I spent most of my twenties as a commissioned officer in the US Navy’s nuclear propulsion program. Assigned to nuclear attack submarines and a nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser as a nuclear engineering watch officer. Later qualified Chief Engineer by Admiral Rickover.
Every Navy nuke officer has his Rickover interview stories. You had to survive his interview to get in. And, later to qualify as Chief Engineer. Getting through the Engineer’s exam and interviews, plus one last interview with the Admiral was not fun.
I was also assigned as a flag lieutenant on a submarine group admiral’s staff. That meant I set up the weekly call with Rickover and was “scribe” to my admiral. Fascinating experience.
Here is a photo of the Admiral when he was happy. Or, was that when he wasn’t? Hard to tell.
We all respected Rickover — I know I did. He had some great quotes:
“All new ideas begin in a non-conforming mind that questions some tenet of the conventional wisdom.” Unlike the Fortune 500 suites I’ve seen, Rickover never liked sycophants.
“Free discussion requires an atmosphere unembarrassed by any suggestion of authority or even respect.” Rickover demanded candor but you better know what you are talking about when you were candid.
“Optimism and stupidity are nearly synonymous.” Saw a lot of both in my career since then.
I spent a lot of time at sea plus pulled a couple of extended deployments. So, I confess to a strong opinion regarding nuclear weapons and the risk of nuclear war.
Rickover instilled a respect for the dangers of what we all were doing. I took it in and it’s never been far from my thoughts.
In his final testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Admiral Rickover warned our leadership to be cautious in confrontation for the risks of things going wrong.
RICKOVER. I am proud of the part I have played in it [nuclear weapons and warships]. I did it because it was necessary for the safety of our country. That is why I am such a great exponent of stopping this whole nonsense of war. Unfortunately, attempts to outlaw war have always failed. One lesson of history is when a war erupts every nation will ultimately use whatever weapon is available. That is a lesson learned time and again. Therefore, we must expect, if another war–a serious war–were to break out, we will use nuclear energy in some form. That is due to the imperfection of human beings.
PROXMIRE. What do you think is the prospect, then, of nuclear war?
RICKOVER. A. I think we will probably destroy ourselves, so what difference will it make? Some new species will come up that might be wiser. We think we are wise because we have–
PROXMIRE. With that knowledge, it would seem to me that we could control, limit, reduce nuclear weapons. Everybody loses.
RICKOVER. I think from a long-range standpoint–I’m talking about humanity–the most important thing we could do is start in having an international meeting where we first outlaw nuclear weapons to start with, then we outlaw nuclear reactors, too.
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Which brings me to the present escalations of the demented Biden Regime in Ukraine.
Oh, I guess I was thinking of a major regional war in the Middle East. I need to be specific. Doug Macgregor has maintained consistently that Israel is determined to destroy Hezbollah, which means the US entering the war in a major way. We appear to have a major escalation going on along the southern border of Lebanon and in northern Israel—rhetorically and militarily. Israel, in coordination with US invasion forces in Syria, has also stepped up its attacks in that country. Rumors are flying, fast and furious:
Megatron @Megatron_ron 
BREAKING:
Britain warned Lebanon that Israel was planning to attack it – Al-Akhbar
Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar newspaper reports that Lebanese officials have received warnings, especially from Britain, through diplomatic channels that Israel is about to launch a war against Lebanon, estimated to begin in the middle of June for an unknown duration.
@GUnderground_TV
4:48 AM · Jun 4, 2024
Hezbollah, which is certainly aware of US preparations (below), states that they’re ready for war, come what may:
dana @dana916
 Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah met with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Bakri Khani
Deputy Secretary General of Hezbollah to Al Jazeera:
If “Israel” wants to fight an all-out war, we are ready for it
Any Israeli expansion of the war on Lebanon will be met with devastation, destruction and displacement in “Israel.”
The resistance is ready for battle and will not allow “Israel” to achieve any victory.
stayfreeworld
Listening to Macgregor this morning—and, trust me, this was a total must listen: Col. Douglas Macgregor : The West Strikes Russian Territory—Macgregor stated again that without a massive US bombing campaign against Hezbollah, led by B-52s, Israel has no chance at all of destroying Hezbollah. “They (Hezbollah) are that well prepared.” As usual, Macgregor also adamantly maintains that an attack on Hezbollah has the potential to unleash not only a regional war but a global war. He maintains that not only regional countries like Turkey and Egypt could get involved, but also Iran, China, and Russia.
MenchOsint @MenchOsint
18m
I hear some Israeli politician are eager to start a war against Lebanon.
Since you’ve witnessed the Israeli army skills in blockaded Gaza for 8 months, do you think they have a chance against Hezbollah?
So what’s going on with US forces in the region. Well, the Eisenhower appears to be repositioning nearer to Israel. And there’s this, too:
The Two B-52’s have been refueled mid-flight, continuing towards the Middle East. • KC-46 Pegasus (20-46079) • KC-135R (62-3529) • 2 x B-52 (61-0005 & 60-0012)
Interesting US/UK Force demonstration this afternoon south of Cyprus, not far from Russian Bases in Syria, not far from Southern Lebanon and in range of Iran/Yemen. Two x US Air Force B-52 Nuclear-capable Strategic Bombers with UK RAF Eurofighters.
Before I continue, I’ll offer a caveat for what follows. I’m not sure exactly when the wave of refugees and migrants began to arrive on European shores. Did it begin with our war on Iraq, on Libya, on Syria? OTOH, all these wars were coordinated between the US and Israel, so perhaps that’s all academic. It’s also probably not correct to say that the king of Jordan was “installed” by Israel, although he’s clearly a US/Israeli client. However, the video below is terrific.
This confession is so great that many do not realize all that it entails. Israel provoked the war in Syria with the aim of removing Assad from power and installing its own clown like in Jordan, who will work in the interest of Israel and protect them from Iran, in the same way like Jordan protected it from Iran’s drones and missiles, couple of months ago. That war caused the first million wave of refugees to Europe. The whole world began to use this wave of refugees to reach Europe. Starting from this very situation. This is a good fact that those Europeans who hate immigrants and support Israel should know.
Quote
Megatron @Megatron_ron
NEW:
Former Director of Israel’s Mossad admits that Israel armed Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups in the Middle East.
Finally, in his talk with Judge Nap today, Scott Ritter maintains that he believes that the US via Ukraine will launch a major escalation against Russia during the St. Petersburg forum that Ritter and the Judge were prevented from attending. Listen to Macgregor, above, for sobering analysis of how dangerous the moment is—how close to nuclear war our brinkmanship with Russia is bringing us—and also listen to Ritter on the same topic: On My Way to Russia I Met Big Brother.
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The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists set their “doomsday clock” at 90 seconds to midnight. Too bad, the Admiral isn’t around to smack around the clowns in the Biden Regime.
Fortunately for us, the Russians know our Regime is criminally deranged and our population disoriented.
I think we know their next move Ukraine — and the next crisis.
Recall no US missiles can launch from Ukraine without Global Hawk ISR support.
The RQ-4B Global Hawk drone of the US Air Force disappeared from radar over the Black Sea under unclear circumstances. The drone carried out a reconnaissance mission over a body of water, during which the signal disappeared from it…
Econophysics2020 