We're the Military and Airpower Guys of Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online + a stray we found wandering around looking lost. All original material JHD, BHD, JR, WT, and KA 2003-2010 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html Sat, 24 Mar 2012 16:02:25 Z Movable Type 4.12 en Copyright 2012 http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Update: Oh! Oh! And I just *had* to add this, from Marginal Revolution. Almost literally random rounds. This is why CAPT H picks on me. While I don't suffer it from him, Neil can say anything he wants, and I won't argue. But Neil won't argue that artillery *can't* put a crank in a tank... Hat tip to Chris M for pointing it out. Hi-res, click here. The thoughts of Canadians Militant and their fellow travelers are up for your perusal as London Fog hoists the Red Ensign Standard for the 21st time it has snapped at the top of... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html Tue, 10 May 2005 09:03:56 -0600 You'se a sadochistic bassid John. I wonder if the Army will let you test THEL(the laser Air Defense system that's supposed to be able to swat mortar rounds from the air) there to keep from getting conked by the early Scots artillery? http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24572 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24572 Thu, 12 May 2005 16:41:47 -0600 Cricket, Yeah, I loved Monterey, I also like Asilomar, and the butterfly grove, and Pebble Beach, and 9 mile drive, and Carmel, and running down on the beach, and the pier, etc. Unfortunately, my wife didn't like the constant drizzly cold (which I love), and I would not have been able to stand the people or the congestion since they added the Aquarium. I used to live just up from the Dream Theater, on the street that separated Pacific Grove from Monterey. It was a short walk to school. We had a small condo overlooking the bay, but the guy was undercharging by a LOT (it was cheaper than a lot of apartments further up the hill), and he ended up bankrupt I think. Don't know why he charged so little, but the place was beautiful, and I didn't care. And John, unrepentant is the operative word. I figure my job as an old guy now is to wave my arms and rant at all the little bastiches who do the stuff to me that I used to do to those old guys. Sort of like a rite of passage (except now they have louder stereos). "HEY, this is a neighborhood, you venomous thugs!! Turn that noise down!!!" :-) http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24561 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24561 Thu, 12 May 2005 12:03:51 -0600 I would live in Monterey too. Love the weather. Love the bay. We used to live on Larkin Street. Two blocks away from the elementary school in an old Victorian house, and the DLI was right behind that elementary school. If I could transfer out of the humid buggy climate I am in now, I would go to the Santa Ynez Valley near Vandenburg AFB. Thirty acres with a Mediterranean B&B. Well, since I am California dreamin', I am sharing this menu that I am making for tonight's barbecue. Smoked turkey, roasted corn on the cob and carrot slaw. Potato salad and a platter of crudites. Dessert: Mint chocolate chip ice cream in profiteroles and chocolate sauce. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24558 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24558 Thu, 12 May 2005 11:24:41 -0600 You little unrepentant juvies you... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24554 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24554 Thu, 12 May 2005 10:43:44 -0600 very familiar...]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24553 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24553 Thu, 12 May 2005 10:41:59 -0600 When I was a kid, we used to sled on the golf course, and in summer, we'd lay in wait at bends, where the trees where, and we'd run out and snatch the balls that landed near us. Used to tick off the golfers, butwho cared--stupid old men in dumb looking clothes--it was all fair in summer gamesmanship.... We also used to hunt the woods and sell found balls back to golfers; suffice to say, some of the sangged balls wound up in the resale pile. Hey, I was a poor city kid. It went with raiding the fountains and pools for coins, scamming for bus fare (from every 15th passerby), popping the newspaper boxes and selling the papers on the corner (for a dime less than the box price), and collecting bottles to take back to the Acme.... Just life, you know... ~SangerM http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24552 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24552 Thu, 12 May 2005 10:37:22 -0600 If I wore it over my back, and it rode high enough to cover my head, true. Though coming off the tee, those things are moving, JTG... and when I got whacked, it was a dastardly attack, from behind! http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24548 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24548 Thu, 12 May 2005 08:57:20 -0600 Now that I have thunk some more, I think that JoA doesn't need to sprain his head with a helm. Golf balls don't really fly all that quickly; you can see them coming, if yer looking. All The Donovan needs is a good stout shield to hold up before his visage, as the nasty, pale, pocked little useless object approaches him. I betcha a garbage can lid would work. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24546 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24546 Thu, 12 May 2005 08:26:28 -0600 Nah, Neffi, he should go for something really absurd, like painting it bronze-colored, and gluing some horns on it. Which reminds me of another item for the list; we could have a Rennfaire on the golf course. Yah, I know, Vikings are a little (a lot) too soon, historically, to show up at Rennfaires, but I honor them for transmitting their bad manners right down to me, by post-combat eugenic stress relief, if not by other means. They were very bad boys, at some times. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24544 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24544 Thu, 12 May 2005 08:09:28 -0600 Sheesh, Neffi - d'you have any *idea* how much a Pickelhaube to fit this noggin costs these days? http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24543 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24543 Thu, 12 May 2005 08:08:17 -0600 Helmet-time, eh? And show some class- wear a pickelhaube... heh http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24541 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24541 Thu, 12 May 2005 07:22:08 -0600 I'd wear that expensive custom private helmet if I were you, kid. Seems like you have some bad juju in re golf. In all fairness, as ball games go, golf is not really that bad; it's mostly the attitudes slung by golfers, and the way they've eaten up and destroyed all other outdoor recreation possibilities around here, which get my underwear misaligned. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24540 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24540 Thu, 12 May 2005 07:21:21 -0600 Many moons ago, when I could still do something like run without collapsing in excruciating pain, I was jogging by the Fort Leavenworth Golf Course over by the post cemetery. I don't remember which tee is the one right by the road, but there I was, moving along minding my own business when some hacker with clubs took a mighty slice at his little white ball, which promptly sheered sharply left and smacked me in the back of the head, which the golfers thought was hilarious, which turned to anger when I put my hand up to my head and it came away wet with this red, sticky substance, picked up the offending weapon (I *always* keep projectiles sent my way if recoverable) and jogged on to Munson Hospital for a stitch. They were outraged I wouldn't give them the ball back, and somehow seemed to think I was rude for giving them a single digit salute. So, today, what am I doing? Helping run a charity golf tournament at that self-same course, where I will spend a good chunk of time in the impact area... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24538 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24538 Thu, 12 May 2005 06:13:09 -0600 Somewhere around here (I'll never find it, better start over) is a list which was going to be "101 Things to Do on a Golf Course which Are Better than Playing Golf." Only got up to 60 or so, but a few I remember are: Flying model airplanes. Flying ultralight airplanes. Flying kites. Flying hawks and falcons. Motorcross races. Polo. Bicycle polo. Picnics. Cross-country (foot) races. Birdwatching. Skeet shooting. Trap shooting. Rifle shooting. Pistol shooting. Paintball. Capture the Flag. Camping. Cuddling with one's Sweetie. Having, uh, even more fun with one's Sweetie. Sunbathing. Nekkid sunbathing. Cyclocross. Hang gliding, if there are any nice slopes. Pig sticking. Tent pegging. Dressage. Quarter horse racing. Field trials. Bow shooting. Crossbow shooting. Sling shooting. Slingshot shooting. Kicking back with a beer and a book. (wind) Band concerts. (No electric guitars pls, I hates them more than golf.) Militia drill and training. Just going for a walk. Well, y'all catch my drift, I reckon. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24536 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24536 Thu, 12 May 2005 04:53:19 -0600 Maybe I could convince Al to carry a napalm canister on his ultra-light? I lost too many cats to golfball shattered skulls as a kid. Sneezer shall be avenged! Seriously. I did grow up next to a public golf course paralleling the Santa Ana river/river trail(The Armorer had a story of two guys traveling the SA river trail a but back.). Golfballs have killed pets(including the beloved cat Sneezer), broken windows, and nearly hit people in the back yard. That's why I hate golf and want all courses turned to anything other than a golf course. Any duffers reading this page should remember that there are many times people at the end of that errant ball when they play muni courses. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24535 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24535 Wed, 11 May 2005 23:16:20 -0600 game of golf is not particularly popular amongst mine own gang of cronies... but we surely do appreciate golf courses. All those long, straight, smooth runways... er fairways, that is. I've not yet had the pleasure, but plenty stories are told of dead-stick landings... Best I've heard was told by Al, in the hangar next to me. He's 60-ish and took off from Longmont some years ago in a Corbin Ace, headed for Fort Collins but the Continental engine quit at 1000 feet... no way to get back to the airport, but the municipal golf course was ideally placed and he set down on the fairway of the 9th hole. No damage.. As he tells it, he had climbed out and was looking at the gas lines when a golf cart came humming up at high speed, with two very irate golfers. They jumped out and stalked up to Al, but before they could unleash on him, ol' Al sez- "Hi fellas, mind if I play through?" Ha! That defused the situation. One of the golfers was Secretary of the club... Al cleaned a thoroughly filthy fuel filter and while the two golfers watched, took off and carried on to Ft. Collins. Others verify the story, so it's gotta be TINS, eh?]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24530 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24530 Wed, 11 May 2005 19:26:39 -0600 I don't think the Castle has too many rabid golfers among our commenters. Perhaps among the readers... but not the commenters. Certainly the Armorer doesn't play golf. The Armorer got a hole-in-one on his second game (18th Hole, Cedar Lakes, Fort Sill), and having achieved Nirvana, turned in his rented clubs and has not swung one since. Like putt-putt and miniature golf, though. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24519 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24519 Wed, 11 May 2005 15:04:26 -0600 Sanger's right about Bay Area housing. A 4 bedroom house in San Jose is almost a million dollars. Rents are nuts($1000+/month for a 2 bedroom apt). It's obscene. There's a running joke in my family about golf. Every time I pass a golf course I just have to say 'napalm'. It's the sport of the debbbiiilllll, I tells ya. The DEEEEBBBBBIIIIILLLLLL! (runs in zig zag to avoid sedative darts) http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24517 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24517 Wed, 11 May 2005 14:56:27 -0600 Well, that's a cool link, and that amount of money is pretty good, but I don't know how that would work out now. Maybe it would be enough for the area. I just know that it didn't cover the costs back then.... As for rents and etc; well you know how that goes: Lessee, I pay 800 a month, so covering costs, padding, property manager, and more padding, uh, 1350 sounds reasonable, eh? :-) In FL, the rent people paid was as high or higher than any mortgage payment, and it has been that way everywhere I've been in the past 15 years. That's one reason we just buy a house everywhere we go. Not sure it's the most cost-effective, but it has worked for us for the most part. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24516 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24516 Wed, 11 May 2005 14:51:55 -0600 here. Monterey, CA, E-6: w/ Dep: $1913.00 w/o Dep: $1213.00 You're right, probably wouldn't get you much. What really amuses me is that the house I'm renting here in Columbia costs more each month than the mortgage on my house in Washington. ]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24515 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24515 Wed, 11 May 2005 14:36:04 -0600 As for the folks at DLI, THL wrote: If DLI moved to some random military base in the middle of nowhere, these instructors would quit and get other jobs. They might, but it wouldn't really matter, I think. Ogden (I think) Utah is the home one of the finest language programs in the country, at least when I was in the Army and linguists were being sent there for refresher training (RedTrain). And there are other places where languages are taught well, including San Antonio (English DLI). Fact is, though, most of the DLI instructors I had were not professional teachers. They were moderately educated people who were native speakers who also spoke English pretty well. One of my teachers was a former waitress and she had a very hard time speaking English. This may have changed, but considering DLI uses a fairly straightforward program to teach languages, I'd say just about any moderlately educated native speaker who also speaks english could do the job just about as well as many of them did it. I am not being negative in this case. I had a couple of quite excellent teachers; however, I also had some pretty crummy ones. Move the school? Sure. I expect you'd have qualified people applying left and right, especially since the pay for teachers there is not THAT great, and they would actually do better financially elsewhere in the country. And finally, re: Housing allowance, etc. It's not enough for Monterey. I went in debt while stationed at Monterey because my wife was in school too--albeit not in the military--and even though we lived fairly frugally (we drove a Pinto, for example) and had a very low-cost apartment (for that area), our expenses nevertheless exceeded our income. And that was in 1980 and I was an E-6! I can't imagine how enlisted military couples make do now, unless they are able to live on Ord or they live extremely frugally--and get food stamps. :-) The cost of living there must be astronomical. ~SangerM http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24509 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24509 Wed, 11 May 2005 12:30:33 -0600 John of Argghhh briefed on May 11, 2005 07:15 AM What did I miss? Alex Tabarrok and real estate costs? Er? Um.... Your link took me to his page, and that was the article at the top of it when I got there. uh.. oops? http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24507 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24507 Wed, 11 May 2005 12:15:38 -0600 I want the Fort Ord firing range...the one near Stilwell Hall. We had our senior prom there way back when. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24492 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24492 Wed, 11 May 2005 10:04:50 -0600 Active duty military, I'm going to guess (since I know nothing of compensation rules for GS types) don't suffer as much from high housing costs at various duty stations simply because BAH varies by location, in accordance with local housing costs. For example, I'm an O-3, with dependants. Here at Ft Jackson, I get $1,080 a month in BAH. When I PCS to Ft Lewis, that BAH jumps to $1,485 a month, because housing in Tacoma, WA, is more expensive than in Columbia, SC. Why hasn't DoD closed the Presidio of Monterrey and moved DLI (it's lone function) to, say, Ft Sill, OK? It would say money to do so. Minor problem, though, is the instructors. Most of them are civilians, and they like living in Monterrey. If DLI moved to some random military base in the middle of nowhere, these instructors would quit and get other jobs. Oh, and I go by Langenator on THR. I don't post nearly as much as I used to, partly for time reasons, but also partly because after a while most of the discussions get repetitive. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24485 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24485 Wed, 11 May 2005 07:34:40 -0600 What did I miss? Alex Tabarrok and real estate costs? Er? http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24483 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24483 Wed, 11 May 2005 07:15:09 -0600 ry, it's pretty bad in FL, too, and not necessarily because of govmt. activity. We have all these loony aged midwesterners who seem convinced, having internalized the BS in the Real Estate ads, that if they move to Florida, they won't get old(er) and die. At least, that's the only way I can account for the presence of my crazy neighbors and their ugly domestic architecture. And the golf [shudder!] God, please make the golf stop, I'll do anything, I'll ... PG-17 speaking, here. Jtg got so exercised as to get all obscene, crazy, and blasphemous when talking about (shudder) golf. He has been sedated. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24477 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24477 Wed, 11 May 2005 00:21:57 -0600 Or, they could ditch the Inquisition, known as the California Coastal Commission, and watch property values in CA go back to a reasonable level again. I didn't know it was so hard for mil families to move to CA. That surely and trully sucks. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24474 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24474 Tue, 10 May 2005 23:38:12 -0600 Dang, Heartless! You hang out at THR, too? What's your handle, there? Or email it to me if you don't want it to show here. I'm Orthonym there. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24473 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24473 Tue, 10 May 2005 23:32:29 -0600 accept civil service jobs at Vandenburg AFB, even -12 & -13 level jobs, even with an adjusted COLA, EVEN with a 25%-of-salary bonus payment for the first year. Why?Because even with all of that you just might break even... Costs are not high because of realtors. The problem is the insane amounts of money people are willing to pay for houses in places like LA, San Diego, etc. Of course, one does not often have a choice, but I'll tell you what, if the government wanted to pay off it's debt, it could close and sell military bases like the Presidio of Montery, Eglin AFB, San Diego Naval Station, Travis AFB, and other high-rent locales. Man, I'll bet Eglin and Presidio of Monterey/Naval Post Graduate School alone could halve the national debt. But it ain't the average realtor who's getting rich off sales, and no realtor who also has a private/personal life is other than an average realtor. Those people work HARD! A lot harder than I do, and that's for sure. ~SangerM ]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24470 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24470 Tue, 10 May 2005 22:00:10 -0600 You have to love the WSU Cougs graduates for their ingenuity! I also get a kick out of Sharkansky on SoundPolitics.com referring to the Governor as 'Former Atty General Gregoire' . *grin* http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24467 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24467 Tue, 10 May 2005 18:54:02 -0600 I hope the intelligence in the White House remembers that there's the line-item veto, may they use it as necessary. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24466 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24466 Tue, 10 May 2005 17:17:51 -0600 Also-I can't take credit for 'blissninny.' That one comes from the guys at www.thehighroad.org. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24465 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24465 Tue, 10 May 2005 17:17:21 -0600 Hmmph...the "weapons immersion" or "Warrior Weapons Initiative" as Ft Jackson calls it has been the standard for at least a couple of months now. And we don't really start actual marksmanship training any earlier than we have since I got here 18 months ago. The enforcement mechanism, which the article doesn't mention, is that any soldier who has a negligent discharge after completion of BRM (rifle qualification for you non-Army types) automatically starts over again at Day One. Also not mentioned is that, after BRM, they carry loaded weapons (blank ammo) everywhere they go. Prior to that, the weapons aren't loaded. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24464 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24464 Tue, 10 May 2005 17:08:04 -0600 good round up posted.]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24460 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24460 Tue, 10 May 2005 14:19:09 -0600 hahahaha!!! accounting = count again! ohmygod..... too cute! http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24459 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24459 Tue, 10 May 2005 13:08:56 -0600 RE: Blissninny - What a depressingly stupid person. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24457 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/05/random_rounds.html#comment-24457 Tue, 10 May 2005 12:18:21 -0600