Tiny House Christmas Miracle

#TinyHouse wins again!

Happy New Year, y'all!

US Army Officially Contemplates Small APCs

Summary: In the newest iteration of the #OMFV (#IFV) competition, the Army relaxed the passenger capacity requirement. This means that the contractors can offer a traditional 9-to-12-seat vehicle, a pair of smaller 5-to-6-seat vehicles, or an escort + an #APC. The up-to-15-vehicle fleet needs to deliver a 30-pax dismounted platoon.

Analysis: #Contracting-wise, this is good news. A requirement that focuses on the desired effect gives the contractors more flexibility to innovate, potentially saving money or lives. This is essentially #MissionCommand in #Acquisition.

Many people have studied alternative #AIFV and #mechanizedInfantry platoon designs for many years. The small APC idea has been around for awhile, but never caught on anywhere, except in #cavalry / #recce applications. The main obstacles to small APCs are: cost and C2. The 9-to-12 seat AIFV/APC (and 3-4-vehicle platoon) is more cost-effective. And theoretically, the #squadLeader can better maintain control and brief the squad before dismount.

Of course, soon after buying the M2 #Bradley, the U.S. Army started messing with the #platoon seat assignment. These days, the 2 dismount squads and the platoon HQ all get split up amongst the 4 Bradleys, squad integrity be damned. The British and Russian armies also split up their mech squads, though not as much as the Yanks. So the C2 argument is less relevant nowadays.

With modern manufacturing, and the greater survivability requirements, small APCs can be more cost-effective, too. As the PM said in the article, small APCs are lighter and cheaper. #PentagonWars.

#OIF has given the U.S.Army experience with small APCs, too. As I wrote in the Small APC Days of the #Dragoon's article, the #Humvee gun trucks are basically small APCs. The heavy battalions operated theater-provided humvees / #MRAP's alongside their #Abrams and Bradleys. This experience operating a mixed fleet likely made the Army more open to alternative vehicle concepts.

Tactically, small APCs make the mechanized infantry squad more capable, too. The WW1 #Stosstrupp innovation gave the infantry squad the ability to combine fire and maneuver, previously a Battalion / Regiment capability. The small APC gives the same capability to the mech infantry squad during the #ApproachMarch, too. The squad can split up and start maneuvering before dismounting.

Doctrinally, mechanized infantry is supposed to dismount far away from the objective, to protect the APCs / AIFVs from threat #antiTank weapons. As the PM said, small APCs can be more survivable, so small APCs can get closer to the objective without detection by the enemy anti-tank teams. This also means that mechanized infantry with small APCs might be capable of #tankDesant operations, dismounting right on the objective under fire.

The true destiny of the Mechanized Infantry is the #PoweredArmor, of course. The small APC is one step closer to the end state. Maybe this RFP will get us there.

Liquid Breathing As Coronavirus ARDS Cure

#Covid19 miracle cure. You are welcome. #liquidBreathing #perfluoroCarbon #Abyss.  

[Yes, you still need a #ventilator to help you breath. But patients do not need #sedation / #anesthesia. And the perfluorocarbon helps wash out all the #pneumonia gunk from your lungs.]

And this is also safer for the #medicalProvider's, because you have less #droplet's. #Coronavirus

Casualties of the Great Restoration

Summary: 1. The #Obama'ite [and #Clintonite] Washington #mandarin's are now cutting out the original #BidenCampaign crew in all of the cool jobs. The campaign crew stuck with Biden "[...] When all of the young cool operatives were flocking to #Beto and Bernie and Warren." So they are upset. Althouse: "The real trick will be Phase 2 — leaving #Biden behind. He's not cool."

2. #Progressive's are upset at Biden, too, for freezing out #Bernie and #ElizabethWarren.

3. #BLM is still waiting for some love from Biden, too.

Analysis: And the #DemocratEstablishment strikes again. When you elect an #Establishment candidate, this is what you get.

Of course the #DemocratParty platform is plenty Progressive-Adjacent already, but they still care about #WallStreet more than their base. To wit, Janet Yellen. No #DebtJubilee this time.

#TrueBeliever's always get purged after a Revolution, at some point. (Granted the Chinese Red Guards had a good run.) This is because #ideologicalPurity gets in the way of getting stuff done, inevitably. This 2020 election was not exactly a revolution, but the #moderate's really used the Progressives to muscle out the #Deplorables this time. So now is the time for the Moderates to toss the Progressives to the curb.

The Moderates will learn, soon enough, that nobody likes them anymore. They and Wall Street are what is holding America back.

Nagorno-Karabakh Quick Lessons.

Summary: #NagornoKarabakh

1. People are reviewing the 2nd Nagorno Karabakh War. And are concluding that Russia won at the expense of Armenia. #CdrSalamander pushes back against the ones clamoring for NATO/US Caucasus involvement. Cdr Salamander: So What Happened With Azerbaijan and Armenia.

2. Supposed secondary source reporting on the lessons of the war. Why Armenia seemingly did not react to patent opportunities. #theSaker. The Saker: The Karabakh War is Over, The Crisis is Not. What comes Next. [FB says #Unz . Com is #badThink. You was warned.]

Analysis: Everybody is looking at the 2nd NK war for lessons on a middle-intensity conflict. Perhaps the ubiquitous drone footage promises more than was the case.

Veterans Day 2020

They shall not grow old,

As we that are left grow old.  

They don't kill the children anymore.   Another appropriate clip to the current time.

Coronavirus and Political Hypocrisy 20201109

Summary: Philadelphia health commissioner [but not the mayor] is asking the celebrating-in-the-streets people to get tested for #Covid19 because of their close proximity to crowds.

Analysis: The mayors are probably all in the streets gladhanding people, too. #PartyOfScience #BedrockScience.

People say we have a #STEM shortage. [Thankfully no more #STEAM recently.] Yet people keep not majoring in STEM, or not working hard on their arithmetics. [Yes, all y'all on the calculators.] And then, of course, city councilmen are not STEM, almost all the time, let alone at higher levels. #Rhetorics do not match reality in America.

And of course any move to cut the arts to pay for more STEM brings out all the concerned parents, in some parts of the country. [Paper and pencil for arithmetic worksheets are cheap, of course.]

Oh, and of course, no plan for the police to actually arrest or cite any of the #mask-not-wearing people for violating #socialDistancing ordinances. Because, of course, #civilLiberties for me, but not for thee.

Pregnancy Medical News

Summary: 1. A Tennessee longitudinal study #CANDLE showed temporal correlation between maternal #VitaminD level and subsequent children's #IQ at ages 4-6. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-11-vitamin-d-pregnancy-linked-child.html h/t InstaPundit

2. Vitamin D level during age 0-1 #infant correlates with #bodyWeight #obesity later on. https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/411017/

Analysis: Is there nothing it can't do.

Caveat first that childhood IQ does not correlate well with adult IQ.

We generally do not think of Vitamin D as having anything to do with the neural system. So this study is very interesting. Perhaps the IQ effect comes from the #immuneSystem effects / #allergy's. Or the supposed effect on cell #differentiation.

Given that skin #melanin level correlates with Vitamin D deficiency in America, perhaps this explains some of the IQ #achievementGap. But given the noisy signal of childhood IQ, it is likely the adult effect is low.

We see here too that allergies, a known effect of Vitamin D deficiency, correlates with obesity.

Coronavirus News 20201105

Summary: 1. #Covid19-related #myocarditis only happened to 1.4-7.2% of 277 #kungFlu dead bodies. Most likely patients do not get myocarditis directly from Coronavirus, but rather the associated complications or #comorbidities. And this risk is likely low for most patients. https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2020/11/04/Heart-inflammation-from-COVID-19-less-common-than-thought/4441604499783 h/t InstaPundit

2. Long term #lung damage mechanism. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-11-covid-lung-persistence-abnormal-cells.html

3. Some people recover much faster from Covid19 than most people. This population confirmed existence. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-11-uncovers-subset-covid-patients-recover.html

Analysis: Some people were really freaked out by the potential heart damage. Even though they themselves do not ever utilize their full #cardiovascular capacity. Or they were worried for their teenage athletes. Even though American teenagers are fatter than ever.

Rejoice, for that risk is negligible.

Some people are always looking for things to get freaked out by.

The Minority Experience in Covid Schooling

Summary: 1. #NYT reports. Some Black parents prefer keeping their children home from school, because of less #microaggression and racial hostility from the other [presumably white, hispanic, and asian] children. They can also better monitor unequal treatment from the teachers. #Althouse post on online learning for some Black parents.

2. ABC reports. Some Black parents report their children are getting disproportionate and unfair treatment/punishment from the schools and justice systems. For example, Black girls are 5 times more likely to be suspended and 4 times more likely to be arrested. ABC News report on the schools' unfair treatment of Black girls.

Analysis: Children are cruel, everywhere. They are cruel enough in mono-racial societies, as Japanese and others' school bullying anecdotes attest. In a more integrated environment it can only be more toxic.

#HBCU and #HSI students have often testified to the benefits of a learning environment without racial distractions. Women's Colleges have touted their segregated environment as well. It is clear that, for some people at least, a learning environment with less distractors improve learning outcomes.

If IQ is the same as academic achievements, and if we want to maximize academic learning outcomes, then we should allow for some voluntary segregation in elementary schools. #SafeSpace's, in short.

Of course, life is not all about book learning. #EQ is important, too. So integration is necessary in other sectors. Such as divorcing athletics from schools, returning them to their intramural origin, for example.

Silicone Mask for Covid-19

Here is the same mask we have, if you want to buy from a vendor in America. Theirs cost more than buying from me. They do have more colors and sizes, if you want those options. Our filters cost less, if you want to use ours in their masks.

Here is their Facebook ad.

Exoskeleton in Anime: Obsolete

 #Obsolete. This is a very interesting little series on #exoskeleton / #powerArmor, and how that can change the military balance. It touches on the social dynamics of African #childSoldier's. And, as befitting the military #Otaku's, they get all kinds of military details correct. Obsolete  

 Very enjoyable vignettes. #ScenarioAnalysis.

Automatic real-time transcription

 For all y'all having #Zoom et al and wanting transcripts, here's a Volokh review of Otter.AI. Could be good for all your note-taking needs. Otter.AI review.  

Still no tools for capturing blackboard doodles, though.