Drones and future wars

StrrategyPage has lots of essays on drones which alas I can't keep up with since this is outside my level of expertise.

But today there is a discussion of the treatment of Russian Casualties in the Ukraine war, and I came across this snippet:

The primary source of Russian losses has been Ukrainian drones. These drones come in an increasing number of types, and new models appear rapidly. Russia has been unable to compete. To make matters worse, Ukraine has developed an effective drone interceptor, further diluting Russian offensive efforts. Over the last year, Ukrainian long-range drones have intensified their attacks on military and economic targets in western Russia, including major cities like Moscow and St Petersburg. These attacks are bringing the war home to Russian civilians who have been told for years that Russian forces were winning.

this article is for later reading at my leisure:Weapons: Drone Wars Past and Future

In 2026, Ukraine plans to build at least eight million, and possibly ten million drones. They built about five million drones last year. In 2024, the total was 1.5 million drones. There have been problems. Chinese component producers are having a hard time keeping up, and last year, to assist the Russians, China halted sending drone components to Ukraine

those Chinese drones are spies for China here in the Philppines: Lots of underseas drones in the area, many being civilian drones. But China can control the regular drones too:  Philippine mission's China-made drone won't fly in West Philippine Sea

A China-made drone for a Filipino civilian mission to the West Philippine Sea would not take off, as it received prompts that required the operator to register the unit with Chinese authorities....,,According to Vonne Aquino's report on "24 Oras," the drone received the prompts even when the Atin Ito vessel was well within the Philippines, just 127 nautical miles from Mindoro...

and then there are the underwater drones:

MANILA — Five underwater drones found by Philippine fishermen were capable of gathering information that could aid in "underwater warfare", the country's military said Tuesday, noting at least one had relayed a signal to China.

That article is 2025.

StrategyPage essay on the latest aggression of China against the Philippines LINK

how to manipulate small meetings

first draft so excuse the mistakes and awkward writing

there are oodles of youtube videos on how to run meetings. Excuse my synicism but I remember the old encounter groups of the sixties where the leader guided everyone and everyone went along with them, except me because I was a stubborn nerd: I mean, I was a medical student at a time when less than ten percent of docs and less than ten percent of my class were women, so I was not obedient. It got so frustrating that I got a nurse to call me out of the meetings with medical problems that required my presence.

Most videos are how to do this, but this one is a good summary:15 Psychological Mind Tricks To Get People To Do What You Want

In Part 1 of this conversation, Fr. Murray takes apart the vocabulary: Sr. Nathalie Becquart calling synodality “a social prophecy” and “a grammar of peace”; the Synod Secretariat classifying Catholics who disagree not as people with differing views but as “resistance”; and the question nobody in Rome has answered — where in the world do we find a Catholic mandate to invent a church in a different way?

so this is how to manipulate people and a bit honest that they are doing it.

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this is first draft but the videos say what I want to say: It's a scam manipulating people, and of course normal folks end up leaving the meeting (as I did in the encounter groups of the sixties)  because they know the emperor is naked

TSP playing politics again with my retirement savings

 Instapundit reports TSP, the sefl investing retirement plan for govt employees, is playing politcs again with our retirement saving.

This time they are investimg money to promote DEI and Trumpieboy caught them at it.

Management contracts awarded for managing billions of dollars contributed by civil service employees to the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) for their retirement conflict with President Donald Trump’s executive order banning spending by federal departments and agencies on programs based on diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) concepts....

 

“It’s under the ‘Annual Reports’ section in which the FRTIB requests multiple data points that tie into left-wing DEI ideology. Among the information sought, the agency requires that BlackRock and SSGA/SSIM each ‘Provide a report on the investment manager’s use of women/minority owned brokers,’ ‘Provide data on the firm’s management composition as it relates to women/minorities,’ and ‘Provide a summary of the firm’s diversity philosophy,’” The Federalist report added.

The problem with the TSP mandating DEI activities among its contractors is that Trump’s March 2026 executive order required termination of all such programs within federal departments and agencies because under DEI concepts “employees, applicants, or contracting parties are treated differently, separated, or singled out based on their race or ethnicity, rather than treated equally and objectively based on their merit and without regard to their immutable characteristics.”

so why is TSP allowed to push DEI?

The TSP appears to escape the EO’s mandate because it manages billions of dollars invested by civil service employees but without a specific congressional appropriation for that purpose. As a result, the TSP is not sufficiently subject to the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) to be covered by the EO.

This is not the first time TSP has pushed policies that undermine the USA.

Back in 1990 they added a fund with overseas investments that included Chinese companies associated with the ChiCom military.

I wrote about it here.: and Trump stopped it LINK... more HERE.

more links from the past about the TSP board trying to send money to the Chicoms:: https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/372466 names behind the decision: 

AonHewitt was behind this: 

as my blog noted: 

Who is AonHewitt: Wikipedia article says an investment firm that cares for retiree funds. all over the world. Hewitt expanded into "China" in the early 2000s, before it merged with Aon. my blog back then noted: who is on the employee advisory council? Gov't website; (a) The Board shall establish an Employee Thrift Advisory Council. The Council shall be composed of 15 members appointed by the Chairman of the Board in accordance with subsection (b). so they are from various labor organizations but are appointed by the chairman of the board. How convenient.

I haven't followed the investment stuff since then, but it sounds like the board was infiltrated by those with an agenda. 

 

dog

doglove

so yes your dog loves you.

and we have puppies....

our latest puppies are being weaned

The Watchdogs including the father and mother of the puppies.

Rain rain go away

Phil Star Article: No don't blame all the money supposed to be used for flood control that disappeared, it is the heavy rains causing this.

Actually we have had heavy rain/thunderstorms almost every day so this is true.

and now maybe a typhoon is coming:

MANILA, Philippines — The massive flooding that hit parts of the country was caused not only by issues involving flood control projects, but also by the unprecedented volume of rain brought by recent weather disturbances, President Marcos said yesterday. After a situation briefing with Central Luzon local officials in San Fernando, Pampanga, Marcos said heavy rains had overwhelmed the country’s flood management programs.

 

Marcos noted that the government is also eyeing long-term flood control projects, including the construction of river dams in Nueva Ecija and a long dike that could extend to Bataan.e.

Al Jazeera's Jamela Alindogan reports from the northern Philippines, where inundated communities are demanding answers. Residents say they are ready for the potential for monsoon flooding, but are angry that flood control measures they say were paid for seemingly do not work. pic.twitter.com/eeQ3mXcAQU

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) August 22, 2026

.....

WATCH: Barangay officials found undersized and allegedly substandard steel bars in a damaged flood-control project in Claudio Salgado, Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro.

Several sections collapsed last week following continuous rains brought by the southwest monsoon or Habagat. | via… pic.twitter.com/3PaSyuGiSO

— GMA News (@gmanews) August 23, 2026

....

but it's not corruption, garbage blocking the sewers and drainage systems, or the substandard flood control projects that used shoddy cheap construction instead of paying for decent materials and construction: It's climate change. DUH.

The floods that submerged many parts of Luzon due to the southwest monsoon are indeed a result of climate change, as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday stressed that these are not only due to anomalous flood control projects.https://t.co/l30POY0bwg

— Politiko (@Politiko_Ph) August 24, 2026

more hereL

the Papal Posse dares to say the emperor is naked

News stories ignored and conspiracy coverup: you mean the crazies were right?

The rains have kept me inside for most of the last week, so I have been listening to podcasts etc.

Well that will increase your paranoia.

Example one: the Covid coverup is slowly crumbling.

 Covid conspiracy was real??

this is of course an ongoing story and the worse part?? that the major medical journals haven't corrected their misinformation.

Then you have this scandal.

 

so where are the stories about this? Who knows. Probably the same place that ignores the sex trafficking of street kids in poor countries. 

And then you have the ongoing story of the casting couch in Hollywood;

the part of the discussion about seducing a kid you raised is of course about Woody Allen. But it reminded me of Tale of Genji: He kidnaps a young girl and raises her and then "marries her" and it is clear that the girl was raped/traumatized. 

Nothing new under the sun I guess...

   

another story being ignored: That China is being aggressive against the Philippines and Viet Nam in the West Philippine sea.

from StrategyPage

The situation in the South China Sea is becoming more difficult for China because the Philippines has implemented measures to reduce the Chinese threat by curbing corrupt Chinese influence in the country. That is the main reason why the new Filipino government is canceling three Chinese-financed railroad construction projects worth nine billion dollars. ....The cancellation of these projects has been under consideration for over a year due to vague loan terms and China's failure to perform. The Chinese are believed to be using the loan program as a weapon to coerce the Philippines into making concessions in the South China Sea.

A national opinion survey conducted at the end of June found that Filipinos trusted the United States, Australia and Japan the most while trusting China and Russia the least. ... Until China expanded its “lost territory” claims to the South China Sea nearly two decades ago. China was seen as a potential ally of, and investor in, the Philippines.

 

Despite numerous Filipino diplomatic efforts, China refused to compromise on its claims.

at this point, China is seen as the greatest threat to the Philippines, especially since the Chinese appear to have additional claims on Filipino territory and independence as a nation.

They will try to claim Luzon as part of China if not stopped...

however, the country whose risk from Chinese expansion is usually ignored: Russia. China once owned Siberia and has a lot of workers there who could be a fifth column if invaded. Hence China encouraging Russia in the Ukraine probably has more to do with making Russia weak than in hurting NATO...

the USNavy is having problems on on an aircraft carrier and the peace group mothers are making a fuss, which resulted in moving   an aircraft carrier from near VietNam to the Middle East. 

Was the kerfuffle by the peace activists that got an exaggerated scandal on an aircraft carrier that caused the USN to remove it from the middle east influenced by Chinese minions in the peace movement? 

Who knows.

The USNavy has been having problems for years and it will probably take years to fix it, alas.

and on StrategyPage, many of the essays are about drones. Hmmm... I am just too lazy to keep up with the drone news, but it says a lot that the big beautiful ball room that was politicized to criticize Trump was more about drone attacks on meetings in tents outside the WH than about his vanity, not to mention the need to build a new bunker below the WH a la GreenBrier bunker.

So who is behind the hysteria that distort such obvious news stories