Giled Pallaeon
@giledpallaeon.bsky.social
Military & International Affairs nerd. Defense professional. Mostly naval subjects, but all aspects of defense and natsec welcome. Oh, & plastic spaceships, that too. All opinions on all subjects my own #WeAreNAFO
Pinned
Giled Pallaeon
@giledpallaeon.bsky.social
· May 15
Previous type entries have made note of the appropriate deployment of a particular type, with special regard to campaign operations. Star Destroyer as defined here overrides those generalized parameters. It is the assessment of [Redacted] to append the designation “Star Destroyer”…
Reposting so I can pin this. Below is part of a thread I wrote including my Watsonian redefinition of the term “Star Destroyer”
Reposted by Giled Pallaeon
tech bro: i have made Artificial General Intelligence
programmer: you fucked up a perfectly good calculator is what you did. look at it. it's got anxiety
programmer: you fucked up a perfectly good calculator is what you did. look at it. it's got anxiety
I’ve been running around asking tech execs and academics if language was the same as intelligence for over a year now - and, well, it isn’t. @benjaminjriley.bsky.social explains how the bubble is built on ignoring cutting-edge research into the science of thought www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
November 25, 2025 at 5:12 PM
tech bro: i have made Artificial General Intelligence
programmer: you fucked up a perfectly good calculator is what you did. look at it. it's got anxiety
programmer: you fucked up a perfectly good calculator is what you did. look at it. it's got anxiety
This is another unforced error but you didn’t need me to tell you that.
Documents show the U.S. military is planning to sever all ties with the organization formerly known as the Boy Scouts n.pr/3M48mr2
U.S. ready to cut support to Scouts, accusing them of attacking 'boy-friendly spaces'
Documents show the U.S. Military is planning to sever all ties with the organization formally known as the Boy Scouts
n.pr
November 25, 2025 at 1:47 PM
This is another unforced error but you didn’t need me to tell you that.
Replace plants and pottery with miniatures and board games and I will more loudly ask you who told you to be so damn right
Twitter accounts are based in Russia. BlueSky accounts are based in homes with, frankly, too many books, plants, obsolete cables, and pieces of rustic pottery, that could do with a bit of a tidying up, to be honest.
November 24, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Replace plants and pottery with miniatures and board games and I will more loudly ask you who told you to be so damn right
This is very unreasonably metal for the thing this is a discussion about.
The damned in hell are not more powerful for the fact that the fires do not consume them; it is part and parcel of their torment.
November 23, 2025 at 8:57 PM
This is very unreasonably metal for the thing this is a discussion about.
News to those of us still answering their insipid questions and pointless mandates.
Bye bye, “DOGE”.
It no longer exists as a “centralized entity”, according to the Office of Personnel Management.
@reuters.com
www.reuters.com/world/us/dog...
It no longer exists as a “centralized entity”, according to the Office of Personnel Management.
@reuters.com
www.reuters.com/world/us/dog...
November 23, 2025 at 4:45 PM
News to those of us still answering their insipid questions and pointless mandates.
Kind of a three stage story. Stage one was contemporaneous die cast model of a COUNTY class destroyer (only ID’d it years later, still have it) and Dale Brown novels from the local used book store kicking my interest in military tech and design into overdrive.
November 22, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Kind of a three stage story. Stage one was contemporaneous die cast model of a COUNTY class destroyer (only ID’d it years later, still have it) and Dale Brown novels from the local used book store kicking my interest in military tech and design into overdrive.
This is an eminently reasonable and frankly minimalist agenda all people of good character should be able to support.
And if you can’t, get the fuck off my feed.
And if you can’t, get the fuck off my feed.
poem that my dear friend @arcanumb.bsky.social wrote & published this week ❤️🔥🏳️⚧️
November 20, 2025 at 11:12 PM
This is an eminently reasonable and frankly minimalist agenda all people of good character should be able to support.
And if you can’t, get the fuck off my feed.
And if you can’t, get the fuck off my feed.
He was already allergic to using his supposedly great mind. I couldn’t be less surprised.
MIT's famous linguistic professor Noam Chomsky was in regular and close contact with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to a review of emails published by the U.S. House Oversight Committee. In the documents, Chomsky described Epstein as a "highly valued friend."
Epstein emails show close connection with MIT's Noam Chomsky
MIT's famous linguistic professor Noam Chomsky was in regular and close contact with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to a review of emails published by the U.S. House Oversight Committee. In t...
www.wbur.org
November 20, 2025 at 2:28 PM
He was already allergic to using his supposedly great mind. I couldn’t be less surprised.
I could probably remove the party filter and still be on one hand. And that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t fight the Cult of the Gizmo, it’s extremely dangerous. But we should be clear-eyed that this is a campaign for the indefinite future. Americans are weak to the Cult of the Gizmo unfortunately.
I can count on (maybe) 1 hand the number of elected D’s I actually trust in dealing with the gizmo cult so if we can get to 2 hands…
November 17, 2025 at 3:22 PM
I could probably remove the party filter and still be on one hand. And that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t fight the Cult of the Gizmo, it’s extremely dangerous. But we should be clear-eyed that this is a campaign for the indefinite future. Americans are weak to the Cult of the Gizmo unfortunately.
*reads military news from non-mil specialized outfit, sighs*
Per SOUTHCOM, FORD is sailing with three DDGs, BAINBRIDGE, MAHAN, and WINSTON CHURCHILL. SOUTHCOM’s press release describes CHURCHILL as the “integrated air and missile defense command ship”, which presumably means she is the designated…
Per SOUTHCOM, FORD is sailing with three DDGs, BAINBRIDGE, MAHAN, and WINSTON CHURCHILL. SOUTHCOM’s press release describes CHURCHILL as the “integrated air and missile defense command ship”, which presumably means she is the designated…
It was deployed to support Operation Southern Spear. The ship is the first of a new class of aircraft carriers being built for the U.S. military. n.pr/4807YRU
The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier is in the Caribbean. Here's its backstory
It was deployed to support Operation Southern Spear. The ship is the first of a new class of aircraft carriers being built for the U.S. military.
n.pr
November 16, 2025 at 11:57 PM
*reads military news from non-mil specialized outfit, sighs*
Per SOUTHCOM, FORD is sailing with three DDGs, BAINBRIDGE, MAHAN, and WINSTON CHURCHILL. SOUTHCOM’s press release describes CHURCHILL as the “integrated air and missile defense command ship”, which presumably means she is the designated…
Per SOUTHCOM, FORD is sailing with three DDGs, BAINBRIDGE, MAHAN, and WINSTON CHURCHILL. SOUTHCOM’s press release describes CHURCHILL as the “integrated air and missile defense command ship”, which presumably means she is the designated…
Reposted by Giled Pallaeon
Love this by @gravitysra1nbow.bsky.social: "The plot against the United States is not a Philip Roth-esque conspiracy built by conspiring fascists in the shadows. The plot against America is more banal. It is the desecration of our basic sense of what it means to be a good citizen of our Nation."
The Conspiracy Against America
National Populism and the United States
othermeans.io
November 16, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Love this by @gravitysra1nbow.bsky.social: "The plot against the United States is not a Philip Roth-esque conspiracy built by conspiring fascists in the shadows. The plot against America is more banal. It is the desecration of our basic sense of what it means to be a good citizen of our Nation."
Reposted by Giled Pallaeon
Some inspiring words on cinema in the streaming era from the Pope.
Yes, THAT Pope.
Yes, THAT Pope.
November 15, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Some inspiring words on cinema in the streaming era from the Pope.
Yes, THAT Pope.
Yes, THAT Pope.
Reposted by Giled Pallaeon
Some are calling him one of the stupidest motherfuckers in American defense policy (me)
June 20, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Some are calling him one of the stupidest motherfuckers in American defense policy (me)
It’s a black swan event that does actually happen. The tricky part is this particular swan has the largest strategic and non-strategic nuclear arsenal in the world, spread out over the largest country in the world. Ezpz
the thing about predicting russia's collapse is eventually you'll be right you just have to wait anywhere from a few weeks to seventy years
November 14, 2025 at 10:19 PM
It’s a black swan event that does actually happen. The tricky part is this particular swan has the largest strategic and non-strategic nuclear arsenal in the world, spread out over the largest country in the world. Ezpz
Alternative units of measure include a destroyer, about 20-25 F-35s depending on the lot, and quite a few missiles.
That’s 2/3 of annual cost of Sentinel
Trump's Pentagon name change could cost up to $2 billion www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat...
November 13, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Alternative units of measure include a destroyer, about 20-25 F-35s depending on the lot, and quite a few missiles.
Increasingly hard to resist the view we should have intervened from the get-go, potentially with maximalist aims, nuclear threats be damned
November 13, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Increasingly hard to resist the view we should have intervened from the get-go, potentially with maximalist aims, nuclear threats be damned
Reposted by Giled Pallaeon
sharepoint answers the question of “what if google drive hung every time you changed a font”
November 10, 2025 at 7:42 PM
sharepoint answers the question of “what if google drive hung every time you changed a font”
Reposted by Giled Pallaeon
For those unfamiliar with probably the best airport from a functional perspective in the country, Hartsfield has five runways. That’s a plane per runway every ten minutes, instead of the usual 2.5.
Waiting for a very delayed flight to Atlanta & the pilot (Scott!) has become everyone's best friend, hanging out amongst the people. He's let us know that Atlanta is only allowing 30 flights an hour, when it's usually 120.
Obviously frustrating but also enjoying how much Scott is relishing this.
Obviously frustrating but also enjoying how much Scott is relishing this.
November 9, 2025 at 4:42 AM
For those unfamiliar with probably the best airport from a functional perspective in the country, Hartsfield has five runways. That’s a plane per runway every ten minutes, instead of the usual 2.5.
If I may pivot off this, this does bring one to the areas of advantage a carrier does have. First and foremost, a carrier can provide elevated sensing. The curvature of the Earth is a problem for all sensors, but the gap in sensing between a surface ship and aircraft is of category difference.
Today, the better capability for long-range strike is any ship with a Vertical Launch System (VLS). They can launch different types of missiles and missiles are just better at long-range strike than the manned aircraft that a carrier can handle (land-based bombers are a totally different story).
November 8, 2025 at 6:44 PM
If I may pivot off this, this does bring one to the areas of advantage a carrier does have. First and foremost, a carrier can provide elevated sensing. The curvature of the Earth is a problem for all sensors, but the gap in sensing between a surface ship and aircraft is of category difference.
What does it take to convince you that:
A. American hegemony is good for you/America
and
B. “Be[ing] the world’s mom and dad”is good for American hegemony.
There’s also a wave of ethical arguments but cold assessments of American cost benefit still favor this overwhelmingly.
A. American hegemony is good for you/America
and
B. “Be[ing] the world’s mom and dad”is good for American hegemony.
There’s also a wave of ethical arguments but cold assessments of American cost benefit still favor this overwhelmingly.
I dunno. I do like our government spending less money anywhere they can. I like even more if my taxes go down as a result. Since when is our job to be the world’s mom and dad? Did other countries step up to fill that gap?
November 7, 2025 at 2:50 PM
What does it take to convince you that:
A. American hegemony is good for you/America
and
B. “Be[ing] the world’s mom and dad”is good for American hegemony.
There’s also a wave of ethical arguments but cold assessments of American cost benefit still favor this overwhelmingly.
A. American hegemony is good for you/America
and
B. “Be[ing] the world’s mom and dad”is good for American hegemony.
There’s also a wave of ethical arguments but cold assessments of American cost benefit still favor this overwhelmingly.
Reposted by Giled Pallaeon
It also seems to me to be suicide for fear of death. What exactly do we fear from China that’s worse than command-economy-ing ourselves into manufacturing and out of all the industries we’re world leaders in?
Friendshoring makes sense. Fantasies of autarky are just that.
Friendshoring makes sense. Fantasies of autarky are just that.
November 6, 2025 at 10:11 PM
It also seems to me to be suicide for fear of death. What exactly do we fear from China that’s worse than command-economy-ing ourselves into manufacturing and out of all the industries we’re world leaders in?
Friendshoring makes sense. Fantasies of autarky are just that.
Friendshoring makes sense. Fantasies of autarky are just that.
As an engineering project, I’m quite curious how Lego got the saucer and the upper secondary hull built, especially with the ability to separate off what looks like one small button in the video. Larger Star Wars UCS models have been using technic as the skeleton and “hanging” the skin off that.
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD ☝️
The Lego Icons Star Trek: The Next Generation USS Enterprise-D ($400, 3,600 pieces) will be available on November 28.
The Lego Icons Star Trek: The Next Generation USS Enterprise-D ($400, 3,600 pieces) will be available on November 28.
November 6, 2025 at 3:00 PM
As an engineering project, I’m quite curious how Lego got the saucer and the upper secondary hull built, especially with the ability to separate off what looks like one small button in the video. Larger Star Wars UCS models have been using technic as the skeleton and “hanging” the skin off that.
(Surprising no one) I have thoughts on this, but first and foremost is that the American public wants what classes as a moral good of building things but absolutely don’t actually do that. We also want the wealth and easy work lives of our service economy. And we seem to want that more.
We can’t feed McKinsey to people or build a data center with shares in Meta, much as “We are a service economy” sounds good.
November 6, 2025 at 2:22 AM
(Surprising no one) I have thoughts on this, but first and foremost is that the American public wants what classes as a moral good of building things but absolutely don’t actually do that. We also want the wealth and easy work lives of our service economy. And we seem to want that more.
Fun fact, this movie is about the same period in history that ended up (indirectly) causing:
1. Teddy Roosevelt’s Peace Prize
2. The fall of the Russian Empire and the rise of the USSR
and its own cause is inextricably linked to the Emancipation Proclamation.
1. Teddy Roosevelt’s Peace Prize
2. The fall of the Russian Empire and the rise of the USSR
and its own cause is inextricably linked to the Emancipation Proclamation.
It’s hard to believe but there was a cartoon about an immigrant mouse and it was seen as totally fine and not controversial and not woke because it was an aspirational and nice thing about America that people could come here and find a better life
November 5, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Fun fact, this movie is about the same period in history that ended up (indirectly) causing:
1. Teddy Roosevelt’s Peace Prize
2. The fall of the Russian Empire and the rise of the USSR
and its own cause is inextricably linked to the Emancipation Proclamation.
1. Teddy Roosevelt’s Peace Prize
2. The fall of the Russian Empire and the rise of the USSR
and its own cause is inextricably linked to the Emancipation Proclamation.