Monday Miscellany!

[maxomai]

• RIP Joan Mondale, wife of former VP and Democratic Presidential candidate Walter Mondale.


• John Kerry offers the Palestianians a brand new reservation near Gaza, to compensate for illegal settlements and other land grabs in their present reservation on the West Bank. Neither side appears happy with this idea.


• California may soon run out of drinking water. By "soon," we mean 60-120 days. But global warming is a hoax.


• Tanks are a relic of 20th Century warfare that is losing its niche in the 21st Century. So why do we keep building them? A window into the politics and economics of defense spending here.


• Last week — before the Super Bowl — Jon Bois ran Madden NFL 25 pitting the best possible team the game would allow against the worst possible team the game would allow. After the best possible team racked up an estimated 366 points to the worst possible team's 0, the game died a horrible death before the end of the first quarter. As it turns out, he called the best possible team the Seahawks, and the worst possible team the Broncos. Cue Twilight Zone theme music.

Comments

Collapsium and contragrav

[arkham4269.livejournal.com]

Until we have advances to armor tech, the advantage has tipped to the defense. Plus they are too vulnerable to drones, helicopters and planes in the open.

HOWEVER, countries like the Ukraine, Israel and Russia are converting many of their tanks into super APC's or mega Infantry Support Vehicles. Tank warfare is pretty much over for now but a super IFV is about all that can survive the current IED warfare medium.

Worse...

[arkham4269.livejournal.com]

What makes it worse for the US is our winning tank design for both the M-60 and M-1 make a retrofit like the Ukrainians have been doing for awhile are not really that easy. Yes you can still make the super-IFV like the BTR-T (T-55 base) or the BMPT (T-72 base) out of a M-1 but neither tank could really be retrofitted to carry infantry due to the inherent design of the chassis.

But... but...

[keith418.livejournal.com]

What about...?