OT: this is the closest I've ever come to *actually* wanting an $80k watch. My favorite color, and a G-shock with radio time setting and solar recharging.
"sorry, a digital watch will never fall into the "exquisite beauty" category for me."
Me neither, actually! I wouldn't call this exquisite beauty either, but do I love that color, and unlike most watches with a comma in the price, I'm pretty sure I could bleach it when I got it bloody, and probably not have to treat it with exquisite care in general. Certainly I wouldn't have to *wind it.*
(TBH, a G-shock is like a work truck: it doesn't look right if it isn't a little beat up.)
I vowed to purchase a pair of those Origin sneakers the moment they became available. I may have been a little late on that, but I did place my order back in August. I'm very excited to check them out. I'm a big fan of what Pete, Jocko and Origin as a whole are doing.
My only concern about wearing the Origin stuff is I kind of feel you should have won a bunch of sparring matches before you buy it. History shows I was a draw or worse against half-decent opponents. :)
Filthy clubs are unusual nowadays. Staph is usually a personal hygiene/laundry thing. my club hasn’t had any in the past year as far as I know. This is easy to contend with
BJJ is a very, very steep learning curve, but there shouldn’t be any serious beatings, just minor ones as you learn basics of the sport. People who beat up juniors usually suck.
Same. I do 10.5 4E and I'm marooned on New Balance or Hoka/Brooks island for sneaks. The curse of having bulldozer blades for feet. Handy on the mat. Inconvenient for much else.
China is the heart of global footwear manufacturing. It’s where the best technology, materials, and craftsmanship exist. The factories we work with have been our partners for over 15 years, and they are truly incredible people. Without third party manufacturers, like them, the startup of a small brand would not have been possible. They are experts in their specialties—from waterproof boots to minimalist sandals—and each has invested heavily in the machines, materials, and skills that make our shoes what they are.
Even if we wanted to manufacture in the U.S., it’s simply not feasible. We’re a small team of just 10 people in the office and 20 in our warehouse. The U.S. lacks the infrastructure and sourcing capabilities—95% of our materials would still need to come from Asia. Other countries like Vietnam or Cambodia don’t offer the same level of quality, precision, and consistency that our Chinese partners deliver every day."
Noted. The only shoes I can wear that don't feel like active torture are New Balance 608s in size 13 4E. I'd like a less athletic looking shoe to wear for more formal occasions.
Ironically my shorts and shirt I put in this morning are American Giant. Fortunately have the outlet down the street so I can snag a bunch of stuff at a discount.
I would argue the democratic socialists could care less about Americans and their jobs. This is always why Bernie is a joke, because if he was a REAL socialist, he'd be up in arms about the immigration and H1b shit. But he's fake as they all are.
Socialism can exist in a capitalist system, ironically, but the other way around never works. None of these people understand that socialist countries have net 0 immigration. Even the soviets understood it and understood national identity.
I tend to think it's been a centrally planned economy for a very long time. As long as you've had the central banking systems, you've had centrally planned economies. I'm not sure about all parts of the world but this is probably what enabled Britain to innovate and expand the way they did.
I worked for a Swedish company some years back, and recognizing my frustration after a few meetings, one of the guys on this side of the pond took me aside, and informed me that the Swedes had a difficult time "making a decision", and "moving forward with a project."
We = Those of us in America who are focused on achievement, not gimme handouts for feckless Monster Truck people who wanna work 40 hours a week at most; as discussed, gas (gase) and diesel prices in excess of $10 / gallon would show us who really needs their Monster Trucks and who “needs” them to protect their various fragilities
Hanania dispensed some Looksmaxxing advice recently; he recommends women get breast implants.
Any woman with breast implants would quickly abscond with your $50 cigars fleeing with a man of the trades in his 15 year old lifted Ram coal roller rather than continue waiting for an Uber to carry you both where you can proudly display your ne'er used Por-cha.
The above is an audicast with the late Brian Schul. Here is a youtube video of him at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory a decade ago. It is the finest video about the operation of the SR-71 I've ever seen. More importantly, it is about a man of courage overcoming adversity. It is incredibly engaging and moving. One of my favorite videos of all time. I envy you the opportunity to experience this for the first time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFJMs15sVSY
I had the pleasure of seeing Shul live twice. Different client conventions, same presentation. I was absolutely enthralled both times.
"For the first time he could realize some of the reasons and understand better the events that had transpired in his life he could not possibly fathom while they were happening."
I was thinking about the Commander while reading about the spare pilots that happened to be on the Fly Dubai 737 whose co-pilot decided to Alahu Akbar the pilot early this morning. Like something out of a movie, "Can anyone fly this thing?". News reports say that the emergency pilots were Russian and Ukranian nationals who took the controls after Israeli passengers subdued the co-pilot. It's not clear if they were Fly Dubai pilots deadheading to Tel Aviv or if they work for another airline.
In any case, this is the second time Israelis have averted a midair hijacking of an airliner.
'And how proud would you be if that pilot turned out to be the Commander?'
I would say that eight years from now there won't be anyone better. While promise in childhood is never a guarantee of prowess, he is an exemplary pilot now, his fitness leads his ROTC detachment in most aspects, and he is afraid of nothing.
Plus he's a little shorter than I am, so he'll fit in the plane!
See here's why that whole thing is scammy. The Chinese guys are crafty and they know the threshold to where the Americans can't enter the market. So, even if we stick on tariffs, they'll still price things just low enough...
The only ones getting screwed is us the consumer. We now have to pay a tax for that stuff to the US Government. It's a weird way for them to just raise more taxes.
If they were real serious about it, they'd just add some super tariffs or just stop dealing with China altogether. But you'll see all these excuses of: oh, but it will hurt the common citizen. Well, then why are you making us pay more for that stuff??
Also, Pete Roberts in the founder of Origin and the guy who actually did the work to bring equipment back to Maine. Jocko is a funder and brilliant business partner for marketing.
You’re never at the end. I re-soled mine four times until Allen Edmonds could not repair mine anymore. I bought another pair as my favorite dress pair lasted 26 years.
Another thing to think about before having AE recraft your shoes. There’s a great video out there of a cobbler in NC recrafting a pair of AE Normandy boots but with much higher quality soles compared to the original ones. You get to see where AE cut corners when he takes the boots apart. And this was a $400+ boot!
I have a pair of Normandy boots I bought on sale from an AE store and had to return the first two pairs because of shoddy construction. The store manager finally called up the factory to complain and the third pair was perfect.
I’m done with AE. I thankfully have some well made vintage pairs.
The older the AEs, the nicer they will be. I've gotten sub $100 pairs off ebay that are nicer than what you'll find in a retail store right now.
To me, biggest reason to not send them to AE for recrafting is that they will give you a new welt whether you need it or not and that welt will be done by a machine, not a person using the original holes. So after 3x or so, it will no longer be possible to connect anything to the uppers. Biggest plusses to AE recrafting are that it is inexpensive and you basically can be assured of what you will get in return.
I need hard orthotics, so I've had to custom-order some AEs. Others, I was able to remove the (very thin) insole. Sadly, I like my shoes simple, and they don't seem to be doing "simple" any longer. But I have several pairs, and they continue to hold up well.
I wear my boots a lot. Because of Jack, I have two pairs of Sturgis boots for motorcycle riding. It's never going to be possible to wear cordovan MacNeils with shorts.
F1- Baku was everything we wanted and expected from Madrid. I cannot believe we gave up the wonderful Catalonia for that silly thing.
Also... RedBull appears to have found a little something and Max is looking a little more happy. My goodness would it be great to see a 3-4 way fight for 2nd place in the driver's championship.
Blackbird- It seems to me that they may actually be refurbing or tearing into that SR-71 to get a better feel for what the SR-72 should be. I had read a rumor or two that the 72 may actually be much closer than we were led to believe... I just don't know much about aviation if I'm being honest. Regardless, it's exciting. I want to see something fast as hell flying.
Origin- There hasn't been a company in my lifetime that is just so committed to making things in the USA so fully. Not only that, but they make GOOD PRODUCT. It's not just cheap stuff wrapped in the flag to sell it.
Speaking of which, you know my history working with the Chinese. They are everything you say and more. It always turned out their one child policy extended to their employees too as I was never going to make enough money to support more than one working with them.
The people who talk about vertical integration are idiots. The companies are run by family cartels who use discount fasteners their uncle makes on a dirt floor in a nothing village. Every building and company is owned at least partially by the CCP and you can bet they'll pull strings when they want to in order to present a brave face to the world. Never believe the worker conditions or population figures the CCP shovels out.
They claim that FOR NOW... but the ultimate goal is to phase it out. The every other year thing is just a soft landing imo. They love to talk about tradition and keep Monaco on the calendar, but then they make silly deals.
In 1992 I bought a ‘88 944 MT off the used car lot of the Nissan dealer in Bel Air, MD. Paid about $10K for it. Loved that car, even if I paid about $6K in service and maintenance in the four years I owned it. Took it on our wedding trip up to Maine even though it had a bad flywheel sensor and would refuse to start (infrequently). My current ‘15 Mazda3 MT would blow its doors off. When I tried to reconnect the radio antenna I removed the console and found a bag of cocaine. Good thing this was before they started bringing drug dogs into schools, or I would’ve had some ‘splaining to do (I taught HS music).
How did you score an '88 944 for $10K? I was looking at 1987 and 1988 944S MT models for many months in 1992, and in the Chicagoland area, they were always more than $20K, most of them around $25K. I ended up buying a 1990 Toyota Celica GT-S MT for $13,650.
Don’t know other than it was on a Nissan lot. It had needs: timing belt, front seals ($1K) and a clutch (2K). I got rid of it when I found coolant in the oil. Still loved it.
Those things depreciated like crazy once off warranty, much like a Cayenne or Panamera today. I bought a 1988 944 MT for $6000 with 84,000 miles on it in 1995 to replace my beloved first car, a 1977 924. Porsche recommends timing belt at 5 years/80,000 miles. This one stripped the timing belt teeth when restarting after filling up on my way home from picking it up. I still have the four bent intake valves on a shelf in my garage as a reminder.
Should have sold it for scrap right then, but let it drain my college student bank account for a whole year before selling.
I know, but the Miata is too small for me and I’ve never warmed up to the looks of the GR86 even though I know it’s a fine car.
The curvy hips of the 944S2 have a great race car extended wheel arch look that elevates the design. I also like the 968 with its 928 like headlights. There was a really nice low mileage 968 for sale over here but it had a boring gray color, if it had a bright color I would have thought about it, knowing full well the pitfalls of “cheap” Porsche ownership. But I didn’t buy my 944 because it was a Porsche, I just liked the design and the car.
I’ll also admit to being bored of the Miata design since it’s been out for so long. I know, heresy, but please update the sheet metal.
My son had a green/tan 968 convertible. It was a gorgeous car and had zero problems. Also, when he hit a slick spot, went off an embankment and flipped it, the high-back seats acted as a roll bar and neither he or his passenger even got a scratch. I'm sorry it was totaled.
I was about to get all pissed at an inflated $30K value "cuz porsh!" because that is one car I will own in my life, and you know what? $8,800 is not that bad. And there is one going for about 5K in the "Jake Ryan of 16 Candles" config of guards red over black... I am planning a trip to FL in a couple months...
Yeah I was going to say, in the early aughts I was looking at about $10-15K for a well sorted late example. My local dealership around that time had a cream puff 964 Cabrio trade in they were certifying that the sales guy gave me a heads up on I could drive away for ~$22K. Of course back then 911SCs were thick on the ground for ~$20K as well.
But that will teach me to look closer at the URL... cars and bids, ew!
I have come to eat crow. Perhaps I never really appreciated the 944. I saw the specs, the looks, and heard the stories to maintain it and always thought it wasn't worth it. That said I've never driven one.
I thought $8,800 was too much, but I guess not. Although for this particular C&B one... did no one else see the interior photos? It looked like a rat trap.
Looking at the listing again closely, yeah that interior is ratted out thoroughly! To Jack's point though, they kinda all get shaggy and need to be gone through, it's just the way they are.
The 928s, which I was seriously considering at one point in my misguided youth, are the ones you don't want to try to 'restore'. I learned that you pay through the nose for a 'perfect' one, or you pay twice that to fix up an imperfect one.
I did a lot of timing belts, water pumps and pulleys on 944's back in the day. For the owners who didn't want to spend for the aforementioned services, I also did the odd head rebuild or twenty. I seem to recall that the replacement interval on the belt was 30k miles. Pretty short by today's standards.
I could never really fit in the 944 - or the 924 - without having to splay my legs to clear the bottom of the steering wheel (and I was thinner then!). I'm an aircooled guy, but I came to see the 944's as really quite good cars for their day - better than a 911, really - and the 944Turbos were simply excellent. Seems like everyone forgot the 968, though.
I also got to wrench on a low-mile 924 Carrera GTS, but that was kind of a different kettle of fish, though it *looked* like a 944. The composite (fiberglass?) doors were really something to see, and so very, very light when you pulled them open.
I've been wondering when 944's would have their day in the sun.
Postscript: Saw a 924 Turbo in Denver traffic this afternoon. White uppers w the red lower half and factory "turbo" graphics. Lovely.
My former boss had a 944 turbo. He liked to share a story of taking it to his mechanic because the car was running rough. When he got there, mechanic looked under the hood, and showed him where the fuel line was leaking, and the plug wires were arcing nearby.
He kept the car. He sold it with almost 100k miles, still with the original clutch back in 2000/2001. I wanted to get it, but the dot-com bubble burst ...
They were thick on the ground in the local classifieds section of the newspaper when I was coming of age to buy my first car in the early 00s for 3-5k. Thankfully I learned of the timing belt service interval and their (lack of) performance specs and never picked up the phone. Looking back now, 944 or not, saying I had a Porsche as a first car would have been pretty cool.
My brother had one when he was seventeen. Looped it on a freeway exit and hit a light pole, which then fell over and struck a random Oldsmobile Cutlass. Quite the day!
I bought a well used 280zx when I was 14, and had LOTS of close calls. Now I see kids driving new 5.0 mustangs and B58 BMWs and can't figure out how there isn't a constant stream of teen death news articles. The things we would have done with actual speed would have most likely re-shaped the licensing process 20+ years ago.
"Face it: General Motors doesn’t have the engineering chops required..."
How much do the F1 teams at McLaren, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and Ferrari really interact with the road car sides of those companies? It seems to me that for all the "racing improves production cars" that's expressed or implied, the F1 teams are pretty much siloed off from the actual car companies.
I'd hazard a guess that Space X engineers may interact more with their counterparts at Tesla than those at any F1 team interact with those at their parent car company.
"Max is still the best driver on the grid. It’s not close. "
Hadjar's good performance in the same car makes me think the Red Bull is easier to drive than it was at the beginning of the season.
It just occurred to me that having a driver with Verstappen's outlying skills might impede the development of the car, since he can wring a decent performance out of a non-competitive car.
I am in a bit of a foul mood (work, insurance companies and the general state of customer service) so I am totally on board with the tarring & feathering of those who offshored the nation’s industries.
Commies, it always ends with a mountain of skulls. To my American cousins, thank God you are not in the dystopian UK or Canada.
On a positive note, I was lucky enough to see a SR-71 Blackbird land at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk as a child. Almost as exciting as seeing an ex-GI ’66 Pontiac Bonneville magically appear in the small Norfolk town where I went to school.
My son TURNED DOWN a full scholarship to Cambridge University (he never applied; they recruited him) as well as a non-auditioned appointment to the Trinity College Choir. His vocal coach at a summer music camp in New Hampshire was the President Emeritus of the Royal College of Music.
My son respectfully declined, preferring lots of Schools (including Non-Pilot TOP GUN School) and then six deployments to Afghanistan. Later on, ironically enough, he spent three years traveling among the RAF Northern Bomber Command bases, in an effort to hone their Situational Awareness about... EXACTLY the kind of thing we are reading about TODAY!
The US "lent" the UK lots of nukes during the cold war... and it was never outside the realm of possibility that a semi-suicide-squad of Jihads could steal one, figure out how to make it go Boom, and then pay a visit to King Charles. (Is that on balance such a bad thing? Tee hee.)
PS: Please check out Arturo Delmoni & David Burgesses' "Music for Violin and Guitar," which Jack was kind enough to recommend above. IMHO the best track excerpts for a quick listen are Tracks 3, 10, and 16.
Of Arturo Delmoni's 20 or so albums... that one could be the Best.
Am I the only person who is murderously outraged that the current Supreme Governor of the Church of England, when his Trophy Wife (RIP) complained about his marital infidelities, replied "If I have the be the Prince of Wales, I have to have a mistress." And they revere this Dirtbag as the Supreme Governor.
Brilliant race in Baku, and congrats to Princess George. He pretty much owned the weekend so good for him. His teammate did well to make up 10 places and salvage some points from an otherwise disastrous weekend.
Max looked really good and exerted a ton of pressure on the princess. Can’t say enough about Hadjar. Of course he’s extremely quick, but on Saturday I was impressed more with his maturity. No temper tantrums and faster than hell.
Franco pooed the bed in a big way. Too bad as he had a pretty good no-DNF streak going. Rule number one; don’t take out your teammate….
Honourable mention goes to Carlos. Nice to see him pick up some points too.
It’s worth a fortune the cashflow is just shit. No professional sports team valuation is even close to the return on investment. It’s rich man vanity mostly
OT: this is the closest I've ever come to *actually* wanting an $80k watch. My favorite color, and a G-shock with radio time setting and solar recharging.
https://www.casio.com/intl/watches/gshock/product.MRG-D5000/
I am very excited about it. Hoping they figure out a way to productionize it as a "normal" MR-G.
sorry, a digital watch will never fall into the "exquisite beauty" category for me.
Certainly not one with feature labels all over it.
"sorry, a digital watch will never fall into the "exquisite beauty" category for me."
Me neither, actually! I wouldn't call this exquisite beauty either, but do I love that color, and unlike most watches with a comma in the price, I'm pretty sure I could bleach it when I got it bloody, and probably not have to treat it with exquisite care in general. Certainly I wouldn't have to *wind it.*
(TBH, a G-shock is like a work truck: it doesn't look right if it isn't a little beat up.)
I vowed to purchase a pair of those Origin sneakers the moment they became available. I may have been a little late on that, but I did place my order back in August. I'm very excited to check them out. I'm a big fan of what Pete, Jocko and Origin as a whole are doing.
My only concern about wearing the Origin stuff is I kind of feel you should have won a bunch of sparring matches before you buy it. History shows I was a draw or worse against half-decent opponents. :)
As a club owner I assure you will never encounter someone who knows what Origin is, even on the mats.
I’ve seen two of their M2M gis and two of the off the shelf versions. (I wear made in Pakistan Fujis for the record.)
Origin is an oddity brand. Y’all are safe. You’re a bigger (and better) market than BJJ players
I would do BJJ but as a long time stand-up TKD and kung fu guy I'm worried about two things:
0. Rolling around on the dirty mat and getting staph;
1. Getting seriously beat up.
0. Had it twice!
1. I quit at 35 because the body just couldn't take it anymore.
Filthy clubs are unusual nowadays. Staph is usually a personal hygiene/laundry thing. my club hasn’t had any in the past year as far as I know. This is easy to contend with
BJJ is a very, very steep learning curve, but there shouldn’t be any serious beatings, just minor ones as you learn basics of the sport. People who beat up juniors usually suck.
I want to buy shoes from and support Origin.
Clicked. Sorted. Size 14 is the largest….
Well, I’m out.
Understand limiting the number of sizes they sell as I’m at the wrong end of the bell curve and they won’t have enough demand.
Will look at other products. Back to sorting by size on Zappos and choosing from the four available.
Same. I do 10.5 4E and I'm marooned on New Balance or Hoka/Brooks island for sneaks. The curse of having bulldozer blades for feet. Handy on the mat. Inconvenient for much else.
Seeing a product you would use but not fitting the sizing gets old after a while but as long as you have your go to products saves some money.
i dont wish to be small, but there would be upsides.... 34-36mm rolexes... evoras and exiges...
Lems has a wide last that you can squeeze a 4E foot in. Check out the Chillum line: https://www.lemsshoes.com/collections/mens-chillum-shoes
My foot's something like a 12 3.5E and the 12.5 Lems are great.
"Here’s the truth:
China is the heart of global footwear manufacturing. It’s where the best technology, materials, and craftsmanship exist. The factories we work with have been our partners for over 15 years, and they are truly incredible people. Without third party manufacturers, like them, the startup of a small brand would not have been possible. They are experts in their specialties—from waterproof boots to minimalist sandals—and each has invested heavily in the machines, materials, and skills that make our shoes what they are.
Even if we wanted to manufacture in the U.S., it’s simply not feasible. We’re a small team of just 10 people in the office and 20 in our warehouse. The U.S. lacks the infrastructure and sourcing capabilities—95% of our materials would still need to come from Asia. Other countries like Vietnam or Cambodia don’t offer the same level of quality, precision, and consistency that our Chinese partners deliver every day."
ouch. count me out! https://www.lemsshoes.com/blogs/news/a-note-from-our-founder-on-upcoming-tariffs
Noted. The only shoes I can wear that don't feel like active torture are New Balance 608s in size 13 4E. I'd like a less athletic looking shoe to wear for more formal occasions.
Same but with pants because Origin, and ironically American Giant, only go up to a 38 or 40 waist...
Sorry. I know the pain in different measurements.
Ironically my shorts and shirt I put in this morning are American Giant. Fortunately have the outlet down the street so I can snag a bunch of stuff at a discount.
I want to know if Jack will be able to resist a pair of these:
https://piloti.com/products/shift-lizard?variant=47729502322875
USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST.
$195! A hundred and ninety-five bucks!
I do want them.
I have a pair of charcoal ones. They are Piloti’s with that baggage, but they are made in Portugal vs a far east sweatshop.
These are cool and I want a pair. Some are made in Portugal. https://www.grandprixoriginalsusa.com/collections/mens-shoes
I like mine a lot. They're good HPDE shoes... but by no means mandatory for it.
I would argue the democratic socialists could care less about Americans and their jobs. This is always why Bernie is a joke, because if he was a REAL socialist, he'd be up in arms about the immigration and H1b shit. But he's fake as they all are.
Original employs 400 people, that’s fantastic.
The DSA can only exist if they have capitalism to steal from.
Politicians like Bernie can’t answer simple questions, that’s their kryptonite.
Someone needs to ask him if he’s a maker or taker.
And knowing how politicians obfuscate and lie, the follow up question is “that’s not what I asked you.”
Socialism can exist in a capitalist system, ironically, but the other way around never works. None of these people understand that socialist countries have net 0 immigration. Even the soviets understood it and understood national identity.
I contend that innovation is almost impossible in a socialist, centrally-planned economy.
"Sorry, Comrade, that milling machine and steel you need to prototype your idea has already been allocated to a state enterprise."
There’s no incentive to innovate.
The soviets had excellent military & space innovation, then it didn't.
I tend to think it's been a centrally planned economy for a very long time. As long as you've had the central banking systems, you've had centrally planned economies. I'm not sure about all parts of the world but this is probably what enabled Britain to innovate and expand the way they did.
There's also the mental aspect to it.
I worked for a Swedish company some years back, and recognizing my frustration after a few meetings, one of the guys on this side of the pond took me aside, and informed me that the Swedes had a difficult time "making a decision", and "moving forward with a project."
Great short stories on this theme in Francis Spufford's Red Plenty.
Exactly right. They never build anything.
This is why we cannot tolerate populism in America.
See Richard Hanania’s recent book for more insight.
"This is why we cannot tolerate populism in America."
Who is *we*? I can tolerate it just fine.
"See Richard Hanania’s recent book for more insight."
No one who looks like Hanania has ever had any insight about anything other than where to source the most violent child pornography.
We = Those of us in America who are focused on achievement, not gimme handouts for feckless Monster Truck people who wanna work 40 hours a week at most; as discussed, gas (gase) and diesel prices in excess of $10 / gallon would show us who really needs their Monster Trucks and who “needs” them to protect their various fragilities
Hanania dispensed some Looksmaxxing advice recently; he recommends women get breast implants.
"Hanania dispensed some Looksmaxxing advice recently; he recommends women get breast implants."
He should do whatever it takes to get into plastic surgery ahead of those women.
You smoke 8 cogars a day and listen to 20
Podcasts. When do you “work”
Any woman with breast implants would quickly abscond with your $50 cigars fleeing with a man of the trades in his 15 year old lifted Ram coal roller rather than continue waiting for an Uber to carry you both where you can proudly display your ne'er used Por-cha.
"See Richard Hanania’s recent book for more insight."
i will not engage in something that could increase my chance of seeing his hideous face but thanks just the same
"if he was a REAL socialist, he'd be up in arms about the immigration and H1b shit. But he's fake as they all are"
same with conservatives. huge uproar over muslims and mosques but nothing about indians or h1bs. funny that.
one is a morre immediate danger and easier to understand.
yup
indians and their trash everywhere is nearly impossible to ignore anywhere
Also, easier sell.
the Fighter Pilot Podcast has a good episode on the SR-71: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apRliU4_QWo
The above is an audicast with the late Brian Schul. Here is a youtube video of him at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory a decade ago. It is the finest video about the operation of the SR-71 I've ever seen. More importantly, it is about a man of courage overcoming adversity. It is incredibly engaging and moving. One of my favorite videos of all time. I envy you the opportunity to experience this for the first time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFJMs15sVSY
Many thanks, Rick. What a great guy, he makes you proud to be an American!!
I had the pleasure of seeing Shul live twice. Different client conventions, same presentation. I was absolutely enthralled both times.
"For the first time he could realize some of the reasons and understand better the events that had transpired in his life he could not possibly fathom while they were happening."
“Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise”
https://aviationweek.com/defense/aircraft-propulsion/nasa-asked-several-former-sr-71a-staffers-help-secret-restart
"Actually, the best news of all is: they’re gonna need a pilot."
And how proud would you be if that pilot turned out to be the Commander? Hey, it could happen.
I was thinking about the Commander while reading about the spare pilots that happened to be on the Fly Dubai 737 whose co-pilot decided to Alahu Akbar the pilot early this morning. Like something out of a movie, "Can anyone fly this thing?". News reports say that the emergency pilots were Russian and Ukranian nationals who took the controls after Israeli passengers subdued the co-pilot. It's not clear if they were Fly Dubai pilots deadheading to Tel Aviv or if they work for another airline.
In any case, this is the second time Israelis have averted a midair hijacking of an airliner.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/how-to-defeat-airplane-terrorists-from-the-only-pilot-who-ever-foiled-a-skyjacking/
'And how proud would you be if that pilot turned out to be the Commander?'
I would say that eight years from now there won't be anyone better. While promise in childhood is never a guarantee of prowess, he is an exemplary pilot now, his fitness leads his ROTC detachment in most aspects, and he is afraid of nothing.
Plus he's a little shorter than I am, so he'll fit in the plane!
Great job Dad!
Your work is almost done, except for the arranged marriage to Elsa or Heidi or Greta to replenish the blood line.
He has his instructions in that regard, and explicitly so.
All the Kerry and Jonathan types who were bitching about tariffs in April 2025 made me laugh.
A business plan where you made a deal with the devil to get rich isn’t much of a business plan.
The theme of the last 10 years rolls on: FAFO
Good.
But didn't a lot of those fuckers get some refunds or something?
Courtesy of the Supreme Court. But the new tariffs should prevent their Chinese addiction.
See here's why that whole thing is scammy. The Chinese guys are crafty and they know the threshold to where the Americans can't enter the market. So, even if we stick on tariffs, they'll still price things just low enough...
The only ones getting screwed is us the consumer. We now have to pay a tax for that stuff to the US Government. It's a weird way for them to just raise more taxes.
If they were real serious about it, they'd just add some super tariffs or just stop dealing with China altogether. But you'll see all these excuses of: oh, but it will hurt the common citizen. Well, then why are you making us pay more for that stuff??
Hammer, meet nailhead
How do I avoid buying the Origin shoes in every available color? I'm coming close to end of life on my Dominican made Allen Edmonds sneakers.
Also, Pete Roberts in the founder of Origin and the guy who actually did the work to bring equipment back to Maine. Jocko is a funder and brilliant business partner for marketing.
This is true, but he busts his ass and he didn't have to; he could have licensed his name to Adidas.
Are you saying a career Navy seal might ever stop working hard?
You’re never at the end. I re-soled mine four times until Allen Edmonds could not repair mine anymore. I bought another pair as my favorite dress pair lasted 26 years.
If it’s in size 15 I have or had it.
That’s not true for early Dominican made sneakers. Not recraftable.
The AE sneakers can't take a resole, as far as I know, because they are not Goodyear welted.
Ah
I only have dress shoes from them.
Another thing to think about before having AE recraft your shoes. There’s a great video out there of a cobbler in NC recrafting a pair of AE Normandy boots but with much higher quality soles compared to the original ones. You get to see where AE cut corners when he takes the boots apart. And this was a $400+ boot!
I have a pair of Normandy boots I bought on sale from an AE store and had to return the first two pairs because of shoddy construction. The store manager finally called up the factory to complain and the third pair was perfect.
I’m done with AE. I thankfully have some well made vintage pairs.
Yeah I have loved the shoes I have. Sorry you had a bad experience and it took that many tries to get a pair that worked.
Watching videos like that is great. Always a treat to see a master at a craft or skill explain and share what they know.
AE fit me very well so I'm kind of stuck. I also have a minimum quality level in mind and they (usually) meet it, so I'm good.
The older the AEs, the nicer they will be. I've gotten sub $100 pairs off ebay that are nicer than what you'll find in a retail store right now.
To me, biggest reason to not send them to AE for recrafting is that they will give you a new welt whether you need it or not and that welt will be done by a machine, not a person using the original holes. So after 3x or so, it will no longer be possible to connect anything to the uppers. Biggest plusses to AE recrafting are that it is inexpensive and you basically can be assured of what you will get in return.
Newer ones can. Mine are almost 9 years old.
I need hard orthotics, so I've had to custom-order some AEs. Others, I was able to remove the (very thin) insole. Sadly, I like my shoes simple, and they don't seem to be doing "simple" any longer. But I have several pairs, and they continue to hold up well.
Start wearing proper Allen Edmonds more casually
This.
I wear my boots a lot. Because of Jack, I have two pairs of Sturgis boots for motorcycle riding. It's never going to be possible to wear cordovan MacNeils with shorts.
You could really lean into it. White or tartan socks!
I am much too conservative for that!
F1- Baku was everything we wanted and expected from Madrid. I cannot believe we gave up the wonderful Catalonia for that silly thing.
Also... RedBull appears to have found a little something and Max is looking a little more happy. My goodness would it be great to see a 3-4 way fight for 2nd place in the driver's championship.
Blackbird- It seems to me that they may actually be refurbing or tearing into that SR-71 to get a better feel for what the SR-72 should be. I had read a rumor or two that the 72 may actually be much closer than we were led to believe... I just don't know much about aviation if I'm being honest. Regardless, it's exciting. I want to see something fast as hell flying.
Origin- There hasn't been a company in my lifetime that is just so committed to making things in the USA so fully. Not only that, but they make GOOD PRODUCT. It's not just cheap stuff wrapped in the flag to sell it.
Speaking of which, you know my history working with the Chinese. They are everything you say and more. It always turned out their one child policy extended to their employees too as I was never going to make enough money to support more than one working with them.
The people who talk about vertical integration are idiots. The companies are run by family cartels who use discount fasteners their uncle makes on a dirt floor in a nothing village. Every building and company is owned at least partially by the CCP and you can bet they'll pull strings when they want to in order to present a brave face to the world. Never believe the worker conditions or population figures the CCP shovels out.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Barcelona-Catalunya_Grand_Prix nothing was given up, spain just has 2 races now. Moving forward it's every other year
They claim that FOR NOW... but the ultimate goal is to phase it out. The every other year thing is just a soft landing imo. They love to talk about tradition and keep Monaco on the calendar, but then they make silly deals.
The 944 market is really somethin... I guess ppl wanna say they drive a Porsche?
https://carsandbids.com/auctions/3qXE56G4/1989-porsche-944-s2?ss_id=46a8049c-5f2b-47bd-a9ef-2af26eb89880&ref=pr_1_1
In 1992 I bought a ‘88 944 MT off the used car lot of the Nissan dealer in Bel Air, MD. Paid about $10K for it. Loved that car, even if I paid about $6K in service and maintenance in the four years I owned it. Took it on our wedding trip up to Maine even though it had a bad flywheel sensor and would refuse to start (infrequently). My current ‘15 Mazda3 MT would blow its doors off. When I tried to reconnect the radio antenna I removed the console and found a bag of cocaine. Good thing this was before they started bringing drug dogs into schools, or I would’ve had some ‘splaining to do (I taught HS music).
Still, I’d love to have another one.
WHAT DID YOU DO WITH THE COCAINE!
And how large a bag, exactly? Probably small enough for nobody to go looking for it.
'Call it.'
Yup. Not much.
Wouldn't have been any good anyway; from what I hear, Colombian disco dust goes bad in a hurry.
That's FAKE NEWS because it never sticks around long enough to test this theory.
Note to self: Do not lookup how long columbian disco dust lasts on the work computer
Threw it away.
USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST
How did you score an '88 944 for $10K? I was looking at 1987 and 1988 944S MT models for many months in 1992, and in the Chicagoland area, they were always more than $20K, most of them around $25K. I ended up buying a 1990 Toyota Celica GT-S MT for $13,650.
Don’t know other than it was on a Nissan lot. It had needs: timing belt, front seals ($1K) and a clutch (2K). I got rid of it when I found coolant in the oil. Still loved it.
Wow. I see. Nonetheless, I'm glad you got to experience and enjoy it.
Those things depreciated like crazy once off warranty, much like a Cayenne or Panamera today. I bought a 1988 944 MT for $6000 with 84,000 miles on it in 1995 to replace my beloved first car, a 1977 924. Porsche recommends timing belt at 5 years/80,000 miles. This one stripped the timing belt teeth when restarting after filling up on my way home from picking it up. I still have the four bent intake valves on a shelf in my garage as a reminder.
Should have sold it for scrap right then, but let it drain my college student bank account for a whole year before selling.
I had a 944S2 Cab. Lovely car. It’s really too bad someone doesn’t build a car with its fine qualities today.
Good and unique looking (loved the curvy wheel arches!), very well balanced and adequate power.
Miata and GR86/BRZ are the closest you’re gonna ever get to it.
1st gen gr86/frs was the other car id want to recommend to people who like to modify stuff
I know, but the Miata is too small for me and I’ve never warmed up to the looks of the GR86 even though I know it’s a fine car.
The curvy hips of the 944S2 have a great race car extended wheel arch look that elevates the design. I also like the 968 with its 928 like headlights. There was a really nice low mileage 968 for sale over here but it had a boring gray color, if it had a bright color I would have thought about it, knowing full well the pitfalls of “cheap” Porsche ownership. But I didn’t buy my 944 because it was a Porsche, I just liked the design and the car.
I’ll also admit to being bored of the Miata design since it’s been out for so long. I know, heresy, but please update the sheet metal.
I’m of the thought that the current GR86 looks **fantastic** but I totally understand what you’re saying.
The 944 took its styling cues from the 924 GTS race car program (see my comment above).
My son had a green/tan 968 convertible. It was a gorgeous car and had zero problems. Also, when he hit a slick spot, went off an embankment and flipped it, the high-back seats acted as a roll bar and neither he or his passenger even got a scratch. I'm sorry it was totaled.
https://youtu.be/_U9xMKkMdIc
Good one! The Dad was also the Dad who was the used car salesman in Breaking Away.
I think there is a law that I have to link this when Sixteen Candles is mentioned
https://youtu.be/Dim7UHm1478
I was about to get all pissed at an inflated $30K value "cuz porsh!" because that is one car I will own in my life, and you know what? $8,800 is not that bad. And there is one going for about 5K in the "Jake Ryan of 16 Candles" config of guards red over black... I am planning a trip to FL in a couple months...
$8,800 is a deal. It is OUTRAGEOUS. It is LESS than I paid, in adjusted dollars, for a 1984 8-valver in 2001.
However, it was sold on Cars and Bids so it is a secret crooked piece of shit somehow, or else it would be on BaT blowing through a $20k reserve.
Yeah I was going to say, in the early aughts I was looking at about $10-15K for a well sorted late example. My local dealership around that time had a cream puff 964 Cabrio trade in they were certifying that the sales guy gave me a heads up on I could drive away for ~$22K. Of course back then 911SCs were thick on the ground for ~$20K as well.
But that will teach me to look closer at the URL... cars and bids, ew!
I think the true value of a good S2 now is on the order of $25k.
I have come to eat crow. Perhaps I never really appreciated the 944. I saw the specs, the looks, and heard the stories to maintain it and always thought it wasn't worth it. That said I've never driven one.
I thought $8,800 was too much, but I guess not. Although for this particular C&B one... did no one else see the interior photos? It looked like a rat trap.
They ALL look like that. The interior quality was Audi circa 1990, because that's what they are :)
Looking at the listing again closely, yeah that interior is ratted out thoroughly! To Jack's point though, they kinda all get shaggy and need to be gone through, it's just the way they are.
The 928s, which I was seriously considering at one point in my misguided youth, are the ones you don't want to try to 'restore'. I learned that you pay through the nose for a 'perfect' one, or you pay twice that to fix up an imperfect one.
I did a lot of timing belts, water pumps and pulleys on 944's back in the day. For the owners who didn't want to spend for the aforementioned services, I also did the odd head rebuild or twenty. I seem to recall that the replacement interval on the belt was 30k miles. Pretty short by today's standards.
I could never really fit in the 944 - or the 924 - without having to splay my legs to clear the bottom of the steering wheel (and I was thinner then!). I'm an aircooled guy, but I came to see the 944's as really quite good cars for their day - better than a 911, really - and the 944Turbos were simply excellent. Seems like everyone forgot the 968, though.
I also got to wrench on a low-mile 924 Carrera GTS, but that was kind of a different kettle of fish, though it *looked* like a 944. The composite (fiberglass?) doors were really something to see, and so very, very light when you pulled them open.
I've been wondering when 944's would have their day in the sun.
Postscript: Saw a 924 Turbo in Denver traffic this afternoon. White uppers w the red lower half and factory "turbo" graphics. Lovely.
My former boss had a 944 turbo. He liked to share a story of taking it to his mechanic because the car was running rough. When he got there, mechanic looked under the hood, and showed him where the fuel line was leaking, and the plug wires were arcing nearby.
He kept the car. He sold it with almost 100k miles, still with the original clutch back in 2000/2001. I wanted to get it, but the dot-com bubble burst ...
They were thick on the ground in the local classifieds section of the newspaper when I was coming of age to buy my first car in the early 00s for 3-5k. Thankfully I learned of the timing belt service interval and their (lack of) performance specs and never picked up the phone. Looking back now, 944 or not, saying I had a Porsche as a first car would have been pretty cool.
My brother had one when he was seventeen. Looped it on a freeway exit and hit a light pole, which then fell over and struck a random Oldsmobile Cutlass. Quite the day!
I bought a well used 280zx when I was 14, and had LOTS of close calls. Now I see kids driving new 5.0 mustangs and B58 BMWs and can't figure out how there isn't a constant stream of teen death news articles. The things we would have done with actual speed would have most likely re-shaped the licensing process 20+ years ago.
Is there reason to believe the goal of reverse engineering the Blackbird is to design a manned vehicle? Warfare seems to be moving away from that.
Like Scully and Mulder, I WANT TO BELIEVE.
It seems reasonable that even the Hypersonic Drone Army will need some human decision maker closer than around the horizon, though.
"Face it: General Motors doesn’t have the engineering chops required..."
How much do the F1 teams at McLaren, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and Ferrari really interact with the road car sides of those companies? It seems to me that for all the "racing improves production cars" that's expressed or implied, the F1 teams are pretty much siloed off from the actual car companies.
I'd hazard a guess that Space X engineers may interact more with their counterparts at Tesla than those at any F1 team interact with those at their parent car company.
how much of the previous personnel were still active when (jag? braun?) was purchased by mb?
"Max is still the best driver on the grid. It’s not close. "
Hadjar's good performance in the same car makes me think the Red Bull is easier to drive than it was at the beginning of the season.
It just occurred to me that having a driver with Verstappen's outlying skills might impede the development of the car, since he can wring a decent performance out of a non-competitive car.
There is a Blackbird hanging in the Kansas Cosmosphere, 30 minutes from here.
Our guest suite is available any time.
And *that* is one we do not have!
I am in a bit of a foul mood (work, insurance companies and the general state of customer service) so I am totally on board with the tarring & feathering of those who offshored the nation’s industries.
Commies, it always ends with a mountain of skulls. To my American cousins, thank God you are not in the dystopian UK or Canada.
On a positive note, I was lucky enough to see a SR-71 Blackbird land at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk as a child. Almost as exciting as seeing an ex-GI ’66 Pontiac Bonneville magically appear in the small Norfolk town where I went to school.
Time for another coffee.
WOW. You saw a real Blackbird!
I am as proud of my son as Jack is of his.
My son TURNED DOWN a full scholarship to Cambridge University (he never applied; they recruited him) as well as a non-auditioned appointment to the Trinity College Choir. His vocal coach at a summer music camp in New Hampshire was the President Emeritus of the Royal College of Music.
My son respectfully declined, preferring lots of Schools (including Non-Pilot TOP GUN School) and then six deployments to Afghanistan. Later on, ironically enough, he spent three years traveling among the RAF Northern Bomber Command bases, in an effort to hone their Situational Awareness about... EXACTLY the kind of thing we are reading about TODAY!
The US "lent" the UK lots of nukes during the cold war... and it was never outside the realm of possibility that a semi-suicide-squad of Jihads could steal one, figure out how to make it go Boom, and then pay a visit to King Charles. (Is that on balance such a bad thing? Tee hee.)
PS: Please check out Arturo Delmoni & David Burgesses' "Music for Violin and Guitar," which Jack was kind enough to recommend above. IMHO the best track excerpts for a quick listen are Tracks 3, 10, and 16.
Of Arturo Delmoni's 20 or so albums... that one could be the Best.
Thanks,
John Marks
yes john nuking the king of england is bad
the solution obviously is to remove the browns that want to to that sort of thing because that solves the problem entirely
Yes, but...
Am I the only person who is murderously outraged that the current Supreme Governor of the Church of England, when his Trophy Wife (RIP) complained about his marital infidelities, replied "If I have the be the Prince of Wales, I have to have a mistress." And they revere this Dirtbag as the Supreme Governor.
Have fun, Tykes!
If I have the be the Prince of Wales, I have to have a mistress.
I fail to see the flaw in this logic
Imagine being a prince and the best you can do is Diana. Or his not actual childs megan markle.
on the subject of england id rather be murderously outraged over the rape gangs than anything else
like there are worse things
Brilliant race in Baku, and congrats to Princess George. He pretty much owned the weekend so good for him. His teammate did well to make up 10 places and salvage some points from an otherwise disastrous weekend.
Max looked really good and exerted a ton of pressure on the princess. Can’t say enough about Hadjar. Of course he’s extremely quick, but on Saturday I was impressed more with his maturity. No temper tantrums and faster than hell.
Franco pooed the bed in a big way. Too bad as he had a pretty good no-DNF streak going. Rule number one; don’t take out your teammate….
Honourable mention goes to Carlos. Nice to see him pick up some points too.
Carlos is probably making Claire Williams re-evaluate selling the team. It could be that her car was just badly driven.
I have a client who owns a professional sports team. It is not a lucrative endeavor.
Unless you’re able to cash out to private equity (see: the lakers recent sale)
It’s worth a fortune the cashflow is just shit. No professional sports team valuation is even close to the return on investment. It’s rich man vanity mostly
Agreed!
I miss Claire Williams.
I always wanted to tap that ass. Silly, I know.
You’re not alone. My buddy looks all confused if I mention her; “I’m not even sure why, but I think she’s smokin’ hot.”