Althouse: Sunrise

22 డిసెంబర్, 2025

Sunrise — 7:23.

Write about whatever you want in the comments.

106 కామెంట్‌లు:

Eva Marie చెప్పారు...: We are almost done with a quarter of this century.; 22-12-25 5:46 PM
tcrosse చెప్పారు...: We were done with 25 years of this century on Jan 1, 2025.; 22-12-25 5:52 PM
Eva Marie చెప్పారు...: I’m always late to the party.; 22-12-25 5:53 PM
imTay చెప్పారు...: I have a name for John’s book he should write about Presidents:

“Squirrel Soup for the Soul”; 22-12-25 6:01 PM
Narr చెప్పారు...: So Trump wants to build battleships . . . what next, modernizing the horse artillery?; 22-12-25 6:07 PM
Achilles చెప్పారు...: Narr said...

So Trump wants to build battleships . . . what next, modernizing the horse artillery?

Trump really is listening to some stupid people if this is true.; 22-12-25 6:12 PM
Whiskeybum చెప్పారు...: I think today’s sunrise photo is from Althouse’s “Blue Period”.; 22-12-25 6:12 PM
john mosby చెప్పారు...: Chris Rea, known for his song "Driving Home for Christmas," has passed away. Guess someone wanted him to drive home for Christmas. CC, JSM; 22-12-25 6:16 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: And we still are no closer to a motive; 22-12-25 6:18 PM
tcrosse చెప్పారు...: There are still four Iowa class battleships in existence as museums, left over from The Big One. They were obsolete even then.; 22-12-25 6:22 PM
buwaya చెప్పారు...: Actually meaningful things - Musk on X
"Raptor 3 will probably be 2 to 4 times better than Merlin in $/ton of thrust and will exceed Merlin in thrust to weight ratio.

Raptor 4 should beat Merlin by >10X in $/ton of thrust, with further improvement in TWR and ISP."

We are talking of yet another order of magnitude reduction in cost/ton to get stuff into orbit, and this solely through engineering of the engines.; 22-12-25 6:25 PM
Clyde చెప్పారు...: Clyde's Top 15 Favorite "New" Songs of 2025 - Part 8 of 16
#9 - The Who - "Greyhound Girl (Lifehouse Chronicles/Demo/Remastered 2022)" - Who's Next Super Deluxe (2023)

TL;DR: Cool song by The Who from 1971 that you've probably never heard.

Early this year, I got a recommendation from Amazon Music for the Super Deluxe edition of the 1971 album Who's Next. It was 109 tracks, running almost ten hours in length. It took a couple of days to get through. And there were some interesting gems on it, besides the remastered version of the original album. One of them was the original demo from Pete Townshend of "Baba O'Riley," which ran over 13 minutes in length. Everyone should listen to it once, but there's a good reason that the album version runs only 8 minutes. And then there was this gem, "Greyhound Girl," a demo that was never recorded on a studio album by The Who. Townshend performed it in his live shows a few times, but those recordings were the only versions of it available until this Super Deluxe set came out.

Like most of the songs on the original 1971 album, "Greyhound Girl" was part of Townshend's Lifehouse Chronicles project, which remained unfinished. Lifehouse was intended to be a two-album sci-fi rock opera, a follow-up to The Who's hit album Tommy. There is a great Wikipedia article if you look up "Lifehouse (rock opera)" which gives a complete account of both the rock opera's plot as well as the problems that Townshend had with translating his artistic vision into reality. It's too long to post here, but I will share a couple of excerpts:

"Lifehouse's story was inspired by Pete Townshend's experiences on the Tommy Tour: "I've seen moments in Who gigs where the vibrations were becoming so pure that I thought the whole world was just going to stop, the whole thing was just becoming so unified." He believed that the vibrations could become so pure that the audience would "dance themselves into oblivion". Their souls would leave their bodies and they would be in a type of heaven; a permanent state of ecstasy. The only reason this did not happen at Who gigs was because there was a knowledge in the listener's mind that the show would end and everyone would wake up and go to work the next morning. These ideas were directly linked to the writing of philosopher Inayat Khan, a Sufi musician who had written about the connection of vibration and sound with the human spirit. Another source of inspiration for Townshend was Meher Baba, who claimed to be an avatar of Brahman.

"What Townshend was aiming to achieve in Lifehouse was to write music that could be adapted to reflect the personalities of the audience. To do this he wanted to adapt his newly acquired hardware, VCS3 and ARP synthesizers and a four-channel quadraphonic PA system, to create a machine capable of generating and combining personal music themes written from computerized biographical data. Ultimately, these thematic components would merge to form a "universal chord". To help this process, the Who would encourage individuals to emerge from the audience and find a role in the music."

There was a lot of searching for meaning in the early 1970s, through psychological analysis, meditation and studying Eastern religions, etc. People felt that it was possible to change the world for the better, so it wasn't surprising that a musical genius would seek to find a musical way to do it. Sadly, the theories couldn't stand contact with reality, and the frustrations led to a nervous breakdown for Townshend. The project was discontinued, and most of the songs that had been written for Lifehouse were either used on Who's Next or released on later albums.; 22-12-25 6:26 PM
Clyde చెప్పారు...: Continued
Original 1971 plot summary (via Wikipedia):
"In the world in which the album is set, pollution is so bad that the populace are forced to wear Lifesuits, suits that could simulate all experiences in a way that no one would have to leave home.

"The suits are plugged into a huge mainframe called the Grid which also contains tubes for sleeping gas, food, and entertainment; supposedly, someone could live out tens of thousands of lifetimes in a very short period within the Grid. The Grid is controlled by a man named Jumbo.

"The story begins when a farming family in Scotland hear of a huge rock concert called Lifehouse occurring in London, a sort of post-apocalyptic Woodstock. Their daughter, Mary, runs away to join the concert. They don't wear Lifesuits because they are supposedly out of the pollution's range and they farm the crops that the government buys to feed the Lifesuiters. Bobby is the creator of Lifehouse. (Bobby was also the tentative name of the project for a time.) He is a hacker who broadcasts pirate radio signals advertising his concert, where the participants' personal data are taken from them and converted into music, quite literally "finding your song". At the climax of the album, the authorities have surrounded the Lifehouse; then the perfect note rings forth through the combination of everybody's songs, they storm the place to find everybody has disappeared through a sort of musical Rapture, and the people observing the concert through their Lifesuits have vanished as well."

Knowing all of this brings a little more meaning to the lyrics of the songs, which are kind of cryptic on songs like "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again" if you don't know that they were part of a story.

https://youtu.be/JNd3NqDc88I?si=ZGDSuZA2MAeHd2q1; 22-12-25 6:26 PM
john mosby చెప్పారు...: The Trump-class battleship, from the rendering at the brief, seems to be very different from the WW2-era BB's. It looks to be relying on missiles more than guns. Not sure if that would outrange ChiCom area defense systems. But would come in handy against non-peer coastal nations.

I do like that he's calling the first one the USS Defiant. Has to be a Star Trek reference: the only real-world Defiant is a tugboat (which, built in 2007, must also be a Trek reference).

Of course, that assumes it's named after Sisko's Defiant, not the one that comes to a bad end in The Tholian Web.

Final thought: isn't the class name supposed to be the name of the first ship of the class? So either call this the Defiant class, or name the first one USS Trump.

I will shut up - there are real squid in this parish. CC, JSM; 22-12-25 6:26 PM
Ronald J. Ward చెప్పారు...: Achilles said...
“Narr said...

So Trump wants to build battleships . . . what next, modernizing the horse artillery?”

Trump really is listening to some stupid people if this is true.

12/22/25, 6:12 PM

You’re all over it but not quite on it.

What appears to be true is that Trump only listens to people who tell him what he wants to hear, which, IMO, is rather stupid.; 22-12-25 6:27 PM
Disparity of Cult చెప్పారు...: RIP Chris Rea. Also known for "Fool (If You Think It's Over)".

"Newborn eyes always cry with pain
At the first look at the morning sun"; 22-12-25 6:28 PM
Clyde చెప్పారు...: Clyde's Top 15 Favorite "New" Songs of 2025
Bonus Song - The Who - "Baba O'Riley (Original Demo / Remastered 2022)" - Who's Next Super Deluxe (2023)

This is Pete Townshend's original demo of the song, clocking in at 13:15, which would have been a full album side back in 1971.

https://youtu.be/MiYAp5WyFZw?si=2dIiBxFfb1Ua6hNz; 22-12-25 6:28 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: Thats a great one also inspired by dystopian vision

And daltreys still a powerhouse all these years later; 22-12-25 6:35 PM
buwaya చెప్పారు...: As a theoretical exercise:
If you grant that there is no way to defeat a saturation attack by missiles vs a surface vessel in terms of interception or deception, one is left with simpler physics. An attacker still is constrained by limits of chemical explosive power and achievable velocity, no matter how clever the weapon and targeting system. It is probably possible to design an armored ship invulnerable to any practical missile.; 22-12-25 6:37 PM
john mosby చెప్పారు...: "Horse Artillery - that would be great for the Border Patrol. They've already got horses! If the illegals get over my wall, we'll blow them away with a yuge pack howitzer! Thanks, Narr!" - DJT; 22-12-25 6:37 PM
Old and slow చెప్పారు...: Trump also wants to keep housing prices high for existing homeowners. Moronic; 22-12-25 6:39 PM
Clyde చెప్పారు...: Finally, here is a Lifehouse playlist that I put together today, using the Intended track listing from the Wikipedia article and the tracks from Pete Townshend’s Lifehouse demos on the Who’s Next Super Deluxe set. If you’re an Amazon Music subscriber, you can listen in order. If not, you’ll get the tracks shuffled, so you would be better off just using my playlist as a source for recreating it on your streaming platform of choice.

https://music.amazon.com/user-playlists/264da0aac15a45adb2d65ecc3f8fe410sune?ref=dm_sh_OmvosCqz74fOFuYEGg5neyM1U; 22-12-25 6:41 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: They did dismiss the idiot security chief, locking the barn door; 22-12-25 6:43 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: Yeah thats a long track, bohemian rhapsody was half that; 22-12-25 6:44 PM
buwaya చెప్పారు...: The post-WWII naval vessel design philosophy was "eggshells armed with hammers". This worked if you could keep the other sides eggshells from getting close to yours through making longer and more accurate "hammers" (missiles, aircraft, targeting, recon, etc). But we may be at an end with this.
Note that current US war fighting strategy in East Asia is about "light" shore installations on friendly islands, using mobile concealable missiles and transient aircraft "passing through" only to rearm and refuel. That is behind the massive retasking of the Marines also.; 22-12-25 6:54 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: The modular landing craft design didnt work; 22-12-25 6:59 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: https://war-sanctions.gur.gov.ua/en/transport/shadow-fleet/1021 very interesting; 22-12-25 7:05 PM
Jaq చెప్పారు...: "What appears to be true is that Trump only listens to people who tell him what he wants to hear, which, IMO, is rather stupid." - Ronald J. Ward - Genius

This post should go into the "Lack of Self Awareness Hall of Fame."; 22-12-25 7:18 PM
James K చెప్పారు...: "We were done with 25 years of this century on Jan 1, 2025."

Actually, at the risk of being overly pedantic, as there was no year zero, it can be argued that the 21st century began on January 1, 2001.; 22-12-25 7:19 PM
john mosby చెప్పారు...: Doggie nativity play - adorable, or sacrilegious? Fox News just reported; I'm trying to decide. CC, JSM; 22-12-25 7:25 PM
Eva Marie చెప్పారు...: Not overly pedantic at all! So my point stands.; 22-12-25 7:27 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: Ambitious but is It on point

https://youtu.be/4eOxiiMS-Ec?si=KiNmhqqDTbRIiAXe; 22-12-25 7:28 PM
Eva Marie చెప్పారు...: I knew I was smart. Not like everyone says... like dumb... I'm smart and I want respect!; 22-12-25 7:29 PM
tcrosse చెప్పారు...: ఈ కామెంట్‌ను రచయిత తీసివేశారు.; 22-12-25 7:31 PM
Iman చెప్పారు...: Frieda… is that you?; 22-12-25 7:32 PM
FullMoon చెప్పారు...: Too much math in the comments today.

'Marie said...
We are almost done with a quarter of this century.

12/22/25, 5:46 PM
tcrosse said...
We were done with 25 years of this century on Jan 1, 2025.

12/22/25, 5:52 PM; 22-12-25 7:33 PM
Eva Marie చెప్పారు...: Doggie nativity - we used to have a ceramic cat nativity. It was so cute but I always kinda thought it was sacrilegious . . . but it was so cuuute.; 22-12-25 7:34 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: That would only be 24 years; 22-12-25 7:35 PM
Eva Marie చెప్పారు...: So you’re telling me I am dumb. Oh man, thanks. a. lot. Twenty five years from now, I’m keeping my my observations to myself.; 22-12-25 7:39 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: About 20 years ago wolfgang petersen did troy which is the prequel; 22-12-25 7:39 PM
Iman చెప్పారు...: Go 9ers!!!; 22-12-25 7:46 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: How do make 10 years not seem like an eternity; 22-12-25 7:47 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: https://x.com/Yoda4ever/status/2003196346359324874; 22-12-25 7:51 PM
rehajm చెప్పారు...: I was told there would be no math…; 22-12-25 7:52 PM
Original Mike చెప్పారు...: "Go 9ers!!!"

I'm rooting for the old man.; 22-12-25 7:53 PM
Narr చెప్పారు...: I made a wisecrack, but I'm ready to be persuaded that there is some rationale to a new class of battleship. I take it for granted that it will have missiles as well as guns (though Trump seemed to really like the guns) and state-of-the-art electronic warfare capabilities etc etc etc.

These things are going to be yugely expensive and slow to build, so it behooves everyone to be clear about why they are a good platform for future warfare--better than alternatives.
Given the LCS fiasco, I'm not sure BUSHIPS (or whatever they call it now) has the best judgement.

We could blame William Devane, I suppose.; 22-12-25 7:57 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: Stephen L. Miller on X: ""In many of these stories, he's described as an 'expert' in whatever the story happens to be about." That sounds familiar." / X https://share.google/Uvwpv5Rtdn6oPdFux; 22-12-25 7:58 PM
LibertarianLeisure చెప్పారు...: Sentimental tonight. I want to thank our hostess, professor Althouse, for being so faithful and vigilant keeping up this blog. Have been reading it about 2016, since my brother, ( now deceased,) recommended it. He had a PHd in Political Science, so respected his recommendation. He read both sides of the Political aisles and exhorted me to do so too.
Upon my first glimpse of Althouse, I was enamored, because it included all, besides politics. It had ( and has,) front page news, social issues, persona backgrounds, and my favorite, the culling and deciphering of phrases, of word origination. So, just a shout out on the end of 2025. Well done, and admirable. Thank you.; 22-12-25 8:12 PM
Kakistocracy చెప్పారు...: Trump unveils ‘Golden Fleet’ of Navy battleships, touts them as ‘more powerful than any' ever built ~ Fox News

The USS Delusion will be built out of solid gold and will be equipped with plasma weapons and photon torpedoes. The second ship of the class, the USS Derangement will be the first US Navy ship to be equipped with a cloaking device. /s

"The timetable to build the vessels would be about two and a half years, Trump said."

I hope he and Hegseth can be held accountable to this delusional schedule. Most shipyards in the world would struggle to produce a cookie cutter large container vessel or million barrel oil tanker in that time frame, let alone a fiendishly complicated defense vessel using untried technology and with no design to work on, built at American yards which have struggled to deliver anything on time or on budget.

The US Coastguard Polar Security Cutter (PSC) program is six years behind schedule and $1 billion over budget. That's just to build an ice breaker which the Finns or Norwegians or even the UK yards could knock out in three years. It will take the US a decade to build those ice breaker, probably longer.

I am anticipating these Trump class battleships will not be in service until the late 2030s or early 2040 and probably they will be canned when the monstrous cost becomes clear. As Ukraine has shown, the future of naval warfare is is drones and large surface vessels are potentially obsolete and very vulnerable.; 22-12-25 8:14 PM
Kakistocracy చెప్పారు...: Narr writes: "These things are going to be yugely expensive and slow to build, so it behooves everyone to be clear about why they are a good platform for future warfare--better than alternatives."

Lack of shipbuilding capacity is already one of America’s most critical weaknesses. So squander what scant capacity there is on a vanity boondoggle.; 22-12-25 8:17 PM
R C Belaire చెప్పారు...: Looking at the artwork and reading a bit of text, seems these "battleships" are a bit of a misnomer. More like a heavy cruiser IMO. They may be of some use as a weapons-carrying platform, but what a fat, juicy, target!; 22-12-25 8:19 PM
Original Mike చెప్పారు...: When Greenland melts, there'll be a lot more ocean for the Navy to cover.; 22-12-25 8:37 PM
FullMoon చెప్పారు...: "narciso said...
How do make 10 years not seem like an eternity"

Read books, play chess and dominoes, mind your manners, and you prob get out in seven.; 22-12-25 8:43 PM
RCOCEAN II చెప్పారు...: No matter how much armor you put on the top of a ship the armor below the waterline has to be limited. In any case, a missile with 2000 lbs warhead hitting a ship at 500 MPH will cause damage that no amount of armor will deflect. Even if the impact of the missile can be stopped from penetrating the armor, there's the shock wave which will cause damage.

IRC, several ships in WW II were serverly damaged by the shock waves from torpedo hits. And then there was a British AC carrier hit a kamikazee, the armored deck prevented the bomb from penetrating the deck but the blast twisted the structure of the ship. Again, this is me recollecting what Ive read. Could have the details wrong.; 22-12-25 8:56 PM
RCOCEAN II చెప్పారు...: What is the purpose of warships? Overall, its (1) Sink other ships and (2) attack land targets. It seems that against well armed opponents we should just attack land targets with our own missiles and aircraft. Why build a zillion dollar warship to do it?; 22-12-25 9:00 PM
buwaya చెప్పారు...: The zillion dollar warship is there for when you dont have an airfield close enough. Thats what US aicraft carriers have been for, and most other USN ships have been for protecting the aircraft carriers.
There is a possibility of forgoing aircraft (the ones that drop bombs or missiles) with orbital weapons. Enough orbital lift capacity should give you that, and its coming soon.; 22-12-25 9:22 PM
Vance చెప్పారు...: Why a battleship with guns? Because it's far more effective at delivering ordnance to targets in its range than missiles and planes. I'm told that if you got an Iowa class battleship in range, it would take essentially 4 aircraft carriers working full throttle to match the payload delivery of the Iowa class.

So why a new one? I've always thought if you just parked a couple of big gun ships off of, say, Gaza you could use it to "persuade" the idiots there to surrender or, you know, talk to Allah.

And a Battleship is great for, say, driving in between Taiwan and China. Heavy armour still has a place. Plus, the WWII battleships were pretty good at soaking up damage: how many torpedos and the like did the Bismark eat before it sank?

Yes, they are vulnerable without air superiority (See: Yamato) but pumping out 2,000 pounds of explosives every 30 seconds definitely has a place. And the armor takes care of kamikaze drones, too.; 22-12-25 9:24 PM
Achilles చెప్పారు...: Ronald J. Ward said...

Achilles said...
“Narr said...

So Trump wants to build battleships . . . what next, modernizing the horse artillery?”

Trump really is listening to some stupid people if this is true.

12/22/25, 6:12 PM

You’re all over it but not quite on it.

What appears to be true is that Trump only listens to people who tell him what he wants to hear, which, IMO, is rather stupid.

Trump has had people on every side of every issue in his administration. He is constantly stabbed in the back by people he had obvious disagreements with.

It is just so obviously self contradictory. I don't think you can even read what you post.

You are just so stupid.; 22-12-25 9:30 PM
buwaya చెప్పారు...: Worse than lack of shipbuilding capacity (a "hardware" problem) is the institutional sclerosis that makes any significant physical project impossible. This is a "software" problem. Its the confluence of all social aspects that complicate everything into futility.; 22-12-25 9:36 PM
Achilles చెప్పారు...: There is a functional limitation to the amount of armor you can put on a ship. For every pound of armor you need 13 cubic feet of air of displaced water.

When ships no longer require crews everything is going to change.

They are really just floating coral reefs.; 22-12-25 9:40 PM
Achilles చెప్పారు...: buwaya said...

Worse than lack of shipbuilding capacity (a "hardware" problem) is the institutional sclerosis that makes any significant physical project impossible. This is a "software" problem. Its the confluence of all social aspects that complicate everything into futility.

America and Europe both farmed out their heavy manufacturing to Asia. They also removed purpose from the working class.

Everyone is talking about the "extremists" on the left and right coming together at the ends of the ideological horseshoe. This is really just the working class being tired of the laptop class and the laptop class calling them names.; 22-12-25 9:44 PM
tcrosse చెప్పారు...: Battleships are named after states. I suppose the first Trump class ships could be the USS Alberta and the USS Greenland.; 22-12-25 9:44 PM
Jupiter చెప్పారు...: Once again, I am sitting in my office as the world outside goes dark, and my daughter's cat, Cecil, is sitting by the door, watching, with the patience of a cat, for the laser dot. He is so determined to catch that dot of light, that I have called him "Cecil the Imbeecile". But I am starting to realize, that he knows that his ideas about laser-dots are completely misguided and wrong, and that is why he is eager to interact with the laser-dot once again.

I had some very promising ideas, back in March, about the relationship between the phase of the wave packet, and the potentials of classical E&M theory. But the connection kept wiggling away, whenever I tried to nail it down. Unlike my cat, I find this struggle exhausting, and I need a few days to recuperate, every time I dash into the thicket, chasing the bright spot, only to find myself bruised and baffled once again.
But today, I think I have figured it out. Both energy and momentum are simply derivatives of the phase, with respect to time and space. But for reasons that are essentially historical, we have chosen to adopt a peculiar sign convention;
E = -Dt Theta
Px = Dx Theta
That is, we stuck a negative sign in front of the Energy operator. Once you sort all that out, the whole thing becomes a lot clearer.
Cecil is seeking a similarly revealing epiphany. Whether he will achieve it, I can't say. But I applaud, and deeply admire, his unremitting determination to pursue it.; 22-12-25 9:59 PM
Hassayamper చెప్పారు...: Enough orbital lift capacity should give you that, and its coming soon.

"Rods from God." Titanium telephone poles dropped from orbit under GPS guidance can penetrate any bunker and do incredibly devastating damage over a very limited area. Like a tactical nuke with no radioactivity. Even smaller rods the size of a fence post or javelin can be used to take out a building or military formation with near 100% success, and can be carried into the heavens in sheaves of a hundred or more by Musk's rockets. The only defense is pre-emptive anti-satellite warfare.; 22-12-25 10:24 PM
buwaya చెప్పారు...: Jerry Pournelle came up with the idea as a military analyst and used it in a couple of novels. I met Pournelle a bunch of times, and my wife more so as he was a frequent guest at SF conventions.; 22-12-25 10:51 PM
Gospace చెప్పారు...: narciso said...
https://war-sanctions.gur.gov.ua/en/transport/shadow-fleet/1021

The USA is in a Compact of Free Association with Palau. We handle their defense. We can board vessels flying the Palau flag. Which flag they are currently registered under.; 22-12-25 10:55 PM
Derve చెప్పారు...: " why do we never get an answer
When we're knocking at the door?
Because the truth is hard to swallow
That's what the wall of love is for..."; 22-12-25 11:00 PM
Original Mike చెప్పారు...: ""Rods from God." Titanium telephone poles dropped from orbit under…"

Tungsten.; 22-12-25 11:32 PM
Eva Marie చెప్పారు...: If you’re looking for some classics to watch, I recommend the movies of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (both wrote and directed their movies).
“From the 1940s to the 1950s, they created a stunning body of work. What makes them special is their variety.” So many different genres - “romantic whimsy, psychological drama, epic wartime stories, heavenly fantasy, ballet dramas, even operatic spectacle” (The Tales of Hoffman).
There’s several of them for free on tubi. I really enjoyed A Canterbury Tale, I Know Where I’m Going, The Red Shoes. I wasn’t that fond of The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (it’s very highly regarded) or Black Narcissus (very unusual). I haven’t watched One of Our Aircraft is Missing yet.
I’m slowly going through all their movies. It’s an amazing body of work.; 23-12-25 12:24 AM
Josephbleau చెప్పారు...: I would think that robot submarines would be cheapest at keeping enemy ships from blocking sea lanes and regular missile subs are best for destroying the world. For deploying power on land overseas you need to protect landing craft and hit deep inland. We now depend on aircraft carriers.

In looking it up Trumps battleship is 850 ft long and 30k tons. Half the weight of an Iowa class, the Ford is 100k tons and 1040 ft long, so smaller than that too. It should be nuclear driven too. The new ship would have room for a lot more missles and hypersonics and anti sub.

I don’t know if there is a case for it, don’t know if there is still one for carriers, but I bet if we built one China would copy it. The nice thing is that it would make the cost per ton of delivered explosives cheaper. You would pay for less airplanes and gas.

But I am not the boss of all that. Space bombs sound good but China has been working on killsats. Just from the news the first thing we do when someone stirs up trouble is to send a carrier over to see them, so things like this seem useful. It seems like if huge oil tankers can go around ok it should not be impossible to make a missile ship do the same.; 23-12-25 12:42 AM
Michael Fitzgerald చెప్పారు...: Oh yeah, Eva Marie, great reccies. Michael Powell made some great films. The End of the World (1937) is a fine film, pre-Pressburger, about an island village in the Hebrides being evacuated because the populace is too old and the young ones are moving away, so the government wants to bring the remaining residents to live on the mainland.
Black Narcissus I loved- great technicolor cinematography! I liked Canterbury Tale and I Know Where I'm Going too. And Tales of Hoffman was so good, beautiful to look at, interesting to see, great music of Offenbach, La Baccarole was a brilliant sequence. Similar to The Red Shoes which I also loved.; 23-12-25 1:39 AM
Eva Marie చెప్పారు...: Thank you for The Edge of the World. Available on Amazon. I didn’t know about that one.; 23-12-25 2:33 AM
buwaya చెప్పారు...: Offenbach - Barcarolle - Garanca & Netrebko
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u0M4CMq7uI
Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour, souris à nos ivresses....; 23-12-25 4:19 AM
buwaya చెప్పారు...: Barcarolle from "Tales of Hoffman" (1951) Powell/Pressburger
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9ICpehv8S0; 23-12-25 4:30 AM
Ann Althouse చెప్పారు...: @LibertarianLeisure

Thanks for your words of encouragement.

And thanks for reading!; 23-12-25 5:50 AM
Kakistocracy చెప్పారు...: The cloaking device is being developed in the Department of Justice. Thousands of gallons of black ink to hide the whereabouts of USS Trump.

USS Redacted

I feel a little sorry for South Park creators. They literally cannot lampoon or parody this clown. No one can.; 23-12-25 5:56 AM
gadfly చెప్పారు...: Traditionally, U.S. Navy ships are named after historical figures or events. However, the new "Trump-class" battleships break this tradition by being named after a sitting president. Trump imposed his name all by himself.

The Kennedy Center has been renamed the "Trump-Kennedy Center" following a unanimous vote by a new Trump-appointed board, which is now chaired by none other than President Donald Trump. However, this name change raises legal questions, as federal law requires congressional approval to alter the center's name, which was established as a memorial to John F. Kennedy. The word "memorial" remains in the name.

When Trump goes, so too will his pre-named Trumpisms. Next, we will get a coin with Trump's picture, which will also die off as soon as he is gone or sooner if impeachment happens after the mid-term election.; 23-12-25 6:06 AM
Humperdink చెప్పారు...: If you live in the dark blue city of Pittsburgh, the Commie lefties running the show have a treat in store for you. The city is raising your taxes 20%, the school district is upping your taxes 2%, and the county, which includes the city, is raising your taxes a whopping 36%. The best part? All three taxing entities have raised taxes in the last 2 years.; 23-12-25 6:10 AM
Humperdink చెప్పారు...: As some naval expert smarter than me said: “we build submarines and targets (read surface ships)”.; 23-12-25 6:27 AM
buwaya చెప్పారు...: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ln_C4upoCA
An incident of Indian torture from the disastrous Crawford expedition of 1782. One of my wifes ancestors was a member and survivor of this expedition, and the basis for her DAR membership.
The native Americans included torture as one of their quaint handicrafts and folkways.; 23-12-25 6:51 AM
narciso చెప్పారు...: I meant about the traverse of the journey; 23-12-25 7:06 AM
Dr Weevil చెప్పారు...: botfly:
The first battleship will be named ‘Defiant’, not ‘Trump’, and Kennedy Center was built by Eisenhower. It was renamed in the orgy of renaming after Kennedy was assassinated, like Idlewild airport and a hundred other things that had no connection to him. Stop making stuff up.; 23-12-25 7:11 AM
Achilles చెప్పారు...: Kakistocracy said...

The cloaking device is being developed in the Department of Justice. Thousands of gallons of black ink to hide the whereabouts of USS Trump.

USS Redacted

These files were in the hands of Joe Biden's DOJ for 4 years.

You are just a really stupid person.; 23-12-25 7:13 AM
Paddy O చెప్పారు...: Has the font on this blog gotten much smaller for anyone else? Like 10pt or smaller. It has for me making it really hard to read on my phone. Only this site has that problem and there's no setting on my side that is doing it or will fix it. I can zoom but to get the font readable the text goes outside the borders so i have to scroll side to side. Just started doing this a little while back; 23-12-25 7:56 AM
Achilles చెప్పారు...: gadfly said...

However, this name change raises legal questions, as federal law requires congressional approval to alter the center's name, which was established as a memorial to John F. Kennedy. The word "memorial" remains in the name.

Didn't they name this after the guy that drowned his secretary/side chick in a lake?; 23-12-25 7:57 AM
Paddy O చెప్పారు...: Same problem on Brave and Chrome.; 23-12-25 7:58 AM
Achilles చెప్పారు...: Paddy O said...

Has the font on this blog gotten much smaller for anyone else? Like 10pt or smaller. It has for me making it really hard to read on my phone.

Android: Settings > Display > Font size.

iOS: Settings > Display & Brightness > Text Size.

In Chrome/Safari, force "Desktop site" mode; 23-12-25 8:01 AM
RCOCEAN II చెప్పారు...: The problem with battleships is their powerful guns a range of 20 miles. The other problem? A 16 inch HE shell has 153 lbs. of HE. A 2000 lbs Bomb has 945 lbs.; 23-12-25 8:27 AM
Leland చెప్పారు...: gadfly said...
Traditionally, U.S. Navy ships are named after historical figures or events.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_William_J._Clinton

Fuck off with your ignorant takes.; 23-12-25 8:28 AM
RCOCEAN II చెప్పారు...: Aircraft as "Movable airfields" hitting land targets can now only happen when the opponent doesn't have advanced antiship missiles. Further, A/c are pretty much useless against Russia. You cant bomb Moscow from the Eastern Med. And the Baltic is a deathtrap for ships.; 23-12-25 8:30 AM
Old and slow చెప్పారు...: Trump gets many things right, but his love of the dramatic and grandiose is very stupid in this case. We should be mass producing cheap autonomous vessels.; 23-12-25 9:10 AM
FullMoon చెప్పారు...: "When Trump goes, so too will his pre-named Trumpisms."

Doesn't even matter if true. It's so much fun or the time being.
According to some familiar with his thinking, Trump will be renaming new and existing naval vessels after relatives and ancestors.
Federal prisons will be renamed in honor of nefarious Democrat politicians and celebrities.; 23-12-25 9:45 AM
wildswan చెప్పారు...: Took my first long trip since I was diagnosed with cancer. To a beautiful wedding. 1/3 of the guests, children under sixteen. Joy percolated from them to everyone around. It's a start.; 23-12-25 9:55 AM
Rusty చెప్పారు...: Not battleships. Frigates. Guided missile frigates. Based on our large Coast Guard cutter hull.; 23-12-25 9:55 AM
Rusty చెప్పారు...: wildswan
Good. I hope things improve for the better.; 23-12-25 10:09 AM
john mosby చెప్పారు...: Leland: the USS Clinton, according to that Wiki article, won't be operational till 2036, when WJC will be 90. Could turn out to be a similar timeline to the Ford, which was planned while Jerry was still alive, but not operational until well after his death.

I also note Wiki doesn't mention a unit crest or motto for the Clinton. Maybe Trump can hold a nationwide contest for ideas. I have some ideas...crossed fouled cigars, and "numquam genuflectere"....

Unfortunately she will be CVN-82. Would be great if the numbers came out to CVN-69....CC, JSM; 23-12-25 10:28 AM
Marcus Bressler చెప్పారు...: Every time Trump names something after himself (or through others), it is a masterful troll. Libs, cry harder.; 23-12-25 10:29 AM
Leland చెప్పారు...: JSM,
Don't really care when commissioned or operational. I'm calling BS regarding "U.S. Navy ships are named after historical figures or events"
That ship has sailed and it was Democrat Presidents that changed the noted tradition. Gadfly is either dishonest (most likely) or ignorant (lots of evidence to support).; 23-12-25 10:36 AM
Paddy O చెప్పారు...: Achilles, thanks for the tips. Tried it. But changing that has zero effect on this site. And only this site has such small font.; 23-12-25 10:55 AM
Josephbleau చెప్పారు...: ఈ కామెంట్‌ను రచయిత తీసివేశారు.; 23-12-25 11:10 AM
Josephbleau చెప్పారు...: It may be easier to get accepted to Brown U next year. The aftermath of the shooting is damaging the brand.; 23-12-25 11:12 AM
Josephbleau చెప్పారు...: You can say that naval ships are useless because they can be sunk by long range missiles, but if you get rid of them then your only option is attacking them when your enemy uses them, there is no intermediate response or counter other than full on.

It’s like saying atomic weapons make everything else useless, but if you follow that there is no ability to deconflict, you need conventional response to keep from having extreme power be your only choice.; 23-12-25 11:20 AM
Jersey Fled చెప్పారు...: Picture an Ohio class submarine reimagined as a surface vessel. Not as stealthy but half the cost.; 23-12-25 11:26 AM
Marcus Bressler చెప్పారు...: Harvey Milk was not an historical figure. He was a dick-sucking bottom and the removal of his name from that ship was Trump and his administration straightening out the Left.; 23-12-25 9:50 PM
gadfly చెప్పారు...: Former Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) announced Tuesday he has been diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. The prognosis for stage 4 (metastatic) pancreatic cancer is generally poor, with a five-year survival rate of about 13%.; 23-12-25 11:38 PM
Rusty చెప్పారు...: Jesus, gadfly. It's Christmas. Celebrate somewhere else.; 24-12-25 7:53 AM

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