Why German Engineers Were Stunned After Testing a Captured Sherman. "Relentless mechanical certainty".

For gearheads out there who may thrive on machinery documentaries.

WW2 POW Stories

"In the spring of 1943, German engineers took apart a captured American Sherman tank at the secret Kummersdorf proving ground south of Berlin. "They measured. They tested. They documented. And what they found inside that tank did not make them laugh. "It made them quiet. "This is the story of what they discovered in War Daddy 2 — and why, two years later, Albert Speer kept their report in his pocket as the artillery closed in on Berlin. 00:00 The tank that arrived at Kummersdorf 11:40 The engine that started the first time 23:20 The transmission that hummed 34:10 The stabilizer the Germans could not build 47:50 The verdict that Germany already knew

What are Flock cameras and why are they so controversial?

"Police say Flock cameras help them solve crimes, while critics worry they make it far too easy to track where people drive."

Mashable

. . . "So, what exactly are  Flock cameras, and why do some people want them gone?

How do Flock cameras work?

"Flock cameras are automated license plate readers, commonly known as ALPRs. Unlike red-light or speed cameras, they are generally not waiting for a driver to commit a specific traffic violation, but rather photograph passing vehicles and convert what they see into data that can be searched later.

"Each record can include a car’s license plate, location, make, model, color, body type, and the time it passed the camera. Flock’s software can also recognize individual features of the car, creating what amounts to a “vehicle fingerprint.”

"Police officers can search for a particular plate or enter a broader description, such as a blue Toyota with a bumper sticker. They can also add vehicles connected to stolen-car reports, missing people, or criminal investigations to a “hotlist.”

"If a camera detects a possible match, the system sends an alert with the vehicle's location. A police department can also allow other participating departments to search its camera data. In some states, that can mean searching across much of the country.

"Flock says its cameras take individual images rather than continuously tracking a vehicle, and its default policy is to delete license plate data after 30 days — although the actual retention period can vary based on local laws and an agency’s agreement." . . .More.

What Is a Flock Camera? A Complete Guide 2025

The Flock Camera Backlash Is A Very Good Sign   . . . "But what’s really driving the widespread rage is not how the cameras are currently being used, or misused. It’s how they could be used in the future. People across the political spectrum are concerned about this technology being used for everything from detecting stay-at-home order violations in a future pandemic to rounding up and deporting people because the government doesn’t like their political opinions.

"This is a remarkably healthy mindset for the public to hold. Basically, don’t let the government grab power you wouldn’t trust your political enemies to wield.

"But also, this is why the controversy surrounding Flock cameras has grown so large and why it’s quickly emerging as one of the major political issues ahead of the midterms. It’s not really about the specific workings of this one brand of automated license plate readers. It’s because the public’s presumption that our elites and institutions are acting in good faith has completely evaporated.

"The American people do not trust the people in charge enough to be reassured by promises about how this new surveillance infrastructure will be used. And that is good. Because we should not trust the people in charge. They have, fortunately, made that very clear in recent years—which is why we’re seeing such a political revolt against incumbents.

"But, going back, all the government power grabs that have brought us to this point—the PATRIOT Act, the invasion of Iraq, the banker bailouts, the insurance industry bailout known as Obamacare, the covid lockdowns, and more—all of it was only possible because enough of the public fell for the lie that the government was acting in their interest." . . . More...

Flock Cameras Explained: What They Track and Why It Matters   . . . "While Flock cameras often aid police in finding vehicles as part of investigations, they’re also used for the following: 

• Identifying trends in traffic flow to help traffic operators coordinate with different stakeholders to relieve congestion. 
• Monitoring event perimeters and alerting security personnel when dangerous vehicle behavior is detected. 
• Patrolling school grounds and campuses to secure crowded areas and warn administrators of any unusual vehicle activity. 
• Tracking vehicles entering and exiting an evacuation zone, so agencies can properly allocate resources during emergency responses. 
• Letting communities know when flagged vehicles are in the area, signaling to watch out for vehicle or package theft." . . .More...

Iran Is Betting America Will Cut And Run

American Thinker   

"Iran has not won. But neither has its will been broken. It is time to finish the job."

"Iran has stymied the United States for the moment, even though, by almost any conventional measure, it should be decisively defeated. The American people grudgingly believed their president when he said the conflict would be over quickly. Unfortunately, the enemy got their vote.

"Let there be no mistake: Iran has not achieved any victory, much less a military one. It has suffered hundreds of billions in damage and a decimated pool of former leaders. Yet, like a punch-drunk fighter, it still stands. Don’t confuse defiance for victory, though.

"Iran’s strategy isn’t about defeating America, but surviving long enough to see America’s political will fracture, as it repeatedly does. America, with Israel’s willing help, has the military ability and logistics to destroy much of Iran’s ability to make war. What it lacks is the political freedom to use that power without domestic and international consequences.

"Iran’s risk calculation differs from ours. The Islamic Republic’s revolutionary leadership operates within a religious worldview that anticipates the eventual return of the Hidden Imam, the 12th Imam, and the triumph of divine justice.

"There have long been allegations that some senior Iranian officials believe creating conditions favorable to the Mahdi’s return is essential. That does not mean Iran necessarily seeks nuclear Armageddon or that its leaders are suicidal. It does mean we should be circumspect about a regime with an intensely religious conception of history and destiny." . . .More

Democrats have advocated cut and run since the Civil War and Vietnam.  In 1861-65 we had the peace Democrats - Copperheads, who have been willing to walk away from our dead, even collaborating with those who slew them. TD

Lindsay Clancy, Motherhood, and a Culture That Has Forgotten Sacrifice |

"The disturbing reaction to the Massachusetts murder trial reveals a culture increasingly estranged from an enduring truth about parenthood: to love another person is to sacrifice for them."

The American Spectator | USA News and Politics

"Ultimately, that’s what love is: sacrifice. Christ provided the perfect and ultimate example of love when He lay … scourged and shredded … upon the cross."

"The case of Massachusetts woman Lindsay Clancy has garnered national attention, in no small degree due to the alarming surge of women online and outside the courthouse expressing “solidarity” with and support for Clancy, who is on trial for the brutal murder of her three children, ages three, five, and eight. Clancy has admitted in court to taking each of the children into the basement, one by one, and strangling them to death with exercise bands.

"The trial has led a number of clearly unstable women to post TikTok and Instagram videos of themselves angrily screeching and hurling ice into bathtubs while their children cower in the background in fear and confusion or, perhaps even more disturbingly, clutching their young children with the words “Same, Lindsay” superimposed over the video.

"There is much debate and discussion, in the wake of the trial, over postpartum depression, the pharmaceutical industry, and the social contagion effects of brain-rotting, attention-whoring social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, but I’m not here to weigh in on any of that. As a father and a Catholic, my own attention has been arrested by the fact that many American women seem to have forgotten one of the most fundamental aspects of motherhood. No doubt the prevalence of abortion over the past number of decades has played a role in this.

"St. Josemaría Escrivá, the 20th century Spanish priest who encouraged laity and clergy alike to pursue holiness in everyday, once wrote, simply, “The way of love is called sacrifice.” Every mother and father is called to sacrifice for his or her children. While abortion and contraception may declare children to be an inconvenience to be disposed of or prevented, Christianity instead encourages parents to embrace parenthood as Christ embraced the cross. St. Francis De Sales urged his fellow Catholics, “Lovingly kiss the crosses that our Lord Himself lays upon your arms, without looking to see whether they are of precious or aromatic wood. They are more truly crosses when they are made of a wood that smells dirty and is considered useless.”

"Parenthood is a sublime joy. My wonderful wife and I have a beautiful baby girl, nearly two years old, and we are expecting her baby brother later this year. My daughter has brought so much joy and meaning and purpose to my life. Parenthood can also, I know, be a trial. At such times, however, every mother and father ought to, in the words of Christ Himself, “take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24)." . . . More.

Knowing what Hamas did to the Bibas children, spare me the "crying for help" stories.TD