Inside Palantir’s Expanding Influence Operation

February 14, 2025February 14, 2025 Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Data-mining company Palantir is poised to turbocharge its sales to the U.S. military under President Donald Trump, amid signs that his administration plans to loosen the hold of traditional defense contractors and tap Palantir executives for key government positions.

Inside Palantir’s Expanding Influence Operation

The Inside Story of How the Navy Spent Billions on the “Little Crappy Ship”

September 13, 2023September 13, 2023 Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Littoral combat ships were supposed to launch the Navy into the future. Instead they broke down across the globe and many of their weapons never worked. Now the Navy is getting rid of them. One is less than five years old.
The Inside Story of How the Navy Spent Billions on the “Little Crappy Ship”

Rules for Pentagon Use of Proxy Forces Shed Light on a Shadowy War Power

May 15, 2023May 15, 2023 Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)2 Comments

U.S. Special Operations forces are not required to vet for past human rights violations by the foreign troops they arm and train as surrogates, newly disclosed documents show.

…

The irregular warfare program has provided training to allied forces in countries that face a threat of invasion by larger neighbors, the senior Defense Department official said. The Washington Post has reported that an irregular warfare proxy program in Ukraine was terminated just before the Russian invasion, and that some officials want to restart it.
Rules for Pentagon Use of Proxy Forces Shed Light on a Shadowy War Power

[2008] Yes, Joe Biden’s Helicopter Really Was “Forced Down” in Afghanistan

November 10, 2022November 10, 2022 Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

One of the narratives the blogs are talking about this week is that Joe Biden is—gasp!—”gaffe-prone.” Nevermind the fact that this has been the story about Biden for 30 years: now journalists are even finding gaffes where none exist. In a post on The Stump exploring Biden’s unfortunate attack on his own campaign’s ad, Michael Crowley claims that this Joe Biden anecdote is a “gaffe”:
Yes, Joe Biden’s Helicopter Really Was “Forced Down” in Afghanistan

U.S. senators in emergency Afghan landing

The gaffe-o-meter

Biden made the claim, again, last Friday. So-called fact-checkers are saying that the first time he made the claim was in 2015. The first time was actually during his 2008 presidential campaign. The argument, I guess, is between whether his helicopter was forced down or made an emergency landing?! Sure, he makes quite a few gaffes, but this one seems like a nothingburger compared to his Fallujah one (or other numerous gaffes).