mobile fortification concepts home.
President Trump on the $1 US gold coin…
A current US $5 gold coin has 3.11g of gold, divide that by 5 and you get .622 grams of gold in a dollar coin. I thought the $5 Golden Eagle small!
I’m sure it’s an electroplated coin. And it’s commemorative.
I would expect it to be made of the same Copper-Nickle alloy the Anthony dollar coins were made from.
That would be the easy way to do it. Reports suggest that the Treasury plans to sell them for on the order of $107 each, so maybe not. I don’t think they’ll go into general circulation but the whole plan is unclear.
Intellect – Petersen missed the three biggest drivers of success: ambition, ego, and stubbornness.
As for a right to predominance; nope. To quote the common slogan in a slightly different application:
“Nobody cares. Work harder.”.
– Kle.
I’m ready to explain the void. Or at least plasma cosmology and the Electric Universe theory are.
The Electric Universe (EU) framework doesnโt treat the Boรถtes Void as a โreal absence of stuffโ created by gravitational expansion in an otherwise smooth universe. Instead, it generally explains large empty regions as consequences of how electrical/plasma currents structure matter into filaments and sheets, leaving lower-density gaps between them.
Hereโs the EU-style picture, mapped to the Boรถtes Void:
Most matter isnโt smoothly distributed (in EU reasoning) but instead tends to collect along electrically active structuresโoften described as filaments, current sheets, and boundaries.
If intergalactic space is viewed as tenuous plasma rather than empty vacuum, then a โvoidโ becomes a region of reduced plasma density and reduced current activity, not necessarily a place with absolutely no material.
The walls/boundaries of the void are where EU would expect stronger interactions: more chance for charged particles, dust, and ionized gas to be swept/organized by current-driven forces.
In EU thinking, cosmological redshift and distance inferences are not assumed to come purely from universal expansion. So the voidโs โlarge sizeโ (as inferred from standard distances) may be interpreted differently: EU tends to emphasize that apparent large-scale structure could be influenced by plasma processes and electrical history rather than only by gravity acting over time.
In short: EU explains the Boรถtes Void as a low-current, low-density gap in a current-filament (plasma-structure) cosmology, with more structure clustered along the voidโs edgesโrather than as an empty region carved out by standard gravitational evolution in a matter-dominated universe.
How does the Electric Universe deal with multiple dimensions of space-time and/or the multiverse – the same and not the same? Perhaps I should read up more on what Thornhill and Talbott have written. I’m not ready to discount gravity for a number of mainstream reasons (& Einstein) but it could be a combination of actors. We’re still not sure what gravity is. Sure, Einsteinโs General Relativity: gravity is not a traditional force but rather the geometric curvature of spacetime caused by all mass and energy. Is there such a thing as a graviton?
EU theory discounts interpretations of physical reality originating purely from mathematics. Multiple dimensions, curved space-tme, black holes, fusion fired stars..
I have a BSEE, so I’m inclined towards something the IEEE endorses which is Plasma Cosmology. So many times the standard model has led to “surprises” rather than confirmed predictions shows how flawed its basic foundation is. OTOH, EU and PC have provided predictions that have proven out. Long before I encountered EU, I questioned the solar furnace joke that magically made the coolest temps closest to the core wnd the hotest furthest! EU/PC explained why. Comet and asteroid behaviors, Birkeland currents between the sun and planets, star and galaxy formations like “pearls on a thread” along consistent width interstellar Birkeland currents. I could go on, but encourage you to start your own inquiry over on https://www.thunderbolts.info/wp/
Also, there are some theorists working on an electrical nature of gravity. Wal Thornhill proposed a dipole distortion alignment as being at the bottom. He started on his EU journey with an essay entitled “Gravity vs. Plasma”. Search Thunderbolts for gravity. I suggest this article:
https://www.thunderbolts.info/wp/
https://www.thunderbolts.info/wp/2025/03/30/the-vortex-atom-a-forgotten-theory/
The Bayeaux Tapestry/Embroidery is truly an amazing thing. Surviving since the 1070s, with colors that still are strong, it’s survived wars, being set on fire and being used as an ambulance cover during the French Revolution (the revolutionaries really were revolting, being the 18th century version of the modern red brigades and college socialists of today.)
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It’s in England now, for a year or so, then back to France. Hopefully it will spark an internal Crusade in England to kick the paynim out, and when returned to France does the same there. If it works, maybe it can tour fallen Spain afterwards and help kick the paynim out of Andalusia and the rest of the Spanish lands.
You’re an optimist, Beans.
Maybe, maybe not. I watch the historical timeline. There’s always a big push by muslims to take over non-muslim countries by first infiltration then outright invasion. There’s always a period where civil strife and disorder between Christians and muslims happen. Then the reconquest follows, as Christians push back with force against the paynim. Happened in Spain, France, Italy, Greece, all over eastern Europe, Austria… Same cycle over and over and over again.
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The Paynim succeeded in Africa because there were no great powers in Africa to get grumpy and stand up against them.
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Yes, the politicians and the elite classes have sold away the rights of the populace in Spain and France, Germany, the Scandinavian countries and the countries of the English and Irish isles. But there has been some serious pushbacks, too. Even some of the governments have enacted anti-burkha/niquab/headscarf laws. And started to push against the ‘refugees.’
๐