#(not in 'it's nato job!1' way

[tenok]

.

[mistydeyes]

Hello! I love your page layout!! May I send in a request for Platonic Headcanons with TF-141 and Los Vaqueros with a hacker reader? (Like SilverWolf In Honkai star Rail) Reader is part of a group of 4 deadly people including their self and act as their hacker. They’re notorious for breaking into many government and military systems and are an enemy to TF-141 and Los Vaqueros. With reader having a bounty of 51 billion but still having the lowest bounty compared to others in their group!

I’d be interested in their reactions to reader!

(Take your time tho!)

ahh thank you so much for sending this in! I've been in a bit of a writer's block so this brought me back :)

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summary: When your file crosses the 141's desk, they find themselves hunting after you and your notorious group.

pairing: Task Force 141, Los Vaqueros x platonic!reader

warnings: swearing, mentions of weapons/violence

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When your file first crossed Laswell's desk and she passed it over to the team, they were surprised at its sheer size

From hacking the US government to disabling NATO comms, it was clear you had become an enemy of every government across the globe

The US even tried to make a deal with you and offered a high-paying job in the NSA in return for a detailed account of how you hacked into their systems

You returned the job offer with a hack that left their website non-functional for weeks

"Impressive one you have here, Laswell," Price commented as he flipped through your file

"They call them 'Oblivion' and the use of 1's and 0's is a nice touch" she quipped before briefing them on your team's current location

That's how they ended up back in Mexico and crossed paths again with the Los Vaqueros

"Fuck it's so hot here," you said as you fanned yourself with a makeshift paper fan

The leader of the group, Phantom, rolled his eyes as he continued to clean your array of weapons and tools

"Not my fault we got tracked down to that oil rig in the Pacific," he replied through gritted teeth and you threw a stray stack of files toward him

"Told you, that wasn't my fault," you angrily responded, "the Australians tracked down someone's unprotected IP"

You shot a glance toward the single individual who was the source of all your forged documents and consistent flow of funds

As the group divulged into chaos at your singular comment, you were distracted by the blinding light and ringing from a flash bang through the window

"Get down!" you could hear a loud baritone voice boom as you blinked rapidly amongst the rubble of your work

As you looked around at your surrounding teammates in various states of disarray, you could see the vague outline of an attack team making their way through the destroyed door

"Fuck me," you swore as you grabbed a weapon and your laptop- two vital necessities

You scrambled to your feet and found yourself crouching behind a sturdy kitchen counter 

"Isn't there supposed to be four of them?" you could hear a distinct British accent, probably from Manchester, comment

You silently swore at yourself as you attempted to shuffle away towards the back exit

"Oblivion, we know you're here," another voice replied as you could hear cuffs being slapped onto your team accompanied by their pained and disoriented groans 

You put your ear to the counter, hearing the vibrations of their heavy footsteps on the home's wooden floor as you turned the safety off your weapon

"Come out now and we'll lessen that bounty on you," the same voice chided, "what is it 51 billion US now?"

As you held your breath, you could hear them slowly making their way through the home. By your estimates, there were about 6 of them, give or take

Your mind raced with different scenarios as you heard one of them walk into the kitchen

You pushed yourself into the corner and with a stroke of luck you noticed them inspect the cupboard

"I got you, you Brit," you whispered as you wrapped your arms around their neck and held a gun to their head

"Don't say a word and follow me," you instructed as they struggled against your grip

Strength was never your best feature but it helped you to overpower the soldier, the name "Garrick" printed on his vest

As you walked to the main area, you immediately felt all eyes and guns pointed at you

"I wouldn't shoot if I were you," you said calmly, "wouldn't want anything to happen to your Sergeant"

"We don't negotiate with terrorists," an older man spoke, by the way he was directing the team, you assumed he was their captain

"I'm more of a gray hat hacker regardless," you smirked, "steal from the rich and give back to the poor."

"How noble of you," another sarcastically replied as you stood in the tense atmosphere

"Regardless, you'll let me walk out of here and maybe we can have the pleasure of this another time," you remarked as you cocked the gun in your hand

"And if we don't?" the Captain asked as he raised an eyebrow at you

You smiled as you wiped away the dust from your face and stared back at him

"My bounty is going to be higher than the rest of them," was the last thing you said before releasing the sergeant and lodging a non-fatal bullet in his shoulder

As the entire room delved into chaos, you made a hasty escape and hopped on your motorbike outside

"Thanks for everything, Phantom," you whispered before riding off into the sunset with the hopes of running into that mysterious group with better circumstances

[erik-even-wordier]

I really don’t owe my Trump-supporting friends an apology. I’ve been critical of Trump these last several years, and am still exhausted from the experience.

But to be fair, Trump wasn’t that bad…………..other than when:

1. he incited an insurrection against the government,

2. mismanaged a pandemic that killed a million Americans,

3. separated children from their families, lost those children in the bureaucracy,

4. tear-gassed peaceful protesters on Lafayette Square so he could hold a photo op holding a Bible in front of a church,

5. tried to block all Muslims from entering the country,

6. got impeached,

7. got impeached again,

8. had the worst jobs record of any president in modern history,

9. pressured Ukraine to dig dirt on Joe Biden,

10. fired the FBI director for investigating his ties to Russia,

11. bragged about firing the FBI director on TV,

12. took Vladimir Putin’s word over the US intelligence community,

13. diverted military funding to build his wall,

14. caused the longest government shutdown in US history,

15. called Black Lives Matter a “symbol of hate,”

16. lied nearly 30,000 times,

17. banned transgender people from serving in the military,

18. ejected reporters from the White House briefing room who asked tough questions,

19. vetoed the defense funding bill because it renamed military bases named for Confederate soldiers,

20. refused to release his tax returns,

21. increased the national debt by nearly $8 trillion,

22. had three of the highest annual trade deficits in U.S. history,

23. called veterans and soldiers who died in combat losers and suckers,

24. coddled the leader of Saudi Arabia after he ordered the execution and dismembering of a US-based journalist,

25. refused to concede the 2020 election,

26. hired his unqualified daughter and son-in-law to work in the White House,

27. walked out of an interview with Lesley Stahl,

28. called neo-Nazis “very fine people,”

29. suggested that people should inject bleach into their bodies to fight COVID,

30. abandoned our allies the Kurds to Turkey,

31. pushed through massive tax cuts for the wealthiest but balked at helping working Americans,

32. incited anti-lockdown protestors in several states at the height of the pandemic,

33. withdrew the US from the Paris climate accords,

34. withdrew the US from the Iranian nuclear deal,

35. withdrew the US from the Trans Pacific Partnership which was designed to block China’s advances,

36. insulted his own Cabinet members on Twitter,

37. pushed the leader of Montenegro out of the way during a photo op,

38. failed to reiterate US commitment to defending NATO allies,

39. called Haiti and African nations “shithole” countries,

40. called the city of Baltimore the “worst in the nation,”

41. claimed that he single handedly brought back the phrase “Merry Christmas” even though it hadn’t gone anywhere,

42. forced his Cabinet members to praise him publicly like some cult leader,

43. believed he should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize,

44. berated and belittled his hand-picked Attorney General when he recused himself from the Russia probe,

45. suggested the US should buy Greenland,

46. colluded with Mitch McConnell to push through federal judges and two Supreme Court justices after supporting efforts to prevent his predecessor from appointing judges,

47. repeatedly called the media “enemies of the people,”

48. claimed that if we tested fewer people for COVID we’d have fewer cases,

49. violated the emoluments clause,

50. thought that Nambia was a country,

51. told Bob Woodward in private that the coronavirus was a big deal but then downplayed it in public,

52. called his exceedingly faithful vice president a “p---y” for following the Constitution,

53. nearly got us into a war with Iran after threatening them by tweet,

54. nominated a corrupt head of the EPA,

55. nominated a corrupt head of HHS,

56. nominated a corrupt head of the Interior Department,

57. nominated a corrupt head of the USDA,

58. praised dictators and authoritarians around the world while criticizing allies,

59. refused to allow the presidential transition to begin,

60. insulted war hero John McCain – even after his death,

61. spent an obscene amount of time playing golf after criticizing Barack Obama for playing (far less) golf while president,

62. falsely claimed that he won the 2016 popular vote,

63. called the Muslim mayor of London a “stone cold loser,”

64. falsely claimed that he turned down being Time’s Man of the Year,

65. considered firing special counsel Robert Mueller on several occasions,

66. mocked wearing face masks to guard against transmitting COVID,

67. locked Congress out of its constitutional duty to confirm Cabinet officials by hiring acting ones,

68. used a racist dog whistle by calling COVID the “China virus,”

69. hired and associated with numerous shady figures that were eventually convicted of federal offenses including his campaign manager and national security adviser,

70. pardoned several of his shady associates,

71. gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to two congressmen who amplified his batshit crazy conspiracy theories,

72. got into telephone fight with the leader of Australia(!),

73. had a Secretary of State who called him a moron,

74. forced his press secretary to claim without merit that his was the largest inauguration crowd in history,

75. botched the COVID vaccine rollout,

76. tweeted so much dangerous propaganda that Twitter eventually banned him,

77. charged the Secret Service jacked-up rates at his properties,

78. constantly interrupted Joe Biden in their first presidential debate,

79. claimed that COVID would “magically” disappear,

80. called a U.S. Senator “Pocahontas,”

81. used his Twitter account to blast Nordstrom when it stopped selling Ivanka’s merchandise,

82. opened up millions of pristine federal lands to development and drilling,

83. got into a losing tariff war with China that forced US taxpayers to bail out farmers,

84. claimed that his losing tariff war was a win for the US,

85. ignored or didn’t even take part in daily intelligence briefings,

86. blew off honoring American war dead in France because it was raining,

87. redesigned Air Force One to look like the Trump Shuttle,

88. got played by Kim Jung Un and his “love letters,”

89. threatened to go after social media companies in clear violation of the Constitution,

90. botched the response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico,

91. threw paper towels at Puerto Ricans when he finally visited them,

92. pressured the governor and secretary of state of Georgia to “find” him votes,

93. thought that the Virgin islands had a President,

94. drew on a map with a Sharpie to justify his inaccurate tweet that Alabama was threatened by a hurricane,

95. allowed White House staff to use personal email accounts for official businesses after blasting Hillary Clinton for doing the same thing,

96. rolled back regulations that protected the public from mercury and asbestos,

97. pushed regulators to waste time studying snake-oil remedies for COVID,

98. rolled back regulations that stopped coal companies from dumping waste into rivers,

99. held blatant campaign rallies at the White House,

100. tried to take away millions of Americans’ health insurance because the law was named for a Black man,

101. refused to attend his successors’ inauguration,

102. nominated the worst Education Secretary in history,

103. threatened judges who didn’t do what he wanted,

104. attacked Dr. Anthony Fauci,

105. promised that Mexico would pay for the wall (it didn’t),

106. allowed political hacks to overrule government scientists on major reports on climate change and other issues,

107. struggled navigating a ramp after claiming his opponent was feeble,

108. called an African-American Congresswoman “low IQ,”

109. threatened to withhold federal aid from states and cities with Democratic leaders,

110. went ahead with rallies filled with maskless supporters in the middle of a pandemic,

111. claimed that legitimate investigations of his wrongdoing were “witch hunts,”

112. seemed to demonstrate a belief that there were airports during the American Revolution,

113. demanded “total loyalty” from the FBI director,

114. praised a conspiracy theory that Democrats are Satanic pedophiles,

115. completely gutted the Voice of America,

116. placed a political hack in charge of the Postal Service,

117. claimed without evidence that the Obama administration bugged Trump Tower,

118. suggested that the US should allow more people from places like Norway into the country,

119. suggested that COVID wasn’t that bad because he recovered with the help of top government doctors and treatments not available to the public,

120. overturned energy conservation standards that even industry supported,

121. reduced the number of refugees the US accepts,

122. insulted various members of Congress and the media with infantile nicknames,

123. gave Rush Limbaugh a Presidential medal of Freedom at the State of the Union address,

124. named as head of federal personnel a 29-year old who’d previously been fired from the White House for allegations of financial improprieties,

125. eliminated the White House office of pandemic response,

126. used soldiers as campaign props,

127. fired any advisor who made the mistake of disagreeing with him,

128. demanded the Pentagon throw him a Soviet-style military parade,

129. hired a shit ton of white nationalists,

130. politicized the civil service,

131. did absolutely nothing after Russia hacked the U.S. government,

132. falsely said the Boy Scouts called him to say his bizarre Jamboree speech was the best speech ever given to the Scouts,

133. claimed that Black people would overrun the suburbs if Biden won,

134. insulted reporters of color,

135. insulted women reporters,

136. insulted women reporters of color,

137. suggested he was fine with China’s oppression of the Uighurs,

138. attacked the Supreme Court when it ruled against him,

139. summoned Pennsylvania state legislative leaders to the White House to pressure them to overturn the election,

140. spent countless hours every day watching Fox News,

141. refused to allow his administration to comply with Congressional subpoenas,

142. hired Rudy Giuliani as his lawyer,

143. tried to punish Amazon because the Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post wrote negative stories about him,

144. acted as if the Attorney General of the United States was his personal attorney,

145. attempted to get the federal government to defend him in a libel lawsuit from a prominent lady who accused him of sexual assault,

146. held private meetings with Vladimir Putin without staff present,

147. didn’t disclose his private meetings with Vladimir Putin so that the US had to find out via Russian media,

148. stopped holding press briefings for months at a time,

149. “ordered” US companies to leave China even though he has no such power,

150. led a political party that couldn’t even be bothered to draft a policy platform,

151. claimed preposterously that Article II of the Constitution gave him absolute powers,

152. tried to pressure the U.K. to hold the British Open at his golf course,

153. suggested that the government nuke hurricanes,

154. suggested that wind turbines cause cancer,

155. said that he had a special aptitude for science,

156. fired the head of election cyber security after he said that the 2020 election was secure,

157. blurted out classified information to Russian officials,

158. tried to force the G7 to hold their meeting at his failing golf resort in Florida,

159. fired the acting attorney general when she refused to go along with his unconstitutional Muslim travel ban,

160. hired notorious racist Stephen Miller,

161. openly discussed national security issues in the dining room at Mar-a-Lago where everyone could hear them,

162. interfered with plans to relocate the FBI because a new development there might compete with his hotel,

163. abandoned Iraqi refugees who’d helped the U.S. during the war,

164. tried to get Russia back into the G7,

165. held a COVID super spreader event in the Rose Garden,

166. seemed to believe that Frederick Douglass is still alive,

167. lost 60 election fraud cases in court including before judges he had nominated,

168. falsely claimed that factories were reopening when they weren’t,

169. shamelessly exploited terror attacks in Europe to justify his anti-immigrant policies,

170. still hasn’t come up with a healthcare plan,

171. still hasn’t come up with an infrastructure plan despite repeated “Infrastructure Weeks,”

172. forced Secret Service agents to drive him around Walter Reed while contagious with COVID,

173. told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by,”

174. fucked up the Census,

175. withdrew the U.S. from the World Health Organization in the middle of a pandemic,

176. did so few of his duties that his press staff were forced to state on his daily schedule “President Trump will work from early in the morning until late in the evening. He will make many calls and have many meetings,”

177. allowed his staff to repeatedly violate the Hatch Act,

178. seemed not to know that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican,

179. stood before sacred CIA wall of heroes and bragged about his election win,

180. constantly claimed he was treated worse than any president which presumably includes four that were assassinated and his predecessor whose legitimacy and birthplace were challenged by a racist reality TV show star named Donald Trump,

181. claimed Andrew Jackson could’ve stopped the Civil War even though he died 16 years before it happened,

182. said that any opinion poll showing him behind was fake,

183. claimed that other countries laughed at us before he became president when several world leaders were literally laughing at him,

184. claimed that the military was out of ammunition before he became President,

185. created a commission to whitewash American history,

186. retweeted anti-Islam videos from one of the most racist people in Britain,

187. claimed ludicrously that the Pulse nightclub shooting wouldn’t have happened if someone there had a gun even though there was an armed security guard there,

188. hired a senior staffer who cited the non-existent Bowling Green Massacre as a reason to ban Muslims,

189. had a press secretary who claimed that Nazi Germany never used chemical weapons even though every sane human being knows they used gas to kill millions of Jews and others,

190. bilked the Secret Service for higher than market rates when they had to stay at Trump properties,

191. apparently sold pardons on his way out of the White House,

192. stripped protective status from 59,000 Haitians,

193. falsely claimed Biden wanted to defund the police,

194. said that the head of the CDC didn’t know what he was talking about,

195. tried to rescind protection from DREAMers,

196. gave himself an A+ for his handling of the pandemic,

197. tried to start a boycott of Goodyear tires due to an Internet hoax,

198. said U.S. rates of COVID would be lower if you didn’t count blue states,

199. deported U.S. veterans who served their country but were undocumented,

200. claimed he did more for African Americans than any president since Lincoln,

201. touted a “super-duper” secret “hydrosonic” missile which may or may not be a new “hypersonic” missile or may not exist at all,

202. retweeted a gif calling Biden a pedophile,

203. forced through security clearances for his family,

204. suggested that police officers should rough up suspects,

205. suggested that Biden was on performance-enhancing drugs,

206. tried to stop transgender students from being able to use school bathrooms in line with their gender,

207. suggested the US not accept COVID patients from a cruise ship because it would make US numbers look higher,

208. nominated a climate change sceptic to chair the committee advising the White House on environmental policy,

209. retweeted a video doctored to look like Biden

210. had played a song called “Fuck tha Police” at a campaign event,

211. hugged a disturbingly large number of U.S. flags,

212. accused Democrats of “treason” for not applauding his State of the Union address,

213. claimed that the FBI failed to capture the Parkland school shooter because they were “spending too much time” on Russia,

214. mocked the testimony of Dr Christine Blasey Ford when she accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault,

215. obsessed over low-flow toilets,

216. ordered the rerelease of more COVID vaccines when there weren’t any to release,

217. called for the construction of a bizarre garden of heroes with statutes of famous dead Americans as well as at least one Canadian (Alex Trebek),

218. hijacked Washington’s July 4th celebrations to give a partisan speech,

219. took advice from the MyPillow guy,

220. claimed that migrants seeking a better life in the US were dangerous caravans of drug dealers and rapists,

221. said nothing when Vladimir Putin poisoned a leading opposition figure,

222. never seemed to heed the advice of his wife’s “Be Best” campaign,

223. falsely claimed that mail-in voting is fraudulent,

224. announced a precipitous withdrawal of troops from Syria which not only handed Russia and ISIS a win but also prompted his defense secretary to resign in protest,

225. insulted the leader of Canada,

226. insulted the leader of France,

227. insulted the leader of Britain,

228. insulted the leader of Germany,

229. insulted the leader of Sweden (Sweden!!),

230. falsely claimed credit for getting NATO members to increase their share of dues,

231. blew off two Asia summits even though they were held virtually,

232. continued lying about spending lots of time at Ground Zero with 9/11 responders,

233. said that the Japanese would sit back and watch their “Sony televisions” if the US were ever attacked,

234. left a NATO summit early in a huff,

235. stared directly into an eclipse even though everyone over the age of 5 knows not to do that,

236. called himself a very stable genius despite significant evidence to the contrary,

237. refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power and kept his promise.

238. Don’t forget that he took many classified & top secret documents with him when he left the White House, many of which have not been recovered & may have been compromised.

I’m sure there are a whole bunch of other things I can’t remember at the moment.

Plz copy and paste. Whoever wrote this deserves credit but I don't know who it is.

[mentalisttraceur]

Speaking Hexadecimal

Fluently and Unambiguously

I previously proposed a way of saying hexadecimal numbers clearly and efficiently in English, but that was only good for situations where it was otherwise unambiguous that the numbers were in base-16, and it still had some room for getting "wires crossed" with base-10. Now I finally have a proposal I'm satisfied with to finish the job:

We first add distinct words for the six extra "digits":

A is alf, B is brav, C is char, D is delt, E is eck, and F is fost. These are based on the pronunciation of the first six NATO phonetic alphabet words: "alpha", "bravo", "charlie", "delta", "echo", and "foxtrot", except that: we simplify "foxt" to "fost" to make it easier to say, we change the spelling of "alph" to make it more accessible to people not familiar with English's "ph", and the spelling of "eck" makes it obvious that it's a K sound, not a CH sound.

Then we replace "-ty" with "-tex". "-tex" is meant to be evocative of "hex", but the "t" fits the pattern of English number words better:

So 20 in hexadecimal is twentex, not "twenty". 21 is twentex-one, 22 is twentex-two, and so on. 2A is twentex-alf, 2B is twentex-brav, and so on. 30 is thirtex, 31 is thirtex-one, [...], 3A is thirtex-alf, and so on. Fortex, fiftex, sixtex, seventex, eightex, ninetex, alftex, bravtex, chartex, deltex, ecktex, and fostex.

English has special words for 10-19, but we can just use the same regular pattern in hexadecimal for 10-1F as for 20-FF. So 10 is ontex. It's "ontex" and not "onetex" to match the speed and distinctiveness that we get with twenty, thirty, forty, and fifty having slightly different pronunciations and spellings versus two, three, four, and five. 11 is ontex-one, 12 is ontex-two, 13 is ontex-three, and so on.

100 is "hunhex". This continues the mnemonic pattern - English number word, with a hexadecimal-hinting ending. 101 is "one hunhex and one," or just "hunhex and one" for short, just like we say decimal hundreds. 201 is "two hunhex and one", 2D4 is "two hunhex and deltex-four", and so on, all the way up to FFF - "fost hunhex and fostex-fost".

Incidentally, the modern English quirk of saying a number like 2463 as "twenty-four (hundred), sixty-three" instead of "two-thousand, four-hundred, and sixty-three" works really well for hexadecimal numbers: for example, 1AD4 is often written as 1A D4, and can be read as "ontex-alf (hunhex), deltex-four".

In fact, unlike decimal, in hexadecimal it is far more natural and useful, especially given modern technology, to do groups of two. So we don't even bother with another irregular word like "thousand" - instead, we just go directly to using the same Latin prefixes that large numbers in English use (billion, trillion, quadrillion, and so on), for multiples of two more hex digits:

So 10000 is a bihex, 1000000 is a trihex, 100000000 is a quadrihex, 10000000000 is a quintihex, 1000000000000 is a sextihex, 100000000000000 is a septihex, 10000000000000000 is an octohex, and so on. Technical people will appreciate that we're basically counting bytes here, and that a hunhex is one larger than the maximum value in a 1-byte unsigned integer - ditto bihex for 2 bytes, quadrihex for 4 bytes, octohex for 8 bytes, and so on.

[fictionalafvsmybeloved]

So your blog is the land of non-credibility right? And you review tanks? So could you review this 'gem'

I haven't done one of these in a while, so why not start off with this Wonderful design by Blacktaildefense.

(also I'm gonna change up my standard format a bit)

I'll let you know right here, this thing is more of a dumpster fire than you think.

Let's start with the basics, size. It's too big. 4 feet wider and 10 feet longer the M1 Abrams. It's longer and wider than the Maus and Char 2C, the two tanks known for being ridiculously big. It's too wide for standard US highways and railroads so the only way you can transport it is by air or sea. And its "amphibious", with almost no way to propel itself through the water.

Next is the engine. It gives the tank a mindboggleing 55 horsepower per ton, leading to a ludicrous 65 MPH top speed at an equally insane 1 mile to the gallon. BUT THAT IS A LIE. Because this uses a wankel engine, AND WANKEL ENGINES HAVE LAUGHABLY BAD EFFICIENCY. But that's not all! This is a diesel wankel engine, and you see a diesel engine works by compressing the air with its pistons until its super heated, then injecting the fuel into the chamber, causing it to combust. A WANKEL ENGINE CANNOT DO THAT, SO THE ENGINE DOESN'T EVEN WORK. And I just noticed that the drive sprocket is either missing, or half the size it should be.

20% Chobham

20% Titanium

60% Fullerene (misspelled, of course)

This is the absolute nonsense that supposedly makes up this thing's armor package. Chobham.... is not a material, it is a LAYOUT for composite armor (and an outdated one too). Titanium is very expensive, and also what the Air Force makes their planes out of. So now you're competing with the Air Force for materials, good job. Fullerene, oh boy every 2-bit sci-fi writer's favorite nanomaterial. Nanomaterials have two big problems. First, they are extremely expensive to manufacture, even on the "nano' scale. Second, the physical properties of matter change as they are scaled up. YOU HAVE NO GUARANTEE THAT THE IN-LAB NANO-SCALE SUPERPROPERTIES WILL TRANSLATE INTO 20 TONS OF USABLE TANK ARMOR. As for the thickness, it's listed in just plain inches, with no way to tell if it's talking about RHA equivalence or the actual thickness of the armor elements in that area(nor does it differentiate between hull and turret armor). If its RHA equivalent, then the armor is weaker than the Abrams. The armor at the rear is ten times thicker that it needs to be, and is just increasing cost and maintenance complexity for almost no benefit.

As for the guns, why don't we start small. Two 7mm MGs, I'm sure he means 7.62 NATO, right? Those two machineguns have twice the ammunition they need. A 20mm autocannon for firing at aircraft (not pictured but still listed). The original design plan for the M1 Abrams had one too, but the Army removed it for being "superfluous", that should tell you all you need to know. The primary armament is a 145mm smoothbore... howitzer? Howitzers are lower velocity guns designed for indirect fire, what the hell is one doing on an MBT? And it comes with- SWEET MOTHER OF GOD! WHY DOES IT HAVE 85 ROUNDS OF MAIN GUN AMMUNITION? With no blowout panels?!? If this thing takes a hit the entire vehicle will scatter itself over a 200ft area! And here I though Russian tanks where explosive. And why does it have 40 degrees of gun elevation? Is it meant to pull double duty as an artillery piece? You're just making the crew training times longer.

This overgrown, overbudget do-it-all abomination has sci-fi super armor, a magic nonsense engine, and the ability TO SWIM; but no thermal sights. Absolutely moronic.

They packed the crew in there like sardines. Six crew members, SIX. Does it have THREE loaders? Is one of them pulling double duty as an old fashioned radio operator? Do they need that many because they're using single-piece brass cased ammo? Are they using stackable charges to pull double duty as an SPG!? Do not tell me, I don't wanna know.

The final two features of note are: The "full 3d stabilization" of the drivetrain, hull, turret, and gun. I have no idea how or why you would stabilize those first three. And the smoke mortar. Mortar, not launchers. smoke mortar, like one late WWII German tanks.

FINAL SCORES

Credibility: 2/10 - Just Stupid

Coolness: 3/10 - WarThunder Sad Eyes Tank

BONUS

War Thunder for the PS1

The Areo-Gavin is up next, and I think it might drive me to alcoholism. See you soon(ish).

[mariacallous]

Sitting in a small lounge at a Romanian airport last month, I asked NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg about the prospect of another Donald Trump presidency. The former U.S. leader and presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee had recently made headlines for saying that he would encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to alliance members that don’t spend enough on defense. What would Trump 2.0 mean for NATO at the time of a major land war in Europe?

Luckily for Stoltenberg, we were interrupted: His plane had been refueled, and we were ready to take off again.

I hit pause on my recorder, we downed the rest of our coffees, and we went out to the tarmac under an overcast sky to board the plane and continue the interview. Stoltenberg was in dark jeans and a sweater, a more casual contrast to the smartly besuited phalanx of aides and serious-faced security detail that trailed us.

For three dizzying days in mid-March, Stoltenberg toured the South Caucasus—Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan—a geopolitically important slice of land between the Black Sea and Caspian Sea that has become even more important and contested since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Foreign Policy joined Stoltenberg on his trip (which included brief refueling stops in Romania)—alongside a small coterie of his top advisors, several photographers, and a crew of burly security men—to watch the NATO chief at work and get his candid insights about the state of the alliance today and where he thinks it’s headed.

“My main responsibility is to ensure that NATO allies, also the United States, are committed to our collective defense,” Stoltenberg said, once we got back on board his charter plane and settled into the front row as the plane’s engines whirred to life to take off again. “The best way of doing that is not to speculate and not to be a kind of pundit. But it’s about ensuring that I do what I can to keep this family together.”

When I pressed him further on Trump, he offered up a defense of the alliance as a solid U.S. investment and a strategic bulwark against China—an argument tailor-made for the MAGA world.

“The United States is concerned about the economic and military strength of China. Remember that the United States represents 25 percent of the world’s GDP, but together with NATO allies, we represent 50 percent of the world’s GDP and 50 percent of the world’s military might,” he said. “This makes a difference. NATO is good for Europe, but it’s also good for the United States.”

Comments like these are part of why Stoltenberg has been in the job of leading the world’s most powerful military alliance for so long—even if for the last several years it’s been somewhat against his will. He’s a savvy diplomat who has proved remarkably capable of keeping the NATO family together against difficult odds, and he’s as solid a salesman as NATO can have for pitching its continued relevance to the Trumpist wing of America at a time when the alliance faces unprecedented challenges from outside and deepening skepticism from some within.

The next U.S. president is, at least in theory, not Stoltenberg’s problem. He’s set to retire from his post on Oct. 1, a month before the U.S. elections. But he’s tried to retire before, and NATO keeps clawing him back. Alliance leaders extended his term four separate times. He and his advisors insist there won’t be a fifth.

During Stoltenberg’s 10-year tenure, he’s won praise from across an alliance that isn’t always the most unified, particularly in the Trump era.

When Stoltenberg first joined NATO back in 2014, he did so at a time of crisis, when NATO was still being shaken awake from its post-Cold War daze. Russia had just launched its first invasion of Ukraine, illegally annexing Crimea and backing separatists taking control of regions of eastern Ukraine. NATO’s “strategic concept”—the document guiding the alliance’s strategic priorities—from several years prior, 2010, was woefully out of date, listing Russia as a partner and making no mention of China.

Alliance defense spending was laggard across the board; only three of the alliance’s 28 members at the time—the United States, United Kingdom, and Greece—met the NATO benchmark of spending 2 percent of GDP on defense.

Stoltenberg’s appointment was initially met with some skepticism. He was a Social Democrat from Norway, an economics wonk without a defense background who worked to forge closer ties with Russia during his second tenure as prime minister from 2005 to 2013. In his youth, before steadily climbing the ranks of Norwegian politics, he protested against Norway’s NATO membership, with a song booklet that had former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin on its front page. “We sang the chorus, ‘Singing Norway, Norway out of NATO.’ It was a hit,” he later reminisced.

But he was no stranger to crisis. He was prime minister in 2011 when a right-wing terrorist detonated a bomb outside his office and then massacred a youth summer camp—one he used to attend—killing in total 77 and injuring more than 200. “It was the darkest day in Norway since the Second World War. It was the darkest day of my life,” he later told U.S. lawmakers during a special joint address to Congress.

In the last decade, NATO allies have totally revamped defense spending, spurred mostly by alarm over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, prodded along by Trump, and quietly facilitated by Stoltenberg. This year, 18 of NATO’s 32 allies are slated to meet the 2 percent defense spending benchmark—significant progress but a far cry from what defense experts say the alliance needs to face off against Russia in the long run.

Stoltenberg, senior U.S. and other NATO member officials said, also played a pivotal role in the tortuous negotiations to admit Finland and Sweden to NATO. Both countries threw off their long-standing nonalignment policies to join the alliance after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but Turkey and Hungary, the latter led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, threw up massive political roadblocks to membership. (For a new member to join, all current members have to give assent.) Finland joined in April 2023, and Sweden joined last month.

Throughout his visit to the South Caucasus, I saw Stoltenberg the workaholic in action. Every meal was a working meal—be it dinners with presidents or breakfasts with his policy advisors.

In his visits to the Caucasus, he delivered messages carefully calibrated to each country. In Armenia and Azerbaijan, he pushed for normalization talks and lasting peace between the two countries after their devastating 2020 war, in which Azerbaijan emerged victorious. He was careful in Armenia to stress that each country can pick how to approach their own ties with NATO—a nod to the geopolitical tightrope Armenia has to walk as a treaty ally of Russia that is still looking to expand its ties with the West in the face of its 2020 defeat and alarm over the war in Ukraine.

In Azerbaijan, ruled by President Ilham Aliyev for over two decades, he spoke mostly of energy security and made no mention of shared democratic values or human rights. Azerbaijan is a major gas exporter to Europe, an important energy alternative to Russia, though it is not an aspiring NATO member.

In Georgia, he pushed the importance of democratic reforms (in the face of worrying democratic backsliding he didn’t explicitly call out publicly) and reiterated NATO’s pledge to have the country one day join the alliance—a pledge that seems more far-fetched than ever before given its nearly two decades of waiting.

In every speech and every interaction, Stoltenberg was quintessentially Scandinavian, concise, and very practical.

“Jens has been the master of steady as she goes,” said Rose Gottemoeller, a retired senior U.S. diplomat who served as deputy NATO secretary-general under Stoltenberg from 2016 to 2019. “He never wavers from his talking points, but it’s always a very firm, clear message. He’s not a flashy kind of guy,” she added. “He’s Norwegian, for god’s sake.”

There’s a lot of heartburn and unease about what comes next for NATO after the “steady as she goes” Stoltenberg era.

He is, as one senior Eastern European official put it to me, “the only guy who could get along with both Trump and Erdogan.” Recep Tayyip Erdogan is the president of NATO ally Turkey and a thorn in the side of NATO unity. Yet Stoltenberg managed to maintain good ties with Erdogan, helping broker talks between the Turkish leader and Swedish government to overcome Turkey’s objections to admitting Sweden into NATO.

Trump liked Stoltenberg, too—thanks to some deft maneuvers by Stoltenberg early on to ensure Trump saw him as an ally in the fight against, rather than the flag-bearer of, Europe’s moribund defense spending. “I think he’s doing a fantastic job,” Trump said of Stoltenberg in 2019. “I am a big fan.”

Finding someone else who fits that bill is very hard to do.

The job of a NATO secretary-general is a weird amalgamation of other high-profile global posts—he (there hasn’t been a she yet) needs the consensus-based support of a U.N. secretary-general, the diplomatic panache of a foreign secretary, the military prowess of a chief of defense, and the managerial skills to oversee a massive Brussels-based bureaucracy—all without any of the formal powers that a head of state or nation’s top general has.

This is to say nothing of the type of crisis leadership required to deal with a major land war in Europe and foreboding revanchism from a nuclear-armed Russia.

Then there are all the unspoken criteria. Stoltenberg’s replacement needs the blessing—or, at the very least, the absence of outright objection—of all 32 alliance members. They will probably need to come from a country that meets or is close to NATO’s 2 percent of GDP defense spending benchmark, be hawkish enough on Russia to satisfy the alliance’s eastern members but not too hawkish as to rattle more cautious Western members, be a former head of state or government who hasn’t weathered too many political scandals to sink them, and gain the backing of the “Big Four”—the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany—so that other members get in line.

With all these criteria to meet, the list of plausible candidates winnows quickly down to, well, extending Stoltenberg again. But he’s adamant that, this time, he’s really leaving.

The top contender to replace Stoltenberg, outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, faces an early hurdle: He has already been branded as a no-go by close Trump allies (though whether their protests will have any effect remains to be seen). Romania has also put forward its president, Klaus Iohannis, as a candidate, though it’s unclear if he has the support that Rutte has. (Romania meets the magic 2 percent benchmark; the Netherlands does not.)

Beyond the Trump factor, one major question for NATO and Stoltenberg’s successor is what comes next in the Ukraine war. Western support for Kyiv seems to be flagging in its third year of conflict—a massive new tranche of vital U.S. aid for Kyiv has been stuck in Congress for months—and Russia is moving its entire economy onto a wartime footing.

“It’s this spring and this summer that the war in Ukraine will be decided,” the European Union’s foreign-policy chief, Josep Borrell, told me during a visit to Washington before I met with Stoltenberg. “Many analysts expect a major Russian offensive this summer, and Ukraine cannot wait until the result of the next U.S. elections.”

I asked Stoltenberg what he expects in the war’s coming months.

“I’m always very careful predicting, because wars are by nature unpredictable,” he said. “Ukraine has performed better than expectations, again and again. At the same time, what we saw last year was, of course, that the long-prepared [Ukrainian] offensive didn’t give the outcome we all hoped for.”

“The small gains the Russians have achieved, they have paid a very high price for, up to 900 casualties per day in the fight for Avdiivka,” he said, referring to a small town that Russia recaptured from Ukraine earlier this year. “We need to be prepared for a war of attrition.”

The next major question is on NATO expansion. Putin is fixated on NATO expansion as a strategic threat to Russia (never mind that Russia is driving its own nervous neighbors into NATO’s arms—and by their own demand and not NATO’s).

NATO is torn over Ukraine’s future membership. Some allies pushed for NATO to extend Ukraine a formal membership invitation at the upcoming NATO summit, scheduled to be in Washington this summer as the alliance rings in its 75th anniversary. The Biden administration and Germany quashed those plans.

Other allies quietly sided with Washington and Germany, fearing that admitting Ukraine too early and with some of its territory still occupied by Russia is a recipe for a spiraling NATO-Russia conflict that no one wants—and one that could well turn nuclear.

“Ukraine is closer to membership than ever before,” Stoltenberg said. “As soon as the political conditions are in place, we can make a decision and Ukraine can become a member very quickly after that.”

What those political conditions are, he didn’t specify.

One of Stoltenberg’s predecessors, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, is pushing a unique proposal to get around the thorniest parts of this question. His proposal would allow Ukraine to join NATO and have NATO’s collective defense clause—the bedrock of the alliance’s deterrence muscles—only apply to the Ukrainian territory that Ukraine firmly controls. I asked Stoltenberg about this.

“I think it will not be helpful if I’ll speculate about just how we would issue that. Meaning that, of course, if I’m too specific about that now, I think it will make the internal process more difficult.”

After these caveats, though, he offered some historical precedents for this idea. “You have examples where security guarantees have been issued to parts of territories. The United States has security guarantees for Japan, excluding the Kurils, which is controlled by Russia,” he said, referring to a disputed group of islands that Russia has controlled since the end of World War II but Japan also lays territorial claim to. “West Germany became a member of NATO in the 1950s without East Germany, even though West Germany always aimed for a united Germany,” he added.

It’s not a matter Stoltenberg is likely to have to handle as he prepares to wind down from his job after the upcoming summit in Washington this summer, which will be his last as secretary-general. Yet the unanswered questions about Ukraine’s future in (or out) of NATO will likely define the legacy of Stoltenberg’s successor.

Back in 2022, Stoltenberg was slated to become the next head of Norway’s central bank after leaving NATO. On paper, it seemed like a step down from leading the world’s most powerful military alliance, but it’s a job he said he was “really looking forward to,” in a nod to his roots as an economics wonk. That plan got derailed when his term at NATO was extended yet again. “That did not happen,” he said. “I have given up on that.”

So what comes next? “My focus now is on doing my job as secretary-general until my tenure ends,” he said, in a classic diplomatic non-answer.

Most officials who work closely with him say he deserves a break. Whether he actually takes one is another matter entirely. “His job is exhausting, and he’s been doing it for a decade. He earned a quiet retirement,” said one senior official who works closely with him. “I give it about a week before he gets restless and wants to get back to work.”

As is typical of Stoltenberg, he never let his diplomatic guard down when speaking to me throughout the trip—a sign he hasn’t checked out of his job after a tumultuous 10 years in office.

At the end of the trip, I asked him what his favorite meal was. “The best thing I ate was the dinner we had—” but then he stopped, apparently mindful of the fierce national culinary rivalries in the region. “No, you know that’s very dangerous.” He paused and reset. “In the Caucasus, they have very delicious food.”

[crystal-charlotte-lynch]

Trying my hand at Willam S. Burroughs cut-out technique

Joseph Derito, an 81-year-old retired baker in Elmyra,Overall, about half the

New York, sees immigration

country - 49% - say democracy is not working traveled to Ukraine with

policy as not representing well in the United States, his wife, Kim Keon Hee,

the views of most following trips to Lithu-

icans. "The government compared with 10% who ania for a NATO summit say it's working very or and to Poland. It's his first

today is all for the people

extremely well and 40% visit since Russia invaded who have nothing - a lot of

only somewhat well. About Ukraine in February 2022.

them are capable of working half also say each of the Yoon toured Bucha and but get help," said Derito, a political parties is doing a Irpin, two small cities near white political independent bad job of upholding democ- Kyiv where bodies of civil-who leans Republican and voted for Trump. "They just racy, including 47% who say ians were found in the that about Democrats and want to give these people

streets and mass graves after

even more - 56% - about Russian troops retreated everything"Republicans.

Sandra Wyatt, a 68-year- "I don't think either of year.from the capital region last

old retired data collec- them is doing a good job just South Korea, a key U.S.

tion worker and Democrat because of the state of the ally in Asia, joined inter-

in Cincinnati, blames economy - inflation is kill- national sanctions against

Trump for what she sees ing us," said Michael Brown, Russia and has provided as an erosion in democ- 45, a worker's compensation Ukraine with humanitar-racy. "When he got in there,WASHINGTON - Only ian and financial support it was like, man, you're about 1 in 10 U.S. adults to Ukraine. But the Asian trying to take us back to give high ratings to the way nation, a growing arms the day, before all the rights democracy is working in the exporter, hasn't provided and privileges everybody United States or how well it weapons to Ukraine in line fought for," said Wyatt, who represents the interests of with its longstanding policy is Black, adding that she's most Americans, according of not supplying arms to voted previously for Repub- to a new poll from Associ- countries actively engaged licans as well.ated Press-NORC Center in conflict. She sees those bad dy. for Public Affairs Research.

During a joint news Majorities of adults say conference with Ukrainian

prime minister took a fresh U.s. laws and policies do turn Saturday as the candi-

President Volodymyr Zelen-

a poor job of representing skyy, Yoon announced date who led his party to what most Americans want plans to expand support first place in May's general on issues ranging from the dozen years. The case election said he is open to economy and government endured through five police bowing out of contention spending to gun policy, commissioners, more than if he cannot win a second I immigration and abortion. 1,000 tips, countless theo-round of voting in Parlia- The poll shows 53% say ries and supposed conspira-

ment. Congress is doing a bad job zies. Then a fresh review last Pita Limjaroenrat, 42, of upholding democratic year tied an old clue, about the leader of the progres- values, compared with just a pickup truck linked to a sive Move Forward Party, 16% who say it's doing a victim's disappearance, to said he would be willing to good job.

a new name: Rex A. Heuer- let a coalition partner party 'Lawmakers failed to mann.

field its candidate. However, confirm Pita as prime minis- Energized by the truck

he indicated the political ter Thursday despite his sidbit, investigators charted battling could continue for party's surprising victory the calls and travels of

weeks. in the May polls, when it multiple cellphones, picked The findings illustrate garnered 151 seats in the part email aliases, delved widespread political alienation as a polarized country

500-member House of into search histories and Representatives. It then collected discarded bottles

limps out of the pandemic assembled an eight-party and into a recovery haunted

- and even a pizza crust I

coalition that together holds or advanced DNA testing, by inflation and fears of a

312 seats, a clear majority in cording to court papers. recession. In interviews, the lower house, giving it the respondents worried less On Friday, Heuermann, 59,

bout the machinery of right to nominate a prime was charged with murder in

minister. democracy - voting laws

A second round of voting

and the tabulation of ballots is expected Wednesday.

- and more about the outputs.

[usafphantom2]

Mitsubishi F-2: the Japanese version of the F-16 Falcon

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 02/10/2022 - 23:07

Originally regarded as an all-Japanese fighter, it caused Japan to save significant expenses in the development of its F-2 light fighter, basing it closely on the U.S. F-16. Learn more about the multi-role fighter developed by Mitsubishi for JASDF.

During World War II (1939-45), the Japanese aeronautical industry designed and produced combat aircraft such as the Mitsubishi A6M Zero, which was very similar, in terms of technological quality and performance, to the most modern aircraft in the West.

MItsubishi A6M Zero.

However, with its defeat in the war, in addition to having its industrial plant completely destroyed, Japan was prohibited from forming (classical) Armed Forces and, equally, from designing and developing military equipment, including combat aircraft, leaving the defense of the country in charge (exclusively) of the United States.

However, a few years after the end of the global conflict, the bipolar confrontation inherent in the Cold War (1947-91) in Asia, - like what happened in Europe with Germany (incorporated into NATO six years after its creation in 1955) - forced the US to review (albeit to a lesser extent compared to the German project of rearmament) its policy towards Japan, particularly due Japan in relation to Mainland China and the Soviet Union, forcing the legislation (now totally impeding) to be slowed down, allowing, in the context of this new geopolitical approach, to create a consistent Japanese self-defense force in three basic strands: land, naval and aeronautical.

In this way, JASDF (Japan Air Defense Force) began to use British and American-made aircraft, and, from 1952 (with the impasse in the Korean conflict), aircraft produced (totally or partially) on Japanese soil, with the withdrawal (albeit partially) of the previous restrictions on the Japanese development of aircraft, according to its own philosophy of copying existing technologies, improving and

Fuji T-1.

As a result, as early as 1954 the project of the first jet military training aircraft was started and, in 1958, the Fuji T-1 (practically a Japanese version of the North American F-86 Sabre) carried out its first flight, with a total of 66 units being produced.

In the 1960s, JASDF already operated the American supersonic fighters F-4 Phantom II and F-104 Starfighter, giving rise to the need to train its pilots on a more capable and faster plane than the T-1.

McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom from JASDF.

After many studies, it was considered about the possible advantages of manufacturing the European SEPECAT Jaguar aircraft in the country under license. The negotiations, however, were not successful, giving rise to the beginning of an aircraft project of its own (such as T-1), although (strongly) inspired by Jaguar.

In this tune, in 1971, the Japanese national industry managed to make a great technological leap with the launch of the Mitsubishi T-2, the first supersonic (training) aircraft developed and produced in Japan. 90 units of this aircraft were ordered in several versions, which served the JASDF from 1975 to 2006.

Mitsubishi F-1.

In the mid-1970s, the Japanese government decided, once again, to break with the paradigms, designing, developing and building its first combat aircraft based on its T-2 trainer, the Mitsubishi F-1, which had 77 units produced, maintaining the production and jobs of the local aeronautical industry.

In 1985, JASDF released the specifications for the acquisition of a new fighter, aiming to replace the F-1. The new aircraft should be able to load four anti-airy missiles, have no aerodynamic load limitation, be able to sustain loads from 3G (negative) to 9G (positive) and have a combat range of the order of 800km.

Mitsubishi T-2.

In that period, in addition to the F-1 "Supersonic ReiSen", - built and developed jointly by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Fuji Heavy Industries, endowed with a maximum speed of 1,700km/h and autonomy of 1,130km -, the Japanese also manufactured, under license from McDonnel Douglas, the iconic F-15 Eagle, being certain that, just as in the American Air Force

Not for another reason, in 1987, the governments of the two countries announced the development (together) of a version of the General Dynamics F-16 in partnership with Mitsubishi, which would be responsible for 45% of the development work.

In certain respects, this was another of the agreements that buried the exports (and even the construction in partnership) of the Northrop F-20 Tigershark, - the successor of the F-5A Freedom Fighter (and also the F-5E Tiger II) -, as a standard export fighter to the U.S. allied countries, leveraging the sales (direct and indirect) of the

Even though the U.S. and Japan are first-rate allied countries, curiously, the initial terms of the contract generated disagreements between the two sides. The Americans believed that the transfer of technology from such an advanced fighter could leave the Japanese industry in a privileged position in future competition with American companies, while the Japanese argued that they would share some (own) technologies without any consideration, even paying for the patents of various components of American technology.

Differences between F-16 and Japanese F-2.

Only in 1990 were all challenges finally overcome with the development of the new aircraft remaining divided in the base of 40% for the Americans and 60% for the Japanese.

The new aircraft was named Mitsubishi F-2 Viper Zero, in honor of the unofficial name of the (now Lockheed Martin) F-16 (and which ended up official in its latest version, F-16V) and the legendary Japanese fighter of World War II, and it is certain that this aircraft would be based on a larger version compared to the original design of the F-16.

The final price of each F-2 was, however, four times higher than the production value of an F-16 in America, even without taking into account the entire cost of the development of the aircraft.

Visually, the F-2 and the F-16 are very similar; however, some differences can be easily noticed, particularly in the outside: the wings of the F-2 have an area 25% larger than that of the original F-16; the horizontal stabilizer is also larger; the cabin of the F-2 is divided into three parts (to resist bird shocks), while the canopy of the F-16

In addition to the external differences, one can also mention the use of composite material in various parts of the aircraft, in addition to significant distinctions in armament and engine.

As the Americans did not want to give up the source code of the flight command system for the Japanese, they were forced to develop a completely new one, including considering the fact that the F-2 is heavier and has larger control surfaces and wing, in addition to having a different center of gravity from the F-16. For the elaboration of the new code, the results obtained with a modified F-2 aircraft for testing were mainly used. The first prototype of the F-2 left Mitsubishi's assembly line in Nagoya in January 1995, with the second taking off on its inaugural flight in December of the same year.

A total of four prototypes were built for flight testing and two for ground fatigue testing. The static and dynamic load tests revealed some weaknesses, especially in the newly designed wings, which were made of composite materials and, therefore, with innovative technology for the time. These findings were incorporated directly into the modification of series production, with the project proving, as a consequence, a great challenge for the Japanese aeronautical industry, since for the first time carbon fiber composite materials were used in the primary structure of an aircraft. The initial order of 141 aircraft has been reduced over the years and production was closed in 2011, with only 98 aircraft being manufactured, including the four prototypes.

It is timely to point out that the so-called "Japanese F-16" also has variants (competitors) in other countries that, from the original North American fighter, have also developed (licitly) similar aircraft, such as the South Korean KAI/Lockheed Martin T-50 Golden Eagle and the Israeli IAI Lavi, equipped with canards (which, due to the in J-11A Flanker B, which, in turn, was an authorized Chinese version of the Russian Sukhoi Su-27SK, locally assembled, or the J-16, a "replica" of the Russian Sukhoi Su-30).

In 2020, in another bold step, the Japanese government began a selection process for the development of a fighter that is expected to replace the F-2 and F-15, like what the US managed to do 20 years earlier with the 5th generation stealth projects of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor (winner of the competition with the Northrop YF-23) and the Lockheed Martin F

JASDF expects the new aircraft (with 5th generation technologies) to be fully operational from 2030. In this sense, a prototype for testing stealth technologies has already been built with the designation Mitsubishi X-2 Shinshin and has been flying since 2016.

It is worth noting that JASDF ordered 147 units of the F-35 Lightning II (which are already gradually being delivered) to maintain their air (qualitative) superiority over their opponents (notably China) and has not yet completely given up on making any partnership with Lockheed for the restoration of the production line of the F-22 Raptor, aiming at its acquisition, joint manufacture or

Reis Friede - Professor Emeritus of the School of Command and General Staff of the Army (ECEME), Honorary Professor of the School of Command and General Staff of Aeronautics (ECEMAR), Professor Emeritus of the School of Improvement of Army Officers (EsAO) and Special Lecturer of the Superior School of War (ESG).

Tags: Military AviationHISTORYJASDF - Japan Air Self-Defense Force/Japan Air Self-Defense ForceMitsubishi F-2

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Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. It has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. He uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.

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[beardedmrbean]

Russia has sent Finland a note about the suspension of operations at its consulate in the Finnish border city of Lappeenranta, according to local paper Etelä-Saimaa (ES).

Russia also announced that it was revoking consent for the operation of the Petrozavodsk and Murmansk offices of the Finnish Consulate General in St. Petersburg.

Finland announced in January that it was temporarily closing the Murmansk office and in April announced similar plans for the office in Petrozavodsk.

The closures, which will take effect from 1 July, were justified by Finland's 'confrontational behaviour' which has deteriorated relations between the two countries, according to Russia.

"At Finland's initiative, bilateral political dialogue has been cut off, trade and economic cooperation destroyed, the sister-city relationship between cities and regions and close border cooperation broken, as well as air and rail traffic cut off," a Russian foreign ministry's press release stated.

Russia also accused Finland of rejecting the policy of military non-alignment by joining Nato's military alliance, ES wrote.

"The responsibility for the current situation lies entirely with Finland," the Russian ministry's release stated.

Keeping up with the House of the Estates

Finnish media, including tabloid Iltalehti, questioned PM-designate Petteri Orpo (NCP) at Helsinki's House of the Estates on Wednesday morning, focusing on topics like climate targets and energy.

Orpo and members of the National Coalition Party, Finns Party, Swedish People's Party and Christian Democrats are in their fifth week of government formation talks at the venerable building in the Finnish capital.

Reporters asked whether the new government will stick to the 2035 goal of carbon neutrality.

"The starting point is that climate work will continue. The climate law will not be opened. Everything will be done in such a way that competitiveness is ensured. Yesterday's news on hydrogen investment is great, as well as last week's on clean energy. These are the things we want to secure for Finland," Orpo said.

He added that the goal was to reduce emissions and create more jobs, stressing at the same time, however, that it ought to be done in a way in which everyday costs do not rise unreasonably.

Finland's overburdened healthcare system was also brought up by reporters.

"The aim is to get more carers, to make carers feel better about their work, to raise the prestige of the job. In addition, we should be able to attract new workers and people who have left the sector. How to organise work, whether health technology can be utilised. It is a complex issue," Orpo said.

Finland's healthiest and sickest

People living in the Finnish Archipelago's autonomous island region of Åland were hailed as Finland's healthiest by the National Health Index, according to newspaper Ilkka-Pohjalainen.

Published on Tuesday and commissioned by the Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare (THL), the study gathered data between 2019-2021 focusing on people's health as well as their ability to work and function.

The healthiest people of Mainland Finland were found to reside in Ostrobothnia, as well as Uusimaa and Helsinki. The least healthy people in turn reportedly resided in North Savo and North Karelia.

The differences in health levels between regions were most evident in the prevalence of serious mental health problems, alcohol-related illness, musculoskeletal disorders and heart disease.

Between 2019-2021, North Savo had significantly higher rates of both mental health and musculoskeletal disorders than the other regions.

Alcohol-related illness was most common in North Karelia, with South Karelia also reporting high levels. Heart disease was found to be most rampant in South Karelia.

[the-jam-to-the-unicorn]

I'm not sure if you've seen the recent NYT article about Ze and the allegedly bad relationships with USA. What do you think this is all about? The article is somehow weird and I'm not sure what to think about it, so wonder what your opinion is.

(I assume, anon is talking about this article and the underlined parts.)

I wouldn't read to much into it.

The author has a history of being pro-Putin in the past, even though he seems to support Ukraine and is against Putin right now. (So yeah, it could very well be that he no longer supports Putin. But it could also be that he still believes in Russian Propaganda. Doesn't mean he may have wrote a Russian Propaganda piece on purpose.)

Besides that: Not the first time the New York Times published a, let's say, questionable view on the war in Ukraine. Last time they got a lot of backlash, so...yeah... . I get thay they want to publish as many opinions and views as possible, but not necessarily every POV is helpful right now.

So even if it isn't Russian Propaganda it's just one opinion and POV. I mean, the part about the worse relationship is as vague as possible written.

Also this part of the article isn't really written neutral. "Funny business"? Really?! And, of course, bringing back the corruption narrative?! (I don't say there is no corruption. Obviously there is and Zelenskyy and his team are well aware of that and try to do something about it. But the way this is phrased in the article is basically Russian Propaganda just with other words.)

Also a small detail, but important: Zelenskyy fired no one. He suspended. The parliament is the only one who can fire people from such position. And they did after the majority voted for it. And he suspended them for very good reasons. He didn't just wake up one morning and was like "let's remove people from their positions". (Side fact: both persons have been under more or less heavy critism since they've been appointed to their jobs and people asked Zelenskyy way before the war to remove them from their positions.)

(If the reasons were justified or not and if this was the right moment or not and what to think about the whole thing and and and is another discussion.)

So yeah.

Also, a general thing: There is absolutely no indication that the relationship is as bad as Friedman portrays it. At least from what we see and know.

But ask yourself...is it a coincidence such an article is getting published after...

- Olena visits Biden and held talks with him, his wife, representatives, speaks in front of the Congress and other people and at other places

- USA agreed on another aid package, including new weapons

- it's a real possibility Russian is going to be named a sponsor of terrorism

- Jill Biden takes part in the Summit

- delegations from USA visit Zelenskyy

Also keep in mind the recent attacks from an American politician (and Trump ally...so...Pro-Putin and Russia) against Zelenskyy and his team.

On a side note: Russia is losing power in the whole "Nordtsream 1 turbine" discussion, since they could get the turbine but don't want to pick it up. Basically revealing they bluffed all the time.

Also probably no coincidence either that almost at the same time former German chancellor Schröder (and close friend and ally of Putin) is getting the cover story in one of the Germany's biggest magazines.

Not to mention that Russia is losing ground and troops right now in Ukraine, while Ukraine is getting more and more weapons and help. While at the same time Russia is getting more sanctioned and lost the "grain battle".

Of course there is always the possibility that the relationship is in fact getting worse.

But this smells and sounds more like Russian Propaganda.

(Btw: I had a look into the Russian and Pro-Putin bubble and lots of Kremlins are like "See, the NATO/USA-puppet Zelenskyy is no longer supported by his masters and they drop him. Next step is killing him or regime change." So seems like the article also feeds the conspiracy theories and Propaganda narratives.)

To put it in a nutshell: Lately there is a lot of Russian Propaganda going on and Russia is really trying everything to paint Ukraine as the bad guy and disturb the relationships with Ukraine's partners and allies.

[shadowiztranz]

I watched Top Gun Maverick today and I have many questions. In the movie, the best of the military’s pilots are put on a suicide mission to bomb a facility enriching uranium in an “enemy” country. But like, what country? They never say. The higher ups just say something like this facility would be a problem for our Allies (presumably NATO) and … to what end? If this “enemy” country knows how to enrich uranium then will bombing the shit out of them really stop them? They can just build another facility to enrich uranium. And what is America going to do? Continually bomb them? Wouldn’t that ruin relations with that country? And are they even making weapons with it? Do they actually plan on threatening other countries with the potential bombs they could make? Like, if it was a country that was planning mass destruction/war on another country and the goal was to prevent that from happening I could see it more. But it just sounds like America wanted to bomb the shit out of these people because… they wanted the same weapons we had… which is kind of hypocritical. Also, these pilots could be killing maybe a hundred innocent civilians. Who just work in the facility. And the Navy or military or whatever doesn’t give a shit about its pilots. The guy in charge was just like yup, they gotta die doing this mission and it’s only until Tom Cruise steps in and is like, no, I want these pilots to live that like they have a chance, but like ?? Would that not stress these pilots the fuck out? Like some of them are still being chosen to basically push the boundaries of what humans are capable of to the point where passing out while flying and crashing and burning is a real danger. Yet we don’t have any scenes of them being conflicted or even questioning what they’re doing, why they’re doing it, or even the fear of death. Like, wouldn’t it be super demoralizing that you could be the best of the best and the people in charge will still throw you out like trash? Your life is worthless to them. They don’t care about you. You’re just a means to further some obscure goal. The guy in charge was like these pilots knew the risks of signing up and it’s like ?? I think most people sign up for the military because 1) they’re poor as shit and don’t see a future for themselves and it’s a JOB they can do or 2) believe they’re “helping” their country and whatever but how do these mentalities conflict when they realize the mundanity of it all? They’re not dying to protect world peace. They’re not dying defending their country. They’re not dying to protect friends or family. They’re dying so some asshole in another country can sleep well at night know their neighboring country won’t be able to fight back in a way that threatens them. Do you really want to die for that? And if you live but get injured will the military care for you? If you get captured and become a prisoner of war will America come for you? Idk I feel like this movie lacked a lot of nuance and like opportunities to go deeper into character motivations and it COULD have been a lot more interesting. And I don’t like the complete disassociation with the “enemy.” Are they not human too? And how did they get this super sophisticated tech that makes this mission so deadly? Are we attacking a country like Russia? A country that has funding and means to make these weapons? Or is it a less wealthy country that was gifted these weapons? Idk I just feel like this movie was probably funded by the military and that’s why they don’t have any criticisms of the military. And I’m not anti-military or anti-soldier or whatever. But the lack of any sort of nuance really makes this movie bland.

[laforetfrenchclass]

4 Good Reasons to Learn French Language

Learning a new language is a rewarding endeavor, and French is an excellent choice for various reasons. Whether you are considering french courses online or planning to prepare for the DELF exam, there are numerous benefits to mastering this beautiful language. Here are four compelling reasons to learn French.

1. Enhance Career Opportunities

Global Business Language: French is spoken by over 300 million people worldwide and is an official language in 29 countries. This widespread use makes French a valuable asset in the global job market. Many multinational companies prefer candidates who can communicate in French, especially if they have operations in French-speaking regions.

International Organizations: French is one of the official languages of many international organizations, including the United Nations, the European Union, UNESCO, NATO, and the International Red Cross. Knowing French can open doors to careers in diplomacy, international relations, and global NGOs.

Competitive Edge: Learning French can give you a competitive edge over other candidates in your field. Whether you are looking to work in international business, tourism, or hospitality, French proficiency can set you apart and increase your employability.

2. Cultural Enrichment

Access to Literature and Arts: France has a rich cultural heritage, and learning French allows you to access its literature, films, music, and art in their original forms. From the works of Victor Hugo and Marcel Proust to the films of François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard, experiencing these cultural treasures in French enhances your understanding and appreciation of them.

Travel Experiences: Knowing French can significantly enhance your travel experiences in French-speaking countries. It allows you to communicate with locals, understand the culture better, and navigate your surroundings more easily. Whether you are strolling through the streets of Paris or exploring the markets in Morocco, speaking French can make your travel more enjoyable and enriching.

Culinary Adventures: France is renowned for its cuisine, and learning French can help you appreciate the culinary arts even more. Understanding French menus, recipes, and culinary terms can enhance your dining experiences and allow you to explore the world of French gastronomy.

3. Academic Benefits

Educational Opportunities: French is a language of higher education, and many renowned universities and academic institutions in France and other French-speaking countries offer excellent programs. Learning French can provide you with the opportunity to study abroad and gain access to prestigious educational institutions.

Prepare for DELF Exam: The DELF (Diplôme d'Études en Langue Française) exam is an internationally recognized certification of French language proficiency. Preparing for the DELF exam through structured French courses online can significantly improve your language skills and provide you with a valuable credential for your academic and professional pursuits.

Cognitive Benefits: Learning a new language, such as French, has been shown to improve cognitive abilities, enhance problem-solving skills, and increase creativity. It can also improve your memory and multitasking abilities, providing long-term benefits to your brain health.

4. Social Connections and Networking

Global Community: Speaking French allows you to connect with a vast global community of French speakers. This can lead to meaningful friendships, professional networking opportunities, and a deeper understanding of different cultures and perspectives.

Language Exchange: Engaging in language exchange programs can help you practice your French with native speakers while helping them learn your language. This mutual exchange is a great way to improve your language skills, learn about different cultures, and make new friends.

Cultural Events and Activities: Many cities around the world host French cultural events, such as film festivals, art exhibitions, and music concerts. Knowing French enables you to fully participate in these events, enriching your social life and cultural experiences.

Conclusion

Learning French offers numerous advantages, from enhancing your career prospects and enriching your cultural experiences to providing academic benefits and expanding your social connections. Whether you are taking French courses online or preparing to prepare for the DELF exam, mastering French is a valuable investment in your personal and professional growth. Embrace the opportunity to learn this beautiful language and enjoy the many benefits it brings.

[heart-5th-ave]

Chapter 1

Chapter one Unexpected dinner reservation It's a morning of may, after 9 years of brutal war and NATO intervention in the Ukraine, it's finally over, Russia lost, at least one war is over. Sun rises above New York City, illuminating a mist laying on the Hudson river. People and furries prepare to go to work and school, garbage trucks roll out. Same goes for Fort Bush, a newly made army base 10 miles outside of NYC, soldiers stretch after their PT for the day and get to their work. 5th army logistics brigade, their job is to make sure the boys occupying Moscow are stocked, and that ukrainians get the aid they need. Among them Captain Sworowski who currently stands in front of the window, cup of coffee in hand. Still a bit winded from a 6 mile run, he tries to ignore the mountain of paperwork on his desk. Only 25 years old, Captain Mathew Sworowski is an immigrant from Poland, through his service he got US citizenship. He is a slim and tall man, wounded during fights for Sevastopol, his right side is covered with burn scars. On the first glance you would think he does not like you, but it's just his resting face. Scars covering the right side of his face tighten as the captain takes a sip. A bitter taste fills his mouth, black coffee was never on Matt's favorite list, but it's a 5 minutes of freedom before he needs to start filling in orders. A sigh escapes the young man's mouth as he sits down at the desk and starts his computer.

First file, an order from boys in Siberia, they need lighter uniforms as snow melts, also, of course, ammunition and food. Captain checks if they have those available, food and ammo are easy to find in the system, but there is a problem with uniforms. -N/A… of course- Matthew’s voice is still a bit raspy from the morning He picks up the phone, trying to remember the number for warehouses. There is a signal, then another, and another, someone picks up. -5th army logistics brigade’s warehouses, Gunnery sergeant Arthur Cornwall speaking- Captain hears a voice of his friend

-Hey Arthur, Captain Sworowski here. Listen, summer uniforms are not in the system.

Mathew knew Arthur since before their army days and the war, Arthur is 2 years older than Matt, a red fox furry he was always more outgoing and friendly.

-Oh hey Matt… sir, sorry sir- Fox laughs, on the other end of the line

-Har har, you bastard, where are those uniforms?- Captain smiles while looking at the status of the missing equipment

-They aint here, sir. Reports say… Louisiana, waiting to roll out.

Mathew massages his temples, it's gonna be a long day.

-Ok… ok, I'm gonna call them, where are they exactly? -Uuuugh, Fort Macmillan, you want the phone number of their quartermaster?

-No, I got this, thank you.

-Ok then sir, by the way… its friday… tommies’ today?

 His eyebrow rises as Matthew hears about the bar, it's been a long week, a beer would be nice after work.

-Tommies’ today- Captain replies tempted by the relaxing evening- See you at 6 Arthur Call ended, and phone picked right back up, this time to call Fort Macmillian Louisiana, if the uniforms ain't here, he will fly them from there. He hears a loud crash outside his window, as a crate falls from 7 tonne.

-God save us… company D is here.

In the evening he parks his Honda Accord in front of “Tommies’ bar and snack”, the place is already full so Matt hopes that Arthur saved him a seat. It's a usual place for 5th to gather after a week, as Matt enters he sees some of the privates, still in their field uniforms, they don't salute and Matt pretends like he does not see them. Usually they would stand at attention, but at tommies’ noone bothers, everyone just wants a break from the strict life in the army. Captain looks around, and between wolves, foxes, cats and minotaurs he spots that one fox that he wants to sit beside, Arthur has taken over a booth. A walk seems too long even if it is only a few feet, Matt is just so tired from duty. He sits down and only now sees that Arthur is not alone, on his lap sits his wife, a dark furred lioness.

-Hey gunny, hey Martha.- Matthew says trying to keep some air in so he does not deflate from fatigue

-Hey Matt- Martha looks at the defeated captain- you look like you are about to die. Beer?

-That or a bullet, please.

Martha signals the waitress and soon enough a large cold lager appears in front of the young officer. He takes a few sips, and relaxes, he is a long way from slips, and orders and requests. Arthur smiles. -There he is, Private Matthew Sworoski age 17, relaxed and full of hope, hahaha.

-Nah, I'm still Captain Sworowski, tense and full of spite to the bastards who make my life as difficult as it is.- He dips his mouth into his glass again- but yes I'm here and not on duty… let's savor that,

The three of them start talking about everything and nothing, Matthew and Arthur met each other shortly after Matthew immigrated with his family to the states, they were neighbors and got quickly close with each other. When Arthur finished high school he enlisted, and not wanting to lose a friend Matthew did the same when he turned 17. They were sent to different units but served in the same base… then the war broke out. Friends got deployed and didn't hear from each other for a few years, Arthur even thought that Matthew had died, when he heard about massive losses of his unit. Yet later both of them were reunited with each other under Sevastopol, Matthew got a battlefield commision and was a lieutenant. Then the new officer was hit with a thermobaric munition, the whole right of his body engulfed in flames. He was rushed to the hospital and lived but scars stayed, Matthew called it “people repellent”. After he got out of the hospital command moved him to logistics, where he spent the rest of the war making sure soldiers got what they needed to fight and survive. After the war he got another promotion, to a captain this time. Managed to get Arthur to his unit, and there he stayed, as a captain in 5th army logistics, Life slowed down finally. Matthew even bought an apartment to live out of during weekends so he didn't have to spend weekends on base by his lonesome with junior enlisted. A small home in Hell's kitchen district, enough to feel comfy in, he even has enough space to lend someone a couch when they come over, usually one of his twin siblings.

-So…-Martha's voice took Matthew out of his thoughts- Found anyone yet Matt?

-What?- The young man was a bit confused by the question for a second- No… no i didn't… not with this.

He pointed to his scared face.

-You know well that I ain't finding anyone when you can basically see my face muscles move through my skin.

-Oh it aint that fucking bad mate- Arthur chimes in- speaking of… I got an Idea.

The only thought that went through the captain's head was “Bastard”, and he knew what Arthur did.

-Nope, been there, done that, I'm done…. you already told her I'm coming didn't you? 

-Yes… yes I did, you need to come… It's gonna be fun.

-Why would I? I didn't say anything. I didn't agree.

-Because you are an officer and a gentleman? Plus you owe me.-Arthur smiled

-Cmon Matt, he is lonely and you are gonna like him- Martha added

Matt sighed, most women turned green when they looked at him. But he did owe Arthur after he helped with finding the apartment.

-Fine, fine, I will come- Matthew said while taking a sip of his beer- Wait… did you say he?

And so, Matt was tricked into a gay date, thankfully it's a double date, with Arthur and Martha so he will not feel so alone. He stood in front of his apartment, a handwritten note in hand, it listed his dates name, and address. Thomas Reach, 5th ave and 26th st 212 24C, near Maddison. Date was for the next day 18:00.

-Fuck…- Matthew opened the door

Apartment welcomed him with the smell of the street food from below, the fridge quietly humming in the kitchen. He grabbed some frozen burrito from it, and another beer. Setting them on the counter that doubled as a dining table and somewhat of a border between kitchen and living room. Matt liked the whole open space concept, he had basically three rooms, living conjoined with a kitchen, his bedroom and a bathroom, his own place. There was nothing much on the walls except two flags, polish and american, and his two medals, purple heart and a silver service medal. Matt grabbed his two companions for the night and plopped on the couch, silently hoping to find something between the cushions that one of the twins left behind while they slept here. It would give him an excuse to call them, but no lifeline was there. He was alone with his thoughts, he hated that, no distractions from his what ifs. A bite of the cold burrito, started the chain of thoughts, he stared at the ceiling, fan rotating slowly circulating air mesmerized him. He thought about horrible things… about all the soldiers that he lost, all the friendships and relations cut short by a bullet and mine. About all the times when he pulled the trigger, another bite, a swig of the bottle. He hoped that maybe today he would not wake up screaming. He hoped he would not dream of the trenches. Hoped that today's dreams will be dark and empty. He finished his so-called meal and did a crunch to sit on the couch. He slowly got his thin ass up and moved to the bedroom, neatly made covers called for him. Landing was smooth as he landed with his face in the pillow. As Matt's eyes closed, he heard a vibrating whistle, as artillery shells started to hit. 

He woke up in his bed drenched in sweat. Soon the kettle on the stove whistled, signaling that he could pour it on his tea. Waiting for the tea to cool down Matt opened a window, listening in to Saturday street life of New York. Shop owners opening their stores, a hotdog stand rolled in. Clock on the nearby building showed 11:23, he needed to pick up Thomas at 18:00, so he still had time. Tired eyes looked at white honda parked in front of the building, it was dirty, he should take care of that before… before the date. His mind still couldn't process that he was going on a date with a guy, he had few girlfriends, humans and furries… but never a boyfriend. He didn't know what to think about that. Cup of tea in hand he went to his car and got in it. The traffic was lighter, in a New York sense, but his thoughts were focused on panic that was creeping on him. He was not prepared for a date at all, not even talking about a seme-sex one. Car pulled to the car wash, Matt got out and paid the fee, grabbed a power washer.

-Hey, I'm Matt… no that's too informal- he talked quietly to himself- Good evening Im Capt…. nnnope, not that one.

Soapy water hit the old Honda, as Matthew stood there washing his car, every second brought him closer to a panic. He wasn't that scared for years now, yet this scared him. He even thought about calling off the whole thing.

-What am I doing? I'm straight.- he said looking at his phone

The lack of pressure took him back, time runned out, a mountain of foam formed at the car's hood.

-Shit…

He threw in another $5 and forced himself to focus on the task. Then he got in and drove off back to his apartment. Back home Matthew didn't do much, not wanting to think about what was coming.He cleaned up, watched tv, ate dinner and only then looked in his wardrobe and realized how little nice clothes he has, one dress shirt and a pair of dress trousers. He had 4 complets of dress uniforms but like hell he is gonna wear that on a first date. Ironing board, iron, check if his shirt and trousers are clean, iron them. For shoes he took his army issued oxfords from his Greens and Pinks. They did not match his black pants at all. He thought about going to the shop to buy a pair of black ones, but ultimately didn't. Mirror showed Matt what he did not want to see, the dress shirt only showed off his scar, but the date was in a nice restaurant, so he was kind of obligated. He looked at the clock, 17:15, he needed to move, a quick shower, dress up, a small cringe as he looked in the mirror, and he was off. He shaked his left foot as he drove, every street he passed meant he was closer to something he did not want to be a part of, yet he drove forward. He took a left near Madison park, he was only a few feet away, and then he saw him. Thomas Reach, gray-furred Wolf, stood there in jeans and a white shirt, in his hand he held a bouquet of flowers.

[feelmir]

None of the raisons giving by US retired general Paul Vallely is convincing to explain the problems of recruiting faced by the US army since 1940. His explanations are in French expression, abracadabrantesque (preposterous) completely baseless. The first thing to be mentioned is to hail the courage of the soldiers who refused to fail into the deadly trap of vaccination against the COVID which killed more people than it healed. The main reason of recruitment in the US army is due to the epidemy of obesity of the American people as according to some studies, more than 1 in 2 Americans are in overweight or obese. Such epidemy of obesity is caused by a junk food manufactured by the powerful compagnies specialized in the fast food. The second reason of the decrease of numbers of the US army since 1940 is the creation of NATO in 1949 as the armies of its members states have been used as proxies by the United States to fight the USSR and the socialist bloc in the aftermath of the WWII and to achieve its geopolitical goals. The third main reason is the formation by the United states of client and subordinate regimes in Europe through the European Union, in Latin America, in Africa and in the Middle East that contributed to the maintain and the expansion of US hegemony all over the world. The fourth reason is the appeal of the United States to foreign mercenaries funded and trained by the US army and its client and subordinate regimes by creating for example the Afghan Mujahedeen in 1979 to fight the Soviet army and Najibullah’s government, or the setting up in Nicaragua of the Contras by Reagan’s administration to fight the Sandinistas government of Daniel Ortega in 1980s,the creation of Jihadists mercenaries to destroy Libya, Syria, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. Instead of direct confrontation between US army and the Russian army, the United States expanded NATO passing from 16 in 2004 to 30 in 2022 and 32 today and Kiev regime army to fight a proxy war in Ukraine. in this way, the United states has no need to 2, 3 4, or 5 fold increase of its army to maintain its global hegemony as the armies of its proxy and subordinate regimes all over the world are doing the job in its place.    

[arpov-blog-blog]

..."As we sit here a good 11 months before the election, there has been widespread bed-wetting over the incumbent. Buckets of liberal tears have been shed. And it all seems, in my humble, liberal opinion, a bit ridiculous.

I will never, ever, ever again utter the words, “There’s no way Donald Trump becomes president.” Fool me once, and all that.

Trump could absolutely win the 2024 election. He has a sizable swath of the voting public so thoroughly brainwashed they’d follow him into an active volcano. And there are plenty of Republicans who claim they loathe him and talk a good game about protecting democracy but would still push the button for him in the privacy of a voting booth.

Democratic voters shouldn’t rest or feel confident for a second between now and the minute the polls close. There’s too much at stake. The threat of a second Trump term and the dictator-y nightmares it might bring are too great.

... but which candidate would you rather be right now?

That said, it’s absurd to look at the two candidates and think for a moment one doesn’t have the edge, and not just because Biden faces 91 fewer state and federal felony charges than Trump.

Consider these facts:

The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit an all-time high Wednesday. The S&P 500 went up 8.9% in November, one of its best monthly jumps in decades.

In the most recent jobs report, unemployment dropped to 3.7% from 3.9%. In January and April, it hit a 54-year low of 3.4%.

Biden's accomplishments as president have been significant

But Biden is president, so Democrats, as they are wont to do, grouse and moan and fret and wonder if there’s a younger, more dynamic candidate out there.

While painted by the right as doddering and inept, Biden has enacted wide-ranging legislation, from a $1 trillion infrastructure bill to the Inflation Reduction Act. He appointed the first Black woman to ever sit on U.S. Supreme Court. He signed the Respect for Marriage Act protecting same-sex and interracial marriages. He united NATO over the war in Ukraine.

And last I checked, everyone is still allowed to say, “Merry Christmas.”

Now consider Biden's opponent, the guy who wants 'Muslim ban'

The man isn’t flawless by any stretch. His age shows. He has failed to tackle illegal immigration and the dire situation along the U.S.-Mexico border. And now some liberals are furious with him for his strong support of Israel in its war against Hamas.

But let’s examine the Republican fellow Biden will almost surely be running against. For starters, if you don’t like Biden’s handling of the Middle East, wait until you see what Trump would do. This is the man who created a Muslim travel ban and has said that he'd restart that immediately. He recently said that he'd send immigration officials to “pro-jihadist demonstrations” to arrest or deport “radical anti-American and antisemitic foreigners.”

Liberals need to stop panicking about Biden and start working

I am not now nor have I ever been a passionate fan of Biden. Frankly, I’m not a fan of any politician.

But I can say objectively that if someone asked me who I’d rather be right now as a political candidate – Joe Biden or Donald Trump – it would be Biden, and it wouldn’t be even remotely close.

Perhaps my fellow liberals should stop panicking, change their bedsheets and just focus on putting in the work."

Rex Huppke, USA TODAY

[mariacallous]

Russiophile far-right party Revival has drafted a law in the Bulgarian parliament which would introduce sanctions on citizens depicted as “foreign agents”.

In a statement published on November 2, the Civil Society Development Council, an advisory body to the Ministerial Council, headed by current interim Minister of EU Funds Management, Atanas Pekanov, condemned Revival’s plan.

“The project affects civil and political rights, the freedom of expression of Bulgarian citizens, and contradicts the Constitution, the laws of the European Commission and international acts to which Bulgaria is a party,” the Council said.

According to the draft, filed on November 1, those who voluntarily register or are found to be “foreign agents”, will be financially sanctioned, publicly shamed and prohibited from carrying out activities in the educational system, state institutions, won’t be eligible to participate in political activities or campaigning, have creative activity or influence the public in any way.

This also include media groups that have received foreign grants of more than 500 euros.

“If I have to register as a foreign agent, as Revival’s law would require, I won’t be able to practice my profession and work with children, the most important aspect from my job,” said on Facebook biologist and researcher Stanimira Deleva, who is supported by National Geographic and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute working in Bulgaria. “We used to joke that if Revival come to power, they would go after the intellectuals first. That joke isn’t funny anymore,” Deleva said.

Local media drew comparisons between Revival’s ambitions and Russia’s 2012 law on foreign agents, which targeted NGOs and human rights groups and was used as a weapon against media organisations and citizens who receive money from outside Russia.

On October 5, Revival’s leader Kostadin Kostadinov wanted any media criticising his politics to leave a press conference. He called such journalists “foreign agents” serving the US. 

Revival has no obvious allies in the current parliament, which is predominantly pro-EU, so its chances of progress on this draft are modest. 

The party was founded in 2014 by Kostadinov. On local social media, he’s often nicknamed “Kopeykin”, from the Russian currency unit, alluding to his Russian sympathies.

In 2020, the Sofia Prosecution demanded the party cease operating, citing erroneous and counterfeited data regarding registration. However, in 2021, the Sofia City Court dismissed the case. 

The party gathered more exposure in 2021 when it vocally opposed health measures and vaccination, initiating protests. Another controversy ensued after a TV investigation found that many of the party members are actually inoculated. 

Revival entered parliament after the November 2021 elections and also secured seats after the October 2022 snap elections, with its best result yet. 

In interviews on Ukraine, Kostadinov has highlighted that people only hear the Ukrainian side of the conflict and has criticised NATO’s presence in the region.

Russian flags are often present at party demonstrations. In their most recent election campaign, Revival called for a referendum on Bulgaria’s membership in NATO and the EU, a more patriotic and religious approach in the educational system, and has also targeted the adoption of the euro currency. 

A BIRN analysis this year looked into the party’s ascent in local politics.