Comments for H&I Fires* 22 DEC 2008

H&I Fires* 22 DEC 2008

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 23:11:27 -0600

Open post for those with something to share, updated through the day. New, complete posts come in below this one. Note: If trackbacking, please acknowledge this post in your post. That's only polite. ******************************** I believe in reusing things. Heh. We've got B-52s in service that are as old as I am. When I was in command, I had a Q4 Meteorological set that was identical to the one my father had in his unit when he was in command. Given the circumstances of where and what unit's we commanded, it might even have been the same set. At least it was new when he had it... That said, sometimes making do is really making a virtue of a vice. Take this picture, which is not actually avian reproductive activity (heh, would that it were so simple). We're looking at the epitome of manned space flight. A design that made it's first flight in 1981 (the shuttle) sitting on a design that made it's first flight in 1969, the Boeing 747. Heh. At least the 747's are still being new-built and are up-to-date, vice the Shuttles. NASA, why hast thou forsaken me? Oh, I know why. The Presidents we've been electing, and the Congresses they contend with, have little vision or patience for this sort of thing. Sigh. Here's a slightly larger version of that pic, if you wish. -the Armorer *************************************** Yay! Great news! We won the White House! Ruh-roh, we won the White House, and the House, and the Senate... Democrats are facing an especially precarious version of that dilemma. In crafting a package that will sink hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars into the economy, they are apprehensive about the fallout if the economy merely continues sputtering along for several years. And lawmakers are already mindful of how they will face voters less than two years from now. The ruling party almost always loses seats in midterm elections, and that trend could be exacerbated for the Democrats if voters think they threw billions of dollars at the economy with little to show for it. Heh. That's okay. If it fails, we know whose fault it will be. The full blame will fall on the 40-something Republicans in the Senate. Yeah, that's it! It will be their fault. Heh. The kabuki continues. Of course, nothing is that simple. Both sides were asleep at the switch, or hoping the house of cards would last until their retirement. -the Armorer ********************************** I disagree completely with Heartless LIbertarian on this issue. Functional form has a beauty all it's own - and this is a sweeeeeet-lookin' example of it. If you win it, Heartless, we'll be happy to host it here in the Arsenal. -the Armorer ********************************** I'm going to go see Valkyrie - but I've seen enough of the trailers to come to the conclusion that when Tom Cruise can play Tom Cruise playing someone like Tom Cruise he is a pretty good actor. In the same way, say, that John Wayne playing John Wayne playing someone like John Wayne, John Wayne was a pretty good actor. But Tom Cruise playing a disillusioned German Junker just ain't happening. Think John Wayne as Temujin, and you have Tom Cruise as Oberst Graf von Stauffenberg. I doubt the full movie will change my thoughts much on that subject, however well the rest of the subject of the July Plot and the players therein is portrayed. I was born in Germany, lived and worked among Germans, to include having friends when I was a soldier who would have been contemporaries of Oberst von Stauffenberg - and Tom Cruise just ain't working for me there. -the Armorer *******************************

Comment from Justthisguy on 2008-12-23

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 15:41:53 -0600

Dang, Major! I suspect you are not unaware of the whopping number of cancer cases among cast and crew of that movie, 'specially considering yer own service-related disability. My opinion? Uranium is for making electricity and propelling spaceships. Period. P.s. It does make a very pretty yellow glaze for pottery.

Comment from John of Argghhhh! on 2008-12-23

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 07:20:13 -0600

Josh - that's why you save up and buy your own range. Works for me.

Comment from Barb on 2008-12-22

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 22:57:21 -0600

Josh - I'm rather fond of shootng at Barney, personally - as I'm sure that John and BillT will be happy to tell you :-)

Comment from Josh on 2008-12-22

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 21:54:25 -0600

John - Yeah I know, but it's worth bending things a bit to make the joke.

Heartless Libertarian - Every time I go to the range I'm tempted to bring my own colorful paper targets but I always get worried that I'm going to end up with some flavor of federal agent knocking on my door and wanting to have a friendly chat.

Comment from Heartless Libertarian on 2008-12-22

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:51:53 -0600

Guess they should have gotten Ben Stiller to direct Valkyrie then. Heh.

Oh, and that EDM phased plasma laser, 40 watt range, has an MSRP of around $10k. I'd take it to one of my local gun stores (there's a couple that have .50s on display) and trade it for a Barrett 82 (MSRP around $8500) and some serious glass.

And I'd put cardboard cutouts of DiFi and Chuckles on either side of the brake when I took it to the range.

Comment from John of Argghhh! on 2008-12-22

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:32:53 -0600

Oh, and Josh - von Stauffenberg wasn't an SS officer. He was Heer, auf Englisch, Army.

Tropic Thunder - well, okay, maybe Cruise can act outside his range if he's overpoweringly directed... but there he was playing the Tom Cruise that shows up on Oprah...

Comment from Josh on 2008-12-22

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:21:33 -0600

Hmm...that could be a fun game, second-guessing bad casting decisions.

I actually have a friend who was a film actor and, many decades ago, repeatedly was specifically cast as a Nazi officer (much to the amusement of his rabbi...)

I'm going to ask him who REALLY would play von Stauffenberg well.

Comment from Janelle Sagen on 2008-12-22

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:16:27 -0600

Hello
First let me start off by saying I'm not military, I'm just insanely grateful. I found this blog in my search for workshop opportunities at the Seal Beach Military Base. I'm an EFT practitioner. EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Technique and has been credited with completely relieving all syptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder along with any other negative emotion widely felt by our military personnel. This is my speciality.

As a thank you for your service to myself and my family, along with the rest of America, I'd like to conduct workshops on the Base for people having a hard time easing back into "normal life" after being away at war. This is also useful to the family memebers (kids included) of our military that are absent or have been lost.

Typically these services are expensive and I'd like that to change. Also, EFT is considered "alternative" so the FDA knowing it's not making an money won't acknowledge the proven benefits.

So I'm sending my information to you, also the official EFT site is www.emofree.com. Visit either one and you'll find case study after case study of people who are finally living their lives again free of the depression, headaches, stress, anxiety, mood swings, flashbacks, phobias, bad habits, addictions that are all linked with having PTSD.

This technique is easy, painless, and because of my commitment will be cheap. I hope you can help me get the word out.

Thanks for all you've done for every American.

Janelle Sagen
healthytapping@yahoo.com
http://www.squidoo.com/eftfun

Comment from Heartless Libertarian on 2008-12-22

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:11:57 -0600

And von Stauffenberg was actually quite tall...there's a picture in his Wikipedia entry, and I'd say he's about 4 inches taller than the men he's standing near.

Tom Cruise CAN suppress his Tom Cruise-ness...if you've seen Tropic Thunder, you know what I mean. At least, he can when he's made up to the point that he's visually unidentifiable. But he can do it. But from what I've seen in the trailers, the director didn't make him do it in Valkyrie. He walks and talks like a slightly older version of Maverick, minus the gum.

I'd have gone with maybe Daniel Craig or Raiph Fiennes myself. But they don't have anywhere near the star power of Cruise.

Comment from Josh on 2008-12-22

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 16:46:33 -0600

Grrr...I just typed out a long comment, forgetting that I had to enter my name and e-mail, because I've never posted from this computer before. So when I hit "Submit", the internet devoured the post, never to be seen again.

Oh well. The upshot of the post was that the Shuttle is nice but it always reminds me that we should have done better by now, and that Tom Cruise is way too short to be an SS officer.

Comment from ry on 2008-12-22

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 16:12:55 -0600

Heh, you're disappointed on what NASA became and how little we've actually accomplished wrt what the Golden Age authors thought we would? Try having grown up watching Godzilla movies and having expectations that the UN would actually be both useful and a force for good. THough I'm with you on the disappointment--it's one of the few things I'd wish Derb would shut up about(unmanned missions, no need for manned exploration, harummph!).

DUde, what'd you use a .50 to shoot at the Farm? It'd blow up all your targets.

Comment from Justthisguy on 2008-12-22

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:14:17 -0600

Oh, Orion would be cool. I ain't riding the thing, though. Having read lots of military history, and military war stories right here, I'm kinda nervous about trusting fuzes to function at the right time, when said fuzes are setting off nukes very closely behind my butt very frequently. If one of the charges goes off a little too soon....

Comment from Justthisguy on 2008-12-22

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:57:00 -0600

Oh, pfdhssyuuapougpt! Don't get me started about NASA, and I usedta work for them, as a co-op. It was understood by evverbody in Huntsville, back in oh, 1973 or thenabouts, that the fix was in and no that shuttle ain't gonna do what they say it will.

Comment from Fishmugger on 2008-12-22

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 12:32:03 -0600

Hey,

It is time to thank all the people associated with this blog for putting a smile on my face, a tear in my eye, a song in my heart, and cramming so many disjointed facts into my head.

Best wishes for a safe and peaceful set of Holidays. Stay warm and cool.

Oh yeah, Merry Christmas everyone.

Comment from John of Argghhh! on 2008-12-22

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 11:57:34 -0600

Well, Josh, you and I have a different view of the word epitome. Not that you are wrong, mind you, in your desire for greater, and one would say, more recent, accomplishment - but if we accept the definition of epitome as a person or thing that is typical of or possesses to a high degree the features of a whole class, I'm thinking the Shuttle fits. Sadly, it also fits acme: the highest point; summit; peak, unless one wishes to accord that to the moonshots... (down, all of you, don't go there) which is even sadder, to someone raised on Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, Niven, and yes, JTG, Pournelle.

Comment from Josh on 2008-12-22

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 11:00:17 -0600

I also believe in reusing things (just ask my mother whether she has EVER seen me throw anything away). However, I don't see the Space Shuttle as the epitome of manned space flight, I see it as what we settled on. I still want us to build Orion some day...

And while we're on the subject of all the meaningful, useful space exploration we are NOT accomplishing or even attempting, I think the demented ban of staking claims to off-world territory will be seen by history to be one of the most monumentally stupid moves in the grand scale of human progress. If individuals and corporations were permitted to lay claim to territory on the Moon and Mars, much as people and companies did in the Western Hemisphere before every last square inch got taken over and turned into suburbs, we would have the Moon colonized in 50 years and Mars terraformed into a tropical paradise in 100.

As for the Windrunner...it reminds me of an M60 for some reason. I like it! But what do those flat perforated plates on the bipod legs do? It looks like somebody welded a few pieces from an erector set on there.