HALF-FULL REPORT 09/22/23
It’s All About The Spectacle
F-35B Crash
Last week’s Marine F-35B aircraft crash is essential from a global perspective beyond the individual aircraft. The highly experienced 47-year-old pilot ejected for unknown reasons, at least in the public domain. An immediate 2-day stand down of all American planes using the same software operating system suggests that the military believes they have a code problem.
Exception PCB, a Chinese Shenzhen Fast Print division, produces some British-supplied components. This is interesting because MIL specs for laptop computers prohibit Chinese parts. Panasonic’s Toughbook division makes laptop computers without Chinese or Russian details and is used everywhere in the force.
The F-35 program and the nearly 1,000 aircraft built so far have a weak readiness record. Only 55% have been mission-capable, and none are entirely mission-ready. If the computer code is compromised, then a severe problem exists. Spooky Chinese actors uploading an eject signal over North Charleston, SC, in the exact location as the Chinese spy balloon shoot-down, might be causing gales of laughter in Beijing.
Other causes, such as a failed sensor or loose wire, might have caused the automatic quick-eject sequence to activate. Still, the proximity to the spy balloon site suggests this is a diplomatic message to Washington. It also might explain General Milley’s statement last week that the spy balloon was just a lost commercial weather balloon. Nobody is buying that line.
However, compromised software issues are compounded by the retirement of the baby boomers who initially wrote the code. It’s not like the code can be off-shored to India for inspection.
While working at a paper mill in Panama City, Florida, a few years ago, I stopped into the barbershop for my bi-monthly trim. Two aircraft maintainers from nearby Tyndall AFB waited in line, and we discussed the F-35. They hate it.
They told me traditional fighters like the F-15 have many access panels along the fuselage that can be removed to access the electronics and mechanical systems. Parts are easy to access, and maintenance times are predictable. If a maintainer drops a socket or screwdriver, there is no problem; it is easily retrieved without affecting aircraft turnaround time.
However, stealth fighters like the F-35 don’t have outward-facing access panels because these cause disruptions in the radar signature along their edges. The maintainers must reach critical components hard and often remove parts layers to access issues. Restoring the aircraft requires each system touched to be tested and validated for flight. If a mechanic drops a wrench, then who-doggy, a three-hour task might turn into two days. In turn, the maintenance planning software provided by Lockheed has limited use in planning repair time and hours.
Military logistic and maintenance systems are tiered. Some functions are performed on the front line, others at the base, and others at service depots. The depots should have all the specialized tools and technicians best managed centrally across the force. Except there is only one maintenance depot for the F-35, which cannot resolve many issues. Instead, the OEMs rebuild components. They charge accordingly.
Artillery Shells
Russia allegedly ordered 10 million artillery shells from North Korea, and deliveries have started. So far, 30% to 40% of the shells are duds on impact, and some have blown up in Russian artillery tubes upon firing. Russia announced that they have a remanufacturing facility to replace aged explosives in old ammunition. They probably have such a facility, but I would not want to work there.
Ukraine will be forced to deal with millions of rounds of unexploded ordinance. The problem will be epic.
Closer to home, American 155 mm shell production requires machinery procured from the Cincinnati Milacron Company during WWII. Milacron no longer exists; its machine tool production facility is now a gravel lot. Germany no longer produces similar machine tools as most of the world buys such equipment from China. Hamilton. Ontario once had machine tools, but not so much today. Mitsubishi produces quality equipment in Japan, but Douglas MacArthur ensured Japan could no longer build similar machines. All this must change immediately.
America will lose its place in the world if we do not rebuild the machine tool industry so that we can make the machines that will produce the ships and shells that feed the arsenal. For this reason alone, the woke agenda must be bumped from high schools and community colleges, and the shop classes must return. Today’s ammunition shortages should be pushing federal action, just as Sputnik led to massive science and technology education changes during the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Death by 1,000 Cuts
Trump lost his sexual abuse and defamation lawsuit filed by E. Jean Carroll in New York today and is ordered to pay $5 million. New York’s civil suit filed by AG Letitia James is still in pretrial, and word from his Atlanta trial is expected tonight after this HFR is published. Trump challenged the official narrative, and the Deep State wants him destroyed. To paraphrase Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, the magic in the report must be very powerful, or else the Deep State would not want it back so dearly.
With each insult and scam charge, Trump’s popularity continues to grow. Yesterday, in Skye’s Links, the argument for a last-minute candidate switcheroo, replacing Harris with Obama as VP, then Biden resigning, or outright replacing Biden/Harris during the August Dem convention was presented. Yes, Obama can serve another term. The Constitution prohibits his election to a third term, but inserting him as VP, with the POTUS resigning or vanishing, is legal.
What do the young think of the country as elections have become blatant scams and games? How are young people expected to believe in a country where hair-splitting and trickery determine policy? They cannot and will not.
Of course, the White House is not the only power center within the Executive Branch. Those large agencies and departments are independent silos with their goals and vision. At least one of those big agencies must realize that we have entered a new Cold War based on narrative control. Whoever controls the global narrative controls the globe in that old who does what to whom kind of way.
Reflexivity
We discussed reflexivity as a core left-wing theory in last week’s HFR. It is a Russian concept derived from Maskirovka or the policy of deceit and deception. Back in the day, my pediatrician used a little rubber mallet to test the deep tendon reflex just below each knee. It was a peripheral nervous system check on some standard examination checklists.
That test is the key to understanding reflexivity, where it is Russian policy to create the little hammer blows that lead to knee-jerk reactions. The new Cold War is being fought on Russian terms, with the American left siding with the Maskirovka machine.
Through hundreds of chairs in academia, media, and social networking, Russia is following its Gerasimov Doctrine of Hybrid Warfare. Hybrid Warfare is taught in the Russian service academy; think tanks are devoted to it and an entire part of their FSB. They are very good at it.
For example, Russia launched, staffed, and heavily supported conservative Christian websites devoted to preparing the ground for the Ukraine invasion. Their messaging was consistent, even if the narrative has since moved on. The purpose was to convince the world that Russian speakers in Eastern Ukraine begged Mother Russia to invade and relieve them of the burden of freedom. The invasion, dontchaknow, was a bottom-up effort, not a top-down, full military assault. The new narrative is Russia is entitled to Ukraine, Poland, Romania, and the Baltic States because of their feelings. They feel afraid of an invasion and want to secure geographic choke points. This is nonsensical because of the advancements in air power and logistics that leap over choke points in modern war or go around them in Stormin’ Norman Iraq War I.
The battleground is within the mind, through perceptions, and the weapons are botnets, troll farms, fake news, and a Latin Dictionary worth of psychological tools. Gen Z and Millennials are growing and developing in this environment. The West is learning that censorship does not work and is burdened by the Principal-Agent problem, made very bad during the Covid work-from-home period. Regardless of a funding agency’s intention, the power to manipulate narratives and censor became overwhelmingly tempting for left-wingers. The inherent will to power and visceral hatred of average Americans was unleashed and unchecked. The carnage nearly destroyed Twitter before Musk stepped in.
In other words, the Principal-Agent problem means that agents will pursue their agendas without a clear hierarchy. Insurance companies learned decades ago and turned agents into independent profit centers subject to strict oversight. Even so, insurance fraud is a massive problem.
In my own life, with my nuclear and extended family, I am devoting a lot of energy towards culture and philosophy, especially rational deduction. By designing and deciding where funds are spent, we push down social media. Logical induction, or the effort to discover the truth by observing patterns, is rapidly becoming obsolete in a state-financed Maskirovka world.
The point is this: The young are drowning in false narratives and meaningless information. Much of the younger generation is becoming a casualty of the new Cold War, and the way to save the young is to provide a clear and complete understanding of foundational principles.
For example, Skye pointed out in yesterday’s Links that most climate change computer models violate the thermodynamic law in which energy is neither created nor destroyed. The concept is simple enough for a 10-year-old to understand. Yet, if we, as adults, do not teach this simple concept, then we send the young into the world without a proper BS detector. My grandfather told me that his education included copybook headings. These statements were meant to fortify students’ ability to detect BS by writing them multiple times. Left-wing teachers hate copybook headings.
Deep fakes are now so realistic that computer-generated people are popping up as guests on talk shows. There is no risk to the narrative when the guest speaker is pre-programmed to deliver the desired answer. The 2024 election will be the Deepfake election. Trust nothing you see or hear without first amping up your BS detector, and teach your grandchildren how to do this.
Diversity, Inclusion, Equity
Wow. Did the message go out, or what?
BlackRock, State Street, and other mega financiers have been closing or removing DEI funds from their balance sheets all week. DEI is over. Sustainability is a new thing, and it means straight materialism, from the Marxist perspective, in a new, warm, fuzzy wrapper.
A page has turned. DEI is passing.
Undoubtedly, Western militaries are worried about the recruiting crisis and appalling readiness numbers driven by DEI. Under DEI, force readiness was no longer front and center. Acceptance into the social club replaced the mission focus. Financial bleeds partially drive the policy change along with increasing interest rates and are substantially driven by fear within the Deep State that we might get our butts kicked on the battlefield. The military exists to protect the Deep State and the quality of life in Tyson’s Corner and Alexandra, Virginia. It no longer exists to protect the Constitution from sea to shining sea, but this might change as the DC. Lifestyle begins to feel the pressures already felt throughout the rest of the country.
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Beautiful Trouble
Below is Part Four’s review of the New Leftist training material called Beautiful Trouble. Democrats view it as replacing Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals, reflecting the modern and digital age. It is impossible to read the book, play the games, and cycle through the flashcards without recognizing the heavy hand of Russian Maskirovka.
The material is in sections with the theory of action used to define progressive and neo-Marxist approaches toward securing power in this postmodern era. Later sections cover strategy, tactics, and logistics.
Pedagogy of the Oppressed
Who teaches the teachers? – Mao Zedong
Education’s purpose is transforming oppressive societal structures by radicalizing marginalized groups such as transvestites in support of the Marxist dialectic. Under this view of education, the individual has no value, and it is not necessary to teach mastery of academic subjects beyond the ability to propel history through the debate.
Individual study and homework will replace group discussions and mandatory participation. Graduates no longer require expertise in solving algebraic equations because the answers to everything are available through Google.
Critical thinking is no longer an application of logic but is defined as viewing everything through power structures and the will to power. Group knowledge, especially the secret Gnosis from the marginalized groups, is the source of understanding power.
When encountering one of these new Rhodes Scholars, it is essential to realize that membership in marginalized groups means they are no longer held individually liable for anything, especially learning and performance. That blue-haired 300-pounder graduating next to your child can reliably be considered uneducated or wrongly educated. They cannot survive in a market economy without state support. The appeal to Critical education is its lack of effort. It is the easy route, and too many students follow it.
Pillars of Support
Withdrawing support pillars from a targeted ruler, organization, or other power player is the central concept behind color revolutions. Under this theory, the ability to wield power or maintain traditional society is not through the use of force, rule, or rule of law but instead from the rule’s consent. This consent can be withdrawn from a target’s support pillars whenever the “collective” deems it necessary.
Cooperation and obedience of large numbers through state institutions are the keys to power, which brings Fauci’s nonsensical mask mandates into focus. The individual is not the herd, and there is no place for the individual outside the pack. They cannot feed themselves and are not educated to survive alone.
Power becomes the school of small fish, removing the food and oxygen to kill the larger fish.
Police, the military, and the courts represent coercive power upholding traditional society. Therefore, special effort must be devoted to reducing these institutions’ effectiveness through defunding and salting – the practice of creating fifth columns within to topple traditional society.
Other systems, such as education, media, and religious institutions, support public opinion. Targeting advertisers and concentrating efforts to elect radical school boards will eventually lead to the triumph of the collective. Religion is to be mocked to provoke reactions, which are used to discredit them.
The most essential tool for the leftist under this theory is identifying the target’s support system. If a social media figure becomes unreliable, petition YouTube to de-monitize him. If a presidential candidate is not sufficiently progressive, withhold security and advertise this. If the collective needs a large building downtown to establish a rehab commune, organize flash mobs to loot and steal until the targeted business cannot tolerate the loss.
Business always relies on customers, so make them afraid of the streets. Register voters to nonexistent street addresses to pack the district attorney’s office. Make the law unreliable and useless.
Points of Intervention
Intervention was once limited to blockades or disruptions of physical locations such as factories, access roads, retail space, and boardrooms. An example is the recent roadblocks to Nevada’s Burning Man festival.
However, the new left talks about points of assumption, which are the building blocks of values and beliefs. The goal is to create disturbances that lead to hypocrisy. For instance, if a religious leader claims to see no race, arrange for his daughter to be impregnated by a different race. By her choice or not.
Attacking cultural points is more efficient through modern social media. An example is marching through a town and pulling down statues, hoping the police or citizens will resist. If the statue is of a Confederate general, then use BLM. Any resistance can be framed as white supremacists attempting to resurrect slavery.
Political Identity Paradox
Group identity empowers the activist and gives courage. However, a group can inadvertently become threatening to traditional society. This is really a form of branding for the in-group, with a different brand presented to the out-group. This is also called bonding and bridging, and it is a weak link in the left’s playbook. Encouraging their in-group to be more radical alienates the rest of society, so leftist political actions require scene spotters to identify agents’ provocateurs.
Conservatives at the January 6 protest failed to heed this organizing theory and lacked spotters to identify federal agents’ provocateurs within the crowd. Many are paying a steep price.
If a local Christian church is targeted for its beliefs, it would be wise to have at least one member watching the room while all others watch the pulpit, and a way to signal trouble.
The Propaganda Model
It is assumed that all news aligns with the interests of advertisers and regulatory bodies, and the advertising model is why American news is the most homogenous in the world. This replaces the old Sal Alinsky model, which assumes journalists are adversarial to power.
News passes through five filters before delivery to the public. First, it must support the goals of the owner of the media. Then, it must support advertisers. Information is to be sourced from experts and officials because the experts work for the elites. It must avoid negative outcries and legal action, and finally, the news must not just inform; it must direct emotions at a targeted group.
Nothing in the Propaganda Model relates to truth or objectivity. Understanding the five filters is necessary when organizing action and manufacturing consent.
Revolutionary Non-Violence
Mass civil resistance convinces every radical that they are Gandhi, even while they burn and loot a city.
As taught, three elements of action are taught. The first is Gandhian, which is a hearts and minds activity meant to build the base. An example is a silent, peaceful walk by drug addicts through a small town to elicit support from politicians. The ultimate strategic aim is to secure permits for more government-funded communes.
The Viet Cong provided food and medicine to villagers. Drug lords build utopian compounds for their followers.
Actions must be revolutionary. Cries to end the stigma are popular today, and so is the notion that the downtown streets belong to the people. Bums, addicts, tents, and human waste on the sidewalks outside the shops and venues is an act of domination over the profit motive.
The Shock Doctrine
Never let a crisis go to waste. If a resort town catches fire, stop traffic to freeze commerce, forcing property owners into bankruptcy. Then demand government officials turn the space into the commons.
The core concept is to use disaster, or even cause a forest fire here or there, to increase regulation, expand the commons, and increase poverty to increase social welfare expenses. Naomi Klein calls this the rise of disaster capitalism. The Clinton Global Foundation swims in this pool.
It’s called shock therapy because disasters are used to create that blank stare among normies associated with electroshock therapy. Wars and disasters erase existing culture.
Example: Hurricane Katrina was used against Bush 43 in order to seize New Orleans real estate.
It’s all about the Spectacle
Leftist Tactics are different from military tactics. Rather than supporting strategy, they oppose it. Power determines strategy, and this further assumes control. Therefore, a good tactic leads to chaos and shifting power to the collective. The leftist term for tactics is Bricolage, which means doing whatever is necessary in a given situation.
Bricolage requires agility, which separates the uprising from the seats of power. It requires constant change, adaptation, and learning through experimentation. The concept directly flows from John Boyd’s OODA Loop, in which people Observe their surroundings, Orient around the key objectives, Decide to take action, and then revert immediately back to Observation to evaluate the results. Then repeat the cycle.
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This sums up the Theoretical aspects of Beautiful Trouble. The forum comments have taught me a great deal and I encourage comments and criticisms in all forms.
Mike Ryan is a chemical engineering consultant for Iron and Steel, Heavy Chemicals, Minerals, and Fiber Industries.