Ah, Brit obits! and other weirdness

Ah, Lieutenant-Commander Dick Raikes - if only I had had *half* the career you did before, like you, I was "invalided out" of the service.

Of such metal was the Empire built.

A few days later Raikes heard the propeller noise of a U-boat surfacing and carried out a snap attack with his stern torpedoes; there was an explosion and black smoke, but Raikes found no wreckage. The patrol ended with an amorous whale bumping Seawolf for an hour. Raikes was awarded the DSO.

Read the rest, here. You really do want to read this one.

Now is the time at Castle Argghhh! when we dance, In Memoriam.

Moving on...

Frequent commenter Monteith sends us this... we'd like that *a lot*... it would look good in the inner Bailey next to the Trebuchet and Onager... but I think my interest foundered when I read "Purchaser to arrange own cartage..."

Jeff, complimenting my on my 'correct politics' 8^) sends us to Gun Law News, where the inimitable Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee, holds forth thusly:

A database this large is likely to contain many errors," said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) during a May 12 hearing on the Illegal Immigration Enforcement and Social Security Protection Act (H.R. 98). "Any one of [the errors] could render someone unemployable and possibly much worse until they can get their file straightened out."

As they point out at Gun Law News...


But in 2002, Jackson Lee argued for the "Our Lady of Peace Act," (H.R. 4757), an expansion of the National Instant Check System (NICS) for handgun purchases.

So, the bottom line is that the rights of illegal aliens to whom some of the Constitution does not apply are more important than the rights of a US citizen guaranteed by the US Constitution.

A-yup. If yer a Moonbat, anyway.

Heh. Let's check in with Noah of Defense Tech and David Crane at Defense Review - they've got the goods on some of the stuff that finds it's way into the studies I conduct for a living. [N.B. This has been edited to give credit where credit is due.]

XM-25 Grenade Launcher

Throwbots.

HELLADS.

H/t, Jim C. (feeling better, dude?)

Remember some of the discussions in the past week of How to Lose the War? One of the counters I suggested was we as individuals and as bloggers need to paint the side of the conflict that the MSM, which both by political bias and institutional inertia (if it bleeds, it leads) won't cover? The positive aspects? Move America Forward is taking that idea and running with it - by taking a bunch of talk radio hosts over to Iraq: The Truth Tour, Live from Baghdad! Hey, face it - those guys will reach more people than most of us bloggers will!

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Truly, nobody does this stuff like the Brits and the recent obituary for Lieutenant-Commander Richard Prendergast Raikes is very much worth your time. I particularly liked this bit... Read More

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The best part of the obit: "He also took part in trials to enter an enemy harbour at night while conning his submerged submarine from a tiny platform built around the periscope. In the warm Mediterranean, Raikes wore only a bathing costume, but the experiment was abandoned when, on entering St Paul's Bay, the sight of him apparently walking on water caused several local fishermen to cross themselves and jump into the sea...."
 
Yup, concur on Raikes. Wotta man! I've never commanded a submarine, but I have waited tables, though temperamentally unsuited for the job. That Raikes would do so, just to learn the business, at an advanced age, shows that he had not only big brass balls, but the heart of a lion. (who doesn't care what other people think)
 
Yup, concur on Raikes. Wotta man! I've never commanded a submarine, but I have waited tables, though temperamentally unsuited for the job. That Raikes would do so, just to learn the business, at an advanced age, shows that he had not only big brass balls, but the heart of a lion.
 
Yup, concur on Raikes. Wotta man! I've never commanded a submarine, but I have waited tables, though temperamentally unsuited for the job. That Raikes would do so, just to learn the business, at an advanced age, shows that he had not only big brass balls, but the heart of a lion.
 
This was good too: "In 1935 Clyde was sent to Palestine during the Arab general strike. Raikes spent several weeks fighting fires, evacuating a maternity home by a burning timber yard, and building an armoured train which, after two hours' shunting practice at Haifa station, he took over the railway system of north Palestine. On several nights Raikes took this train to Samakh, near the Sea of Galilee, to keep open the line despite ambushes and derailments - "an enjoyable game of cowboys and Indians", he recalled. One night Raikes joined up with the Trans-Jordan Frontier Force and enjoyed riding on horseback at full gallop across boulder-strewn country by the light of a burning oil pipeline. He admired the Arabs and their love of a fight, and when the fighting was over he would carry their casualties back to their villages, where he knew he would be safe so long as he was unarmed."
 
Noah runs Defense Tech (http://www.defensetech.org). I run DefenseReview (http://www.defensereview.com). The XM25 piece is mine. Best Regards, David Crane Owner/Editor-in-Chief DefenseReview.com
 
Concerning the Truth Tour, here's a background link to the blog of an NGO exec who has been campaigning to restore balance.