Author Archives: Devereaux

A Great Quote

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From the blog Samisdata,

The post-terror cultivation of passivity speaks to a profound crisis of – and fear of – the active citizen. It diminishes us as citizens to reduce us to hashtaggers and candle-holders in the wake of serious, disorientating acts of violence against our society. It decommissions the hard thinking and deep feeling citizens ought to pursue after terror attacks. Indeed, in some ways this official post-terror narrative is the unwitting cousin of the terror attack itself. Where terrorism pursues a war of attrition against our social fabric, seeking to rip away bit by bit our confidence and openness and sense of ourselves as free citizens, officialdom and the media diminish our individuality and our social role, through instructing us on what we may feel … Continue reading →

Holding The Line

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Talking with Nanda last night got me thinking about something she said.  It is unfair that such a small number of our nation stand guard for all.

The military services will argue that the “new” all-volunteer military is a great boon.  Some of this is probably just “supporting the boss.”  The congress has decreed that we will have an all-volunteer force, so it is the law of the land.

Some of this may just be that the services are happier to have people who wish to be there.  Training a dedicated force usually works more cohesively, more efficiently, and projects more power.

There are also “observations” that the nation has gotten soft, that it won’t fight, etc.  Perhaps.  But I have noted in reading that it seems a … Continue reading →

Myths

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Talking to a co-worker, and we got on the subject of cars. She asked what I drove and I told her a Z06. She then said she wouldn’t want one because it didn’t come as a stick shift. I had to tell her it did, but the auto was faster. Her rebuttal was, “It’s not about the speed – it’s about the “experieence”. You aren’t driving a sports car if it’s auto.”

I don’t understand this. It IS about the speed. ?Why else would you have a sports car. ALL modern race cars have auto transmissions. If you didn’t want to go fast, you could always drive a minivan.

The world seems full of these silly myths.

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Crossing the Rubicon

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?Anyone notice Trump’s speech in Saudi. ?How about his visit to Israel.

There is a distinct change in attitude towards the world, and our position in it, from Obummer. Where Obummer denigrated America, talked a lot of hot air, and pretty much threw everyone under the bus, Trump is making no excuses for who we are, no “accommodations” to foreign rituals, and clearly stating both our interests and what WE think we and they should be doing.
For the first time there is exhortation to throw the thugs out of the mosques, to name them apostasy, to get on with “normal” life.

In short, it is doing what is practical, noting the world as it is, not as we think it ought to be.

I have a … Continue reading →

War and Peace – Part Quatre

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So far we have concentrated in our discussion on the WAR part. Perhaps it is time to hone in on the PEACE part.

?What exactly IS peace. One definition might be the absence of war. That may be literally true but reeks of the kind of thinking we see today among our “journalists” and “leaders”. Take things at their most superficial and run with it.

A bit more contemplation might, however, lead us to Freedom as the definition of peace. After all, freedom is the right to do as you please, to be unfettered by silly or useless regulations, to “spread your wings and fly” so to speak.

Of course with freedom comes responsibility. Your actions have consequences. You have to be prepared to face those consequences. Some … Continue reading →

War and Peace – Part Troi

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A comprehensive outline for restructuring our military to create a force more geared to defense of self and national interests, domestic and abroad.

– Rename the department as War Department. It has never been much about defense and we might as well call it what it does – break things and kill people.

– Navy: increase the number of ships to bulk up the overall ability of the Navy to project power across the seas. Modern warships seem little stronger than the old wooden ships, so we need to build to a new standard. Much of what we will be using will be patrol boats, so cruisers and large destroyers seem to fit the bill. Cutters of various strengths, but with speed, for more local water patrolling, mostly … Continue reading →

War and Peace – Part Deux

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If one looks at American history from a distance, our singular characteristic has been commerce. Tocqueville noted it in his highly accurate examination of America of the 19th century. He specifically commented on just how sharp and energetic we were in business competition. This far exceeded anything on the European continent.

A perusal of national income in the late 1700’s shortly after our founding, shows we Americans, we tiny 13 colonies, made an absolutely prodigious amount of money. It was done mostly via trade. At the time boats for trade were being built as fast as they could be. A vessel would go off on a voyage and pay for itself – on one voyage. Everything afterward was profit. So even in the vagaries of the sea and … Continue reading →