gearhog

Just getting caught up on all this Alexei Navalny stuff. Horrible. I'm infuriated that a country like Russia would allow the persecution, imprisonment, and death while in captivity, of political dissidents. God forbid we ever go down that path.

Let's not overthink this. Russia bad. We need to keep funding the war machine.

It's only cool when we do it. 😄 In 1962, it looks like there were only about 25 satellites in orbit. Today, there's about 7000-8000, mostly in LEO. It's a near exponential increase. Somewhere near half a million objects 1cm or bigger. Some believe we're approaching a number where loss of control and/or collision of a few satellites could create an uncontrollable cascading effect that would make orbiting the earth near impossible forever. That would suck.

Russia is going to nuke our satellites. We must nuke them first. Russia is trying to develop a nuclear space weapon that would destroy satellites by creating a massive energy wave when detonated, potentially crippling a vast swath of the commercial and government satellites that the world below depends on to talk on cell phones, pay bills, and surf the internet, according to three sources familiar with US intelligence about the weapon. These sources gave CNN a more detailed understanding of what Russia is working on – and the threat it could pose – than the US government has previously disclosed. Republican Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio, the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, set off a frenzy in Washington on Wednesday when he issued a statement saying his panel “had information concerning a serious national security threat.” By Friday, President Joe Biden had publicly confirmed that Turner was referring to a new Russian nuclear anti-satellite capability — but officials have steadfastly refused to discuss it further, citing the highly classified nature of the intelligence. https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/16/politics/russia-nuclear-space-weapon-intelligence/index.html

Some of my best music memories in the AF involved drinking: Got stuck in Maputo, Mozmbique once. Too dangerous to go downtown, so we stayed at the Hilton on the beach playing poker in the bar with about 10lbs of their local currency coins ($5). Someone broke out into "Sweet Caroline" and both crews +support drunkenly joined in. Ice storm in St. John's NF over New Year's. Spent a lot of time in O'Reilly's Irish Pub and another down the street. Crews learned all the audience callbacks for "Big Strong Man" and the performers loved playing it for us. Also, "Whiskey in the jar" (Irish version) and a few other drinking songs. Knowing Jimmy Buffett when his music comes on during a TDY/Deployment should be mandatory. Listening to Suicidal Tendencies via patch cord over IRQ/AFG was always fun.

I was trying to think of some kinda-believable/kinda-ridiculous critiques for his responses that some pro-war fanatic might come up with, and I got nothin. gave up. It was just too good. I thought the "Dad" analogy was especially good.

Don't you believe this is a matter of national security? Putin is clearly a danger to US foreign interests. The Tucker interview has given him more credibility and legitimacy than he could have hoped for otherwise. What classified info could have given him a greater PR victory? Tucker even suggested in the interview that the US government was not working for the interests the American people. Creating this sort of doubt undermines the framework by which your freedom of speech is protected. It's self-destruction. A crisis of trust, and it's being exacerbated. It's no wonder Putin appeared to have zero sense of urgency about anything. We think we're waging a war of attrition, and he thinks he's watching a slow-motion implosion of the West. At what point do you attempt to stop the spiral that erodes support for our government? "We'll just elect a better government." - Then the other side declares the election was rigged, and we descend further into the spiral. The path you're advocating for is a short one to what some might call treason, sedition, and providing aid and comfort to the enemy, which is what Tucker did. If we don't reign this in, those ultimately lead to revolution. The public wants stability, not chaos. Keeping Putin out of media is a small price to pay for our national security and preservation of the US, which in turn guarantees your inalienable rights.

Agreed. When Putin was recalling names, dates, and details of complex international relationships over hundreds of years, Tucker was bewildered. Putin was likely fabricating most of it, and Tucker wasn't equipped to challenge him. This is the right answer. Putin is playing 4-D chess and Tucker is playing checkers. The US likely has the greatest intelligence service that has ever existed. Enormous amounts of resources have been required to gather and assess the capabilities and intent of Russia. Bottom line: they're evil. The average American doesn't have access to that type of information to make that assessment, so why should we be exposed to propaganda that we aren't equipped to challenge? Trust the science, as they say. CNN reporter Peter Arnett once interviewed Osama Bin Laden, and look what happened. CBS's Dan Rather interviewed Saddaam Hussein and look what happened. ABC's Charlie Rose and NBC's Megyn Kelly earlier interviewed Putin and look where we are. When all of these interviews were aired on US primetime mainstream media outlets, tens of millions of people watched. This interview is now almost 200 Million Views. Why haven't we learned allowing reporters to interview our enemies only leads to further conflict? As you said, it only gives them legitimacy. Saddaam and Putin attained their leadership status through sham democratic elections. Acknowledging them as leaders grants legitimacy not only to them, but the corrupt systems that put them in power. Ridiculous, isn't it? I can't believe the number of people I'm seeing who are now saying this.

Let's give credit where due: Biden convinced Mexican President CC to allow aid to flow into Southern Gaza and convinced Israeli President BB to allow aid into Northern Gaza. https://x.com/DYShor/status/1755771553747194351?s=20

I can't believe this interview is allowed on Western media outlets. Just a few quick thoughts. 1. Tucker was cringe. His trademark giggle seems fake and it was almost as if he was fawning over Putin. He just let Putin ramble for 15 minutes at a time. 2. Putin took the first 30 minutes to give a 1000 year dissertation in ancient Russian history. Tucker tried interject and get the interview back on track multiple times. No one wants to hear all that. We all want to hear the recent relevant highlights while Putin apparently thinks and talks in encyclopedias. It's called "History" because it's over. It has nothing to do with the current situation. 3. Putin kept baselessly claiming NATO was expanding, that we provoked a coup in 2014, and the Donbass separatists were being bombed. And Neo-Nazis? Is he being serious? Sounded like a lunatic. 4. For being the head of the Russia state, every time he was asked about his assessment of the actions or rationale of the US, his answer would be something to the effect of "I don't know what the hell they're doing. It makes no sense." How can someone in his position be this perplexed by our strategies and methods? 5. Putin said he had neither the capability or intentions to invade Europe. Which is what anyone would say before they did just that. 6. He did mention that we should be more concerned by the massive invasion of our southern border and our unsustainable debt, which he might have a fair point. 7. He said he was willing to negotiate a settlement, but then said he refused to call Biden, contradicting himself. 8. Tucker tried to get him to release a US journalist and he refused, and claimed he was a spy. Overall, it was thinly disguised Pro-Russian and Pro-Putin propaganda. Do not watch.

Isn't it cynical to say the American media is propaganda and the American public is stupid. What is America if not its citizens? If it is that stupid, why would you want them becoming involved in an issue they may not understand? This interview is only going to add to the Pro-Putin propaganda by a substantial amount and there will likely be more people who believe it than disbelieve it. It seems we have two options: 1. Decrease the amount of Pro-Putin propaganda (restrict Tucker Carlson and his ilk by some fashion) 2. Increase the amount of Pro-US/NATO propaganda. This is the more difficult option. Perhaps, as you say, we could let someone else digest it for us, but who should we listen to? The most important thing is preserving the US, which means preserving US global leadership. I believe alternate viewpoints should be allowed on most issues, but those that threaten our national security and global dominance can't be allowed to spread unchecked. There was a large amount of anti-war sentiment during Viet-Nam, and how did that turn out for us? Lots of people began to grow weary of our involvement in AFG, and that didn't turn out so well either. I think we've learned our lesson. We jailed people for Jan 6 and I think we even shot one. There hasn't been any massive anti-government protests since. Freedom cannot be enjoyed unless there is a government that provides it to you. Allowing anti-US sentiment to proliferate is like shooting yourself in the foot. Assange and Snowden mishandled classified information, likely giving aid to our enemies. Neither are allowed to roam free. But giving our #1 enemy a massive platform to rationalize his actions and express his anti-US viewpoints to hundreds of millions of people is somehow less criminal? It doesn't make sense.

Unfortunately, we don't live in that world are absolutely not going to. Personally, critical thinking among children on this issue isn't anywhere near the top of my list of concerns. My concerns are with the full grown adults with actionable opinions on the matter that do not have critical thinking skills, and no one is going to sit with them. What if some of them are unable to see through the lies and actually take the interview at face value? Allowing Putin to speak freely to the American people can only be detrimental to our cause, unless equal time and questioning were given to Biden and perhaps Zalensky. A supplemental aid package to Ukraine worth $60 Billion is about to be approved, bringing the US total Ukraine aid to roughly $175 Billion. There are American citizens fighting in Ukraine. The majority of Ukraine war-fighting vehicles, weapons systems, and equipment are being supplied by us. I think we're in a war. Do you believe this interview will reveal glaringly obvious flaws in Putin's rationale, or will he make sense to some people, resulting in a net loss of support for Ukraine? I believe the latter. This is bad for Ukraine, bad for NATO, and bad for our global superiority. It's Vladamir Putin, the biggest bad guy on the planet. It's like giving Hitler a platform to explain himself. Introducing the least bit of doubt as to our righteousness could be devastating to the aid we're providing to the Ukrainians, and potentially clear a path for Putin to invade Europe.

Why is Tucker Carlson being allowed to publish his interview with Vladimir Putin tomorrow evening at 6pm EST? If we're at war with Russia, and Tucker interviews the leader of the country we are at war with, and then publishes that interview on American media outlets, is that not Anti-American propaganda? Is it not traitorous? We already know every word Putin says in the interview will be a lie, so why would we allow anyone to see dangerous misinformation? It only makes sense to sanction and bring charges against anyone deliberately causing harm to our national security.

Good news, @Sua Sponte. Your kids can join. New enlistment standards: No diploma, No GED, ASVAB 50. https://nypost.com/2024/01/28/news/us-navy-to-allow-new-recruits-join-who-didnt-graduate-from-high-school-or-get-a-ged/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nypost_sitebuttons

What a shockingly simple tactic. I, too, assumed that 20 years of massive funding and development of drone and anti-drone technologies would keep our bros safe. It wasn't enough.

Hey, you can’t park there

It's over 7000 signatures now. I signed it. I wonder how many are AD. If they punish one AD member, they'd have to punish them all.

The below letter was written by Commander Robert A. Green Jr., U.S. Navy, and signed by 231 current and former Service Members from all branches of the United States Armed Forces. There was a time when I would have been put off by the tone and language here. Not anymore. I think it is entirely appropriate. https://freedomfighter1776.com/dma-accountability 1 January 2024 An Open Letter to the American People from Signatories of this Declaration of Military Accountability “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” –John Adams In the course of human events it sometimes becomes necessary to admonish the lawless, encourage the fainthearted, and strengthen the weak. We have reached just such a time in our history. The affairs of our nation are now steeped in avaricious corruption and our once stalwart institutions, including the Dept of Defense, are failing to fulfill the moral obligations upon which they were founded. Standing upon our natural and constitutional rights, we hereby apprise the American people that we have exhausted all internal efforts to rectify recent criminal activity within the Armed Forces. In the Declaration of Independence our founding fathers sought separation. We seek no separation, but through this letter and the efforts we pledge herein, we pursue restoration through accountability. We intend to rebuild trust and restore the rule of law, particularly within the Armed Forces. Ultimately, we strive to once again become a moral people, restoring our nation, and making it again worthy of the great gift of liberty won by the colonial-era American people. While implementing the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, military leaders broke the law, trampled constitutional rights, denied informed consent, permitted unwilling medical experimentation, and suppressed the free exercise of religion. Service members and families were significantly harmed by these actions. Their suffering continues to be felt financially, emotionally, and physically. Some service members became part of our ever-growing veteran homeless population, some developed debilitating vaccine injuries, and some even lost their lives. In an apparent attempt to avoid accountability, military leaders are continuing to ignore our communications regarding these injuries and the laws that were broken. For GEN Milley, ADM Grady, GEN McConville, ADM Gilday, ADM Lescher, Gen Brown, Gen Berger, Gen Smith, VADM Kilby, VADM Nowell, VADM Fuller, LTG Martin, Lt Gen Davis, MG Edmonson, GEN Williams, ADM Fagan, VADM Buck, Lt Gen Clark, MG Francis, LTG Dingle, Lt Gen Miller, RADM Gillingham, and numerous others; These individuals enabled lawlessness and the unwilling experimentation on service members. The moral and physical injuries they helped inflict are significant. They betrayed the trust of service members and the American people. Their actions caused irreparable harm to the Armed Forces and the institutions for which we have fought and bled. These leaders refused to resign or take any other action to hold themselves accountable, nor have they attempted to repair the harm their policies and actions have caused. Since there has yet to be any accountability, the undersigned give our word to do everything morally permissible and legally possible to hold our own leadership accountable. We intend to rebuild trust by demonstrating that leaders cannot cast aside constitutional rights or the law for political expediency. The flag and general officers are far from the only ones complicit in recent illegal activities, as a significant number of SES leaders and political appointees contributed. Evidence indicates that other executive agencies are engaging in illegal activity. However, as service members and veterans, we feel particularly responsible for the DoD and, in accordance with our oaths, we will make every effort to demonstrate by example, how an institution can put its own house in order. We the undersigned, on behalf of hundreds of thousands of service members and the American people, while appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for guidance and purity of intention, mutually pledge to each other that we will do everything in our power, through lawful word and action, to hold accountable military leaders who failed to follow the law when their leadership and moral courage was most desperately needed. In the coming years, thousands within our network will run for Congress and seek appointments to executive branch offices, while those of us still serving on active duty will continue to put fulfilling our oaths ahead of striving for rank or position. For those who achieve the lawful authority to do so, we pledge to recall from retirement the military leaders who broke the law and will convene courts-martial for the crimes they committed. For those of us who attain legislative offices, we pledge to introduce legislation to remove all retirement income for the military leaders who were criminally complicit, and we will ensure none serve in or retire from the Senior Executive Service. This endeavor will be a continuous process with a long-term time horizon, but fulfilling our oaths to defend the Constitution requires just such persistent vigilance. Likewise, we are obligated, and so commit, to train those who come after us to fulfill their duty in achieving this accountability and safeguarding against such leadership failures hereafter. Our nation was once great because it was good. It was built on moral principles founded in natural law and yet, the recent acceleration of moral relativism has us headed towards a precipitous implosion. While all good things come to an end, we refuse to allow our nation to go quietly into the depths of decadence and decay. We promise to exhaust all moral, ethical, and legal means to restore the rule of law and will begin by attempting to hold senior military leaders accountable. The Constitution is the supreme law of our land. We will fight to enforce that law and put an end to the two-tiered justice system. May future generations see our efforts and, God willing, may they also be recipients of the great gift of liberty that we have had the honor of safeguarding.

Adam, are you okay? Are you okay, Adam? *sound on

A few from my stint at CBM

“What is the most dangerous animal on the planet?”

WTF. Some days I think nothing shocks me anymore. Wrong. I got a few minutes. Morning coffee rant incoming: Does anyone really think the environment that allows this to occur is fixable? We are a good nation led by degenerates. I'm not talking about gays. We've put the some of the worst kinds of people in power and let them do whatever they want. Why would Cardin choose this guy as a staffer? What kind of culture in DC would the staffer think this would be a good idea? The entire culture/environment there now exists in an entirely different reality than you and I experience. No real consequences for depravity, instead, tolerance and even excuses for it. Maybe..Maybe.. it's quietly celebrated there. I had a nearly immaculate military career. When I joined ROTC, there was some sort of motto that went "Integrity, Service before Self, and Excellence in All We Do." I took that shit to heart. Perhaps my biggest and most regrettable failure was not securing the Tweet control lock on my mid-phase checkride. 2 downgrade U. After that, I never failed to meet any objective AF standard. Maybe the bar was low, and maybe I could have exceeded the standards even moreso, but it was amazing to watch capable peers self-eliminate over dumb shit while I worked hard and tried to improve everything I touched. And I think I did all right. What for? Sure, I did my part to save the country from goat-fuckers, but I gave the country to... To cut this short, every time I see stories like this lately, I feel regret. Not regret for setting high standards for myself, because it made me a better person, but for being duped into thinking there were people smarter than me setting standards for my service that would result in a better nation. That if I continuously did good things during my career, America would inevitably become an even better place. Instead, I wake up and see some dude getting corn-holed in what should be the most sacred places in the nation, being broadcast to the world. If Lauren Boebert was jerking some dude off in the same room, I'd have also spoken up. But nothing is going to happen. Again, not just this story, it's all of them lately. A seemingly unending clown parade from our nation's leadership. It's an undeniable trend in the wrong direction. Instead of trying to exceed personal and professional standards set for me, I should have been demanding higher standards of my government the whole time. Sort of an inverse take on JFK's famous line. But that ship has sailed. Too late. Just write it off as a bad investment, I guess.