In any shooting case, also pertinent is that it is much easier to slowly look at things in hindsight. Decisions like this have to be made in literally split seconds under confusing and stressful conditions.

I know in 2004 Afghanistan in Kabul I was chased around a parking lot by a local guy screaming "Allah Akbar," on Chicken street, when all i wanted to do was buy a breakfast naan. If he had been wearing shoes instead of flip flops and perahan tunban (aka "man jammies), I don't think it would have turned out like it did. But I outran him, even though I was in a pair of heavy Redwings, and got to my HiLux.

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Friday, January 09, 2026 - 08:53 am: Edit

Iran has shut down the internet in the country, and is blocking all international telephone connections. Meanwhile, the son of the former Shah (and "Crown Prince" pretender) is trying to get a meeting with Pres. Trump. Things are getting decidedly spicy there.

By MarkSHoyle (Bolo) on Friday, January 09, 2026 - 08:57 am: Edit

Methinks the communists exaggerate.

I would go with, they were guessing.....

Considering in the 1950s, there were villages in the Siberia region that never even knew there was a war...
Not hard to believe the Census was limited to the Pacific Coast and Russia just to the east of the Urals....

By MarkSHoyle (Bolo) on Friday, January 09, 2026 - 08:59 am: Edit

NO FURTHER DISCUSSION

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Friday, January 09, 2026 - 09:27 am: Edit

HANDLED

By Mike Erickson (Mike_Erickson) on Friday, January 09, 2026 - 11:45 am: Edit

Interesting closing from a recent WSJ article:

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Quote:

Sergey Radchenko, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, recalled how before the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine senior Russian strategists frequently talked of using security presence in Venezuela as a pressure point against the U.S.

“Now, America has shown to Russia what a ‘special military operation’ is supposed to look like,” he said. “Now, it’s clear that Russia doesn’t have the kind of muscles it wanted the rest of the world to believe it possesses. This has been a humiliation, for Russia and for China: they proclaimed loudly that they are establishing a new world order, and yet proved unable to exert influence even in countries that are as important to them as Venezuela.”

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By Ryan Opel (Ryan) on Friday, January 09, 2026 - 04:00 pm: Edit

30 million Soviets dieing due to WW2 and immediate pre a post war effects is the generally accepted number. The 13percent is wrong. The USA and USSR had about the same population in 1940.

By MarkSHoyle (Bolo) on Friday, January 09, 2026 - 11:04 pm: Edit

13% could be the rounding error, depending on what was considered Russia (USSR) proper at that time...
Like Ukraine today, Russia really had a bug up their a$$ at the time and really wanted it back, having it taken away after WWI....

By MarkSHoyle (Bolo) on Saturday, January 10, 2026 - 10:09 am: Edit

Last msg should have stated Poland.....

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Saturday, January 10, 2026 - 05:12 pm: Edit

Trump just bombed ISIS camps in Syria.

The day we grabbed Maduro I quipped that Trump was busy picking the next country to bomb. We have an answer.

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Saturday, January 10, 2026 - 08:27 pm: Edit

Shall we start the betting pool on the next one? I've a fiver to lay on Iran.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Saturday, January 10, 2026 - 09:04 pm: Edit

I think that’s a fun project, but I would not bet against Iran. I suppose Colombia might be in the running. And France, there's never a bad time to go to war with the French.

By Paul Howard (Raven) on Sunday, January 11, 2026 - 05:10 am: Edit

...and what have the French done to you?

We are the eternal enemies of France

On Syria though, are ISIS 'upping and getting out of Syria' (and so it's easier to see and destroy them) or trying to rebuild there - as last weekend French and UK aircraft jointly attacked a ISIS Munitions Depot in Syria - as there does seem to be alot more going on there at the moment than there had been (noting the iSIS attack last month on US and 'partner' forces in Syria)?

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Sunday, January 11, 2026 - 08:50 am: Edit

France is a lousy ally, surrendering the first chance they get, successful only when led by Italian men or French women, are impossibly arrogant, and the loot when you win is splendid.

The UK only has nuclear missile submarines to deter the French. I know that is true because Sir Humphrey Appleby, the head of the British civil service, said so.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Sunday, January 11, 2026 - 09:13 am: Edit

I did hear about the historian who was asked “How many French soldiers are required to defend Paris?”

The answer was “l do not know, it has never been done.”

By Paul Howard (Raven) on Sunday, January 11, 2026 - 12:14 pm: Edit

If it wasn't for France - the US probably would have lost the War of Independance?

So that would seem to make them the ideal ally for the US?

Paris was last defended in 1870/1871 - when was the last seige of a major city on US soil.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Sunday, January 11, 2026 - 02:27 pm: Edit

During the 91 Gulf War, France tried to surrender to the maitre’d at a Vietnamese restaurant on the Champs Elysses. I saw it on TV so it had to be true.

The French version of a Swiss Army knife includes a surrender flag and a cheese cutter.

France did make the American War of Independence happen, but that was under the last of the French Kings. The monarchy collapsed when he spent the treasury to save America just to hurt the UK. France went in the soup after that.

Paris was under siege for five months and collapsed under assault. Vicksburg was under siege for two years and surrendered when starved out after resisting every assault, Richmond held for nine months and was abandoned when the Union forces outflanked them in the Battle of the Shad Bake, Wilmington held against naval bombardment and amphibious assault for four years, but eventually fell. Nashville held out for months on 1/4 rations in 1863, but survived when engineers built a road through the mountains. The American Army colonel who saved Jerusalem in 1948 pointed to the Nashville siege when he convinced the Israelis that he could save the city by building a road over impassable mountains. He did it by sheer force of will driving Israeli engineering troops who never thought it could work.

You can keep your observations on taste to yourself. Read the room.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Sunday, January 11, 2026 - 02:50 pm: Edit

Note to Jessica, we better hope Trump doesn’t decide to invade Canada. That worked out so well the last time.

By Douglas Lampert (Dlampert) on Sunday, January 11, 2026 - 04:09 pm: Edit

US newspapers in the leadup to 1812 were quite clear that our intent was to take Canada.

The prowar papers saying we could do it as fast as the troops could march. The anti-war papers asking why we would want it.

It turns out that even with Britain hardly able to commit any of their men to the war, the Canadian locals had to be told by treaty to give back all of the USA that they'd occupied by the end of the war. IIRC, we didn't have to give back any of Canada, having failed to hold any of it.

Not the USA's proudest moments.

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Sunday, January 11, 2026 - 06:14 pm: Edit

Steve: I'm very much hoping that he doesn't decide to invade Canada or Greenland; the last thing the world needs at this juncture is an internal NATO crisis.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Sunday, January 11, 2026 - 09:10 pm: Edit

I thought President Trumps plan was to offer to purchase greenland…by offering the money to the residents.

That way both the Danes and the E.U. End up getting shorted.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Sunday, January 11, 2026 - 10:21 pm: Edit

Trump has floated several plans to acquire Greenland. (And the US does need to acquire it before China just takes it.) Buying from Denmark, paying the residents, military occupation and seizure, having the Zeta Reticularis get it for him by teleporting the population to Borneo.

By Jeff Anderson (Jga) on Monday, January 12, 2026 - 12:51 am: Edit

I'm not comfortable bringing this up, mostly because I believe it violates ADB, Inc. policy on being too political.

If it does, then I do apologize for it and ask for it to be deleted.

That said, I also feel this is something very important.

The question about whether President Trump may order another strike (and where) disturbingly reminds me of air strikes carried out in the late 1990's under President Clinton.

Both men have their share of critics, many of whom, back under President Clinton, accused the administration of "Wagging the Dog" to distract from problems at home.

I can see these actions by President Trump inciting similar accusations against him and for similar reasons. Given how close we appear to be to violent unrest, might this make things worse?

Again, while I feel this is something too important to NOT bring up, it still feels awfully political to me. WebMom? If you feel this goes too far, I profusely apologize and ask for it to be deleted.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Monday, January 12, 2026 - 04:30 pm: Edit

A number has been “floated” in discussions at the White House, at a meeting with oil company executives.

Apparently it involves a personal payment of $100,000.00 USD, to each the approximately 57,000 inhabitants of Greenland.

There was also mention that the process was to be similar to how several pacific islands native groups were incorporated in to territories of the United States.

Not sure how the Danes feel about getting “turfed out” without a cent…

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Monday, January 12, 2026 - 04:34 pm: Edit

Jeff, that is old news.