Monday, September 25, 2017

Has America lost the ability to go fast? USAF General Hyten thinks so!

Thanks to Moebius 2249 for the link!



If I didn't embed this right start watching at the 25:52 mark.

I never heard this guy but he gets it.  America HAS lost it's ability to go fast. The reason?  The military has embraced the bureaucracy and loves it more than it loves mission accomplishment.

Maybe this is just something that all empires go thru.  Maybe this is a sign that we really are in decline.  I'm not sure, but I'm positive of one thing. Other nations appear to be hungrier than we are.  They seem more willing to do the hard thing.

They seem ready to do what is asked of them by their nation instead of asking what the nation can do for them.

They are clear eyed, confident and working while we're sleeping.

We HAVE lost our ability to go fast and the wars in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq is the proof.  Somehow, someway we've lost our direction.  If we don't course correct we will lose the future.

The terrible news?   It might already be too late.

N. Korea says Trump has declared war on them.

via CNN
North Korea's foreign minister said Donald Trump has declared war on his country.

The US President appeared to threaten regime change over the weekend, tweeting to say if the country's foreign minister echoed the thoughts of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un they "won't be around much longer."

Ri Yong-ho said Pyongyang reserves the right to take countermeasures, including shooting down US strategic bombers even if they are not in North Korea's air space.

"The whole world should clearly remember it was the US who first declared war on our country," he told reporters in New York.

"Since the United States declared war on our country, we will have every right to make countermeasures, including the right to shoot down United States strategic bombers even when they are not inside the airspace border of our country."
Story here. 

Yep.  The march toward war has quickened.  Now we enter the silly season.  Both sides are gonna be on a hair trigger.  This is the time when what would normally be a simple incident could spiral out of control.


Kalashnikov's Compact Assault Rifle

Thanks to Galvars for the link!



Oh God yes!

Take my money!!!!!

Politics Talk. I'm done with Trump. That NASCAR tweet was obvious...

via CNN
President Donald Trump is not putting to rest this weekend's uproar over professional football players' protests during the national anthem, declaring early Monday that a rival sports franchise was more suitably patriotic.
"So proud of NASCAR and its supporters and fans," Trump wrote on Twitter at 7:25 a.m. ET. "They won't put up with disrespecting our Country or our Flag - they said it loud and clear!"
Story here. 

I'm done with Trump.

This tweet this morning is obvious and obscene to anyone from the South. White or Black you know exactly what he meant by being proud of NASCAR.

Oh you don't know about the racial dynamic in NASCAR?  Well as you PROBABLY KNOW, Blacks in America aren't into motor sports.  I like rally racing but it isn't popular in the states.  The Baja's are cool and so are the off road endurance races but I got exposed to that overseas.

The deal with NASCAR is that its a uniquely OLD SOUTH thing.  NASCAR has been working hard to change things up but fans are holding on.

Long story short?  When Trump said he was proud of NASCAR fans he was in essence throwing a dog whistle to Nazis/KKK/White Supremacists.  WTF am I talking about?  Check out the pick below.


Now Google the wording on that piece of shit.

Yeah.  Trump knew exactly what he was doing.

Valhalla's line of 57mm turrets!





The company's webpage on this system is here.

What do I think?

Shut up and take the Marine Corps' money!!!  Yeah, we'll need a couple hundred and since we're buying in bulk you guys conduct the fit test on AAVs, the Iveco/BAE SuperAV (my projected winner of that contest) and just for shits and giggles let's see if it really can be fired from the back of an MTVR!

Warhammer News. Mainstream media is catching up to our thinking!



via National Interest.
 But it is better to ask what China would do if its core national interests were threatened and there was no trusted plan in place among Beijing, Washington and Seoul that addressed its concerns.

The first and most intuitive concern for China would be to contain the flow of North Korean refugees that would spill across the border. North Korea is a fragile state home to over twenty-five million people, many of whom have been living under conditions of extreme starvation, poverty, oppression and brainwashing. In the past, Beijing has had to deal with an influx of around two hundred thousand North Korean refugees. More recently, it has increased its border patrols and fences, often cooperating with North Korean authorities in trying to find and forcibly repatriate escapees. A war would likely kill hundreds of thousands to millions, which would increase large-scale flight.

&

Finally, Beijing would likely assume that a post-North Korean world would be harmful to its core interests, especially if the peninsula were to be administered by a U.S.-allied South Korea. The two countries have often worked under the assumption that both Koreas would eventually be reunited. Seoul’s Ministry of Unification has been planning for such a goal, intending to absorb North Korea into its democratic and capitalist fold much as East Germany was annexed by West Germany in 1990. Given South Korea’s aging population and the fact that reunification would likely cost $1.13 to $3.2 trillion, Seoul would want to maintain at least a minimal U.S. defense alliance as a way to subsidize a reduction in defense spending. Furthermore, South Korea would still have historically antagonistic neighbors to worry about, including, obviously, China.

A world without North Korea would be dangerous for Beijing. Though China would be happy that South Korea would take on the economic burden of reunification, a united and U.S.-allied Korea would still give American troops access to the Yalu River. Washington might withdraw its troops, but it might not. One may recall that many thought the United States would leave Europe and NATO would end after the Cold War, but much to Russia’s chagrin that did not happen. China knows this and remembers that lesson in realpolitik.
Story here. 

First you got to notice one important thing here.

The talking point has changed.  Its not a matter of "if" N. Korea gets invaded, they've now moved to the idea (that we had first on this blog) that China could intervene in N. Korea (we said under the banner of the UN as a peacekeeping force) for the sole purpose of preventing a reunified Korea on its border.

Many assume that S. Korea and China would be natural allies.

That's HISTORICALLY untrue.  I am more convinced than ever that we will strike N. Korea.  The mainstream media is finally catching up to the idea.

Expect an information campaign to be launched on the people in the West.  I include the US, Australia,  NATO in Europe, Japan and S. Korea with limited but still important news reports to hit the wave throughout the Pacific.

Warhammers are beating.

Columbia Class Ballistic Nuclear Submarine gets the green light!



via Defense Industry Daily.
General Dynamics Electric Boat has landed a $5.1 billion US Navy contract to commence development work on the Columbia-class nuclear ballistic missile submarine. Announced last Thursday, the award includes component and technology development, missile tube module and reactor compartment bulkhead prototyping and manufacturing efforts, and United Kingdom Strategic Weapon Support System kit manufacturing—which is covered under a foreign military sale—for the Columbia class ballistic missile submarines. Work will be conducted at several US locations and is scheduled for completion by December 2031. 12 Columbia-class submarines are planned by the Navy, and will replace the current fleet of Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines. The first vessel, the Columbia, is expected to be completed by 2031 at a cost of $10.4 billion counting research and engineering costs. The expected cost of follow-on vessels has been floated at over $5 billion a piece. The vessels will support the US Navy and British Royal Navy's Trident II D5 submarine launched ballistic missile (SLBM) system.
First.  Defense Industry Daily puts out a pretty neat and information packed newsletter.  You might want to check it out.  Second.  The first boat hits the water in 2030 timeframe?  Geez.  That's waaay out there.  Does it take this long to develop a follow on?  I mean it is an evolutionary design right?

Blast from the past. Hiller X-18

via Enrique 262 Tumblr Page.










Sunday, September 24, 2017

The Pentagon needs to refute this! Russia releases images of US Special Ops operating alongside ISIS????

via RT
The Russian Ministry of Defense has released aerial images which they say show US Army special forces equipment north of the town of Deir er-Zor, where ISIS militants are deployed.

US Army special units provide free passage for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) through the battle formations of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terrorists, the ministry said in a statement.
Story here. 

A few things....

1.  Spare me the bullshit about RT being a news organization for the Russians. I gather info from sources around the globe.

2.  We've heard rumors of the US actually aiding ISIS for MONTHS!  A few people on these pages (not Russians either) had even accused McCain of meeting with groups allied with ISIS.

3.  We had an accusation earlier this week of US Special Ops being involved in some type of ambush on Russian MPs.  We have yet to hear a denial.

4.  Last but not least the Pentagon needs to get a handle on this and they need to get it right the first time.

This is some treacherous ground for the Pentagon.  You know my view on things.  I am of the opinion that we have been doing everything in Syria except trying to kill ISIS (remember the talk of 50 years to kill 100K terrorists in the open desert...the mainstream media might be that stupid but my readers aren't).  If the Pentagon denies that they're in the area or that they aren't working with the terrorists they WILL BE BELIEVED.

The problem.

If they are and they take a calculated risk and the Russians call their bluff and release even more hi-rez pics showing proof without a doubt that the Pentagon was lying then we're gonna have a real deal scandal on our hands.

The American people will be livid.  You think many are anti-interventionist, anti-globalization now?  Consider the possibility of the Pentagon being caught in a lie about our participation in Syria.

Yeah.

They better get this right...and they better not ignore it.  The Russians will continue to beat on this drum and eventually even the mainstream news will have to pick it up.


Of course this could be a big disinformation campaign which is why the Pentagon needs to clear the air ricky ticky quick.

Economics talk. Is China about to destroy the global system that made them powerful? UPDATE!

Thanks to Adi for the link!


via Oilprice.com
The world’s top oil importer, China, is preparing to launch a crude oil futures contract denominated in Chinese yuan and convertible into gold, potentially creating the most important Asian oil benchmark and allowing oil exporters to bypass U.S.-dollar denominated benchmarks by trading in yuan, Nikkei Asian Review reports.

The crude oil futures will be the first commodity contract in China open to foreign investment funds, trading houses, and oil firms. The circumvention of U.S. dollar trade could allow oil exporters such as Russia and Iran, for example, to bypass U.S. sanctions by trading in yuan, according to Nikkei Asian Review. To make the yuan-denominated contract more attractive, China plans the yuan to be fully convertible in gold on the Shanghai and Hong Kong exchanges.

Last month, the Shanghai Futures Exchange and its subsidiary Shanghai International Energy Exchange, INE, successfully completed four tests in production environment for the crude oil futures, and the exchange continues with preparatory works for the listing of crude oil futures, aiming for the launch by the end of this year. ?

“The rules of the global oil game may begin to change enormously,” Luke Gromen, founder of U.S.-based macroeconomic research company FFTT, told Nikkei Asia Review.
Story here. 

I have an EXTREMELY limited view of how all this ties together with the global economy but at least for the last 20 years the price of energy has tied directly to boom times.

Remember how things were right after the great recession?  Oil prices were outrageous.  It made no economic sense.  But it also helped keep the economy afloat.

Now?

Now we're living in a time of relatively mild oil prices (and I believe that even now they're being artificially inflated) and China wants to start a gold/yuan trading scheme?

I don't see how this can help them.  No one will want to trade in the yuan...they keep their money artificially low.  Now gold.  People will bite on that but it just drags them back into the US dominated market.

I'm not understanding what they're thinking but I'm wondering if this could be the first real mistake the Chinese govt is making.

Is this a brilliant move to push China to even greater heights or are they about to destroy the global system that made them powerful in the first place...or is it something in between?

UPDATE!  Wow.  I asked a real deal question and instead got bullshit answers.  I'm not in the mood for even more conspiracy theories.  I don't need to hear the pet theory from the darkside of the internet that supports whatever anti-US faction you're a part of.  Comments are closed on this.  I'll simply write an economist and hope they can answer.  Seriously though.  This is getting tiresome.  Either you know or you don't.  No shame in not knowing.  MUCH SHAME in some of the bullshit that is being peddled.