Doing away with the Space Farce. A project for the Doggy Agency.

Logo of the Space Farce, which is part of the Department of the Air Force.  With the Department of the Air Force including the Space Farce, and the Department of the Navy including the Marine Corps, only the Department of the Army is left without two branches within it.  We'd fix that. . . but not by keeping the Space Farce around.

South African billionaire Elon Musk (who GOP darling           claimed was a Chinese stooge just two years ago) and Vivek Ramaswamy, who has a name and ethnicity that Donald Trump would have made fun of but for Ramaswany becoming a Trump stooge, are going to run the Doggy Agency which will study efficiency in government and make non binding recommendations.  A Doggy Caucus has been formed already, with one of Wyoming's Senators signing up for it, to support the anticipated brilliant musing of the super wealthy.

One thing they can do for efficiency sake is get rid of the Space Farce.  The axe should have been applied to that shrub already.

The enabling act for the  Space Farce provides, in its initial portion, as follows:

10 U.S. Code § 9081 - The United States Space Force (sic)

(a)Establishment.—

There is established a United States Space Force (sic) as an armed force within the Department of the Air Force.

(b)Composition.—The Space Force (sic) consists of—

(1)the Regular Space Force (sic);

(2)all persons appointed or enlisted in, or conscripted into, the Space Force (sic), including those not assigned to units, necessary to form the basis for a complete and immediate mobilization for the national defense in the event of a national emergency; and

(3)all Space Force (sic) units and other Space Force (sic) organizations, including installations and supporting and auxiliary combat, training, administrative, and logistic elements.

(c)Functions.—The Space Force (sic) shall be organized, trained, and equipped to—

(1)provide freedom of operation for the United States in, from, and to space;

(2)conduct space operations; and

(3)protect the interests of the United States in space.

(Added Pub. L. 115–91, div. A, title XVI, § 1601(a)(1), Dec. 12, 2017, 131 Stat. 1718, § 2279c; amended Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title X, § 1081(a)(17), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1984; renumbered § 9081 and amended Pub. L. 116–92, div. A, title IX, § 952(b)(3), (4), Dec. 20, 2019, 133 Stat. 1562; Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title IX, § 922(a), (b), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 3806; Pub. L. 118–31, div. A, title XVII, § 1712(a), Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 625.)

M'eh.

I looked it up as I was curious if the sitting President could simply decline to fund the stupid thing, or simply order it non staffed.  From looking at the statute pertaining to it, I think not.   Its goofballedness must be funded and the Boy Scouts of Space must be staffed.

Joe Biden, who never served in the military, left the Farce alone while he was in office, unfortunately.  Trump certainly will leave it in place as it was the darling of his silly little mind.  So, the super efficient businessman caused the formation of something we already had, separating it out from its parent agency, the Air Force, so we could have some degree of needless duplication.

So we're stuck with it for the time being.

But it really ought to go.

Air Force security team guarding junior bird men base, as they apparently can't guard it themselves.

Elon Musk has shown that at least to some degree when he voices an opinion and spreads it all over Twitter, he gets something like what he wants.  He killed a continuing resolution briefly, and of course he wanted Donald to be President, and therefore was successful at bot of those things.  If Musk opined that the Farce should be folded back into the Air Force (with its officers of course busted in grade if they volunteered to go into such an absurdity), he might be able to pull it off.

And that would save money.

Frankly, what might also save some money is putting the Air Force back into the Army, or at least the Department of the Army.  It doesn't entirely make sense that the Air Force is seperate from the ground forces, although you can make a logical argument for it.

In Memoriam. Jimmy Carter.

James "Jimmy" Carter died on December 29. He was, of course, the 39th President of the United States.

I'm late to noting his passing and therefore everyone has already read tributes to him.  Even Donald Trump, to my surprise, lauded him and indicated he'd attend his funeral. Carter did, it might be noted, feel that the early criticism of Trump was unfair.  I don't know what he thought about Trump later.

I've listed to a lot of the audio obits and read a few, and what I'll note is that, as so often, they approach being hagiography and tend to omit somethings that should be of real interest.

I'll start with the biggest.  Carter was a failure as a President.  Coming into office with an American public sick of inflation (sound familiar?) and disgusted with the Republicans due to Watergate (sound unfamiliar?), and also fatigued by the Vietnam War, he really didn't accomplish much.  He proved incapable of tackling inflation, which would fall to Reagan, and the US military, probably not surprisingly, lapsed into a weakened state, which Reagan also would address.  

While he was not a success as a President, he was one in life, however.

Carter, it was often noted, was from a peanut farm in Georgia.  What's oddly less often mentioned is that he was a Naval Academy graduate and a submariner.  To enter the submarine service you must be an engineer and a genius.  He was both.  He may be the smartest man to occupy the office since the Second World War. 

He was certainly the most moral.

He was a dedicated Baptist Christian, which nobody could rationally doubt.  The degree of his devotion was such that its almost surprising that he was elected, particularly as he gave an interview to Playboy during the height of its influence, noting how deeply Christian he was.  After he lost his bid for reelection, he devoted his remaining long life to public service, often to the poor.

Like the law, politics is an occupation that frequently initiates people into compromising their morals and attracts a certain percentage of people who are willing to do so.  And power, as is so often noted, corrupts.  Carter was unique in that he was a deeply moral man and the office did not change him.

Friday, December 29, 1944. Siege of Budapest.

The Red Army and Romanian Army, the latter now fighting for the Allies, besieged Budapest.

Members of No. 9 Commando following Operation Partridge.

British commandoes raided behind German lines in Italy in Operation Partridge.

Today In Wyoming's History: December 29: 1944 USS Lincoln County, a landing ship tank, commissioned.

The U-322 was sunk by the Canadian corvette Calgary off of Dorset.

Last edition:

Thursday, December 28, 1944. The German staff says Rückzug, Hitler says Angriff.

Labels: Adolf Hitler, Army, Battle of Garfagnana, Battle of the Bulge, Bernard Law Montgomery, Dwight Eisenhower, German Wehrmacht, Greece, Hockey, Italian Social Republic, Italy, Winston Churchill, World War Two, Wyoming

Thursday, December 28, 1899. The crew of the USS Maine.

The crew of the USS Maine killed in the explosion of the prior year were reinterred at Arlington National Cemetery.

Polish movie director and entertainer Eugeniusz Bodo was born, probably in Geneva, Switzerland.  He was murdered by the Soviets via starvation of Gulag prisoners in 1943.

Last edition:

Christmas Day, 1899

Labels: 1890s, 1899, 1920s, 1922, actors and actresses, Personalities, World War One

Thursday, December 23, 1909. USS Utah launched

The USS Utah was launched.

She'd be lost at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.  Fifty eight of her crew died as a result.  She was not recovered and remains in the harbor near Ford Island.

Last edition:

Monday, December 20, 1909. Open orders.

Labels: 1900s, 1909, Marines, Nicaragua, U.S. Navy

Monday, December 20, 1909. Open orders.

A contingent of US Marines arrived at Corinto, Nicaragua, on the USS Buffalo with orders to invade it it proved necessary to protect US interests.

Last edition

Sunday, December 19, 1909. Borussia Dortmund

Labels: 1900s, 1909, Germany, Soccer, Sports

World War Two Naval Warfare. National Museum of Military History

 

Last edition:

Japanese Artillery. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Labels: 1900s, 1930s, 1940s, Artillery, Imperial Japanese Army, National Museum of Military Vehicles, World War Two, Wyoming (Dubois)

Thursday, December 14, 1944. The tragedy of Lupe Vélez.

The great Mexican actress Lupe Vélez, pregnant with the baby of her recent fiance,  Harald Ramond (Harald Maresch) committed suicide after a dinner with friends in Los Angeles, leaving this note:

To Harald, May God forgive you and forgive me too, but I prefer to take my life away and our baby's before I bring him with shame or killing him. – Lupe.

How could you, Harald, fake such a great love for me and our baby when all the time, you didn't want us? I see no other way out for me, so goodbye, and good luck to you, Love Lupe.

Ramond confessed confusion, declaring that even after their recent break up he had promised to marry her.  In spite of the official ruling of suicide, there has been ongoing speculation about her death.

She had, at one time, been married to Johnny Weismuller.

May God rest her soul, and that of her child.

The Japanese murdered 150 Allied Prisoners of war near Puerto Princesa in the Philippine province of Palawan to prevent their liberation by American troops.

The Japanese attempted, but failed, to mount a large scale air attack on the U.S. Navy's invasion task force heading to Mindoro.    The U.S. Navy hit airfields on Luzon.

The HMS Aldenham was sunk in the Adriatic by a mine.  It was the last Royal Navy destroyer lost in World War Two.

Congress authorized the five start senior officer rank to address American commanders technically being junior to high ranking British ones.

The Germans banned the use of electricity in Holland.

Last edition:

Wednesday, December 13, 1944. USS Goshen commissioned.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, 1947, 1960s, 1968, 1970s, 1973, Battle of Kesternich, Battle of Metz, Battle of Mindoro, Blog Mirror, boats and ships, Imperial Japanese Navy, U.S. Navy, Weather, World War Two

Wednesday, December 13, 1944. USS Goshen commissioned.

Today In Wyoming's History: December 13: Today is St. Lucy's Day. She is one of the patrons of writers. 

1944 The USS Goshen, originally named the Sea Hare, commissioned.  She was a fast attack transport.

The USS Goshen was sold in 1947 to American Mail Lines Ltd and renamed Canada Mail. In 1963 her name was changed to California Mail. In 1968, she was sold to Waterman Steamship, re-registered as the La Fayette. She was scrapped in 1973.

The US prevailed in the Battle of Metz.

The First Battle of Kesternich began on the German border with Belgium.

The Battle of Mindoro began in the Philippines

The Myōkō was  damaged beyond repair by the USS Bergall.

The USS Nashville was severely damaged off Negros Island by a kamikaze attack.

The U-365 was sunk in the Artic Ocean by a Fairey Swordfish.

The Great Snowstorm of 1944 ended.

Last edition:

Tuesday, December 12, 1944. Heavy artillery.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, boats and ships, British Army, Dekemvriana (Δεκεμβριανά), Germany, Greek Civil War, Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre, Royal Air Force, World War Two

Monday, December 11, 1944. The Great Snowstorm of 1944.

The Great Snowstorm of 1944 set in, impacting  northeastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, upstate New York, southern Ontario and southern Quebec.

Scene from Toronto..

The British 8th Army crossed the Lamone.

The Soviets heavily bombard Budapest.

The US 7th Army entered Haguenau.   The Germans unsuccessfully attacked 3d Army bridgeheads over the Saar.

The Germans completed the murder of the inmates of the Hartheim Euthanasia Centre.

British reinforcements reach Athens to combat some 25,000 ELAS troops.

The USS Reid was sunk off of Leyte by a kamikaze.

Kia (기아), then Kyungsung Precision Industry (京城精密工業), was founded in Seoul, which of course was occupied as part of the Japanese Empire.

Last edition:

Sunday, December 10, 1944. Hall of Fame.

Labels: 1930s, 1939, 1940, 1944, baseball, Battle of Leyte, boats and ships, Clothing, Diplomacy, France, Kamikaze, Nobel Prize, USSR, World War Two

Thursday, December 7, 1944. The end of the USS Ward

A U.S. counterattack halted the Japanese offensive on Leyte.

USS Lamson on fire after being hit by a kamikaze at Ormac Bay.

Kamikazes damaged the USS Mahan and USS Ward beyond repair during landings at Ormoc Bay.

The Ward figures prominently in the story of the Battle of Pearl Harbor.

Today in World War II History—December 7, 1939 & 1944: At Ormoc Bay, destroyer USS Ward is damaged by a kamikaze; three years earlier to the day, USS Ward fired the first shots during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The 77th Division landed against Japanese opposition, but it was not heavy.

General Nicolae Radescu took office as Prime Minister of Romania.

The International Civil Aviation Organization was established.

The Arab Women's Congress of 1944 took place in Cairo.

An earthquake at Tokai, Japan, killed 1200 people and halted production at the Mitsubishi plant.

Last edition:

Wednesday, December 6, 1944. Japanese paratroopers on Leyte.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Airborne, Aircraft, Battle of Leyte, boats and ships, Charles de Gaulle, Dekemvriana (Δεκεμβριανά), Greek Civil War, Imperial Japanese Army, Joseph Stalin, Royal Air Force, World War Two

Tuesday, November 25, 1924. Radio station test, USS Los Angeles commissioned, Chaplin marries a second teenager.

US radio stations stood silent between 10:00 and 11:00, EST, for international broadcasting tests.  Radio broadcasts from the UK, France and Spain were heard as far west as the American Midwest.

The USS Los Angeles was commissioned.

Lita Grey (Lillita Louise MacMurray), actress, age 16, married Charlie Chaplin, age 35.  She was pregnant.  Grey was his second wife, and it was the second time he's married a teenager, Mildred Harris of Cheyenne Wyoming being 17 when they wed following a pregnancy scare.

Had the couple not married, Chaplin faced the possibility of being arrested for statutory rape.

They would have two children during their troubled marriage.

She'd go on to have three more marriages before dying in 1995 at the age of 87.

Last edition:

Monday, November 24, 1924. Australopithecus africanus

Labels: 1920s, 1924, Australopithecus africanus, Chinese Warlord Era, Evolutionary Biology, Japanese Empire, Korea, Republic of China, South Africa

Tuesday, November 21, 1944. Vive La France.

Jeep of the French 1st Army, November 21, 1944.

The French 1st Army took Belfort.

German POWs, November 21, 1944.

The battlecruiser Kongō and destroyer Urwakaze were sunk in the South China Sea by the  USS Sealion.

Albanian partisans occupied Tirana and Durazzo.

Last edition:

Monday, November 20, 1944. The sinking of the Mississinewa.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Adolf Hitler, boats and ships, British Army, China, Eastern Front, France, French Army, Greece, Imperial Japanese Navy, Kosovo, Republic of China, U.S. Navy, World War Two