Sunday, June 01, 2025

Ok. I'm becoming a bit alarmed. Have you heard of Palantir and what it does/how Trump plans to use it?

 Don't know how many of you are into stocks.  A buddy of mine gave me a stock tip while we were grinding at the gym.  I looked into it and at first I saw the returns and thought wow!  It has jumped like the Hulk in the past few days.  Then I dug into what it is they do cause I never heard of them. 

Now I'm a bit alarmed.  Check this out via New York Times

In March, President Trump signed an executive order calling for the federal government to share data across agencies, raising questions over whether he might compile a master list of personal information on Americans that could give him untold surveillance power.


Mr. Trump has not publicly talked about the effort since. But behind the scenes, officials have quietly put technological building blocks into place to enable his plan. In particular, they have turned to one company: Palantir, the data analysis and technology firm.

Please read the article here. 

Then this from the Daily Beast.

Most Americans have never heard of Palantir. That’s by design. It doesn’t make phones or social platforms. It doesn’t beg for your data with bright buttons or discount codes. Rather, it just takes it. Quietly. Legally. Systematically. Palantir is a back-end beast, the silent spine of modern surveillance infrastructure.


Palantir’s influence isn’t hypothetical. It’s operational. From the battlefields of Ukraine to the precincts of Los Angeles, its software guides drone strikes, predicts crime, allocates police resources, and even helps governments decide which children might someday become “threats.” These aren’t sci-fi hypotheticals. They are pilot programs, already integrated, already scaling.


This software—Gotham, Foundry, and now its Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP)—is designed to swallow everything: hospital records, welfare files, license plate scans, school roll calls, immigration logs and even your tweets. It stitches these fragments into something eerily complete—a unified view of you. With each data point, the image sharpens.

Here 

I know you're gonna ask why I'm alarmed.  This simply seems as a move to link govt databases in an effort to limit corruption.

Yes I agree that could be the case.  The problem is that we've been bombarded since 9/11 with efforts that are suppose to increase safety, efficiency and now corruption by BOTH political parties.

The unintended consequences always bite the little guy in the ass.  The fact that this isn't widespread news should alarm everyone.

Maybe I'm paranoid but it really seems like the business of govt is control, not serving the public but controlling it.

Want the best example?  Remember covid restrictions?  That wasn't about the safety of the public.  It was about control.  Remember the Patriot Act?  It wasn't about fighting terrorism.  Tools were already in place for that.  It was about control.

Remember this too.  Some of us bitched and whined but that's all.  Those measures are still in effect.  The damage done has never been corrected.  Only investigated.

In the modern era the differences between political systems seem thin ... at best. At worst they mirror each other.

Hegseth warns Chinese invasion of Taiwan ‘could be imminent’

 
Interesting.

I've been stating that this seems to be the war the Pentagon wants.  If China could/would invade Taiwan "imminently" then it will be a sight to behold.

The world will plunge into recession if not a depression and the Chinese economy will collapse with major internal problems to follow (probably here already).

I can't define imminent but some of the stuff I would expect to see isn't happening.  No propaganda, no shaping of minds on the global stage, and not even internal preparations.

I hope this is credible (because I would hate to think that they're shouting the war is coming bullshit) but I have to wonder.

Open Comment Post. 1 June 25

 

Why is everyone convinced that the Ukraine/Russia war is an example of the future?

 

The above statement is one held by many people.

My question is why?  Why is everyone so convinced that future warfare will follow the Ukraine/Russia model?

During the initial invasion Russia violated most of the rules of maneuver warfare.  During the Ukraine counter invasion they did too.

Both sides seemed to be in love with WW1 style attrition war.

Additionally we don't see the type of air battles that we recently witnessed in the Pakistan/India dust up.

TLDR?  Why the hell are we basing our future procurement on flawed fights?  Why are we looking at nations that are doing it wrong and deciding that future fights will be the same.  

We're setting ourselves up for future shocks by taking the wrong lessons from people that consider themselves brains but are simply PRISONERS OF THE MOMENT!

Saturday, May 31, 2025

The US Army’s New 30mm Grenade Rifle (video)

 

 
The Marine Corps will need...let's say 5k. I'm easier. Give me one and I'm happy. But lets get real. The Army will fumble this shit and we'll see it in Chinese service before we see it in the red, white and blue.

Open Comment Post. 31 May 25

 

Cheap, small bomb load (relative to other jets) and never at the forefront of aviation tech, the Harrier will be missed by the Marine Corps...

What is the latest "low profile" war SOCOM is involved in? I believe they're operating in Haiti...

What news story appeared for a brief time in the news but has since faded away.

It's essentially the fall of Haiti into a completely lawless state.

Many Americans became aware of the issue when they saw tons of Haitians appearing at the southern border of the US.  It kinda exploded when Border Patrol was accused of "whipping" Haitian immigrants (a charge that was easily proven false).

After that?  Nothing.

Except we're now starting to see this.  The UN did the usual thing by sending peacekeepers (I believe they were trying to get a few African countries to send troops but the best of the bunch, again I'm not sure doing this from memory, are from Brazil).

The violence continued but the special status for immigrants was revoked.  The administrations changed and I'm thinking, not sure, but I believe SOCOM is doing work down there.

Haitian forces, military and law enforcement, are overwhelmed, feckless and in many ways controlled by the criminal gangs.  I just don't see them being able to launch these types of attacks.

That leaves SOCOM to do the hard things and if we're smart we'll cheer their efforts.

Friday, May 30, 2025

That's the hand signal for "pass me a grenade"? Never knew...

US Army's Logistic Support Vessel Graphic...

Note. I did NOT know these ships were capable of carrying such an impressive load. Maybe we should have piggybacked off the Army buy! Some of you were singing this class of ships praises but I didn't pay attention. My bad.  Question.  The USMC is always talking about the "joint force" so why aren't we partnering with the Army on the (flawed) Force Design mobility issue instead of reinventing the wheel?  Side issue.  The US military talks more about interoperability with foreign forces than it does on DOING interoperability inside our own.

Chinese PL-15 suffered from performance anxiety against the Indian Air Force?

Note. We're getting revised statements on the performance of the Chinese supplied weaponry to the Pakistani Air Force. Additionally we're seeing that the Indians were quite effective in defeating Pakistani anti-air and command infrastructure over the disputed territory. Our eyes will be on other topics but hopefully someone will get ahold of the after action report by neutral parties and tell us exactly what happened and how.

 

Ukraine could collapse. What will that look like?

 via Brussel's Signal

A scenario European leaders would do well to consider, as Kyiv enters the Washington-sponsored peace process with profound frustration: with the White House determined to put an end to the war in Ukraine, the Europeans are telling Zelensky that no peace is necessary. The war can continue indefinitely, they say; and, if the Americans want out, Europe can still step in to fill the void.


But Zelensky is foolish to believe that the Europeans will save him from the forces of reality. Europe, the last bulwark of the once-insurmountable pro-war consensus, is a continent of hawks without beaks. Ukraine cannot defeat Russia with just European support. Ukraine will collapse.


Look at what will happen then. Ukraine’s predicament seems increasingly reminiscent of that of the Second Spanish Republic after its defeat at the battle of the Ebro in late 1938 destroyed any remaining hope of turning the tide.

Story here and well worth a read.

FINALLY!  They're stating what I've been yelling for years now.  Even better is the realization that since the 2022 negotiations things have been going south for Ukraine at the behest of Euro Hawks that still depend on US funding and equipment to see their vision thru.

I implore you.  READ THE ARTICLE BEFORE YOU COMMENT OFF THE SNIPPET ABOVE!

 

QUART 25.2: ACVs launch and recover in low light conditions ...Video by Lance Cpl. Aimee Jordan

ACVs Splash into QUART...Photos by Staff Sgt. Dylan Chagnon

Open Comment Post. 30 May 25

5-4 ADAR Supports Formidable Shield 25...Photos by Capt. Alexander Watkins (ground forces are still not getting it)

Note. I've been watching the Army and Marine Corps provide solutions to drone swarms. These short range, last mile, defense systems just won't get it. They're not looking at the threat as it exists. What do I mean? The focus is so targeted toward defeating drones that they're not factoring in ground support aircraft that will launch missiles from tens of miles away. If an enemy is on the ball (and we have to assume that they are) then they would launch drone swarms, tie up our air defense while attack aircraft are making runs at our ground forces. Shoulder fired missiles that are mounted on vehicles, with LIMITED engagements per load aren't gonna cut it. So what does that mean? For better or worse (especially since our air arms have practically said ground forces are on their own) we have to get medium ranged missiles as part of our formations. How do you put AIM-120s on a ground platform to protect the force? I don't know. But we need longer ranged systems rather than systems biased to take out drones.