Picture: LGM-35A Sentinel
Caption: CBO published a story to scare Congress and the public into jettisoning our nuclear modernization efforts due to estimates that the $1 trillion ten-year cost of such an effort is not affordable. Daryl Kimball, the head of the Arms Control Association, echoes these conclusions with a call to kill the Sentinel ICBM program and instead keep the legacy Minuteman III ICBM force to save money. Kimball references a 2014 Rand report that recommended that the MMIII missile system undergo a life extension program, followed by a new missile system, known as the GBSD (ground-based strategic deterrent) and now the Sentinel. The USAF requested and Congress approved in the late 1990s a nearly decade-long effort to redo the guidance and propulsion systems for MMIII. Both were replaced, and the system was given a life extension to keep the land-based deterrent in the force “through 2030” as required by law. And the USAF will keep MMIII on alert until replaced by the Sentinel, now estimated by 2050… Unless we shoot them all at communist China first.
The Sentinel is designed to extend the capabilities of the land-based nuclear force through 2075. The Communist Chinese have signaled an interest in a nuclear weapons exchange. Bluff? You be the judge.
I worked on this piece on the Sentinel (LGM 35-A) and because great minds think alike, Claudio sent me thoughts on the missile system and the need for updated silos (which will cost more) rather than being able to drop them into the MM III silos. There will be trade-offs. New SSBNs need to be constructed, and the B-21 Raiders must be completed. What sort of Triad do you want, and are you willing to pay for it?
Victor Davis Hanson discusses Trump’s sweeping agenda—from closing the border and challenging DEI initiatives to confronting foreign policy orthodoxy and trade imbalances—framing it as a populist backlash against elite institutions and progressive ideologies. He highlights the deepening divide between America’s coastal elites and the working class. He argues that Trump’s unorthodox style and aggressive reforms reshape the political landscape in ways not seen in modern American history.
Meme of the Day
h/t Claudio
Is a Purchase in the Cards?
Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, thank-you cards, get-well cards, birthday cards—a card for every occasion can be yours to send and share your love, joy, congratulations, or condolences.
There is no tariff on Jules’ greeting cards? What’s that all about?
Bullet Points:
** From Sec Def Pete Hegseth: “We’re back with more DOD reforms. This one is general and flag officer reductions. That’s the official title. My title is “Less Generals, More GIs.” It’s a historic one, and it’s in keeping with President Trump’s commitment to achieving peace through strength. We’re going to shift resources from bloated headquarters elements to our warfighters.
Let’s take a bit of a trip down memory lane. In history, when we were fighting across the globe during World War II, we had a force that was 12 million strong. For that 12-million-man element, we had 17 four- and five-star generals. Today, we have a 2.1 million service member force with 44 four-star and flag officers. So it used to be a ratio of one general to 6,000 troops. Today, it’s one general to 1,400.
More generals and admirals do not equal more success. This is not a slash-and-burn exercise meant to punish high-ranking officers; nothing could be further from the truth. Working with the Joint Chiefs of Staff has been a deliberative process with one goal: maximizing strategic readiness and operational effectiveness by making prudent reductions in the general and flag officer ranks.
** Robert Prevost, Pope Leo XIV, is now the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Prevost spent the early part of his career there working for the Augustinians. Will he work to Make the Vatican Great Again? One can only hope. I suspect that he’ll be of the same political stripe as his predecessor, who appointed him to be a Cardinal.
** Dan McLaughlin (National Review) regarding President Trump’s Tariff EO that aims to save “Dying Hollywood”: “Trump has one of the central problems precisely backwards. Hollywood may be full of homegrown bad political ideas. Still, for the most part (exceptions such as the live-action Mulan aside), we don’t get foreign propaganda in our movies because we import films shot in China or other foreign tyrannies. What the Chinese Communist Party has done to squelch dissent in the United States is, instead, to exploit our American film industry’s dependence upon exporting films to the Chinese market. Like the NBA, the more money that studios make exporting their product to audiences in China, the less they can offend the CCP.This has been an open secret for some time.”
** Rwandan officials have confirmed that the African nation is in the “early stages” of talks with the Trump administration to accept deportees.
** Do you recall when illegal aliens were shipped to Martha’s Vineyard, the democrats called out the National Guard, and they were removed without any due process? I do.
** Activist judges are not just mucking up the gears of government; they are eroding respect for the judiciary. They hope Trump defies their illegal orders and triggers a contempt citation. This will trigger appeals, and won’t happen. What these woke judges are trying to do is slow Trump, knowing that by the time all of their insanity makes its way to SCOTUS to be overturned, Trump will be out of time.
I wish we taught history in modern academia. I doubt these people know why the Roman Republic fell. Lack of respect for its institutions, caused by the abuse of power by politicians and their twisting of the law to achieve political aims, was a root cause. Quick and timely lesson: Ultimately, the unrelenting (and often unjust) attacks on him by his enemies in the Senate caused a frustrated Julius Caesar to cross the Rubicon. Mindful that he had been treated unfairly and only wanted what was due him, most Roman people sided with Caesar against the Senate.
When Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon River in January 49 BC, he was accompanied by Legio XIII (the 13th Legion). This action directly defied the Roman Senate and initiated the Roman civil war, ending the Republic. You may argue that Octavian’s (Caesar Augustus) Pax Romana was good. Still, it was a dictatorship and portended the eventual end of the Roman Empire (which morphed into the Byzantine Empire and the Holy Roman Empire, but let’s not wade too deep into the mud on that one).
** Who doesn’t love the Rapid Dragon?
** Nuclear Generators – As of early 2025, 411 nuclear reactors operated worldwide with a combined 371-gigawatt capacity. Amazon, investing over $1 billion in nuclear projects, is exploring small modular reactors, while Meta and Google are also considering the emerging technology.
** During Alberta Premier Smith’s live address, she made sure to mention the Trudeau govt’s history of “harassing law-abiding firearms owners,” one of many destructive policies that ignored provincial jurisdiction and negatively impacted Western Canadians.
** “The UK was largely closed, very much closed to trade, and now it’s opened,” the president proclaimed after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer joined the announcement from across the Atlantic via speakerphone. The final details of the deal are still being written up, the president said, before claiming the 10% baseline tariff on British goods was “probably the lowest” rate possible for future bilateral deals. However, that rate is roughly triple the average US levy prior to the 47th president taking office. The agreement will exempt 100,000 UK-made cars from Trump’s new 25% global auto tariff, subjecting them to the 10% rate. The UK, meanwhile, is dropping its ethanol fuel tariff from 19% to zero, allowing market access to the corn-based fuel worth up to $700 million. Meanwhile, the US eliminates tariffs on British-made airplane parts, including Rolls-Royce engines.
Map – US Counties with a life expectancy lower than North Korea
Identify the Aircraft
1
Per Surly – no hints are wanted – but it’s a difficult ID.
A lock on the elevators that was not removed before the flight caused a famous (at the time) crash.
2
3
Parting Shot
End
During the recent federal election campaign here (voting was last Saturday) the Liberal National Party ( in opposition) wanted to build nuclear plants as part of their policies. Power costs are going up quickly in Australia.
The Labour Party and the Greens ran a massive scare campaign against. The Labour Party managed a 2.7% swing in their favour when it had been expected initially they would lose. Not sure if the nuclear thing made that much difference but the lack of knowledge from people who I spoke to at different places was amazing. I have over 30 years experience doing design and installation of commercial electronics and I think some people believe we use magic for our products not electricity in one form or another.
Nuclear is clean, safe and on-demand, rather than a hope that the sun shines or the wind blows. The same people who vote serve on juries (in the USA anyway) and all that means is that they can fog a mirror.
Identify the Aircraft:
1. de Havilland Flamingo
2. Potez 63.11
3. Republic F-105F Thunderchief
Update to 1: de Havilland Hertfordshire, the sole military variant of the Flamingo.
You caught it!!! Excellent.
Incredible…obscure variants have nothing on sentient AI.
Obscure variants can fly, but they can’t hide from Surly.
will the Sentinels, from drawing board to silos and maning and all, now be placed in the hands of the Space Force?
will they ever be placed in silos or will this become just another nuclear treaty discussion point?
Yes, the Space Force should get them. They take the place of the MM 3, in different silos.
Pope Leon the 14th is a huge hit in Peru. He naturalized and became a Peruvian citizen while serving as a missionary there in 2015.
The Peruvian National soccer team has already named him honorary team captain and issued him a jersey.
He might have been born in Chicago but he’s a Chicalyo, Peru hometown hero.
Generals: Bloat is a large part of the problem because generals aren’t found on the front lines anymore but in cozy air conditioned offices. Another facet is found in joint service commands with our allied forces. Generals are made for positions so that they will have equal or higher rank than the allied generals. Even a quick look at NATO structure shows the insane desire to have more stars in the fancy assignments.
Rapid Dragon is an old, but fun idea that uses earlier testing and operational use of cargo planes to launch tactical and strategic weapons. The Herk was used for launching various Ryan recon drones and even the high tech Skunk Works D-21 drone. Cold War guys should remember when a Minute Man was launched via a system similar to Rapid Dragon and sent off to the Pacific demonstrating that even ICBMs could be delivered from cargo planes.
Appalachia always takes a hit and today’s map beats it some more.
It’s a poor man’s cruise missile delivery system…and begs the question of the urgent need for the B-21 Raider rather than a less expensive bomb truck.
Must need an old HiLux.
‘Just’
Oh yeah.
Every organization, when the funding is unchecked, will raise salaries by raising positions. It’s common in municipal organizations, and apparently, is common in the military. Titles never mean competency, and in too many situations, those in inferior positions suffer the most. They’re the first cut, lose benefits, or find quitting the only way to be relieved of the capricious demands of those that should have never been promoted. To make things worse, they have a tendency to destroy the host they suck the life from.
I’m not anti-stars but there are a LOT of them in various staff niches where they don’t serve a useful purpose other than having stars.
Then there’s Amanda Milius (father was a director, conservative…think Red Dawn). Tucker’s interview with her is what we out here suspected about Hollywood but to hear it from an insider is even more enlightening (only full length version I could locate):
https://therokuchannel.roku.com/details/f964ce589d5a5a4f97155587f07a67e4/tucker-carlson-today-s2-e6-hollywood-conservative
Fun fact: The Minuteman started development in 1957. The first ones were operational in 1962. 5 years.
For the Sentinal that period will be over 30 years. The folks that started the project will be long retired before the first one is ever tested.
I’ll be long dead before the first one is tested.
Yesterday, I heard Sumdood on NPR (another NGO, so to speak) opining that the new Pope would likely slow the woke spread, but good news, the spread would still continue.
.
Also on NPR was wailing and gnashing of teeth that Orange Man was taking away all their funding and a financial Apocalypse was imminent. Write your congress-critter and put a stop to this disaster, etc. Same bints who not long ago were saying government funding of NPR was miniscule and insignificant. Great fun.
The fact that the US government has cut off NPR doesn’t preclude you from making a large donation.
No thanks, I already gave at the orifice when I paid my income taxes.
How do I get me a Rapid Dragon? Imagine my morning disappointment to find that Facebook Marketplace or eBay isn’t coming up with any for sale.
***
New-Clear Energy- Read a “grid” excerpt over at Kim Du Toit’s earlier, excellent adder to your Bulletpoint…in part…this on the heels of Spain’s “feelings over substance” that put 50 million out of power due to solar/wind idiocy: (have no clue how to italicize)
–
“Now, you may be thinking that enormous, system-wide blackouts could never occur in the United States, the most prosperous nation in human history. That is not only naïve, but dangerous.
As the American Energy Alliance notes, “power outages have increased by 93 percent across the United States over the last 5 years — a time when solar and wind power have increased by 60 percent. Texas, who leads the nation in wind generation, and California, who leads the nation in solar generation, have had the largest number of power outages in the nation over those 5 years.”
Unbeknownst to many Americans, the federal government, in cahoots with state and local governments, has pushed electricity grid operators to build more solar and wind power facilities instead of dependable natural gas plants while prematurely shuttering perfectly operable coal power plants. As is almost always the case, government subsidies, loan guarantees, and tax breaks have created a skewed market in which utility companies are incentivized to build more solar and wind power plants instead of dependable and affordable coal, natural gas, and nuclear power plants.
Due to this short-sighted money grab, the long-term reliability of the U.S. grid is being put in peril.”
–
Guessing this is on Trump’s phased plan to right the heeled-over ship, gotta get thru Phase 1 of driving the goofballs among us nuts – lower court district judge [illegal] interference be damned.
***
Jules Cards – Besides being exceptional (her art is amazing…stating the obvious)…ever think she is smarter than the average bear and is using your stateside address to avoid tariffs? Juss sayin’ (‘chin scratch emoji’ not inserted)
speaking of “Jules Cards” as you were, I wonder if she might consider a series derived from my 2nd/3rd/4th/5th favorite British/English author: J.R.R.R. Tolkien
go over right bigly with my grandrugrats
Boron, write her and ask her. Nothing says you care like having an orc with some arrows through the head on your greeting card.
dun & dustid, with positive reply
TNX
No, not using my address.
Heh…
Guess standard mailed items are not subject to tariffs…it’s not like she’s making auto parts for GM or reverse engineering (aka stealing) proprietary American products like China. Just realized DHL deliveries from Denmark (Akvavit, Tuborg Classic, and assorted candies) may get a bit pricier…unless they sell us Greenland.
Your map of counties with a life expectancy below North Korea’s made me do a double take. That big red (nearly) square on the lower right is Palm Beach county – which I think of as one of the richest counties in the state, more so than Dade County (Miami) or Broward county, between Palm Beach and Dade. Not to mention the home to Mar El Lago and, contrary to Letitia James, isn’t that unique in the area. I know there are places on the western side of Palm Beach with sugar cane farms and other places where the standard of living isn’t as great as Palm Beach, and life is harder, but it’s still surprising.
I think that red chunk in Florida is down by Lake Okeechobee, think Indiantown, Pahokee and the other cane farming areas. Like you said, not the greatest standard of living area..
When we were exploring Florida we took a look around there and kept on looking.
“Life expectancy. The average number of years of life remaining to a person at a particular age and based on a given set of age-specific death rates”
I’m not quite certain if life expectancy is the same as life span which may account for the color of that section of eastern Florida
I didn’t make the graphic. The sections in AZ and NMEX are Indian reservations.
I assumed that many of them are.
“US Counties with a life expectancy lower than North Korea”- Reservations? In the west it looks like they are…
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Map-of-federal-and-state-recognized-American-Indian-reservations_fig1_333678247
I know the ones in South Dakota, North Dakota and Montana are all Indian Reservations. My wife was a Librarian and belonged to a group that tried, and I mean tried to bring literacy and reading to the Indian Nations and we visited all of them in that area quite frequently. You look around and see the desolate living conditions, which is the style they seem to prefer, the alcohol and meth/drug addiction you see why their life expectancy is so low.
COVID-19 ravaged the reservations in Arizona. I don’t know what the final death toll was, but it was significant, taking a lot of otherwise healthy people in their 20s and 30s.
But, interestingly, not Amish enclaves, like Lancaster or York PA (they have no TV).
I asked the most knowledgeable, and they said that the Navajo travel far and wide to visit relatives regularly. Yes, there is the problem of alcohol and drugs that is pervasive – a less-than-optimal diet based frequently on feasting, etc. Most telling was their continual travel to personally connect with family members who spread the virus, touching old people in cramped quarters, etc.
Also a lot of reliance on traditional “medicine”.
– Kle.
Nuclear triad – I think we need new missiles, silos, subs, and bombers.
We’re getting some of them. I also think we should go back up to 7500
warheads active, and I want MIRVs on the new missiles.
*
Rapid Dragon – a cool system, but unfortunately the Congress and Pentagon
imbeciles never seem to buy enough of what we actually need, so we probably
only have about a third of the airlift we ought to have as a basic requirement.
Airlift is not sexy, so it keeps getting cancelled. So, I am not sure when we’ll
have the opportunity to have all those “unneeded Log aircraft sitting idle”
substitute as bombers… You could almost say we’d be better off with a system
to turn bombers into cargo planes, but we don;t have enough bombers, either.
– Kle.
I’m not anti-penetration bombers carrying bunker penetrators—absent rods from God in orbit. Submarines seem to be the most survivable. Ultimately, advances in quantum computing and more efficient AI may turn the tide in ways not yet imagined. The other weapon is genetically targeted protein strands.
I had a word with President Trump, I said, “Donald, I’d like to send all my American friends beautiful cards that they can use to make everybody feel happy in your country, because happiness is what your country is all about, right?” Obviously, he agreed and so my paper goods are exempt from any duty. It’s who you know.
Despite all his fame, especially to us petrol heads, you are clearly surpassing Farmer Clarkson as The Greatest Living English-Person, certainly to LL’s audience. Come to think of it, now we are in the know that you have high level connections, maybe PDJT gives Ol’ Jeremy a call to encourage him to start carrying your art in the Diddly Squat Farm Shop…could get one of those spinning card stands, and the bare walls could be hung with your prints…win win. Clarkson Farm S4 airs May 24th!!! (No, I’m not drooling…maybe.)
Map – US Counties with a life expectancy lower than North Korea
No expert here; more birthdays are good. The more you have, the longer you will live.
And what about labs? It’s said that black labs matter.
My black lab is 13 and is showing some decline. Internet says life expectancy is 10-11 years. His vet provides some supplements to help him and his dog food isn’t WalMart cheap. His neighbors insure he doesn’t starve. Hopefully, he outlives me.
The red parts of MS along the river and the Capital area are also the counties that send Benny Thompson to the US senate. Odd !