From: jl@glen--canyon.com   
      
   On Fri, 06 Feb 2026 18:17:31 -0500, Joe Gwinn    
   wrote:   
      
   >On Fri, 6 Feb 2026 23:35:39 +0100, Jeroen Belleman   
   > wrote:   
   >   
   >>On 2/6/26 22:22, Joe Gwinn wrote:   
   >>> On Fri, 6 Feb 2026 17:43:13 +0100, Jeroen Belleman   
   >>>  wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>>> On 2/6/26 15:50, Jeroen Belleman wrote:   
   >>>>> On 2/6/26 14:21, Bill Sloman wrote:   
   >>>>>> On 6/02/2026 8:26 pm, Liz Tuddenham wrote:   
   >>>>>>> Bill Sloman  wrote:   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>> On 6/02/2026 1:52 am, Liz Tuddenham wrote:   
   >>>>>>>>> Don Y  wrote:   
   >>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>> I fully expect this to happen during Trump's administration.   
   >>>>>>>>>> He probably realizes he won't be able to do anything about it,   
   >>>>>>>>>> especially after his designs on other foreign countries and   
   >>>>>>>>>> alienation of his main allies.   
   >>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>> ["No, you haven't been ATTACKED by China so Article 5 doesn't   
   >>>>>>>>>> require us to come to your aid..."]   
   >>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>> Of course, more and more manufacturing is TRYING to be on-shored.   
   >>>>>>>>>> But, I suspect that is nowhere near enough to address the   
   >>>>>>>>>> potential of Taiwan going off-line -- even briefly.   
   >>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>> I'm thinking back to how screwed up the supply chain got during   
   >>>>>>>>>> COVID and wonder what manufacturers and investors will do when   
   >>>>>>>>>> the future is far less certain than a "pandemic".   
   >>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>> Opinions?   
   >>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>> We have sleepwalked into this and the few who have raised the alarm   
   >>>>>>>>> have   
   >>>>>>>>> been (and still are being) ignored and ridiculed.   
   >>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>> There is a wider problem: we have become 'travel junkies' and rely   
   too   
   >>>>>>>>> much on transport.  "I can get it cheaper from..." doesn't take into   
   >>>>>>>>> account the hidden costs such as liability to supply disruption,   
   >>>>>>>>> loss of   
   >>>>>>>>> control over the design and the fundamental need to teach underlying   
   >>>>>>>>> principles and train people in making things themselves.   
   >>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>> We haven't got the factories.   
   >>>>>>>>> We haven't got the machines.   
   >>>>>>>>> We haven't got the people who know how to operste the machines.   
   >>>>>>>>> We haven't got the machines to make the machines.   
   >>>>>>>>> We haven't got the people who know how to make the machines   
   >>>>>>>>> We haven't got the material.   
   >>>>>>>>> We haven't got the undustry to make the materials.   
   >>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>> In the thrall of Greenwash we have simply exported the 'dirty' jobs   
   to   
   >>>>>>>>> other countries and then added to the pollution by shipping the goods   
   >>>>>>>>> back.   
   >>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>> If Russia could do to the UK what it is doing to Ukraine, the country   
   >>>>>>>>> would have to surrender within a week.   
   >>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>> If the UK ignored the fact that it has it's own nuclear weapons and   
   the   
   >>>>>>>> means to deliver them.   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>> Has it?  I thought they were dependent on the U.S. for delivery.   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>> The ballistic missiles were manufactured in the US, but they do seem   
   >>>>>> to be under UK control. The proposition that the US engineered in   
   >>>>>> secret backdoors to let them disable the weapons if they were pointed   
   >>>>>> at a target that the US hadn't approved is one that every conspiracy   
   >>>>>> theory nut would bring forward, but UK military security is even   
   >>>>>> deeper into daft conspiracy theories than internet lunatics.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> Everything is software-controlled these days. If you thought that   
   >>>>> thoroughly checking the source code for backdoors will protect you,   
   >>>>> you should read this:   
   >>>>> "Reflections on trusting trust", by Ken thompson   
   >>>>>    
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> You'll never trust a compiler again.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> Jeroen Belleman   
   >>>   
   >>> It's a classic reference, never refuted.   
   >>>   
   >>> Here is more background:   
   >>>   
   >>> .   
   >>>   
   >>>   
   >>>> Sorry for following up on myself. I just read that text again and   
   >>>> noticed that Ken refers to some obscure US airforce document   
   >>>> where he first learned of this trick.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Am I a conspiracy nut for thinking that, if it ever comes to an   
   >>>> armed conflict with the US, all those F35s they sold us would   
   >>>> just drop out of the sky?   
   >>>   
   >>> One reason is to prevent one's own weapons being used against one by   
   >>> the winner of a revolution who inherited a military.   
   >>>   
   >>>   
   >>>> We'd better buy Saab or Dassault!   
   >>>   
   >>> All that does is change who the master shall be.   
   >>>   
   >>> Joe   
   >>   
   >>That last point is true, of course, in the general case,   
   >>but I intended it to refer to the current rogue. Sweden   
   >>and France are still reliable allies. The US, not so much.   
   >   
   >The current rogues will not live forever, and their replacements may   
   >or may not be better.   
   >   
   >France is 5.7% of NATO, and Sweden is far smaller.   
   >   
   >Ukraine has caused the scales to fall from many eyes.   
   >   
   >Joe   
      
      
   If they had indeed taken Kyiv in five days, what would the Russians   
   want next? Great Rus' all over again.   
      
   They can have Alaska. The food's not very good.   
      
      
   John Larkin   
   Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center   
   Lunatic Fringe Electronics   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)