“The bottom line: when I walked back to my car after 90 minutes up there, I felt refreshed and rejuvenated about what it is we’re about in this struggle.”
You Go,TC !! Thanks for all you do to fuel the resistance !! 🪧💻
"U.S. elites from both parties spent 30 years assuming precision airpower and naval supremacy could reliably dominate regional adversaries at an acceptable cost." In other words, they completely ignored the lesson we should have learned from Vietnam and the refresher from Afghanistan. War has changed, our military leadership has not, and they aren't even fighting the last war any more, they're about 4 wars behind and don't have the resources to fight that one, let alone anything appropriate to current warfare. That's why the mouse beat the elephant and we lost to North Vietnam, the Taliban, and, arguably, are losing to Iran just to keep Nitwityahoo and Trumplethinskin out of jail.
""A land exchange doesn’t look like theft at first glance. It looks like a reasonable compromise between competing interests, brokered by professionals, vetted by appraisers, shaped by public comment. Except in the Crazy Mountains, the compromise was designed by the billionaires’ club, the public comment was ignored, the appraisals valued terrain that requires expert rock-climbing skills as a fair trade for accessible wildlife habitat, and the Forest Service never even considered the option of defending the rights the public already had.
And the kicker is this happened under the Biden administration. The deal went through a public comment process. It received environmental review. It was shaped by a Forest Supervisor who, by all accounts, genuinely believed she was making the best of a bad situation. Two-thirds of the public told her not to do it. She did it anyway, because the only options on the table were ones the Yellowstone Club had written, and the Forest Service didn’t have the institutional muscle to write its own.
That’s what happens when a federal land agency is merely underfunded.
Now the Forest Service isn’t underfunded. It’s being destroyed.""
I never had any doubt at all that the described "total obliteration" of Iran's missiles and drones was a fantasy. Back in the day, when I was working for the Merchants of Death (Lockheed-Martin), we would get reports on defense news most people would not see. There are two I'll summarize - first, in the war in Kosovo, air power was constrained by poor weather - for much of the campaign, up to 66% of scheduled missions had to be scrubbed due to heavy clouds or rain. Back then we did not have JDAMs; our guided bombs were laser-guided, and had to be used with a clear view of the targets. Also, there were serious disagreements between what we claimed as destroyed and what the Serbians admitted they had lost. In the end, our air power destroyed about 55-56 armored vehicles, the majority of them former MAP castoffs like WW2 M36 and M18 tank destroyers..... In the second case, closer to home, after the fighting in Desert Storm was over, an Iraqi tank battalion commander was interviewed. He said that he had started out with 40 tanks - after three weeks of air attacks and bombing, he had 32 tanks left. His unit then engaged a US M1 Abrams battalion, and in half an hour he had no tanks left..... We will never break Iran or force the Iranian government to do anything with air power alone.....the tar baby has won.
Today, as I walked into my grocery store, I noticed a vet collecting donations at the other door. I don't carry much cash on my anymore, so I thought to make sure to get a few bucks in change to give on my way out.
It got fairly warm today--77 degrees when I was checking out according to my cellphone. I was right next to the beverage cooler so I decided to grab a cold water for the vet. Those familiar with me know I have a personal motto to "do a good deed and learn something new every day."
I was humbled when I exited the grocery store: I noticed the vet was sitting, but I hadn't realized he was sitting in a wheelchair. As I shoved a few bucks in the can, I offered him the water and he thanked me, but also asked "can you open the cap for me? I have a hard time opening things and I can't see very well."
Good Lord please make me more aware of people! I then looked and noticed he apparently had had some old long-time injury as his eyebrow/orbital was misshapen rendering his one eye shut. I do not know if it was a war injury, or after, but it didn't matter. Here was an elderly gentleman sweating in the heat to collect funds to help vets--and for (bad word!!) sake--we shouldn't need donations to care for our veterans!!
Two uncles of mine (and my Dad) were WW2 vets. One got a purple heart, and in return, he was paralyzed from the waist down. The other uncle was imprisoned in a German POW camp, with a head injury which gave him a life-long seizure disorder. I've posted this before.
I am not singing my praises for the water, I simply wish to mention this because I think of our vets and I feel AWFUL at how our government is behaving. We are NOT the crazy ones, and we ARE better than this. It sometimes takes all I can muster to NOT hate every last (bad word) MAGA, but that is the conundrum we are in. If I truly want to walk the talk of being both a liberal AND following Jesus's teaching of loving our brother, I gotta try--but boy are these are the times that try the soul.
Any country that won't educate its people or keep them healthy will not be a leader country. The US stumbled along until the idiocy of the W. Bush years forward, with slight reprieves via the ACA and the Iran agreement under Obama. But the very presence of Black Man Obama in the White House brought out the oozing pustules of racism that develop when hatred inflames. So then we got not just a racist and misogynist, but a total misanthrope as POTUS and everyone had and once again has, not just permission but encouragement to spit on his fellow humans any time he's having a bad day because we're just so kick-ass.
The US and Russia are snorting and grappling on the downside of the hill and desperately clinging to their notions of invincibility, while China and Canada are on measured, deliberative climbs to the top. It's the difference between cage matches and bar fights and team building and laboratory research, grunge metal v. cool jazz, the Hulk v. Roberto Duran.
Thank you for owning the streets and overpasses, Tom and all others who do the same. Fueled by courage, goodwill, and hope. I think the naysayers secretly envy you because they lack all of that.
trump’s trip to China began badly when Xi didn’t show up to greet trump when Air Force One landed, unlike when Putin landed in Alaska and trump had U.S. military personnel roll out and secure a red carpet for the Russian dictator. trump was so eager to impress his idol/daddy it was sickening to watch. Added to the fact that trump looked like two-day old roadkill as he plodded around the various ceremonies behind Xi didn’t help his phony tough leader image at all. Uncle Sam has been replaced by Grandpa trump in all his glory…what a farce. Score a big one for the Middle Kingdom.
“He returns with the realization there is no “Daddy” to save him from the responsibility for his final bankruptcy.” Great conclusion. Yes, it does seem to get worse every day. I cannot believe that educated, apparently “bright” people, did this and continue doing this to our previously comparatively awesome country where we had rights given to us by our law of the land. There are no more laws for the regime. Take care of yourself! You do an awesome job of keeping the rest of us informed.
Thank you, TC for TAFM. Remember to take care of yourself. I slept through the night for the first time in a while. I hope that happens again tonight. I watched the news on TV...if you want to call it that... and it was the first time since Tuesday that I turned the TV on. It is Friday already....the weeks sure roll around fast these days...however it seem like it is still a lot of days until the mid-terms....(I wonder if we will have them in November?)
Tdump talking to a journalist after his big "successful" China trip!
THIS is our president speaking!!!
“I sort of, I think it was a commitment. I mean, you know, it was sort of like a statement, but I think it was a commitment. It’s a great thing. It’s a lot of jobs.”
“The bottom line: when I walked back to my car after 90 minutes up there, I felt refreshed and rejuvenated about what it is we’re about in this struggle.”
You Go,TC !! Thanks for all you do to fuel the resistance !! 🪧💻
Never.Give.Up.Y’all!
💪💙
"U.S. elites from both parties spent 30 years assuming precision airpower and naval supremacy could reliably dominate regional adversaries at an acceptable cost." In other words, they completely ignored the lesson we should have learned from Vietnam and the refresher from Afghanistan. War has changed, our military leadership has not, and they aren't even fighting the last war any more, they're about 4 wars behind and don't have the resources to fight that one, let alone anything appropriate to current warfare. That's why the mouse beat the elephant and we lost to North Vietnam, the Taliban, and, arguably, are losing to Iran just to keep Nitwityahoo and Trumplethinskin out of jail.
""A land exchange doesn’t look like theft at first glance. It looks like a reasonable compromise between competing interests, brokered by professionals, vetted by appraisers, shaped by public comment. Except in the Crazy Mountains, the compromise was designed by the billionaires’ club, the public comment was ignored, the appraisals valued terrain that requires expert rock-climbing skills as a fair trade for accessible wildlife habitat, and the Forest Service never even considered the option of defending the rights the public already had.
And the kicker is this happened under the Biden administration. The deal went through a public comment process. It received environmental review. It was shaped by a Forest Supervisor who, by all accounts, genuinely believed she was making the best of a bad situation. Two-thirds of the public told her not to do it. She did it anyway, because the only options on the table were ones the Yellowstone Club had written, and the Forest Service didn’t have the institutional muscle to write its own.
That’s what happens when a federal land agency is merely underfunded.
Now the Forest Service isn’t underfunded. It’s being destroyed.""
https://morethanjustparks.substack.com/p/how-to-steal-a-mountain-of-public?utm_campaign=email-half-post&r=b9ign&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Tom, your analysis of the Xi fest and Iran are spot on. Nothing to add from me.
Hadn’t heard the Arc-de-Turd story. Such cheating fuckers.
I never had any doubt at all that the described "total obliteration" of Iran's missiles and drones was a fantasy. Back in the day, when I was working for the Merchants of Death (Lockheed-Martin), we would get reports on defense news most people would not see. There are two I'll summarize - first, in the war in Kosovo, air power was constrained by poor weather - for much of the campaign, up to 66% of scheduled missions had to be scrubbed due to heavy clouds or rain. Back then we did not have JDAMs; our guided bombs were laser-guided, and had to be used with a clear view of the targets. Also, there were serious disagreements between what we claimed as destroyed and what the Serbians admitted they had lost. In the end, our air power destroyed about 55-56 armored vehicles, the majority of them former MAP castoffs like WW2 M36 and M18 tank destroyers..... In the second case, closer to home, after the fighting in Desert Storm was over, an Iraqi tank battalion commander was interviewed. He said that he had started out with 40 tanks - after three weeks of air attacks and bombing, he had 32 tanks left. His unit then engaged a US M1 Abrams battalion, and in half an hour he had no tanks left..... We will never break Iran or force the Iranian government to do anything with air power alone.....the tar baby has won.
Today, as I walked into my grocery store, I noticed a vet collecting donations at the other door. I don't carry much cash on my anymore, so I thought to make sure to get a few bucks in change to give on my way out.
It got fairly warm today--77 degrees when I was checking out according to my cellphone. I was right next to the beverage cooler so I decided to grab a cold water for the vet. Those familiar with me know I have a personal motto to "do a good deed and learn something new every day."
I was humbled when I exited the grocery store: I noticed the vet was sitting, but I hadn't realized he was sitting in a wheelchair. As I shoved a few bucks in the can, I offered him the water and he thanked me, but also asked "can you open the cap for me? I have a hard time opening things and I can't see very well."
Good Lord please make me more aware of people! I then looked and noticed he apparently had had some old long-time injury as his eyebrow/orbital was misshapen rendering his one eye shut. I do not know if it was a war injury, or after, but it didn't matter. Here was an elderly gentleman sweating in the heat to collect funds to help vets--and for (bad word!!) sake--we shouldn't need donations to care for our veterans!!
Two uncles of mine (and my Dad) were WW2 vets. One got a purple heart, and in return, he was paralyzed from the waist down. The other uncle was imprisoned in a German POW camp, with a head injury which gave him a life-long seizure disorder. I've posted this before.
I am not singing my praises for the water, I simply wish to mention this because I think of our vets and I feel AWFUL at how our government is behaving. We are NOT the crazy ones, and we ARE better than this. It sometimes takes all I can muster to NOT hate every last (bad word) MAGA, but that is the conundrum we are in. If I truly want to walk the talk of being both a liberal AND following Jesus's teaching of loving our brother, I gotta try--but boy are these are the times that try the soul.
Any country that won't educate its people or keep them healthy will not be a leader country. The US stumbled along until the idiocy of the W. Bush years forward, with slight reprieves via the ACA and the Iran agreement under Obama. But the very presence of Black Man Obama in the White House brought out the oozing pustules of racism that develop when hatred inflames. So then we got not just a racist and misogynist, but a total misanthrope as POTUS and everyone had and once again has, not just permission but encouragement to spit on his fellow humans any time he's having a bad day because we're just so kick-ass.
The US and Russia are snorting and grappling on the downside of the hill and desperately clinging to their notions of invincibility, while China and Canada are on measured, deliberative climbs to the top. It's the difference between cage matches and bar fights and team building and laboratory research, grunge metal v. cool jazz, the Hulk v. Roberto Duran.
Thank you for owning the streets and overpasses, Tom and all others who do the same. Fueled by courage, goodwill, and hope. I think the naysayers secretly envy you because they lack all of that.
trump’s trip to China began badly when Xi didn’t show up to greet trump when Air Force One landed, unlike when Putin landed in Alaska and trump had U.S. military personnel roll out and secure a red carpet for the Russian dictator. trump was so eager to impress his idol/daddy it was sickening to watch. Added to the fact that trump looked like two-day old roadkill as he plodded around the various ceremonies behind Xi didn’t help his phony tough leader image at all. Uncle Sam has been replaced by Grandpa trump in all his glory…what a farce. Score a big one for the Middle Kingdom.
“He returns with the realization there is no “Daddy” to save him from the responsibility for his final bankruptcy.” Great conclusion. Yes, it does seem to get worse every day. I cannot believe that educated, apparently “bright” people, did this and continue doing this to our previously comparatively awesome country where we had rights given to us by our law of the land. There are no more laws for the regime. Take care of yourself! You do an awesome job of keeping the rest of us informed.
At least he didn't give away Taiwan, that we know of.
Not yet. He will.
Thank you, TC for TAFM. Remember to take care of yourself. I slept through the night for the first time in a while. I hope that happens again tonight. I watched the news on TV...if you want to call it that... and it was the first time since Tuesday that I turned the TV on. It is Friday already....the weeks sure roll around fast these days...however it seem like it is still a lot of days until the mid-terms....(I wonder if we will have them in November?)
From LFAA this am!
Tdump talking to a journalist after his big "successful" China trip!
THIS is our president speaking!!!
“I sort of, I think it was a commitment. I mean, you know, it was sort of like a statement, but I think it was a commitment. It’s a great thing. It’s a lot of jobs.”