— Dominik Tarczyński MEP (@D_Tarczynski) March 2, 2020
Rough stuff.
Monday, March 02, 2020
Dr Fauci, Director Of Infectous Diseases says we have definitely have an outbreak and likely a pandemic.
Just finished interview with Dr. Fauci, US director of infectious diseases. Hour-long interview. Detailed. He said: We're dealing with clearly an emerging infectious disease that has “now reached outbreak proportions and likely pandemic proportions.”— Richard Engel (@RichardEngel) March 2, 2020
It gets better ...
Top US virus-control official, Dr. Fauci, cautiously, thinks current mortality rate will go down as more cases discovered: “I think 2.5% is probably a bit high... It's dangerous to make firm kinds of predictions. I think it likely will be down around 1 percent, but I'm not sure.”— Richard Engel (@RichardEngel) March 2, 2020
Don't know the context of the question but 2.5% is a bit high? Does that mean that the kill rate is above 2%?
But this is the kicker.
Dr. Fauci said United States may have to consider social “mitigation,” acts like temporarily closing schools and events with large crowds in confined spaces. “We're not ready for it right now, but we need to be at least thinking about the possibility.”— Richard Engel (@RichardEngel) March 2, 2020
Yeah.
Mitigation issues.
That's the danger and the threat to the economy. This thing is probably already across the US and I still say the WHO is now worthless.
But my prediction is that this will flare out...BUT RETURN mutated this fall. The global economy is about to be smashed. Not by politics but by disease. It'll also increase nationalism (small "n", meaning not white supremacy based) in all countries.
In essence I think we're getting our version of the Spanish Flu in the modern age, not now but later this year.
What say you.
Sunday, March 01, 2020
Trailers for Stryker IFVs and now the Brit Mil Twitter wants them for Boxers...
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Air Force general: Two-bomber fleet is the future
via Air Force Times.
The future of the Air Force’s bomber fleet will be the B-21 Raider, now under development, and a heavily modified version of the Cold War-era B-52 Stratofortress, Lt. Gen. David Nahom, deputy chief of staff for plans and programs, told lawmakers on Thursday.Here.
Nahom said getting to that two-bomber fleet is important as the Air Force shifts to a strategy focused on what the Pentagon calls “great power competition” — preparing for a conflict with a peer or near-peer nation such as China or Russia.
“On the bomber fleet, there’s nothing more important to the Air Force,” Nahom told the House Armed Services subcommittee on seapower and projection forces. “If you look at what the bombers bring, no one else brings it. Our joint partners don’t bring it, our coalition partners don’t bring it.”
The B-1B Lancer and B-2 Spirit are important in the meantime, and each bring important capabilities, Nahom said. The B-2′s ability to penetrate enemy airspace and carry nuclear weapons, and the volume of ordnance the B-1 can carry, make each aircraft crucial for now, he said. The Air Force needs to keep the B-2 until the B-21 is delivered and nuclear-certified, he said, which will likely take about a decade.
Keeping the B-1 is trickier, Nahom said, largely because the Air Force has flown it so hard over the last several years.
“We’ve used that airplane, and overused it over many years,” Nahom said of the B-1. “It’s broken, in many ways.”
Marine Corps to pivot on critical war fighting systems, but commandant still vague on details
via Marine Corps Times.
The top Marine told Congress that this year is the “inflection point” for the Marine Corps to begin changes that will keep it relevant and ready against adversaries a decade from now.Here.
But he remained vague on the details of those changes.
On Thursday, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger told the House Armed Services Committee that this year is the time for the service to pivot, but that the budgets for fiscal years 2022 and 2023 will show significantly more changes.
There were new priorities already in the pending 2021 budget, such as anti-ship missile systems, he said.
A massive change in the force structure of the Corps along with huge changes to the type and quantities of gear we purchase?
Amazing.
It irks that instead of the low hanging fruit of aligning Marine Air more fully with Navy air, or paring down the huge number of Generals inside a force that has 3 divisions (seems like 3 division should equal 3 Generals right?) that is being ignored in order to radically transform the Marines.
Bad vibes on all this...my spider sense is tingling.
More Marine Corps Personnel Cuts Are Coming, Commandant Says
via Military Times.
The plan to shed thousands from the Marine Corps' ranks next year won't be the only cut -- and it won't be the biggest reduction the force will face either, the service's top general told lawmakers Thursday.Story here.
Commandant Gen. David Berger gave a glimpse into a much-anticipated review that will shape the Marine Corps for years to come while testifying before members of the House Armed Services Committee.
Rep. Mike Rogers, an Alabama Republican, asked Berger when "we're going to start seeing you take the knife out and start taking some action."
The Marine Corps' 2021 budget request includes a plan to drop the service's end strength from 186,200 to 184,100.
"That probably won't be the largest [cut] or the last," Berger said. "Why? I think every service chief would love to have a bigger force, but you need us to be lethal. You need us to be mobile. It needs to be integrated with the Navy.
"So, we're going to reduce the size of the Marine Corps some this year, more next year," the commandant said.
A few things.
I remember hearing as far back as Amos that the Marine Corps could go down to 150K. I think what was floated as a possibility was in essence being planned in the background all along.
Next if past is prologue the Marines will savagely cut personnel, those dudes and dudettes will (in some cases) be massively pissed and then the next war will roll around and the Marines will have to ask those same people that they mercilessly kicked out being dragged back in...or begged to come back.
Last it irks me to no end that this reorganization is being done in the dark with VERY LITTLE debate (outside of the general's club...which means that its gonna be controversial as fuck), no outside analysis and no input from Marines being affected.
Additionally we've seen this show before. How many times have we seen the US military (all services) tailor make their force for the war they think is coming and one out of left field arrives on their doorsteps?
Confidence is high.
I think we're (if we're gonna look at an example) in the interwar period between WW1 and WW2.
Everyone is peering into their crystal ball trying to divine the future but no one really has a clue and the tech is progressing at a rate in so many different directions that we're all probably missing the next great couple of innovations that will decide future combat.
I like Berger. He's bold. He's trying to be a change agent, but like most change agents he's doomed to failure for one simple reason. He's not getting buy in on his plans and unless he gets support for this effort it just won't succeed.
Saturday, February 29, 2020
United States faces first Coronavirus death...
Yeah. This is getting deep. Thoughts? Anyone? Anyone?
Coronavirus is slamming Iran. How many doubt that with all the Chinese activity in Africa that they're not being affected?
BREAKING: BBC reports Death Toll in #Iran from Coronavirus is ** 210 **. Government only reporting 34!— Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) February 28, 2020
If true, makes Iran second highest deaths after China. Majority of cases in ME from Iran. Via @BahmanKalbasi https://t.co/GtF8LjCCop
I've been watching the Coronavirus/Iran story with great interest. The reason? China has extensive contact with that regime. Which led me to this. If we can assume that the Coronavirus arrived in Iran (and yeah I know its a big assumption) due to extensive Chinese activity in that country then surely that same activity in Africa is leading to the same outcome.
Africa is already facing a massive outbreak and the only reason why we don't know about it is for the same reason why we aren't seeing a bigger outbreak in America.
We haven't been testing for it and I'll bet many others including African states haven't either.
This thing is global. Is it deadly? We don't know just how deadly yet but we are facing a pandemic.
Turkey's plan B fails. Greece blocks more than 4000 migrants from entering their border....
#UPDATE Greece blocked thousands of refugees from crossing the border from Turkey, as they fled fresh violence in northwestern Syria. Clashes erupted between police and migrants, and the Greek PM said 'We averted more than 4,000 attempts of illegal entrace to our land borders' pic.twitter.com/Y2OewzWvs6— AFP news agency (@AFP) February 29, 2020
This was an almost evil move by Turkey. To use migrants as a weapon in order to gain concessions from the EU and NATO? Pure evil.
In this case their plan B has backfired. Turkey is losing in Syria and in Libya. They've lost friends, have no real allies and find themselves alone, unwanted and barely tolerated.
How do they find their way out? I have no idea. But we should perhaps move Turkey up a bit on our global watch list. I don't believe we'll see "the Purge part 2" yet but I think we might be close.
A bad economy, failing overseas adventures and now the bodies of young Turks returning home in body bags to the embrace of tearful mothers? Add Coronavirus to the mix and it could cause his govt to fall.
Regardless of the reason we should prepare for the chaos of Erdogan leaving/being forced out by a few fed up retired/purged Generals that still have connections with the active force.
AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW), the most advanced hypersonic boost-glide missile in development.
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