Webster

The Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions." --American Statesman Daniel Webster (1782-1852)


Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Quick shot on Drudge day after SOTU 2018

I normally don't do double post in a day, but I quickly posted this about the President's SOTU address yesterday.  It really was a good speech.



Political Correctness is communist Propaganda writ small...

"Political Correctness is Tyranny with Manners" -- Charlton Heston

   I have commented many times about political correctness, and the people that believe that they are the purveyor of holiness and their diktats are used to silence the political opposition.   We until Andrew Breitbart came along refused to get into trenches with the leftist, and when he had a "Heart attack" the conservative movement took a loss.  Although I have doubts, I keep wondering if the "Deep State" took him out.

Now we have people like Milo, Ben Shapiro and many others that now will go toe to toe with the leftist and destroy them with logic especially when all the leftist have are "feelings".  I have Blogged Many Times as have my fellow bloggers like oldnfo, Peter, Murphy,Aaron,Irish and many others have commented about the pitfalls of political correctness.  The information is out there but soo many people continue to stick their heads in the sands and ignore the damage to our western based culture.  People try not to be mean to others so they stay silent and give the narrative to the left because many people are now fearing the new "thought Police", if you don't repeat verbatim the new truth or groupthink, you must be hounded and destroyed.

 Theodore Dalrymple
“Political correctness is communist propaganda writ small. In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, nor to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better. When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is to co-operate with evil, and in some small way to become evil oneself. One’s standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. I think if you examine political correctness, it has the same effect and is intended to.”


Tuesday, January 30, 2018

The Atomic Tank....?



In the 1950s, Chrysler designed the Chrysler TV-8 tank. It was an exciting concept at the time, as it was envisioned as a nuclear-powered tank capable of land and aquatic combat. There was never a mass production of the design.
The tank design business was a time of upheaval in the 50’s. There was so much concern over the possibility of contending with nuclear war, how to make the tanks lighter, yet more efficient, and finally, concerns over the strategic dispersion and the reduction of deployed troops.
There have been several approaches designed with a theoretical plan to try something different with the standard tank logistics of one crew in the hull and three crew members in the turret. Two common alternatives are “all in the hull except the gun” and “all in the turret” methods


The design of the Chrysler TV-8 is a case in point of “all in the turret.” The design also included the engine being installed in the turret. Some of this reasoning was to increase the chances of the tank surviving against a nuclear blast.
This design had a hull-shaped turret that was affixed to a lightweight framework. Positioned in the turret were the engine, as previously mentioned, the ammunition, and the entire crew.
The TV-8 weighed approximately 25 tons; the weight was distributed as approximately 10 tons in the chassis and about 15 tons in the turret.
The TV-8 was armed with the stationary T208 – 90mm gun that was installed in the turret and it had an auto-loader.
Secondary weaponry on the tank included one .50 caliber machine gun operated by the tank commanding officer; it was located on top of the turret and two .30 caliber machine guns on a common axis firing through portals in the turret.

The ammunition storage of the TV-8, like both the current and later models of tanks, was in the rear of the turret and was separated from the crew by a steel partition.
The stage I design of the Chrysler TV-8 nuclear tank featured a 300 horsepower Chrysler V-8 engine, which was connected to an electric generator situated in the rear turret.
The 28-inch wide tracks were each powered by an electric motor in the front section of the hull, and each motor was driven by the electric generator.
There were later considerations for other systems to power the tank, which included a vapor-cycle power plant fueled by hydrocarbons, a gas turbine engine drive, and a nuclear-fueled power plant.

Interior layout of the Chrysler TV-8

It should be noted that the layout is basically a turret within the turret. Although the tank can only be operated by the driver and the gunner; it is common to man the tank with a crew of four.
The reason for this is because a crew of four can be self-reliant when it comes to repairs for significant maintenance issues, such as a broken track. Otherwise, a crew of only two would have to sit and wait for assistance.
The T208 – 90mm gun was flanked by the driver and gunner. The tank commanding officer was in the right rear of the turret with the auto-loader on his left.
The driver had a couple of options as he was operating the tank – inside the turret, fully protected or head and shoulders above the roof, fully exposed.
The heavily armored inner turret provided protection against a hit from a small nuclear strike, and it was surrounded by a light exterior casing that made the turret look pod-like.


orig
An Artist’s Fantasy of the Chrysler TV-8 Nuclear Concept Tank’s Swimming Capability
Similar to today’s water craft the tank is propelled in the water by a jet pump being operated from the turret.
In an affirmation to the not-yet-popular Rocket Propelled Grenades, as opposed to the quite popular HEAT shells fired by cannon, the grenades did show that they didn’t have a high penetrating capability.
The turret was supported by an interconnected assembly which revolved in a circle in the hull roof, and it was raised and lowered by two large hydraulic cylinders.
There are probably some cynics in the engineering fraternity that named this ‘The Achilles Assembly.’
Additional research determined that this design concept provided no real benefits over the current style of tank design, so nothing ever progressed further than the prototype phase.

Monday, January 29, 2018

Monday Music "Rappin Rodney"

This one will be a short one compared to the one I did last week, I ran across a clip of Rodney Dangerfield visiting Johnny Carson and it was a laugh/riot so I googled information about Rodney Dangerfield and they mentioned the music video and after I saw it I remembered it being played a lot on MTV when they first started.

Rappin' Rodney is a 12-inch single released by American comedian Rodney Dangerfield in 1983. It is a rap-influenced novelty song co-written by J.B. Moore and Robert Ford Jr.; the same songwriters who worked with Kurtis Blow on "The Breaks". The accompanying music video, which includes cameos from Pat Benatar and Don Novello (as Father Guido Sarducci), was played heavily on MTV at the time of release.

"Rodney Rappin'" and "Rodney Continues Rappin'" were recorded live at Catch a Rising Star, in New York City.

His 1980 comedy album, No Respect, won a Grammy Award. One of his TV specials featured a musical number, "Rappin' Rodney", which would appear on his 1983 follow-up album, Rappin' Rodney. In December 1983, the "Rappin' Rodney" single became one of the first Hot 100 rap records, and the associated video was an early MTV hit. The video featured cameo appearances by Don Novello (aka Father Guido Sarducci) as a last rites priest munching on Rodney's last meal of fast food in a styrofoam container and Pat Benatar as a masked executioner pulling a hangman's knot. The two appear in a dream sequence where Dangerfield is condemned to die and doesn't get any respect, even in Heaven, as the gates close without his being permitted to enter.
The single peaked at number 83 on Billboard's Hot 100 Billboard 200 chart and earned Dangerfield a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Recording.



Sunday, January 28, 2018

Went to Klondike....and what an adventure.....

Well I was asked to run a range at Klondike, it is a council wide event ran by the Order of the Arrow.  I have been running the range for the past 4 years. Granted it is BB guns and normally boy scouts have the U.S Army in Vietnam attitude.."How much lead can we put downrange in a minute.."  Well I have changed it up...
      First off I made some awards...

One award was for the top shot for scouts, the other was for adults.  

I had the kids put their name and troop number on the target, then they got 3 shots.  I was looking for grouping.   This forced the kids to go slow and work the fundamentals.
   
 Then the adults shot, basically same criteria.  This is a game of skill and attention to fundamentals.

     It was a good weekend....except...My charging light came on Friday night on the way to work, I wanted to return but I already made the commitment and it would put a serious cramp to the kids that were depending on me.  So I went to work then when I got off work, I drove to the camp Saturday Morning.  I had already set up the range earlier in the week so it was laid out.   Well I made it to work and then drove to camp.  Well I was running from one side of camp to another Saturday evening and my lights were getting dim and I started suffering cascade failures in my electrical system...I barely made it to the parking lot and shut the truck off before the truck died in the street.

Had to get a tow to get home...The truck is at the shop to get the alternator replaced.  I wanted to call off the weekend but my sense of duty overrode my common sense, and my sense of duty got me a towing charge.   Eh it is what it is, when you don't have a car note, with older vehicles no matter how good they are, things break and you occasionally have a repair.

Friday, January 26, 2018

PSA "How to get into your car if you left the keys in it..."

This is a PSA also known as a quickie Post.  I have several half completed post in the "Draft" section of my postings.  I also am going to the woods in the morning after work so if I am able, I will post something for Saturday.  If not, then it will be Sunday after I return. 
    I got this off "The Art of Manliness" and it is actually pretty good.


3 Ways to Access a Locked Car

By Patrick Hutchison on Jan 24, 2018 10:35 am
Locking your keys in your car is one of those bone-headed moves we’re all bound to make at some point. No matter how smart or careful you are, mistakes happen. Knowing how to get back into your car without calling a locksmith is an opportunity to make up for your careless error. Depending on the type of door locks your car has, and on the tools and materials you have at your disposal, there are several methods you can try to get back into your vehicle. Below we highlight three of those methods.

The String Method


The string method only works on cars that have post-style door locks. Furthermore, it only works on post door locks that have a small knob at the top that will allow a knot to grip them. If this is your car and you’ve got some string, you’re in luck.

The Wedge and Rod Method


Most effective on newer cars that have automatic door locks or buttons along the door’s armrest, the wedge and rod method is also the most likely to damage your door if done the wrong way. Take caution when wedging the door open to not put too much pressure on the window, causing it to break.

The Hanger Method 


Using a hanger is one of the most classic ways to get into your car. It’s especially effective for older cars using the method described here, but it can also be used as a rod for the wedge and rod method described above.

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Some missions of Otto Skorzeny

Every one that is a history nut or knows small unit tactics know who Otto Skorzeny , he is a legend despite his politics and during the Nurenburg trials he had support from his erstwhile enemies for his daring in the battlefield.



Otto Skorzeny was one of Germany’s finest commandos. An engineer by profession, he tried to volunteer for the Luftwaffe (German Air Force), in the year 1939 but was declined entry due to his age (31 at the time) and unusual height (6.4 feet, or 1.92 meters). He had a scar on his cheek, inflicted during a fencing duel. Due to this wound, he would become known as ‘Scarface.’ He was an Austrian Nazi Party member since 1931 and was a noted figure in the lower and mid-level party structures before the war.
After failing to enlist as an airman, his party connections enabled him to become a member of Hitler’s elite bodyguard unit. After proving himself to be a capable soldier, most notably in the campaigns in Netherlands, France, and Yugoslavia, he advanced through the ranks and became a Lieutenant in the Waffen SS. He was wounded on the Eastern front and transferred to a desk job in Berlin, after which he got into the SS Foreign Intelligence Service.
Here he was given a chance to propose his ideas on commando warfare, studying the partisan methods he saw in the East. He advocated the use of a small force of saboteurs, kidnappers, and assassins to minimize the casualties and maximize the effect and create panic in the enemy. During the war, his name was associated with a string of operations, some of them largely successful, some of them not.

Some were only planned, but never conducted, and some were not exactly commando operations but were more daring or reckless efforts that prove Skorzeny’s insatiable ambition and loyalty to Adolf Hitler. This article is a list of his successful missions, in chronological order.


Otto Skorzeny inspecting paratroopers in 1945
Otto Skorzeny inspecting paratroopers in 1945. By Bundesarchiv – CC BY-SA 3.0 de

1. Operation Oak, or the Gran Sasso Raid

In 1943, Skorzeny conducted his most famous action, the kidnapping (or rather the rescue) of then imprisoned Benito Mussolini, the former dictator of Italy. The mission was codenamed Operation Oak.
After success in the North African Theater of War, the Allies landed in Sicily in 1943, and swiftly crushed the Italian Army in a series of victories. The frontline was then settled on the so-called Winter Line, and the Allied advance was held back by the Germans here until the end of the war. Mussolini was overthrown and arrested by the Italian King, Emanuel the Third, in 1943. Hitler wanted him back, so he ordered Skorzeny together with five Luftwaffe agents and three agents selected from the Armed Forces.


A picture taken with Mussolini, after his rescue
A picture that was taken with Mussolini, after his rescue. By Bundesarchiv – CC BY-SA 3.0 de

Mussolini had first been held on the island of Sardinia, where Skorzeny started to gather intelligence. He was shot down during a reconnaissance mission but managed to bail in time to be saved by a passing Italian destroyer ship, still loyal to the Fascists. After this event, Mussolini was moved to the Campo Imperatore Hotel on the top of the Gran Sasso Mountain.


Mussolini rescued by German commandos from his prison in Campo Imperatore on 12 September 1943. Photo Credit.
Mussolini rescued by German commandos from his prison in Campo Imperatore on 12 September 1943. By Bundesarchiv – CC BY-SA 3.0 de
Together with agents Kurt Student and Harald Mors, Skorzeny devised a daring plan which would be remembered as one of the finest commando operations ever.

The mission was conducted via glider planes which landed on the mountain. The members of the 502nd Paratrooper Division then proceeded to the compound of the Campo Imperatore Hotel. In a rather dashing turn of events, the team, accompanied by the Police General Fernando Soleti, managed to persuade the carabinieri guarding the hotel to surrender their arms.
Skorzeny managed to take hold of a  radio and formally greeted the high-level captive with the words:  “Duce, the Führer has sent me to set you free!”, to which Mussolini replied, “I knew that my friend would not forsake me!”

2. July 20th Assassination attempt


Wolf's Lair after the assassination attempt
Wolf’s Lair after the assassination attempt. By Bundesarchiv – CC BY-SA 3.0 de
On the 20th of July, 1944, Skorzeny was in Berlin when an attempt on Hitler’s life was made. Anti-Nazi German Army officers tried to seize control of Germany’s main decision-making centers before Hitler recovered from his injuries. Skorzeny helped put down the rebellion, spending 36 hours in charge of the Wehrmacht’s central command center before being relieved.
Even though this wasn’t an operation, so to speak, it was a turning point as Skorzeny proved to be one of Hitler’s most loyal officers and one on whom he could rely. Skorzeny had by that point received many decorations for his actions and was one of the few people who enjoyed the Fuhrer’s trust and respect. Skorzeny was also an opportunistic figure who knew his way around the Reich’s headquarters and this event launched his professional career to new highs.

3. Operation Panzerfaust


German tanks on the streets of Budapest, 1944
German tank on the street in Budapest, 1944. By Bundesarchiv – CC BY-SA 3.0 de
It was obvious that the war wasn’t going to last much longer in 1944. The Kingdom of Hungary – under the regent, Miklos Horthy – was ready to sign a secret separate peace treaty with the Soviets, as they advanced through Ukraine and Romania.
Germany couldn’t afford the surrender of its southern ally, for they needed Hungary to hold the Red Army as much as they could. Otto Skorzeny was assigned to use blackmail and extortion to persuade the Hungarian regent to step down from power and enable the Pro-Fascist Arrow Cross Party to keep Hungary at war. The plan was to kidnap the regent’s son, Miklos Horthy Jr. who was a politician himself and who was an important supporter of his father.
The action was in full effect on 15th of October in 1944. The regent’s son was to meet the Yugoslav middlemen in the negotiations, but was instead captured by a commando unit and flown to Vienna and transported to the Mauthausen concentration camp.
The action was swift with no casualties and handled in a rather criminal manner. Some of the Hitler’s old-fashioned generals often opposed to Skorzeny’s methods for they have been in direct violations of every rule of war, but his popularity only grew, as he was Adolf Hitler’s favorite and most trusted soldier. Miklos Horthy Sr. was blackmailed after the event, and he agreed to resign and let the country be occupied peacefully by German forces who installed a pro-German the puppet regime.

4. Operation Griffen


Knocked-out Panther tank disguised as an M10 Tank Destroyer
Knocked-out Panther tank disguised as an M10 Tank Destroyer.
Operation Griffen was a ‘false flag’ mission under the command of Otto Skorzeny. It occurred during the Battle of Bulge in the winter of 1944, and its primary objective was to cause confusion and chaos among the Allied troops and capture the bridges over the river Meuse.
The mission employed the use of captured Allied vehicles and uniforms and was conducted by the English speaking members of the Einheit Stileu brigade, who were assembled through a series of tests that tested their English language skills and knowledge of  American slang and dialect.
Skorzeny lacked authentic American vehicles and equipment to conduct a large-scale operation that Hitler had unrealistically ordered. He had to improvise, so he camouflaged some German Panther tanks to look like American M10 Tank Destroyers. He also used German armored cars, which were adjusted to look more like their Allied counterparts.
The mission was set out in three directives: demolition teams were to destroy the bridges when captured, alongside sabotaging the enemy’s fuel and ammunition depots. Reconnaissance patrols would go ahead of the main squads and pass on false orders to the units they met. They would also reverse road signs and remove minefield warnings.
Lead commando units would work closely with the attacking units to disrupt the US chain of command by destroying field telephone wires and radio stations, and issuing false orders. They never managed to secure and hold the Meuse bridges, but they did cause temporary havoc among the Allied ranks, and Skorzeny succeeded in applying his tactics. Rumors spread that the commandos were trying to kidnap Eisenhower in Paris and that one of the Germans presented himself as Field Marshall Montgomery.
This action led to a series of mishaps, one of them being the maltreatment of Montgomery by the American soldiers who shot the tires of his car suspecting he was an impostor. Eisenhower was forced to spend Christmas under high-security alert. After the dust had settled, the American General put out a “Wanted” poster with Skorzeny’s face on it, just like in a Western movie. Once the Allies acknowledged that there were moles in their ranks they eliminated the German commandos, who withdrew soon after.

5. Battle for Oder River


Soviet artillery bombarding German positions during the battle.
Soviet artillery bombarding German positions during the battle. By Bundesarchiv – CC BY-SA 3.0 de
In January 1945, the Soviets were advancing through Poland. Their scouts were already on the natural border with Germany, the Oder river. Otto Skorzeny was sent there to organize a defense force and hold the bridgehead at Schwedt. The commando had to improvise and gather all the troops he could muster, for the high command hadn’t given him enough men for a realistic defense.
The core around which he assembled his troops was an elite paratrooper unit. He called out for Hamburg dockyard workers, pilots who had no planes and an SS battalion of Germans from Romania. He also borrowed an anti-tank unit from his fellow SS officer and managed to employ the cadets of the Friedenthal Sniper School.
Skorzeny held the bridge for 30 days, outnumbered 15 to 1. He managed to achieve that with careful positioning of his sniper teams who covered the approach route and completely immobilized the Soviet infantry. Undoubtedly, this operation disrupted the Red Army’s timetable, buying Germany weeks to improve its defenses.

 Skorzeny spent January and February 1945 commanding regular troops as an acting major general, taking part in the defence of the German provinces of East Prussia and Pomerania, and at the Defence of Schwedt Bridgehead. On 17 March, he received orders to sabotage the last remaining intact bridge across the Rhine at Remagen following its capture by the Allies, but the bridge collapsed that same day, and the naval demolitions squad prepared instead unsuccessfully attacked a nearby Allied pontoon bridge between Kripp and Linz. Hitler awarded him one of Germany's highest military honours, the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross.

Skorzeny escaped from an internment camp in 1948, hiding out on a Bavarian farm for 18 months, then spent time in Paris and Salzburg before eventually settling in Spain. In 1953 he became a military advisor to Egyptian President Mohammed Naguib and recruited a staff of former SS and Wehrmacht officers to train the Egyptian Army, staying on to advise President Gamal Abdel Nasser. In 1962, Skorzeny was recruited by the Mossad and conducted operations for the agency. He spent time in Argentina, where he acted as an advisor to President Juan Perón and as a bodyguard for Eva Perón. Skorzeny died of lung cancer on 5 July 1975 in Madrid at the age of 67.
Otto in Madrid


Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Tuesday Musings...

First off I took my Dad out for Lunch for his birthday and it was a good time and I enjoyed it, he suggested a Korean restaurant because he knows that I like Korean food, especially Kimche.

 And Yes, I bought some more to take home.

Apparently there was a shooting in Kentucky and 2 kids are dead and 19 wounded.  I want to see all the facts but the Democrats are already....
I have already heard the calling for more gun control....As I recall it, the kid doing the shooting was 15, it was already illegal for him to own one....but I will pass on more comments until the facts are in.  The kid looked "chunky" that was led off in handcuffs although his face was pixalated.  Makes me wonder if it was a bullying pushed too far or something...

 The Shutdown ended...for the next 3 weeks and Schumer is catching hell from his base for caving, apparently the "Dreamers" are at his house raising hell....If I was a mean sort, I would notify ICE and let them "detain them."    As far as political system goes..
Our system was designed to require compromise. Without compromise, nothing gets done unless a party is lucky enough to have the house, 60 senators and the White House.
The Democrats have spent the last year convincing their base that Trump is literally Hitler. This was very unwise - no one can compromise with Hitler.
And so now, the Democrats *may* be hung by their own hysteria. Assuming of course that the GOP doesn’t somehow wimp out and convince Trump to do the same

   I also got my second piece of spam...ever!   First time I ever used the "Delete" feature on the comment page.  I wouldn't have minded the spam....if it wasn't so dang long...

Monday, January 22, 2018

Monday Music "What it means to be young and I can dream about you"

I decided to go with a 4fer today.  I decided to roll with the "Streets of Fire" soundtrack.  I had bought the movie as a VHS and the soundtrack on CD.  I would up dubbing "What it means to be young" and I can dream about you" on a cassette tape that I would play in the Mustang while I was stationed in Germany.  To me the movie got a short shrift by the critics, the movie was pretty good and the soundtrack was awesome.  This was the 80's and the soundtracks could make or break a movie.  I do wonder what kind of lever actions they used in the movie.  They don't look like regular Winchester 1894 series rifles. to me....Found out...Marlin 336 Lever action in Stainless....Now I really want one...
I did a bit of research, it will have to be the 1894 version for the .38/357 magnum version I want.

Streets of Fire is a 1984 film directed by Walter Hill and co-written by Hill and Larry Gross. It is described in its opening credits and posters as "A Rock & Roll Fable".The film is a mix of musical, action, neo-noir, drama, and comedy, with elements of retro-1950s and 1980s. It stars Michael Paré as a soldier of fortune who returns home to rescue his ex-girlfriend (Diane Lane) who has been kidnapped by the leader of a biker gang (Willem Dafoe). Some of the film was shot on the backlot of Universal Studios in California, on two large sets covered in a tarp 1,240 feet long by 220 feet wide, so that night scenes could be filmed during the day.

Jimmy Iovine produced five of the songs for the film and the soundtrack album. For Ellen Aim's singing voice, he combined the voices of Laurie Sargent and Holly Sherwood, billing them as "Fire Incorporated." The Attackers were the real-life (Face to Face) bandmates of Sargent, who provided the lead vocals on Ellen Aim's songs "Nowhere Fast", "Never Be You" and "Sorcerer", and supporting vocals on "Tonight Is What It Means to Be Young." The version of "Sorcerer," written and composed by Stevie Nicks, that was featured on the actual soundtrack album was performed by Marilyn Martin. The version of "Never Be You" that was featured on the soundtrack album was performed by Maria McKee.


Two songs written by Jim Steinman were part of the soundtrack: "Tonight Is What It Means to Be Young" and "Nowhere Fast", both performed by "Fire Incorporated", with Holly Sherwood providing lead vocals on the former and Laurie Sargent on the latter.

 The title of the former was used as the tagline on some promotional materials for the film. Dan Hartman's selection "I Can Dream About You" is the most successful song from the movie, and became a Billboard top 10 hit in 1984 (also from his studio album of the same name). In the movie, the song is performed on stage at the end of the film by "The Sorels," a fictional doo-wop style group consisting of actors Stoney Jackson, Grand L. Bush, Mykelti Williamson, and Robert Townsend. However, the song was actually sung for the film by Winston Ford, whose vocals were lip-synched by Jackson in the movie. While there are thus two versions of the song, only Hartman's version was released commercially.
Steinman later recalled thinking the script was "terrible", but he thought the film was going to be a big hit, in part because of the enthusiasm of Joel Silver:
[He said] this movie is about visuals. It's about excitement, it's about thrills. Don't worry about the script... I remember mentioning it to six or seven people that the script was trashy and I always got the same answer... The script doesn't matter. This movie is about visuals... Then we go to the first edit, the first cut of the movie in the screening room and it's [Jimmy] Iovine and me and Joel Silver... And about 20 minutes into the movie Jimmy turns to me and he goes... this movie is really shitty isn't it? It's really bad. I said, yeah, it's a really bad script. Why didn't anyone notice that the script was bad? It stinks. I can't even watch it... Joel's on the other side going, what am I gonna do next? There's gotta be a next project, and they're sitting there and there's so many lessons I learned during that movie. It went $14 million over budget, I think and I kept saying to Joel, how are they allowing this? 'Cause they kept screaming at us, it's over the budget. I said, how, and they, you've gotta understand, they built all, Walter Hill didn't want to go to Chicago. The story took place in Chicago, so they built Chicago in LA.
Steinman has said the filmmakers were convinced they would have the rights to the Bruce Springsteen song Streets of Fire, and filmed an ending using it. However, when they realized they would not get it in time, they asked Steinman for a song, which he wrote in two days. The song was "Tonight what it means to be young"

Two music videos accompanied the song. One does not feature Hartman and consists of scenes from Streets of Fire, intercut with footage of the Sorels miming the song as part of a live performance. The lead singer was played by Stoney Jackson, with Grand L. Bush, Mykelti Williamson, and Robert Townsend as backing singers. In the second video, filmed at the Hard Rock in London, Hartman appears as a bartender trying to charm a young woman (played by Joyce Hyser), singing to her as the Sorels' performance plays on a TV set hanging above the bar. In a 2010 interview with Hyser for the blog Old School: Back to the 80s, she was asked how she came to feature in the video. She replied, "I knew Dan's manager and he asked me if I would do it. We shot at the Hard Rock in London. I honestly remember very little about it, but Dan was very nice and I absolutely love that song. I did another music video for ZZ Top's song "Pin Cushion" which I really like. It was directed by Julian Temple."
While recording a mimed TV performance of the song, Hartman explained why one music video featured actors: "The producers and directors of Streets of Fire wanted the best of everything, so they hired the best singers, the best dancers and best actors to play the parts in the film. So the singers in "I Can Dream About You" who are the Sorels are actually actors, and I wrote and sang this song."
The Dan Hartman Version of the song.

Sunday, January 21, 2018

Enjoying the weather...and the Government Shutdown..


Well today was a good day, it was 60 degrees and the sun was out, so I went for a ride..



I had to upload the video to youtube to post it on my blog...apparently blogger has a 100MB limit,

it is the second day of the government shutdown...I see the brain dead zombies shuffling around the house, we have had to board up the house to keep them out.  I have discovered that a shovel works better and is quieter.  I was using a 2ltr bottle taped to my pistol to muffle the report.  The bad thing is that I am running out of 2 ltr bottles.

I also see raiders running around trying to pick off the few people that are not zombies.

     The soil and air is strong with pollution since the EPA isn't around to regulate it.  Food companies have immediately started selling rancid food since the USDA isn't inspecting the meat plants.
There is total anarchy at the airport since the TSA isn't there to keep people compliant and what the TSA used to steal from the passengers, the raiders are picking them off after baggage claim.
The airwaves is full of boobs and bad language since the FCC shut down created anarchy on the airwaves.  The airports are having problems with planes landing with no sequence, apparently each pilot tries to beat the others to the concourse, there have been multiple near misses.

Wall Street has totally taken over, the economic boon really started taking off after the SCC faded into the night.  Since the ATFE has vanished, there have been a lot of RPG's available on Amazon and Ebay.  I even saw an M1A2 for sale for a few million and it will come with a combat loadout.
   I don't know how we will survive because the government always told us what to do.  The Federal government is mother....the Federal Government is Father....what are we kids suppose to do?

Seriously, the Democrats are putting illegals over citizens.  The straight political gall really gets to me and the sycophantic news media will give them cover from their actions, and deflect the blame to the GOP and Trump.

    And finally the News media was overjoyed that the President health is very good and they were effuse in their praise to the almighty for the continued good health and tidings.


Saturday, January 20, 2018

The "Akutan Zero"

I did a post a couple of days ago about the attack on Attu and Kiska and I had mentioned about the Zero that was captured from that island, and how the Japanese would up there.  Well Murphy made a comment that there was a story about the Zero that was captured, well I decided to do a bit of digging and "Voila"  there was the story.



The Akutan Zero, also known as Koga's Zero and the Aleutian Zero, was a type 0 model 21 Mitsubishi A6M Zero Japanese fighter aircraft that crash-landed on Akutan Island, Alaska Territory, during World War II. It was found intact by the Americans in July 1942 and became the first flyable Zero acquired by the United States during the war. It was repaired and flown by American test pilots. As a result of information gained from these tests, American tacticians were able to devise ways to defeat the Zero, which was the Imperial Japanese Navy's primary fighter plane throughout the war.
The Akutan Zero has been described as "a prize almost beyond value to the United States", and "probably one of the greatest prizes of the Pacific War". Japanese historian Masatake Okumiya stated that the acquisition of the Akutan Zero "was no less serious" than the Japanese defeat at the Battle of Midway, and that it "did much to hasten Japan's final defeat". On the other hand, John Lundstrom is among those who challenge "the contention that it took dissection of Koga's Zero to create tactics that beat the fabled airplane".
The Akutan Zero was destroyed in a training accident in 1945. Parts of it are preserved in several museums in the United States.

The Second Sino-Japanese War began in 1937. Attacks by Chinese fighter planes on Japanese bombers caused the Japanese to develop the concept of fighter escorts. The limited range of the Mitsubishi A5M "Claude" fighter used to escort the bombers caused the Japanese Navy Air staff to commission the Mitsubishi A6M Zero as a long-range land- and carrier-based fighter.
The Zero, which first flew in 1939, was exceedingly agile and lightweight, with maneuverability and range superior to any other fighter in the world at that time. The Zero was superior to any Allied fighter it would encounter for the first two years of the war. To achieve this, however, Japanese engineers had traded off durability. The Zero was very lightly built; it had no armor and no self-sealing fuel tanks. According to American author Jim Rearden, "The Zero was probably the easiest fighter of any in World War II to bring down when hit ... The Japanese ... were not prepared to or weren't capable of building more advanced fighters in the numbers needed to cope with increasing numbers and quality of American fighters". The Zero was the primary Japanese Navy fighter throughout the war. During the war, the Japanese manufactured roughly 10,500 Zeros.
In 1940 Claire Lee Chennault, leader of the Flying Tigers, wrote a report on the Zero's performance. However, United States Department of War analysts rejected it as "arrant nonsense" and concluded the performance attributed to the Zero was an aerodynamic impossibility. According to American flying ace William N. Leonard, "In these early encounters and on our own we were learning the folly of dogfighting with the Zero".
During the attack on Pearl Harbor, nine Zeros were shot down. From these wrecks, the Allies learned that the Zero lacked armor and self-sealing fuel tanks, but little else about its capabilities. The Zero's flight performance characteristics—crucial to devising tactics and machinery to combat it—remained a mystery.
Prior to recovery of the Akutan Zero, technical information from three other downed Zeros was available to the Allies. One Zero (serial number 5349), piloted by Hajime Toyoshima, crashed on Melville Island in Australia following the bombing of Darwin. The Zero was heavily damaged, and Toyoshima became Australia's first Japanese prisoner of the Pacific war. Another Zero, piloted by Yoshimitsu Maeda, crashed near Cape Rodney, New Guinea. The team sent to recover the plane erred when they chopped off the wings, severing the wing spars and rendering the hulk unflyable. The third came from China, where Gerhard Neumann was able to reconstruct a working Zero. He used a partly intact Zero (serial number 3372) that had landed in Chinese territory, repaired with salvaged pieces from other downed Zeros. However, bad conditions and the long delivery time from China prevented Neumann's Zero from reaching the United States for testing until after the recovery of the Akutan Zero.

In June 1942, as part of the Japanese Midway operation, the Japanese attacked the Aleutian islands, off the south coast of Alaska. A Japanese task force led by Admiral Kakuji Kakuta bombed Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island twice, once on June 3 and again the following day.
Tadayoshi Koga, a 19-year-old flight petty officer first class, was launched from the Japanese aircraft carrier Ryūjō as part of the June 4 raid. Koga was part of a three-plane section; his wingmen were Chief Petty Officer Makoto Endo and Petty Officer Tsuguo Shikada. Koga and his comrades attacked Dutch Harbor, shooting down an American PBY-5A Catalina flying boat piloted by Bud Mitchell and strafing its survivors in the water. In the process, Koga's plane (serial number 4593) was damaged by small arms fire.
Tsuguo Shikada, one of Koga's wingmen, published an account in 1984 in which he claimed the damage to Koga's plane occurred while his section was making an attack against two American Catalinas anchored in the bay. This account omits any mention of shooting down Mitchell's PBY. Both American and Japanese records contradict his claims; there were no PBYs in the bay that day. However, his claims do match American records from the attack against Dutch Harbor the previous day (June 3). Rearden noted, "It seems likely that in the near half-century after the event Shikada's memory confused the raids of June 3 and June 4 ... It also seems likely that in his interview, Shikada employed selective memory in not mentioning shooting down Mitchell's PBY and then machine-gunning the crew on the water".
It is not known who fired the shot that brought down Koga's plane, though numerous individuals have claimed credit. Photographic evidence strongly suggests it was hit by ground fire. Members of the 206th Coast Artillery Regiment, which had both 3-inch anti-aircraft guns and .50 caliber machine guns in position defending Dutch Harbor, claimed credit, in addition to claims made by United States Navy ships that were present. Physical inspection of the plane revealed it was hit with small arms fire — .50 caliber bullet holes and smaller, from both above and below.


The fatal shot severed the return oil line, and Koga's plane immediately began trailing oil. Koga reduced speed to keep the engine from seizing as long as possible.
The three Zeros flew to Akutan Island, 25 miles east of Dutch Harbor, which had been designated for emergency landings. Waiting near the island was a Japanese submarine assigned to pick up downed pilots. At Akutan, the three Zeros circled a grassy flat half a mile inland from Broad Bight. Shikada thought the ground was firm beneath the grass, but in his second pass he noticed water glistening. He suddenly realized Koga should make a belly landing. But by then Koga had lowered his landing gear and was almost down.
The plane's landing gear mired in the water and mud, causing the plane to flip upside down and skid to a stop. Although the aircraft survived the landing nearly intact, Petty Officer Koga died instantly on impact, probably from a broken neck or a blunt-force blow to his head. Koga's wingmen, circling above, had orders to destroy any Zeros that crash-landed in enemy territory, but as they did not know if Koga was still alive, they could not bring themselves to strafe his plane. They decided to leave without firing on it. The Japanese submarine stationed off Akutan Island to pick up pilots searched for Koga in vain before being driven off by the destroyer USS Williamson.

The crash site, which was out of sight of standard flight lanes and not visible by ship, remained undetected and undisturbed for over a month. On July 10, 1942, an American PBY Catalina piloted by Lieutenant William "Bill" Thies spotted the wreckage. Thies's Catalina had been patrolling by dead reckoning and had become lost. On spotting the Shumagin Islands, he reoriented his plane and began to return to Dutch Harbor by the most direct course—over Akutan Island. Machinist Mate Albert Knack, who was the plane captain (note: the term "plane captain" in US Navy usage refers to an aircraft's assigned maintenance crew chief, not the pilot-in-command), spotted Koga's wreck. Thies's plane circled the crash site for several minutes, noted its position on the map, and returned to Dutch Harbor to report it. Thies convinced his commanding officer, Paul Foley, to let him return with a salvage team. The next day (July 11), the team flew out to inspect the wreck. Navy photographer's mate Arthur W. Bauman took pictures as they worked.
Thies's team extracted Koga's body from the plane by having Knack (the smallest crew member) crawl up inside the plane and cut his safety harness with a knife. They searched it for anything with intelligence value, and buried Koga in a shallow grave near the crash site. Thies returned with his team to Dutch Harbor, where he reported the plane as salvageable. The next day (July 12), a salvage team under Lieutenant Robert Kirmse was dispatched to Akutan. This team gave Koga a Christian burial in a nearby knoll and set about recovering the plane, but the lack of heavy equipment (which they had been unable to unload after the delivery ship lost two anchors) meant their efforts failed. On July 15, a third recovery team was dispatched. This time, with proper heavy equipment, the team was able to free the Zero from the mud and hauled it overland to a nearby barge, without further damaging it. The Zero was taken to Dutch Harbor, turned right-side up, and cleaned.
Loading of Akutan Zero on barge.
 
 
The Akutan Zero was loaded into the USS St. Mihiel and transported to Seattle, arriving on August 1. From there, it was transported by barge to Naval Air Station North Island near San Diego where repairs were carefully carried out. These repairs "consisted mostly of straightening the vertical stabilizer, rudder, wing tips, flaps, and canopy. The sheared-off landing struts needed more extensive work. The three-blade Sumitomo propeller was dressed and re-used." The Zero's red Hinomaru roundel was repainted with the American blue circle-white star insignia. The whole time, the plane was kept under 24-hour military police guard in order to deter would-be souvenir hunters from damaging the plane. The Zero was fit to fly again on September 20.

Data from the captured Zero had been transmitted to the U.S. Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) and Grumman Aircraft. After careful study, Roy Grumman decided that he could match or surpass the Zero in most respects, except in range, without sacrificing pilot armor, self-sealing tanks and fuselage structure. The new F6F Hellcat would compensate for the extra weight with additional power.


On September 20, 1942, two months after the Zero's capture, Lieutenant Commander Eddie R. Sanders took the Akutan Zero up for its first test flight. He would make 24 test flights between September 20 and October 15. According to Sanders' report:
These flights covered performance tests such as we do on planes undergoing Navy tests. The very first flight exposed weaknesses of the Zero which our pilots could exploit with proper tactics ... immediately apparent was the fact that the ailerons froze up at speeds above 200 knots so that rolling maneuvers at those speeds were slow and required much force on the control stick. It rolled to the left much easier than to the right. Also, its engine cut out under negative acceleration due to its float-type carburetor. We now had the answer for our pilots who were being outmaneuvered and unable to escape a pursuing Zero: Go into a vertical power dive, using negative acceleration if possible to open the range while the Zero's engine was stopped by the acceleration. At about 200 knots, roll hard right before the Zero pilot could get his sights lined up.


In early 1943, the Zero was transferred from Naval Air Station North Island to Anacostia Naval Air Station. The Navy wished to make use of the expertise of the NACA Langley Research Center in flight instrumentation, and it was flown to Langley on March 5th 1943 for the installation of the instrumentation. While there, it underwent aerodynamic tests in the Full-Scale Wind Tunnel under conditions of strict secrecy. This work included wake surveys to determine the drag of aircraft components; tunnel scale measurements of lift, drag, control effectiveness; and sideslip tests.
After its return to the Navy, it was flight tested by Frederick M. Trapnell, the Anacostia Naval Air Station director of flight testing. He flew the Akutan Zero in performance while Sanders simultaneously flew American planes performing identical maneuvers, simulating aerial combat. Following these, USN test pilot Lieutenant Melvin C. "Boogey" Hoffman conducted more dogfighting tests between himself flying the Akutan Zero and recently commissioned USN pilots flying newer Navy aircraft.
Later in 1943, the aircraft was displayed at Washington National Airport as a war prize. In 1944, it was recalled to North Island for use as a training plane for rookie pilots being sent to the Pacific. A model 52 Zero, captured during the liberation of Guam, was later used as well.
Data and conclusions from these tests were published in Informational Intelligence Summary 59, Technical Aviation Intelligence Brief #3, Tactical and Technical Trends #5 (published prior to the first test flight), and Informational Intelligence Summary 85. These results tend to somewhat understate the Zero's capabilities

 F6F Hellcat (1943)
Data from the captured aircraft were submitted to the BuAer and Grumman for study in 1942. The U.S. carrier-borne fighter plane that succeeded the Grumman F4F Wildcat, the F6F, would be tested in its first experimental mode as the XF6F-1 prototype with an under-powered Wright R-2600 Twin Cyclone 14-cylinder, two-row radial engine on 26 June 1942.[35][36] Shortly before the XF6F-1's first flight, and based on combat accounts of encounters between the F4F Wildcat and A6M Zero, on 26 April 1942, BuAer directed Grumman to install the more powerful 18-cylinder Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engine — already powering Chance Vought's Corsair design since its beginnings in 1940 — in the second XF6F-1 prototype. Grumman complied by redesigning and strengthening the F6F airframe to incorporate the 2,000 hp (1,500 kW) R-2800-10 engine, driving a three-bladed Hamilton Standard propeller. With this combination Grumman estimated the XF6F-3's performance would increase by 25% over that of the XF6F-1.This first Double Wasp-equipped Hellcat airframe, bearing BuAer serial number 02982, first flew on 30 July 1942. The F6F-3 subtype had been designed with specific "Wildcat vs Zero" input from Battle of the Coral Sea and Battle of Midway veteran F4F pilots such as Jim Flatley and Jimmy Thach, respectively, among several others, obtained during a meeting with Grumman Vice President Jake Swirbul at Pearl Harbor on 23 June 1942, with the first production F6F-3 making its first flight just over three months later, on October 3, 1942. While the captured Zero's tests did not drastically influence the Hellcat's design, they did give knowledge of the Zero's handling characteristics, including its limitations in rolling right and diving. That information, together with the improved capabilities of the Hellcat, were credited with helping American pilots "tip the balance in the Pacific".American aces Kenneth A. Walsh and R. Robert Porter, among others, credited tactics derived from this knowledge with saving their lives. James Sargent Russell, who commanded the PBY Catalina squadron that discovered the Zero and later rose to the rank of admiral, noted that Koga's Zero was "of tremendous historical significance." William N. Leonard concurred, describing it thus: "The captured Zero was a treasure. To my knowledge, no other captured machine has ever unlocked so many secrets at a time when the need was so great."
Some historians dispute the degree to which the Akutan Zero influenced the outcome of the air war in the Pacific. For example, the Thach Weave, a tactic created by John Thach and used with great success by American airmen against the Zero, was devised by Thach prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, based on intelligence reports on the Zero's performance in China


However, nine wrecked Mitsubishi A6M Zeros were recovered from Pearl Harbor shortly after the attack in December 1941, and United States Office of Naval Intelligence, along with BuAer had them studied, and then shipped to the Experimental Engineering Department at Dayton, Ohio in 1942. It was noted that the experimental Grumman XF6F-1s then under-going testing in June 1942 and the Zero had "wings integrated with the fuselage," a design feature not normally practiced in American aircraft production at that time.

 SB2C HellDiver
The Akutan Zero was destroyed during a training accident in February 1945. While the Zero was taxiing for a take-off, a Curtiss SB2C Helldiver lost control and rammed into it. The Helldiver's propeller sliced the Zero into pieces. From the wreckage, William N. Leonard salvaged several gauges, which he donated to the National Museum of the United States Navy. The Alaska Heritage Museum and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum also have small pieces of the Zero.
In an attempt to repatriate Koga's body, American author Jim Rearden led a search on Akutan in 1988. He located Koga's grave, but found it empty. Rearden and Japanese businessman Minoru Kawamoto conducted a records search. They found that in 1947 Koga's body was exhumed by an American Graves Registration Service team and re-buried on Adak Island, further down the Aleutian chain. The team, unaware of Koga's identity, marked his body as unidentified. The Adak cemetery was excavated in 1953, and 236 bodies were returned to Japan. The body buried next to Koga (Shigeyoshi Shindo) was one of 13 identified; the remaining 223 unidentified remains were re-interred in Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery in Japan. It is probable that Koga was one of them. Rearden later wrote the definitive account of the Akutan Zero.