Overnight Open Thread (1-25-2015)

Our schools and colleges are laying a guilt trip on those young people whose parents are productive, and who are raising them to become productive. What is amazing is how easily this has been done, largely just by replacing the word "achievement" with the word "privilege."

-- Thomas Sowell in His Royal Glibness

10 of Winston Churchill's Best Quotes

On the 50th anniversary of his death.

"We have not journeyed all this way across the centuries, across the oceans, across the mountains, across the prairies, because we are made of sugar candy."

-To the Canadian House of Commons, December 30 1941

"[I]t has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."

-To the House of Commons, November 11, 1947

"It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a time."

-To the House of Commons, February 27, 1945

Semi-Retired President Has Better Things To Do Than Attend Foreign Events

"Treasury Secretary Jack Lew will represent the United States at the 70th anniversary ceremony for the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp on Tuesday-rather than President Barack Obama or Vice President Joe Biden-while other countries are slated to send their heads of state," according to Daniel Wiser of the Washington Free Beacon

And note that this may be last major ceremony to include people with first-hand knowledge of Auschwitz:

Tuesday's ceremony will likely be the last major anniversary where a significant number of survivors of the Nazi camp are present. About 300 are expected to attend, and most of them are in their 90s or older than 100. Nazi authorities killed 1.1 million people at the camp, mostly Jews, which was liberated by the Soviet army in January 1945.

CA Supreme Court Bans Judges' Membership in Boy Scouts

California's seven Supreme Court judges have voted unanimously to prohibit state judges from holding membership in the Boy Scouts of America; the ruling is based on the grounds that the Scouts discriminate against gays.
California is one of several states that has rules on the books banning judges from holding memberships in groups that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation; the court, however, also carved out an exception for non-profit youth groups, including the Boy Scouts.
Everything changed, however, when an ethics advisory committee recommended the ban last year.

JK Rowling vs Rupert Murdoch

Over the Charlie Hebdo killings:

Rowling rounded out her idiot trilogy with this racist tweet:
@peeyushmalhotra Eight times more Muslims have been killed by so-called Islamic terrorists than non-Muslims. http://t.co/JXLfZOmcKl

- J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) January 11, 2015
As I read that, Rowling is saying we shouldn't be getting our knickers in a twist, because the important point to remember is that Muslims really get their kicks slaughtering other Muslims. That is correct. But rather than seeing this as further evidence of the problem with Islam, J.K. "The Great Debater" Rowling believes this horrible truth shuts down any critiques of Islam. I think this last tweet establishes more clearly than anything else could ever have that Rowling's a racist. Her bottom line is that, as long as the brown-skinned people are killing each other, we don't need to care.

Kevin D. Williamson: Davos' Destructive Elites

Taking an international commercial flight is one of the most carbon-intensive things the typical person does in his life, but if you're comparing carbon footprints between your average traveler squeezed into coach on American and Davos Man quaffing Pol Roger in his cashmere-carpeted intercontinental air limousine, you're talking Smurfette vs. Sasquatch. The Bombardier's Global 6000 may be a technical marvel, but it still runs on antique plankton juice. The emissions from heating all those sprawling hotel suites in the Alps in winter surely makes baby polar bears weep bitter and copious baby-polar-bear tears.
The stories add up: Jeff Greene brings multiple nannies on his private jet to Davos, and the rest of the guys gathered to talk past each other about the plight of the working man scarf down couture hot-dogs that cost forty bucks. Bill Clinton makes the case for wealth-redistribution while sporting a $60,000 platinum Rolex.

...These ridiculous hypocrites deserve every syllable of abuse that comes their way. I instinctively write off all denunciations of the wicked 1 percent coming from anybody unwilling to live at or below the median U.S. household income, which amounts to less than Clinton's Rolex is worth. But there is something worse at work here than hypocrisy: stupidity. And stupidity is, like private-jet travel, shockingly expensive.
Our governments and our business and political elites are not mainly made up of stupid people. One of the shocking things about getting to know people in government, whether in elected office or in the bureaucracies, is that they are mostly bright, well-intentioned, and honest. Together they represent a sterling example of one of the most important and least understood of modern social paradoxes: None of us is as dumb as all of us.

The Warthog Lives - Despite the Best Efforts of the USAF

A damning article. The A-10 is beloved by ground troops (and politicians) and is supremely effective as well as cheap to operate and maintain. Yet for well over twenty years the Air Force has been absolutely determined to kill the plane despite the fact that they have no effective replacement for it.

The Air Force's monomania and irrational determination to sacrifice everything in order to field the F-35 has led them to try and kill effective existing weapons as well as corresponding dishonesty about their efforts. At this point it seems pretty clear that the USAF is simply no longer interested in close air support (CAS) and doesn't care if it hurts the overall effectiveness of the US military.

It's well past time to revisit the almost 70 year old Key West Agreement of 1947 and consider re-forming the USAAF to handle what the USAF isn't interested in any more. In fact the whole article is an implied argument that the USAF's self-perceived mission has diverged from the rest of the US military far enough and long enough that perhaps it ought to be broken up and its assets distributed among the other branches of the military.

(Thanks to Slu)

Scientist Explains How the Patriots Could Have Deflated Their Footballs Without Cheating

The Effect of Police Body Cams

Seems to be an almost unalloyed good:

The results were that police use of force reports halved on shifts when police wore cameras. In addition, the use of force during the entire treatment period (on shifts both using and not using cameras) was about half the rate as during pre-treatment periods. In other words, the camera wearing shifts appear to have caused police to change their behavior on all shifts in a way that reduced the use of force. A treatment that bleeds over to the control group is bad for experimental design but suggests that the effect was powerful in changing the norms of interaction. (By the way, the authors say that they can't be certain whether the cameras primarily influenced the police or the citizens but the fact that the effect occurred even on non-camera shifts suggests that the effect is primarily driven by police behavior since the citizens would not have been particularly aware of the experiment, especially as there would have been relatively few repeat interactions for citizens.)

It is possible that the police shaded their reports down during the treatment period but complaints by citizens also fell dramatically during the treatment period from about 25-50 per year to just 3 per year.

Who is Your All-Time Favorite Villain?

Well here's one of my favorites:

Buddy Ackerman, Swimming with Sharks (1994) - People don't talk about one of the most underappreciated movies of the 1990s enough, because Swimming with Sharks kind of got lost in all the Tarantino and Pulp Fiction hype of 1994. However, Sharks was one of the sharpest, cruelest, most vicious Hollywood satires of the decade. In it, Kevin Spacey plays Buddy Ackerman, a kind of cross between Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross and Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada, a studio executive who is viciously mean to his personal assistant, Guy (played by Frank Whaley). Buddy bullies, humiliates, abuses, and cruelly taunts Buddy so much that Buddy eventually breaks and kidnaps and tortures his boss until one of the film arrives at one of the most f*cked-up, dark twists you'll ever see. Spacey is electric in this film, and it still remains my favorite of all of his performances.

German Court Upholds Man's Right to Pee Standing Up

Although you're still free to be a sitzpinkler if you want.

The Duesseldorf administrative court rejected the landlord's claim of 1,900 euros ($2,200) for alleged damage to the bathroom's marble floor, the dpa news agency reported Thursday.
While accepting expert testimony that urine had damaged the marble, Judge Stefan Hank ruled the man's method was within cultural norms, saying that "despite the increasing domestication of men in this context, urinating standing up is still common practice."

Men and Women Disagree on Girth and Staying Power

Weekly Commenter Standings

Top 10 commenters:

1 [776 comments] 'Misanthropic Humanitarian ' [110.85 posts/day]
2 [517 comments] 'J.J. Sefton'
3 [498 comments] 'ThunderB, Sharia Compliance Officer'
4 [486 comments] 'rickb223'
5 [467 comments] 'Vic'
6 [414 comments] 'artisanal 'ette '
7 [410 comments] 'Jane D'oh'
8 [409 comments] 'Nip Sip'
9 [318 comments] 'cthulhu'
10 [318 comments] 'Lizzy'

Top 10 sockpuppeteers:
1 [127 names] 'The Political Hat' [17.84 unique names/day]
2 [75 names] 'Blue Hen'
3 [60 names] 'John McCain'
4 [60 names] 'Tight End Reggie'
5 [53 names] 'Turd Ferguson'
6 [53 names] 'Islamic Rage Boy'
7 [46 names] 'guy who wanted the Pats' cheerleader in the sailor uniform'
8 [45 names] 'Thin veneer of civility'
9 [43 names] 'BB Wolf'
10 [40 names] 'Bob's House of Flannel Shirts and Wallet Chains'

The group. Never heard of it.

Where it's at - the Twitter

Tonight's post brought to you by Microsoft founders Bill Gates (13) and Paul Allen (15) connecting to a PDP-10 computer at the University of Washington through a terminal at their high school in 1968:

And here they are 10 years later (1978 ) in the early days of Microsoft:

Notice: Posted by permission of AceCorp LLC. Please e-mail overnight open thread tips to maetenloch at gmail. Otherwise send tips to Ace.

Posted by: Maetenloch at 10:31 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Aloha!

Posted by: cthulhu at January 25, 2015 10:32 PM (T1005)

2 Howdy!

Posted by: Country Singer at January 25, 2015 10:32 PM (nL0sw)

3 I'll blow the horn and tell the thread below their ride is here

Posted by: kbdabear at January 25, 2015 10:32 PM (GrXXa)

4 Oddly enough, I just got back from the elephant seals, got vittles and libations, and sat down to see what was going on.....turns out, an ONT!

Posted by: cthulhu at January 25, 2015 10:33 PM (T1005)

5

We are given 10 of Churchills best quotes. Doubtless, there will also be 10 of Teh JEF's soon to follow.

Posted by: Arbalest at January 25, 2015 10:33 PM (FlRtG)

6 Hi horde

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at January 25, 2015 10:33 PM (oXqU7)

7 Nicely played, Cooth!

I'm hoping for a simple NINE!!!

Posted by: ColdBeer1 (Slap) (T) at January 25, 2015 10:35 PM (16bOT)

8 Here is the "News of the Week" compilation of the news.

More: http://politicalhat.com/?p=8104

Posted by: The Political Hat at January 25, 2015 10:35 PM (0Ew3K)

9 The effects of police body cameras, also on thegatewaypundit.

Doesn't matter what the camera shows, doesn't matter the evidence, the anti-police will continue to make their counter claims after the fact.

woulda, shoulda, coulda.

Posted by: Reginald Smythe-Beufort at January 25, 2015 10:35 PM (mBis7)

10 ...Two Under Par. I'll take it!

Posted by: ColdBeer1 (Slap) (T) at January 25, 2015 10:36 PM (16bOT)

11 OOOh... favourite movie villain. Good question and a tough one. Will have to think about that one.

Posted by: otho at January 25, 2015 10:36 PM (tBSrv)

12 Sunday Night Elbows ONT Compliance Pics

https://twitter.com/kbdabear/status/559467468029444098

https://twitter.com/kbdabear/status/559467913749737472

https://twitter.com/kbdabear/status/559468051092230146

https://twitter.com/kbdabear/status/559468172903206914

Posted by: kbdabear at January 25, 2015 10:36 PM (GrXXa)

13 Thomas Sowell is so spot on in the quote of the day

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at January 25, 2015 10:38 PM (oXqU7)

14 Posted by: cthulhu at January 25, 2015 10:33 PM (T1005)

Ano Nuevo?

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at January 25, 2015 10:39 PM (Zu3d9)

15 Everybody needs to do their part in preventing Global Warming. The town of Brattleboro will do it's part by turning down our thermostats to 55 degrees for the next week. What have you done to stop this terrible disaster brought on us by Bush???

Posted by: Mary Clogginstien at January 25, 2015 10:39 PM (D5iCY)

16 *hic*

Posted by: John Boehner at January 25, 2015 10:41 PM (3rrMW)

17 Favorite movie villain

Susan Sarandon "Children of Dune" mini series.

Posted by: Reginald Smythe-Beufort at January 25, 2015 10:41 PM (mBis7)

18 I think that picture of Gates and Allen is at Lakeside High School and not the UW.

Posted by: The Man from Athens at January 25, 2015 10:41 PM (O3k74)

19 HOOORDE!

Gotta brag for a quick second, I hit a PR C&J this week. Still need to add another 40 pounds or so, but I'm happy for now. Back to work tomorrow.

Posted by: DC in River City at January 25, 2015 10:42 PM (e+1S5)

20 Why not just give the A-10 to the Army and Marines, who will truly appreciate it?

This is ridiculous.

Posted by: rickl at January 25, 2015 10:42 PM (sdi6R)

21 Churchill's funeral. I post this from time-to-time, if only to remind us of what pygmies we now have as 'statesmen'.

http://tinyurl.com/mrdctm9

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at January 25, 2015 10:42 PM (F2IAQ)

22 I have never really understood the argument that the Army could not field planes that tied with their mission of close air support.

This may be a stupid question, but don't the Marines field planes to be used in their operations? How is that any different?

Posted by: Aetius451AD at January 25, 2015 10:43 PM (wt/Oq)

23 It wouldn't be destructive elitism at Davos without Algore, whose latest idea is for a 90 trillion dollar project to pack humanity like sardines into cities where cars are banned.

The irony that the Swiss had to open a military base to accommodate the 1700 private jets coming into Davos escaped not just Algore, but several other billionaires who want humanity tightly packed and easy to control

http://tinyurl.com/lvnojgx

Posted by: kbdabear at January 25, 2015 10:43 PM (GrXXa)

24 Wait, wait, wait.... those sockpuppet standings can't be right.

I haven't used that sock in a couple weeks.

Posted by: the guy who posted as the guy who wanted the Pats' cheerleader in the sailor uniform at January 25, 2015 10:43 PM (tdmtT)

25 Doesn't matter what the camera shows, doesn't matter the evidence, the
anti-police will continue to make their counter claims after the fact.

Meh, I'd prefer the cops not throwing grenades in baby's cribs even if that means I don't get to complain about it anymore.

Posted by: Methos at January 25, 2015 10:43 PM (A6vWB)

26 "Treasury Secretary Jack Lew will represent the United States at the 70th anniversary ceremony for the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp on Tuesday-rather than President Barack Obama or Vice President Joe Biden-while other countries are slated to send their heads of state," according to Daniel Wiser of the Washington Free Beacon

I have a question. We hear all the time about the Holocaust. Who precisely gives a flying fuck about the Holodomor, in which actually more people died, starved to death while that worthless cocksucker Walter Duranty flew top cover? Where are the memorials, the sanctimonious journalists, the po-faced politicians? Where?

* Sorry for the language, but I felt it was appropriate here.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 25, 2015 10:43 PM (oKE6c)

27 Posted by: kbdabear at January 25, 2015 10:36 PM (GrXXa)

Many thanks!

Posted by: The Man from Athens at January 25, 2015 10:45 PM (O3k74)

28 Didn't Gaylord Merkin Focker the Wurst's white uncle liberate Auschwitz? Oh wait he got that confused also.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 25, 2015 10:45 PM (tXIb7)

29 Too many fave villains to count. Will just have pick some randomly.

Cody Jarret "White Heat"... James Cagney.

Baptiste "The 5th Element"... Gary Oldman.

Ash "Alien"... Ian Holm.

Posted by: otho at January 25, 2015 10:45 PM (tBSrv)

30 Favorite villain, Jack Wilson.

Posted by: fairweatherbill holding dominion over the nether regions at January 25, 2015 10:45 PM (hcW+E)

31 Obama asked his pal Rashid Khalidi whether he should attend the Auschwitz ceremony.

Rashid said no because there's going to be a lot of Jews there.

Posted by: hepcat at January 25, 2015 10:45 PM (IeR2g)

32 The answer is Darth Maul.

I'm a bit disturbed that anyone is even considering other so called villians.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at January 25, 2015 10:45 PM (Zu3d9)

33 Hi there, handsome on the front right!

Posted by: keena at January 25, 2015 10:45 PM (RiTnx)

34 21 Churchill's funeral. I post this from time-to-time, if only to remind us of what pygmies we now have as 'statesmen'.

http://tinyurl.com/mrdctm9
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at January 25, 2015 10:42 PM (F2IAQ)

So if our retired president was in office then, who would he send? Surgeon Feneral? EPA administrator? Lazy, classless, clueless, spineless, feckless, doucheweasel.

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at January 25, 2015 10:46 PM (oXqU7)

35 1. Wonder what the net worth of the people in that picture is.
2. What percentage of the worlds wealth is held by them.
3. Good for them. Do what you want with it.

4. I keep waiting for Obama to do, or say something I can at least sort of agree with. 6 years and I've got nothing.
At least Clinton gave me something to like every once in awhile.

Posted by: Far Post at January 25, 2015 10:47 PM (BdLob)

36 Jay well its kinda like Mounds or Almond Joy.

Sure Stalin whacked about 20 million. And Hitler only whacked 11 or so million. Both in camps. But anyway you look at it, both are truly evil and if an alien species decides to eradicate humanity as a pest, well there you have it.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 25, 2015 10:47 PM (tXIb7)

37 Who precisely gives a flying fuck about the Holodomor, in which actually
more people died, starved to death while that worthless cocksucker
Walter Duranty flew top cover? Where are the memorials, the
sanctimonious journalists, the po-faced politicians? Where?
----
Can't complain about them as they were the good, unpatriotic sort of socialists.

Posted by: Typical teachers union member at January 25, 2015 10:48 PM (A6vWB)

38
Speaking of Boehner, The Bone and The Turtle were on 60 Minutes tonight. Turns out increasing spending on "infrastructure" is now "critically important" and their priority is to find a "bipartisan compromise" and so on.

Sure don't remember that as Job One from the election.

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at January 25, 2015 10:48 PM (kdS6q)

39 They cut short the best quote from Churchill.

"Never give in, never give in, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy."

Posted by: BCochran1981 - Credible Hulk at January 25, 2015 10:49 PM (GEICT)

40 slowwwww ??

Posted by: # key at January 25, 2015 10:49 PM (N21UI)

41
Of course Preznint Sitzpinkler isn't going to Austerlitz -- he neither speaks Austrian nor has he any desire to detract from his Uncle's having liberated the place singlehandedly.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars(TM) at January 25, 2015 10:49 PM (bWFHa)

42 It would be most instructive if one of the Smart Military Bloggers what post 'round here, would expound at length on the Key West Agreement?

I'm more than passing familiar with it, but far lacking in detailed knowledge of the inter-branch machinations, intrigues, backstabbing and deal-making that brought the damned thing to be.

My opinion is that it's time for a Key West II. While I respect the post WW-2 mindset that brought about the original, warfare, equipment, tactics and strategies have utterly obsoleted the original Key West frameworks and limitations.

So, Horde. How would you write a Key West II? Points, and the arguments pro and con.... what say you?

Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX

Posted by: Jim at January 25, 2015 10:49 PM (RzZOc)

43 hi all
I am so boned

Posted by: chemjeff eats radioactive bananas at January 25, 2015 10:49 PM (9GG/0)

44 Favorite? Snidely Whiplash.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at January 25, 2015 10:50 PM (F2IAQ)

45 It wouldn't be destructive elitism at Davos without Algore, whose latest idea is for a 90 trillion dollar project to pack humanity like sardines into cities where cars are banned.

Posted by: kbdabear at January 25, 2015 10:43 PM (GrXXa)

While the elites enjoy palatial mansions in the country side along with their favored serfs?

Why am I reminded of "Caves of Steel" and "Naked Sun"?

Posted by: R. Hat at January 25, 2015 10:50 PM (0Ew3K)

46 Oh wow Gaylord Merkin Focker the Wurst wants to hobble the US even more when it comes to energy independence. Wants to put off limits even more of Alaska to protect wildlife.

http://tinyurl.com/mvdwo84

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 25, 2015 10:50 PM (tXIb7)

47 Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 25, 2015 10:43 PM (oKE6c)

Like the Purges, Cultural revolution, or any of the other litany of communist atrocities over the years, the left agrees with the idea behind them and are just sorry that they were necessary.

I take that back slightly. Mostly they are not talked about because no one teaches them. I took a Russia in WWII class in college (my alma mater has not been covering itself with glory lately-IU) and our professor (whose specialty was on the 1917 revolution) covered the Terror extensively. It was a great class, but it was complete news to almost all of the students.

You cannot remember or consider something that you have no idea happened. Libs have done a good job of completely covering these things up.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at January 25, 2015 10:50 PM (wt/Oq)

48 Oh, farkleschnitz! Made the list of shame.

Posted by: cthulhu at January 25, 2015 10:51 PM (T1005)

49 Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 25, 2015 10:47 PM (tXIb7)

Yep, but my point was the difference in air play. One is a BFD, the other a non-event, presumably because it was perpetrated by Reds, in an effort to impose socialism. Circa 10 million people being starved to death in an agricultural paradise to implement the same evil system of political economy that our "betters" are trying to implement here.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 25, 2015 10:51 PM (oKE6c)

50 "Treasury Secretary Jack Lew will represent the United States at the 70th anniversary ceremony for the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp on Tuesday-rather than President Barack Obama or Vice President Joe Biden-while other countries are slated to send their heads of state," according to Daniel Wiser of the Washington Free Beacon

Why would the Indonesian Muslim Dog Eater go and pay his respects to the poor Jews and others that were killed in the Holocaust? It makes more sense for him to go and give the new Saudi King a blowjob, just like he did to the previous one. Why do you think he was bending over in that picture. Well, there is an upside to his trip; Moochelle will be forced to burka-up while there.

Posted by: The Man from Athens at January 25, 2015 10:51 PM (O3k74)

51 maet thank you for the ONT tonight

Posted by: chemjeff eats radioactive bananas at January 25, 2015 10:51 PM (9GG/0)

52
Clarence Boddicker "Robocop"... Kurtwood Smith.

Posted by: otho at January 25, 2015 10:51 PM (tBSrv)

53 Jay, the communists in media, government and academia don't want anyone to know about it. It would put a bad light on Stalin and the communists.

Posted by: Old Blue at January 25, 2015 10:51 PM (vVSOO)

54 MUMR is up late.

chemjeff, what's the problem?

Posted by: Vendette at January 25, 2015 10:52 PM (ajFuK)

55 So, Horde. How would you write a Key West II? Points, and the arguments pro and con.... what say you?

All branches of the US military answer exclusively to Methos.

C'mon, ask me a hard one.

Posted by: Methos at January 25, 2015 10:53 PM (A6vWB)

56 And perhaps the USAF should also give up other unglamorous tasks that are about supporting soldiers, sailors, and Marines. It could become a smaller force that operates interceptors, strategic bombers, tankers, and America's strategic missiles. It's a solution that could keep the fighter jockeys happy (at least until they are all replaced by unmanned aircraft) without undermining the effectiveness of America's military as a whole. Of course, it would be far better if the service simply came to its senses and made the national interest, rather than the promotion of the F-35, its first priority.

Ouch.

Posted by: rickl at January 25, 2015 10:53 PM (sdi6R)

57 36 Jay well its kinda like Mounds or Almond Joy
-----

Anna, sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't.

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at January 25, 2015 10:53 PM (oXqU7)

58 14
Posted by: cthulhu at January 25, 2015 10:33 PM (T1005)

Ano Nuevo?

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at January 25, 2015 10:39 PM (Zu3d9)

Yep. Special charity event, so awesome access. We were out there from 1:30 to 4:30.

Posted by: cthulhu at January 25, 2015 10:53 PM (T1005)

59 Army maintains it's own helicopters, yes? And the Marines theirs? Why then can they not have their own A-10s?

Colin Powell's autobiography or whatever it was, mentioned the time in Grenada when Marine CO refused to ride Army helicopters, preferring to wait for their own.

Which is why the Air Force doesn't want the Army to have their own air force.

Posted by: Reginald Smythe-Beufort at January 25, 2015 10:53 PM (mBis7)

60
I have never really understood the argument that the Army could not field planes that tied with their mission of close air support.
Posted by: Aetius451AD

Arbitrary DC politics:

wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_West_Agreement

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at January 25, 2015 10:53 PM (kdS6q)

61 Greetings, Hordelings!

Posted by: Mindy at January 25, 2015 10:53 PM (yjNMl)

62 43 hi all
I am so boned
Posted by: chemjeff eats radioactive bananas at January 25, 2015 10:49 PM (9GG/0)

My friend Bridgette can help you with that.
She takes all major credit cards too.

Posted by: The Man from Athens at January 25, 2015 10:54 PM (O3k74)

63 Hard to understand why the USAF was split off after WWII. The Army, Navy/Marines currently have substantial numbers of aircraft, why not fold the USAF into those services?

Posted by: Edmund Burke's shade at January 25, 2015 10:54 PM (cmBvC)

64 Posted by: chemjeff eats radioactive bananas at January 25, 2015 10:51 PM (9GG/0)

I told you $5.49 was too much to pay for a 3 scoop split

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at January 25, 2015 10:55 PM (oXqU7)

65 Chemjeff, what's up?

Posted by: Mindy at January 25, 2015 10:55 PM (yjNMl)

66 As I've said before, MUMR is great for those with ADD.

Posted by: Vendette at January 25, 2015 10:55 PM (ajFuK)

67 Greatest villains of all time.....Boris and Natasha! Get Moose! Get Squirrel!

Posted by: Old Blue at January 25, 2015 10:55 PM (vVSOO)

68 Posted by: cthulhu at January 25, 2015 10:53 PM (T1005)

Did you ask anyone how elephant seal tastes?

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at January 25, 2015 10:56 PM (Zu3d9)

69 Piece of advice: Tonight, don't quote by post number. It won't do any good.

Posted by: Vendette at January 25, 2015 10:56 PM (ajFuK)

70 "And now," he wrote, "you have lost a brother, and you know everything there is to know."

and there you go

Posted by: # key at January 25, 2015 10:56 PM (N21UI)

71 You cannot remember or consider something that you have no idea happened.

Which these days is almost everything except for football inflation and dancing with Kardashian's butt.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at January 25, 2015 10:57 PM (W5DcG)

72 43
hi all
I am so boned

Posted by: chemjeff eats radioactive bananas at January 25, 2015 10:49 PM (9GG/0)

Why?

Posted by: cthulhu at January 25, 2015 10:57 PM (T1005)

73 Thank God, I am tired.

G'night, Ev'ry-Buddy!

*static*

Posted by: ColdBeer1 (Slap) (T) at January 25, 2015 10:57 PM (16bOT)

74 The Banned comments seem particularly skewed tonight.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at January 25, 2015 10:58 PM (wt/Oq)

75 The MUMR thing amuses me for some reason.

Posted by: BCochran1981 - Credible Hulk at January 25, 2015 10:58 PM (GEICT)

76 "Treasury Secretary Jack Lew will represent the United States at the 70th anniversary ceremony for the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp on Tuesday-rather than President Barack Obama or Vice President Joe Biden-while other countries are slated to send their heads of state," according to Daniel Wiser of the Washington Free Beacon

hey you dirty fucks, we have eyes too
and can think for our selves

treasury secretary..... dirty money grubbin joos are we??

Posted by: the israelis at January 25, 2015 10:59 PM (N21UI)

77 Posted by: Mirror-Universe Mitt Romney at January 25, 2015 10:58 PM (SKkpn)

Remember me for centuries...

Posted by: FallOut Boy at January 25, 2015 10:59 PM (ajFuK)

78 What's up chemjeff?

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at January 25, 2015 10:59 PM (oXqU7)

79 Not only Key West but IIRC there was a later tussle between the Army and Air Force. In fact now that I think on it, several times since Key West came about have the two services argued can the Army own fixed wing assets.

AH-56 Cheyenne and Army Aviation looking at MDD A-4s for CAS caused one fight. Then there was the fight over the C-7 Caribous. And again when the Army bought Short C-23 Sherpa aircraft.

USAF does not want to surrender anything to the service it was created from. And until the advent of the A-10, every CAS plane USAF used in Vietnam came from the Navy - Operation Farmgate and the T-28, then A-1 Skyraiders, and finally a USAF version of the Corsair II, the A-7D SLUF.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 25, 2015 10:59 PM (tXIb7)

80
Well, there is an upside to his trip; Moochelle will be forced to burka-up while there.

Posted by: The Man from Athens at January 25, 2015 10:51 PM (O3k74)

And may Scowlly McScolderson's burka's zipper get stuck in the closed position while she is encased in it and she gets tossed into the cargo hold of AF1 with all the other baggage.

WTF is in this duffel bag... anvils?

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars(TM) at January 25, 2015 11:00 PM (bWFHa)

81 76 The MUMR thing amuses me for some reason.
Posted by: BCochran1981 - Credible Hulk at January 25

What are you drinking?,that might explain it.

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at January 25, 2015 11:00 PM (oXqU7)

82 * rummages in closet for the net *

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at January 25, 2015 11:01 PM (F2IAQ)

83 PeeVeeequalsennArrTee

Posted by: eman at January 25, 2015 11:02 PM (MQEz6)

84 thank God

Posted by: Edmund Burke's Shade at January 25, 2015 11:02 PM (cmBvC)

85
Not only Key West but IIRC there was a later tussle between the Army and Air Force.
Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD)

Pace-Finletter MOU 1952
Johnson-McConnell agreement of 1966

And a stack of other examples of E-Ring empire building.

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at January 25, 2015 11:02 PM (kdS6q)

86

The answer is Darth Maul.

Bah.

Here is the Gold Standard for "villain":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDP0TWJSgDI

watch all 5 minutes

Posted by: Arbalest at January 25, 2015 11:02 PM (FlRtG)

87 Interesting. It would appear that the History Channel has decided to put some history back in its programming. I'm watching the three-part series Sons of Liberty right now; we'll see how they treat it. I also noticed they ran an ad for another mini-series called Texas Rising about what happened after the Alamo fell.

Posted by: Country Singer at January 25, 2015 11:02 PM (nL0sw)

88 82 * rummages in closet for the net *
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at January 25, 2015 11:01 PM (F2IAQ)

Horse, lasso, some assembly required

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at January 25, 2015 11:03 PM (oXqU7)

89 Semi-Retired President Has Better Things To Do Than Attend Foreign Events

Same guy that just went to Saudi Arabia, right?

Posted by: t-bird at January 25, 2015 11:03 PM (FcR7P)

90 56 And perhaps the USAF should also give up other unglamorous tasks that are about supporting soldiers, sailors, and Marines.

My father, a Marine infantry officer, used to rant about this, and why he felt the Marines needed their own air wing. Close air support was too unglamorous to be a high priority for the USAF; for Marines dying on the ground, it was a somewhat higher priority.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 25, 2015 11:03 PM (oKE6c)

91 And don't forget the battle between the B-36 and the US Navy's first super carrier. That the USAF won.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 25, 2015 11:03 PM (tXIb7)

92 oh I procrastinated all weekend and now I am not ready for work tomorrow, so I will have to stay up late working on stuff.

but perhaps I'll just procrastinate some more here on the HQ.

How was everyone's weekend?

Posted by: chemjeff eats radioactive bananas at January 25, 2015 11:04 PM (9GG/0)

93 USAF does not want to surrender anything to the service it was created from. And until the advent of the A-10, every CAS plane USAF used in Vietnam came from the Navy - Operation Farmgate and the T-28, then A-1 Skyraiders, and finally a USAF version of the Corsair II, the A-7D SLUF.
Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 25, 2015 10:59 PM (tXIb7)
------
A-37 ?

Posted by: RioBravo at January 25, 2015 11:04 PM (z27Ny)

94 @63 - The USAAF had basically three responsibilities - 'strategic' bombing, pursuit and tactical support, and transport.

With the end of WWII and the advent of nukes the bomber guys were in the driver's seat. The situation that's playing out with the A-10 now has played out in every war we've fought since 1941, the difference now is that the force is so much smaller and the prospect of future hardware so much thinner.

The A-10 exists because nothing the USAF had in Vietnam - at least nothing younger than the B-26 and the Navy Skyraider - could do the job.

Posted by: JEM at January 25, 2015 11:05 PM (o+SC1)

95 Why not just give the A-10 to the Army and Marines, who will truly appreciate it?

This is ridiculous.
Posted by: rickl at January 25, 2015 10:42 PM (sdi6R)

It's not just the planes, it's also the personnel, the logistics, etc. Pilots would have to be integrated into the Army at a time when budgets are being cut and officers are getting the boot, and they would need to have opportunities for career advancement. Look around, most pilots don't spend their careers flying one craft, they fly multiple aircraft and also do time in staff positions as well. Bringing the A-10s over to the Army doesn't do a whole lot of good if officers view it as a dead-end assignment, career-wise. Additionally, the Army would have to provide the logistics support, support personnel, etc, to maintain those squadrons both at home and deployed. All of this is easier to do if consolidated under one branch whose sole purpose is to provide that support and provide the career opportunities for pilots once their time flying A-10s is over, namely the Air Force.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 25, 2015 11:05 PM (10ydV)

96 69
Posted by: cthulhu at January 25, 2015 10:53 PM (T1005)

Did you ask anyone how elephant seal tastes?

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at January 25, 2015 10:56 PM (Zu3d9)

Nah. I was asking the Horde if anyone wanted me to bring anything back, but they got all frou-frou about having it precut, wrapped in freezer paper, and labeled.

Posted by: cthulhu at January 25, 2015 11:05 PM (T1005)

97 @93 - too small, not enough time on station.

Posted by: JEM at January 25, 2015 11:05 PM (o+SC1)

98 T-37 you mean with a 7.62mm minigun and wing stations? It was a conversion, just like the On Mark Aviation B-26K, oh wait A-26A because Thailand's constitution forbade basing bombers in the country, Counter Invader.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 25, 2015 11:05 PM (tXIb7)

99 ready for work tomorrow, so I will have to stay up late working on stuff.
-----

Geez CJ I thought it was something BAD

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at January 25, 2015 11:05 PM (oXqU7)

100 chemjeff, multitask between this place and work, unless you're trying to catch every MUMR post before it's zapped.

Posted by: Vendette at January 25, 2015 11:06 PM (ajFuK)

101 A-10s rule.

Posted by: eman at January 25, 2015 11:07 PM (MQEz6)

102 Those people in that picture, nothing but Millionaires and Billionaires. The filthy rich, 1%.

Good for them.

Posted by: Mr. Natural at January 25, 2015 11:07 PM (/pOl7)

103 Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 25, 2015 11:05 PM (10ydV)

There's an egalitarian solution to that, one which the Navy used to use and the Army still does to some extent. Warrant Officers.

Actually, the Navy used to have "Flying Chiefs," which were senior enlisted men. That job was later deemed too glamorous for such mortals as enlisted pukes, so they were done away with.

Posted by: Country Singer at January 25, 2015 11:08 PM (nL0sw)

104 >>All of this is easier to do if consolidated under one branch whose sole purpose is to provide that support and provide the career opportunities for pilots once their time flying A-10s is over, namely the Air Force.
Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 25, 2015 11:05 PM (10ydV)

Then have army and marine warrant officers fly them.

Posted by: Bob from table9 at January 25, 2015 11:08 PM (WNERA)

105 >>>Close air support was too unglamorous to be a high priority for the USAF; for Marines dying on the ground, it was a somewhat higher priority.

And Marine aviators train with the grunts, grind through OCS and TBS with them, so they aren't just some strangers down on the ground. It's their buddies, guys they know, Marines.

So they take risks that other aviators wouldn't take. This is a good thing. If I ever had the privilege of leading a Marine infantry platoon into contact, I wouldn't want any CAS unless the pilot has the EGA on his sleeve.

Posted by: DC in River City at January 25, 2015 11:08 PM (e+1S5)

106 Favorite Movie Villain? The first name that pops in my head is "Frank" played by Henry Fonda in "Once Upon a Time in the West".

Posted by: puddleglum at January 25, 2015 11:09 PM (syGA0)

107 @93 - too small, not enough time on station.
Posted by: JEM at January 25, 2015 11:05 PM (o+SC1)
------
But the A-37 is the exception that did not originate with the Navy. And served in ANG and Reserves until replaced by the A-10.

Posted by: RioBravo at January 25, 2015 11:09 PM (z27Ny)

108 92 oh I procrastinated all weekend and now I am not ready for work tomorrow, so I will have to stay up late working on stuff.

but perhaps I'll just procrastinate some more here on the HQ.

How was everyone's weekend?

Posted by: chemjeff eats radioactive bananas at January 25, 2015 11:04 PM (9GG/0)

Anything I could possibly help with?

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 25, 2015 11:09 PM (oKE6c)

109 #ArbeitMachtPar

Posted by: Marie Harf at January 25, 2015 11:09 PM (4IFRz)

110 I knew there'd be an ONT.

I predicted it.

And yes the A-10's rule.

Posted by: eleven at January 25, 2015 11:09 PM (MDgS8)

111
102 Those people in that picture, nothing but Millionaires and Billionaires. The filthy rich, 1%.

Good for them.
Posted by: Mr. Natural at January 25, 2015 11:07 PM (/pOl7)

The only sad thing about that photo is that there is no conservative Amirite?,

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at January 25, 2015 11:09 PM (oXqU7)

112 Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 25, 2015 11:05 PM (10ydV)

which is why neither the Navy or Marines or Army have any pilots...

Oh.... wait... they all already HAVE pilots.

Posted by: BB Wolf at January 25, 2015 11:10 PM (qh617)

113 92
oh I procrastinated all weekend and now I am not ready for work tomorrow, so I will have to stay up late working on stuff.

but perhaps I'll just procrastinate some more here on the HQ.

How was everyone's weekend?

Posted by: chemjeff eats radioactive bananas at January 25, 2015 11:04 PM (9GG/0)

Call in sick and let a sub deal with it.

Posted by: cthulhu at January 25, 2015 11:10 PM (T1005)

114 All of this is easier to do if consolidated under one branch whose sole purpose is to provide that support and provide the career opportunities for pilots once their time flying A-10s is over, namely the Air Force.
Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 25, 2015 11:05 PM (10ydV)

On the other hand the Navy and Marines seem to be able have their own pilots, planes, and infrastructure just fine without having to rely on the Air Force. And they don't seem starved of pilot recruits.

Posted by: Maetenloch at January 25, 2015 11:11 PM (wqVD1)

115 @93 - on the other hand, if I had the money to fly around in anything I wanted, an A-37B would be a tempting choice.

Posted by: JEM at January 25, 2015 11:11 PM (o+SC1)

116 Career path.

The enemy of human progress since the days of Zag the Caveman.

Posted by: eman at January 25, 2015 11:11 PM (MQEz6)

117 Those people, rich people, white people in that picture. just prove that Bill Gates didn't build Microsoft by himself, but he gets all the credit, and all the hate.

Who are the rest, and what did they do?

Posted by: Reginald Smythe-Beufort at January 25, 2015 11:11 PM (mBis7)

118 Wait: MUMR is posting as...MUMR?

Posted by: speedster1 on the (new) ipad at January 25, 2015 11:12 PM (1brdf)

119 AD-6/A-1H was designed from the outset for CAS.
A-7 Corsair II was designed to replace the A-4 which also did CAS.

A-37 was a conversion of the T-37 Tweet to perform the CAS role. IE not purpose built for the role but sledge hammered to work.

A-10 by Fairchild was the first purpose built CAS aircraft for the USAF.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 25, 2015 11:12 PM (tXIb7)

120 109 #ArbeitMachtPar

Posted by: Marie Harf at January 25, 2015 11:09 PM (4IFRz)

Beautiful.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 25, 2015 11:13 PM (oKE6c)

121 As an aside, has anyone ever heard of this organization? I DO like that emblem "Fortes et Liber".
Would make a nice T-shirt or patch.
http://www.armyexplorers.us/

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at January 25, 2015 11:13 PM (F2IAQ)

122 There's an egalitarian solution to that, one which the Navy used to use and the Army still does to some extent. Warrant Officers.

Actually, the Navy used to have "Flying Chiefs," which were senior enlisted men. That job was later deemed too glamorous for such mortals as enlisted pukes, so they were done away with.
Posted by: Country Singer at January 25, 2015 11:08 PM (nL0sw)

That might be a solution, if the Army hadn't been slowly killing off the warrant officer concept for years. They're basically making them into just more commissioned officers.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 25, 2015 11:13 PM (10ydV)

123 The only sad thing about that photo is that there is no conservative Amirite?,
Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at January 25, 2015 11:09 PM (oXqU7)

*******

I'm thinking that at the time of that pic, at least some of them may have been. But, that was Billions ago. Funny how being financially insulated from the outcomes of the ideals you espouse can change one's thinking, isn't it?

Posted by: ManWithNoParty, unperson from Free Market Jesus Paradise at January 25, 2015 11:13 PM (VHKLL)

124 Sons of Liberty on DVR. Might be out for the night. And stupid work tomorrow can kiss my ass. If that Powerball ticket hits, you'll know because I'll disappear forever.

Posted by: DC in River City at January 25, 2015 11:13 PM (e+1S5)

125 As they probably all live in the great NW, no there are probably no conservatives in the bunch. That being said, they just need to spread the wealth around, you know.

Posted by: Mr. Natural at January 25, 2015 11:13 PM (/pOl7)

126 On the other hand the Navy and Marines seem to be able have their own pilots, planes, and infrastructure just fine without having to rely on the Air Force. And they don't seem starved of pilot recruits.
Posted by: Maetenloch at January 25, 2015 11:11 PM (wqVD1)

if Army and Marines were flying A-10s the might even let NCOs orCWOs fly 'em.

Posted by: yankeefifth at January 25, 2015 11:14 PM (VkSuo)

127 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Sprey

If you want the history of why the A10 check Sprey out. It will prolly lead you to John Boyd and the F16.

Interesting story too long to put here.

Posted by: Bob from table9 at January 25, 2015 11:14 PM (WNERA)

128 A man is never so free as when he stands to pee.

Posted by: andycanuck at January 25, 2015 11:14 PM (L6/+u)

129 The USAF is probably preoccupied with the next war against Russia or China, as it ought to be. I say pull the A-10 and its trainings staff and technicians over to the Navy for CAS for the Marines and leave the Air Force to game plan that future war.

Posted by: Alec Leamas at January 25, 2015 11:14 PM (lh89W)

130 Oh, and Maet--
From a lurker, very occasional commenter--(is there an approved term/caste for one like me?)
Thanks for the ONTs. They don't just happen by themselves.

Posted by: Far Post at January 25, 2015 11:14 PM (BdLob)

131 Anything I could possibly help with?

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 25, 2015 11:09 PM (oKE6c)
Not unless you want to write my self-evaluation for me

Posted by: chemjeff eats radioactive bananas at January 25, 2015 11:15 PM (9GG/0)

132 Who are the rest, and what did they do?
Posted by: Reginald
----------------

They all bailed, after their first $10-$20 Million...., at age 27.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at January 25, 2015 11:15 PM (F2IAQ)

133 before I entered my 20s I thought I wanted a fly a fighter, when I got older I would a flown a B-1.

Posted by: yankeefifth at January 25, 2015 11:15 PM (VkSuo)

134 If you to get a USAF Gen pissed at you in the Pentagon or at Langley, refer to the F35 as the Aardvark II.

Posted by: Jean at January 25, 2015 11:15 PM (TETYm)

135 "Speaking of Boehner, The Bone and The Turtle were on 60 Minutes tonight. Turns out increasing spending on 'infrastructure' is now 'critically important' and their priority is to find a 'bipartisan compromise' and so on."

And their brainstorm is to raise the gasoline tax to do it.

Tom Donohue and the national Chamber of Commerce are happy.

Voters, maybe not so much.

Agent Orange and Yertle the Turtle should contemplate the former Governor of Pennsylvania, emphasis on FORMER, who was the last GOP officeholder to opt for increasing the gasoline tax.

Posted by: torquewrench at January 25, 2015 11:15 PM (noWW6)

136 94 @63 - The USAAF had basically three responsibilities - 'strategic' bombing, pursuit and tactical support, and transport.

The turd in the punchbowl is that studies after WWII indicated that strategic bombing had minimal effect on German war-making capability, thanks in part to Albert Speer. A rather awkward and inconvenient fact.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 25, 2015 11:16 PM (oKE6c)

137 @114 - there might be an operationally - if not politically - convincing case for giving tacair back to the Army, but then you get into the 'what's tactical' argument - from the F-111 through the F-15 and into the F-22 the high-end of the AF 'fighter' mix blurs that line.

Posted by: JEM at January 25, 2015 11:16 PM (o+SC1)

138 That might be a solution, if the Army hadn't been slowly killing off the warrant officer concept for years. They're basically making them into just more commissioned officers.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 25, 2015 11:13 PM (10ydV)

I'll have to share that with the Warrants I work with.

Posted by: Country Singer at January 25, 2015 11:16 PM (nL0sw)

139 Jean alas that analogy is far too true. And the F-35B has become something far worse than the F-111B.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 25, 2015 11:17 PM (tXIb7)

140 Sons of Liberty on DVR

Yeah I am recording it too, it looks at least mildly interesting. I hope they don't twist the history too much though, so I will be cautiously optimistic that the series won't spit on our own history.

Posted by: chemjeff eats radioactive bananas at January 25, 2015 11:17 PM (9GG/0)

141 Interestingly the A-1 was actually designed as a dive bomber and torpedo bomber. Also served as AEW platform.

Posted by: RioBravo at January 25, 2015 11:17 PM (z27Ny)

142 The fact that they are all so eager to blow off the A-10's so quickly means that there must be insufficient opportunity for graft in keeping these older, effective machines in the fleet.

Posted by: Mr. Natural at January 25, 2015 11:17 PM (/pOl7)

143 Turns out increasing spending on 'infrastructure' is now 'critically important'

Is it "shovel ready" yet?

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at January 25, 2015 11:17 PM (W5DcG)

144 Anyone ready for a shot of tequila?

Posted by: Farmer at January 25, 2015 11:17 PM (o/90i)

145 Not unless you want to write my self-evaluation for me

Posted by: chemjeff eats radioactive bananas at January 25, 2015 11:15 PM (9GG/0)

"Chemjeff is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life."

No, wait, that's Raymond Shaw. Shit.

/offering as a former professor of chem

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 25, 2015 11:18 PM (oKE6c)

146 The turd in the punchbowl is that studies after WWII indicated that strategic bombing had minimal effect on German war-making capability, thanks in part to Albert Speer. A rather awkward and inconvenient fact.

---------

Dresden did make for one helluva good show though.

Posted by: Bomber Harris at January 25, 2015 11:18 PM (4IFRz)

147 Anyone ready for a shot of tequila?
Posted by: Farmer
-------------------

You're running late, close up ranks.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at January 25, 2015 11:18 PM (F2IAQ)

148 "Who are the rest [of the people in the Microsoft photo] and what did they do?"

On a visit to Seattle a few years ago, I was introduced to a guy who was retired Microsoft, and I asked what he had done while he was still working in Redmond, and he said that he had invented the Blue Screen of Death.

Posted by: torquewrench at January 25, 2015 11:18 PM (noWW6)

149 Each American Soldier and Marine needs a personal battle droid suit.

That can fly.

And shoot rockets.

And shoot nasty battle spider-clowns.

Posted by: eman at January 25, 2015 11:18 PM (MQEz6)

150 @135

Democrat policy preferences are advanced no matter who is in power.

I don't remember anyone running on raising gasoline taxes.

Must be some 3D chess GOPe is running.

Posted by: Kreplach at January 25, 2015 11:19 PM (DDFkt)

151 143
Indeed, where did the stimuli money go for those shovel ready jobs. Wasn't fixing the roads and bridges part of it? How many times can they tell us they want to fix something if only they had the money, after they have had the money.

Posted by: Bob from table9 at January 25, 2015 11:20 PM (WNERA)

152 Dresden did make for one helluva good show though.

Posted by: Bomber Harris at January 25, 2015 11:18 PM (4IFRz)
Pasting the crap out of a city out of spite != degrading war-making capability.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 25, 2015 11:20 PM (oKE6c)

153 Fave?

Boris Badinov and Natasha

Posted by: Drill Thrawl at January 25, 2015 11:20 PM (xtpUs)

154 148 "Who are the rest [of the people in the Microsoft photo] and what did they do?"

--------

They were the Zune development team.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at January 25, 2015 11:20 PM (4IFRz)

155 Imagine where we would be if we had Boyd around for a few more years.

Posted by: Jean at January 25, 2015 11:20 PM (TETYm)

156 Nasty battle spider clowns would definitely do the trick.

I mean if they were coming at me.

Posted by: eleven at January 25, 2015 11:20 PM (MDgS8)

157 I believe the USMC has asked for the A10 and it's force structure several times.

Posted by: Jean at January 25, 2015 11:21 PM (TETYm)

158 145
Not unless you want to write my self-evaluation for me

Posted by: chemjeff eats radioactive bananas at January 25, 2015 11:15 PM (9GG/0)

Chemjeff's self-evaluation: "I'm the sort of lousy SOB that would dump this requirement on a substitute with insufficient notice."

Posted by: Tomorrow's sub at January 25, 2015 11:21 PM (T1005)

159 On a visit to Seattle a few years ago, I was
introduced to a guy who was retired Microsoft, and I asked what he had
done while he was still working in Redmond, and he said that he had
invented the Blue Screen of Death.

Posted by: torquewrench at January 25, 2015 11:18 PM (noWW6)

You punched him in the balls, I trust?

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 25, 2015 11:21 PM (oKE6c)

160 About 30 years ago, I was at an Air Show with a friend of mine, and he ran into a friend of his from high school, who was now an Air Force captain.

He once flew A-10's , but was now an instructor flying in two-seat T-38's. He said that the Air Force was moving all the "good" pilots out of A-10's because there was no future in flying them. The Air Force was going to get rid of them.
In 1985.

This has been going on for a long time.

Posted by: Bossy Conservative.... after dark at January 25, 2015 11:21 PM (+1T7c)

161 @136 - Caveats.

The Germans, despite Speer and the slave labor, never mobilized as thoroughly as we did, they kept women out of the workforce, they never rationalized/limited their design/production choices as aggressively as we did.

And the USAAF was way, way too proud of itself well into 1944.

I'm inclined to think the British area bombing campaign was more effective in degrading the 'will to fight'.

Posted by: JEM at January 25, 2015 11:22 PM (o+SC1)

162 @ JEM, 115..... I almost agree. While the A-37B, or even a plain T-37 would be most tempting, they both sadly lack pressurized cockpits. I'm not going to look up their service ceilings, but they were fairly low for any kind of jet, and of course, oxygen was an absolute requirement for most anything above FL-10.

And it's that lack of ceiling which in turn, cuts into range, as the turbojets in the Cessna suffered a higher specific fuel consumption. The A-10's High-Bypass turbofans were specifically chosen for low to mid-altitude efficiency, as well as their power and durability.

But, a Tweet would be one hell of a fun jet. Especially the A-37 version with the conventional spar wing and hardpoints.

It's one of those "what could've been" thought exercises, to imagine if Cessna had designed it with a pressurized cockpit, and a slight redesign to allow more efficient engines.

No, it'd never have been an A-10, but it would have been one hell of a lot more versatile. No telling what it's service life would have been, then?

Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX

Posted by: Jim at January 25, 2015 11:22 PM (RzZOc)

163 Posted by: Mr. Natural at January 25, 2015 11:17 PM (/pOl7)

Strategically our procurement strategy has become more and more like Germany's in WW2.

The had a few really good tanks... a few really good Fighter Planes....

We swamped them with cheaper, more reliable, equipment... which we had TONS of.

Posted by: BB Wolf at January 25, 2015 11:22 PM (qh617)

164 152 Dresden did make for one helluva good show though.

Posted by: Bomber Harris at January 25, 2015 11:18 PM (4IFRz)
Pasting the crap out of a city out of spite != degrading war-making capability.
Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 25, 2015 11:20 PM (oKE6c)

The Nazis had two critical bakeries and a post office HQ in Dresden.

Legitimate target.

Posted by: eman at January 25, 2015 11:22 PM (MQEz6)

165 Oh, and Maet--

From a lurker, very occasional commenter--(is there an approved term/caste for one like me?)

Thanks for the ONTs. They don't just happen by themselves.

Posted by: Far Post at January 25, 2015 11:14 PM (BdLob)

Term = Lurker.

Status = Post more, especially since you have a posting name that doesn't involve "lurker" (I speak from experience). It will do you good.

Posted by: Vendette at January 25, 2015 11:22 PM (ajFuK)

166 151 143
Indeed, where did the stimuli money go for those shovel ready jobs. Wasn't fixing the roads and bridges part of it? How many times can they tell us they want to fix something if only they had the money, after they have had the money.

Posted by: Bob from table9 at January 25, 2015 11:20 PM (WNERA)

No idea.

Posted by: Every Communist outfit in the country at January 25, 2015 11:22 PM (oKE6c)

167 Each American Soldier and Marine needs a personal battle droid suit.

Posted by: eman at January 25, 2015 11:18 PM (MQEz6)

Trust me, the R&D and future concepts guys have a real hard on for this idea.

Posted by: Country Singer at January 25, 2015 11:22 PM (nL0sw)

168 Villain? Whasisname in "No Country For Old Men"....
"call it".

Posted by: BignJames at January 25, 2015 11:23 PM (HtUkt)

169 Hooray to Johnny Depp's latest shit show bombing bad. So bad that its an early contender for worst film of the year.

Posted by: buzzion at January 25, 2015 11:23 PM (zt+N6)

170 The Nazis had two critical bakeries and a post office HQ in Dresden.

Legitimate target.

Posted by: eman at January 25, 2015 11:22 PM (MQEz6)
Targeting a few bathhouses would be a better bet.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 25, 2015 11:24 PM (oKE6c)

171 142 The fact that they are all so eager to blow off the A-10's so quickly means that there must be insufficient opportunity for graft in keeping these older, effective machines in the fleet.
Posted by: Mr. Natural at January 25, 2015 11:17 PM (/pOl7)

Not specifically graft, but there are very few consulting gigs for retired 3stars in support of an aging airframe. Now, going to production in a bright and shiny new plane, that requires lots of schmoozing.

Posted by: Jean at January 25, 2015 11:24 PM (TETYm)

172 106
Who knew Henry Fonda could play such an evil SOB?

My favorites are Messala's in "Ben Hur" and Don( Ben Kingsley) and Teddy( Ian McShane) in "Sexy Beast".

Posted by: Tuna at January 25, 2015 11:24 PM (JSovD)

173 Also some intrepid reporter might ask Orange Crush and the Tennesse turtle where the trillions in stimulus money went?

Posted by: Kreplach at January 25, 2015 11:25 PM (DDFkt)

174 We swamped them with cheaper, more reliable, equipment... which we had TONS of.

Who ever gets there first, with most stuff, wins.

Posted by: Jean at January 25, 2015 11:25 PM (TETYm)

175 Strategically our procurement strategy has become more and more like Germany's in WW2.

The had a few really good tanks... a few really good Fighter Planes....

We swamped them with cheaper, more reliable, equipment... which we had TONS of.

Posted by: BB Wolf at January 25, 2015 11:22 PM (qh617)
How'd that work out for the krauts?

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 25, 2015 11:25 PM (oKE6c)

176 @152 - Sad lesson of the 20th century, from Sherman, from Napoleon, from the Thirty Years War, from Carthage, etc.

You do not stop an enemy by killing his forces in the field.

You do it by destroying the farms that feed him, killing the workers who make his ammunition, and the infrastructure that gets him his food and equipment.

Posted by: JEM at January 25, 2015 11:25 PM (o+SC1)

177 RioBravo you are thinking of the XSB2D Destroyer dive bomber which Douglas tried to convert into the XBTD-1 when Navy changed requirements. That was cancelled in June 1944 when the gull-winged XBTD-1 proved impractical.

The next day Douglas had whipped up a new proposal called the XB2T-1 that the Navy approved. Martin, Kaiser-Fleetwing, Curtiss, and Boeing also submitted designs. All companies made prototypes that flew. Only the B2T-1 and the BTM-1 were approved. They were later designated A for Attack instead of BT for Bomber-Torpedo.

Only 100 AM-1 Maulers were built while the AD, aka Able Dog or Spad, flew into history.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 25, 2015 11:25 PM (tXIb7)

178 Maetenloch does what he does as well as he does, because he is Scottish!

Posted by: Bossy Conservative.... after dark at January 25, 2015 11:25 PM (+1T7c)

179 Indeed, where did the stimuli money go for those shovel ready jobs. Wasn't fixing the roads and bridges part of it?

No, spending it was. Plenty of good roads got "fixed", at least around here.

The best part of any road project is when they finally leave.

Posted by: t-bird at January 25, 2015 11:25 PM (FcR7P)

180 Great villain moment in The 5th Element with Gary Oldman as a villain he seems to have pattern on Ross Perot.

"You're a monster, Zorg."

Almost apologetic: "Ah know."

Posted by: Epobirs at January 25, 2015 11:26 PM (IdCqF)

181 Not specifically graft, but there are very few
consulting gigs for retired 3stars in support of an aging airframe.
Now, going to production in a bright and shiny new plane, that requires
lots of schmoozing.

Posted by: Jean at January 25, 2015 11:24 PM (TETY

Tell me about it.

Posted by: 1911 ACP at January 25, 2015 11:26 PM (oKE6c)

182 Trust me, the R&D and future concepts guys have a real hard on for this idea.
Posted by: Country Singer at January 25, 2015 11:22 PM (nL0sw)

A buddy of mine was at the MCCC when some SGM from the Future Soldier program (or whatever the hell it's called) came around and gave a presentation on all the cool shit that they were trying to incorporate. He finally raised his hand at the end and said, "that's great, sergeant major, but I can already do most of that crap on my cell phone." It was not well received.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 25, 2015 11:26 PM (10ydV)

183 160 About 30 years ago, I was at an Air Show with a friend of mine, and he ran into a friend of his from high school, who was now an Air Force captain.

He once flew A-10's , but was now an instructor flying in two-seat T-38's. He said that the Air Force was moving all the "good" pilots out of A-10's because there was no future in flying them. The Air Force was going to get rid of them.
In 1985.

This has been going on for a long time.
Posted by: Bossy Conservative.... after dark at January 25, 2015 11:21 PM (+1T7c)

Seems like lots of Citadel guys end up in A10s, hmmmm

Posted by: Jean at January 25, 2015 11:27 PM (TETYm)

184 Actually it was the Soviets who requested of their allies the RAF and USAAF to bomb Dresden.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 25, 2015 11:27 PM (tXIb7)

185 "In the course of my life I have often had to eat my words, and I must confess that I have always found it a wholesome diet."

Perils of posting an opinion in front of the horde.

Posted by: Reginald Smythe-Beufort at January 25, 2015 11:28 PM (mBis7)

186 Villain? Whasisname in "No Country For Old Men"....
"call it".
Posted by: BignJames

Anton Chigurh - Havier Bardem

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 25, 2015 11:28 PM (Zi7PZ)

187 Favorite villain : Davros.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at January 25, 2015 11:28 PM (W5DcG)

188 "The Nazis had two critical bakeries and a post office HQ in Dresden."

There has been persistent comment since 1945 that the targeting of Dresden was at Soviet insistence.

Posted by: torquewrench at January 25, 2015 11:28 PM (noWW6)

189 >>>Also some intrepid reporter might ask Orange Crush and the Tennesse turtle where the trillions in stimulus money went?

Posted by: Kreplach at January 25, 2015 11:25 PM (DDFkt)<<<

They went to make the road signs that advertised which roads were supposed to be made with the stimulus money.

Posted by: the guy who posted as the guy who wanted the Pats' cheerleader in the sailor uniform at January 25, 2015 11:28 PM (tdmtT)

190 We swamped them with cheaper, more reliable, equipment... which we had TONS of.

Posted by: BB Wolf at January 25, 2015 11:22 PM (qh617)

What a concept.

Posted by: Mikhail Kalashnikov at January 25, 2015 11:29 PM (oKE6c)

191 Anyone ready for a shot of tequila?
Posted by: Farmer
-------------------
You're running late, close up ranks.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at January 25, 2015 11:18 PM

OK, I did my last one.

Notify me if there is a next one. Bed is beckoning.

Posted by: Farmer at January 25, 2015 11:29 PM (o/90i)

192 You should take a good look at who you are allying yourselves with when you call for USAF to be abolished, or blame USAF for "trying to kill" its missions. Virtually all articles on these subjects originate with just two writers. The one cited above has extremely shady antecedents, and the other one is a School of Government type with some pretty obvious axes to grind. Needless to say, you're not only not getting the whole story on these issues, but these activists are spoon-feeding factoids to support a very special pleading. It shows.

I do not believe that either of them has the best interests of the United States or its military at heart, and that is putting matters charitably. Go ahead, look into it yourselves. Search engines are easy to use. Old commies are hard to hide.

Now here's a poser: if the Army or the Marines had the A-10, and were told to operate it out of their spare funds while other major units were having their funding eliminated, and by "operate" we mean pay for the physical bases, the pay of all personnel including pilots, plus some phantom costs derived by someone else that supposedly represent future costs of parts, replacements, and revisions, how long do you think that one weapons system would stay in their inventory?

I know, I know. All officers are traitors, and the Air Force is the worst of the bunch. Hear it from you experts all the time. I think you're not looking at things very clearly. That is the nicest way I can put it.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at January 25, 2015 11:29 PM (xq1UY)

193 There has been persistent comment since 1945 that the targeting of Dresden was at Soviet insistence.

Posted by: torquewrench at January 25, 2015 11:28 PM (noWW6)
I'd thought it was payback for Coventry.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 25, 2015 11:30 PM (oKE6c)

194 Well the upgrade gravy train for the A-10 finished a few years ago. Still no new engines for the TF-30 but new wiring, updated cockpit instruments, capability to carry current gen smart munitions plus reskinning the wings. Ergo the A-10C.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 25, 2015 11:30 PM (tXIb7)

195
179 Indeed, where did the stimuli money go for those shovel ready jobs. Wasn't fixing the roads and bridges part of it? No, spending it was. Plenty of good roads got "fixed", at least around here. The best part of any road project is when they finally leave.
Posted by: t-bird at January 25, 2015 11:25 PM (FcR7P)

Oh I remember all that stimulus crap. Apparently all it went to was the sign making companies to put up on already approved and "funded" road construction project a new sign that said "this project is part of the stimulus" or whatever bullshit name they gave it.

Posted by: buzzion at January 25, 2015 11:30 PM (zt+N6)

196 142 The fact that they are all so eager to blow off the A-10's so quickly means that there must be insufficient opportunity for graft in keeping these older, effective machines in the fleet.

Posted by: Mr. Natural at January 25, 2015 11:17 PM (/pOl7)

Ding ding ding! I think we have a winner.

Posted by: rickl at January 25, 2015 11:30 PM (sdi6R)

197 Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 25, 2015 11:26 PM (10ydV)

When was this? I used to teach (meaning, give a brief) at MCCC. And if it was far enough back, they took that point to heart. The "Nett Warrior" program revolves around using a smart phone with various apps on it. They're as hung up on smart phones as they are on building a robotic suit.

Posted by: Country Singer at January 25, 2015 11:30 PM (nL0sw)

198 "Strategically our procurement strategy has become more and more like Germany's in WW2. The had a few really good tanks... a few really good Fighter Planes.... We swamped them with cheaper, more reliable, equipment... which we had TONS of."

Arthur C. Clarke's short story _Superiority_ used to be mandatory reading for industrial management classes at MIT.

Posted by: torquewrench at January 25, 2015 11:31 PM (noWW6)

199 151 143
Indeed, where did the stimuli money go for those shovel ready jobs. Wasn't fixing the roads and bridges part of it? How many times can they tell us they want to fix something if only they had the money, after they have had the money.

Posted by: Bob from table9 at January 25, 2015 11:20 PM (WNERA)

well, the shovel ready jobs were burying all the money obama slushed into his comrades pockets. and moving his bs around

Posted by: yankeefifth at January 25, 2015 11:31 PM (VkSuo)

200 Good thing I'm not in charge. I loves me some battle ships and large radial engines.

Posted by: Bob from table9 at January 25, 2015 11:31 PM (WNERA)

201 You do not stop an enemy by killing his forces in the field.

You do it by destroying the farms that feed him, killing the workers
who make his ammunition, and the infrastructure that gets him his food
and equipment.

Posted by: JEM at January 25, 2015 11:25 PM (o+SC1)

You say that almost as if logistics matter.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 25, 2015 11:32 PM (oKE6c)

202 "Graft", it's the Mothers Milk of, well, everything Government, no?

Posted by: Mr. Natural at January 25, 2015 11:32 PM (/pOl7)

203 Posted by: Country Singer at January 25, 2015 11:30 PM (nL0sw)

Beats me. Probably at least five or six years ago.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 25, 2015 11:32 PM (10ydV)

204 "The Nazis had two critical bakeries and a post office HQ in Dresden."

There has been persistent comment since 1945 that the targeting of Dresden was at Soviet insistence.

Do commies hate doughnuts?

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at January 25, 2015 11:32 PM (W5DcG)

205 Indeed, where did the stimuli money go for those shovel ready jobs. Wasn't fixing the roads and bridges part of it? No, spending it was. Plenty of good roads got "fixed", at least around here. The best part of any road project is when they finally leave.
Posted by: t-bird at January 25, 2015 11:25 PM (FcR7P)

Here's the "official" breakdown on all that "stimulus" money:

http://tinyurl.com/q2fcjvt

Posted by: Country Singer at January 25, 2015 11:33 PM (nL0sw)

206 I hate J.K. Rowling for ruining Harry Potter with her SJW bullshit. The last three monstrous tomes were unreadable dreck. It was obvious she had absolutely no idea where she was going, plotwise, and was trying desperately to write herself out of it. And, having been convinced she was writing something Very Important, instead of the slight, charming hero quest of an adolescent boy that she'd begun, she infested the story with her multi-culti cockroaches. I'm not at all surprised that she's beclowning herself on Twitter.

Posted by: Dollar Store Sock at January 25, 2015 11:33 PM (c+gwp)

207 Tell me about it.
Posted by: 1911 ACP

^
Und so.

Posted by: Glock at January 25, 2015 11:34 PM (Zi7PZ)

208 Posted by: yankeefifth at January 25, 2015 11:31 PM (VkSuo)

Have a lovely snowstorm! I hope you are stockpiled with scotch and neighbors.

Posted by: Vendette at January 25, 2015 11:34 PM (ajFuK)

209 153
Fave?

Boris Badinov and Natasha

Posted by: Drill Thrawl

Snidely Whiplash

Posted by: Gmac - Still pondering something... at January 25, 2015 11:34 PM (4pjhs)

210 There has been persistent comment since 1945 that the targeting of Dresden was at Soviet insistence.

Good thing they didn't insist on targeting Washington.

I think.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 25, 2015 11:34 PM (oKE6c)

211 Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 25, 2015 11:32 PM (10ydV)

I guess they did listen to him; they got all smart phone and app crazy around 2011, about the same time they got rolling on the "Squad: Foundation of the Decisive Force" initiative.

Posted by: Country Singer at January 25, 2015 11:35 PM (nL0sw)

212
If you to get a USAF Gen pissed at you in the Pentagon or at Langley, refer to the F35 as the Aardvark II.

Posted by: Jean at January 25, 2015 11:15 PM (TETYm)

*snort*

Oh, I WISH I knew some AF generals. That'd be fucking high-larious.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at January 25, 2015 11:35 PM (krgKs)

213 First of all, I tire of your calumniating the reputations of ~350,000 Air Force servicemembers, the vast majority of whom would love to see the A-10 remain in service.

The article is about as fair and balanced as your own preconceived notions about USA, which this article only served to reinforce. It mentions little of the stupidity of the sequester (the one great achievement of the tea party) nor the USAF's need to recapitalize its fleet. It also fails to mention how the one size fits all F-35 was forced down the services throats by the austere 90s era DOD. No, its just frankly stupid simplistic "fighter pilots bad" tribalism, failing to note that the same USAF CoS most pushing for Warhog retirement is a career A-10 man himself. Want to tell him how he doesn't give a damn for CAS, Maet, or maybe should we start to consider the dread state of affairs j n an underfunded military.

Let's talk politics. How much of this USAF-bashing is coming from the Big Green Machine's PR apparatus? What other incredibly expensive programs of dubious merit could we look at cutting to "save" the A-10? F-35? Great, what are you going to replace all the F-16s with that are about to start falling out of the sky, and which, like the A-10n, are well past their prime in terms of facung the high end threat? Here's a few: freeze Navy surface combatant procurement for 20 years. At this point, after a two-plus decade spending spree while their CVWs wither, the Navy's surface fleet is younger than the Air Force's fleet average. How about the V-22. You just gave testimony in the link at how poor USMC are at performing CAS, retire the Harriers and cancel AH-1Z. The Army has proven they at least as inept as USAF at managing aircraft procurement, so perhaps a moratorium there would be in order.

I exaggerate to make the point - this article was biased and weak. USAF faces incredibly difficult choices in balancing forces to deal with today's low-level threat while also meeting the high end threat of tomorrow. None of your persistent criticism has shown even the slightest indication of an awareness if that difficulty. You pretend CAS is the prime or even only mission of the Air Force. It's not. CAS is a mission that can be.performed by many platforms.it is probably the.most over-resourced mission area in the armed forces. Please no shroud waving or flag humping about our boys: your myopia on the A-10 might save a Marine or two - and likely not even that - but it almost might get 500 pilots killed or a war lost 10 years from now.

And I think the general (not just yours) unreasoning hysteria over the A-10 - a slow and very vulnerable 50 year old design - is a weird phallic thing involving the gun.

PS - I love the A-10 and would like to see it stay in service. I think the F-35 design is a disaster, a hopeless TFX-like clusterfark. The design was ruined by the Marines and their demand for STOVL. The F-35 is kinematically not much of an improvement over the F-100. But its the only option at this point. Anyone who says differently is a starry eyed dreamer, there is no way Congress would back out now after a ~70 billion dollar investment. Cancel it and you will leave USAF and the Navy with crippled force structures for the foreseeable future.

Posted by: Tantumblogo at January 25, 2015 11:36 PM (FrMyu)

214 I think they want too much in of those battle suit ideas.

Just boost a soldiers endurance by a decent percentage.

Have him travel on foot for twenty miles, but feel as if he went only ten or fifteen miles.

Keep it simple.

Posted by: eman at January 25, 2015 11:36 PM (MQEz6)

215 Oh, I WISH I knew some AF generals. That'd be fucking high-larious.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at January 25, 2015 11:35 PM (krgKs)

Visit Colorado Springs during football season.

Posted by: Vendette at January 25, 2015 11:36 PM (ajFuK)

216 At the Argonaut Conference two weeks before the Dresden bombing, Soviet General Antonov requested the Allies to bomb the city with Operation Thunderclap.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 25, 2015 11:36 PM (tXIb7)

217 I guess they did listen to him; they got all smart phone and app crazy around 2011, about the same time they got rolling on the "Squad: Foundation of the Decisive Force" initiative.
Posted by: Country Singer at January 25, 2015 11:35 PM (nL0sw)

Yeah, this was before 2011, since we were both deployed to Afghanistan then.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 25, 2015 11:36 PM (10ydV)

218 Evening, all.
I'm hungry - who brought the nachos?

Posted by: shredded chi at January 25, 2015 11:36 PM (9/YlV)

219 Kevin Williamson writes in his article that the elite in business, government, etc are intelligent and have good intentions, but they are educated enough to convince not only the people but themselves that everything they do is for "our own good" and the riches and power they hold are just reward for that.

Most of them are not exceptionally brilliant, they had the connections and just enough intelligence to attend and graduate from the best schools. They acquire power and wealth through cronyism in the legislatures, courts, and the media. Do they have nothing but benevolent intentions? Maybe that's what they tell themselves to convince themselves that what they do is for the good of mankind and not that mankind exists as serfs and pawns to bend to their will and serve their every want and need.

Enough time passes, all their bought and paid for propaganda cannot fool everyone forever, enough people can discern that they're working their asses off and obeying ever increasing laws not for the benefit of society, but for the power and comfort of The Anointed Elite

If history is written by honest men in the distant future, these Davos elite will be clown princes of a crumbling court who didn't even know Rome was burning until the flames burned their own asses.

Posted by: kbdabear at January 25, 2015 11:36 PM (GrXXa)

220 Boris Badinov and Natasha

Posted by: Drill Thrawl

Snidely Whiplash

Simon Bar Sinister

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at January 25, 2015 11:37 PM (W5DcG)

221 Posted by: yankeefifth at January 25, 2015 11:31 PM (VkSuo)

Have a lovely snowstorm! I hope you are stockpiled with scotch and neighbors.
Posted by: Vendette at January 25, 2015 11:34 PM (ajFuK)

Vendette! I am well stocked with everything and I am eagerly awaiting neighbors that are hingry and drunk or drunk and hungry to seek aid.

Posted by: yankeefifth at January 25, 2015 11:37 PM (VkSuo)

222 192 You should take a good look at who you are allying yourselves with when you call for USAF to be abolished, or blame USAF for "trying to kill" its missions. Virtually all articles on these subjects originate with just two writers. The one cited above has extremely shady antecedents, and the other one is a School of Government type with some pretty obvious axes to grind. Needless to say, you're not only not getting the whole story on these issues, but these activists are spoon-feeding factoids to support a very special pleading. It shows.

Well why don't you actually make some counter-arguments instead of relying on ad hominem ones. I've been following this issue for a long time so it's not like my opinions are just based on a single article or two.

And when did looking at a branch of the military critically become tantamount to supporting communists and possible treason?

I know, I know. All officers are traitors, and the Air Force is the worst of the bunch. Hear it from you experts all the time. I think you're not looking at things very clearly. That is the nicest way I can put it.

How about you focus on what was actually written instead of what you heard in your head when you read the words.

Another thought: Perhaps you are simply too good for all of us ignoramuses of questionable loyalty.

Posted by: Maetenloch at January 25, 2015 11:38 PM (wqVD1)

223 I've got a tablet with Falconview, CoT, Powerpoint, and an external CAC reader, LRF, and Iridium modem. What am I missing?

Posted by: Jean at January 25, 2015 11:39 PM (TETYm)

224 what airframe is called Aardvark 1 ?

Posted by: # key at January 25, 2015 11:39 PM (N21UI)

225 Hey Tantrum-Tautology, take a happy pill

http://www.ufunk.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/selection-du-weekend-124-6.jpg

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 25, 2015 11:39 PM (tXIb7)

226 Curious, are there countries that have not established a separate air force branch?

Posted by: Edmund Burke's Shade at January 25, 2015 11:40 PM (cmBvC)

227 Aardvark aka Earthpig?

The Tactical Fighter Experiment, TFX-1, which became the FB/F-111 Aardvark.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 25, 2015 11:40 PM (tXIb7)

228 Vendette! I am well stocked with everything and
I am eagerly awaiting neighbors that are hingry and drunk or drunk and
hungry to seek aid.

Posted by: yankeefifth at January 25, 2015 11:37 PM (VkSuo)

Dinner plates for the Chinese food?

Posted by: Vendette at January 25, 2015 11:40 PM (ajFuK)

229 Simon Bar Sinister and Foghorn Leghorn walk into a bar....

Posted by: eleven at January 25, 2015 11:41 PM (MDgS8)

230 yankeefifth that is good news, be safe and don't drink all the Scotch on the first day

Posted by: chemjeff eats radioactive bananas at January 25, 2015 11:41 PM (9GG/0)

231 there is no way Congress would back out now after a ~70 billion dollar investment

How much did we blow in Iraq?

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at January 25, 2015 11:41 PM (W5DcG)

232 The F35 is going to get fielded, it's going to go like a kidney stone, but the inertia is too high. Esp. The foreign commitments, those other countries simply can't change course - they have no money.

The real question is how do we survive with the F35 sponging resources until the UCAVs are ready to use the Q-35 for target practice.

Posted by: Jean at January 25, 2015 11:42 PM (TETYm)

233 The Nazis had two critical bakeries... in Dresden.

Legitimate target.

Posted by: eman at January 25, 2015 11:22 PM (MQEz6)

That's what they get for not serving Gay Weddings

Posted by: The Cake is a Lie at January 25, 2015 11:42 PM (0Ew3K)

234 Gary Oldman played a villain? What, like a black version of Mini-Me??? I musta missed that one but I did like that Different Strokes though.

Posted by: joey biden at January 25, 2015 11:42 PM (L6/+u)

235 Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 25, 2015 11:36 PM (10ydV)

If you haven't seen it: http://tinyurl.com/oubzrdb

Suffice it to say, there's all sorts of technological jackassery going on with the program. Like the time they looked at me like I had a dick growing out of my forehead when I asked them what was going to happen with their neat-o system the first time someone turned on a Duke.

Posted by: Country Singer at January 25, 2015 11:42 PM (nL0sw)

236 @205

So basically 1 trillion dollars flushed down the toilet.

Posted by: Kreplach at January 25, 2015 11:43 PM (DDFkt)

237 231 there is no way Congress would back out now after a ~70 billion dollar investment

How much did we blow in Iraq?

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at January 25, 2015 11:41 PM (W5DcG)

Good point. $70 billion probably barely covers the Obamapho' bill.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 25, 2015 11:43 PM (oKE6c)

238 227 Aardvark aka Earthpig?

The Tactical Fighter Experiment, TFX-1, which became the FB/F-111 Aardvark.
Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 25, 2015 11:40 PM (tXIb7)

Everything to everybody, and now with VTOL.

Posted by: Jean at January 25, 2015 11:43 PM (TETYm)

239 The European countries can't afford another plane since the Eurofighter Gmbh Taifun has already raided their piggy banks to the tune of $120 million+ per copy.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 25, 2015 11:44 PM (tXIb7)

240 Too much
Banhammer overtime
Too much
Smackdown now, don't waste our time

MUMR out the door
MUMR out the door
Repeat

Posted by: Vendette keeps up with the latest tunes at January 25, 2015 11:44 PM (ajFuK)

241 [A-10] is a weird phallic thing involving the gun.

. . .

I think the F-35 design is a disaster, a hopeless TFX-like clusterfark.

. . .
Cancel it and you will leave USAF and the Navy with crippled force structures for the foreseeable future.
--------------

So you're saying were hosed either way?

Posted by: Reginald Smythe-Beufort at January 25, 2015 11:44 PM (mBis7)

242 I don't fight wars but if I did: I would strongly consider putting CAS near the users.

The USAF has a completely different mission and is just as necessary. The Soviets prolly would have tested us if the AF was just CAS.

Posted by: Bob from table9 at January 25, 2015 11:44 PM (WNERA)

243 I hope the Nyquil kicks in soon.

Posted by: fairweatherbill holding dominion over the nether regions at January 25, 2015 11:45 PM (hcW+E)

244 The F35. The Windows 8 of fighter jets.

Posted by: buzzion at January 25, 2015 11:45 PM (zt+N6)

245

To put the criticism of the Air Force in a slightly different light (via Hot Air):

http://tinyurl.com/ogh5dut

In other words, Franklin Foer is unemployed, and Scott Beauchamp is being paid to write ... for the Wa Po.

Posted by: Arbalest at January 25, 2015 11:45 PM (FlRtG)

246 Suffice it to say, there's all sorts of technological jackassery going on with the program. Like the time they looked at me like I had a dick growing out of my forehead when I asked them what was going to happen with their neat-o system the first time someone turned on a Duke.
Posted by: Country Singer at January 25, 2015 11:42 PM (nL0sw)

HAHAHAHA!

I've been watching units here on Carson go through the pains of learning that maneuver warfare means no more big TVs with digital maps and a comfy TOC with SIPR connections. They've had to go back to using paper maps and overlays and it's been painful.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 25, 2015 11:45 PM (10ydV)

247 Here's part of the A-10 quandary, at least as far as giving 'em to the USMC goes.

Just about everything that I'm aware of that the USMC flies, can operate either from a Nimitz class carrier, or an Iwo Jima type amphibious assault ship.

And while I don't doubt for a minute that the A-10 is one hell of a sturdy plane, the definition changes entirely when designing for carrier landings.

Those well-protected turbofans out in their pods? How many carrier-landing G-stresses and shocks have they been tested for? That engine is going to exert one hell of a lot of leverage through the pod and then into the airframe. None of which were designed for carrier landings.

Nor was the electronics. Or the landing gear. And any other endless number of things that make a carrier plane.

Tailhook? What airframe substructure are you attaching to? How are the stresses distributed? Nose-strut pullbar for the catapult shuttle? Sure you're not going to just pull the nose-strut right out of the fuselage?

No doubt, if there were an A-10 assembly line up and running, these would be very rapidly incorporated into a Navalized version. But, not so easy to just adapt the USAF's present version to the maritime mission.

Oh, and speaking of.... I never even mentioned the anti-corrosion measures built into naval airframes. And that has to be built-in, from Rivet One.

Now, saying all this, I'd love to see the USMC get Warthogs. HOW I'd like to see it, would be a new assembly line, new production and a fully and properly Navalized variant thereof.

Said assembly line can also make all the Warthogs the Army might want, too.

It'd be interesting to see what the the newest marques would bring to the table, wouldn't it?

Just think of one in a two-seat version, with the electronics suite of an F-15 Strike Eagle, but with a smaller radar mounted in a nose-pod adapted to one of the main landing gear pods. I don't think many radars would have a long service life if mounted in the A-10's nose, right above those 30mm muzzles.

A two seat A-10, set up to direct targeting in the FAC mission, with it's own strike capability in the bargain, would be fearsome beyond measure.

Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX

Posted by: Jim at January 25, 2015 11:45 PM (RzZOc)

248 I can't think of anybody worthy of more contempt than the SCOAMF.

Well, there is this one guy. This guy, whose face was the color of a mushroom, was convinced he was the world's smartest man--despite have acccomplished nothing in his life. Come to think of it, that's Obama's story. But this wasn't Obama.

Posted by: Northernlurker at January 25, 2015 11:46 PM (AkoL+)

249 Unfortunately the USAF still has not renounced one of the brainstorms of a detested Chief of Staff. I refer to when McPeak merged SAC and TAC into ACC. Ever since schizophrenia has predominated.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 25, 2015 11:46 PM (tXIb7)

250 MUMR out the door
MUMR out the door
Repeat

Posted by: Vendette keeps up with the latest tunes at January 25, 2015 11:44 PM (ajFuK)/i]

MUMR no MUMRing!

MUMR no MUMRing!

MUMR no MUMRing!

Posted by: Dora, the illegal alien explorer at January 25, 2015 11:46 PM (0Ew3K)

251 Duke, as in nuke and EM pulse?

Posted by: Edmund Burke's Shade at January 25, 2015 11:46 PM (cmBvC)

252 What happened to simply messing with it's comments for a hot minute?

I really liked the "yearning meathole" one the other day. That was my one smile that day...

Posted by: shredded chi at January 25, 2015 11:47 PM (9/YlV)

253 >>>Another thought: Perhaps you are simply too good for all of us ignoramuses of questionable loyalty.

I heard that slap all the way out here in the hinterlands.

>>>be safe and don't drink all the Scotch on the first day

This right here is ridiculous advice. Drink all the Scotch. There's more. In fact, there's a whole industry designed around producing and bringing to market intoxicating beverages,

Step 1: buy Scotch
Step II: drink Scotch
Step trois: send minion to store for more Scotch.

See? Easy peasy.

Posted by: DC in River City at January 25, 2015 11:47 PM (e+1S5)

254 the Duke system is used interfere with enemy radio-controlled IEDs.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 25, 2015 11:47 PM (10ydV)

255 the Duke system is used interfere with enemy radio-controlled IEDs.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 25, 2015 11:47 PM (10ydV)

256 Seven years of fighting in Iraq cost less than the supposed stimulus.

Politicians got a fever and the only prescription is wasting tax payer money.

Posted by: Kreplach at January 25, 2015 11:48 PM (DDFkt)

257 Posted by: Tantumblogo at January 25, 2015 11:36 PM (FrMyu)

Sigh. Did actually read what I wrote or was it just an amalgam of strawmen living in your head?

The USAF brass wants to kill the A-10 today. Until they can show me an equivalent currently available CAS replacement, I'm not going to believe that CAS is a real AF priority.

Posted by: Maetenloch at January 25, 2015 11:48 PM (wqVD1)

258 236 @205

So basically 1 trillion dollars flushed down the toilet.
Posted by: Kreplach at January 25, 2015 11:43 PM (DDFkt)

Hi there!

Posted by: The SLS at January 25, 2015 11:48 PM (sdi6R)

259 Posted by: Country Singer at January 25, 2015 11:42 PM (nL0sw)

Holy crap....

Drivers who text have the same statistical chance of accident as drivers who are drunk....

Hey LT.... LT!!!! Put down the damn IPHONE and COMMAND!!!!

Posted by: BB Wolf at January 25, 2015 11:49 PM (qh617)

260
252 What happened to simply messing with it's comments for a hot minute? I really liked the "yearning meathole" one the other day. That was my one smile that day...
Posted by: shredded chi at January 25, 2015 11:47 PM (9/YlV)

I haven't quite figured out the rhyme and reason to which comment it picks to start messing with it before it finally deletes that one and moves on to a later comment to repeat. I'm sure its some looped timing of "If/Then/Go" scripting.

Posted by: buzzion at January 25, 2015 11:49 PM (zt+N6)

261 Jim, Fairchild did make a N/AW two seat A-10 prototype.

http://tinyurl.com/pqo9wnr

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 25, 2015 11:49 PM (tXIb7)

262 Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 25, 2015 11:45 PM (10ydV)

That's getting a big push from our end, and I'm sort of responsible (I'm the EW guy at MCoE). Once I got people to realize that they can't count on GPS to be there the pucker factor went up exponentially. It helps that I still subscribe to the theory that a Company Commander should be limited to a red lens and a poncho.

Posted by: Country Singer at January 25, 2015 11:49 PM (nL0sw)

263 wife got Dolphin Tale 1 and 2 DVd's for the kids to watch, fun kids show well under 8 anyway

Posted by: # key at January 25, 2015 11:49 PM (N21UI)

264 Jim all true. The Marines train to take beaches but they have been fighting a long way from any sea for some years. In fact it has been so long it has been discussed the Marines may be disbanded.

Posted by: Bob from table9 at January 25, 2015 11:50 PM (WNERA)

265 the stimulus was about saving government jobs. nothing more.

Posted by: jc at January 25, 2015 11:50 PM (iRJ+A)

266 So basically 1 trillion dollars flushed down the toilet.
-------------------

Heck no. Bought a LOT of votes with that money.

Posted by: Barky at January 25, 2015 11:51 PM (F2IAQ)

267 Posted by: Bob from table9 at January 25, 2015 11:50 PM (WNERA)

Not to their face...I'd bet.

Posted by: BignJames at January 25, 2015 11:52 PM (HtUkt)

268 When in a knife fight with the enemy what do you want?

An A-10 with ,1400 rounds of 30mm that can loiter for four hours while sneering at 23mm and SA-14 missiles. Or an F-35 with 125 rounds of 25mm while doing 450knots IAS because it can't risk its delicate hide against AAA?

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 25, 2015 11:53 PM (tXIb7)

269 So basically 1 trillion dollars flushed down the toilet.

Posted by: Kreplach at January 25, 2015 11:43 PM (DDFkt)

Done all the time.

Posted by: US Government at January 25, 2015 11:53 PM (ajFuK)

270 So you're saying were hosed either way?

No, but it forces you into the creative solution box.

1. Change the responsibility for ground effects to the guy calling the fire, not the jet jock pushing the pickle. Maybe the F35 can support from it's higher altitude.

2. Hope the dev guys can get the next generation, high performance GaN chipsets working in time for the first block upgrade so we can pull 15-20% of weight out of the F35, before the next gen Chicom shit gets in the air.

3. Maybe we can integrate the big ass F35 radar with a bunch of UCAVs and put the pig in a swarm of "autonomous wingman"?

Etc.

But the basic F35 math doesn't work, so someone is going to have to change the rules.

Posted by: Jean at January 25, 2015 11:53 PM (TETYm)

271 That's getting a big push from our end, and I'm sort of responsible (I'm the EW guy at MCoE). Once I got people to realize that they can't count on GPS to be there the pucker factor went up exponentially. It helps that I still subscribe to the theory that a Company Commander should be limited to a red lens and a poncho.
Posted by: Country Singer at January 25, 2015 11:49 PM (nL0sw)

I teach COIST here on Carson. Commanders are starting to push it at the brigade and battalion level after coming back from rotations to Pinion Canyon or NTC and discovering how dicked up they are.

Heck, I've had S-2s asking me to teach their 35s because my course covers the basics of IPOE with maps and overlays. A lot of their Joes last did that at AIT and aren't comfortable with it anymore. But if you don't know how to do this crap on acetate, you're certainly not going to understand how to make it all work with DCGS-A (at the brigade level)

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 25, 2015 11:54 PM (10ydV)

272 I hope the Nyquil kicks in soon.
That's what I always say!

Posted by: joey biden at January 25, 2015 11:54 PM (L6/+u)

273 Politicians got a fever and the only prescription is wasting tax payer money.
Posted by: Kreplach

It's almost as if some are making money off that waste.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 25, 2015 11:55 PM (Zi7PZ)

274 2+2 = potato. Saw that here today.

we changed the math rules will that help?

Posted by: Bob from table9 at January 25, 2015 11:55 PM (WNERA)

275 >>>So basically 1 trillion dollars flushed down the toilet.

Posted by: Kreplach at January 25, 2015 11:43 PM (DDFkt)<<<

Nah, we shredded a bunch with windfarm projects, and burned a bunch with solar scams too.

Posted by: Green Energy Scams at January 25, 2015 11:56 PM (tdmtT)

276 F-35 has a weight problem? Have they exceeded Grumman and their SWIP on the F-111B yet?

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 25, 2015 11:56 PM (tXIb7)

277 Oh, and Hans Gruber, naturlich.

"All this posturing and you're just a petty thief."

"I am an exceptional thief! And I'm moving up to kidnapping."

Posted by: Dollar Store Sock at January 25, 2015 11:57 PM (GmLVy)

278 262
Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 25, 2015 11:45 PM (10ydV)

That's getting a big push from our end, and I'm sort of responsible
(I'm the EW guy at MCoE). Once I got people to realize that they can't
count on GPS to be there the pucker factor went up exponentially. It
helps that I still subscribe to the theory that a Company Commander
should be limited to a red lens and a poncho.

Posted by: Country Singer at January 25, 2015 11:49 PM (nL0sw)

How 'bout it's also a beacon to help enemies concentrate their fire?

Posted by: cthulhu at January 25, 2015 11:57 PM (T1005)

279 So basically 1 trillion dollars flushed down the toilet.
-------------------------

We now have sidewalks to nowhere here..., and curb-cuts with wheelchair ramps, to nowhere.
Both thanks to 'stimulus'.

Posted by: Barky at January 25, 2015 11:58 PM (F2IAQ)

280 I teach COIST here on Carson.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 25, 2015 11:54 PM (10ydV)

Changes coming down the pike (again). I was dragged into a MCoE - ICoE teleconference two weeks ago; that was one of the topics.

Shoot me your NIPR to Country Sngr (at) g mail and I'll send you some stuff tomorrow.

Posted by: Country Singer at January 25, 2015 11:58 PM (nL0sw)

281 Maet, "All officers are traitors," which I quote often, is a quote from the ONT.
I bitched when I first heard it, and I continue to bitch every time it comes up.
It is one of the more shameful things that has ever been said on your ONT, and eager as you are to slap me down, you said nothing to the originator -- or the couple of eager supporters who chimed right in. It has come up several times.

Now, I never sit around and call for the Navy or the Marine Corps to be abolished, but just to take their example, both services formerly fielded aircraft that were particularly suited to close air support. Those platforms were done away with, without good substitutes, because overall budgets were cut. When that happened, many people thought it was dangerous and a shame. Almost no one claimed that it was accomplished by a cabal of admirals seeking retirement jobs as consultants. Yet, that charge is regularly leveled here. Has your "research" convinced you that USAF is a secret cabal?

I'm going to let it go at saying that you are out of line on this subject, but your fan club is way worse. Rage away, but you will get an argument every time.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at January 25, 2015 11:58 PM (xq1UY)

282 Company Commander
should be limited to a red lens and a poncho.

A Sears poncho?

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at January 25, 2015 11:58 PM (W5DcG)

283 So basically 1 trillion dollars flushed down the toilet.

Posted by: Kreplach at January 25, 2015 11:43 PM (DDFkt)

*******
I feel like I deserve a little bit of credit here.

Posted by: Cash for Clunkers at January 25, 2015 11:58 PM (VHKLL)

284 Bets on when the new Syriza-led Greek Government will try to leave the Eurozone when the Germans won't let the Greeks spend more?

Posted by: Thrawn at January 25, 2015 11:58 PM (d7XFS)

285 Why do you think the Chinese blew up the satellite? There won't be one GPS in orbit if SHTF.

Posted by: Bob from table9 at January 25, 2015 11:58 PM (WNERA)

286
So basically 1 trillion dollars flushed down the toilet.

Posted by: Kreplach at January 25, 2015 11:43 PM (DDFkt)

Did anyone REALLY think that the Donks would spend money on infrastructure that would employ "burly men" instead of using the stimulus to subsidize yoga classes and aroma therapy for upper middle class women????

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at January 25, 2015 11:59 PM (krgKs)

287 How 'bout it's also a beacon to help enemies concentrate their fire?

Posted by: cthulhu at January 25, 2015 11:57 PM (T1005)

I'm not following...what's a beacon?

Posted by: Country Singer at January 25, 2015 11:59 PM (nL0sw)

288 Dinner plates for the Chinese food?
Posted by: Vendette at January 25, 2015 11:40 PM (ajFuK)

sigh. yes. our favorite chinese place went tango uniform but we have a second. we have a good supply of dinner plates. during the hurricane the plate thing was something of a problem but we have agreed on an emergency solution.

Posted by: yankeefifth at January 26, 2015 12:01 AM (VkSuo)

289 Heeeeey. I voted for the Stimulus. And then latched on to the tit, baby! 40% increase in personal wealth, in ONE term! Woooohooo! All from 'Solar Grants'.

Posted by: Kay Hagen at January 26, 2015 12:01 AM (F2IAQ)

290 Late evening horde

Posted by: RWC Team Warthog at January 26, 2015 12:01 AM (zxCGA)

291 Just watched Master and Commander again last night and was reminded of its worth.

My Jr. High school class was, inexplicably, required to read 'Two Years Before the Mast.' A horridly boring tale of merchant marines set 30-40 years later.

At least one of Patrick O'Brian's novels should be required reading instead of gas bag crap like Two Years.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 26, 2015 12:02 AM (Zi7PZ)

292 According to Willie Ley who personally knew Dornberger and Von Braun who were developing the war rocket, what really brought Germany to her knees was the cutting of transportation. They could make widgets all day long, in varying methods or modifying construction to speed up the manufacturing, but at the end they could not move critical materials like steel and coal and fuel around, and they could not resupply troops in battle.

This was done by cutting rail lines and roads and destroying power supplies.

I don't believe that the bombing broke the will of German industry, the Nazi party had already done that to some extent, the bombing just broke the lines of communication and resupply.

Once you knock enough links out the system no longer works. Once the system no longer works your soldiers can't fight.

Posted by: Kindltot at January 26, 2015 12:02 AM (t//F+)

293 287
How 'bout it's also a beacon to help enemies concentrate their fire?

Posted by: cthulhu at January 25, 2015 11:57 PM (T1005)

I'm not following...what's a beacon?

Posted by: Country Singer at January 25, 2015 11:59 PM (nL0sw)

I thought we were talking about that Nett Warrior gizmo. It somehow reminded me of a certain recent Iranian General with a cellphone problem.

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 12:02 AM (T1005)

294 255 the Duke system is used interfere with enemy radio-controlled IEDs.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 25, 2015 11:47 PM (10ydV)

Square wave pulses? I'd wondered why they didn't emit them to set those things off. Let the IEDs pick the Fourier components they like.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 12:02 AM (oKE6c)

295 How 'bout it's also a beacon to help enemies concentrate their fire?
Posted by: cthulhu at January 25, 2015 11:57 PM (T1005)

That's gonna be the least of our worries on a battlefield.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 26, 2015 12:03 AM (10ydV)

296 Bets on when the new Syriza-led Greek Government will try to leave the Eurozone when the Germans won't let the Greeks spend more?

The new head cheese of Greece has already stated that he intends to provide free electricity to those who cannot afford it.
I wonder where it will come from?

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at January 26, 2015 12:04 AM (W5DcG)

297 I've been hacking together star trackers with 153D outputs, for "backup".

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 12:04 AM (TETYm)

298 281 Maet, "All officers are traitors," which I quote often, is a quote from the ONT.
I bitched when I first heard it, and I continue to bitch every time it comes up.
It is one of the more shameful things that has ever been said on your ONT, and eager as you are to slap me down, you said nothing to the originator -- or the couple of eager supporters who chimed right in. It has come up several times.

I don't really recall this but can't say it didn't happen. Link?

I'm going to let it go at saying that you are out of line on this subject, but your fan club is way worse. Rage away, but you will get an argument every time.

How about you actually provide arguments instead of simply asserting from on high that I'm wrong. Otherwise it's not even possible to debate.

And if you have a problem with what someone here said in a comment, why don't take it up with THEM directly. That is far more effective than complaining to me about it. The ONT is not a monolith so try responding to the individual people here instead of the ONT as a whole.

Posted by: Maetenloch at January 26, 2015 12:04 AM (wqVD1)

299 Just watched Master and Commander again last night and was reminded of its worth.

My Jr. High school class was, inexplicably, required to read 'Two
Years Before the Mast.' A horridly boring tale of merchant marines set
30-40 years later.

At least one of Patrick O'Brian's novels should be required reading instead of gas bag crap like Two Years.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 26, 2015 12:02 AM (Zi7PZ)

That was the last movie I willingly saw in the theater, because I went myself. I admit, Persuasion is my favorite novel.

Posted by: Vendette at January 26, 2015 12:05 AM (ajFuK)

300 Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 12:02 AM (T1005)

Oh, I thought you were talking about either GPS or red lens flashlights. You are correct, to some degree, but no more than regular radio transmissions would be a beacon.

Posted by: Country Singer at January 26, 2015 12:05 AM (nL0sw)

301
272 I hope the Nyquil kicks in soon.
That's what I always say!

Posted by: joey biden at January 25, 2015 11:54 PM (L6/+u)

Chloroform works much better.

FIrst date on Valentine's Day in years.

Posted by: RWC Team Warthog at January 26, 2015 12:05 AM (zxCGA)

302 Oh I remember all that stimulus crap. Apparently all it went to was the sign making companies to put up on already approved and "funded" road construction project a new sign that said "this project is part of the stimulus" or whatever bullshit name they gave it.

I have one of those signs on my refrigerator. It's round and magnetic. They left a couple of trucks parked outside my house one night and it, er, fell off.

Posted by: Weirddave at January 26, 2015 12:06 AM (WvS3w)

303 Square wave pulses? I'd wondered why they didn't emit them to set those things off. Let the IEDs pick the Fourier components they like.
Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 12:02 AM (oKE6c)

The military didn't want that because who knows where they are. They might go off hand harm a civilian. Something like that.

Posted by: Bob from table9 at January 26, 2015 12:06 AM (WNERA)

304 The new head cheese of Greece has already stated that he intends to provide free electricity to those who cannot afford it.
I wonder where it will come from?
Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr.

American leftists and copper mesh laden xxxxx-xxxxxxx.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 26, 2015 12:06 AM (Zi7PZ)

305 The new head cheese of Greece has already stated that he intends to provide free electricity to those who cannot afford it.
I wonder where it will come from?
Posted by: Bertram
----------------

It's the 'Venezuela Model'.

Posted by: Kay Hagen at January 26, 2015 12:06 AM (F2IAQ)

306 Shoot me your NIPR to Country Sngr (at) g mail and I'll send you some stuff tomorrow.
Posted by: Country Singer at January 25, 2015 11:58 PM (nL0sw)

Done. It's my company email, because I'm traveling all this week. Any input that you have would be greatly appreciated!

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 26, 2015 12:06 AM (10ydV)

307 295
How 'bout it's also a beacon to help enemies concentrate their fire?

Posted by: cthulhu at January 25, 2015 11:57 PM (T1005)

That's gonna be the least of our worries on a battlefield.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 26, 2015 12:03 AM (10ydV)

What kind of battlefield are you thinking of?

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 12:07 AM (T1005)

308 >>>>the Nyquil kicks in

that is what is was

Posted by: bill cosby at January 26, 2015 12:07 AM (N21UI)

309 Square wave pulses? I'd wondered why they didn't emit them to set those things off. Let the IEDs pick the Fourier components they like.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 12:02 AM (oKE6c)

Variety of techniques, but I can't talk about them. There are methods for pre-detontation, though.

Posted by: Country Singer at January 26, 2015 12:08 AM (nL0sw)

310 The military didn't want that because who knows where they are. They might go off hand harm a civilian. Something like that.
Posted by: Bob from table9 at January 26, 2015 12:06 AM (WNERA)

it's also dangerous because the enemy isn't stupid. If I know that it's going to set off the IED, i'll simply put the trigger about 100 yards ahead of the device.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 26, 2015 12:08 AM (10ydV)

311 The military didn't want that because who knows where they are. They might go off hand harm a civilian. Something like that.

Posted by: Bob from table9 at January 26, 2015 12:06 AM (WNERA)
I don't understand. Why not put towelhead insurgents on the Diana Oughton plan? If you live(d) next to one, next time (?) rat him out.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 12:08 AM (oKE6c)

312 302 Oh I remember all that stimulus crap. Apparently all it went to was the sign making companies to put up on already approved and "funded" road construction project a new sign that said "this project is part of the stimulus" or whatever bullshit name they gave it.

I have one of those signs on my refrigerator. It's round and magnetic. They left a couple of trucks parked outside my house one night and it, er, fell off.

Posted by: Weirddave at January 26, 2015 12:06 AM (WvS3w)

Highway 99 up and down the Calif Central Valley...

Stimulus signs have been up for years... and they have to keep updating them with later completion dates...

Posted by: BB Wolf at January 26, 2015 12:08 AM (qh617)

313 I hope the Nyquil kicks in soon.

Posted by: fairweatherbill holding dominion over the nether regions at January 25, 2015 11:45 PM (hcW+E)/i]

Be careful.

This is what happens with to much NyQuil:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-cl=84503534&v=Cf82HQPf3pc&x-yt-ts=1421914688#t=98

Posted by: The Q is watching you at January 26, 2015 12:08 AM (0Ew3K)

314 Presently overdosing on Silent Mobius TV. Up to Episode 7 Kagome Kagome.

http://youtu.be/Cl_g4eVxr8U

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 26, 2015 12:09 AM (tXIb7)

315 Interesting times, when enemy civilians are worth more than our soldiers. Interesting times.

Posted by: Bob from table9 at January 26, 2015 12:09 AM (WNERA)

316 281 Maet, "All officers are traitors," which I quote often, is a quote from the ONT.
I bitched when I first heard it, and I continue to bitch every time it comes up.
It
is one of the more shameful things that has ever been said on your ONT,
and eager as you are to slap me down, you said nothing to the
originator -- or the couple of eager supporters who chimed right in. It
has come up several times.

This O5 uniform-ironer would get really nasty if she saw a post like that.

Posted by: Vendette at January 26, 2015 12:09 AM (ajFuK)

317 296
Bets on when the new Syriza-led Greek Government will try to leave
the Eurozone when the Germans won't let the Greeks spend more?

The new head cheese of Greece has already stated that he intends to provide free electricity to those who cannot afford it.

I wonder where it will come from?

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at January 26, 2015 12:04 AM (W5DcG)

They're going to sneak a reaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllly long extension-cord over to Turkey.

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 12:09 AM (T1005)

318 Anna Puma.... question.

Basic approach to things, is that the USAF two seaters give the Bear flight controls in the back, while the USN doctrine is that the RSO is just that, and doesn't even have rudimentary back-up or emergency-only flight controls.

IIRC, the USAF also puts a rated pilot in the Bear seat, whereas the USN's RSO is not (normally) a pilot.

Some of the pros n' cons are obvious. Getting a disabled plane and front seat pilot might be possible in the USAF's layout, but it's just time to pull the loud-handle if you Fly Navy.

Your thoughts?

Oh, and that dual Warthog is a beaut. But, what did in lose in internal capacity to do that? Doesn't look like a stretched fuselage, so what..... rounds on board for the cannon? Fuel? Electronics?

Wonder what a two seater would look like in a clean-sheet design, a bit of stretch ahead of and behind the wing...keep the round count high, maybe another internal tank in the aft stretch section.

And, Navalized. Nice, big, beefy landing gear, and the entire airframe evolved for carrier stresses.

Guess they'd have to finagle a refueling probe into the mix too, eh?

Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX

Posted by: Jim at January 26, 2015 12:09 AM (RzZOc)

319 yankeefifth that is good news, be safe and don't drink all the Scotch on the first day
Posted by: chemjeff eats radioactive bananas at January 25, 2015 11:41 PM (9GG/0)

my strategy is to have more than I can drink in a session, and by drink in a session I mean I pass before I fun out of scotch.

Posted by: yankeefifth at January 26, 2015 12:10 AM (VkSuo)

320 it's also dangerous because the enemy isn't stupid. If I know that it's going to set off the IED, i'll simply put the trigger about 100 yards ahead of the device.
Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 26, 2015 12:08 AM (10ydV)

Yeah it is complicated.

Posted by: Bob from table9 at January 26, 2015 12:10 AM (WNERA)

321 Variety of techniques, but I can't talk about them. There are methods for pre-detontation, though.

Posted by: Country Singer at January 26, 2015 12:08 AM (nL0sw)

Fair enough.

it's also dangerous because the enemy isn't stupid.
If I know that it's going to set off the IED, i'll simply put the
trigger about 100 yards ahead of the device.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 26, 2015 12:08 AM (10ydV)But what about blasting the entire city with a high wattage square wave pulse at random intervals? Yeah, it'll do wonders for cell phones, but WTF. They wouldn't have cell phones but for us.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 12:11 AM (oKE6c)

322 Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 26, 2015 12:06 AM (10ydV)

Replied. I'll shoot you all kinds of inane things that get dreamed up on our end.

Posted by: Country Singer at January 26, 2015 12:11 AM (nL0sw)

323 310 The military didn't want that because who knows where they are. They might go off hand harm a civilian. Something like that.

Posted by: Bob from table9 at January 26, 2015 12:06 AM (WNERA)
it's also dangerous because the enemy isn't stupid. If I know that it's going to set off the IED, i'll simply put the trigger about 100 yards ahead of the device.
Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 26, 2015 12:08 AM (10ydV)

Or do what the IRA did and simply move up the electromagnetic spectrum. By the end of their campaign against the British they were using microwaves and light pulses to trigger their bombs.

Posted by: Maetenloch at January 26, 2015 12:12 AM (wqVD1)

324 296
The new head cheese of Greece has already stated that he intends to provide free electricity to those who cannot afford it.
I wonder where it will come from?

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at January 26, 2015 12:04 AM (W5DcG)

*munches popcorn*

Posted by: rickl at January 26, 2015 12:12 AM (sdi6R)

325 so the methlab is gonna get her first real good look ant snow. She is gonna hate it, ont a fan of cold anything. Good news is, as much energy as she has, she can run around in circles until she creates a snow tornado and send it all off into jersey.

Posted by: yankeefifth at January 26, 2015 12:13 AM (VkSuo)

326 Posted by: yankeefifth at January 26, 2015 12:10 AM (VkSuo)

The NAM model cut your potential total in half, to about a foot.

(I'm a member of a weather board, so sue me.)

Posted by: Vendette at January 26, 2015 12:13 AM (ajFuK)

327 What other incredibly expensive programs of dubious merit could we look at cutting to "save" the A-10? F-35? Great, what are you going to replace all the F-16s with that are about to start falling out of the sky, and which, like the A-10n, are well past their prime in terms of facung the high end threat?

I'm still waiting to hear why we need anything beyond the F-22 right now. Or even the F-15*. Why don't we wait until one gets shot down in combat before we claim its obsolesce?

I hate 1 size fits all "solutions". Theoretically I could take apart the lawn mower with a leatherman, but I'm going to reach for the tool box and the different tools that do the different jobs needed well.

*yes, I know. Exaggeration to make a point.

Posted by: Weirddave at January 26, 2015 12:13 AM (WvS3w)

328 I'm sure the Marines were making the offer to take the A10s and force structure because they were bayonet charging some machine gun emplacement on Capitol Hill - in Full Dress Blues. I doubt it was ever seriously considered.

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 12:13 AM (TETYm)

329 Communism. Everything is free. Haven't you heard?
sheesh...
WTF is wrong with you people?

Posted by: navybrat at January 26, 2015 12:14 AM (JgC5a)

330 that is what is was

Posted by: bill cosby at January 26, 2015 12:07 AM (N21UI)

What it was was football.

Posted by: Andy Griffith at January 26, 2015 12:15 AM (W5DcG)

331 Good talk, but in this case might I suggest the whole world can see it. And a clever idea you have might just help the wrong people.

Posted by: Bob from table9 at January 26, 2015 12:15 AM (WNERA)

332 321 Variety of techniques, but I can't talk about them. There are methods for pre-detontation, though.

Posted by: Country Singer at January 26, 2015 12:08 AM (nL0sw)

Fair enough.

it's also dangerous because the enemy isn't stupid.
If I know that it's going to set off the IED, i'll simply put the
trigger about 100 yards ahead of the device.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 26, 2015 12:08 AM (10ydV)But what about blasting the entire city with a high wattage square wave pulse at random intervals? Yeah, it'll do wonders for cell phones, but WTF. They wouldn't have cell phones but for us.
Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 12:11 AM (oKE6c)

If you jam their cell phones, then the S2 shop will start screaming.

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 12:16 AM (TETYm)

333 >>>The new head cheese of Greece has already stated that he intends to provide free electricity to those who cannot afford it.

I wonder where it will come from?

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at January 26, 2015 12:04 AM (W5DcG)<<<

I make electricity when I rub my feet on the rug with my feety pajamas. Maybe they could give everybody some of those jammies and wire them up in their houses?

Posted by: Joke Biden at January 26, 2015 12:16 AM (tdmtT)

334 Posted by: Weirddave at January 26, 2015 12:13 AM (WvS3w)

Well.... you can have those stupid Littoral Not effective in Combat ships...

Posted by: BB Wolf at January 26, 2015 12:16 AM (qh617)

335 Or do what the IRA did and simply move up the
electromagnetic spectrum. By the end of their campaign against the
British they were using microwaves and light pulses to trigger their
bombs.

Posted by: Maetenloch at January 26, 2015 12:12 AM (wqVD1)

But now they're back to line of sight, which exposes them too. Or, as a non-cognoscenti, have I overlooked something?

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 12:17 AM (oKE6c)

336 communism isn't about free stuff, it is about don't work don't eat. No system can void the supply and demand line. Give something away for free that has value and you cannot have enough of it.

Posted by: Bob from table9 at January 26, 2015 12:17 AM (WNERA)

337 @292 You always see the pilots in "Twelve O'Clock High" scenarios hear "rail marshalling yards" and yawn. But you are sure right about those rail lines.

My father's outfit captured the Krupp works at Essen, and when they moved in there were still guys going to work every day, even though the factory buildings looked like they were bombed flat. And there were trainloads of tanks on the sidings, waiting to be shipped out, except the rail lines didn't lead anywhere anymore.

The old man said he'd never seen so many tanks, on either side. They couldn't crank them up and fight because they were fresh out of fuel, and tank crews. They built tanks right up to the day they were captured.

Know where the Krupp fortune came from? Forks. They could stamp spoons and knives, but Krupp invented a rolling mill to put the bend in forks.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at January 26, 2015 12:17 AM (xq1UY)

338 The NAM model cut your potential total in half, to about a foot.

(I'm a member of a weather board, so sue me.)
Posted by: Vendette at January 26, 2015 12:13 AM (ajFuK)

I am not gonna be persuaded by your "science", I am gonna hope for more and if I have to I am gonna wishcast or sacrifice a virgin. and by virgin I mean human virgin, so the methlab is safe. where am I gonna find a virgin in this neighborhood?

Posted by: yankeefifth at January 26, 2015 12:17 AM (VkSuo)

339
I wonder where it will come from?

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at January 26, 2015 12:04 AM (W5DcG)

They're going to sneak a reaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllly long extension-cord over to Turkey.

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 12:09 AM (T1005)

Go back to your Roots, my people.....

Posted by: Zeus at January 26, 2015 12:18 AM (qh617)

340 333 >>>The new head cheese of Greece has already stated that he intends to provide free electricity to those who cannot afford it.

I wonder where it will come from?

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at January 26, 2015 12:04 AM (W5DcG)

German nukes

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 12:18 AM (TETYm)

341 Why don't we wait until one (F-15) gets shot down in combat before we claim its obsolesce?

-----
There are some really nice up-to-date F-15's in RoKAF and RoSAF; some really great F-16's in UAEAF !

Posted by: RioBravo at January 26, 2015 12:19 AM (z27Ny)

342 I am not gonna be persuaded by your "science", I am
gonna hope for more and if I have to I am gonna wishcast or sacrifice a
virgin. and by virgin I mean human virgin, so the methlab is safe.
where am I gonna find a virgin in this neighborhood?

Posted by: yankeefifth at January 26, 2015 12:17 AM (VkSuo)

Good luck.

Posted by: Vendette at January 26, 2015 12:19 AM (ajFuK)

343 Ever read PJ O'Rourke's bit about how he visited E. Germany before the fall of communism? He looked for anything to buy with his cash. Anything.
Nothing. Nothing to buy.
Everything is free, but there is nothing to consume .

Posted by: navybrat at January 26, 2015 12:19 AM (JgC5a)

344 so what is greece gonna hack into bulgaria's power lines? is that how greece gets cable?

Posted by: yankeefifth at January 26, 2015 12:20 AM (VkSuo)

345 Or do what the IRA did and simply move up the
electromagnetic spectrum. By the end of their campaign against the British they were using microwaves and light pulses to trigger their bombs.

Eventually using brain waves!

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at January 26, 2015 12:20 AM (W5DcG)

346 If you jam their cell phones, then the S2 shop will start screaming.

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 12:16 AM (TETYm)
Sure, but I wasn't thinking of CW jamming, but rather emitting square wave pulses (i.e., pulses with a variety of Fourier components across a range of frequencies, the range depending largely on the pulse width) randomly, so cell phones would be jammed from time to time, but for maybe milliseconds (assuming the ragheads are using RF signals), so the pulse width is ca. 1000 times the RF frequency.

What am I missing?

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 12:21 AM (oKE6c)

347 345 Or do what the IRA did and simply move up the
electromagnetic spectrum. By the end of their campaign against the British they were using microwaves and light pulses to trigger their bombs.

Eventually using brain waves!

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at January 26, 2015 12:20 AM (W5DcG)

Hey now!

Posted by: Abdhul the Dead Psychic at January 26, 2015 12:22 AM (qh617)

348 Or do what the IRA did and simply move up the
electromagnetic spectrum. By the end of their campaign against the British they were using microwaves and light pulses to trigger their bombs.

Eventually using brain waves!
Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at January 26, 2015 12:20 AM (W5DcG)

explodaramus!

Posted by: yankeefifth at January 26, 2015 12:22 AM (VkSuo)

349 I'm out for the night. Y'all take care.

Posted by: Country Singer at January 26, 2015 12:23 AM (nL0sw)

350 327
What other incredibly expensive programs of dubious merit could we
look at cutting to "save" the A-10? F-35? Great, what are you going to
replace all the F-16s with that are about to start falling out of the
sky, and which, like the A-10n, are well past their prime in terms of
facung the high end threat?

I'm still waiting to hear why we need anything beyond the F-22 right
now. Or even the F-15*. Why don't we wait until one gets shot down in
combat before we claim its obsolesce?

I hate 1 size fits all "solutions". Theoretically I could take apart
the lawn mower with a leatherman, but I'm going to reach for the tool
box and the different tools that do the different jobs needed well.

*yes, I know. Exaggeration to make a point.

Posted by: Weirddave at January 26, 2015 12:13 AM (WvS3w)

Someone else upthread had mentioned Clarke's "Superiority" -- here's a link -- http://tinyurl.com/3g4scql

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 12:23 AM (T1005)

351 343 Ever read PJ O'Rourke's bit about how he visited E. Germany before the fall of communism? He looked for anything to buy with his cash. Anything.
Nothing. Nothing to buy.
Everything is free, but there is nothing to consume .

Posted by: navybrat at January 26, 2015 12:19 AM (JgC5a)

Had exactly the same experience in the USSR. Had to convert some dollars into Russki toilet paper, and left with almost all of it. Nothing - absolutely nothing - to buy, and nobody wanted it. Packs of Marlboros were much more valuable.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 12:23 AM (oKE6c)

352 But now they're back to line of sight, which exposes them too. Or, as a non-cognoscenti, have I overlooked something?
Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 12:17 AM (oKE6c)

It gets pretty complicated pretty quickly. Let's just leave it at that.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 26, 2015 12:23 AM (10ydV)

353 German nukes
Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 12:18 AM (TETYm)

The ones they are decommissioning?

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at January 26, 2015 12:24 AM (W5DcG)

354 It gets pretty complicated pretty quickly. Let's just leave it at that.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 26, 2015 12:23 AM (10ydV)
Fair enough. I'd love to be involved in figuring out counter-measures: the confluence of smoking ragheads and basic physics. Yummm.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 12:25 AM (oKE6c)

355 Wow,
Some serious snark comes out when the A-10 pops up. Was someone cal-umn-inating me when I wasn't aware? If so, did I enjoy it?
There's a simpler, sadder, unfortunately plausible reason that the A-10 is struggling. There is certainly validity to the operational concerns; but even in a high end fight, there are low end areas. The type of airframes required to accomplish stealthy, speed o stink missions that send bad guys swinging from silk with a surprised look on their faces are different that those designed for heavy loads, damage resistance, and loiter time, plus air to ground munitions.
So, even in a high end fight, there is specialization required. Its actually the opposite of the last few years. Our most sophisticated, dedicated AtoA aircraft haven't done a whole lot in the last decades, whereas the bomb trucks have been flying their fannies off. That facet of the overall mission simply wasn't required.
So, that's not a reason to kill the A-10.
Budget pressures being what they are, and no, one shouldnt blame the Tea Party, the Air Force should still be able to field a small, yet more capable, well rounded force.
The reason we don't?
Leadership.
I'm reviewing some documents that are unclass. As soon as they become official, I'll encourage people to take a look at them.
Then, you can haz a sad. There are two "imperatives". Above all the "strategic vectors" etc.
Knowing what you in this smart military blog know about budget pressures, threats, and how the services are hemorrhaging iron and warfighters, you can imagine what the "imperatives" are.
Are you imagining?
Good.
Now draw a line 180 degrees from that and extend it.
That's how much we've lost our way.
Its not the plane.
I'm not sure the USAF wants to fight anymore.
The same leadership that can't quite admit that there is any particular religion that might have a tendency to misbehave, are the same ones who say that if you have "Stereotypical ideas about men and women's roles" then you are most likely a sexual assaulter/blossoming rapist.
Those are the same ones making these decisions.
Military effectiveness; the ability to cause great pain to a combatant entity until they quit, seems to be rather far down their priorities.
I'll tell you this.
When folks hit a certain milestone, they have to go leadership courses, etc.
My bud went to one and was surprised to see that a very, very senior leader was there to talk to them.
Apparently, he was mad because his "message" hadn't gotten out.
When the sequester hit, he was faced with a few choices how to get the last few dollars needed to meet the budget.
He could:
1. Sit two active Wings for a month
2. Furlow civilians for another week
3. Take away Tuition Assistance from the lowest ranking military, Airmen, NCOs.

And he said:
1. Was a non starter. Readiness and all that.
2. Was a non starter. Civilians make a lot of noise if you furlow them, even for a week. They also complain to senators and congressmen. And then you have to go before committees and stuff.
3. The only obvious choice. Taking something away from the ones who were promised this benefit, the ones in his charge, the ones actually out prosecuting the war/s was easy. Because, you see, they wouldn't complain. And they don't have unions to do their complaining for them.

So, he took a promised benefit from those lowest on the food chain that couldnt/wouldnt hurt him.
Because of loyalty, or some other quaint notion.

Posted by: MikeB at January 26, 2015 12:25 AM (LzMdS)

356 if hitler had gotten nukes do you think he would used 'em on the allies or the jews?

Posted by: yankeefifth at January 26, 2015 12:26 AM (VkSuo)

357 I just heard the news call the upcoming snow storm "The Mother of All Blizzards." MOAB

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at January 26, 2015 12:26 AM (W5DcG)

358 Jay, most of those jammers go well beyond the design specs on the tower receivers and the signals are not as you described. They are complex in several domains.

Still cant jam brain waves resonating the call to prayer.

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 12:26 AM (TETYm)

359 But now they're back to line of sight, which exposes them too. Or, as a non-cognoscenti, have I overlooked something?
Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 12:17 AM (oKE6c)

No the trigger signal itself would be line of sight but the emitter could be triggered by a regular RF signal as long as it was outside the jamming zone. Remember that the jihadis at their most advanced are basically reinventing what the IRA was doing in the mid 80s.

Posted by: Maetenloch at January 26, 2015 12:26 AM (wqVD1)

360 The ones they are decommissioning?
Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at January 26, 2015 12:24 AM (W5DcG)

They'll just build a bunch more solar farms that yield next-to-nothing in electricity generation, further destabilizing the already stressed German electric grid.

Posted by: Thrawn at January 26, 2015 12:26 AM (d7XFS)

361 356 if hitler had gotten nukes do you think he would used 'em on the allies or the jews?
Posted by: yankeefifth at January 26, 2015 12:26 AM (VkSuo)

I don't think he would have spared any until every Russian was dead.

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 12:27 AM (TETYm)

362 Hi MikeB, good to see you!

Posted by: Weirddave at January 26, 2015 12:28 AM (WvS3w)

363 Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 12:26 AM (TETYm)

Posted by: Maetenloch at January 26, 2015 12:26 AM (wqVD

Thanks for your insight. I don't know doodly about this, obviously, but have wondered about it from time to time.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 12:29 AM (oKE6c)

364 I'd love to be involved in figuring out counter-measures

Unfortunately JIEDDO just whacked a big chunk of their staff due to budget cuts

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 12:29 AM (TETYm)

365 Remember that the jihadis at their most advanced are basically reinventing what the IRA was doing in the mid 80s.
Posted by: Maetenloch at January 26, 2015 12:26 AM (wqVD1)

This is something that a lot of people don't realize. We've actually been lucky to be fighting what amount to 14th century shepherds with AK-47s. That's changing now, and in the future it's going to be ugly.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 26, 2015 12:29 AM (10ydV)

366 >>>The new head cheese of Greece has already stated that he intends to provide free electricity to those who cannot afford it.

I wonder where it will come from? <<<

Hamsters. Lots of hamsters. (I've seen how well they work to power a smart military blog)

Posted by: the new head cheese of Greece at January 26, 2015 12:30 AM (tdmtT)

367 Still cant jam brain waves resonating the call to prayer.
Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 12:26 AM (TETYm)

Hey but is not Islam.

Posted by: Obama at January 26, 2015 12:30 AM (WNERA)

368
If a band of leftist marauders were bearing down on your home right now, are you ready?

Posted by: please dont squeeze the soothie at January 26, 2015 12:30 AM (ObXhH)

369 My boss has talked about how he'd love to basically run an EFP platoon at NTC or JRTC. Do it right and you'd mess up a brigade attack.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 26, 2015 12:30 AM (10ydV)

370 364 I'd love to be involved in figuring out counter-measures

Unfortunately JIEDDO just whacked a big chunk of their staff due to budget cuts

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 12:29 AM (TETYm)

I'm past the point where I might bring any technical expertise to bear, apart from fantasizing about it.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 12:31 AM (oKE6c)

371 fuck EFPs

Seen what they do up close.

Posted by: SMFH at it all at January 26, 2015 12:31 AM (OsWis)

372 Wow,
Some serious snark comes out when the A-10 pops up.

Wow, some pre-written response also comes out.

Paragraphs; worthwhile.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 26, 2015 12:32 AM (Zi7PZ)

373 EFPs hecho en Iran

Posted by: Obama at January 26, 2015 12:32 AM (WNERA)

374 I know.

Posted by: SMFH at it all at January 26, 2015 12:33 AM (OsWis)

375 Soon nukes hecho en iran.

Posted by: Obama at January 26, 2015 12:33 AM (WNERA)

376 PSD/QRF in Taji and Baghdad, 2006 and 2008.

Posted by: SMFH at it all at January 26, 2015 12:34 AM (OsWis)

377 Obama wants it but he didn't say it.

Posted by: Bob from table9 at January 26, 2015 12:34 AM (WNERA)

378 367 Still cant jam brain waves resonating the call to prayer.
Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 12:26 AM (TETYm)

Hey but is not Islam.
Posted by: Obama at January 26, 2015 12:30 AM (WNERA)

Let's try

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 12:35 AM (TETYm)

379 WOW. A rare evening MUMR sighting. Where's the hammer squad?

Posted by: Captain Whitebread at January 26, 2015 12:35 AM (rJUlF)

380 @355 Gosh Mike, that sure sounds like a decision that would have to be taken at the Secretary (civilian) level. It will be interesting to see those "unclass documents."

Posted by: Stringer Davis at January 26, 2015 12:35 AM (xq1UY)

381 Remember that the jihadis at their most advanced are basically reinventing what the IRA was doing in the mid 80s.

Posted by: Maetenloch at
--------------------
Mid 80's? I thought they were doing crazy terrorist shit earlier than that. I remember being afraid to pick up stray items in the street in the seventies... All I could think of were horror stories I saw on the news.

Posted by: shredded chi at January 26, 2015 12:35 AM (9/YlV)

382 Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 12:23 AM (oKE6c)

My wife's grand-daughter visited form St. Petersburg this past summer....she'd never had a pb&j sammich....took her to the grocery store....5 shelves x 10' of nothing but different brands/sizes of peanut butter....she'd never seen anything like it.

Posted by: BignJames at January 26, 2015 12:36 AM (HtUkt)

383 I think one of my dream jobs would be command of a company with attached support from a bunch of undergrad engineers and a budget to build whatever I want from COTS systems. Basically run around the desert in technicals trying to see how much I can disrupt operations and mimic US technology using crap I can buy from RadiosShack.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 26, 2015 12:36 AM (10ydV)

384 378 367 Still cant jam brain waves resonating the call to prayer.
Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 12:26 AM (TETYm)

Hey but is not Islam.
Posted by: Obama at January 26, 2015 12:30 AM (WNERA)

Let's try

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 12:35 AM (TETYm)

About the only thing that has tested effective... is the rapid imposition of Lead into the cranium...

Seems to Jam the Prayer Center pretty well.

Posted by: BB Wolf at January 26, 2015 12:37 AM (qh617)

385 383 I think one of my dream jobs would be command of a company with attached support from a bunch of undergrad engineers and a budget to build whatever I want from COTS systems. Basically run around the desert in technicals trying to see how much I can disrupt operations and mimic US technology using crap I can buy from RadiosShack.
Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 26, 2015 12:36 AM (10ydV)

So the 9th ID in the 80s

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 12:37 AM (TETYm)

386 To this day, I see a bag of trash on the side of the highway, I will go to the other lane...oh, and it's real fun if it's in the middle of the road.

I also hate jersey/construction barriers.

Posted by: SMFH at it all at January 26, 2015 12:37 AM (OsWis)

387 383 I think one of my dream jobs would be command of a company with attached support from a bunch of undergrad engineers and a budget to build whatever I want from COTS systems. Basically run around the desert in technicals trying to see how much I can disrupt operations and mimic US technology using crap I can buy from RadiosShack.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 26, 2015 12:36 AM (10ydV)

Wouldn't that be great fun?

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 12:37 AM (oKE6c)

388 anyone here ever heard of shovelglove as an exercise program?

Posted by: yankeefifth at January 26, 2015 12:37 AM (VkSuo)

389
Seriously, does it make a difference? It's obama's military, now. All of it. You might as well be arguing over Russia's military for all the good it will do you.

Posted by: please dont squeeze the soothie at January 26, 2015 12:38 AM (ObXhH)

390 BB, I like rapid psi changes, but lead works

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 12:38 AM (TETYm)

391 hey chi

Posted by: SMFH at it all at January 26, 2015 12:38 AM (OsWis)

392 Off the stuff shelf is very cost effective and often just needs a better box to be military tough.

But you will never get your dream.

Posted by: Bob from table9 at January 26, 2015 12:39 AM (WNERA)

393 My wife's grand-daughter visited form St. Petersburg this past summer....she'd never had a pb&j sammich....took her to the grocery store....5 shelves x 10' of nothing but different brands/sizes of peanut butter....she'd never seen anything like it.
Posted by: BignJames at January 26, 2015 12:36 AM (HtUkt)

I thought everything changed after the end of the cold war and everything there was the same as everything here.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at January 26, 2015 12:39 AM (W5DcG)

394 So the 9th ID in the 80s
Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 12:37 AM (TETYm)

Sure, why not.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 26, 2015 12:39 AM (10ydV)

395 381, cont.'

Not that it was a rational train of thought, btw - I also grew up thinking Charlie Manson was going to come murder me in my house (thanks, brother! For letting a seven year-old watch Helter Skelter).

Posted by: shredded chi at January 26, 2015 12:39 AM (9/YlV)

396 Still cant jam brain waves resonating the call to prayer.

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 12:26 AM (TETYm)

The call to prayer isn't coupled to the brain. It resonates with the muslim asshole. That's why they always fall to the ground and stick their butts in the air.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at January 26, 2015 12:40 AM (upitO)

397 386 To this day, I see a bag of trash on the side of the highway, I will go to the other lane...oh, and it's real fun if it's in the middle of the road.

I also hate jersey/construction barriers.
Posted by: SMFH at it all at January 26, 2015 12:37 AM (OsWis)

I was in a building a couple of years ago, there was trash on the public side of access road. I made a detour into the security center and mentioned that it was unsat. By the time I left they had guys out there cleaning it up.

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 12:40 AM (TETYm)

398 391�hey chi

Posted by: SMFH
--------------------
Hello, Ma'am. I guess I could've waited a minute...

*email

Posted by: shredded chi at January 26, 2015 12:40 AM (9/YlV)

399 anyone here ever heard of shovelglove as an exercise program?
Posted by: yankeefifth at January 26, 2015 12:37 AM (VkSuo)

Is that where we are forced into WPA type projects?

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at January 26, 2015 12:41 AM (W5DcG)

400
Concrete jersey barriers weigh 4200 lbs, btw, in case you ever need to know.

Posted by: please dont squeeze the soothie at January 26, 2015 12:41 AM (ObXhH)

401 My wife's grand-daughter visited form St. Petersburg
this past summer....she'd never had a pbj sammich....took her to
the grocery store....5 shelves x 10' of nothing but different
brands/sizes of peanut butter....she'd never seen anything like it.

Posted by: BignJames at January 26, 2015 12:36 AM (HtUkt)
I hired a Russian chemist who said that when he and his wife first saw an American supermarket they were overwhelmed by the choices, and left without buying anything.I asked him about his reaction because I'd had a similar (but less intense) experience on returning to the U.S. after living in Europe for many years. The supermarket where I lived in Europe had had four types of spaghetti sauce; the American counterpart had 72 (I counted 'em). The choice was overwhelming, a gastronomic equivalent of the schooling of fish.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 12:42 AM (oKE6c)

402 villians...lee marvin as liberty valance,
glenn ford and russell crowe as ben wade in 3:10 to yuma,
and the keyser soze character (the long haired scary guy verbal kint turned out to be)

Posted by: north and judd at January 26, 2015 12:42 AM (9V6m/)

403 Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at January 26, 2015 12:39 AM (W5DcG)

Not quite....maybe another 25 yrs......but now they're prolly stalled.

Posted by: BignJames at January 26, 2015 12:42 AM (HtUkt)

404 anyone here ever heard of shovelglove as an exercise program?
Posted by: yankeefifth at January 26, 2015 12:37 AM (VkSuo)

Is that where we are forced into WPA type projects?
Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at January 26, 2015 12:41 AM (W5DcG)

no it is an exercise program organized around a sledgehammer. basically you swing or manipulate it in certain patterns.

Posted by: yankeefifth at January 26, 2015 12:42 AM (VkSuo)

405 The call to prayer isn't coupled to the brain. It resonates with the muslim asshole. That's why they always fall to the ground and stick their butts in the air.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at January 26, 2015 12:40 AM (upitO)

They fart in your general direction.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at January 26, 2015 12:42 AM (W5DcG)

406
I'll guess that a Honda Accord weighs about 4200 lbs.

Posted by: please dont squeeze the soothie at January 26, 2015 12:43 AM (ObXhH)

407 This is something that a lot of people don't realize. We've actually been lucky to be fighting what amount to 14th century shepherds with AK-47s. That's changing now, and in the future it's going to be ugly.
Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 26, 2015 12:29 AM (10ydV)

Yep. And for all the weirdos interested in this kind of thing I highly recommend 'IRA: The Bombs and the Bullets: A History of Deadly Ingenuity' by A.R. Oppenheimer which looks at the IRA weaponry (and British counter-measures) from an engineering point of view. I've thought about reviewing it on an ONT but figured it would be too much of a niche subject.

While I have no love for the IRA or what they stood for or the murders the committed, I do respect what they managed to accomplish technologically. They were always innovating and quick to jump on to new technology. By the time they demobilized their military wing in the late 90s, they were working on cruise missile and torpedo prototypes. They also had weapons designers in the US and were offering engineering scholarships to bright high school students who were committed to the cause. Basically the IRA is what an urban insurgency among an educated population would look like.

Posted by: Maetenloch at January 26, 2015 12:43 AM (wqVD1)

408 #198

I just finished converting an e-book with that story in it. There Will Be War vol. II. Vox Day's company is handling the publishing and it should be available in a few months.

Posted by: Epobirs at January 26, 2015 12:43 AM (IdCqF)

409 no it is an exercise program organized around a sledgehammer. basically you swing or manipulate it in certain patterns.

Posted by: yankeefifth at January 26, 2015 12:42 AM (VkSuo)

So it's a kettlebell?

Posted by: Vendette at January 26, 2015 12:44 AM (ajFuK)

410 no it is an exercise program organized around a sledgehammer. basically you swing or manipulate it in certain patterns.
Posted by: yankeefifth at January 26, 2015 12:42 AM (VkSuo)

They ought to call it the "John Henry".

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at January 26, 2015 12:44 AM (W5DcG)

411 Yeah, the Treasury Secretary showing up at Auschwitz is a pretty subtle touch.

If I know my Obama Admin, and I do, they'll dress him up in top hat and monocle and he'll be toting a bag of gold bullion.

Just part of the "price" Israel and the Jews have to pay for Bibi making Obama look like the nutless, goat-felching Commie fucktard he is.

Posted by: Sharkman at January 26, 2015 12:44 AM (rwkgO)

412 Yankeefifth, check out this from Art of Manliness

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2014/04/25/ train-like-an-ancient-hindu-warrior-the-steel-mace-workout-video/

I've heard of sledgehammer workouts, and the indian mace stuff is similar and much older, and can be done with a sledgehamer if that's all you have.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 26, 2015 12:44 AM (10ydV)

413 I've thought about reviewing it on an ONT but figured it would be too much of a niche subject.

What? Don't be a tease - lay it on us. It sounds fascinating!

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 12:45 AM (oKE6c)

414 no it is an exercise program organized around a sledgehammer. basically you swing or manipulate it in certain patterns.
Posted by: yankeefifth at January 26, 2015 12:42 AM (VkSuo)

******
Sounds like a new twist on a kettle bell workout to me.

Posted by: Cash for Clunkers at January 26, 2015 12:45 AM (YNkME)

415 back at ya, chi

Posted by: SMFH at it all at January 26, 2015 12:45 AM (OsWis)

416 So it's a kettlebell?
Posted by: Vendette at January 26, 2015 12:44 AM (ajFuK)

no it is a real sledge, the inventor even suggests you wrap your sledge in a sweater to avoid damaging floors and similar.

Posted by: yankeefifth at January 26, 2015 12:45 AM (VkSuo)

417 393
My wife's grand-daughter visited form St. Petersburg this past
summer....she'd never had a pbj sammich....took her to the grocery
store....5 shelves x 10' of nothing but different brands/sizes of peanut
butter....she'd never seen anything like it.

Posted by: BignJames at January 26, 2015 12:36 AM (HtUkt)

I thought everything changed after the end of the cold war and everything there was the same as everything here.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at January 26, 2015 12:39 AM (W5DcG)

Hah!

I've been to St. Petersburg -- a "Supermarkt" on Nevsky Prospect was the size of a large 7-11. The Central Market was smaller than the Piedmont-Triad Farmer's Market in NC (and we laughed when we discovered that the packaged berries in the stalls were Driscoll's).

We had a great time and the people were hospitable and fun....but it is not the same as everywhere else by a large margin.

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 12:46 AM (T1005)

418 Sowell - Our schools and colleges are laying a guilt trip on those young people whose parents are productive, and who are raising them to become productive. What is amazing is how easily this has been done, largely just by replacing the word "achievement" with the word "privilege."

Sowell is in his mid 80s and remembers a time a half-century ago when people who were rich were, in fact, productive.

Nowadays college doesn't have a middle-class pricetag; it's got an upper-class pricetag. To get a kid into college you either have to suck a lot of rich-guy dick (metaphorically or otherwise) or else you have to be That Sort of rich-guy yourself. My salary, for instance, could never get a son of mine into Harvard. But a Goldman-Sachs employee, who got his money bilking investors, could manage it.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at January 26, 2015 12:46 AM (AVEe1)

419 411 Yeah, the Treasury Secretary showing up at Auschwitz is a pretty subtle touch.

Subtle by this crew's standards. I thought it was pretty obvious why Lew was chosen.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 12:47 AM (oKE6c)

420 http://www.artofmanliness.com/2014/04/25/ train-like-an-ancient-hindu-warrior-the-steel-mace-workout-video/

I've heard of sledgehammer workouts, and the indian mace stuff is similar and much older, and can be done with a sledgehamer if that's all you have.
Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 26, 2015 12:44 AM (10ydV)

curiously, for someone living in NYC, I do not have a sledge but I do have a great big effin axe.

Posted by: yankeefifth at January 26, 2015 12:47 AM (VkSuo)

421
Anyone who hits a giant rubber tire with a long handled heavy hammer...

They do this nonsense at crossfit...near other people...and mirrors.

Posted by: please dont squeeze the soothie at January 26, 2015 12:48 AM (ObXhH)

422 Just re-watched Red D@wn again.

Wondering if it wouldn't have been a stronger script if the setting was in Alaska, the invasion force, the Soviets, and the 1st act all started in the Canadian border.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 26, 2015 12:48 AM (Zi7PZ)

423 Convert that to stone hammer with runes on it and sell it to the LOTR/SCA/gamer crowd

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 12:48 AM (TETYm)

424 406

I'll guess that a Honda Accord weighs about 4200 lbs.

Posted by: please dont squeeze the soothie at January 26, 2015 12:43 AM (ObXhH)

Having recently looked up the weight of a Lincoln Continental, I'd guess that you're substantially too high.

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 12:48 AM (T1005)

425 422 Just re-watched Red D@wn again.

Wondering if it wouldn't have been a stronger script if the setting was in Alaska, the invasion force, the Soviets, and the 1st act all started in the Canadian border.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 26, 2015 12:48 AM (Zi7PZ)

With Sarah Palin... in leather!!!!

Posted by: BB Wolf at January 26, 2015 12:49 AM (qh617)

426 No body wants to address the real problem, we have to many colleges.

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 12:50 AM (TETYm)

427
While I have no love for the IRA or what they stood for and the murders the committed, I do respect what they managed to accomplish technologically. They were always innovating and quick to jump on to new technology. By the time they demobilized their military wing in the late 90s, they were working on cruise missile and torpedo prototypes. They also had weapons designers in the US and were offering engineering scholarships to bright high school students who were committed to their cause. Basically the IRA is what an urban insurgency among an educated population would look like.
Posted by: Maetenloch at January 26, 2015 12:43 AM (wqVD1)

I make my students read an article on the use of technicals in warfare and their promenence in places like Libya and Syria. Then we talk about how, for the cost of three export model T-72s, I can buy two dozen Hiluxes and outfit them with EFPs, ATGMs, and .50 cals. The tank and Bradley guys get the implications pretty quick.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 26, 2015 12:50 AM (10ydV)

428 424
406

I'll guess that a Honda Accord weighs about 4200 lbs.

Posted by: please dont squeeze the soothie at January 26, 2015 12:43 AM (ObXhH)

Having recently looked up the weight of a Lincoln Continental, I'd guess that you're substantially too high.

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 12:48 AM (T1005)

3300.

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 12:50 AM (T1005)

429 Colorado Alex at January 26, 2015 12:44 AM (10ydV)

yeah, the mace exercise seems to be the same thing. thanks

Posted by: yankeefifth at January 26, 2015 12:50 AM (VkSuo)

430 Dumping a sock.

Posted by: ManWithNoParty, unperson from Free Market Jesus Paradise at January 26, 2015 12:50 AM (YNkME)

431 422 Just re-watched Red D@wn again.

Wondering if it wouldn't have been a stronger script if the setting was in Alaska, the invasion force, the Soviets, and the 1st act all started in the Canadian border.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 26, 2015 12:48 AM (Zi7PZ)

Decades ago there was a TV drama entitled "WWIII" that had substantially that premise (invasion of Alaska immediately before a storm, to stop construction of an oil pipeline).

I'd love to watch it again.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 12:51 AM (oKE6c)

432 With Sarah Palin... in leather!!!!
Posted by: BB Wolf

*( could you give me a few pages, brother? )

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 26, 2015 12:51 AM (Zi7PZ)

433 426 No body wants to address the real problem, we have to many colleges.

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 12:50 AM (TETYm)

And yet.... kids can't get the classes they need to graduate in a reasonable timeframe...

Real problem is that College Profs are WAY overpaid... and don't work very hard... don't teach many classes.

Posted by: BB Wolf at January 26, 2015 12:51 AM (qh617)

434 Y5, you're welcome. I find them interesting because I prefer to swing a sword around, but it's the same basic idea.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 26, 2015 12:52 AM (10ydV)

435 I make my students read an article on the use of technicals in warfare and their promenence in places like Libya and Syria.

Rat Patrol

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at January 26, 2015 12:52 AM (W5DcG)

436 413�I've thought about reviewing it on an ONT but figured it would be too much of a niche subject.
--------------------
What? Don't be a tease - lay it on us. It sounds fascinating!

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 12:45 AM (oKE6c
--------------------
I agree with Jay - lay it on us. I'm sure you'd make it a fascinating read.
Maybe just drop it on a slow night at 9pm or so? As a subject all on its own...
Or do you only get the keys after a certain time?

Posted by: shredded chi at January 26, 2015 12:53 AM (9/YlV)

437 And yet.... kids can't get the classes they need to graduate in a reasonable timeframe...

Feature or Bug?

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 12:54 AM (TETYm)

438 Maet, hand it over.

Posted by: Vendette at January 26, 2015 12:54 AM (ajFuK)

439 437 And yet.... kids can't get the classes they need to graduate in a reasonable timeframe...

Feature or Bug?

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 12:54 AM (TETYm)

Feature.... its so they have to take Womens Studies and Ethnic Studies programs to get enough credits to call themselves a full time student...

Posted by: BB Wolf at January 26, 2015 12:55 AM (qh617)

440 Watched a video shot from the big hotel in Bagdad where a technical was driving and shooting at a M1A1. The impact just stopped the Hilux. Pretty impressive.

Posted by: Bob from table9 at January 26, 2015 12:55 AM (WNERA)

441
Youre right. My Navigator is 5600.

Accords are barely 3400ish.

Posted by: please dont squeeze the soothie at January 26, 2015 12:55 AM (ObXhH)

442 413 I've thought about reviewing it on an ONT but figured it would be too much of a niche subject.

What? Don't be a tease - lay it on us. It sounds fascinating!
Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 12:45 AM (oKE6c)

Well it's been a few years so it would be mostly an Amazon link and some remembered details.

The key takeaway is that the IRA were no dummies and it was a constant technological arms race between them and the British military's engineers. As an example something like 50% of all their bombs were based off of a single shipment of semtex they received from Libya in the early 80s. They figured out how to dilute it, modify its composition, and make use of very small amounts of it to set off larger materials. What made it particularly useful to them was that fact that it was odorless and didn't off-gas, so it was nearly impossibly to detect.

Posted by: Maetenloch at January 26, 2015 12:55 AM (wqVD1)

443 Technicals only work because we aren't allowed to proceed after barrage to clear the route.

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 12:55 AM (TETYm)

444 kids can't get the classes they need to graduate in a reasonable timeframe...

Feature or Bug?
Posted by: Jean

Which classes?

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 26, 2015 12:55 AM (Zi7PZ)

445 427

While I have no love for the IRA or what they stood for and the
murders the committed, I do respect what they managed to accomplish
technologically. They were always innovating and quick to jump on to new
technology. By the time they demobilized their military wing in the
late 90s, they were working on cruise missile and torpedo prototypes.
They also had weapons designers in the US and were offering engineering
scholarships to bright high school students who were committed to their
cause. Basically the IRA is what an urban insurgency among an educated
population would look like.

Posted by: Maetenloch at January 26, 2015 12:43 AM (wqVD1)

I make my students read an article on the use of technicals in
warfare and their promenence in places like Libya and Syria. Then we
talk about how, for the cost of three export model T-72s, I can buy two
dozen Hiluxes and outfit them with EFPs, ATGMs, and .50 cals. The tank
and Bradley guys get the implications pretty quick.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 26, 2015 12:50 AM (10ydV)

This practice of using millions of dollars of technology per instance to keep the one operator from getting killed is inevitably going to result a metric fuckton of people getting killed by people with technicals.

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 12:56 AM (T1005)

446 >>>Real problem is that College Profs are WAY overpaid... and don't work very hard... don't teach many classes.

Posted by: BB Wolf at January 26, 2015 12:51 AM (qh617)<<<

HOW dare you?!

Posted by: Lieawatha Warren (who earned about $350K teaching one class at Harvard) at January 26, 2015 12:56 AM (tdmtT)

447 Admit I didn't read all the comments (what?!!), so not sure where the F-35 discussion went. Further admit that I haven't dug into the details or generally become familiar with the whole topic as I would have back when that was part of a job or two.

But it's struck me from the first exposure as a program that is simply inappropriate for the national requirements. Simplified, because we are not Singapore or Kuwait (well financed small countries with limited requirements and a taste for the best). Numbers matter. Availability matters. And keeping your industrial base edge and even your airborne edge can be done without driving your costs to thepoint you can't afford the force you need.

Anecdotal datum, for amusement, color, or edification. At a rifle shoot a few months back, another shooter's who's an F-18 driver with the Marines and I talked about the F-35 a bit. Salient (even striking) highlights: nobody in his squadron was amped up to transition to it; they were very happy with the F-18, especially the recent upgrades such as the conformal stores thinggy that increased their payload/range; in their periodic threat/world situation briefings they get from intel, they had yet to see any situation where they thought they'd rather have the -35 than the -18. Seems at least a few of those who would normally be chomping at the bit to drive the new model are very unexcited about it.

Related anecdote. A youngish Navy woman I encountered turns out to be working on the LCS introduction effort (forget the name used for intro-ing new ship types). She was excited to be assigned to the project, normally a desirable one (and fairly rare in recent decades as new types have not been numerous).

She said the morale and attitude at her new shop was terrible, many were trying to leave, that most perceived the LCS as a disaster. Mind you, this is from the inside, at the working level, guys/gals working to develop procedures/training/standards for a new ship class.

To sum up - couldn't we be in the unprecedented (and horrendous) position of looking down the barrel of not just one, but two mass/bloc obsolescence events (F-15/16/older 18 ampersand Navy surface combatants) where the principal follow-ons are BOTH potential turkeys and budget-busters? Sort of starting to smell that way to me - again, in my vastly less informed current condition.

Posted by: rhomboid at January 26, 2015 12:56 AM (afQnV)

448 In Iraq, we spent billions of dollars to defeat fucking IEDs that cost a few bucks to make.

Posted by: SMFH at it all at January 26, 2015 12:58 AM (OsWis)

449 Nite y'all...

Getting pretty antsy about this particular subject.

Posted by: SMFH at it all at January 26, 2015 12:58 AM (OsWis)

450 433
426 No body wants to address the real problem, we have to many colleges.

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 12:50 AM (TETYm)

And yet.... kids can't get the classes they need to graduate in a reasonable timeframe...

Real problem is that College Profs are WAY overpaid... and don't work very hard... don't teach many classes.

Posted by: BB Wolf at January 26, 2015 12:51 AM (qh617)

Real problem is that actual costs of colleges are being laundered through "grants programs" (and the Federal government) so that nobody scrutinizes the cost/benefit ratio of any of it.

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 12:59 AM (T1005)

451 And yet.... kids can't get the classes they need to graduate in a reasonable timeframe...

Feature or Bug?
Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 12:54 AM (TETYm)

*****

I call it a pre baked in feature. Daughter went into College last fall with 21 credit hours in the bank due to HS Honors and AP classes. She is still being told her degree will take a minimum 4.5 years.

The reason....Class availability. They are milking every kid for every dime they can get.

Posted by: ManWithNoParty, unperson from Free Market Jesus Paradise at January 26, 2015 01:00 AM (YNkME)

452 I'm still reading backwards a bit...

Some of those highway dividers may weigh substantially less than two tons...
In the eighties, I worked at a plant that manufactured underground boxes, drains, and eventually those dividers out of polymer concrete. Effectively, fiberglass resin + sand and stone aggregate. Something like 50 percent of the weight, but 10x the strength.

I still see some of the boxes buried on the streets of various cities.
*used as junction boxes for fiber optics, street lights, traffic controls, etc.

Posted by: shredded chi at January 26, 2015 01:01 AM (9/YlV)

453 In the end IEDs and Technicals only matter because we don't have the political will to wage war in a manner that appears unfair.

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 01:01 AM (TETYm)

454 Decades ago there was a TV drama entitled "WWIII" that had substantially that premise (invasion of Alaska immediately before a storm, to stop construction of an oil pipeline).

I'd love to watch it again.

Was that the one that ended with the Soviet and American commanders shaking hands as their battle was now meaningless because the ICBMs had been launched? And the Soviet second in command tossed a grenade at them because they were traitors?

I seem to recall that it had an overtone of "That warmonger Reagan is going to cause WWIII".

Posted by: Weirddave at January 26, 2015 01:02 AM (WvS3w)

455 Just re-watched Red D@wn again.

Wondering if it wouldn't have been a stronger script if the setting was in Alaska, the invasion force, the Soviets, and the 1st act all started in the Canadian border.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 26, 2015 12:48 AM (Zi7PZ)

That movie was set in an alternate history.

The point of departure from our own timeline was that West Germany was Green party, kicked out NATO, and then got invaded by the USSR... which then went on to take the rest of continental Europe. The U.S. went pacifist and the Soviets installed a puppet government in Mexico. That is why they invade from Mexico and strike into America's heartland.

Posted by: The Alternate Hat at January 26, 2015 01:03 AM (0Ew3K)

456 Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 12:59 AM (T1005)

That... and there is no 'pipeline' curriculum.

Every student figures out their own set of classes... their own schedule, even when they are going for the exact same degrees.

Posted by: BB Wolf at January 26, 2015 01:03 AM (qh617)

457 451 And yet.... kids can't get the classes they need to graduate in a reasonable timeframe...

Feature or Bug?
Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 12:54 AM (TETYm)

*****

I call it a pre baked in feature. Daughter went into College last fall with 21 credit hours in the bank due to HS Honors and AP classes. She is still being told her degree will take a minimum 4.5 years.

The reason....Class availability. They are milking every kid for every dime they can get.
Posted by: ManWithNoParty, unperson from Free Market Jesus Paradise at January 26, 2015 01:00 AM (YNkME)

Look for semesters off to do internships for credits.

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 01:03 AM (TETYm)

458 Real problem is that actual costs of colleges are
being laundered through "grants programs" (and the Federal government)
so that nobody scrutinizes the cost/benefit ratio of any of it.

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 12:59 AM (T1005)
Nope, the real problem is that nowadays there's a cubic light year's worth of administrators (of, e.g, "diversity" programs) gobbling up overheads on Federal grants, and as their major contribution turning food into shit. Plus overheads on grants to the science and engineering departments end up supporting worthless humanities and social science crap.
As an aside, what would Horde guess the typical overhead rate is on a Federal grant to a university (i.e., how much of the grant goes to running the university as opposed to conducting the research)?

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 01:04 AM (oKE6c)

459 435
I make my students read an article on the use of technicals in warfare and their promenence in places like Libya and Syria.

Rat Patrol

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at January 26, 2015 12:52 AM (W5DcG)

*********************
Weren't we just discussing the 1980's 9th Infantry Division?
On a more serious note, this is exactly the problem with first the soft-side HMMWVs, then the hard shell HMMWVs, and finally the requirement that they all be uparmored, then eventually replaced with MRAPs. A TOW platform, especially with the .50 cal dual mount, is more than a match for any technical, but soldiers will die in them in an environment of IEDs. Sounds like the cure for technicals is lots of mines, or rapid ways of emplacing cluster mines like artillery or airborne platforms.

Posted by: Caesar North of the Rubicon at January 26, 2015 01:04 AM (5f5bM)

460 Re: Key West II
USAAF given close air support, military air transport (personnel, equipment under quartermaster's corps) and AWAACS. USAF given interceptors, strategic bomber forces, nuclear missiles, and in-flight refueling. In short, the USAF should be primarily tasked with filling up gas tanks and sitting in silos. They obviously can't be trusted to do anything else.

Posted by: Inspector Cussword at January 26, 2015 01:04 AM (scgac)

461 50%

Posted by: Bob from table9 at January 26, 2015 01:05 AM (WNERA)

462 IEDs and technicals really play a role for insurgents/unconventional forces operating in the US support zone. You combine them with a conventional force with each playing to its strength.

Best way to defeat an armored battalion? Wait until they pass by and then hit the fuelers and the recovery vehicles. Tanks with no gas are a lot easier to kill.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 26, 2015 01:05 AM (10ydV)

463 To sum up - couldn't we be in the unprecedented (and horrendous) position of looking down the barrel of not just one, but two mass/bloc obsolescence events (F-15/16/older 18 ampersand Navy surface combatants) where the principal follow-ons are BOTH potential turkeys and budget-busters? Sort of starting to smell that way to me - again, in my vastly less informed current condition.
Posted by: rhomboid at January 26, 2015 12:56 AM (afQnV)

Yes that's my concern as well. We're a wealthy enough country that we can afford the once-in-a-while budget-busting turkey of a system. But two simultaneous ones in different branches along with all of the huge opportunity costs to other programs could put a serious hurt on us.

Posted by: Maetenloch at January 26, 2015 01:05 AM (wqVD1)

464 Here's a crazy-ass idea: build a motorized rapid-fire ballista. The ballista was a Roman artillery piece, like a giant crossbow, but with stiff arms instead of a flexible bow. The stiff arms were pivoted on torsion skeins of sinew. Build something like that, designed to fire a 75 mm cylindrical projectile. Have a gasoline or diesel engine rigged to a gear train to load and cock it. Hopper on top, loaded with projectiles, to gravity feed into position to be fired. The projectiles could even be fitted with small rocket motors, set to fire after being launched from the ballista, so that the rocket's energy could be used to accelerate the projectile to a very high speed, instead of getting it from zero to whatever.

Such a device ought to enable one to maintain a high rate of fire as long as ammunition could be fed into it.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at January 26, 2015 01:06 AM (upitO)

465 @416 wrap your sledge in a sweater to avoid damaging floors

That would be one hell of a sweater. My lightest sledge is four, and a fraction, pounds, and if you wrapped it in a sweater and dropped it, you'd damage any kind of wood or tile I can think of.

My heaviest sledge is 12 pounds. You don't have to swing that one a lot.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at January 26, 2015 01:06 AM (xq1UY)

466 I hired a Russian chemist who said that when he and his wife first saw an American supermarket they were overwhelmed by the choices, and left without buying anything.I asked him about his reaction because I'd had a similar (but less intense) experience on returning to the U.S. after living in Europe for many years. The supermarket where I lived in Europe had had four types of spaghetti sauce; the American counterpart had 72 (I counted 'em). The choice was overwhelming, a gastronomic equivalent of the schooling of fish.
Posted by: Jay Guevara[

See, I enjoy these stories. Stories that should be cataloged by our betters.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 26, 2015 01:07 AM (Zi7PZ)

467 Was that the one that ended with the Soviet and
American commanders shaking hands as their battle was now meaningless
because the ICBMs had been launched? And the Soviet second in command
tossed a grenade at them because they were traitors?

I seem to recall that it had an overtone of "That warmonger Reagan is going to cause WWIII".

Posted by: Weirddave at January 26, 2015 01:02 AM (WvS3w)
You know, I don't remember now, frankly, but it wouldn't surprise me. The opening featured a National Guard unit on an exercise in Alaska when the SHTF, if that helps.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 01:07 AM (oKE6c)

468 449�Nite y'all...�

Getting pretty antsy about this particular subject.�

Posted by: SMFH
--------------------
G'night, Ma'am. Understand.
If you want to chat about some kind of silly stuff, you know how...

Posted by: shredded chi at January 26, 2015 01:07 AM (9/YlV)

469 We make the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy interesting.

Posted by: Air Force Academy at January 26, 2015 01:08 AM (ajFuK)

470 452
I'm still reading backwards a bit...

Some of those highway dividers may weigh substantially less than two tons...

In the eighties, I worked at a plant that manufactured underground
boxes, drains, and eventually those dividers out of polymer concrete.
Effectively, fiberglass resin + sand and stone aggregate. Something
like 50 percent of the weight, but 10x the strength.

I still see some of the boxes buried on the streets of various cities.

*used as junction boxes for fiber optics, street lights, traffic controls, etc.

Posted by: shredded chi at January 26, 2015 01:01 AM (9/YlV)

The concrete dividers (or "Jersey curbs") are intentionally massive, as they're designed to be hit tangentially by a vehicle and force the vehicle back onto the road. If they were too light, they'd tip over.

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 01:08 AM (T1005)

471 Was that the one that ended with the Soviet and American commanders shaking hands as their battle was now meaningless because the ICBMs had been launched? And the Soviet second in command tossed a grenade at them because they were traitors?
I seem to recall that it had an overtone of "That warmonger Reagan is going to cause WWIII".
Posted by: Weirddave at January 26, 2015 01:02 AM (WvS3w)

I just remember them setting up angled oil pipes so they'd have specific fields of fire with their limited ammo and weapons.

Posted by: Maetenloch at January 26, 2015 01:08 AM (wqVD1)

472 I just remember them setting up angled oil pipes so they'd have specific fields of fire with their limited ammo and weapons.

Posted by: Maetenloch at January 26, 2015 01:08 AM (wqVD1)
That's what I remember too! That, and some chick who I thought was hot, but I guess I don't remember her that well. Ah well...

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 01:10 AM (oKE6c)

473 But two simultaneous ones in different branches

Only 2?

Constellation
Every Government IT effort
God knows what is going on with TriCare
Taking over Student Loans
The Fed pump
Obamacare

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 01:10 AM (TETYm)

474 That's what I remember too! That, and some chick who I thought was hot, but I guess I don't remember her that well. Ah well...
Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 01:10 AM (oKE6c)

Yes that too! I can't remember her name but I think she was on Real People as well.

Posted by: Maetenloch at January 26, 2015 01:11 AM (wqVD1)

475 That movie was set in an alternate history.

The point of departure from our own timeline was that West Germany was Green party, kicked out NATO, and then got invaded by the USSR... which then went on to take the rest of continental Europe. The U.S. went pacifist and the Soviets installed a puppet government in Mexico. That is why they invade from Mexico and strike into America's heartland.
Posted by: The Alternate Hat

No shit.

No, the point of verifiable departure was a ligitimated Nor Am invasion, AK being the obvious point.

Hat, seriously. Is AK a foreign step-stone to you,\???

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 26, 2015 01:12 AM (Zi7PZ)

476 Look for semesters off to do internships for credits.
Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 01:03 AM (TETYm)

*******

She is already doing 2 classes this summer, which has apparently distressed her Counselor greatly as the reasons that she should not be able to graduate in 4 years are being shredded by my rather awesome daughter.

Her excuse is now about "Beneficial time during the College experience". AKA...making parents and Gov for all the cash they can wring out of all of us.

Posted by: ManWithNoParty, unperson from Free Market Jesus Paradise at January 26, 2015 01:12 AM (rsO9D)

477 Ah, here you go: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084919/

It was Cathy Lee Crosby. The little head never forgets ...

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 01:12 AM (oKE6c)

478 When you get that degree in wimmin's studies or political science and can't find a job. The debt lives on and on. No way to discharge it without paying for it. and if your parents co signed they lose the house.

Posted by: Bob from table9 at January 26, 2015 01:12 AM (WNERA)

479 I thought we declared that longbows had won?

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 01:13 AM (TETYm)

480 OK, gotta jump in on the St Petersburg/US grocery store topic.

Spent a semester in Leningrad (russki language), back in the glorious days of Soviet power (Brezhnev in charge). Yes, Marlboros, lipstick, pantyhose, and Beatles tapes were better than $$$. Or blue jeans. Sold one pair of Levi's through our "yasheritza" (lizard) black market intermediaries, netted about $200 in rubles. Not a lot to buy - but not *nothing*. Best thing I got was a nice muskrat fur hat (still have it, extremely warm) at the big dept. store, Gostiniy Dvor.

Saw a line on day when I was out exploring, jumped right into it. Turns out CA oranges and lemons were for sale (right from the Sunkist cartons). Got stared at pretty good; felt guilty as I got up to the vendor and bought just a few, which I distributed back at our dorm.

Posted by: rhomboid at January 26, 2015 01:15 AM (afQnV)

481 453
In the end IEDs and Technicals only matter because we don't have the political will to wage war in a manner that appears unfair.

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 01:01 AM (TETYm)

This explanation doesn't quite square with observations. Exhibit A -- Dronestrikes. I'd submit that it'd be better worded as "In the end IEDs and Technicals only matter because our leaders have the political will to wage war in a manner that favors progressive and Statist ideologies over the lives of their citizens or soldiers."
I'd submit that

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 01:16 AM (T1005)

482 Her excuse is now about "Beneficial time during the
College experience". AKA...making parents and Gov for all the cash they
can wring out of all of us.

Posted by: ManWithNoParty, unperson from Free Market Jesus Paradise at January 26, 2015 01:12 AM (rsO9D)

What is the degree?

Posted by: Vendette at January 26, 2015 01:16 AM (ajFuK)

483 Before I forget, I was looking for something to take a nap to and saw a channel was showing Predator, the original move with arnold. I clicked on the description and it started

"A sneaky alien monster..."

whose mom wrote that summary?

Posted by: yankeefifth at January 26, 2015 01:17 AM (VkSuo)

484 Ok Cthulhu. I they consider drone strikes an exclusive video game most of us don't get to play.

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 01:18 AM (TETYm)

485 456
Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 12:59 AM (T1005)

That... and there is no 'pipeline' curriculum.

Every student figures out their own set of classes... their own schedule, even when they are going for the exact same degrees.

Posted by: BB Wolf at January 26, 2015 01:03 AM (qh617)

Yes, but my issue is the root cause of yours. If people were going, "Holy #$%@ -- it costs THAT much?!?!?!?" on a regular basis, they'd DEMAND a pipeline curriculum.

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 01:18 AM (T1005)

486 Posted by: rhomboid at January 26, 2015 01:15 AM (afQnV)

My now wife and I were in Moscow and Odessa in 1989 (IIRC), when a Russian Orthodox priest mentioned Leningrad (as it then still was), and then, with a twinkle in his eye, said, "Used to be called St. Petersburg, and may be again soon."

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 01:19 AM (oKE6c)

487
The concrete dividers (or "Jersey curbs") are intentionally massive, as they're designed to be hit tangentially by a vehicle and force the vehicle back onto the road. If they were too light, they'd tip over.

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 01:08 AM (T1005

--------------------
Of course they are.
I was simply stating my experience.
Even at half the weight, they'd still weigh a ton. They're not made to drive straight into.
The purpose is to keep you in a prescribed lane of travel...

Maybe the ones we made were the kind they fastened permanently? Maybe they didn't pass safety tests & were never used? Shit - I don't know. I just know I made and inspected them before they left the factory.

Posted by: shredded chi at January 26, 2015 01:19 AM (9/YlV)

488 What is the degree?
Posted by: Vendette at January 26, 2015 01:16 AM (ajFuK)

********
Currently, Pediatric Nursing. I only say it that way because she is in year one. She is kicking ass at it, though.

Posted by: ManWithNoParty, unperson from Free Market Jesus Paradise at January 26, 2015 01:20 AM (YNkME)

489 But more directly on-topic, lived for years very close to the Soviet diplomatic compound in DC. Saw the Soviet diplomats (the low-ranking ones) shopping at the Georgetown Safeway on Wisconsin Ave.

Still clearly recall seeing them standing, overwhelmed, before walls of choices for basic consumer goods. I believe one of the top defectors of all time was told the USG would take him anywhere he wanted to prove that what he saw in DC was no Potemkin village. He picked some medium-sized southern city to visit, and when the stores there were essentially the same as McLean or DC, he had a sort of break-down (but clearly got the memo that our abundance vs. Soviet poverty was very real).

And this was in the 70s/80s. Now - *I* am the one who often is blown away, standing before the wall of 68 kinds of BBQ sauce!

Posted by: rhomboid at January 26, 2015 01:20 AM (afQnV)

490
I just remember them setting up angled oil pipes so they'd have specific fields of fire with their limited ammo and weapons.
Posted by: Maetenloch at January 26, 2015 01:08 AM (wqVD1)
-----------
You can buy it: World War III 18.49

http://preview.tinyurl.com/mwrssef

Posted by: RioBravo at January 26, 2015 01:21 AM (z27Ny)

491 Currently, Pediatric Nursing. I only say it that way because she is in year one. She is kicking ass at it, though.

Posted by: ManWithNoParty, unperson from Free Market Jesus Paradise at January 26, 2015 01:20 AM (YNkME)

May she continue to do so.

Posted by: Vendette at January 26, 2015 01:22 AM (ajFuK)

492 Posted by: RioBravo at January 26, 2015 01:21 AM (z27Ny)

Cool. Thanks. Not sure I'd pony up $20 for it, but it's one of the old shows that comes to mind from time to time.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 01:24 AM (oKE6c)

493 May she continue to do so.
Posted by: Vendette at January 26, 2015 01:22 AM (ajFuK)

*****
Thank you.

Posted by: ManWithNoParty, unperson from Free Market Jesus Paradise at January 26, 2015 01:24 AM (YNkME)

494 BTW, MWWP, your daughter is pursuing something that is very challenging but very rewarding. She is to be congratulated.

Posted by: Vendette at January 26, 2015 01:24 AM (ajFuK)

495 Cool. Thanks. Not sure I'd pony up $20 for it, but it's one of the old shows that comes to mind from time to time.
Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 01:24 AM (oKE6c)

There's a torrent of it out there if you know where to look.

Posted by: Maetenloch at January 26, 2015 01:25 AM (wqVD1)

496 Screwed up the acronymn. MWNP.

I am the daughter of a nurse. Stand by her when it gets rough.

Posted by: Vendette at January 26, 2015 01:27 AM (ajFuK)

497 USAF should be primarily tasked with filling up gas tanks and sitting in
silos. They obviously can't be trusted to do anything else.

In your humble opinion, of course. You have to say "opinion." Can't be preachy.

And thus concludes yet another convocation of the Chiefs' Mess of the Ostfriesland. Bottoms up!

Posted by: Stringer Davis at January 26, 2015 01:30 AM (xq1UY)

498 Were any of you guys in the Red Chinese Dept. Store in Hong Kong years ago? I remember looking at a 35mm camera of uncertain quality named the "Pea Fowl II" there.

Posted by: Jinx the Cat at January 26, 2015 01:31 AM (l3vZN)

499 BTW, MWWP, your daughter is pursuing something that is very challenging but very rewarding. She is to be congratulated.
Posted by: Vendette at January 26, 2015 01:24 AM (ajFuK)

******

Agreed, and thank you for your comment.

She is the only, and throughout her life she has consistently done great things with very little guidance required from me or the former wife. She is the kind of kid that makes parenting look easy, and always has been that way.

Posted by: ManWithNoParty, unperson from Free Market Jesus Paradise at January 26, 2015 01:31 AM (rsO9D)

500 458
Real problem is that actual costs of colleges are

being laundered through "grants programs" (and the Federal government)

so that nobody scrutinizes the cost/benefit ratio of any of it.

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 12:59 AM (T1005)
Nope, the real
problem is that nowadays there's a cubic light year's worth of
administrators (of, e.g, "diversity" programs) gobbling up overheads on
Federal grants, and as their major contribution turning food into shit.
Plus overheads on grants to the science and engineering departments end
up supporting worthless humanities and social science crap.
As an
aside, what would Horde guess the typical overhead rate is on a Federal
grant to a university (i.e., how much of the grant goes to running the
university as opposed to conducting the research)?

Posted by: Jay Guevara at January 26, 2015 01:04 AM (oKE6c)

If people knew the actual costs of these things, without all the "grants programs" kerfuffle, there'd be nowhere to hide the graft of grants programs (such as excess administrators or overhead).

A couple of modest proposals: (1) Abolish the Department of Education. Jimmy Carter set it in motion in 1979 and it's cost a bunch since then. Is Education better now than in 1979? Did Education get added to Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution between 1979 and now? Put a bullet in it. Then, to make sure it's abundantly clear -- fire all the staff in one day, seize the computers and put 'em on the internet (read-only), uncensored. Padlock the agency's buildings and liquidate their assets. And then note that any recoveries under the False Claims Act [ http://tinyurl.com/29hkaz ] will be rewarded at 25% of the amount recovered -- even if it comes from data on the computers just exposed -- starting from Day 1.

(2) Make it absolutely illegal for an institution of education to charge different prices to different people. All tuition must be paid in cash. The entire "grants/financial aid/reduced tuition/student loans" scam needs to be moved to third parties independent of the education function -- and if they want to write checks to certain students to promote diversity, knock themselves out.....but they'd have to be real checks of real money, 'cause the students can only pay in cash.

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 01:33 AM (T1005)

501 We took a weekend trip (train, of course) to Tallinn, Estonia. As always, we had a lunch with the local Komsomol (young commie league, basically the Soviet equivalent of a**-kissing student govt. sort of activity, though more important in a society run entirely by connections and position).

But the Estonian Komsomol didn't disappoint. Guy at my table says it's an honor to meet an American. Then opens his little diary/date-book to show me a drawing of "the real Estonian flag" (the blue/white/black tricolor you see today). Next, his buddy says, in effect "let's blow this boring event and let us show you Tallinn", so we slip out.

I carelessly remark, as we walk by a small govt. bldg., that of all the Soviet republic flags, the Estonian one (USSR flag with blue-white waves at the bottom) is the nicest. So one of the guys just jumps the short fence, walks over, hauls down the flag, and gives it to me! Broad daylight. If we'd been able to hand with these guys at night, I'm sure it would have gotten better (and drunker).

Posted by: rhomboid at January 26, 2015 01:33 AM (afQnV)

502 lots of impregnation fantasies but few surfsomegopd..

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 26, 2015 01:34 AM (Zi7PZ)

503 On a note tangentially related to the ONT, we recently passed the year mark since we lost Joffen.
In case anyone wants to raise a glass or something.

Posted by: shredded chi at January 26, 2015 01:34 AM (9/YlV)

504 ASAF: Bombs away!

USN: Bombs away! Beat Army!

USA: Bombs away! Beat Navy!

USCG: We're here for you, even though it's probably your fault.

Posted by: Vendette at January 26, 2015 01:34 AM (ajFuK)

505 On a note tangentially related to the ONT, we recently passed the year mark since we lost Joffen.

In case anyone wants to raise a glass or something.

Posted by: shredded chi at January 26, 2015 01:34 AM (9/YlV)

You are to be appreciated for your efforts.

Posted by: Vendette at January 26, 2015 01:35 AM (ajFuK)

506 @416 wrap your sledge in a sweater to avoid damaging floors

That would be one hell of a sweater. My lightest sledge is four, and a fraction, pounds, and if you wrapped it in a sweater and dropped it, you'd damage any kind of wood or tile I can think of.

My heaviest sledge is 12 pounds. You don't have to swing that one a lot.
Posted by: Stringer Davis at January 26, 2015 01:06 AM (xq1UY)

heh,

Posted by: yankeefifth at January 26, 2015 01:37 AM (VkSuo)

507 Congrats on the able and centered daughter, MWNP. One nice thought you can have is that she will do OK, regardless of what happens to the world (or her parents). But I'm guessing there is in fact some parenting showing in her behavior, so kudos to you.

Posted by: rhomboid at January 26, 2015 01:38 AM (afQnV)

508 476
Look for semesters off to do internships for credits.

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 01:03 AM (TETYm)

*******

She is already doing 2 classes this summer, which has apparently
distressed her Counselor greatly as the reasons that she should not be
able to graduate in 4 years are being shredded by my rather awesome
daughter.

Her excuse is now about "Beneficial time during the College
experience". AKA...making parents and Gov for all the cash they can
wring out of all of us.

Posted by: ManWithNoParty, unperson from Free Market Jesus Paradise at January 26, 2015 01:12 AM (rsO9D)

As someone who graduated in 3-1/2 years, myself, (while overtopping the recommended unit count) I am becoming less than fond of this Counselor....

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 01:38 AM (T1005)

509 shredded chi at January 26, 2015 01:34 AM (9/YlV)

May Joffen's Family and Friends remember the good times they shared more than the sadness of what they lost ... some day soon.

Posted by: Adriane ... at January 26, 2015 01:39 AM (P+IZm)

510 USCG: We're here for you, even though it's probably your fault.
Posted by: Vendette at January 26, 2015 01:34 AM (ajFuK)

wasn't that hasselhoff tv show about the coast guard? not the one with the talking car, the one after.

Posted by: yankeefifth at January 26, 2015 01:39 AM (VkSuo)

511 Y5, no, it was about LA lifeguards.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 26, 2015 01:41 AM (10ydV)

512 Vendette, love that USCG one - hadn't heard that one before.

Somewhere online (probably) you can still find a great faux voice mail greeting for the Pentagon, which begins with "press 1 for the Marine Corps" if you're really in urgenttrouble, and ends with something like "if you are apeaceful country with a mild climate and good golf courses, press 4 for the Air Force".

Posted by: rhomboid at January 26, 2015 01:41 AM (afQnV)

513 This whole discussion of The Useless Junior Birdmen Of The USAF smacks just *slightly* of preparing to fight the last war.

It's unseemly that the generals are trying to dispose of stuff that works now to pocket the peanuts for the stuff they're hoping to get (in the current environment they're hoping they don't end up with Sopwith Camels).

But...at the same time, the *next* war may well not be Strafing The Wogs*.

Now, personally, I'm not so convinced that something as expensive as an F-35 ought to have one spinning thrust-making thing in it. That works okay when you're building something in thousand-unit quantities, or more. It's kinda sorta worked okay with the A-7 (fuel tankage aside) and the F-16. But...really, our F-22 inventory is how many days losses in a real war, and will we have that many more F-35s?

The USA has never won a war on technical superiority. The Union (well, my family didn't get here until the 1880s so what you mean 'we', kimo sabe?) had better weapons but shitty generals. We bummed our tanks off the French in WWI. Okay, I'm wrong, we nuked Japan which is about as 'technically superior' as you'll get, but it wasn't boutique manufacturing, it was a full-on industrial mobilization that got us to that point. The Norks fought our leftover Shermans to a draw with their surplus Russkie T-34s. And so on. We 'won' the first Iraq war because we hadn't completely demobbed from the Cold War. And we've mostly failed since then.

So why should we believe we can win the next one on 'technical superiority'?

Posted by: JEM at January 26, 2015 01:41 AM (o+SC1)

514 Congrats on the able and centered daughter, MWNP. One nice thought you can have is that she will do OK, regardless of what happens to the world (or her parents). But I'm guessing there is in fact some parenting showing in her behavior, so kudos to you.
Posted by: rhomboid at January 26, 2015 01:38 AM (afQnV)

******
Thank you Sir. She has gotten some benefit from both myself and her Mom, but has not needed much to succeed. She would have found a way to do well almost on her own.

Posted by: ManWithNoParty, unperson from Free Market Jesus Paradise at January 26, 2015 01:42 AM (VHKLL)

515
Have you seen the latest tv ads for obama's Coast Guard?

A black kid says how happy he was to join so's he can protect the environment...and help people.

Posted by: Soothsayer The Incorrigble II at January 26, 2015 01:42 AM (ObXhH)

516 Y5, no, it was about LA lifeguards.
Posted by: Colorado Alex at January 26, 2015 01:41 AM (10ydV)

Oh. More or less same thing though no?

Only teasing.

Posted by: yankeefifth at January 26, 2015 01:43 AM (VkSuo)

517 Vendette.

Actually, the Navy dropped torpedoes and magnetically triggered mines on Army's 20 yard line.

The Coast Guard filmed their mission and sold the footage to Discovery Channel.

The Army indeed called "Bombs Away!", only to realize that a 1,000 pounder dropped from a UH-1 also takes out said UH-1.

And the Air Farce bombed the A-10 Warthog and F-35, as collateral damage.

Hope that helps unclear some things upside down?

Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX

Posted by: Jim at January 26, 2015 01:43 AM (RzZOc)

518 Raises glass of LBV port to "Joffen, f***ing sunshine patriot", as I recall his nickname.

Posted by: rhomboid at January 26, 2015 01:44 AM (afQnV)

519 I just remember them setting up angled oil pipes so they'd have specific fields of fire with their limited ammo and weapons.

That's it!

Posted by: Weirddave at January 26, 2015 01:46 AM (WvS3w)

520 In memory of Joffen....

*CHEERS*

I'd throw my glass into the fireplace. If I had a fireplace.

Frankly, I was a bit more of a lurker then. But, I remember it all too well.

Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX

Posted by: Jim at January 26, 2015 01:47 AM (RzZOc)

521 Hope that helps unclear some things upside down?

Jim

Sunk New Dawn

Galveston, TX

Posted by: Jim at January 26, 2015 01:43 AM (RzZOc)

Who won?

Posted by: Vendette at January 26, 2015 01:48 AM (ajFuK)

522 Raises glass of LBV port to "Joffen, f***ing sunshine patriot", as I recall his nickname.
Posted by: rhomboid
*To all those we lost*

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 26, 2015 01:48 AM (Zi7PZ)

523 *Raises glass to Joffen*

Posted by: Vendette at January 26, 2015 01:50 AM (ajFuK)

524 As someone who graduated in 3-1/2 years, myself, (while overtopping the recommended unit count) I am becoming less than fond of this Counselor....
Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 01:38 AM (T1005)

********
As you may imagine, said Counselor is a very chirpy, passive aggressive drone. I no longer deal with school admins, unless daughter requests such an occurrence. So far, she does great on her own. She calls me, lays out the problem, and we discuss a solution. Then she does her thing. She is not quite as fierce as I tend to be in such encounters, but then again she is not yet older and cranky like Dad.

Posted by: ManWithNoParty, unperson from Free Market Jesus Paradise at January 26, 2015 01:50 AM (rsO9D)

525 JEM, right on, right on, right on ......

I'll take the alcohol-enhanced liberty of interpreting your comment as agreeing with mine.

Brutally simplified: numbers matter, and actually the smart approach is one that combines good technology, the best training and personnel, and adequate numbers. Singapore and others can opt for a few ofThe Best. A global power with global commitments cannot.

To me the F-35 represents the tech superiority/fewer numbers principle taken too far.

The LCS? Dunno. Why not build scads of Burke-class and extend the life of the Ticonderoga-class instead?

(note: no joking, when I write "A global power with global commitments" here I frown, shake my head, and remember that in the 10,000 years since 9/11, we are nothing like the country we so recently were)

Posted by: rhomboid at January 26, 2015 01:54 AM (afQnV)

526 Friends, it's zero one hundred what the fcuk am I doing up this late hours, here.

Head, pillow, assembly immediately hereafter.

Hasta la nite nite, Horde!

Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX

Posted by: Jim at January 26, 2015 01:54 AM (RzZOc)

527 On a note tangentially related to the ONT, we recently passed the year mark since we lost Joffen. In case anyone wants to raise a glass or something.

Posted by: shredded chi at January 26, 2015 01:34 AM

Will do.

Posted by: otho at January 26, 2015 01:55 AM (tBSrv)

528 G'night, Jim.
I hope to get the chance to buy you a drink some day.
Be well.

Posted by: shredded chi at January 26, 2015 01:56 AM (9/YlV)

529 I will not mention names, but there are people here on this blog who tried to call the local authorities on behalf of Joffen. They are to be commended.

Posted by: Vendette at January 26, 2015 01:56 AM (ajFuK)

530 I will not mention names, but there are people here on this blog who tried to call the local authorities on behalf of Joffen. They are to be commended.
Posted by: Vendette at January 26, 2015 01:56 AM (ajFuK)

****
I was a lurker then, and remember. Glass tipped and prayer said for Joffen.

Posted by: ManWithNoParty, unperson from Free Market Jesus Paradise at January 26, 2015 01:59 AM (VHKLL)

531 And this may sound awfully heavy for the ONT, but if you're reading this thread and you're in despair, keep reading. Post. Ask if someone else posting can encourage you. We're the Horde. We will.

Posted by: Vendette at January 26, 2015 02:00 AM (ajFuK)

532 @527 - yeah, headed back for a couple more ice cubes. A year already?

Posted by: JEM at January 26, 2015 02:01 AM (o+SC1)

533 Apologies to those who don't instinctively scroll past my walls of text.

So after the semester in Leningrad (where we heard about the siege constantly, and the painted notices on Nevsky Prospyekt "This Side Safer During Bombardments" - ctulhu, are they still there?), I spend a few days in Germany with a fellow student. On the train ride back to Paris to catch the flight back to the US, I share a compartment with a late middle-aged German man.

My German then was OK (studied it since 10th grade). We chat a bit. He asks where I've traveled. Before Saarland, I said, I spent a few months in Leningrad.

He responds (with a slight smile) "I spent a few months there too" and points to a long scar andsmall lump on his left forearm. So he must have been a German vet of that campaign (Army Group North).

Posted by: rhomboid at January 26, 2015 02:02 AM (afQnV)

534 503
On a note tangentially related to the ONT, we recently passed the year mark since we lost Joffen.

In case anyone wants to raise a glass or something.

Posted by: shredded chi at January 26, 2015 01:34 AM (9/YlV)

I hate to be such a pussy about it, but I've been dreading it all month and I'm relieved to be past it because the thought of looking up the exact date was right up there with having blood drawn. It really has had me tensed-up for a couple of weeks.

*whew*

Here's to Joffen, our fellow Moron, our Sunshine Patriot. Here's to his sparkling wit and infectious humor. Here's to all who helped, tried, or cared. Here's to the family and friends he left behind....

Here's to those hurt, or abandoned, or bereaved by the manner of his passing....

And, finally, here's to God's Mercy on a tortured soul. I hope with all my heart that Joffen finds peace.

And thanks to Chi, who has evidently been "manning-up" and keeping track of things while I've been "Shirking With Seals."*

*It was supposed to be a sequel to "Dancing With Wolves", but they ran out of money.

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 02:06 AM (T1005)

535 "I spent a few months there too" and points to a long scar and a mall lump on his left forearm. So he must have been a German vet of that campaign (Army Group North).
Posted by: rhomboid

Thank you for your service.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 26, 2015 02:07 AM (Zi7PZ)

536 And this may sound awfully heavy for the ONT, but if you're reading this thread and you're in despair, keep reading. Post. Ask if someone else posting can encourage you. We're the Horde. We will.
Posted by: Vendette at January 26, 2015 02:00 AM (ajFuK)

******
Not too heavy at all.

You said it. Talk to us, anyone who may need to sort things out. There are many here who will go several extra miles to help. Sometimes, hundreds of miles if it is required.

Posted by: ManWithNoParty, unperson from Free Market Jesus Paradise at January 26, 2015 02:08 AM (rsO9D)

537 It's been a year, damn.

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 02:08 AM (TETYm)

538 In regards to Delate-Gate (cross posted on Twitter):

Ideal gas states:

P1 x V1 / T1 = P2 x V2 / T2

(For this to work you have to use absolute temperatures and pressures).

First that Professor assumes that the volume of the ball does not change.

So a ball pressurized at 12.5 psi (27.2 psi) at 70�F (530�R) would have a pressure at 50�F (510�R) of:

27.2 * 510 / 530 = 26.2 psia or 11.5 psig

Where did the 0.5 psi go to?

So let's presume that the volume will change enough so that the pressure will drop to 11 psig or 25.7 psi. The new volume would have to be:

27.2 * 510 / 530 / 25.7 = 101.8% or the original volume.

For that to happen would mean that an NFL football (a rubber bladder surrounded by sewn leather) would have a negative coefficient of expansion. In simple term, it gets bigger as it gets colder.

If any Ron or Ette can find fault with my analysis I would appreciate an explanation.

Posted by: John P. Squibob at January 26, 2015 02:08 AM (DQZLr)

539 Footballs get harder as it gets colder. I don't know if that is a function of the bladder expanding.

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 02:11 AM (TETYm)

540 533
Apologies to those who don't instinctively scroll past my walls of text.

So after the semester in Leningrad (where we heard about the siege
constantly, and the painted notices on Nevsky Prospyekt "This Side Safer
During Bombardments" - ctulhu, are they still there?), I spend a few
days in Germany with a fellow student. On the train ride back to Paris
to catch the flight back to the US, I share a compartment with a late
middle-aged German man.

My German then was OK (studied it since 10th grade). We chat a bit.
He asks where I've traveled. Before Saarland, I said, I spent a few
months in Leningrad.

He responds (with a slight smile) "I spent a few months there too"
and points to a long scar andsmall lump on his left forearm. So he must
have been a German vet of that campaign (Army Group North).

Posted by: rhomboid at January 26, 2015 02:02 AM (afQnV)

I didn't see any of the bombardment announcements. If they were painted, I suspect they've been pressure-washed away. There are plenty of other peculiarities still there if you're looking....

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 02:12 AM (T1005)

541 If any Ron or Ette can find fault with my analysis I would appreciate an explanation.
Posted by: John P. Squibo

Yeah, PB is actually short for Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 26, 2015 02:12 AM (Zi7PZ)

542 If any Ron or Ette can find fault with my analysis I would appreciate an explanation.

Math and Science are raaaaacist tools of the Patriarchy!!!!

Posted by: Adriane ... at January 26, 2015 02:13 AM (P+IZm)

543 Evening morons, how fares the horde?

Posted by: Conservative Crank at January 26, 2015 02:15 AM (b2cFu)

544 Evening morons, how fares the horde?
Posted by: Conservative Crank at January 26, 2015 02:15 AM (b2cFu)

*****

Bummed at the memory of a fallen member, but happy about New lives, such as Son of Crank. How are you?

Posted by: ManWithNoParty, unperson from Free Market Jesus Paradise at January 26, 2015 02:18 AM (YNkME)

545 Evening morons, how fares the horde?

Sad. Glad. Tired. Mad.

rinse and repeat ...

Posted by: Adriane ... at January 26, 2015 02:19 AM (P+IZm)

546 How is work & family, Crank?

Posted by: Adriane ... at January 26, 2015 02:21 AM (P+IZm)

547 531
And this may sound awfully heavy for the ONT, but if you're reading this
thread and you're in despair, keep reading. Post. Ask if someone else
posting can encourage you. We're the Horde. We will.

Posted by: Vendette at January 26, 2015 02:00 AM (ajFuK)

Just to put things into perspective -- if MUMR unmasked and came to the Horde sincerely looking for an alternative to ending his shame with seppuku, we'd actually work toward a way he could honorably continue breathing.

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 02:22 AM (T1005)

548 544
Evening morons, how fares the horde?

Posted by: Conservative Crank at January 26, 2015 02:15 AM (b2cFu)

*****

Bummed at the memory of a fallen member, but happy about New lives, such as Son of Crank. How are you?

Posted by: ManWithNoParty, unperson from Free Market Jesus Paradise at January 26, 2015 02:18 AM (YNkME)

Well said!

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 02:23 AM (T1005)

549 I'm ok, at work.

Has it been a year already? Damn. Would drink but they have laws about that sort of thing.

Posted by: Conservative Crank at January 26, 2015 02:24 AM (b2cFu)

550 Cth, I believe it was the 20th. I'd be embarrassed to say how many times I went back to read our emails over the last year... I tried a couple days ago, they were gone. I assume gmail deleted everything after a certain amount of time... it's like he no longer exists.

JEM - there isn't enough ice in the house. I won't admit to how much liquor I have consumed in the last couple weeks.

John was a good man. I could go on, but won't. Thanks for remembering him.

Posted by: shredded chi at January 26, 2015 02:25 AM (9/YlV)

551 549
I'm ok, at work.

Has it been a year already? Damn. Would drink but they have laws about that sort of thing.

Posted by: Conservative Crank at January 26, 2015 02:24 AM (b2cFu)

Sniff of nitrous?

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 02:25 AM (T1005)

552 ctulhu, gotta say I'm surprised if the folks in St Petersburg haven't kept the bombardment notices up on Nevsky Prospyekt - even IF there are Prada and Barney's New York stores lining that avenue now.

Talk about an amazing and sobering historical chapter well worth memorializing. And with all the unseemly or even nasty aspects that can be mined with Russian nationalism, the epic experience of Leningrad is a clean and positive one.

One last tidbit about that.

We had crappy, cold water showers in our dorm (19th century bldg., with a great view of the Neva River and the Winter Palace opposite us). So we'd occasionally head to the public "banya" not far away. Hot (hot!) water, the classic Russian steam room experience, scratching your back with birch branches, etc.

The women went to their side, and afterwards told us how the older local women in the banya (who were not exactly model-thin, ahemm) would look at them (fairly think college girls of decades back) and say: "milaya (dear), look at you, you have nothing for the bad times!"

Posted by: rhomboid at January 26, 2015 02:25 AM (afQnV)

553 that was "thin" college girls

Posted by: rhomboid at January 26, 2015 02:26 AM (afQnV)

554 To the Greeks that voted to continue being the Free Shit Army I have this to say to you:

Malakas!!
Heshe ke Fi!!

Posted by: The Man from Athens at January 26, 2015 02:27 AM (O3k74)

555 Watching Predator. Classic Ahnold! That little hispanic chick (well,the only chick in the movie) was kind of hot in a Sandinista kind of way. I'd do her while reading Hayek, outloud.

Posted by: puddleglum at January 26, 2015 02:27 AM (syGA0)

556 I can haz Scott Walker for President?

Posted by: tcn in AK, for reals, for good! at January 26, 2015 02:28 AM (+YMhA)

557 Not that it is my place to say so, but I meant the "thanks" to everyone...

Posted by: shredded chi at January 26, 2015 02:29 AM (9/YlV)

558 . . . The women went to their side, and afterwards told us how the older local women in the banya (who were not exactly model-thin, ahemm) would look at them (fairly think college girls of decades back) and say: "milaya (dear), look at you, you have nothing for the bad times!"
Posted by: rhomboid at January 26, 2015 02:25 AM (afQnV)

Thinness . . . First World problems are the best to have.

Posted by: The Man from Athens at January 26, 2015 02:29 AM (O3k74)

559 Watching Predator. Classic Ahnold! That little hispanic chick (well,the only chick in the movie) was kind of hot in a Sandinista kind of way. I'd do her while reading Hayek, outloud.
Posted by: puddleglum

Anna - Elpidia Carrillo

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 26, 2015 02:30 AM (Zi7PZ)

560 Thinness . . . First World problems are the best to have.
Posted by: The Man from Athens at January 26, 2015 02:29 AM (O3k74)

Hmmm.... I must still be in a third world state of mind.

Of course, that means D cups, but the rest? Oh well. Don't look beyond the boobies and you'll be fine.

Posted by: tcn in AK, for reals, for good! at January 26, 2015 02:31 AM (+YMhA)

561 555 Watching Predator. Classic Ahnold! That little hispanic chick (well,the only chick in the movie) was kind of hot in a Sandinista kind of way. I'd do her while reading Hayek, outloud.
Posted by: puddleglum at January 26, 2015 02:27 AM (syGA0)

Did Ahnold every show her is "other" predator . . . ?

Posted by: The Man from Athens at January 26, 2015 02:31 AM (O3k74)

562 tcn in AK, for reals, for good! at January 26, 2015 02:28 AM (+YMhA)

How ye be?

Posted by: Adriane ... at January 26, 2015 02:33 AM (P+IZm)

563 and weft-cut - thank you, but puzzled by your comment.

I did have the privilege of serving the US in a few war zones, one of them our own*, but as a civilian do not expect the thanks for service that I always extend to uniformed service members. A convention I can live with.

* was lucky to play a small role in providing US assistance to the needy in some former Soviet republic war zones where we had interests but no forces - truth be told if I had the $$$ I would have paid to do it, but that's just my peculiar interests talking

Posted by: rhomboid at January 26, 2015 02:34 AM (afQnV)

564 560 Thinness . . . First World problems are the best to have.
Posted by: The Man from Athens at January 26, 2015 02:29 AM (O3k74)

Hmmm.... I must still be in a third world state of mind.

Of course, that means D cups, but the rest? Oh well. Don't look beyond the boobies and you'll be fine.
Posted by: tcn in AK, for reals, for good! at January 26, 2015 02:31 AM (+YMhA)

Not needing to carry your food as body weight all the time is a First World perk I do enjoy. Who looks beyond the boobies?

Posted by: The Man from Athens at January 26, 2015 02:37 AM (O3k74)

565 It's been a year, damn.

Posted by: Jean at January 26, 2015 02:08 AM (TETYm)

It doesn't seem that long ago.

Posted by: The Remembering Hat at January 26, 2015 02:37 AM (0Ew3K)

566 561: Well she is an Mexican actress, so maybe.

Posted by: puddleglum at January 26, 2015 02:38 AM (syGA0)

567 C Crank - for some reason, my phone won't allow me to access Twitter pages.

BUT, a certain 'ette was kind enough to email me a pic of SoC a couple nights ago. He's still the second cutest MoronJr. around (grand-nephew Wyatt being #1).
So happy for you...

Posted by: shredded chi at January 26, 2015 02:38 AM (9/YlV)

568 Not to offend, but what happened a year ago?
Suicide?

Just asking . . .

Posted by: The Man from Athens at January 26, 2015 02:39 AM (O3k74)

569 Yep, "first world problems" was being thin if you were from a Second World (everyone knows that's what's between "first" and "third" world, right - the commie bloc, or "second" world?) country. And, like the Soviet women in question,in living memory of surviving on bread that was half cellulose, in freezing temperatures ....

And don't let me forget - on the men's side, we felt like "girly men". A fairly average group, some athletic, but no Adonis types. But the (older than us) Soviet guys in the banya were built, strong upper bodies - probably laborers. They weren't unfriendly but did sort of give us the "heh" eye. F**king American college students vs. (probably) shipyward workers ...... not our finest hour!

Posted by: rhomboid at January 26, 2015 02:40 AM (afQnV)

570 He responds (with a slight smile) "I spent a few months there too" and points to a long scar andsmall lump on his left forearm. So he must have been a German vet of that campaign (Army Group North).
Posted by: rhomboid at January 26, 2015 02:02 AM (afQnV)

I don't have quite as cool a story as yours but when I lived in Japan in the late 80s, I happened to meet an older retired Japanese gentleman at some company function and we started chatting. Between my basic Japanese and his limited English we figured out that we both had semi-functional Russian in common. Me from studying it in school and him from being a POW of the Russians.

He had been a worker at Mitsubishi before the war and then was drafted and became an airplane mechanic - which as he joked meant that he was still working on Mitsubishi equipment. He was stationed somewhere in China and when the war ended he had no way to escape back to Japan and was captured by the Russians. He managed to survive as a POW for a couple of years which is how he learned Russian. Later when he was finally released he went on to became an engineer and was one of the first group of Japanese to study the Deming method from Edwards Deming himself.

Posted by: Maetenloch at January 26, 2015 02:40 AM (wqVD1)

571 The Man from Athens at January 26, 2015 02:39 AM (O3k74)

yes.

Posted by: Adriane ... at January 26, 2015 02:41 AM (P+IZm)

572 Man from Athens - yes, Joffen was an AOSHQmoron who took his own life. Despite attempts by some outstanding folks here to intervene.

Posted by: rhomboid at January 26, 2015 02:41 AM (afQnV)

573 Did Ahnold every show her is "other" predator . . . ?�

Posted by: The Man from Athens at
--------------------
I believe he did in an early movie.

Was it Stallone that did a porno as his first on-screen "performance?" or Arnold?

Posted by: shredded chi at January 26, 2015 02:41 AM (9/YlV)

574 and weft-cut - thank you, but puzzled by your comment. Posted by: rhomboid

Sorry, it may have been a joke I didn't know who said what.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 26, 2015 02:42 AM (Zi7PZ)

575 Maetenloch at January 26, 2015 02:40 AM (wqVD1)

kewl!

Posted by: Adriane ... at January 26, 2015 02:42 AM (P+IZm)

576 "Predator".
One of the few things Jesse Ventura did right.
Was the indian who played Billy also the same guy that played in those Billy Jack flicks?

Posted by: The Man from Athens at January 26, 2015 02:42 AM (O3k74)

577 off Italics

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 26, 2015 02:43 AM (Zi7PZ)

578 Faaaawk, sorry, erryone

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 26, 2015 02:44 AM (Zi7PZ)

579 re: earlier comments about A-4s--I believe one of the major criteria was for it to be the smallest platform that could deliver a nuke (or maybe smallest carrier platform that could do so)?

Posted by: Conservative Crank at January 26, 2015 02:45 AM (b2cFu)

580 572 Man from Athens - yes, Joffen was an AOSHQmoron who took his own life. Despite attempts by some outstanding folks here to intervene.
Posted by: rhomboid at January 26, 2015 02:41 AM (afQnV)

Thank you.
And thanks to those who reached out.

Posted by: The Man from Athens at January 26, 2015 02:46 AM (O3k74)

581 SCIENCE!!!!

Posted by: Adriane ... at January 26, 2015 02:46 AM (P+IZm)

582 552
ctulhu, gotta say I'm surprised if the folks in St Petersburg haven't
kept the bombardment notices up on Nevsky Prospyekt - even IF there are
Prada and Barney's New York stores lining that avenue now.

Talk about an amazing and sobering historical chapter well worth
memorializing. And with all the unseemly or even nasty aspects that can
be mined with Russian nationalism, the epic experience of Leningrad is a
clean and positive one.

One last tidbit about that.

We had crappy, cold water showers in our dorm (19th century bldg.,
with a great view of the Neva River and the Winter Palace opposite us).
So we'd occasionally head to the public "banya" not far away. Hot (hot!)
water, the classic Russian steam room experience, scratching your back
with birch branches, etc.

The women went to their side, and afterwards told us how the older
local women in the banya (who were not exactly model-thin, ahemm) would
look at them (fairly think college girls of decades back) and say:
"milaya (dear), look at you, you have nothing for the bad times!"

Posted by: rhomboid at January 26, 2015 02:25 AM (afQnV)

I don't even know how to describe it, but we frequently saw older Russians feeding pigeons in the parks.....and the thought that leaped, unbidden, to our minds was "mobile larders".

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 02:46 AM (T1005)

583 Dunno, Maet - I rate your story as cooler than mine!

Wow. The Kwantung Army that Japan used to garrison Manchuria and stand in the way of any Soviet offensives was "looted" starting in 1945 (?) to fight what the Army called "the American war", or the Navy's war. I think the Iwo Jima force was pulled from Manchuria (Japanese puppet state Manchukuo - as it says on the wonderful 1930s paper-covered glass world globe my mother left me).

So he may have been in an aviation unit (Army) that was overrun when the Soviets finally tore up the neutrality pact and attacked. I know about the German POWs who did long time in the USSR after the war (a former German gf's father died in his 50s, he contracted polio while doing 3 or 4 years in a Soviet camp after 1945).

Posted by: rhomboid at January 26, 2015 02:47 AM (afQnV)

584 576:No, but he was in The Warriors.

I forgot how much fun The Predator was. Haven't seen it in a while. So good that I'll even admit that Jesse was alright in it. Too bad he is such a festering boil floating in a sea of puss in real life.

Posted by: puddleglum at January 26, 2015 02:48 AM (syGA0)

585 570
He responds (with a slight smile) "I spent a few months there too"
and points to a long scar andsmall lump on his left forearm. So he must
have been a German vet of that campaign (Army Group North).
Posted by: rhomboid at January 26, 2015 02:02 AM (afQnV)

I
don't have quite as cool a story as yours but when I lived in Japan in
the late 80s, I happened to meet an older retired Japanese gentleman at
some company function and we started chatting. Between my basic Japanese
and his limited English we figured out that we both had semi-functional
Russian in common. Me from studying it in school and him from being a
POW of the Russians.

He had been a worker at Mitsubishi before
the war and then was drafted and became an airplane mechanic - which as
he joked meant that he was still working on Mitsubishi equipment. He was
stationed somewhere in China and when the war ended he had no way to
escape back to Japan and was captured by the Russians. He managed to
survive as a POW for a couple of years which is how he learned Russian.
Later when he was finally released he went on to became an engineer and
was one of the first group of Japanese to study the Deming method from
Edwards Deming himself.

Posted by: Maetenloch at January 26, 2015 02:40 AM (wqVD1)

*Gasps* *Stutters* *Stutters* One of the first Japanese to learn from Deming?!?!?

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 02:52 AM (T1005)

586 569 Yep, "first world problems" was being thin if you were from a Second World (everyone knows that's what's between "first" and "third" world, right - the commie bloc, or "second" world?) country. And, like the Soviet women in question,in living memory of surviving on bread that was half cellulose, in freezing temperatures ....

And don't let me forget - on the men's side, we felt like "girly men". A fairly average group, some athletic, but no Adonis types. But the (older than us) Soviet guys in the banya were built, strong upper bodies - probably laborers. They weren't unfriendly but did sort of give us the "heh" eye. F**king American college students vs. (probably) shipyward workers ...... not our finest hour!

Posted by: rhomboid at January 26, 2015 02:40 AM (afQnV)

My folks grew up in Greece during WWII. When I was a kid - '60's-70's- we'd go back and see relatives regularly. Was always amazed that the people there looked way older than those of comparable ages here in the States, particularly those in the villages. That and the utter hatred nearly everybody there had for the Germans and the Turks; not that I blame them....

Posted by: The Man from Athens at January 26, 2015 02:52 AM (O3k74)

587 Was the indian who played Billy also the same guy that played in those Billy Jack flicks?

Posted by: The Man from Athens at January 26, 2015 02:42 AM

I don't think so... but, he was in "Southern Comfort" as one of the cajuns. Pretty intimidating in that role.

Posted by: otho at January 26, 2015 02:53 AM (tBSrv)

588 ONE OF THE FIRST JAPANESE TO LEARN FROM DEMING?!?!?

Posted by: Al Sharpton at January 26, 2015 02:53 AM (T1005)

589 Predator really was quite a feat of movie making, IMO.

Ready to be corrected, but it was *original*, and innovative. A sci-fi flick that was packaged in another genre (unconventional war movie). Well executed. Do I recally correctly that ???? Duke, who played the quiet intense black guy, rarely was in front of the camera, and was persuaded to do so by the director? Anyway, good performances by all, incl. the now-repugnant Ventura, and Ahnold.

And thanks for that name, weft-cut. Yes, she is memorable ...... and with that unpure thought, I head to the rack. 90 minute workout in the morning, then some reloading and more self-reinvention efforts .....

Posted by: rhomboid at January 26, 2015 02:57 AM (afQnV)

590 What's this about a lemming???

Posted by: Emily Litella at January 26, 2015 02:57 AM (P+IZm)

591 Posted by: rhomboid at January 26, 2015 02:57 AM

Bill Duke.

"Anytime..."

Posted by: otho at January 26, 2015 03:00 AM (tBSrv)

592 584 576:No, but he was in The Warriors.

I forgot how much fun The Predator was. Haven't seen it in a while. So good that I'll even admit that Jesse was alright in it. Too bad he is such a festering boil floating in a sea of puss in real life.
Posted by: puddleglum at January 26, 2015 02:48 AM (syGA0)

Getting your head slammed into a turnbuckle, even if it is not as hard as it is designed to look, cannot be good for the little grey cells. I wonder if he dances around wearing that pink feather boa at home....would not surprise me in the least.

Posted by: The Man from Athens at January 26, 2015 03:01 AM (O3k74)

593 I be good. To them's that ask.

Just let the dogs out in -5, didn't take too long, and it is the first time I've ever seen a beagle pee with all four feet off the ground. Or, at least, that's what she was attempting.

I moved up here to get away from the cold in the upper midwest... sort of. Now, it's here. Oh well. Loins have been girded.

Posted by: tcn in AK, for reals, for good! at January 26, 2015 03:02 AM (+YMhA)

594 How's the horde this fine evening?

Posted by: tcn in AK, for reals, for good! at January 26, 2015 03:03 AM (+YMhA)

595 Off to bed as a paycheck beckons.

Good Night All!

Posted by: The Man from Athens at January 26, 2015 03:04 AM (O3k74)

596 I see the pending NE storm has been dubbed "juno"...it was just called "rain" when it was here.

Posted by: BignJames at January 26, 2015 03:06 AM (HtUkt)

597 596 I see the pending NE storm has been dubbed "juno"...it was just called "rain" when it was here.
Posted by: BignJames at January 26, 2015 03:06 AM (HtUkt)

To the media, it isn't really news until it happens in NYC. Flyover Jesusland people can't really be expected to have anything reported about their lives or experiences--if they mattered, they would fly to NYC and be counted.

Imagine my surprise when Alaska made the national news, but it turns out it was all about Obama and another federal land grab. So, not really about us, after all. Even the photo was of him, not ANWR.

Then again, if the media were to report about Alaska, they'd get it wrong anyway.

Posted by: tcn in AK, for reals, for good! at January 26, 2015 03:11 AM (+YMhA)

598 As much as I dislike the Progressive commercials, I have to admit that I kinda like the latest one:

Flo - "we'll get you an ice cream cone, Champ."
Loser - "With sprinkles?"
Flo - "sprinkles are for winners."

Posted by: shredded chi at January 26, 2015 03:14 AM (9/YlV)

599 Anyone else prepared to forgive Cristina Kirchner her commie skank act if she'd just post a naked selfie? I mean, she's at the top of my MILFATABINF but the the Take A Bullet In The Forehead part is a bit harsh IYKWIM.

Posted by: JEM at January 26, 2015 03:15 AM (KKP6T)

600 JEM, I have to say that your fascination with Kirchner is starting to trouble me...
she might've been cute 30 years ago, but what's up with your current crush?

Posted by: shredded chi at January 26, 2015 03:25 AM (9/YlV)

601 Anyone else prepared to forgive Cristina Kirchner her commie skank act if she'd just post a naked selfie? I mean, she's at the top of my MILFATABINF but the the Take A Bullet In The Forehead part is a bit harsh IYKWIM.

Posted by: JEM at January 26, 2015 03:15 AM (KKP6T)

What am I? A shape-shifting jooo spider?

Posted by: Hayat Boumeddiene at January 26, 2015 03:32 AM (0Ew3K)

602 Heh.
somehow, i KNEW that was you, hat...

I need to figure out a way to get some sleep. Melatonin & bourbon doesn't do it.

Posted by: shredded chi at January 26, 2015 03:34 AM (9/YlV)

603 602
Heh.

somehow, i KNEW that was you, hat...

I need to figure out a way to get some sleep. Melatonin bourbon doesn't do it.

Posted by: shredded chi at January 26, 2015 03:34 AM (9/YlV)

Nor do long nights and shorter days, cold, and memories.

Posted by: Al Sharpton at January 26, 2015 03:41 AM (T1005)

604 Farkleschnitz! Who's in charge of sock discipline around here, anyway?

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 03:43 AM (T1005)

605 602
Heh.

somehow, i KNEW that was you, hat...

I need to figure out a way to get some sleep. Melatonin bourbon doesn't do it.

Posted by: shredded chi at January 26, 2015 03:34 AM (9/YlV)

AMPERSANDS!!! BURN THE HERETIC!!!!

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 03:43 AM (T1005)

606 WTF?

You sock Sharpton?

Posted by: shredded chi at January 26, 2015 03:45 AM (9/YlV)

607 Fook the ampesands - melatonin flavored bourbon might be just what I need!

Posted by: shredded chi at January 26, 2015 03:46 AM (9/YlV)

608 606
WTF?

You sock Sharpton?

Posted by: shredded chi at January 26, 2015 03:45 AM (9/YlV)

I thought everyone did.

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 03:48 AM (T1005)

609 I think you have that backwards, chi, it should be bourbon flavored melatonin

Posted by: Conservative Crank at January 26, 2015 03:48 AM (b2cFu)

610 609
I think you have that backwards, chi, it should be bourbon flavored melatonin

Posted by: Conservative Crank at January 26, 2015 03:48 AM (b2cFu)

Would you believe "bourbon-flavored bourbon, with a melatonin-flavored melatonin chaser"?

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 03:50 AM (T1005)

611 608
606

WTF?

You sock Sharpton?

Posted by: shredded chi at January 26, 2015 03:45 AM (9/YlV)

I thought everyone did.

Posted by: cthulhu at January 26, 2015 03:48 AM (T1005)

Much like how everyone did Jon Stewart's sister....

Posted by: Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog at January 26, 2015 03:53 AM (T1005)

612 Well, I'm so broke, even my bourbon doesn't taste like bourbon.
But I know a Doctor that can probably get me some "melatonin" - if I asked nicely...

Posted by: shredded chi at January 26, 2015 03:54 AM (9/YlV)

613 Heh - Triumph.
Didn't he co from Conan? He was the the funniest thing th hat ever came from that show. Well, Andy Richter is hilarious, but Triumph owned the show...

Posted by: shredded chi at January 26, 2015 04:01 AM (9/YlV)

614 Heh - Triumph.
Didn't he co from Conan? He was the the funniest thing th hat ever came from that show. Well, Andy Richter is hilarious, but Triumph owned the show...

Posted by: shredded chi at January 26, 2015 04:01 AM (9/YlV)

...for me to poop on!

Posted by: Triumph at January 26, 2015 04:14 AM (0Ew3K)

615 Night all.

Here is "Blood and Thunder" by Mastodon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msaF5LZ5BWs

Posted by: The Political Hat at January 26, 2015 04:59 AM (0Ew3K)

616 I won! I won!

Congrats/commiserations to the top 10s.....

Posted by: Sven10077 at January 26, 2015 05:01 AM (/4AZU)

617 597 TCN in AK,

You don't think a picture of America's greatest outdoorsman and hunter is merited when he saves the most pristine and visited hinterland for posterity?

//Duranty-media

Posted by: Sven10077 at January 26, 2015 05:04 AM (/4AZU)

618 To Joffen...

Posted by: Sven10077 at January 26, 2015 05:12 AM (/4AZU)

619
Is TFG skipping Auschwitz because (a) he is a self-centered SOB who doesn't want to have to go if all that happens is people talk about someone or something other than him, or (b) he doesn't want to irritate the ROP by marking the Holocaust in any significant way?

These are both big themes of his Presidency and they both fit the known facts in this instance. It's hard to figure which is the right explanation. Anyone know?

Posted by: MTF at January 26, 2015 05:31 AM (FCsIb)

620 Christina Kirchner has neck wattles and looks like 30 miles of bad road.

I think I'd rather have a go at Hillary. Yikes.

Lively discussion tonite on the military; too bad 95% of it went right over my head.

As to cops and body cams, I'm all for them. But whether they had a true experiment with blind controls, I doubt it. The second day they 'randomly' assigned the wearing of body cameras, the cop gossip mill kicked into quadruple overtime and everyone knew 'something' was up. After that, they were all on their best behavior.

Posted by: GnuBreed at January 26, 2015 05:38 AM (/F/kp)

621 619 MTF,

The bear shits in the woods b/c it's there and he can....

Frankly, I think he thinks his uncle "did enough" in "liberating it."

Posted by: Sven10077 at January 26, 2015 05:44 AM (/4AZU)

622 I just finished watching The Imposter on Netflix; the movie is gone on 1/27. It has Gary Sinise and Madeleine Stowe and is a sci-fi thriller. Not bad at all, plus I luv giving Gary some viewing support.

Posted by: GnuBreed at January 26, 2015 05:46 AM (/F/kp)

623 Of course it may just be a simple instance of anti-semitism: TFG hates Jews and can't stand the idea of standing around in a room full of Jews, especially since Bibi will be there and everyone will be listening respectfully to him speaking. Is got all the makings of a terrible, no good, very bad day for TFG

Posted by: MTF at January 26, 2015 05:55 AM (FCsIb)

624 Evan Williams bourbon and semi-flat Coke; the nectar of some minor deity.

Probably the god of hangovers.

Posted by: GnuBreed at January 26, 2015 05:56 AM (/F/kp)

625 620. So no more MILITARIZED THUG COPS!!!!11!!?

Posted by: Navycopjoe at January 26, 2015 05:58 AM (NAofJ)

626 Morning all
Btw, I'm totally against the body cams
When they put them on every single government worker and anyone who gets money from the government then I'll be onboard

Posted by: Navycopjoe at January 26, 2015 06:00 AM (NAofJ)

627 I love the fact Walker wants to drug test welfare bums.

Posted by: Infidel at January 26, 2015 06:03 AM (ceok8)

628 626 Navycopjoe,

That'd get in the way of your party's kickback machine.....

Posted by: Sven10077 at January 26, 2015 06:03 AM (/4AZU)

629 627 Infidel,

I'd settle for drug testing the President and civil servants...

Posted by: Sven10077 at January 26, 2015 06:05 AM (/4AZU)

630 If you use too much melatonin it interferes with your sleep cycle, Try the Allteril. :^)

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at January 26, 2015 06:05 AM (DXzRD)

631 That works too Sven.

Posted by: Infidel at January 26, 2015 06:06 AM (ceok8)

632 Drug test Preezy and government employees? He'll, I'd settle for them just paying their taxes.

Posted by: MTF at January 26, 2015 06:12 AM (FCsIb)

633 632 Posted by: MTF at January 26, 2015 06:12 AM (FCsIb)

Baby steps, baby steps...

I'd settle for the media asking Urkle why $lim $hady doesn't pay taxes...

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at January 26, 2015 06:19 AM (/4AZU)

634 G'morning, all

Light dusting of snow in Baltimore.
Nothing coming down right this moment.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at January 26, 2015 06:21 AM (fL+1V)

635 634 Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at January 26, 2015 06:21 AM (fL+1V)

Polar apocalypse.....

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at January 26, 2015 06:22 AM (/4AZU)

636 Winter weather has brought down more than one big city mayor; may NYC get enough snow to nail DeBlasio right up his squeakhole.

Posted by: GnuBreed at January 26, 2015 06:26 AM (/F/kp)

637 636 Posted by: GnuBreed at January 26, 2015 06:26 AM (/F/kp)

DeStalino will launch into a recital of the AGW Dialectical Theory of Bad Capitalism mesmerizing the N'Yawkuhs...

this ain't your daddy's Gotham

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at January 26, 2015 06:30 AM (/4AZU)

638 Wow, was checking out the local fox affiliate for weather updates.

Juliette Huddy is an anchor and she has had an awful nose job.

It has completly changed her face and look and not for the better.

Posted by: Kreplach at January 26, 2015 06:35 AM (DDFkt)

639 "Polar apocalypse....."

We as a nation, have stopped being a serious people.

In the meantime, just ordered two snow brooms for the impending snow event.

Snow should end tomorrow.
Snow brooms to be delivered Wednesday.

Perhaps I should have thought of this a few days earlier?

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at January 26, 2015 06:38 AM (fL+1V)

640 Huddy now looks like that Mika chick.

Bleh!!

Posted by: Kreplach at January 26, 2015 06:50 AM (DDFkt)

641 639 Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at January 26, 2015 06:38 AM (fL+1V)

Logic and sequential thinking are so 20th century.

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at January 26, 2015 06:51 AM (/4AZU)

642 Those are pricey. Why two? Or maybe I just answered my own question.

Posted by: Just some guy at January 26, 2015 06:56 AM (yxw0r)

643 637 this ain't your daddy's Gotham
Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at January 26, 2015 06:30 AM (/4AZU)

You can say that twice.

Good morning! Where's the friggin' morning thread?!

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at January 26, 2015 06:59 AM (CMkNk)

644 "Why two?"

MiL lives two blocks away.
And....it's her birthday.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at January 26, 2015 07:00 AM (fL+1V)

645 643 Posted by: J.J. Sefton at January 26, 2015 06:59 AM (CMkNk)

We're still on timeout for expedient EMTs...

We shouldn't have praised the F-250 of Greatness so much.

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at January 26, 2015 07:01 AM (/4AZU)

646 Nood doth arrive, borne up by daylights loving arms.

And shit.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at January 26, 2015 07:01 AM (fL+1V)

647 http://youtu.be/TO1vtQAZTSQ

Yablo a memoriam

http://t.co/TCin3V9eS3

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at January 26, 2015 07:04 AM (/4AZU)

648 "It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a time." (Churchill, Feb 27, 1945) "Also, FDR is a senile dumbass who just handed the world to Stalin on a silver platter at Yalta, but there was nothing I could do about it."

Posted by: Ha at January 26, 2015 07:39 AM (Blaa2)

649 Escort girls http://REGMODELS.RU

Posted by: Tina at January 26, 2015 07:10 PM (95udX)

650 "And note that this may be last major ceremony to include people with first-hand knowledge of Auschwitz:
Tuesday's ceremony will likely be the last major anniversary where a significant number of survivors of the Nazi camp are present. About 300 are expected to attend, and most of them are in their 90s or older than 100. Nazi authorities killed 1.1 million people at the camp, mostly Jews, which was liberated by the Soviet army in January 1945."

Some firsthand knowledge. They claimed for years that 4 million+ jews were killed there by zyklon gas pumped through dummy showerheads. You can see for yourself on any history channel special that this did not take place, COULD NOT have taken place, and that now they are claiming that Nazis just threw Zyklon B pellets into the unventilated shower room through a crudely-cut hole in the ceiling and gassed jews while they were taking real showers-in a room with no cyanide staining on the walls.

I guess the Nazis were immune to the cyanide gas themselves,because after the jews all died inside the fake,make that real showers, they just drug them out of there one at a time,breathing the poison gas themselves the whole time so as not to tip off the next load of jews who they then marshalled into the shower room. They ,of course, were unaware that both they and the Nazis who were magically immune to the poisonous gas were both being poisoned as they passively filed into the showers and just stood there while Nazis threw Zyklon B into the room from a hole above them, even though the only barrier to their exit was a single wooden door with a large (non-airtight) glass pane in the middle of it.

Posted by: He Did Nothing Wrong at January 27, 2015 11:31 AM (MwP+j)

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