Ephesians 6:12 (KJV): “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
Bullet Points:
** VDH reflects on the recent history of US support for French and European war aims. It’s a one-way relationship.
** The Iranian people deserve far better than the butchers ruling them. Strength paired with moral clarity defeats terror every time. No more excuses for a regime that sacrifices its citizens to cling to power.
** Bongino on the NYC exodus. Zoltan Madmommy really doesn’t get it, being a Marxist.
** Carrola talks about reasons that businesses are leaving California.
** When you starve with a tiger, the tiger starves last.
** A discussion of why the Bronze Age collapsed (video). There have been discussions of the Sea People invading and so forth. This is a slightly different take on the subject.
** California for Illegals – If some California Democrats have their way, California taxpayers will now be paying for lawyers for illegal aliens to fight deportation. “Illegal immigrants in California could soon have their lawyers paid for by taxpayers if a new bill proposed by Sacramento politicians goes through. Starting next year, California would begin to fund legal representation for all unauthorized adults to fight their deportations under new legislation set to clear its first hurdle on Tuesday.”
Question of the Day: What’s the weirdest food you’ve ever eaten?
Byways Past
Here are two photos: “Deer Lodge, 22 Miles West of Seligman, Arizona” on Route 66 (I-40), and the interior with the owners. It was a log structure made from local ponderosa pine. These sorts of mom-and-pop shops used to be spread across the country, but now they’re all but gone, replaced by mega gas stations all selling the same things. When I was a kid, we’d stop at these places and talk to mom or pop about this and that. Now, there is a harried cashier, and you place your card on the no-contact icon and buy your bag of plastic food. No need for chit-chat, because everyone is in a hurry.
In Case You’ve Forgotten
From Jules Smith and Larry Lambert (link) — Legends endure for a reason. Sometimes they survive to impel our cultural hubris. Occasionally, they endure because they instill a sense of focus on what was and perhaps a vision of what will be. They are always a reminder. When they come back to haunt us, things start to get interesting.
A couple in Iceland, very much in love, visit a historic site, and suddenly he throws himself into a volcano, burning to a crisp in front of her eyes; thereafter, it is always raining.
The dwindling North Sea Oil supply is suddenly rejuvenated with a new discovery, a huge oil field of light, sweet crude worth billions. Exploration, drilling, and pumping begin to breathe life into a faltering industry, and just as things seem to be going well, the oil is polluted with radioactive thorium.
US Army Special Forces operators in Iceland on an exercise are drawn into a crisis, and as NASA withdraws, they boldly face the challenge. All but one are rendered insane, and the memory of Red Mist turns into a quest for answers that the CIA already has.
In Texas, a political fixer is called in to handle a situation and finds himself completely out of his depth.
In England, a psychologist’s life is upended when a skald delivers a disturbing prophecy.
In China, aggressive experiments into neutrino research create a completely unforeseen disaster and portend a global cataclysm of Biblical proportions.
Just when you’re sure that you have all the answers and are confident that the science is settled, it isn’t.
Aggressive Russian Satellites vs the Euro-Sats
Both the Russians and the Chinese have aggressive satellite programs. Today, let’s take a look at the Russians. Ever since the initial invasion of Ukraine in 2014, two Russian satellites have been secretly stalking European spacecraft. They have been maneuvering close enough to raise concerns beyond mere observation. In 2018, the French defense minister accused Russia of espionage after one of these vehicles was spotted near a Franco-Italian military communications satellite. Two Intelsat satellites were similarly targeted before that.
These so-called proximity and rendezvous operations (RPOs), in which a spacecraft deliberately maneuvers to dock or operate near another object in space, are becoming commonplace in geostationary orbit (GEO), where satellites effectively stay fixed over the same spot on Earth.
RPOs are not inherently malicious. These operations can sometimes be used to refuel a satellite and extend its lifespan, or to remove defunct satellites and debris, keeping orbits clear for future missions.
Because the technology to improve satellite maneuverability is dual-use—it has both civilian and military applications—the challenge is then to define intent and, if required, respond accordingly.
Launched in 2014 and 2023, the two highly secretive Russian “inspector” satellites, Luch/Olymp 1 and 2, are part of Russia’s efforts to identify any technical vulnerabilities embedded in Nato countries’ satellites.
If this had been their sole purpose, European officials would have had few grounds for serious concern or complaint. Approaching a satellite to characterize its profile is neither a new mission nor exclusive to Russia.
The US Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP) inspection satellites have come as close as ten kilometers to other satellites in the past. Even commercial companies have begun to provide inspection services.
An Australian company called HEO recently flew by a classified Chinese satellite to uncover its technical features. In theory, information like this could be used in the future to disrupt satellite operations.
However, the Russian satellites have often shadowed the same spacecraft for months, occasionally approaching within five kilometers of their targets. This does not fit the mission profile of satellite inspection, which would involve merely passing by a target, taking pictures, and quickly moving on to another trajectory.
GSSAP satellites, for example, typically work in pairs, adopting a pincer-like approach: one satellite orbits above GEO, inspecting the back of a target satellite, while the other moves just below, surveying its front.
Luch satellites, by contrast, are essentially signals intelligence (Sigint) systems. By positioning them between a target satellite and its ground station, Russia can intercept the signal and eavesdrop on communications from European satellites such as those operated by Eutelsat, a French company, and Intelsat, a Luxembourgish-American company. Among other customers, these European satellites provide bandwidth to European militaries for secure communications.
Examined in isolation, these Luch vehicles should be viewed as surveillance satellites rather than counterspace weapons, which are satellites that can actually disrupt or disable another spacecraft. The Russian satellites are simply collecting information. On this basis alone, they do not pose a significant security threat.
However, space as a domain remains entangled with broader geopolitical dynamics on Earth. Any Russian space operation should be seen as part of a larger campaign to accrue strategic benefits, whether to gain a military advantage over Ukraine or to coerce European countries into withdrawing their support for Ukraine.
From this perspective, the Luch RPOs could be interpreted not only as part of a Sigint effort, but also as a warning to European countries that their satellites are vulnerable to disruption.
As Major General Michael Traut, commander of Germany’s Space Command, has noted, the Luch satellites have also likely intercepted the command links of their targets. The command links are supposedly secure transmissions from ground stations to satellites that convey operational instructions.
If this is true, Russia could replicate the uplink signals used by ground stations to control satellites, potentially disrupting European space operations in the future. If this sounds familiar, it is because the scenario would closely mirror Russia’s hybrid campaign against European undersea cables. This has included years of covert mapping of Western infrastructure and, more recently, a sustained effort to sever fiber-optic cables.
The RPOs conducted over the last few years by the two Luch satellites could suggest more escalatory moves in the future should Russia continue to fail to deter Europe from maintaining its support for Ukraine. Without a comprehensive toolbox that includes self-defense options, Europe may be exposed to more escalatory in-space activities for which it is not adequately prepared.
Identify the Aircraft
1
4 built
2
22 built
3
89 built
4
34 built
End
(1) Tupolev-110.
(2) Ilyushin-114.
(3) Tupolev-204.
(4) Ilyushin-96.
– Kle.
A different sort of no-fly list.
– Kle.
Yes, none of them have been commercial successes. Russia offered deals to flagship airlines from the Stans and elsewhere (Cuba and Norkland for example) but nobody outside of the slave states is clammoring to fly in a Russian airliner.
Way back when P. J. O’Rourke had a column in Car and Driver, he mentioned flying on one of these aircraft while he was in Eastern Europe. One thing caught his eye and gave him pause; The cast aluminum bracket holding the seat in front of him to the floor had atrocious workmanship. Casting flaws, flash all over the seams, file marks all over it, and just “looked junky”. He said it made him wonder what the bearings in the engines looked like.
Kle Got Them All
Yes, he ran the table. Well done, Kle.
Amazing knowledge all these guys who can look at various pictures and come up with the name and model, half of which I couldn’t spell if given 5 out of 7 letters.
They’re machines
Identify the Aircraft:
1. Tupolev Tu-110 Cooker
2. Ilyushin Il-114
3. Tupolev Tu-204
4. Ilyushin Il-96
Excellent
Traveling along the old US routes that parallel the interstate highways shows the old stores, and filling stations, with most derelict structures. In Texas, entire communities were bypassed, and what’s left usually show signs of economic stress. There’s a lot of history along those highways, and every year more disappears.
Yes, Texas had a lot of railroad towns in addition to the highway towns that have been bypassed and are dying. In some cases, they sent their sons to war and few if any returned – which killed the town eventually. There are markers to the fallen among the rubble of what remains.
In the local woods, if you know where to look, abandoned railroad trestles can be found crossing streams. The initial timber production had no other way to transport the enormous logs to the numerous mills, which too are now gone, and mostly forgotten. In one small town, there’s no sign of where the railroad was, and after talking to an old timer, the entire town, which even had a movie theater, has now completely been overtaken by the woods. I worked within a few hundred feet of where it was. Now there is only a highway intersection, and woods.
LL
You Really made a most valid point.
I ride a bike all over, mostly Texas.
out of the way routes, destinations, eateries, filling station.
Often almost depressing, yet, the individuals,
each some of G-d’s greatest. Warm, kind, generous, not bitter.
For the last 50 years or so, I speak mostly of abandoned rail lines/depots.
nd of course,
it extends nationwide-
Pa, Oh, new england nd westward.
I hear talk of some kinda wizzard ozz golden age,
sadly,
I think it’s long since past us by.
nd we didn’t even notice…
Juan
It passed with a whimper – nobody gave them a voice.
Mom and Pop stores; Father and Mother in Law used to stop at one 1/2 way to hunting camp. We stopped in there with 1/2 our tribe back in the 90’s. Renown for their Huckleberry pies, the building and the business has been long gone for over 2 decades. Location was south of Pendleton OR on hwy 395 near Battle Mountain wayside which old timers stopped to fill up with spring water.
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BTW, it’s been perpetually been ” temporarily” closed by USFS and Oregon state parks dept. in recent years.
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This is in the one county that showed white on the greater Idaho map posted here on V.M. the other day. Umatilla County has a rez with it’s landmark casino. USFS operations are known for neglecting pothole repairs and multiple road closures, with on going debates to close more. The UAV testing zone is 100 sq miles. There’s a mini Vegas vibe with the Roundup and several other festivals and the chamber of commerce is always looking to schedule more. It’s turned purple and thus part of our motive for an exodus in 2022.
Weirdest food(s): I was in southwest Japan for a couple of years. Lots of weird foods like natto, but the weirdest was sea cucumber in some broth. It was like trying to eat/drink snot. Our host for that dinner evidently considered it a very great delicacy, but I almost tossed my cookies. I love every kind of sushi and sashimi, even abalone which has a good flavor, but the consistency can be more like a credit card. To my knowledge, I never ate horse meat while I was in Oita prefecture, where they find it very attractive. In the 70s in Japan markets, there were many times I saw whale meat in a can. I tried it one time, it was like a very smooth beef.
Drinkiing snot…like Lutefisk..which is depression era gross fare. Moons ago MrsPaulM was in Korea for USO and didn’t think the sea cucumber in broth was weird because her mom made Danish cucumber ‘salad’ so was used to that sort of thing…but thought bulgogi and kimchi were weird. Kimchi can be had nearly every grocery…so what’s weird? Added that she had alligator in a DC exotic meats restaurant in the ‘80’s, and that was weird. Then a few years back when driving the back way from Key West thru the top end of the Everglades every few miles was a ‘gator bites’ place…she declined…ended up at Joanies Blue Crab Cafe in Ochopee, great off the beaten path spot..with gators off the main outside deck.
I ate a lot of abalone as a kid. Many years ago, you could get pinks, greens, and even whites off the coast of SoCal, and my dad was a professional diver. He sold them -and the lobsters, bringing home short lobsters (poached due to size) for the family. The abalone are all gone now. Damned shame. You can still get them deep off St. Nicholas and some of the sea mounts like Farnsworth (far side of Catalina) at 95+ feet – or you could when I last was there. You have to pound the meat to tenderize it but it’s very good.
My cousin’ s next-door neighbor in Hewlett (LI) would feed ground horse meat to her mated pair of English Mastiffs, both ~150#. Sometimes she’d make a (medium rare) horseburger for herself – and us, if we happened to be hanging around; it was tasty with yellow mustard, not even as gamey as venison.
I have tasted horse milk and it’s sweet like human mother’s milk.
The two store pictures… it’s “fresh” eggs in the first and a cat with its eyes closed napping on a chair in the second. Plus the assorted alcohol on the shelf. The wife might even be able to rustle up a sandwich if yiu asked after the appropriate amount of small talk.
*
Question of the day… most unusual food I ever ate … Fried tarantulas with a bowl of rice. I didn’t die.
Do you eat the legs separately like crab legs? Fried as in fried in batter? How would they be in a sweet-and-sour sauce?
Weirdest food?
Fresh fried live bats ( long before woo floo)
outside Chongqing.
Fried tree roaches on a kebab stick same city.
Live squid tentacles on a kebab stick- still CQ.
Purple sweet potato ice cream- Chengdu.
enuff already.
Juan
you have exotic tastes, Juan
he he
I grew up in deep South in the 50/60s in Appalachia.
There were many similarities in foods.
Squirrel/fish brain. If you had leftover earthworms from fishing, but didn’t wanna take em home, eat em raw or pull out dad’s zippo nd live roast em.
nd polk salad nd dandelions nd such. In boy scouts while camping we were shown how to peel the bark of a certain treend eat the spongy matter beneath it.
Heck, I remember at uni, goldfish eating contests, how many jammed into a vw,etc.
I must admit, I never had seconds on any of those.
nd who knows what I ate without knowing ( Shenyang beef that was perhaps a smaller 4 legged animal).
Lots mao tai ( or clone). nd the infinitely recycled “sewer oil” for cooking?
5 years there. Never missed it since.
sorry to go on.
You triggered many ancient memories.
As always sir,
A great gathering place for great peoples.
Juan
Weird foods: Define ‘weird’…as a kid always thought halupki’s (Polish cabbage rolls) were really weird even if mom liked them, same goes for liver. But can’t say I ever had anything really weird, like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXoQ3Sbe5pw
***
Mom and Pop Waysides: Disappearing was purposeful…by local ‘authorities’ as they – from town – enacted all manner of regulations in the name of progressive public health and safety that put most of them out of business. At our old homestead we had the Virginia Dale Cafe’ at a 287 wideout(that doubles as a CDOT parking area) since…forever. Was also the local Post Office, the boxes with hand written labels are still there. This was the typical fuel stop, repair garage, cafe (burger for 10c, menu is still there, along with the crockware), local watering hole…closed after the last owner passed in 1990. MrsPaulM and I tried to purchase the 4 acres and refurb the place as a between Fort Collins and Laramie way station with a Phased plan. Well…despite the local Commissioner ‘supporting’ the project once CDOT decided to ignore the properly completed traffic study (no issues per regs)…you would have thought we were asking to build a nuke bunker site. Asinine does not describe the government level of ‘permissions’ and political crap involved. Found out later that we were not ‘taking the right people to lunches’. A/h’s…I don’t play stupid political games to get things done, but they do. Now it’s further falling into disrepair as the new property owners (a decade or so now) have left it be. Sad piece of history going to pot that would been a boon and unique to travelers…but for ‘government’ jerks who think we have to ask their permission to put up a shed. That’s why these places are few and far between.
Ps. MrsPaulM likes the opening art ‘juxtaposition’…nicely done with today’s Scripture admonition.
x2 Lots to think on with those 1,000 words = excellent picture. Interestingly, 3D chess has been presented by L.L. as a war gaming, strategy method for business and financial consulting. As for referring to Trump playing at that level compared to the Twelver’s playing checkers, follow the numbers, he is playing to win for businesses and hopefully it will trickle down to WTP finding opportunity to prosper as well. Angels playing chess? Are they both good angels, and there’s just a brunette vs Blonde contrast by our resident artist?
Weirdest food that I had was long neck barnacles in a tapas bar in Madrid. They had the consistency of rubber and tasted like sea water. I would eat then if stranded on a deserted island ’cause you need protein.
Have you tried Pacific geoduck (pronounced Gooey-Duck) clams? They are an LL favorite, particularly in a well-cooked clam chowder. They’re a little crunchy when eaten raw (sashimi).
Not being a world traveler my exposure to “weird” food is limited. I have eaten geoduck in Washington State. Lutefisk? Yah sure you betcha-not a favorite.
During the 1970’s spent time in Angoon AK installing modular homes. The residents made our meals. I never inquired what was served, just ate it and gave thanks. Lots of salmon, halibut and other fish weren’t a mystery but some of the side dishes????
WSF, I have no idea what sort of exotic sides they might serve in Alaska. Organ meat? I’d guess that a fair bit comes out of a can or is frozen and shipped north from the Lower 48. The food in Canada was on par with what I’ve eaten in the US, but I never lived with or around Eskimos.
.
I had a friend who dated a part Eskimo lady once (Eskimo, Blood Indian and French mix) named Becky Panther. – I don’t know but I’ve been told, Eskimo women are mighty cold (cleaned it up for the blog).
On The Last Alaskans saw they would take a seal and bury it in the peat to let it ferment…apparently a well enjoyed delicacy. I’ll try anything…once.
Angoon is on Admiralty Island along the Inside Passage. The residents’ native language is Tlingit. The Alaska Ferry System provides service.
When we worked at Prudhoe Bay, our only interaction with Aleut/Eskimos were the ones working on the projects. All our food came from a mess hall (good food – nothing exotic).
Admiralty Island is home to the largest population of Brown Bears in Alaska. The bears will occasionally wander down the main street in Angoon. The locals, and dogs, simply step away between buildings, and the bears don’t bother them. A tad disconcerting if you are a visitor.
I’ve never eaten bear. I heard it was greasy. I ate capybara once in Mexico – very greasy, made me a little sick. It’s just a massive rodent – like a ninty pound rat. It didn’t taste bad but I am put off by overly fatty meat.
Weirdest food? I suppose the monkey meat from the BBQ carts in Olongapo. If that’s what it was. I saw balut get eaten but never got drunk enough to try it myself
A lot of the Po city “monkey meat” was wharf rat meat. Some of them were as big as cats and mean as opossums. I had sambal rat in Sulawesi, which wasn’t really “weird.” Working in the Little Saigon district in Orange County, I found duck and chicken feet were very common appetizers, but I could never get into them.
How about monkey brains on the half shell in central bisayas?
wigh NO san mig tanduay local “wine”. just coconut milk
Juan
You sparked a memory, grandad ate pickled pigs feet from a jar….as a kid thought that was weird.
The Brits love them and call them “trotters” – SAS served them in the mess hall at Credenhill. I took a hard pass and settled for bangers and mash.
That video on collapse of the bronze age and ascent of iron doesn’t make a point that occurred to me about 30 years ago. They talk about iron not depending on the international trade networks, but on the common iron ore that could be found in your backyard. To me, they miss an important aspect.
~~
The iron and development of steel depend on how the carbon atoms interact with the iron to make it harder and stronger, also something that bronze didn’t have. That’s a property of the universe, which seems about as strong an argument for intelligent design as you’ll find. Iron turns to steel, which can be tuned to a wide range of physical properties desired for a wide range of uses. It’s as if bronze is an easy starter alloy but gives way to the superior alloy for almost all uses that you’ll find once your society develops beyond that easy starter alloy.
X2
I used to eat box lunches in Taiwan, whole minnows, peanuts and rice. It was packed solid in a small box. It was the best choice available. They were much better than duck feet.
“…against the rulers of the darkness of this world…”:
THIS… https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/04/must-watch-laura-ingraham-absolutely-shreds-gop-rino/
Comments: “Worse than a Democrat is one pretending to be a Republican.”…”most republicans are only [pretend to be] conservative at election time”… “Hey fool, they committed a crime the moment they crossed the border illegally.”
But maybe this will help at the Federal level as Trump is operating at ‘Warp speed, Scotty!’ (with pics of PDJT juxtaposed with Mitchy Boy, who looks like he belongs in an assisted living home, not in Congress fumbling around while dithering on important problems that he created):
“PDJT proposes 6 years in the House, 12 years in the Senate…which would eliminate 73% of Congress overnight. Get it done! The geriatric career politicians gotta go!”
That’s how one “fights principalities”, give the grifters and cheaters less time to mess with WTP, as The Founders intended.
X2 – but the grifters won’t vote themselves out of a job where they have a license to steal.
Always a root to a problem, and that right there is it. Time to toss them off the cheese wagon.
as no one else commented ( that I saw)
is former pd,ss ( killary battalion), eff the bee crowd bonjovie
even a “thing” anymore?
🤔
Juan
Haggis in Scotland served with scotch which I found to be a necessity, not just allegedly traditional. Yeah, I know, not very exotic, but I’m not an adventurous eater. Well, I did eat pho down in the vil in Viet Nam a few times. God and mama-san alone only knew what was in those bowls. I see TV food channels rattling on about pho these days and think, child, if you only knew what those people had to do to survive the crappy hand they had been dealt, you’d be a little more circumspect and respectful.
Weirdest food eaten? To tell the truth, I’m not sure. In 1977, we were stationed at OSAN AB, Korea while they still had curfew. All I can say is I have eaten food from street vendors in Korea and to this day I do not know what I consumed but whenever I am served some sketchy offerings I always think, “Well, I once ate street vendor food in Korea so ….” Yeah, good times.
I had good luck with the street food in Pusan and Chinhae. Very spicy kimche but the noodles were good. I was served dog there but it was ok.
Dog meat; Before ever making my first two trips into Mexico drilling wells, folks had told me that they eat dogs and cats, hanging meat out in the open with fly’s landing on the carcasses. We never saw anything of the sort, in Baja Norte or Sonora. Can’t say that I’ve been everywhere, mostly just those two areas. I’m surprised the other commenters that mentioned Asian foods didn’t include dog meat. Perhaps it was not strange but a delight as the Lewis and Clark expedition journals describe.
_
I grew up on the farm with 35-45 hog feeders to castrate at a time. Mountain oysters were just part of the German, Bavarian culture and we never thought anything of it. By products of butchering, as some of our friends in Mexico did as a cottage industry were the cheek meat “tacos de Catchete”, braided intestines, tripe for menudo, and one friend delighted in the ears. We once visited a very simple home and saw a dried rattlesnake mounted on the wall, like it was a big rack of horns. I made the mistake of making a compliment on it, hoping to hear the story of the encounter and the kill. The home owner vivaciously took it down broke it up and passed it around to our group to all have a bite. Fish eyes would float in the home made fish soup we were served. Our oldest daughter developed a taste for crunchy chicken feet. She once purposely served chicken soup when we had guests from the states, making sure that she had foot in her bowl to crunch on and amaze our guests. I’m amazed that you mentioned Capybara. I’ve hunted Nutria in Oregon but would never eat one.
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Horse meat; We lived next door to a butcher shop for a few years. They made Machacha. The burros and the donkeys were corralled in a couple places within sight of our house. Once, and only once did we purchase a couple kilo’s of roast cuts from the neighbor, just to try it. Very tough. Gamier than any Elk or deer that I’ve ever harvested.
_
Weirdest? Should I be telling on Mrs W.? She just wild-crafted another weed a few days ago. The “cleavers” is like velcro and will really stick to your skin or clothes. The tea she brews from it is good for the lymph system, or so she tells me… It’s not bad tasting really. Nothing I’ve tasted was as bitter as the Wha-de-kee root that street vendors sold in Sonora. It was supposedly good for many ailments, including the kidneys.
I’ve never seen dog or cat meat consumed in Mexico. Snake, yes. Capybara, yes. Iguana in the tropics, yes.