Sunday Morning Book Thread 05-31-2020

Good morning to all you 'rons, 'ettes, lurkers, and lurkettes, wine moms, frat bros, crétins sans pantalon (who are technically breaking the rules), rioters, looters, outside agitators, and the rest of you standing on the corner minding your own business. Welcome once again to the stately, prestigious, internationally acclaimed and high-class Sunday Morning Book Thread, a weekly compendium of reviews, observations, snark, witty repartee, hilarious bon mots, and a continuing conversation on books, reading, spending way too much money on books, writing books, and publishing books by escaped oafs and oafettes who follow words with their fingers and whose lips move as they read. Unlike other AoSHQ comment threads, the Sunday Morning Book Thread is so hoity-toity, pants are required. Even if it's these pants, which, I need to warn you, are especially bad today, and cannot be unseen. So if you have a weak heart, liver or an otherwise sub-optimal constitution, you'd best just keep on walking and enjoy the rest of the book thread.

Pic Note:

Very impressive for a public library:

Stockholm Public Library includes more than 2 million volumes and 2.4 million audio tapes, CDs and audio books.

The "international library" is the section for foreign languages, housed in two floors of an annex behind the main building... Its holdings comprise more than 100 languages with 17,000 volumes in Persian, 15,800 in Arabic, and 14,500 in Spanish. In 2007 the most borrowed languages were Russian (19,300 loans), Thai, Spanish, Arabic, Persian, Chinese, Polish and Japanese. For some of these languages, Stockholm serves public libraries in the rest of Sweden through interlibrary loans.

Here's the story I always like to tell about Sweden:

A few years ago I saw the Swedish movie Let The Right One In, which plot concerned a bullied school kid finding himself protected by a vampire. He is the son of a single mom and there are several scenes shot inside the apartment they live in, and I was surprised how depressing and shabby it looked. I know she's a single mom and probably doesn't make much money, but even still, we're talking Soviet Union/East Bloc levels of shabbiness. Then there was a scene shot at a municipal swimming pool in the town where they lived and the facility looked absolutely magnificent. No expense was spared in the construction materials. It looked like a swimming pool you'd find in Emperor Nero's palace.

Seeing this library reminds me of that.

It Pays To Increase Your Word Power®

(There is apparently nothing new about the Peter principle)

‘The higher the ape climbs, the more he shows of his arse’ is a 16th century proverb implying that the more an unsuitable person is promoted or venerated, the more they reveal their incompetence. pic.twitter.com/tXLYh44Fow
— Haggard Hawks 📚🦅 (@HaggardHawks) May 29, 2020

What Makes America Exceptional?

This is the question asked (and answered) by America's Revolutionary Mind: A Moral History of the American Revolution and the Declaration That Defined It

When I was a young boy living in Ontario, Canada, I read a children's book that changed my life. It was The How and Why Wonder Book of the American Revolution by Felix Sutton, and when I read it, I knew I was an American born in the wrong country. That was the moment, some fifty years ago now, when I fell in love with the story of the American Revolution and the principles of the Declaration of Independence.

Ha! I remember those 'How and Why Wonder Books' and you can still get used copies of the American Revolution one, but it's rather spendy. Abebooks is considerably cheaper. I'd kind of like to read it for myself, actually, to see how it inspired a Canadian boy to become an American.

But he especially likes the Declaration of Independence. From the introduction:

The purpose of this book is twofold: first, to elucidate the logic, principles, and significance of the Declaration of Independence as the embodiment of the American mind; and, second, to shed light on what John Adams once called the "real American Revolution"; that is, the moral revolution that occurred in the minds of the people in the fifteen years before 1776. The Declaration is used here as an ideological road map by which to chart the intellectual and moral terrain traveled by American Revolutionaries as they searched for new moral principles to deal with the changed political circumstances of the 1760s and early 1770s...

The book reconstructs what amounts to a near-unified system of thought—what Thomas Jefferson called an “American mind” or what I call “America’s Revolutionary mind.” This American mind was, I argue, united in its fealty to a common philosophy that was expressed in the Declaration and launched with the words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident.”

Of course the classic book on this subject is The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, published in 1967.

National Review (yeah, I know) has a pretty good review by a writer I am not familiar with, who points out that this book is

...not organized in chronological order but in a philosophical order that explains the “self-evident truths” of the Declaration of Independence point by point and demonstrates just how thorough was the colonists’ consensus on those principles. Rather than stopping with familiar quotations from celebrated revolutionaries, Thompson, a political-science professor at Clemson University, musters evidence from scores of writings by lesser-known figures, many never published before, and deftly assembles it all into a logical sequence that begins with fundamentals (one section is entitled “The Meaning of Truth” and works its way up to such concepts as entrepreneurialism and “the ideal of the self-made man.”

Who Dis:

Last week's 'who dis' was actress Eileen Brennan.

Books By Morons

I received e-mail this week from 3 (count 'em) 3 new moron authors:

Long-time lurker Alma Boykin has written many urban fantasy novels and has just released the 12th in her Familiar Tales series. But let me introduce you to the very first one so you can get an idea of what's going on in this universe, Familiar Tales, which is a collection of 5 short stories in a universe in which

...Familiars choose magic workers, and a few others, as their partners. A world of adventure, tax-deductions, bad publisher tricks, and odd veterinary clinics, where wolverines wear glasses and iguanas sing along with the radio—badly—while casting spells and keeping their chosen humans out of mischief.

Or try to.

This intro collection is priced at 99 cents.

So her latest is the novel Horribly Familiar: Familiar Tales Book Twelve, and love is in the air:

Love, romance, curses, and . . . chaperones?

Nothing aside from magic comes easily for two shadow mages. André Lestrang relocates to Riverton just in time for the summer humidity and storm season. He and his fiancée Lelia Chan struggle to balance work, magic, their relationship, and his Army career. When someone sends a magical package bomb to one of their friends, a chain reaction of trouble ensues.

Add in two Familiars determined to ensure that their mages don't get "in trouble" before the wedding, the usual mischief a ring-tailed lemur, kit fox, wolverine, and others can devise, and a dash of new responsibilities to the magical community. Lelia and André discover that the summer starts to feel

. . . Horribly Familiar.

The Kindle edition is $3.99.

___________

Another long-time lurkette has just published her latest science-fiction thriller Going Ballistic:

When her plane tries to come apart at apogee during a hijack, ballistic airline pilot Michelle Lauden handles the worst day she could imagine. After getting down without losing any passengers or crew, though, she finds her troubles have just begun!

The country she's landed in has just declared independence from the Federation. The Feds intended her passengers to be the first casualties in the impending war - and they're not happy she's survived to contradict their official narrative in the news.

The local government wants to find her to give her a medal. The Feds are hunting her to give her an unmarked grave. As they both close in, Michelle's running out of options and time. The only people able to protect her are an accident investigation team on loan from the Federation's enemies... the same enemies who sent her hijackers in the first place.

And they have their own plans for her, and the country she's in!

Only $4.99 on Kindle. Dorothy is also the author of Shattered Under Midnight and Scaling the Rim.

___________

Another lurker recommends

...the 2020 Summer Special of Cirsova Magazine. It includes my story "The Fourth Gift": "Baltasar, one of Ulrik's many Menders, diligently performs his task of recreating the Solar System -- until a mysterious anomaly forming around the Moon threatens the outcome of the Plan!"

Cirsova is in the spirit of the old pulps, as you can tell by its tagline: Magazine of Thrilling Adventure and Daring Suspense.

Pulpy? Boy, I'll say! Just look at the cover:

Click on the pic to go to the Kindle edition, which is $3.99. At 277 pages, you'll be getting a lot of bang for your buck.

Moron Recommendations

Amazon informed me that the Kindle edition of Theodore Dalrymple's collection of essays, Life At The Bottom, is selling for $3.99:

The doctor and consultant psychiatrist Theodore Dalrymple looks at Great Britain - the nation which produced Newton and Darwin, Shakespeare and Dickens, David Hume and Adam Smith - and marvels at what it has become.

Its inner cities and council estates are places where 'the whole gamut of human folly, wickedness, and misery may be perused at leisure... abortions procured by abdominal kung fu; children who have children; women abandoned by the father of their child a month before or a month after delivery; insensate jealousy; serial stepfatherhood that leads to sexual and physical abuse of children on a mass scale.'

Other Dalrymple books are selling for cheap, too, such as Our Culture, What's Left of It and The Wilder Shores of Marx: Journeys in a Vanishing World, which is a travelog, published in 1991, of his visits to North Korea, Albania, Romania, Vietnam, and Cuba.

Dalrymple's political observations are insightful and his essays on the British lower class are hearthbreaking to read, even depressing. He is the the modern-day version of Cassandra, a Greek prophetess cursed by the gods to be 100% correct in her predictions, but never believed by nobody. I think the Illiad has her jumping up and down screaming her head off as the celebratory Trojan army was dragging the wooden horse into the city.

___________

Moron 'DIY Daddio' said that The Blood of Others by Rick Mofina is a pretty good murder mystery:

The disappearance and murder of a lonely San Francisco insurance clerk puts a relentless crime reporter and legendary homicide cop on separate tracks in their pursuit of a killer.

The suspect lures solitary women out of their quiet worlds and into his nightmare as he races the clock and travels the globe searching for the one woman who will forgive the unforgivable.

In the course of a widening investigation, Olivia Grant, a shy gift store sales manager who aches to escape her painful solitude, meets Ben Wyatt, an outcast San Francisco cop on the case, Wyatt is a man gripped with self-doubt over the shooting of his former partner.

Blood of Others is a study of loneliness and human frailties; a story steeped in terrifying suspense that threatens to destroy the lives of those drawn into it as it rockets to a heart-pounding conclusion.

The Kindle edition is $4.99

___________

So that's all for this week. As always, book thread tips, suggestions, bribes, insults, threats, ugly pants pics and moron library submissions may be sent to OregonMuse, Proprietor, AoSHQ Book Thread, at the book thread e-mail address: aoshqbookthread, followed by the 'at' sign, and then 'G' mail, and then dot cee oh emm.

What have you all been reading this week? Hopefully something good, because, as you all know, life is too short to be reading lousy books.

Posted by: OregonMuse at 09:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 hiya

Posted by: JT at May 31, 2020 09:01 AM (arJlL)

2 Tolke Lege

Posted by: Skip at May 31, 2020 09:01 AM (ZCEU2)

3 Good morning fellow book threadists. I hope everyone had a great week of reading.

Posted by: JTB at May 31, 2020 09:01 AM (7EjX1)

4 Those pants are fine.

Posted by: Adam Schiff at May 31, 2020 09:01 AM (Tnijr)

5 After 1 run around that blew my chance for first.
Need to clean my tablet screen.
Other than all that , I forgot how to read.

Posted by: Skip at May 31, 2020 09:02 AM (ZCEU2)

6 Homely Cumberpatch reading

Posted by: CN at May 31, 2020 09:02 AM (ONvIw)

7 For the 'these pants' photo. Is that Congress Critter Schiff? It would explain a lot.

Posted by: JTB at May 31, 2020 09:03 AM (7EjX1)

8 Looks like Ethan Hawke

Posted by: BignJames at May 31, 2020 09:03 AM (X/Pw5)

9 Who Dis? Ethan Hawke

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at May 31, 2020 09:03 AM (PiwSw)

10 If you are interested in the Franco-Prussian War, then the Michael Howard book is a good read. I read a lot of military history and the guys who wrote before the 80's were simply top notch in writing smooth flowing books. Too many of today's books have authors pasting quotes left and right, and can't seem to write in a logical progression. Anyways, a couple of interesting tidbits. I didn't realize the first battle losses ended up with the monarchy collapsing and the king fleeing. A new republic then popped up, only to be beaten again and again over the next few months. The Germans were somewhat surprised by their success. They also were looking for some payback for centuries of French armies marching through the German states. Phil Sheridan was the American observer with the Prussian army. Also, this was the last significant European conflict before WWI and everyone forgot its lessons. If you can find it and are interested, I highly recommend it.

Posted by: WOPR - Clown World Timeline at May 31, 2020 09:04 AM (FQ0BG)

11 Missed it by *that* much....

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at May 31, 2020 09:04 AM (PiwSw)

12 Even if it's these pants,

Oh, fuck you for that.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 31, 2020 09:04 AM (oVJmc)

13 I read We Were Soldiers Once ... And Young by Lt. General Harold G. Moore (Ret.) and Joseph L Galloway. This is the account of the battle of the Ia Drang valley in November, 1965. The two battles at LZ X-Ray and at LZ Albany were the first large-scale battles of the war and changed the perceptions of the war throughout the U. S. government.

Posted by: Zoltan at May 31, 2020 09:05 AM (3ugDL)

14 The, "Pants", life form looks disturbingly like Adam Schiff.

Posted by: Winston, dreg of society at May 31, 2020 09:06 AM (d9Irc)

15 I didn't read too much, except to the grandkids. I read another section of 2666, and was still not blown away by the writing. I also started L'Engle's The Summer of the Great-grandmother, a chronicle of the the last summer with L'Engle's mom and assuming the mantle of seniority in the family.

Posted by: CN at May 31, 2020 09:06 AM (ONvIw)

16
Dis is the actor from "Dead Poets' Society", and "Training Day"

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at May 31, 2020 09:06 AM (pNxlR)

17 Benedict Cumberbatch.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 31, 2020 09:07 AM (oVJmc)

18 > I was surprised how depressing and shabby it looked.

I believe that Sweden has approximately the same per capita GDP as Alabama.

That's right: the socialist showpiece state has roughly managed to match one of the poorest states in the Union.

Current reading: The Throne of Caesar, supposedly the last entry in the Roma Sub Rosa series by Steven Saylor.

In this one, Caesar gets assassinated (sorry for the spoiler there), and Saylor's detective character, Gordianus, is apparently assigned/takes on the task of unraveling the true nature of the conspiracy (at least that's where I think it's going... haven't finished it yet).

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at May 31, 2020 09:07 AM (hKLpI)

19 Currently doing a re-read of State of Fear by Michael Crichton.

Posted by: Vic at May 31, 2020 09:07 AM (mpXpK)

20 Still listening to books because of eye. Now on a 3 books series about a lawyer in Austin. 3 of my favorite series have new books out but no audio.

The Dean Koontz Nameless series is pretty good. Short books that take about a hour. They are free with Kindle Unlimited.

Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 09:08 AM (JFO2v)

21 Benedict Cumberbatch.

now that you posted it , they do look alike - Cumberbatch and Hawk.

Posted by: runner at May 31, 2020 09:08 AM (zr5Kq)

22 Even if it's these pants,

Did zombie give you that picture?

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at May 31, 2020 09:08 AM (2JVJo)

23 13 I read We Were Soldiers Once ... And Young by Lt. General Harold G. Moore (Ret.) and Joseph L Galloway. This is the account of the battle of the Ia Drang valley in November, 1965. The two battles at LZ X-Ray and at LZ Albany were the first large-scale battles of the war and changed the perceptions of the war throughout the U. S. government.
Posted by: Zoltan at May 31, 2020 09:05 AM (3ugDL)

Is not that a Mel Gibson movie?

Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 09:09 AM (JFO2v)

24 It pays to increase your word power™:

“Although Bellerophon defeated the female band of Amazons, he in turn was defeated by the Xanthian women, who lifted their skirts and used the APOTROPAIC power of their genitals to drive him away from their city.” -- from “Centaurs and Amazons” by Page duBois

APOTROPAIC: adjective; supposedly having the power to avert evil influences or bad luck.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 09:09 AM (Dc2NZ)

25 The book "who dis" is reading is Love's Labours Lost, in case anyone can't see it.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at May 31, 2020 09:09 AM (2JVJo)

26 Writing this week: Still right on pace for Spanish Civil War book.

Reading: Franco has managed to stay in power after WW II, has opened up the economy and is about to reach the zenith of his power. Interesting read, learning a lot I didn't know.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 09:10 AM (cfSRQ)

27 The Dean Koontz Nameless series is pretty good. Short books that take about a hour. They are free with Kindle Unlimited.
Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 09:08 AM (JFO2v)

Haven't read that one. I've been feeling like we're living in the Koontz book "Twilight Eyes".

Posted by: Tom Servo at May 31, 2020 09:10 AM (V2Yro)

28 Library in town still not open - curbside pick up only. I don't know what the deal is. It's not like the library is the place to go when you're coughing up a lung. Had to do the call-ahead, then we'll put your book in a paper bag and place it on the cart outside. I'm so tired of this nonsense.

Posted by: grammie winger at May 31, 2020 09:11 AM (lwiT4)

29 APOTROPAIC: adjective; supposedly having the power to avert evil influences or bad luck.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 09:09 AM (Dc2NZ)

It may have also been bad feminine hygiene!

Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 09:11 AM (JFO2v)

30 Trip to Oxford, MS has me re-reading Faulkner's Snopes trilogy. Somehow, some way, Flem Snopes and Hillary Clinton have shared DNA...

Posted by: Zod at May 31, 2020 09:11 AM (XzT/D)

31 Reading: Franco has managed to stay in power after WW II, has opened up the economy and is about to reach the zenith of his power. Interesting read, learning a lot I didn't know.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

Is he still dead ?

Posted by: JT at May 31, 2020 09:11 AM (arJlL)

32 This Bellerophon character sounds like he might be a bit on the ghey side, I mean, being afraid of Teh Vag and all.

I've heard that about those ancient Greek dudes.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at May 31, 2020 09:11 AM (hKLpI)

33 "We were soldiers once, and young."

Is not that a Mel Gibson movie?
Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 09:09 AM (JFO2v)

a millenial asks: "oh is that like Star Wars where they wrote the book based on that movie script?"

Posted by: Tom Servo at May 31, 2020 09:12 AM (V2Yro)

34 Daughter said they don't even want the books back. Just keep them. Maybe that's only temporary.

Posted by: grammie winger at May 31, 2020 09:12 AM (lwiT4)

35 Haven't read that one. I've been feeling like we're living in the Koontz book "Twilight Eyes".
Posted by: Tom Servo at May 31, 2020 09:10 AM (V2Yro)

no free audio

Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 09:12 AM (JFO2v)

36

now that you posted it , they do look alike - Cumberbatch and Hawk.

From that angle, at least.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 31, 2020 09:13 AM (oVJmc)

37 Library in town still not open - curbside pick up
only. I don't know what the deal is. It's not like the library is the
place to go when you're coughing up a lung. Had to do the call-ahead,
then we'll put your book in a paper bag and place it on the cart
outside. I'm so tired of this nonsense.

Posted by: grammie winger at May 31, 2020 09:11 AM (lwiT4)

Go to the library, put a brick through a window, take what you want and say you are peacefully protesting

Posted by: TheQuietMan at May 31, 2020 09:13 AM (XvfQ9)

38 On Friday I went up to a used book store in NH to trade in some old Edward Rowe Snow books I'll never read. In turn, I picked up Screen Acting - Its Requirements and Rewards from 1922, which is a guidebook for aspirants to the movies, with chapters about a day at the studio, what to expect if you're an extra, how to make up, what a rehearsal is like and so on. A great reference source for me.

Which brings me to my own writing news, which I mentioned a few days ago, but here it is for the book thread - I finally finished a first draft of my new Theda Bara book (after more than 10 years!). It's still in sprawling, shapeless form and needs a ton of editing, pasting and expanding, but I finally have a complete end-to-end piece that I can work on.

Hoping to have a beta draft ready for reader suggestions in a few months.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at May 31, 2020 09:13 AM (2JVJo)

39 It is Ethen Hawk

Lloyd will definitely want to read that when you are done.

Posted by: Skip at May 31, 2020 09:13 AM (ZCEU2)

40 Okay, so even though I'm All-Spain, All The Time, last week I got an idea about my next novel.

I was reading the news and thinking to myself: Some of the lockdown restrictions in Michigan make no sense. I didn't dwell on it in an angry way, but began to think through it as a story line.

As in: Who would want Michiganders locked in their homes, forbidden to even be close to one another, isolated and afraid - essentially helpless?

The Vampire of Michigan, that's who.

I want to finish Spain first, but it seems to me that the action in my other novel was just the opening volley of a massive war within the Vampire power structure. Someone has decided to break all the rules and try to rule human society through a proxy, risking exposing them all.

Anyhow, something to think about.

Oh, and some bastard decided to give Vampires a two-star rating. Not verified purchase, no review, just a turd in my punch bowl. What an ass.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 09:14 AM (cfSRQ)

41 I've got a new personal best...not one but two comments willowed. I can take a hint. Sun's up and there are mushrooms waiting. Going to go tramp around and try to forget Adam Schiff's pants. Keep yer hand on it, Horde.

Posted by: creeper at May 31, 2020 09:14 AM (XxJt1)

42 Go to the library, put a brick through a window, take what you want and say you are peacefully protesting
Posted by: TheQuietMan at May 31, 2020 09:13 AM (XvfQ9)

setup pile of books on fire and claim to be on girl scout trip make smores

Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 09:15 AM (JFO2v)

43 I just read a Dean Koontz book about a beautiful, strong, moral woman under attack by dark forces, her misunderstood boy, a good man with a past who just blew into town, a golden retriever, and a rich bastard geneticist who tampered in God’s domain and became a monster!

(This one was "Devoted".)

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 09:15 AM (Dc2NZ)

44 They anticipated Bill DeBlasio in the 16th century.

Posted by: BignJames at May 31, 2020 09:15 AM (X/Pw5)

45 Ooooh, OM got Adam Schiff to pose for a book thread photo!

Posted by: Emmie at May 31, 2020 09:15 AM (clsJu)

46 32 This Bellerophon character sounds like he might be a bit on the ghey side, I mean, being afraid of Teh Vag and all.

I've heard that about those ancient Greek dudes.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at May 31, 2020 09:11 AM (hKLpI)

He knew that they wanted his Precious Bodily Fluids, his Purity of Essence, and he swore to Deny them that.

Posted by: Tom Servo at May 31, 2020 09:15 AM (V2Yro)

47 Grandpa in the attic is pretty good.

Posted by: Joe Bidet at May 31, 2020 09:15 AM (buTO7)

48 Nothing much this week - although the bookshelf in the hallway is finished! And with the gym opened again, I am back to reading regularly on my Kindle. Started Cate Ruane's "Telegram for Mrs. Moody" and finished "Three Lieutenants of Joint Base Lear-McBeth" which was amusing enough (it was blurbed here last week, and yes, the military in-jokes were funny) but there were a couple of plot lines left hanging.

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at May 31, 2020 09:16 AM (xnmPy)

49 It's a small thing, perhaps, but I recently got some extra heavy index cards. They are unlined and acid free. Besides the many uses for sketching and light watercolor washes, I use them as bookmarks for my better volumes. A number of my art books and nicely bound editions are printed on acid free paper. These cards keep the pages from getting stains or otherwise deteriorating.

They can be found on Amazon under SUPER THICK index cards. I get the 17 pt thickness.

Posted by: JTB at May 31, 2020 09:16 AM (7EjX1)

50 33
"We were soldiers once, and young."

Is not that a Mel Gibson movie?

Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 09:09 AM (JFO2v)

a millenial asks: "oh is that like Star Wars where they wrote the book based on that movie script?"

Posted by: Tom Servo at May 31, 2020 09:12 AM (V2Yro)

The movie was based on the book, but this is one of those rare cases where the movie is better than the book. I put the book down w/o finishing it.

Posted by: Vic at May 31, 2020 09:16 AM (mpXpK)

51 I've never found a pornographic photo, and I've bought a lot of used books.

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at May 31, 2020 09:17 AM (x8Q/V)

52 Uncle Hugo's (and Uncle Edgar's) bookstore in Minneapolis burned down.

Fucking rioters. Any sympathy I might have had has evaporated.

Posted by: Jeff Weimer at May 31, 2020 09:17 AM (ijEPD)

53 Oh, and some bastard decided to give Vampires a two-star rating. Not verified purchase, no review, just a turd in my punch bowl. What an ass.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 09:14 AM (cfSRQ)

I once got a goodreads review of The Director's Cut[/I[ which was simply "Theda couldn't have done everything she did in the timeframe the author provides."

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at May 31, 2020 09:18 AM (2JVJo)

54 Those pants! Is OregonMuse punishing us, and the more we complain the more Onolicious it gets?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 09:18 AM (Dc2NZ)

55 Made some progress in Book 2 of Thucydides, specifically how a plague hit everyone in the second year of the Peloponnesian war; a real one that killed scads of people, not this fake ChiCom Head Cold. Pericles was the ultimate hardass regarding people wanting to stop fighting though, claiming that everyone had been behind him at the start were gutless cowards because of personal setbacks. So the fighting kept going on.

As an aside, it was mentioned that both sides would periodically appeal to the king of Persia for financial help; at least so far he stayed out of it but thought the Greeks could make his kingdom precarious if they weren't always fighting among themselves.

Posted by: Captain Hate at May 31, 2020 09:19 AM (y7DUB)

56 51
I've never found a pornographic photo, and I've bought a lot of used books.

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at May 31, 2020 09:17 AM (x8Q/V)

---
Same.

Old reciepts and laundry tickets are interesting.

My grandfather used a church bulletin from 1972 as a bookmark in The Brass Ring. Even had notes on when the picnic was going to be. I saved it.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 09:20 AM (cfSRQ)

57 It's a small thing, perhaps, but I recently got some extra heavy index cards. They are unlined and acid free. Besides the many uses for sketching and light watercolor washes, I use them as bookmarks for my better volumes. A number of my art books and nicely bound editions are printed on acid free paper. These cards keep the pages from getting stains or otherwise deteriorating.

They can be found on Amazon under SUPER THICK index cards. I get the 17 pt thickness.
Posted by: JTB at May 31, 2020 09:16 AM (7EjX1)

For anyone who drinks Red Rose tea, the little cardboard dividers in the box which keep the tea bags in separate rows make excellent bookmarks.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at May 31, 2020 09:20 AM (2JVJo)

58 cyrus rick rescorla, wasn't given a prime position in the film, he was stil a relatively junior officer at the time of the ladrang, but still,

Posted by: gaius martius at May 31, 2020 09:20 AM (hMlTh)

59 The movie was based on the book, but this is one of those rare cases where the movie is better than the book. I put the book down w/o finishing it.
Posted by: Vic at May 31, 2020 09:16 AM (mpXpK)

Who was to master sarg tough guy? trying to remember without IMDB

Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 09:20 AM (JFO2v)

60 Why did I click on the pants link. Why?

Why, God. Why.

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 09:20 AM (WvQcX)

61 Accidentally saw the pants link once.

Posted by: Skip at May 31, 2020 09:21 AM (ZCEU2)

62 If you are a Kindle Unlimited subscriber, you can read "Blood of Others" for free.

Posted by: FoodWaterAmmo at May 31, 2020 09:21 AM (My6Vh)

63 Who was to master sarg tough guy? trying to remember without IMDB

Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 09:20 AM (JFO2v)

Sam Elliott?

Posted by: BignJames at May 31, 2020 09:22 AM (X/Pw5)

64 I haven't been in the Book Thread in some time.

*Pulls at itchy pants, adjusts junk*

Now I remember why.

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 09:23 AM (WvQcX)

65 Has anybody seen Jewells around? I want to ask her a question about jewelry.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at May 31, 2020 09:23 AM (2JVJo)

66 As an aside, it was mentioned that both sides would
periodically appeal to the king of Persia for financial help; at least
so far he stayed out of it but thought the Greeks could make his kingdom
precarious if they weren't always fighting among themselves.

Posted by: Captain Hate at May 31, 2020 09:19 AM (y7DUB)

---
The Greeks were all about the infighting. A lot of the admonitions of the Founding Fathers were based on the constant recourse the Greeks had to enlisting outsiders to settle domestic disputes.

Lots of tyrants got power by having someone open the postern gate and let mercs into the town.

Have you read the Anabasis yet? That pretty much put the zap on Alexander's head that Persia was a hollow shell.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 09:23 AM (cfSRQ)

67
Based on it having been cited here last week, I bought and read the Kindle version of An Inconvenient Presidency: The Time-Traveling Misadventures of President Al Gore by Eric M. Hamilton. I read it in one sitting. Groundhog Day brought to DC politics is how I'd describe it: Al Gore lost in 2000 for "good" reason. The story had grown tedious well before it ended, which is a serious flaw.

Reading Charlie Wilson's War, IRL (as opposed to IKL) and enjoying it.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at May 31, 2020 09:23 AM (pNxlR)

68 60 Why did I click on the pants link. Why?

Why, God. Why.
Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 09:20 AM (WvQcX)

and why did you tempt me??

Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 09:24 AM (JFO2v)

69 Hi Readers. Thanks OM.

Read Joe Foss' book about air combat on Guadalcanal. Quick and easy read, pretty good. Thanks to teh Horde for the recommendation, as always.

Still plowing through the collected works of Sprague, mostly about Conan.

I liked We Were Soldiers, but I think, by comparison, Hackworth's 'Steel My Soldiers' Hearts' is superior, FWIW.

Watching Dragon and ISS do the dance of geek sex. Watching the never-ending YT series on Great War, all 800 or so episodes.

Back to work this week. Radiation starts this week too. Enjoy all.

Posted by: goatexchange at May 31, 2020 09:24 AM (iUjXP)

70 +1 for the Wilder Shores of Marx. Just finishing it today.

I read Damn the Pressure Full Speed Ahead, which was I think recommended here last week. A bit more of a memoir than I was expecting, but it was interesting reading of the life of a boy from Indiana who built rockets in his basement and went on (through a number of twists) be pioneer robotic submarines for oil exploration.

Also read The Brick Moon, a short story which was written in the mid-1800s and has the first depiction of a orbital colony, has flywheel energy storage and launcher, ablative coatings, and what looks like a non-novel depiction of crowd-funding. I guess that's been around a lot longer than I knew.

Posted by: .87c at May 31, 2020 09:24 AM (ToJpl)

71
65 Has anybody seen Jewells around? I want to ask her a question about jewelry.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at May 31, 2020 09:23 AM (2JVJo)

She was here yesterday AM.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at May 31, 2020 09:25 AM (pNxlR)

72 Current reading: The Throne of Caesar, supposedly the last entry in the Roma Sub Rosa series by Steven Saylor.

In this one, Caesar gets assassinated (sorry for the spoiler there), and Saylor's detective character, Gordianus, is apparently assigned/takes on the task of unraveling the true nature of the conspiracy (at least that's where I think it's going... haven't finished it yet).

-
I quite liked that book but Gordianus and you aren't doing what you think you're doing.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at May 31, 2020 09:25 AM (+y/Ru)

73 59 The movie was based on the book, but this is one of those rare cases where the movie is better than the book. I put the book down w/o finishing it.
Posted by: Vic at May 31, 2020 09:16 AM (mpXpK)

Who was to master sarg tough guy? trying to remember without IMDB
Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 09:20 AM (JFO2v)

Sam Elliot

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 09:25 AM (NWiLs)

74 Reading Charlie Wilson's War, IRL (as opposed to IKL) and enjoying it.
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at May 31, 2020 09:23 AM (pNxlR)

A pretty good movie. He supposedly banged anything with XX chromosomes.

Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 09:25 AM (JFO2v)

75 Library in town still not open - curbside pick up only. I don't know what the deal is. It's not like the library is the place to go when you're coughing up a lung. Had to do the call-ahead, then we'll put your book in a paper bag and place it on the cart outside. I'm so tired of this nonsense.
Posted by: grammie winger at May 31, 2020 09:11 AM (lwiT4)
----------

Ours is just starting to have curbside pickup this week. And they are starting to accept returns, but only on M-W-F, and they divided the alphabet in thirds and assigned each day a third. You drop off on the day in which your last name falls. How they plan to keep track, I have no idea. I guess they are just trying to stem the tide of the 500,000 books they have out.

Posted by: bluebell at May 31, 2020 09:26 AM (/669Q)

76 Sam Elliot
Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 09:25 AM (NWiLs)

of roadhouse fame! now sells RAM trucks

Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 09:26 AM (JFO2v)

77 One of you lot bought my How and Why book!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 09:26 AM (Dc2NZ)

78 Nice Lieberry.

Those pants made me reach for my Browning.

The Who Dis is Mayor Jacob Frey between sobbing uncontrollably and shitting his underoos.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at May 31, 2020 09:27 AM (Z+IKu)

79 That guy in the pants link sure does look like Schiff.

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at May 31, 2020 09:27 AM (NZbXf)

80 Chicago's Miracle Mile got hit big time last night. They're coming for you north shore folks next.

Posted by: Pete Seria at May 31, 2020 09:27 AM (7ZQe3)

81 54 Those pants! Is OregonMuse punishing us, and the more we complain the more Onolicious it gets?
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 09:18 AM (Dc2NZ

If you're like me, with a limited vocabulary, you need help with high-falootin', 5 dollar words.

Onolicious means Mother-In-Law

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 09:27 AM (WvQcX)

82 76 Sam Elliot
Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 09:25 AM (NWiLs)

of roadhouse fame! now sells RAM trucks
Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 09:26 AM (JFO2v)

Wade Garrett! He also did the Beef: It's What's for Dinner voice overs.

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 09:27 AM (NWiLs)

83 I've never found a pornographic photo, and I've bought a lot of used books.

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at May 31, 2020 09:17 AM (x8Q/V)

I've never found a Ten Thousand Dollar Bill, either...

Posted by: JT at May 31, 2020 09:28 AM (arJlL)

84 Also the Stranger in The Big Lebowski

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 09:28 AM (NWiLs)

85 68 60 Why did I click on the pants link. Why?

Why, God. Why.
Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 09:20 AM (WvQcX)

and why did you tempt me??
Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 09:24 AM (JFO2v

Don't go blamin me for your poor life choices. I'm meant to be a cautionary tale, not an example.

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 09:28 AM (WvQcX)

86 83 I've never found a pornographic photo, and I've bought a lot of used books.

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at May 31, 2020 09:17 AM (x8Q/V)

I've never found a Ten Thousand Dollar Bill, either...
Posted by: JT at May 31, 2020 09:28 AM (arJlL)

my best friend work in a photo shop in late 70s. we saw much homemade porn

Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 09:29 AM (JFO2v)

87 Sam Elliot
Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 09:25 AM (NWiLs)

of roadhouse fame! now sells RAM trucks
Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 09:26 AM (JFO2v)

He's got the high ground.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at May 31, 2020 09:29 AM (2JVJo)

88 Trip to Oxford, MS has me re-reading Faulkner's Snopes trilogy. Somehow, some way, Flem Snopes and Hillary Clinton have shared DNA...
Posted by: Zod at May 31, 2020 09:11 AM (XzT/D)

I thought of the Snopes family being more like Slick's whore mother's brood, although based on a little research she may have been a slutty outlying point and an embarrassment to the rest of her kin who tried to help raise her fat needy bastard kid when she was turning tricks at local bars.

Posted by: Captain Hate at May 31, 2020 09:29 AM (y7DUB)

89 Onolicious means Mother-In-Law
Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 09:27 AM (WvQcX)
--
Actually, in Hawaiian local parlance it means delish ("ono" means good).

In this case it would be the exquisite (to OM) torture of the unruly Horde via Yoko Ono.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 09:29 AM (Dc2NZ)

90 I want to unsee those, those...pantaloons in the link.

Posted by: runner at May 31, 2020 09:29 AM (zr5Kq)

91 How Swede it is,are the Big Racks all BLONDE?

Ya knew having sex with a prostitute in Sweden, home or a Broad ABROAD gets ya fined ,and here I tho't they were at the front of permissiveness..fuck the swedish volley ball team and get 40 to LIFE !!! WTF!!!.

Ge FELT A FISH thats a 100Kroner fine !!!

Posted by: saf at May 31, 2020 09:30 AM (5IHGB)

92 Chicago's Miracle Mile got hit big time last night. They're coming for you north shore folks next.

Posted by: Pete Seria at May 31, 2020 09:27 AM (7ZQe3)

They got as far as Oak Street last night from what I heard. If they get to the north shore they will have gone through the entire north side of the city and into the northern burbs which is ultra liberal land

Posted by: TheQuietMan at May 31, 2020 09:30 AM (XvfQ9)

93 Greetings, O Book Thread!
Funemployment provides plenty of extra time for writing, so I've been busy with that. I have just added a drunken donkey to the mix (along with a seriously book-addicted housemaid) so hilarity will doubtless ensue.
On the reading front, have been enjoying the Murderbot novellas by Martha Wells. I've always liked her writing (especially The Element of Fire) and these are fun too. Featuring a world-weary, cynical AI construct trying to hide the fact it is free so it can watch its entertainment feed in peace.

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at May 31, 2020 09:30 AM (exg7Q)

94 Dragon capsule is 220 meters from space station.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 09:30 AM (Dc2NZ)

95 well they left out a fair bit from the book, like hekmatyar, the acid throwing Pashtun, was the patron of said Charlie Wilson, along with other factions, like the founder of the Taliban, Jounes Khalis, so the events of the 90s after the bombing,

Posted by: gaius martius at May 31, 2020 09:30 AM (hMlTh)

96 I finished The Hollow Crown, and Beetspinich Cougerthatch was Richard III.

Hollow Crown is Richard II - Henry IV in 2 parts - Henry V - Richard III.

I enjoyed the first half of Richard III much more than the second half. His rise was really enjoyable in a vicious evil way, but his fall kind of stretched out too long.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at May 31, 2020 09:31 AM (LxTcq)

97 Actually, in Hawaiian local parlance it means delish ("ono" means good).

In this case it would be the exquisite (to OM) torture of the unruly Horde via Yoko Ono.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 09:29 AM (Dc2NZ)

ono is also wahoo

Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 09:31 AM (JFO2v)

98 Business trip this week, so I listened to Larry Correia's excellent Grimnoir Chronicles in the car - an urban fantasy adventure set in an alternate noir 1930s.

Only a handful of people in the world know that mankind's magic comes from a living creature, and it is a refugee from another universe. The Power showed up here in the 1850s because it was running from something. Now it is 1933, and the Power's hiding place has been discovered by a killer.

It is a predator that eats magic and leaves destroyed worlds in its wake. Earth is next.

Also, rioters burned the iconic Uncle Hugo's bookstore in Minneapolis. There's a gofundme - more at Larry Correia's MonsterHunterNation.com blog.

Posted by: Hans G. Schantz at May 31, 2020 09:31 AM (FXjhj)

99 51 I've never found a pornographic photo, and I've bought a lot of used books.

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at May 31, 2020 09:17 AM (x8Q/V)

It sounds like you're disappointed.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at May 31, 2020 09:31 AM (FbBpr)

100 I am still slogging through Profiles in Corruption by Peter Schweizer. It's a difficult read, not because it's not well-written (it is), but because of the subject matter. It's very well-researched with footnotes galore. It's just downright depressing how corrupt some of our politicians are. I mean really, really depressing.

I have read the chapters on Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Corey Booker, and Elizabeth Warren. Just started Sherrod Brown last night. Did you know he legit has a brother named Charlie?

Anyway, great information, but hard to read because of it.

Posted by: bluebell at May 31, 2020 09:32 AM (/669Q)

101 I think it was on this site, but I read about the trouble it takes To do a load of laundry in a Swedish Laundry Mat. At the very beginning of the lock down I got the book "Socialism Sucks" by Robert Lawson. I cannot recommend this book enough. It is an easy entertaining read and does a good job of Explaining economics.

Posted by: Picric at May 31, 2020 09:33 AM (KxeP3)

102 51 I've never found a pornographic photo, and I've bought a lot of used books.

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at May 31, 2020 09:17 AM (x8Q/V)
--
Did you put a pornographic photo into a book? You get what you give.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 09:33 AM (Dc2NZ)

103 I have just added a drunken donkey to the mix (along with a seriously book-addicted housemaid) so hilarity will doubtless ensue.

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at May 31, 2020 09:30 AM (exg7Q)

donkey show donkey show

Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 09:33 AM (JFO2v)

104 One of you lot bought my How and Why book!
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes

Wasn't me !

Posted by: JT at May 31, 2020 09:33 AM (arJlL)

105 30+ years ago, i published a national security report for an IC community entity (am I being vague enough?), wherein i had a photo i found of an Eastern Bloc industrial laboratory, which had, if you closely enough, pornographic pinups taped up. it made it past the reviewers (which convinced me they never bothered to read it), and so i am proud to have disseminated pornography throughout the US government. got an award for it too.

Posted by: goatexchange at May 31, 2020 09:33 AM (iUjXP)

106 I've never found a pornographic photo, and I've bought a lot of used books.

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at May 31, 2020 09:17 AM (x8Q/V)

It sounds like you're disappointed.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor Social Distancing Professional at May 31, 2020 09:31 AM (FbBpr)

---
Not as much as I am.

Posted by: David French, buying used books by the truckload at May 31, 2020 09:33 AM (cfSRQ)

107 The cover of Cirsova looks like a pulp paperback I would have read in 1974.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at May 31, 2020 09:33 AM (EZebt)

108 82 76 Sam Elliot
Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 09:25 AM (NWiLs)

of roadhouse fame! now sells RAM trucks
Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 09:26 AM (JFO2v)

And Doritos.

Posted by: Jeff Weimer at May 31, 2020 09:33 AM (ijEPD)

109 L A mayor gay high school girl garcetti still clutching public library in his mitts - CLOSED. He's busy dotting his handwritten 'i"s with little flowers and circles.

Posted by: banned book desert at May 31, 2020 09:33 AM (l+yp+)

110 Morning Horde. As I promised (or threatened) last night, here goes:

Gordon I

On this day, in 1916, off the Danish coast, the British Grand Fleet met the German High Seas Fleet in the largest battleship action since the age of sail. Jutland is, almost without rival, the most controversial naval battle in history, perhaps the most of all battles, period.

I believe that I have more books that cover Jutland than any other topic in my library; certainly the pile would be a lot taller than I. (Trafalgar isn't too far behind.) And I picked up Andrew Gordon's 1996 The Rules of the Game. Again with the superlatives, it is, if not the best, certainly the most fascinating, if often irritating, on the subject, I'm a bit hesitant to try to discuss it, as it is so very wide-ranging. It even had a small vogue in the business world, for it's analysis of how technology and it's producers can get int he way of the organizations actually doing what they are supposed to do. He concludes with 26 conclusions, many of which are "blinding glimpses of the obvious" which I have seen posted alone. Most of them are hard to dispute.

What triggered it this year was finally getting Scheer's book on the HSF. It's not so good as I'd hoped, and is the least accurate. I don't blame him for the latter as it was published in Sept 1919. Think about that. The Armistice was only 10 months earlier. So he has an excuse (unlike Keegan in Price of Admiralty, for instance.) Just one example: Scheer is vehement that they had sunk HMS Warspite. I think the German destroyermen at Narvik in 1940 might have had something to say about that, or the crew of the Cavour at Calabria, later that year. Or at Salerno. Or Walcherin.

One reason for the rush was the need to justify the German HSF in the war. In comparison with the army, it did little. Add in the mutiny in 1918, the surrender at Scapa, and the scuttling, and he had a lot of 'splaining to do. (Tirpitz too rushed out his memoirs.)

There is some CYA, as we would expect. Jellicoe does the same; so does Churchill. I always expect that, and try to adjust for it. (I am always puzzled by those - mostly on the left, but sometimes on our side - who confront this and decide that all history is fiction. What in the world are they thinking of? Can they not read between the lines, or balance two or more accounts? I recommend to such people that they give up history, entirely, and stick to romance stories. Those will be straighforward enough for such literal and blinkered minds.)

But less forgiveable is the lack of real explanation for two things:

1. He never addresses why he smelt nothing fishy in the Run to the North. This was the phase where he was chasing Beatty until he ran into Jellicoe with the main body. He deflects by continually saying the BCF was heading "northwest". It wasn't. Except for brief maneuvering, Beatty was heading north, or a bit east. It never seems to have occurred to Scheer that this might be odd. NW would indeed be heading back to Britain. N meant toward Norway. That Scheer was surprised to meet the Grand Fleet has always seemed to me inexcusable.

2. After the first meeting of the main fleets, Scheer extricated his fleet very skillfully. He deserves, and has always gotten plenty of, credit for that. But then he reversed course, right back into the jaws of death. His explanations are bizarre and incredible. He says, eg, that doing so would somehow prevent Jellicoe from intercepting him in the morning. He never explains how this is so. Not even that he could run around behind the GF, as happened later in the night. And that last point contradicts the other reasons he gives.

(A side note: I am still pissed off at both the RN and the USN, post WWII. To me it's a crime that HMS Warspite, and USS Enterprise, were discarded and scrapped. Those two are without question the ships that served with most distinction in the war. That they are not memorials is just indefensible. The best I can come up with is that they were discarded in that sunny era of liberal progressivism when the UN was still believed in, and they were seen as remnants of a shameful past. Not good enough.)

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 09:34 AM (ZbwAu)

111 Our Aype he hath feelings for yonder sweet lass a reading and monkey business shall ensue...then on to CumberSnatch in the next nook fer a lil hows yer father......

Posted by: saf at May 31, 2020 09:34 AM (5IHGB)

112 Have you read the Anabasis yet? That pretty much put the zap on Alexander's head that Persia was a hollow shell.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 09:23 AM (cfSRQ)

No, that'll be next I think, unless there's one between it chronologically. I worked out the sequence here a while back and it'll take a while to get through this.

Posted by: Captain Hate at May 31, 2020 09:34 AM (y7DUB)

113 Gordon II

But to our purpose:

After Scheer, the next important books were Jellicoe's Grand Fleet, Churchill's World Crisis (one chapter only, but very influential), and most of all, the Harper Record. (I might add Bacon's the Jutland Scandal). The bias of the first is obvious. Churchill is vehemently pro-Beatty, Bacon equally vehement on the other side. The story of the Harper record, and his later The Truth About Jutland puts Beatty in a bad light. He was devious & went beyond the limit in casting himself the best possible light. This has not aged well. In general, most historians have sided with Harper, and thus with Jellicoe. Other than H H Frost, virtually any book on Jutland between the 20s and the 60s shows Harper's influence, even if Beattite.

And it matters because the Jellicoe-Beatty feud was the 3rd such feud to split the RN in rival camps, in recent history. And that is central to Gordon's book. The first is that about the collision between HMS Victoria and HMS Camperdown in 1893. This got conflated with the commander, Sir George Tryon's, ideas about signaling in action. Gordon tries to sort this out, and for the most part, is pretty good here. It is, almost literally, the center of his book. But he cannot avoid slipping into hagiography about Tryon. (Hough's Admirals in Collision is worse.) At least he concludes that Tryon was the man responsible, though to strongly enough for me. The 2nd is the Fisher-Beresford feud, in to which he goes in less detail.

And here I have to harp a bit. I justify it that the whole incident, and the 2 issues involved, are the single biggest focus of Rules of the Game. The problem is that (a) Tryon was undoubtedly right about his effort to reduce the reliance on signals in battle - there is one citation of a maneuver in which he used 10 flags, where the Signal Book would have required 202! But he misses vital point. Tryon was ALSO a master of the signal book, and delighted in putting the fleet through complex maneuvers, which no one understood, but which always worked out.

"Tryon often gave us maneuvers that looked dangerous, and so they should have been unless faithfully carried out. I have myself ... thought when I started there must be an accident, but found myself exactly astern of the division following me..." (Quoted in Gordon.)

Now, given that part of Gordon's case is that the Victorian navy emphasised strict obedience, and suppressed independent thought, it's suprising he doesn't see that what Tryon was doing - contrary to his expressed intent - was hammering this attitude in. Tryon also NEVER discussed these maneuvers beforehand. In effect, he was the anti-Nelson. And like Fisher and Beatty, his good ideas were undercut by his personality flaws.

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 09:34 AM (ZbwAu)

114 Gordon III

The next really important source is Marder's From Dreadnought to Scapa Flow, in the 60s. What I said of Harper above applies here. Virtually all books since draw heavily on Marder, one example being Massie's Dreadnought and Castles of Steel. Starting in the 90s there has been a vogue of trying to deflate Marder's rep. It hasn't come to much; the best efforts (e.g., Jon Sumida) when read closely come down to a difference of emphasis rather than overturning Marder.

Sumida's more important work has been on the Pollen/Dreyer fire control debate in which, once again, was an RN split in which the respective sides in those listed above tended to line up as they had in the others. Here, the central point is that the Dreyer system was unable to handle rapid course changes. (Again, controversial. There is an author, John Brooks, who disputes this. Unfortunately, their exchange is behind a pay wall too rich for my bank account.)

And that last is another point about Gordon. Really, two points. A running theme is the tendency of those who supply technology to end up putting "process" over "product"; to center attention on the use of technology over the ends it is supposed to promote. Really, at a basic level, this is the point of his book. Another way he describes it is as a conflict between "rationalists" and "empiricists", the latter being those who focus on the actual winning of battles, based on experience, and the former those who focus on the means - usually technological - to do so. In Gordon's model - he's big on dichotomies - the latter, once again, end up putting the cart before the horse. And they persistently tend to dismiss lessons of history on the grounds that "it's different now". (Note: one dissonance is that one of Gordon's good guys is Fisher, who was the worst of all in dismissing history, "the record of exploded ideas.")

The other point is the extent that the two sides tended to be the same people opposing and supporting one another. Here he delves deep into social history, which is interesting, but to my mind not wholly convincing. He puts much emphasis on Girouard's Return to Camelot, which he sees as diverting officers from the "rat catching" approach to war, emphasizing victory, to a chivalric ideal in which heroic death and forlorn hopes were the ideal. (He has a digression on Scott's Antarctic expedition here.) Well, maybe. But surely the name of Nelson might come to mind. And Nelson has a foot in both camps. No one was more single minded in defeating the enemy; no one was more obsessed with glory and arguably sought death in battle.

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 09:35 AM (ZbwAu)

115 Gordon IV

And that brings me to yet another of his dichotomies. He draws heavily on Norman Dixon's On the Psychology of Military Incompetence, with its dichotomy between "autocrats" and "authoritarians". The latter are highly individualistic, the latter organization men. One point about the autocrats is that their attention to dress can be either casual (think Grant) or highly formal, but often with an individual touch (Patton). Gordon gives many examples, leading to the inconspicuous nature of Jellicoe's orthodox uniforms, vs Beatty's personalizing his (6 buttons rather than the standard 8.)

One problem I have with this is that it just isn't clear that there's real correlation here. Custer and Montgomery were thoroughgoing autocrats on this system, while Lee and Wellington would seem to fit the authoritarian model. Which would you choose? To my mind, we have gotten into the lumping/splitting division, between those who tie together distinct phenomena into neat packages, and those who insist that doing so treats unlike things as like, glossing over real distinction. OK, I'll fess up, I am an extreme splitter, with C S Lewis and J H Hexter. Yes, we are a minority, but surely one's alarm bells should start ringing when we see such almost Manichaean contrasts, one of which is all good, the other all bad? (Gordon, to his credit, DOES portray Beatty's character flaws. The account of his treatment of Seymour, his signals officer, is particularly damning.)

But wait, there's more! Yet another feature is Gordon's analysis of other historians, especially N J M Campbell's Jutland, an Analysis of the Fighting. Campbell literally tries to account for every hit he can, and its effect. But Gordon does a very good job in his appendices I - IV in analysing the analysis. The bottom line: taking literally the logs of the battle leads to absurdity. The best example of the problem is shown by HMS New Zealand, where two records were kept, on on the flag bridge, one in the conning tower. "At 5 o'clock, we find Princess Royal 10 1/2 miles from New Zealand's navigator, who is now estranged from the people upstairs by 4 3/4 miles." There is a lot like that. It matters most about the targetting by the HSF during the turn to the north. Campbell's book is very good, but Gordon is an important corrective. (Post-Gordon, the most interesting work I've seen has been by Bill Jurens, but he hasn't written a book. There's a good documentary on youtube in which he plays a major part. Since it's me, no one will be surprised that I'll add Norman Friedman's Fighting the Great War at Sea and British Battleships, pt 2. Friedman comes across as unimpressed by Gordon. But that's fine by me. I want diversity in the actual meaning of that much-abused word.)

I've gone on far too long. I do want to emphasize that this is by far the most subtle and sophisticated of all Beattyite books, which is helped by his not trying to cover the man's flaws and errors. It also includes a very readable account of the battle itself, which I have not emphasized. The passage he quotes on the last moments of HMS Black Prince is truly memorable. He hits on the battles importance in the medical treatment of burn victims.

To anyone who has any interest, I cannot recommend it highly enough, with the warning that one should not take it as gospel. Even for those not interested in the battle, the social history in the chapters beginning with "The Long Calm Lee of Trafalgar" should be interesting.

And I have left much out.

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 09:35 AM (ZbwAu)

116 I have read the chapters on Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Corey Booker, and Elizabeth Warren. Just started Sherrod Brown last night. Did you know he legit has a brother named Charlie?

Anyway, great information, but hard to read because of it.
Posted by: bluebell at May 31, 2020 09:32 AM (/669Q)

Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Corey Booker, and Elizabeth Warren

What is the name of 4 people that you give no fucks for?

Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 09:35 AM (JFO2v)

117 Movie trivia: what two actors do Roadhouse and The Big Lebowski have in common?

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 09:36 AM (NWiLs)

118 38 ... "Which brings me to my own writing news, which I mentioned a few days ago, but here it is for the book thread - I finally finished a first draft of my new Theda Bara book (after more than 10 years!). It's still in sprawling, shapeless form and needs a ton of editing, pasting and expanding, but I finally have a complete end-to-end piece that I can work on."

MP4, I'm looking forward to its publication. I loved the first one and left it a 5 star review.

Posted by: JTB at May 31, 2020 09:36 AM (7EjX1)

119
Hawke is reading "Love's Labour's Lost", by Willie S. I wonder if this play was something he was contemplating doing himself.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at May 31, 2020 09:36 AM (pNxlR)

120 Onolicious means Mother-In-Law

-
John Lennon thinking that his wife was onolicious was a clear sign of LSD abuse.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at May 31, 2020 09:36 AM (+y/Ru)

121
Sam Elliott
Ben Gazzara

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at May 31, 2020 09:37 AM (pNxlR)

122 117 Movie trivia: what two actors do Roadhouse and The Big Lebowski have in common?
Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 09:36 AM (NWiLs

Easy. Sam Elliott and that porno dude.

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 09:37 AM (WvQcX)

123 thrusters thrusting cool

Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 09:37 AM (JFO2v)

124 Hasn't helped my reading ( though do have a borrowed book I haven't started) that the used book store has been closed for 10 weeks.

Posted by: Skip at May 31, 2020 09:37 AM (ZCEU2)

125 Good Sunday morning, horde!

Oh, OM...I don't even have a weak heart or other sub-optimal condition, but I think I developed one after clicking the link. :/

Posted by: April, Freedom Now! at May 31, 2020 09:37 AM (OX9vb)

126 121
Sam Elliott
Ben Gazzara
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at May 31, 2020 09:37 AM (pNxlR)

Ding ding ding!

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 09:37 AM (NWiLs)

127 I finished "Recreating the American Longhunter" by Joseph Ruckman. At 68 pages it is more of a thick pamphlet but it contains a huge amount of information. The stress is on developing a persona from the best documents available and not letting 21st century mores corrupt the interpretation. The footnotes are worth the cost of the book. It's an excellent starting point for people interested in the period generally or who want to begin in living history.

Posted by: JTB at May 31, 2020 09:38 AM (7EjX1)

128 117 Movie trivia: what two actors do Roadhouse and The Big Lebowski have in common?

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 09:36 AM (NWiLs)

Sam Elliot, of course.

He was also in a season of Justified sans Mustache.

Posted by: Jeff Weimer at May 31, 2020 09:38 AM (ijEPD)

129 I’ve had “Centaurs and Amazons” gathering dust on my shelf for over 25 years. Never read it. Do you have many books like that? I sure do.

It’s very dense and scholarly, as in “duBois documents the transition from a system of thought that organized the experience of difference in terms of polarity and analogy to one based upon a relatively hierarchical scheme.” Good God(s).

I powered through it. Into the library book sale box it goes.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 09:38 AM (Dc2NZ)

130 128 117 Movie trivia: what two actors do Roadhouse and The Big Lebowski have in common?

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 09:36 AM (NWiLs)

Sam Elliot, of course.

He was also in a season of Justified sans Mustache.
Posted by: Jeff Weimer at May 31, 2020 09:38 AM (ijEPD)

Come on Jeff. Be better. Two. One more than one.

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 09:39 AM (WvQcX)

131
Sam Elliot, of course.

He was also in a season of Justified sans Mustache.

The mustache was off filming a movie.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 31, 2020 09:40 AM (oVJmc)

132 thrusters thrusting cool

Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 09:37 AM (JFO2v)

space looks really....dark

Posted by: BignJames at May 31, 2020 09:41 AM (X/Pw5)

133 He was also in a season of Justified sans Mustache.

Didn't have the mustache in We Were Soldiers, either.

"Now it's a good day, Sergeant Savage."

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 09:41 AM (NWiLs)

134 Eyerore hath increased his WORD POWER...

Thesaorrhea ?

Posted by: saf at May 31, 2020 09:42 AM (5IHGB)

135 I haven't read a book since the lockdown started. It should be just the opposite. I guess I'm a contrarian even when I don't want to be.

Posted by: Kilroy wasn't here at May 31, 2020 09:42 AM (2DOZq)

136 In space, no one can hear you scream

Posted by: Skip at May 31, 2020 09:42 AM (ZCEU2)

137 Movie trivia: what two actors do Roadhouse and The Big Lebowski have in common?
Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 09:36 AM (NWiLs)

Brian Dennehy as the cocktail lounge?

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at May 31, 2020 09:42 AM (Z+IKu)

138 He was also in a season of Justified sans Mustache.
Posted by: Jeff Weimer at May 31, 2020 09:38 AM (ijEPD)
--

And it was wrong. He looked like a turtle.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 09:42 AM (Dc2NZ)

139 space looks really....dark
Posted by: BignJames at May 31, 2020 09:41 AM (X/Pw5)

and no one can hear you scream

Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 09:43 AM (JFO2v)

140 chapters on Kamala Harris

-
Didja see that Kamalawalladingdong was one of the White House protesters?

https://bit.ly/2zM9FWU

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at May 31, 2020 09:43 AM (+y/Ru)

141 BTW, the ape's arse line would fit into Gordon's book so well, that if you reprinted it with that added, no one would know you had doctored the text.

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 09:43 AM (ZbwAu)

142 The mustache was off filming a movie.
Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 31, 2020 09:40 AM (oVJmc)

With Shatner's hairpiece. "Hell Toupee".

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 09:43 AM (Dc2NZ)

143
And it was wrong. He looked like a turtle.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 09:42 AM (Dc2NZ)

He looked very weird. I'm hoping he learned his lesson.

How do I buy your book, btw? Is it onolicious?

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 09:44 AM (WvQcX)

144 a millenial asks: "oh is that like Star Wars where they wrote the book based on that movie script?"

Possibly the best book based on a movie script we're Elliott S. Maggin's Superman books, Last Son of Krypton and Miracle Monday.

Partly because either there was no script at that point or he wasn't allowed to see it, for the first one, and the formula worked so well they did it for the second as well.

The third book was a fairly bad reproduction of the really bad third movie script.

There's a lot of hurting a boy goes through if he wants to be a man.--Miracle Monday

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at May 31, 2020 09:45 AM (2lndx)

145 Jesus, some of you guys squat to pee.
The Command Sergeant Major in We Were Soldiers was Basil Plumley.
He was real, actually did everything depicted and quite a bit more, and lived to legendary status and a ripe old age. And you're going on about some actor.

My late uncle was at Ia Drang, and wrote up an account for his local home paper. It didn't have quite the same spin as the reporter's tale in We Were Soldiers, but that didn't come out until later. I was in seventh or eighth grade, and had to do a broadcast journalism project in English, so I used that story as the base, figuring that I had real first-person news to work with here.
Well, the teacher was interested. The other students, in a (remember hard, now) conservative-Democrat town, could not have cared less. They had not heard there was a war on. These were some of the same people who would later run my car off the road because I wasn't "patriotic" enough.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at May 31, 2020 09:45 AM (8IOEj)

146 Still haven't docked. Dragon looks about a quarter mile away.

Posted by: t-bird at May 31, 2020 09:45 AM (4EIFd)

147 Ape arse crapping figs

Posted by: Kilroy wasn't here at May 31, 2020 09:45 AM (2DOZq)

148 143
And it was wrong. He looked like a turtle.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 09:42 AM (Dc2NZ)

He looked very weird. I'm hoping he learned his lesson.

How do I buy your book, btw? Is it onolicious?
Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 09:44 AM (WvQcX)

It's a real bongo-beater but kinda screechy in parts. Oh wait, that's the other Ono...

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 09:45 AM (NWiLs)

149 how fucking stupid can one person be?

Joy Reid

Yall do realize antifa is just short for anti-fascists right? As in the people who confronted the nazis in Charlottesville why would they try to burn and destroy black communities?

Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 09:46 AM (JFO2v)

150
Didja see that Kamalawalladingdong was one of the White House protesters?

https://bit.ly/2zM9FWU

She's a natural leader for knee walking turkeys ...

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at May 31, 2020 09:46 AM (pNxlR)

151 Someone I used to know always referred to Cumberbatch as "the boy with the cheekbones."

Posted by: Trimegistus at May 31, 2020 09:47 AM (gmxuO)

152 The third book was a fairly bad reproduction of the really bad third movie script.

There's a lot of hurting a boy goes through if he wants to be a man.--Miracle Monday
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at May 31, 2020 09:45 AM (2lndx)

was that the one with Richard Pryor that sucked!!

Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 09:48 AM (JFO2v)

153 She's a natural leader for knee walking turkeys ...
---
Nice BotR ref!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 09:48 AM (Dc2NZ)

154 Test pilots, that's some fortitude right there.

Posted by: runner at May 31, 2020 09:48 AM (zr5Kq)

155 Finished "Verses of the Dead" last week. This is book 18 in the series about special FBI agent Pendergast, which started with "Relic" back in 1995. Don't watch the shity movie by the same name.

Pendergast is not what you think when you hear FBI agent, far from it.

In this book, Pendergast is teamed with another agent who's agenda is to not only help solve the murders but get enough evidence for Pendergast's new boss to kick him out of the agency.

The agents are in Miami trying to solve the mystery of human hearts showing up on the graves of suicide victims. The suicides all took place along the Eastern seaboard.

Posted by: Beartooth at May 31, 2020 09:48 AM (fpc+A)

156 Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at May 31, 2020 09:45 AM (8IOEj)

Reading comprehension and context aren't your strong suits, are they?

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 09:49 AM (NWiLs)

157 That painting of the girl reading looks very familiar.

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 09:49 AM (WvQcX)

158 Regarding the old bool simulator illustration. Bring it on! I love finding old, odd-ball stuff that was used for a bookmark in a used book.

Posted by: Who knew at May 31, 2020 09:50 AM (SfO/T)

159 One problem I have with this is that it just isn't clear that there's
real correlation here. Custer and Montgomery were thoroughgoing
autocrats on this system, while Lee and Wellington would seem to fit the
authoritarian model. Which would you choose? To my mind, we have gotten
into the lumping/splitting division, between those who tie together
distinct phenomena into neat packages, and those who insist that doing
so treats unlike things as like, glossing over real distinction.
---
This seems like a stretch.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 09:50 AM (cfSRQ)

160 Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at May 31, 2020 09:45 AM (8IOEj)

Reading comprehension and context aren't your strong suits, are they?
Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 09:49 AM (NWiLs)

But he's great at making friends.

Posted by: Kilroy wasn't here at May 31, 2020 09:50 AM (2DOZq)

161 157 That painting of the girl reading looks very familiar.
Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 09:49 AM (WvQcX)

My guess is you've seen it before.

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 09:50 AM (NWiLs)

162 Even if it's these pants, which, I need to warn you, are especially bad today, and cannot be unseen

Nope, sorry. Don't hold a candle to the horror of the Hillary pants.

Posted by: Duncanthrax at May 31, 2020 09:50 AM (DMUuz)

163 The image of the tiny capsule hovering in inky black space is Kubrikian.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 09:51 AM (Dc2NZ)

164 Yall do realize antifa is just short for
anti-fascists right? As in the people who confronted the nazis in
Charlottesville why would they try to burn and destroy black
communities?

Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 09:46 AM (JFO2v)

She's no stupid, she's crafty and knows exactly how to help create racial antagonism and riots. She's created an enemy, that her side needs to destroy, and is justified (in their minds) in destroying....my any means necessary.

Posted by: CN at May 31, 2020 09:51 AM (ONvIw)

165 The image of the tiny capsule hovering in inky black space is Kubrikian.

Quite !

Posted by: runner at May 31, 2020 09:52 AM (zr5Kq)

166 When not messing about in boats, or at least reading about them, I've been as usual reading mysteries. Stout and JRL Anderson (who writes about - wait for it - boats.)

One false note Stout hits. I haven't read it recently, and don't recall the title, but I was always bothered by the one set in a barber shop. I just cannot believe that Nero goes out, every other week, IIRC, to get his hair cut. It's New Effing York. I cannot believe he can't find someone who will come to the brownstone to do it. And so far as paying extra goes, since when does Nero stint on indulging his wishes?

Sure, sometimes he leaves willingly, if orchids or food are involved. Sometimes grudgingly, if the law forces him to. A few times out of dire necessity. But a haircut? I just don't believe it.

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 09:52 AM (ZbwAu)

167 163 The image of the tiny capsule hovering in inky black space is Kubrikian.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 09:51 AM (Dc2NZ)

Now all we need is a monolith.

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 09:52 AM (NWiLs)

168 161 157 That painting of the girl reading looks very familiar.
Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 09:49 AM (WvQcX)

My guess is you've seen it before.
Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 09:50 AM (NWiLs

It's like that situation where you're pretty sure you know someone, but can't remember their name. Then they come up and say hello! And you sweat for the next five minutes trying to remember how you know this person.

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 09:52 AM (WvQcX)

169 That painting of the girl reading looks very familiar.
Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 09:49 AM

=====

My guess is you've seen it before.
Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 09:50 AM

There's more than one Deja, you know.

Posted by: John Carter at May 31, 2020 09:52 AM (DMUuz)

170 >>Joy Reid

>>Yall do realize antifa is just short for anti-fascists right? As in the people who confronted the nazis in Charlottesville why would they try to burn and destroy black communities?

There are videos floating around twitter of antifa assholes paying black yutes and directing their rioting.

She's lying and she knows she's lying.

Posted by: JackStraw at May 31, 2020 09:52 AM (ZLI7S)

171 How far is ISS from the moon ? asking for a friend..

Posted by: runner at May 31, 2020 09:53 AM (zr5Kq)

172 reid is sharpton's protege, who's a real piece of work, even among the peanut gallery at msnbc,

Posted by: gaius martius at May 31, 2020 09:54 AM (hMlTh)

173 Nope, sorry. Don't hold a candle to the horror of the Hillary pants.

Hillary pants ?

"Oh...oh...Huma....don't stop....."

Posted by: JT at May 31, 2020 09:54 AM (arJlL)

174 That Swedish vampire movie sounds very intriguing!

Mornin', all. Back from the grocery; got some writing done; even managed to shave.

Picked up a free book last night. In old historic Gretna, right outside the little post office, someone has put up one of those Book Nooks -- a little birdhouse-sized container on a post. You can take a book and leave one or more. I found Bernard Cornwell's The Fort: A Novel of the Revolutionary War (2010). Looked intriguing, and I'd tried one or two of his Sharpe series. Plus, you know, free.

Benedict Cumberbatch, as no doubt earlier posters have said, is the mystery guest today. That pic looks like it was taken when he was 17 or 18!

This Cirsova magazine: Does it pay actual money? What kind of stories does it take? I have a grand idea for a plausible reworking of the Green Hornet.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at May 31, 2020 09:54 AM (rpbg1)

175
Now all we need is a monolith.
Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 09:52 AM (NWiLs)

I'm afraid I can't do that, Dave.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at May 31, 2020 09:54 AM (pNxlR)

176 170 There are videos floating around twitter of antifa assholes paying black yutes and directing their rioting.

She's lying and she knows she's lying.
Posted by: JackStraw at May 31, 2020 09:52 AM (ZLI7S)

The lie circles the world 9 times before the truth even begins to wake up.

Posted by: Allie at May 31, 2020 09:54 AM (vmRc0)

177 It's like that situation where you're pretty sure you know someone, but can't remember their name. Then they come up and say hello! And you sweat for the next five minutes trying to remember how you know this person.
Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 09:52 AM (WvQcX)

I'm that way with names. I'll recognize the person, even know why I know them, but completely block their name from recall.

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 09:55 AM (NWiLs)

178 Cumberbatch as Khan ruined it for me.

Posted by: Kilroy wasn't here at May 31, 2020 09:55 AM (2DOZq)

179 Kindle Direct Publishing How To Promote Your Book:

"You can also... post on message boards, join user communities...
...and if that fails you can identify as a "long-time lurker" who "loves your site" and without having to ever actually engage in the on-line community ask the site administrator to plug your book that "will totally resonate with your readers".

This avoids the time-consuming nuisance of actually engaging with potential buyers of your book and exchanging ideas and finding common ground. This technique works best if you claim to have lurked for a vague number of years, such as "several", "the last few" or "many". Also phrases such as "like-minded", "enjoyed reading the many spirited discussions though I never joined in", "your readers may not know me but I've always enjoyed reading your blog/site/page" and"your zany but lovable commenters". Sales are sure to skyrocket.

(Okay, I'll admit, I added the bit after the first ten words, but you get the gist...)

Posted by: Muldoon, yes I' at May 31, 2020 09:55 AM (m45I2)

180 26 Writing this week: Still right on pace for Spanish Civil War book.

Reading: Franco has managed to stay in power after WW II, has opened up the economy and is about to reach the zenith of his power. Interesting read, learning a lot I didn't know.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 09:10 AM (cfSRQ)
________

Remember that Waugh - by no means an anti-Franco fanatic - drew on Spain as well as Yugoslavia for the very negative portrayal of Neutralia in Scott King's Modern Europe.

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 09:55 AM (ZbwAu)

181 How far is ISS from the moon ? asking for a friend..

Posted by: runner at May 31, 2020 09:53 AM (zr5Kq)

About 250k miles.....give r take

Posted by: BignJames at May 31, 2020 09:55 AM (X/Pw5)

182 Yall do realize antifa is just short for anti-fascists right?

They wouldn't LIE about themselves, would they?

Obviously, Joy Reid is a historical-illiterate, but we all knew that, right?

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 31, 2020 09:55 AM (oVJmc)

183 How do I buy your book, btw? Is it onolicious?
Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 09:44 AM

Proving yet again why you are a worthy Hall Of Fame resident!!!!

Posted by: Intragalactic Yoko Ono Artistry Appreciation Association, AoSHQ Claque at May 31, 2020 09:55 AM (DMUuz)

184 69 Hi Readers. Thanks OM.
Read Joe Foss' book about air combat on Guadalcanal
Posted by: goatexchange

I just finished Guadalcanal-The Island of Fire, by R. L. Ferguson. About the armys 347th fighter group participation during the early campaign. Mostly flying P-39 Airacobra variants. I'd read plenty about the Airacobra not being an effective fighter. This book was the first that made it extremely clear why. The Japanese raids were about 9,000 ft higher than the P-39 ceiling. Even if ready there was nothing they could do.

The Marines made effective use of their F4F Wildcats early on. Otherwise Japanese bombing would have permanently wiped out the Henderson airfield.

I definitely enjoyed the book, very nice overview of the early period from a participant. The Airacobras that were not destroyed did a fantastic job of ground support.

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at May 31, 2020 09:56 AM (x8Q/V)

185 One false note Stout hits. I haven't read it recently, and don't recall the title, but I was always bothered by the one set in a barber shop. I just cannot believe that Nero goes out, every other week, IIRC, to get his hair cut. It's New Effing York. I cannot believe he can't find someone who will come to the brownstone to do it. And so far as paying extra goes, since when does Nero stint on indulging his wishes?

Sure, sometimes he leaves willingly, if orchids or food are involved. Sometimes grudgingly, if the law forces him to. A few times out of dire necessity. But a haircut? I just don't believe it.
Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020

*
*

I know that novelette. I suspect Stout merely wanted to get Wolfe out of the brownstone for a change of pace, or the editor at Saturday Evening Post wanted a change of venue and pace too.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at May 31, 2020 09:56 AM (rpbg1)

186 It's like that situation where you're pretty sure
you know someone, but can't remember their name. Then they come up and
say hello! And you sweat for the next five minutes trying to remember
how you know this person.

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 09:52 AM (WvQcX)

---
This happens all the time, and I'm inherently terrible with names. I've also had a bunch of different jobs, lived in the same area all my life, so it's a recurring problem.

I used to try to bluff my way through it, but now I smile and say: "I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage..."

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 09:56 AM (cfSRQ)

187 So books.

I'm quite proud to say that I finally finished the most famous book of all last month.

Yes, that book. I set out to read the Bible cover to cover in one year, as my goal.

Did it in about 8 months, reading, usually in the AM having coffee.

It was a peeve of mine that I'd read this chapter or that chapter but never the whole book.

But now that's no longer the case!

Cover to cover, the Bible.

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 09:56 AM (WvQcX)

188 I'm that way with names. I'll recognize the person, even know why I know them, but completely block their name from recall.
Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 09:55 AM (NWiLs)

I have to go through the alphabet in my mind hoping the letter will trigger the name.

Posted by: Kilroy wasn't here at May 31, 2020 09:56 AM (2DOZq)

189 I'm continuing, at a pleasantly slow pace, the letters of EB White and Edmund Ware Smith. Some humor, some insight to the time (1940s and 50s), and wonderful use of language. The same applies to Smith's stories in "A Tomato Can Chronicle and Other Stories of Fishing and Shooting". Like some of my favorite outdoor writing, Smith can put you into the time and place completely, so it is absorbing and relaxing at the same time.

Posted by: JTB at May 31, 2020 09:57 AM (7EjX1)

190 about 250,000 miles away, give or take, it's the first step in a long rung of steps,

so my novella, moved along a little, with homages to casino royale, set in marbella, and another twist worthy of mission impossible I guess,

Posted by: gaius martius at May 31, 2020 09:57 AM (hMlTh)

191 "This American mind was, I argue, united in its fealty to a common philosophy that was expressed in the Declaration and launched with the words, "We hold these truths to be self-evident"."

Lincoln: "The assertion that 'all men are created equal' was of no practical use in effecting our separation from Great Britain and it was placed in the Declaration not for that, but for future use."

Posted by: The Gipper Lives at May 31, 2020 09:57 AM (Ndje9)

192 And of course there’s a classic pulp sci-fi novel: this week it’s “Secret of the Martian Moons” by Donald Wollheim. Check out the cover:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
The_Secret_of_the_Martian_Moons

I like the way it has to point out it’s “A Science Fiction Novel”, in spite of spacey space, Mars, an astronaut and a space ship. No way, I thought it was a regency romance!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 09:58 AM (Dc2NZ)

193
I used to try to bluff my way through it, but now I smile and say: "I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage..."
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 09:56 AM (cfSRQ)

Ooh, I like that. Like something Cagney or Bogart would say. I shall steal it and claim it as my own, in honor of the peaceful protests across America.

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 09:58 AM (WvQcX)

194 The movie was based on the book, but this is one of those rare cases where the movie is better than the book. I put the book down w/o finishing it.
Posted by: Vic at May 31, 2020 09:16 AM (mpXpK)
_______

The Lady Vanishes (The Wheel Spins) is the ultimate case, for me. My father read Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and said the same of it. (On of my professors agreed with him.)

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 09:58 AM (ZbwAu)

195

NBC - Officers in Minneapolis use aggressive tactics against protesters

Tear gas and tension filled the air Saturday night as police escalated their use of force against people protesting the killing of George Floyd.

Pravda had nothing on these propagandists

Posted by: TheQuietMan at May 31, 2020 09:58 AM (XvfQ9)

196 Nearly finished with "Declare" by Tim Powers (third time reading it, I enjoy it that much), and about to start "The Golden Transcendence" by John C Wright. Also reading Chesterton's "Orthodoxy".

Posted by: LarryD at May 31, 2020 09:59 AM (lH5fL)

197 Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 09:56 AM (WvQcX)

I've read the New Testament dozens of times but I haven't read the entire Old Testament even once. Proverbs I've read multiple times.

Posted by: Kilroy wasn't here at May 31, 2020 09:59 AM (2DOZq)

198 For personal reasons, which I won't go into, I was forced to delve into Microsoft's Win 10 authentication system yesterday. Spent the whole day on it and ended up stumped (although my wife suggested a work-around for the specific problem at hand ... not sure if that will work yet).

Anyhow, reference [3] at this page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_account

redirects to the original 2005 paper by Kim Cameron on internet identity. It has a subsection "Criminalization of the Internet" ... and the reasoning is relevent to the current problem, including Trump's fight with China and their Globalist Allies (aka useful idiots ... they'll be the first to the camps after china wins ... at least Yuri Bezmenov has said as much).

Cameron's blog's most recent post is from Nov 2018 and the one before that appears to support Tim Cook vs GDPR. The link is in the 2005 article but pixy is very stingy with links so I won't try.

Posted by: Palindrome Paduan at May 31, 2020 09:59 AM (AHq56)

199 182
Yall do realize antifa is just short for anti-fascists right?

They wouldn't LIE about themselves, would they?

Pfffffft. Amateurs.

Posted by: Democratic People's Republic of Korea at May 31, 2020 09:59 AM (T6t7i)

200 Oh good, now they are protesting in London.

Nah, this isn't coordinated.

Posted by: JackStraw at May 31, 2020 09:59 AM (ZLI7S)

201 183 How do I buy your book, btw? Is it onolicious?
Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 09:44 AM

Proving yet again why you are a worthy Hall Of Fame resident!!!!
Posted by: Intragalactic Yoko Ono Artistry Appreciation Association, AoSHQ Claque at May 31, 2020 09:55 AM (DMUuz)

Nods. Better to be infamous than unfamous.

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 10:00 AM (WvQcX)

202 Remember that Waugh - by no means an anti-Franco
fanatic - drew on Spain as well as Yugoslavia for the very negative
portrayal of Neutralia in Scott King's Modern Europe.

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 09:55 AM (ZbwAu)

---
Yes, Waugh was never "pro-Franco," he just despised the Communists more.

It's also funny how he prefigured today's "fake news" by having the 'famed' American correspondent in Scoop cause a coup in the Balkans because he got off at the wrong train stop.

And when he arrives "in country," he writes his reports without every leaving his hotel room or talking to anyone - and it becomes the authentic account.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 10:00 AM (cfSRQ)

203 170 meters

Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 10:00 AM (JFO2v)

204 I've got an old book on reading blueprints. In it is the receipt from when it was purchased in 1947.

Posted by: freaked at May 31, 2020 10:00 AM (Tnijr)

205 Sure, they're anti-fascists--like Hitler was an anti-Nazi.

Posted by: The Gipper Lives at May 31, 2020 10:00 AM (Ndje9)

206 the next link from my lun, shows that sweeney todd cuomo, deal with the hospitals, I'm sure gryphon whitmer has a similar deal looking at the campaign contributions, redolent of the strain,

Posted by: gaius martius at May 31, 2020 10:01 AM (hMlTh)

207 I've read the New Testament dozens of times but I haven't read the entire Old Testament even once. Proverbs I've read multiple times.
Posted by: Kilroy wasn't here at May 31, 2020 09:59 AM (2DOZq

Not gonna lie. Some books aren't easy to get through. But then again, neither are some more recent authors.

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 10:01 AM (WvQcX)

208 About 250k miles.....give r take
Posted by: BignJames at May 31, 2020 09:55 AM (X/Pw5)

versus 220 mi Earth to iss...hm

Posted by: runner at May 31, 2020 10:01 AM (zr5Kq)

209 Insomniac, what did you think I missed?
Did someone mention CSM Plumley while I was typing?

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at May 31, 2020 10:01 AM (8IOEj)

210 I used to try to bluff my way through it, but now I smile and say: "I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage..."
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 09:56 AM (cfSRQ)
---
My dad tried the old "How do you spell your last name again?" and the guy sarcastically spelled "S-M-I-T-H".

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 10:01 AM (Dc2NZ)

211 Made some progress in Simon Schama's Landscape and Memory. Finished a section that started about the first person in the US to see a sequoia, tracking a wounded grizzly from an eastern sierra mountain mining camp and thinking WTF at the giant tree. The narrative meandered all over the place about weird offshoots of Christianity associating wilderness with paradise that upset the traditionalists by getting too close to paganism. From then it went into gothic architecture which bored me immensely. No offense to any Horde architects but anybody writing about it puts me to sleep including Tom Wolfe.

Once that was mercifully concluded, a section on water started with the tale of Joel Barlow being holed up in a Marseilles pesthouse (another pandemic) while working for Thomas Jefferson to buy off the dey of Algiers for merchant marines he captured for ransom. The young nation was stretched far too thin to do anything that threatened that islamic fuck except agree to his term. Anyway Barlow was somewhat of an Orientalism scholar and used that assignment to research myths of Egypt including when Osiris was tricked and murdered, his body was hacked into pieces, all of which were recovered by his sister except the family jewels, which were tossed in the Nile and are the basis for it being the source of fertility. I don't know where further excursions of this section are going but it's a lot more interesting than architecture. Eat shit, Costanza.

Posted by: Captain Hate at May 31, 2020 10:01 AM (y7DUB)

212 Possibly the best book based on a movie script we're Elliott S. Maggin's Superman books, Last Son of Krypton and Miracle Monday.

Partly because either there was no script at that point or he wasn't allowed to see it, for the first one, and the formula worked so well they did it for the second as well.
. . .

There's a lot of hurting a boy goes through if he wants to be a man.--Miracle Monday
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at May 31, 2020

*
*

Yes! I remember those. The second one in particular. It opens with Pa Kent having a waking nightmare, imagining that Clark with his superpowers might well turn into the world's worst dictator, partly because he, Clark, is not aware of life outside of himself. (You know, like most kids.) "The boy's not ready," Pa Kent thinks.

Then Clark sees a dog run over, and is able with his Kryptonian vision to see how its life actually fades. He goes into a kind of shock. At last he comes out of it, and has clearly grown up.

Pa murmurs to Ma, "I think the boy's ready. . . ."

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at May 31, 2020 10:02 AM (rpbg1)

213 200
Oh good, now they are protesting in London.

Nah, this isn't coordinated.

Posted by: JackStraw at May 31, 2020 09:59 AM (ZLI7S)

Daily-mail had nothing earlier ... I checked ... I guess I need to revisit it.

No it isn't "coordinated". Look at Bambi's power in the Flynn case by just saying "perjury" ... it was not a mistake.

The problem is the Zeitgeist, which the right has conceded almost entirely. The deplorables are the last hope against the empire.

Posted by: Palindrome Paduan at May 31, 2020 10:02 AM (AHq56)

214 The capsule needs long mechanical arms.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 10:03 AM (Dc2NZ)

215 I have to go through the alphabet in my mind hoping the letter will trigger the name.
Posted by: Kilroy wasn't here at May 31, 2020 09:56 AM (2DOZq)

I say that is caused by those little floaters you get in your eye. Some negative people say that's nonsense, that both things are caused by age. I don't know, that seems like quite a coincidence. What was your name again?

Posted by: Tom Servo at May 31, 2020 10:03 AM (V2Yro)

216 More Joy from Reid.

Joy Reid@JoyAnnReid

So now, the attorney general, Bill Barr, is attempting to pin the anarchy and infiltration, which is already documented as coming from white nationalist groups, on "left leaning" ANTIFA groups. The goal is to force the media to repeat that. What is his proof?

-
Don LeMon may have the stupidest man on television title wrapped up but Joy is a strong contender for stupidest woman.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at May 31, 2020 10:04 AM (+y/Ru)

217 Someone forgot to close the car door on the capsule

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 10:04 AM (WvQcX)

218 214 The capsule needs long mechanical arms.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 10:03 AM (Dc2NZ)

and Spider Legs, you can't have long arms without spider legs.

Posted by: Tom Servo at May 31, 2020 10:04 AM (V2Yro)

219
I have started watching "Virology Lectures 2020" by Vincent Racaniello on YouTube. This series of over two dozen lectures, each a little more than one hour in length, provided a pretty decent overview of the subject in the first two lectures that I have so far watched. He gets deeper into actions and mechanisms in subsequent lectures.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at May 31, 2020 10:05 AM (pNxlR)

220 217 Someone forgot to close the car door on the capsule
Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 10:04 AM (WvQcX)

cat wanted out

Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 10:05 AM (JFO2v)

221 I've got to get another notebook to continue listing names if a hot civil war starts . Enemies are really coming out of the woodwork now.

Posted by: Kilroy wasn't here at May 31, 2020 10:05 AM (2DOZq)

222 so white nationalist groups are tricking blacks into rioting in Chicago and LA? Wait, what?

Posted by: Tom Servo at May 31, 2020 10:05 AM (V2Yro)

223 Can't they just lob the bat hook at the space station and reel themselves in?

Posted by: Tinfoilbaby at May 31, 2020 10:05 AM (Xrf6t)

224 The capsule needs long mechanical arms.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 10:03 AM (Dc2NZ)

And a Nozzle™.

Posted by: hogmartin at May 31, 2020 10:05 AM (t+qrx)

225 The capsule needs long mechanical arms.

And big, shiny jiggly BOOBS !

Posted by: JT at May 31, 2020 10:06 AM (arJlL)

226 225 The capsule needs long mechanical arms.

And big, shiny jiggly BOOBS !
Posted by: JT at May 31, 2020 10:06 AM (arJlL)

Bender agrees.

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 10:06 AM (NWiLs)

227 Yes, Waugh was never "pro-Franco," he just despised the Communists more.

-
Kinda like why I voted for Rombley.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at May 31, 2020 10:07 AM (+y/Ru)

228 I posted last night that someone has video showing a young white guy dressed in all black, paying several young black guys, as he barks orders about breaking stuff. After paying them from his pocket, he directs them to 'go get these picnic tables over here', which they immediately run towards.

So you want proof it's antifa? There you go.

Twitter, Jack Posobiec. Check it out for yourself.

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 10:07 AM (WvQcX)

229 Obviously, Joy Reid is a historical-illiterate, but we all knew that, right?

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 31, 2020 09:55 AM (oVJmc)

She knows precisely what she's doing

Posted by: CN at May 31, 2020 10:07 AM (ONvIw)

230 . . . Which brings me to my own writing news, which I mentioned a few days ago, but here it is for the book thread - I finally finished a first draft of my new Theda Bara book (after more than 10 years!). It's still in sprawling, shapeless form and needs a ton of editing, pasting and expanding, but I finally have a complete end-to-end piece that I can work on.

Hoping to have a beta draft ready for reader suggestions in a few months.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at May 31, 2020

*
*

Congratulations, sir! There is nothing like the sense of accomplishment when one finishes a long book, or one you've been wrestling with for a long time!

The other day you were not sure how to describe the interior of the big Intolerance set, and I had a suggestion for you, but I don't know if you saw it. Did you settle that to your satisfaction?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at May 31, 2020 10:07 AM (rpbg1)

231 Somebody pls check my math - using Dragon and at current speed, if launched from Earth, it will take a tlittle over 2 years (abt 2y 2 mos) to get to the moon.

Posted by: runner at May 31, 2020 10:09 AM (zr5Kq)

232 223 Can't they just lob the bat hook at the space station and reel themselves in?
Posted by: Tinfoilbaby at May 31, 2020 10:05 AM (Xrf6t)

The problem, young baby, is gravity.

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 10:09 AM (WvQcX)

233 The protesters are white nationalists and Jews eat babies.

Posted by: Kilroy wasn't here at May 31, 2020 10:10 AM (2DOZq)

234 207 I've read the New Testament dozens of times but I haven't read the entire Old Testament even once. Proverbs I've read multiple times.
Posted by: Kilroy wasn't here at May 31, 2020 09:59 AM (2DOZq

Not gonna lie. Some books aren't easy to get through. But then again, neither are some more recent authors.
Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 10:01 AM (WvQcX)

Books like Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers are skippable except for a few parts. Now Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, Kings & Chronicles are like an old fashioned Game of Thrones.

Posted by: Tom Servo at May 31, 2020 10:10 AM (V2Yro)

235 > so white nationalist groups are tricking blacks into rioting in Chicago and LA?
They're starting to realize just how badly they've fucked up with this, and are engaging in desperate spin attempts.
It's not going to work.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at May 31, 2020 10:10 AM (hKLpI)

236 Don LeMon may have the stupidest man on television title wrapped up but Joy is a strong contender for stupidest woman.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at May 31, 2020 10:04 AM (+y/Ru)

Remember (or maybe you don't if you aren't as old as I am) after WW2 when propagandists like Tokyo Rose were regarded as pathetic objects of ridicule who nobody in their right mind would do anything but laugh at?

Posted by: Captain Hate at May 31, 2020 10:10 AM (y7DUB)

237
And big, shiny jiggly BOOBS !

Posted by: JT at May 31, 2020 10:06 AM (arJlL)

---
Well, I think this book thread is official: we have boobs and Waugh.

Great job, everyone! See you next week.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 10:10 AM (cfSRQ)

238 After they dock, Bob is gonna hit the head, Doug is gonna get some Slim Jims and a big gulp for the ride home...maybe a couple of scratchers

Posted by: Bruce at May 31, 2020 10:10 AM (vd8XM)

239 >>The problem is the Zeitgeist, which the right has conceded almost entirely. The deplorables are the last hope against the empire.

Trump is upsetting the world order that has been in place for decades. He is a threat to globalists around the world not just in the US.

They were always going to fight back using whatever means they could. There are trillions of dollars at stake not to mention a radical shift in the power balance of the world.

This is a war by other means.

Posted by: JackStraw at May 31, 2020 10:11 AM (ZLI7S)

240 231 Somebody pls check my math - using Dragon and at current speed, if launched from Earth, it will take a tlittle over 2 years (abt 2y 2 mos) to get to the moon.
Posted by: runner at May 31, 2020 10:09 AM (zr5Kq)

That's why the Saturn V had a third stage.

Posted by: Tom Servo at May 31, 2020 10:11 AM (V2Yro)

241 Somebody pls check my math - using Dragon and at current speed, if launched from Earth, it will take a tlittle over 2 years (abt 2y 2 mos) to get to the moon.
Posted by: runner at May 31, 2020 10:09 AM (zr5Kq)

Orbital speed is pretty much locked in to whatever altitude you want to orbit at. Trans-lunar injection speed will be very different.

And as someone once noted, once you get to orbit, you're halfway to anywhere.

Posted by: hogmartin at May 31, 2020 10:11 AM (t+qrx)

242
204 I've got an old book on reading blueprints. In it is the receipt from when it was purchased in 1947.
Posted by: freaked at May 31, 2020 10:00 AM (Tnijr)

The cover for our year's work in Mechanical Drawing class was a blueprint for which we selected the design and layout. I may not be remembering things correctly, but exposing the work to ammonia fumes may have been part of the development process.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at May 31, 2020 10:11 AM (pNxlR)

243 I hope this guy knows how to drive. They just painted the capsule.

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 10:11 AM (WvQcX)

244 Almost docked.

Posted by: runner at May 31, 2020 10:11 AM (zr5Kq)

245 I am thinking about a book with the working title "Blue or Green-a study in Lesbian-curious Hair Identities".

Anybody got friends at the NiH or CDC?

Posted by: Miklos, genuinely Curious, if there's money in it at May 31, 2020 10:12 AM (QzkSJ)

246 231 Somebody pls check my math - using Dragon and at current speed, if launched from Earth, it will take a tlittle over 2 years (abt 2y 2 mos) to get to the moon.
Posted by: runner at May 31, 2020 10:09 AM (zr5Kq)

are you allowing for traffic ?

Posted by: REDACTED at May 31, 2020 10:12 AM (JgrP5)

247 in the tv vision of the strain, the thrall of the strigoi, had a hacker plant malware, so samizdat media wouldn't get through,

Posted by: gaius martius at May 31, 2020 10:12 AM (hMlTh)

248 I hope this guy knows how to drive. They just painted the capsule.
Posted by: AlaBAMA

It'll buff out

Posted by: Bruce at May 31, 2020 10:12 AM (vd8XM)

249 > are you allowing for traffic ?

Make sure the Fuzzbuster is working.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at May 31, 2020 10:12 AM (hKLpI)

250 >>I hope this guy knows how to drive. They just painted the capsule.

Not to worry. If they scratch it Earl Schieb will paint it for $99.

Posted by: JackStraw at May 31, 2020 10:12 AM (ZLI7S)

251 I used to try to bluff my way through it, but now I smile and say: "I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage..."
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 09:56 AM (cfSRQ)
---
My dad tried the old "How do you spell your last name again?" and the guy sarcastically spelled "S-M-I-T-H".
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 10:01 AM (Dc2NZ)

There's a story from one of my Bennett Cerf joke books that I don't have time to look up that concerns two women on a train. They knew each other, but the first simply could not remember the second's name, no matter how hard she tried.

At last, when the second woman mentioned her brother, the first, still trying to remember where they met, said, "Oh, yes, your brother. What is he doing these days?"

The second woman gave the first an ice-cold look.

"He's still the President."

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at May 31, 2020 10:12 AM (2JVJo)

252 Orbital speed is pretty much locked in to whatever altitude you want to orbit at. Trans-lunar injection speed will be very different.

And as someone once noted, once you get to orbit, you're halfway to anywhere.
Posted by: hogmartin at May 31, 2020 10:11 AM (t+qrx

i went linear. so how long ?

Posted by: runner at May 31, 2020 10:12 AM (zr5Kq)

253 Arrian's Anabasis is terrific. I have a friend who argues that Parmenio's suggestions always being rejected is a kind of literary motif.

But there's a problem. Once (and, IIRC, only once) Parmenio is partly right - at Arbela, regarding caltrops.

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 10:13 AM (ZbwAu)

254 So on Amazon, there is a free digital edition of a Barb Wire comic omnibus. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't a Marvel Netflix series with a heroine that wears a bright blue and purple outfit, who tries to keep her bar open while Z-list super-villains burn the city down around her.

It wasn't quite timely when I read it, but the early part of the book has a group of villains go on a rampage, specifically targeting and burning down police stations. But that storyline was dropped, presumably to be handled in another comic book of the time. As I mentioned, Barb Wire herself isn't the most pro-active of 'heroes'...

Posted by: Castle Guy at May 31, 2020 10:13 AM (Lhaco)

255 That Swedish vampire movie sounds very intriguing!

*Vampire girl stares into boy's eyes*

"Yorgen flurgen biten necken..."

"Flargen morgen flurgen!!!"

"Dooflaas necken?"

"Necken...Flargen?"

"Flargen."

- actual dialogue from "Let the Right One In"

Posted by: naturalfake at May 31, 2020 10:13 AM (GIeYS)

256 Runner: Moon is 400,000 km. away, station and Endeavor are moving at about 7 km. per second, so it would take 15 hours to cover the distance to the Moon.

Posted by: Trimegistus at May 31, 2020 10:13 AM (gmxuO)

257 Kilroy, I really don't need to be friends with you.
Is this where you come to have your friend thing? Wow. What a life.
We'll just use that for future reference.

You might want to look up Insomniac's history here, to see who you are sleeping with. He's what you might call a piece of work. "Issues."

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at May 31, 2020 10:13 AM (8IOEj)

258 They were always going to fight back using whatever means they could. There are trillions of dollars at stake not to mention a radical shift in the power balance of the world.

This is a war by other means.
Posted by: JackStraw at May 31, 2020 10:11 AM (ZLI7S)

The rad lefts big mistake, I feel, is that in the last 3 days they've just demonstrated that they're a bigger threat to those trillions of dollars Trump is. The people who own those trashed businesses on State st. and Market St. in Chicago never dreamed things could get this far out of hand.

idiots. Start a wildfire, it's gonna burn places you never wanted it to.

Posted by: Tom Servo at May 31, 2020 10:13 AM (V2Yro)

259 Was that other thing the Canadian arm?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 10:14 AM (Dc2NZ)

260 This is a war by other means.
Posted by: JackStraw

Too clever, young Friend.

Posted by: The Freemason Rosicrucian Bohemian Grove World Order at May 31, 2020 10:14 AM (QzkSJ)

261 "The Blood of Others"?

Is that like when the D.C. mayor tells people there are no defenses at the White House even though there are indeed dogs and weapons? She's trying to get the rioters bitten and shot for the cameras. She wants blood--someone else's blood.

It's the old Kent State trick. The Commie leaders provoke authorities to get some dupes killed to use as props. It worked. too--they got a Communist victory in Vietnam in 1975 and eventually one in America in 2008.

#Bloodthirsty Hack Bitch.

Posted by: The Gipper Lives at May 31, 2020 10:14 AM (Ndje9)

262 And as someone once noted, once you get to orbit, you're halfway to anywhere.

Posted by: hogmartin at May 31, 2020 10:11 AM (t+qrx)

This is implied by Newton and Kepler. Orbital speed (energy, to be precise) is half of escape velocity (same), at any specific altitude IIRC. Basic mechanics.But I was a very lazy student.

Posted by: Palindrome Paduan at May 31, 2020 10:15 AM (AHq56)

263 Yep old time blueprint machines used ammonia to develop the prints. Some of my customers still have the remnants of the ventilation hoods over where the blueprint machine used to sit. Nobody misses those days.

Posted by: freaked at May 31, 2020 10:15 AM (Tnijr)

264 Runner: Moon is 400,000 km. away, station and Endeavor are moving at about 7 km. per second, so it would take 15 hours to cover the distance to the Moon.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 31, 2020 10:13 AM (gmxuO)

ok. thanks

Posted by: runner at May 31, 2020 10:15 AM (zr5Kq)

265 The other day you were not sure how to describe the interior of the big Intolerance set, and I had a suggestion for you, but I don't know if you saw it. Did you settle that to your satisfaction?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at May 31, 2020 10:07 AM (rpbg1)

I did, thank you, and put it aside for reference when I get back to that spot.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at May 31, 2020 10:15 AM (2JVJo)

266 This Dragon docking will be the first time a US astronaut-commanded spacecraft will auto-dock. All previous crewed dockings by American spacecraft were manually piloted to docking mechanism contact.

SpaceX Demo-1 auto-docked but there were no astronauts on-board.

Posted by: Gref at May 31, 2020 10:15 AM (AMIL/)

267 Trump is upsetting the world order that has been in place for decades. He is a threat to globalists around the world not just in the US.

They were always going to fight back using whatever means they could. There are trillions of dollars at stake not to mention a radical shift in the power balance of the world.

This is a war by other means.
Posted by: JackStraw at May 31, 2020 10:11 AM (ZLI7S)

With each passing day this is becoming more apparent. I had no idea that 11/8/2016 was such a global pivotal moment.

Posted by: Captain Hate at May 31, 2020 10:16 AM (y7DUB)

268 i went linear. so how long ?
Posted by: runner at May 31, 2020 10:12 AM (zr5Kq)

Like Tom Servo said, you would use a stage designed to give you the right amount of ∆v to get you where you want to go. Your velocity in a parking orbit just gives you a starting point to determine how much delta.

Posted by: hogmartin at May 31, 2020 10:16 AM (t+qrx)

269 This Dragon docking will be the first time a US astronaut-commanded spacecraft will auto-dock. All previous crewed dockings by American spacecraft were manually piloted to docking mechanism contact.

SpaceX Demo-1 auto-docked but there were no astronauts on-board.

Posted by: Gref at May 31, 2020 10:15 AM (AMIL/)

They have TARS on board?

Posted by: Kilroy wasn't here at May 31, 2020 10:16 AM (2DOZq)

270
This Dragon docking...

Go on....

Posted by: Smaug at May 31, 2020 10:16 AM (GIeYS)

271 The people who own those trashed businesses on State st. and Market St. in Chicago never dreamed things could get this far out of hand.

idiots. Start a wildfire, it's gonna burn places you never wanted it to.
Posted by: Tom Servo

hah

We got money to burn

Posted by: Gillette Marketing Team at May 31, 2020 10:17 AM (QzkSJ)

272 Right over CHYna!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 10:17 AM (Dc2NZ)

273 the trip is about three days, on regular boost, the trick is to slow the rocket sufficiently to get into lunar orbit, mars involves a whole other level of orbital dynamics, because a) it's not a straight line path, b) you have to coordinate the closest path c) its not on the same orbital plane,

Posted by: gaius martius at May 31, 2020 10:17 AM (hMlTh)

274 OT: fuck Nike.

Posted by: Jordan61 at May 31, 2020 10:17 AM (OzQGF)

275 This is a war by other means.

Posted by: JackStraw at May 31, 2020 10:11 AM (ZLI7S)

So far. The chinese have nukes if they get desperate ... but they may use them on India first depending on how competent the Indians are in the present border "dispute".

Posted by: Palindrome Paduan at May 31, 2020 10:17 AM (AHq56)

276 So Walz kid was tweeting out info to rioters, especially they need not worry about the NG showing up. Walz is part of this scene.

Posted by: CN at May 31, 2020 10:17 AM (ONvIw)

277 And as someone once noted, once you get to orbit, you're halfway to anywhere.

-
Well, ain't this place a geographical oddity. Two weeks from everywhere!

Posted by: Ulysses Everett McGill at May 31, 2020 10:17 AM (+y/Ru)

278 The cover for our year's work in Mechanical Drawing class was a blueprint for which we selected the design and layout. I may not be remembering things correctly, but exposing the work to ammonia fumes may have been part of the development process.
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at May 31, 2020 10:11 AM (pNxlR

Heh. Funny story. I used to do mechanical drawing, which became CAD later for a living. But when it was all pencils and erasers, I had to make blueprints.

The ammonia used in the process is 100% industrial grade, which takes the normally yellow paper and transfers the image to it, turning it blue in the process.

Once, because I was not paying attention, I put the new bottle of ammonia on the wrong feeder tube and basically got that crap everywhere.

The machine was right by an AC inlet and sucked ammonia up into the HVaC system.

Long story short, I ran an entire plant full of people out of a building because I'm an idiot.

Thankfully, no one was hurt

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 10:18 AM (WvQcX)

279 Nice driving, computer.

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 10:18 AM (WvQcX)

280 274
OT: fuck Nike.

Posted by: Jordan61 at May 31, 2020 10:17 AM (OzQGF)

China's been doing that, I believe.

Posted by: Palindrome Paduan at May 31, 2020 10:18 AM (AHq56)

281 >>With each passing day this is becoming more apparent. I had no idea that 11/8/2016 was such a global pivotal moment.

And if we don't win in November it will all be for naught.

Posted by: JackStraw at May 31, 2020 10:18 AM (ZLI7S)

282 And I see the trashing of commenters has begun, so I am off to have another cup.

Hope you all have a lovely day.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at May 31, 2020 10:18 AM (2JVJo)

283 The left knows that as things stand,Joe aint gonna make it

so they are rolling the dice

Posted by: REDACTED at May 31, 2020 10:18 AM (JgrP5)

284 > so white nationalist groups are tricking blacks into rioting in Chicago and LA?
---
Yes.

And despite every single rioter having a cell phone, there have been no pictures or videos of them; No screengrabs from WS websites of calls to action.

An OpSec that is better than any special forces in the world.

Posted by: RoyalOil at May 31, 2020 10:19 AM (aO8Gd)

285 The other day you were not sure how to describe the interior of the big Intolerance set, and I had a suggestion for you, but I don't know if you saw it. Did you settle that to your satisfaction?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at May 31, 2020 10:07 AM (rpbg1)

I did, thank you, and put it aside for reference when I get back to that spot.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at May 31, 2020

*
*

Glad to have helped! I have a very visual imagination (having grown up with TV and movies), and so I have little trouble with picturing things as I write. (Especially now that I can call up images in a second on my computer.) I try also to get one or even two more senses involved -- hearing, sometimes touch, and smell, which will evoke a lot of reactions in a reader.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at May 31, 2020 10:19 AM (rpbg1)

286 275
This is a war by other means.

Posted by: JackStraw at May 31, 2020 10:11 AM (ZLI7S)

And the people controlling it are pretending they have no idea.

Posted by: CN at May 31, 2020 10:20 AM (ONvIw)

287 This is a war by other means.

Politics is war by other means.

Posted by: Clausewitz, but backwards somehow at May 31, 2020 10:20 AM (QzkSJ)

288 'White supremacists' talking point was planned, as well rest assured.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 31, 2020 10:20 AM (oVJmc)

289 This Dragon docking will be the first time a US astronaut-commanded spacecraft will auto-dock.

-
Thank God they don't have to parallel park!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at May 31, 2020 10:20 AM (+y/Ru)

290 China's been doing that, I believe.
Posted by: Palindrome Paduan at May 31, 2020 10:18 AM (AHq56)

Good. I just saw their stupid Don't Do It ad.

Posted by: Jordan61 at May 31, 2020 10:20 AM (OzQGF)

291 mars involves a whole other level of orbital dynamics, because a) it's not a straight line path, b) you have to coordinate the closest path c) its not on the same orbital plane,
Posted by: gaius martius at May 31, 2020 10:17 AM (hMlTh)

And the moon is conveniently orbiting Earth, while Earth and Mars orbit a third body. So you are doing a Hohmann transfer (because it's cheap), but you have to wait for a window that has them both lined up properly.

Posted by: hogmartin at May 31, 2020 10:21 AM (t+qrx)

292 I'll call Joy Reid's bluff.

I call on all black protestors to beat the living shit out of any white person protesting with them, because obviously these are white supremacist saboteurs.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 31, 2020 10:22 AM (oVJmc)

293 They are early !

Posted by: runner at May 31, 2020 10:22 AM (zr5Kq)

294 mars involves a whole other level of orbital dynamics, because a) it's not a straight line path, b) you have to coordinate the closest path c) its not on the same orbital plane,
Posted by: gaius martius at May 31, 2020 10:17 AM (hMlTh)

And the moon is conveniently orbiting Earth, while Earth and Mars orbit a third body. So you are doing a Hohmann transfer (because it's cheap), but you have to wait for a window that has them both lined up properly.
Posted by: hogmartin at May 31, 2020 10:21 AM (t+qrx)

I think we might have just said the same thing in different directions.

Posted by: hogmartin at May 31, 2020 10:22 AM (t+qrx)

295 134 Eyerore hath increased his WORD POWER...

Thesaorrhea ?
Posted by: saf at May 31, 2020 09:42 AM (5IHGB)
_______

Obsession bordering upon mania. I think I've said that it exploded when, in 7th grade, I came up on Churchill's World Crisis. The parts after he goes to the Admiralty are captivating, at least to me. It rivaled The Only Girl In The World, at the time. And unlike girls, the object was constant.

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 10:22 AM (ZbwAu)

296 Will the astronauts be wearing masks as they enter the ISS?

Don't want Karen calling NASA to complain.

Welcome to 2020.

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 10:23 AM (WvQcX)

297 289 This Dragon docking will be the first time a US astronaut-commanded spacecraft will auto-dock.

-
Thank God they don't have to parallel park!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at May 31, 2020 10:20 AM (+y/Ru)

LOL I am going to tell that to my old NASA docking buddies who were in the Control Center today!

Posted by: Gref at May 31, 2020 10:23 AM (AMIL/)

298 So far. The chinese have nukes if they get desperate ... but they may use them on India first depending on how competent the Indians are in the present border "dispute".
Posted by: Palindrome

The Indian War Call Centre is down for upgrade and maintenance.

Please for attacking at another time.

Posted by: "Greg" from Bangalore at May 31, 2020 10:23 AM (QzkSJ)

299 On the meme app (usually the leading edge of leftie stupidity), 3 times they pushed the lie from the Minneapolis mayor of out-of-state agitators to the front page

You have to dig into the contents, deep down, before you get the truth

Posted by: RoyalOil at May 31, 2020 10:23 AM (aO8Gd)

300 Look, I just wanted an excuse to say "Hohmann transfer" and mean it. That's all.

Posted by: hogmartin at May 31, 2020 10:24 AM (t+qrx)

301 I call on all black protestors to beat the living
shit out of any white person protesting with them, because obviously
these are white supremacist saboteurs.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 31, 2020 10:22 AM (oVJmc)
That's stage II. Van Jones says whites have a virus in their brains...we all know what needs to be done to virus, don't we?Arsonists need to be shot, they won't stop if their no real penalty. Rewarded behavior is repeated behavior.

Posted by: CN at May 31, 2020 10:24 AM (ONvIw)

302 And if we don't win in November it will all be for naught.

Posted by: JackStraw at May 31, 2020 10:18 AM (ZLI7S)

---
It's interesting to look at how the left is destroying its own voter base. Consider California, which is a one-party state.

Yet the Dems want to bring back racial preferences, which can only cause Asian voters (who are normally center-left) to break with the party because their kids will be kept out of college.

Same with their dumb anti-contractor law. It specifically cripples the "creative class," writers, musicians, artists, etc. These people reached out to their state reps and said "Hey, we know you mean well, can you just fix this because we are on your side" and they were told to piss off.

And now riots.

It's hard to think of more self-destructive policies, but it's also early yet.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 10:24 AM (cfSRQ)

303 And the moon is conveniently orbiting Earth, while Earth and Mars orbit a third body. So you are doing a Hohmann transfer (because it's cheap), but you have to wait for a window that has them both lined up properly.
Posted by: hogmartin at May 31, 2020 10:21 AM (t+qrx)

I like the idea of using some kind of rail gun setup constructed on the surface of the moon. Especially for sending cargo.

Posted by: Tom Servo at May 31, 2020 10:25 AM (V2Yro)

304 indeed, and it has to be a window where the approach would be closest a year and a half away, a few films in the 90s, tried to gauge that exercises, of course, ghosts of mars was not one of them,

Posted by: gaius martius at May 31, 2020 10:25 AM (hMlTh)

305 159 One problem I have with this is that it just isn't clear that there's
real correlation here. Custer and Montgomery were thoroughgoing
autocrats on this system, while Lee and Wellington would seem to fit the
authoritarian model. Which would you choose? To my mind, we have gotten
into the lumping/splitting division, between those who tie together
distinct phenomena into neat packages, and those who insist that doing
so treats unlike things as like, glossing over real distinction.
---
This seems like a stretch.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 09:50 AM (cfSRQ)
______

Which one? The Gordon/Dixon model, or my lumping vs splitting one.

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 10:25 AM (ZbwAu)

306 >>I call on all black protestors to beat the living
shit out of any white person protesting with them, because obviously
these are white supremacist saboteurs.

I saw a video of a black protester confronting a couple white antifas just as they were about to break the glass windows of a store and told them to apologize for making black people look bad or he would make them apologize.

They both backed down, apologized and walked away.

Clearly, they weren't down enough with the cause to take a beating.

Posted by: JackStraw at May 31, 2020 10:26 AM (ZLI7S)

307 300 Look, I just wanted an excuse to say "Hohmann transfer" and mean it. That's all.

Posted by: hogmartin at May 31, 2020 10:24 AM (t+qrx)

This is a No-Math and a No-Spacecraft Navigation and Orbital Dynamics Zone!

Posted by: Gref at May 31, 2020 10:27 AM (AMIL/)

308

Bob and Doug are parking the Tesla.

Posted by: Soothsayer, very senile at May 31, 2020 10:27 AM (g73Kk)

309 Obsession bordering upon mania. I think I've said
that it exploded when, in 7th grade, I came up on Churchill's World
Crisis. The parts after he goes to the Admiralty are captivating, at
least to me. It rivaled The Only Girl In The World, at the time. And
unlike girls, the object was constant.

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 10:22 AM (ZbwAu)

---
A great and overlooked book. I read The Second World War in middle school, and only found The World Crisis later on.

A truly rewarding experience is going through The World Crisis, The Aftermath and The Second World War.

Maximum Churchill.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 10:27 AM (cfSRQ)

310 well that's tricky, too, because you have to use the catapult, to eject the cargo into a libration point, where they can pick up the cargo, ofcourse, tmiahm just made into a projectile weapon from the federation to the colonial headquarters,

Posted by: gaius martius at May 31, 2020 10:28 AM (hMlTh)

311 >>> The problem, young baby, is gravity.
Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 10:09 AM

I didn't really enjoy my space flight dynamics / orbital mechanics class and have forgot most of what I had to test on. But I do remember:
aft thrust = faster + up
forward thrust = slower + down

So it's hard to decouple vectors in your longitudinal plane. Doing one thing has two consequences. And also no linearity, you'r always dealing with quadratics. You're flying an ellipse x^2 + y^2 even on a relatively small scale of a few miles.

The only reason I had those classes was my university changed my degree midway from aeronautics to aerospace so they could up my tuition $15/ credit hour.

Posted by: banana Dream at May 31, 2020 10:28 AM (l6b3d)

312 Engage Umbilicus!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 10:28 AM (Dc2NZ)

313 The most interesting book mark I ever found was an Irish 1 pound note from 1981.

I found it will after Ireland had joined the EU so I still use it as a book mark.

It was found in a hard cover Louis L'amour book called "The Walking Drum" .

Posted by: Big V Caffeinated at May 31, 2020 10:29 AM (eMtQa)

314 Down cause

With!

or up

Posted by: Lunchpail Joe from Scranton at May 31, 2020 10:29 AM (QzkSJ)

315 The Book Thread: Come for the Yoko references, stay for the Orbital Dynamics lessons...

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at May 31, 2020 10:29 AM (PiwSw)

316 I am Umbilicus.

Posted by: Corey Booker at May 31, 2020 10:29 AM (kVr0X)

317 Please for attacking at another time.

Posted by: "Greg" from Bangalore at May 31, 2020 10:23 AM (QzkSJ)

Subramanian Swamy is still alive and kicking ... look up his name on youtube for an old BBC in the street interview ... where he takes credit for proving that it would only take 7% of the GDP to develop nukes. He was pushing it long before anyone outside India knew anything about it. Especially Pak. That's why they were ready. I think he claims that India is the only country that developed nukes without stolen US IP ... but I'm not sure if he claims that or if it is true.

Posted by: Palindrome Paduan at May 31, 2020 10:30 AM (AHq56)

318 Engage Umbilicus!
Posted by: All Hail Eris

At your command!

Posted by: USS Placenta at May 31, 2020 10:30 AM (QzkSJ)

319 The cover for our year's work in Mechanical Drawing
class was a blueprint for which we selected the design and layout. I may
not be remembering things correctly, but exposing the work to ammonia
fumes may have been part of the development process.
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at May 31, 2020 10:11 AM (pNxlR)

This is absolutely true. There was a blueprint printer at the theater department for the stage tech group, and that room smelled of ammonia. (Nowadays you just use a large format plotter, of course)

You can use the same process to develop an image from large format negatives too.

Posted by: Kindltot at May 31, 2020 10:31 AM (WyVLE)

320 Disco Dragon!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 10:31 AM (Dc2NZ)

321 I didn't really enjoy my space flight dynamics /
orbital mechanics class and have forgot most of what I had to test on.
But I do remember:

aft thrust = faster + up

forward thrust = slower + down

So it's hard to decouple vectors in your longitudinal plane. Doing
one thing has two consequences. And also no linearity, you'r always
dealing with quadratics. You're flying an ellipse x^2 + y^2 even on a
relatively small scale of a few miles.

The only reason I had those classes was my university changed my
degree midway from aeronautics to aerospace so they could up my tuition
$15/ credit hour.

Posted by: banana Dream at May 31, 2020 10:28 AM (l6b3d)

---
Kirk: Tactical analysis.

Spock: He's highly intelligent, but his tactics reflect two-dimensional thinking.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 10:31 AM (cfSRQ)

322 She's fully docked!

I need a cigarette.

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 10:31 AM (WvQcX)

323 And just to complicate matters, forward thrust makes you go faster, which makes you go up, which makes you _seem_ to go slower, so by speeding up you end up _behind_ where you were.

Whereas retro thrust slows you down, so you go into a lower orbit, but that has a shorter period so you move ahead.

Buzz Aldrin literally wrote the book on orbital maneuvers, so it's no coincidence he was the guy they put in command of the Lunar Module when it had to dock with the CSM over the Moon -- with no real margin of time or fuel to try again.

Posted by: Trimegistus at May 31, 2020 10:31 AM (gmxuO)

324 Morning all.
Just got caught up.
And I have to dispute the pants picture. I am pretty sure that Adam Schiff doesn't have any balls.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at May 31, 2020 10:31 AM (QzF6i)

325 For a reading related moment. While watching the rocket launch lead up yesterday I was tempted to get out the instructions for my high school slide rule. Yes, I was flashing back to 1962 and the Mercury program. All I needed was the roomful of white guys with crew cuts and short sleeved dress shirts

Posted by: JTB at May 31, 2020 10:31 AM (7EjX1)

326 We have trans mask injection!!! Stay safe.

Posted by: A Scold of Karens at May 31, 2020 10:31 AM (EgshT)

327 I hope Bob and Doug brought enough Molson and poutine for everyone

Posted by: Tinfoilbaby at May 31, 2020 10:32 AM (Xrf6t)

328 Maximum Churchill.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author

"History shall be kind to me, for I intend to write it."

Posted by: Miklos, Duke of Marlboro Tobacco Products at May 31, 2020 10:33 AM (QzkSJ)

329 Somebody send Joy Reid this tweet.

https://tinyurl.com/y8vxaw3c

White nationalists my white ass.

Posted by: JackStraw at May 31, 2020 10:33 AM (ZLI7S)

330 187 So books.

I'm quite proud to say that I finally finished the most famous book of all last month.

Yes, that book. I set out to read the Bible cover to cover in one year, as my goal.

Did it in about 8 months, reading, usually in the AM having coffee.

It was a peeve of mine that I'd read this chapter or that chapter but never the whole book.

But now that's no longer the case!

Cover to cover, the Bible.
Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 09:56 AM (WvQcX)
________

There is a story that, when Randolph Churchill was stationed in Yugoslavia, the other two, Evelyn Waugh and Fitroy Maclean, bet Churchill he could not read the entire Bible in, IIRC, two weeks. While still in the OT, Randolph looked up and said "God, isn't God a shit."

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 10:33 AM (ZbwAu)

331 the indians used canadian nuclear technology, pakistan used chinese resources as well dutch, that stuff really gets around,

Posted by: gaius martius at May 31, 2020 10:34 AM (hMlTh)

332 327 I hope Bob and Doug brought enough Molson and poutine for everyone
Posted by: Tinfoilbaby at May 31, 2020 10:32 AM (Xrf6t)

Nope, all our beers, um, had mouses in them, eh?

Posted by: The McKenzie Brothers at May 31, 2020 10:34 AM (PiwSw)

333

12" Pianist?

Posted by: Rule .303 at May 31, 2020 10:34 AM (xdS0Q)

334 Doug and Bob have comfort chaps on underneath their space suits.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 10:34 AM (Dc2NZ)

335 Bob and Doug need a beer, eh?

Posted by: Miklos McKenzie at May 31, 2020 10:34 AM (QzkSJ)

336 We were soldiers once, and young."

Is not that a Mel Gibson movie?
Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at May 31, 2020 09:09 AM (JFO2v)

The after action reports are an interesting addition to this book. At least three CMOH were awarded for this engagement: Walter Marm, Ed Freeman, and Bruce Crandall. All at LZ Xray. LZ Albany was a complete clusterfuck.

Posted by: Agitator at May 31, 2020 10:35 AM (y/e6R)

337 Today's adventure choices, go to the Home Depot in the riot zone or the phone ahead for to your car delivery library.

Posted by: DaveA at May 31, 2020 10:35 AM (FhXTo)

338 329 Somebody send Joy Reid this tweet.

https://tinyurl.com/y8vxaw3c

White nationalists my white ass.
Posted by: JackStraw at May 31, 2020 10:33 AM (ZLI7S)

Yup. That's the video. Straight up proving its Antifa being shipped to all these protests, turning them into riots.

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 10:35 AM (WvQcX)

339 Hmm... daily-mail now has BLM in London and ...

... wait for it ...

Cardiff. WTF. I guess there's a lot of diversity in Wales. I thought most of it was further north.

Posted by: Palindrome Paduan at May 31, 2020 10:35 AM (AHq56)

340 Historic first commercial bladder nozzle check!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 10:36 AM (Dc2NZ)

341 the last time, there was a kerfluffle over the mcmahon line, the easternmost line of control, in 1962, neither had nukes,

Posted by: gaius martius at May 31, 2020 10:36 AM (hMlTh)

342 Structural zipper?

That's what I hope doesn't fail when I've had too much Thanksgiving.

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 10:36 AM (WvQcX)

343 Don LeMon may have the stupidest man on television title wrapped up but Joy is a strong contender for stupidest woman.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at May 31, 2020 10:04 AM (+y/Ru)
_______

Stelter disputes that, and claims both titles.

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 10:36 AM (ZbwAu)

344 161 157 That painting of the girl reading looks very familiar.
Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 09:49 AM (WvQcX)

My guess is you've seen it before.

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 09:50 AM (NWiLs)

Your powers of observation and reasoning are truly astounding.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at May 31, 2020 10:36 AM (FbBpr)

345 Bob seems to have a leak.

Posted by: BignJames at May 31, 2020 10:36 AM (X/Pw5)

346 I finished the 11th book in the Acton and Doyle Scotland Yard Series. I am deeply saddened that there is no next book yet that I can immediately go to Amazon and buy. As I am in love with Lord Acton, I am hoping that someone who often lurks on the blog can tell me when oh when there will be a new book.
I have downloaded Tainted Angel in the meantime.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at May 31, 2020 10:36 AM (QzF6i)

347 Historic first commercial bladder nozzle check!
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 10:36 AM (Dc2NZ)

Did they calibrate it?

Posted by: hogmartin at May 31, 2020 10:37 AM (t+qrx)

348 Blue sky, shoot some fillem.

Posted by: klaftern at May 31, 2020 10:37 AM (RuIsu)

349 I posted last night that someone has video showing a
young white guy dressed in all black, paying several young black guys,
as he barks orders about breaking stuff. After paying them from his
pocket, he directs them to 'go get these picnic tables over here', which
they immediately run towards.

So you want proof it's antifa? There you go.

Twitter, Jack Posobiec. Check it out for yourself.

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 10:07 AM (WvQcX)

There was rioting here in Richmond last night.

Rioters broke into the Daughters of the Confederacy building and set parts of the inside on fire. They also broke into a bank, destroyed a police substation, looted a Boost mobile store and broke windows and set fires in the street up and down Broad St.

They also torched a whole city bus and vandalized state buildings on Capital Square (on that note, I hope they scared the bejesus out of Coonman). They also shot a passenger in a car trying to get through the mayhem last night.

Posted by: redbanzai the Southerner at May 31, 2020 10:37 AM (nAiE/)

350 Antifa fanned the flames, but nobody forced these feral thugs to smash windows and mob-kick a man to death.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 10:38 AM (Dc2NZ)

351 The benefit of being on night shift in a free state: getting off work going downtown having huevos rancheros Benedict and a Scotch ale or two...

Posted by: My Pimp Shot My Dealer at May 31, 2020 10:38 AM (xdS0Q)

352 216 More Joy from Reid.

Joy Reid@JoyAnnReid

So now, the attorney general, Bill Barr, is attempting to pin the anarchy and infiltration, which is already documented as coming from white nationalist groups, on "left leaning" ANTIFA groups. The goal is to force the media to repeat that. What is his proof?

-
Don LeMon may have the stupidest man on television title wrapped up but Joy is a strong contender for stupidest woman.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at May 31, 2020 10:04 AM (+y/Ru)

"Already Documented As".

Ah yes, the good old "This Lie is THE TRUTH, IT'S ALREADY BEEN PROVEN AS THE TRUTH! PROVEN PROVEN PROVEN!" technique.

Posted by: Allie at May 31, 2020 10:39 AM (vmRc0)

353 I like Beardo and Rajesh.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 10:39 AM (Dc2NZ)

354 340 Historic first commercial bladder nozzle check!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 10:36 AM (Dc2NZ)

I saw the Bladder Nozzle Checks open for King Crimson at the Roxy in '77.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at May 31, 2020 10:39 AM (FbBpr)

355 JackStraw
Video has been removed

Posted by: Gouverneur Morris at May 31, 2020 10:39 AM (PHxng)

356 yes tactical intelligence was not optimal then, flashforward a few years, according to sam adams, he had picked up the vietcongs movements prior to tet, but westmorelands intel officer, future general daniel graham dismissed them, it was the subject of a lawsuit with young david boies defending the general poorly,

Posted by: gaius martius at May 31, 2020 10:40 AM (hMlTh)

357 "History shall be kind to me, for I intend to write it."

Posted by: Miklos, Duke of Marlboro Tobacco Products at May 31, 2020 10:33 AM (QzkSJ)

---
The alternative of course is letting your enemies write it.

One of the reasons it has been so easy to smear Franco is that he didn't write much of anything. There's no "counter-narrative" giving his side of the story, so the left published all manner of bald-faced lies because it was hard to refute them.

Churchill lays out his case aggressively, forcing his enemies to meet him head-on. U.S. Grant also offers a clear account of what he saw and did.

Eeyore's massive summary of Scheer's book points out where he's wrong or confused, but at least he has something to quote.

It's also hard to refute Churchill because he was an actual historian so he salts with work liberally with memoranda, charts, etc. laying out what he knew at the time. Even his haters find his work useful, which in turn invites readers to read ALL of what he has to say.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 10:40 AM (cfSRQ)

358 331
the indians used canadian nuclear technology, pakistan used chinese resources as well dutch, that stuff really gets around,

Posted by: gaius martius at May 31, 2020 10:34 AM (hMlTh)

The indians started on the bomb well before they had CANDU ... that was the point of Swamy's boasts. CANDU sales required very strict safeguards, which is why they did so poorly ... even when resorting the industry standard bribes. CANDU could, in theory, burn thorium, which the Indians have a *lot* of.

Posted by: Palindrome Paduan at May 31, 2020 10:41 AM (AHq56)

359 Well.

The world may be going to hell, or Ad Astra.

I just bought some fresh off the boat oysters, let me know how it turns out.

Posted by: Respected Ascetic Miklos, living off locusts and Oysters and Kraken, but mainly at May 31, 2020 10:41 AM (QzkSJ)

360
*pointing*
I got your bladder nozzle right here!

Posted by: Weasel at May 31, 2020 10:41 AM (MVjcR)

361 354 I saw the Bladder Nozzle Checks open for King Crimson at the Roxy in '77.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at May 31, 2020 10:39 AM (FbBpr)

I can't see Robert Fripp agreeing to share a venue with "Bladder Nozzle Checks". This "I saw them open" joke is just a bridge too far.

Posted by: Allie at May 31, 2020 10:41 AM (vmRc0)

362 355 JackStraw
Video has been removed
Posted by: Gouverneur Morris at May 31, 2020 10:39 AM (PHxng)

Still there for me.

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 10:41 AM (WvQcX)

363 Found the video again

Posted by: Gouverneur Morris at May 31, 2020 10:41 AM (PHxng)

364 Please do NOT move while The Nozzle is engaging. Moving will disrupt calibration of The Nozzle:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8yQhXDquII

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 10:42 AM (Dc2NZ)

365
Godzilla VS Umbilicus

was the best movie of the series.

Posted by: Smaug at May 31, 2020 10:42 AM (GIeYS)

366 364 Please do NOT move while The Nozzle is engaging. Moving will disrupt calibration of The Nozzle:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8yQhXDquII
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 10:42 AM (Dc2NZ

I'm guessing that's the dialog between two engineers having sex.

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 10:44 AM (WvQcX)

367 Bob and Doug want to know if they're serving back bacon on the ISS, eh?

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at May 31, 2020 10:44 AM (FbBpr)

368
off dragony nick!

Posted by: naturalfake at May 31, 2020 10:44 AM (GIeYS)

369 Eeyore's massive summary of Scheer's book points out where he's wrong or confused, but at least he has something to quote.
______

I should have added GKC's "I apologise for the length, I didn't have time to make it shorter."

I hope some will get something out of my marathon.

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 10:44 AM (ZbwAu)

370 1 hour before they open the hatch

Posted by: runner at May 31, 2020 10:44 AM (zr5Kq)

371 367
Bob and Doug want to know if they're serving back bacon on the ISS, eh?

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor Social Distancing Professional at May 31, 2020 10:44 AM (FbBpr)

---
Take off, you hoser!

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 10:44 AM (cfSRQ)

372 I can't see Robert Fripp agreeing to share a venue
with "Bladder Nozzle Checks". This "I saw them open" joke is just a
bridge too far.

Posted by: Allie at May 31, 2020 10:41 AM (vmRc0)

Because he sits down to pee ... oh, maybe that should be play. My bad.

Posted by: Palindrome Paduan at May 31, 2020 10:44 AM (AHq56)

373 It's also hard to refute Churchill
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

We shall fight them in the ONT, and with growing confidence in the Main Ace Posts...

Posted by: Miklos Spencer Churchill at May 31, 2020 10:44 AM (QzkSJ)

374 Now Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, Kings & Chronicles are like an old fashioned Game of Thrones.
Posted by: Tom Servo at May 31, 2020 10:10 AM (V2Yro)

So true! I've been listening to audio Bible on morning commute, and I told my husband this was pretty much history and battle stories.

Posted by: April, Freedom Now! at May 31, 2020 10:45 AM (OX9vb)

375 367 Bob and Doug want to know if they're serving back bacon on the ISS, eh?
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at May 31, 2020 10:44 AM (FbBpr

Who's got the butter tarts?

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 10:45 AM (WvQcX)

376 I should have added GKC's "I apologise for the length, I didn't have time to make it shorter."

I hope some will get something out of my marathon.

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 10:44 AM (ZbwAu)

---
I did, and I used the term appreciatively rather than perjoratively.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 10:46 AM (cfSRQ)

377 I got your bladder nozzle right here!
Posted by: Weasel

Personally, I would keep that quiet.

Posted by: Hints from Heloise and Miklos at May 31, 2020 10:46 AM (QzkSJ)

378 366 364 Please do NOT move while The Nozzle is engaging. Moving will disrupt calibration of The Nozzle:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8yQhXDquII
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 10:42 AM (Dc2NZ

I'm guessing that's the dialog between two engineers having sex.
Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 10:44 AM (WvQcX)

Hah hah! Engineers don't have sex, everyone knows that!

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 10:46 AM (NWiLs)

379 Video has been removed
Posted by: Gouverneur Morris at May 31, 2020 10:39 AM (PHxng)

https://stoatnet.org/incite.mp4

Posted by: hogmartin at May 31, 2020 10:47 AM (t+qrx)

380 325 For a reading related moment. While watching the rocket launch lead up yesterday I was tempted to get out the instructions for my high school slide rule. Yes, I was flashing back to 1962 and the Mercury program. All I needed was the roomful of white guys with crew cuts and short sleeved dress shirts
Posted by: JTB at May 31, 2020 10:31 AM (7EjX1)

That is a lovely mental picture!! I had a summer math enrichment program in the 4th grade where the instructor taught us to use slide rules. by the end of the week he had us doing calculations similar to what he did at NASA (he was from the Kennedy Space Center, and it was a very big deal, at least to my 9 year old mind.) Frankly, I like the elegance of a slide rule versus the calculator. But I'm not giving mine up just yet.

Posted by: Moki at May 31, 2020 10:47 AM (mFoNl)

381 370 1 hour before they open the hatch

Posted by: runner at May 31, 2020 10:44 AM (zr5Kq)

As a spectator sport, space missions are more boring than soccer!

Posted by: Gref at May 31, 2020 10:47 AM (AMIL/)

382 >>Engineers don't have sex, everyone knows that!

I let the Monkey do that for me.

Posted by: Engineer at May 31, 2020 10:47 AM (y1ib1)

383 > Bob and Doug want to know if they're serving back bacon on the ISS, eh?

Just make sure not to give them their promised wages of a 2-4 of Labatt's until they're safely back on the ground.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at May 31, 2020 10:47 AM (hKLpI)

384 *pointing*

I got your bladder nozzle right here!

Posted by: Weasel at May 31, 2020 10:41 AM (MVjcR)

---
Where?

Posted by: That's what she said at May 31, 2020 10:47 AM (cfSRQ)

385 367 Bob and Doug want to know if they're serving back bacon on the ISS, eh?
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at May 31, 2020 10:44 AM (FbBpr)

Take off, eh? We're going to the Elsinore Brewery!

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 10:48 AM (NWiLs)

386 @346
Murder in Revelation, coming in September

:0

Posted by: artemis at May 31, 2020 10:48 AM (AwPyG)

387 Does anyone know what a good translation of Gogol's Dead Souls is? I won't need it for a while since I'm reading his stuff chronologically and I'm still on volume 2 of Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka, but he didn't write a shit ton of material and God knows when the fucking libraries will open again... Anyway if nobody has a recommendation I'll just buy the Penguin.

Even though Nabokov trashes the early tales as just being glorified folk tales he cribbed from his mother in the sticks to entertain the city slickers in Saint Petersburg with, they have their own narrative charm. And one of them, Christmas Eve, has a fantastic scene where the blacksmith protagonist tricks the devil into flying him to the capital where he meets Catherine the Great and Potempkin. So these are better than just early sketches.

Posted by: Captain Hate at May 31, 2020 10:49 AM (y7DUB)

388 376
I should have added GKC's "I apologise for the length

Sounds more like Peter North (wiki via duckduckgo says Born:Alden Joseph Brown ... interesting ... and says he's older than me ... respect).

Posted by: Palindrome Paduan at May 31, 2020 10:49 AM (AHq56)

389 Many on TV telling me I have a Constitutional right to assemble on the streets in a crowd to protest

But religious people can't meet with more than 25% capacity, notwithstanding the First Amendment, when offices and gay bathhouses can

Posted by: Ignoramus at May 31, 2020 10:49 AM (9TdxA)

390 Hiya Moki !

Posted by: JT at May 31, 2020 10:49 AM (arJlL)

391 Take off, eh? We're going to the Elsinore Brewery!
Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 10:48 AM (NWiLs)

That was a great movie!

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at May 31, 2020 10:49 AM (PiwSw)

392 Oh, and Happy Birthday to the Man with No Name.

The big 90!

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 10:50 AM (WvQcX)

393 https://stoatnet.org/incite.mp4
Posted by: hogmartin

Translation:

Ain't got time fo yo shit

Posted by: Barbara Billingsley at May 31, 2020 10:50 AM (QzkSJ)

394 indeed nbc even did a modern soap kings, with ian mcshane, based on at least two of those books, there are many echoes of this world in these stories,

Posted by: gaius martius at May 31, 2020 10:50 AM (hMlTh)

395 391 Take off, eh? We're going to the Elsinore Brewery!
Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 10:48 AM (NWiLs)

That was a great movie!
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at May 31, 2020 10:49 AM (PiwSw)

Fleshy-headed mutant! Are you friendly?

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 10:51 AM (NWiLs)

396 Umbilicus would be a good Warhammer 40K title.

Posted by: banana Dream at May 31, 2020 10:51 AM (l6b3d)

397 One other point about my Gordon comments. They actually relate to what I said to OM last night. The ability to be influenced, but not necessarily converted by, an uncongenial view, is a test of whether you are still thinking.

I don't claim to be that good at it; only that I try. And OM's movie post was a good example of that in action.

Really, one reason I put all that up is that Gordon's book covers so much far beyond the fighting of 5/31/16.

He, late, has about a page of juxtaposed quotes, in opposition. The purport is that there are wholly different views of what is in question; process or product.

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 10:51 AM (ZbwAu)

398 Hah hah! Engineers don't have sex, everyone knows that!
Posted by: Insomniac

statistically true

Posted by: Statisticians at May 31, 2020 10:52 AM (QzkSJ)

399 Speaking of mathmatical equations, the movie Hidden Figures was amazing. As I am not the least mathmatically inclined, I was astounded by how all these calculations were done with computers for a space flight that depended on such precise calculations. How brave they all were to attempt this at that point in time.

Posted by: sharon(willow's apprentice) at May 31, 2020 10:52 AM (QzF6i)

400 Fleshy-headed mutant! Are you friendly?
Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 10:51 AM (NWiLs)

Fleshy-headed mutant: "No way, eh! Ra-radiation has made me an enemy of civilization!"

Bob: "Take off, eh!"

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at May 31, 2020 10:53 AM (PiwSw)

401 Hurrah, found my coffee cup with Mike and the 'bots using the Umbilicus for tug of war with The Mads.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 10:53 AM (Dc2NZ)

402 without computers

Posted by: sharon(willow's apprentice) at May 31, 2020 10:53 AM (QzF6i)

403 https://tinyurl.com/y8vxaw3c

White nationalists my white ass.
Posted by: JackStraw at May 31, 2020 10:33 AM (ZLI7S)

Yup. That's the video. Straight up proving its Antifa being shipped to all these protests, turning them into riots.
Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 10:35 AM (WvQcX)

So if some of these mysterious white protesters get hurt nobody would care because they're just some random white nationalists.

Posted by: Northernlurker, still lurking after all these years at May 31, 2020 10:53 AM (Uu+Jp)

404 Fleshy-headed mutant! Are you friendly?
Posted by: Insomniac

Don't know about the rest of you, but I get really tired of that question.

Posted by: Does this comment make Miklos' fleshy mutant head look big? at May 31, 2020 10:53 AM (QzkSJ)

405 The Sweden housing thing: a lot of rental apartments are built, owned and maintained by local governments, and the older ones are / were not so nice. East Germany type architecture should not be a surprise, since planners and architects used to admire Soviet / Courbusier inhumanism. For a US comparison, think of the oldest 'project' housing.

Posted by: Ragnar at May 31, 2020 10:54 AM (Yz+Ax)

406 Hah hah! Engineers don't have sex, everyone knows that!
Posted by: Insomniac

Thrust vectors are too difficult to compute.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at May 31, 2020 10:54 AM (+y/Ru)

407 It's also hard to refute Churchill because he was an actual historian so he salts with work liberally with memoranda, charts, etc. laying out what he knew at the time. Even his haters find his work useful, which in turn invites readers to read ALL of what he has to say.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 10:40 AM (cfSRQ)
_______

Well, on naval matters, he is NOT reliable. Neither about ships nor about strategy. Roskill's Churchill and the Admirals is an extreme and over-stated attack; Arthur Marder gets it right.

To his credit, especially in WWII, WSC gives you much of the ammo a critic can use. E.g., his minutes to (and the replies by) the Admiralty about the designs of ships.

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 10:54 AM (ZbwAu)

408 So identify dude in video paying people to riot and loot.

Use iRS to find out who's paying him.

Find out who that firm is being funded by.

Connection to Soros.

Charge everyone with domestic terrorism.

Soros dies in Guantanamo, beaten to death with a rubber hose.

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 10:54 AM (WvQcX)

409 402
without computers

Posted by: sharon(willow's apprentice) at May 31, 2020 10:53 AM (QzF6i)

Also the first nukes. Look up Von Neuman on wiki if you want to be amazed by math (he pioneered almost everything in the 20th century). He was also the basis of the wheelbound character in Dr. Strangelove. He had cancer in the last year of his life but spent much of it rolling around the Capitol.

Posted by: Palindrome Paduan at May 31, 2020 10:56 AM (AHq56)

410 "Fleshy-Headed Mutant" sounds like a Randy Newman song.

Let me rephrase: "Fleshy-Headed Mutant" sounds like every Randy Newman song.

Posted by: hogmartin at May 31, 2020 10:56 AM (t+qrx)

411 Since when did a baby diaper become pants?

And that cheesy, sweaty sleazebag belongs in a padded cell.

Otherwise, reading is good.

Posted by: Fritz at May 31, 2020 10:56 AM (95j/9)

412 Reading John Ringo's Live Free of Die.

And pondering the eternal truth that Civilization is the will to shoot roving bands of looters and thugs and to hang their corpses at the gates of the city.

Posted by: Sharkman at May 31, 2020 10:56 AM (1YlHz)

413 376 I should have added GKC's "I apologise for the length, I didn't have time to make it shorter."

I hope some will get something out of my marathon.

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 10:44 AM (ZbwAu)

---
I did, and I used the term appreciatively rather than perjoratively.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 10:46 AM (cfSRQ)
_______

Well, you and I tend to be the Terrible Twins here. (Except about the Brideshead TV series. But that's an old debate, not worth resurrecting. I'll just say I put both Claudius and the Ehle Pride and Prejudice much higher. But let it pass.)

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 10:57 AM (ZbwAu)

414 The talking heads on today's Sunday Morning Gabfests are more pathetic than ever, if that's possible.

The Dem-Media Complex types are lamenting that Trump and the Feds weren't/arent't doing more about police/race problems. Trump abolished Obama's 21st Century Policing Task Force! Horrors!!!!

Why do the Feds have to lead and do everything in Libtard Land? Were the Minneapolis mayor, city council, and police chief unable to do anything about the issue on their own?

Mayor Frey talks a good game about healing problems in his community and police force - now. What did he ever DO about it as Mayor? I'm sure he talked a good game to black voters during his election campaign. As Biden is doing, now.

Posted by: Gref at May 31, 2020 10:57 AM (AMIL/)

415 Charge everyone with domestic terrorism.

Soros dies in Guantanamo, beaten to death with a rubber hose.
Posted by: AlaBAMA

Soros will die JIT

Like the guy from Enron

Or Reagan's CIA chief

Posted by: Miklosian Predictions (under license from Estate of Yogi Berra) at May 31, 2020 10:58 AM (QzkSJ)

416 >>Yup. That's the video. Straight up proving its Antifa being shipped to all these protests, turning them into riots.

EVERY College town I have lived in ALWAYS has a contingent of these people who fly/drive/bus to ALL Protests and Civil Unrest to agitate and fuel the fire.
Their ultimate goal is violence and chaos.

They are organised and it would not take much in the way of investigation to map these people and their handlers.

Posted by: garrett at May 31, 2020 10:58 AM (Nx5pk)

417 That's right: the socialist showpiece state has roughly managed to match one of the poorest states in the Union.

In fairness to Sweden, their economic policies have drifted notably to the right since about 1990, and government officials there have called out Bernie and Warren for claiming their full-socialist plans are what Sweden currently implements.

Posted by: Ian S. at May 31, 2020 10:58 AM (6XLoz)

418 Murder in Revelation, coming in September

:0

Posted by: artemis at May 31, 2020 10:48 AM (AwPyG)

Thank you!!!! It will be difficult to wait. My go to for help falling asleep is trying to figure out what Acton is up to. Takes my mind off the day to day. Sometimes I think I've got it and then, surprise, it is not what I thought.

Posted by: sharon(willow's apprentice) at May 31, 2020 10:59 AM (QzF6i)

419 Let me rephrase: "Fleshy-Headed Mutant" sounds like every Randy Newman song.
Posted by: hogmartin

*glares*

Bet you short

Posted by: Randy Newman at May 31, 2020 10:59 AM (QzkSJ)

420 Speaking of church on this Pentecost Sunday...

Yesterday we went to the vigil mass - our first since March.

The Bishop presided, which was kind of cool and my wife - who was been watching the live streams - said that all the clergy was positively giddy at the sight of people in the pews again.

It was nice to be back.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 10:59 AM (cfSRQ)

421 Here’s an interesting review of Maryanne Wolf’s book “Reader, Come Home” about how digital reading is rewiring our brains.

The very inventedness of literacy, however, along with the neuroplasticity of the brain, troubles Wolf in the second half of Reader, Come Home. If reading is not natural but invented, it can deteriorate. If the brain adapted to print because of repeated exposure, it can adapt away if exposure slows.

“What Will Become of the Readers We Have Been?” she asks in Letter Four, which rehearses oft-noted drawbacks of the screen habitat. Hyperstimulation is one; “continuous partial attention,” whereby one attends to several things at once—Instagram, TV, texting—but none deeply, is another; an environment that rewards short attention spans is a third.

https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/
our-bookless-future/

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 11:00 AM (Dc2NZ)

422 384 *pointing*

I got your bladder nozzle right here!

Posted by: Weasel at May 31, 2020 10:41 AM (MVjcR)

---
Where?
Posted by: That's what she said at May 31, 2020 10:47 AM (cfSRQ)
-----
Right *here*.
About the size of a half roll of dimes.

Posted by: Weasel at May 31, 2020 11:00 AM (4FPVQ)

423 Book thread, so will post.

After watching Grant, I look forward to picking up Chernow's biography on him. I've liked his others, and now I am somewhat in a Grant captivation mood.

Posted by: SH at May 31, 2020 11:01 AM (sRP8d)

424 I've been reading Techniques of the Selling Writer which I'm actually liking quite a lot, as a wannabe writer.

Posted by: Cybersmythe at May 31, 2020 11:02 AM (edlKR)

425 Where?
Posted by: That's what she said at May 31, 2020 10:47 AM (cfSRQ)
-----
Right *here*.
About the size of a half roll of dimes.
Posted by: Weasel at May 31, 2020 11:00 AM (4FPVQ)

Is that a bladder nozzle in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?

Posted by: Mae West at May 31, 2020 11:03 AM (PiwSw)

426 Pentecost is Pünkösd in Hungarian.

Rainy there though.

Posted by: Miklos, re-adjourning to his classy seaside estate at May 31, 2020 11:04 AM (QzkSJ)

427 Jeebus, every actor in that bio "Grant" is South African.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 11:04 AM (Dc2NZ)

428 @418
If you are interested, the author's web page is serializing The Spanish Mask for free--one chapter each week.

Posted by: artemis at May 31, 2020 11:04 AM (AwPyG)

429 Where are we? What are we doing here?

So it seems Englebert Cumberbatch entered an Englebert Cumberbatch lookalike contest... and came in third. Ethan Hawke won.

PJ Watson is often quoting Theodor Dalrymple, and the quotes are always quite juicy. Don't think it makes me want to read his books though.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 31, 2020 11:06 AM (hku12)

430 380 ... "I had a summer math enrichment program in the 4th grade where the instructor taught us to use slide rules. by the end of the week he had us doing calculations similar to what he did at NASA (he was from the Kennedy Space Center, and it was a very big deal, at least to my 9 year old mind.)"

Moki,
That is so cool. I had an uncle who was part of the team that developed the life support packs for EVAs. His office at home had a bunch of signed photos of the Gemini astronauts.

I didn't get a slide rule until 10th grade, circa 1967. Calculators were new, limited to basic arithmetic, and damn expensive. I still have my slide rule and it still works.

Posted by: JTB at May 31, 2020 11:06 AM (7EjX1)

431 If the DOJ issued orders to shoot white nationalist demonstrators on sight who would object?

Posted by: Northernlurker, still lurking after all these years at May 31, 2020 11:06 AM (Uu+Jp)

432 Ha, funny that you mention pulps.

Thanks to Internet Archive, I'm reading my first Shadow prose story, "The Five Chameleons," on PDFs of the Shadow mystery magazine. (I've read several Shadow comics.)

Boy, this is fun! The plot concerns bank shenanigans by five men. No specifics yet; the Shadow has just arrived in this "small city in the Middle West" (why do they name only big cities? I'm pretending that this is Council Bluffs) after preliminary skirmishes in New York.

I expect only entertainment, not insights.

To start this, I set aside "The Diamond Smugglers," a collection of newspaper articles by Ian Fleming based on his interviews in the late 1950s with a top member of the now-defunct International Diamond Security Organization, which was established by the top mining companies to battle the trade in stolen diamonds. The man is identified by a pseudonym, but Wikipedia had his real name. Fleming wrote this just after "Diamonds Are Forever."

The book is dry -- no Bond action here. As the IDSO man pointed out, much of his job was smoothing the feathers of the various countries' police agencies. The South African national police allegedly thought British intelligence set up IDSO to spy on them, so they spied on IDSO.

The agency did deal with numerous informants, some of whom were genuine. It didn't land any big fish but identified several. They also are identified by pseudonyms.

Several city and country names sent me to my atlas because they've changed since colonial days.

Interesting enough but not worth keeping.

Posted by: Weak Geek at May 31, 2020 11:06 AM (u/nim)

433 Another point, this one of general application. The index, like almost all in my adult life, is worthless. Look up a major actor, say Jellicoe. All you get is a list of undifferentiated page numbers.

Now go to one of Churchill's histories. Look at the index. You will see that MOST entries are itemized by what they are talking about.

Now, tell me again about how great the arc of history is.

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 11:06 AM (ZbwAu)

434 If you are interested, the author's web page is serializing The Spanish Mask for free--one chapter each week.
Posted by: artemis

Do you have to wear a mask while reading it?

Posted by: Miklos,unfamiliar with the rules in your locality at May 31, 2020 11:06 AM (QzkSJ)

435 425 Where?
Posted by: That's what she said at May 31, 2020 10:47 AM (cfSRQ)
-----
Right *here*.
About the size of a half roll of dimes.
Posted by: Weasel at May 31, 2020 11:00 AM (4FPVQ)

Is that a bladder nozzle in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?

Posted by: Mae West at May 31, 2020 11:03 AM (PiwSw)

NASA needs to reduce the time astronauts spend learning about orbital dynamics, so it can increase their zipper operation training time.

Posted by: Gref at May 31, 2020 11:07 AM (AMIL/)

436 I should add my upvote for Dalrymple. He's excellent. And of course, his description of the British underclass translates well to our condition.

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 11:07 AM (ZbwAu)

437 PJ Watson is often quoting Theodor Dalrymple, and
the quotes are always quite juicy. Don't think it makes me want to read
his books though.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 31, 2020 11:06 AM (hku12)

Dalrymple has been publishing regularly at City Journal for about 20 years. You can find shorter pieces there.

Posted by: Palindrome Paduan at May 31, 2020 11:08 AM (AHq56)

438 No specifics yet; the Shadow has just arrived in this "small city in the Middle West" (why do they name only big cities? I'm pretending that this is Council Bluffs)

It's Frostbite Falls.

NO SPOILERS

Posted by: Moose and/or Squirrel at May 31, 2020 11:08 AM (QzkSJ)

439 To his credit, especially in WWII, WSC gives you
much of the ammo a critic can use. E.g., his minutes to (and the replies
by) the Admiralty about the designs of ships.

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 10:54 AM (ZbwAu)

---
Let me rephrase that.

Yes, Churchill made mistakes (and even admitted some of them) and his accounts often have inaccuracies (again, eye-witnesses do this often).

But having gone on record with his view and also explaining his motivation, it is very difficult to retroactively smear him. He blundered, but they were sincere blunders and he has the memoranda to prove his good intentions. This counts for a lot.

Franco has nothing to defend himself. Beevor's atrocious book circulates the old fiction that his Catholicism was a cynical ploy to dupe the rubes on the right and he can do this because Franco didn't write anything about it. If he had written essays on the importance of faith, or mentioned it in writing, the smear wouldn't stick.

Instead, you have to have someone like Stanley Payne go through and see that, okay, he regularly attended mass throughout his life, was very close with his highly religious mother and completed a Marian Consecration with her as a young military officer.

That took diligent research to dig out.

Same with Guernica. If Franco had a memo saying "avoid the sacred oak but the two battalions of troops, key bridge and three arms factories are fair game" the myth would have never gotten started instead of persisting to this day.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 11:09 AM (cfSRQ)

440 @434
Heh! Only when you're alone in your car

Posted by: artemis at May 31, 2020 11:09 AM (AwPyG)

441 Have some lovely Swedish friends, and the inequality that arises from Gov control of college admissions and trade school admission etc is impossible to describe.

we think it's bad here? hahahahaha

Posted by: The Charlie Daniels of the Torque Wrench at May 31, 2020 11:09 AM (Jj+59)

442 Civilization marches on!

Air Force Makes 'Wild Blue Yonder' Lyrics Gender Neutral

. . . .

Here are the lyrics changed, according to the report:

"At 'em, boys, Give 'er the gun!" now is sung "At 'em now, Give 'em the gun!"
"Minds of men" now is sung "brilliant minds."
"Hands of men" now is sung "valiant hands."
"Souls of men" now is sung "boundless souls."
"Of his brother men who fly" now is sung "To a friend we send a message of the brave who serve on high."
"Flying men" now is sung "Fly to fight, guarding the nation's border."

https://nws.mx/2ZRqxWK

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at May 31, 2020 11:10 AM (+y/Ru)

443 Somebody send Joy Reid this tweet.

https://tinyurl.com/y8vxaw3c

White nationalists my white ass.

Posted by: JackStraw at May 31, 2020 10:33 AM (ZLI7S)

Yup. That's the video. Straight up proving its Antifa being shipped to all these protests, turning them into riots.

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 10:35 AM (WvQcX)

Let's follow the money to where he got it from and where all of this is originating from

Posted by: TheQuietMan at May 31, 2020 11:10 AM (UnQ9z)

444 The Indian War Call Centre is down for upgrade and maintenance.
Please for attacking at another time.
Posted by: "Greg" from Bangalore at May 31, 2020 10:23 AM (QzkSJ)

I can't go to a 7-11 or a Dunkin Doughnuts without hearing a slight Indian accent, and I'm not joking, oh gigantic......

Posted by: Joe Biden, Old Racist at May 31, 2020 11:10 AM (Z+IKu)

445 If you are interested, the author's web page is serializing The Spanish Mask for free--one chapter each week.
Posted by: artemis

Do you have to wear a mask while reading it?
Posted by: Miklos,unfamiliar with the rules in your locality at May 31, 2020

*
*

Companion pieces:

The Spanish Inquisition
The Spanish Prisoner
The Spanish Fly

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at May 31, 2020 11:11 AM (rpbg1)

446 The whole white nationalist thing is not sticking with the population in general. Why give it credence any more? Move on.

Posted by: Balrog of Morgoth at May 31, 2020 11:11 AM (CLteG)

447 In fairness to Sweden, their economic policies have drifted notably to the right since about 1990, and government officials there have called out Bernie and Warren for claiming their full-socialist plans are what Sweden currently implements.
Posted by: Ian S. at May 31, 2020 10:58 AM (6XLoz)

Sorta reminds one of Marx, who was building his whole premise around the conditions in the rabidly industrializing German states (or state, I don't remember). Put in there all sorts of "facts" and made it seem like the capitalist system was an abysmal failure.

However... Marx based his ENTIRE theory around data that was already out of date when he was compiling and writing. The capitalist system had ALREADY fixed many of the problems he described, after having gone through growing pains of industrializing.

So... history repeats itself. Using an outdated model to hold up as your ideal/antithesis of your utopia...

In some circles we call that lying.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 31, 2020 11:11 AM (hku12)

448 So, I tried to read 'The Imperial Cruise' because it was a Moron recommendation; but the author's determination to inject "Teddy Roosevelt was a white supremacist and so was everybody else" into every paragraph ruined it for me.

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at May 31, 2020 11:13 AM (N30JC)

449 ...conditions in the rabidly industrializing ...
Posted by: BurtTC at May 31, 2020 11:11 AM (hku12)

Rabidly or rapidly.

Or and.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 31, 2020 11:13 AM (hku12)

450 It's quite amazing that our enemies appear of have forgotten one of the basic Rules of War; you are supposed to burn your Enemies cities down, while protecting your own. You're not supposed to burn your OWN cities down, and then look at your enemies and say "There! Don't you feel really bad now that we did that???"

Posted by: Tom Servo at May 31, 2020 11:13 AM (V2Yro)

451 302- "It's hard to think of more self-destructive policies, but it's also early yet."
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 10:24 AM

Sadly, I don't think their voting patterns will change. Part of this is the Republican party's fault. They have given up competing in the deep blue areas, and not just in CA. I lived in MN from 2003-2018 and the party was pretty pathetic.

Posted by: Moonbeam at May 31, 2020 11:14 AM (qe5CM)

452 @445
One of these thing is not like the other. . . .

Posted by: artemis at May 31, 2020 11:14 AM (AwPyG)

453 PJ Watson is often quoting Theodor Dalrymple, and
the quotes are always quite juicy. Don't think it makes me want to read
his books though.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 31, 2020 11:06 AM (hku12)

Dalrymple has been publishing regularly at City Journal for about 20 years. You can find shorter pieces there.
Posted by: Palindrome Paduan at May 31, 2020 11:08 AM (AHq56)

It's not the length that keeps me away.

I don't want to read it. I can see it for myself. Whether he's writing about it brilliantly or not, I don't need his diagnosis.

And assuming he's writing most often about Britain, I damn well don't much care anymore.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 31, 2020 11:15 AM (hku12)

454 450
It's quite amazing that our enemies appear of have forgotten one of the
basic Rules of War; you are supposed to burn your Enemies cities down,
while protecting your own. You're not supposed to burn your OWN cities
down, and then look at your enemies and say "There! Don't you feel
really bad now that we did that???"

Posted by: Tom Servo at May 31, 2020 11:13 AM (V2Yro)

---
If you do not give me what I want RIGHT NOW, I will *pee all over myself,* and who will look bad THEN, huh?

Posted by: Master Shake at May 31, 2020 11:15 AM (cfSRQ)

455 @451
I think the Republican party didn't want to compete, but was complicit in the takeover.
The most amazing thing of all is that Trump has decided to take the wheel from the GOPe, and is succeeding

Posted by: artemis at May 31, 2020 11:16 AM (AwPyG)

456 Oh yeah, I tried to read an old (1957) NAVTRA book on basic electronics. It’s hard, yo! So I went to YouTube for some of those old training videos and stumbled on this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VfjyaCqS5s

“LSD” (1967)

I dug the trippy intro music. It’s hard for Squaresville to caution Today’s Youth without getting snickers from the mirrored shaded punks in the back row. Perhaps the film would have been more engaging if animated in Peter Max/Yellow Submarine style. The narrator really needs a good trip methinks.

It made me nostalgic because the first time I encountered LSD was in the Navy in electronics school. Full circle!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 11:16 AM (Dc2NZ)

457 442
"Flying men" now is sung "Fly to fight, guarding the nation's border."

https://nws.mx/2ZRqxWK
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at May 31, 2020 11:10 AM (+y/Ru)
_______

That last one seems problematic. Guarding the nation's border? Isn't that raaaaaaciss?

(Read that comment to the wife. She made a gagging sound.)

Perhaps the most appropriate military song for our time is "F**k 'Em All."

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 11:17 AM (ZbwAu)

458 >>>Is that a bladder nozzle in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?<<<

There's
always one showoff trying to impress us with the girth of his hog.
Listen, buddy, I don't need a .50 cal unless the Chinese invade.

Posted by: Fritz at May 31, 2020 11:17 AM (95j/9)

459 I saw Spanish Fly open for X-Ray glasses in 87 at the Forum.

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 11:17 AM (WvQcX)

460 You're not supposed to burn your OWN cities
down, and then look at your enemies and say "There! Don't you feel
really bad now that we did that???"

Posted by: Tom Servo

Here's another $1200. Let Mommy Pelosi kiss it and make it all good.

Posted by: Miklos, not even drunk anymore at May 31, 2020 11:18 AM (QzkSJ)

461 Just got a text from my sister that my nephew who lives with his wife and two kids near the Grove in LA had to escape to a friends apartment last night because of the riots and looting. They hit the Apple Store, Nordstroms's. Whole Foods. These are high end looters.

Posted by: sharon(willow's apprentice) at May 31, 2020 11:18 AM (QzF6i)

462 Perhaps the most appropriate military song for our time is "F**k 'Em All."
---

The Yanks are Coming!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 11:18 AM (Dc2NZ)

463 > After watching Grant, I look forward to picking up Chernow's biography on him.

Grant's own autobiography is well worth reading, if you haven't done that already.

He was an excellent and entertaining writer.

The ebook is available free on Project Gutenberg, and likely many other sites.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at May 31, 2020 11:19 AM (hKLpI)

464 Keanu Reeves. Cmon people.

Posted by: The Charlie Daniels of the Torque Wrench at May 31, 2020 11:19 AM (Jj+59)

465 My grandfather used a church bulletin from 1972 as a bookmark in The Brass Ring. Even had notes on when the picnic was going to be. I saved it.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 09:20 AM

I use old IBM punch cards. They make excellent bookmarks. Unfortunately, I don't have a ready source of them any more.

Posted by: Cybersmythe at May 31, 2020 11:19 AM (edlKR)

466 From this week in Italy 1944, during the breakout from the Anzio beachhead. Perhaps one of my favorite entries from my dad's journal.

May 29, 1944
Goodhan took me flying today. A "message to Garcia" sort of thing. A Lt of the 91 Recon was out on the point of II Corps advance and didn't know the situation. So he radioed for some help. Army turned the problem over to the Arty section and we sent Goodhan out to look. He buzzed a few towns trying to find out who owned them till he finally saw a jeep parked in Norma, a little town built right on the top of a 1000' sheer cliff. He found a cow pasture up there and landed (not an easy job). Sure enough - there was his Lt - with 2 or 3 men, and they were all between Norma and the Germans. Goodhan promised him a situation map and came back to the CP to get one. I went back with him on the second trip. As we circled the town to land the Italians started pouring out into the field. By the time we stopped rolling at least a couple hundred were gathered around shaking hands and raising a fuss in general.

We broke out a carton of cigarettes and had a great time giving them away. On the way back we toured the front lines - saw a lot of 3d Div doughboys moving up and quite a number of our tanks maneuvering.
The front as a whole is moving quite slowly. Mines, wire and suicide squads account for most of the delay.

Posted by: Muldoon, yes I' at May 31, 2020 11:19 AM (m45I2)

467 /adjust sock

Posted by: Muldoon at May 31, 2020 11:20 AM (m45I2)

468 Hmm

Civilian Marksmanship Program

How did that phrase just come to mind, out of the Blue, so to speak.

Posted by: Miklos, stream of thoughting at May 31, 2020 11:20 AM (QzkSJ)

469 451 302- "It's hard to think of more self-destructive policies, but it's also early yet."
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 10:24 AM

Sadly, I don't think their voting patterns will change. Part of this is the Republican party's fault. They have given up competing in the deep blue areas, and not just in CA. I lived in MN from 2003-2018 and the party was pretty pathetic.
Posted by: Moonbeam at May 31, 2020 11:14 AM (qe5CM)
______

That was always a GOP flaw, not competing, but it was Karl Rove who elevated it to a commandment. Thanks, Karl.

BTW, I knew him slightly in my college days. The last time I spoke to him, I was ripping him a new one. He asked "Are you calling me a skunk?" I said yes, and one of my friends added "He's right, Karl, you do suck."

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 11:20 AM (ZbwAu)

470 It's not the length that keeps me away.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 31, 2020 11:15 AM (hku12)

Me neither. While I sympathize with your reasons, my main reason for avoiding him is that his principal perspective is prisons (more so than Britain), which is going to be depressing, whatever the subject.

Posted by: Palindrome Paduan at May 31, 2020 11:21 AM (AHq56)

471
How did that phrase just come to mind, out of the Blue, so to speak.
Posted by: Miklos, stream of thoughting at May 31, 2020 11:20 AM (QzkSJ)

Blue. Noun. iSWYDT

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 11:21 AM (WvQcX)

472 Sadly, I don't think their voting patterns will
change. Part of this is the Republican party's fault. They have given
up competing in the deep blue areas, and not just in CA. I lived in MN
from 2003-2018 and the party was pretty pathetic.

Posted by: Moonbeam at May 31, 2020 11:14 AM (qe5CM)

---
We'll see. I'm just pointing out that we've seen massive shifts in political alignment before.

College education is very important to the Asian community, and having Dems basically announce quotas is a hot button for people who normally don't care that much. The tiger moms are not going to sit quietly.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 11:21 AM (cfSRQ)

473 It's quite amazing that our enemies appear of have
forgotten one of the basic Rules of War; you are supposed to burn your
Enemies cities down, while protecting your own. You're not supposed to
burn your OWN cities down, and then look at your enemies and say "There!
Don't you feel really bad now that we did that???"

Posted by: Tom Servo at May 31, 2020 11:13 AM (V2Yro)

That is a head scratcher for me too, Tom, except... Republican strongholds have well armed households that are not going to allow anyone to riot unshot on their property.

Posted by: redbanzai the Southerner at May 31, 2020 11:21 AM (nAiE/)

474 Was excited to see Frank J. Fleming finally penned a sequel to "Superego''. Started the new book ''Superego:Fathom". Said to myself "I think I'd better go back and read the first book again just to get all the story elements straight.'' Its been 6 years since the first one was published so, yes, my memory is a little rusty. BTW, I picked "Superego'' because of a book thread recommendation. Boy, I've been hanging around this joint for a long time.

Posted by: Tuna at May 31, 2020 11:22 AM (gLRfa)

475 It's quite amazing that our enemies appear of have forgotten one of the basic Rules of War; you are supposed to burn your Enemies cities down, while protecting your own. You're not supposed to burn your OWN cities down, and then look at your enemies and say "There! Don't you feel really bad now that we did that???"
Posted by: Tom Servo at May 31, 2020 11:13 AM (V2Yro

-------

Because it has worked every time. Every time, the riot is blamed (somehow) on an amorphous "America" that doesn't live in or administer or even frequently visit the destruction zone. It's always a concatenation of all the cities' bad elements, from top to bottom, with no input from anyone else, but the people responsible walk away blameless, and everyone else is the bad guy.

It's a neat trick.

Also, their enemies have no cities, so I guess they kinda have to do their own.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at May 31, 2020 11:22 AM (h6CJG)

476 Mines, wire and suicide squads account for most of the delay.

I would like to know what "suicide squads" meant in that context.

Posted by: Miklos, actual historian if required at May 31, 2020 11:23 AM (QzkSJ)

477 Just got a text from my sister that my nephew who
lives with his wife and two kids near the Grove in LA had to escape to a
friends apartment last night because of the riots and looting. They hit
the Apple Store, Nordstroms's. Whole Foods. These are high end looters.

Posted by: sharon(willow's apprentice) at May 31, 2020 11:18 AM (QzF6i)

About what you would expect of trustafarians who are playing at revolution.

Posted by: redbanzai the Southerner at May 31, 2020 11:24 AM (nAiE/)

478 Got Three Lieutenants of Joint Base Lear-McBeth. I haven't laughed so hard and so much in years -- love it!

Unfortunately, when I went to post a five-star review, Amazon wouldn't let me. It seems to review, you have to have spent $50 with a credit card in (can't remember time frame). Since I haven't used a credit card in decades -- I use Amazon gift cards instead -- no joy.

Sorry!

Posted by: Empire1 at May 31, 2020 11:24 AM (3+htl)

479 Has Soros done what he's doing here in other countries?

Posted by: AlaBAMA, Ministry of Silly Walks at May 31, 2020 11:25 AM (WvQcX)

480 Good thing Soros bought a bunch of city DAs, so the antifa can go through the bail revolving door and be back out on the streets in time for Kristallnacht Part II.

Posted by: Gem at May 31, 2020 11:25 AM (kIHih)

481 Daily-mail has changed "Cardiff" in their headline to "Cardiff and Manchester" ... not unexpected.

Posted by: Palindrome Paduan at May 31, 2020 11:26 AM (AHq56)

482
The rad lefts big mistake, I feel, is that in the last 3 days they've just demonstrated that they're a bigger threat to those trillions of dollars Trump is. The people who own those trashed businesses on State st. and Market St. in Chicago never dreamed things could get this far out of hand.

idiots. Start a wildfire, it's gonna burn places you never wanted it to.
Posted by: Tom Servo at May 31, 2020 10:13 AM (V2Yro)

I get the impression by some here that if Trump is re-elected this will all die down. And if we just pray hard enough all the bad feelings will disappear. I hate to use an old meme, but if it's true, it bears repeating: We are not voting our way out of this.

Oh, and this: There's a time for prayer and there's a time for bullets.

Posted by: Sooner at May 31, 2020 11:26 AM (Fs5vw)

483 Franco has nothing to defend himself. Beevor's atrocious book...

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 11:09 AM (cfSRQ)

Thanks for your take on that book. A while back I started reading it, but didn't make it far. I thought I was just too old to keep up with the uncountable political groups and parties. Do you have recommendations for better Spanish Civil War books?

Posted by: Gref at May 31, 2020 11:27 AM (AMIL/)

484 So, I tried to read 'The Imperial Cruise' because it
was a Moron recommendation; but the author's determination to inject
"Teddy Roosevelt was a white supremacist and so was everybody else" into
every paragraph ruined it for me.

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at May 31, 2020 11:13 AM (N30JC)

I hate when authors do that. They can't point out the views of the people at the time, and leave it at that. Unless the topic is specifically about those views, then it should only be background information. Instead you get the author signaling how evil those people were with those views.

Posted by: WOPR - Clown World Timeline at May 31, 2020 11:27 AM (FQ0BG)

485 I would like to know what "suicide squads" meant in that context.

*********

I am not sure. Maybe defiant last-ditch, low-odds counterattacks? Or cleaning up diehard pockets of resistance within the rapidly expanding front lines?

Posted by: Muldoon at May 31, 2020 11:27 AM (m45I2)

486 Soros owns the Donks, the dude has the title somewhere. Whips it out when anybody forgets that fact. The title, I mean.

Posted by: klaftern at May 31, 2020 11:27 AM (RuIsu)

487 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8373797

Celebrities join riot frontline: Halsey, Anna Kendrick, Emily
Ratajkowski and Paris Jackson leave luxury life in lockdown to take part
in George Floyd protests

time to head for my bunk ...

Posted by: Palindrome Paduan at May 31, 2020 11:28 AM (AHq56)

488 I lived in MN from 2003-2018 and the party was pretty pathetic.
Posted by: Moonbeam

Perhaps.

But the MN (R) has controlled at least one legislative chamber, and control the Minnesota Senate today.

What they do with that is another question.

Posted by: Miklos, actual political scientist if required at May 31, 2020 11:28 AM (QzkSJ)

489
Dog show ribbons make excellent bookmarks.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 31, 2020 11:28 AM (mht8P)

490 ''Current reading: The Throne of Caesar, supposedly the last entry in the Roma Sub Rosa series by Steven Saylor.''

I listened to that on on Audible. Of course you know what's coming but somehow hope it doesn't'.

Posted by: Tuna at May 31, 2020 11:29 AM (gLRfa)

491 While this Dragon docking may be historically significant, you wouldn't know it from the way they are dressed. That gentleman doesn't even have shoes on! Dungarees weren't bad enough, now we have shorts and short sleeved shirts! These people should be wearing suits and ties if not full tuxedos!

Posted by: George Will at May 31, 2020 11:29 AM (+y/Ru)

492 I'm not surprised that real Republicans(as opposed to rinos) have given up on the deep blue areas. There is really no logic that will convince these voters that they are wrong. They are the people who still think Trump is a Russian asset, the Jessie Smolett was attacked, that 3 star General Flynn is a traitor, that AGW is real and on and on. No facts will ever convince them. Better to go after the Independents who are still rational.Here is a real life example. I made a comment to a friend of mine about the Chinese keeping the Uighers in concentration camps. She replied that we interned the Japanese during WWII. I said you can;t possibly be comparing something that happened in the 1940's to the Chinese current behavior and she said" Oh, Yes. We are bad people. "

Posted by: sharon(willow's apprentice) at May 31, 2020 11:30 AM (QzF6i)

493 I get the impression by some here that if Trump is re-elected this will all die down.

I recall Rush saying when Barky was elected, the race things will get worse, not better.

Posted by: Miklos, actually recalling at May 31, 2020 11:30 AM (QzkSJ)

494 472- Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 11:21 AM

Obviously, I hope you are right!

Posted by: Moonbeam at May 31, 2020 11:30 AM (qe5CM)

495 That is a head scratcher for me too, Tom, except... Republican strongholds have well armed households that are not going to allow anyone to riot unshot on their property.
========================
Yeah, this. I really DO NOT see how this helps the progs in general, and the D's in articular. Does not compute. Oh, and speaking of DA's, Keif Ellison, AG of Peoples Republic of Somalia, says he has evidence that the protesters are being funded by outside entities.
NO. SHIT. This ought to be grand...

Posted by: Brave Sir Robin at May 31, 2020 11:31 AM (7Fj9P)

496 Open the Pod Bay Door, HAL.

Posted by: klaftern at May 31, 2020 11:31 AM (RuIsu)

497 484 So, I tried to read 'The Imperial Cruise' because it
was a Moron recommendation; but the author's determination to inject
"Teddy Roosevelt was a white supremacist and so was everybody else" into
every paragraph ruined it for me.

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at May 31, 2020 11:13 AM (N30JC)

I hate when authors do that. They can't point out the views of the people at the time, and leave it at that. Unless the topic is specifically about those views, then it should only be background information. Instead you get the author signaling how evil those people were with those views.
Posted by: WOPR - Clown World Timeline at May 31, 2020 11:27 AM (FQ0BG)
______

Agreed. Last week I cited a book on Roberts in Afghanistan which falls into that. Hate it.

I have a book, Around the World With the Battleships, which was written shortly after the cruise. Of course, it's wholly free of that s**t. And fun.

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 11:31 AM (ZbwAu)

498 Franco has nothing to defend himself. Beevor's atrocious book...

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 11:09 AM (cfSRQ)

Franco and Pinochet weren't saints. But, they saved their countries from ruin at the hands of the communists.

Posted by: WOPR - Clown World Timeline at May 31, 2020 11:32 AM (FQ0BG)

499 At least a local library or book store is an oasis to escape the crazy stuff going on outside at night. No worry about them looting the local town library, and they do have a night return place around back, like a banks after hours deposit.

Posted by: Colin at May 31, 2020 11:33 AM (bhBSF)

500 470 It's not the length that keeps me away.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 31, 2020 11:15 AM (hku12)

Said no woman ever.

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 11:33 AM (NWiLs)

501 It's not the length that keeps me away.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 31, 2020 11:15 AM (hku12)

Me neither. While I sympathize with your reasons, my main reason for avoiding him is that his principal perspective is prisons (more so than Britain), which is going to be depressing, whatever the subject.

Posted by: Palindrome Paduan at May 31, 2020 11:21 AM (AHq56)

Hmmm, well I do have a lot of experience working with folks who have been in prison, mostly after they come out.

I don't tend to look at the larger view, so I'm not approaching it from a "society's ills" perspective, except as it relates to individuals.

My experience tells me that prisons are seen as universally bad for all, by people who have been there, families associated with those folks, and society in general. However... most of the guys I've known who have done significant time, it changes them, in many ways, for the better.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 31, 2020 11:33 AM (hku12)

502
I like the idea of using some kind of rail gun setup constructed on the surface of the moon. Especially for sending cargo.
Posted by: Tom Servo at May 31, 2020 10:25 AM (V2Yro)

Ceramic shielded iron bars! Free Luna!

Posted by: Headless Body of Agnew at May 31, 2020 11:34 AM (e1mEI)

503 474 Was excited to see Frank J. Fleming finally penned a sequel to "Superego''. Started the new book ''Superego:Fathom".
Posted by: Tuna at May 31, 2020 11:22 AM

Hey, thanks for the info. I liked Superego and now I just got the kindle version of this one. I'll have to reread his first one too. I vaguely remember something about a love interest and him finding his father and finding out he was created to be a weapon. A little fuzzy on how it all ended.

Posted by: banana Dream at May 31, 2020 11:34 AM (l6b3d)

504 Thanks for your take on that book. A while back I
started reading it, but didn't make it far. I thought I was just too
old to keep up with the uncountable political groups and parties. Do
you have recommendations for better Spanish Civil War books?

Posted by: Gref at May 31, 2020 11:27 AM (AMIL/)

---
Stanley G. Payne's book is a good overview. If you don't want lots of minutae, he's your guy.

Fair warning though: Spanish politics was badly fractured, so there's no real way to tell the history without the alphabet soup of leftist groups.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 11:34 AM (cfSRQ)

505 Did any one else see the video out of NJ of the guy who stole an ATM, and was trying to wrestle it onto a city bus? The driver just closed the door and drove away. The guy was incredulous.

Posted by: Brave Sir Robin at May 31, 2020 11:35 AM (7Fj9P)

506 This guy speaks for most of us around here: https://tinyurl.com/y96fqycr

Posted by: Bert G at May 31, 2020 11:35 AM (OMsf+)

507 @All Hail Eris....

Please use tinyurl. You are blowing the margins for mobile users....

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at May 31, 2020 11:35 AM (dLLD6)

508 One more thing about Jutland, but not from Gordon. In the 60s, Arthur Marder exploded the view that the German gunnery was much better than the British. He showed that it was drawn from slanted data; e.g., that the German sources counted their own heavy hits on British cruisers, but not British heavy hits on theirs. In fact, the biggest factor, at any point, was whom the visibility favored.

And that was huge.

But somehow, despite Marder's very high standing, this point got lost in the standard narratives. Norman Friedman revives it in Fighting the Great War at Sea.

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 11:35 AM (ZbwAu)

509 Hmm. Twitterer says they ID'd the guy handing out money to rioters. Interesting.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 31, 2020 11:35 AM (oVJmc)

510 In fairness to Sweden, their economic policies have
drifted notably to the right since about 1990, and government officials
there have called out Bernie and Warren for claiming their
full-socialist plans are what Sweden currently implements.

Posted by: Ian S. at May 31, 2020 10:58 AM (6XLoz)

Per Peer Bylund (Swedish born, Austrian economist) Sweden's Socialist experiment lasted about 20 years. In the late 70's they went full on Socialist, and in the early 90's they went broke.
Just about everything is now seriously privatized, but with "mandates" for what is required.

Posted by: Kindltot at May 31, 2020 11:35 AM (WyVLE)

511 492 I'm not surprised that real Republicans(as opposed to rinos) have given up on the deep blue areas. There is really no logic that will convince these voters that they are wrong. ...

Posted by: sharon(willow's apprentice) at May 31, 2020 11:30 AM (QzF6i)

The Libtards very effectively employ peer pressure in minority groups to keep those tribes in-line and voting Democrat. I do not know how to defeat that strategy. Commom sense has not worked well as an antidote so far.

Posted by: Gref at May 31, 2020 11:36 AM (AMIL/)

512 Who Dis?

I dunno.

Who Dis? https://tinyurl.com/Benedict-Cumbersnatch

Posted by: Marooned at May 31, 2020 11:36 AM (yYptV)

513 It's not the length that keeps me away.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 31, 2020 11:15 AM (hku12)

Said no woman ever.
Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 11:33 AM (NWiLs)

As the great Mr. Smith once said, "frankly, it's the smell."

Posted by: BurtTC at May 31, 2020 11:38 AM (hku12)

514 Agreed. Last week I cited a book on Roberts in Afghanistan which falls into that. Hate it.

I have a book, Around the World With the Battleships, which was
written shortly after the cruise. Of course, it's wholly free of that
s**t. And fun.

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 11:31 AM (ZbwAu)

Well, they seem to do it with everything now. The Gettysburg Visitors Center that got rebuilt about 15 years ago turned into The Slavery Visitors Center with Possibly a Battle Happening Here. Even the movie barely covers the battle.

I was surprised the Grant miniseries on History wasn't 80% slavery. They actually balanced it well. Although that had the moronic Ta-Neishi Coates as a commenter.

Posted by: WOPR - Clown World Timeline at May 31, 2020 11:38 AM (FQ0BG)

515 Gots to go. Company coming.

Next, week, horde. (And I promise, not another massive rant. At least until August 2, the day after the Battle of the Nile.

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 11:39 AM (ZbwAu)

516 We all understand this, right?

Posted by: Not Voting Our Way Out Of This at May 31, 2020 11:39 AM (SJDa9)

517 "Peaceful protestor" steals ATM, attempts to take it on a city bus.

https://tinyurl.com/atmthief

Rocket surgery at its finest.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at May 31, 2020 11:40 AM (hKLpI)

518 421- Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 11:00 AM

I couldn't agree more as I have noticed this in my own reading habits. I have a big biography on Disraeli that I have been wanting to read, so I read five shorter books in the past two weeks just to improve my power of concentration. Hope it works!

Posted by: Moonbeam at May 31, 2020 11:42 AM (qe5CM)

519 ''I was surprised the Grant miniseries on History wasn't 80% slavery. They actually balanced it well. Although that had the moronic Ta-Neishi Coates as a commenter.''

Great series. Wish it had been longer. I immediately picked up a memoir written by one of Grant's staff, ''Campaigning with Grant'' by Gen Horace Porter. Want a little more insight on how he handled his staff and day to day details of the battle.

Posted by: Tuna at May 31, 2020 11:43 AM (gLRfa)

520 This guy speaks for most of us around here: https://tinyurl.com/y96fqycr

-
Well, it's no.Virginia Is For Lovers.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at May 31, 2020 11:43 AM (+y/Ru)

521 Rocket surgery at its finest.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at May 31, 2020 11:40 AM (hKLpI)

Twitter claims it is old photo. Funny though.

Posted by: Palindrome Paduan at May 31, 2020 11:44 AM (AHq56)

522 Netflix tweets support for BLM.

Do you give them money?

Posted by: Not Voting Our Way Out Of This at May 31, 2020 11:44 AM (SJDa9)

523 But somehow, despite Marder's very high standing,
this point got lost in the standard narratives. Norman Friedman revives
it in Fighting the Great War at Sea.

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 11:35 AM (ZbwAu)

Based on my limited knowledge, I've gone along with the view the German navy would have been better off sailing out to fight the British fleet immediately at the beginning of the war. By waiting, they allowed the British to outstrip them in ships. Even if they had lost, dealing the British a good bloody nose would have hurt British morale.

Posted by: WOPR - Clown World Timeline at May 31, 2020 11:44 AM (FQ0BG)

524 517- Good Lord! If they had just seen Barbershop, they would know what a fool's errand stealing an ATM is!

Posted by: Moonbeam at May 31, 2020 11:44 AM (qe5CM)

525 It's not the length that keeps me away.

A girl told me that once.

Once.

Posted by: It's not you, Miklos, actually it is at May 31, 2020 11:44 AM (QzkSJ)

526 >>> Well, they seem to do it with everything now. The Gettysburg Visitors Center that got rebuilt about 15 years ago turned into The Slavery Visitors Center with Possibly a Battle Happening Here. Even the movie barely covers the battle.

I was surprised the Grant miniseries on History wasn't 80% slavery. They actually balanced it well. Although that had the moronic Ta-Neishi Coates as a commenter.
Posted by: WOPR - Clown World Timeline at May 31, 2020 11:38 AM

I was at a big aerospace conference earlier this year. SciTech AIAA in Orlando. One of the keynote speakers is in charge of dismantling the Air & Space Museum and turning it into a giant SJW monument to grievances. She was very excited about the all the icky white man stuff she was destroying and taking out of the museum. If she has her way, and she's the one put in charge now, there will no longer be an Air & Space Museum.

Posted by: banana Dream at May 31, 2020 11:45 AM (l6b3d)

527 It's quite amazing that our enemies appear of have forgotten one of the basic Rules of War; you are supposed to burn your Enemies cities down, while protecting your own. You're not supposed to burn your OWN cities down, and then look at your enemies and say "There! Don't you feel really bad now that we did that???"

Posted by: Tom Servo

This is all AntiFa, which is run by the leadership of the Democrat Party. AntiFa is this century's KKK, and their goal is to wreck as many black lives as they can. They are burning "their own cities" so they can blame Trump for the plight of the blacks, so that Trump doesn't get up to 30% of the black vote in November.

Diabolical, but very simple plan.

Posted by: Sharkman at May 31, 2020 11:45 AM (1YlHz)

528 We all understand this, right?
Posted by: Not Voting Our Way Out Of This at May 31, 2020 11:39 AM (SJDa9)

Sure, but the campaign runners and politicians are creaming themselves, already writing their slogans about how the other side is to blame.

Meanwhile, all these large cities will send Democrats back into office, with bickering continuing between white and black party members. And Washington will fluctuate, one way or another, around 50%.

Same as it ever was.

Until the real war happens. Which this probably isn't.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 31, 2020 11:46 AM (hku12)

529 Sorry, CBD.

*kicks dirt*

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 11:47 AM (Dc2NZ)

530 If your getaway plan involves riding a city bus, you just might be an idiot.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at May 31, 2020 11:47 AM (+y/Ru)

531 "Peaceful protestor" steals ATM, attempts to take it on a city bus.

Now see.

That makes ALL Community College students look bad.

Posted by: Miklos, life turn arounder at May 31, 2020 11:47 AM (QzkSJ)

532 517 "Peaceful protestor" steals ATM, attempts to take it on a city bus.
https://tinyurl.com/atmthief
Rocket surgery at its finest.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at May 31, 2020 11:40 AM
~~~
Sadly, the 'protestor' hadn't the exact change required.

Posted by: socalcon at May 31, 2020 11:48 AM (Roy2Z)

533 Think how much cheaper and more effective it would be just to pay some cops to kill some black guys. Don't say it couldn't be done.

Posted by: Jake from State Farm at May 31, 2020 11:48 AM (Jj+59)

534 Great series. Wish it had been longer. I
immediately picked up a memoir written by one of Grant's staff,
''Campaigning with Grant'' by Gen Horace Porter. Want a little more
insight on how he handled his staff and day to day details of the
battle.

Posted by: Tuna at May 31, 2020 11:43 AM (gLRfa)

They really rushed through his post-Civil War life. I liked the actor they got to play Grant.

For a good read on his life, I recommend American Ulysses by Ronald White. It's a bit long, but good. Catton's biography is also good.

Posted by: WOPR - Clown World Timeline at May 31, 2020 11:49 AM (FQ0BG)

535 Don't know if its brought up, but leftist rabble burned down Uncle Hugo's book store in Minneapolis - filthy pagans.....

Posted by: Pinochet Air Lines Flt. Attendant at May 31, 2020 11:49 AM (q9+CU)

536 What's the bus fare for this here ATM?

Posted by: He was a good boy at May 31, 2020 11:49 AM (EgshT)

537 The Gettysburg Visitors Center that got rebuilt about 15 years ago
turned into The Slavery Visitors Center with Possibly a Battle Happening
Here. Even the movie barely covers the battle.

Posted by: WOPR - Clown World Timeline at May 31, 2020 11:38 AM (FQ0BG)

Totally true. I don't remember if the old visitors center had a film when you go in, I don't remember one. I don't like the newer visitors center at all. Been several times and can't say anything positive about it. The old one had the most interesting recreation of life of a soldier, and a great display of civil war weapons. The only positive thing is the 360 battle (old cyclorama) which is well done.

Posted by: Colin at May 31, 2020 11:49 AM (bhBSF)

538 If your getaway plan involves riding a city bus, you just might be an idiot.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks

You write a childrens Health book

Are you people following this?

You stupid?

Also resign as mayor of Baltimore and flee country. I neglected that part.

Posted by: Healthy Holly in the Big House at May 31, 2020 11:51 AM (QzkSJ)

539 One more thing about Jutland, but not from Gordon.
In the 60s, Arthur Marder exploded the view that the German gunnery was
much better than the British. He showed that it was drawn from slanted
data; e.g., that the German sources counted their own heavy hits on
British cruisers, but not British heavy hits on theirs. In fact, the
biggest factor, at any point, was whom the visibility favored.

And that was huge.

But somehow, despite Marder's very high standing, this point got
lost in the standard narratives. Norman Friedman revives it in Fighting
the Great War at Sea.

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 11:35 AM (ZbwAu)

---
This reminds me of the "German Tanks Were AWESOME" school of thought, that is also finally getting taken apart.

Steven Zaloga has a number of books exploding the myth of their technical and tactical superiority.

Yes, a lot of veterans who drove Shermans coveted the heavy armor and big guns of the German tanks, but they also didn't have fix them.

Funny how often military guys do "the grass is greener" with enemy stuff. "Kelly's Heroes" has a nice bit where the tank crew buys a Tiger and immediately their mechanic starts bitching up a storm about what a piece of junk it is.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 11:52 AM (cfSRQ)

540 I was at a big aerospace conference earlier this
year. SciTech AIAA in Orlando. One of the keynote speakers is in charge
of dismantling the Air Space Museum and turning it into a giant
SJW monument to grievances. She was very excited about the all the icky
white man stuff she was destroying and taking out of the museum. If she
has her way, and she's the one put in charge now, there will no longer
be an Air Space Museum.

Posted by: banana Dream at May 31, 2020 11:45 AM (l6b3d)

It's one of the most popular museums in the country. They'll be shocked when attendance disappears.

Posted by: WOPR - Clown World Timeline at May 31, 2020 11:52 AM (FQ0BG)

541 Someone in the twitter feed says ATM bus man is a comedy video from 2019.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 31, 2020 11:52 AM (oVJmc)

542 If your getaway plan involves riding a city bus, you just might be an idiot.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at May 31, 2020 11:47 AM (+y/Ru)

You know, now that you mention it I really did NOT think this through....

Posted by: Ben Braddock at May 31, 2020 11:53 AM (hku12)

543 For the 'these pants' photo. Is that Congress Critter Schiff? It would explain a lot.
Posted by: JTB at May 31, 2020 09:03 AM (7EjX1)

That was my first thought, too.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at May 31, 2020 11:53 AM (pJ0tb)

544 "...if Trump is re-elected this will all die down."

Uh, no.
The Dems already have plans for that too, and you won't like those either.

Posted by: attila the thrilla at May 31, 2020 11:53 AM (w7KSn)

545 >>> It's one of the most popular museums in the country. They'll be shocked when attendance disappears.
Posted by: WOPR - Clown World Timeline at May 31, 2020 11:52 AM

They won't be shocked. It's the intended result. The left has reached the point in Communism where you destroy the past.

Posted by: banana Dream at May 31, 2020 11:54 AM (l6b3d)

546
Funny how often military guys do "the grass is greener" with enemy stuff. "Kelly's Heroes" has a nice bit where the tank crew buys a Tiger and immediately their mechanic starts bitching up a storm about what a piece of junk it is.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

Always with the negative waves.

Posted by: Another Oddball at May 31, 2020 11:55 AM (QzkSJ)

547 Morning all

By 4 minutes

Posted by: Nevergiveup at May 31, 2020 11:55 AM (85Gof)

548 The left has reached the point in Communism where you destroy the past.
Posted by: banana Dream

Who controls the past controls the

THEY BURNED THE STARBUCKS!!??

Posted by: Another Millennial at May 31, 2020 11:56 AM (QzkSJ)

549 Don't know if its brought up, but leftist rabble burned down Uncle Hugo's book store in Minneapolis - filthy pagans.....
Posted by: Pinochet Air Lines Flt. Attendant at May 31, 2020 11:49 AM (q9+CU)

I went to the Bleat on Friday, read Lilecks there for the first time in a long time.

James went to some of the areas where rioting had already occurred, said he wasn't crying over the possibility, but he just wanted to take some pics so he would remember better some of the buildings, should they not be there after this is all said and done.

Think I need to stop in there much more often.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 31, 2020 11:56 AM (hku12)

550 I saw this morning now there is another video of the flyod struggling in the back of the police car?

Posted by: Nevergiveup at May 31, 2020 11:57 AM (85Gof)

551 morning everyone. i see we made it through another night of white nationalist aggression burning and looting our cities...oh wait..

Posted by: secret squirrel, author of 3 LTs of Joint Base Lear MacBeth available on Amazon at May 31, 2020 11:57 AM (xyImL)

552 It pays to increase your word power:

"Although Bellerophon defeated the female band of Amazons, he in turn was defeated by the Xanthian women, who lifted their skirts and used the APOTROPAIC power of their genitals to drive him away from their city." -- from "Centaurs and Amazons" by Page duBois

APOTROPAIC: adjective; supposedly having the power to avert evil influences or bad luck.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 09:09 AM (Dc2NZ)

It might also just mean "bad personal hygiene".

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at May 31, 2020 11:57 AM (pJ0tb)

553 I went to the Bleat on Friday, read Lilecks there for the first time in a long time.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 31, 2020 11:56 AM (hku12)

Lileks. He deserves to have his name spelled right.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 31, 2020 11:57 AM (hku12)

554 Morning all

By 4 minutes
Posted by: Nevergiveup

We've been waiting for permission to rinse and spit since dawn.

Posted by: Miklos, at ease at May 31, 2020 11:57 AM (QzkSJ)

555

Sounds like the shit show is still going on in Chicago. Reports of looting and breaking into stores. I'm sure Larry Leftfoot will still tell the cops to do nothing. BTW where is Jabba?

Posted by: TheQuietMan at May 31, 2020 11:58 AM (U7hxL)

556 Books: still reading America Before by Graham Hancock. About done with it. He really does have a great theory about a lost and ancient civilization being destroyed during the Younger Dryas Period after the last glacial melt.
The mass die off of the mega fauna in North America and the disappearance of all Clovis remnants in a certain layer of earth is pretty tantalizing.

Posted by: secret squirrel, author of Three LTs of Joint Base Lear MacBeth, a comedic play in 3 acts! availabl at May 31, 2020 12:00 PM (xyImL)

557 For the 'these pants' photo. Is that Congress Critter Schiff? It would explain a lot.

Posted by: JTB at May 31, 2020 09:03 AM (7EjX1)

That was my first thought, too.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at May 31, 2020 11:53 AM

Mine, too. HordeMind. It's real, and in this case it's terrifying.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at May 31, 2020 12:00 PM (rBtIz)

558 I'm sure Larry Leftfoot will still tell the cops to do nothing. BTW where is Jabba?
Posted by: TheQuietMan

Negotiating with the Union rep

Posted by: Miklos, almost certain at May 31, 2020 12:00 PM (QzkSJ)

559 BTW where is Jabba?
Posted by: TheQuietMan at May 31, 2020 11:58 AM (U7hxL)

Right now? Not sure, but likely an all you can eat buffet.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 31, 2020 12:01 PM (hku12)

560 Funny how often military guys do "the grass is greener" with enemy stuff. "Kelly's Heroes" has a nice bit where the tank crew buys a Tiger and immediately their mechanic starts bitching up a storm about what a piece of junk it is.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 31, 2020 11:52 AM (cfSRQ)

Always with the negative waves Moriarty, always with the negative waves.

Posted by: Oddball at May 31, 2020 12:01 PM (Z+IKu)

561 Just finnished reading The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Collins... Pretty good... It's the pre-quel to Hunger Games

Posted by: It's me donna at May 31, 2020 12:01 PM (Zmnko)

562 This reminds me of the "German Tanks Were AWESOME" school of thought, that is also finally getting taken apart.
-----
"Wehrmacht Envy" is real.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 12:01 PM (Dc2NZ)

563 For the 'these pants' photo. Is that Congress Critter Schiff? It would explain a lot.

Posted by: JTB at May 31, 2020 09:03 AM (7EjX1)

That was my first thought, too.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon

Bad photoshop.

Actually J. Edgar Hoover.

Posted by: Facts as Checked by MiklosCorp at May 31, 2020 12:02 PM (QzkSJ)

564 Waaaay late getting here. Still working on Sowell's 'The Quest For Cosmic Justice'. An excellent book, and I cannot recommend it strongly enough. Would but we could somehow get the SJW's to read it.

Have moved on in bedtime reading to Herriot's 'Dog Stories'. Another nice one from him. Transports me away from the detritus of our current circumstances.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at May 31, 2020 12:02 PM (mLizQ)

565 In 'Battle of the Bulge,' they blew up the German tanks by rolling drums of gasoline into them. Really.

What a shitty, shitty movie.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 31, 2020 12:03 PM (oVJmc)

566 551 morning everyone. i see we made it through another night of white nationalist aggression burning and looting our cities...oh wait..

Don't laugh.. CNN says that's who's causing the trouble

Posted by: It's me donna at May 31, 2020 12:03 PM (Zmnko)

567

The "protestors" were looting a Whole Foods this morning. They must be running out of options. I hope the hipster douchebags got a good look at what they support.

Posted by: TheQuietMan at May 31, 2020 12:03 PM (U7hxL)

568 "Wehrmacht Envy" is real.
Posted by: All Hail Eris,

Oddly there is no phrase for that in Russian.

Posted by: 1st Miklosov Shock Army at May 31, 2020 12:03 PM (QzkSJ)

569 Right now? Not sure, but likely an all you can eat buffet.
Posted by: BurtTC at May 31, 2020 12:01 PM (hku12)

---

lol

And where would an all you can eat buffet be found?

Posted by: SMH at May 31, 2020 12:04 PM (RU4sa)

570 morning everyone. i see we made it through another
night of white nationalist aggression burning and looting our
cities...oh wait..

Don't laugh.. CNN says that's who's causing the trouble

Posted by: It's me donna at May 31, 2020 12:03 PM (Zmnko)

Did anyone tell the Commiewood assholes who are paying their bail they are bailing out white nationalists?

Posted by: TheQuietMan at May 31, 2020 12:04 PM (U7hxL)

571 If you live in Illinois and the first thought on your mind when you wake up every morning is not how do I get out of this state, you're doing it wrong.

Posted by: Not Voting Our Way Out Of This at May 31, 2020 12:04 PM (SJDa9)

572 The "protestors" were looting a Whole Foods this morning. They must be running out of options. I hope the hipster douchebags got a good look at what they support.
Posted by: TheQuietMan

And the cakes.

Very Special Cakes.

Posted by: Miklos, a Shrubber at May 31, 2020 12:04 PM (QzkSJ)

573 Have moved on in bedtime reading to Herriot's 'Dog Stories'. Another nice one from him. Transports me away from the detritus of our current circumstances.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at May 31, 2020 12:02 PM (mLizQ)
----------

My husband is reading that before bed, too, at my suggestion. I think Herriott and Wodehouse are the best bedtime reading. They put you in a happy, peaceful mood.

Posted by: bluebell at May 31, 2020 12:05 PM (/669Q)

574 This reminds me of the "German Tanks Were AWESOME" school of thought, that is also finally getting taken apart.
-----
"Wehrmacht Envy" is real.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 12:01 PM (Dc2NZ)

After a conflict, no one has any interest in saying otherwise. The losers get to puff up their chests and say how good they were, so their loss is not their skill or courage.

The winners get to puff up their chests and demonstrate how great they are to have defeated such a formidable foe.

Or to put it another way, history is biased. Always and all ways.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 31, 2020 12:05 PM (hku12)

575 572 The "protestors" were looting a Whole Foods this morning. They must be running out of options. I hope the hipster douchebags got a good look at what they support.

Gotta keep up their strength for the riot fest so Croissants it is!

Posted by: It's me donna at May 31, 2020 12:05 PM (Zmnko)

576 369 Eeyore

Thank you very much. I have most of the earlier books quoted. This is a book to get, based on your review.

Take the rest of the weekend off, with my blessing.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at May 31, 2020 12:05 PM (u82oZ)

577 morning everyone. i see we made it through another night of white nationalist aggression burning and looting our cities...oh wait..

Don't laugh.. CNN says that's who's causing the trouble
Posted by: It's me donna at May 31, 2020 12:03 PM (Zmnko)

CNN and that fuckin idiot gov of MN and probably the AG Ellison also..So much stupid in one state

Posted by: Nevergiveup at May 31, 2020 12:06 PM (85Gof)

578 I hate when authors do that. They can't point out the views of the people at the time, and leave it at that. Unless the topic is specifically about those views, then it should only be background information. Instead you get the author signaling how evil those people were with those views.

I was OK with the author pointing out the racialist beliefs of the time in the first chapter. But he kept going back to it constantly throughout the book. I wanted to read about the early history of American relations with China, Japan, and Korea; instead I got a diatribe on how everyone involved was a racist.

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at May 31, 2020 12:07 PM (N30JC)

579 The winners get to puff up their chests and demonstrate how great they are to have defeated such a formidable foe.

Or to put it another way, history is biased. Always and all ways.
Posted by: BurtTC

So, the losers write the history.

Dammit.

Posted by: poorly educated Miklos at May 31, 2020 12:07 PM (QzkSJ)

580 557 For the 'these pants' photo. Is that Congress Critter Schiff? It would explain a lot.

Posted by: JTB at May 31, 2020 09:03 AM (7EjX1)

That was my first thought, too.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at May 31, 2020 11:53 AM

Mine, too. HordeMind. It's real, and in this case it's terrifying.
Posted by: RedMindBlueState at May 31, 2020 12:00 PM (rBtIz)

I think it is incumbent upon Mr. Schiff to prove it is NOT he wearing the frilly diaper.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 31, 2020 12:07 PM (Dc2NZ)

581 I have been getting a few ebooks from the library. It is a bit frustrating because they have like 7 different formats and systems to get books (some you can just get from Amazon, some you download a file that then lets you download the full book, some you get a book directly from them then it has a timer on it, some claim to be ebooks and are actually audio etc). Its a bit frustrating.

Amazon only allows me to "borrow" 2 books at a time which is okay but there seems to be zero mechanism to "return" the books other than just waiting until they time out.

In other words, its not the world's most well-done operation and will in time get better, I hope. But I noticed something else. Both books were from major, established authors. Both books have been out for years, one for decades. Both books were from major publishers.

And both books had serious typo issues, the kind you see when someone does an OCR scan of something. These are not books that would have typos in print. The formatting wasn't very good either, with the text pushed over to one side and larger space on the opposite, sometimes unjustified.

I am more forgiving of newer books and books by independent authors; its very hard to catch everything and people are working on a budget. After all, if you spend 750 bucks to publish a book that sells 100 copies, you just lost a lot of money.

But a pro book like this is just lame to have this kind of typo and so many. I found almost one a chapter on average. And I'm almost certain that it is because they ran it through a scanner, then had a computer program look for misspellings, and then put it into ebook format as quickly and cheaply as possible (possibly using a computer program).

That's just lazy and sloppy and does not speak well of the publishers.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 31, 2020 12:08 PM (KZzsI)

582 If she has her way, and she's the one put in charge now, there will no longer be an Air & Space Museum.
=========================
The museums at Wright/Patterson and Pensacola NAS are way better than Air and Space. Plus, if you time it right in Pensacola, you can start off your morning watching the Blue Angels practice. Cost to attend? $0.00.

Posted by: Brave Sir Robin at May 31, 2020 12:08 PM (7Fj9P)

583 Right now? Not sure, but likely an all you can eat buffet.
Posted by: BurtTC at May 31, 2020 12:01 PM (hku12)

---

lol

And where would an all you can eat buffet be found?
Posted by: SMH at May 31, 2020 12:04 PM (RU4sa)

I dunno, but a million quatloos to the person who shows pics of the pig governor's order to close them down, and him going to one afterwards.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 31, 2020 12:09 PM (hku12)

584 Nearing 600 comments and not really talking about books any more, is there any practical difference between small engine 4-stroke oil and ordinary 5W30 synthetic (same weight)? Any additives or anything?

Posted by: hogmartin at May 31, 2020 12:09 PM (t+qrx)

585 In a terrible mood today. The country burning, a family member who's dying, burning the candle at both ends. Fuckin' hell I'm just tapped out, angry, resentful, grieving and I don't know what else. Fuck fuck fuckity fuck. This world is such a cruel and fucked up place, and I know this, but these in-your-face reminders are a stone cold bitch.

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 12:09 PM (NWiLs)

586 Its me Donna:

Yeah. I have seen pictures of propaganda already circulating on Twitter that the Russians are behind the white nationalists who are then looting and attacking blacks and cops...

Seriously why any believes this shit is beyond me. As I told Mrs. Squirrel, who is a liberal despite my tender instruction on conservative ways these past 20 years, I said, "There are countries, groups, and powerful individuals who want to destroy this country by any means necessary. All of this rioting is by design. There is a concerted effort being made. The question is who?"
The fact that JAck Dorsey and Zuckerberg no longer see themselves as Americans, or their companies aligned with US endstates and values, should worry everyone. They have taken on Bill Gates status- uber human, citizen of the world. They don't put America first; it's dollars and power and influencing the plebian scum and rubes. They now control the narrative and are becoming the source of news stories.

Posted by: secret squirrel, author of Three LTs of Joint Base Lear MacBeth, a comedic play in 3 acts! availabl at May 31, 2020 12:09 PM (xyImL)

587 Tapper is talking to a Baptist preacher.

He looks like he's waiting for the translator.

Posted by: CNN for Fun Miklos at May 31, 2020 12:09 PM (QzkSJ)

588 osted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 12:09 PM (NWiLs)

You are not alone... So sorry about your family member... Prayers up

Posted by: It's me donna at May 31, 2020 12:10 PM (Zmnko)

589 is there any practical difference between small engine 4-stroke oil and ordinary 5W30 synthetic (same weight)? Any additives or anything?
Posted by: hogmartin

Depends.

Trabant or Wartburg?

Posted by: Happy Fun Miklos at May 31, 2020 12:11 PM (QzkSJ)

590 I hate when authors do that. They can't point out the views of the people at the time, and leave it at that. Unless the topic is specifically about those views, then it should only be background information

Ome of the basic rules of fiction is "show, don't tell" with Chekov's famous quote "Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass."

But when it comes to lecturing people on the evils of the past that one goes out the window for a lot of authors. A lot of the time because they aren't able to actually show why that attitude is bad in writing, they just are certain that it is so. And often, when they do try to show it rather than lecture you on it, its hamfisted and stereotypical, very poorly handled.

In my opinion, the best way to deal with this sort of thing is to show everyone as varied and human as possible, with their flaws being a part of that, and contrast it with those who are better in that area. Between the two the reader can understand: beating up children is evil, see how awful it is from the child's reaction and the contrast with this person who cares for the weak?

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 31, 2020 12:12 PM (KZzsI)

591 588 osted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 12:09 PM (NWiLs)

You are not alone... So sorry about your family member... Prayers up
Posted by: It's me donna at May 31, 2020 12:10 PM (Zmnko)

Thanks, Donna. All this stuff hitting at once has been really difficult, and it's taking a lot to keep my shit together.

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 12:12 PM (NWiLs)

592 587 Tapper is talking to a Baptist preacher.

He looks like he's waiting for the translator.

Let me guess.. This Minister is all for these" protests" and Trump is to blame?

Posted by: It's me donna at May 31, 2020 12:12 PM (Zmnko)

593 Have moved on in bedtime reading to Herriot's 'Dog Stories'. Another nice one from him. Transports me away from the detritus of our current circumstances.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at May 31, 2020 12:02 PM (mLizQ)
==================
Does that contain the story about the mute shepherd dog? I cried like a baby when I first read that. Been wondering where it can be found.

Posted by: Brave Sir Robin at May 31, 2020 12:12 PM (7Fj9P)

594
Thanks, Donna. All this stuff hitting at once has been really difficult, and it's taking a lot to keep my shit together.

We are all on edge after being locked up for months.... We defintely do not need this shit

Posted by: It's me donna at May 31, 2020 12:13 PM (Zmnko)

595 Depends.

Trabant or Wartburg?
Posted by: Happy Fun Miklos at May 31, 2020 12:11 PM (QzkSJ)

Miklos: Melkus.

Posted by: hogmartin at May 31, 2020 12:14 PM (t+qrx)

596

Let me guess.. This Minister is all for these" protests" and Trump is to blame?

Would Tapper give a platform to anyone else?

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 31, 2020 12:14 PM (oVJmc)

597 Would Tapper give a platform to anyone else?

Nope

Posted by: It's me donna at May 31, 2020 12:14 PM (Zmnko)

598 I think it is incumbent upon Mr. Schiff to prove it is NOT he wearing the frilly diaper.
Posted by: All Hail Eris
---------

ISWYDT

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at May 31, 2020 12:15 PM (bPH26)

599 We are all on edge after being locked up for months.... We defintely do not need this shit
Posted by: It's me donna at May 31, 2020 12:13 PM (Zmnko)

These are some pretty fucked-up times we're living in

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 12:15 PM (NWiLs)

600 Morning all.

Thems ahhh interesting pants.

Is Seattle still standing?

Posted by: Diogenes at May 31, 2020 12:15 PM (axyOa)

601 Insomniac:

i hope things get better for you. Hang in there. The great part about being part of this tribe is at least one of these posts will get you to think (and take your mind off the hurt) or get you to laugh.

Posted by: secret squirrel, author of Three LTs of Joint Base Lear MacBeth, a comedic play in 3 acts! availabl at May 31, 2020 12:15 PM (xyImL)

602 In a terrible mood today. The country burning, a family member who's dying, burning the candle at both ends. Fuckin' hell I'm just tapped out, angry, resentful, grieving and I don't know what else. Fuck fuck fuckity fuck. This world is such a cruel and fucked up place, and I know this, but these in-your-face reminders are a stone cold bitch.
Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 12:09 PM (NWiLs)

There are many ways to look at what is happening around the country, and I think speculating on the political outcome is rather pointless. I know some will do it anyway.

So what I might suggest is, ask the question... what is being destroyed right now? What, other than some buildings (and sadly, some lives), what of necessary permanence is going to be lost?

Seems to me what is being destroyed, in this order are: 1. Festering shithole cities. 2. The narrative that Trump is causing what's wrong with this country. 3. The media's ability to control said narrative. and 4. The importance of the nonsense of our China wuwu virus scare.

There are others, but I'm not seeing this as a bad thing. I feel bad for INDIVIDUALS who will lose much, but the macro view... nope. Not a bad thing at all.

And if civil war breaks out all over? Fine, it was coming anyway.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 31, 2020 12:16 PM (hku12)

603 James went to some of the areas where rioting had already occurred, said he wasn't crying over the possibility, but he just wanted to take some pics so he would remember better some of the buildings, should they not be there after this is all said and done.

That was the most sober, quiet Bleat I've ever read by him and I've been reading Lileks for like 15 years or more. There was no witty wry thought, no fun, no cleverness. Just a sense of sadness for his city and maybe disappointment.

Lileks is one of the better writers of our day, I highly recommend the bleat, and his fiction (particularly Casablanca Tango)

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 31, 2020 12:16 PM (KZzsI)

604 i hope things get better for you. Hang in there. The great part about being part of this tribe is at least one of these posts will get you to think (and take your mind off the hurt) or get you to laugh.
Posted by: secret squirrel, author of Three LTs of Joint Base Lear MacBeth, a comedic play in 3 acts! availabl at May 31, 2020 12:15 PM (xyImL)

Oh absolutely. This is truly a place of respite from the shitstorm, even when we're talking about the shitstorm.

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 12:16 PM (NWiLs)

605

I really want to hear Larry Leftfoot and Jabba lecture people about social distancing after allowing Chicago to be destroyed last night. Oh that's right the rules only apply to taxpayers

Posted by: TheQuietMan at May 31, 2020 12:16 PM (U7hxL)

606 Let me guess.. This Minister is all for these" protests" and Trump is to blame?
Posted by: It's me donna

No, the Preacher was talking about prayer, and helping, and showing kindness.

Tapper had the look I have seen many times, on the faces of people hearing a language they did not understand.

Posted by: Miklos, hivatalos tolmacs at May 31, 2020 12:16 PM (QzkSJ)

607 Noody

Posted by: freaked at May 31, 2020 12:17 PM (Tnijr)

608 Nearing 600 comments and not really talking about books any more, is there any practical difference between small engine 4-stroke oil and ordinary 5W30 synthetic (same weight)? Any additives or anything?

Posted by: hogmartin at May 31, 2020 12:09 PM (t+qrx)

Can't answer your specific question, but I've been using full synth. in pretty much everything for last 15 yrs. and I'm sold. I had to do a rebuild on a 3L for a broken valve and it was the cleanest engine...outside of brand new...I've ever seen....absolutely no deposits @ 140k miles.

Posted by: BignJames at May 31, 2020 12:17 PM (X/Pw5)

609 Insomniac, my email ate my reply to you three times so here is a short version.

MoMe dates Oct 23/24. Some are arriving on the afternoon of the 22nd.

Posted by: Ben Had at May 31, 2020 12:17 PM (dtTz3)

610 Diogenes: If Jenny DUrkan has anything to say about it, no.

Seattle is such a shithole now. I won't go downtown anymore without protection. Of course, living on the other side of the state very much limits my forays into that pit of social justice despair.

And not stepping in a pile of hobo shit is another bonus.

Posted by: secret squirrel, author of Three LTs of Joint Base Lear MacBeth, available on Amazon at May 31, 2020 12:18 PM (xyImL)

611 Does that contain the story about the mute shepherd dog? I cried like a baby when I first read that. Been wondering where it can be found.
Posted by: Brave Sir Robin
-------

Not yet.

There are some terribly poignant stories, but it should not avoided on account of that. There is the lesson (if it is necessary) that all pet owners develop powerful associations with their pets.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at May 31, 2020 12:19 PM (bPH26)

612 Interesting thought found on Twitter (I know, I know...) All the people clamoring for Nat'l Guard to restore order: this is the optics "they" are looking for. They're just gagging for a Kent State moment. And these Antifags know how to get it.

Posted by: Brave Sir Robin at May 31, 2020 12:19 PM (7Fj9P)

613 MoMe dates Oct 23/24. Some are arriving on the afternoon of the 22nd.
Posted by: Ben Had at May 31, 2020 12:17 PM (dtTz3)

Thanks, that's what I thought. Will plan accordingly. And try to email me back about the other part when you can. Thanks!

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at May 31, 2020 12:19 PM (NWiLs)

614 Tapper had the look I have seen many times, on the faces of people hearing a language they did not understand.

"I was told this man blamed Trump who put him on? When is he going to get to blaming Trump??"
--Jake Tapper, on a commercial break

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 31, 2020 12:19 PM (KZzsI)

615 All the people clamoring for Nat'l Guard to restore order: this is the optics "they" are looking for. They're just gagging for a Kent State moment.

Yeah but this time there will be plenty of video, not just audio that certain details are glossed over with.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 31, 2020 12:20 PM (KZzsI)

616 Tapper is such a phony. Ace's analysis of him always running to the veterans for cover after getting called out or blasted on social media was spot on.
He, like The Rick Wilson, has a face that desperately craves a fist.

Posted by: secret squirrel, author of Three LTs of Joint Base Lear MacBeth, available on Amazon at May 31, 2020 12:22 PM (xyImL)

617 I made a comment yesterday about guys sitting on Green Ramp wondering if they'd get credit for a combat jump: https://tinyurl.com/yauevta4

Posted by: Bert G at May 31, 2020 12:22 PM (OMsf+)

618 Bert- mustard stains for everyone!!!!

Posted by: secret squirrel, author of Three LTs of Joint Base Lear MacBeth, available on Amazon at May 31, 2020 12:23 PM (xyImL)

619 Can't answer your specific question, but I've been using full synth. in pretty much everything for last 15 yrs. and I'm sold. I had to do a rebuild on a 3L for a broken valve and it was the cleanest engine...outside of brand new...I've ever seen....absolutely no deposits @ 140k miles.
Posted by: BignJames at May 31, 2020 12:17 PM (X/Pw5)

Ah, this is going the other way. I'm doing the first maintenance that appears to have ever been done on my neighbor's lawnmower (Craftsman/B&S) and wondering if I need to go track down specifically small-engine 5W30 synthetic or if I can just use ordinary automotive synthetic of the same weight.

Posted by: hogmartin at May 31, 2020 12:23 PM (t+qrx)

620 Interesting thought found on Twitter (I know, I know...) All the people clamoring for Nat'l Guard to restore order: this is the optics "they" are looking for. They're just gagging for a Kent State moment. And these Antifags know how to get it.
Posted by: Brave Sir Robin
-----------

The Left are hoping that PDT will send in the troops. Whatever happens after that, will be his[/] responsibility, no matter that the fire was out of control well prior to that.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at May 31, 2020 12:23 PM (cGzEU)

621
*catches a whiff of Eau de Barrel*

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at May 31, 2020 12:24 PM (cGzEU)

622 was that the one with Richard Pryor that sucked!!

Yes, although pretty much all of the ones after the second sucked (and some people don't particularly like the second, for reasons I can understand, though disagree with).

I'm not aware of any novelizations of the fourth one. Nor do I care to be.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at May 31, 2020 12:24 PM (2lndx)

623 You can use automotive oil. It's the same thing.

Posted by: freaked at May 31, 2020 12:26 PM (Tnijr)

624 I commented above that i wondered who is paying and behind these professional rioters and protesters? Looks like American Thinker just posted an article wondering the same thing.

Posted by: secret squirrel, author of Three LTs of Joint Base Lear MacBeth, available on Amazon at May 31, 2020 12:26 PM (xyImL)

625 I'd read plenty about the Airacobra not being an effective fighter. This book was the first that made it extremely clear why. The Japanese raids were about 9,000 ft higher than the P-39 ceiling. Even if ready there was nothing they could do.

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at May 31, 2020 09:56 AM

The ceiling of a piston-driven airplane is basically determined by the decrease in engine power as you go up higher and higher and the air becomes less dense. The way to counter this is by using a supercharger. I wonder if the reason they didn't just put powerful superchargers on everything was because they failed to anticipate the need or because the manufacturing capacity for superchargers was limited.

I dimly recall hearing that the bombers had the priority for engines that worked well up high, so perhaps it was the latter.

Posted by: Cybersmythe at May 31, 2020 12:28 PM (edlKR)

626 I wonder if the reason they didn't just put powerful superchargers on everything was because they failed to anticipate the need or because the manufacturing capacity for superchargers was limited.

They put a supercharger on the Spitfire pretty early in the war, they knew. Probably some design thing or cost, maybe limitations with the given airframe (although they managed to keep roughly the same profile and build with the Spitfire, and increase the engine size several times by lengthening the nose and increasing the size very slightly).

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 31, 2020 12:32 PM (KZzsI)

627 You can use automotive oil. It's the same thing.
Posted by: freaked at May 31, 2020 12:26 PM (Tnijr)

Cool, thanks.

Posted by: hogmartin at May 31, 2020 12:32 PM (t+qrx)

628 I think someone recommended it here - I read Melanie Phillip's "Guardian Angel: My Journey From Leftism to Sanity"

Because she is a British newspaper columnist there is a fair amount about UK politics.

She describes her shock when her fellow leftist writer colleagues made Anti-Semitic comments "Why don't you just move to Isreal?" and the like as a turning point for her.

I can say personally, that when one feels relatively apolitical and then you experience how quickly you will be thrown overboard for thought-crime, it is a very sickening feeling. Phillips does a good job describing it.

Thanks to whoever made the recommendation - it was interesting quick read.

Thanks for the Sowell "Cosmic Justice" rec- I can't believe there is a Sowell book I did not know about. Will read!

Posted by: Jade Sea at May 31, 2020 12:32 PM (E2CHS)

629
Interesting thought found on Twitter (I know, I know...) All the people
clamoring for Nat'l Guard to restore order: this is the optics "they"
are looking for. They're just gagging for a Kent State moment. And these
Antifags know how to get it.

Posted by: Brave Sir Robin

-----------

The Left are hoping that PDT will send in the troops. Whatever happens after that, will be his[/] responsibility, no matter that the fire was out of control well prior to that.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at May 31, 2020 12:23 PM (cGzEU)

I have a feeling that would go just as fine for Trump as it did for Reagan when he sent the NG in to break up riots and mayhem caused by students.

Posted by: redbanzai the Southerner at May 31, 2020 12:36 PM (nAiE/)

630 I'd read plenty about the Airacobra not being an effective fighter. This book was the first that made it extremely clear why. The Japanese raids were about 9,000 ft higher than the P-39 ceiling. Even if ready there was nothing they could do.

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike
-------

The Russians using them against tanks and ground troops liked it quite a bit, I gather.

Also:

"Of Aleksander I Pokryshkin’s 59 victories, 48 of them were scored in a P-39. Gregoriy Rechkalov, Russia’s top ace, shot down 56 kills in a P-39."

I mostly admired the M4 cannon, built by a division of Oldsmobile. Having scavenged those from wrecked planes, the PT Boat guys in the South Pacific mounted them on the forward deck, to great effect.

That worked so well, that it became a standard fitment

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at May 31, 2020 12:37 PM (X22L5)

631
Thanks for the Sowell "Cosmic Justice" rec- I can't believe there is a Sowell book I did not know about. Will read!
Posted by: Jade Sea
-------

Do it. You'll want to pass copies out to your friends. I'm thinking about sending copies to the entirety of the City Council.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at May 31, 2020 12:39 PM (bk3Sg)

632 so white nationalist groups are tricking blacks into rioting in Chicago and LA? Wait, what?
Posted by: Tom Servo at May 31, 2020 10:05 AM (V2Yro)

I would not be surprised to learn that both antifa and certain white nationalist groups are both funded by $oro$ and the Deep State, for their own nefarious purposes.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at May 31, 2020 12:39 PM (kvHSC)

633 I mostly admired the M4 cannon, built by a division of Oldsmobile. Having scavenged those from wrecked planes, the PT Boat guys in the South Pacific mounted them on the forward deck, to great effect.

One of the older concepts is the gunboat, a little boat with a buncha guys and a huge gun. You can point it wherever you want pretty quickly and serve it faster with all the men. For some reason the Navies of the world pretty well abandoned them for bigger and bigger multi-gun platforms, but the gunboat like that is a very valid concept for shore defense. Obviously you can't sail the seven seas in an open boat but you can sure as hell defend your harbor. Basically that's what they did with that gun. Every small boat like that should have a huge gun on the prow to give them punch.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 31, 2020 12:40 PM (KZzsI)

634 Mike H., yeah that adaptation of the scavenged cannons for the PT boats is one of my favorites.

Reminds me that during the diciest moments of battle for Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, they turned some of the planes towards the likely attack axes, so their guns could be used - unless I'm imagining that.

Posted by: rhomboid at May 31, 2020 12:41 PM (El6T/)

635 Per the book thread, I have a very warm place in my heart for my first "library" -- the buslike bookmobile that came down our street in the 1950s.

Something that the City of Chicago did right.

Posted by: FloridaMan at May 31, 2020 12:44 PM (r28kI)

636 Looks like Grand Rapidians in MI shit where they eat last night.
That, and/or outsiders were involved in the agitating.
Theoretically, there is a protest 'scheduled' in my little whitebread town this evening....

Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at May 31, 2020 12:48 PM (ufFY8)

637 Looks like Grand Rapidians in MI shit where they eat last night.
That, and/or outsiders were involved in the agitating.
Theoretically, there is a protest 'scheduled' in my little whitebread town this evening....
Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at May 31, 2020 12:48 PM (ufFY

There's always been a small but virulent hive of commies centered around Eastown.

There's supposed to be a protest in Lansing that started at 11am, but I haven't heard anything about it.

Posted by: hogmartin at May 31, 2020 12:49 PM (t+qrx)

638 Bookmobiles were a great idea, although they never got out to where I was outside town as a young fellow. I love those little "community library" boxes. I don't know how much they get used, but I seeded the ones near me with my books.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 31, 2020 12:50 PM (KZzsI)

639
There's always been a small but virulent hive of commies centered around Eastown.

There's supposed to be a protest in Lansing that started at 11am, but I haven't heard anything about it.

Posted by: hogmartin at May 31, 2020 12:49 PM (t+qrx)

Yeah, those bohemians on Wealthy....

Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at May 31, 2020 12:51 PM (ufFY8)

640 Yeah, those bohemians on Wealthy....
Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at May 31, 2020 12:51 PM (ufFY

I can't tell if you're goofing or not. Is Eastown not where idle affluent white leftists spend their time and their parents' money any more? It was in 1998.

Posted by: hogmartin at May 31, 2020 12:55 PM (t+qrx)

641 523 But somehow, despite Marder's very high standing,
this point got lost in the standard narratives. Norman Friedman revives
it in Fighting the Great War at Sea.

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 11:35 AM (ZbwAu)

Based on my limited knowledge, I've gone along with the view the German navy would have been better off sailing out to fight the British fleet immediately at the beginning of the war. By waiting, they allowed the British to outstrip them in ships. Even if they had lost, dealing the British a good bloody nose would have hurt British morale.
Posted by: WOPR - Clown World Timeline at May 31, 2020 11:44 AM (FQ0BG)
______

That is an eminently defensible view. The numbers added during the war hugely favor the Brits. And the quality does as well, the Queens and Rs largely eliminated the Germans' superior armor. And the Germans were actually superior in destroyer numbers. And closer in cruisers, as well. All that was overwhelmed by British construction.

The counter-argument is one Scheer indirectly points to: the very short radius of action of Germany's destroyers. He complains about that a lot.

Still, it's a tenable argument. Once again, it's wise to keep in mind competing views. Both sides can score some points. But I tend to your position.

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 01:01 PM (ZbwAu)

642 58 cyrus rick rescorla, wasn't given a prime position in the film, he was stil a relatively junior officer at the time of the ladrang, but still,
Posted by: gaius martius at May 31, 2020 09:20 AM (hMlTh)

He was a significant character in the book, kept his cool, helped maintain morale. He was not happy with the movie. The culmination of a long, impressive career was his work as security chief on 9/11 -- he got several thousand Morgan Stanley employees out because he acted quickly. Then he went in for more people and died in the wreckage.

Posted by: FloridaMan at May 31, 2020 01:04 PM (r28kI)

643 By waiting, they allowed the British to outstrip them in ships. Even if they had lost, dealing the British a good bloody nose would have hurt British morale.

But what would an early naval battle loss do to German morale?

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 31, 2020 01:11 PM (KZzsI)

644 633 I mostly admired the M4 cannon, built by a division of Oldsmobile. Having scavenged those from wrecked planes, the PT Boat guys in the South Pacific mounted them on the forward deck, to great effect.

One of the older concepts is the gunboat, a little boat with a buncha guys and a huge gun. You can point it wherever you want pretty quickly and serve it faster with all the men. For some reason the Navies of the world pretty well abandoned them for bigger and bigger multi-gun platforms, but the gunboat like that is a very valid concept for shore defense. Obviously you can't sail the seven seas in an open boat but you can sure as hell defend your harbor. Basically that's what they did with that gun. Every small boat like that should have a huge gun on the prow to give them punch.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 31, 2020 12:40 PM (KZzsI)
_______

Check out the 19th C Rendel or "Flat Iron" gunboats. And of course, that was the only kind of ship Jefferson believed in.

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 01:14 PM (ZbwAu)

645 On a positive note, the nearby city asked for volunteers to help clean up after the riots last night and over 2000 people showed up at the local stadium to get organized. Far more than those who did the damage.

Posted by: Colin at May 31, 2020 01:14 PM (bhBSF)

646 643 By waiting, they allowed the British to outstrip them in ships. Even if they had lost, dealing the British a good bloody nose would have hurt British morale.

But what would an early naval battle loss do to German morale?
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 31, 2020 01:11 PM (KZzsI)
_______

The point is that the early odds were the best the Germans could hope for. It was all downhill from there.

And of course, the risk for Britain was greater; they had more to lose with a naval defeat. H W Richmond expected the Germans to sortie to delay the BEF reaching France.

Posted by: Eeyore at May 31, 2020 01:16 PM (ZbwAu)

647 I can't tell if you're goofing or not. Is Eastown
not where idle affluent white leftists spend their time and their
parents' money any more? It was in 1998.

Posted by: hogmartin at May 31, 2020 12:55 PM (t+qrx)

I am not goofing. You are correct.

I know a super-lib who fits that bill and would hang out in the coffee shops there. He was affluent, but because he had a good job.
This was in the 90s-2000s.

Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at May 31, 2020 01:18 PM (ufFY8)

648 He lived near Aquinas.

Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at May 31, 2020 01:19 PM (ufFY8)

649 Nearing 600 comments and not really talking about books any more, is there any practical difference between small engine 4-stroke oil and ordinary 5W30 synthetic (same weight)? Any additives or anything?
Posted by: hogmartin at May 31, 2020 12:09 PM (t+qrx)

I am sure the manufacturers of small-engine oil will tell you there is, but the main thing is to be sure there is enough oil. An adequate supply of the wrong lubricant is better for the equipment than letting it run dry of the right stuff.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at May 31, 2020 01:21 PM (c07kP)

650 Ah, this is going the other way. I'm doing the first maintenance that appears to have ever been done on my neighbor's lawnmower (Craftsman/B&S) and wondering if I need to go track down specifically small-engine 5W30 synthetic or if I can just use ordinary automotive synthetic of the same weight.
Posted by: hogmartin at May 31, 2020 12:23 PM (t+qrx)

I usually fill my small engines with whatever I have on hand for my vehicles, typically 15W-40. Most small engines are air-cooled, and tend to run hot. And most do not have an oil pump, unless you get up into the 10-15 HP range. Splash lubrication.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at May 31, 2020 01:26 PM (c07kP)

651 277
And as someone once noted, once you get to orbit, you're halfway to anywhere.

-

Well, ain't this place a geographical oddity. Two weeks frome verywhere!

Posted by: Ulysses Everett McGill at May 31, 2020 10:17 AM (+y/Ru)
---- - - - - - - - -- -

Or as Lileks used to say when he used to do the Diner podcasts...The long boomerang shaped counter is just 13.5 miles down the road from wherever you happen to be right now.

Hope he's doing ok in Minneapolis.

Posted by: StillJohn at May 31, 2020 01:27 PM (4UNSt)

652 The only reason I had those classes was my university changed my degree midway from aeronautics to aerospace so they could up my tuition $15/ credit hour.

Posted by: banana Dream at May 31, 2020 10:28 AM

The essential thing to remember about orbital mechanics is that speeding up slows you down, and vice-versa.

Oh, and that plane changes are very expensive.

Posted by: Cybersmythe at May 31, 2020 01:38 PM (edlKR)

653 Secret Squirrel --

If you missed it, check out my 478.

Posted by: Empire1 at May 31, 2020 01:40 PM (3+htl)

654 I would not be surprised to learn that both antifa
and certain white nationalist groups are both funded by $oro$ and the
Deep State, for their own nefarious purposes.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at May 31, 2020 12:39 PM (kvHSC)

Antifa? Yeah. White nationalist? Nah Bra. White nationalists are no more involved with these riots than little green men from the moon are.

Posted by: redbanzai the Southerner at May 31, 2020 01:54 PM (nAiE/)

655 @423: "After watching Grant, I look forward to picking up Chernow's biography on him. I've liked his others, and now I am somewhat in a Grant captivation mood."

I picked up the Kindle version of Chernow for $1.99. and am ~24% done. worth reading, though there are somethings he states as facts w/o any real backup. Not difficult to do and maybe i just notice the ones i don't really agree with.

Posted by: yara at May 31, 2020 02:58 PM (rde8g)

656 Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd @539, about "the grass is greener", one fictional example of this that I have always liked comes from one of the "History of WW III" novels that were popular back in the '80s (the title is lost in the mists of memory).

An American tank commander in Germany is looking up at the heavily overcast sky and thinking how bad it is for them because the cloud cover means the Air Force will not be able to spot targets and so they won't have proper air support.

A page or so later a Russian tank commander is looking up at the same sky and thinking how bad it is for them because all these clouds mean that the American A-10s will be right on top of them before they can even see them coming.

Obviously this is fiction but I think it does reflect a reality of human nature: we always think we are getting the short end of the stick.

Posted by: John F. MacMichael at May 31, 2020 03:46 PM (9AOND)

657 This week I finished Hid From Our Eyes, by Julia Spencer-Fleming, the ninth installment in the Claire Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne series.

It has been six years since the last story and the author explains her absence through the deaths of her husband, a family friend/technical adviser for her books, and her mother.

I can't say I mowed through the book because it bounces around similar murders that happened in three times periods, decades apart. Those kinds of things drive me nuts.

BUT, Spencer-Fleming is still one of THE smoothest writers around with a great ear for dialogue and a terrific knack for weird descriptions. Even though it took me forever to get through, it was satisfying at its conclusion and still recommended.

Posted by: SandyCheeks at May 31, 2020 03:56 PM (u1+n/)

658 Excuse me, but is that Pencil Neck Schiff with the load in his pants?

Posted by: Sweets at May 31, 2020 06:27 PM (Hh51s)

659 Reading up, I see I was not the first with the thought.

Posted by: Sweets at May 31, 2020 06:29 PM (Hh51s)

660 658 Excuse me, but is that Pencil Neck Schiff with the load in his pants?
Posted by: Sweets at May 31, 2020 06:27 PM (Hh51s)

659 Reading up, I see I was not the first with the thought.
Posted by: Sweets at May 31, 2020 06:29 PM (Hh51s)

I think it's meant to be so.

And my internet crapped out about an hour after CBD published the book thread and so I missed most of it.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at May 31, 2020 08:02 PM (ziQiU)

661 Hurray for MPPP!

My younger brother's book is in a bundle at the moment (20 books for 10 dollars). The deal is only for a couple more days, so you'll want to get on it!

20 Book Packs - Space Opera

Posted by: suburbanbanshee at June 01, 2020 06:49 AM (sF8WE)

662 link?

Posted by: gingeroni at June 01, 2020 01:08 PM (/XPvv)

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