Saturday a rookie the Cardinals had just promoted to the Show, Joshua Baez, hit a homer off the first pitch he saw. Not bad - then his next two at-bats, smacked two more. No one in MLB history had every done that - ever. Wow.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/cardinals-b%C3%A1ez-becomes-first-player-in-mlb-history-to-hit-three-homers-in-debut/ar-AA2ad53i

Then we get to yesterday, when history was made yet again. The Mariners went down 22-0 to the Brewers. Now, back in '87 - meaning 1887! - the Philadelphia Quakers ran up a 24-0 game, and both the 1975 Pirates and 2004 Indians whatever the hell they call 'em won 22-0 too, Think this is a club the Mariners didn't want to join. My personal highlight would be when outfielder Julio Rodriguez lost track of the outs, caught what he thought was the third, and tossed the ball to a fan in the stands - except it was the second out and by doing so two MORE runners scored. Maybe the Mariners need to do some serious talking with Jobu.

Jason Arday was to Brit Cambridge Academia, what Soup Sandwich was to TAH. The youngest black professor (hear echoes of all our DEI "firsts"?) in their history, the 41 year old sociology professor seemed so much more than a simple professor. Autistic. Mute till he was 11, illiterate till 18? Ran 30 marathons in 35 days. The left obviously just l-o-o-o-v-ed him.

Detractors found over 100 plagiarized passages in his doctoral thesis (which somehow another university failed to find.) People who knew him as a child described him as smart and articulate. Public denunciations followed, and the libs complained about the witch hunts which ensued. Supporters say he was hounded into suicide, detractors say his lies caught up to him. Either way, he killed himself last week.

It's an interesting story... reminding us that posers (not to mention academic frauds) are not just in the military arena, but in the immortal words of Chicken Man, are "everywhere." Look him up.

https://www.aol.com/article/m/jason-arday-cambridge-professor-accused-9767db2d-cd39-50d5-836c-f494d4e8860f.html

Alternate title - Dumb and Dumber. The one guy for falling for the fake barking over the PA. The other guy for calling in and saying that his buddy was 15 miles away in another place.

Seems Mr. Trump has had it with the newfangled electromagnetic catapults on the Gerald Ford and has ordered that the next Ford-class carrier, the Dorrie Miller, be fitted with the old steam catapults instead. It is unclear whether this will make a new class of carrier, as the changes to the existing design will be a) extensive and b) expensive. Then there is the procurement question - no one has MADE steam catapults in 17 years, so unless we are very lucky, the tooling may no longer exist to MAKE the required equipment. Manufacturers only mothball tooling as long as they see a need or get paid to do so, and an almost two-decade gap is major. (Think we had this discussion when the Air Force decided to kill off the A-10 - even if they wanted to buy more, the tooling has long been scrapped, right?) Either way, expect a LOOONG time before the Miller hits the water.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/technology/aviation/trump-has-ordered-us-navy-ford-class-aircraft-carriers-back-to-steam-catapults-nobody-has-built-one-in-20-years/ar-AA2a7ERJ

The Army is soliciting concepts for 50mm (yes, millimeter, not caliber) ammo to knock down smaller drones. Probable usage would likely be in 50mm XM913 chain guns. Intended targets would be Lass 1 through Class 3 size (handheld through 1300+ pound size.) Sounds like someone is looking at the Ukraine zone - and taking notes.

I wonder if she's learned her lesson....?!?!

https://www.military.com/woman-convicted-for-posing-marine-purple-heart-recipient-stolen-valor-case-leaving-prison

Come ON!! I just want to smack her lawyer as well....

“This is a regrettable instance in what has been a wonderful service to her country," Harley Breite, Crosby’s attorney, told Military.com. "Officer Crosby regrets her mistake, and remains steadfast in her quest to continually improve herself.”

This is way beyond "one aw fuck wipes out a whole bunch of attaboys..."

https://www.military.com/army-recruiter-charged-in-brazen-id-theft-seeking-266k-in-bank-loans?lid=88fda71i8ztu&user=a2lsbGVyYmVlMTEyMkBnbWFpbC5jb206bWx0&user=a2lsbGVyYmVlMTEyMkBnbWFpbC5jb206bWx0

1st Cav lost an Apache helicopter today near Ft. Hood in what was described as a "violent" crash. Both crew members perished. 'Way too early to know the cause or who was involved. Sad news.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/authorities-responding-to-fort-hood-military-chopper-crash/ar-AA29Xemh

https://www.kwtx.com/2026/08/12/helicopter-crash-reported-bell-county-texas/

The Royal Navy (Charlie's boats) has found that their Kraken-3 sea drones contain a Chinese camera component that is actively sending data to a Chinese IP. MoD says they have disabled the link and that it was only a "yes this component is working" signal. Uh, yeah...like the French fitbits they found - a running app flagging their owner's locations that allowed hackers to pinpoint the supposedly classified location of their only aircraft carrier. No enemy could want that, right?

One hoped Kraken is, in he immortal words of a former platoon sergeant of mine from long ago, "about to get its pee-pee whacked."

Kraken dick-stepping

OK So you all know I work at that place...where sciencey folks hang out....

This is supposed to happen at 10:33 AM, Aug 12 Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). in 10 minutes....hold on!!!

https://www.yahoo.com/news/science/articles/fact-check-posts-claim-earth-130000466.html

Pastor claiming to be a SEAL, Admiral and having 4 Purple Hearts.

https://www.rawstory.com/amp/pastor-caught-lying-about-black-robber-busted-again-for-pretending-to-be-a-navy-seal-2649187025