Blinding Glimpse of the Obvious

10:57 Friday, 6 March 2026
Current Wx: Temp: 38.41°F Pressure: 1024hPa Humidity: 98% Wind: 4.12mph
Words: 169

There is no "winning" or "losing" a war. That binary construct only exists on a timescale that is irrelevant to humanity.

Human events occur on a continuum, or rather, a dynamic flow, from which we imperfectly perceive illusory "events" to which we apply labels that are supposed to characterize an outcome and the future.

What was the outcome of the American Civil War? It ended chattel slavery? Or did it just change the model?

Did WW I really end? Or was there just a temporary calm before it resumed in WW II. And wasn't the Cold War merely the continuation of WW II on a larger scale but lower intensity?

Wars are episodic spikes in chaotic behavior. The duration and intensity influence the course (literally) of the subsequent continuum.

We are not wise in the way we view human activity in time and space. It's a complex, non-linear dynamic system. It's not a punctuated, episodic series of "events" or "outcomes."

Nothing is ever "over."

"Winning" is an illusion.

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"Squirter"?

05:00 Friday, 6 March 2026
Current Wx: Temp: 35.51°F Pressure: 1022hPa Humidity: 98% Wind: 3.71mph
Words: 195

Maybe anti-air warfare terminology has changed since I last served, but "squirter" is not the term used to denote a missile or weapon that had made its way to the target without being engaged by primary air defense systems.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the strike that killed troops on Sunday in Kuwait occurred when a “squirter” made its way through American air defenses. He did not indicate what kind of weapon it was, but said that “it happened to hit a tactical operations center that was fortified, but these are powerful weapons.”

The Atlantic had a more complete quote from our adolescent, incompetent DoD Secretary:

At a news conference this week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth seemed to downplay the significance of the event, saying, “You have air defenses, and a lot’s coming in, and you hit most of it.” He went on to say, “Every once in a while, you might have one, unfortunately—we call it a squirter—that makes its way through.”

Those missiles or drones are called "leakers."

I'm inclined to believe that our idiot SecDef misspoke, because "squirter" doesn't seem to imply something that got through a defensive system.

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