The recent Greenland discussions brought back some memories of old. Years ago, about seventy or so, my two brothers and I were in the army. In 1957, Bob, the oldest, was stationed in Panama, keeping shipping safe between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. I was on my way to Germany to hold the Soviet Empire at bay. My middle brother Bill, was headed to Greenland to preserve the peace. We were all out of our mother’s hair for a while.
Bill and I had started our military careers (volunteered for the draft) at the same time so we got out at the same time.
Bill had been stationed at Thule Air Base, protecting the Air Force from whatever. Anyway, we were curious about what each other had done for the year overseas. As it turned out Bill was crew chief on an 81 mm mortar team. They mostly did maintenance, pretend fire and tried to keep warm. I can’t remember if they had a club, with refreshments and dancing girls but it seems they did but the refreshments were strictly controlled and the dancing girls were somewhere else besides Thule.
Because of the weather they always moved in twos, in case. Barracks to the mess hall and anywhere else had a rope fence to hold onto, to avoid getting lost in the blowing snow. Of course it was dark for months on end. I questioned him on what the mortars would be used for, since they are a fairly short range weapon. The only way into Thule was by air, any adventurous enemy attackers would have to be an airborne drop or land at the airbase. Any sea attack would be limited to a small envelope in the summer. I don’t think he was sure about his role in the defense of Thule but he didn’t question it. Maybe later when he had time to reflect on it he may have had some questions or when one of his kids asked him what he did in the army.
Some have compared the difficulties of working in Greenland to building the Panama Canal. The costs are exorbitant, everything must come in by air or the short shipping window in summer. Thinking about mining rare earth minerals led me to my experiences when I worked open pit iron mining. We needed roads, railroads, big expensive equipment and lots of energy in the form of electricity, diesel fuel and explosives.
We did no processing locally and moved about 45-50 rail cars of 40-50 % iron daily. That is for a short time in the summer when the ground was thawed and ore boats could move on the Great Lakes.
While I know nothing of Rare Earth Mining I understand that extraction requires a lot of earth moving and processing to get a little of the product, much like the early gold mining. Locating the deposits, getting equipment, supplies and workers into remote areas would take a lot of helicopters, then trying to get the product out boggles the mind.
Believing that China/Russia are going to beat us in this endeavor staggers my imagination. Let ’em try. We are looking at a weather Armageddon this week end (Jan 23rd plus 4) and the powers that be are jumping through hoops, the populace is ready to mutiny and mostly all of us will hunker down, watch football, open up another bag of junk food and bitch to our wiveshusbands. The world won’t end, we’ve all seen inclement weather before.
I’m really having a tough time understanding Trump’s rationale about Greenland. It’s like the guy has never worked in a productive job with deadlines, contractors, material handling shortfalls and government regulations. The MIC is enjoying the prospects of lots of money flowing. The Minnesoda folks are trying to find the sweet spot of new learning centers while the Greenlanders are picturing vacations in Florida.
On the other hand, maybe it’s me that’s behind the learning curve.
I don’t think Jarflax realizes what a fucking honor it was to clean up that cultural enrichment of our nation’s guest.
I do realize the honor I was provided and will say that fortunately the statute of limitations has long ago expired so when I reveal that my response to the honor was violent and involved the cultural enricher leaving the bar with facial bruising in a precipitous and involuntary manner, I do not risk criminal proceedings. Cleaning a college bar is a nasty job.
I had a friend who was stationed at Thule. He was an Air Force fighter pilot. He must have pissed somebody off.
In WWII my dad had served as a B-17 triple threat (navigator, bombardier, radar man). When he re-upped in 1952 they wanted to make him aircrew on the bomber de jure (I believe a B-36) which he knew nothing about. He pointed out that he had gotten a law degree in the interim which would make his talents more useful elsewhere. So they assigned him to Thule, IMO as a punishment for bucking authority.
It’s like the guy has never worked in a productive job with deadlines, contractors, material handling shortfalls and government regulations.
That really sets him apart from his predecessors.
Leaving aside whether OMB is declining mentally (based age, is likely), he seems to fall in love with vanity projects and wants them done even if they don’t make sense. Trumpland will Make America Great!
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
He seems to be based on my limited exposure to him during the 45 and 47 times.
A lot of presidents in their second term turn to foreign policy because they can’t get shit done domestically and they are all in on vanity-fueled legacy projects. We’ve all seen it.
Trump is in an odd spot because his terms were nonconsecutive. He came in with momentum to do some things domestically still and instead has still mostly dicked around with trade wars and foreign policy blunders playing as if he’s some great statesman. It’s not why MAGA existed or elected him but he’s lost the plot and his followers just kind of muddle along with it while a vocal minority still defend him at every turn.
I saw a video of an abandoned ore boat loading pier. It kind of looked like it could be repurposed into a decent fortress.
I don’t think he was sure about his role in the defense of Thule
Well it certainly did not fall to the soviets in that time so it obviously worked.
Only because I was heading off the Soviets in Europe at the time. They wouldn’t have been able to mount a two prong attack.
I’m really having a tough time understanding Trump’s rationale about Greenland
we do not have the security clearance. But that is where the second stargate is.
Eyesore
In 2015, a Chinese developer broke ground on the mixed-use development that was intended to house luxury apartments, hotel rooms and retail space. But construction stalled after they ran out of money for the project.
The site was left vacant and then taken over by taggers, who defaced every floor of the buildings with graffiti. It has been an eyesore in the community ever since.
City leaders say the proposed sale is a major step forward.
“This milestone is a clear sign that Downtown LA is on the rise,” said Councilmember Ysabel Jurado. “I look forward to working with them as the sale moves forward to ensure this space serves the community, restores public resources, and delivers real benefits to the people who live, work, and invest in Downtown LA.”
And nothing else happened.
That’s pretty racist, denigrating beautiful urban art like that. They just don’t understand.
My dad was the JA at Thule 1953-1954. Went up in winter, came back in winter. In his regular uniform (I believe it took a plane crash resulting in mass mortality from frostbite for the AF to start issuing parkas to personnel en route to and from the base). 3000 men (as I recall), 3 women, similar sex ratio to when your brother was there. So what Bill experienced and observed my dad did too, just a couple of years earlier.
He had some fun stories from there (I have a box of unsorted photos stashed somewhere he took there). One involved a drinking party upon his arrival where they poured everything alcoholic that was available into a punch bowl and everybody had to take a swig. My dad didn’t want to, being alcohol sensitive (American Indian ancestry-related?) so at the end of the party they grabbed him and poured the remaining mess down his throat. He barely managed to crawl back to his quarters.
Another was when he and a couple of buddies were out on the ice when a bit of a squall came up and one of them suddenly realized OMG, this is a glacier, there could be crevasses! So they tied their belts together to rope to each other and used whatever they had in hand to probe the ice for cavities. After a few minutes of slow progress they heard a rumbling noise, which steadily grew louder and louder, until a monstrous vehicle burst out of the snow about fifty yards away and continued on its way. It was the sewage tanker truck headed for the edge of the glacier to dump its load. They all had a good laugh about that.
He had more stories about his experience there, but that’s all that I can come up with for now.
Rare Earths: They’re not really rare, just finely disseminated in the bedrock, usually igneous or metamorphic. Half is made up of cerium, which is generally worthless for electronics. They were considered rare because at the time of discovery it was extremely difficult to separate not just the metals from the host rock but from each other, as they are all chemically closely related.
IMO I don’t think Trump is terribly interested in the rare earths, the cost of extraction in that extreme environment would be ridiculous. It’s just an excuse to (1) deny them to China, who is on record as not giving a shit about the environment and wants to extend their near-monopoly on rare earths, and (2) deny China (and Russia) access to important trade routes in the North Atlantic.
That is my understanding & they’re not being coy about it or anything.
google says:
The Northwest Passage (NWP) is a sea route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Historically sought for trade, this treacherous, ice-choked route is increasingly navigable due to climate change, offering a 35%-60% shorter alternative to the Suez/Panama Canals for shipping, while presenting significant environmental and geopolitical challenges regarding sovereignty.
Global warming is good for something.
Shouldn’t Trump be threatening Iceland too?
Everything in due time
There isn’t one and I’ve grown tired of mouth breathers rushing to defend it because Trump said it. If tomorrow he gave up on anything and everything Greenland and never spoke on it again, they’d praise his wisdom.
The MIC is enjoying the prospects of lots of money flowing.
That’s all you need to know.
Global warming is good for something.
Greenland will be dotted with luxury beachfront condos; Miami North.
NotAdhan, UnCivilServant, anyone else interested in practical shooting training – Lena Miculek posted a very interesting video yesterday – a mostly-unedited 2-hour video dump of Lena and her fiance Jeremy doing a handgun training session. As I continue to struggle with my shooting training article, I’d be interesting to get other folks’ takes on this video. Eventually. It *is* two hours long…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p01L6FN7HYE
I will watch it, eventually.
Jalise has been putting out a 101 series of vids, but I haven’t been watching them either.
I’m sure you know about these guys, but for those who don’t there is a fancy-schmancy gun company called Atlas that has a division called “Perfect Zero” where they basically sell you BYO 2011 kits
https://perfectzero.co/
…or you could buy a fully finished/assembled/perfectly functioning Shadow 2 and save a grand.
Been there, done that, hate the metric screw pitch.
I own two* Atlas Gunworks pistols. But I didn’t know about the Perfect Zero division. That’s quite interesting. I kinda wish they made the build kits with the 4.6″ 9mm slide.
* – One and a half, really. One complete Atlas Athena limited optics/PCSL gun, and one hybrid gun – the lower was built by Atlas back when they were still a full custom boutique gunsmith, and the top end was built by me and my Dad, with mostly Atlas parts. That was a fun project.
As much as I (rightfully) shit on the metric system, actual metric fasteners bother me none. I have tools.
In fact, integrating the 5S/Toyota/Lean mindset into my everyday life, in addition to general toolboxes, I have special purpose tool kits stored with the item.
My dad did TDY in Greenland in the 70’s. All I ever heard about it was, “it’s fucking cold.”
I do remember that sweet N-2B flying parka with a fur hood he came home with. I used it myself until I outgrew it.
If Trump gets the enviroweenies and the euros all bent out of shape over Greenland I’ll take that as a win.
Otherwise I don’t care.
Maybe they can do a cultural exchange with Puerto Rico or something wacky as well.
owning the euros is a poor excuse for policy.
better than owning the mexicans
I own several Mexicans. Maybe I should add some Europeans to my collection?
You dont own Mexicans, you rent them, just like Microsoft. I have a subscription for gardening for example.
Life imitates Seinfeld’s Donna Changstein.
https://www.wsj.com/us-news/the-everyday-americans-going-all-in-on-the-chinese-lifestyle-3bca648c?st=Qa57Cu&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
I’ve been to China. I don’t want anything to do with the place.
I used to watch the squatters next my Dongguan hotel drop trou and make a direct deposit into the river that ran next to us. Chinese toddlers didn’t wear diapers, they wore union suits with a slit in the crotch that allowed them to shit and piss in the streets. The welders on my jobsite wore flip flops and shielded their eyes with a loose piece of tinted plastic. There was no soap or toilet paper in the bathrooms at the factory we were building – that stuff would get stolen right away (I was warned so I brought my own).
“Welders on my jobsite wore flip flops”
I used to resemble this until I got soft.
They have pills for that.
Every time I think we’ve seen the most retarded post-millenial trend, I get surprised…
It’s easy to be enamored with a place one has never lived in.
No lie here.
I’ve found that the least traveled people are often the most eager to relocate.
I like congee. I like groats. Dunno about the rest, pay walked. Fuck em. Hǎole?
The rare earth deposits are near the town of Narsaq which is in southern Greenland, well south of Thule. The average high temperature in January is about 31 degrees, and the Gulf Stream prevents the harbor from freezing over. To my non-expert eyes it seems that rare earths could be mined there year round. Trump, or whoever is getting him hyped up about Greenland, probably does not want that in the hands of Chinese companies.
Of course you can mine them there, and THEN ship them to China for refining/processing. We can’t possibly have that in the U.S. because it will have environmental consequences – so let the dirty commies ruin their own country! /proggie-enviros
It’s still green if the dirty work happens elsewhere. Or something.
I wondered if there was money to be made there, why wasn’t somebody already mining it. It turns out the euroweenies convinced the Inuits that mining is bad:
As of 2025, Kvanefjeld remains in limbo: years of technical work and investment have not yet translated into production, while the nearby Tanbreez project has advanced under new ownership.
Blah blah blah
Ask anyone selling anything in the U.S. right now and they’ll probably say they want their tariff money back.
“How do we get a refund?” said Alfred Mai, whose San Francisco firm ASM Games makes card games in China and by his estimates paid more than $150,000 in tariffs that the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday declared unconstitutional.
“Where do I go to get a refund?”
Spoiler alert: the lawyers end up with all of it.
Life is not fair. Have a nice day.
Will the purchasers of your product be refunded the difference between the tariff and non-tariff equilibrium prices they paid? No? Well then, fuck off.
So say we all.
“How much of the cost did you already pass on to your customers?”
It is good for some laughs but there will be reimbursement schemas implemented by the time this is all over. If Trump hadn’t used the tariffs punitively the court would’ve ruled in his favor but he listened to bad legal advice and took it which is on his dumb ass.
FedEx is filing for refunds since they paid the money to CBP. Never mind they charged those costs right to the recipient, unless prepaid by the shipper, along with excessive brokerage fees to do it.
That’s pretty racist, denigrating beautiful urban art like that. They just don’t understand.
Exactly, TOK. Those towers should be preserved as a cultural heritage site.
If anything, we should spend another $10 million building more brutalist slabs of concrete for those artists, and pay them for their effort.
Those aren’t brutalist slabs of concrete they are the steel and plate glass Exerctor set monstrosities of “Modern architecture” ala Mies van der Rohe.
Which can be pretty cool, same with brutalism, done right it’s awesome.
The margin of error on “done right” is very narrow. Most of the instances are not.
If anything, we should spend another $10 million building more brutalist slabs of concrete for those artists, and
bury them in it.
Sturgeon’s Law
Surely there should be an exception to Sturgeon’s Law when price tags nine digits or more are involved.
I don’t recall ever seeing a brutalist building I didn’t loathe. I think I’ve seen some van der Rohe that achieved a “meh”.
Things I learned recently…the Germans had secret weather stations on Greenland: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWyA63YBT6c
Felton has some interesting stuff. He also did a piece on a German plan (which didn’t get very far) to use Greenland as a refueling stop to allow German bombers to hit New York.
I’ve heard it really sucks to be unemployed in Greenland.
Are there jobs Greenlanders won’t do and would welcome some 3rd worlders to pick up the slack?
Give local new arrivals a chance to re-relocate.
“Return to your home country or Greenland, your choice.”