Splendid Isolation

Author: Kim du Toit

New Same As Old

Military, The Gun Thing

I see that the U.S. Army’s new rifle is having some problems.

Okay, the XM7 per se  isn’t having problems, but its bells-‘n-whistles sighting system is.

The fiscal 2024 report on the Army’s Next-Generation Squad Weapon program from the Pentagon’s Director, Operational Test and Evaluation published last week indicates that the XM157 Fire Control smart scope that’s intended to augment the program’s XM7 Next Generation Rifle and XM250 Next Generation Automatic Rifle received negative ratings from soldiers during testing last year.
“The XM7 with mounted XM157 demonstrated a low probability of completing one 72-hour wartime mission without incurring a critical failure.”

On the positive side, the XM7 rifle itself, and its new ammo (6.8x51mm) was very much liked.  That’s good.  But a rifle without sights is useless (except at very close range).  But why isn’t the “Fire Control” system working?  I mean:

A 1-8×30 variable magnification direct view optic built by Vortex Optics subsidiary Sheltered Wings, the XM157 incorporates advanced technologies such as a laser rangefinder, aiming lasers, environmental sensors, ballistic solver, compass and a digital display overlay, all of which are designed to “increase the probability of hit and decrease the time to engage”.
The XM157 also features wireless connectivity that will purportedly allow it to integrate with heads-up displays like the Army’s current Enhanced Night Vision Goggle-Binocular, or ENVG-B, and future Integrated Visual Augmentation System, or IVAS, do-it-all goggles, allowing soldiers to survey the battlefield from cover using a live video feed from their weapon optic.

I’m just amazed there isn’t a coffee-making capability included.

Ah yes, the old “advanced technologies” bugaboo.  The more technologies involved, the greater the number of potential failure points.

Now I’m not suggesting that we go back to iron aperture sights (as good as they are), and by the way, I see that the XM7 has no provision for any kind of backup sights (which pleaseth me not).

I’m all for giving our boys the best gear possible to kill assholes I mean our country’s enemies.  But the shit’s gotta work, FFS.

So what’s the Army doing about it?

Despite the documented issues detailed in the DOT&E report, the Army is still plowing ahead with the system’s development. Indeed, the service released a sources sought notice in late January for “novel technologies or ongoing research that would be beneficial for the XM157 system as a module and/or software that provides enhanced capability.” 

Yeah, so instead of scaling back the complexity until we get something that works perfectly, and building it back up from that base, let’s make the system still more complicated than the (non-working) thing already is.  That’s a proven recipe for success, of course.

We were always drilled that there are three ways to do things:  the right way, the wrong way, and the Army way.

I’ll leave it to you to decide what’s happening here.

Bitch, Bitch, Bitch

Feminazis

It appears that liberal harpies are more likely to be unhappy with their lives than their more feminine counterparts:

According to the 2024 American Family Survey, only 12% of liberal women surveyed said they were “completely satisfied” with their lives, compared to 37% of conservative women and 28% of moderate women between the ages of 18-40. 

An analysis of the results showed that liberal women are “two to three times more likely” to indicate they are “not satisfied” with their lives when compared to women who identify as conservative. 

Color me unsurprised.  I have known many such harridans in my lifetime, and to a (wo)man they are sour, perpetually indignant and… miserable.  This is only exacerbated if they are vegans or wiccans [some overlap], and if they have a university degree in a topic with “Studies” in the title, then look out.

By and large, they see themselves as victims — buying into the current Marxist trope that there are two classes in society (victimizers and victims) — and of course eeeevil men are the former group, which means by default they are the latter.

The fact that by and large they are middle-class White women (in number) who can afford to indulge themselves in such nonsense gives the lie to their hysteria and self-inflicted unhappiness.

Conservative women, in contrast, are too busy for this foolishness because they are involved in raising happy families and doing good works (like church-y stuff) rather than wailing about (mostly-imagined) injustices, and feeling put-upon.

You may disagree with me on this point, but you’d be wrong;  and it would appear that I have the facts on my side withal.

News Roundup

Bad News

And speaking of squealing butt-bandits:


…


...ooooh do those naughty Porsche buyers still not want to buy those overpriced Duracell cars, then?  And still on the same course-change:


...all that “renewable” bullshit still nothing like good old-fashioned oil, huh?


...considering that most of his victims were Muslim immigrants — oh wait, you didn’t know that?


...haven’t eaten there since they downgraded the menu, so I’m indifferent.


...unmentioned:  he probably had a better patient-survival rate than 50% of actual NHS doctors.


...perhaps he could have made his point a lot more effectively by just ramming his speculum up the tranny’s urethra.

Introducing our newest department:


...ehhhh leave them for the Asian Murder Hornets to handle.

In the Dept. of Education:


...seems to me that SHE was the one with “special” needs.  Keyword:  Colorado.


...keyword: Australia.

And in our best-ever 

   

...at least it was only for an ad, and not for OnlyFans.


...no man should.

 

 

Ugh.  She’s bad enough, but then you’d have to be exposed to the rest of the coven…

Exemplar

Good Stuff, Writing

I love Yiddish, because so many of their terms are just wonderful to use as a pithy description of despicable behavior.

Today, we focus on the word chutzpah, which means “effrontery”, “cheek”, “impudence”, “gall” and so much more in the same vein.

For those still unclear on the concept, here’s a wonderful example:

California Gov Gavin Newsom (D) recently traveled to Washington to seek federal aid for addressing the impact of the recent fires.

How is this chutzpah?  Consider the context.

California, which failed to prevent the spread of wildfires in Los Angeles last month and is struggling to repair the damage, is set to spend nearly $10 billion on health care for illegal aliens.

…and even better:

Newsom recently signed $50 million in new spending to fight President Donald Trump’s policies.

I know what I would have said to him, were I the POTUS.

“Esn drek aun shtarbn, mamzer.”

For my non-Tribe Readers, that’s “Eat shit and die, you bastard.”

Dept. Of Righteous Shootings

Righteous Shootings

This one made my heart swell with pride  (but also with sorrow):

According to Kentucky State Police, troopers were dispatched to the home in Manchester around 4:30 a.m. Saturday for reports of a shooting.  When troopers arrived, they found two men with gunshot wounds.

Jeffrey Allen, 51, was pronounced dead at the scene. Roger Smith, 44, was transported to an area hospital but later died.

Police said that the two men had broken into the home with the intention of stealing firearms from a safe.  During the break-in, a juvenile living in the home saw the men holding firearms. Acting in self-defense, police said, the child retrieved a handgun and shot both men before escaping through a bedroom window.

Police did not give the exact age of the child who shot the alleged intruders.

Now, why is my heart filled with sorrow?  Because as much as I applaud the kid’s actions, I hope like hell that this doesn’t cause him mental anguish.

Folks, it’s no fun taking a human life, even when the taking is both morally and legally justified.  And as much as I post these events and make light of them, I truly do not want kids to be involved.  It’s bad enough for an adult to deal with;  it’s horrible for a young ‘un.

That said, at least this kid wasn’t a victim of these two asshole goblins;  now that would have made me really angry.

In passing, the “Emily van der Riet” in the byline is this young lady:

She may even be a Seffrican, with that name — it’s quite a common one back in the Vaderland.  As long as she isn’t a liberal…