Polish, Italian and Dutch Security Forces are now assisting the Greeks at their border...

Polish, Italian and Dutch border security forces deploy at Kastanies -- via @andreasmoun pic.twitter.com/2dbuSQf51T

— Aris Roussinos (@arisroussinos) March 13, 2020

Wow.

The outreach to stop this latest move by Turkey seems to be expanding.  This bears watching.  The Coronavirus and this too?  Never push people too hard.  Especially the gentle ones.  Those are the type that can become the most feral.

Europe is a gentle soul (in the modern era) but I'm a bit worried that they're being pushed a bit and will find their teeth.

If that happens then that really would be a paradigm changing event.

Imagine a world where Europe fully militarized.  That acted as a federalized state instead of a union of nations.  Imagine a Europe that embraced Russia, banished forever Turkey and became 100% Eurocentric.

The EU-MegaState could become the most powerful force on the planet.  They would supplant the rise of China and would probably surpass the US in just a decade or two.  It might be morbid but think of a united Europe, democratized, pluralistic, militaristic but without the baggage of its past. 

Who am I fooling.  Never happen.

The Heaviest Tracked Amphibian Ever Built

The Heaviest Tracked Amphibian Ever Built

At 306 US tons (277.6 metric tons) fully loaded and 204 US tons (185 metric tons) dry, the Crawler-Crusher is the fourth heaviest amphibious vehicle of all time. It is surpassed only by the Aist-class LCAC hovercraft at 302.8 metric tons fully loaded, the Saunders-Roe N.4 Mk.III passenger hovercraft, at around 320 metric tons, and the Zubr-class LCAC hovercraft, which can weigh over 500 tons when fully loaded. The Crawler-Crusher is by far the largest and heaviest tracked amphibian of all time, vastly surpassing all other conventionally- (non-hovercraft) powered amphibious vehicles. For such a heavy vehicle, the Crawler-Crusher was surprisingly buoyant, able to float in just 7 feet 10 inches (2.38 m) of water. In terms of overall dimensions, the Crawler-Crusher was 58 feet (17.7 m) long, 24 feet (7.3 m) wide, and 22 feet (6.7 m) tall.

Powered by 2x Caterpillar D432 270 hp Diesel Engines, 540 hp total

Open Comment Post. 14 Mar 2020

National Emergency Declared. Do you still believe you have all the data points? All the information? Still think its nothing?

Trump declared a national emergency.

With that declaration the US govt just unleashed ASTONISHING power over its citizenry in ways that the news media has HARDLY informed the average person about and no where (that I've seen) is anyone discussing it.

I'll touch on it a very little here.

With the declaration of a national emergency the US president can...

1.  Deploy the military on US soil.

2.  Suspend ordinary civil liberties.

3.  Apprehend (or in this case)/quarantine any individual that meets a certain criteria that the govt determines to be applicable.

4.  Ability to seize certain private assets/nationalize industry.

And that's just a VERY few that I'm jamming out before I run to the gym.

Many readers have continued to downplay the ramifications of this virus.  You should not be fooled.  We aren't getting all the information but you can bet your left nutt that with the extraordinary actions by govts all over the world that this is a major event.

Common virus my ass.  Easily recovered from by the majority of people...I'm beginning to doubt.

The actions don't NOT meet the statements being issued from not only Trump but by other leaders around the world.

What do I think?  Not sure anymore.  But I do believe we're looking at a Spanish Flu type scenario.  I truly believe that this is round one.  I also believe that the 30 day suspension of activity that is being implemented nationwide is simply wishful thinking.  I truly fear this could drag on for months.

Iran has burial pits for the victims of the coronavirus so vast they can be seen from space...

Coronavirus burial pits so vast they’re visible from space.

Iranian authorities began digging a pair of trenches for victims just days after the government disclosed the initial outbreak. https://t.co/3S4dgLisbu pic.twitter.com/UJwEWEAdhi

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 12, 2020

DESPICABLE! China Government Spokesman Says U.S. Army Might Have Bought Virus to China

via Reuters.

BEIJING (REUTERS) - Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian wrote on his Twitter account on Thursday that the U.S. military might have brought the coronavirus to the Chinese city of Wuhan, which has been hardest hit by the outbreak.

"When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation!" Zhao tweeted in English.

(Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

PATHETIC.

DESPICABLE.

But expected behavior from an outlaw govt that our corporations have sold their souls to.

I'm almost positive (considering the reaction of the Chinese initially and world govts later) that this is a weaponized virus. 

The Chinese were sloppy and they let it get into the wild.

Wow! Poland and Austria send Special Forces Units to backup Greece forces at the border...

#EuropeanUnion 🇪🇺 Special forces #Austria 🇦🇹 and #Poland 🇵🇱 reached the Greek-Turkish border in #Evros to back up Greek authorities to face the migration crisis created by #Turkey. #IStandWithGreece pic.twitter.com/R1zj6H42yY

— Nic 🇬🇷 (@NicAthens) March 12, 2020

Just plain wow.

I was wondering if Europe as going to let Greece stand alone against the latest move by Turkey and at least a couple of countries are deciding to act.

Poland I kinda figured would be one of the first to move.  Didn't see Austria. Thought it would be The Netherlands.  Regardless this is interesting.

The country to watch?  Any of the former Eastern Bloc nations, France and/or Germany.  The former Eastern Bloc nations because they're usually hardcore with regard to immigration from the Middle East/Africa.  France because they want to be the military leader of the EU and Germany because I believe they're needing to ease public displeasure with immigration.

Boeing - SAAB T7A completes six flights in one day...

Six #T7A flights in one day! Our two test Boeing-@Saab Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) aircraft have been busy flying as they continue to prove the reliability of the Red Hawk for the @USAirForce. pic.twitter.com/9ge6mDc67s

— Boeing Defense (@BoeingDefense) March 12, 2020

If I was running Boeing I would make every effort possible to gobble up SAAB. They injected much needed energy into their defense part of their business and a team up could lead to an outstanding portfolio of equipment that would probably take the world by storm.

SAAB innovation/products mixed with Boeing access to the US military market/foreign sales?

Match made in heaven.

Its obvious there is alot more to the coronavirus than we're being told...

Supposition.

There is more to the coronavirus than we're being told.

My lucid argument.

1.  To say that the coronavirus is just a variation of the normal flu is blown out of the water by China's reaction to the outbreak.  They went full bore and then some when this thing broke out.

2.  The reaction of our allies.  Italy has gone hog wild.  Australia went hard and so are many of our other friends.

3.  The reaction of our enemies.  Did you catch what the leader of Iran had to say about the virus?  He didn't point at just the US but also China.  To paraphrase he said that its obvious that this disease was weaponized and unleashed upon the world.  We still don't know how bad it is inside their country.

4.  The NBA suspended their season.  Don't see that happening unless they're being told the same.  Remember this is a disease that is suppose to affect the old and those with pre-existing conditions.

There's ton more but I just don't feel like giving a complete tick tock.

Long story short?

We don't know all the facts but its clear that we're missing important and perhaps disturbing information about this virus.  Not sure why the govts of the world would choose to leave us all in the dark but I believe that's happening.

What I find amazing?

This thing could actually freeze the global economy. 

Worse?

I don't think there is a thing that anyone can do to stop global trade should that happen. 

PS.  The stock market is down almost 2000 points.  We are seeing a return to sanity that might be the great "reset" that is talked about so much in the prepping community.

Open Comment Post. 12 Mar 2020

Russian Electronic Warfare Systems spotted in Donbas...

Russian EW systems in Donbas War pic.twitter.com/m0soHnTjFD

— Caesar (@Ninja998998) March 12, 2020

Small irritation that doesn't rise to the level of a rant.  Are we building a significant disability in our way of land warfare by our dependence on air systems to provide our electronic warfare capability?

Looking at what Russia is doing (I have limited visibility on Chinese efforts...if you know then educate the class) in the air and land, I can't help but feel we're behind.

Yeah I'm repeating myself but I can't get the story that I read about a Ukrainian Lt having to escape and evade back to his lines after his unit was located, apparently sizzled in an electronic attack and then bombarded into a unit that was totally destroyed if not in name then in function.

Does any Western power have properly developed ground based electronic warfare systems that can rival what we're seeing from the Russians or is it all based on our airpower?

S. Korean KF-X Graphic

The 13th Light Brigade of the Royal Dutch Army on exercise with the THeMIS UGV.

Open Comment Post. 11 Mar 2020

Textron delivers first next generation Ship to Shore Connector/Craft 100 to the US Navy...

Excited to announce we have delivered the first next-generation air cushion vehicle, Ship-to-Shore Connector (SSC), Craft 100 to the U.S. Navy! Learn more about this major milestone: https://t.co/ieGktexoD8#TextronSystems #PushingPastPossible #SSC #Craft100 #USNavy #Navy pic.twitter.com/J1NTfl88QT

— Textron Systems (@TXTSystems) March 10, 2020

WHO declares a pandemic. About damn time!

via Washington Post.

The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared coronavirus a pandemic, reflecting concern from WHO that countries aren’t working quickly and aggressively enough to contain the virus.

“We are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

The declaration came as the number of known novel coronavirus cases surpassed 120,000 worldwide. In the United States, where more than 30 people have been killed by the coronavirus, the total number of cases has doubled in a matter of days, surpassing 1,000 late Tuesday.

The White House is considering moving all of Europe to a Level 3 travel advisory, discouraging all nonessential travel to those regions, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.

Here. 

Depending on the severity of this thing, we could experience a society changing event.

Time will tell on that issue.

What I'm positive of is that the Director General will be vilified in history. This should have been declared weeks ago.  Quite honestly in my opinion he chose money over lives.

My hope.

We take the pain now.  Suffer the effects for a month while we do the hard thing and get to the other side of this thing by May.

That's my hope.

Normalcy Bias & The Coronavirus...

Small rant.

How many times have we discussed messaging, information influence campaigns and psychological operations aimed at the masses?

Yeah.  Plenty of times.

Which leads me to this.

Why are so many here sticking their heads in the sands with regard to this outbreak?

It isn't obvious that this is a pandemic NOW?  It isn't obvious that if this was simply a variation of the normal flu that this thing would actually be no big deal?  That if it was an ordinary flu that we wouldn't see so many countries taking such drastic steps to combat it?

I mean seriously!  Look at how China reacted to this!  They practically shut down their country to fight this thing.  S. Korea did the same.  Now we're seeing the drama that Italy is going thru.

The reaction we're seeing from not one but several countries is a huge red flag to me.  I'm assuming that they have better information than any of us and we're looking at 1st world nations employ draconian measures to attempt to prevent the spread.

Look at history!  We didn't see this reaction to H1N1. 

We didn't see the same reaction ANYWHERE.

I don't know what this thing is (I do have my suspicions and they haven't changed.  I honestly believe that this isn't a result of wet markets but a tailor made virus that got loose from the Chinese) but the reaction from govts tell me that it isn't good.

So to those that claim that this virus is no big deal, explain why I'm wrong.  Why all the govts of the world are wrong and why we're getting warned that schools will soon be closed, sporting events held without fans, and crowded events everywhere will be canceled (all of the above is already happening).

Yeah cowboy.  Tell me how I'm fear mongering and this thing is nothing...otherwise I accuse you of having normalcy bias on steroids.

Finnish Army NH-90's operating in the snow...pics by Anthony Pecchi

Wait! Did this really happen in Syria? Turkey gave up territory?

😀😁 https://t.co/w62b20YOOA

— Andrew 🇸🇾 (@AndrewBritani) March 10, 2020

I'm just gonna leave this right here and wait for someone to confirm it.  If true I can't wait to hear the explanation.

A Turk Military Twitter Account You Should Eyeball...

Örneğin Hava Kuvvetleri, İdlib hava sahasının Ruslarca kapatılması nedeniyle havlu atmak yerine, SİHA'lar ile aktif bir şekilde hava harekatı ve F16'lar ile F4'lerden hem hava hedeflerine, hem de kara hedeflerine uzun menzilli silahlarla atışlar yaparak karadaki birlikleri pic.twitter.com/wzBi2SgPy3

— ParsKuru (@ParsKuru) March 9, 2020

Click on the Tweet and give this guy's page a look see.  The US govt asked the Russians to be more forthcoming about their military and they've responded in spades (much to the annoyance of many...be careful what you wish for), but in the fight for Syria we're not getting many details on the Turk military or their operations (well except for our resident expert here...Alpay, you sometimes annoy but we luv ya).

This Twitter account might fill in some of the gaps on what they're doing and how they're doing it.  I found it interesting anyway!  Oh and besides discussion of the airbattle that I missed he also talks about the role of tanks in the fight for Idlib. 

This war is something that will be studied for decades.