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24 November 2013
Two Things
Two things that drive me nuts about Jackson's Hobbit above and beyond the "lets make shit up whole cloth to make each film fit a three act format"...
23 November 2013
Dominant
I just noticed something...
I'm right eye dominant in every one of the little parlor tests you can take.
I am right handed.
I was playing around dry firing the Hi-Power with my left hand to get used to the idea and I suddenly noticed that I'm just naturally using my left eye.
So naturally, in fact, that I apparently have no trouble using my non-dominant eye in the dominant role.
I'm right eye dominant in every one of the little parlor tests you can take.
I am right handed.
I was playing around dry firing the Hi-Power with my left hand to get used to the idea and I suddenly noticed that I'm just naturally using my left eye.
So naturally, in fact, that I apparently have no trouble using my non-dominant eye in the dominant role.
Exported
I once lived in Iowa.
I'm not unusual. There are tons of people who were born in Iowa who grew up and left.
Iowa's chief export is people.
I'm not unusual. There are tons of people who were born in Iowa who grew up and left.
Iowa's chief export is people.
At times I consider myself an expatriate living abroad. Florida is simply not the same place as Iowa, it's got a completely different vibe.
There were tons of things about the place I used to live that I considered normal until I moved here. There are things I miss terribly.
Winter is not one of them.
I am chided by friends that I have hurricanes here. I have the possibility of a hurricane. In 16 years just three tropical storms. Iowa had 16 complete winters!
Of course, the reason I left was the harassment by the local police because I had the temerity to stand up at a city council meeting and ask the police to justify their purchase of full-auto MP5's.
Everyone who did that meeting suddenly was a speed demon or some other minor transgressor; but constantly. After my fifth ticket for 37 in a 35 zone in three months I knew the writing was on the wall. It made me suicidal in fact.
My mental well being was not aided by the abysmal job situation in and around Ames.
It was mere happy happenstance that landed me here.
15+1
Mec-Gar makes a fifteen round magazine for the Hi-Power.
It's not longer than the standard thirteen rounder that was developed for the gun.
The follower is shorter and the spring is designed to nest instead of stack up.
They removed a dimple from the body of the magazine to allow more space at the bottom for the spring.
Two extra rounds, about $2 more and not noticeably heavier; I'm impressed!
The grape-vine has it that Mec-Gar is the maker of current production Browning magazines as well.
It's not longer than the standard thirteen rounder that was developed for the gun.
The follower is shorter and the spring is designed to nest instead of stack up.
They removed a dimple from the body of the magazine to allow more space at the bottom for the spring.
Two extra rounds, about $2 more and not noticeably heavier; I'm impressed!
The grape-vine has it that Mec-Gar is the maker of current production Browning magazines as well.
22 November 2013
Stupid
My mom had me tested.
The word "gifted" was tossed around a lot.
I once thought I'd like to join Mensa. Then I met some of the membership... Passed the test though.
When I decided to toss my hat into the ring and be the Gamemaster instead of a player, I did so when I was 13 and I did it in the Commons at the Iowa State University Memorial Union.
I was playing Traveller. Little Black Book Traveller.
My players were science fiction fans and college aged.
I held their interest.
They challenged my knowledge.
But I went from being the smartest kid in class to the dumbest person in the room. Not least knowledgeable or most ignorant. Dumbest.
2" cock at a porn shoot dumb.
Unlike Mensa, they were generous and patient and taught me. I learned as I could.
More than once I noticed that they were intuitively making connections that I could only see after much careful consideration and calculation.
I find that I am no longer among those people.
But I now often notice that I am making connections that the people around me don't see. I lack the patience to teach them how to make the connections on their own.
It's frustrating sometimes because I see the problems and their solutions so very clearly, but have no means to implement them. I also see how their solutions to the problems will just breed more and worse problems than they solve.
It's frustrating to see the error made by others and not be able to explain how it was wrong; and worse demonstrate to others why. At least in these cases, the errors eventually run their course and all is revealed in time.
It's why I have no regard for several people others hold in high esteem. Once you've made the connection and seen them for what they are, the veil will not stick.
The word "gifted" was tossed around a lot.
I once thought I'd like to join Mensa. Then I met some of the membership... Passed the test though.
When I decided to toss my hat into the ring and be the Gamemaster instead of a player, I did so when I was 13 and I did it in the Commons at the Iowa State University Memorial Union.
I was playing Traveller. Little Black Book Traveller.
My players were science fiction fans and college aged.
I held their interest.
They challenged my knowledge.
But I went from being the smartest kid in class to the dumbest person in the room. Not least knowledgeable or most ignorant. Dumbest.
2" cock at a porn shoot dumb.
Unlike Mensa, they were generous and patient and taught me. I learned as I could.
More than once I noticed that they were intuitively making connections that I could only see after much careful consideration and calculation.
I find that I am no longer among those people.
But I now often notice that I am making connections that the people around me don't see. I lack the patience to teach them how to make the connections on their own.
It's frustrating sometimes because I see the problems and their solutions so very clearly, but have no means to implement them. I also see how their solutions to the problems will just breed more and worse problems than they solve.
It's frustrating to see the error made by others and not be able to explain how it was wrong; and worse demonstrate to others why. At least in these cases, the errors eventually run their course and all is revealed in time.
It's why I have no regard for several people others hold in high esteem. Once you've made the connection and seen them for what they are, the veil will not stick.
Violent
You know, since it's JFK all day today...
With all those "violent" gun owners out there...
Why hasn't someone taken the shot?
With all those TEA party people out there...
Why hasn't someone taken the shot?
With all those racists out there...
Why hasn't someone taken the shot?
Could it be that the gun owners and Tea Partiers aren't all that violent?
Could it be that racism today is not what racism was yesterday (if indeed it was that bad back then, look who we have to rely on to deliver the information).
I don't like being punished for something I did not do.
Lately it feels like someone wants to punish me for something that someone superficially like me did not do (with a subtext of "yet" and undertone of "people like THAT all want to"). Who's being prejudicial and bigoted now?
With all those "violent" gun owners out there...
Why hasn't someone taken the shot?
With all those TEA party people out there...
Why hasn't someone taken the shot?
With all those racists out there...
Why hasn't someone taken the shot?
Could it be that the gun owners and Tea Partiers aren't all that violent?
Could it be that racism today is not what racism was yesterday (if indeed it was that bad back then, look who we have to rely on to deliver the information).
I don't like being punished for something I did not do.
Lately it feels like someone wants to punish me for something that someone superficially like me did not do (with a subtext of "yet" and undertone of "people like THAT all want to"). Who's being prejudicial and bigoted now?
21 November 2013
No Possible Way This Plan Will Backfire
The hated LBJ even said it.
To paraphrase: make all political decisions based on how someone who hates you will run it once you've put it in place.
Sooner or later the Republicans are going to have a simple majority in the Senate and are going to beat your Democrat ass like you were a mouthy wife of a drunken red-neck biker-gang member who's just refused to make the beer run for her "small dicked" old man.
You'd think they'd learn, this is not the first time they've changed the rules to make what they want to do easier.
To paraphrase: make all political decisions based on how someone who hates you will run it once you've put it in place.
Sooner or later the Republicans are going to have a simple majority in the Senate and are going to beat your Democrat ass like you were a mouthy wife of a drunken red-neck biker-gang member who's just refused to make the beer run for her "small dicked" old man.
You'd think they'd learn, this is not the first time they've changed the rules to make what they want to do easier.
Three Classes
Strike Fighters only has three ship models for carriers.
SCB-125 Essex class for CVS-11 Intrepid, CVA-14 Ticonderoga, CVA-19 Hancock, CVS-20 Bennington, CVA-34 Oriskany which are all actually SCB-125 Essex class!
It gets wonky later. All of the super carriers for 'Nam are represented by a Kitty Hawk class.
This is appropriate for CVA-63 Kitty Hawk, CVA-64 Constellation, and CVA-66 America.
CVA-41 Midway, CVA-42 Franklin D Roosevelt, and CVA-43 Coral Sea are all Midway Class and all got the SCB-110 upgrade. They're a lot smaller than a Kitty Hawk and the deck profile is completely different.
CVA-59 Forrestal, CVA-60 Saratoga, CVA-61 Ranger and CVA-62 Independence are all Forrestal Class and shorter than Kitty Hawk with a different deck layout. Closer than the Midways though!
The real shame is CVAN-65 Enterprise. Enterprise is a unique class with a distinctive island in Linebacker I and II. They used Kitty Hawk again and even has the stack smoke! BWAH!?!
CVN-68 Nimitz is represented by a Nimitz class model, so she's correct.
I should see if some enterprising modder has made models for the Midways and Forrestals and Enterprise.
Before someone stomps me for it... During Vietnam carriers were CVA not CV I checked.
SCB-125 Essex class for CVS-11 Intrepid, CVA-14 Ticonderoga, CVA-19 Hancock, CVS-20 Bennington, CVA-34 Oriskany which are all actually SCB-125 Essex class!
It gets wonky later. All of the super carriers for 'Nam are represented by a Kitty Hawk class.
This is appropriate for CVA-63 Kitty Hawk, CVA-64 Constellation, and CVA-66 America.
CVA-41 Midway, CVA-42 Franklin D Roosevelt, and CVA-43 Coral Sea are all Midway Class and all got the SCB-110 upgrade. They're a lot smaller than a Kitty Hawk and the deck profile is completely different.
CVA-59 Forrestal, CVA-60 Saratoga, CVA-61 Ranger and CVA-62 Independence are all Forrestal Class and shorter than Kitty Hawk with a different deck layout. Closer than the Midways though!
The real shame is CVAN-65 Enterprise. Enterprise is a unique class with a distinctive island in Linebacker I and II. They used Kitty Hawk again and even has the stack smoke! BWAH!?!
CVN-68 Nimitz is represented by a Nimitz class model, so she's correct.
I should see if some enterprising modder has made models for the Midways and Forrestals and Enterprise.
Before someone stomps me for it... During Vietnam carriers were CVA not CV I checked.
Telling
I've been doing some comparisons on the stats between the Hi Power and pretty much every other wonder nine ever made.
That the first double-stack 9mm to get wide acceptance is still competitive in capacity and weight with modern polymer guns says a lot about the skills of the engineers involved.
And lest we forget, polymer is more a means to make making the gun cheaper than a real advance in how it works.
That the first double-stack 9mm to get wide acceptance is still competitive in capacity and weight with modern polymer guns says a lot about the skills of the engineers involved.
And lest we forget, polymer is more a means to make making the gun cheaper than a real advance in how it works.
Scooter
Also known as the Skyhawk, A4D, A-4 and Heineman's Hot Rod.
It's tiny and has a smallish bomb load by the time Vietnam rolls around.
It's fragile and all of the avionics are steam powered.
It's underpowered and bleeds energy like a stuck pig if you treat the stick like a club.
Treat her like a lady and use some finesse and she will bring you home.
It's tiny and has a smallish bomb load by the time Vietnam rolls around.
It's fragile and all of the avionics are steam powered.
It's underpowered and bleeds energy like a stuck pig if you treat the stick like a club.
 |
| A-4E with 1967 post Shoehorn avionics upgrade. Namely an RWR and ALQ-100. The new electronics were added to the hump on the back, allowing gun ammunition to be restored to 100 rounds per gun instead of 20. |
Treat her like a lady and use some finesse and she will bring you home.
19 November 2013
Submarine Controversy
Raiders of the Lost Ark has a controversy about how Indiana managed to survive the trip on the U-Boat.
Much of it seems to circle around how he survived being lashed to the periscope because even the Mediterranean Sea is cold enough to kill you after a few days.
I want to know how he went undiscovered since U-Boats are not capable of traveling submerged for more than a few hours before the batteries are depleted. They're really surface ships that can submerge; not like a modern nuclear boat or even a diesel electric.
The schnorkel was not invented in 1936, so they had to come up for air to run the diesels and charge the batteries. When they did, the watch would have noticed a stowaway, there just isn't anyplace to hide.
Much of it seems to circle around how he survived being lashed to the periscope because even the Mediterranean Sea is cold enough to kill you after a few days.
I want to know how he went undiscovered since U-Boats are not capable of traveling submerged for more than a few hours before the batteries are depleted. They're really surface ships that can submerge; not like a modern nuclear boat or even a diesel electric.
The schnorkel was not invented in 1936, so they had to come up for air to run the diesels and charge the batteries. When they did, the watch would have noticed a stowaway, there just isn't anyplace to hide.
Minty CLP
As I mentioned a bit ago... I bought some Frog Lube to try out.
I am still skeptical of all in one products, but it did an excellent job of dissolving and flushing out the accumulated grit from the inside of my Hi Power.
The mint smell is also welcome to The Lovely Harvey since she's kinda sensitive to most solvents.
Still, LSA is time proven as a lubricant and corrosion inhibitor.
I am still skeptical of all in one products, but it did an excellent job of dissolving and flushing out the accumulated grit from the inside of my Hi Power.
The mint smell is also welcome to The Lovely Harvey since she's kinda sensitive to most solvents.
Still, LSA is time proven as a lubricant and corrosion inhibitor.
Magazine Safety
The Hi Power has a magazine safety.
It is easily removed.
I removed it.
While I had the trigger out, I cleaned all the parts and the dark recesses where they reside.
I took out the transfer bar too, and that had genuine SAND in its groove. Literal grit in a gritty trigger.
Some 'splainin'. Lots of pics below the break.
It is easily removed.
I removed it.
While I had the trigger out, I cleaned all the parts and the dark recesses where they reside.
I took out the transfer bar too, and that had genuine SAND in its groove. Literal grit in a gritty trigger.
Some 'splainin'. Lots of pics below the break.
National Ammo Day!
Go out and get 100 rounds of anything centerfire.
For the first time ever, a single round of .22LR rounds as a round!
For the first time ever, a single round of .22LR rounds as a round!
18 November 2013
Even Exchange
A refinished Colt Pocket Hammerless in .32 is gone.
A refinished FN Hi-Power is here.
Check off another JMB(PBUH) design from the list!
Here's my Fabrique Nationale Hi-Power Mk II. It's an Israeli police contract gun. It's nearly certain that it was refinished, but they did a great job of it.
The seller under-promised and over-delivered. The ad indicated that it included a 10 round magazine, not true. He included a new Mec Gar 13 rounder.
I cannot believe I put off getting one for so long. It fits my hand like it was designed for it. I probably was in a "caliber has to start with a 4" snit so I didn't consider a lowly 9mm. I'm over that. It's got as many shots as my Glock 21, the loaded gun weighs the same and is physically smaller. The loaded magazines weigh less than the Glock as well, so the overall package is lighter with spare magazines.
All in all I am very happy!
Obligatory comparison pic with a 1911.
The big and the small of the McThag FN Herstal collection. I collect .25's so you know I had a 1905 around here someplace!
A refinished FN Hi-Power is here.
Check off another JMB(PBUH) design from the list!
Here's my Fabrique Nationale Hi-Power Mk II. It's an Israeli police contract gun. It's nearly certain that it was refinished, but they did a great job of it.
The seller under-promised and over-delivered. The ad indicated that it included a 10 round magazine, not true. He included a new Mec Gar 13 rounder.
I cannot believe I put off getting one for so long. It fits my hand like it was designed for it. I probably was in a "caliber has to start with a 4" snit so I didn't consider a lowly 9mm. I'm over that. It's got as many shots as my Glock 21, the loaded gun weighs the same and is physically smaller. The loaded magazines weigh less than the Glock as well, so the overall package is lighter with spare magazines.
All in all I am very happy!
Obligatory comparison pic with a 1911.
The big and the small of the McThag FN Herstal collection. I collect .25's so you know I had a 1905 around here someplace!
SUIT
Sight Unit Infantry, Trilux L2A2.
I have one.
While it was great for the L1A1 I used to have, the sights on a metric FAL are too low to see over the mounting post.
It's just 4 power, but the clarity of the glass is amazing. It's the kind of scope you want to use, even with the strange inverted post reticule.
I bought a carry handle mount for it. Puts it way too high and my example is warped.
Tapco used to make a P-Rail adaptor, but they are few and far between. Every once and a while I see one on Gunbroker and get sniped.
I expect to get sniped again in a few days.
A 4x scope would be about perfect for Dottie and 6.8x43mm.
I have one.
While it was great for the L1A1 I used to have, the sights on a metric FAL are too low to see over the mounting post.
It's just 4 power, but the clarity of the glass is amazing. It's the kind of scope you want to use, even with the strange inverted post reticule.
I bought a carry handle mount for it. Puts it way too high and my example is warped.
Tapco used to make a P-Rail adaptor, but they are few and far between. Every once and a while I see one on Gunbroker and get sniped.
I expect to get sniped again in a few days.
A 4x scope would be about perfect for Dottie and 6.8x43mm.
17 November 2013
Rolling In
Still in the A-7C on 19 December 1972 Suppression of Enemy Air Defense over North Vietnam as part of Linebacker II.
Pickle, Rockeye Mk 20.
This was my last successful mission over Vietnam. I took a hit over Haiphong the next day and spent the rest of the war as a POW. Bummer.
Red Storm Rising, 1979!
A-7E from VA-82 off Nimitz on 19 September 1979 for Operation Northern Sabre to defend Iceland from the Soviet invasion.
My squadron has taken out Kiev. Lost nine planes and pilots in the process too. The complete lack of stand-off anti-ship weaponry for the Corsair in 1979 is telling. The navalized version of the Gecko SAM is particularly deadly.
Pickle, Rockeye Mk 20.
This was my last successful mission over Vietnam. I took a hit over Haiphong the next day and spent the rest of the war as a POW. Bummer.
Red Storm Rising, 1979!
A-7E from VA-82 off Nimitz on 19 September 1979 for Operation Northern Sabre to defend Iceland from the Soviet invasion.
My squadron has taken out Kiev. Lost nine planes and pilots in the process too. The complete lack of stand-off anti-ship weaponry for the Corsair in 1979 is telling. The navalized version of the Gecko SAM is particularly deadly.
Elysium
Saw it.
Neill Blomkamp does an excellent job of visualizing tech. And soul crushing poverty. The latter just by filming on location in a third world country.
It was a pretty popcorn movie.
Things that made my teeth itch...
If you're going to have things floating around inside the cabin, have the ship stop thrusting.
An open topped Stanford Torus would work, but it's also fucking stupid.
A MANPADS is your go-to weapon for shooting unauthorized ships heading towards yourfragile space habitat? Employed by a barely functional psychopath?
I want an explanation why the auto-doc was denied to the surface dwellers. I can think if several, but I wasn't given a canon one. Most of the ones I can think of change the ending to a very sad one as everyone loses access when the critical supplies that make the magical med devices run out.
An aside. One of the things on the auto-doc display was "reatomization". That got me to think of a hilariously horrific effect. The surface dwellers are FAR sicker than a citizen of Elysium, so the computer has to do significant reconstruction. So the mom puts her desperately sick daughter in the machine... "accepted citizen" a bright bug zapper like flash, a smell of ozone, and the daughter is gone with the display reading, "compiling"... After a few the machine starts putting the kid back together, clean and healed.
Neill Blomkamp does an excellent job of visualizing tech. And soul crushing poverty. The latter just by filming on location in a third world country.
It was a pretty popcorn movie.
Things that made my teeth itch...
If you're going to have things floating around inside the cabin, have the ship stop thrusting.
An open topped Stanford Torus would work, but it's also fucking stupid.
A MANPADS is your go-to weapon for shooting unauthorized ships heading towards your
I want an explanation why the auto-doc was denied to the surface dwellers. I can think if several, but I wasn't given a canon one. Most of the ones I can think of change the ending to a very sad one as everyone loses access when the critical supplies that make the magical med devices run out.
An aside. One of the things on the auto-doc display was "reatomization". That got me to think of a hilariously horrific effect. The surface dwellers are FAR sicker than a citizen of Elysium, so the computer has to do significant reconstruction. So the mom puts her desperately sick daughter in the machine... "accepted citizen" a bright bug zapper like flash, a smell of ozone, and the daughter is gone with the display reading, "compiling"... After a few the machine starts putting the kid back together, clean and healed.
Just Saw Enderszzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
What a steaming pile.
Closer to the book than Starship Troopers.
That's not saying much. The Hobbit is closer to the book Starship Troopers than Verhooven's version.
Still...
It was just so damn generic.
There's a million cliches.
The story was very much like what you'd think Ender's Game was about if you overheard someone at the next table telling someone about the book while you were eating dinner and watching the game on the TV over the bar.
Someone get Robert Orci to retire. Berman only destroyed Star Trek. Orci destroys all Sci Fi he touches. Someone stop him before he kills again!
Closer to the book than Starship Troopers.
That's not saying much. The Hobbit is closer to the book Starship Troopers than Verhooven's version.
Still...
It was just so damn generic.
There's a million cliches.
The story was very much like what you'd think Ender's Game was about if you overheard someone at the next table telling someone about the book while you were eating dinner and watching the game on the TV over the bar.
Someone get Robert Orci to retire. Berman only destroyed Star Trek. Orci destroys all Sci Fi he touches. Someone stop him before he kills again!
16 November 2013
It's A Trap
Mr Obama's unconstitutional declarations delaying, preventing or reversing Obamacare are a trap.
What will matter, in the end, is the law as written, passed and signed.
Wait for the fines for "why wasn't your company in compliance on 01 October 2013?" That's what the law says. The president doesn't have the power to change the date mandated in the law. The president doesn't have the power to change the forms of insurance now mandated by law.
If the company offering the plan you want to keep that isn't in compliance with the new mandates, they're culpable. They can be punished for going along with the president's Rose Garden press conference. You can be punished for not buying a compliant plan.
Remember you heard it here (and maybe elsewhere) before the fines began to be levied.
What will matter, in the end, is the law as written, passed and signed.
Wait for the fines for "why wasn't your company in compliance on 01 October 2013?" That's what the law says. The president doesn't have the power to change the date mandated in the law. The president doesn't have the power to change the forms of insurance now mandated by law.
If the company offering the plan you want to keep that isn't in compliance with the new mandates, they're culpable. They can be punished for going along with the president's Rose Garden press conference. You can be punished for not buying a compliant plan.
Remember you heard it here (and maybe elsewhere) before the fines began to be levied.
15 November 2013
14 November 2013
SLUF On The Break
A-7C of VA-82 (Marauders) on the break over America CVA-66: Yankee Station 28 July, 1972.
The Corsair II is one of my most favorite planes. Developed on a tight budget, delivered on time and ever so barely overweight. Last of a long line of successful aircraft from Vought (Ling Temco Vought by the time the A-7 was made).
This SLUF (Slow Little Ugly Fucker) is an A-7C with the TF30-P-408 engine upgrades made in 1971. The C variant is interesting in that it wasn't intended to be made at all. A-7C was reserved then skipped with the next variant after the A-7B being the Air Force's A-7D. The Navy liked many of the changes made in developing the A-7D and requested their own version, the A-7E. But there weren't enough TF41-A-2 engines to go around so the first run of what should have been the E model came with the same TF30-P-8 engine as the B.
The Corsair II is one of my most favorite planes. Developed on a tight budget, delivered on time and ever so barely overweight. Last of a long line of successful aircraft from Vought (Ling Temco Vought by the time the A-7 was made).
This SLUF (Slow Little Ugly Fucker) is an A-7C with the TF30-P-408 engine upgrades made in 1971. The C variant is interesting in that it wasn't intended to be made at all. A-7C was reserved then skipped with the next variant after the A-7B being the Air Force's A-7D. The Navy liked many of the changes made in developing the A-7D and requested their own version, the A-7E. But there weren't enough TF41-A-2 engines to go around so the first run of what should have been the E model came with the same TF30-P-8 engine as the B.
I Can See What You Were Trying To Do
But you messed up.
And that killed suspension of disbelief.
In the 3e GURPS supplement, "Funny New Guys" there are magic carpets. It's an alt-history where magic exists and this supplement details that world's Vietnam.
The carpets the Army uses are: LUC-1, UC-23 and AC-05.
I can see where they were headed here. H is the designation for rotary wing (helicopters) so change the H to a C for "carpet" and you're good!
Nope.
C means cargo.
And you don't double up. This is why tankers get a K designation, T means trainer.
Besides, the designation system already has a code for lighter than air vehicles. Z.
For Zeppelin.
So magic carpets should be LUZ-1, UZ-23 and RZ-5 (no preceding zeros!) and R instead of A because it's a recon carpet not an attack carpet. This all assumes that they dumped the established blimp/dirigible numbers and started from 1 again.
And post MacNamara the 'L' would be changed to an 'O' making it the OZ-1. And that's a lot more magical sounding, ain't it?
And that killed suspension of disbelief.
In the 3e GURPS supplement, "Funny New Guys" there are magic carpets. It's an alt-history where magic exists and this supplement details that world's Vietnam.
The carpets the Army uses are: LUC-1, UC-23 and AC-05.
I can see where they were headed here. H is the designation for rotary wing (helicopters) so change the H to a C for "carpet" and you're good!
Nope.
C means cargo.
And you don't double up. This is why tankers get a K designation, T means trainer.
Besides, the designation system already has a code for lighter than air vehicles. Z.
For Zeppelin.
So magic carpets should be LUZ-1, UZ-23 and RZ-5 (no preceding zeros!) and R instead of A because it's a recon carpet not an attack carpet. This all assumes that they dumped the established blimp/dirigible numbers and started from 1 again.
And post MacNamara the 'L' would be changed to an 'O' making it the OZ-1. And that's a lot more magical sounding, ain't it?
Quiet Inquiries
I've asked around.
There's a part of my life that I most certainly was present for.
I really did it.
I am getting feedback that I may not have doing it with the people I thought I was.
Why?
Because nobody has heard of them!
If they were who I was told they were, it's a small enough pool that someone should know them.
There's a part of my life that I most certainly was present for.
I really did it.
I am getting feedback that I may not have doing it with the people I thought I was.
Why?
Because nobody has heard of them!
If they were who I was told they were, it's a small enough pool that someone should know them.
13 November 2013
On The Cheap
I am reading how the USAF wants (and is accomplishing) to finally kill off the A-10 Thunderbolt II (aka Warthog) to pay for F-35A.
A fully loaded A-10C is a frighteningly cheap airplane. They are refurbished from original build A-10As. 716 were originally built at a unit cost of a mere $18.6 million a piece in today's dollars. The refurb was for 356 airframes for a cost of about $965 thousand per plane.
Compare that to $113 million a piece for an F-35A.
There's evidence that the costs almost five times as much F-35A is about 1/4 as capable at close air support as the 40 year old Hog.
Word is the F-35A is not comparing favorably to the $26.76 million F-16C it's meant to replace too. For this math to make sense, a Lightning II has to be four times better than a Viper at EVERYTHING. We won't even get into the fact that the F-16C is not the most advanced version of the plane in production (and still for a lot less than $113 million per plane). It's telling that the troops are demanding the Warthog overhead when they can rather than F-16's because the Viper can't hang around for very long or carry near the number of passes against the bad guys.
In doing some of the research on planes the Air Force hated I bumped into an old friend. The A-7D. In today's dollars a mere $16 million per plane. Accounts from Vietnam indicate that the A-7D was a good CAS plane.
The problem is the USAF doesn't want to do the CAS job or let anyone else have fixed wing planes that can.
I am getting very sick of reading about them shirking a job they are chartered to do.
They don't wanna haul cargo, but fuck if anyone else will. (COUGH COUGH C-27J COUGH)
They don't wanna do CAS, but fuck if anyone else will; this is why the Army has helicopters with an AH designation. It's why the troops on the ground pray for Marines overhead instead of zoomies.
They want to have nukes (so they can lose them apparently) and they want sexy hair on fire fighters. And nothing else.
And I am sick of reading about it. I am sick of doing the math and noticing that we're not getting our money's worth from our purchases when the USAF is attached. The Navy has a much better track record for keeping costs on aircraft under control. By the way, the A-7D started life as a Navy plane. The F-4 Phantom started life as a Navy plane. Maybe it's time to nuke the USAF, roll the CAS back into the Army and Marines and give the air superiority mission to the Navy.
A fully loaded A-10C is a frighteningly cheap airplane. They are refurbished from original build A-10As. 716 were originally built at a unit cost of a mere $18.6 million a piece in today's dollars. The refurb was for 356 airframes for a cost of about $965 thousand per plane.
Compare that to $113 million a piece for an F-35A.
There's evidence that the costs almost five times as much F-35A is about 1/4 as capable at close air support as the 40 year old Hog.
Word is the F-35A is not comparing favorably to the $26.76 million F-16C it's meant to replace too. For this math to make sense, a Lightning II has to be four times better than a Viper at EVERYTHING. We won't even get into the fact that the F-16C is not the most advanced version of the plane in production (and still for a lot less than $113 million per plane). It's telling that the troops are demanding the Warthog overhead when they can rather than F-16's because the Viper can't hang around for very long or carry near the number of passes against the bad guys.
In doing some of the research on planes the Air Force hated I bumped into an old friend. The A-7D. In today's dollars a mere $16 million per plane. Accounts from Vietnam indicate that the A-7D was a good CAS plane.
The problem is the USAF doesn't want to do the CAS job or let anyone else have fixed wing planes that can.
I am getting very sick of reading about them shirking a job they are chartered to do.
They don't wanna haul cargo, but fuck if anyone else will. (COUGH COUGH C-27J COUGH)
They don't wanna do CAS, but fuck if anyone else will; this is why the Army has helicopters with an AH designation. It's why the troops on the ground pray for Marines overhead instead of zoomies.
They want to have nukes (so they can lose them apparently) and they want sexy hair on fire fighters. And nothing else.
And I am sick of reading about it. I am sick of doing the math and noticing that we're not getting our money's worth from our purchases when the USAF is attached. The Navy has a much better track record for keeping costs on aircraft under control. By the way, the A-7D started life as a Navy plane. The F-4 Phantom started life as a Navy plane. Maybe it's time to nuke the USAF, roll the CAS back into the Army and Marines and give the air superiority mission to the Navy.
Twinkies
Hostess was not put out of business by union intransigence, as some (including me) would have you believe.
What put them out of business was the crushing costs of rediscovering how to make Twinkies.
You see the Twinkie was developed in 1930 by James Alexander Dewar for the Continental Baking Company.
Millions upon millions were made during World War Two as the Department of War demanded non-perishible foodstuffs for the troops.
So many, in fact, that from 1945 through 2013 not a single new Twinkie was manufactured. The expiration date printed on the packaging was actually so that the Twinkies could be removed and placed in new packaging for marketing reasons. The seemingly inexhaustible supplies were running thin by 2008 and Hostess realized that they would have to make more.
Alas the secret to making them was lost with the death of Mr Dewar. Even if he'd been alive he was obsessed with making bad scotch at the end of his life and would not have returned to baking.
Crippling the research to making new Twinkies was the Food and Drug Administration's rulings that food be made from, well, FOOD. Hostess was unable to find a way to synthesize the vile chemicals needed for Twinkie manufacture from food in time to save the company.
It was only happenstance that allowed the discovery of Mr Dewar's notes burned onto a barrel stave in a New Jersey knick-knack store.
The rest; is history.
What put them out of business was the crushing costs of rediscovering how to make Twinkies.
You see the Twinkie was developed in 1930 by James Alexander Dewar for the Continental Baking Company.
Millions upon millions were made during World War Two as the Department of War demanded non-perishible foodstuffs for the troops.
So many, in fact, that from 1945 through 2013 not a single new Twinkie was manufactured. The expiration date printed on the packaging was actually so that the Twinkies could be removed and placed in new packaging for marketing reasons. The seemingly inexhaustible supplies were running thin by 2008 and Hostess realized that they would have to make more.
Alas the secret to making them was lost with the death of Mr Dewar. Even if he'd been alive he was obsessed with making bad scotch at the end of his life and would not have returned to baking.
Crippling the research to making new Twinkies was the Food and Drug Administration's rulings that food be made from, well, FOOD. Hostess was unable to find a way to synthesize the vile chemicals needed for Twinkie manufacture from food in time to save the company.
It was only happenstance that allowed the discovery of Mr Dewar's notes burned onto a barrel stave in a New Jersey knick-knack store.
The rest; is history.
Inside Joke
There are more than a few things that require perspective to understand.
There are more than a few perspectives that require particular experience to gain.
Thus, without the experience, the perspective is unattainable and understanding is impossible.
I've seen this a lot as a veteran.
The people who've never been don't understand because they lack the experiences that would let them see it from where they aren't.
There are things that are hilarious to veterans that are baffling, insulting or distasteful to... I don't want to call them civilians because I am most assuredly now a civilian too.
A classic example is giving birth. This is something a man cannot understand and a woman will not understand until they have had a child.
Outsiders might comprehend, but they will not understand.
I've noticed a couple of turns of phrase where the reader asks, "what does that mean?" When I explain, I have not illuminated them in the slightest.
I've noticed that we tell jokes that are... well... distastefully disrespectful. The color of military humor is black and the moisture level is very VERY low. It's a coping mechanism and not accessible fully to an outsider.
Like when I am at the bottom of a frozen ditch in Germany. Both legs broken. Waist deep in the the knee deep water because both shins are bent around more than 90 degrees. The TC, after asking where I was and how I got down there and learning I'd broken my legs, "What did you learn?"
There are more than a few perspectives that require particular experience to gain.
Thus, without the experience, the perspective is unattainable and understanding is impossible.
I've seen this a lot as a veteran.
The people who've never been don't understand because they lack the experiences that would let them see it from where they aren't.
There are things that are hilarious to veterans that are baffling, insulting or distasteful to... I don't want to call them civilians because I am most assuredly now a civilian too.
A classic example is giving birth. This is something a man cannot understand and a woman will not understand until they have had a child.
Outsiders might comprehend, but they will not understand.
I've noticed a couple of turns of phrase where the reader asks, "what does that mean?" When I explain, I have not illuminated them in the slightest.
I've noticed that we tell jokes that are... well... distastefully disrespectful. The color of military humor is black and the moisture level is very VERY low. It's a coping mechanism and not accessible fully to an outsider.
Like when I am at the bottom of a frozen ditch in Germany. Both legs broken. Waist deep in the the knee deep water because both shins are bent around more than 90 degrees. The TC, after asking where I was and how I got down there and learning I'd broken my legs, "What did you learn?"
12 November 2013
More MOE
The MOE handguards can be a source of irritation and frustration.
The front is designed to work with either a round or triangular handguard cap.
This is the front of the MOE handguard (foliage green). There are two sets of ribs that engage the cap.
If your cap is round, all of the ribs go inside the cap.
If your cap is triangular, the cap goes between the ribs.
The front is designed to work with either a round or triangular handguard cap.
This is the front of the MOE handguard (foliage green). There are two sets of ribs that engage the cap.
If your cap is round, all of the ribs go inside the cap.
If your cap is triangular, the cap goes between the ribs.
Blaming The Wrong Entity
Steve Jackson has posted about losing his house to the flood in Austin, TX.
It seems that a lack of federal money kept people from moving out of the flood plain, so they got flooded.
I am willing to bet that there's an 1843 survey map of the area showing the entire area that's underwater as a flood plain and that there weren't any residences there for a long, long time.
It's like the people who could read those maps understood what the dangers were and didn't build anything they wanted to keep there.
Time and again I've read about a flood like this to find that the affected area was marked as a flood hazard on a 150 year old survey.
It's not the government's fault for not buying you out. It's YOUR fault for buying a house there without checking the damn map! Especially if you didn't have flood insurance. Don't even whine that flood insurance in a flood plain is too expensive, Bitch, I live in a hurricane corridor and I pay for hurricane AND flood insurance.
It seems that a lack of federal money kept people from moving out of the flood plain, so they got flooded.
I am willing to bet that there's an 1843 survey map of the area showing the entire area that's underwater as a flood plain and that there weren't any residences there for a long, long time.
It's like the people who could read those maps understood what the dangers were and didn't build anything they wanted to keep there.
Time and again I've read about a flood like this to find that the affected area was marked as a flood hazard on a 150 year old survey.
It's not the government's fault for not buying you out. It's YOUR fault for buying a house there without checking the damn map! Especially if you didn't have flood insurance. Don't even whine that flood insurance in a flood plain is too expensive, Bitch, I live in a hurricane corridor and I pay for hurricane AND flood insurance.
Upside Yo Head
Why thank you, The Boy, for teaching me that a hand propelled Fiber One bar to the temple fucking hurts!
We'll add that to yesterday's lesson that a box of raisins delivered in the same manner likewise is painful.
We'll add that to yesterday's lesson that a box of raisins delivered in the same manner likewise is painful.
Statute Of Limitations
Apparently there is no such thing if someone thinks something was stolen during WW2.
OK, Poland. You owe a shitload of Jews a shitload of land.
Proof? Apparently I don't need any actual proof. But there aren't any Jews living there now, so that must mean the Polish government colluded with the Nazis to have them murdered to get the land.
This crap pisses me off.
Even if it is stolen, it was stolen more than sixty years ago. The original owner is dead, the thieves are dead.
The US has statutes of limitations for theft so this shit shouldn't fly. The longest one for theft I've been able to find is fourteen years. So some time in 1953 (1959 at the latest) whether it was stolen or not became moot.
Then there's the likelihood the present owner purchased the gun in good faith.
Two wrongs don't make a right.
OK, Poland. You owe a shitload of Jews a shitload of land.
Proof? Apparently I don't need any actual proof. But there aren't any Jews living there now, so that must mean the Polish government colluded with the Nazis to have them murdered to get the land.
This crap pisses me off.
Even if it is stolen, it was stolen more than sixty years ago. The original owner is dead, the thieves are dead.
The US has statutes of limitations for theft so this shit shouldn't fly. The longest one for theft I've been able to find is fourteen years. So some time in 1953 (1959 at the latest) whether it was stolen or not became moot.
Then there's the likelihood the present owner purchased the gun in good faith.
Two wrongs don't make a right.
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