*BOGGLE*
One wonders if this guy ever had a moment of self-reflection and doubt. “Are we the baddies?”
Aug 172021
Aug 172021
China looks like a hoot.
“It can’t happen here.” Well… that phone in your pocket, that TV on your wall, the chips in your car: very likely manufactured in China. Who’s to say it’s not *already* happening here?
Aug 162021
Whoa:
Video shows visitor save alligator handler’s ‘life and limbs’ in attack at Utah reptile center
Handler: calm as a cucumber
Visitor: big clanging brass ones
Aug 162021
“Tofu-dreg project” is a mainland Chinese phrase describing shoddy construction. There seems to be a *lot* of it over there. Some of these clips are self explanatory, but some… I’d like more context on. The fake bendable rebar? What the frak is that made of? And at about 6:35, you see someone grabbing chunks of “concrete” from what seems to be a structural pillar and breaking it off like you’d break off a chunk of stale bread. *Surely* the whole structure of the high-rise couldn’t have been made from that garbage.
This is the culture that is likely to try to take over the world.
Aug 162021
I’ve seen a lot of people the last day or so express views along the lines of “I’m ashamed to be an American” or some such over the shockingly poor pullout from Afghanistan. Me? Nope. This isn’t an “America” problem. It’s a “Biden” problem. And if you want to be a bit more expansive, it’s a “Biden voter” problem.” I didn’t vote for him. I voted *against* him. I warned all y’all that he was a senile dimwit. But here we are, Biden voters. No refunds. This is on you. Hang your heads in shame. For good measure, if you voted for Biden, perhaps you should sit out the next five or six elections.
So… now what? Now that Biden and his ilk have shown the world how amazingly bad he and they are at basic planning, what can we expect from our other adversaries? If I was Ukrainian or Taiwanese… I’d be a bit nervous.
Razorfist explains it with his usual calm demeanor.
Aug 162021
The circle is even more complete:
First, a Getty image of Dep't of State Air Wing CH-46 N38TU (BuNo 154038) over Kabul evacuating the US Embassy today. Second, what appears to be 154038 on the deck of USS Hancock during Frequent Wind, the evacuation of Saigon. The more things change, the more they stay the same. pic.twitter.com/EqVMxxqFZw
— whatismoo (@whatismoo) August 15, 2021
Of course, not everyone is fleeing via helicopter. Some are heading out via C-17. in fact… *800* people ona single C-17:
Reports that USAF C-17 RCH871 airborne out of #Kabul in #Afghanistan has 800 passengers on board! Incredible work being done by #USAF and allied aircrews just now which will without a doubt go down in the history books #AvGeek #RadioGeek #MilMonWorld #BravoZulu pic.twitter.com/8De9wLusWb
— Military Monitoring World (@MilMonWorld) August 15, 2021
Probably not *this* C-17, since it shows an RAF or UAE roundel on the side:
Scenes from #Kabul Airport, #Afghanistan showing people boarding what appears to a C17 (please correct me if wrong) and what appears to be gunfire in the air in the distance. pic.twitter.com/p3l7zrVu77
— Aurora Intel (@AuroraIntel) August 15, 2021
So: are Republicans going to use this stuff to trounce the Dems in the 2022 midterms? Will the Dems use this as a way to shuffle Biden out of the White House and make way for the Harris/Pelosi administration?
Video below is unrelated. But I can’t be the only one to immediately think of this…
But wait! There’s MOAR:
Absolute chaos at the Kabul Airport.#Afghanistan
— FJ (@Natsecjeff) August 15, 2021
No Saigon moment at all pic.twitter.com/9yssEF11qP
— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) August 16, 2021
Thing I note: not a lot of chicks in these videos. Guess they get to stay behind. I’m sure they’ll be fine.
Aug 152021
People have for years been drawing parallels between Viet Nam and Afghanistan, between Viet Nam vets and Afghan vets.
Well. Here we are.
Perfectly Aged
Biden in July: “The Taliban is not the North Vietnamese army. They’re not remotely comparable in terms of capability. “There's going to be no circumstances where you’re going to see people being lifted off the roof of a US Embassy in Afghanistan.” pic.twitter.com/Dw7ghFs8Vz
— IndSamachar News (@Indsamachar) August 15, 2021
PHOTO 1: US diplomat evacuate US from embassy via helicopter as the #Taliban enter #Kabul from all sides. #Afghanistan (2021)
PHOTO 2: US diplomat evacuate US from embassy via helicopter as the PAVN & Viet Cong capture of Saigon, Vietnam (1975) pic.twitter.com/YamWmzjOay
— Stefan Simanowitz (@StefSimanowitz) August 15, 2021
History may not repeat, but it does rhyme.
Of course, disasters are helped along by bad planning:
The US Embassy in Afghanistan spent more time planning for Pride Month than it did for the withdrawal. One unforced error after another. https://t.co/hgqN8PKIrR
— Ian Miles Cheong @ stillgray.substack.com (@stillgray) August 15, 2021
Aug 152021
Remember when Boeing was a company of engineers, a company that could get the job done?
Sigh.
We've determined #Starliner will return to our factory for deeper-level troubleshooting of four propulsion system valves. With @NASA, we've decided to stand down for this launch window to make way for other national priority missions.
More: https://t.co/oycWeRz156 pic.twitter.com/UzCZN66451
— Boeing Space (@BoeingSpace) August 13, 2021
As should be well known hereabouts, I have great hopes for SpaceX. That’s both for their ability to get craft such as Starship working, *and* to make spaceflight far cheaper. But in order for them to truly succeed at the latter goal, they will need to be challenged by a realistic competitor. I would rather by far that SpaceX’s greatest competitor be another American company. Boeing, historically *should* have been one of those competitors.
They are not.
Aug 152021
Afghans who worked with Australian forces wait for death at the hands of the Taliban
Joe: Come on, man, you wanted the job.
Aug 142021
Well… huh.
It’s amazing how clearly each of these phrases come through when you read the words while listening to the chant.
The most important lesson here: the next time you watch one of these “supernatural” shows, with dimwits looking for ghosts in abandoned buildings in the dark and they catch something that sounds vaguely like a distant human voice… make sure to *not* look at the screen when they play it. Because if it’s a little vague, chances are you will “hear” what the screen tells you to hear.
I’m *pretty* sure, by listening to it without watching it, that this is a bunch of Englandlanders chanting “that is embarrassing.” Whether they are commenting on the performance of some local sportsball players, or on their own government, I can’t say. Either works.