‘Murder Hornets’ in the U.S.: The Rush to Stop the Asian Giant Hornet

via NY Times

In his decades of beekeeping, Ted McFall had never seen anything like it.

As he pulled his truck up to check on a group of hives near Custer, Wash., in November, he could spot from the window a mess of bee carcasses on the ground. As he looked closer, he saw a pile of dead members of the colony in front of a hive and more carnage inside — thousands and thousands of bees with their heads torn from their bodies and no sign of a culprit.

“I couldn’t wrap my head around what could have done that,” Mr. McFall said.

Only later did he come to suspect that the killer was what some researchers simply call the “murder hornet.”

Here.

2020 is turning out to be one fucked up year.

New German APFSDS will be ready soon.

The New #German #APFSDS will be ready soon.
Via @RheinmetallAG: "The performance upgrade of the KE ammunition to the #DM73 will be completed in 2020 and will offer the German army a decisive advantage in terms of range and penetration". pic.twitter.com/6ObTXxvc7r

— The Dead District (@TheDeadDistrict) May 3, 2020

Open Comment Post. 3 May 2020

Rolls Royce Flying Testbed (FTB) Mustang, a mid-engined proposal for a P51 powered by a Rolls Royce Griffon

F-16 show of force...

 

https://usafphantom2.tumblr.com/post/617026642227937280

 

My "conspiracy" theory about Covid-19 escaping from the lab in Wuhan appears to be gaining traction...

Thanks to UtahBob for the link!

via Daily Telegraph.

China deliberately suppressed or destroyed evidence of the coronavirus outbreak in an “assault on international transparency’’ that cost tens of thousands of lives, according to a dossier prepared by concerned Western governments on the COVID-19 contagion.

The 15-page research document, obtained by The Saturday Telegraph, lays the foundation for the case of negligence being mounted against China.

It states that to the “endangerment of other countries” the Chinese government covered-up news of the virus by silencing or “disappearing” doctors who spoke out, destroying evidence of it in laboratories and refusing to provide live samples to international scientists who were working on a vaccine.

Here. 

Interesting isn't it.  Ideas are always fringe before they're accepted as common wisdom. 

I remember some of the comments made by the detractors when this thing first blew up and I was ringing the alarm bells (this while it was still in China)..posted over at Moon Of Alabama back in January when they were saying this was no big deal...

Solomon over at SNAFU has gone into complete hysteria over this. He is doing the impossible of making the MSM look sane.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

 SNAFU's solomon is anti china racist who took in all sinophobic propaganda and accept them as fact , because he wallow in every kind of news that show chinese despair.
The fact that he is an african american and at the same time hold the right wing racist ideology suggest a confused man inside.
anything that negative to china as a nation and to chinese people will be put on display on SNAFU with no thinking allowed.
remember SNAFU's commenter site are full of astroturfers and hasbaras from all over the world.

Yeah.

Well it appears that I have been ahead of the curve on this thing so forgive me for taking a victory lap.

What's worse isn't the disease (as bad as it is) but the cure.  Our economy is gonna take such a vicious hit that more will die from the consequences of the shutdown than from the virus.

But back on track.

China has a day of reckoning coming (worldwide) from this thing.  We're all gonna be setback economically because of this thing but China will take an especially hard hit.

Everyone now knows what I knew all along. 

China isn't to be trusted.

They aren't to be depended on.  They're communist with a goal and fair play ain't part of it.  Industry (vital industry) will be forced back home.  Trade will take a hit.  Tensions will increase (even with the usually passive European Union) and the road ahead for them will get bumpy.

For all the pain that's coming I couldn't be happier about their plight.

Chinese Light Tanks on exercise...

15式 pic.twitter.com/Wx0jzGWu9f

— 马日天 (@z5J6NWig6ByNnsC) May 1, 2020

The coming Greater Depression of the 2020s...a must read...

via Market Watch

 After the 2007-09 financial crisis, the imbalances and risks pervading the global economy were exacerbated by policy mistakes. So, rather than address the structural problems that the financial collapse and ensuing recession revealed, governments mostly kicked the can down the road, creating major downside risks that made another crisis inevitable.

And now that it has arrived, the risks are growing even more acute. Unfortunately, even if the Greater Recession leads to a lackluster U-shaped recovery this year, an L-shaped “Greater Depression” will follow later in this decade, owing to 10 ominous and risky trends.

The first trend concerns deficits and their corollary risks: debts and defaults.

The policy response to the COVID-19 crisis entails a massive increase in fiscal deficits — on the order of 10% of GDP or more — at a time when public debt levels in many countries were already high, if not unsustainable.

Populist leaders often benefit from economic weakness, mass unemployment, and rising inequality. Under conditions of heightened economic insecurity, there will be a strong impulse to scapegoat foreigners for the crisis.
Worse, the loss of income for many households and firms means that private-sector debt levels will become unsustainable, too, potentially leading to mass defaults and bankruptcies. Together with soaring levels of public debt, this all but ensures a more anemic recovery than the one that followed the Great Recession a decade ago.

A second factor is the demographic time bomb in advanced economies.

The coronavirus crisis shows that much more public spending must be allocated to health systems, and that universal health care and other relevant public goods are necessities, not luxuries. Yet, because most developed countries have aging societies, funding such outlays in the future will make the implicit debts from today’s unfunded health-care and social-security systems even larger.

A third issue is the growing risk of deflation.

In addition to causing a deep recession, the crisis is also creating a massive slack in goods (unused machines and capacity) and labor markets (mass unemployment), as well as driving a price collapse in commodities such as oil and industrial metals. That makes debt deflation likely, increasing the risk of insolvency.

Here. 

Hey guys.  This is in my opinion a must read.  It's light and easily digested for a non-economics guy like me but it hits on points that are readily understood for someone of my limited knowledge in these affairs.

Drink it all in and let me know what you think.

Open Comment Post. 2 May 2020

Why do far right protesters always show up with guns?

Armed, far-right protesters stormed the Michigan Capitol in defiance of stay-at-home orders pic.twitter.com/tc9ywI2XPl

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) May 2, 2020

I really didn't want to wade into these waters but this has been an issue in the past and seems to be picking up steam.

Why do far right protesters show up with guns?

I can't think of any other segment of the population that does this.  While I can sympathize with many of their positions this just makes me cold.

If you're gonna peacefully protest why the weaponry?

If you're looking to sway the public to your position then why the show of force?

I'm hoping someone can explain this to me.

Before you ask, yes I'm pro-gun.  Yes I have body armor, a couple of Magpul D-60s and more 30 round mags than you can shake a stick at.  I carry concealed everyday.

But even with all that I don't get this.

Help me understand.

Opinion....Bin Laden killed...High Value Kill/Capture Raids ruined SOCOM & misdirected our war on terror

If you take a swing around Military Twitter & Instagram it appears that many are all gaga about the Bin Laden raid.

I get it.

It was a bold mission that succeeded beyond anyone's imagination (although I still have to wonder if the dude isn't in a max security prison never to be seen again...yeah its a conspiracy but why send SEALs to put a bullet in a head instead of bouncing rubble?).

But back on task.

Looking back on the wars (and historians will have a ton of work to do in that regard) I can't help but wonder if successive White Houses focusing on kill terror leaders and SOCOM making its reason for being for every unit didn't misdirect our war effort.

I'm looking at insurgencies world wide and have to wonder if that tactic is winning ANYWHERE.

I don't have an answer but it sure doesn't look like it.  Additionally I can't recommend a better course of action.

Another factor is this.  What happens if an enemy, any enemy tries to do the same to us.  Can you imagine what would occur if ISIS decided to send a few of their zealots after Congress Critters in the US?  I imagine they could get at least a few before authorities could finally track them down and neutralize them.

But the chaos would be legion.

What if they did the same and went after a few one star generals/admirals? Security details for those bubbas are kinda light if they have them at all.

That problem multiplies exponentially if a state actor with real Special Ops makes a run at them (not even gonna count the big players in this...Russia/China are off the table, the blow back would be too extreme...even N. Korea would balk at that type of madness) but others might not.

The Bin Laden Raid should be celebrated.  BUT WITH CAUTION.  There are many lessons to be learned from it but it wasn't a resounding success (strategically) and probably marks the high point of the High Value Target Raid. 

From my chair it just isn't worth the squeeze and did NOT produce the desired results at the end of the day.

MAG-12 Harpoon Training Exercise....Photos by Sgt. Akeel Austin (WARNING - MEGA PIC THREAD!!!)