There's a place between England and Scotland where the eternal need to grab a neighbour's
land doesn't need to use pew-pews.

Might have a modern day 'Patton' as an Air Force General or psychological Go-Pills.

Quote:The head of the U.S. Air Force's Air Mobility Command, Gen. Mike Minihan, has issued an ominous warning about a looming future high-end conflict against China, likely over Taiwan. In response, he is ordering leadership under his command to work to ensure their units are as prepared as they can be for this potentiality. This goes right down to demanding that various personnel visit the shooting range to make clear that "unrepentant lethality matters most," with Minihan imploring them to "aim for the head."

These remarks and others from Minihan are included in a two-page internal memo, seen below, that has emerged on social media. TSgt. Zachary Boyer, a spokesperson for Air Mobility Command (AMC), confirmed to The War Zone that this document, which is future-dated February 1, is indeed authentic. AMC oversees the bulk of the Air Force's aerial refueling tankers and cargo aircraft, among other responsibilities.

"I hope I am wrong. My gut tells me we will fight in 2025. [Chinese President] Xi [Jinping] secured his third term and set his war council in October 2022," Minihan's memo says bluntly by way of introduction. "Taiwan's presidential elections are in 2024 and will offer Xi a reason. [The] United States' presidential elections are in 2024 and will offer Xi a distracted America. Xi's team, reason, and opportunity are all aligned for 2025."

"We spent 2022 setting the foundation for victory," he adds. "We will spend 2023 in crisp operational motion building on that foundation."

Still, AMC needs to "go faster," Minihan continues, adding that this will be the first of at least eight monthly directives from him. "Drive readiness, integration, and agility for ourselves and the Joint Force to deter, and if required, defeat China" (emphasis in the original).

A slide showing the OT&E requirements identified during the Fall PHOENIX Rally event, which took place last year, lists numerous organizational, training, and equipment-related items. Only one item, "Go-Pills," a term used to describe stimulants prescribed to pilots and other aircrew for very long duration missions, is marked with a green check mark, denoting it was already being "Completed / Ready for implementation" at that time. A number of others, including organization efforts to further improve "max endurance" and the acquisition of equipment related to things like "palletized munitions" are marked with yellow checks to indicate "In-Work / Some level has been accomplished."



There are also a number of unchecked boxes. These include a separate mention of palletized munitions operations in the training category, as well as equipment to help with things like "theater ballistic missile awareness" and command and control.

The most intriguing part mentions work on a concept for how to launch around 100 commercial-of-the-shelf drones from a KC-135 aerial refueling tanker. TSgt. Boyer, the AMC spokesperson, told The War Zone that is nothing to add "at this time" about the KC-135 drone launcher concept plans.
...
"I’m not interested in being the best Air Force on the planet," he said in a statement included in the recent 60th Air Mobility Wing's story about personnel training with their M4s. "I’m interested in being the most lethal force the world has ever known."

How inventive is this !!??

Apollo 1, initially designated AS-204, was intended to be the first crewed mission of the Apollo program, the American undertaking to land the first man on the Moon. It was planned to launch on February 21, 1967, as the first low Earth orbital test of the Apollo command and service module. The mission never flew; a cabin fire during a launch rehearsal test at Cape Kennedy Air Force Station Launch Complex 34 on January 27 killed all three crew members. Command Pilot Gus Grissom, Senior Pilot Ed White, and Pilot Roger B. Chaffee, and destroyed the command module (CM). The name Apollo 1, chosen by the crew, was made official by NASA in their honor after the fire.


NY Times, Jan 28, 1967:




(Top) Hours before tragedy, Apollo crew walks to spacecraft, Cape Kennedy, today 1967:


(Bottom) Apollo 1 crew was privately skeptical of the safety of the spacecraft's design and made fun of their skepticism by "praying" in this uncirculated photo, intended to be a joke but now ghastly in light of the tragedy that unfolded.


NASA photograph of Apollo spacecraft after tragedy of tonight 1967:




Patch for planned Apollo 1 mission:



Apollo 1 astronauts Roger Chaffee and Ed White, rehearsing in June 1966 for splashdown:




Horrifying to see in retrospect, Chrysler quality and safety poster featuring Apollo 1 crew:




Note handed to LBJ at White House:



LBJ's condolence letter to Roger Chaffee's parents:




Remember Apollo 1's Grissom, White, Chaffee, who perished today in 1967:




CBS special report announces death of Apollo astronauts in fire, tonight 1967:






NASA DAY OF REMEMBRANCE

Another first from Brien Foerster as Yousef gives him a tour of the square stone shafts carved into stone that are 3 levels deep under the Giza Plateau! 

Yousef explains when he was young he and his friens used to play in these shafts and even swim in some of them ( I assume he meant the parts that are closest to the Sphinx since that was the closest part to water at one time.

They explore the first 2 levels but Bien chickens out when Yousef  offers to take him down to the third (I bet Brien regrets that decision now in hindsight.)  
 

At 19:30 in this video, Yousef explains when he was a child his Father had showed him how the cracks between the blocks on the causeway could swallow sand all day long and never get full, and apparently that is still the case today, as he demonstrates

!

I have watched Bien Foerster videos for several years now as his guide Yousef takes him a lot of interesting places off the beaten path and explains things about famous places not generally known.

In this video he explores the wondrous place called The Serepeum with amaing huge stone boxes.

In this episode he goes into detail about one particular box that displays different level of workmanship on the outside.

At the 10:00 minute mark he points out a clear liquid that has dried that apparently was used to polish the granite.




During one of Briens livestreams I asked him if they had ever had that clear liquid analyzed.

He replied 'it is Bitumen'.

I found that a bit odd because Bitumen is always found as a black viscous liquid. After pondering it for a while the only thing I could conclude was this has to be a very concentrated version of it.

Team member Sander provides us with some very interesting examples of what NASA said were 'Ice Crystals' -

Great short interview jam packed with information