A sudden jump, a leap of faith.
A leap year is not a leap of faith or a sudden jump condition in the stock market. My school never quite taught me why the month of February is suddenly cut down and we are then in the midst of the ides of March. Or who Greg or Gregor was that created the Gregorian calendar. Pretty unlikely to have been a McGregor. Probably a Gregorian monk in an abbey somewhere in the mountains. The calendar is simply an arrangement decided by people who have come and gone long before out times. In the overall scheme of things, a student learning about the leap year for the first time, says to one’s self how does it matter? The year has to be arranged somehow… Western Civilization won the world’s board game of RISK and everyone else who had calendars subjugated themselves to these monks. Previously China had its own calendar that involved various types of animals and festivals. If your only experience of the Chinese calendar is Leaping Tiger, Crouching Dragon then consider yourself lucky?
This blog experienced a sudden jump in the number of cities and small towns that have readers. The count jumped from 104 to 109. Most of those towns continue to be in California although Las Vegas has made an honorable appearance. I could provide you the graph but what would be the meaning? Unless we get to 1000, we won’t be able to sell merch. So far there are around 160-170 blog posts. We could make an item from each of the posts. And unless you’re an avid reader no one will understand what the merch means.
The word “avid” originates from Avidus which in Latin means “to crave” or “to desire”.
A leap of faith though is a big ask. It requires people to not just believe in creation but a particular story about creation. The universe created in 7 days is like saying you were a participant in Hell Week at a sorority. Locked up, first there was only darkness…. I’m sure you can imagine the rest. In military traditions, Army kidnaps a Navy and Navy returns the favor. A week later, hostages are released right before the Army vs Navy game, I presume. I don’t know if any of that is true, I do know there are fervent Christians in the military. You probably prefer the milder side of the story where the Creator’s jokes are hidden in equations, paradolia, pophenia and other curiosities.
For those of you who are from different parts of the world, whether you are in the military or not, welcome. You will soon realize that this blog is an eclectic and eccentric bits of writing or musings. The quirkiness is a feature not a bug. We often ask questions like “If, when, why, what, how and why not”. Asking these questions allows us to analyze a topic and look at it from different points of view.
“Every essay is a story, why should it be reduced to one line?” for example is a question that isn’t asked often enough.
If we solve homelessness, what will that do for the well being of all Americans?
“When am I slated to die in my individual timeline?” is probably too morbid for most people to contemplate. Although we will all die someday.
“What are the mechanics of The System apart from: Control, Power and Money?” is a question we will continue asking here.
How shall we eat a healthy and affordable meal is often the subject of many of these essays.
And for every why, the opposite should also be asked: why not? Simply to see where it leads. Example: Evil should not be eliminated. Why and Why not?
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In other news, there were three earthquakes around the world’s remote islands: South Sandwich Islands region, South of Fiji Islands, New Zealand’s South Islands town of Te Anau. The earthquake toll in Venezuela is getting close to 5000 people. US troops helped unload supplies from China at Simon Bolivar Airport.
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Florida-based Global Empowerment Mission (GEM), one of the leading nonprofits gathering and sending aid to Venezuela, said it aims to deliver 100,000 boxes of supplies monthly for the next three to six months, according to The Associated Press. "We land a private plane. It gets unloaded by U.S. soldiers. It goes in a truck we pay for and to a warehouse that we completely control. It doesn’t touch the hands of the Venezuelan government," he said.
Several U.S. military units are deployed to Simón Bolívar International Airport in Venezuela to support ongoing humanitarian and disaster relief operations following the devastating June 2026 earthquakes. [1, 2]
The deployed units include:
621st Contingency Response Wing (U.S. Air Force): Airmen from the Contingency Response Element (CRE) are helping local aviation authorities manage tower and ground operations, clear logistical bottlenecks, and conduct refueling operations. You can read more via the Air Mobility Command News.[1, 2, 3]
24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (U.S. Marine Corps): Marines are also in the airport's control tower and using landing craft to offload critical supplies. [1, 2]
Combat Logistics Battalion 8 (U.S. Marine Corps): Operating under Littoral Combat Force-24, these Marines are actively offloading water, food, and heavy equipment. [1, 2]
Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 365 (Reinforced) (U.S. Marine Corps): Also part of Littoral Combat Force-24, this squadron is using aircraft like the MV-22B Osprey and UH-1Y Venoms to rapidly airlift supplies to inaccessible areas. [1, 2]
For the latest deployments and mission updates, you can check the SOUTHCOM Press Release.
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New York became the first state to ban AI data centers.
Anthropic and Open AI are slated to go public in New York City in the fall and early January 2027.
We just think that’s fuckin’ funny. You’re welcome.
If you want some more serious reporting, you’ll have to read this entire link.
https://share.gemini.google/IS8DiV5mLOfe
https://docs.google.com/document/d/19sZ0Se6echVRTq5q1S57u1PpYf-z8VjEJ0xe4oB2XaI/edit?usp=sharing
Estonia, a country in Europe has been experiencing waves of drugs that are far more serious than fentanyl. The culprits can be traced back to the same labs in China that created fentanyl originally. We provide the names of the companies and the locations. These labs are providing peptides (covered in a prior essay) as Americans try “healthmaxxing” and thereby shut down their inherent and innate endocrine systems.
New synthetic drugs soon began circulating on Estonian streets, many of them so much deadlier that officers and addicts alike said they missed the seemingly simpler days of fentanyl.
“We wish we still had a fentanyl problem,” said Raigo Aas, the chief prosecutor for organized crime in Estonia.
The first new drugs to arrive, known as nitazenes, sent mortality rates skyrocketing again, proving even more addictive and harder to treat or quit. New varieties keep popping up, too, some more than 40 times stronger than fentanyl.
“Do you know why they call it the dog?” Irina Savina, 52, a nurse who helped launch a treatment center in Estonia, said of nitazenes.
“Because the nitazene addicts bark like dogs,” she said.
When Mr. Tretjakov’s supplier got arrested late last year, he was caught with a kilogram of nitazenes, but also 1.6 kilograms of the latest drug, cychlorphine — enough to cause eight million overdoses, the authorities said.
Yet cychlorphine was so new at the time that it wasn’t even illegal yet in Estonia; the authorities couldn’t charge him for it. The drug didn’t become banned in Estonia until this past spring.
Here are the known manufacturing addresses for the chemical entities identified in the supply chain, followed by an overview of the industrial zones they operate within.
Identified Manufacturing Addresses
Shanghai Sigma Audley New Material Technology Co., Ltd.: Room 901, Building 11, Lane 388, Baifu Road, Fengxian District, Shanghai, China.
Bigreat Technology / Zhengzhou DEPU Technology Co., Ltd.: Building 29, No. 403, Yingbin District, Huiji District, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China.
Guangzhou Tengyue Chemical Co., Ltd.: No. 307, Youyi Building, 8th Road, Luojia Village, Fuyi Road, Dalong Street, Panyu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
Hubei Amarvel Biotech Co., Ltd.: Room 1, 6th Floor, Science and Technology Building, No. 164, Development Avenue, Jianghan District, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
Shandong Believe Chemical Pte Ltd.: Room 574, Jiudingfeng Building No. 888, Changbaishan Road, Shandong Free Trade Zone, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China.
Anhui Rencheng Technology Co., Ltd.: Maanshan Road, Hefei, Anhui Province, China.
Industrial and Economic Development Zones These manufacturing entities frequently operate out of massive chemical industrial parks, economic development zones, and free trade zones that are heavily concentrated in provinces like Anhui, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Fujian, and Jiangsu.
Through domestic development initiatives like the Torch Program, the Chinese government has established high-tech industrial zones designed to promote commercial manufacturing by offering chemical companies subsidized land, tax incentives, and shared infrastructure. For example, Shandong Believe Chemical operates within the Shandong Free Trade Zone, while entities like HEFEI GSK Trade Co. (indicted alongside Anhui Rencheng Technology) operate out of the Shushan Economic Development Zone in Hefei. The vast scale of these state-supported zones, combined with the fact that these companies produce dual-use chemicals, makes it exceptionally difficult for international regulators to distinguish between legitimate pharmaceutical output and the illicit production of fentanyl precursors or unregulated peptides.
I have been told there may be MORE sites where these chemicals are manufactured. The six sites listed above span the entire country (not simply isolated in one part of China). That implies that this is not a rogue operation, this is sanctioned directly from Beijing.
This video features a lecture by General James Mattis (Ret.) as part of the Conversation with History series at UC Berkeley. He discusses leadership, historical context, and the importance of maintaining a balance between idealism and pragmatism in military service.
Key Takeaways:
The Divide Between Patriotism and Liberalism (0:00 - 1:47): General Mattis reflects on how the Vietnam War created a lasting societal rift in the U.S., resulting in a disconnect between some political ideologies and traditional patriotism that he believes persists today.
Learning from FDR (2:45 - 3:45): He highlights how Franklin D. Rooseveltsuccessfully persuaded the American public about the necessity of prioritizing the war in Europe (Hitler) over the immediate threat in the Pacific (Japan) after Pearl Harbor. Mattis argues that contemporary leaders lack this ability to compellingly articulate the "nobility" and strategic necessity of current conflicts.
Guarding Against Cynicism (5:13 - 5:44): His primary advice for young people entering the military is to actively guard against cynicism. He describes cynicism as a "refuge" that allows people to exempt themselves from addressing difficult problems.
Balancing Inspiration and Intimidation (5:44 - 6:51): Mattis emphasizes that American power relies on a dual approach: the ability to inspire (bringing out the best in others) and the ability to intimidate (maintaining an effective military). He argues that moral authority is less effective if not backed by credible force, and success requires a nuanced blend of both tools.
