Reader Note: We turned the ad flow down so there should be fewer of those full page splash ads on phones. Also, we got rid of some other problems so the site should be back to fast and stable now and loading fairly fast. Let me know if you find anything broken! I’ll skip the long discussion of render-blocking content security polices for another day, lol…
“Just what the hell is a “future vector?”
It’s when significant “information” about a possible future shows up…from more than once source…in a very short period of time. And it just happened to me…
A bit of summer “woo-woo” – one of those stories that should be told (or read) while sitting around a campfire with a cool drink and stars out overhead…..
This particular episode began on Wednesday afternoon. My “consigliere” called. He was taking some time after prepping all afternoon for some state supreme court cases in his specialty (tax law).
We got to talking about the Webolution and while doing so, went on in some detail about where the militaries of the world are putting their money-down on future wars.
“You know the Chinese now have two carriers – and the latest which came out a couple of months back in on sea trials…”
Yes, I’d been following that.
“And you also know that even if they don’t get down the catapult technology, more and more countries are going to the “jump jets” and that means shorter range, but a much faster launch-time…”
“Uh huh…” I knew that one, too. Then he said some things that got the brain cells firing.
“Thing is, China will probably not make the same mistake that Japan did in WW II.”
“Which was?”
“Japan could have won the Pacific side of the war IF they had just put landing parties ashore and taken Hawaii. See, if they did that, we would not have that dandy mid-Pacific supply depot. We would have had to launch against Japan from one of three places: The Aleutians, the West Coast, or we would have launched from first Australia and then on up into the Philippines. Would have been an awful mess…”
I quickly agreed. “That that would have changed the nature of the Japanese wartime industry. Because with such long patrol times for subs and surface ships to get on-station, the Allies shutting down the Japanese oil from south Asia would have vanished and that would have been all she wrote.”
“True. If they don’t make the same mistake this time, it will mean they should be about to start mass production of aircraft carriers to project power. And then maybe a new type of landing craft…”
“Some to take Taiwan with, no doubt. When they get to it. In the meantime, though, they could take the US by just landing containerships at specific West Coast ports and coming ashore. It would be hard to step them. Toss in some air support around Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles from, oh, Mexico is tight with Japan and could be a Fifth Column, and that would give us the “Man in the High Tower” kind of outcome just 80-years after the fact….”
“They wouldn’t use container ships. Too easy to clog up the port with a few sunken ships. Those channels are what? 120-feet deep, or so? No, that’s where the “new landing craft” would come in. You know, there weren’t LST’s and such before WW II – the terrain in Europe and the Pacific demanded a new and faster way to offload onto land to rapidly engage….Gotta remember the channels into the container ports are less than 120 feet deep so with not too much air power, they could be blocked with a sunken ship…”
I made a note to look at the Port of Los Angeles approach plates in the NOAA charts. NOAA Chart 18751 with sounding in feet showed my consigliere (as usual) was spot-on:
From: http://www.charts.noaa.gov/PDFs/18751.pdf
Since my consigliere and I are both rather accomplished sailors, was came into focus for both of us was that any far-future Chinese landing on American soil would likely come with a new-type of landing craft – one that might be field-tested in Taiwan, and which would be able to cross an entire ocean and then come ashore in a meaningful way.
“How about they come in to British Columbia – they already are an occupying country of Vancouver, after all…”
The conversation went on from there and most days – with scores of such “deeply knowledge-based conversations” with sources all over – that would have been the end of it.
And it was….until Thursday morning in the pre-dawn hours.
An Echoing Post?
You see, that was when I looked at a post from Phil – a long-time reader in Austin. You’ll understand why when you read it:
George,
Just had the most vivid dream in years.
Was in Alaska, in a small coastal community with industrial fishing infrastructure. Dark cloudy skies. Suddenly appearing on the shore: hundreds of large construction and utility type vehicles, guys in hard hats, a few people with bull horns telling us what to do. “Get inside, go nowhere, this is an emergency situation…” Walking down the shore to the building where my people are, I see even more equipment, hundreds of men, some with AK47, wading ashore, nobody in uniform except the “utility” garb, overalls and hard hats. A woman with a bullhorn explained again that we would need to stay inside while “the important work is done to prepare” for something.
At some point, maybe an hour later, I tried to walk out towards the shore again, which was just across the parking lot of the building, and was stopped immediately by armed men and told to go back. It was obvious some massive construction was taking place, they were already pouring concrete pillars that extended from shore into the water. Like some underpinnings of a giant ramp.
WWWIII felt very much like a reality. It was no civilian force swarming ashore to build something. The coveralls and white hard hats looked like costumes, the men looked military. The only woman was the bullhorn lady.
Phil”
There you have it: From two distinctly different aspects of my life: Both dealing with a “foreign force” and a ‘coming shore’ and an occupation of American territory and within a total of 18-hours on the clock.
I don’t sit around thinking about this level of stuff all day. Been working like crazy on the website and oh, so much more. Writing, researching…but THIS?
Make of it what you will.
My sense is that in one of those “alternative futures” we talk about, China does decide to just let the middle of America “burn out” on its own. But with lots of timber, who knows how much mineral resource and, oh year, isn’t there more oil up in the ANWAR? Who’s to say China would take the calculated risk that outback Alaska is not worth Global Thermo Nuclear War over.
Sort of like the Russians when that ran that same calculus and (so far correctly) figured that the US would not go nuclear over their taking the Crimea.
Interpret as you will…just a damn interesting tale, to be sure. Two water/war/ocean-origin “landings” over a very short period of time (less than 24-hours). To my fragile tiny mind that just shouldn’t happen that-a-way….
Have a great weekend and do something nice for the boss (yourself), while you’re at it…
Write when you get rich (or the landing craft come ashore…)
George@ure.net
Very interesting post.
I wonder, though, why China (or anyone for that matter, would bother with a military invasion when they can accomplish the same thing economically/ politically. Less muss, less fuss.
You forget or probably don’t know that the Chinese have millions and a. CLose relationship with real estat located just 40 miles offshore. The
Bahamas. Want to hear about the 8k workers imported to complete a resort or that the Chinese are now major land owners on Bimini,
Grand Bahamas and new providence. Tiger Wu is nobody’s fool I wish I could say the same for the corruption as usual Bahamian government tai fook which had reported alleged ties to the underworld in Macao is the owner operator of the largest resort in the Bahamas let the chips fall here they may
I suppose anything is possible – especially when you have a president who believes he is more popular than Abe Lincoln was . . .
Actually, Ol’ Abe wasn’t all that popular while he was alive. It wasn’t until he became “Our Martyred President” with the accompanying myth-making that he became the historical figure enshrined in our history. And he provided the template for the Kennedys.
Pop Stars more important that Politics?
Twitter follower’s statistics: Mr. Trump (p.s. he’s VERY sensitive about HIS RATINGS!!!)is at THE BOTTOM!
Katy Perry 107 million (lost 3 million)
Justin Beiber 106.7 million (lost 2.7 million)
Obama 101 million (lost 2 million)
Kardashian 60.2 million (lost 2 million)
TRUMP 53.4 million (lost 310 thousand)
https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/07/13/trump-obama-katy-perrys-followers-vanish-in-twitter-account-purge/
Lincoln had poorest showing of any President (only 39.8% of popular vote, and 4 yrs later, only gained 1% in the North – went from 54% of the North to 55%of the North)
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/evidence-unpopular-mr-lincoln
MDS.. He might just go down in history as one of the best presidents in American history.
Without any support from congress he’s been able to do significantly more than any president in my lifetime..
I truly believe he wants to help the laborers in America. Will he do things I don’t like..well if he doesn’t then I would be worried.
He doesn’t need money he’s already famous..he’s at the twilight of his life..what better than do the best to rebuild a broken country and strengthen its economy.
Lol now George WHAT other country would like/want this old morally, spiritually, fiscally dis-functional country,warmongering,greedy with more fatal diseases in its society than any other country on the planet,in any sane world the other countries of the world would put this country under quarantine, so it could’nt infect other countries other societies until it grew up or a cure was found.Well we can all dream I guess…
Call me callous, but it would be far easier for the Chicoms to depopulate Subharan Africa. Lots of resources, mineral and natural, farm land, etc.
And the Africans have zero effective militaries and they don’t have nukes.
And the Africans are not armed to the teeth like the civilian populace in the central red states from border to border.
The most heavily armed people & the ones responsible for most gun violence are in the blue states & are Democratic (blue) voters. They are the gangs & other criminal organizations, criminal types, & drug addicts.
If gov’t wasn`t corrupt, the drug epidemic & our gun problem would have already been eliminated. But the democrats feed on violence, so why would they want to stop it.
This could rather easily be accomplished in stealth mode using racially specific bioagents. The Chinese could then come in to help out. They would then lock down the place with a benign dictatorship for any survivors. They would be praised as humanitarian(by some) and could then consolidate the region to preclude attack. Then extract resources.
Conquering the USA(if they cared to) could wait until Africa was accomplished fact and they had supply lines in place.
Why do poorly trained solders & thugs like the AK-47.
Hence the AK-47. For instance, one example, what does a panicky grunt do under fire? He grabs his rifle and hits the fire selector and pulls the trigger. Our guns go from safe to single shot to full auto, which is nice and linear and logical, but they knew that would mean ninety-nine times in a hundred their guys would panic and ram the selector all the way home, and thereby fire off a whole magazine on the first hasty and unaimed shot. Which would leave them with an empty weapon right at the start of a firefight. Which is not helpful. So the AK selector goes safe, then full auto, then single shot. Not linear, not logical, but certainly practical. Single shot is a kind of default setting, and full auto is a deliberate choice
They have more soldiers than we have citizens.
Visit ODCMP for your very own M1, plus a crate of Danish, to help you sleep.
Be able to ruck a few miles, find your blade of grass, keep living and loving until the balloon goes up.
Teaching my kids that skills pay the bills, not opinions.
Inoculate ourselves from the Webolution, and stay out of Portland on the weekends.
Liquid fuels is a huge Achille’s heel.
Unless of proper proof on the liquid fuels, lol
The Japanese didn’t leave a landing party for two main reasons – their carrier attack fleet, which was trying to end-run American air patrol surveillance, would have had to include troop transport and amphibious landers, slowing the fleet movement and enlarging their visible footprint to air surveillance. Second, and most importantly, Japan’s supply lines to Hawaii (or long-term for Alaska for that matter) would have stretched the Imperial navy seriously thin in December 1941. The Japanese perimeter in July 1942, six months after Pearl, only extended as far East as Wake Island, Tarawa and Kiska in the W. Aleutians (and the Aleutians were a head fake to try and pull U.S. naval resources from Midway. RE: the Chinese fleet taking LA – my first thought is to let ’em have it. But the reality is America’s surveillance net (air, sea and space) would warn the nation well ahead of Chinese carriers approaching strike distance. Every drone (air, surface and subsurface) on the Left Coast would await them, as well as standoff stealth weapons launched from U.S. bombers standing off from the carriers at a safe distance (carrier fighter aircraft have limited range). Included in the U.S. response would be microwave, laser and directed energy unmanned weapons that would severely damage and likely cripple the Chinese fleet. Their attack would amount to large scale suicide.
A miscommunication over U.S. shooting down a sub:
Evidence found on the bottom of the sea, scroll all the way down to see pic:
https://specialoperations.com/32096/uss-ward-fired-first-us-shots-wwii-pearl-harbor/
Unhappily and unfortunately, the “citizens” of Kalifornia would welcome all invaders as new immigrants to be given all the entitlements that are provided. Furthermore, since Brownifornia is doing it’s best to confiscate and remove all of the “assault weapons’ from the populace, who is left to provide ant defense ?
Hawaii:
1. Didn’t destroy the energy sources; easy pickens, oil storage.
2. Didn’t destroy the water infrastructure, a couple of bombs would do it; and
3. Left the port facilities essentially intact.
Ergo, life could get back to normal in no time.
As for the AK-47. Maybe the auto lock is a valid point, but the reason it’s widely used is that its very reliable. Drop it in the mud, pick it up and it still shoots. Not a great rifle for distances, but who cares, the enemy is often less than 50′ away.
Wasn’t it Emperor Hirohito who said something to the effect of “We can’t invade America….there’s a gun behind every tree!”
China does not play chess. They play GO. How to control more territoty with minimum resources.
War is very costly in time treasure, resources people.
Much bettr to control thru trade,investments,banking, and having surogates do war stuff, proxy wars,involving your enemies or competitors. Read SUN TZU.
Not gonna happen at this time.
“if they don’t get down the catapult technology, more and more countries are going to the “jump jets””
Hmm..I think they already have it down. Especially since they build ours.. The same thing with the middle guidance systems..
Wasn’t it rand Paul that got all excited when it was discovered that a sub program was written in the chips gleaning control and guidance control information. Remember Iran didn’t shoot down a drone..they took control and landed it.
Now think back for a bit.. A couple of administration’s ago.. We weren’t able to maintain the toll roads..we sold them..the same thing with our ports of entry.. Then consider Russia’s Klub-k and that we check less than what five percent of the incoming containers..
Now on your circle where those are listed on the outer edge list that issis leaders openly bragged that they were sneaking in fighters posing as refugees..
Go in and add another circle.. On this circle place food imports.. These could easily be infected with a biological agent and openly distributed.. Lets say the mumps or some other illness.. Another post on this circle place medications .. Almost all of our medications are produced in another country.. Take generic eye drops produced in a factory in an area where water is imported from the great lakes for their consumption..in that area are dump ponds that are so acid that the oh scale is at 1..(wanna desolve a car) life saving saline solutions are also made and distributed from a manufacturing plant without water guidelines and controls.
Add another item on the list. Corporate farms.. Yup other countries ave been buying farms
Grain exporting (hmm all with the a ok from our friends in D.C.)
Packing houses..
Chemical and biological research..all done on foreign soil..
Draw another circle.. On this one.. Banking..
Loan mortgage centers.. Need a cheap easy loan..how else does someone making sixty grand year qualify for a quarter to half mil home..each contract has clause.
Now I have seen a UN military convoy and mobile units..
Lets just guess maybe sixty klub-k containers are here distributed around the country.. Lets guess ten thousand issl fighters distributed in small groups. ( remember that religious faction follows old testament laws of the Quran to the letter)
Our Congress out ignorance or negligence and just because they are to lazy to sit and write and read what they are actually passing..has opened up our country..
If I was a chess player and wanted to take control of the country..how would you do it..get the people to welcome you without a fight. Become the guiding light..a catastrophic event or illness be the one there to give them a hand up. Right now. Our industrial factories are pretty much non existent. In almost every sector we have let ourselves become dependent on those that don’t have our best interests in mind.
It is kind of like the major financial changes I have to make here at home. I am doing exactly what the puppeteers are doing.. Making the changes very gradual..let everyone get use to the micro changes ..
A member of the family..showed me his method of getting close enough to a deer when he was out hunting that he could shoot it with a bow and arrow.
Watching him you would swear he wasn’t even moving..yet look away and look back he was closer.. All in plain sight..I swear he could have slapped the doe..
Its all in plain sight.. Create the need then be the one with the solutions..
://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tlzyQSIm8AU
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tlzyQSIm8AU
The Invasion of the USA was STOPPED by Chuck Norris….1985…and we have had peace and prosperity since then….ya’ll are so forgetful
Perhaps Phil’s dream involved, not an invasion, but preparations for repelling a pending invasion?
In a lucid dream, he’d have noted and remembered if the soldier/workers spoke with an accent, and a female commander or XO in a scenario like the one envisioned sounds to me, more like a FEMA op. Also, SF and USCG use AKs frequently. Their arsenal isn’t limited and, as Dell said, you can drop it in mud, water, sand, leave it for hours if you want, pick it up and it shoots — reliably, like Glock and SIG sidearms…
Also, the AK shoots a round that’s much more massive, with much greater stopping power, than a 5.56NATO (M-16, among others.) Beyond about 150-200yds the drop becomes horrendous, but for street-sniping or CQB where one is unconcerned about collateral damage, they’re excellent weapons, and cheap.
That said, the U.S. will never be invaded using brute military force because it is unnecessary. It would be far too easy to manipulate the Beltway idiots into inviting an invasion force in…
George, FYI the Kitco graphs are back at the bottom of the page again, and so are the “reply” buttons. Good work and thanks!
Building and maintaining a first class nation requires investment in infrastructure rather than “feel good” things. Here’s a video of the top 11 countries with the fastest passenger trains:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN5lkasJ7Tw
Guess what? We’re not even on the list! Time to get moving. Copy the success of the leading edge, not some untried tech with minimal gains over the best current implementations. If we stop fighting with each other, perhaps we could build more things to be proud of.