Insightful article. It just reveals how much the US government is beholden to the large corporations and prioritize their interests and greed for profits, over the wellbeing of their own citizens.
And in general, given the global, neoliberal capitalist system that we live in, there are indeed many other countries around the world that also prioritize their corporations' interests over their own citizens.
It's high time more people start to realize this, stop getting distracted as well as divided by religious and cultural issues, and unite to challenge the political system in their respective countries in order to bring about meaningful change.
You've been challenged, Julian.- by my friend who spent his entire engineering career at WrightPat: "Are you kidding? They are completely different aircraft. The F-35 has only one engine, the SU-30 has two! That's like you trying to beat my Corvette with your pickup truck! Let's put the F-22 Raptor against that Russian plane. It would never even find the stealth F-22, before it was shot down!"
I don't expect too many air to air dogfights, but what say you?
Julian - I apologize for bringing this 'challenge' to your attention - not having done my homework before that. After minimal researching, looks like DaRaptor is already becoming history. As I told my friend - whose perspective is still in the 1980's - wars are not won at air shows!
"...argumentum ad nauseam. If you repeat the same argument enough times, untruth becomes truth."
Isn't that Goebbel's Big Lie? There seems to be no institutionalized counter-effort, while the MSM and the PTBs are fully institutionalized and unreachable. Unreachable - where are the gears into which I can throw my shoes? And, of course,those running those gears are only doing their jobs.
Expanding all this out, is USA salvagable, and if so, how? I'm not even sure that small town government is. That's not a personal criticism of the clerk to whom I pay my tax bill and the fire dept (I hope) but even admin of small towns is corrupted by requirements from state and feds. The system seems tightly coupled toward self-destruction.
You pretend that non-western countries like Russia, China are paragons of virtue - I guess if you ignore their horrendously long and present history of human atrocities they are great places to live.
You misunderstood me. I never wrote they're paragons of virtue. My point is the nations of the West aren't either. As a matter of fact, the USA is the world's foremost terrorist state and the US military is the world's foremost polluter.
Back in the Vietnam War I knew a lot of guys who volunteered to serve patriotically . Many were wounded. They did their duty . But many have also thrown away the medals . Not so the guys on the other side, who are still proud of what they did. There is was a "good" war . America's wars mostly seem to have been "bad" wars . In which case, what can we be proud of . I say "we" because Canadians fought in some of the same wars, although not Vietnam .
Since the 88th day of my life, the U.S. with the exception of Vietnam has not fought any capable military like North Korea with the backing of China and the Soviet Union. Ukraine is a far more competent military opponent than all those we "conquered" in my lifetime. That explains the dearth of victory parades to view for a pleasant fall morning.
We have been pickled in the brine that is American Exceptionalism. Vast numbers of U.S. citizens have no clue how poorly we are prepared for future survival from a multitude of threats of which a major war is just one.
When I graduated from my large flagship state university it was with a B.S in physics and a B.S in mathematics. The university awarded five B.S. degrees in physics and twenty B.S. degrees in mathematics that year. All five of us in physics also got a degree in mathematics. So twenty individuals pursued a BS in either physics or math out of a graduating class of around 2200. Now my memory does not have a total for other physical science, biological science, or engineering degrees but I would be shocked if those accounted for as many as 400 diplomas. (There were 7 degrees in statistics which was a separate department from mathematics.)
I studied what interested me. I encourage all to study what they find stimulating. But, when it comes to understanding force and the magnitude of physical phenomena, we all need to employ and solicit advice from experts in my favorite areas.
As a practical manner, Julian's article is a spot on critique of our armament boondoggle. We need to nationalize and downsize our armament industry and put real qualified people back in charge.
Exceptionalism seems to be some kind of hand-me-down from the British. We have that in Canada too. , so it's not just an American thing . It's national Hubris .
Posturing . Like a degree in economics or political science or an MBA. Now physics and mathematics – those are core subjects and meaningful and you don't graduate from these fields without significant ability . My cats could get PhD's in economics or political science if they went to the right university .
In Canada, our prime minister is a failed drama substitute teacher. . God knows what Joseph Biden is . My cats could do better .
"Investment advice? Always invest in death. This is certainly true of the defense industry. It doesn’t matter whether weapons work or not, so long as somebody dies."
> Autistic people, like me, however, cannot resist connecting the dots-- ...
Got to read this article carefully.
Trying to connect the dots had always been my "weakness", and always made me a kind of misfit. Not that I complain about it. Although I believe I can consciously feel groupthink pressure, and thus resist it.
> Currently, operational stealth flying machines have achieved a high degree of stealth when ground-based Radars are used for tracking because a flying machine presents a side view of a rather small area resulting in a marked reduction in the reflected signal reaching the radar.
"Stealth planes" are only stealth for single, isolated radar stations.
The Russians/Soviets worked on interconnecting their radar stations since the '70, and with modern technology, real-time networking is relatively easy achieved. The deflected signal from the "stealthy" regular surfaces are caught by another radar station, and the reflection from the second one are detected by the first station. Collating their data, they detect a "stealth fighter" as quickly as any other jet.
BTW, this is exactly the way the Serbian military was able to shoot down a F117 bomber during the '99 bombing campaign in Yugoslavia. Using Soviet material and radar stations ...
The more I learned about Boyd, the more of a hero he became to me. He had a 90IQ. Someone asked him one day how he could be so smart with an IQ of 90. Boyd replied, "I read a lot of books.".
I've read a lot of his work and learned much from him. His work about the generations of war is his magnum opus.
Indeed you connect the dots and for that your loyal readers are grateful. I never liked Twitter as I saw even the best reporters in trying to cram cleverness into a few short bits go wildly astray from proper context. I'll grant that anything that exceeds three sentences is beyond most American's (and I have to assume UK/EU audiences as well) willingness to even bother with. Though they have all the time in the world for a tell-all books on their least favorite persons or other mindless endeavors.
This is really a fantastic piece from start to finish. It IS the American economy exposed in simple, clear form. When we have to compete for the American consumer dollar, it is harder to sell a pig in a poke. There are reliable TV's, appliances, heat pumps, cars and such that continue to innovate and improve. Not because they come from American manufacturing bases, but because global markets and honest competition drive the innovation. Hospitals, pharma, the MIC--none of these need bother with outcomes based investment. They are the monopolies thriving on corporate welfare of the worst kind. They can soak the taxpayer, and so they do.
Thank you for this comment. This is an interesting aspect that bears discussion. I live in Japan and Japanese reconstruction is perhaps a good example. Reconstruction here was accomplished as a result of the efforts of ordinary people, a few idealistic entrepreneurs such as Matsushita of Panasonic fame and others. Of course there was the reconstituted zaibatsu. Compare Toyota and Nissan.... Educationally, reconstruction necessitated – and also generated a lot of people with practical skills – engineers. As opposed to MBAs LOL.
Of course, the Korean War helped a lot too. It is interesting what to consider how Japan could have developed without the interference of the US and its manipulations of Japanese politics.
Insightful article. It just reveals how much the US government is beholden to the large corporations and prioritize their interests and greed for profits, over the wellbeing of their own citizens.
And in general, given the global, neoliberal capitalist system that we live in, there are indeed many other countries around the world that also prioritize their corporations' interests over their own citizens.
It's high time more people start to realize this, stop getting distracted as well as divided by religious and cultural issues, and unite to challenge the political system in their respective countries in order to bring about meaningful change.
200 B-21 Bombers?? In this age? What are they smoking?
Excellent piece Julian. Certainly worth a coffee. Have a great weekend
No
Patriotism
You've been challenged, Julian.- by my friend who spent his entire engineering career at WrightPat: "Are you kidding? They are completely different aircraft. The F-35 has only one engine, the SU-30 has two! That's like you trying to beat my Corvette with your pickup truck! Let's put the F-22 Raptor against that Russian plane. It would never even find the stealth F-22, before it was shot down!"
I don't expect too many air to air dogfights, but what say you?
Julian - I apologize for bringing this 'challenge' to your attention - not having done my homework before that. After minimal researching, looks like DaRaptor is already becoming history. As I told my friend - whose perspective is still in the 1980's - wars are not won at air shows!
"...argumentum ad nauseam. If you repeat the same argument enough times, untruth becomes truth."
Isn't that Goebbel's Big Lie? There seems to be no institutionalized counter-effort, while the MSM and the PTBs are fully institutionalized and unreachable. Unreachable - where are the gears into which I can throw my shoes? And, of course,those running those gears are only doing their jobs.
Expanding all this out, is USA salvagable, and if so, how? I'm not even sure that small town government is. That's not a personal criticism of the clerk to whom I pay my tax bill and the fire dept (I hope) but even admin of small towns is corrupted by requirements from state and feds. The system seems tightly coupled toward self-destruction.
Lord Shiva, it's time.
Yes it is the Big Lie IMO . I also think you're right about small-town government as long as it is the little toe of the federal and state body .
Julian, you described the USA perfectly.
Also, Canada
Actually it can be said about the entire Anglo-Zionist Empire and it's colonies.
You pretend that non-western countries like Russia, China are paragons of virtue - I guess if you ignore their horrendously long and present history of human atrocities they are great places to live.
You misunderstood me. I never wrote they're paragons of virtue. My point is the nations of the West aren't either. As a matter of fact, the USA is the world's foremost terrorist state and the US military is the world's foremost polluter.
Like your jigsaw puzzle out if sync with the confusing news views championing a death story of darkness.
Frozen dreams for America’s people served up with their earnings doesn’t equate with having happy children.
Terrific news from you !
Watched USA veterans throw their medals back at NATO’s gate for laying down their lives for lies.
Back in the Vietnam War I knew a lot of guys who volunteered to serve patriotically . Many were wounded. They did their duty . But many have also thrown away the medals . Not so the guys on the other side, who are still proud of what they did. There is was a "good" war . America's wars mostly seem to have been "bad" wars . In which case, what can we be proud of . I say "we" because Canadians fought in some of the same wars, although not Vietnam .
Since the 88th day of my life, the U.S. with the exception of Vietnam has not fought any capable military like North Korea with the backing of China and the Soviet Union. Ukraine is a far more competent military opponent than all those we "conquered" in my lifetime. That explains the dearth of victory parades to view for a pleasant fall morning.
We have been pickled in the brine that is American Exceptionalism. Vast numbers of U.S. citizens have no clue how poorly we are prepared for future survival from a multitude of threats of which a major war is just one.
When I graduated from my large flagship state university it was with a B.S in physics and a B.S in mathematics. The university awarded five B.S. degrees in physics and twenty B.S. degrees in mathematics that year. All five of us in physics also got a degree in mathematics. So twenty individuals pursued a BS in either physics or math out of a graduating class of around 2200. Now my memory does not have a total for other physical science, biological science, or engineering degrees but I would be shocked if those accounted for as many as 400 diplomas. (There were 7 degrees in statistics which was a separate department from mathematics.)
I studied what interested me. I encourage all to study what they find stimulating. But, when it comes to understanding force and the magnitude of physical phenomena, we all need to employ and solicit advice from experts in my favorite areas.
As a practical manner, Julian's article is a spot on critique of our armament boondoggle. We need to nationalize and downsize our armament industry and put real qualified people back in charge.
Exceptionalism seems to be some kind of hand-me-down from the British. We have that in Canada too. , so it's not just an American thing . It's national Hubris .
Posturing . Like a degree in economics or political science or an MBA. Now physics and mathematics – those are core subjects and meaningful and you don't graduate from these fields without significant ability . My cats could get PhD's in economics or political science if they went to the right university .
In Canada, our prime minister is a failed drama substitute teacher. . God knows what Joseph Biden is . My cats could do better .
"Investment advice? Always invest in death. This is certainly true of the defense industry. It doesn’t matter whether weapons work or not, so long as somebody dies."
Best para of the week!
Not only true of the defense industry also true of the pharmacological industry
🤣
> Autistic people, like me, however, cannot resist connecting the dots-- ...
Got to read this article carefully.
Trying to connect the dots had always been my "weakness", and always made me a kind of misfit. Not that I complain about it. Although I believe I can consciously feel groupthink pressure, and thus resist it.
> Currently, operational stealth flying machines have achieved a high degree of stealth when ground-based Radars are used for tracking because a flying machine presents a side view of a rather small area resulting in a marked reduction in the reflected signal reaching the radar.
"Stealth planes" are only stealth for single, isolated radar stations.
The Russians/Soviets worked on interconnecting their radar stations since the '70, and with modern technology, real-time networking is relatively easy achieved. The deflected signal from the "stealthy" regular surfaces are caught by another radar station, and the reflection from the second one are detected by the first station. Collating their data, they detect a "stealth fighter" as quickly as any other jet.
BTW, this is exactly the way the Serbian military was able to shoot down a F117 bomber during the '99 bombing campaign in Yugoslavia. Using Soviet material and radar stations ...
Colonel John Boyd was autistic and look at what he accomplished!
Boyd was lucky. He got to be autistic before anyone knew what that was
The more I learned about Boyd, the more of a hero he became to me. He had a 90IQ. Someone asked him one day how he could be so smart with an IQ of 90. Boyd replied, "I read a lot of books.".
I've read a lot of his work and learned much from him. His work about the generations of war is his magnum opus.
🤣
Indeed you connect the dots and for that your loyal readers are grateful. I never liked Twitter as I saw even the best reporters in trying to cram cleverness into a few short bits go wildly astray from proper context. I'll grant that anything that exceeds three sentences is beyond most American's (and I have to assume UK/EU audiences as well) willingness to even bother with. Though they have all the time in the world for a tell-all books on their least favorite persons or other mindless endeavors.
This is really a fantastic piece from start to finish. It IS the American economy exposed in simple, clear form. When we have to compete for the American consumer dollar, it is harder to sell a pig in a poke. There are reliable TV's, appliances, heat pumps, cars and such that continue to innovate and improve. Not because they come from American manufacturing bases, but because global markets and honest competition drive the innovation. Hospitals, pharma, the MIC--none of these need bother with outcomes based investment. They are the monopolies thriving on corporate welfare of the worst kind. They can soak the taxpayer, and so they do.
Great article - thank you for putting time in to research
Thank you for the comment. That my age (77) I move more slowly .
Thanks for the article and the time. Dead on.
Small note, your hyperlink says "Henry Hudson" instead of Michael Hudson
Michael Hudson's latest is worth your time - https://youtu.be/9AeAfFfTqMk
I know first hand. Pepe Escobar is on a roll too.
Thank you for this comment. This is an interesting aspect that bears discussion. I live in Japan and Japanese reconstruction is perhaps a good example. Reconstruction here was accomplished as a result of the efforts of ordinary people, a few idealistic entrepreneurs such as Matsushita of Panasonic fame and others. Of course there was the reconstituted zaibatsu. Compare Toyota and Nissan.... Educationally, reconstruction necessitated – and also generated a lot of people with practical skills – engineers. As opposed to MBAs LOL.
Of course, the Korean War helped a lot too. It is interesting what to consider how Japan could have developed without the interference of the US and its manipulations of Japanese politics.