"Society’s most oppressed minority group"? There's good reason for that

 

I'm disgusted and angry by complaints that the cancellation of a camp for "minor-attracted persons" (in other words, those of pedophile inclination) is somehow "oppression" or "discrimination".  On the contrary - I'm sure almost all parents reading this (and many others too) will regard it as sound common sense.  Why put our kids in proximity to a real and present danger to their well-being?

After local outcry canceled a camp for “minor-attracted persons” set for last weekend in Vermont, several organizations are publicly defending those who declare a sexual attraction to children.

MAP Union, or MU, which represents itself as “an international organization representing the interests of minor-attracted people and their allies,” sent a statement to local reporter Guy Page protesting the camp cancelation as “bullying” and violence against “society’s most oppressed minority group.”

. . .

The person calling himself “Percy” also told Bean, “We hope to provide a more balanced approach to MAP advocacy than groups like NAMBLA have been able to in the past.” NAMBLA is the North American Man-Boy Love Association, which effectively disintegrated after a series of FBI stings jailed members for abusing children and trafficking in illegal abuse images.

People sexually attracted to children are typically pornography addicts who often get sent to jail for trafficking in illegal abuse images. Porn businesses are complicit ... as they “deliberately insert transgender partners, children, and opposite-sex partners into pornography aimed at children and heterosexuals, in order to ‘see if you can convert somebody, right?'” a senior script writer for a Pornhub company disclosed in 2023.

. . .

“We do understand the alarm among local parents, but we are extremely unhappy about non-violent MAP community members being labeled as dangerous to children,” Brian Ribbon, a cofounder of MAP Union, said in a statement to The National Desk. “The idea that these people would for some reason try to attack children at the local school is outrageous and deeply offensive.”

There's more at the link, including some very unsavory ideals indeed (vulva-shaped chocolates?  Really?).

Here's a rule of thumb.  Any person or organization seeking to defend pedophiles - whether active, or only with that orientation - is defined by that action as being an immediate, clear and present danger to the safety of our children and the health of our communities.  That's the bottom line.  There is absolutely no excuse for such orientation.  Forget the complaint that "we were born that way - it's not our fault!"  What they're saying is that their tendency to exploit, manipulate, entice and coerce children into relationships they can't understand and to which they're not old enough to give consent, is "not their fault", but somehow OK.  

I also flatly don't believe those who claim that their sexual orientation towards "minors" is an attitude only, and not one that leads to actual physical relationships with them.  Are you trying to tell me that such persons never look at a kid walking down the sidewalk and fantasize about doing sexual things with/to them?  Is that OK with you?  If it is, I suggest you have a problem almost as large as the "minor-attracted person" themselves - particularly if you have kids of your own, and want to protect them from as they grow up.

Just "No!"  There is no place for pedophiles or "minor-attracted persons" in any normal, healthy society.  End of discussion.  (And well done to the people who canceled that camp!)

Peter

Memes that made me laugh 229

 

Gathered from around the Internet over the past week.  Click any image for a larger view.

Sunday morning music

 

I was introduced to Australian trio The Omnific by fellow blogger 357 Magnum.  She says of them:

The Omnific is a trio from Australia. Two bass players, Matt Fack and Toby Peterson-Stewart, and Jerome Lematua on the drums. Some people object to the 2 basses; I quite like them. While it definitely isn't Heavy Metal, it might have a bit too much energy for first thing in the morning. Give the coffee a chance to take hold.

You can read more about the group on their Web site.

Here are four of their instrumental pieces, chosen at random.  First, there's "Kismet".

Next, "Khimaira".

Here's "Pharaoh".

And finally, "Ne Plus Ultra".

Interesting music, and very different from most progressive rock groups I know.  They're growing on me.

Peter

Another poignant reminder

 

A month ago I put up a cartoon from Stephan Pastis about how those who've died are still with us in so many ways.  I know many of you enjoyed it.

He's just posted another cartoon that in many ways follows on from the first.  Click the image to be taken to a larger version at the "Pearls Before Swine" Web page.

Nothing to add, indeed!  For those of us who believe in God and the afterlife, there's an added element, of course, but the above (plus the previous comic I mentioned) still brings real comfort.

Peter

I have to agree

 

Aesop points out that building homes in fire-prone areas, or places exposed to weather hazards such as hurricanes, is fundamentally stupid, particularly because:

• it costs local and state authorities huge amounts to maintain access to such areas to protect them, fire and rescue departments to aid those living there during disasters, etc.;
• Insurance companies typically won't insure against hazards that are so easily foreseen, meaning that either they have to be compelled to do so through legislation, and/or subsidized to do so from taxpayers' coffers, and/or have state-aided insurance plans such as flood insurance to cover the risks they will not.

He blames government for pandering to those who insist on building homes in such areas, and then expecting the authorities to protect them and "bail them out" when crises occur.  You can read his points in full at the link, and I highly recommend that you do so.

I'd just like to add that the true cost of pandering to those who want to build their homes and/or businesses in such high-risk areas is staggering.  Think about it:

• There's all the infrastructure (roads, power, water, sewage processing and disposal, maintenance, etc.).  That's not just capital cost to provide them all, but ongoing running costs year in, year out.
• There's the expense of subsidizing and/or providing insurance coverage.
• There's the burden of restoring services to such areas when natural disasters disrupt them (which also means the resources devoted to doing that can't be used in other areas where they may be needed, imposing additional delays and costs).
• There's the additional bureaucracy and complexity of legislation and/or regulation accompanying all of the above.

If we got rid of that burden, think of how much we'd all save through having to fund that much less government!  I therefore agree with Aesop on the following:

It was jackassical government greed that let some mid-century idiot build there in the first place, to maximize the county's taxable property value. Which then requires more brush crews to save it, and more roads to maintain to get to it.And then more disaster funds when it repeatedly gets burned up.

Government created this problem.

Smaller government would start by ripping out the paved road that gets there, closing the nearest fire stations, condemning the land, and turning it into permanent natural habitat. But that breaks five or ten government rice bowls, and gets entitled idiots all riled up. 

I've only seen this about 5M times in my lifetime in this state [Aesop lives in California].

If some idiot wants to build his own private road, or make do by getting supplies in and out by pack mule, and carries the liability for such an idiotic house out of his own pocket, that should be the only way that place gets built.

Dollars to donuts the owner also gets all bent up when coyotes eat his pets, and mountain lions start eyeing his kids, and screams to Uncle Government to "do something". Then pisses and moans when the local fire department tells him that with trees and brush 20' from the house, they've already written it off when a fire breaks out. And he's likely the first in line at the trough when they declare a "disaster" (as opposed to "natural causes x human stupidity", which is also the plot recipe for every episode of Rescue 9-1-1, USCG: Cape Disappointment, and 57 other reality-based shows) once his house is a charred chimney surrounded by ashes.

It was big government that started such nonsense, A to Z, in the first place. Like people along the Mississippi found out a few years back, some places shouldn't have houses on them, ever, unless there's an annual stupidity tax on the property equal to 100% of its assessed value.

If government withdraws all services to such parcels save tax assessments, and cancels utility easements, which currently start a goodly number of brushfires up there in competition with lightning (you could look it up) the problem self-corrects within years, if not months, with no further effort nor public expenditure.

That's minimal government.

Amen!

Next step:  calculate how much government is going to be asked to pay (in repairs, compensation, welfare, and other assistance) in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, currently tearing up Florida and Georgia.  It's sure to be in the billions of dollars - which we haven't got to spare.  How many of the homes that are currently being swamped have government-subsidized flood insurance, the ultimate cost of which comes out of our taxpayer pockets?

There may be those who ask, in so many words, "But what about tornadoes or other natural hazards?  Surely people deserve some help in such disasters?"  To that I can only say, "I agree - but who says that help should come from the government?"  In the not too recent past, churches and other community organizations organized such help, raised the necessary funds from their own efforts, and directed it to where it would do the most good.  (Incidentally, they also made sure it did not go to those who would waste or abuse it, because they knew their own people and whether or not they were trustworthy.)  It's only with the rise of "Big Government" that the state tried (not very effectively) to take it over . . . and that's one of the main reasons why we have "Big Government" today.  As wiser men have said before:

The best government is that which governs least.

A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.

Words of wisdom.  Why have we forgotten them?

Peter

UAV's (drones) are well over a century old

 

I was intrigued to read a lengthy history of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV's - also known as "drones") in Air & Space Quarterly.  Here's a brief excerpt.

Elmer Sperry was an American inventor whose wide-ranging interests included the development of gyroscopic stabilizers to reduce the lurching of U.S. Navy ships at sea. He became intrigued with the idea of radio-controlled aircraft, but recognized that stabilization during flight would be essential to make it work. With the assistance of the Navy, Sperry and his son Lawrence developed an automatic gyrostabilizer in 1913, which enabled a Curtiss flying boat to fly straight and level without input from the human pilot on board. On June 18, 1914, Lawrence Sperry and his French assistant Emil Cachin demonstrated the invention at the Aero Club of France’s airplane safety competition. As Sperry stood on one wing of his pilotless flying craft, Cachin on the other, one of the judges on the ground cried out: “Mais, c’est inoui!” (“But that’s unheard of!”). Needless to say, Sperry won the competition’s first prize—50,000 francs ($10,000)—and became famous overnight.

Curtiss-Sperry "Flying Bomb" UAV (1917)

 

Wars accelerate the development of technology, and the drone is no exception. After World War I erupted and the Western Front descended into stalemate, the British decided to take advantage of Sperry’s breakthrough and build a top-secret facility to design the first generation of drones. British engineer, inventor, and television pioneer Archibald Low was given the job, and the Germans considered him to be so capable, they attempted to kill him twice (the second time by a poisoned cigarette). 

Low entered the history books with his engineering project known as “Aerial Target.” Intended to be an aerial torpedo to be used against Zeppelin bombers and U-boats, it had been named Aerial Target to fool the Germans into thinking it was just fodder for testing anti-aircraft weapons. Low’s flying torpedo took off for the first time under radio control in March 1917, a feat that later saw him recognized as the “father of radio guidance systems” and, more recently, “father of the drone.” The initial demonstration was far from perfect—it ended with a spectacular crash landing.

Low's "Aerial Target" (1917)

“A great number of the pieces are in place for remotely piloted aircraft pretty early, by the beginning of World War I,” says Connor. “But what was really lacking was the ability to control the drones effectively, and this was down to the reliability of the radio signals. In so many cases, like the United States’ Kettering aerial torpedo, these projects just devolve into what might be considered a flying bomb. Even Low demonstrated only a degree of control with his Aerial Target: He nearly killed observers on the ground when it crashed during its demonstration flight.”

Kettering "Bug" (1918)

Indeed, a similar misfortune befell the aforementioned Kettering aerial torpedo—known as the “Bug”—during its demonstration flight at a secluded airfield near Dayton, Ohio, where a group of U.S. Army VIPs had gathered to see the first U.S. “guided missile” in action. The miniature wood biplane—named for its inventor Charles F. Kettering—was packed with explosives. A gyro helped maintain the stability of the craft, and a barometer sent signals to small flight controls that were moved by a system of cranks and a bellows (from a player piano) for altitude control. But after taking off, the Bug pivoted off course, at which point it swooped down and headed straight for the reviewing stands, causing officials to dive for cover under the bleachers. Fewer than 50 Bugs were manufactured, and they never saw combat.

Despite these somewhat disappointing initial outcomes, the development of drones continued after the war, while tech nerds of the era remained captivated by radio’s potential. In 1922, Hugo Gernsback, editor of the first science fiction magazine, Amazing Stories, published a book, Radio for All, which had a “really amazing frontispiece,” says Rhys Morus. “It’s a picture of a man of the future, sitting in the future office…and through the window, there is a flying machine in the sky labeled ‘radio-controlled aeroplane.’ ” 

There's much more at the link.  Highly recommended reading.

Those first UAV's were not autonomous at all - they were guided by a pilot who was either on the ground, or in another aircraft flying nearby.  Nevertheless, they were the beginning.  By the end of World War II the first autonomous drones were being developed, and by the Vietnam War a few were successfully used on operations.

Looking at today's battlefields, where UAV's are ubiquitous, it's hard to remember that the concept, at least, is more than a century old!  The technology has finally caught up with the theory.

Peter

"I knew that Hawaii would be the place where I would die"

 

Those are the words of Masamitsu Yoshioka, believed to be the last survivor of the Japanese air fleet that attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.  He died recently at the age of 106.

He flew in a Nakajima B5N2, nicknamed “Kate” by the Americans, carrying a single 800kg torpedo [Type 91] modified for shallow water. By the time he arrived at Pearl Harbor just before 08:00, having flown nearly two hours across the Pacific, the surprise attack on the United States Pacific Fleet was well underway, and all was “wrapped in black smoke”, Yoshioka told Jason Morgan of Japan Forward. “There were only two ships that I could clearly see.”

His pilot flew “dead on” at one of the ships, and Yoshioka, who was then 23, deployed his torpedo: “I spotted, out of the corner of my eye, two narrow, white columns of seawater, about two meters in diameter and 30 meters high, exploding up right beside the vessel. Direct hit!” He watched the mast tilt as the ship filled with water.

But it turned out to be the battleship USS Utah, which sank at a cost of 58 lives – needlessly, because the Japanese aircrew had been under strict instructions not to waste time on the Utah, which was only used as a training vessel. Yoshioka only realised his mistake when he noticed that the Utah’s gun turrets did not have barrels.

Masamitsu Yoshioka was born in Ishikawa Prefecture on January 5 1918 and joined the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1936. He started as ground crew, maintaining biplanes, but was accepted for navigator training in 1938, and in 1939 was posted to the aircraft carrier Soryu.

. . .

On November 26 1941 the Soryu left the port of Hitokappu Bay in the far north (now under Russian control). The crew tried to guess their destination: the pipes were still wrapped with asbestos, which suggested a cold-weather environment, but they had also been told to pack shorts.

When Admiral Nagumo, leader of the carrier battle group, announced that they were heading for Hawaii, “the blood rushed out of my head,” Yoshioka recalled. “I knew that this meant a gigantic war and that Hawaii would be the place where I would die.”

. . .

He flew support missions for the attack on Wake Island, also in December 1941, and took part in the Indian Ocean Raid in spring 1942.

The Soryu would be sunk at the Battle of Midway in June 1942, but Yoshioka survived because he was on leave. He then served in the Palau islands but was invalided to the Philippines with malaria before the bloody Battle of Peleliu in 1944. When the kamikaze attacks on the Allied fleets started, there were no parts for the Kates and Yoshioka, grounded, lived to hear the Emperor’s surrender broadcast on the radio.

There's more at the link.

At the time, Americans hated the Japanese for their "sneak attack", and that anti-Japanese racism was a hallmark of the Pacific campaign.  After the war, attitudes mellowed to at least some extent (although some never forgave them).  One hopes we can at least acknowledge the death of a brave man, probably the last of his kind, who did his duty according to his lights.

Peter

We interrupt this broadcast...

 

It seems that Fadi Boudia, a well-known spokesman for Hezbollah in Lebanon, was on the air presenting his usual dose of propaganda when he was . . . er . . . shall we say, interrupted?

Click over to X to see (and hear) what happened.

I understand his propaganda broadcasts have (perhaps unsurprisingly) not been resumed.  Is that because they wouldn't be "live" any more?

Peter

Another good one

 

Following on our previous post, here's a meme from Matt Bracken.

True dat . . . and all of them are letting - actively aiding and abetting - the so-called "refugees" and "migrants" to invade and take over our country.

Peter

That's a very good question indeed

 

From fellow blogger Mike Miles:

I've seen precisely that in Africa on far too many occasions.  Refugees or "migrants" move from one place to another for whatever reason, and rely on the United Nations and NGO's to feed, house and care for them.  When that aid is cut off (as inevitably happens when the money runs out), they turn to crime and/or violent unrest to get (take) what they need.

From their perspective, of course, they have no choice.  There's no aid available, nobody's going to give them food or clothing or transport, they have no future without the ability to earn a living - so why not riot, rob and loot?  They literally have no alternative.  Unfortunately for all concerned, the things they want to steal already belong to others, who need them just as badly.   If they don't defend what they've got, they're going to starve in their turn.  That means ongoing violence and disruption to society at a minimum - effectively, civil war.

If you've followed the politics and anthropology of the Third World, you know what I'm talking about.  The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia and Sri Lanka are recent examples.  International aid organizations are merely a Band-Aid slapped on top of such festering sores of poverty, deprivation and need.  The same can be said of those "aid" organizations who are arranging the distribution of "migrants" to various parts of the USA, and giving them money, food and other assistance.

Right now, the US taxpayer is subsidizing all of that.  What happens when that money stops flowing?  Will the resulting violence be used as an excuse to keep the aid going, no matter whether we can afford it or not?  Will the authorities crack down on criminal violence to keep it under control?  Or will they let the destitute "migrants" run wild, after first making sure that they've been sent to areas that don't support the administration allowing that to happen?  For that matter, will citizens be allowed to defend themselves against this upsurge of violence, or will they be blamed for it and their defensive weapons confiscated or restricted?

I think we all can guess the answers to those questions.  If you're in any doubt about what's behind it - why so many of our politicians approve of such measures - see here for an explanation.

Peter

So much for "economical" electric vehicles...

 

A British study has just debunked the claim that electric vehicles (EV's) are cheaper to operate than gasoline or diesel vehicles.

Electric cars are up to twice as expensive as petrol or diesel vehicles to run, new figures have suggested.

Running an electric vehicle (EV) can cost more than 24p [about 32c US at current exchange rates] per mile, while a diesel vehicle is 12.5p [about 16.5c US].

It costs as much as 80p [US $1.06] per kilowatt hour to charge an EV using a rapid or ultra-rapid device on the roadside, according to data from the app ZapMap.

A typical electric car will travel 3.3 miles for every kWh of electricity used, meaning rapid and ultra-rapid chargers currently cost the equivalent of 24.1p [about 32c US] per mile, calculations by The Times suggest.

Slower chargers cost 16.4p [about 21.8c US] per mile.

This is about double the average diesel car, which will do 43 miles per gallon, resulting in a cost of 12.5p [about 16.6c US] per mile at current prices. A typical petrol car costs 14.5p [about 19.3c US] per mile, according to the analysis.

There's more at the link.

So much for the promises of greater economy offered with much fanfare by those trying to promote EV's!  With numbers like that, I'll stick to gasoline or diesel as long as I can, thank you very much.

Peter

I need help with a steering diagnosis, please

 

This question is for all you mechanics and automotive experts out there.

I drive a 2014 Nissan Pathfinder.  Over the past six months the vehicle has seemed more and more “twitchy” in its handling when at speed and on rougher surfaces.  This past weekend, my wife and I drove from Iowa Park to San Angelo and back, and the problem appears to have become much worse – so much so that it literally scared us.  At times we worried we might lose control of the vehicle.

The problem occurs in specific conditions:

• When at higher speeds (60-80 mph);
• On rougher road surfaces (not on very smooth surfaces);
• When the road curves, or when the driver changes direction;
• When the vehicle is under acceleration or the cruise control is applying power to maintain speed (not when the vehicle is coasting without the accelerator being used).

All of the above appear to be necessary to create the specific problem.  When they are present, the vehicle can lurch or “twitch” for a second or so when changing direction.  It’s very abrupt, almost as if the vehicle is about to go out of control, but it doesn’t last long enough to make that actually happen.  Sometimes it’s merely a mild twitch, but other times it can be hard and strong enough to really scare us (both driver and passenger).

I've wracked my brains to figure out what might be causing such a problem.  It doesn't resemble a CV joint issue (although that may be part of it), and other front suspension and steering components don't display any obvious problems.  I've sent the car in to the dealership for their mechanics to look at, but so far they haven't reported that they've found anything.

Can anybody suggest what might be causing it?  If so, please advise in Comments.  Thanks!

Peter

"The city of Chicago is going to go up in flames"

 

That's the claim of a former convict and gang member, discussing the arrival of Venezuelan gangs in the city.

After serving 20 years in state prison for murder, former gangbanger Tyrone Muhammad never expected to return to the city’s tough South Side and find Venezuelan migrants and the criminal Tren de Aragua gang moving in.

But Muhammad, 53, who’s gone straight and runs a street patrol and violence prevention program called Ex-Cons for Community and Social Change says Venezuelan criminal gangs flooding shelters and taking over apartment buildings are the last straw for the struggling African-American community. He says they are furious at seeing government money going to what they call “non-citizens.”

“It is impossible to release gang members and criminals into our country through the borders and broken walls and infiltrate them in our community that’s already impoverished and broken,” Muhammad told The Post last week on the O Block, a stretch along South King Drive that’s considered the most dangerous in the city.

“When the black gangs here get fed up with the illegalities and criminal activities of these migrants or non-citizens, the city of Chicago is going to go up in flames and there will be nothing the National Guard or the government can do about it when the bloodshed hits the streets. It’ll be blacks against migrants.”

The latest figures show Chicago has spent almost half a billion dollars over the last two years on the more than 42,000 migrants who’ve arrived since 2022.

Many have been given money for rent, food stamp cards and even cars — and some landlords have pushed out local African-Americans because they can get more government money for housing migrants.

There's more at the link.

It's far more widespread than Chicago, of course;  it's just that no other city has (yet) experienced the sheer size of the "invading force" of South American gangs.  It won't take long.  New York City is another that's on the brink;  so is Denver, Colorado.  I don't think that local gangs are yet aware of the very bloody history of South American gang conflict, either.  Their "hood" and their reputation won't scare anybody who's lived on the streets of Caracas, Rio de Janeiro or other crime-ridden cities like them.

This conflict appears to be spreading to prisons as well.  When I served as a prison chaplain, gangs and conflict between them were a daily fact of life behind bars (I wrote an entire chapter of my memoir of prison chaplaincy about them).  Friends who still work in that environment tell me that it's becoming a necessary security element to rigorously check incoming inmates for membership of South American gangs, and keep them out of general population if there's already a strong Crips, or Bloods, or Gangster Disciples presence on the yard.  If members of the "wrong" gang are released into their company, bloodshed is almost assured.  I won't be surprised to learn that in the not too distant future, certain prisons will be "reserved" for South American gangs, and other prisons for US gangs, in an effort to prevent them coming into contact with each other.  That's been a standard practice in many US prison systems for many years, preventing racial and other conflict between local gang-bangers.

The problem is made worse by the relationship between certain gangs and city administrators - even certain police forces.  If some gangs are in a relationship with the authorities in any way, the latter may order their law enforcement agencies to act against certain other gangs.  That, in turn, will make the cops into targets for those other gangs, and that can lead to utter anarchy on the streets.  (Think it can't happen?  Think again.  It's nothing new.)

If you live in any American city that already has a gang problem, brace yourselves . . . it's about to get a lot worse (and more dangerous).

Peter

Welcome to parenthood indeed!

 

I had to laugh out loud at this cartoon from Stephan Pastis.  Click the image to be taken to a larger version at the "Pearls Before Swine" Web page.

I've long since lost count of the number of parents who complained to me, as a pastor and chaplain, about their kids' seeming inability to communicate (or their lack of interest therein).  I had to explain to them that kids' minds are different from adults.  They're hyper-focused on the here and now, what they're doing and who (and with what) they're doing it.  Letting other people know about it, or remembering that they're supposed to be somewhere (or doing something) else, is outside their wheelhouse while they're preoccupied with something more intriguing (or naughty).

Oh, well.  I don't have kids of my own, but I'm told they turn out to be worth it in the end!

Peter

Memes that made me laugh 228

 

Gathered from around the Internet over the past week.  Click any image for a larger view.

Sunday morning music

 

Here's one for all the survivors of the hippie generation.  Remember Donovan?

Donovan was immensely popular in the 1960's, and influenced many contemporary musicians.  Intriguingly, three of the four members of the future Led Zeppelin played as session musicians on this next song, on different dates and at different times.  None of them were aware of the others at the time;  they only found out about it when they came together to form their group, and discussed their musical background.  As a result, "Hurdy Gurdy Man" was sometimes called the first Led Zeppelin song.

Donovan could wax mystical in a pagan sort of way.  Here's "Atlantis".

He also had a robust sense of humor.  When the Space Race was at its height, he came out with "The Intergalactic Laxative".  (Language alert:  the S-word comes into play.)

Did you know Donovan is still recording?  His latest album, "Gaelia", came out in 2022.  It includes collaborations with David Gilmour of Pink Floyd fame and a number of other well-known musicians.  One of my favorite tracks from it is "The Ferryman's Daughter".

You'll find many more of Donovan's hits on YouTube and elsewhere.

Peter

Some veteran and vintage moments

 

Several times this week I've been led down various garden paths while reading other blogs, or searching for information.  They took me to some very funny moments in vintage television, and I thought you might enjoy them too.

Here's Jay Silverheels, who played Tonto to the Lone Ranger, on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson in 1969.

And here's a fun commercial for Alka-Seltzer, also from 1969.

(That one reminds me of a spurious advertising slogan for Eno's Fruit Salt, an Alka-Seltzer-type product sold widely in the British Empire, including South Africa.  It ran, "Is the bottom falling out of your world?  Take Eno's Fruit Salts, and the world will fall out of your bottom!")

And finally, here's a profoundly not-politically-correct advertisement for Castrol Oil from South Africa in the 1980's.  It brought back memories...

Peter

"The real question"

 

That's how DiveMedic titles a recent post on his blog.  I think it raises critically important points, and I strongly urge you to read the whole thing.  Here's an excerpt.  Please note the selections highlighted in orange.

The real question isn’t whether or not the Haitians are eating pets. That’s a distraction. The real questions are:

• How many Haitians have been admitted into the country with the stamp of approval of the Biden administration since the residents there started eating each other back in March?
• Why were 20,000 of them sent to a small town in Ohio that had only a population of 60,000 to begin with? Now 1 in 4 residents of the town are now from Haiti.
• How widespread is this phenomenon? We know that Sylacauga, Alabama (a town of only 12,000 people) has been forced to take in a number of them, with the town council saying that the decision was made “above” them because they are there for jobs. How many jobs can a town of only 12,000 people have to spare?

. . .

It isn’t just Alabama and Ohio. The town of Charleroi, PA has a population of 4,000. Recently, 2,000 Haitians were sent there. It’s estimated that 90% of workers in Charleroi are now made up of Haitians.

I am seeing reports of this in Ohio, Florida, Alabama, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and New York. At this point, I have to assume that it’s happening nationwide, and it isn’t just Haitians. They are being provided with jobs, driver’s licenses, and being registered to vote.

We are being replaced, overrun. This nation is on the verge of collapse.

• Stack your supplies. Food, water, energy, weapons. Have spares so you can equip allies.
• Make friends.
• Stay out of cities.
• Keep your head down. It’s coming. I don’t know when, but when it does happen, it will be stunning how quickly it all comes down.

There's more at the link.  Again, I urge you to click over there and read it all for yourself.

DiveMedic's views may seem alarmist to you, but I've seen similar influxes in the Third World on far too many occasions for my comfort.  They may be genuine refugees, they may be economic migrants (as most of those coming to this country are), or they may be transients, on their way somewhere else.  No matter what, when enough of them flood in to affect the social and economic balance of a town and/or region, disruption is certain.  It may be kept under control for a while, but remember the lesson of the pressure cooker.  It builds pressure inside it to a safe cooking temperature, but then, unless the heat input is regulated, it keeps on building up pressure until something blows.  If everything works as planned, it'll be the safety plug that blows.  If not . . . the pressure cooker becomes an explosive device that converts itself into shrapnel.

Right now, the Biden administration is callously and deliberately dumping the majority of those crossing our borders into Red states and communities.  As a matter of policy, they're overwhelming those places with a huge influx of dependents whose needs can't be met locally, and who will overload the system, both locally and statewide.  It's a classic application of the Cloward-Piven strategy.  The administration is presumably hoping that it'll force those towns and states to become dependent on the federal government for the funds they need to respond to this crisis . . . and, in the process, the new arrivals will take the jobs available in those places, leaving more Americans out of work and dependent on unemployment assistance (again, funded by and increasing the influence of Washington D.C.).

As economist Herbert Stein noted in the law named after him:  "If something cannot go on forever, it will stop."  This cannot go on.  It's unsustainable.  The only question remaining to be answered is whether it can (or will) be stopped by a new administration, or whether people will rise up and reclaim their own towns and states.  DiveMedic believes that the latter will happen - and I find it very hard to disagree with him.

Be warned, keep your eyes and ears open for warning signs, and prepare as best you can.

Peter

Reflections on "Operation Grim Beeper" (what a name!)

 

A Twitter thread offers some interesting perspectives on the exploding pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon.

A few thoughts on Operation Grim Beeper.

1) This is one of the most astonishing intelligence operations in history. It is a reworking of the story of the Trojan Horse for the digital age, and it deserves to become nearly as legendary as its iconic predecessor. If we are not utterly astounded, it is because we have seen too many James Bond and Black Mirror movies for our own good.

In real life, operations like this just don’t happen. It is at least four operations in one.

First, the Israelis thoroughly mapped Hezbollah’s supply chain.

Second, they invented a special explosive charge small enough to be inserted inside a handheld device, sophisticated enough to be remotely activated, big enough to do real harm, and yet not so prominent physically or electronically to call attention to itself.

Third, the Israelis turned themselves into a big enough link in Hezbollah’s procurement network to take physical control of the devices and rig them.

Fourth, they activated the charges simultaneously and across a very wide geographic area.

If any one of these sub-operations had been botched, the operation as a whole would have fizzled. Who else in the world could pull off such an imaginative, technically sophisticated and audacious plot? 

2) It is the first mass targeted killing in history. Every one of the thousands of persons killed or maimed was selected individually, yet they were hit at the same moment. The great genius of the operation is that the Israelis relied on Hezbollah itself to select their targets for them. I can’t think of another case like this where the attackers just sat back and let the enemy perform a key part of their work for them. If we map the attacked men we map Hezbollah’s org chart, including the blinded Iranian ambassador to Lebanon who is an IRGC officer. 

There's more at the link.  Recommended reading.

To make matters worse for Hezbollah and Iran, the Daily Mail revealed that Israel set up an entire supply chain for the devices.

The Israeli secret service didn't just tamper with the deadly Hezbollah pagers -- they made them from scratch, having set up a complex web of shell companies across Europe, it was claimed today.

Initially it was suspected that Mossad had managed to intercept and plant tiny bombs in a shipment of the pagers headed for the Iranian-backed terror group in Lebanon after thousands of people were injured and dozens killed.

But now it appears that the Israelis set up front companies across Europe to manufacture the pagers themselves, embedding small amounts of PETN explosive inside, ready to be detonated by a coded message.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied any role in the explosions, but 12 current and former defence and intelligence officials told the New York Times that the Israelis were behind it, describing the operation as 'complex and long'.

Following the series of explosions, Lebanese civilians have been living in terror as they fear that the 'technological war' could be a precursor to a full-scale conflict. 

. . .

According to the New York Times, one of the Mossad shell companies was B.A.C. Consulting in Budapest, Hungary, set up to produce the devices on behalf of a Taiwanese company, Gold Apollo.

Gold Apollo's chair, Hsu Ching-kuang, told journalists Wednesday the firm has had a licensing agreement with BAC for the past three years.

'According to the cooperation agreement, we authorize BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC,' Gold Apollo said in a statement.

At least two other shell companies, one in Sofia headed by a Norwegian businessman were created as well to mask the real identities of the people creating the pagers: Israeli intelligence officers.

It is not known how involved in or aware of the ultimate plan were the legitimate business people running the companies, such as British-educated physicist Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono, who has denied any knowledge of the plot.

B.A.C. did take on ordinary clients, for which it produced a range of ordinary pagers. But for Mossad the only client that really mattered was Hezbollah, and its pagers were far from ordinary.

Again, more at the link.

This entire operation was, in intelligence terms, a work of genius.  It's going to be studied as a prime example of tradecraft, deception and sabotage for literally generations to come, by intelligence services all over the world.  I had some training and experience in that field during my military service (very little, compared to active intelligence agents, but enough to be able to support certain operations), and from that limited background, I can only shake my head in awe at the scope and professionalism of this scheme.  Perhaps best of all from Israel's perspective, Iran - which financially supports Hezbollah - would have paid for these devices . . . so Israel made Iran pay for the weapons used to disrupt its own ally's operations!  Talk about sheer chutzpah!

Peter

First in-flight refueling: now in-flight recharging?

 

I was intrigued to read that the US Army is looking at ways to recharge battery-powered drones (UAV's) in flight.

In a bid to revolutionize unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operations, the US Army has patented a new technology that can keep its drones in the air forever.

. . .

The idea is simple: recharge a drone or multiple drones during their flights, just like mid-air refueling for jets.

Based on the patent document, the new technology includes a system for deploying a powered drone tether.

Various mechanisms are included to connect and disconnect rechargeable drones during flight.

A top drone can carry a special rope to extend it from a base station supplying power. This allows one or more rechargeable drones to connect for charging and then detach to perform independent flights.

There's more at the link.

This appears to have all sorts of possibilities.  If they can do it for drones, could they do it for full-size aircraft?  What about helicopters?  (I can see the rotor having all sorts of interesting effects on a dangling power cable!)  How much power can be transferred, how quickly?  How many drones can be recharged simultaneously through a single dangling cable?

All of these questions are intriguing, but with the technology in its earliest stages, I guess it'll be years before we have answers.  All I can say is, based on events over the past couple of days, it might be best if Israeli engineers were not involved in the design . . . or the recharging might become a high-energy event!  (You should pardon the expression.)

Peter

Heh

 

This blast from the past from Gary Larson's The Far Side cartoon made me chuckle.  Click the image to be taken to a larger version at the comic's Web page.

Larson was a master of the incongruous.  The Far Side daily digest is on my must-read list of cartoons to enjoy regularly.

That cartoon also reminded me of a true story from World War II.  Admiral Cunningham and Admiral Somerville of the Royal Navy were good friends.  They sent each other witty, pithy signals from time to time whenever something amused them, or they had news to share.  One such occasion happened when Admiral Somerville, who'd already been knighted as a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1935, was promoted to Knight Commander of that Order in 1941 (i.e. a more senior grade of knighthood).  Admiral Cunningham promptly sent him this signal:  "Fancy that.  Twice a Knight and at your age!"

Fortunately, despite their relatively unarmored status compared to medieval knights, the German and Japanese dragons were unable to harm either Admiral during the war.  Both accumulated multiple orders of knighthood, with Cunningham becoming Admiral of the Fleet and First Sea Lord (i.e. commanding the entire Royal Navy) later in the war.

Peter

Remembering a legend: Colonel Jan Breytenbach

 

I was saddened to learn yesterday that retired Colonel Jan Breytenbach of the South African Defense Force died last June.  He was 91 years old.

Col. Breytenbach was a legend among South African soldiers during the 1970's and 1980's.  A few military men in any country can claim the honor of founding a new unit;  he founded no less than three - 1 Reconnaissance Commando in 1972, 32 Battalion in 1975, and 44 Parachute Brigade in 1978.  He "led from the front", commanding South African troops in action in Tanzania and Angola, and (early in his career) British forces in the Suez Crisis.

The Colonel was renowned for his no-nonsense, very direct, occasionally very blunt leadership style.  He never asked any of his troops to do anything he was not ready, willing and able to do himself - and better than most.  During one external operation in Angola, the officer appointed to command the operation (from Defense Headquarters in South Africa) was screwing up by the numbers, so the Colonel walked into his headquarters and simply took over without so much as a "by your leave".  The brass hats wanted to court-martial him for that, but he turned the operation around from a failure to a success, so, much as they wanted to, they couldn't really get away with it.  They did, however, ensure that he never made it to General Officer rank;  he stayed a colonel for well over a decade, and retired in that rank.  (The fact that one of his brothers supported a terrorist movement and was considered a traitor by the South African government didn't help his promotion prospects, either, despite the Colonel's outstanding combat and command history and awards.)

Colonel Breytenbach was renowned for asking forgiveness instead of permission if he felt something needed to be done.  A good example is the Pathfinder Platoon of 44 Parachute Brigade.  He felt one was needed, but could not get official permission to form it;  so he went ahead and did so anyway, equipping it with specialized vehicles and other gear, and sending it into action in Angola.  Sadly, when he left the Brigade in 1982 the Platoon was disbanded, but during its existence it established an excellent record in the field.  One of its members wrote a book about his experiences with Pathfinder Platoon and Colonel Breytenbach.  It made interesting reading.

Col. Breytenbach also wrote several books about his experiences, many of which are still available.  I've enjoyed reading them.  In particular, I recommend his account of the parachute assault on Cassinga in 1978.

Communist and terrorist propaganda has tried ever since then to portray it as a brutal attack on a refugee camp containing innocent civilians.  The truth is very different.  The Colonel commanded that operation, and tells it like it was.

Colonel Breytenbach was a remarkable man, commanding instant respect from almost everyone who knew him.  His track record was second to none, and he remains a legend in the South African Special Forces community (although a highly politically incorrect one today, in that he fought for the apartheid government there, and its successor regarded him with suspicion as having been one of their most effective and dangerous enemies).  The stories told about him are legion, and almost all of them are true (although some have doubtless been well embroidered over the years).  He might be described as a South African equivalent of US Colonel "Bull" Simons - he took no nonsense from anybody.

May he rest in peace.

Peter

Hezbollah's exploding pagers - prelude to a wider, hotter war?

 

The news out of Lebanon yesterday - that thousands of pagers issued by Hezbollah to its members exploded simultaneously, killing a few and injuring thousands - makes one wonder:  what's next?

I don't believe Israel would have destroyed Hezbollah's supposedly secure internal communications network just to "send a message" (although I had to laugh at a cartoon showing exploded pagers with the caption, "Can you hear me now?").  That would be to reveal one of its most sophisticated intelligence and sabotage operations for no good reason.  It's not as if Hezbollah needed any reminder that Israel is on the verge of open war in Lebanon - that's been made very clear in public statements by Israeli political and military leaders in recent weeks.  This is far more likely to have been a precursor to some additional action, possibly military, to which Hezbollah will be much less able to respond, because it can't alert its fighters quickly and securely enough.

It may also be a warning to Iran.  An Iranian-funded underground weapons factory in Syria, making missiles for delivery to Hezbollah, was destroyed by Israeli ground troops last week, demonstrating that Iran and its allies can't stop Israel destroying their supposedly secret facilities almost at will.  Iran controls, funds and arms Hezbollah.  Is yesterday's attack a message to Iran that its surrogate forces are as vulnerable as its arms production facilities?

By the time you read this, further developments may have taken place.  All we can be sure of is that the various sides in the Middle East hate each other with a virulence that many in the West simply can't understand.  Many extremists on all sides there regard it as (literally) a holy war to eradicate each other.  The "pager war" is merely the latest in a long, long line of hostilities that shows no sign of ending.  Please God, let it not lead to an all-out meltdown in that part of the world, complete with an exchange of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons (all of which are held by different parties to the conflict).  There will be no winners if that happens . . . only victims.

Peter

Looks like the E-4 Mafia is coming out of the closet

 

Anyone who's served in the US military, and many veterans of other armed forces, know of the so-called "E-4 Mafia":  service personnel on the cusp between enlisted and NCO status, knowing enough to be useful and dangerous at the same time, and usually possessed of a certain self-confidence that is not matched by their competence.  There have been many articles and stories about them, including (but not limited to):

The Real Army Mob: The E-4 Mafia

E4 Mafia: The Real Dons of the American Military

The E4 Mafia is a real damn thing

7 unofficial rules the E4 Mafia lives by

Now, according to Task & Purpose, there's even an "official" E-4 Mafia sleeve badge for the Navy!

Behind every great warship is a junior sailor with a mustache, a beanie that may or may not get him yelled at depending on the weather or the hour, and a belligerent streak that toes the line between humor and masochism.

We give you the E-4, the everyman of the U.S. military. In this case, he is an operations specialist aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln proudly, nay, fearlessly standing watch with a vibrant patch on the right sleeve of his jacket that practically screams “Take a look, f*****.”

There's more at the link.

I, of course, being young, sweet, innocent and pure as the driven slush, was never a member of the E-4 Mafia or anything resembling it.  On the other hand, there are certain incidents in my earlier days in the military that might resemble things of which the E-4 Mafia would perhaps approve . . . but they weren't there, there were no witnesses (at least, none of higher rank than me) and the statute of limitations has expired!

Peter

He's probably right...

 

Former FBI agent Tim Clemente said last weekend:

“It’s unprecedented in a civilized society, and I think we’re becoming more and more uncivilized, sadly, with the political diatribes that are going on and the political new indictments of either candidate” ... “And sadly, the finger pointing at Trump has led to — you know — you know, the line about the blood — bloodbath, talking about the auto industry being used as if he’s going to create a bloody coup if he loses.  That — that kind of — that kind of verbiage is something you use in a third world country when you’re talking about a dictator, and that sadly has led to, I think, these attempts on Trump’s life...”

I agree.  So does Francis Porretto, who notes:

Courtesy of Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, we have the following collection of Democrat incitements to violence aimed at – who else? – Donald Trump:

Kamala Harris — repeatedly: “Trump is a threat to our democracy and fundamental freedoms.”

Kamala Harris: “It’s on us to recognize the threat [Trump] poses.”

Kamala Harris: “Does one of us have to come out alive? Ha ha ha ha!”

Joe Biden: “It’s time to put Trump in a bullseye.”

Joe Biden: “I mean this from the bottom of my heart: Trump is a threat to this nation.”

Joe Biden: “There is one existential threat: it’s Donald Trump.”

Joe Biden: “Trump is a genuine threat to this nation … He’s literally a threat to everything America stands for.”

Joe Biden: “Trump and MAGA Republicans are a threat to the very soul of this country.”

Joe Biden: “Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic … and that is a threat to this country.”

Tim Walz: “Are [Republicans] a threat to democracy? Yes. … Are they going to put peoples’ lives in danger? Yes.”

Gwen Walz: “Buh-bye, Donald Trump.”

There are many more similar quotations at the link.

You can't persuade me that most of the left-wing progressive establishment would not turn cartwheels of joy if President Trump were permanently removed from the political equation in this country.  I wonder if they'd be so brazen as to suggest a presidential pardon for any assassin who succeeded in doing that?

Peter

Doofus Of The Day #1,119

 

Today's award goes to a Canadian lady "seeking spiritual insight through 'ego death' " in a Colorado wilderness trip.  The award is shared with the organization that arranged her trip, which (on the basis of the report) doesn't seem to have known what it was doing.

Searchers spent four days looking for the 53-year-old last month outside Norwood. Chase was deliberately fasting as part of the experience.

. . .

"I pushed Gina more on this, looking specifically for what the desired physiological response they were seeking was as opposed to their spiritual goal," [Sergeant] Donnellon wrote in the report. "Gina told me the act of fasting does not have the desired goal of hallucinating but to causes a person to crack a little bit. Gina told me when she fasted before her solo that she was, 'Hoping nature would speak back to me.'"

But by the time she was reported missing and searchers had started to gather for the mission, Chase had been without food and water for 36 hours, according to the report. 

. . .

Another sergeant with the sheriff's office, Lane Masters, was told by an Animas Valley Institute guide that communication with the campers would be difficult. The sergeant, as recounted in the report, asked the guide for the campers' general location. He intended to send his deputies out to those locations to instruct the other campers.

The guide, Masters wrote, "pulled out a handwritten note from one camper, and read it to me. The directions were ludicrously poor, such as 'Take a left at the small meadow and walk for a while.'"

As deputies tried to contact the other campers, Masters inquired about the gear Chase had with her. He was told green, a color recommended by the Animas Valley Institute, according to Chase's husband, so Chase could "be closer to nature."

"I pointed out how stupid this was from a safety perspective," Sgt. Masters wrote in the report, "as these colors were difficult to see in wooded terrain."

He added: "(The guide) then pointed at the map where they thought the subject may be. (The guide) pointed directly to our current location in the command area, a fact which I related to her. (The guide) commented 'Oh.' I pointed out to (the guide) that this was a serious problem, the relevance of which seemed to be lost on (the guide)."

. . .

Chase, expecting to be away 10 minutes, walked away from her camp only with a whistle, space blanket, matches, and a water bottle. Left behind were her tent, sleeping bag, inflatable sleeping pad, 12 liters of water and a three-day supply of emergency food, if needed, according to the report.

. . .

Chase blew her whistle at passing helicopters that she assumed were looking for her, but the searchers did not see her nor the shiny space blanket she was keeping in the trees ... There was also a meadow a short distance away, and investigators expressed dismay that Chase did not place her space blanket or other items in the open area where they could be seen from overhead.

There's more at the link.  It's worth reading in full for the unending series of accidents, mishaps, mistakes and stupidity that nearly killed the lady.  I think she might well be described as "an accident looking for a place to happen" - and she found one!

It boggles my mind how New Age, "woke", sanity-fluid individuals so often get themselves into life-threatening situations through complete and utter inability to ask the most basic questions, get the most basic training in the environment in question, and prepare themselves in even the most basic ways.  It's as if they have some sort of death wish.  Trouble is, those who have to rescue them end up exposed to the same dangers, and sometimes suffer the consequences.

I hope the lady, and the organization that organized the "adventure", are made to pay the entire cost of the rescue mission.  A solid hit to their joint and several pocketbooks might teach them something!

Peter