Friday Film: USS Enterprise in "Yankee Do - A Story of Sea Power"

Saturday Is Old Radio Day - "It's a Wonderful Life" (1947) Lux Radio Theatre with Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed

Friday Film - Navy Chaplains "Yuletide Reflections - Vietnam" (late 1960's?)

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report, 16 November – 14 December 2022

U.S. Navy Office of Naval I... by lawofsea

On Midrats 18 December 2022 - Episode 643: Cyber Lessons of the Russo-Ukrainian War

Please join us at 4pm EST for Midrats Episode 643: Cyber Lessons of the Russo-Ukrainian War

There is still a lot of fighting to be done in the Russo-Ukrainian War, but important lessons can already be drawn from the first 10-months of conflict.

One of the most hyped "new" domains of war the last three decades has been what is generally referred to as "cyber." Its growth in interest and buzz paralleled the decline and neglect of a more traditional form of modern war, Electronic Warfare.

This Sunday we're going to do a deep dive in what we are seeing, what we thought we should have seen but haven't, and how this should inform present support and future policy in the area of cyber.

Our guest for the full hour this Sunday from 4-5pm Eastern will be Shashank Joshi, Defence editor at The Economist.

If you are looking for a read-ahead, "The Digital Front" in the December 3rd edition of The Economist would be a good start.

If you do miss the show live, you can pick up this episode and others and add Midrats to your podcast list simply by going to you use Apple Podcasts here. Or on Spreaker. Or on Spotify.

Saturday Is Old Radio Day - "The Man in the Red Coat" The Challenge of the Yukon (1941)

Hat tip Tyler Mitchell

Friday Film - Soviet Union, former co-belligerent of Nazi Germany in attacks on Poland, sucked up U.S. aid in WWII

The Soviet Union and Nazi Germany agreed to split Poland as part of an agreement to recognize "spheres of influence" in the nation lying between them. So in 1939, they both invaded Poland, Germany from the west and the Soviet Union from the east. See Soviet invasion of Poland:

Source US Holocaust Memorial Museum*

The Soviet (as well as German) invasion of Poland was indirectly indicated in the "secret protocol" of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact signed on 23 August 1939, which divided Poland into "spheres of influence" of the two powers.[8] German and Soviet cooperation in the invasion of Poland has been described as co-belligerence.[9][10]

The Red Army, which vastly outnumbered the Polish defenders, achieved its targets, encountering only limited resistance. Some 320,000 Poles were made prisoners of war.[4][11] The campaign of mass persecution in the newly acquired areas began immediately. In November 1939 the Soviet government annexed the entire Polish territory under its control. Some 13.5 million Polish citizens who fell under the military occupation were made Soviet subjects following show elections conducted by the NKVD secret police in an atmosphere of terror,[12][13][14] the results of which were used to legitimise the use of force. A Soviet campaign of political murders and other forms of repression, targeting Polish figures of authority such as military officers, police and priests, began with a wave of arrests and summary executions.[Note 5][15][16] The Soviet NKVD sent hundreds of thousands of people from eastern Poland to Siberia and other remote parts of the Soviet Union in four major waves of deportation between 1939 and 1941.[Note 6] Soviet forces occupied eastern Poland until the summer of 1941, when Germany terminated its earlier pact with the Soviet Union and invaded the Soviet Union under the code name Operation Barbarossa.

Naturally, once Hitler turned eastward, the Soviet Union became an "ally" in the fight against the Nazis, leading to its need for aid in the fight. That aid was extensive as set out in World War II Allies: U.S. Lend-Lease to the Soviet Union, 1941-1945

Even before the United States entered World War II in December 1941, America sent arms and equipment to the Soviet Union to help it defeat the Nazi invasion. Totaling $11.3 billion, or $180 billion in today’s currency, the Lend-Lease Act of the United States supplied needed goods to the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1945 in support of what Stalin described to Roosevelt as the “enormous and difficult fight against the common enemy — bloodthirsty Hitlerism.”

 

"Bloodthirsty Communism" could have been trotted out, too, with good reason. The Soviet Union's "unclean hands" seem to linger on today in the Putin regime.

*Map source

On Midrats 11 December 2022 - Episode 642: A Week of Maritime Good Tidings?

Please join us at 5pm (EST) on 11 December 2022 for Midrats Episode 642: A Week of Maritime Good Tidings?

From the NDAA to some rather positive words from the SECNAV on some of our favorite maritime areas of concern, so far December has produced a few positives to think about - if you don't think too much about the Army-Navy game on Saturday...

This week's Midrats free for all will start here and then we'll work our way around the national security landscape.

As always, open topic, open phones ... so come join us for the conversation.

If you do miss the show live, you can pick up this episode and others and add Midrats to your podcast list simply by going to you use Apple Podcasts here. Or on Spreaker. Or on Spotify.

Saturday Is Old Radio Day - Two Sherlock Holmes Christmas Shows

"The Night Before Christmas (1945) and "The Adventure of the Christmas Bride" (1947). Hat tip: Old Man Radio.

After the Attack on Pearl Harbor - The Role of the Sikorsky JRS-1

Friday Film - "Building The Consolidated PBY Flying Boat"

Friday Film - North Korean Brainwashing During Korean War "The Ultimate Weapon" narrated by Ronald Reagan

Saturday Is Old Radio Day - Gunsmoke "Ball Nine, Take Your Base" (1959)

On Midrats 4 December 2022 - Episode 641: December Maritime Free For All

Please join us at 5pm EST for Midrats Episode 641: December Maritime Free For All

Now that you’re in that time where you’re trying to make that transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas & New Years saturation … give your stomach and mind a break and join EagleOne and Sal for a maritime and national security free for all this Sunday from 5-6pm Eastern.

As is usual with our free for all format, the studio line is open for you to call in and the chat room will be running for your questions, observations … or even topics you wish we’d discuss but it seems we never get around to.

In the course of the hour we’ll try to at least touch on this week’s warship chicken in San Diego, why everyone should care about secure undersea infrastructure, and take another look at how the logistics failures by the Russians ashore informs planning for logistics planning for a major Pacific war at sea.

Come join us!

If you do miss the show live, you can pick up this episode and others and add Midrats to your podcast list simply by going to you use Apple Podcasts here. Or on Spreaker. Or on Spotify.

This was not a "near collision" nor was it "too close for comfort"

I don't care what others say, this was not a "near collsion."

The ships were in communication and agreed to a starboard to starboard passiing.

Both ships were under control.

Both ships manuevered properly on their agreed plan.

Visibility was excellent.

Calling this anything except routine operations by professionals is an extreme exaggeration.

Calm down.

Two Navy ships just got too close for comfort in San Diego Bay

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report, 26 October 2022 -23 November 2022

U.S. Navy Office of Naval I... by lawofsea

Saturday Is Old Radio Day on a Monday: Dick Powell "Diamond In the Rough" (1949)

Friday Film: Inland Port of Toledo, Ohio (1963)

Thanksgiving

In our hectic lives, is it not a good idea to have a day on which to be thankful for all the blessings you have and to wish for others to have their own good things?

No one is harmed when you are thankful for the new child or grandchild or for friends or the shelter above your head or for a year of life - or for the memories of those who may have left us - leaving us with those rememberances of smiles, words of wisdom and love.

Not only is no one harmed, but your own life is enriched by being thankful for such things.

In short, have a most Happy Thanksgiving!

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report, 19 October 2022 -16 November 2022

U.S. Navy Office of Naval I... by lawofsea

Friday Film on Sunday - THE F2H-2 BANSHEE AIRCRAFT SYSTEM (1953)

Sometimes Sunday IS Old Radio Day - Red Skelton Thanksgiving November 1941

A little pre-WWII nostalgia.

On Midrats 20 November 2022 - Episode 640: Pre-Thanksgiving Maritime and Natsec Feast

Please join us at 5pm ET on 20 November 2022 for Midrats Episode 640: Pre-Thanksgiving Maritime and Natsec Feast

What do you need to know to make sure you have all the right talking points around the Thanksgiving table?

If someone brings up the Navy, China, Ukraine, inflation, or supply chain issues - well, we know Midrats regulars are already up to speed - but now's your opportunity to make sure all your talking points are up to date!

No guests, no set agenda, just open phones, open minds, and open chat room for those who are with us live.

Don't be stuck talking about twitter or Taylor Swift this Thanksgiving!

If you do miss the show live, you can pick up this episode and others and add Midrats to your podcast list simply by going to you use Apple Podcasts here. Or on Spreaker. Or on Spotify.

Saturday Is Old Radio Day - "Junkyard" from X Minus One (1956)

On Midrats 13 November 2022- Episode 639: Elections Have Consequences

Please join us at 5pm EST on 13 November 2022 for Midrats Episode 639: Elections Have Consequences

Every election cycle provides a preview of what advocates for national defense and sea power will have on their side - or not on their side - in the next Congress.

New people arrive, experienced people leave, and priorities, agendas, and advocacy will shift change with them.

What can we expect in the next Congress based on changes we see and those national security issues waxing or waning in the mind of legislators and their counterparts in the Executive Branch?

Politics matter.

Our guests for the full hour to discuss the implications of this years election in the national security arena, will be Claude Berube and Derek (Dirk) Maurer.

Claude Berube, PhD, is the author of “On Wide Seas: The US Navy in the Jacksonian Era” and several other books. He has worked on Capitol Hill, in the defense industry, and the Office of Naval Intelligence. A Commander in the US Navy Reserve, he is currently assigned to a unit with Navy Warfare Development Center. Since 2005 he has taught in the Political Science and History Departments at the US Naval Academy.

Dirk Maurer served as the Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Defense Continuity and Mission Assurance and as DASD for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction. At the beginning of the Trump administration, he was responsible for overseeing the confirmation of all Senate-confirmed personnel and worked confirmations on the Presidential Transition team. He was DASD for Defense Support and Civil Authorities during the George W. Bush administration

Mr. Maurer has served on multiple Senate committees and in the personal offices of three Senators. He retired from the Marine Corps Reserve after twenty years. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington and a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University Law Center.

If you do miss the show live, you can pick up this episode and others and add Midrats to your podcast list simply by going to you use Apple Podcasts here. Or on Spreaker. Or on Spotify.

Friday Film: Veterans Day 2022

Veterans Day

To all those who served or who are serving, enjoy the day! And thanks!

Photo by the late Captain Virgil Gant, USNR, CO of MIUWU-108, Corpus Christi, when this photo was taken. The pilots of the US Customs P-3 were also part of the 108 crew, serving their country as reservists and federal agents. Prior to Desert Storm, we worked with both Customs and the Coast Guard along the South Texas coast and in other locations. MIUWU 108 was one of the units called for duty in Port Security/Harbor Defense during the first Gulf War.
 

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report, 5 October 2022 -2 November 2022

U.S. Navy Office of Naval I... by lawofsea

Saturday Is Old Radio Day: Sherlock Holmes "Murder in the Casbah"

Friday Film- "Seabees: The Navy's Fighting Construction Men"

Halloween Old Radio - "The Screaming Woman" Suspense (1948)

Ray Bradbury wrote this

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report, 28 September- 26 October 2022

U.S. Navy Office of Naval I... by lawofsea

Night Before Halloween Scary Radio -"Behind the Closed Door" from the Mysterious Traveler (1951)

Saturday Is Old Radio Day - "Haunted House" Abbott and Costello (1947)

Friday Films "Replenishment at Sea" (1965) and "Seaplane Tenders"

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report, 21 September- 19 October 2022

U.S. Navy Office of Naval I... by lawofsea

On Midrats 23 October 2022 -Episode 638: The Case for a 600 Ship Navy: Now More than Ever with Joseph Sims

Please join us at 5pm EDT on 23 October 2022 for Midrats Episode 638: The Case for a 600 Ship Navy: Now More than Ever with Joseph Sims

When was the last time the US Navy made the case for a significantly larger navy to defend its interests on the high seas?

Yep, back when Ole Sal was a Midshipman and EagleOne was as close to his service in Vietnam than Sal was to his service in Afghanistan - the 1980s.

What lessons can we take from that relatively successful intellectual, political, and personal struggle to grow our Navy?

Using his recent article in Naval History Magazine, Lessons from the 600-Ship Navy, as a starting point for our conversation, our guest for the full hour will be Lieutenant Joseph Sims, USN.

Lieutenant Sims is a Surface Warfare Officer and 2018 graduate of the US Naval Academy where he majored in history and completed four years on the varsity tennis team. He completed his first division officer tour on USS LASSEN (DDG-82), where he served as the gunnery officer and electronic warfare officer and completed deployment to 5th Fleet with the Truman Strike Group in 2019-2020 as well as deployment to 4th Fleet in 2020. Following completion of the Advanced Division Officer Course and Prospective Engineering Officer Course in Newport, RI, he reported to USS ANTIETAM (CG-54) in August of 2021 as the Main Propulsion Assistant.

If you do miss the show live, you can pick up this episode and others and add Midrats to your podcast list simply by going to you use Apple Podcasts here. Or on Spreaker. Or on Spotify.

Saturday Is Old Radio Day: Horror "The Thing on the Fourble Board" (1948)

Friday Films- "The Eyes and Ears of the Arctic - the DEW System" and "MSTS Arctic Operations"

Simplifying things by using unmanned tools

Interesting piece from Sam LaGrone at USNI News Navy Wants 100 Unmanned Ships Monitoring Middle East Waters by Next Year

The United States and its allies want a force of 100 unmanned surface vessels patrolling waters from the Red Sea into the Persian Gulf by next summer, the commander of U.S. 5th Fleet said on Tuesday.

“We’ve established a goal to have 100 unmanned surface vessels available for patrol in waters around the Arabian Peninsula by the end of the summer of 2023… with a majority of the systems coming from our international and regional partners,” U.S. 5th Fleet commander Vice Adm. Brad Cooper said during an address at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

For the last year, U.S. Central Command has been the test bed for an experimental force of long-endurance unmanned systems at sea married with artificial intelligence tools on shore to look for military threats or illegal activity. Unlike some of the high-end drones used by the U.S. military, the information and sensors for each individual system are unclassified, with their output beamed back to a maritime operations center for a human to make a decision when the AI system detects something out of the ordinary. The effort is known as Task Force 59.

We're talking sensor here, not armed units. But these sensors ease the burden on manned units by being out there 24/7 and constantly reporting back to base, at which decision about any action required can be made. The more units out there, the harder for "bad guys" to hide what they're up to.

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report, 14 September- 12 October 2022

U.S. Navy Office of Naval I... by lawofsea

On Midrats 16 October 2022 - Episode 637: Can You be Realistic About the Real World - with Emma Ashford

Please join us at 5pm EDT on 16 October 2022 for Midrats Episode 637: Can You be Realistic About the Real World - with Emma Ashford

A nation’s foreign policy is driven by more than just the whims and desires of the Chief Executive. Through government, academia, institutions, and individuals of influence there are a variety of different schools of thought on what should underpin the decision making process.

Well known general descriptors of these schools include “interventionist,” “isolationist,” “internationalist,” and even well known sub-species of the major schools who are known by the actions they wish to take - usually that involve the use of military power - “Responsibility to Protect,” to “Nation Building” to the old saw from over a century ago, “Make the World Safe for Democracy.”

One long-standing school that has gained attention and influence after the experiences of the last two decades from Afghanistan to Ukraine is, “Realism.”

What is the history of a “realist foreign policy,” its advocates, its intellectual foundations, and what does it have to offer the United States today?

Our returning guest for the full hour is Emma Ashford.

Emma is a Senior Fellow with the Reimagining US Grand Strategy program at the Stimson Center. She is also a nonresident fellow at the Modern War Institute at West Point, and an adjunct assistant professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University.

Her first book, Oil, the State, and War: The Foreign Policies of Petrostates, was published by Georgetown University Press in 2022.

She was previously with the Atlantic Council’s New American Engagement Initiative, and the Cato Institute. She holds a PhD in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia.

If you do miss the show live, you can pick up this episode and others and add Midrats to your podcast list simply by going to you use Apple Podcasts here. Or on Spreaker. Or on Spotify.

Saturday Is Old Radio Day- "Strange Passenger" (1952) from Inner Sanctum

Friday Film: Submarine Salvage

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report, 7 September- 5 October 2022

U.S. Navy Office of Naval I... by lawofsea

Saturday Is Old Radio Day - "Three Skeleton Key" (1950) with Vincent Price

Halloween is coming!

Friday Film: U.S. Coast Guard at War on Foreign Shores

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report, 31 August - 28 September 2022

U.S. Navy Office of Naval I... by lawofsea

Saturday Is Old Radio Day: "War of the Worlds" Orson Welles (1938)

Friday Film - ASW "Challenge from Below" (1950s)

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report, 24 August - 21 September 2022

U.S. Navy Office of Naval I... by lawofsea

On Midrats 25 September 2022 - Episode 636: AUKUS at 1-year, with Alessio Patalano

Please join us at 5pm EDT on 25 September 2022 for Midrats Episode 636: AUKUS at 1-year, with Alessio Patalano

In September of last year, the national security story was the announcement of AUKUS - trilateral security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Though the Russo-Ukrainian War quickly took it from headlines, it is still moving forward - and in ways you may not expect.

These three Anglosphere nations have a long cultural, diplomatic, economic, and military history together - so many of the building blocks are already there to make something impressive.

Using his recent article in the Australian Strategic Policy Institute as a starting off point, our guest for the full hour returning to Midrats this Sunday will be Dr. Alessio Patalano.

Alessio is Professor of War & Strategy in East Asia and Director of the King’s Japan Programme at the Centre for Grand Strategy at the Department of War Studies (DWS), King’s College London (KCL). Prof Patalano is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (FRHistS), Adjunct Fellow at the Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies, Temple University Japan, a Visiting Professor at the Japan Maritime Command and Staff College (JMCSC) and a Senior Fellow at the highly influential think tanks Policy Exchange and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). In 2022, he also became fellow at the Royal Navy Centre for Strategic Studies, and Sir Herbert Richmond Fellow in Maritime Strategy at the Council on Geostrategy.

If you do miss the show live, you can pick up this episode and others and add Midrats to your podcast list simply by going to you use Apple Podcasts here. Or on Spreaker. Or on Spotify.

Saturday Is Old Radio Day - "The Bum Steer Matter" (1957) Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar

Excuse the construction

Experimenting with slightly new look

Friday Film: "The Plane Captain- Carrier Type Aircraft (1950)

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report, 17 August - 14 September 2022

U.S. Navy Office of Naval I... by lawofsea

Saturday Is Old Radio Day- Ray Bradbury "The Earthmen" from Escape (1951)

The typo in the title to video is acknowledged.

On Midrats 18 September 2022 - Episode 635: Mid-September Melee

Please join us at 5pm EDT on 18 September 2022 for Midrats Episode 635: Mid-September Melee

Labor Day is behind us, school is in session, and winter is coming. That can mean only one thing - it’s time for a Midrats mid-month melee!

For the full hour this Sunday, EagleOne and Sal will take a bit from the headlines, a tad from the history books, and whatever shows up in the chat room or the studio line.

From DC to Ukraine, to the other side of the International Date Line, we’ll try to squeeze it in.

We'll distribute your defense, integrate your lethality ... whatever it takes.

As with every melee, if it is interesting and in the maritime or national security arena - we’ll take it on.

Open chat, open phones, open topic - come join us!

If you do miss the show live, you can pick up this episode and others and add Midrats to your podcast list simply by going to you use Apple Podcasts here. Or on Spreaker. Or on Spotify.

Friday Film - "Canals Towpaths West" (1963)

Before modern highways, the easiest way to move goods was on rivers and then on the canals and towpaths. The U.S. is fortuneate to have rivers that could be connected by the hard work of our ancestors in creating a internal line of communication. This film is a look at the history of such projects, but bear in mind that our rivers, canals, and other inland waters still provide a tremendous highway for logistics.

Update- A map of the navigable inland waters of the US:

Important Read - "Beijing’s Window To Attack Taiwan Comes Sooner Than Plans To Rebuild the U.S. Navy"

From Brent Sadler and Jackson Clark at Heritage -Beijing’s Window To Attack Taiwan Comes Sooner Than Plans To Rebuild the U.S. Navy

China is flying missiles over Taiwan and into Japanese waters, in just another sign that Beijing may be closer to trying a military takeover of Taiwan than most believe. Given how long it takes to build modern warships, the U.S. needs to start building now if it is to have the fleet needed to deter Chinese aggression.

Read the whole thing (it just takes a few minutes).

Photo is of Boston Navy during WWII.

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report, 10 August - 7 September 2022

U.S. Navy Office of Naval I... by lawofsea

Saturday Is Old Radio Day - Sam Spade "The Death Bed Caper" (1948)

On Midrats 11 September 2022 - Episode 634: Looking West to the Taiwan Strait, with Dean Cheng

Please join us at 1200 on 11 September 2022 for Midrats Episode 634: Looking West to the Taiwan Strait, with Dean Cheng

The People's Liberation Army Navy has her capital ships underway and under construction. The Japanese Navy continues her plans to grow in a way not seen in a century, and the lessons on the other side of the Eurasian landmass in Ukraine are shuffling long held assumptions concerning food, fuel, demographics, and economics.

We're going to cover this and more with returning guest Dean Cheng.

Dean is the Senior Research Fellow for Chinese political and security affairs at the Asia Studies Center of The Heritage Foundation. He specializes in Chinese military and foreign policy, and has written extensively on Chinese military doctrine, technological implications of its space program, and “dual use” issues associated with China’s industrial and scientific infrastructure. He is the author of “Cyber Dragon: Inside China's Information Warfare and Cyber Operations.”

Before joining The Heritage Foundation, he was a senior analyst with the Center for Naval Analyses, a federally funded research and development center, and a senior analyst with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC, now Leidos), the Fortune 500 specialist in defense and homeland security. He has testified before Congress, spoken at the (American) National Defense University, US Air Force Academy, and the National Space Symposium, and been published in the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.

If you do miss the show live, you can pick up this episode and others and add Midrats to your podcast list simply by going to you use Apple Podcasts here. Or on Spreaker. Or on Spotify.

Friday Film - Deployment of Poseidon Nuclear Missiles

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report, 3 - 31 August 2022

U.S. Navy Office of Naval I... by lawofsea

PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: Triangle Rail Project Won't Receive Federal Funding

Back in September, I suggested that the Regional Light Rail System being developed for the Raleigh-Durham area was a waste of money and a candidate for Porkbusting. The project was added to the Porkbuster pages. Letters were written to Senators and Congressmen. The Senators (both Republicans) responded with letters indicating their support for the project. However, as reported on February 6, 2006, here:

On Monday, the federal government gave the TTA proposal a low rating and announced that no money for the Triangle Rail is in the president's budget. Despite the news from Washington, D.C., the local commuter effort will continue because of the need. The TTA says federal funding is not the only means in which the rail system could be built.

I have held off announcing success in the battle against this expensive project because well, these things never really seem to die as well-said here at Talking about Politics:

Ronald Reagan used to say the closest thing to eternal life on earth was a government program. I’m beginning to think the Triangle Transit Authority is may prove his point. The News and Observer reports that yesterday Senators Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr wrote the TTA that the Federal Transportation Administration had “thoroughly examined” the TTA’s light-rail project and “the initiative does not meet the current required standards, nor the former standards.” The bottom line: TTA will not be eligible for federal funding. The Senators added, “the rail project is likely not an option for the region; we therefore believe it is time for TTA to explore other possibilities.” Amen. Did that please the TTA? Not one bit. It rolled-out old warhorse (and now TTA’s legal counsel) Wib Gulley for a late-night news conference to respond. Gulley said: Not so. According to Gulley the TTA has discovered it left 132,000 commuters out of it’s computer model – and the new model will give a better chance of getting its hands on federal money. The problem is we’ve heard that before. It’s almost become TTA’s standard response to a no – we have to redo the computer model. The TTA has been going on for ten years and its proposal has grown from $100 to $800 million. It is a bureaucracy fighting for the government equivalent of eternal life – so that whatever happens it can keep on keeping on at taxpayers’ expense. And it’s got politicians like Raleigh Major Charles Meeker – who is apparently heart-set on light-rail whether it’s needed, justified, and no matter what it costs – helping them. These folks have been burning through taxpayers’ money for ten years and it’s time they stopped. Senator Dole and Senator Burr gave the TTA some good advice: Move on. When the federal government – which normally has never seen a pork-barrel project it doesn’t like – says your project is a waste of money, it’s time to give up.

Note that the final (?) knife in the project was its omission from the Federal Budget offered up in February, while the Talking about Politics piece appeared in December. Maybe a sign of how dead this project is lies in the headline of this report: "Raleigh Councilman Wants To Redirect Regional Rail Project Funds" and the Councilman's comments:

To date, the Triangle Transit Authority has spent more than $140 million on the Triangle Regional Rail Transit System, which would provide a commuter rail line between Raleigh and Durham. But with funding resistance from the federal government, Raleigh City Council Member Philip Isley wants the city's share of the money back. "I don't think anybody who has looked at this objectively would disagree the federal government has done pretty much everything possible to make sure this does not occur," Isley said. "We've got a pot of money out there that's not being utilized. My hope would be that we could take a look at it." About $7 million a year from a rental car tax goes toward the Regional Rail project. Isley wants the City Council to lobby the Legislature to let Raleigh and Wake County use the tax money for road and school needs.

"Funding resistance from the federal government" - what a funny way to phrase a denial of the money because no one can cook the books enough to show that the rail system will be anything but a money pit. In any event, there is one possible spark of life left in the federal funding path and a plea for local taxpayers to foot the bill in this line:

The TTA will know by Sept. 30 if the project is permanently derailed from federal support. Even if it's not, Worthy says the project could continue with local funding.

It may never die.  UPDATE: If you are wondering why this thing popped up, a link that was valid in 2006 seems to have been taken over by evil forces and Google asked me to fix it. So - I removed the link and the post from 2006 is back with us. And taxpayer money is still being wasted on boondoggle projects like that described. So . . .

Saturday Is Old Radio Day - "1984" with Vincent Price - Lux Radio Theater (1955)

Friday Film: Torpedo Juice "Otto Fuel II"

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report, 27 July - 24 August 2022

U.S. Navy Office of Naval I... by lawofsea

Saturday Is Old Radio Day- Escape "The Boiling Sea" (1954)

On Midrats 28 August 2022 - Episode 633: The Use and Misuse of Our Military Attachés

Please join us at 5 pm on 28 August 2022 for Midrats Episode 633: The Use and Misuse of our Military Attachés

Networks, local knowledge, human terrain, and even gossip. It does not matter if you are a tourist, a diplomat, or an invading army – if you come into a foreign nation you need local knowledge, a guide – someone who can not just tell you where the head is, but the important parts of the intangible nature of any culture that simply does not come from a briefing book.

And it needs to be someone you trust.

Likewise, as social animals, from the middle school lunchroom to the United Nations, we have our “in-group” and the “out-group.” Friendly, hostile, or aggressively neutral, out-group people are racked-n-stacked based upon their perceived threat or value.

Do they have power? Do they have access to power? Can they get information I need, or are they a reliable path to deliver information? Are they worthy of trust by me, and do they have the trust of their “in-group?”

When it comes to bi-lateral military relations between nations, at least on paper one of the most important players is the military attaché.

This Sunday we will be looking at the United States’ military attaché ecosystem along the spectrum of how they should be used, how they are being used, and how we could better use them in the service of our nation’s interests.

Our guest for the full hour will be Colonel Raymond M. Powell, USAF former Air Attaché to Vietnam from 2013 to 2016, and the Senior Defense Official/Defense Attaché to Australia from 2017 to 2020.

We will use his recent article at DefenseOne, DOD’s Diplomats Don’t Need More Rank, Just Less Disdain, as a starting point for our conversation.

If you do miss the show live, you can pick up this episode and others and add Midrats to your podcast list simply by going to you use Apple Podcasts here. Or on Spreaker. Or on Spotify.

Friday Films: Seaplanes and Black Cats

Saturday Is Old Radio Day - CBS Mystery Theater "The Figure in the Moonlight" (1978)

Friday Film: "The LCVP (Landing Craft, Vehicle Personnel) (1944)

How to Get Ready for Confronting China With Naval Air, Surface, Unmanned Gear, Marines, and - Stratospheric Balloons

If you missed Midrats Episode 632, you missed an interesting discussion of how to gear up by the 2030's using current tech while awaiting those long term projects that may arrive in the 2040's.

Our guest was Bryan Clark, who with his co-author, Tim Walton wrote Regaining the High Ground Against China: A Plan to Achieve US Naval Aviation Superiority This Decade, which I encourage everyone to read. These gentlemen propose an approach to getting ready for confrontations in the waters, countries, and islands of the area involving the Philippine Sea, South China Sea, Taiwan Strait and the various chokepoints in that region. It's a pretty extensive document that we just barely scratched the surface of in the hour we had to discuss it.

However, if you are wondering how to keep the Chinese from assuming that the U.S. Navy will "do what it has always done" then the piece's suggestion of building forces for "flexible" operations that allow commanders to play "mix and match" instead of being forced to do what the Chinese are preparing for - well, there are lots of good thoughts in the argument presented by Clark and Walton.

I suggest reading the piece first, then listening to the discussion. Otherwise you might miss excellent images like this:

Listen to "Episode 632: The High Ground in the Western Pacific, with Bryan Clark" on Spreaker.

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report, 13 July - 10 August 2022

U.S. Navy Office of Naval I... by lawofsea

On Midrats 14 August 2022 -Episode 632: The High Ground in the Western Pacific, with Bryan Clark

Please join us at 5pm EDT on 14 August 2022 for Midrats Episode 632: The High Ground in the Western Pacific, with Bryan Clark

All it takes is a quick look at a map or a quick read of history to understand that any conflict in the Western Pacific will be dominated by naval forces, logistics, control of the air, and the ability to sustain all three.

Extending our conversation on Midrats this summer about the challenge from China, this Sunday returning to Midrats will be our guest Bryan Clark, a senior fellow and director of the Center for Defense Concepts and Technology at Hudson Institute.

The starting point for our discussion will be the report he co-authored with Timothy Walton, Regaining the High Ground Against China: A Plan to Achieve US Naval Aviation Superiority This Decade.

Before joining Hudson Institute, Bryan Clark was a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) where he led studies for the Department of Defense Office of Net Assessment, Office of the Secretary of Defense, and Defense Advanced Research Products Agency on new technologies and the future of warfare.

Prior to joining CSBA in 2013, Mr. Clark was special assistant to the chief of naval operations and director of his Commander’s Action Group, where he led development of Navy strategy and implemented new initiatives in electromagnetic spectrum operations, undersea warfare, expeditionary operations, and personnel and readiness management. Mr. Clark served in the Navy headquarters staff from 2004 to 2011, leading studies in the Assessment Division and participating in the 2006 and 2010 Quadrennial Defense Reviews. Prior to retiring from the Navy in 2008, Mr. Clark was an enlisted and officer submariner, serving in afloat and ashore submarine operational and training assignments, including tours as chief engineer and operations officer at the Navy’s Nuclear Power Training Unit.

If you do miss the show live, you can pick up this episode and others and add Midrats to your podcast list simply by going to you use Apple Podcasts here. Or on Spreaker. Or on Spotify.

Friday Film: Espionage Target: You (1964)

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report, 6 July - 3 August 2022

U.S. Navy Office of Naval I... by lawofsea

On Midrats at 3pm EDT 7 August 2022 - Episode 631: China’s Decade to Win

Please join us at 3pm on 7 August 2022 for Midrats Episode 631: China’s Decade to Win

Speaker Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan managed to bring the national security eyeballs back to the Western Pacific after half a year in Eastern Europe.

The People’s Republic of China has not been distracted by the Russo-Ukrainian War any more than she was with our two decades distraction in Central and Southwest Asia. She remains focused on two things:

• Pushing America to her side of the Pacific

 

• Establish herself as the primary regional and then global power.

Where does China stand today, and where is she heading for the rest of the decade?

We have a great guest this Sunday at 3pm Eastern to dive in to these and related topics, James E. Fannell, Captain, USN (Ret.)

Jim concluded a near 30-year career as a naval intelligence officer specializing in Indo-Pacific security affairs, with an emphasis on China's navy and operations. His most recent assignment was the Director of Intelligence and Information Operations for the U.S. Pacific Fleet following a series of afloat and ashore assignments focused on China, as the Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence for the U.S. Seventh Fleet aboard the USS Blue Ridge as well as the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier strike group both forward deployed to Yokosuka, Japan. Ashore he was the U.S. Navy's China Senior Intelligence Officer at the Office of Naval Intelligence.

In addition to these assignments, he was a National Security Affairs Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and is currently a Government Fellow with the Geneva Centre for Security Policy in Switzerland and the creator and manager of the Indo-Pacific Security forum Red Star Risen/Rising since 2005.

If you do miss the show live, you can pick up this episode and others and add Midrats to your podcast list simply by going to you use Apple Podcasts here. Or on Spreaker. Or on Spotify.

Saturday Is Old Radio Day - "Everyone Forgets George's Birthday" Burns and Allen (1946)

Friday Films: Seventh Fleet (1957) Formosa Patrol and Taiwan Strait Crisis 1954-1958

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report, 29 June to 27 July 2022

U.S. Navy Office of Naval I... by lawofsea

On Midrats 31 July 2022 - Episode 630: July Farewell Maritime Free For All

Please join us at 5pm Eastern on 31 July 2022 for Midrats Episode 630: July Farewell Maritime Free For All

The Russian Navy HQ in Crimea had a Sunday visitor, China continues to be prickly about its neighbor's guest list, the Navy gets a new oiler (yes, that is sexy), Sal wrote a couple of things that got people's attention, and we are just a couple of months away until winter hits the slogfest in Ukraine.

Of course, that is just for starters because in a Midrats Free-For-All, you never know where the conversation will take us - and if you don't like where we're going, you can nudge us your way because the chat room and phones will be open.

If you do miss the show live, you can pick up this episode and others and add Midrats to your podcast list simply by going to you use Apple Podcasts here. Or on Spreaker. Or on Spotify.

The art is from the Naval History and Heritage Command- "Sailors on the Fantail" (1943) by Mitchell Jamieson.

Saturday Is Old Radio Day - "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" (1947) from Escape

By Ambrose Bierce