The Evening Blues - 9-21-23
Submitted by joe shikspack on Thu, 09/21/2023 - 3:33pm
Open Thread - Thurs 21 Sep 2023 - LCS - Little Crappy Ships
Submitted by Sima on Thu, 09/21/2023 - 5:00am
Little Crappy Ships
Recently I read a ProPublica story which explores how the navy has spent billions on littoral combat ships (LCS) which can't do what they are supposed to do, constantly break down, and ... well, it's mind boggling, really. It's a very sad and scary look into what our military and other authorities do with our tax dollars when they have their hearts set on something, don't understand what they are doing really (how the heck they get in charge of things like... I dunno, the Navy, is just insane), and just spend, spend, spend without a frapping care. The ProPublica story is: The Inside Story of How the Navy Spent Billions on the “Little Crappy Ship” by Joaquin Sapien. And ProPublica has published a shorter article about the key takeaways of their exploration: Eight Things You Need to Know About the Navy’s Failed Multibillion-Dollar Littoral Combat Ship Program.
The littoral combat ship USS Freedom (LCS 1) in Feb 2013. By 2016 she was a mess, according to the ProPublica article. Image from Wikipedia.
The Evening Blues - 9-20-23
Submitted by joe shikspack on Wed, 09/20/2023 - 2:42pm
Open Thread WE 20 SEP 23 ~ moccasin telegraph
Submitted by QMS on Wed, 09/20/2023 - 7:00am~
It is a running joke among the Métis that they often heard rumours through the “Moccasin Telegraph”. In the past, when the Métis traveled on foot, wearing moccasins, this metaphor bore truth since this was the main form of transmitting information.
The Evening Blues - 9-19-23
Submitted by joe shikspack on Tue, 09/19/2023 - 3:14pm
Growing families
Submitted by earthling1 on Tue, 09/19/2023 - 9:48am
Well, our first grandchild got married Saturday with many tears of joy and copious amounts of booze afterwards.
A great time had by all and two families melded together.
The groom's family turned out to be wonderful people with one of them bringing a mason jar of genuine moonshine. It's been awhile since I indulged in that.
In honor of talk like a pirate day
Submitted by QMS on Tue, 09/19/2023 - 8:58amthanks lotilizard for the reminder
seems the US has adopted pirate techniques to enforce their
illegal sanctions policies - arrg
US seizes millions of dollars of Iranian fuel bound for Venezuela
The Evening Blues - 9-18-23
Submitted by joe shikspack on Mon, 09/18/2023 - 4:45pm
The Democratic Party social imaginary
Submitted by Cassiodorus on Mon, 09/18/2023 - 1:52pmOver at RBN they posted this short, six minute video:
Some thoughts about the present state of some of the presidential campaigns.
Submitted by Nastarana on Mon, 09/18/2023 - 11:44ama response to Cassiodorus' article about the West campaign.
West has hired one Peter Daou (PD) as his campaign manager. I wonder who is paying PDs salary. His lengthy interview with Sabrina did not convince me that he has seen the light. I think he is still an operative who wants to be important. I rather suspect that he has found that his status as exotic immigrant does not carry quite the clout that it once did.
