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Monday’s Forum
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21 responses to “Monday’s Forum”
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You know, I was all prepared to write off any critique of the photo and attribute it to conspiracy thinking.
However, after seeing the photo that was released, I have to say: nearly a month in the hospital has done wonders for McConnell. He looks years younger, and better rested, than he did in pictures taken in May.
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A little military history. Eighty years ago! Somehow that shocks me. It doesn’t seem that era was that long ago.
80 years ago, the military tested nukes on a fleet
After World War II, the U.S. military had a new problem to figure out: Just what could a nuclear weapon do against a conventional force? To figure that out, the Army and Navy teamed up for the first post-war nuclear tests, assembling a massive fleet, tens of thousands of troops and several of its then-limited atomic arsenal for what would be dubbed Operation Crossroads.
What resulted was a pair of nuclear tests that sank several ships and rendered dozens inoperable, and heavily contaminated the Pacific islands the explosions took place in. 80 years ago this month the U.S. military detonated two atomic bombs at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, as part of an operation to see just what atomic weapons could do when dropped on a fleet.
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The Navy and Army knew the damage atomic weapons were capable of, but not when deployed like this. They assembled a fleet of aging, captured or decommissioned ships to weather the blasts. More than 90 ships were brought together, including two aircraft carriers and some captured Japanese and German vessels.First detonation.
The operation’s first detonation was on July 1, with the “Able” shot. A B-29 dropped a Fat Man-type atomic bomb, aiming for the USS Nevada amid a cluster of ships. The Nevada had managed to survive the attack on Pearl Harbor and World War II, but was now set to be hit in an atmospheric result. However the Army Air Force missed. The Able shot was several hundred yards off course. The explosion was massive though, sinking five of the assembled ships.
Second detonation.
The “Baker” shot detonated on July 25. This time the bomb was placed underwater, roughly 90 feet below the surface. That morning they detonated it, creating a giant expanding sphere of water, with harsh water pressure cutting across the bows of ships. Footage record showed a kind of detonation the military hadn’t seen before, without the blinding flash the military had seen in previous detonations. The Baker shot sank 10 ships in total, including one captured German cruiser that sank months later from damage.
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The images captured from both tests were striking. Footage from the Baker test became stock footage for nuclear explosions, including at the end of “Dr. Strangelove.” It was also used in two separate “Godzilla” films to depict that created the giant monster.
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Trump is recommending McMaster appoint Lindsey Graham’s sister to the remaining portion of his Senate term.
My guess is that the logic used here is that the most logical and valid candidates are members of the US House, and they can’t really afford to vacate those seats right now? Because I cannot believe Graham’s grieving sister, who to my knowledge has not held public office, is the only available choice for a seat in the US Senate.
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Oh dang, that is very sad news indeed. RIP.
He was in a film called Ride Like A Girl several years back that also starred Teresa Palmer that I really enjoyed.
What an incredible actor and a person who will genuinely be missed by many.
ETA: I let out a chuckle when practically seconds after it was announced that Lindey Graham had passed on from this life to the next that Mitch McConnell decided that was the perfect time to remind the world that he lives.
Still laughing about that as I type this out.
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PSA: Link to my post with the link to the instructions to disable AI summaries from Google search.
I tested it at home and it works.
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From my Estoril perch I am ship-spotting. We are at the western end of the estuary formed by the Tagus river. Lisbon is upstream. There’s an anchorage just off the coast and there are usually one to three ships there, presumably waiting to either pick up or drop off in Lisbon.
I have an app that is more or less accurate which identifies the ships. They’re usually general cargo ships in the range of 170 to 220 meters in length. Cruise ships pass further out, I see them only briefly. The other day there was a Suez Max tanker in ballast that sort of wandered around the anchorage before finally moving off. Cannot imagine what it was doing, no one’s loading oil out of Lisbon. And today a Polish Navy training ship heading North to Gdansk.
I can tell when the tide is going in or out because the nearby shi[ps are anchored by the bow and tide in they’re turned one way, tide out the other. The Royal Midori is closest at the moment, a Panamanian bulk carrier. The Liberian flag Siya is just beyond. The app shows the Afina 1 at anchor, too, but that ship’s location seems to be a little sketchy, not always where it’s supposed to be.
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Not a surprise. But will discipline actually be meted out? I doubt it.
Judge blasts Trump’s IRS lawsuit as filed for ‘improper purpose,’ recommends attorney discipline
President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over his leaked tax returns was filed for an “improper purpose,” a judge said Monday in a scathing decision that recommended attorney sanctions and disciplinary action.
The ruling from U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams amounts to a stinging rebuke of the Republican president’s lawsuit, characterizing it as an exercise in self-dealing in which he sued an entity that is effectively under his control.
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A federal judge in Florida struck down El Taco’s corrupt bargain in the settlement of his lawsuit of the IRS.
It’s worth reading Her Honor’s opinion. What she describes is stark naked corruption.
I expect the fixer court will rule in El Taco’s favor in an emergency off-term session soon. May as well go all in on corruption and show who orders the judicial power around.
