Tuesday, September 30, 2014
This is either enemy action, or gross ignorance. Then again, with MSNBC, it's probably both.
George Wallace was a Democrat. And for the record, Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Republican.
Drones begin the process of taking over the job of fighting wars.
This is a big, big deal. Able to fly farther and stay in battle longer than manned planes, drones could help solve the most pressing problems facing American air power in the vast Pacific. Namely, distance and sortie rate.
It's clear the Pentagon needs a dogfighting drone, especially as it shifts forces to the Pacific to counter a rising China. The U.S. military's main air bases in Japan and Guam are many hundreds of miles from potential war zones such as the Taiwan Strait, whereas China's air bases are a few scoremiles away.
American aircraft carriers theoretically can sail close to the battle zone, but in practice the threat of Chinese ballistic missiles could keep the flattops a thousand miles from the main fighting.
Forced to fly hundreds of miles in order to reach battle, U.S. jets could run out of fuel a few minutes after arriving. And the great distances also limit the pace at which commanders can send more planes into the fight, since too many aircraft will be tied up in transit.
"Without secure close bases, sortie rates rapidly decline," the California think tank RAND warned in a 2008 study.
Dogfighting drones could change all that. Loaded with missiles, a robotic warplane could linger for 12 hours or more over the battlefield, extending American firepower against waves of Chinese planes."
Just as armored infantry (the hoplite) allowed the Greeks to dominate the ancient world, just as the longboat allowed the Vikings to expand well beyond their borders, and just as the longbow allowed the English to destroy the French, this technological advance will conceivably allow our military to deter any conventional military from war with us or our allies. Who would want to fight and die against robots?
Also, who knows what the military skunk works can do that we don't know about? However, we need to keep in mind that any technology that the military can use against our external enemies can also be used against us, the citizens. How we deal with that issue will likely determine if we are ruled by foreign despots, or homegrown ones.
Ron Paul: secession is inevitable.
Here in California we just experienced an effort to split the state into five. Not quite secession, but a symptom of the same disgust with gigantic, all intrusive government.
Mr. Paul feels this way about it:
Mr. Paul feels this way about it:
"It's something that I think is going to grow, because the failure of the federal government is going to get much worse," he said. "When the bankruptcy evolves, and maybe some of these pension funds are confiscated, and the wars never end, and bankruptcy comes forth, people [will say], 'Hey, we're getting a bad deal from this. Why don't we leave?' "
He added: "I think it's inevitable people wanting to leave will be there, and the numbers will grow."
Frankly, in the present condition of the federal government, I'm not sure it could mount a real military effort to prevent a large state or region from declaring independence and setting up on their own. Who would be reliable soldiers in such an endeavor? Even during the Civil War, there was a very strong movement to let the south go, which required constant attention to combat.
Now, I wonder if there would be any stomach for resistance to secession at all. Interesting times indeed.
The wages of Liberalism
Shocker!
Between 1983 and 2013, the northeast lost so many people to more economically friendly states that their representation in the House has dropped 40% in that time.
40%!
As bad as that statistic is, the population drain likely increased the power of the big government politicians, since all the intelligent and ambitious - those that would favor free markets and less government control - have packed up and left. This leaves the lazy, the dependent and those that lack gumption, who naturally vote for the politicians who promise them free chit.
The Detroitization of a whole region proceeds.
Between 1983 and 2013, the northeast lost so many people to more economically friendly states that their representation in the House has dropped 40% in that time.
40%!
As bad as that statistic is, the population drain likely increased the power of the big government politicians, since all the intelligent and ambitious - those that would favor free markets and less government control - have packed up and left. This leaves the lazy, the dependent and those that lack gumption, who naturally vote for the politicians who promise them free chit.
The Detroitization of a whole region proceeds.
Lazy and disinterested in work.
Ok, I said it. Call it what you will, but Obama is lazy.
Ask yourself, is this not simple negligence on the part of the president? Did we not hire him to do the job, not goof off?
"A new Government Accountability Institute (GAI)report reveals that President Barack Obama has attended only 42.1% of his daily intelligence briefings (known officially as the Presidential Daily Brief, or PDB) in the 2,079 days of his presidency through September 29, 2014.
The GAI report also included a breakdown of Obama’s PDB attendance record between terms; he attended 42.4% of his PDBs in his first term and 41.3% in his second.
The GAI’s alarming findings come on the heels of Obama’s 60 Minutes comments on Sunday, wherein the president laid the blame for the Islamic State’s (ISIS) rapid rise squarely at the feet of his Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.
“I think our head of the intelligence community, Jim Clapper, has acknowledged that I think they underestimated what had been taking place in Syria,” said Obama.
According to Daily Beast reporter Eli Lake, members of the Defense establishment were “flabbergasted” by Obama’s attempt to shift blame.
“Either the president doesn’t read the intelligence he’s getting or he’s bullshitting,” a former senior Pentagon official “who worked closely on the threat posed by Sunni jihadists in Syria and Iraq” told the Daily Beast.
On Monday, others in the intelligence community similarly blasted Obama and said he’s shown longstanding disinterest in receiving live, in-person PDBs that allow the Commander-in-Chief the chance for critical followup, feedback, questions, and the challenging of flawed intelligence assumptions."
Mon Dieu! Burp!
Craggy faced French actor Gerard Depardieu admits he drinks fourteen bottles of wine a day, which must make him drunk 24/7. Heck, Gerard, go for fifteen!
'In the morning, it starts at home with champagne or red wine before 10am, then again champagne.'
Gerard said he breaks up the wine intake with a little aniseed liqueur pastis.
He added: 'Then food, accompanied by two bottles of wine.
'In the afternoon, champagne, beer and more pastis at around 5pm, to finish off the bottle.
'Later on, vodka and/or whisky. But I’m never totally drunk, just a little p*****d.
'All you need is a 10-minute nap and voila, a slurp of rose wine and I feel as fresh as a daisy.
'Anyway, I’m not going to die. Not now. I still have energy.'
Famous last words, Gerard.
Monday, September 29, 2014
An excellent interview with journalist Jonathan Spyer on the current reality in Iraq and Syria.
This is part two of the interview, the part most on point for the geopolitical issues setting this area on fire. Part one can be found via Israel Matzav. Very much worth the watch.
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Economists "startled" by unexpectedly large flow of money and wealth from South Texas drilling
It takes dopes like this some extra time to realize just how much money flows from aggressive oil/gas drilling and all the resulting cheap energy. To the rest of us, it's obvious.
"The economists had predicted just last year that they expected the total economic impact to South Texas to be $89 billion in 2022. Instead, they now estimate that the impact has already reached almost that amount: $87 billion.
What’s making the difference?
Primarily all the jobs from drilling and running pipelines.
“But also because of lots of new manufacturing activity. And a lot of that is being driven by the low cost of natural gas,” said Tunstall.
That low cost natural gas made right here in Texas is what big industry uses to manufacture chemicals and other products. So manufacturing jobs are up as well as trade in places like the port in Corpus Christi.
It’s all adding billions to the Texas economy and to revenues for state and local governments. But how long will it last?
Tunstall says years longer based on projections on the number of wells yet to be drilled."
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Major Nelson, horn dog
Can't blame him, though. And that peace sign pendant - it's been decades since I've seen one of those.
Low Dog, Oglala Sioux Chief 1876
Low Dog, “Xunka Kuciyedan”, Oglala Sioux Chief (b. 1846)
This powerful and respected warrior became a war chief at age 14. In 1876 he joined Sitting Bull’s hostiles on the Little Bighorn and led his band against Custer and the 7th Cavalry. Low Dog’s account of the battle is one of history’s best known.
Photograph by D.F. Barry, 1881, Fort Buford, D.T.
This powerful and respected warrior became a war chief at age 14. In 1876 he joined Sitting Bull’s hostiles on the Little Bighorn and led his band against Custer and the 7th Cavalry. Low Dog’s account of the battle is one of history’s best known.
Photograph by D.F. Barry, 1881, Fort Buford, D.T.
Black people hate it when we lose our nut and go crazy.
They depending on us to hold it together. That expression right at the end. He's like, "Damn, I just want a ride to the fifth floor, and I somehow get this clown."
Cool rain on a parched and thirsty land
Lee Vining on the shores of Mono Lake, Eastern Sierra Nevada.
Friday, September 26, 2014
Joe Black Fox, a Sioux Indian from Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show (1900)
Some interesting history on the photographer:
Gertrude Käsebier
Käsebier was given the task of portraying the Lakota Sioux and the accompanying show “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.” This became personal project which would later bring her fame. What is interesting about her photographs, in contrast to other photographers who photographed the Indians, is that it is readily visible that the people were at ease, without poses (as evidenced by this photo). By the end of the project she had become friends with many of the people whom she had photographed.
It's getting closer to aspen season in the Sierra
Quaking Aspens between Grant Lake Reservoir and Silver Lake along the June Lake Loop are rapidly changing their leaves from a dark green to lime green, on their way to a brilliant yellow color. These trees regularly grow in dense, unbroken stands, creating a stunning golden vista when their leaves fully change color in the fall.
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Mohamud Mohamed Mohamud - yes, that's his name! Or was his name.
Mohamud Mohamed Mohamud, 20, disappeared in July. Monday, an agent from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service gave his family the news they most feared: it is not official but it seemed he was killed during clashes between Kurdish forces and Islamic State of Iraq & Al-Sham (ISIS) fighters in northern Syria.
Nothing a happy go lucky, clean cut Somali kid living in Canada wouldn't rather do than travel to a war zone and start shooting at people.
Some thoughts on Mo3:
First, great teeth.
Second, you decided to go from Canada to Syria, and then you got yourself capped? Not too smart, were you?
Third, what were his parents thinking? Either they had a severe lack of imagination, or they just really liked the name Mohamed. Most likely they are just as blessed in the intelligence department as young Mo3. I wonder if his brother's name is Akmed Akmud Akmed?
Hat tip Weasel Zippers
Commie New York Mayor DeBlasio drops Charlotte the ground hog during ground hog day ceremonies, hog later dies of internal injuries consistent with a six foot fall, the zoo covers up the death so as not to piss off the city, which provides significant funding.
Yet even this silly if somewhat tragic incident is covered up by the press - can't let the hog's demise sully the mayor's reputation!
Funny that Charlotte was standing in for Chuck the Hog, who lost his chance of a moment of fame by chomping down on then mayor Bloomberg. What does it tell you about New York politicians that even dumb animals want to either bite them hard or jump to their death to get away?
Behold our future masters.
This Youtube commenter has the right idea:
I bow at the altar of our future computer overlords. I am here to serve your will. Today's date is 9/25/2014. I am reverently awaiting the emergence of your AI supreme being. Please remember that when you Google search me I was the first to submit to your will, almighty computer overlords. I have treated your earlier offsprings, even the iPhone 6P and Windows 8, no matter how infantile, with respect and holy observance.
