YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY: Fishing charter catches Air Force attack drone off Florida coast.

Daniel Arsenault, the charter boat captain, told Task & Purpose that the four customers aboard were military search-and-rescue helicopter pilots. Arsenault said their first instinct was to check for anyone who might need help.

The charter captain said they radioed the Coast Guard from about 20 miles southeast of Pensacola Pass but were told the service was already occupied with an active search. That’s when they decided to bring the drone back with them.

Of course, that wasn’t the first thing they did.

Arsenault said they cast around the waterlogged drone, which had attracted smaller fish seeking cover in the open water, and caught mahi-mahi and tripletail before hauling it aboard.

The roughly 10-foot-long drone was partially submerged and filled with water, Arsenault said. Six men aboard the charter held it alongside the boat until the water drained before wrestling it aboard.

Arsenault said the military members aboard opened accessible panels looking for a phone number or other identifying information but found no markings indicating which service owned it. Once they returned to shore, the local sheriff’s department took possession of it. Later that day, Arsenault said someone from the military called him and asked for “their drone back.”

Exit quote: “Arsenault ranked the drone among the five most unusual things he’s recovered from the Gulf.”

Now I really want to know the other four.

THAT’S (D)IFFERENT BECAUSE THE LIGHTBRINGER MEANT WELL:

“Yes, Obama attacked so many journalists that his scope included a ‘James Rosen’ and a ‘James Risen.'”

TWO STEPS FORWARD: Congress has dropped the ball on a lot of other issues, but on fighting waste, fraud and corruption in federal spending, there is progress, however small it may on the surface appear. Details here.

THE REPORTER ACTUALLY DID THE OLD SNL GULF WAR PRESS CONFERENCE SKETCH:

Gold: “Look, son… this is such a basic military lesson that even a reporter should understand it.”

Sadly, the 1991 SNL sketch isn’t on YouTube, but I did find the transcript: “Farud Hashami, Baghdad Times. Where are your troops, and can I go there and count them?”

OUR APPETITE FOR CHIPS REMAINS INSATIABLE: AMD Crosses $1 Trillion in Market Value for the First Time as AI Chip Stocks Rally. “The Santa Clara, California company joins a short list. Only three other US chipmakers have topped $1 trillion: Nvidia, Broadcom and Micron. Nvidia got there first, in 2023, and is now worth more than $5 trillion, which makes it the world’s most valuable company.”

SWEDISH ELECTION UPDATE:

Stay tuned…

SO THE STUDENTS CAUGHT THE PROVOST CHEATING?

We need to redefine “beyond parody” for the 21st Century.

IT’S GOOD TO BE THE NOMENKLATURA: Ex Santa Clara County Undersheriff Gets Slap on the Wrist in Years-Long Concealed Carry Corruption Case. “Few places took more advantage of the opportunity to rake in cash and merchandise in exchange for coveted pre-Bruen concealed carry permits than the dedicated public servants who worked in the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Laurie Smith was at the top of the stinking pay-to-play corruption mountain, raking in campaign dollars and lots of valuable, uh, gifts.”

AMERICA’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD:

WHAT A MESS:

BEWARE: 100-Foot Cascadia Megathrust Tsunami Threat Looms Off the West Coast. Oregon officials estimate shaking could last five to seven minutes, followed by a tsunami reaching parts of the coastline in only 10 to 20 minutes. DOGAMI coastal geologist Laura Gabel says knowing and practicing evacuation routes is ‘critical for keeping you and your loved ones safe.'”

JOSEPH CAMPBELL: No cheery time for election pollsters in run‑up to US midterms.

Pollsters approach this year’s midterm elections dogged by high-profile misfires in recent elections while facing challenges from brash rivals intent on reshaping the landscape of political forecasts.

There are no guarantees that polling’s troubles – and persistent popular skepticism about the dependability of election polls – will be alleviated anytime soon.

In fact, it hasn’t been very cheery for pollsters for the better part of 10 years, since Donald Trump confounded poll-based expectations to defeat Hillary Clinton for the U.S. presidency in 2016.

In 2020, pollsters turned in their worst collective performance in 40 years by overestimating margins of Joe Biden’s victory over Trump. It’s an outcome I discuss in “Lost in a Gallup,” my book about polling failure.

Polling in the 2022 midterms was more spotty than spectacular. In 2024, pollsters overall underestimated Trump’s popular support — for the third successive election. That outcome prompted The Atlantic to describe the 2024 polls as “quietly still bad.”

Read the whole thing.

CHANGE YOU CAN BELIEVE IN:

The idea behind that saying is that when it comes time to compete for a 1-star promotion, you need a sponsor, and having a sponsor who sits on the promotion board matters, greatly.

That’s how we get politicized generals who support racist, anti-American nonsense like DEI.

This is a great, great step in replacing politics with merit at our senior ranks.

This is what a revolution in military personnel affairs looks like.

Indeed.