Open Thread 18 August 2019

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[JP Billen]

In the current cross-border artillery duels in Kashmir, the Defense Minister of India said yesterday that future "circumstances" would determine what would happen to India's "no first use" policy of nuclear weapons.

[Terry]

Given human nature the AI Arms race is already underway. Will the decision to start WW3 come from a autonomous military AI? I once considered this entirely science fiction but now seem quite possible.

"For a taste of what to expect in future wars, consider this announcement from the crown jewel of Russian arms manufacturers: Kalashnikov (maker of the ubiquitous AK-47). The arms giant is developing and launching an entire range of autonomous weapons, each with a ‘neural network’ enabling the machines to pick out targets and decide autonomously whether to engage."

"Unique among the global powers, the US has already started deploying autonomous vehicles in turbulent combat areas, in large numbers and with significant roles. Autonomous naval vehicles have begun to patrol the South China Sea — with larger, more powerful machines on their way. "

https://towardsdatascience.com/the-ai-arms-race-in-2019-fdca07a086a7

[turcopolier]

JPBillen

remember Brass Tacks 3?

[CK]

It appears that the Houthi faction in Yemen has been able to attack the Shaybah fields in KSA. Travel range 1200 km for the drones. There are a lot of economically valuable targets within that radius. It is suggested that the drones used are pre-programmed before launch and thus not amenable to in flight hi-jacking.

[JP Billen]

Never heard the term that I can recall. Was that the nuke-engined battle tanks proposed by idjits back in the 50s? Thank God the Army cancelled those.

[JamesT]

I just saw on Fox News that the "celebrity pathologist" Michael Baden who the Epstein family hired to independently observe the autopsy is "under gag order". I wonder why that is. At the 0:15 mark here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI0wDL1nLeU

[Stueeeeee]

Bernie Sanders tweeted:

"My father's whole family was wiped out by Hitler's white nationalism.

We will go to war against white nationalism and racism in every aspect of our country."

I wanted to laugh at the absurdity of his tweet, but a dreadful chill shook me. I am not "white" but it is clear to me that Whites are already subjugated. They cannot assemble freely. They cannot openly unite politically. They cannot economically pool their resources. They cannot express pride in their heritage. The blatant racism against Whites is indoctrinated into every child from pre-school through "higher education". Even if the child survives that, the child/person is bombarded by an Orwellian social and broadcast media that perpetuates the White or Whiteness boogeyman. So Sanders wants to unleash the dogs of war against an already seemingly subjugated people? It seems nothing will satisfy the hatred the left and its collage of degenerate tribes has for this country and its people other than absolute submission; and dare I say, a pound of flesh.

[oldman22]

I have been watching the news to see if the Iran tanker makes it out to sea.
quote
Gibraltar on Sunday rejected a US demand to seize an Iranian oil tanker at the centre of a diplomatic dispute as it prepared to leave the British overseas territory after weeks of detention.

Gilbraltar's government said it could not seek a court order to detain the ship because US sanctions against Iran were not applicable in the European Union.

A Gibraltar judge had ordered the Grace 1 tanker released, but the US filed a request to detain the ship alleging it was involved in supporting illicit shipments to Syria by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, listed as a terrorist group by Washington.
endquote

[Robert Waddell]

Eighteenth August 1966 Long Tan Phuoc Tuy Vietnam.
D Coy, 6, RAR 1st Field Regiment Royal Australian Artillery (108 men) were ambushed after seeking out a PAVN unit that attacked Nui Dat base two days earlier. Out of ammo, surrounded and outnumbered 20 to 1 by PAVN infantry things were looking pretty grim. A precisely directed walking-in artillery barrage from Australian (1st RAA) and New Zealand (161st RRNZA) 18 guns at Nui Dat saved D Coy from total annihilation. Eighteen soldiers, many newly conscripted with and average age of 20 years, were killed.

Now a movie has been made about this battle. "Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan".
It wont be released here in NZ until early September so haven't seen it yet but the trailer is view able here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E0J11-rB7Q

All the best to everyone..
Rob Waddell

[John Minehan]

Wow, that is very reassuring. I've heard a great many people say that the India-Pakistan situation is the World's likely nuclear flash point.

[Kelli]

Let's talk for a minute about the increasingly open hostilities between "get soft on crime" prosectors from Deep Blue cities and states and an alliance of Red State and county prosecutors with the backing of Bill Barr's DOJ.

Barr addressed the issue about a week ago in New Orleans:

"Barr took a hard swing at prosecutors who don't embrace the same tough-on-crime stance. He said appointing such progressive district attorneys is "demoralizing to law enforcement and dangerous to public safety" because they "spend their time undercutting the police, letting criminals off the hook, and refusing to enforce the law.""
https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-nw-william-barr-death-penalty-20190812-smzw52vgyrh7haypr3dq327ydm-story.html

And, like clockwork, a cause celebre erupts in North suburban Chicago, as a gang of street thugs uses car stolen in the city to travel to Lake County on a nighttime spree. But as luck would have it, a 75 year old man with a legally registered gun shot one of the gang bangers (a 14 year old carrying a large Bowie knife) and killed him. The 18 year old accomplices took off, and now the County Attorney is bringing charges of Felony Murder against the rest of the criminal squad. Well, the Chicago media is outraged by this, and the pressure is building on the prosecutor to go light on the poor dears, most of whom have a rap sheet a mile long.

In about 5 seconds, I expect Kim Foxx (of Jussie Smollett fame) to get on a very high horse and start race baiting Lake County (largely white) in an effort to intimidate our elected officials into adopting her "leave no criminal behind" strategy for cleaning up Chicago's streets. I guess the strategy is to send them outside the city on raiding runs.

I'd be interested in stories from other parts of the country. Is anyone else experiencing something similar? How do we fight this trend? What does it portend for the future?

[oldman22]

wsj says
The Iranian tanker impounded by Gibraltar sailed out of the British overseas territory on Sunday over the objections of the U.S., a Gibraltar official said, raising hopes that Iran would reciprocate and release a British-flagged tanker in the Persian Gulf.

The ship, renamed the Adrian Darya 1 and given an Iranian flag, left Gibraltar’s waters around 11 p.m. local time after the territory’s Justice Ministry rejected a U.S. Justice Department warrant seeking the seizure of the Iranian vessel and its 2.1 million barrels of crude oil. Gibraltar officials said the territory follows the European Union’s laws, not the U.S.’s.

[Fred]

So why did Trump offer to buy Greenland? Shouldn't we want Iceland? With all the 'global warming' fears we can use all the ICE we can get, especially on the Southern border.

[bwilli123]

China’s Ultimate Play For Global Oil Market Control

"All attention is focused on the twists-and-turns of the very noisy US-Iran dispute in the Persian Gulf, but all the while the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is rapidly and quietly consolidating a dominant presence in the area with the active support of Russia."

https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2019/08/chinas-ultimate-play-for-global-oil-market-control.html

Original article at

https://oilprice.com/Geopolitics/Middle-East/Chinas-Ultimate-Play-For-Global-Oil-Market-Control.html

[Tidewater]

A little glitch in a chilling reminder. Is Islam the ultimate designated victim? Operation Brasstacks--Wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Brasstacks

[Amir]

Do you consider people of Swedish descent be in the same color category as the Hellenic people, the Irish, Slavic, Finish & Basque, Gaul, Romanian or Iberians?

[Seamus Padraig]

Sad but true.

[anon]

Prince of the night

https://i-dailymail-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/i/s/i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/08/18/23/17425756-0-image-a-13_1566167956592.jpg

[JP Billen]

Tidewater, I must be getting dyslexic in my old age. I thought he said Brass Tanks with an 'N'.

But I don't remember Brasstacks either, thanks for the link. In 86 and 87 I was working two jobs trying to put my kinderbrats through college, and paid little if any attention to the news.

I do recall the earlier Indo-Paki war in 65 with its huge tank battles. That never got much US press as we were engaged elsewhere.

And the two-front war in 71, along with the INS naval victories. Despite the US moving the Enterprise Task Force from the Tonkin Gulf to the IO as a show of force to defuse the situation and buck up the moral of Pakistan.

[Mathias Alexander]

The guy on the right looks like Tony Blair.
Who's the big suit in the left hand picture?

[Stueeeeee]

I don’t understand. Can you provide context to your question?

[JP Billen]

TKK convoy hit by airstrikes in Idlib. They are claiming three killed and 12 wounded. They were reported to be carrying ammunition.

[Jack]

The “paltry color revolution” in HK orchestrated by our omnipotent intel agencies as our German friend “b” claims.

https://twitter.com/joshuapotash/status/1163273345753894912?s=21

Another million+ people out on the streets this past weekend in HK protesting CCP authoritarianism. This is 15-20% of the HK population marching together.

[JP Billen]

Turks are saying the three dead and 12 wounded in their convoy are civilians and NOT TKK troopers.

My guess is the casualties are probably TIP or TFSA jihadis providing a vanguard for the convoy.

[Jim Ticehurst]

Fred...Donald Trump is looking to the Future I think..Just the name "Greenland" alone attracted the Golf Resort Developer in Donald..Golf Greens..Green Fairways..World Class Tournaments.." Maybe Marinas..Charter Fishing...World Class Skiing Resorts...By THe Time Trump leaves Office .Most of the Coastal areas will be Exposed..Ready for Development...Trump is just planning ahead..Just landing a Plane in Greenland is a Thrill Ride.. .