Mike McKay
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mckaymj.bsky.social
Mike McKay
@mckaymj.bsky.social
650 followers 920 following 150 posts
Campari. Punt e mes. Tanqueray ('cause Hendricks would be a bit much). Substitute Tanqueray with prosecco if before 5 pm. 14A§3
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mckaymj.bsky.social
Lovely
The Navy plans to retire four of the remaining Avenger-class hulls this fiscal year, reducing the fleet's mine countermeasures ships to just four platforms, which themselves are scheduled to be retired by 2027. America's air-based mine countermeasures capability is equally concerning. The Navy has shifted primary responsibility for airborne mine countermeasures to the MH-60S "Knighthawk" helicopter. However, the minesweeping and mine neutralization packages (ALMDS and AMNS, respectively) on the MH-605 have not yet passed the Department of Defense's reliability or onerability tests.
June 22, 2025 at 9:48 PM
mckaymj.bsky.social
And the US Navy is famously fully equipped and fully modernized in its anti mine capabilities. This should go well then.
Image of title page of Center for Maritime Strategy paper “Don’t Sweep Minesweepers Under the Rug: America’s Critical Vulnerability” which was published in late May 2025 but could really be an evergreen paper title published in any decade for the past 70 years and likely the next 70 years.
June 22, 2025 at 9:45 PM
mckaymj.bsky.social
Tagging @peterhartlaub.bsky.social to look into this Google Maps Gemini AI summary about Angel Island— figured you would definitely know if there was such an unlikely attraction in the middle of the Bay.

maps.app.goo.gl/1ipJ6AsE9CDu...
Screen shot of Google Maps reviews Gemini AI summary for Angel Island in S.F. Bay says “visitors say this island offers a variety of attractions including a jungle, water park, carnival, ice mountain, volcanic cave, and floating gardens” Naturally Angel Island in S.F. Bay has none of.
April 5, 2025 at 6:27 PM
mckaymj.bsky.social
Davos Seaworth and Jon Snow walking along the wall at Dragonstone. Davos corrects Jon’s grammar that the plural is Judge Advocates General not Judge Advocate Generals
March 3, 2025 at 4:39 PM
mckaymj.bsky.social
I so love that AMC posts are sometimes indistinguishable from @orcspiration.bsky.social
@orcspiration quotes: seize joy from the jaws of pain. Do you have medicine you need to take? Strength crushes enemies! Have you eaten today?
October 14, 2024 at 6:46 PM
mckaymj.bsky.social
Is this guy involved?
Captain Avatar from early anime Space Battleship Yamato/Starblazers.
October 11, 2024 at 3:31 AM
mckaymj.bsky.social
Ahh a nice thing from the other place
From early 2020 famous photo on Twitter of update from San Miguel County Sheriff “Large boulder the size of a small boulder is completely blocking east-bound lane Highway 145 mm78 at Silverpick Rd. Please use caution and watch for emergency vehicles in the area.”
September 28, 2024 at 7:18 PM
mckaymj.bsky.social
Ok so I don’t have Apple News+ and that means I won’t likely read the article so I’ll never know, but this has all the vibes of the infamous Monkey Fishing story by Jay Forman in Slate back in 2001 (or anything by Stephen Glass for TNR). Honestly glad I can’t read it: too good to check.
Cover photo for a story in the Atlantic “Inside the dangerous, secretive world of extreme fishing…” and there’s a picture of an early submerged fisherman in deep water holding just his head and fishing pole above water.
September 6, 2024 at 6:25 AM
mckaymj.bsky.social
Link card wasn’t super useful and buried the lede:
Screen shot of the article linked in the post above to better show the complete headline: 7-2-24 ICYMI: Senator Peters Announces Bipartisan Agreement to Advance Legislation to Ban Member Stock Trading
August 7, 2024 at 7:03 PM
mckaymj.bsky.social
Fixed it for ya KXTV…
Adjusted wording in KXTV story from “In other words storming the Capitol in and of itself might not rise to the level of violating the law” to read “In other words storming the Capitol to obstruct the US Congress from certifying the presidential election might to rise to the level of obstructing an “official proceeding”
July 13, 2024 at 12:19 AM
mckaymj.bsky.social
Feels like some really passive voice is helping Intuitive Machines here in this article. Am proposing a couple of edits…
Marked up text of NYT article to indicate that the laser range finder instruments were not just “not working” nor that things would have been different if they “had been operating” because it seems Intuitive Machines had shoddy pre-launch processes that allowed the laser range finders in question to actually *not* be manually turned on before launch and that once launched there was no way to fix the oversight.
March 4, 2024 at 7:15 PM
mckaymj.bsky.social
Show a game that came out when you were 12.
Periscope view of game play in the future tank battle video arcade game Battle Zone. Sooo many quarters. Cover shot of tabletop role playing game Car Wars. Could only find a cover shot of a later edition and not the first edition
February 24, 2024 at 12:58 AM
mckaymj.bsky.social
Oof. Was hoping that thinking of it as a contraction for Frigidaire (1st practical household refrigerator) might soothe your insulted ears. But if it’s the nicknominalization (a term I don’t find on Google, so TM me?) then may you never deal with Australians www.vu.edu.au/sites/defaul...
Screen shot of the fist page of the linked pdf of Australian slang terms including Bikkie for Biscuit, Cozzie for Swimming Costume, barbie for Barbeque, eskie for insulated cooler (presumably from igloo)
February 18, 2024 at 7:36 PM
mckaymj.bsky.social
Fewer cops.
Image of Jon Snow and Ser Davos Seaworthy from HBO’s Game of Thrones as they walk along a fortified pathway and Davos corrects Jon’s use of “less troops” to “fewer”
January 30, 2024 at 6:16 AM
mckaymj.bsky.social
Is that a UK edition? (Cover art substantially different from US ed I read yesterday.)

Speaking of that, @scalzi.com interesting the differences in cover art among English language editions. Does Tor/Tor UK allow you input? Not that early plot points are huge secret, but UK cover gives less away.
Head shot portrait of a longhair cat dressed in suit and tie from the US edition cover of John Scalzi’s Starter Villain. “Meet the new boss”
January 4, 2024 at 12:45 AM