Dark Laughter
@darklaughtertdb.bsky.social
OIF/OEF vet and Duffel Blog writer. DarkLaughterTDB (at) gmail (dot) com #satire #natsec
This reminds me, we should all agree now on who's writing which op-eds in the wake of the coming military disaster where a SOF Wile E. Coyote plan doesn't work and they all get captured/killed. We can just write them now and have them ready to go.
The Trump administration says Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was captured at minimum cost to the US taxpayer. Bloomberg calculations show the price tag of the ships deployed in the Caribbean hit more than $20 million a day at its peak.
Trump's Caribbean Surge Nears $3 Billion Price Tag So Far
The operations around Venezuela that eventually led to the capture of its president pulled in nearly a fifth of the US Navy’s surface fleet at a cost of more than $20 million a day.
bloom.bg
February 14, 2026 at 6:58 PM
This reminds me, we should all agree now on who's writing which op-eds in the wake of the coming military disaster where a SOF Wile E. Coyote plan doesn't work and they all get captured/killed. We can just write them now and have them ready to go.
Reposted by Dark Laughter
USSOCOM investing in cruise missiles is a kind of mission creep that, if you saw Wendy's abandoning The Baconator and instead buying riverboat gambling paddleships, you'd think the management had completely lost the plot.
But since it's The Innovation Ecosystem and there's no scorekeeping at all...
But since it's The Innovation Ecosystem and there's no scorekeeping at all...
February 14, 2026 at 4:38 PM
USSOCOM investing in cruise missiles is a kind of mission creep that, if you saw Wendy's abandoning The Baconator and instead buying riverboat gambling paddleships, you'd think the management had completely lost the plot.
But since it's The Innovation Ecosystem and there's no scorekeeping at all...
But since it's The Innovation Ecosystem and there's no scorekeeping at all...
February 13, 2026 at 11:01 PM
Reposted by Dark Laughter
Been toying with the same thought. Pointless barriers to voting pitched as a solution to an imaginary problem are a bad idea in principle, but Republicans seem very sure it will help them on net, and that’s not really obvious to me.
The funny thing about the MAGA voter ID crusade is...are they SURE they want to do that? Increase the hurdles to advantage the most motivated? Because I assure you, Democratic voters will jump through any hoop you put in front of them to get a ballot cast. Can MAGA say the same of its voters?
February 13, 2026 at 10:14 PM
Been toying with the same thought. Pointless barriers to voting pitched as a solution to an imaginary problem are a bad idea in principle, but Republicans seem very sure it will help them on net, and that’s not really obvious to me.
No idea what happened here, but three thoughts. First, UNREPs are very difficult, it's insane we've made them routine. Second, we're very good at them because they're routine. Third, when we screw up like this the PLAN should be sweating bullets over their ambition to become a true ocean-going navy.
The destroyer USS Truxtun and the supply ship USNS Supply collided as the warship was getting a load of supplies, leaving two troops with minor injuries.
Two US Navy ships collide in Caribbean, leaving 2 sailors injured
The destroyer USS Truxtun and the supply ship USNS Supply collided as the warship was getting a load of supplies, leaving two troops with minor injuries.
www.defensenews.com
February 13, 2026 at 9:12 PM
No idea what happened here, but three thoughts. First, UNREPs are very difficult, it's insane we've made them routine. Second, we're very good at them because they're routine. Third, when we screw up like this the PLAN should be sweating bullets over their ambition to become a true ocean-going navy.
As long as this has come up, Eurovision should be an Olympic event.
in what other sport can I watch a white Swiss man saucily undulate to oud music while wearing knife boots
February 13, 2026 at 6:57 PM
As long as this has come up, Eurovision should be an Olympic event.
Okay, here's my plan to fix this. We add a sub-category to the reading lists for bullshit from an airport book store. It will act as a heat sink to absorb all the bozo recommendations, and we can just tell leaders "Well, we're set for airport books, sir, but we have to do history and leadership."
I don't normally keep up with what the Army is reading these days, but I happened to click on this official recommended reading list for junior officers and it's appalling. 53 of 66 titles are corporate-style self-help books. This is a great way to hollow out and dumb down your military.
juniorofficer.army.mil
February 13, 2026 at 6:52 PM
Okay, here's my plan to fix this. We add a sub-category to the reading lists for bullshit from an airport book store. It will act as a heat sink to absorb all the bozo recommendations, and we can just tell leaders "Well, we're set for airport books, sir, but we have to do history and leadership."
First thought:
February 13, 2026 at 6:45 PM
First thought:
Reposted by Dark Laughter
NEW: Intel whistleblower accuses director of national intelligence of being Tulsi Gabbard www.duffelblog.com/intel-whistl...
Intel whistleblower accuses director of national intelligence of being Tulsi Gabbard
Officials deny claim, insist DNI ‘almost certainly a man’
www.duffelblog.com
February 13, 2026 at 2:15 PM
NEW: Intel whistleblower accuses director of national intelligence of being Tulsi Gabbard www.duffelblog.com/intel-whistl...
Reposted by Dark Laughter
For those of you here in the UK it seems that ‘Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire’ is one of the £1.99 kindle daily deals on Amazon. Which is a heck of a discount!
www.amazon.co.uk/Star-Wars-Ri...
www.amazon.co.uk/Star-Wars-Ri...
February 13, 2026 at 1:00 AM
For those of you here in the UK it seems that ‘Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire’ is one of the £1.99 kindle daily deals on Amazon. Which is a heck of a discount!
www.amazon.co.uk/Star-Wars-Ri...
www.amazon.co.uk/Star-Wars-Ri...
Reposted by Dark Laughter
Let's see the GOP searches - how many checked for their own names?
The Trump Justice Department admits: It "logs all searches" by members of Congress who view the unredacted versions of the Epstein files on their data systems.
www.cnbc.com/2026/02/12/e...
www.cnbc.com/2026/02/12/e...
Epstein files: DOJ says it logs Congress members' searches to 'protect' victim information
Attorney General Pam Bondi and Rep. Pramila Jayapal exchanged sharp words at a hearing when Jayapal asked victims of Jeffrey Epstein about meeting with the DOJ.
www.cnbc.com
February 13, 2026 at 12:35 AM
Let's see the GOP searches - how many checked for their own names?
A simple rule is that if you're in a tense situation and think even once about your health insurance deductible, even if you realize you've met it for the year, you should defuse the situation or run away instead of fighting.
I never took it but a bunch of my college friends did jiu-jitsu and the first thing they taught you was how to open in any real fight, which was to put up your hands and say “hey man, I don’t want any trouble”
I’m not saying don’t buy a gun or don’t get tactical training. I’d be a huge hypocrite because I’ve done that. The thing I am saying is don’t think doing so makes you John Wick. If you get mugged, give them your phone and wallet. Live to fight another day.
February 12, 2026 at 7:26 PM
A simple rule is that if you're in a tense situation and think even once about your health insurance deductible, even if you realize you've met it for the year, you should defuse the situation or run away instead of fighting.
So, if Alito retires, are we thinking Trump's going to nominate Jonathan Mitchell, Alina Habba, Jeanine Pirro, Lindsey Halligan, Rudy Giuliani, Tiffany Trump, or Kid Rock?
So @elienyc.bsky.social and @strictscrutiny.bsky.social have speculated that Alito may retire soon. I agree. Elie lays out the case here—it'd be odd to release a memoir in October if he's (a) still serving and (b) unable to promote it because he's hearing arguments. www.thenation.com/article/poli...
Is Samuel Alito Preparing to Disrobe?
In this installment of Elie v. US, our justice correspondent explores the week’s big legal news, including a possible Alito retirement. Also, the anti-trans mob’s latest target: tight clothing.
www.thenation.com
February 12, 2026 at 6:45 PM
So, if Alito retires, are we thinking Trump's going to nominate Jonathan Mitchell, Alina Habba, Jeanine Pirro, Lindsey Halligan, Rudy Giuliani, Tiffany Trump, or Kid Rock?
Woman with service elk sues airline.
February 12, 2026 at 12:23 AM
Woman with service elk sues airline.
Reposted by Dark Laughter
Man, I didn’t think there was a way for this story to get dumber but…
“DoD loaned the high-energy laser weapon to DHS, who promptly shot down some mylar balloons with it without telling anyone, resulting in the FAA closing airspace and disrupting air travel nationwide”
…sure did the trick
“DoD loaned the high-energy laser weapon to DHS, who promptly shot down some mylar balloons with it without telling anyone, resulting in the FAA closing airspace and disrupting air travel nationwide”
…sure did the trick
February 11, 2026 at 11:50 PM
Man, I didn’t think there was a way for this story to get dumber but…
“DoD loaned the high-energy laser weapon to DHS, who promptly shot down some mylar balloons with it without telling anyone, resulting in the FAA closing airspace and disrupting air travel nationwide”
…sure did the trick
“DoD loaned the high-energy laser weapon to DHS, who promptly shot down some mylar balloons with it without telling anyone, resulting in the FAA closing airspace and disrupting air travel nationwide”
…sure did the trick
Reposted by Dark Laughter
February 11, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Reposted by Dark Laughter
Over on threads someone just use ai;dr and we all need to adopt that right quick
February 11, 2026 at 7:56 PM
Over on threads someone just use ai;dr and we all need to adopt that right quick
Worth noting there's a parallel problem of kids who were told they were good at math, but were really just good at following instructions, then made it to grad school before realizing they have no talent. Lockhart mentioned this in A Mathematician's Lament. profkeithdevlin.org/wp-content/u...
February 11, 2026 at 10:12 PM
Worth noting there's a parallel problem of kids who were told they were good at math, but were really just good at following instructions, then made it to grad school before realizing they have no talent. Lockhart mentioned this in A Mathematician's Lament. profkeithdevlin.org/wp-content/u...
Reposted by Dark Laughter
If you saw today's headline that Gallup will stop measuring presidential approval, they did the same thing in 2018. They do it whenever Trump is president.
February 11, 2026 at 7:27 PM
If you saw today's headline that Gallup will stop measuring presidential approval, they did the same thing in 2018. They do it whenever Trump is president.
Reposted by Dark Laughter
One. Just one. We eat one billionaire and all the rest will fall into line.
They stop making these kinds of noises if we collectively work together to discipline them, btw.
'The UK has been colonised by immigrants', says INEOS boss and Man Utd co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe
February 11, 2026 at 7:10 PM
One. Just one. We eat one billionaire and all the rest will fall into line.
Again, the homeschooled people I've met fall in four groups. First, the smartest people you've ever met, who received the great education politics makes impossible. Second, people who talk/act like alien scientists because their overeducated socially awkward parents didn't think to socialize them.
Homeschooling has burst from the ideological fringe to the center of Chicago’s education landscape.
‘Free the kids’: Why more Chicago families are turning to homeschooling
Homeschooling has burst from the ideological fringe to the center of Chicago’s education landscape.
trib.al
February 11, 2026 at 7:05 PM
Again, the homeschooled people I've met fall in four groups. First, the smartest people you've ever met, who received the great education politics makes impossible. Second, people who talk/act like alien scientists because their overeducated socially awkward parents didn't think to socialize them.
Reposted by Dark Laughter
"If you tax billionaires, they'll just leave!"
Well, if they don't pay taxes, there's no net loss, so happy trails, motherfuckers.
Well, if they don't pay taxes, there's no net loss, so happy trails, motherfuckers.
February 10, 2026 at 11:09 PM
"If you tax billionaires, they'll just leave!"
Well, if they don't pay taxes, there's no net loss, so happy trails, motherfuckers.
Well, if they don't pay taxes, there's no net loss, so happy trails, motherfuckers.
Executive summary: America's second lieutenant antagonizes America's range control.
JUST IN: A Pentagon plan to use a high-energy, counter-drone laser without having coordinated with the Federal Aviation Administration about potential risks to civilian flights prompted an unprecedented airspace shutdown over El Paso, Texas, multiple sources say. https://cnn.it/4a9x8Qg
February 11, 2026 at 6:45 PM
Executive summary: America's second lieutenant antagonizes America's range control.
Reposted by Dark Laughter
The USS Fat Leonard class Riverboat, Casino, Coal (RCC) fleet will be the largest in the world.
Trump's going to build our fleet of strategic coal-fired riverboat casinos.
February 11, 2026 at 3:35 AM
The USS Fat Leonard class Riverboat, Casino, Coal (RCC) fleet will be the largest in the world.