Pentagon Pontificates on Pilots

The Pentagon (the building in Washington with four walls and a spare) issued a statement today claiming that Russian pilots intercepting a US drone acted in “a reckless, environmentally unsound, and unprofessional manner.” The Russian pilots are no doubt searching for a safe space to seek shelter while they recover from these hate-filled remarks. The Pentagon is treating these Russian pilots like they are American conservatives.

"Environmentally unsound?" There's not a "green" version of a modern warplane. These machines are built to destroy things. They are not used to water flower gardens. Next week the Pentagon will be attacking the Russians for the lousy gas mileage that their tanks get. 

The only thing that the Pentagon left out was to criticize the pilots for picking on a "drone of color". There was no word on the exact position of the drone at the moment of contact. The Pentagon will insist that it was in international waters and the Russians will insist that it was in Russian airspace. Both countries have been playing this "see how close we can get " game for more than 70 years. That's why the drone was there in the first place. Imagine a Russian plane cruising the airspace over the Gulf of Mexico. Would we react? You can bet your Biden we would.

We have been shipping lots of military equipment to the Ukraine. The Army has recently taken delivery of the new armored personnel carriers that will replace the M113's that have bee in use more than 60 years. According to the website Task and Purpose, "The initial fielding of the AMPV comes amid a push within the Army to accelerate the acquisition of the new armored personnel carrier to replace the hundreds of M113s transferred to Ukraine amid the ongoing Russian invasion of the country, as our colleagues at the War Zone previously reported." Did you catch that part about "hundreds of M113s transferred to the Ukraine? The Army will get 72 of the new AMPVs in fiscal 2023 and 197 in fiscal 2024. Yet we have sent hundreds of the old ones to the Ukraine. We are taking equipment from our troops to give the Ukraine. What will we use until they are all replaced? Are we stripping our cupboards bare to help the Ukraine? We are so busy defending them that we won't have any equipment left to defend us. That's reckless and just stupid. Call the dumbass representing you in Washington!

Gavin Newsome, the "Hair Gov," has been pushing for the federal government to cover all of the losses at Silicon Valley Bank. He never mentioned that some businesses that he owns bank there. A bank officer sits on the board of a charity run by Newsome's wife. And the story goes on and on. Somewhere on Newsom's body is a tattoo that reads "Rules for thee, but not for me."

In the almost traditional NCAA tournament upset today, the Virginia Cavaliers were stunned in the last few seconds by the mighty Furman Paladins. There goes the "bracket" of everyone who lives outside of South Carolina. 

If Furman winning didn't upset the "Bracket people" enough, later in the day Princeton beat Arizona. I thought that Princeton had quit playing basketball after Bill Bradley graduated almost sixty years ago. Apparently, I was wrong.

Today is Saint Patrick's Day. This is a day marked by Corned Beef and Cabbage at the Jones house. Our tradition does not involve drinking until one passes out. I don't drink alcohol at all. I prefer a more natural form of insanity. I live in fear that I might insult someone on these pages if I consumed alcohol.