Mantergeistmann
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User ID: 323
Mantergeistmann
2mo ago
I liked the way Admiral Richardson discussed it:
the term “denial,” as in “anti-access/area denial” is too often taken as a fait accompli, when it is, more accurately, an aspiration. Often, I get into A2AD discussions accompanied by maps with red arcs extending off the coastlines of countries like China or Iran. The images imply that any military force that enters the red area faces certain defeat – it’s a “no-go” zone! But the reality is much more complex. Achieving a successful engagement requires completion of a complex chain of events, each link of which is vulnerable and can be interrupted. Those arcs represent danger, to be sure, and the Navy is going to be very thoughtful and well prepared as we address them, but the threats are not insurmountable.
Mantergeistmann
2mo ago
I also like supercavitating torpedoes because I have not put my inner eight-year-old to death.
The trick is to age up to an inner 18-year-old, and enjoy Arpeggio of Blue Steel.
However, I am not sure China has gotten their submarine force in good enough shape for it to be a solid option for them.
Which, I think, is a big part of why the USN is more concerned with Russian submarines, and why they're still confident the death of the carrier is yet again over-predicted: as long as they can avoid being torpedoed, everything else they can figure out some way to deal with, even if that's just limping back to port after taking a hit.
Mantergeistmann
2mo ago
Personally, I think more about torpedoes. Some are very long range, with impressively hard to defeat terminal guidance, and they are absolutely ship-killers in terms of payload/mechanism, rather than just mission-killers.
Mantergeistmann
2mo ago
Because as soon as you declare one story to be lies, it's assumed that you confirm any story you don't explicity denounce. It's the old sitcom trope of guessing a surprise: after you've said "nope, wrong" a few times, as soon as you switch to "I'm not saying" you've given everything away.
Mantergeistmann
2mo ago
I am more impressed and amused by Soviet and later Russian engineering than Chinese engineering
The current analyst opinion is that in submarines at least, Russia's are far more capable whereas China's building capacity is unmatched. That may very well simply be a reflection of previous national priorities and decades of experience, though.
Mantergeistmann
2mo ago
I'm not going to say NPR is anti-Trump because I don't know one way or the other
I would say that NPR leans strongly anti-Trump, and is willing to perform standard journalism misrepresentation/spin/story selection in line with that. Outright falsehood creation using fake sources? Probably not.
Mantergeistmann
2mo ago
No, you'd be amazed at the number of people who think he was legally here, including a right to work.
Mantergeistmann
3mo ago
So the obvious question to me here is: how do you feel about transubstantiation?
Mantergeistmann
3mo ago
right wing administrations are dominated by conservative Catholics
Catholics? Really? Not protestants/evangelicals?
Mantergeistmann
3mo ago
You'd think the overfishing is something Conservatives could absolutely be brought on board with. I know a fair few in favour of protecting our environment (but not climate change initiatives, since they think those are all just an excuse for socialist economic transition), and given that China is one of the biggest overfishers, especially in other nations' waters... feels like a failure of messaging more than anything else.
Mantergeistmann
3mo ago
Yeah, military procurement is mind boggling -- sometimes for good reasons, sometimes not so good. Even a single missile is costing at least $100k, sometimes more than a million. And that's only procurement, not the costs of fuel or personnel or maintenance or infrastructure.
Mantergeistmann
3mo ago
For calibration, $892 million is less than two large US Coast Guard cutters. But it's definitely easy to not think about just how large numbers/fundings are if you don't work with them on a regular basis, I'll agree with that.
Mantergeistmann
3mo ago
I in turn would love to see some story with anti-slavery campaign - feel free to recommend me some.
Just it should be serious conflict, not "everyone claps and praises to moral superiority of main character, slavery instantly disappears"
I think the Honor Harrington series and short stories get there eventually.
Mantergeistmann
3mo ago
I suppose the assumption is that companies will raise prices on imported goods dollar-for-dollar with the tariff increases.
Mantergeistmann
3mo ago
Responding to myself: I've found the source of the $5,000 claim I've seen floating around: The average tariff burden is estimated by dividing the total expected tariff revenue per year, $600 billion, by the total number of U.S. households in 2024, 132 million
I'm assuming, as has been said elsewhere, that this sort of math is not done with sales/corporate taxes or any other sort of tax increase. At least not by the same people.
Mantergeistmann
3mo ago
But the median income is what, around $80k/household, average $115k, right? How is average expenditure $40k more than average (not even median!) income? I'm no economist, but wouldn't that be an insane amount of debt? Or am I looking at this from the wrong direction? Are housing and auto loans skewing things?
Mantergeistmann
3mo ago
Speaking of tarriffs, can someone help me with the economics/math I've seen? How does a price level rise of by 2.3% in the short-run, the equivalent of an average per household consumer loss of $3,800 work? Is it saying that the average household spends over $150k per year (and that thosr at the bottom, losing $1,700, spend almost $80k)? What am I missing? I've seen these numbers floating around (sometimes as much as "$5,000 per household"), and I cannot seem to figure out that math.
Mantergeistmann
3mo ago
I mean, rum & coke (or black/spiced rum and Dr. Pepper) is easy and simple, as is a gin & tonic, or coffee with whiskey/sambucca/irish cream. Hot toddies and hot buttered rum are excellent on a cold day or when you've got a cold. I'm a madman and enjoy a warm milk with sambucca or brandy. On a hot day, you can also got for a radler (hard cider or beer and lemonade) or a half beer half root beer.
I don't really do the fancy cocktails, although I should probably learn at some point. At least a few of the stand bys.
Mantergeistmann
3mo ago
apparently fans can do what billion dollar multinational companies cannot.
Credit to ArenaNet on this one: GW1 is still up and running, and I believe they really will keep it so as long as ANet lasts.
Mantergeistmann
3mo ago
the vagrants got spooked and used the victim's credit card to hire a professional cleaning company (named, appropriately enough, Aftermath Services) to fix up the mess. This destroyed most of the evidence, though not the dismembered body in a fish tank
So was it the cleaning service that found the body and reported it to the police, or did they just assume it was some weird art installation?
Mantergeistmann
3mo ago
I've found that "Print to PDF" is also a workable option.
Mantergeistmann
3mo ago
Claret is the liquor for boys, port for men; but he who aspires to be a hero must drink brandy.
I drink none of those. Give me a good dark beer (Ayinger's Celebrator doppelbock is my all-time favorite), or an ice wine (Reif is my go-to winery). Mixed drinks? Pimm's Cup or a Southern Comfort Collins. I learned the latter as my grandfather's drink of choice at weddings; I don't know if it is actually a real drink... it seems impossible to find the recipe anywhere online, but I remember a decade or two ago no bartenders questioned it or how to make it. So it must have existed at some point?
Mantergeistmann
3mo ago
If I want a story, I'll read a book or watch a movie. Increasingly just read a book these days.
I'd rather play a game than watch a movie, personally, even with the same linearity of plot.
Mantergeistmann
3mo ago
I remember the manual for Red Baron was about 1/3 game , 2/3 history, planes, and pilot profiles. And that the BG1&2 manuals were basically the D&D rulebooks, but with some added character commentary.
I would expect gang member conviction to carry a higher burden of proof than asylum proceedings, personally...
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