Things are spinning fast and anyone with sense is justifiably worried about War Secretary Pete "DF" Hegseth's demand that 800 top generals and admirals drop every other duty, in order to fly - expensively - to Quantico, congregating in a single place for an unprecedented 'meeting.'
I'll weigh in about that below... along with some advice for you in such times.... plus maybe half a dozen terms that all of you ought to Google. Tonight. But first...
Ronan Farrow dissects the farthest right groups seeking to bring down every aspect of the nation we've known. The one that I've dealt with for over a decade is the most 'intellectual' - the circle jerk of chain-masturbatory neo-monarchists whose current, disposable guru - Mencius Moldbug Yarvin - pushes the blatantly insane notion that 'democracy has failed', even as such ingrates wallow in a sea of gifts and wonders and good things poured into their laps by the most successful, free, prosperous and rapidly advancing society the world ever saw, by far.
If America is currently in 'crisis' it's not because of some 'failure' or a 'generational turning.' It is for one reason only. The economy, science, jobs... everything except the cost of housing... was doing fine. No, this is a psychic-schism... phase 8 or 9 of a cultural rift - for or against modernity - that goes all the way back to 1778. See my earlier posting on phases of the Civil War. And the 'crisis' is purely sabotage.
== Fort Sumter did lead (eventually) to Appomattox ==
But back to Farrow's concise list of extreme right clusters. The others he mentions - violent thugs and Book of Revelation fetishists - largely consist of enraged males who feel left-behind by the nerds and good-natured average folks they bullied, back in middle school. A negative sum, sadistic pleasure that they seek to regain by drinking our tears.
And while they are ingrates, like the neo-monarchists, at least one can see a dismally nescient reason for their reflexive wrath.
In contrast, the Yarvinists include very rich and pretentiously well-educated 'preppers' or "accelerationists" who are plotting actively to murder a nation that gave them everything and to trigger an 'Event' that will slaughter at least 90% of the world's population.
That - and no less than that - is how they hope to prove their superiority and to restart the 6000 year feudal era of harems.
Surrounded by flatterers and sycophants, they style themselves as smarties. And some of the techies do have some narrow mental proficiency, though I could demolish their constructs in 5 minutes and offer to do so, with 5% of our net worths on the line.
And hence their cowardly isolation within a circle-jerk of lackeys and fellow ingrates who scheme to wreck us all. A Nuremberg rally from which their rationalizations distill down - effectively - into one crystal clear sound. The sound of a call summoning (eventually) a ride from Uber-Tumbrels.
== We know you ==
And so my few words to them.
We... will...remember... you.
Not just me, but tens of thousands already, with caches ready to spill to millions of wakened others. Your cult will be recalled, after the embers settle. Every one of you who survives and claims a rightful place of lordship or monarchy.
What then comes will not be A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ. The people will ally with the surviving nerds who know bio, nano, nuclear, cyber and the rest. And who know the schematics of every prepper stronghold. And yes, every name, even those who took pains to remain in shadows. (Want proof?)
We... will...remember... you.
And you will not like us when we're mad.
==========ADDENDA============
Note: Before calling this 'meeting,' DF* Hegseth fired or reassigned most of the JAGs** who advised generals what's legal. JAGs could excuse generals from illegal orders and now they are gone. (Trump also fired most of the Inspectors General in most agencies, who did the same thing on the civilian side. And dang the dems for not protecting them by law, when they had the chance!) Without JAGs, the officers coming to Quantico (at great expense) will be helpless and those who don't come will be - at minimum - fired.
And this after DF and TS have reamed out the counter-terrorism and counter-spy experts and put putative Moscow agents in charge of both. The way that Bush did before 9/11 but far more extensively.
All those scenarios are lurid and likely beyond the capabilities of Dirty Fingers* Pete. But perhaps a coerced "Fuhrer Oath" swearing of loyalty to Dear Leader? Look up ALL of them up and be educated. Be ready!At minimum it is part of the gone-mad right's all-our war vs ALL fact using professions, from science and teaching, medicine and law and civil service to the heroes of the FBI/Intel/Military officer corps who won the Cold War and the War on terror.
Faced with plummeting polls in both Russia and the USA, both Putin and Trump are getting desperate for a Hail Beezelbub play. So get canned goods. Watch harbor cams to see when the Navy puts to sea. If you see San Diego or Norfolk with no carriers in port, alert the rest of us!
---------
* DF = Dirty Fingers because Hegseth has repeatedly and publicly said "I haven't washed my hands in over a decade." Because "Germs are a myth." And TS = Two Scoops, my nickname for a solipsist who insists that: "At dinners everyone gets one scoop of ice cream. Except me. I get two."
JAG = Judge Advocate General. Along with the inspectors and auditors, part of the ten thousand cadre of primly neutral men and women who have kept us a nation of laws. Now look up one more name: Roger Taney, to understand why we'll get no help from the Constitution's bulwark Court.
You have your google assignments, in order to actually see what's going on.
114 comments:
Yarvin and company talk a lot about IQ and think that the world should be run by those with high IQs. Of course they see themselves as part of that group. However they ignore the importance of EQ. They are setting up the rule of ingenious fools who are bad at understanding others.
And the best possibility for the meeting of Hegseth and the generals is that it is an exercise in breast beating and propaganda. I'll be surprised if they do something as blatant as loyalty oaths. Sackings however are likely. I suspect they are seeking to somehow gain personal loyalty from the generals and admirals. It is likely bto backfire.
"Well, we're in it now." - Capt John Sheridan, shortly after announcing the secession of the Babylon 5 station from the Earthforce Alliance.
This meeting holds some very unpleasant possibilities, but I'd hazard a guess that, between them, 800 senior US Army officers have a few brain cells to rub together, and I would be *very* surprised if they aren't aware of JAG procedures in general, if not the specifics.
Above all, they are aware of the oath they swore to uphold *and defend* the US Constitution. That implies an active duty. So, if the TS resident expects he can demand a personal oath of fealty, he might find the response to be a little more robust than a polite refusal, or submissions of resignation.
Indeed, one official is quoted as saying they 'expect a few surprises', and 'aren't letting their guard down'.
I think they know how to handle themselves.
As for Hegseth and his apparent obsession with 'warrior ethos', I don't know the extent to which its spread through US Army personnel, but here's what Robert Fisk (no relation) had to say about it nineteen years ago. (Do note that it replaced the 'Soldiers Creed', drawn up after some Vietnam-related atrocities were committed.)
We are not privy to what is afoot, and will not be in the room where it will happen. Meanwhile, watch the seas, David. You're closer to San Diego than I am!
I've heard effective quotient to be defined as the sum of all quotients, less EGO, which is all Trump and Hegseth have. Crazy as it would be, loyalty oaths are a distinct possibility.
Seeking such oaths would arguably be sedition. They might arrest Trump and Hegseth for that. And I don't think it would be covered by Presidential immunity. It would not be part of the President's duties.
Yep. They're not that stupid.
... or are they?
As our host has pointed out the sidelining of the JAGs is a danger sign. It suggests that something illegal is being planned. Rather like the way that a large number of changes in the Pentagon just before the previous coup attempt was a danger sign.
Oh, dismissing JAG has got flashing red lights all over it. As I said below, though, senior officers should have picked up a fair smattering of the legalities.
... and who's to say what pro bono advice they've obtained from ex-officers?
I don't know the extent to which its spread through US Army personnel, but here's what Robert Fisk (no relation) had to say about it nineteen years ago.
I believe you just showed us a valuable piece of evidence for the theory that the descent into fascism did not start with Trump.
And I believe, should democratic forces ever gain the presidency and control of both chambers of Congress again, they must make the attempt to root it out.
They must start to answer two questions now: "How did we get here?", and "How do we make sure it does not happen again?".
Otherwise, I deem it likely that we will face a more competent fascist four or eight years later.
Re: Night of the long knives:
Historically, it was an internal cleansing to remove the social (and partially socialist) revolutionaries in the SA. They were an obstacle to Hitler's war plans and a rivaling power base outside his direct influence. He needed the captains of industry and the generals on his side, and Hitler is reported to have said that Hindenburg was never friendlier to him than when he discussed the plans of Röhms removal.
Re: Appomatox:
I am tempted to say that while Fort Sumpter lead to Appomatox, the lenient treatment the Confederate leadership received led to Jim Crow and finally MAGA.
Trump now says he wants to be at the meeting.
Opens up more interesting possibilities.
From a Paul Krugman newsletter:
...
"In a way, I’m surprised that Republicans didn’t decide to keep the enhanced, Biden subsidies in place for another year, just to delay the pain until after the midterms. But they didn’t, probably because they have such a strong aversion to helping Americans in need that they couldn’t even bring themselves to play cynical politics on the issue."
...
Krugman knows his Republicans well.
Just a question:
Neither presidential immunity nor pardons at the end of a term currently legally prevent extradition to a third nation if appetites to prosecute this person there exist, right?
Reporting from Chicago:
On Sunday, armed and uniformed Border Patrol agents were marching in force on the streets of downtown Chicago, and roving on patrol boats in the Chicago River.
I wonder if they expect that illegal immigrants are swimming across the river from the Loop to the Magnificent Mile to take jobs working at high-end stores. For those of you from out of town, the Chicago River is not a border to anything else. Yes, it connects to Lake Michigan, but over 200 miles away from Canada.
I don't think the U.S. would ever extradite an official or former official to another country for prosecution. We don't swing that way. A few years back, some border agents shot across the border and killed some people in Mexico. Mexico was essentially told, "Sorry, we're not subject to your jurisdiction."
I assume you know that, but I think it is mostly to intimidate city folks and normalize fascist parading.
LF: The Yarvin “IQ” howl is so ironic. Since it is the scientists and jurists and generals who will – I guarantee – score on average much higher than even Mencius Moldbug’s selected accolytes, let alone the microcephalics who make up 95% of Trumps White House. Do NOT use “EQ” though, as a response. It just sounds touchy-feely. We can shatter them by going directly to their fact-free narratives.
TF: “ I'd hazard a guess that, between them, 800 senior US Army officers have a few brain cells to rub together…”
Yes, but they cannot TALK to each other about any ofg it except very guardedly, lest it become conspiracy against civilian chain of command.
What the Officers do have is the cadre of RETIRED officers, like Hodges and Petreaus and McRaven, who ARE free to sit together and talk. And that is the locus where any carefully legal plans might be laid. Ah, I see you mention that, below.
The ’oath’ I expect them to try is to swear allegiance to the “Constitutional chain of command.” Which amounts to Hegseth & Trump… for now.
“And I believe, should democratic forces ever gain the presidency and control of both chambers of Congress again, they must make the attempt to root it out.”
In Polemical Judo and many other places, I spent a decade begging the Dems to use their windows of power ti:
- Protect the Inspectors General by putting them into a non-executive branch agency… the Inspectorate
- Give all House members – of all parties - one peremptory subpoena per year. So that there will never be a time when the minority party can’t demand answers.
- End or punish gerrymandering in ways that bypass the corrupt court decisions
- Strengthen the civil service act.
- Made revelation of tax records automatic for all three branches.
- Ban NDAs
- …
And so many others that would right now have hampered this attempted coup.
Der Oger, leniency to the Confederates was essential to prevent an Ireland style situation. But the top 200 slaveer families should have had their assets seized and given to associations of veterans, widows, and especially Freedman schools.
"...mostly to intimidate city folks and normalize fascist parading."
I once read a George Orwell essay, written during the Hitler/Mussolini era, in which he asserted that only in totalitarian countries in which onlookers are already terrified into submission could armies march with the goose step. He claimed that if an army goose stepped down the streets of London, the Brits would (not his exact words) laugh their asses off at them.
I feel something similar toward the performative militarism going on in American cities. Now, I recognize that I can say this because I don't look black or Latino or Muslim, so they're not likely to physically accost me in the street--at least for the moment. So a bunch of uniformed goons trying to look tough but having no particular mission other than standing around with their thumbs up their asses don't frighten me. They just embarrass me and themselves.
"Yes, but they cannot TALK to each other about any ofg it except very guardedly, lest it become conspiracy against civilian chain of command."
What's the legitimate course of action when the civilians holding the office are the domestic threat to the Constitution that one has already taken an oath to protect against?
If the armed forces can be used--in defiance of law--to suppress Constitutional rights of American citizens, well, that door swings both ways, doesn't it?
I am not sure about Germany, because Prussias militaristic culture was still very prevalent, though liberal/progressive artists and writers abhorred and ridiculed it.
A good insight of this mentality is presented in the play The Captain of Köpenick by Carl Zuckmayr.
"...Prussias militaristic culture was still very prevalent"
It wasn't the militarism that Orwell was talking about. It was the visual ridiculousness of the goose step in particular. His contention was that only an audience who dared not show dissent could fail to laugh at it.
Do NOT use “EQ” though, as a response. It just sounds touchy-feely.
Emotions win elections, not rational governing.
This is why we ended up in the situation we are in.
Though I'd prefer another term, too. How about "authenticity" and "emotional stability"?
With Trump attending it looks like they are going to try to get the generals and admirals to sign on to Trump's using the military against dissenters and to try to sack those who won't. This would be trying to get them to break the law. Sidelining the JAGs fits in with this. I think David could be right about the oath.
I have a Summer Daydream about that which our host would not appreciate my posting here. It is what you think it is, though.
So, the president, SecDef, probably all the CJSC and nearly every US flag rank officer...will all be in the same room? And the rest of the world knows this? Somewhere there are security officers looking at the last remnants of their hair, which is now either in their hands or on the floor.
If this were a DC comics plot point I would laugh at the suspension of disbelief this required. But, this is the kakistocracy di tutti kakistocracies, so sure, why not.
Pappenheimer
P.S. I'd also scoff at the 'loyalty oath' theory, but...sure, why not. It's not like they are bothering to file the serial numbers off of the 3rd Reich.
P.P.S. I am also of the opinion that Trump has a centerfold appearance in the Epstein Files and have ordered a gallon of brain bleach
What the Officers do have is the cadre of RETIRED officers...
I was actually thinking of the recently departed JAG officers, but the elder set will do. In fact, I recall Fred Forsyth describing a similar thing with former world leaders (the Lincoln Society) in his 'what if they'd seen Putin coming?' thriller "Icon"
If *you* think something is illegal, I think experienced senior officers with a long association with JAG procedures might pick up on it as well.
800 flag rank officers are nodding in agreement.
What has Maester Qyburn been storing in the Quantico cellars?
... by the way, these are just scenarios we are discussing. After all, it's nearly October!
Somewhere in the dens of DHS, a fat white man wearing tactical clothing even in the office drinking coffee from a cup with an imprint of the Pinochet-helicopter meme is informed by Palantir of your critical post, wants to put you on the watchdog list. But before he does that, he wants to know what "kakistokracy" is, looks it up on Google, gets angry and suddenly an heart attack, of which he sadly dies, because he had an pre-existing condition caused by fast food, COVID, Ivermectin and chain-smoking.
An (non-warrant) officer's commission comes from the President. Flag officers must also receive support from the Senate.
Stripping of an officer's commission absent a formal declaration of war by Congress leaves open to the officer the option to demand a court martial with full trial. None of them need a JAG to know this.
@Larry:
I don't think the U.S. would ever extradite an official or former official to another country for prosecution.
What I thought of was the following:
Let's assume the MAGA presidency ends through regular elections in four years. Anyone and his Grandma will get an autopenned blanket pardon (possibly after paying for it).
Several things they have already done can be interpreted as crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide.
Those are crimes tried elsewhere on this world even if they did not happen within the borders of those countries. And there is always The Hague.
A new democratic president will face many challenges, one of them a still existing, radicalized MAGA base in various federal offices, no international ally left that does not distrust them, and the rule of law being totally hollowed out.
Personally, I'd suggest a hybrid of South Africas "peace and truth" commission and the Nuremberg trials to be installed as soon as the oath of office is sworn.
Those who work with the commission, admit their guilt and make adments deliberately still loose their offices and maybe also their fortunes (if freely given).
But extradition to a foreign country were they have to stand trial and face their responsibility could be on the menue, something that won't happen in the US anymore.
Was reminded that 29-30 sep is the anniversary of the Babi Yar massacre near Kyiv.
This year, over a thousand more victims' names have been verified, from under a year old to102. On those days in 1941 over 33000 were killed - mostly shot to death - and in the following years of Nazi occupation, over 100000 joined them - mostly Jews at first, but then Roma, or anyone who got on the wrong side of the authorities.
Pappenheimer
Der Oger
It may be hard to get them to admit their guilt because so many of them are terminally self-righteous. We are dealing with people who have accepted large ego bribes.
But still, what you said a "truth and reconciliation" commission and trials will be needed. The point of these is exposure of what MAGA did. But remember the 6th of January commission did expose what Trump and his supporters had done, and people still brushed it aside.
I get the value of a 'peace and truth' commission, but it is very unlikely we'd be in a mood for such a thing short of nukes flying. Our second amendment isn't just for one side of the aisle. Righteous indignation can be found in many of us, so we'd more likely keep shooting instead of extraditing.
Pappenheimer:
"So, the president, SecDef, probably all the CJSC and nearly every US flag rank officer...will all be in the same room..."
At Quantico?
My wife and I were talking about this last evening, at which point it struck me why I even know what Quantico is. FBI headquarters.
WTF does the FBI have to do with all this?
@Unknown
In Denver they have a memorial park that I used to live next door to https://www.tclf.org/landscapes/babi-yar-park
There is the FBI Academy, the HQ is the J. Edgar Hoover Building in DC.
What surprised me when I looked it up is that the actual town only has a Population of 576. I assumed it to be more.
Ok, that shows what I know from tv and movies. It's still an FBI institution, though.
The question stands. "What does the FBI have to do with all this?"
I'm not sure where the coverage is coming from, but I'm hearing some of what's coming out of Hegseth's meeting, and it sounds like a big nothingburger. Certainly not anything worth the in-person gathering.
Sounds like Hegseth and DJT want to make the military masculine again. And that's all.
https://www.threads.com/@stonekettle
"This is one of the most embarrassing things I've ever witnessed."
* * *
"How does it keep getting WORSE?!"
https://bsky.app/profile/rexhuppke.bsky.social
"Can you imagine the rage of a general who was forced to fly 15 hours from South Korea to DC to listen to this dipshit brag about his signature?"
Etc. Etc.
https://www.threads.com/@stonekettle
Dodger McBoneSpurs to America's senior military commanders: "I've never walked into a room so silent before. Just have a good time. And if you want to applaud, you applaud, and if you want to do anything you want you can do anything you want and if you don't like what I'm saying, you can leave the room. Of course, there goes your rank, there goes your future but you just feel nice and loose."
But Biden was old, and Hillary's e-mails.
Isn't there a Marines base? I assumed they would use that one.
Otoh, the auditorium of an Academy where counterintelligence agents are trained would somehow make sense, too.
Since you are saying "We... will... remember... you" to the would-be monarchists, I figure that it's time once again to link to Leslie Fish's "Hello! Remember Us?":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O68DedIacWM
Just as a point of information Oger, what have the MAGA people done that you consider Crimes Against Humanity? I presume Hegseth blowing up that boat in Venezuela, without verifying it was running drugs, or even establishing any basis for using deadly force. I presume deportations to El Salvador. I guess you're considering the support for Israeli actions in Gaza and bombing Iran's nuclear site.
For example, I think deporting foreign students for political speech that Trumpists don't like is unconstitutional in that it chills free speech of US citizens, even if the foreign students are not US citizens themselves. However, that would not quality as a crime against humanity. However, putting them in "detention" without legal recourse might qualify.
If you cite support for Israeli actions in Gaza, are we also going to try Biden administration officials at The Hague for the Gaza genocide?
Of course, Trump is nowhere near as bad as former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, who was shipped to The Hague this spring to be tried for Crimes Against Humanity. Duterte told Philippine police to "just shoot any drug dealers you catch, and I'll pardon you" which resulted in roughly 20,000 extra-judicial killings in his first year in office. Funny how some political opponents of Duterte just happened to get shot along with supposed drug dealers.
@JV,
Blowing up the boat off of Venezuela and deporting foreign nationals to torture camps in third countries probably don't qualify as "crimes against humanity", but they are international crimes which I presume could be prosecuted at The Hague.
As for the rest, you are probably on solid ground asserting that DJT has not yet committed actual crimes against humanity. He and his administration (especially Stephen Miller) have certainly vocalized an intent to commit such crimes. So it's just a matter of time.
Of course, my emotional take is that what he's doing to the United States is a crime against humanity, but that probably wouldn't stand up in court.
@John,
I use our International Criminal Law Code (modeled after the Rome Statutes) for reference, especially sections 6 (Genocide) and 7 (Crimes against Humanity) for the treatment of immigrants:
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_vstgb/englisch_vstgb.html#p0014
Except for the targeted killing of immigrants, there is evidence for the the majority of the definitions.
Support for perpetrators like the US and Germany deliver for Israel is not covered in the law.
Hegseth would get away with Venezuela in Germany, because Crimes of Aggression are somehow excluded from persecution (see sections 1).
Had to fix the formatting.
https://bsky.app/profile/rexhuppke.bsky.social/post/3m22tvonsi22d
"Fair warning, I'm going to express some optimism: The grotesque spectacle by Trump and Hegseth in front of U.S. military leaders today is going to backfire spectacularly and, in an odd way, may have made us safer from whatever insanity they have planned."
* * *
Me again. Please excuse the tangent.
Back in the mid-1970s, the tv show The Jeffersons had among its supporting characters a mixed-race couple, black woman and white man. There was one episode where the whole tease to keep the audience titilated was that the couple was going to have an argument, and the implication was that, in a fit of anger, he would call her a n***er. As the argument heated up and the white husband finally shouts, "Do you know what you are?" they don't even leave it up to the audience to guess. From the sidelines, George Jefferson sotto-voices, "That's it. He's gonna say 'n***er.'"
(Back then, you could say that word on tv, although almost always if the speaker was himself black or if the show was Roots )
So of course, that's not what the white man says. He shouts that "You are a woman!" And she retorts, "How dare you say that about me!", to which Jefferson intones, "That's not so bad. I thought he was going to say "n***er"
All that to say that of all the trepidation I felt about what might have come out of this Hegseth meeting, the reality was pretty anticlimactic, and less scary than it might have been.
Also, Kudos to the officers for not applauding, even when Hegseth is clearly expecting it.
Trump and his SecDef made clear that illegal orders are coming, and that they will fire anyone that refuses them. There is no grey in what was said today.
Where are the retired generals? Where are the fired JAGs? It is the lack of pushback from *anyone* with military gravitas that is the most concerning.
Note: silence at the speech is not to be interpreted as resistance to Trump and his Drunken Weekend Anchor. Officers are not supposed to show reactions to political speeches, even those that they agree with.
Ok. What I thought it would be rather than what I feared it might be. No attempt at a loyalty oath, even a disguised one. But definitely an attempt to recruit the military as political allies. This seems to have backfired.
Trump acted like it was a political rally and was disappointed when faced by stony faces. Hegseth also seems to have failed with his idea of a hyper-masculine appeal.
Interesting how both of them were fixated on appearances. Trump talking about the return of primarily gun armed ships and even of battleships. He sees them as looking threatening. And Hegseth seemed obsessed with personal appearance.
And yes, and open admission that they intend to try to use the military against political opponents. We knew that already, but they have made it harder for supporters to pretend otherwise.
I think you are incorrect about the silence.
There is usually a small amount of clapping (even as little as three claps) as a sign of respect for anything other than direct orders where clapping would be inappropriate.
A lack of polite clapping should be read as an unvoiced lack of respect... that can be denied.
Ye-gads. Battleships went the way of the dodo decades ago.
Everyone has multi-mach missiles.
Every US Navy officer knows this.
Yep. While making your ships look intimidating is a good idea there are technical reasons why modern ships look the way they do.
"Note: silence at the speech is not to be interpreted as resistance to Trump and his Drunken Weekend Anchor. Officers are not supposed to show reactions to political speeches, even those that they agree with".
Officers are also not supposed to engage in political purges, especially against American citizens on US soil. If they do what they're supposed to do in one instance in spite of DJT's obvious expectation, why are you so sure they won't in other instances?
"A lack of polite clapping should be read as an unvoiced lack of respect.."
As can the way the soldiers marched at DJT's pathetic birthday parade.
Von Schitzenpantz seems to honestly believe that the military brass is all in on Hegseth's hyper-masculine ideal, and that they've just been champing at the bit for a real leader to free the warfighters from the woke constraints of past administrations. What we're seeing from the military itself is a different thing, hopefully the opposite thing.
"Ye-gads. Battleships went the way of the dodo decades ago."
The USN learned during the Pacific Campaign that having a heavily (AA) armed battleship in close support of a carrier group paid dividends, whether or not that battleship ever even saw an enemy vessel. There might be a place for such a ship in today's warfare - reasonable opinions differ.
By itself, though...might as well dredge the Yamato up, patch the torpedo damage, bolt on 18-inch Quaker guns, and tow it around, for all the good it'll do. It'll look VERY scary with a fresh coat of paint.
Pappenheimer
"looking scary" - to somebody who understands todays military a battleship looks like a very expensive "target"
Something that costs a fortune in people and resources and can be killed by 1/1000th the people and resources
Bringing a knife to a long distance gun fight
addendum; dodos were perfectly well suited to Mauritius, an island with no land predators. They were basically pigeons that flew in, found Easy Street, and lost the ability to fly. Then humans happened to them, along with our cohorts - cats and rats. No time to adapt. Go easy on the poor bustards.
Pappenheimer
Guns do not have the range or accuracy to be the primary armament of modern warships. Trump does not understand this. His speech was a demonstration of his growing dementia.
I think it was primarily the introduction of pigs. They attacked dodo nests. There was little human consumption of them. They were nearly inedible.
(at the risk of repeating a Polemical 乱取り)
Quantico:
The U.S. military top brass was treated to a live performace of
Bohemian Corporal's Rhapsody.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs3dPaz9nAo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedley_Butler
I do contractor work for the USN.
They are NOT looking at reviving battleships.
They are thinking long and hard about projecting force over huge distances because their primary enemies aren't on the water. Missile range, speed, and accuracy have increased SO much that one must consider a launch site deep inland as a threat. Defense against that threat is what keeps them awake at night... and they have some VERY bright people with some VERY neat solutions to try.
None of this is secret stuff. Recall that scene at the end of 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' when the government agent said 'We have top people working on it.' Well... we do(!)... but it is the work of the fact using clade... thus not sexy enough for our macho-in-chief.
Heh. You make the point, though. Battleships were amazing things in their days. They aren't anymore. Long live the guided missile destroyer.
For the sake of completeness, I include this video by Hank Green concerning the autism link recently in the news. He chased the research, read the papers, and expresses himself with about the same level of anger I felt when I did something like this years ago (yes... I read research papers) when the fuss focused on mercury in the vaccines.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdpSfrD3Nzs
(Whatever else you think about Hank Green and his brother, this video nails what pisses me off about the so-called research being done. Great research IS being done, but lawyers chasing money are distorting it all. So are a GREAT many other axe grinders.)
Heh. I'm sure some of them ARE drawn to the hyper-masculine possibilities.
However, I'm at a loss as to why the political bosses think such men need permission to be Men.
Grabbing pussies doesn't demonstrate courage even if the women involved punch back... which they should.
Alfred Differ:
"However, I'm at a loss as to why the political bosses think such men need permission to be Men."
They think such men need to be freed from the rules that punish them for being that kind of Men.
Note, even for those who believe in rigid differences between the sexes and the need for men to be MEN, there are ideals of manhood that center around honor and protecting the weak and other such qualities that you and I would consider to be positive ones.
The Hegseth "warfighters" ideal is that men should aspire to be brutes who cause harm without compassion. Essentially, he wants an army of Holnists.
https://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2025/Items/Oct01-2.html
...
The most important/frightening part of the speech was when Trump told the brass to be ready to fight an "enemy from within" and to prepare to use America's cities as a military training ground. He explained: "We're under invasion from within. No different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways because they don't wear uniforms. In our inner cities—which we're going to be talking about because it's a big part of war now. It's a big part of war." The Commander-in-Chief also made very clear that any officer who does not see things his way would be shown the door.
Take it from a historian, this kind of rhetoric is straight out of Mein Kampf. Trump could not sound more Hitler-esque if he somehow used a Ouija board to have Hermann Göring write his speeches for him. Remember, the core argument of the future leader of the Third Reich was that Germany had been "stabbed in the back" by Jewish bankers and other enemies within Germany. By virtue of his professional training, (Z) recoils at drawing Hitler comparisons. But when the shoe fits so well it might as well have been made by the finest cobbler in all of Christendom, what can you do?
Soldiers are trained, of course, to be apolitical. And any soldier who does not internalize that lesson very early is not going to rise to become a general officer. Since both Hegseth's and Trump's speeches were VERY political, the crowd was not going to respond the way that Trump's rally crowds do (or the way that the Nazi faithful did at Nuremburg; see Triumph of the Will for more on this point). Even with that caveat, witnesses to yesterday's spectacle said the stony silence was noticeable, and that you could have cut the tension with a knife.
...
Presented without further comment.
While you all wonder about the government shut down:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2025/10/01/government-shutdown-trump-epstein-files/86439899007/
No wonder Trump is nonchalant about shutdown. It delays Epstein files' release.
Congress can't force a release of the Epstein files under shutdown
Shutdown does not affect Congress. They are planning on being in session, they said today.
Johnson is not planning on swearing in the 218 vote to publish them, though.
My liberal's attitude is Why not let the government shut down? Everything DJT threatens to do because of a shutdown he would have done anyway. And any deal that Democrats could extract in exchange for our votes could be ignored through recision anyway.
"How could it be worse? Jehovah! Jehovah!"
Someone will now reply with all the ways it could be worse, but I daresay that if they want to do those things, they'll do them without a shutdown just as they will with one.
I've reached the point where I'd even be ok with a first-ever default on the national debt too, especially as it would be on DJT's watch. As The Minstrel put it on Batman concerning his plan possibly bringing the whole world down around them:
"So what? Who cares? It's their world!"
I am utterly sure that 95% of the flag officers in the room wanted to do what one of them apparently did... forehead slap. That one likely got fired. But the others were - i am sure - appalled in stunned disgust.
I'm guessing that many of them had Summer Daydream fantasies of doing more than that. But duty and decorum forced them to emulate Dorothy's Auntie Em:
"I've waited 23 years to tell you what I think of you, and now...well, being a Christian woman, I can't say it!"
Makes sense. They are preaching to the wrong crowd then. No one makes it to flag officer aspiring to be a brute. It's all about leadership at that level.
The problem is, if they hold on to the original strategy, they will try to gain the money elsewhere.
The annexation of Austria brought three times the mass of gold to the Hitler regime than actually left in Berlin. Oh, Canada!
Tribute payment demands are also possible, targeting Europe and Taiwan first.
The Problem with those summer dreams is: They often fail when executed. See the putsch attempt in Turkey in 2016, when the generals saw what Erdogan was trying, and in their failure, helped him to succeed.
"In the Game of Thrones you either win or die."
The main dilemma would-be conspirators face is: Who can they trust? Stauffenberg, Oster and von Treskow must have been riddled with paranoia. They backed off of numerous other assassination plots at the slightest change of the winds.
The other, long-term problem is, once you go down that dark road, it makes future summer dreams easier, and the general Population apolitical (there is a series of studies that indicate that, made in the countries of the so-called coup belt).
Charles Dance (as Lord Mountbatten in The Crown) summarizes the needs and challenges of a coup:
https://youtu.be/pi68RUUkoRI?si=RFrkQVUhI4ryf75H
"Shutdown does not affect Congress. "
Congress would not release the files, the DOJ would.
And the DOJ is shut down.
Additionally the labor department is shut down, making it impossible to publish labor and unemployment data showing that we are in a recession.
As you mention "Game of Thrones", that same Charles Dance was Tywin Lannister in that series. He also plays an interesting WIlliam Randolph Hearst in the Netflix movie "Mank". I'm becoming more of a fan.
He'd make a great James Bond villain.
@Celt,
Yes, there are plenty of reasons that the Republicans are glad to have a shutdown. Much more plausible reasons than the one they're trying to push about Democrats--that we're holding out for free health care for illegal aliens.
I'm wryly reminded of the lyrics to the Dead Milkmen spoken-word song, "Stuart":
"We know it's the queers. They're in it with the aliens. They're building landing strips for gay Martians!. I swear to God, Stuart!"
* * *
(Here's the "song" I'm talking about. It was parody in the 1980s, but it sounds like a real MAGAt these days)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZccFTn-21Rw&list=RDZccFTn-21Rw&start_radio=1
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/opinion/charlie-kirk-jd-vance-cancel-culture.html?unlocked_article_code=1.p08.r-bP.Y0RZBRLnpa6l&smid=bs-share&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
...
“It’s the idea that the illiberalism that has swallowed the progressive left — what we often refer to as wokeness — has come for the right,” The Free Press’s Bari Weiss explained in the introduction to a podcast on the subject. And while conservatives are split over whether this is a positive development or a negative one, they all seem to agree on one point: The right learned its vengeance politics from the left. “Turnabout is fair play,” the conservative activist Christopher Rufo posted on X. Right-wing cancel culture was simply “an effective, strategic tit-for-tat.”
That argument rests on a flawed premise: that the right had been devoted to open debate and restrained government power, only reluctantly abandoning these principles to counter left-wing illiberalism. But the right did not learn cancel culture from the left; the modern right in America emerged as a censorious movement. It took decades for its free-speech faction to develop, and even then, it has only ever been a minority part of the coalition.
The conservative movement that arose at the start of the Cold War readily married government power and private efforts to crack down on its political opponents.
...
About time someone noticed that "cancel culture" originated on the political right at least as far back as the 1950s.
In his incontinent harangue of the general officers, Pete Hegseth referred to initiatives to avert climate change as "climate change worship". He should go onto his knees and pray to God that the four forms of state-corporate climate crimes (crimes of resource extraction; crimes of political silence; crimes of climate change denial; and crimes of empire such as using political, financial or military power to protect access to fossil fuels) don't turn into sins and that advocates for averting climate change, maddened by their pain and despair, don't turn climate advocacy into religious zealotry. His beefy carcass would be one of the first to be put to the torch. . . .
Five things about this, (the most important one last): 1) Reitred officers like Gen. Eaton may speak. They are almost universal in expressing appalled condemnation of this madness. Hence, we can guess what the sullen silence of active officers at Quantico meant. The retirees speak for them.
2) For 80 years since Smedley Butler & George Marshall, the Officer Corps had one core principle, utter obedience to Constitutional civilian authority. Now must we go watch "Seven Days in May," "Z", and "Manchurian Candidate"? No! But the worst harm Trump has done is to get officers thinking thoughts they never wanted to think.
3) Okay, I'm glad this absurd event wasn't a DESIGNATED SURVIVOR scenario or something else lurid! Instead, a pair of delusional jibberers, used to getting cheers from crowds of rabid microcephalics, ranted at the most-sane, most professional, dignified and ADULT audience they ever faced, and their hopes to sway them with jibbering incantations were dashed. (Though audience images will be scanned for micro-expressions of disapproval, leading to mass dismissals.)
4) Every such travesty that happens without even just five GOP House members deserting the frothingly toxic GOP only heaps likelihood on my theory. That only coercion can explain the utter lack of new Liz Cheneys. And the only coercion that's consistent, at scale, is blackmail. And hence just 3 or 4 defectors, who came out in unison, could save the country. And themselves.
5) But finally... LOOK AT THE PICTURE ON THE RIGHTSIDE of this jpeg.** Two out of three of the men in front are not flag officers, but sergeants! The Chief Segeant majors of the Air Force and Marines. And the generals made room for them to sit in the front row for good reasons. Because the noncoms will be pivotal. They could make all the difference.
The generals did not get their stars for being stupid. Still, it is mostly up to us.
** for the image go to my Facebook... https://www.facebook.com/thedavidbrin
Hearing a podcast about an ex-evangelical, I had the thought: With all evil the Catholic church was and is involved in, historically, they have rid themselves of fanatics who believe they hear or are the voice of god quite effectively over the centuries and have a Long institutional experienced in dealing with fascism.
Maybe a counterreformation attempt in MAGA-Land (after the archconservative cardinals have been sent to a cloister) would help?
Took the updated Defense Futures Simulator, published by AEI, out for a spin. Interesting app, though the math, data and weights underlying the model fits is fairly opaque at the moment (you can get at the data if you want to wade through the CBO's defense spending estimates). Might be interesting to see what kinds of forecasts you get from a comparative product from a more liberal-leaning think tank. With the gamified user interface, it's a relatively painless way to see the scope of our defense establishment. There are various strategic priorities, trade-offs and budget expectations you can input to the model. I ran a scenario attempting to draw down the DoD baseline to around $500 billion/year by 2029, from today's $900 billion. The Army takes the biggest budget hit. Interestingly, nuclear deterrence (i.e. build more nukes) always gets a bump in the scenarios where you are trying to draw down costs.
https://bsky.app/profile/stonekettle.bsky.social/post/3m2a3ilnims27
"Libertarians are like house cats, convinced of their fierce independence while utterly dependent on systems they neither appreciate nor understand."
Heh.
Someone scan photos of the audience please and count the sergeants. Someone on FB said that ALL of the generals brought a sergeant. I can't tell. but if so I wonder who gave that order?
This next 13 months may be our last chance... and they are fighting as if they know it's theirs.
https://youtube.com/shorts/1ytVnqfd1qY?si=JD2uUJ9M8Bp0MCuL
Dr. Brin, I know you don't like cyclical theories of history, but you might appreciate this series of short videos clearly explaining how the always repeating historical cycle of massive debt - hyperinflation - devaluation - collapse plays out:
How debt destroyed the Spanish Empire (the world's first superpower) economically.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tND1NwKum04
How debt destroyed the British Empire externally.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHBYevzaNIE
How debt destroyed the French Monarchy internally.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOHvTSFGXBY
How debt destroyed the Confederacy more than Union armies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6_BHgaPfCc
Where does this massive debt come from in every case?
Its not social spending to help ordinary people have decent lives.
The debt is caused by having to pay for never ending wars.
In every case, these great powers were "too big to fail".
Yet they did.
Remember "Ferguson's Law" from the videos:
"When a great power spends more on servicing its government debt than it does directly on national defense, its ceases to be a great power".
America's national defense spending in fiscal year (FY) 2024 was $874 billion.
In 2024, the United States spent approximately $880 billion to $1.1 trillion on servicing its national debt
We are already there.
But don't worry about China taking over, they are also massively in debt, in worse shape than us and with sicker demographics (shrinking and aging population):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94xw1XozeTU
Sorry that it slipped my mind, but which of you concocted the "Three Laws of Corporatics"" And maybe reiterate them here?
Celt, I distinguish Attractor States from generationally-driven 'cycles.' Is there an attractor state for stoopid males with vast power to want to send as many men as they can marching to their deaths in fancy costumes? Yeah. And this was oner of many failure modes that we were already leaning hard against before WWII, only to double down against it hard, under the lessons taught by George Marshall.
Some british leaders like Gladstone tried to resist imperal expansion and we gave in a bit in the Spanish War. But Largely, our those countered the temptation and when we DID become an 'empire,' it was very different. The American Pax pushed gold and industrial jobs OUTWARD rather than mercantilism inward, thus developing the world. And the US umbrella allowed most countries to spend 1% of GDP or less on armies, rather than the historical 20% or more. Which also helped development.
Evenm now, the debt thing is overblown. Japan has VASTLY higher paper debt than the USA, yet is doing fine. Though yes, Dems are far more fiscally responsible than GOPpers.
That was me. And there have been various tweaks to the original concept, but essentially, in return for the protections afforded by society:
First Law: A corporation must not provide more harm than good to the society that charters it.
Second Law: A corporation must provide the benefit it was chartered for except when doing so conflicts with the First Law
Third Law: A corporation must maintain its viability except when doing so conflicts with the First or Second Laws.
Larry, I think we should ban companies from owning other companies in the interests of transparency and to prevent the buying up of competitors. This doesn't mean companies cannot merge - but it means no hostile takeovers.
@reason,
Since "Corporations are people, my friend," that could be covered by the Constitutional amendment prohibiting slavery.
Before same-sex marriage was a reality, I used to say that gay folks who wanted to marry should incorporate themselves and then merge.
That worked as long as the Warsaw pact existed and there was a need for the billionaire class to pacify the masses.
Afterwards, hypercapitalization and PPP grift schemes eroded that common, public wealth, while the continuing Installation of a global state of oppressive surveillance undermines and endangers our personal freedom and shields these oligarchs from scrutiny and responsibility.
Epstein, Trump, Musk, Thiel and Yarvin are a direct result of this pax.
Or, maybe, we set another date for the end of it, I suggest 9/11 and the start of the Forever Wars.
@Larry: My theory is, corporations are such a good place for malignant narcicists and sociopaths to thrive because they are miniature autocracies, of either the feudal or absolutist shade. That spills over into the larger society.
Instead of asking ourselves how to run states as businesses, the question should be: How can we democratize companies?
We need to give up on MAGA and stop trying to reform, change or save them.
Their brains are wired differently and they will never have the necessary levels of empathy and intelligence needed to become liberals.
What they do have is authoritarian brain wiring, the one thing that determines if a person is a Trump supporter.
This was recognized as far back as Trumps first campaign:
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/01/donald-trump-2016-authoritarian-213533/
The One Weird Trait That Predicts Whether You’re a Trump Supporter
And it’s not gender, age, income, race or religion.
"In fact, I’ve found a single statistically significant variable predicts whether a voter supports Trump—and it’s not race, income or education levels: It’s authoritarianism."
"That’s right, Trump’s electoral strength—and his staying power—have been buoyed, above all, by Americans with authoritarian inclinations. And because of the prevalence of authoritarians in the American electorate, among Democrats as well as Republicans, it’s very possible that Trump’s fan base will continue to grow."
"Running a standard statistical analysis, I found that education, income, gender, age, ideology and religiosity had no significant bearing on a Republican voter’s preferred candidate. Only two of the variables I looked at were statistically significant: authoritarianism, followed by fear of terrorism, though the former was far more significant than the latter."
"While its causes are still debated, the political behavior of authoritarians is not. Authoritarians obey. They rally to and follow strong leaders. And they respond aggressively to outsiders, especially when they feel threatened. From pledging to “make America great again” by building a wall on the border to promising to close mosques and ban Muslims from visiting the United States, Trump is playing directly to authoritarian inclinations."
"But Hetherington has also found, based on 14 years of polling, that authoritarians have steadily moved from the Democratic to the Republican Party over time. He hypothesizes that the trend began decades ago, as Democrats embraced civil rights, gay rights, employment protections and other political positions valuing freedom and equality. In my poll results, authoritarianism was not a statistically significant factor in the Democratic primary race, at least not so far, but it does appear to be playing an important role on the Republican side. Indeed, 49 percent of likely Republican primary voters I surveyed score in the top quarter of the authoritarian scale—more than twice as many as Democratic voters."
MAGA started with fear of Mexicans/Hispanics as Trump first came down the gold escalator. A clos second was fear of Muslims. Fear triggers the authoritarian response in either case.
For others of their kind its fear of Blacks, loathing of gays, or resentment of successful women - or all the above.
But this fear and a desire for a strong authoritarian ruler to protect them from what they fear is the foundation of all MAGA.
They are hard wired for authoritarianism and there is no saving them, reforming them or rescuing them.
They are what they are and there is no changing them.
Not even if MAGA policies eliminate their healthcare, lose their farms, ruin the economy or wreck their retirement.
Whiteness is more important to them than any of those.
https://www.salon.com/2025/10/03/jd-vances-shutdown-bet-maga-loves-racism-more-than-health-care/
JD Vance’s shutdown bet: MAGA loves racism more than health care
The vice president's argument assumes it’s better for millions to lose coverage than for one immigrant to gain it
So instead of trying to make them into better people (aka "liberals") you should just enjoy watching them destroy themselves.
And pass the popcorn.
In 1984, Orwell suggested that they began shortly after WWII. Since the book was written in '48 and published the next year, I'm not clear if he was projecting what looked like a probable future, or if he felt that that future had already taken shape.
Look closely. The room is packed with Sergeants-Major and command sergeants. It seems many, mmayb most generals brought their command sergeants with them. Someone said Hegseth ordered it. I hope not but even so, it means the sense of disgust has gone surging down the ranks of the NCOs.
Honest reporting on the situation in Portland from The Guardian. It is shameful that American media is failing in their reporting on the situation. 100% of mainstream American media is owned by billionaires that are distorting the truth in order to curry favor with the fascists.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/03/portland-oregon-living-hell-tiktok-trump
I ask myself: is it greed or fear? And if it is the latter, is it justified?
Celt you are bright. But that is such drivel!
1. That so-called "study" is a perfect example of tendentiousness based on which questions are asked. In this case, seriously? Race and gender are NOT factors? Just because MAGAs self-protectively refuse to say they are racist or sexist?
And while the % of authoritarians is far lower among democrats, we do have a wing that -- if you ask them proper, probing questions -- would quash or even crush their opponents - including especially their perceived opponents WITHIN the liberal coalition... all in the name of their own sense of virtuous righteousness. (I do mean FAR lower, but definitely there.)
2. Is ambient fear an underlying factor in MAGAdom? Sure it is. But there are far more basic things like truly American reflex (shared by the left) of Suspicion of Authority which, in GOP case, is directed (and stoked by Fox to white-hot heat) hated of nerdy civil servants as the authorities to hate,
Them plus waging all-out war vs ALL fact using professions, from science and teaching, medicine and law and civil service to the heroes of the FBI/Intel/Military officer corps who won the Cold War and the War on terror.
And dems inability to parse that clearly is an example of their polemical stoopidity. So much that a bright guy like you can ignore it.
Only dig it, Authoritarianism is a MEANS to ends! For the oligarchs, it means immunity from lawful consequences. And for MAGAs it is their means for Revenge on the Nerds.
3. So you admit Pax Americana WAS beneficial till now; only NOW it isn't? Where was the first half of that sentence from you for the previous 30 years? When the best thing ever to happen to humanity gave us the best human lifespan in the history of our species?
Well we're finding out ,as Europe furiously re-arms to take our place, at least locally. And fine, now they can afford to! Uphold civilization! The generation of Americans may not have the guts of their parents.
Heck, for your weekend pleasure and interest, here's another interview that probes issues far more important today than they were, even then.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A0fUAkOkxY&pp=0gcJCfsJAYcqIYzv
David, you misunderstood what the explanatory variables in the analysis were. They were not MAGA's claimed opinions about race and sex. They were the race and sex of the MAGA individuals.
And besides suspicion of authority and partially underlying it is something else. That is the desire to believe that they do not need experts. They want to believe that they can rely on intuition and not check things out. They call it common sense and gut feelings. They think there is an easy way to understanding and that it leads to conclusions that make them feel comfortable.
Now what is behind this intellectual cowardice and laziness is an important question. Some of it is an exaggerated opinion of their own capabilities. Some of it is the magical thinking that their religious beliefs encourages. And I'm sure there are other things.
@Dr Brin,
Heh. You really are a Contrarian. So, it takes someone else asserting that MAGA isn't racist to make you argue that is.
"Some of it is the magical thinking that their religious beliefs encourages. And I'm sure there are other things."
Some is surely the belief that western Europeans and their descendants are the only once qualified to make actual accomplishments, and that anyone else in a position of authority or competence must have been given the position to fill a quota.
They don't even see the irony that they claim to oppose DEI hiring because they believe in merit, but their solution is to hire only those who meet their racial and gender preference. They see DEI as "hiring less qualified blacks and women instead of competent white men," but what they insist upon is "hiring (possibly) less-qualified white men because those men's race and gender qualifies them automatically."
They do not understand the disadvantages under which other groups have laboured. But there are excess of DEI which should be questioned. In particular many ignore differences between groups in level of interest in various fields. And I think this is especially the case for differences between sexes. There are fields that attract more women and ones that attract more men and in a far system the outcomes will reflect that.
Uh, this is another staple of cans of worms we should not open.
For example, care-taking jobs would benefit from a higher male percentage of employees, yet interior and exterior culture often makes that more difficult.
There are studies measuring teachers biases in the base of your name (which are subconsiously tied to a certain socioeconomic background), deciding over the amount of support you get, plus your evaluations and later career options.
There will be some cases where differences between the sexes will be due to cultural considerations that it might be a good idea to encourage changes in. And there will probably be cases where there are differences in tendencies between the sexes. We should not make automatic assumptions about the causes of employment patterns.
Thank you. Directly after your interview, the algorythm proposed me a video about the legal encroachment on VPNs and the surveillance state.
I recently thought of a privately operated network, community based network of drones as a non-profit business - or better, a hybrid between neighborhood watch and hobby club.
A cooperative, if you will
The basic principle is to have an app in your phone - a red button- which alerts the nearest FPV drone and it's operator.
The drone is equipped with cameras, speakers and sirens and automatically flies to your position, where the human operator can assess the situation and talk to the client ( or would-be molestors, or cops.)
The cooperative itself is community- funded but independent from the police, the drone operators local volunteering residents, and safeguards against stalking and vigilantism are installed.
The only commercial part might be a company that supplies the hardware and training, though prices should be in an area that even poorer communities can afford it (or paid by the local government). Maybe there is room for different competing companies in such a model.
Maybe the cooperative is tied to other local organizations and cooperatives, like intervention teams for psychic crisises or firefighters.
Some of the lunacy I have had to put up with for 25 years . And I am well-established. I help young authors enter the game - entirely uncurious about their race/gender or any other litmus - via two YA series. But it is a drop in the sea of this idiocy on the part of a gone-mad left ...
...a cult that - while far smaller and less treasonous than MAGA, is nevertheless part of the general stoopidification that betrayed the very causes they claim to believe in. And that drove many thousands and possibly millions into the arms of the Foxites and MAGA, or at least to stay home instead of fighting for Kamala.
https://pjmedia.com/jamie-wilson/2025/09/30/dei-vs-story-part-4-how-publishing-lost-the-plot-the-silencing-of-the-straight-white-male-n4944277
I read the article, then looked up the rest of the magazine. The first article I glanced was "Why Hegseths reforms are necessary". I made the mistake to read it. Fascist reasoning, smearing of Vindman etc pp.
So, this article about "literary genocide of straight white men" is, mostly, a deflection from or justification for the current ethnic cleansing and early to middle stages of genocide where real people disappear and die.
If this unlucky young writer itself turned out to be a pure piece of fiction, or his book just a variation on the Turner Diaries, I would not be surprised.
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