Free Republic

We could always hire this hard working French farmer to spread said bulls' waste product on the protestors.

We should remind the protestors that they asked for Vegan meals to be delivered.

SpyNavy

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

NEB

OK, now what?

SpyNavy

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

The only non-duplicated letter is "B".

SpyNavy

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

Bonjour y'all! Laissez le bon Trump rouler!!!

Know your Nautical Terminology

wardroom
1. The living quarters of a naval ship that are designated for the use of commissioned officers other than the captain.
2. A collective term for the commissioned officers of a naval ship excluding her captain; e.g. "The captain rarely referred to his wardroom for advice, and this led to their discontent".

goat locker
A mess hall reserved for chief petty officers in the United States Navy.

The Chief's Quarters is the only place a CO knocks and asks permission to enter on his own ship.

SpyNavy

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

NOT a "Broken China" Update.

If you want on or off the ping list send me a FReepMail.

In my Broken China update earlier today I promised a personal update. Well here goes.

The long and short of it is that I have been in varying levels of pain for the past ten+ years. For the past six months it has been considerable.

As some of you know, I have two, as the doctor called it, incompetent discs in my lower back. This is mostly taken care of by pain meds. Fortunately, after I turned 65 and got pushed off on Medicare, I no longer got hassled over the pain meds. My congresscritter had something to do with that. He's the only pharmacist in Congress.

Beginning last summer my left shoulder started hurting. In January it got bad enough to go see the Orthopedist. Medicine is NOT my long suit. The Doc put the x-ray up on the screen and even I could see the problem. My arm and shoulder were basically bone-on-bone when I lifted my arm. I didn't think it funny but the Doc found it humerus.

The pain meds for my back don't do much for the shoulder pain for medical, REASONS.

I decided to try the cortisone shot first. I shouldn't have. You have to wait at least three months after the last cortisone shot before you can have surgery. That time is up and I have shoulder replacement surgery scheduled for next Monday. The exact procedure will depend on what the Doc finds when he goes in. All three options have essentially the same prognosis (good), and risks (very minor), and recovery period. My left arm will basically be useless for anything more than typing for two months. Then I have to see the Physical Terrorist for four months.

To top that off, I developed a major infection in my lower jaw. Antibiotics took care of the infection but I had three teeth in my lower right jaw pulled last Thursday. That pain is pretty much gone. In July I'll probably have root canal on four more teeth and see if I lose some of them. In any event they'll start working on a permanent implant. That is the least of my concerns.

Other than that, I'm doing great. I apologize if I have been overly grumpy of late. There's no need to take it out on y'all.

SpyNavy

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

A "Broken China" Update.

If you want on or off the ping list send me a FReepMail.

It has been quite a while since I made a Broken China post. Some of the reasons have been personal. I will lay out what is going on with me in a separate post.

I could be doing daily posts on all the crap going on in the PRC but it would be terribly repetitive and y'all would rapidly lose interest. Most of what I am seeing is not objective and quantifiable. Suffice it to say that none of the things I am seeing would be present in a country with a healthy, functioning society with a functioning economy and a bright future.

You should take ALL of the following as anecdotal evidence. Enough individual points, when taken together, can paint quite the picture. That said, on with the show.

Item One:
The great problem with industrialization is that a county only gets to do it once. What took Britain seven generations, the US five, France four and Germany & Japan three, the PRC has done in less than two. It built a massive capacity for industrial production, housing for the workers coming to the cities, and road & rail systems to move people and goods. That drive for industrialization is OVER. They can NEVER get it back.

In the west, the purpose of a business is to make a profit for the shareholders. In China it is to provide employment for people and promote societal stability. If it happens to make a profit, all well and good.

The primary driver of economic growth for the PRC over the past two decades has been real estate and industrial construction. Construction accounted for about 30% of national GDP. In the process, the PRC overbuilt its housing capacity by about 100-200%.

The 2008 sub-prime housing crisis in the US occurred because we overbuilt our housing by about 5%. To get a measure of the societal dislocation, multiply the US subprime pain by 40-60 and apply it to a smaller, less resilient economy. Roughly 80% of construction workers in China are unemployed.

Real Estate has been the one area of the PRC economy the CCP has allowed citizens to invest in. They did it with a vengeance. Now over half of the people are seeing their sole retirement savings vanishing as the houses, apartments, etc, that many are still paying the mortgages on, are worth less than 10% of what they paid if they can be sold at all. This is NOT sitting well with the Chinese people.

Item Two:
The PRC produces approximately 55% of the world's steel. Until recently, about half that production was used in building and construction. No more. Now the PRC is trying to dump this steel anywhere it can. As a result they are facing rising protectionism.

The PRC is no longer the low cost producer in any manufacturing segment in any industry. All that it has going for it is a massive manufacturing capacity. As a result, unemployment is rising rapidly throughout the economy but led by construction.

Item Three:
What the PRC should have done, but couldn't for internal political reasons, during industrialization was to create an internal demand driven consumption market. It didn't. As a result there is no way to absorb much of this over capacity in production. That leaves exports and/or shuttering businesses. The former is creating increasing tariff protectionism among China's foreign consumers. The latter leads to internal societal discontent and revolt. This is the sum of all fears for the CCP.

WWG1WGA

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

NATO was planning on attacking Russia through Ukraine?

That sounds pretty dubious. Getting NATO to do anyth ing is harder than herding cats. Got any hard receipts for that claim?

SpyNavy

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

I would much rather have Russia as friend than foe. I will NOT condone wars of conquest by any nation.

China only really worries me for the next ten years or so. They have monstrous internal political and economic problems as I have detailed before on this thread.

At the moment, I don't think the CCP (Xi Jinpooh) has faith in the PLA, PLAN, PLAAF, and the Rocket forces' ability to carry through a successful attack on Taiwan. They simply don't know if their people and equipment can do the job.

It is very worrying when you find water in the fuel tanks of your strategic rocket force missiles. What else will not function as advertised?

SpyNavy

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

Hear him, hear him.

SpyNavy

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

I don't really subscribe to the globalist elites/ One-World tyranny theory but OK. I don't doubt that there are people like that. I doubt their puissance.

Do you really believe that these globalist elites could/would strike at Russia through Ukraine? With what? Ukraine's military was pitiful at the start of the war. They have captured more Russian tanks than they began the war with. The only reason Ukraine has lasted this long is Western help and Russian incompetence.

Again, do you think this justifies a war of conquest against Ukraine by Russia? How about Moldavia, Romania, and Poland? That is what it will take for the Russians to plug the Bessarabian and Polish gaps.

Then we turn to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Is it OK to invade them? Or is it only OK to invade Ukraine because it's not a member of NATO?

SpyNavy

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

Sevastopol belonged to Ukraine. The main Russian Black Sea naval is/was Novorossiysk.

SpyNavy

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

Thank you and you're welcome.

SpyNavy

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

Yes those things were wrong, very wrong. But, AGAIN, they were only the putative casus belli and not the real motivation.

This was always going to happen sometime this decade regardless of the players involved. The reasons for the war are rooted in a witch's brew of national paranoia driven by Russian history, geophysical reality, and impending demographic collapse.

That merely makes a war of conquest understandable and NOT justifiable. Remember when the war started? Almost every military person, myself included, thought this would be a walkover.

When it wasn't we were given a great opportunity. It is in the national interest of all NATO members to bleed Russia white in Ukraine, thus preventing further aggression, regardless of motivation, by Russia.

I simply do not understand what I see from some on this thread. That is, the acceptance, nay applauding, of Russia's war of conquest, for that is what it is.

If anyone thinks I am wrong, please explain. What makes a war of conquest justifiable/acceptable? Should we allow Russia to control Ukraine just because we, including myself, don't like the people running Ukraine? Really? Who else should we permit to be invaded by a more powerful neighbor because of, REASONS? We are better than that.

SpyNavy

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

Imagine how incensed the Democrats would be if Trump suggested that citizens shoot illegals and the illegals start self-deporting.

SpyNavy

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

I didn't say Russia is evil. Paranoid as hell, absolutely. Given their history I'd say they have a right to their paranoia.

I don't think that paranoia justifies invading Ukraine. They think it does. We have a difference of opinion.

Do I think bleeding Russia white in response is a good idea? Absolutely. It means they won't be able to do it to anyone else.

Would I prefer that there not be a war in Ukraine? Absolutely.

A question for you. Why are you acting as an apologist for a nation and government waging a war of conquest? Do you not think it is evil to do so?

SpyNavy

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

Leaders of Donbass asking Putin for protection is only the putative Casus Belli. It is NOT the reason for entering into the war.

This war was always going to happen sometime this decade regardless of who was running Russia, Ukraine, or the United States. Does that make any part of it right or justified? Hell no.

Why are you intent on giving Russia a pass on this?

SpyNavy

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

What aim would that be?

Preventing harm to American citizens.

Our first foreign war, against the Barbary Pirates, was predicated on preventing further harm to American citizens.

It also launched what would become the current US Navy. The Navy got the job done.

SpyNavy

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

I think they should be very concerned with biolabs in Ukraine.

Does having biolabs justify a war of conquest? I would say that the proportionality doesn't come close to balancing.

Depending on exactly what the labs were doing I would have no problem with the death penalty for those initiating and/or doing the work. That would include any Americans involved.

This war is NOT about biolabs.

SpyNavy

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

This whole discussion centers on Russian desires for what it considers defensible borders.

Unfortunately for everyone, these borders lie in countries other than Russia and its allies. The red dashed line shows Russia's major defense points as they relate to the Eurasian Hordelands. Click for larger map.

When it comes to the Eurasian Hordelands you must control ALL of the hordelands to be secure. The only time this happened was under the Soviet Union.

Ukraine is on the way to two of these choke points, the Bessarabian and Polish gaps.

SpyNavy

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

I consider this to be irrelevant. There is NO justification for Russia invading and taking land from Ukraine.

Nevile Chamberlain discovered this principle to his, and Europe's, great sorrow.

The war exists. The question then becomes what is the best way to end it in a way that is in our national interests. Allowing Russia to win is a non-starter. Ukraine is only a speed bump on their way to what Russia considers defensible border. These would be the Bessarabian and Polish Gaps.

SpyNavy

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

If you are interested in having that discussion I'm all ears and eagerly await any proposal you may have.