February 4, 2006
Reminiscing
Back when I was a stoont, one of my electives was Creative Writing.
One day, we were given an assignment--write a short story using as few words as possible. The only other stipulation the prof made was that it had to address three elements: religion, sexuality and mystery.
The only A+ in the class was
"Good God, I'm pregnant! I wonder who did it?"
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �
Just want to say: THANK YOU ALL FOR SERVING! And NO DHIMMITUDE (Jim Crow of non-Muslims) FOR AMERICA!
posted by Davida on February 4, 2006 12:42 PM
Personally, I liked the cartoon that looked like all the kitties had taken over BCR Labs:
"Notice all the computations, theoretical scribblings, and lab equipment, Norm ... Yes, curiosity killed these cats."
posted by
kat-missouri on February 4, 2006 1:36 PM
hehe....
maybe I need to start sending you some funny jokes, bill.....
posted by klkk on February 4, 2006 6:26 PM
Knowing your jokes, John would pop them into Flash Traffic as fast as I could type. I can see it now...
"An Irishman, a Lithuanian and a gay camel
*grab!*
Flash Traffic (extended entry) follows
posted by cw4(ret)billt on February 4, 2006 10:35 PM
Those net nannys, don't ya know... but if Keith wants to add Kat to his joke list via mail... he'd probably find an appreciative audience.
posted by
John of Argghhh! on February 5, 2006 8:15 AM
she's already on the list, and yeah she seems to enjoy them...I get a 'bwuhahahaha' email every once in a while...
posted by klkk on February 5, 2006 4:13 PM
� Dismissed, Soldier!
by
CW4BillT
on
Feb 04, 2006
|
I think it's funny!
�
Don Surber links with:
Carnival of the Celebrities
�
Soldiers' Angels Germany links with:
Photo of the Day - Go Steelers!!
�
Stop The ACLU links with:
Sunday Funnies
February 3, 2006
Ooooh, too much politics and stuff. We need Gun Pr0n.
We need some pics of stuff in the Arsenal of Argghhh!
Like this:
Or this:
For CAPT H: Context.
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �
Dayum Dude that musta taken some serious hack saw work.
posted by jim b on February 3, 2006 11:25 AM
Looks like it's in the 90-to-105mm range, made to keep a lotta pressure going down the tube...
Ratz. Conference call.
posted by cw4(ret)billt on February 3, 2006 12:39 PM
Must be them tree ratz (ratz conference call) bill was tawkin about, callin him to complain and let him know Islam won't take it neither will they.
Cover your nutz bill.
posted by jim b on February 3, 2006 12:52 PM
Ain't a tree rat around that can crack a copper-zinc alloy. Two words.
Hunting. Slingshot.
And if another kind of rat wants to try, I've got two more words.
Edged. Weaponry.
posted by cw4(ret)billt on February 3, 2006 8:56 PM
175 mm by my lousy measurments/math.
posted by Rich Walden on February 3, 2006 11:31 PM
Um, nope. 175mm rounds are nowhere near that short in comparison to their diameter. I guess I need to schlep the Castle's 175 into the light for a portrait.
I wasn't playing that game with this one, I was just tossing it up there because, well, because!
That's 105mm cannon tube, from the M101 gun system.
posted by
John of Argghhh! on February 4, 2006 7:19 AM
Makes me want to wax my barrel, is that wrong?
Raymond B
www.voteswagon.com
posted by
Raymond B on February 4, 2006 1:33 PM
Looks like it's in the 90-to-105mm range...
My calibrated eyeball wasn't too far off this time. And is that a base-bleed round? Odd lateral indents aft of the obturating band.
posted by cw4(ret)billt on February 4, 2006 11:44 PM
Standard HE, Bill. What you see as indents is just tricks of the lighting and paint oxidation.
posted by
John of Argghhh! on February 5, 2006 8:18 AM
� Dismissed, Soldier!
Canada@War
Canada watch:
Damian of Babbling Brooks on Aircrew Survival Training.
And this:
"We're going to be out hunting down the last of the Taliban. I don't think many Canadians realize that we're now going to war."
In truth, General,
you already have been. Which he knows.
[While of course the General knows... as Damian noted in his comment, Scott Taylor of Esprit de Corps magazine is the one who made the "going to war" comment. My bad.]
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �
Hey John, the quote you attribute to the good BGen is actually from Scott Taylor of Esprit de Corps magazine.
Your point still holds: after 3PPCLI went into the Whale's Back in 2002, it's ridiculous to cling to the notion that Cdn participation in Afghanistan has been sanitized peacekeeping in the traditional sense.
posted by
Damian on February 3, 2006 4:57 PM
� Dismissed, Soldier!
Brothers-in-Arms.
Slaglerock honors his Brothers in Arms.
While Fiddler's Green has been a lot more crowded at times than it is right now - The Castle Argghhh! section, opened on 9/11 with 13 seats, is growing rather larger than one would like. We're going to have to add another table with a Stammtisch* sign.
Now is the time at Castle Argghhh! when we dance, In Memoriam.
*Stammtisch: In Germany, a table reserved for regular customers at a pub or restaurant. It's a gathering place. The Castle is a Stammtisch for the Denizen/nes. And we have a table at Fiddler's Green, as well. It's near the jukebox.
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �
Thank you for your service and for honoring the fallen, of particular note are the disparaging remarks left by a troll on Rob's site, whom I think needs a great deal of publicity for his assinine remarks.
posted by
Jack on February 3, 2006 12:49 PM
John,
Thanks for the linkage and defending these young men. It is appreciated.
SlagleRock Out!
Defensor Fortis (Defender of the Force)
posted by
slaglerock on February 3, 2006 5:55 PM
� Dismissed, Soldier!
Heh. Some Dutch bloggers are *not*...
...going the way that the protestors in the Middle East and elsewhere want them to.
Like these guys at Retecool.
They've essentially declared Snark on Hypocrisy, regarding the image of Mohammed. I suspect someone, somewhere, will be posting "May Allah rip out his spine from his back, and split his brains in two, and then do it over and over again, amen." Such was the praise heaped on the author of "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam."
I've provided the mostly-translated lead-in text. Free Translation.com is a useful site, but machine translation has a ways to do yet. It's *still* amazing what they can do these days.
Update: I see SWWBO agrees.
It's in the Flash Traffic/Extended Entry. H/t, JMH.
Flash Traffic (extended entry) Follows... �
I edited a bit to keep the Pr0nwise Googlers at bay. I *think* I got the original links correct - any error in that is mine. I didn't put in the links at the end of the text - those are technical links for uploading Fotof**cks. If you want to do that, go to the website and have at it. [Update: below this block of machine-translated text is human translated text, provided by a Retecool author]
Photograph F**k Friday Okay then, time for probable the last Photograph F**k Friday; -) The whole in the middle of East is over the harp because the Danish papers Jyllands Mail a few derision picture of Mohammed has represented and that while Mohammed according to that Islam may not become represented. But Mohammed is represented already centuries on the most various manners. (Mirror) In that sit a Photograph F**k. What will we do? We go around use to praise images of Mohammed (explicit these images (mirror) everyday products, that you get can normally by your standard buurtsuper, on. No NSFW products, no ranzige meuk, normally everyday products. Have and as we it over Mohammed, have then we it not over Mohammed B. For the security, we want to offer live off uses becomes meanwhile our excuses at the souls that it find not good that Mohammed for commercial expressions. The fotof**ks are judged by an utmost competent and professional jury. This not omkoopbare jury (a with gold ingelegde dutch version of the Koran does wounds) stilt a top three together on basis of Skills and Humor. The number one manages select becomes to end then still ever a fresh t-shirt by Fresh Cotton, thus it again as of olds works above. Upload your stenende creation here and copy-most level after that even the code in the reaction field. Here the Retecoollogo in. psd size and in. poison size. The fotof**kvrijdaglogo's of kris are here to find. Leuteren do NOT do you only in the forumtopic by this fotof**kvrijdag, in the comments below (the ip-banknop is already vigorously warm turn). Read here the FFV Upload Faq.
One the the Retecool fellas provided a translation in the comments - which I"m dragging into here because many people don't read comments - and it offers a direct comparison between machine and human translation...
Human Translation, provided by a Retecool author:
Allow me to give a more precise translation.
"PhotoF**k Friday 03 feb 00h00m 2006
Okay, it's time for this weeks Photograph F**k Friday, probably the
last edition ever ;-). The whole Middle East seems to be outraged because
of a few cartoons starring Mohammed (SAW) in the Danish newspaper
Jyllands Mail, while Mohammed should not be represented in any picture at
all. But Mohammed is represented in pictures in varios ways, for
centuries. This is asking to be used in a PhotoF**k.
"What will we do? We'll use these very images of Mohammed (SAW) [Link
to a mirror of a site with historic islamic pictures] to advertise
everyday products, products that you can get in your local foodstore. No
NSFW products, no foul stuff, just normal everyday products. And when we
say Mohammed, we do not refer to Mohammed B. (That's the murderer of a
dutch filmmaker; he was in the news that day too).
Just to be sure, we want apologize to the sensitive souls that are
opposed to using Mohammed's face for commercial expressions.
The fotof**ks are judged by a very competent, professional jury. The
jury is not corrupt (but a dutch version of the Koran with goldens
caligraphy on the cover will do miracles). They'll make a top three ranking,
based on your skills and humor. The winner will can get a fresh t-shirt
at the Fresh Cotton store at some point in time, so you'll have to work
to win that. Upload your rocking creation here and copy the resulting
code in the reaction field off this topic.
Here is the Retecool logo in various file formats. The photof**kfriday
logo's Kris made, are here.
Don't chat in the Photof**k topic itself, but feel free to do so in the
forumtopic that belongs to this photof**kfriday edition (the ip-ban
button is already running hot). Read the FFV Upload FAQ here."
Although various newsscources paid some attention to this, and although
we had tons of visitors (over 700GB of trafic!) this site did not at
all cause a rage. The maroccan fora decided to neglect us, which is by
far the best thing to do.
� Secure this line!
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �
Allow me to give a more precise translation.
"PhotoF**k Friday 03 feb 00h00m 2006
Okay, it's time for this weeks Photograph F**k Friday, probably the last edition ever ;-). The whole Middle East seems to be outraged because of a few cartoons starring Mohammed (SAW) in the Danish newspaper Jyllands Mail, while Mohammed should not be represented in any picture at all. But Mohammed is represented in pictures in varios ways, for centuries. This is asking to be used in a PhotoF**k.
"What will we do? We'll use these very images of Mohammed (SAW) [Link to a mirror of a site with historic islamic pictures] to advertise everyday products, products that you can get in your local foodstore. No NSFW products, no foul stuff, just normal everyday products. And when we say Mohammed, we do not refer to Mohammed B. (That's the murderer of a dutch filmmaker; he was in the news that day too).
Just to be sure, we want apologize to the sensitive souls that are opposed to using Mohammed's face for commercial expressions.
The fotof**ks are judged by a very competent, professional jury. The jury is not corrupt (but a dutch version of the Koran with goldens caligraphy on the cover will do miracles). They'll make a top three ranking, based on your skills and humor. The winner will can get a fresh t-shirt at the Fresh Cotton store at some point in time, so you'll have to work to win that. Upload your rocking creation here and copy the resulting code in the reaction field off this topic.
Here is the Retecool logo in various file formats. The photof**kfriday logo's Kris made, are here.
Don't chat in the Photof**k topic itself, but feel free to do so in the forumtopic that belongs to this photof**kfriday edition (the ip-ban button is already running hot). Read the FFV Upload FAQ here."
Although various newsscources paid some attention to this, and although we had tons of visitors (over 700GB of trafic!) this site did not at all cause a rage. The maroccan fora decided to neglect us, which is by far the best thing to do.
posted by
Behanger on February 4, 2006 9:10 PM
� Dismissed, Soldier!
25 Lessons Learned from OIF and OEF
Continuing the Lessons Learned from OIF/OEF that I started in this post . Note to military Googlers - these are *not* tactical AARs!
This one *is* marginally not worksafe if you work with people who think soldiers are stupid people who only do what we do because we're too dumb to do anything else. This will only reinforce that thought pattern.
Lesson #16. Soldiering Is Still An Outdoor Sport.
The soldiers among us will just go - been there, done that, bragged about it. Which, when I think about it, will just reinforce the goons I mentioned previously. Sometimes, you just have to harken back to your childhood and remember that playing in puddles was fun.
Of course, we *do* tend to take that to an extreme...
And, in case you think it's just awful to show the jihadis in this light. Remember this.
This is *not* an official document! I contacted Mr. Coffey and have his permission for this use. If you choose to download and share it around via email, you may do so - but send it with the caveat that any publishing of the document, for profit or no, needs the permission of Mr. Coffey, as I only asked permission for myself, and he retains all rights!
Mr. Coffey can be reached via his website: Purple Mountain Publishing.
For Previous Lessons Learned, click the numbers. 1. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14,15.
And another taggee checks in
So far, Christine's tags are at a 75% return rate--the Lady knows her taggees.
The newest addition is GunJam of JammedGun. Sanger and Jtg will feel right at home when they drop in. And, uh, GJ, hope you didn't mind the Aggie jokes--we were just funnin'...honest...
****************************
And since John is evidently logging Z-time tonight (unlike some others I could mention), today's H&Is are still being plotted in the FDC. Soooo, as long as GunJam doesn't mind a little Gun Pr0n with his link, I figure this is a good spot for this bit of chicanery. Work safe in one way and *not* work safe in another--even if it's you who's the gunner on some of these beasties.
Geez, doesn't anybody *work* at work anymore?
Tsk--where did my manners go? H/t to MSG Keith for the podpal annoyers.
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �
Regarding the other two, one has been promised by the end of the weekend.
The other one is temporarily busy encouraging the ordering of Danish delicacies.
posted by Christine on February 3, 2006 1:58 PM
I bought some Danish blue cheese tonight for the game sunday. Just doing my part...
posted by msg keith on February 3, 2006 10:14 PM
That's great. The word is definitely getting around, I hope it helps them.
posted by Christine on February 4, 2006 12:57 AM
About those Aggie jokes . . . I'll let it go THIS time!
True story (so I've heard): many moons ago, some Aggies were so upset with their UT Austin rivals that some Aggie cadets loaded one or more artillery pieces on flatcars on a train headed to Austin.
Fortunately, the authorities were able to stop the angry Aggies before they shelled the Longhorn campus.
posted by
gunjam on February 5, 2006 1:56 AM
� Dismissed, Soldier!
February 2, 2006
In light of what Bill just posted...
I think I have to offer up this. Go read Bill's bit (that's two posts down from here).
Back? Okay.
Right click and save as - then play it.
Ry - definately *not* work safe in your area. The rest of ya, Check Six.
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �
I hope to GOD my senses never get quite that bad...
That's one of the funniest commercials I've ever seen!!!!!!!!!!!!
posted by Were-Kitten on February 2, 2006 12:56 PM
Uh huh. No way was I gonna save that on my computer!
Too funny! But, then there is always braille, as Bill is fond of using...
heh.
posted by Cricket on February 2, 2006 1:48 PM
man, she was doing a number on that stick shift... obviously had a lot of practice.....
posted by klkk on February 2, 2006 6:02 PM
That was just wrong
posted by Mudpuppy1975 on February 2, 2006 9:37 PM
Well, of *course* it was wrong--that's the point they were making.
Uhhhh--it *was* a commercial for that orthodontist in Ramstein, wasn't it?
posted by cw4(ret)billt on February 3, 2006 3:06 AM
� Dismissed, Soldier!
Somebody duct tape PG-17's head, quick
Although something posted in Flash traffic might not set 'im off...
Set *me* off, though. I'm still wiping coffee off the monitor. Thanks a lot, Christine...
Flash Traffic (extended entry) Follows... �
Judi decides to do something wild she hasn't done before, so she sets out to rent her first X-rated adult video.
She goes to the video store and, after looking around for a while, selects a title that sounds very stimulating.
She drives home, lights some candles, slips into something comfortable, and puts the tape in the VCR. To her disappointment, there's nothing but static on the screen, so she calls the video store to complain.
Judi: "I just rented an adult movie from you and there's nothing on the tape but static."
Store Clerk: "Sorry about that. We've had problems with some of those tapes. Which title did you rent?"
Judi: "It's called 'Head Cleaner'."
� Secure this line!
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �
At least she didn't do what I did the first time I rented "Head Cleaner". Some heads were NOT meant to be wound up inside of a video cassette.
not.at.all.
posted by Were-Kitten on February 2, 2006 12:07 PM
Bill, that was bad.....
*Oh, Were-kitten...? which head were you cleaning..?*
posted by klkk on February 2, 2006 12:17 PM
*grin*
not mine...
posted by Were-Kitten on February 2, 2006 12:45 PM
well, THAT's obvious..... or is it...? we would need some type of photographic proof.....
posted by klkk on February 2, 2006 6:08 PM
well, THAT's obvious..... or is it...? we would need some type of photographic proof..... to be sure...
posted by klkk on February 2, 2006 6:09 PM
� Dismissed, Soldier!
A day in the Life of the deployed...
Warning - objects in mirror are closer than they appear.
Indian Ocean (Jan. 26, 2006) - A Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC), assigned to Assault Craft Unit Four (ACU-4), makes a final approach to embark aboard the dock landing ship USS Carter Hall (LSD 50). Carter Hall and ACU-4 are currently on deployment conducting maritime security operations (MSO) in support of the global war on terrorism. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Michael Sandberg.
*Grumble grumble* The farkin' recruiter never mentioned *this*!
MANAS AIR BASE, Kyrgyzstan (AFPN) - Airman 1st Class Michael Lepla digs out a C-17 Globemaster III Jan. 28 after 4 inches of snowfall during the night. With temperatures barely above zero and weekly snowstorms, maintainers here work nonstop to keep the aircraft and ramp clear of ice and snow. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Lara Gale
Dangit! They can *always* tell when I got a care package from Mom...
US Army SPC Shawn Aiken, a medic with Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, poses for a photo with children during a dismounted patrol. Mosul, Iraq in Support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. CREDIT U.S. ARMY PHOTO: SSG James H. Christopher III. (RELEASED) CPT Michael Blankartz BDE / PAO CAMP COURAGE MOSUL
Did too! Did not! Yer mother wears combat booooots!
CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq (Jan. 29, 2006) – Marines battle for points during the tug-of-war event during a field meet here Jan. 29. More than 300 Marines with Combat Logistics Regiment–25, 2nd Marine Logistics Group (Forward), participated in a field meet hosted at the Lakeside Sports Arena. Steward is the area supervisor for the ammunition supply point with CLR-25, 2nd MLG (Forward). Photo by: Lance Cpl. Joel Abshier
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �
You'd think the Airforce could get something bigger for snow clearing than something you buy from Northern Tool. I'm sure the Canuks could rustle up some bloody effective snow clearing engineering gear more adept for clearing an airfield.
posted by Montieth (LJ) on February 2, 2006 8:18 AM
And speakin of our Friends the Canuks, somebody up there wanna come down here and collect up all your lost geese?
Yea yea they look good in paintings, however the reality of their MASS LANDINGS, followed by mining the area with them huge logs they leave layin round is gettin nasty.
I vote we require the legalization and innercity emplyment of 'punt' guns and the harvisting of or perhaps extincting of Canada Gooses.
jim b sits
posted by jim b on February 2, 2006 9:05 AM
I have to tell you as Canadian the firstime I ever saw a "canadian goose" was after I moved to the states. Well, I'd see them flying overhead, and I'm told they nest up north somewhere, but where I lived we have winters that discourages their continued residence.
And speakingof winters, what idjit decide that clearing a runway with 5hp blower was a good idea? 4" of snow? A couple of fully loaded 5 tonnes with a 30ft blade rolling at 40mph and you can get home in timefor morning coffee.
posted by Fred on February 2, 2006 9:17 AM
I have to tell you as Canadian the firstime I ever saw a "canadian goose" was after I moved to the states. Well, I'd see them flying overhead, and I'm told they nest up north somewhere, but where I lived we have winters that discourages their continued residence.
And speakingof winters, what idjit decide that clearing a runway with 5hp blower was a good idea? 4" of snow? A couple of fully loaded 5 tonnes with a 30ft blade rolling at 40mph and you can get home in timefor morning coffee.
posted by Fred on February 2, 2006 9:17 AM
I have to tell you as Canadian the firstime I ever saw a "canadian goose" was after I moved to the states. Well, I'd see them flying overhead, and I'm told they nest up north somewhere, but where I lived we have winters that discourages their continued residence.
And speakingof winters, what idjit decide that clearing a runway with 5hp blower was a good idea? 4" of snow? A couple of fully loaded 5 tonnes with a 30ft blade rolling at 40mph and you can get home in timefor morning coffee.
posted by Fred on February 2, 2006 9:17 AM
You know "Your mother wears combat boots" will never be an insult to my boys.
Mama's damn proud of those combat boots, and really wants to turn them into jump boots.
posted by
Heartless Libertarian on February 2, 2006 9:19 AM
Well yasee wit dem shiny toes and all they have a certain 'look'.... jump boots that is.
Howsomenever. I have found them to be wanting in rocky and marginal terrain. Yes the soles and heels are heavy and thick. But the sidewalls are lacking. Humpin around the rocks and crap, you can really feel the stuff pokin and rubbin against the side of your foot. Toe and heel are good, it's just not a good mountain boot...... well at least to me.
posted by jim b on February 2, 2006 9:27 AM
Whatcha tryin' to say Fred?
Anything worth repeating... on this here fine Groundhog Day?
posted by
AFSister on February 2, 2006 10:09 AM
Whatcha tryin' to say Fred?
Anything worth repeating... on this here fine Groundhog Day?
posted by
AFSister on February 2, 2006 10:10 AM
The Great Hall Echo just seems to resonate with some folks...
posted by cw4(ret)billt on February 2, 2006 10:27 AM
Well as the echo thing resolves itself, I will be visited once again by the 30 something blonde in the powersuit, only today she is wearing a knit shirt and jeans (Code name: Little Trixie).
I wonder where I left my earplugs? Back whenever.
posted by jim b on February 2, 2006 10:40 AM
Now that's my kind of "boat"!
posted by Christine on February 2, 2006 12:01 PM
One o' these is what I'm thinking of.
posted by
Ryan Gill on February 2, 2006 12:42 PM
jim b wanders in... goes to the bar for a Scoresby, looks at the vintage snowblower, and asks, "Ya got anything newer with more chrome, like a cowboy cadillac with a scooper thing on the front and a cd player?"
posted by jim b on February 2, 2006 12:57 PM
This mama would LOVE to have worn combat boots... but that's a whole 'nuther story.
posted by AFSister on February 2, 2006 1:13 PM
I've got some worn combat boots, but you'll have to wear several pair of socks to keep from sliding around inside.
Ummmm--might be a good idea to air 'em out before you try 'em on, though...
posted by cw4(ret)billt on February 2, 2006 1:27 PM
At least we didn't get into where your sister does her squat thrusts.
Or where your momma goes swimming!
posted by
John of Argghhh! on February 2, 2006 1:38 PM
Jim - here at Castle Argghhh! we prefer the older, seasoned stuff.
You can git yer newfangled stuff anywhere...
posted by
John of Argghhh! on February 2, 2006 1:40 PM
Thanks for the offer, Bill, but your boots have seen too much flood action for my tastes!
(don't ask why I would be tasting them... that's just nasty)
posted by AFSister on February 2, 2006 2:00 PM
Yup that would be me I like to be keep my stuff within the last couple of decades. That way I can usually get parts at a parts place instead of a machine fabrication shop.
Plus I think I am alergic to rust in large quantities.
posted by jim b on February 2, 2006 2:37 PM
Wuss. That's why the Castle has one of these.
With which we do things like this.
posted by
John of Argghhh! on February 2, 2006 2:53 PM
And now I know why the Finns disguarded that shield thingie. They needed it to scoop out snow with cause that old lend lease Brit snowblower was busted.
posted by jim b on February 2, 2006 3:04 PM
� Dismissed, Soldier!
25 Lessons Learned from OIF and OEF
Continuing the Lessons Learned from OIF/OEF that I started in this post . Note to military Googlers - these are *not* tactical AARs!
This one *is* marginally not worksafe due to pics of wounded people. Not horribly gory ones, but sensitive types might well be distressed.
Lesson #15. Pain Is Part Of Life, Misery Is Optional.
[I know there's a problem with the link. I can't fix it until I get home]
[There. All better]
And, in case you think it's just awful to show the jihadis in this light. Remember this.
This is *not* an official document! I contacted Mr. Coffey and have his permission for this use. If you choose to download and share it around via email, you may do so - but send it with the caveat that any publishing of the document, for profit or no, needs the permission of Mr. Coffey, as I only asked permission for myself, and he retains all rights!
Mr. Coffey can be reached via his website: Purple Mountain Publishing.
For Previous Lessons Learned, click the numbers. 1. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14.
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �
Not getting anywhere with the "Pain is Part of Life" link. Is it me or do you need to tweak it?
posted by
Maggie on February 2, 2006 9:13 AM
Yup, the link is dorked up.
posted by
Heartless Libertarian on February 2, 2006 9:21 AM
I can't find a problem with the code, so it may be with the archive. Already sent a flare over John's bunker.
posted by cw4(ret)billt on February 2, 2006 9:29 AM
UPDATE: The Cavalry is enroute for the fix.
Heh. *I'm* the one who's supposed to have the memory problems...
posted by cw4(ret)billt on February 2, 2006 11:27 AM
Hey - gimme a break, I hadda come in early today, slept late, and wash rushed.
Hey - gimme a break, I hadda come in early today, slept late, and wash rushed.
Hey - gimme a break, I hadda come in early today, slept late, and wash rushed.
posted by
John of Argghhh! on February 2, 2006 11:32 AM
Woah, power echo...
posted by MCart on February 2, 2006 11:44 AM
� Dismissed, Soldier!
February 1, 2006
I stand on the other side of most issues...
...including the war.
But I'll give Gary Trudeau a prop and a High Five for this one.
That is all.
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �
IIRC, Trudeau has been quite generous and supportive to veterans and current warfighters, giving to Troop Support charities, and such.
posted by
Fuzzybear Lioness on February 1, 2006 7:39 PM
One other thing to recall. Note in the article that Trudeau did research before he did his story line.
In other words, he got information first rather than simply starting to throw opinions around like rocks, heedless of who they hit.
posted by
Jack on February 1, 2006 7:53 PM
He not only researched - he did it at the source, not second hand. I've struggled with his Doonesbury cartoons at many times over the years, but he deserves kudos for his actions!
posted by
Barb on February 1, 2006 8:15 PM
Trudeau's quotidian political observations rankle me a bit, but he's forgiven.
He has historically stuck with the troops even when he was sticking it to the Green Machine--some of his Vietnam 'toons were borderline vicious--and he ripped the NLF a new one when Nguyen Van Phred appeared in the strip...
posted by cw4(ret)billt on February 1, 2006 10:00 PM
� Dismissed, Soldier!
Heh. I'm not a racist? But I thought I hadda be...
...cause I'm a right-winger.
Heh. Remember the study that suggests we conservatives are racist bassids?
Go read this, at The Right Coast. I'll wait.
Back? Cool. Now go take the IAT that Gail suggests. My result is in the Flash Traffic/Extended Entry.
Flash Traffic (extended entry) Follows... �
Dammit! I'm skewing the curve!
This just in! SWWBO got the same result (and she's a lot harder-core Right Winger than I am).
You have completed the Black-White IAT.
The line immediately below summarizes the results of your task performance.
Your data suggest little to no automatic preference between European American and African American.
If your feedback was 'The result could not be determined', click here.
Your result, reported above, is already corrected for the order in which you took the parts of the IAT. If you have a question about the effect of order, please read the answer to FAQ 1 on the page of FAQs for this test.
The interpretation shown above is described as 'automatic preference for Black' if you responded faster when Black faces and Good words were classified with the same key as opposed to White faces and Good words. It is marked 'automatic preference for White' if you were faster when giving the same response to White faces and Good words. Depending on the magnitude of your result, your automatic preference may be described as 'slight', 'moderate', 'strong', or 'little to no preference'.
If you have unanswered questions about the task, please review the frequently asked questions about this type of research. Any followup questions can be directed to the researchers by email at that page.
Bad conservative! Get back on the plantation, boy!
� Secure this line!
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �
LOL! I got the same result. :)
posted by
FbL on February 1, 2006 10:53 AM
I took the Gay - Straight test, too. It also said I showed no automatic preference. However, when it comes to choosing romantic partners, I have a definite preference. ;)
posted by
FbL on February 1, 2006 11:03 AM
So--I guess we won't be seeing "Brokeback Chandelier" in the theaters anytime soon?
posted by cw4(ret)billt on February 1, 2006 11:24 AM
*humming quietly and ignoring the all-too-typical porcine male*
posted by
FbL on February 1, 2006 11:26 AM
I don't have time to take that right now, but I'll do it later.
What I want to know is, how are these people going to break the news to Condolezza Rice, Colin Powell, Ken Blackwell, Janice Rogers-Brown, you get my drift.
Used to be liberals were progressive. Too bad they can't see that they are no longer so.
posted by April on February 1, 2006 12:00 PM
Now I gotta find my Funk N Waggnalls and look up 'porcine'. Good goldangedthing I know how to spell it eh?
posted by jim b on February 1, 2006 1:02 PM
K I found it. Porcine, between porch .. we all know what those are, and porcino which is a wild edible boletus mushroom.
I think Bill just got called a pig. Unless it is a typo.
posted by jim b on February 1, 2006 1:05 PM
Continuing the research ..... typical porcine male. It gets more specific .... swine.
As in:
The adult domestic swine has a heavy, rounded body; a comparatively long, flexible snout; short legs with cloven hooves; and a short tail. The thick but sensitive skin is partly covered with coarse bristles and exhibits a wide range of color patterns. Like all swine, domestic hogs are quick-footed, intelligent animals.
Well adapted for the production of meat because they grow and mature rapidly, hogs have a short gestation period of about 114 days, and they produce large numbers of young each time they give birth. They are omnivorous and can scavenge a wide range of foods—perhaps one of the reasons they were first domesticated. As food sources, they convert cereal grains and legumes such as soybeans into meat. Other than meat, products from swine include leather (pigskin) for luggage and gloves, and bristles for brushes. For centuries they have also been used as a primary source of edible fat. In the United States until the mid-1920s, they were bred for the production of large amounts of lard. Swine in other countries such as England, however, were bred for the production of lean meat and were called bacon-type hogs. Modern swine are intermediate between these two types and are known as meat-type hogs. As the demand for fats has decreased, the meat-type hogs have been developed to resemble the bacon type more closely.
Okay that's what it is. So I guess I can only object to what bill was called by sayin... the label does not fit cause he is not 'typical'.
posted by jim b on February 1, 2006 1:26 PM
I don't know that I'm more of a rightwinger than you are, John!
What makes you say that?
posted by
swwbo on February 1, 2006 1:56 PM
I don't know about that, the dscription above mentions a "... thick but sensitive skin". Sounds close to me!
Cheers
JMH
posted by J.M. Heinrichs on February 1, 2006 2:26 PM
Hmmmm--"Porcine" and "curmudgeon" *do* share a couple of vowels and consonants...
posted by cw4(ret)billt on February 1, 2006 2:26 PM
(hoping to get name off of privy plack)
SWWBO? Right wing? Naw, you're just right, Mrs. D.
posted by ry on February 1, 2006 2:37 PM
I ended up with the Nerd vs. Jock test... and I show "a strong automatic preference for Nerds compared to Jocks."
gee...wotta suprise, says the Band and Theater kid.....
posted by
AFSister on February 1, 2006 2:40 PM
Ya gotta point JMH. I am just glad to bet to the bottom of this thing. For a time I thought she had misspelled 'porcelain'
jim b goes to the bar for a Scoresby, and a cigar.
posted by jim b on February 1, 2006 3:05 PM
I don't know that I'm more of a rightwinger than you are, John!
What makes you say that?
I read yer blog, dear. Compared to you, I'm a squish.
posted by
John of Argghhh! on February 1, 2006 3:31 PM
Your data suggest a slight automatic preference for Black compared to White.
posted by
kat-missouri on February 1, 2006 6:48 PM
Given I grew up in Memphis (lived there when MLK was murdered) in a town called "Southaven" because it was south of "Whitehaven" which is where all the white-folk moved to escape the black-folk in the city, I wonder what my result implies:
Your data suggest a slight automatic preference for Black compared to White.
posted by
Jack on February 1, 2006 8:07 PM
Your data suggest a moderate association of African American with Harmless Objects and European American with Weapons compared to European American with Harmless Objects and African American with Weapons.
I have no idea what that means...Does it mean I consider white people more dangerous to me, or black people inneffective with a weapon?
What a strange test. I think it assumes an equal degree of hand-eye coordination among participants. Which is a fairly stupid assumption to make.
posted by MCart on February 2, 2006 12:54 AM
McCart, I don't think it's judging your hand-eye coordination against anyone else's. It's comparing the speed with which you make associations in one set (i.e. African American w/ weapons) vs. the speed with which you make those associations in another set (African American w/ harmless objects). Although I'm sure there are also other factors at work that I'm not comprehending.
posted by
FbL on February 2, 2006 6:22 AM
Neat stuff but I think that I would need to consume at least two Guinness with several Highland Park moisturizers in order to verbalise meaningfully on this topic.
Cheers
JMH
posted by J.M. Heinrichs on February 2, 2006 7:27 AM
� Dismissed, Soldier!
Y'know, it just ain't right...
...when the holdings of the Arsenal at Castle Argghhh! include Bill the Rotorhead's favorite small arm (no ladies, not *that* one - see 27" zipper), as he opined in the comments of a post earlier this week:
Blake - The M3 was handy for cleaning out bunkers, but you had to get within fifteen feet of a firing port to do it properly. A 2.75" FFAR from 500 meters would do the same thing, albeit without that *personal* touch.
Heh. I *love* the M3. And we don't have one in the Holdings of the Arsenal of Argghhh!. 2.75" FFARs we have. Two of 'em. One with a neat sectioned warhead.
Mebbe it *is* time to put up a Paypal Button to buy the Arsenal one of these.
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �
CRV7
Cheers
JMH
posted by J.M. Heinrichs on February 1, 2006 8:47 AM
ahh, the good old greaser...
loved that piece. such a shame when we made those go away during the transition from -60 series panzers to the Abrams.
posted by MajMike on February 1, 2006 8:51 AM
A bunch of years ago, there was a prototype running around of a multiple-launch rocket system for light forces based on the 70mm/2.75" rocket. The one version I saw had six standard 19-shot pods mounted in a framework on a modified 1/4-ton trailer chassis. I think it used a high-end (for the time) pocket calculator to do the firing computations, rather like the early mortar computers.
Me I rather liked the idea. I was still light infantry at the time, and I figured anything that beefed up our firepower while still being easliy moved around was a Good Thing. But it was a private venture, and Wasn't Invented Here, and so went nowhere.
posted by blake.kirk on February 1, 2006 11:01 AM
A sectioned 17-pounder! Neat--now you've gotta work on getting an MPSM and a flechette. I've got a couple of practice rockets that were modified for EMI testing in the late '80s--they look weird, but they worked. Plus some dummy 10-pounders...
Blake - The main problem with that system had to do with exterior ballistics as the rockets left the tube. A rocket orients into the prevailing wind after launch and drifts. A helicopter compensates for this by launching in forward flight for direct fire. Since the old Mk 40 was fairly slow leaving the tube, it was affected pretty radically by a stiff crosswind, so we tried to orient into the wind for firing whenever feasible.
It's a whole new ball of wax for Mk 40 indirect fire--rocket dispersion increased dramatically. The switch to the Mk 66 solved an awful lot of problems, but we still had to use firing tables, compensate for wind and shoot using a "rocking horse" maneuver--launch when you're hanging by your nose a split second before you fall backwards to a hover. Dispersion isn't as great when you're able to orient into the wind, and you don't always have that luxury in a ground vehicle.
posted by cw4(ret)billt on February 1, 2006 12:50 PM
Thanks, Bill. That explanation does make sense.
posted by Blake Kirk on February 2, 2006 8:22 AM
� Dismissed, Soldier!
25 Lessons Learned from OIF and OEF
Continuing the Lessons Learned from OIF/OEF that I started in this post . Note to military Googlers - these are *not* tactical AARs!
This one *is* not worksafe for pictures of dead people. Not horribly gory ones, but sensitive types might well be distressed.
Lesson #14. When You Mess With The Bull, You Need To Deal With The Horns..
And, in case you think it's just awful to show the jihadis in this light. Remember this.
This is *not* an official document! I contacted Mr. Coffey and have his permission for this use. If you choose to download and share it around via email, you may do so - but send it with the caveat that any publishing of the document, for profit or no, needs the permission of Mr. Coffey, as I only asked permission for myself, and he retains all rights!
Mr. Coffey can be reached via his website: Purple Mountain Publishing.
For Previous Lessons Learned, click the numbers. 1. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13.
January 31, 2006
I *like* Flash traffic...
...it allows the young 'uns to browse on the surface and the adults to enjoy an adult chuckle. Saves space, too.
*grinnn* You figure out which category this one belongs in...
A little old lady is walking down the street, dragging two plastic garbage bags with her, one in each hand. There's a hole in one of the bags and every once in a while, a $20 bill flops out of it onto the pavement. A policeman notices it and stops her...
Flash Traffic (extended entry) Follows... �
"Ma'am, there are $20 bills falling out of that bag."
"Oh, dear!" says the little old lady. "I'd better go back and see if I can still find them. Thank you, young man!"
"Well, now, not so fast, ma’am. How did you get all that money? Have you been robbing banks?"
"Oh, mercy, no!" says the little old lady. "You see, my back yard abuts the parking lot of the football stadium. Each time there's a game, a lot of fans come and pee in the bushes. Tsk! Right into my flower beds!"
"So,” she continued, “I go and stand behind the privet hedge with my hedge clipper and each time someone sticks his little ding-a-ling through the bushes, I say, ‘Twenty bucks or off it comes!’ "
"Hey, not a bad idea!" laughs the cop. "Good luck! By the way, what's in the other bag?"
"Well," says the little old lady, "not all of them pay up..."
� Secure this line!
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �
We already know where I fall on this. As previously confessed, I am a girl who peeks.
Second bag is a horrible waste. Tragic.
posted by
Maggie on January 31, 2006 11:44 AM
I was warned, wasn't I?
Enough to be 17 fifteen year olds. I tell ya.
posted by ry on January 31, 2006 12:10 PM
EEEWWWW
posted by
Punctilious on January 31, 2006 2:30 PM
HAHAHAHA.....
I needed a good laugh today...
posted by klkk on January 31, 2006 2:43 PM
That was funny as helk!
posted by
kat-missouri on January 31, 2006 6:47 PM
I suppose adding "H/t to Lorena Bobbitt" would have been superfluous...
posted by cw4(ret)billt on January 31, 2006 9:05 PM
Well, Chief, and even you, Sgt B., must admit that John Wayne Bobbitt (whatta name!) had it coming. She used a knife out of the kitchen drawer, which knives are famously dull.
I imagine the scene:
Lorena: Come to bed, Johnneee!
J.W: Not right now, am busy sharpening these here dull knives! (thinks; damn' silly wimmin cain't keep their knives sharp)
Lorena: John-neee!
J.W.: Just a minute! (thinks: Dang! I almost had that one perfectly razor-sharp when she distracted me!)
Lorena: Dammit John-nee!
J.W.: Here I am Babe, kewl and manly! And see how I put a razor edge on this carving knife here!
Lorena: Ewww, Gross! You smell like lard oil!
J.W.: But, babe, you women don't take good care of yer tools and I was trying to hel...
Lorena: Take THAT, insensitive Gringo!
J.W.: Oww oww oww OWW OW ow ow...
posted by
Justthisguy on February 1, 2006 2:05 AM
� Dismissed, Soldier!
Eeewwww. Politics.
But since Bill and I (with a belated "Me, too!" from Dusty) were original Signers (though I don't know why NZ invited us, really) of the Appeal from Center-Right Bloggers... I'm going to make my totally pointless endorsement in the Republican House Leadership Race. I'm late at this because I'm not truly a pundit, I don't have an Insta-opinion. Not a slam, Reynold's life and work are vastly different from mine - he's more informed simply by what he does for a living - I currently study the Future Army for a living, which means this is extramural for me. However, in that regard, perhaps I'm more representative of the bulk of the right-leaning voting population, too - because they all have lives that make this extramural to them, too. But as I've demonstrated many times before - I have a tin ear for politics.
I'm speaking for me. I'll let Bill and Dusty speak for themselves.
I say they should go with Shadegg.
Blunt and Boehner are More Of The Same, and I'm just not that impressed with The Same, whatever their other qualifications. Sometimes, you *do* need to change for change's sake.
It's time for Something New in the Republican leadership, and I have so informed my Representative (that would be Jim Ryun, who listens politely, anyway, though I get better, more substantive answers from the staffs of Senators Brownback and Roberts). I'm something of a gadfly about guns, national defense and veteran's issues, though I have no delusions of my influence, given I don't give scads of money to any of those guys, because they don't need it around here.
I'm a fan of term limits, if only for the simple reason that one of the things that gets the political class in trouble is being so entrenched in their positions that they both lose touch with the reality of their districts, and, concomitantly, get sucked into the bubble of Inside the Beltway, which is fantasy world in many respects. I know - I've moved in those circles before, tangentially.
My sister and I had a discussion of that at Christmas - she's the family liberal, but she was receptive to the idea of term limits for a long time. Until Missouri elected Governor Blunt, who has done some (to her eyes) Dumb Newbie Tricks, especially regarding education, which gores a family ox for her. From that she deduces that Experience is Best.
I say Faugh! Change is good. Frankly, I see term limits a little bit like the NFL Draft. The draft keeps the Center of Gravity moving around the league, which, to my jaundiced eye, keeps football more interesting, as dynasties rise and fall. Contrast to Baseball, where their model tends to suck all the money to a few of the big players, which for me reduces the interest of the league to a few Big Teams and the Rest. No, it's not a perfect analogy...
But the concept I see is similar. New people, new ideas. Move the center of gravity around. Nothing against West Virginia, but is there anything left there that doesn't have Byrd's name on it? That's just one example. Move the center of gravity around the country, too. The Massachusetts Senate Contingent hasn't had a genuinely new idea in a long time. And the same is true, regardless of party, all around the country.
So, here's to the Republicans showing some leadership, rather than damage control. You've been in power long enough that you have the Power Disease; though you wield power badly. The Democrats are far better at that than you guys have ever been - which is actually a compliment, but I don't have time to go into that here.
The point is - you have the baggage, with no concomitant useful productivity.
So, try something new. Give a relative Outsider a chance. And gird yourselves to Make A Change.
Because I might just have to start voting in Primaries again, to try to send you guys packing, otherwise. I know I can't do much with the Democrats, so I'll pick on you.
Besides, with the Alito cloture vote, the Left's Moonbats are going to be picking on their guys, so I'll try to shape what passes for the Right.
**********************************
*tossing two cents on the workbench*
For what my opinion's worth--and I harbor no illusions in that area--I believe that John Shadegg most-clearly sees the need for reform. And he has the convictions and the passion to back them up:
“…I have a lifelong record of having fought for restricting government. I think many of you know that when I got here, I introduced almost as the very first bill I ever dropped, the Enumerated Powers Act. That was a bill that said that members of Congress...would have to identify in every bill they introduced, the provisions of the Constitution that authorized the Congress to legislate in that area…Congress is writing laws in all kinds of areas where it has no authority whatsoever. People have forgotten, members of Congress have forgotten, that the Constitution makes this a Congress with specific, limited, enumerated powers. And we have completely ignored that, aided and abetted by the United States Supreme Court. At a minimum, we need to get back to only doing those things that the Constitution allows us to do.”
The entire transcript of his conference call with the Big Bloggers is here. It's a fast read with a lot of substance.
Unfortunately, my rep is Rush Holt (D-NJ--12th District), who replies (seldom) to my missives with campaign literature from last year's election and an envelope for the sizeable check he hints I should send for his next campaign...
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �
I feel sorry for you, sir. I feel pretty much the same way. As I wrote on a different forum, I turn in a mostly blank ballot when I vote. "None of the Above", dontcha know.
posted by
Justthisguy on February 1, 2006 2:44 AM
� Dismissed, Soldier!
A commentary on the times...
We interrupt this blog for a mildly naughty story. See the Flash Traffic/Extended Entry.
But first, this short subject:
Friendship Between Women:
A woman didn't come home one night. The next day she told her husband that she had slept over at a girlfriend's house.
The man called his wife's 10 best friends. None of them knew anything about it.
Friendship Between Men:
A man didn't come home one night. The next day he told his wife that he had slept over at a buddy's house. The woman called her husband's 10 best friends.
Eight of them confirmed that he had slept over, and two claimed that he was still there.
And now, our Feature Presentation.
Flash Traffic (extended entry) Follows... �
A golfer in Ireland hit a bad hook into the woods. Looking for the ball, he discovered a Leprechaun flat on his back, a big bump on his head, and the golfer's ball beside him. Horrified, the golfer took his water bottle from his belt and poured it over the little guy, reviving him.
"Arrgh! What happened?" the leprechaun says. "Oh, I see. Waal, ye got me fair and square. Ye get three wishes. Whaddya want?"
"Thank God, you're all right!" the golfer answers in relief. "I don't want anything." I'm glad you're okay, and I apologize. I didn't mean to hit you." And the golfer walks off.
"What a nice guy," the leprechaun says to himself. "But it was fair and square that he got me, and I have to do something for him. I'll give him three things I would want... a great golf game, all the money he ever needs, and a fantastic sex life."
A year goes by (as it does, in jokes like this) and the golfer is back, hits another bad ball into the woods and finds the leprechaun waiting for him.
'Twas me that made ye hit the ball here," the little guy says. "I wanted to ask ye, how's yer golf game?"
"That's the first bad ball I've hit in a year! I'm a famous international golfer now," the golfer answers. "By the way, it's good to see you're all right."
"Oh, I'm fine now, thankee. I did that fer yer golf game. And tell me, how's yer money?"
"Why, I win fortunes in golf. But, if I need cash, I just reach in my pocket and pull out $100 bills all day long."
"I did that fer ye. And how's yer sex life?"
The golfer blushes, turns his head away in embarrassment and says shyly, "Errr, all right, I suppose."
"C'mon, c'mon now. I'm wanting to know if I did a good job. How many times a day?"
Blushing even more, the golfer whispers, "Once...sometimes twice a week." "What!" says the leprechaun in shock. "That's all? Once or twice a week?"
"Well," says the golfer, "I figure that's not too bad for a Catholic priest in a small parish."
The commentary is - "Heh. Why was I relieved it wasn't a paedophilia joke...?"
� Secure this line!
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �
Thanks for the morning chuckle, John!
Always a good way to start the day.
posted by AFSister on January 31, 2006 7:51 AM
That was terrible. LOL
posted by
kat-missouri on January 31, 2006 6:40 PM
ow ow ow ow OW ow ow!
That's SEVEN ouchies!
I mean, uh, OW!
posted by
Justthisguy on February 1, 2006 2:54 AM
� Dismissed, Soldier!
25 Lessons Learned from OIF and OEF
Continuing the Lessons Learned from OIF/OEF that I started in this post . Note to military Googlers - these are *not* tactical AARs!
This one *is* not worksafe for naughty language. Or in an officer where Michael Moore is considered a moderate centrist.
Lesson #13. America Can Still Rely On The Marines To Tell It Like It Is..
At a minimum, no less than any Hollywood luminary.
And, in case you think it's just awful to show the jihadis in this light. Remember this.
This is *not* an official document! I contacted Mr. Coffey and have his permission for this use. If you choose to download and share it around via email, you may do so - but send it with the caveat that any publishing of the document, for profit or no, needs the permission of Mr. Coffey, as I only asked permission for myself, and he retains all rights!
Mr. Coffey can be reached via his website: Purple Mountain Publishing.
For Previous Lessons Learned, click the numbers. 1. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �
Mikey Mooron a moderate centrist?
you've been reading Journal and Publisher and Poynter Online(Forums and Romenesko) again haven't you?
Actually, I read that exact quote over at Crooked Timber yesterday. Freakin' wild, no?
posted by ry on January 31, 2006 8:28 AM
� Dismissed, Soldier!
January 30, 2006
Military Olio...
Tidbits of today in history...
1647 Scots agree to sell King Charles I to the English Parliament for £400,000;- they always were a thrifty lot, the Scots.
1781 Articles of Confederation go into effect. Starting the years-long process that results in the US Constitution. Keep that in mind when griping about Iraq and the efforts developing that constitution.
1933 Adolph Hitler named German Chancellor. WWII inches closer. Keep an eye on Hamas.
1943 Hitler promotes Friedrich Paulus to field marshal - because everyone knows German Field Marshals have had never surrendered (they committed suicide, instead - but Paulus declined the latter while accepting the former...).
1968 The Tet Offensive begins. Long month for those of us on the home front that year.
1972 "Bloody Sunday" -- British troops kill 13 Catholics in Derry
And just because I can:
Heh. Told 'em so, back in the day. There's a *reason* there's a Remington Rand M1911A1 in the Castle Arsenal... but no Beretta.
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �
The primary reason for dumping the M1911 twenty years ago was logistics. The bean counters reasoned that, since you can fill a particular volume of space with more 9mm ammo than with .45 ACP, it made sense to opt for quantity.
I had a "barguement" with a couple of log guys once--they didn't want to hear that you might fire six to ten 9mm rounds to achieve the same results you'd get from a single .45 round.
"That's lousy shooting."
"No, it's what happens with a light bullet as opposed to a heavy one. Tell you what--let's stand six feet apart, and you throw popcorn at me and I'll peg shot glasses at you. After ten minutes, we'll compare lumps. Deal?"
He wussed out. I even offered to spring for the popcorn...
posted by cw4(ret)billt on January 30, 2006 9:27 PM
The Ghost of Ripley looms large over the Ordnance Corps yet.
posted by
John of Argghhh! on January 30, 2006 9:52 PM
Hmmmm. Where *is* Sigourney Weaver, now that we need her and her pulse rifle?
posted by cw4(ret)billt on January 30, 2006 10:38 PM
You'll want a Beretta now because they're becoming a collector's item....
posted by
MKL on January 31, 2006 2:43 AM
Nah, MKL. Well, okay - if I can get a combat-used one, legally (don't nobody show up at the door with the "present" of a written-off-as-a-combat-loss M92 in *this* day and age, thankyouverymuch).
posted by
John of Argghhh! on January 31, 2006 5:39 AM
Nah,
The Beretta will hang around for years in the reserve components because they won't be able to make enough of the replacement .45 cal pistol fast enough to swap them all out in a short period.
Me, I always liked the old M1911A1. But, then too, I always remembered the rules of engagement for the .45 I got from SFC White, platoon sergeant of our battalion scout platoon, who taught me to shoot the ugly old thing:
1. If the target is more than 10 meters away, an issue M1911A1 is not your best choice of weapons. Use a long gun if at all possible.
2. Aim center of mass.
3. Keep shooting until the target goes down.
Crude, but effective.
Now, what I want to know is, if we're bringing .45 cal pistols back into the system, so that ammo is goingto be available again, are we also going to pull a bunch of M3A1 SMG's out of depot storage? To be honest, when I have to go back to Iraq later this year I'd really like to have something heftier than just a pistol, and a grease gun would suit me just fine.
posted by Blake Kirk on January 31, 2006 9:38 AM
Nah,
The Beretta will hang around for years in the reserve components because they won't be able to make enough of the replacement .45 cal pistol fast enough to swap them all out in a short period.
Me, I always liked the old M1911A1. But, then too, I always remembered the rules of engagement for the .45 I got from SFC White, platoon sergeant of our battalion scout platoon, who taught me to shoot the ugly old thing:
1. If the target is more than 10 meters away, an issue M1911A1 is not your best choice of weapons. Use a long gun if at all possible.
2. Aim center of mass.
3. Keep shooting until the target goes down.
Crude, but effective.
Now, what I want to know is, if we're bringing .45 cal pistols back into the system, so that ammo is goingto be available again, are we also going to pull a bunch of M3A1 SMG's out of depot storage? To be honest, when I have to go back to Iraq later this year I'd really like to have something heftier than just a pistol, and a grease gun would suit me just fine.
posted by Blake Kirk on January 31, 2006 9:39 AM
When the West Orange OMS got tagged to repair all the Hummers that returned from DS/DS, the shop foreman called both EOD and CID.
They spent a week collecting all the war detrius that some enterprising individuals stashed in various nooks and crannies--everything from live grenades to small arms. From *both* sides.
Took one semi-load of explosives to the boom-site at Dix and one load of weapons to an undisclosed location--no, *not* my garage...
posted by cw4(ret)billt on January 31, 2006 9:43 AM
Blake - The M3 was handy for cleaning out bunkers, but you had to get within fifteen feet of a firing port to do it properly. A 2.75" FFAR from 500 meters would do the same thing, albeit without that *personal* touch.
posted by cw4(ret)billt on January 31, 2006 10:00 AM
Don't listen to him, Blake. I *loved* my Grease Gun. Practice with it, you can shoot single shots, more accurately than with a .45, to greater ranges, and then there's all that firepower if you need it just by squeezin'.
And I never minded the six fully-loaded mags I carried around. But then I wasn't a pencil-necked sunken-chested marathon-running geek for whom six 30 round magazines of .45 constituted 40% of their body mass.
I hardly noticed it.
And since, in the Army of the 80's, shooting pistols was considered passe', I had lots and lots and lots of ammo to shoot. Other units were happy to let me have their allocation.
I had to rebarrel my M3 *twice* which bemused the Ordnance guys at DISCOM.
But then they were already bemused with me when I rehabbed all the M1911A1's I had in the arms room, too.
Heh. It was *such* fun to take a .45 from a DIVARTY staff officer who griped about how the 'old piece of shite' was so worn and crappy it couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. I'd listen sympathetically, take a magazine, load the pistol, and put 8 into the 9/10 ring at 15 meters in rapid fire, lay the pistol down and say, "Yep, this weapon system *does* have a flawed component. Well, rather it does when *you* are a component of the system anyway. Works just fine for me, however. Care to learn to shoot it?"
posted by
John of Argghhh! on January 31, 2006 10:18 AM
CHAMBERLAN was made the fool of by the nazis and we all know what happened to CHARLES I of england he lost his head over some to do
posted by spurwing plover on January 31, 2006 10:21 AM
Ask V17 about his M3 and the time he collected some bullet holes going from the inside of the Huey to the outside instead of vice-versa...
posted by cw4(ret)billt on January 31, 2006 10:37 AM
Operator Headspace and Timing is a separate issue...
posted by
John of Argghhh! on January 31, 2006 11:03 AM
I'm old enough I used to have to teach the M3A1 to brand-new privates in 19E (M48/M60/M551 crewman) OSUT at Knox. I always used to love to watch the expressions on their attentive little faces when we taught them how to cock it:
"Grasp the magazine well firmly in your left hand with the muzzle of the weapon pointed downrange. With your right hand, open the ejection port cover. Place the index finger of your right hand into the large hole in the bolt and pull the bolt to the rear until the bolt is engaged by the sear."
We'd almost always get a least one "Drill Sergeant, you want me to put my what where?!?!"
Yeah, the grease gun has its quirks, and it's never been the safest piece of ordnance in the industry, but it was simple, and reliable, and ever so tolerant of dirt and crud, and when you shot somebody with it, he went down. Like I said, I can't think of anything else I'd rather have as a sidearm in Iraq.
posted by Blake Kirk on January 31, 2006 6:07 PM
cw4(ret)billt wrote "A 2.75" FFAR from 500 meters would do the same thing, albeit without that *personal* touch."
Well yeah, Bill. And when I was in M60A3's I always figured the best way to suppress a bunker was to put a 105mm HE round through the slit, though WP through the slit would do if I didn't have any HEAT or HEP.
But I started out in airborne infantry, and we were pretty light on stuff that would reliably take out a real bunker from any decent sort of standoff distance.
posted by Blake Kirk on January 31, 2006 6:18 PM
Good point. And from my perspective, I've always thought putting spinning rotors anywhere near deployed parachutes--with or without people still attached--was an exceptionally stupid idea.
posted by cw4(ret)billt on January 31, 2006 10:19 PM
Hey, I'm just a skinny old geek, and *I* adhere to the slow but heavy bullet theory, seeing as both of my pieces shoot the .45 caliber projectile.
Oh, JoA, I see what you mean, about what you said, about why you didn't make General. Couldn't you have kept yer mouth shut long enough (in good conscience) to become a Colonel?
posted by
Justthisguy on February 1, 2006 3:21 AM
My mouth didn't do that, JTG. My thyroid did.
posted by
John of Argghhh! on February 1, 2006 6:11 AM
� Dismissed, Soldier!
Service above self.
This deserves better than a trackback link on the H&I post..
Beth of Blue Star Chronicles honors service above self.
It�s the extraordinary common man who holds this country together. It�s the guy who loves his country, his family, his community and his God. It�s the wife who waits for him, understands him and loves him.
You probably know these people. They are probably down the street from you, living in your community.
They are the threads that make up the fabric of American society and the cloth of the American Flag.
Indeed.
Now is the time at Castle Argghhh! when we dance, In Memoriam.
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �
The families, mothers, fathers, siblings, spouses and kids are left devastated by the loss of a soldier KIA. How best to help without being seen as intrusive a nose? How to know that they need help, so that you might render some aid? I pray the Good Lord will aid and comfort those in grief, but sometimes more worldly aid is required. I wonder if we, not military folks, John Q Public, really does enough to help?
posted by V29 on January 30, 2006 2:06 PM
Thanks for your kind words. That was a very difficult post to write. But I needed to honor him in my own way I suppose.
Thanks :)
posted by
beth on January 30, 2006 2:24 PM
That was beautiful. I can guess how painful it was to write.
But so important - so very, very important. Thank you Beth.
posted by
Cassandra on January 30, 2006 2:30 PM
Beautifully written, Beth - thank you!
V29 - not nearly enough, I am sure.
posted by
Barb on January 30, 2006 3:28 PM
I needed tissue. Too close.
posted by
kat-missouri on January 30, 2006 6:23 PM
� Dismissed, Soldier!
Vaporware from the Armorer...
...just to annoy Ry. Something else that will appear. Whenever I finish it.
But hopefully this week. A wholly unverifiable, but interesting, war story.
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �
What, you expect me to be Donald Duck or something?
Exposes of the Fiddly Bits are interesting(heh, who ever thought you could learn how to disassemble a firearm on the internet?) and informative, but I'm still waiting for end of the series that's more history than armory.
posted by ry on January 30, 2006 7:51 AM
Translation from collitch kid tawk:
He wants to see more of the *Castle* Collection.
posted by cw4(ret)billt on January 30, 2006 7:54 AM
I've been getting pinged about the history of ammo, too.
Problem is - this place consumes resources, and doesn't produce any of the variety that would buy the time it takes to do those bits.
The longer I try to manage this place the greater understanding I have for people who write books in their spare time (vice the authors who are good/popular enough) that all they have to do is write.
If all I had to do was write... but, I don't think I can turn this thing into a paying proposition that I can stop doing that old day job thing.
posted by
John of Argghhh! on January 30, 2006 8:23 AM
And Ry - that bit of vaporware *will* be what you're after - more history than Armory. But remember - I generally eschew the weapons that were built and put into storage, so that they are all pretty and pristine. I want ones that have seen use.
It may be squandering Prodigal Son's Patrimony by not buying *Investment Quality* arms - but screw that, I want weapons with some history to 'em.
And these do. The background photo is a hint. One that I'm sure CAPT H can figure out.
Besides, I'm getting better with Photoshop. Note I used a relative term, not an absolute.
posted by
John of Argghhh! on January 30, 2006 8:29 AM
Captain H was at Dieppe?
posted by cw4(ret)billt on January 30, 2006 10:35 AM
Holly Crap. How can you tell that those are Canadian troops and that that's Dieppe(damn Mountbatten)? Shiite, I don't wanna hear The Chief complain about his vision no more. Make him stop John.
posted by ry on January 30, 2006 10:46 AM
Heh. Ry, When yer as old as me, much less Bill, and had any interest in milhist (especially disasters) you'd recognize the photo.
Don't be too hard on Mountbatten. It's all easy when you look back at it - and the hard lessons learned at Dieppe were put to use in Normandy.
Still, expensive in terms of good troops, especially for the Canadians.
posted by
John of Argghhh! on January 30, 2006 10:59 AM
Dingblasted server ate my first comment...
Ry -
1. The architecture's Atlantic coastal French and the buildings are intact (no bombing or shelling--so not Dunkirk),
2. the Wermacht troops are too relaxed to be near an ongoing fight,
3. the POWs look too fresh to have been chased all over France for a month and they still have their tin hats.
Ergo, Dieppe.
posted by cw4(ret)billt on January 30, 2006 11:29 AM
Heh. I got my AARP card--I can complain about my vision all I want. It used to was 20/15 about twenty years ago and now it's 20/23.
Drat. At this rate, I'm gonna have to get bifocals in another fifteen years or so...
posted by cw4(ret)billt on January 30, 2006 11:54 AM
Wait till you go 20/250 and 20/400, and do IA stuff for a living ...
I am definitely not in that photo.
Cheers
JMH
posted by J.M. Heinrichs on January 30, 2006 1:27 PM
Hot Fudge Holy Moly it's bout danged time. The .45 is comin back. The M9 is on the way out.
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htweap/articles/20060127.aspx
Now if we can just get rid of that Poodle Shooter.
posted by jim b on January 30, 2006 2:09 PM
Jim - Never tried shooting poodles. Just out of curiosity, how far *will* an M-16 lob a Standard as opposed to a Toy?
posted by cw4(ret)billt on January 30, 2006 3:20 PM
Well it's a matter of how old and large the standard is. A full sized average standard it kinda just tips over. (Visual of cow tipping here)
A toy is another matter. If it is battery powered, you get one distance. If it is an old fashioned cogs and wheels wind up one, it's another.
The average for a battery powered one is about three revolutions. (Visualize three tocas over tea kettle tumbles here) The old cog and wheels model will make an average of 7 tumbles iffen you hit a gear.
Jeez I gotta splain everything here.
posted by jim b on January 30, 2006 3:44 PM
Hmmm. Doesn't sound like you'd get much of anything out of it...
Didja ever try using a shih-tzu for something other than a bore cleaner?
posted by cw4(ret)billt on January 30, 2006 3:55 PM
You gotta be shih-tzn me now. Everyone knows that the only thing a shih-tzu is good for is disturbing dust under a bed.
Unless of course you have them bronzed, then they will loosen up powder lead and copper, with the proper bore cleaner of course.
posted by jim b on January 30, 2006 3:59 PM
Who has the odds sheet on the "objects" in the Myrtle Hill Cemetery?
Might be the rumored Noble Brothers cannons but I'm betting on cast-iron coffins.
posted by homebru on January 30, 2006 5:07 PM
ROME, Ga. - University of Georgia archaeologists have been puzzling over finding an apparent manmade object buried in a historic Civil War cemetery.
Sign that writer up as a captioneer on AKO.
posted by cw4(ret)billt on January 30, 2006 9:44 PM
"Don't be too hard on Mountbatten. It's all easy when you look back at it - and the hard lessons learned at Dieppe were put to use in Normandy."
Yeah, I've heard this before. But, if you send troops into an op where you know they're going to get creamed because somebody talked about it, and you know it's been leaked, aren't you failing them somehow?
The lessons could've been, and were, learned elsewhere. Nobody in the European theatre seems to have talked to the Marines and Army in the Pac Theatre who had lots of experience with Amphib Ops by that time. Dieppe was a waste of good troops for knowledge that was in hand elsewhere, in my totally amateur opinion.
Though Mountbatten does get props for greenlighting the Cockleshell missions, he's still on the hook for what he did to the Canucks at Dieppe.
(Christ, Bills vision is several orders of magnitude better than mine. This sucks. (whine) I don't want to see JMH's prescription(shudder--since that's what lays in my future)).
posted by ry on January 31, 2006 4:25 AM
Allright Ry, you win. Mountbatten was an incompetent asshole. Where was the IRA when they were needed?
posted by
John of Argghhh! on January 31, 2006 5:40 AM
� Dismissed, Soldier!
Pickin' on Texas Again
Two Texans were driving through New Hampshire. As they were approaching Lake Winnipesaukee, they started arguing about the pronunciation of the lake's name.
They argued back and forth until they stopped for lunch. As they stood at the counter, one said to the young lady behind the counter, "Before we order, could y'all please pronounce where we are, very slowly?"
The blonde leaned over the counter and said, "Burrrrrr-gerrrrr Kinnnng."
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �
Are you sure they weren't in Kansas at my favorite pirate restaurant?
You know the one:
ARRRRRRRRBY'S
posted by AFSister on January 30, 2006 1:22 AM
They weren't in Kansas anymore, Toto.
And if John had his way, it'd be AARRGGGGHHHHHH!BY'S...
posted by cw4(ret)billt on January 30, 2006 5:29 AM
Who wrote this joke? Not someone who has ever been to New England. The young lady would have said "BBBUUURRRGGGAAAA KKKIIINNNGGG"
posted by
Maggie on January 30, 2006 6:06 AM
~AND~
It's not a joke about Texas. . .
There is would have been "Que?!"
~OR~
Taaaacooo Caaaabbbbbbbbbbaaaaaaannnnaaaa
posted by
SangerM on January 30, 2006 6:18 AM
No, that's Owwwwww! And, Chief(ret), it's a good thing for you that I don't know exactly where you live and am not very mobile at this time!
posted by
Justthisguy on January 30, 2006 6:39 AM
The Texas variant involves two yankees in Waxahachie, who ask at a "DAAAA-REEE QUEEEEEN."
posted by beloml on January 30, 2006 8:52 AM
Maggie - They're in *New Hampshire*, not Vuh-mahnt. Most everybody living in New Hampshire moved there from Yonkers.
Sanger - Speaking of ¿Que?--do they still define Texans as "Illegals that never made it to Oklahoma"...?
Beloml - Y'all talkin' 'bout th' *DAY-CUE*?
posted by cw4(ret)billt on January 30, 2006 10:04 AM
Bill - Cow Hampshah is full of people fleeing Taxachusetts.
posted by
Maggie on January 30, 2006 10:30 AM
Cow Hampshah sounds like an appropriate place for a Boiguh Keng...
posted by cw4(ret)billt on January 30, 2006 10:38 AM
Bill,
I don't know about all that other TX stuff, being from Philly, where the answer would have been "I don't have time fordis $hit! Whaddaya have?!"
Beloml
That was funny. And way too true, like Indiana, if a Texas town doesn't have a DQ, it just ain't worth stopping in....
posted by
SangerM on January 30, 2006 5:04 PM
I'm shocked to see you post a story that old, and change it no less! Actually that's a true story about two Yankees at the Dairy Queen in Waxahachi, Texas.
posted by
Bill Faith on January 30, 2006 5:49 PM
That would not have been server J. Bush would it?
Raymond B
www.voteswagon.com
posted by
Raymond B on January 30, 2006 9:02 PM
They have blondes in Waxahachi?
posted by cw4(ret)billt on January 30, 2006 9:48 PM
Hey, BillT...
Tag! You're it!
posted by
Fuzzybear Lioness on January 30, 2006 9:56 PM
Oh, great. Lemme guess--it's another chick quiz...
posted by cw4(ret)billt on January 30, 2006 10:02 PM
Yeah, mostly.
posted by
John of Argghhh! on January 30, 2006 10:15 PM
ooog.
Four of your favorite foods. Four TV shows you can't *wait* to watch. Four movies you'd watch over and over and over...
This does not bode well for maintaining my curmudgeonly rep.
posted by cw4(ret)billt on January 30, 2006 10:36 PM
Aww, poor Bill! *pat, pat*
posted by
Fuzzybear Lioness on January 30, 2006 10:46 PM
No, Pat, Pat is my sister in Tucson.
posted by cw4(ret)billt on January 31, 2006 12:55 AM
Comrades,
You know, of course, the reason all Texas college football fields use Astro-Turf instead of grass?
It keeps the cheerleaders from grazing at half-time.....
I understand that the locals living around Texas A&M caution new folks to keep their car windows rolled up when driving by the campus... Seems it keeps the "U" from tossing a diploma through the window....
Aggies? heh.. Go UMaine Black Bears!
Respects to all concerned,
AW1 Tim
posted by Gwedd on January 31, 2006 7:21 AM
� Dismissed, Soldier!
January 29, 2006
Gun Pr0n!
Having been nominated for Best Gun Pr0n (and you *can still* vote), it's time for something I haven't done in a while - Gun Pr0n! One reason I haven't is because doing these right takes a lot of time and I haven't had a lot of time lately, and I'm a slug and like to sleep. I know. A weakness to be sure. This one took 12 hours total out of my life this week.
So, you've met the Castle Luger, Georg. You can check out his story here. You can get a sense of his prowess in the hands of a mediocre shooter here.
The basics of the Luger story are simple, though there are *several* good books out there if you are into geek-level detail. This is a blog, we'll skip that for a precis...
The Luger is one of the most distinctive and widely-recognized pistols the world over. You can thank WWI, WWII, and war movies for that. Well, that, and perhaps because the Luger Navy Model of 1904 introduced the world to the 9mm Euroweenie pellet, as Kim du Toit is want to call that round. Regardless of what I or Kim think, however, it is the most common pistol and sub-machine gun round, and the Luger Navy Model of 1904 introduced it to the world. Georg Luger was the designer of that bullet, building on his design of the 7.65 Luger round, which he developed after recognizing the need to make shorter, yet reasonably powerful rounds if automatic pistols were going to get down to a useful size.
The impetus for the development of the Luger pistol gathered steam in the period of 1890-1900. The gunmakers in Europe and the US were angling to land large military orders as the 1st rank armies of Europe were looking to modernize, and the US Army had discovered weaknesses in it’s arms in the Spanish American War. In Germany it was DWM, Mauser, and Bergmann; in England Webley &Scott, to name some of the major players. US interest came on the heels of the success of the European efforts.
What most people I’ve talked to don't know is that the Luger has an sorta-American connection. Georg Luger, the primary engineer, collaborated with the Hugo Borchardt to develop the first Luger pistol, improving on Borchardt's initial design by removing the balance and handling-destroying rear overhang and replacing it with a recoil link and spring in the butt of the pistol, vastly improving the handling of the pistol.
Submitted to the Swiss Army trials of 1898, it was adopted by the Swiss in 1900 as the Ordnance Pistol 1900. A quick distinguishing characteristic of the Swiss pistol is a grip safety that you don’t find on the German pistols - as you can see on these examples. The OP 1900 was chambered for the bottle-necked 7.65mm (called .30 Luger by us 'Muricans), and was as finely crafted a pistol as anything mechanical or chocolate the Swiss have ever produced.
Lugers were produced in Germany by primarily Deutsche Waffen Und Munitionsfabriken (DWM, the builder of Georg the Castle Luger), as well as Simson, Krieghoff, the Erfurt Arsenal, and Mauser. Vickers in England made them for the Dutch, and, as previously mentioned, the Swiss produced them at their Bern Arsenal. No one knows how many were produced due to destruction of German records during WWII, but the guesstimate is better than 2.5 million. Damn things still cost a lot for all that production!
The Kriegsmarine (Navy) was the first German adopter, in 1904, and it is they who gave us the Luger chambered for the 9mm Parabellum round, and a 6 inch barrel. The German Army adopted the Luger as the Pistole Model of 1908 in (drum roll, please) 1908, with a 4 inch barrel. Usually abbreviated P08, this is the version most of us are familiar with, though there have been many other models (see those books for geeks I was talking about). DWM produced the pistol until 1930, when it was taken over by Mauser. The Luger remained the German Army's official sidearm until the adoption of the Walther P38 in 1938, with production continuing through 1943, and issue continued throughout the war and beyond, in East German service. Counting the German variations of the P08, there were, IIRC, about 35 different variations of the Luger produced, and it has been produced in specialty runs at least as late as the 1980s, and perhaps more recently than that – but we all know I’m weak on stuff less than 50 years old…
The other relatively famous version of the Luger you might be familiar with is the Model 1914, the long-barreled version, sometimes called the "Artillery Luger" which was fitted with a long barrel that had integral long range sights, and was often used in conjunction with a wooden shoulder-stock/holster that locked onto the grip. It was for this pistol, in Air Force use, that the 32 round snail drum magazine was developed, as a way to arm pilots when the "Knights of the Air" took to shooting at each other before they got their machine guns all figured out. That pistol uses standard P08 components less the barrel and sights - and in fact, all Lugers produced for the German army have their grips slotted for the stock - even after they no longer made the M1914 or stocks.
Okay - so skip all the history carp and get on to the good stuff!
If ya wanna see him nekkid and exposed... and understand how he works, then come back, behind the curtain, to the peep show in the Flash Traffic/Extended Entry!
Flash Traffic (extended entry) Follows... �
Pervs!
Heh. My kinda people!
Georg, like several of the early automatic pistols, uses dual recoil. In his case, that means that the action remains locked, and recoils as a unit, until the round knob on the toggle hits the ramp, which breaks the toggle upward. This is the basis of Borchardt’s contribution to the design. Then the bolt and toggle continue to the rear, giving that awkward humped appearance during firing and when the bolt locks back on an empty magazine.
The other famous German pistol of the era, the Mauser Broomhandle (seen here hiding amongst other Castle holdings - he's the leftmost wooden-stocked pistol - the other one is the Castle Inglis Hi-Power), also uses dual recoil, though in a different manner - and a subject of a different post. If you look at most automatics today, they still do that, though in a sneaky way requiring far fewer moving parts - the genius of John Browning. The toggle link of the M1911 style pistols does exactly the same thing the Luger's toggle link does - keeps the barrel locked during initial recoil, then, by being anchored to the frame rather than the slide, pulls the barrel out of battery and the slide continues to the rear. Again, the subject of another post.
Just as the genius of the Vickers machine gun was to change the way the toggle of the Maxim worked (and Browning’s MG genius was getting rid of the toggle altogether) so too changing the anchor point of the toggle from the slide to the frame vastly simplified the design, manufacture, and reliability of the automatic pistol by keeping all the moving parts inside the pistol and away from icky things like mud and dust and sand, all of which make Georg the Castle Luger and his brethren persnickety. And when Mean People Who Suck™ are trying to kill you, that is Very Annoying™. Very annoying, indeed.
Where was I? Oh, yeah – we’ve just finished the recoil stroke and now the bolt goes forward, strips a round, then the bolt hits home, the toggle and slide lock, and we’re ready to do it all again.
The Luger has some interesting characteristics. There isn’t a hammer. The sear bar (which the trigger lever acts on to release the firing pin) is actually exposed to view. The spring in the butt, which for most automatics, would be the hammer spring, is the recoil spring. And man, I’m really a geek….
For all his complexity, Georg is not hard to take apart and put back together. Nor, unless you get ambitious, are any parts going to come shooting out to get lost in the carpet. *I’m* not going to tell you how to pull it apart enough for that to happen – so if you lose pins and set screws – you’ve been playing gunsmith without a license.
Okay, let’s play!
First, put the pistol on safe (gesichert). Remove the magazine. Grab the circular knobs on the toggle and pull up – visually inspect and clear the chamber. Always, always, always clear the weapon before you do anything with it. And remember to take the magazine out first. Some of my funnier war stories involve people (*never* me) who forgot to take the magazine out first. Hi Mike! Remember - Safety On. I should take time to be pedantic about how the safety works, eh? Besides I took the pic and made this pretty graphic...
Okay - to continue, you have to free up the take-down bolt. To do that, you have to push back the slide a bit – which is a challenge, since the recoil spring is stout. Wimps and girly-men will put the pistol muzzle down on the table, or push it against the wall or similar surface, and then you push the take-down bolt down. The Armorer, being lazy and not wanting SWWBO to kill him for leaving muzzle dents in the furniture and walls, grasps the pistol in his right hand, and pushes it against the palm of his left hand, using his left thumb to push down the take-down bolt. See why I’m so anal about Clearing the Weapon? I have a personal stake. I’m left handed. Get your mind out of the gutter, sheesh. Okay, pull out the pin. Oops. What was that tinkling sound on the floor? That was the sideplate falling away... Actually, if you hold the pistol tilted with the left side facing slightly up, that won’t happen.
Take a look at that sideplate. It’s actually a key component. First, it covers the exposed sear bar, preventing accidental discharges. Second, it contains the lever which the trigger works on to release the sear, firing the pistol. With the take-down bolt removed, the slide will now come off. Pull the toggle up, and you can now pull the toggle pin and remove the toggle and bolt.
Now you can see how the bolt works. As the bolt recoils, the cam on the forward toggle link pulls back the firing pin against spring pressure. As the bolt goes forward, the pin is held back by the notch on the sear bar. At this point, you’ve taken it as far apart as you generally need to, but there is one more level you can go. Bolt disassembly. Whee!
Take a flat tip screwdriver, insert it into the slot on the firing pin guide at the rear of the bolt, turn it ¼ to the right – and the guide, spring, and firing pin will come out. Under tension, so be careful. Clean it all, nice light coat of oil, and pretty much assembly is the reverse of disassembly.
Anyway – there it is – Georg, the Castle Luger, bares his inner sekrits!
Move along, there’s nothing to see here. The show's over!
Wait! What's that? You want an encore, you say? You are such a geek that you want an exploded drawing of the Luger and all the fiddly bits?
Say no more! Click here.
� Secure this line!
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �
I'm holding out for the conclusion of the 'History of Firearms' series. (looks at watch, set to geologic time, and taps foot).
posted by ry on January 29, 2006 2:12 AM
Pllpppppt!
posted by
John of Argghhh! on January 29, 2006 7:51 AM
If nothing else, this post proves that you're the best gun pr0nographer out there.
Which is why I gave you my vote :-)
posted by
Harvey on January 29, 2006 8:10 AM
Heh. I guess Oleg woke up - he caught me and left me in the dust again...
posted by
John of Argghhh! on January 29, 2006 4:51 PM
Yout watch is running fast, Ry--it's only half-past the Ogliocene...
posted by cw4(ret)billt on January 30, 2006 12:06 AM
The problem will start when the topics become lithic.
Cheers
JMH
posted by J.M. Heinrichs on January 30, 2006 6:51 AM
Ok, JoA, I voted for ya 1st this time.
The Complete Description, Laid Out:
1. JoA
2. Oleg
3. Kim
4. Uncle
5. Head's something
6. Mr. Completely
7. Cowboy Blob
8. Kit's Forever Vain
9. Xavier Thoughts
10. I'm sorry, really, who was the other guy?
I *think* that's what I wrote for the contest!
posted by
Justthisguy on January 30, 2006 7:17 AM
Like I said, though - Oleg's pics of naked Kit with a gun, now that Oleg has noticed and told his fans, ain't beatable...
posted by
John of Argghhh! on January 30, 2006 7:25 AM
� Dismissed, Soldier!
© Pamela Bobik
