Like Austin Powers' fembots... cute, but deadly...

:-)

-CW

Yeah, but I think what Bashi's talking about is a drone *swarm*... like a whole bunch of them at once, not just one multimillion-dollar one directing a missile from far above.

Oh, well... that's very different. I did think of that after I posted.

Did you see those Ukrainian drones? I mean, man, they were *small*... like a ton of those swarming a single individual, that's what I was picturing...

Aren't they cute. ;)

A "lifting of the weight" sorta...

As for the rest of it... had to think of the BBC being embarrassed "Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead" topped the pop charts in Britain the week Maggie Thatcher died... there was a whole thing... whether "Top Of The Pops" would even play it or not...

heh

-CW

Again, thanks for the feedback... seems to be pretty universal, so far...

-CW

i don't think it's cause for celebration that someone had to be expelled. it was the right decision, just like giving a student an F who has duly earned it. but a good teacher wants all the students to succeed, and laments the cases where it isn't possible, for whatever reason.

That is an excellent way to put it and is 1000% how I feel about it all. It pains me to take such drastic action... only the second time I have done so in almost 2 decades!

It's not an easy call. But at some point, the needs of the other students override that impulse.

anyway, just thanks for the paradigm or metaphor. It helped.

-CW

Well, thank you both for your input and for the kind words! It is pleasant to interact with commenters when... well, you know...

-CW

should I add the ability to post emojis here? I mean, dang, that previous comment sure could've used a couple!

:-D

I am, of course, an old-school devotee of emoticons, but I realize I lost that battle a long time ago!

-CW

Wait... someone's doing surveillance on my backyard hot tub orgies?

Damn, I gotta plant some trees or something...

(HA!)

-CW

again, thanks for the feedback!

:-)

-CW

Well, thank you! I almost never even check the account between January and like November, but I will now!

I have to say, to everyone, the thought of upgrading the site came with a heavy blanket of "Jeez, why bother?" but I am starting to come out of that cloud now. I need to line up a new web developer and get that ball rolling again!

-CW

Got any opinions on the chemical makeup of "Greek fire"? there's a military mystery for the ages...

heh

-CW

No shit? I was right? I am surprised. I learned that about the stirrup from a PBS historical documentary... had to say, had never (well, maybe picturing Indians) pictured horse riders *without* stirrups... kinda like the historical fact that it took years after people started putting food in cans that a can-opener was invented...

anyway, yeah, the ability to stabilize yourself in the saddle, and control the horse better, and fire a weapon (a bow) a WHOLE lot better was indeed a giant step forward in the art of war.

I still (geeking out, here) think the Roman "turtle" is like the coolest thing ever invented, in this realm, though!

:-)

-CW

duly noted!

or should I say:

DULY NOTED!!!

(heh)

-CW

Yeah, but I think what Bashi's talking about is a drone *swarm*... like a whole bunch of them at once, not just one multimillion-dollar one directing a missile from far above. Did you see those Ukrainian drones? I mean, man, they were *small*... like a ton of those swarming a single individual, that's what I was picturing...

-CW

-CW

I'm not going to get too worked up about altered vocals on YouTube.

This might be "blasphemy," but everyone should try at least a few of the 8D tunes. Must definitely use headphones for the full effect:

Imagine Dragons - Believer (8D AUDIO)

The Annoying Song

Is that supposed to annoy me? Sounds like Alvin (not to be confused with Simon or Theodore). I like it. :)

Haha. He can't stand it anymore. What could he possibly do to ease his pain?

EXTREMELY PLEASANT, SUCKER. WE LOVE IT AND HATE ANY IDEA OF GOING BACK TO LOUD AND OBNOXIOUS AND ENDLESS THREADS THAT BASICALLY SAY NOTHING EXCEPT TO EXPRESS VIOLENT AND HATEFUL EMOTIONS IN ANNOYING ALL-CAPS FORMAT!!!

What is this unbolded BS, John!? Heh. Just kidding.

I hope it does, but it did change mine. I just donated to your website upgrade.

Great idea, John.

I agree with John and John. :)

If someone comes out of a liquor store with a weapon and $50 in cash, I don't care if a drone kills him or a policeman kills him.

On the other hand, he thinks that drones should not be used in normal crime situations. Like billion dollar crypto scams?

Oh yeah, ‘bout fucking time.

The Annoying Song

goode trickle [19] - OK, he's gone now. Has that changed your mind any?

I hope it does, but it did change mine. I just donated to your website upgrade.

you were right the first time, the stirrup. some historians may overstate its social impact relative to other factors, but there are so many major developments that couldn't possibly have happened without it.

JL

You wrote:

"So I gotta ask everyone... how are things going?
This new paradigm working for everyone?
Share your thoughts, please... been a pretty pleasant week, from what I can see so far..."

EXTREMELY PLEASANT, SUCKER. WE LOVE IT AND HATE ANY IDEA OF GOING BACK TO LOUD AND OBNOXIOUS AND ENDLESS THREADS THAT BASICALLY SAY NOTHING EXCEPT TO EXPRESS VIOLENT AND HATEFUL EMOTIONS IN ANNOYING ALL-CAPS FORMAT!!!

I do wonder when we get the first high profile assassination via drone or drone swarm...

Depending (of course) on your definition of high profile target:

Anwar al-Awlaki, September 30, 2011

Qasem Soleimani, January 3, 2020

Haven't accomplished that in a long while...

Dunno about you but I am liking the big change.

-CW

OK, now THAT was funny!

:-)

-CW

Good question. I had put a lot of hope in Fetterman, on that level, but he's kind of gone off the rails. Where are the Dems who can show genuine outrage?

-CW

He walked into a door.

Heh.

-CW

All I could think of was my Jeopardy! trivia answer: Paul Shaffer (Dave Letterman's bandleader) co-wrote "It's Rainin' Men"

:-)

-CW

What made me wonder was: that Qatari plane is just sitting out in the open in a Texas airfield... what would happen if Putin commandeered some captured Ukrainian drones and attacked the plane, then pointed the finger of blame at Ukraine? It's certainly within his wheelhouse.

-CW

Maybe Eisenhower was right... (sigh)

-CW

John M from Ct. [1] -

there are Silicon Valley and other tech firms (defense tech firms, to be clear) who are desperately trying to talk the Pentagon into allowing them to ramp up production of cheap drones. So far the "but weapons systems cost billions and take years and years and years to develop" mindset seems to be winning, but you never know... maybe some sane minds will prevail... kinda a longshot, but there are indeed some tech companies trying to sell a paradigm shift to the Pentagon right now...

-CW

I did everything up to Friday and (glory be!) there aren't 150+ comments on it (most of them not worth wading through).

So I gotta ask everyone... how are things going?

this new paradigm working for everyone?

share your thoughts, please... been a pretty pleasant week, from what I can see so far...

will try to get to the Friday comments later tonight or tomorrow, and like, this time I mean it ok!

:-)

-CW

So there might actually be a "Liberation Day" in there somewhere when all the illegally accumulated tariffs are set free from the bonds of the wannabe king and returned to their rightful owners.

I really really wanted to write this article with either the title or the first line of it which included the phrase:

"Liberation From 'Liberation Day' Day"

but alas, the appeals court ruled too fast... I mean, sheesh, they coulda waited like one day, right?

:-)

-CW

What... no love for the atomic bomb!? ;)

China is already the world leader in building cheap drones.

China is the world leader in building cheap everything.

Drones take off from a truck to attack the Belaya airfield in the Irkutsk Oblast

John M from Ct. [3] -

You are right. There will be a "crossing the Rubicon" moment. But we haven't gotten there yet.

Could be any day, though...

-CW

OK, like much of what South Park does, it's offensive as hell, but still... this is what's been running through my mind...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQKDlNTEl6w

TACO, TACO...

:-D

-CW

Interesting. I could see that ("Trump simply not talking about tariffs any more and pretending the entire thing never happened") happen by the end of the year. Easily, in fact. Just never really considered it before... good comment... just had to say that!

-CW

The Cold War term "useful idiot" springs to mind!

:-)

-CW

see, I try to keep to my duty of "I watch so you don't have to" but hey, man, there are limits. I couldn't watch the Pirro thing... glad you did, but I just couldn't...

:-)

-CW

John M from Ct. [3] -

That is an excellent point. It kinda just occurred to me as I was finishing the article, to tell you the truth.

I've been thinking more about it, since I wrote that (without seeing your comment). Dems goad T into being all "tough guy" with the incessant TACO gibe... things get worse much faster...

could be a strategy, actually. I may write about this soon. He really does seem to hate it, doesn't he?

but like I said, excellent point.

-CW

I apologize for not noticing the "I got DOGE'd" from goode trickle... my thoughts go out to both you and LizM... but maybe stick around here for a while... things could be improving rather quickly (and permanently)!

:-)

-CW

Can't you find older versions on YT before all the Autotune shit? That would be a valuable service... to present pre-AT music at its best, right?

I had no idea anyone was doing that 440Hz AT shit at all before I read your comment threads... you have opened my eyes...

-CW

I am writing this not knowing what has happened since, but... to your point...

his entire history on this site is on the line. If I delete his account, all his previous posts (and that's a WHOLE LOT of them) disappear. So it's really his choice, in the end. But then, like I said, I am writing this not knowing what has happened since...

-CW

goode trickle [19] -

OK, he's gone now. Has that changed your mind any? I am truly interested to know.

-CW

hmmm...

-CW

-CW

-CW

hmmm... lemme think...

One thing I didn't mention here... if things stabilize in Ukraine, they may become the world's top seller of cheap drones. They've battle-tested the tech, they have the production facilities, they could make a bunch of money off of that base...

-CW

Yeah, dunno if this is right or not, but I think those are the "Bear" bombers... you can tell they're old, they are prop-driven, not jet.

-CW

I just read an article about how the Russians had a new edge because they were launching so many fiber-optic drones... no RF traffic, thus can't be jammed... I will check out that video, I assume it is on the same subject. I can look up the article I read if you're interested...

-CW

well, dunno if this is what you're going for, but I did consider adding into that list "stirrups".

maybe you were thinking of the longbow? I dunno... crossbows?

-CW

nope

Are you referring to the bow-and-arrow, that allowed a common archer to take out a mounted knight at a distance - no hand-to-hand martial prowess required, just a good eye and shooting skill?

I do wonder when we get the first high profile assassination via drone or drone swarm...

And yes - the final question was the one I was asking myself throughout the reading: How will the U.S. Defense establishment react to this ongoing military revolution?

We have the strongest, greatest, most overwhelming, best-trained, smartest, etc. etc. military in the world - all agree. This kind of statement predominates in any discussion of global military power. And that makes us the heavyweight vs. the lightweights in the 'assymmetrical' struggles between the hegemonic world powers and those tiny, poor, underfunded, militarily weak, states or organizations that dare to challenge the hegemons' power to rule world affairs.

Clearly, the heavyweights believe their weights are heavy. What is the incentive to rethink, perhaps to the very core, their force structure, their world strategy, their armaments purchases and deployments, their personnels' training and worldview? Are all those aircraft carriers, all those tanks and APCs, all those fighter jets and bombers, all those satellites and bases and huge logistics trains, less effective than they are supposed to be, in the face of the Houthis, the Contras, the North Koreans, the Ukrainians (or their counterparts elsewhere)?

What should the Defense Department be doing at this point? Changing its complete strategic outlook and force structure to favor inexpensive drone and cyber warfare and guerilla strike teams? Or figuring out new defenses for the carriers, tanks, and planes against those drones and cyber attacks and guerilla units on the other side?

I have a very hard time imagining the Pentagon downsizing to favor these inexpensive but exponentially lethal new weapons systems at the expense of downsizing or retiring its entire current establishment.

Thanks for this essay.