Saturday, November 30, 2019

H.M.S. Stratagem

THU 30 NOV 1944
Pacific
Submarine Pipefish (SS-388) is damaged by aerial bombs in South China Sea off Hainan, 18°07'N, 111°35'E, but remains on patrol.

Submarine Sunfish (SS-281) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Dairen Maru off western Korea, 38°08'N, 124°35'E.

Japanese bomber, evading a 12-plane combat air patrol, damages floating drydock ARD-17 with a near-miss, Kossol Roads, Palau.

British submarine HMS Stratagem sinks Japanese cargo vessel Kumano Maru in Malacca Straits, 01°30'N, 103°00'E.
—30—

"Jesus Died For Somebody's Sins ...

... But Not Mine"

Spotted earlier at Sky Dancing.
Seems (semi-)synchronous w/ this, which easily qualifies as Projection Of The Day:

Paul Bedard / Washington Examiner:
Liberty University opens Falkirk Center to fight attacks on Jesus, Constitution  —  Growing concerns in conservative circles that liberals are trying to convert young Christians into socialists by distorting the Bible and U.S. Constitution have prompted Virginia's Liberty University to form a new center to push back on the media, academics, and Democratic politicians.

The new think tank, announced Saturday in Lynchburg and previewed to Secrets, was co-founded by two key leaders in the Christian youth movement, Liberty President Jerry Falwell Jr. and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.

The Falkirk Center for Faith and Liberty, a combination of their names, will “play offense” against efforts by liberals to water down Judeo-Christian values in the Bible and Constitution in their bid to build support for big government, said Kirk.

“The fastest-growing religion in America is atheism and secularism and with that is the rise of leftism and statism and, as people veer away from the church and veer away from the Judeo Christian values that built our country, people are more likely to embrace statism,” he said in an interview.

He said that the center hopes to answer a question he gets often, “was Jesus Christ a socialist?”

Said Kirk, “We’re in a culture battle right now where you have to fight and play offense, and part of this effort is to try and play offense against the secular Left.”

Falwell added, “As attacks on traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs grow in frequency and intensity, the need has never been greater for a national revival of our foundational principles throughout our society and institutions in America.”

The center will use an aggressive social media campaign to push back against what Kirk described as the Left’s effort to “try to convert young Christians into socialism and to intentionally misrepresent the gospel and the teachings of the Bible to try to convert young people to be further on the left.”

Liberty explained the need for the center this way:

“The need for the Falkirk Center has grown as powerful voices and institutions are increasingly seeking to eliminate Judeo-Christian principles from American culture and society. The news media, elected officials, academic institutions and special interest groups have used their platforms to deny America’s legacy of foundational Judeo-Christian principles and replace them with the creeds of secularism, influencing upcoming generations of Americans at alarming rates.”

It will operate under a 501(c)(3) charter and is owned by Liberty.

The plan to go on offense is similar to how President Trump operates, and it’s no coincidence that both Falwell and Kirk are leading defenders of the president.

Kirk, who stressed that it was an “honor” to work with Falwell in the bid to “organize an army of believers in faith and liberty,” said he expects to be attacked as he and Liberty’s president have for their support for Trump.

In fact, he joked that the best way now to win positive coverage is to join the Never Trump effort that the media plays up.

“If you want to be loved today as a political conservative, go against the president. You’ll get the best press you could ever possibly imagine. But if you want to stand for what’s right, if you want to stand for truth, defend our country, then you have to stand behind this president,” said Kirk, who has been accompanying Donald Trump Jr. during his book tour to colleges and universities to promote Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us.
Speaking of promotion, the Examiner has an Amazon link to DJTJ's murdered trees. Every one of 'em all about the grift, all the fucking time.

"Please send us money so we don't have to work & can spend our time making outrageous yet incoherent statements you morons lap up because you think you're 'owning the libs', whatever the fucking hell that means", they laughed & laughed on the way to the bank to deposit the last money from grandma's Social Security.

Of course "You'll never go broke underestimating, yada."

Friday, November 29, 2019

Most Likely Friendly Fire Wounds Four

WED 29 NOV 1944
Pacific
In Leyte Gulf, kamikazes damage battleship Maryland (BB-46), 10°41'N, 125°23'E, and destroyers Saufley (DD-465), 10°50'N, 125°25'E, and Aulick (DD-569), 10°35'N, 125°40'E.

U.S. freighter William C.C. Claiborne, anchored off Leyte, is hit by what is most likely friendly fire that wounds 3 of the 28-man Armed Guard and 1 of the ship's 42-man merchant complement.

Motor torpedo boats attack Japanese shipping in Ormoc Bay; PT-127 sinks Patrol Boat No.105 (ex-Philippine Arayat), 10°59'N, 124°33'E; PT-128 and PT-191 sink auxiliary minelayer Kusentai No.105.

USAAF B-25s and P-47s (5th Air Force) attack Japanese shipping near Ormoc Bay sinking submarine chaser Ch 45, 10°25'N, 124°00'E. P-40s and P-47s (5th Air Force) sink army cargo ship Shinetsu Maru off Camotes Island, 10°47'N, 124°17'E, and cargo ship Shinsho Maru off Ormoc, 11°01'N, 124°36'E.

Submarine Archerfish (SS-311) sinks Japanese carrier Shinano 160 nautical miles southeast of Cape Muroto, Japan, 32°00'N, 137°00'E.31

Submarine Scabbardfish (SS-397) sinks Japanese submarine I-365 off Honshu, 34°44'N, 141°01'E.

Submarine Spadefish (SS-411) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship No.6 Daiboshi Maru off the west coast of Korea, 37°17'N, 125°11'E.

British submarine HMS Sturdy sinks two Japanese fishing vessels off Bawean Island, 06°20'S, 112°40'E.

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Ships Are Sink

TUE 28 NOV 1944
Pacific
Destroyers Saufley (DD-465), Waller (DD-466), Pringle (DD-477), and Renshaw (DD-499) sink Japanese submarine I-46 in Leyte Gulf, 10°48'N, 124°35'E.

Submarine Guavina (SS-362) attacks Japanese convoy, 12°54'N, 109°21'E, but while she achieves no success, she eludes counterattacks by submarine chaser Ch 43.

USAAF B-24 (13th Air Force) sinks Japanese merchant tanker Atago Maru off Miri, Borneo, 04°29'N, 114°00'E.

Turkeys On Turkey Day, 2019

Quick glimpse into the abyss.
New York Times:
Donald Trump Jr., Debut Author, Sees Sales Bolstered by G.O.P. Allies  —  Boxes began arriving in early November at the Phoenix headquarters of Turning Point USA, a conservative student group with ties to the Trump family.  —  They contained copies of the new book by Donald Trump Jr. …
Rashaan Ayesh / Axios:   How Trump Jr.'s book sales were supported by bulk GOP purchases
Emma Powys Maurice / PinkNews:   Donald Trump Jr sinks to new lows by urging his followers to ruin Thanksgiving dinner for ‘liberals’
David Edwards / Raw Story:   Nine conservative groups caught bulk buying Donald Trump Jr.'s book onto the Best Seller's list
BuzzFeed:
Boris Johnson Is Threatening To Review Channel 4's Broadcasting Licence After They Replaced Him With An Ice Sculpture At Thursday's Debate  —  A Conservative source told BuzzFeed News that if they win the coming election they will reassess the channel's public service broadcasting licence.
more at Mediagazer »
The Guardian:
Johnson accused of racial stereotyping with view on Nigerians
Iain Watson / BBC:   General election 2019: Labour to change strategy with two weeks to go
Martin Wolf / Financial Times:   Why I cannot vote for Jeremy Corbyn's Labour party
Reiss Smith / PinkNews:   Tory justice minister defends Boris Johnson's right to call gay men ‘tank topped bum boys’.  Yes, really
Bloomberg:   Johnson Says There'll Be No U.S. Trade Deal if It Includes the NHS
Marik Von Rennenkampff / The Hill:
How to shut down your Trump-supporting family member at Thanksgiving dinner  —  Today hundreds of millions of Americans will sit down with close friends and family over heaping portions of turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes.  After the usual small talk about chilly weather and the day's football matchups …
Cassandra Fairbanks / The Gateway Pundit:   Multiple News Outlets Run ‘Guides’ for ‘Shutting Down’ Trump Supporters During Thanksgiving Dinner
There is nothing anywhere on this human-benighted planet that compensates for the non-stop idiocy.
Not to mention the perpetual murder & exploitation.

Grapevine Closed

Al Seib/L.A. Times

Big Surprise For Naïve Fake Newsers

Does this mean I can try this Southern-fried shit at the one about to open almost w/in walking distance of the bunker w/o sacrificing principle, whatever that may be?
Breitbart:
Chick-Fil-A Donates to Extremist Southern Poverty Law Center  —  Internal Revenue Service (IRS) records show that Chick-fil-A is not only stopping donations to Christian organizations but is funding left-wing extremist groups, including the anti-Christian Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
Debra Heine / American Greatness:   Shock and Betrayal: Chick-Fil-A Has Donated to SPLC and Many Other Left-Wing Groups
Roberto Wakerell-Cruz / The Post Millennial:   Chick-fil-A donated to ‘extreme anti-Christian’ organizations
Shane Trejo / Big League Politics:   WOW: Chick-Fil-A Donated to Anti-Christian Hate Group Southern Poverty Law Center in 2017
Turkeys.

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Organized Japanese Resistance
On Peleliu Ends

MON 27 NOV 1944
Pacific
Destroyers bombard Japanese positions at Ormoc Bay, Leyte; firing continues on 28 November. In Leyte Gulf, kamikazes sink submarine chaser SC-744, 10°44'N, 125°07'E, and damage battleship Colorado (BB-45) and light cruisers St. Louis (CL-49) and Montpelier (CL-57), 10°50'N, 125°25'E.

Japanese planes also strike airfields and aircraft on the ground at Saipan in a surprise mid-day raid, destroying three USAAF B-29s and a P-47, and damaging three B-29s, a B-24 and a P-47.

Organized Japanese resistance on Peleliu ends.

Japanese merchant cargo ship Kinko Maru is sunk by aircraft, Yangtze River.

Weds. Wig-Out: Traveling Turkeys

1And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.
4Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.
Don't wait a minute more!

Burbank Birds

Never Forget: You're Next!

“You have been taken over by a Jewish cabal,” Wiles continued. “The church of Jesus Christ, you’re next. Get it through your head! They’re coming for you. There will be a purge. That’s the next thing that happens when Jews take over a country, they kill millions of Christians.”
In case you missed it the first time:
The church of Jesus Christ, you’re next. Get it through your head! They’re coming for you.
[Annals of Psychiatry, Vol. XXXIV, Bk. 6]

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Submarine Raton

SUN 26 NOV 1944
Pacific
Submarine Raton (SS-270) sinks Japanese ammunition ship Onoe Maru north of Bismarck Archipelago, 00°40'N, 148°20'E.

Submarine Pargo (SS-264) damages Japanese fleet tanker Yuho Maru off Miri, Sarawak, 04°55'N, 114°06'E, and although damaged by depth charges from one or both of the auxiliary vessel's escorts, remains on patrol.

U.S. freighter Howell Lykes is bombed by Japanese planes, San Pedro Bay, Leyte, and damaged by near-misses; while there are no casualties among the 41-man Armed Guard and 58 Army passengers, two of the ship's 79-man merchant complement are wounded in the attack.

Japanese minesweeper W.18 sinks as the result of damage inflicted by USAAF B-24s (14th Air Force) the previous night, 16°52'N, 108°38'E.

Chinese planes damage Japanese river gunboats Hira and Hozu in the Yangtze River near Anking.

Die, Pigs!

I pegged it 35+ yrs. ago: "Nation of sheep, stupid wage slaves, your bosses will work you 'til you're in your graves!"
Melissa Healy / Los Angeles Times:
Suicides and overdoses among factors fueling drop in U.S. life expectancy  —  It's official: Americans are dying much sooner in life.  —  Preliminary signals of declining health were neither a false alarm nor a statistical fluke.  A reversal of American life expectancy …
Jorge L. Ortiz / USA Today:   ‘A distinctly American phenomenon’: Our workforce is dying faster than any other wealthy country, study shows
Erika Edwards / NBC News:   Dying too young: Deaths among middle-aged adults reversing life expectancy trends
My sympathy is at an end: Every chump-ass moron holding down a job deserves to die. And every boss deserves to be killed.

Update, later:
Joel Achenbach / Washington Post:
'There's something terribly wrong': Americans are dying young at alarming rates  —  Death rates from suicide, drug overdoses, liver disease and dozens of other causes have been rising over the past decade for young and middle-aged adults, driving down overall life expectancy in the United States …
Tracykbloom / KTLA:   Life Expectancy Drops for 3rd Consecutive Year in the U.S.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Train To Nowhere

Second childhood continues as I put this on a credit card.
Positive note: Showed a day earlier than promised (Tues.) which I'd pretty much figured while obsessively watching it wend its way cross country. (Picked up in Lansing, Mich. on 20 Nov. at 1803.)
Obviously, as it only runs around & around an oval, it isn't going anywhere, but, entering want of a nail country, it is, believe it or shove it, missing just one of 28 (two per track section) fucking rail joiners, which conduct the magic juice from one piece of track to the next. I nonetheless connected it & gave it a shot, & the locomotive did run, until it hit the un-joined section & broke the tenuous connection.
End of the second test run.
Even that has a silver lining; after trekking to the wilderness of Burbank tomorrow for a serious supply of these things (US$10.00 for 36) at least I won't come back over the Hywd. Hills & set it up only to find it doesn't work for a less obvious reason.

Kamikazes

SAT 25 NOV 1944
Pacific
TG 38.2 (Rear Admiral Gerald F. Bogan) and TG 38.3 (Rear Admiral Frederick C. Sherman) aircraft bomb Japanese shipping off central Luzon. Planes from carrier Ticonderoga (CV-14) sink heavy cruiser Kumano (see 6 and 9 November 1944) in Dasol Bay, 15°45'N, 119°48'E. F6Fs, SB2Cs and TBMs from carriers Ticonderoga and Essex (CV-9), along with F6Fs and TBMs from small carrier Langley (CVL-27) attack convoy about 15 miles southwest of Santa Cruz, on the west coast of Luzon, and sink coast defense ship Yasojima (ex-Chinese cruiser Ping Hai), 15°45'N, 119°45'E, and landing ships T.112, T.142, and T.161, 15°40'N, 119°45'E. Planes from carrier Intrepid (CV-11) sink fast transports T.6 and T.10, and damage fast transport T.9 and escort destroyer Take, Balanacan Harbor, Marinduque Island, 13°25'N, 121°55'E. Planes from Essex and Langley sink army cargo ship No.6 Manei Maru and damage cargo ship Kasagisan Maru in San Fernando harbor, 16°37'N, 120°19'E.

Kamikazes breach the fleet's fighter defenses, however, and press home determined attacks, damaging carriers Essex, Intrepid and Hancock (CV-19), 15°47'N, 124°14'E, and small carrier Cabot (CVL-28), 15°42'N, 123°09'E. Small carrier Independence (CVL-22) is damaged by crash of own aircraft into island structure, 15°58'N,125°14'E.

Japanese merchant tanker Ceram Maru is damaged by aircraft in Manila Bay.

Motor torpedo boat PT-363 is sunk by shore battery off Cape Gorango, Halmahera Island, 00°55'N, 127°50'E.

Submarine Atule (SS-403) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Santos Maru off Sabtang Island, Luzon, 20°12'N, 121°51'E. Although Atule claims destruction of the escorting submarine chaser Ch 33, the latter survives the attack.

Submarine Cavalla (SS-244) sinks Japanese destroyer Shimotsuki, west of Borneo, 02°28'N, 107°20'E.

Submarine Haddo (SS-255) damages Japanese escort destroyer Shimushu, 14°00'N, 119°25'E.

Submarine Hardhead (SS-365) attacks Japanese convoy about 60 miles west of Manila, and sinks Coast Defense Vessel No.38 off Bataan peninsula, 14°33'N, 119°51'E.

Submarine Mingo (SS-261) attacks Japanese convoy SIMA-05, sinks army transport Manila Maru about 90 miles northwest of Miri, Sarawak, 05°30'N, 113°24'E, and survives a depth-charging by escort vessel Kurahashi.

Submarine Pomfret (SS-391) sinks Japanese Patrol Boat No.38 and transport Shoho Maru, Luzon Strait, 20°18'N, 121°34'E.

USAAF B-24s (14th Air Force), on night reconnaissance flight over the South China Sea, attack Japanese shipping south of Hainan Island, bombing and strafing Hida Maru and escorting minesweepers W.17 and W.18, 16°44'N, 108°24'E, damaging both minecraft. Hida Maru takes the crippled W.18 in tow (see 26 November 1944).

Chinese aircraft attack Japanese river gunboats on the Yangtze near Anking, China, sinking Fushimi and damaging Sumida.

Distant Gasbag

Over the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for Monday Night Football.

Sunday, November 24, 2019

To The Nth Degree

[Suggestion.] Don't bother, we de-paywalled it for you.
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Fuck you, FT.
Allow me to itemise all the burdens that I bear. I have to obey the criminal law of the US and the UK. I am contracted to perform certain duties for the FT. After that, well, some people insist on a reply text these days, but really, in all candour, that is it. The world asks almost nothing of me. What with my talent for saying No (I am what you might call a people-displeaser) I don’t even feel informal pressure to serve this or that cause, live this or that life.

I and the millions like me are CS Lewis’s “men without chests”. As much as our hard-to-target lower pecs need tightening, this is in fact a slight at our listlessness. We are all desire and reason with no higher calling. Francis Fukuyama cribs the phrase in The End of History, which has displaced Das Kapital and perhaps even The Origin of Species as the most invoked book that nobody reads. Among the consequent misunderstandings is that Fukuyama relished the triumph of liberalism as the end-state of humankind.

He didn’t. He thought it would induce in us a dangerous ennui. To break it, people might devote themselves to all kinds of cockamamie ideas, just to feel a part of something larger.

Three years after populism broke through, we have come to the end of one explanation for it. The notion of anger has been analysed beyond usefulness. It is indispensable but not quite enough. It explains why the poor in deindustrialised places rebelled. It does not account for the better-off who made up the decisive numbers.

The most under-discussed feeling in the modern world is boredom. Anger is given more than its due. Depression gets an airing. What we find much harder to credit is that, for some, the problem with modernity is not that it is too hard, but that it is too easy. Nothing in the way of duty or sacrifice is asked of them. They might have parents or grandparents who spent themselves in a larger cause, and feel somehow not quite alive next to them. There are women like this but, as the psephologists will testify, there are many more men. The nostalgia for the Blitz spirit among Englishmen who were born circa 1960 is an increasingly weird case in point.

The supposed crisis of masculinity always evokes a Springsteenian wasteland of shuttered steel plants. But it can be a much tonier affliction than that. It covers the outwardly successful men who want “something more” than sterile comfort and low stakes. Nietzsche was on to the emasculating effects of modernity in the late 1800s, and Lewis in the mid 1900s. And that was when conscription, ideological struggle and religion were still around to make a guy feel connected to the epic. Now he has to find it in some passing blowhard who asks for his vote. Populism is the closest thing to an outlet.

Populism is the closest thing to an outlet for the guy wanting to feel a connection to the epic This is why there is something ersatz to me about today’s version: a slightly performative element that distinguishes it from the all-too-sincere 1930s populism. I sense that, while many voters really mean it, some are just restless and want to feel their juices bubble. I have known (and stopped knowing) lots of once-temperate people who have been carried off on the giddy ride in recent years. Their dopamine hit seems to come from the drama itself, not the content of the creed. The trouble is that it is no less dangerous for that.

I do not pretend to feel even a trace of boredom or modernity-fatigue. I am not one of your duty-and-sacrifice merchants. I savour the chestless life. But those who do feel this way are a much more potent threat to liberalism, and therefore to my way of life, than the angry. Anger is fixable. It can be assuaged through redistribution and other policies, as it has been in the past.

What, though, is the fix for ennui? It exists because the system is doing its job of securing (at least for some) comfort. We cannot just retrofit Homeric struggle and moral grandeur into it. My profession has tormented enough Ohio factory towns with camera crews and essayistic reporters. Time to fathom the boredom of the prosperous dissenter.

Janan Ganesh 
When this reporter is bored, his thoughts turn to administering justice, & not w/ ballots.

T.111 Sunk Again

FRI 24 NOV 1944
Pacific
USAAF B-29s based in the Marianas raid Tokyo, Japan, for the first time.

Motor torpedo boats are relieved of patrol duty in the northern Solomons. Infantry landing craft gunboats [LCI(G)] and motor gunboats [PGM] will operate in their stead.

Submarine chaser PC-1124 and infantry landing craft LCI-976 are damaged by dive bombers off Leyte, 10°50'N, 125°25'E.

USAAF P-40s and P-47s (13th Air Force) attack one of the groups of ships involved in the 5th phase of the TA Operation, sinking submarine chaser Ch 46 and landing ships T.111, T.141 and T.160 in Cataingan Bay, Masbate Island, 11°35'N, 124°10'E.

Japanese weather observation ship Tenkai No.3 is damaged by aircraft off Balabac, P.I.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

H.M.S. Fidget Rescues Survivors

THU 23 NOV 1944
Pacific
Attack transport James O'Hara (APA-90) is damaged by kamikaze off Leyte, 10°57'N, 125°02'E.

U.S. freighter Gus W. Darnell is torpedoed by Japanese plane off Samar Island, P.I., and catches fire. Beached to facilitate salvage, the ship is ultimately declared a total loss. There are no fatalities among the 41-man merchant complement, 27-man Armed Guard, and 15 Army passengers, although 17 men are injured.

Submarines Bang (SS-385) and Redfish (SS-395) attack Japanese convoy in the Formosa Strait; Bang sinks merchant cargo ship Sakae Maru and transport Amakusa Maru, 24°21'N, 122°28'E; Redfish sinks merchant cargo ship Hozan Maru, 24°27'N, 122°47'E.

Submarine Gar (SS-206) lands men and supplies on west coast of Luzon.

Submarine Picuda (SS-382) attacks Japanese convoy in Tsushima Strait, sinking merchant cargo ships Fukuju Maru, 34°19'N, 128°05'E, and Shuyo Maru, 34°19'N, 128°58'E.

District patrol craft YP-383 is sunk in collision with infantry landing craft LCI(L)-873 in Gulf of Panama, 08°22'N, 79°29'W.

Mediterranean
Motor torpedo boat patrol attacks southbound convoy off Portofino, damaging two coasters, while engaged by German shore battery that inflicts no damage on the PTs.

Europe
U.S. freighter William D. Burnham is torpedoed by German submarine U-978 about five miles off Barfleur, France; 10 of the 26-man Armed Guard perish, as do eight of the 41-man merchant complement. British escort drifter* HMS Fidget rescues survivors, transferring most to motor torpedo boat PT-461, and the wounded to British destroyer HMS Vesper. Salvage tug ATR-3 later tows William D. Burnham to Cherbourg where the freighter is beached and ultimately assessed as a total loss.

*It's like a trawler.

Friday, November 22, 2019

Reciprocal Raids

WED 22 NOV 1944
Pacific
Aircraft from carrier group (Rear Admiral Ralph E. Davison) bomb Japanese air facilities on Yap, Carolines.

Japanese planes raid U.S. air facility at Morotai, destroying 15 bombers and damaging 31.

Submarine Besugo (SS-321) sinks Japanese landing ship T.151 off northern tip of Palawan, 11°22'N, 119°07'E.

Submarine Guavina (SS-362) sinks Japanese army cargo ship Dowa Maru near Tizard's Bank, northwest of Borneo, 10°23'N, 114°21'E.

Submarine Scabbardfish (SS-397) damages Japanese escort vessel Oki, 33°20'N, 142°00'E.

Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 82 is sunk by aircraft off Balabac Island, P.I., 08°00'N, 117°00'E.

USAAF planes damage cargo ship Enoshima Maru at Makassar.

News From Russia

(A Wk. 'Til Black) Friday Freak-Out

B.O.H.I.C.A.!

Alton Ellis - "Christmas Coming"

Heard The Sirens & The Hovering Choppers

[Text] [Other early a.m. Southland excitement. Never a dull moment, even at Zero-Dark-Thirty.]

Who Killed J.F.K., The G.O.P.
Or The Soviets?

Another Patriot Speaks

Bill Gates, rootless cosmopolitan whose only allegiance is to the almighty dollar.
Xinhua News, China’s largest state-run news agency, is currently buying ads on Facebook that feature a video of Bill Gates talking about China. The video ad is a fascinating example of the ways in which the Chinese government is using Facebook, which is banned in mainland China, to spread propaganda online while headlines around the world are more focused on Beijing’s horrifying human rights abuses.

The new ad, which was previously available to watch on Facebook’s Ad Library but has been deleted, features an almost 7-minute video interview with Bill Gates that touches on issues like public health, education, and tech innovation. To hear it from Gates, China’s rise is something that the rest of the world should emulate.

[...]

The ad is a jarring piece of propaganda that contrasts sharply with the reality in China today—a place where there are concentration camps for Uyghurs in Xinjiang and violent crackdowns on pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.

“Now we’re involved in the poverty work, where China’s got a very impressive goal to completely get rid of extreme poverty in the country and has a dedicated group that’s working on that, keeping track of the progress,” Gates says in the video.
Where ya gonna put the prison camps, Bill? And why does China need your foundation's help to eliminate "extreme" (let alone garden variety) poverty?

[Gizmodo]

Cloud W/ Eruv

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Battleship Kongo Sunk

TUE 21 NOV 1944
Pacific
Two light cruisers and nine destroyers of TF 92 (Rear Admiral John L. McCrea) bombard Japanese naval air installations on Matsuwa Island, Kurils.

Submarine Flounder (SS-251) attacks Japanese convoy in the South China Sea, damaging army cargo ship Gyosan Maru, 10°36'N, 115°08'; later, submarine Guavina (SS-362) completes destruction of Gyosan Maru off Tizard's Reef, 10°22'N, 114°22'E.

Submarine Scabbardfish (SS-397) sinks Japanese victualling stores ship Hokkai Maru 200 nautical miles south of Tokyo, 33°20'N, 142°00'E.

Submarine Sealion (SS-315) attacks Japanese task force, and sinks battleship Kongo and destroyer Urakaze about 60 miles north-northwest of Formosa, 26°07'N, 121°36'E.

Japanese oceanographic research vessel Kaiyo No.2 is sunk by U.S. aircraft in the Celebes Sea.

USAAF B-24 sinks Japanese ship Shinsei Maru in Makassar Strait, 02°04'N, 119°12'E.

Japanese cargo ship Fukurei Maru is sunk by marine casualty off west coast of Korea, 38°08'N, 124°34'E.

Wild Moreno Valley Donkey Rescued

Music not safe for sophisticates.Context: The Undomesticated Burros Act. Inspiration here.

Good spelling, "RivCOanimalsPIO".

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

A Note From The Past

MON 20 NOV 1944
Atlantic
Heavy cruiser Augusta (CA-31) is damaged by explosion of unknown origin, Boston Navy Yard.

Pacific
Oiler Mississinewa (AO-59) is sunk by kaiten (fired by Japanese submarine I-47 or I-36) Ulithi, 10°06'N, 139°43'E.
Allegedly the first successful kaiten attack. YouTube comment, slightly edited:
My ship the USS Nemasket AOG 10, was the last ship that was loaded with Aviation Gas from the Mississinewa that day when we were tied up alongside her, when the Capt. of the Mississinewa informed our captain Dandrew, that we could remain tied up to her for the night and go back to our anchorage in the morning, our Cap't. decided that since we had enough daylight, that he would rather leave and go to our assigned anchorage. That turned out to be a most fortunate decision for us for had we stayed tied alongside the Mississinewa our ship also would have been blown up as well. I remember when the GQ sounded early that morning as I was sleeping in my bunk. I quickly responded and climbed up through my hatch from the crews quarters located in the aft of the ship, when I saw the heavy black smoke coming from the USS Mississinewa. As I was running to my 20 MM gun position located at the starboard side of the bridge I was looking at the sky thinking that we were under an air attack. However, when I got to my phone I was informed that some 2 man Japanese subs broke thru the nets and torpedoed the Mississinewa. We then learned that the sub launched a suicide manned torpedo. As daylight grew brighter I suddenly spotted a periscope appear nearby my ship, it was so close that if I had a lasso I could have easily got it around the periscope. Unfortunately, our 20 MM guns could not be lowered down that far and dropping depth charges would be too close to our ship as well. Later, I heard that our PBY plane dropped a bomb and sunk the sub as it was trying to find its way out of the area. Our crew felt saddened for the crew of the Mississinewa but was relieved in knowing that had our captain decided to stay tied up to the AO 59 we would not be here to tell this story.
— Barney Leone MoMM2/c
Japanese planes attack three U.S. tankers proceeding from Ulithi to Eniwetok, near-misses and strafing account for damage to tanker Fort Dearborn at 12°00'N, 155°00'E. There are, however, only four men wounded among the ship's 50-man merchant complement, 27-man Armed Guard and five passengers.

Submarine Atule (SS-403) sinks Japanese minesweeper W.38 southwest of Formosa, 21°21'N, 119°45'E.

Submarine Gar (SS-206) lands supplies on north coast of Mindoro.

British submarine HMS Tally Ho sinks Japanese auxiliary minesweeper Ma 4 30 miles east of the southern tip of Great Nicobar Island, 06°55'N, 94°15'E.

USAAF B-25 (14th Air Force) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Daichi Maru in Yangtze River northeast of Shanghai, China, 31°57'N, 122°18'E.

USAAF B-25s sink Japanese ship No.79 Nany_ [sic] Maru off Timor.

Stop The Bullshit!

50 Yrs. Ago

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Isuzu Torpedoed

SUN 19 NOV 1944
Pacific
TF 38 (Vice Admiral John S. McCain) aircraft attack Japanese shipping off Luzon, in addition to airfields on that island. Navy carrier-based planes attack convoy ten miles off San Fernando, sinking merchant cargo ship Esashi Maru and damaging escorting submarine chasers Ch 19 and Ch 26, 16°50'N, 120°08'E.

Elements of TG 78.14 (Captain Lord Ashbourne, RN) land Army troops (31st Division) on Asia Island, 100 nautical miles west of Sansapor.

Destroyer escorts Conklin (DE-439) and McCoy Reynolds (DE-440) sink Japanese submarine I-37, 100 miles west of Palaus, 08°07'N, 134°16'E.*

Submarine Hake (SS-256) torpedoes Japanese light cruiser Isuzu west of Corregidor, 14°22'N, 119°38'E.

British submarine HMS Stratagem sinks Japanese merchant tanker Nichinan Maru in Malacca Strait, 01°36'N, 102°53'E.

U.S. freighter Alcoa Pioneer is crashed by kamikaze, San Pedro Bay, Leyte, killing 6 of the 28-man Armed Guard. Thirteen other men from among the 46-man merchant complement and two passengers are injured; patrol escort vessel PCE-851 provides medical assistance. Nearby, a second kamikaze crashes Norwegian motor vessel General Fleischer, while a third crashes U.S. freighter Cape Romano; there are, however, no casualties among Cape Romano's 47-man merchant complement, her two passengers, or the 26-man Armed Guard.

Navy aircraft sink motor sailship No.8 Kyoun Maru off Mindoro.

Aircraft sink Japanese submarine chaser Ch 36 and merchant tanker Seian Maru off Subic Bay.

USAAF B-24s damage Japanese transport Natsukawa Maru off Brunei Bay, Borneo, 05°20'N, 115°13'E; Natsukawa Maru, however, does not return to service, a total loss.
*I-37 is on a kaiten mission at the time, bound for the Palaus, when she is reported missing on 20 November.

Sober Up, You Lying Drunk

More of "only the best people". Why the lies, you lousy lush?
NBC News:
Trump press secretary claims departing Obama aides left nasty notes  —  The former president's staffers quickly denied Trump adviser Stephanie Grisham's accusation, calling it an “outrageous lie.'.  —  White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham claimed on Tuesday that departing former aides …
Aamer Madhani / Associated Press:   Trump spokeswoman says Obama aides left behind mean notes
Daily Mail:   Barack Obama's aides left notes in White House offices for Donald Trump's staff reading …
Joe Jervis / Joe.My.God.:   Grisham Claims Obama WH Staffers Left Nasty Notes
Steve M. / No More Mister Nice Blog:   LIES AND THE ANONYMOUS LYING LIARS WHO BACK UP THE LIAR'S LIES
Molly Olmstead / Slate:   Obama Officials Say Trump Press Secretary's Claim They Left Mean Notes Is a Lie
Summer Concepcion / Talking Points Memo:   Ex-Obama Aides Hit Back At WH For Odd Claim That They Left Mean Notes For Trump Staffers
Virginia Kruta / The Daily Caller:   Stephanie Grisham Claims West Wing Offices Were Strewn With Obama Books And ‘You Will Fail’ Notes
Vinnie Longobardo / Occupy Democrats:   Trump's spokeswoman accuses Obama team of having filled White House with mean notes, “Obama books”
Digby / Hullabaloo:   Lie of the day  —  There was a lot of lying by Republicans in the testimony today.
Washington Post:
Trump press secretary faces backlash over baseless claim that Obama aides left ‘you will fail’ notes  —  The White House is facing fresh allegations of dishonesty after press secretary Stephanie Grisham claimed without evidence that aides to former president Barack Obama left behind disparaging messages around …
Taegan Goddard / Political Wire:   Trump Press Secretary Faces Backlash Over Claims
Ben Yakas / Gothamist:   Early Addition: The Case For Everyone Sleeping Alone, Isolated, Uncuddled
Srsly, Steffie, get some help. You need it.

McDonna: Back From The Dead Tour

Apparently it will never end, 'though she gets Friday off. (Was also there 12-17 Nov., & will be there Mon. 25 Nov.)

Monday, November 18, 2019

Kamikaze Near-Miss

SAT 18 NOV 1944
Pacific
Destroyer escort Lawrence C. Taylor (DE-415) and TBM (VC 82) from escort carrier Anzio (CVE-57) sink Japanese submarine I-41 in Philippine Sea, 12°44'N, 130°42'E.

Submarine Pampanito (SS-383) sinks Japanese depot ship No.17 Banshu Maru and merchant cargo ship No.1 Shinko Maru, 19°12'N, 110°51'E.

Submarines Peto (SS-265), Spadefish (SS-411) and Sunfish (SS-281) operate against the same Japanese convoy attacked the previous day in the East China Sea west of Saishu Island, Peto sinks army cargo ships Aisakasan Maru, 33°50'N, 124°44'E, and Chinkai Maru, 33°39'N, 124°26'E; Spadefish sinks auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 156, 33°07'N, 123°19'E; Sunfish sinks army transport Seisho Maru, 33°36'N, 124°18'E.

Submarine Saury (SS-189) damages Japanese merchant cargo ship No.11 Asahi Maru, 30°50'N, 141°56'E.

Japanese planes raid U.S. shipping off Leyte; freighter Nicholas J. Sinnott is near-missed by a kamikaze, 11°15'45"N, 125°02'45"E. There are no casualties among the 40-man merchant complement, the 80 Army passengers or the 26-man Armed Guard. Off Tacloban, Armed Guard gunners on board freighter Gilbert Stuart shoot the tail off a kamikaze which nevertheless crashes their ship, triggering fires that are ultimately brought under control with the help of fleet tug Chickasaw (ATF-83). While 5 of the 39-man merchant complement perish in the attack, only 1 of the 29-man Armed Guard is killed in action. Freighter Cape Romano is damaged by near-miss of bomb.

PROJECT MIKE continues as USAAF B-24s (42d Bomb Squadron) lay 12 mines in effective locations in Futami Ko, Chichi Jima. B-24s sink auxiliary sailing vessel Sumiei Maru off Haha Jima.

Off Borneo, aircraft damage Japanese escort destroyer Okinawa off Labuan. Guardboats No.6 Kompira Maru, Benten Maru, and Eikoku Maru are sunk by U.S. aircraft off Tarakan.

Europe
Tank landing ship LST-6 is sunk by mine in Seine River, France.

Atlantic
Destroyer escort Camp (DE-251) is damaged in collision with tanker Santa Cecilia off coast of southern Ireland.

Mediterranean
Motor torpedo boat PT-311 is sunk by mine off Spezia, Italy, 43°41'N, 09°37'E.

A Village Idiot Is Missing ...

... The Bumper Of His Idiot Plastic Shitmobile

Two Planets, One Sky

Venus above, Jupiter below, probably.

Sunday, November 17, 2019

"... spirited surface gunnery action fought in heavy weather"

FRI 17 NOV 1944
Pacific
Attack transport Alpine (APA-92) is damaged by kamikaze off Leyte, 11°07'N, 125°02'E. Elsewhere, during a Japanese air raid on shipping off Red Beach, Leyte, freighter Benjamin Ide Wheeler is damaged by bombs; there are no casualties.

TBM (VC 82) from escort carrier Anzio (CVE-57) and destroyer escort Lawrence C. Taylor (DE-415) sink Japanese submarine I-26 in Philippine Sea, 12°44'N, 130°42'E.

Submarine Bluegill (SS-242) is damaged by depth charges in Makassar Strait, 00°48'N, 118°52'E, but remains on patrol.

Submarines Burrfish (SS-312) and Ronquil (SS-396) battle Japanese guardboat Fusa Maru in a spirited surface gunnery action fought in heavy weather south of Hachiro Jima, central Honshu, 32°15'N, 140°00'E; American gunfire damages the enemy patrol craft, but not before she in turn damages Burrfish. Ronquil is damaged by own gunfire (premature explosion of 40-millimeter shell or contact with lifeline stanchion) and is forced to terminate her patrol. Fusa Maru is written off as a total loss and performs no more active service.

Submarine Gunnel (SS-253) attacks Japanese convoy and sinks torpedo boat Hiyodori and merchant tanker Shunten Maru 130 miles east of Tourane, French Indochina, 16°56'N, 110°30'E. Destroyer Shiokaze and submarine chaser Ch 21's hunter-killer operations are ineffective.

Submarine Picuda (SS-382) sinks Japanese landing ship Mayasan Maru and damages merchant tanker Awagawa Maru, 33°16'N, 124°43'E.

Submarine Spadefish (SS-411) sinks Japanese escort carrier Shinyo 140 miles northeast of Shanghai, China, in Yellow Sea, 33°02'N, 123°33'E, and damages landing ship Shinshu Maru.

Submarine Sunfish (SS-281) damages Japanese army transport Edogawa Maru west of Quelpart Island, 33°40'N, 124°30'E; although Coast Defense Ship No.61 claims her destruction, Sunfish escapes. Edogawa Maru sinks the next day.

PROJECT MIKE continues as USAAF B-24s (42d Bomb Squadron) lay 8 mines in effective locations in Futami Ko, Chichi Jima.

USAAF P-38s sink Japanese ships Jinko Maru and No.3 Yawata Maru off Merida, 10°55'N, 124°30'E.

Japanese merchant tanker Seian Maru runs aground off entrance to Subic Bay (see 19 November).

Mediterranean
Destroyer Woolsey (DD-437) shells German artillery at Ventimiglia; shrapnel again showers the ship but she suffers no casualties; destroyer Benson (DD-421) bombards barracks in same area.

Back To The '30s W/ Old Man Biden

Political Wire:
“Joe Biden doubled down on his reserved stance over legalizing marijuana and said his questions over its status as a gateway drug hold him back from supporting legalization,” Business Insider reports.

Said Biden: “The truth of the matter is, there’s not nearly been enough evidence that has been acquired as to whether or not it is a gateway drug. It’s a debate, and I want a lot more before I legalize it nationally. I want to make sure we know a lot more about the science behind it.”
Th' fucking hell? Is he literally retarded, as in "slow"? "Gateway drug"? Has Joe given any post-1955 thought to anything? Are we going to hear about the "Red Menace" at the next debate candidate forum?

Fuck off right back to the V.F.W. Hall, Joe. Or, couched in the terms of your youth:

Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow In Corporate-Controlled Speech

The tech investor Marc Andreessen once said that in the future, there will be two types of people:
“People who tell computers what to do, and people who are told by computers what to do.”
(Also that thing about the boot & the human face.)

Kevin Roose / New York Times:
As millions pay for premium subscriptions to have a “clean” digital media experience, privacy and freedom from advertising are gradually becoming luxury goods  —  Photo illustration by Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari  —  A decade ago, an internet video start …
Ashkan Soltani / @ashk4n:   How freedom from advertising, not just privacy, is a luxury good ‘in the future, there will be two types of people: “people who tell computers what to do, and people who are told by computers what to do”’ https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Sam Lessin / @lessin:   It is kinda interesting to watch the idea that privacy is a ‘premium good’ go mainstream in NYT articles. The tech world has been talking about this inversion as obvious for 10+ years.. i.e. this is me making this point in @jeffjarvis book in 2010! https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Albert Lloreta / @albertlloreta:   'You've always had Louis Vuitton handbags. Now you have software that makes you feel the same way.' https://www.nytimes.com/...
Rowan Walrath / @rowanwalrath:   “We have not fully appreciated how much of our internet experience is shaped by socioeconomic status, and the magnitude of the tax the internet imposes on lower-income users in the form of data-sucking devices and predatory ads.” https://www.nytimes.com/...
Dwight Silverman / @dsilverman:   “It's not surprising that given the choice between a free, seedy internet and a costly, orderly one, more people are opening their wallets.” The “premium” internet vs. the free one. Via the @NYTmag - behind a paywall, natch. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Bear Braumoeller / @prof_bearb:   I genuinely can't tell whether this is a sincere and profoundly blinkered attempt to portray paid internet services as classist, or a brilliantly subtle attempt to promote them. (Or both.) https://www.nytimes.com/...
David Montgomery / @dhmontgomery:   “Paying for goods and services online used to mean you were an easy mark — someone too lazy or unsophisticated to figure out the necessary hacks and workarounds. Now, subscriptions are a status symbol.” @kevinroose on the New Internet: https://www.nytimes.com/...
Daniel Tunkelang / @dtunkelang:   “Free” was always a lie. If you aren't paying for the product, you are the product — and you're paying with your attention, data, or worse. As Joan Didion said, people with self-respect know the price of things. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Mathew Ingram / @mathewi:   “In the moment, it felt vaguely like extortion — as if $11.99 was the price not just of uninterrupted entertainment but also of fencing off my brain from low-rent scammers and opportunists” https://www.nytimes.com/...
Silvia Pareschi / @silviapareschi2:   The tech investor Marc Andreessen once said that in the future, there will be two types of people: “people who tell computers what to do, and people who are told by computers what to do.” https://twitter.com/...
Frank Pasquale / @frankpasquale:   “Fortnite character skins — they're like costumes for your avatar — have become a source of social cachet for young kids. Poorer kids who use the free, default skin inside the game report being bullied by their peers who can afford to buy rarer ones.” https://www.nytimes.com/...
John Zhu / @jzheel:   This is a pretty crappy take, mainly bc the examples don't back up the premise. Freedom from ads/"online cesspool" is NOT the value proposition for Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, etc. https://twitter.com/...
Parmy Olson / @parmy:   “If privacy becomes an expensive add-on, the rich and the poor will have very different experiences of the internet.” Great write-up of where this trend is going. https://twitter.com/...
Kevin Roose / @kevinroose:   I wrote an essay for the @NYTmag's tech and design issue about the “luxury internet” — a kind of digital farm-to-table movement for people who want to pay to escape the clunky, predatory free internet and inhabit tasteful, private spaces instead. https://www.nytimes.com/...
more at Techmeme »

Also This:

Sam Tabachnik / Denver Post:
Craig Silverman, a talk radio host on the conservative Colorado station KNUS, says he was cut off mid-show and fired after segment criticizing President Trump  —  Craig Silverman, a former chief deputy district attorney in Denver and talk-show host on the conservative 710 KNUS radio station …
Jake Tapper / @jaketapper:   Denver Post: Radio host Craig Silverman cut off mid-show for criticizing President Trump https://www.denverpost.com/...
Jeremy Fuster / The Wrap:   Conservative Denver Radio Host Fired Midshow After Criticizing Trump
Tracy Connor / The Daily Beast:   Denver Radio Host Booted Mid-Show for Trump Criticism
Alex Seitz-Wald / @aseitzwald:   “Silverman's show page appears to have been removed from the station's website. A link to his show gives a “404 Error — NotFound.” https://twitter.com/...
Brian Stelter / @brianstelter:   This host will join me live on Sunday's @ReliableSources on CNN: https://twitter.com/...
Matthew Yglesias / @mattyglesias:   This seems in some ways like a bigger deal than a contretemps at a student newspaper https://twitter.com/...
Bob Brigham / Raw Story:   Radio host taken off air mid-show after replaying clip of him discussing Trump and Roy Cohn
Joe Walsh / @walshfreedom:   Pathetic. @craigscolorado was a great, honest voice on the radio. But @SalemMediaGrp & almost all of conservative talk radio don't want honesty. They want Trump worship. Salem got rid of @MedvedSHOW because he wouldn't worship Trump & they pressured me to worship Trump. Pathetic. https://twitter.com/...
Axe fell quickly, didn't it? Must be the thinner atmosphere of the Mile-High City.