Why Not Gold Plating

Donald Trump thinks that he is not only a great interior decorator but that he knows how to design and build aircraft carriers. He is serious about the concept, prompting the U.S. Navy to conduct an internal review to evaluate moving the command tower (the "island") toward the middle of future Ford-class carriers to mimic World War II-era warships.

Relocating the island forward would reduce vital flight-deck parking space, slow down aircraft launch and recovery rates, and increase turbulence during landings. Trump should know about turbulence. Just tell him its like when the Marine One helicopter blows his hairpiece all around and makes him look funny.

He also wants to get rid of the latest launch catapults, the electromagnetic launch systems (EMALS), to replace them with the steam-powered catapults type from WWII. To this end he signed a national security memo directing the Pentagon to transition future carriers to steam. It doesn’t concern him that this will delay current construction of several ships and add an estimated $22 billion per ship. Money is no object when it comes to design. War is all about who has the most stylish stuff.

A current catapult contract with General Atomics is for $1.2 billion on systems that are 50% complete. Going back to steam will eliminate an estimated $100 million per ship in savings. The steam systems require added manpower and have higher maintenance costs. Production lines for steam systems have been dormant for 20 years.

Our "Commander in Chief" thinks his one-year 1964 Army ROTC training makes him a naval architect and marine engineer.

Apparently wars are not won on the battlefield but with aesthetics. Perhaps we should consider gold plating the handrails and bringing back mermaids on the bow. How about a return to coal and steam engines for propulsion? The man is a genius in a world of his own. When will the MAGA Republican fever dream break and his sicophant enablers realize there are things more important than kissing that over-sized derrière? I created an image of a Trump-inspired carrier.

A Great American

When speaking of people deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize, few would consider a soldier of war. I will give you General George C. Marshall. I bring up his moral character at a time when that term has lost so much of its meaning. Marshall won the 1953 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to rebuild Western Europe after World War II. His Marshall Plan provided massive economic aid for both our allies and Germany and Italy. George C. Marshall is the only career soldier honored for his lifelong military and diplomatic contributions to peace. He, unlike another American figure who can’t understand why he hasn’t been likewise honored, actually made the world a better place.

It was Gen. Marshall who engineered the expansion of our pre-war American military from fewer than 200,000 men to over 8 million soldiers. He was also the chief architect of Operation Overlord, the Allied strategy that made D-Day possible. He recommended Dwight D. Eisenhower to be Allied Supreme Commander while he managed the global allocation of resources that ensured troops and landing craft went to Europe and not secondary theatres.

Not many alive today remember that Teheran was the site of the clandestine meeting between Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin in November of 1943. Teheran was chosen because Stalin refused to travel by air. They had wanted to commit to the invasion of Western Europe, select a date, and it was assumed that Gen. George Marshall would be the Supreme Allied Commander.

Marshall refused to lobby for his appointment and told Roosevelt that he must decide. Roosevelt decided that Marshall was irreplaceable in Washington and was needed to manage the global war effort, so the job went to Eisenhower. It was Marshall who telegrammed Stalin to inform him of the Eisenhower decision.

It was George Marshall who, in his capacity as the current Secretary of State, proposed the European Recovery Program that would later be called the Marshall Plan. He made the announcement on June 5, 1947. The United States committed $13 billion ($140 billion in today’s dollars). He unveiled the conceptual framework for the aid package during a Harvard commencement speech when he said, "Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine, but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos."

Marshall understood what desperation could produce. After World War I, the Treaty of Versailles burdened Germany with punitive reparations, and from that economic collapse the Third Reich emerged. He was determined not to let history repeat itself. This is the type of understanding and compassion that wins Nobel Peace prizes. Someone might want to pass this tidbit along to that certain someone who thinks just telling people you deserved the Nobel Peace Prize for ending seven or eight “unendable” wars. He might also want to end a particular war that he personally started.

A Failed Republican Party

The Republican Party has collectively failed the American people. By design, and with malice aforethought, it has advanced the rights, benefits, and wealth of corporate America and the wealthy at the expense of the rest of the country. Under the slogan of “Making America Great Again,” its leader has forgotten that America includes a great number of individuals who are not like him. He has prioritized his own personal wealth and financial well-being above all others. In doing so, he has made America great only for a narrow group of wealthy people and businesses.

Tariffs and the Cost to Workers

Tariffs have been imposed, mostly through illegal acts, under the misguided idea that they will bring back manufacturing jobs. Instead, manufacturing job numbers are plunging, down 75,000 to 100,000, as raw materials and components necessary for existing manufacturing have become more expensive and made American goods less competitive. Companies have been forced to freeze hiring, raise consumer prices, defer construction, and push damage downstream onto other blue-collar jobs in transportation and warehousing.

Foreign Policy and Economic Fallout

The war in Iran was foolishly started against the advice of presidential experts, as the president listened only to himself and to advisors whose jobs depend on agreeing with his whims. The result has been a weakening of the American military, an assault on the national debt, a depletion of defense supplies, a shattering of global reputation, the loss of many allies, and a 20% reduction in world oil supplies. That last consequence has raised gas prices, creating a ripple effect across consumer prices. Once again, the American consumer takes it on the chin.

Homeland Security Expansion and Waste

We now have a poorly trained federal force entering our cities and towns to enforce the will of the president. While this agency has a Homeland Security mandate beyond ERO, or Enforcement and Removal Operations, its recent 120% expansion was justified for that purpose. Its pre-2025 budget was less than $10 billion, but the president’s Big Beautiful Bill Act increased that budget to almost $30 billion.

Much of that ICE budget has been corrupted and wasted on real estate, facilities, and equipment that may never be used. Much of this spending occurred through emergency no-bid contracts. In one instance alone, $464 million was spent on an emergency no-bid contract to purchase a fleet of 10 used aircraft. Seven Boeing 737 jets were purchased and parked on a tarmac in Louisiana. The same emergency no-bid deal also included three luxury business Gulfstream-type jets incapable of transporting immigrants.

It should also be noted that Dr. William Walters, chairman of Daedalus Aviation and recipient of the no-bid contracts, was a campaign donor to Kristi Noem, who initiated the purchase. In a separate no-bid deal with another Walters company, nearly $700 million was spent.

Political Accountability

The Republican Party has stood idly by while this president ignored policies and procedures designed to protect the public trust and public treasure. It has allowed gross extravagance to flourish while services are cut, medical care becomes more expensive, grocery prices rise, gas prices climb, and the people who brought him to the dance are crushed by the consequences. The Republican Party must accept blame for his actions because it has enabled them.

That's my opinion, your mileage may vary, and objects in the mirror are closer than they appear.

He Is Us

In 1813, U.S. Navy Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry said, “We have met the enemy and they are ours.” In 1970, Pogo said, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” I couldn’t swear to this, but I think Pogo may have been a Democrat. His comment on human hypocrisy, where we are the source of our own worst problems, is wholly appropriate today.

With a sitting Republican president who is widely unpopular, the Democrats have an almost clear road to flipping both the House and Senate. But, if anyone can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, look no further than the Democratic Party. Being left of center wasn’t good enough, so they (33%) decided to identify with democratic socialism. Did they sleep through marketing 101 and not know that branding is everything? Do they not know that the mere mention of socialism sets off flashing lights and raises red flags? Do they not realize that once that word is uttered nothing is heard?

It really doesn’t matter that we already practice socialism through Social Security and Medicare and other mutually beneficial programs. It doesn’t even matter that the Trump administration has used government money to buy an interest in corporate portfolios. He added six companies in July bringing the total U.S. corporate investment portfolio to 30. That’s not just socialism, but a major factor in the dreaded C-word with its public ownership of the means of production.

Most Americans don’t understand the nuanced differences between major political ideologies. This is the buzzword generation with short attention spans. These are people who barely look up from their screens long enough to avoid walking into walls and has to wait for someone to honk a horn to let them know that the light has changed. Say socialism and they hear communism. Democratic socialism may sell in a few niche areas of the country, but it won’t fly in most of the “fly-over” states.

As we saw with the radical right takeover of the former Republican Party, radical isn’t really working out for anyone. Democrats should learn that radical anything is a recipe for disaster. They should find common ground in the middle and address problems shared by all. Fight for affordable housing, sane border control and sound immigration management. Fight for education and healthcare. Support our police and law enforcement agencies with reasonable reform measures. Most important of all, be electable.

I think AOC and Bernie Sanders are nice people with good intentions who will never be elected to any office at a national level. It’s time to stop knee-jerk reactions to what’s wrong with this country and it’s time to begin working to make life better for working Americans. It will be a tough fight because, as they say in poker, “money talks and bullshit walks.” Wealthy America and big corporations have money and the courts on their side, but the people have the numbers and we can still vote. If we don’t act fast, even that last freedom, the right to vote, will be in jeopardy.

These next few election cycles may be all important. The right is already threatening military intervention in the election process. They have made key personnel placements in election management. The stage is set with unsubstantiated claims of massive voter fraud to warrant federal interference in upcoming elections. Democrats don’t need the added handicap of misunderstood socialism to add to their woes. It will be difficult enough as it is.

Money Is No Object

Donald Trump has been spending money like a trust fund baby on spring break with daddy’s credit card*. This fits him because he WAS a trust fund baby who “earned” his first million by age eight. While he promised to “completely eliminate the national debt” back in 2016, he instead added $7.8 trillion. So far during his second term he has added $3.1 trillion to that figure. At this rate he will bring our debt to $45 trillion before leaving office.

He, without support from Congress, started a war in Iran that will now directly cost taxpayers as much as $1 trillion over the next decade. Before the war the federal government was already on track to run a $1.853 trillion deficit for 2026. As of July, the war has cost us $37.5 billion, Hegseth wants another $70 billion, and our bases in UAE and Qatar have suffered an estimated $5 to $30 billion in unbudgeted damages. Trump is asking for $1.5 trillion defense budget for 2027 (spike of $440 billion). The war has also forever changed the flow of oil and gas in the region with billions being spent to bypass the Strait of Hormuz. Those expenses will be passed on to consumers.

The U.S. is now weaker with the loss of much of our missile capability (80%), poorer financially, and shamed by defeat at the hands of a small but tough opponent. Trump will try to spin this as “one for the win column” but we can all see that for what it is, TBS.

His DOGE boys ran helter skelter through the government, cutting programs that shifted financial burdens to unwitting lower classes with the promise of a tax cut. The end result was higher costs for average consumers and more money for corporations and the wealthy. Those same DOGE cuts also did wholesale damage to the nation.

As a dealmaker in the political arena he has not fared much better than he did in the private sector. While he often benefited from his deals, somebody ended up paying. Trump calls those who pay, losers. In the political arena that ends up being the average wage-earning taxpayer. He, on the other hand, is making more money than at any other time in his life.

Trump has always been a big spender, but he has wisely used OPM, Other Peoples Money. His gift for staying personally solvent, as with most successful business types, is to always use OPM and never risk your own capital. Now, in the public sector, the “OPM” means it is taxpayers at risk and not unwitting investors. Before he was 45 or 47, he had burned most domestic financial bridges and son Eric bragged in 2014, "We don’t rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia." So, it is no wonder that he favors Russia in our international policy decisions.

According to Forbes, “Donald Trump is not just on track, but has already shattered all historical records for earning money while in office. Financial disclosures from his second term show he brought in upwards of $2.2 billion to $2.4 billion in a single recent year—dwarfed largely by unprecedented cryptocurrency ventures, foreign real estate, and licensing deals—an amount completely unrivaled in American presidential history.”

*In previous writings I have compared Trump’s spending to a sailor on a “vampire liberty.” That rather obscure reference is from a different time when it was common practice for sailors to sell their blood for cash so they could afford to buy alcohol. The lower blood levels meant faster intoxication, more spending. As Trump doesn’t drink, I think the trust fund baby on spring break analogy is closer to home.

Can CAn at Jazzfest with the Commanders

I just took a group shot picture of the group of guys I used to travel to Jazzfest in New Orleans and ran it through Ai with a simple instruction. I asked it to make the guys dance like can can dancers. This is the result...

The Jazzfest Commanders Can Can

What is A.I. and Do We Really Want to Know

I have a vague understanding of A.I. from using various products based on that foundation, but my experience in computers ended with my retirement and was limited to the more rigid databases of that time. I kept hearing of LLMs or Large Language Models and hoped some understanding of what they were would help me understand more about A.I. Who better to ask than A.I. itself. So here is my prompt and the response (assuming you have any interest). I will admit I was a bit concerned when, as part of the explanation, it stated that LLMs can hallucinate.

My query: Describe Large Language Models and their role differentiating A.I. from structured databases.

AI Overview

Large language models (LLMs) are advanced artificial intelligence systems trained on vast amounts of text to understand, summarize, and generate human-like language. Unlike rigid structured databases that store exact data points in tables, LLMs use probability and context to interpret meaning, reason through prompts, and create entirely new content.

What is a Large Language Model?

• Neural networks: Built on deep learning architectures called transformers that process words in relation to each other.

• Massive scale: Trained on billions or trillions of parameters from books, websites, and articles.

• Generative power: Capable of writing code, drafting essays, translating languages, and holding realistic conversations.

How LLMs Differ from Structured Databases

• Data Storage vs. Understanding: Databases store exact rows and columns of data. LLMs store encoded patterns of human knowledge and language.

• Exact Retrieval vs. Generation: Databases give precise, pre-defined answers using queries like SQL. LLMs generate fluid, contextual responses to open-ended questions.

• Handling Uncertainty: Databases fail or return empty if data is missing or queried incorrectly. LLMs can infer, approximate, and reason through ambiguous or incomplete inputs.

• Adaptability: Databases require rigid schemas to accept new data formats. LLMs adapt instantly to new topics and conversational styles without changing code.

How do LLMs and databases work together?

Large language models (LLMs) and databases work together by combining the fluid reasoning of AI with the pinpoint accuracy of structured data. This partnership bridges the gap between text-based understanding and factual reliability.

Key Ways LLMs and Databases Integrate

1. Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)

• The Problem: LLMs can hallucinate or lack access to your private, up-to-date data.

• The Process: A database stores your files, articles, or customer logs.

• The Action: When a user asks a question, the database pulls the exact relevant text.

• The Output: The database feeds that text to the LLM, which writes a perfectly accurate summary.

2. Vector Databases for Semantic Search

• Traditional Search: Traditional databases search for exact keyword matches.

• LLM Role: LLMs convert text, images, or audio into long strings of numbers called vectors.

• Vector Database Role: Specialized databases store these numbers to find conceptual matches.

• The Result: You can search for "feline care" and instantly find articles about "feeding kittens."

3. Natural Language to SQL (NL2SQL)

• The Barrier: Non-technical users cannot write complex database queries like SQL.

• The Solution: A user types a plain question: "Who were our top three clients last month?"

• The LLM Bridge: The LLM translates that question into perfect database code instantly.

• The Final Step: The database executes the code and hands the clean data back to the user.

4. Automated Data Cleaning and Structuring

• Unstructured Chaos: Businesses are flooded with messy, unstructured emails, reviews, and PDFs.

• LLM Extraction: The LLM reads the messy text and extracts key points like names, sentiments, or dates.

• Database Storage: The extracted pieces are cleanly saved into a standard, structured database table.

If you got this far without drifting off or remembering that you forgot to feed the cat when you read about feline care, hopefully you are as confused as I am. Time for coffee.