Pentagon Launches Operation ‘Guardian of Prosperity’ to Protect Red Sea from Houthi Attacks

No...You seem to think there profits are excessive..I don't







youyouyou

 

I'm afraid that you have points that are out of date. The current hotspots of the world right now are either for a show to make life interesting or the last remnants of trouble that must be dealt with before humanity can take its next evolutionary step in civilization.

We are about to enter the next stage of civilization, which is post-scarcity. The wars over resources will soon be over, and such fights will be as worthless as fighting over pebbles on the beach.

Now, this is a big risk and gamble, but backroom diplomacy, soon-to-be-released science and technology, and what might be called divine intervention will bring us a unified field theory (a complete understanding of the universe and its final theorems), clean energy, unlimited resources, and an end to religious barbarism. But we have to get through a few more years of adversity as the pieces fall into place.

 

Well it turns out that pebbles can have value after all: Penguins fight over pebbles to make nests. The universe sent me this message.

 

Then we'll all jump on our unicorns and ride off into the sunset singing "We Are The World" as our Martian brethren sing with us?
There are many reasons for war which aren't so easily discerned... religion, racism, control.... human stuff which will always be with us.
"Only the dead have seen and end to war"

 

The first flight of the F-35 was in 2006. So here we are 17 years later and it's still got more bugs than a junkyard dog.
And the Osprey is still horrendous.
https://apnews.com/article/osprey-c...ts-explainer-5d81b361e3d1e43402f6727341515668

 

big deal, military aircraft crash frequently. It isn't a major concern

 

4 hr 45 min ago
US Navy says it sank 3 Houthi boats attacking merchant vessel

From CNN’s Lucas Lilieholm

The USS Eisenhower is seen in the Suez Canal in November 2023. Abaca via Zuma Press/FILE
US Navy helicopters sank three Houthi boats after they attacked and attempted to board the container ship Maersk Hangzhou off the coast of Yemen, the military says.

Four small boats originating from “Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen” attacked the Maersk Hangzhou with small arms and attempted to board the merchant vessel, according to a statement from US Central Command on Sunday, which added that a security team on board had returned fire.

CENTCOM said helicopters from the USS Eisenhower and Gravely responded to the Maersk Hangzhou’s distress call, the second in less than 24 hours, and were fired on by the Houthi boats.

“The U.S. Navy helicopters returned fire in self-defense, sinking three of the four small boats, and killing the crews. The fourth boat fled the area,” the statement said, adding that there was “no damage to U.S. personnel or equipment.”

CNN has contacted Maersk for comment on the incident.

Remember: The Houthis, an Iran-backed Yemeni rebel group, have been targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea, claiming the attacks as a means of pressuring Israel to send aid to Gaza.

The spate of attacks has forced major shipping companies to pause transit through one of the world’s most important maritime trade routes.

The Houthi shipping lane attacks are among several ongoing incidents involving Iranian proxy groups that have raised global concerns of the Israel-Hamas war spilling into a broader Middle East conflict.​

Live updates: https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-12-31-23/index.html

 

Marines at Miramar speak very highly of both F-35 and Osprey. That beats the words of a civilian reporter that probably wouldn't now a PD fuse from a "sensor fused weapon" talking about F-35.

 

Parts of what you wrote, despite the radically different and divergent pictures we each have been exposed go to when it comes to this "show" you allude to keep (some) entertained, sounded so familiar to me that I honestly had to double-check to make sure I hadn't written it down! I don't know if you have watched the Korean television series Squid Game or not? If you have, you can look at some of what is going on that way: a bunch of unwilling or desperate contestants thrown into the ring, to see how debased and gruesome people can become just to survive. The answer, at least for anyone familiar with human history or Custom of the Sea, not all that surprising. Still, for the super-wealthy who have organized these games, the whole thing both entertainment and a little education or reminder (until the game turns on them of course). And the same for the rest of us who watch.

I am certainly a firm believer in evolution in all of its facets, including when it comes to human civilization. But I don't see much that I consider hopeful for our immediate future generations, as the falsehoods and faulty foundations of religious beliefs continue to be rightly exposed, without anything to prevent what would ultimately lead to forms of cannibalistic polity arising from this overly materialistic and self-centered nihilism taking its place. The experience of parts of the Islamic world (where Ghazali pretty much said the same things as Rene Descartes would say much later) might even be instructive of the dangers that lurk ahead, if Cartesian Doubt and justified skepticism suggest only a choice between either nihilism or stupid scriptural literalism (referred to also as religious fundamentalism). Politically, that experience is being reflected in the US right now, among materialistic/nihilistic fascists intentionally fueling hatred, on the one hand, and Christian evangelicals looking for signs of the validity of their (very compromised) faith by trying to give Bible prophesy a helping hand, on the other hand. (Basically, the twin-pillars propping up the GOP these days). The Democrats, in the meantime, seemingly unaware how their own focus on exclusively materialistic ideology, their own sins in constructing and protecting the fables of Zionism, along with the left's own frontal assault on faith (as opposed to mere falsehood), has actually paved all of this in the first place.

p.s.
The break you outline regarding a new phase arising from "post scarcity world" is interesting but IMO ultimately flawed. That and some other points I hope to be able to expand on later.

 

Good, stamp on them! If I stop posting here it's because I've been recalled to duty for this.

 

I have heard of Squid Games because I saw a trailer for it, but I haven't watched it because I don't like that kind of situation.

My "story" as you call it, is here because I have good reason to believe that we are finally in a position to take the leap for the next step of civilization.

Not only that, but I have a good feeling that we will soon be waking up spiritually and will be able to tell who is lying to us, and we won't be led astray by deceivers anymore. We will not need to choose between religion or nihilism but will be normal, free, and happy.

 

Partly simply to introduce people to traditions they aren't familiar with, and partly because what you say here about evolution of human civilization and spirituality made me think about them, let me share these quotes from two different expressions of such ideas many centuries from my Persian heritage here with you:

Tusi also explains how humans evolved from advanced animals [my comment: but more also how much farther humans have to go in that evolutionary path]:
[...] All these facts prove that the human being is placed on the middle step of the evolutionary stairway. According to his inherent nature, the human is related to the lower beings, and only with the help of his will can he reach the higher development level."
***
“I died as mineral and became a plant,
I died as plant and rose to animal,
I died as animal and I was human,
Why should I fear? When was I less by dying?
Yet once more I shall die human,
To soar with angels blessed above.
And when I sacrifice my angel soul
I shall become what no mind ever conceived.
As a human, I will die once more,
Reborn, I will with the angels soar.
And when I let my angel body go,
I shall be more than mortal mind can know.”

― Rumi”​

 

Partly simply to introduce people to traditions they aren't familiar with, and partly because what you say here about evolution of human civilization and spirituality made me think about them, let me share these quotes from my Persianate heritage:

Tusi (a 13th century Persian polymath) first explained his view of human evolution from advanced animals in his work on Ethics, but then pointed out just how much farther humans have to go in that evolutionary path when he noted:

[...] All these facts prove that the human being is placed on the middle step of the evolutionary stairway. According to his inherent nature, the human is related to the lower beings, and only with the help of his will can he reach the higher development level."​

Mowlana, given the pen-name Rumi because he had moved to an area (Anatolian peninsula), known as Rum in the Persianate world, expressed similar thoughts in his poetry:

“I died as mineral and became a plant,
I died as plant and rose to animal,
I died as animal and I was human,
Why should I fear? When was I less by dying?
Yet once more I shall die human,
To soar with angels blessed above.
And when I sacrifice my angel soul
I shall become what no mind ever conceived.
As a human, I will die once more,
Reborn, I will with the angels soar.
And when I let my angel body go,
I shall be more than mortal mind can know.”

― Rumi”

p.s.
sorry for the double post but the first one got garbled in the editing...​

 

It sure does sound like a Rummy wrote that/ Remember Mr Ed... the talking horse (Hey! Wilbur!)? Did he help compose that? Was he the animal that thought he was human in that paragraph? Or was it Francis, the Talking Mule who was so popular in the movies of the 1940's?

Do carrots speak to you too? Asparagus? Does your dog leave you notes?

Do you hang out with Dr Doolittle?

Even Lassie, that brilliant dog... never actually SPOKE!

 

You can look into the different theories about the issue, and how language emerged and evolved in humans, by starting here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_language
Origin of language

 

When both aircraft are operating normally their capabilities are unmatched, but there is no disputing both aircraft have high failure rates that is concerning to the Pentagon. Ward Carrol has an excellent YouTube channel. He is a retired Naval Flight Officer and flew both the F14 and F18.

 

Excellent news. We should also be destroying the source of the drones in Yemen.

 

If you want perfection, jump off a bridge. You won't find perfection anywhere in THIS life.

 

This is a picture of Iran's latest domestically produced corvette which joined the Iranian IRGC fleet a couple of days ago.

https://defence-blog.com/iranian-navy-commissions-futuristic-corvette/
Iranian Navy commissions futuristic corvette

 

Nice patrol boat.

Here's ours:

 

Kind of embarrassing isn't it .. our carrier groups now sitting ducks .. our Navy taken to task by The Houthi's .. Ouch.

 

What would constitute "Excessive Profits" to you Dayton ?

 

Your classifications are from another era based on tonnage. That little boat above, and the one below commissioned last year in honor of General Soleimani, are quite versatile in what they pack, including missiles, torpedoes as well as drones. Our bigger ships (we have some big Forward Base Ships as well) are meant mostly for logistical support and to be kept away from harm's way (if possible, as these big ships are often sitting ducks).



p.s.
Unfortunately, Iran's ships in and around the Red Sea are mostly of the "sitting duck" variety too, since they were placed there initially for anti-piracy operations, not to fight the US Navy. But since you have a big ship fetish, here are a few Iran has.

 

Nothing but sitting ducks that carry this crap

 

For a long time now our Carrier fleet has been obsolete against powers like Russia - China .. there are two kinds of Ships .. Submarines and Targets. Then came the anti ship missile obsolescence .. Russia was first then India and China joined in the Consortia .. A strong Nation state with this technology can simply overwhelm the ships defenses .. even if they could shoot these missiles down which is the most difficult of things to do in close quarters .. .. making these Carrier Groups have to operate 1000 miles from the coast.

Now this missile technology is more widely available .. to pretty much anyone with the cash. Then we have these sea drones .. well if a Sub was a nightmare .. what do you call these things ? impossible to detect. Heck .. we had a smaller Chinese Sub pull up beside one of our Carriers undetected many years back .. good luck with these Sea Drones...

and last .. back to overwhelming .. The ships have very limited ammo .. can fly small drone swarms till the ship runs out of air defense .. which isn't long .. then send in the cruise missiles.

War has Changed .. drastically .. Technology as spread ... and now our enemies have really good stuff .. such that we can't even risk an engagement with the Houthi's ... and the reason some say we have not bombed the Yemen .. as that would give the Houthi's cause to sink our ships. .. and wouldn't that be a slap in the face .. a Cold Water Wake up Call to those dreaming of the 90's and prior .. when we were Top Gun .. I have been preaching this for over a decade .. the writing on the wall .. but not with no crystal Ball .. just how the cycles of history of the rise and fall of empires go

As technology spreads .. the cost of projecting power increases to the point where maintaining hegemony bankrupts them that make the mistake of trying to maintain it .. but they all do .. last 3 world empires .. British Spanish .. Dutch .. the same general story.