Sunday, May 03, 2020

Pompeo backs claims that the coronavirus originated in the lab at Wuhan.



I've noticed that the shatterpoint for China supporters is the "we said it was manmade" thing.

Nope.

We said early on it was either manmade or escaped, but that the Chinese were playing with the thing in the lab at Wuhan.

What does that mean exactly?  They could have been experimenting with bats and one got loose and got devoured by someone at their wet market.  One of the researchers could have gotten infected showed no symptoms for 21 days (yeah...we've heard the quarantine period should be 21 days but they've limited to 14 because they know the public would automatically balk at that!) while walking around spreading the thing.

Regardless.

The truth is coming.

The lab in Wuhan is ground zero for this global pandemic and China is trying hard to keep that news from hitting the streets.  The curious thing?  Don't watch Washington DC.  Watch the EU.  They're already floating the idea of reparations from China for the pandemic but they've been fought back.  Trump has talked sanctions.  Either way China will pay.
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This social distancing enforcement is putting NY Police in a terrible situation...This looks bad but its not what the title says it is and the COPS are RIGHT!

Thanks to PitchBlackUniverse for the link!

via Gothamist.com
A social distancing enforcement action in the East Village on Saturday resulted in three arrests, including one bystander whose violent arrest was caught on video.

Witness Daquan Owens, who took the video below, said the incident started after plainclothes officers approached a man and a woman talking outside a deli around 5:30 p.m. and ordered them to separate. But Owens says the two people were maintaining a six foot distance in accordance with rules intended to slow the spread of COVID-19.

"They were social distancing," Owens said in a telephone interview on Sunday. "The girl was standing by the phone booth, the guy was sitting on a milk crate. When the cops pulled up she said he’s not doing anything. They grabbed her and started tussling with her. Then the guy on the milk crate got mad and started yelling at police."

In a statement, NYPD spokesperson Sergeant Mary Frances O’Donnell said "a group was observed" on the corner "in violation of social distancing orders." The statement said that when officers approached the group to order them to disperse, "they observed a bag of alleged marijuana in plain view." Another video shows security camera footage of the incident starting before police arrived.

Police say Shakiem Brunson, 31, "became aggressive towards officers and resisted arrest." Ashley Serrano, 22, allegedly tried to intervene to stop police from taking Brunson into custody and was also arrested.

Owens's video begins as several plainclothes officers attempt to handcuff two people outside the deli at the northeast corner of Avenue D and East 9th Street. At roughly the 35 second mark of the video, one of the officers turns and advances on bystander Donni Wright, 33, pointing a taser at him. Owens says the officer called Wright the n-word, which can be heard at the 37 second mark, and Wright can be heard asking the officer if he used the racial epithet.

"Move the fuck back right now," the officer shouts. "Don’t flex."

O’Donnell's statement says Wright "took a fighting stance against the officer." The video shows him from behind with his hands at his side and one fist clenched.
Story here. 

Not tossing stones on this one but the truth (from my chair) is that while this looks bad, the reason for contact terrible at the end of the day the cops are right!

How do I explain it?  Let's do the tick tock from A to Z as presented in the article.

1.  The reason for contact.  I hate the idea that enforcing social distancing is being used for this arrest but you use the tools at hand.  The fact that we're seeing plain clothes cops indicates to me that we're seeing street level narcotics at work.  In my neck of the woods we have uniformed LEO's doing the job (they call them the "jump out" boys cause they're quick to leave their cruisers to chase down corner drug dealers), street level (which these guys appear to be...plain clothes) and finally the interagency bubbas that go after the big busts.  Only a bit deep into the article do they mention the baggie of drugs in plain site.  I would almost bet my left testicle this was all about drugs and not social distancing.

2.  The arrests of the bystander.  From my chair you have to do one of two things.  Either control the bystanders OR you leave the scene.  This dude was running his mouth and then took up a fighting stance?  He's lucky he didn't ride the lightning. 

3.  The N word being used.  Hate to say it but the truth must be said.  The N word is off limits to white people.  Unfortunately its used quite often in the black community and if you noticed the arresting officer was black.  Was it something I condone in saying?  Nope.  Is rough language used against rough people?  You bet your ass.  Even with this video I bet you will not see any punishment because anyone with commonsense knows that you can't be gentle with people intent on being rough.

That's how I see it.

Tell me where I'm wrong.


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US Army and Russians are playing convoy games in Syria...what's going on with this?



This keeps coming up on my Twitter feed and I have yet to see an explanation. There are better videos out so if you're curious it won't be hard to find but what has me spinning is what is this about?

Russians are blocking our forces?  Why?

This is what makes me so nervous for our guys there.  One misstep can see shots fired and suddenly things get real intense before higher headquarters can try and put the genie back in the bottle.

Quite honestly I'm surprised some semi-smart terrorist hasn't fired off an RPG to get the two sides shooting at each other.

This thing is a mess.

We're not there to win anymore.  I don't think we've ever been there to win.  It seems our only goal is continued military operations with the lowest casualty count possible but to continue them nonetheless.
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A400M Grizzly on approach...photo by Mark Bentley


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Azerbaijan Army wheeled 152mm SpGH DANA-M1M




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Werecat - "Leopard 3 like" Nato Tank...Concept Art by Marcel Adam (ArtStation)

Thanks to Tyle & Pegas for the pics/link!

 Note.  This is what Marcel had to say about his concept art...
Werecat - "Leopard 3 like" Nato TankIn this tank study i created a Nato/western tank. The design is highly inspired by the design demands for the currently developed Leopard 3 (Main Ground Combat System). That in mind i only used parts for the tank that are existing or will be available in near future. So no fantasy guns and stuff.














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Blast from the past. Concept SPH based on M1 chassis

Thanks to PitchBlackUniverse for the link!






I don't know if I say it enough but thanks guys.  No one can do it alone, especially when it comes to keeping up with everything going on in the world.

I can't even count how many times you hit me with stuff in the "open comments" portion of this blog with stuff that I pop out and put on the main page because I think it should be shared with the world.

Concepts from the past, current concepts, weapons developments that our allies/enemies/frenemies are working on and everything in between is what you send my way and I can't thank you enough for it.

Keep it coming boys.  We're 30 seconds out and no one is coming...it's up to us to stay informed!

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WOW! The gates of hell just opened up on State Govts that closed business...



This is gonna be a great watch.

Can the gov declare one business essential and another non-essential?  Can they deprive one owner of a business the opportunity to generate wealth while denying it to another?

What are the limits of a governor's power?

I know one thing.  States are gonna get slammed with lawsuits.  Everyone that goes out of business or comes close to it are gonna blame these shut downs and are gonna seek damages.

THIS IS WHY THE HURRICANE MODEL WOULD HAVE MADE SO MUCH SENSE IN THIS EMERGENCY!!!

Remember Katrina?  The State Of Louisiana shut down New Orleans, declared a state of emergency, put in a curfew and implemented several other emergency measures because it was so affected.  Other parts of the state also suffered a bit of damage but only New Orleans got the martial law/shut down treatment.

That's what we should have done with this crisis.  New York, New Jersey and other parts of the nation that were hard hit should have been shut down and hard!  Quarantine them from the rest of the nation and send every available asset to help get them on their feet.

The rest of the country moves on and full effort is made to rescue those states in the most danger.

But instead we saw major urban/regional areas influence the entire nation's response much to our own detriment.

The lessons learned from this one will be legion and hero governors today will be seen as overreachers tomorrow.
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This disturbing take on re-opening America...


What say you?

 Sidenote.  Interesting that "Karen's" are the new target of moment.
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‘Murder Hornets’ in the U.S.: The Rush to Stop the Asian Giant Hornet


via NY Times
In his decades of beekeeping, Ted McFall had never seen anything like it.

As he pulled his truck up to check on a group of hives near Custer, Wash., in November, he could spot from the window a mess of bee carcasses on the ground. As he looked closer, he saw a pile of dead members of the colony in front of a hive and more carnage inside — thousands and thousands of bees with their heads torn from their bodies and no sign of a culprit.

“I couldn’t wrap my head around what could have done that,” Mr. McFall said.

Only later did he come to suspect that the killer was what some researchers simply call the “murder hornet.”
Here.

2020 is turning out to be one fucked up year.
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New German APFSDS will be ready soon.


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Open Comment Post. 3 May 2020


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Rolls Royce Flying Testbed (FTB) Mustang, a mid-engined proposal for a P51 powered by a Rolls Royce Griffon


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Saturday, May 02, 2020

F-16 show of force...

   
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My "conspiracy" theory about Covid-19 escaping from the lab in Wuhan appears to be gaining traction...

Thanks to UtahBob for the link!

via Daily Telegraph.
China deliberately suppressed or destroyed evidence of the coronavirus outbreak in an “assault on international transparency’’ that cost tens of thousands of lives, according to a dossier prepared by concerned Western governments on the COVID-19 contagion.

The 15-page research document, obtained by The Saturday Telegraph, lays the foundation for the case of negligence being mounted against China.

It states that to the “endangerment of other countries” the Chinese government covered-up news of the virus by silencing or “disappearing” doctors who spoke out, destroying evidence of it in laboratories and refusing to provide live samples to international scientists who were working on a vaccine.
Here. 

Interesting isn't it.  Ideas are always fringe before they're accepted as common wisdom. 

I remember some of the comments made by the detractors when this thing first blew up and I was ringing the alarm bells (this while it was still in China)..posted over at Moon Of Alabama back in January when they were saying this was no big deal...
Solomon over at SNAFU has gone into complete hysteria over this. He is doing the impossible of making the MSM look sane.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 SNAFU's solomon is anti china racist who took in all sinophobic propaganda and accept them as fact , because he wallow in every kind of news that show chinese despair.
The fact that he is an african american and at the same time hold the right wing racist ideology suggest a confused man inside.
anything that negative to china as a nation and to chinese people will be put on display on SNAFU with no thinking allowed.
remember SNAFU's commenter site are full of astroturfers and hasbaras from all over the world.
Yeah.

Well it appears that I have been ahead of the curve on this thing so forgive me for taking a victory lap.

What's worse isn't the disease (as bad as it is) but the cure.  Our economy is gonna take such a vicious hit that more will die from the consequences of the shutdown than from the virus.

But back on track.

China has a day of reckoning coming (worldwide) from this thing.  We're all gonna be setback economically because of this thing but China will take an especially hard hit.

Everyone now knows what I knew all along. 

China isn't to be trusted.

They aren't to be depended on.  They're communist with a goal and fair play ain't part of it.  Industry (vital industry) will be forced back home.  Trade will take a hit.  Tensions will increase (even with the usually passive European Union) and the road ahead for them will get bumpy.

For all the pain that's coming I couldn't be happier about their plight.
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Chinese Light Tanks on exercise...



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The coming Greater Depression of the 2020s...a must read...

via Market Watch
 After the 2007-09 financial crisis, the imbalances and risks pervading the global economy were exacerbated by policy mistakes. So, rather than address the structural problems that the financial collapse and ensuing recession revealed, governments mostly kicked the can down the road, creating major downside risks that made another crisis inevitable.

And now that it has arrived, the risks are growing even more acute. Unfortunately, even if the Greater Recession leads to a lackluster U-shaped recovery this year, an L-shaped “Greater Depression” will follow later in this decade, owing to 10 ominous and risky trends.

The first trend concerns deficits and their corollary risks: debts and defaults.

The policy response to the COVID-19 crisis entails a massive increase in fiscal deficits — on the order of 10% of GDP or more — at a time when public debt levels in many countries were already high, if not unsustainable.

Populist leaders often benefit from economic weakness, mass unemployment, and rising inequality. Under conditions of heightened economic insecurity, there will be a strong impulse to scapegoat foreigners for the crisis.
Worse, the loss of income for many households and firms means that private-sector debt levels will become unsustainable, too, potentially leading to mass defaults and bankruptcies. Together with soaring levels of public debt, this all but ensures a more anemic recovery than the one that followed the Great Recession a decade ago.

A second factor is the demographic time bomb in advanced economies.

The coronavirus crisis shows that much more public spending must be allocated to health systems, and that universal health care and other relevant public goods are necessities, not luxuries. Yet, because most developed countries have aging societies, funding such outlays in the future will make the implicit debts from today’s unfunded health-care and social-security systems even larger.

A third issue is the growing risk of deflation.

In addition to causing a deep recession, the crisis is also creating a massive slack in goods (unused machines and capacity) and labor markets (mass unemployment), as well as driving a price collapse in commodities such as oil and industrial metals. That makes debt deflation likely, increasing the risk of insolvency.
Here. 

Hey guys.  This is in my opinion a must read.  It's light and easily digested for a non-economics guy like me but it hits on points that are readily understood for someone of my limited knowledge in these affairs.

Drink it all in and let me know what you think.
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Open Comment Post. 2 May 2020


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Why do far right protesters always show up with guns?



I really didn't want to wade into these waters but this has been an issue in the past and seems to be picking up steam.

Why do far right protesters show up with guns?

I can't think of any other segment of the population that does this.  While I can sympathize with many of their positions this just makes me cold.

If you're gonna peacefully protest why the weaponry?

If you're looking to sway the public to your position then why the show of force?

I'm hoping someone can explain this to me.

Before you ask, yes I'm pro-gun.  Yes I have body armor, a couple of Magpul D-60s and more 30 round mags than you can shake a stick at.  I carry concealed everyday.

But even with all that I don't get this.

Help me understand.
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Opinion....Bin Laden killed...High Value Kill/Capture Raids ruined SOCOM & misdirected our war on terror


If you take a swing around Military Twitter & Instagram it appears that many are all gaga about the Bin Laden raid.

I get it.

It was a bold mission that succeeded beyond anyone's imagination (although I still have to wonder if the dude isn't in a max security prison never to be seen again...yeah its a conspiracy but why send SEALs to put a bullet in a head instead of bouncing rubble?).

But back on task.

Looking back on the wars (and historians will have a ton of work to do in that regard) I can't help but wonder if successive White Houses focusing on kill terror leaders and SOCOM making its reason for being for every unit didn't misdirect our war effort.

I'm looking at insurgencies world wide and have to wonder if that tactic is winning ANYWHERE.

I don't have an answer but it sure doesn't look like it.  Additionally I can't recommend a better course of action.

Another factor is this.  What happens if an enemy, any enemy tries to do the same to us.  Can you imagine what would occur if ISIS decided to send a few of their zealots after Congress Critters in the US?  I imagine they could get at least a few before authorities could finally track them down and neutralize them.

But the chaos would be legion.

What if they did the same and went after a few one star generals/admirals? Security details for those bubbas are kinda light if they have them at all.

That problem multiplies exponentially if a state actor with real Special Ops makes a run at them (not even gonna count the big players in this...Russia/China are off the table, the blow back would be too extreme...even N. Korea would balk at that type of madness) but others might not.

The Bin Laden Raid should be celebrated.  BUT WITH CAUTION.  There are many lessons to be learned from it but it wasn't a resounding success (strategically) and probably marks the high point of the High Value Target Raid. 

From my chair it just isn't worth the squeeze and did NOT produce the desired results at the end of the day.
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