Off to the AirSHOW!!!

We are off to the Georgia Air show!!!!!   Yay my aviation/historical geek rejoices!!

I will have pics tomorrow!

According to my sitometer thingie blogger, my Robert Heinlein Post hit 6400 hits...the most of any single item I have posted......dang...I am humbled.  

S'mores and stuff

We had out Church trunk or treat tonight and we went with our "s'mores"  you know the boy scout camping staple....graham cracker....Hershey Chocolate...marshmallow ......and flames.   Combined you create the super super sugar high that scouts love at camping outings...followed by the crash afterwards and they go to sleep. 

   I started by setting up another basketball goal for the kid..Here was some of the stories I had with the earlier One

  Well we started the S'mores...

Then we started to build..

  Then we were using our camp stove to heat up the marshmellows

Well some of them caught on fire.....it does happen at camping trips..

Some of the completes S'mores  at the trunk or treat.   I should have taken more pics of the other things that were set up.....but I had to burn heat marshmallows to keep ahead of the hordes of kids that descended upon us....Apparently our S'Mores are very popular.

Monday Music

I heard this song on my Sirius/XM on the way home this morning from work and this song came on..it was big in 1985 and featured the theme song for the movie featuring the "Brat Pack".  To me the song was meaningful, it was my "senior" year...a year later.  I was fixing to join the service after a year of college.  I didn't party at all my high school senior year, was focused on getting into North Georgia College the Military college in Georgia so I was very restrained.  After a year of college, I was broke and knew that I would have to join the service partially for the G.I Bill and of course old fashioned patriotism.  Remember this was Reagan's America and pride in country was evident.    I was delivering pizza with Domino's pizza and it was a party time, I did do some drinking, the drinking age back then was 18, I never did any "recreational pharmaceuticals" we had a good bunch of people people that worked there and I actually partied a bit.  I for a bit of time didn't focus on the future, just the here and now.   Something that I have never really done before.  I knew that once I was in the service, there was a possibility of my going to war someday and I was OK with that, it is the price we pay as out duty to the republic.  So to me this song reminds me of the only time in my life I lived in the "Here and now". 

"St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)" is a song recorded by John Parr. It hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 7, 1985, remaining there for two weeks. It was the main theme for Joel Schumacher's 1985 film St. Elmo's Fire.
The song also peaked at number six in the UK, Parr's home country. and became a number-one hit for John Parr around the world and provided many awards and a Grammy nomination.
The song was originally written by David Foster and John Parr for the Canadian athlete Rick Hansen, who at the time was going around the world in his wheelchair to raise awareness for spinal cord injuries. His journey was called the "Man in Motion Tour."
This song only appeared on Parr's self-titled debut album, released in the UK in 1984 by London Records, and on a very rare 1985 West German CD re-release of the album.
Several members of Toto appear on the record.

The music video features all seven of the main cast of the film St. Elmo's Fire looking sadly through the foggy windows of a run-down and fire-damaged version of the St. Elmo's Bar set. The video was directed by Kort Falkenberg III, who devised the concept with the film's director, Joel Schumacher. The production company only had Parr for a single day before he had to go back to England, so the shoot had to be done in exactly 24 hours.
The Canadian version of the video intersperses images of Rick Hansen's trek with those of the film.
The ending of the video shows Parr singing to each individual cast member from the film before he disappears into the night, and the cast follows him.

   I figured I would add some information about the billboard 100.  I use this for my "Monday Music." information.

The limitations of the Hot 100 have become more pronounced over time. Since the Hot 100 was based on singles sales, as singles have themselves become a less common form of song release, the Hot 100's data represented a narrowing segment of sales until the December 1998 change in the ranking formula.
Few music historians believe that the Hot 100 has been a perfectly accurate gauge of the most popular songs for each week or year. For example, during the 1950s and 1960s, payola and other problems skewed the numbers in largely undetectable ways.^[8]
Further, the history of popular music shows nearly as many remarkable failures to chart as it does impressive charting histories. Certain artists (such as Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin) had tremendous album sales while being oblivious to the weekly singles charts. Business changes in the industry also affect artists' statistical "records." Single releases were more frequent and steady, and were expected to have much shorter shelf lives in earlier decades, making direct historical comparisons somewhat specious. Of the 16 singles to top the Billboard chart for more than ten weeks since 1955, only two released before 1992. During the first 40 years of the rock era, no song had ever debuted at number one; since a 1995 change in methodology, 19 songs have.
Strategizing also plays a role. Numerous record labels have taken deliberate steps to maximize their chart positions by such tactics as timing a single's debut to face the weakest possible competition, or massively discounting the price of singles to the point where each individual sale represented a financial loss. Meanwhile, other labels would deliberately withhold even their most marketable songs in order to boost album sales. Particularly in the 1990s, many of the most heavily played MTV and radio hits were unavailable for separate purchase. Because of such countervailing strategies, it cannot be said that a Hot 100 chart necessarily lists the country's 100 most popular or successful songs. Strategies like these were the main reason behind the December 1998 change in the charts.
Some critics have argued that an overemphasis on a limited number of singles has distorted record industry development efforts, and there are nearly as many critics of the Hot 100 as there are supporters. Some of these criticisms, however, are becoming less and less germane as digital downloads have revitalized the concept of “singles sales.”
The Billboard charts have endured as the only widely circulated published report on songs that have been popular across the United States over the last half-century. Competing publications such as Cash Box, Record World, Radio & Records and most recently Mediabase have offered alternate charts, which sometimes differed widely.

Friday/Saturday Musings *Addendum*

I worked the Overtime:)  Again..     *I added a Bill Whittle Video I ran across that other bloggers have posted*

  I have several musings....First off about the popularity of Trump and Sanders....Well both are outsiders...Trump is outspoken and will speak his mind and that is part of his popularity...He will say what most people are thinking but thanks to the PC police won't say anything.  And Bernie Sanders the socialist running on the Democrat ticket is promising free stuff especially to the millennial generation...They don't realize that there isn't nothing "free"..there is a price to be paid.

  And speaking of Hillary...The democrats had their "debate" hosted by CNN, you remember CNN? The CNN stands for "Clinton News Network."  The organization was in the tank for her husband in the 90's and they have transferred their loyalty to her.

 Hillary is the anointed one to the establishment democrats, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Democrat committee chair has been accused by the other candidates of "Rigging" the debate schedule to benefit Hillary. 
 Now"Uncle Joe" decided not to run....that means that Hillery will not get indicted..Makes me wonder what deal was offered to keep him out of the race.

  This tells me that that fix is in....Hillary is the "chosen" one for the Democrats....If Joe Biden was running, Obama would turn loose the FBI and they would find a way to indict Hillary.  It is a shame that Obama has so politicized the government.   And speaking of government, you have Lois Lerner the former I.R.S employee that was the poster child of the enforcement arm of the government targeting conservative groups...they use words like "poor judgment, bureaucratic inertia, ete,ete". but no charges....All I can say "wow", nothing like proving the "us" vs them attitude and that the government isn't there to serve the public at large, but to rule and operate for the benefit of the politically connected.

 Added a video

    There is no longer the rule of law in this country. It died a long time ago. Her husband should have been forced to resign as president in disgrace or thrown out of office, not because of sex, but other violations of the law like the 1000 FBI files. One of the grounds of impeachment for Nixon was requesting one FBI file that he didn’t even get. But BJ was protected by his corrupt party and by the corrupt media which is nothing more than the propaganda arm of his corrupt party. The current president enforces laws and makes laws on his whims. Who’s gonna stop him? The Stupid Party? Once again, he’s protected by his corrupt party and his skin color, not to mention the LSM propaganda arm of the Dimocrat Party. The age of the banana republic has arrived. 

  And people wonder why there is such animosity and people buying up vast amounts of ammo and weapons....I fear the balkenization of America will soon be upon us.  My buddy *Shelldude* came up with that word back in the mid 90's before the idea of America might fracture along ethnic/religious/political lines like I am seeing now.  He is prescient and I believe that what he had talked about back then will bear fruit.   I fear for the republic

Mike Rowe and the "Modern Man"

I ripped this off Mike's Facebook page....The pics are compliments of "google"

After renowned entrepreneur Mike Rowe heard that some feminized schmuck at The New York Times penned an absurd column listing the “27 Ways to Be a [Feminized] Modern Man,” he fought back with a kick-butt rebuttal that explained to liberals what a REAL MAN looks and acts like.

Shoes
NYT: “When the modern man buys shoes for his spouse, he doesn’t have to ask her sister for the size. And he knows which brands run big or small.”
Mike Rowe: “A Man’s Man would not buy shoes for his spouse, or be familiar with the vagaries of various female footwear brands. He might offer to pay for them, and he would definitely compliment her choice. And if he knows the size of her feet, it’s only because he rubs them from time to time.”
 Uncertainty
NYT: “The modern man never lets other people know when his confidence has sunk. He acts as if everything is going swimmingly until it is.”
Mike Rowe: “A Man’s Man feels no shame in admitting uncertainty, because he knows that doing so will make him more certain. He’s transparent about his flaws and shortcomings, and makes no attempt to be more secure or knowledgeable or competent than he actually is.”

Consideration
NYT: “The modern man is considerate. At the movie theater, he won’t munch down a mouthful of popcorn during a quiet moment. He waits for some ruckus.”
Mike Rowe: “A Man’s Man is also considerate. But he would never consciously time his chewing to coincide with the noisy parts of the film. He does not walk on eggshells.”
Food

NYT: “The modern man doesn’t cut the fatty or charred bits off his fillet. Every bite of steak is a privilege, and it all goes down the hatch.”
Mike Rowe: “A Man’s Man will clean his plate, assuming of course he’s the one who put the food on it. But he feels no obligation to suck the marrow out of a bone, or eat the bruise on the banana, or consume the cob as well as the corn. He does not equate his manliness with a willingness [to] consume food that’s been poorly prepared.”
Parking
NYT: “The modern man won’t blow 10 minutes of his life looking for the best parking spot. He finds a reasonable one and puts his car between the lines.”
Mike Rowe: “A Man’s Man knows it’s wiser to park closer to the exit than the entrance.”
Self-Reliance
NYT: “Before the modern man heads off to bed, he makes sure his spouse’s phone and his kids’ electronic devices are charging for the night.”
Mike Rowe: “A Man’s Man knows that self-reliance is born of experience. He encourages his kids to look after their own stuff, and suffer the consequences when they do not. The wife is another matter.”

Beverages
NYT: “The modern man buys only regular colas, like Coke or Dr Pepper. If you walk into his house looking for a Mountain Dew, he’ll show you the door.”
Mike Rowe: “A Man’s Man doesn’t drink children’s beverages. He drinks tap water, wine, coffee, beer, whiskey, or iced tea. He does however, keep soda pop on hand, on the off chance a modern man stops by.”
Words
NYT: “The modern man uses the proper names for things. For example, he’ll say “helicopter,” not “chopper” like some gauche simpleton.”
Mike Rowe: “A Man’s Man is less worried about using the right word, and more concerned with being understood. But under no circumstance, does he ‘dumb down’ the language.”
Identity
NYT: “Having a daughter makes the modern man more of a complete person. He learns new stuff every day.”
Mike Rowe: “A Man’s Man is already a complete person. His identity does not depend upon sons, daughters, spouses, friends, or pets. He is not a loner, and he cherishes the relationships he has. But he knows that his ‘completion’ is nothing but a reflection of knowing who he is.”

Dishes
NYT: “The modern man makes sure the dishes on the rack have dried completely before putting them away.”
Mike Rowe: “A Man’s Man will always volunteer to wash the dishes. He may or may not put them away, but regardless, he understands the phenomenon of evaporation, and doesn’t concern himself with a codified system for drying.”
Never
NYT: “The modern man has never ‘pinned’ a tweet, and he never will.”
Mike Rowe: “A Man’s Man does not know what that even means. But he rarely says ‘never.’”
Soap
NYT: “The modern man checks the status of his Irish Spring bar before jumping in for a wash. Too small, it gets swapped out.”
Mike Rowe: “A Man’s Man uses Lava Soap. He uses it until it’s the size of a dime.”
Entertainment
NYT: “The modern man listens to Wu-Tang at least once a week.”
Mike Rowe: “A Man’s Man watches reruns of Kung-Fu.”

Groceries
NYT: “The modern man still jots down his grocery list on a piece of scratch paper. The market is no place for his face to be buried in the phone.”
Mike Rowe: “A Man’s Man does not make lists. He knows what he likes, what he needs, and what he wants. If he has to write it down, he understands it was not worth having in the first place.”
Flooring
NYT: “The modern man has hardwood flooring. His children can detect his mood from the stamp of his Kenneth Cole oxfords.”
Mike Rowe: “A Man’s Man is not committed to any particular type of flooring. He doesn’t attempt to communicate with his children through his footsteps, and he doesn’t own oxfords, unless they’re steel-toed.”
Sleeping
NYT: “The modern man lies on the side of the bed closer to the door. If an intruder gets in, he will try to fight him off, so that his wife has a chance to get away.”
Mike Rowe: “A Man’s Man knows that a struggle closest to the door will effectively block the exit through which his wife might flee. So he secures the house in a way that keeps intruders out, and sleeps wherever he wants.”

Fruits
NYT: “The modern man has a melon baller. How else would the cantaloupe, watermelon and honeydew he serves be so uniformly shaped?”
Mike Rowe: “The Man’s Man, if he serves fruit at all, prepares wedges, squares, and rectangles. He accomplishes this with a knife.”
NYT: “The modern man has thought seriously about buying a shoehorn.”
Mike Rowe: “A Man’s Man doesn’t think ‘seriously’ about any purchase under $5.”
Flowers
NYT: “The modern man buys fresh flowers more to surprise his wife than to say he is sorry.”
Mike Rowe: “A Man’s Man picks wildflowers on the side of the road, wraps them with a bootlace, and presents them with an original, hand-written poem.”

Bedmates
NYT: “On occasion, the modern man is the “little spoon.” Some nights, when he is feeling down or vulnerable, he needs an emotional and physical shield.”
Mike Rowe: “A Man’s Man will do whatever’s necessary to please his bedmate – not himself. But he roundly rejects all metaphors, especially those that involve utensils.”
Sneezing Daughter
NYT: “The modern man doesn’t scold his daughter when she sneezes while eating an apple doughnut, even if the pieces fly everywhere.”
Mike Rowe: “A Man’s Man would laugh and then say ‘Bless you,’ or ‘gesundheit.’ Then, he’d make sure she wipes her nose and cleans up the crumbs.”
Ambling
NYT: “The modern man still ambles half-naked down his driveway each morning to scoop up a crisp newspaper.”
Mike Rowe: “A Man’s Man does not amble. Moreover, he would have aleady impressed upon the paper boy the importance of getting the morning paper all the way up on the porch. Where it belongs.”
Films
NYT: “The modern man has all of Michael Mann’s films on Blu-ray (or whatever the highest quality thing is at the time.)”
MR: “A Man’s Man doesn’t own films – he rents them. He also values effectiveness over efficiency, and knows that the ‘latest technology’ will be obsolete in a few months. For this reason, he makes no attempt to own the newest of anything.”
Preferences
NYT: “The modern man doesn’t get hung up on his phone’s battery percentage. If it needs to run flat, so be it.”
Mike Rowe: “A Man’s Man prefers his gas tank full, his weapon loaded, his pantry stocked, and his checkbook balanced. He also likes his phone sufficiently charged, and takes the necessary steps to accomplish that.”
Guns
NYT: “The modern man has no use for a gun. He doesn’t own one, and he never will.”
Mike Rowe: “A Man’s Man owns at least one firearm. He knows how to use it, clean it, and store it properly. He understands it’s importance, and sees it for what it is – a tool that can protect him and his family.”

Crying
NYT: “The modern man cries. He cries often.”
Mike Rowe: “A Man’s Man cries if he feels like crying. But he rarely feels like it.”
Dancing
NYT: “People aren’t sure if the modern man is a good dancer or not. That is, until the D.J. plays his jam and he goes out there and puts on a clinic.”
Mike Rowe: “People know without question a Man’s Man does not dance. But they also know if called upon, he’ll give it his best shot…”

MH17 video results "How the Airplane crashed"

  I saw this video last week and watched all 20 minutes of it.  To me the Dutch did an incredible job piecing this together.  It is sobering to see what a SAM can do to a commercial aircraft.  Granted Boeing does build a good airplane...the 777 isn't designed to survive a SAM hit. 

Robert A Heinlein Speech to the USNA 1973

I am a huge fan of Robert A Heinlein, his book "Star-ship trooper" is still to me the best military SCIFI out there....with apologies to Peter whom to me writes some really good books in his own right.  I really like the part of Star-ship trooper that to be a citizen and to vote was to first serve.  Only serving do you understand the responsibility of being a citizen and what it entails.    This speech was given to the United States Naval Academy in 1973 during the aftermath of the first hippie movement. 
   
    I shamelessly clipped this in its entirety from Matt Bracken via twitter/Facebook  I had read the entire thing and it did resonate with me, the thought of patriotism and willing to sacrifice for the greater good...and not in the feel good hippie bullcrap kind of way.

Robert Heinlein, speech at the Naval Academy on patriotism, 1973.

(To the Brigade at large:)
Why are you here?

(To a second plebe:)
Mister, why are YOU here?

Never mind, son; that's a rhetorical question. You are here to become a naval officer. That's why this Academy was founded. That is why all of you are here: to become naval officers. If that is NOT why YOU are here, you've made a bad mistake. But I speak to the overwhelming majority who understood the oath they took on becoming midshipmen and look forward to the day when they will renew that oath as commissioned officers.

But why would anyone want to become a naval officer? In the present dismal state of our culture there is little prestige attached to serving your country; recent public opinion polls place military service far down the list.

It can't be the pay. No one gets rich on the pay. Even a 4-star admiral is paid much less than top executives in other lines. As for lower ranks, the typical naval officer finds himself throughout his career just catching up from the unexpected expenses connected with the last change of duty when another change of duty causes a new financial crisis. Then, when he is about fifty, he is passed over and retires... but he can't really retire because he has two kids in college and one still to go. So he has to find a job... and discovers that jobs for men his age are scarce and usually don't pay well.

Working conditions? You'll spend half your life away from your family. Your working hours? 'Six days shalt thou work and do all thou art able; the seventh the same, and pound on the cable.' A forty-hour week is standard for civilians - but not for naval officers. You'll work that forty-hour week, but that's just a starter. You'll stand a night watch as well, and duty weekends. Then with every increase in grade your hours get longer - until at last you get a ship of your own and no longer stand watches. Instead you are on duty twenty-four hours a day... and you'll sign your night order book with: 'In case of doubt, do not hesitate to call me.'

I don't know the average week's work for a naval officer but it's closer to sixty than to forty. I'm speaking of peacetime, of course. Under war conditions it is whatever hours are necessary - and sleep you grab when you can.

Why would anyone elect a career which is unappreciated, overworked, and underpaid? It can't be just to wear a pretty uniform. There has to be a better reason.

As one drives through the bushveldt of East Africa it is easy to spot herds of baboons grazing on the ground. But not by looking at the ground. Instead you look up and spot the lookout, an adult male posted on a limb of a tree where he has a clear view all around him - which is why you can spot him; he has to be where he can see a leopard in time to give the alarm. On the ground a leopard can catch a baboon... but if a baboon is warned in time to reach the trees, he can out-climb a leopard. The lookout is a young male assigned to that duty and there he will stay, until the bull of the herd sends up another male to relieve him. Keep your eye on that baboon; we'll be back to him.

Today, in the United States, it is popular among self-styled 'intellectuals' to sneer at patriotism. They seem to think that it is axiomatic that any civilized man is a pacifist, and they treat the military profession with contempt. 'Warmongers' - 'Imperialists' - 'Hired killers in uniform' - you have all heard such sneers and you will hear them again. One of their favorite quotations is: 'Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.' What they never mention is that the man who made that sneering remark was a fat, gluttonous slob who was pursued all his life by a pathological fear of death.

I propose to prove that that baboon on watch is morally superior to that fat poltroon who made that
wisecrack. Patriotism is the most practical of all human characteristics. But in the present decadent atmosphere patriots are often too shy to talk about it - as if it were something shameful or an irrational weakness. But patriotism is NOT sentimental nonsense. Nor is it something dreamed up by demagogues.

Patriotism is as necessary a part of man's evolutionary equipment as are his eyes, as useful to the race as eyes are to the individual. A man who is NOT patriotic is an evolutionary dead end. This is not sentiment but the hardest of logic.

To prove that patriotism is a necessity we must go back to fundamentals. Take any breed of animal - for example, tyrannosaurus rex. What is the most basic thing about him? The answer is that tyrannosaurus rex is dead, gone, extinct.

Which brings us to the second fundamental question: Will homo sapiens stay alive? Will he survive?

We can answer part of that at once: Individually h. sapiens will NOT survive. It is unlikely that anyone here tonight will be alive eighty years from now; it approaches mathematical certainty that we will all be dead a hundred years from now as even the youngest plebe here would be 118 years old by then - if still alive.

Some men do live that long but the percentage is so microscopic as not to matter. Recent advances in biology suggest that human life may be extended to a century and a quarter, even a century and a half - but this will create more problems than it solves. When a man reaches my age or thereabouts, the last great service he can perform is to die and get out of the way of younger people.

Very well, as individuals we all die. This brings us to the second half of the question: Does homo sapiens AS A BREED have to die? The answer is: No, it is NOT unavoidable. We have two situations, mutually exclusive: Mankind surviving, and mankind extinct. With respect to morality, the second situation is a null class. An extinct breed has NO behavior, moral or otherwise.

Since survival is the sine qua non, I now define 'moral behavior' as 'behavior that tends toward survival.' I won't argue with philosophers or theologians who choose to use the word 'moral' to mean something else, but I do not think anyone can define 'behavior that tends toward extinction' as being 'moral' without stretching the word 'moral' all out of shape.

We are now ready to observe the hierarchy of moral behavior from its lowest level to its highest. The
simplest form of moral behavior occurs when a man or other animal fights for his own survival. Do not belittle such behavior as being merely selfish. Of course it is selfish... but selfishness is the bedrock on which all moral behavior starts and it can be immoral only when it conflicts with a higher moral imperative. An animal so poor in spirit that he won't even fight on his own behalf is already an evolutionary dead end; the best he can do for his breed is to crawl off and die, and not pass on his defective genes.

The next higher level is to work, fight, and sometimes die for your own immediate family. This is the level at which six pounds of mother cat can be so fierce that she'll drive off a police dog. It is the level at which a father takes a moonlighting job to keep his kids in college - and the level at which a mother or father dives into a flood to save a drowning child... and it is still moral behavior even when it fails.

The next higher level is to work, fight, and sometimes die for a group larger than the unit family - an extended family, a herd, a tribe - and take another look at that baboon on watch; he's at that moral level. I don't think baboon language is complex enough to permit them to discuss such abstract notions as 'morality' or 'duty' or 'loyalty' - but it is evident that baboons DO operate morally and DO exhibit the traits of duty and loyalty; we see them in action. Call it 'instinct' if you like - but remember that assigning a name to a phenomenon does not explain it.

But that baboon behavior can be explained in evolutionary terms. Evolution is a process that never stops. Baboons who fail to exhibit moral behavior do not survive; they wind up as meat for leopards. Every baboon generation has to pass this examination in moral behavior; those who bilge it don't have progeny. Perhaps the old bull of the tribe gives lessons... but the leopard decides who graduates - and there is no appeal from his decision. We don't have to understand the details to observe the outcome; baboons behave morally - for baboons.

The next level in moral behavior higher than that exhibited by the baboon is that in which duty and loyalty are shown toward a group of your kind too large for an individual to know all of them. We have a name for that. It is called 'patriotism.'

Behaving on a still higher moral level were the astronauts who went to the Moon, for their actions tend toward the survival of the entire race of mankind. The door they opened leads to hope that h. sapiens will survive indefinitely long, even longer than this solid planet on which we stand tonight. As a direct result of what they did, it is now possible that the human race will NEVER die. Many short-sighted fools think that going to the Moon was just a stunt. But those astronauts knew the meaning of what they were doing, as is shown by Neil Armstrong's first words in stepping down onto the soil of Luna: 'One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.' Let us note proudly that eleven of the Astronaut Corps are graduates of this our school. And let me add that James Forrestal was the FIRST high-ranking Federal official to come out flatly for space travel.

I must pause to brush off those parlor pacifists I mentioned earlier... for they contend that THEIR actions are on this highest moral level. They want to put a stop to war; they say so. Their purpose is to save the human race from killing itself off; they say that too. Anyone who disagrees with them must be a bloodthirsty scoundrel - and they'll tell you that to your face. I won't waste time trying to judge their motives; my criticism is of their mental processes: Their heads aren't screwed on tight. They live in a world of fantasy.

Let me stipulate that, if the human race managed its affairs sensibly, we could do without war. Yes - and if pigs had wings, they could fly. I don't know what planet those pious pacifists are talking about but it can't be the third one out from the Sun. Anyone who has seen the Far East - or Africa - or the Middle East - knows or certainly should know that there is NO chance of abolishing war in the foreseeable future. In the past few years I have been around the world three times, traveled in most of the communist countries, visited many of the so-called emerging countries, plus many trips to Europe and to South America; I saw nothing that cheered me as to the prospects for peace. The seeds of war are everywhere; the conflicts of interest are real and deep, and will not be abolished by pious platitudes. The best we can hope for is a precarious balance of power among the nations capable of waging total war - while endless lesser wars break out here and there. I won't belabor this. Our campuses are loaded with custard-headed pacifists but the yard of the Naval Academy is not one place where I will encounter them. We are in agreement that the United States still needs a navy, that the Republic will always have need for heroes - else you would not be here tonight and in uniform.

Patriotism - Moral behavior at the national level. Non sibi sed Patria. Nathan Hale's last words: 'I regret that I have but one life to give for my country.' Torpedo Squadron Eight making its suicidal attack. Four chaplains standing fast while the water rises around them. Thomas Jefferson saying, 'The Tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots'' A submarine skipper giving the order 'Take her DOWN!' while he himself is still topside. Jonas Ingram standing on the steps of Bancroft Hall and shouting, 'The Navy has no place for good losers! The Navy needs tough sons of bitches who can go out there and WIN!'

Patriotism - An abstract word used to describe a type of behavior as harshly practical as good brakes and
good tires. It means that you place the welfare of your nation ahead of your own even if it costs you your life. Men who go down to the sea in ships have long had another way of expressing the same moral behavior tagged by the abstract expression 'patriotism.' Spelled out in simple Anglo-Saxon words 'Patriotism' reads 'Women and children first!'

And that is the moral result of realizing a self-evident biological fact: Men are expendable; women and children are not. A tribe or a nation can lose a high percentage of its men and still pick up the pieces and go on... as long as the women and children are saved. But if you fail to save the women and children, you've had it, you're done, you're THROUGH! You join tyrannosaurus rex, one more breed that bilged its final test.

I must amplify that. I know that women can fight and often have. I have known many a tough old grandmother
I would rather have on my side in a tight spot than any number of pseudo-males who disdain military service. My wife put in three years of active duty in World War Two, plus ten years reserve, and I am proud - very proud! - of her naval service. I am proud of every one of our women in uniform; they are a shining example to us men.

Nevertheless, as a mathematical proposition in the facts of biology, children, and women of child-bearing age, are the ultimate treasure that we must save. Every human culture is based on 'Women and children first' - and any attempt to do it any other way leads quickly to extinction.

Possibly extinction is the way we are headed. Great nations have died in the past; it can happen to us. Nor am I certain how good our chances are. To me it seems self-evident that any nation that loses its patriotic fervor is on the skids. Without that indispensable survival factor the end is only a matter of time. I don't know how deeply the rot has penetrated - but it seems to me that there has been a change for the worse in the last fifty years. Possibly I am misled by the offensive behavior of a noisy but unimportant minority. But it does seem to me that patriotism has lost its grip on a large percentage of our people. I hope I am wrong... because if my fears are well grounded, I would not bet two cents on this nation's chance of lasting even to the end of this century. But there is no way to force patriotism on anyone. Passing a law will not create it, nor can we buy it by appropriating so many billions of dollars. You gentlemen of the Brigade are most fortunate. You are going to a school where this basic moral virtue is daily reinforced by precept and example. It is not enough to know what Charlie Noble does for a living, or what makes the wildcat wild, or which BatDiv failed to splice the main brace and why - nor to learn matrix algebra and navigation and ballistics and aerodynamics and nuclear engineering. These things are merely the working tools of your profession and could be learned elsewhere; they do not require 'four years together by the Bay where the Severn joins the tide.'

What you do have here is a tradition of service. Your most important classroom is Memorial Hall. Your most important lesson is the way you feel inside when you walk up those steps and see that shot-torn flag framed in the arch of the door: 'Don't Give Up the Ship.' If you feel nothing, you don't belong here. But if it gives you goose flesh just to see that old battle flag, then you are going to find that feeling increasing every time you return here over the years... until it reaches a crescendo the day you return and read the list of your own honored dead - classmates, shipmates, friends - read them with grief and pride while you try to keep your tears silent.

The time has come for me to stop. I said that 'Patriotism' is a way of saying 'Women and children first.' And that no one can force a man to feel this way. Instead he must embrace it freely. I want to tell about one such man. He wore no uniform and no one knows his name, or where he came from; all we know is what he did.

In my home town sixty years ago when I was a child, my mother and father used to take me and my brothers and sisters out to Swope Park on Sunday afternoons. It was a wonderful place for kids, with picnic grounds and lakes and a zoo. But a railroad line cut straight through it.

One Sunday afternoon a young married couple were crossing these tracks. She apparently did not watch her step, for she managed to catch her foot in the frog of a switch to a siding and could not pull it free. Her husband stopped to help her. But try as they might they could not get her foot loose. While they were working at it, a tramp showed up, walking the ties. He joined the husband in trying to pull the young woman's foot loose. No luck.

Out of sight around the curve a train whistled. Perhaps there would have been time to run and flag it down, perhaps not. In any case both men went right ahead trying to pull her free... and the train hit them. The wife was killed, the husband was mortally injured and died later, the tramp was killed - and testimony showed that neither man made the slightest effort to save himself. The husband's behavior was heroic... but what we expect of a husband toward his wife: his right, and his proud privilege, to die for his woman. But what of this nameless stranger? Up to the very last second he could have jumped clear. He did not. He was still trying to save this woman he had never seen before in his life, right up to the very instant the train killed him. And that's all we'll ever know about him.

THIS is how a man dies. This is how a MAN . . . lives!

'They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old;
age shall not wither them nor the years condemn;
At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we shall remember them''

Monday Music.."Everybody wants to rule the World" Tears for Fears

As y'all have gathered from my prior posting, I went camping this past weekend, I had posted a couple of pics on the blog.  I wanted to post more but my phone croaked.  I have an old Samsung SIII galaxy, a good phone, the best "smart" phone I have had, but it is showing its age and being dropped a lot doesn't help.  The phone wouldn't accept any of the chargers I had scrounged up...Oh well.  I did get some more pics but I will post them in a day or so.  My brother from another mother did give me a really nice present....

He said it was to forestall the incessant whining about coffee.....All I can say....is   "Yep"

    I decided to roll with Tears for Fears on the Monday Music.  I remembered this song got a lot of airplay on the MTV.  I really liked the sing and the resulting beat.  I have the album "Songs from the Big Chair" it is one of my first CD's that I bought when I got my CD player from the PX in Robinson Barracks in 1987.  I immediately burned a copy for my cassette player in my Mustang that I had.  Even now I can listen to the song and album from cover to cover.

    
"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is a song by the English band Tears for Fears. Originally released in the UK on 22 March 1985 it was the band's ninth single release in the United Kingdom (the third from their second LP: Songs from the Big Chair) and seventh UK Top 30 chart hit, peaking at number two in April 1985. In the US, it was the lead single from the album and gave the band their first Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit on 8 June 1985, remaining there for two weeks. It also reached number one on both the Hot Dance Club Play and Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales charts in the US. The song has since become the pinnacle of Tears for Fears' chart success.
In 1986, the song won "Best Single" at the Brit Awards.  "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" was somewhat of an afterthought during the recording of Songs from the Big Chair. According to Roland Orzabal, he initially regarded the song as a lightweight that would not fit with the rest of the album. Originally, the lyrics of the song were "everybody wants to go to war", which Orzabal felt was lacklustre. It was producer Chris Hughes who convinced him to try recording it, in a calculated effort to gain American chart success.
    In 1986, the song won "Best Single" at the Brit Awards. Band member and co-writer Roland Orzabal argued that the song deserved to win the Ivor Novello International Hit of the Year award, claiming that the winner—"19" by Paul Hardcastle—was not an actual song, but only a "dialogue collage"

The promotional clip for "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", filmed in early 1985, was the third Tears for Fears clip directed by famed music video producer Nigel Dick. It features Curt Smith driving an antique Austin-Healey 3000 sports car around various Southern California locales, including Salton Sea and Cabazon. Interspersed with these clips are shots of the full band performing the song in a London studio. Along with the clip for "Shout", the "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" video had a big hand in helping establish Tears for Fears in America, due to its heavy amount of play on the music video channel MTV.

Gone camping

I have gone camping with my troop this weekend.
 another view of campsite

Shooting Range Part#2

 This is the second part of my shooting run...the first part is Here..

I went shooting over a week ago, Eric@ammoman sent me some ammo for me to do an evaluation on...The ammo sat in my bonus room for about 6 weeks while I tried to find time to go shooting.  I thought I had my preferred venue locked in and it fell through, so I went to my alternate.  I went to the local range.  It is a very nice range, but very busy.   Apparently a lot of people like to handle things that go *boom*. 

I  pulled out the 308 Enfield, she was made in 1966 by Ishapore Armory in India for the Indian Army, she is a model 7.62mm2A.  The Rifle is similar in design to my 303 but a bit shorter.  The 308 is fed through a 10 round box magazine.

 I was using PMC Bronze 308(7.62 NATO 147 grain FMJ-BT.  I looked at the ammo first, the quality seemed first rate as far as appearance so I went digging up for some information, I have heard of PMC but knew little of the company.   PMC ammunition is manufactured in South Korea by the Poongsan Corporation (ISO certified) which produces cartridges ranging from small arms ammunition to large howitzer rounds for the South Korean military. The Poongsan Corporation dates back to 1968 and since its founding it has grown to become on one of the world's largest manufacturers and suppliers of ammunition.  In years past the ammo has gotten a hit or miss reputation.  I can't answer for others but I can give you my impressions.  I fired the 308 enfield and it fired similar to the 303 as far as recoil.  I fired the first magazine then rolled the target trolley to see how the rifle did at 50 yards with iron sights. 

I fired up all the ammunition I had in 308 and the rifle functioned flawlessly and the ammunition seemed consistant in groupings and "shoulder feel".  I was very pleased with the performance of both the rifle and the ammunition.  You can find the ammo HERE!!!

My 308 Enfield and the ammo.

I then took a break and switched to pistols.  I used 3 pistols for the shoot.  

I used a wide variety of pistols to get a better  feel for the ammunition.  They are a S&W sigma caliber .40, Glock 22C 40 cal  and a Taurus Millennium 40 cal.

 I first used my Dads Glock 22C, he was kind enough to let me use his service pistol to augment my pistols for the shoot.   It shot like a Glock does...the pistol has picked up a huge following due to its total reliability and functionality.   I then switched to the Smith&Wesson Sigma 40.  This was Smith and Wesson first pistol that was designed to compete against Glock and it worked too good...As I recall, Glock sued them about it.   I picked the pistol up in the late 90's.  S&W had a bad reputation back then for sucking up to the gun grabbing Clinton White house and the brand was *mud* as far as most shooters were concerned.  When I got the Pistol and fired it and it functioned well, until a piece broke off in 2001?.  I contacted S&W and they sent me the part *free*.  I always heard that you get what you paid for, especially with Pistols.  Well S&W showed me that.  Since then the pistol has functioned with no issues.  I also used my Taurus Millennium .40 caliber.  It is my newest pistol, I bought her about 4-5-6 ish years ago.  It is qualified as a "compact" pistol, I wanted something a bit smaller to carry and have a "man stopping" caliber and yes I can tell the difference in the pistol especially with recoil compared to the "full size" of the Sigma and the Glock.  

 I used the PMC Bronze 180 grain FMJ.  I initially fired carefully to place my shots with the Glock, followed by the Sigma then finally with the Taurus.  I then reloaded all the pistols and this time I fired quickly not really for careful aiming but to see how the ammo functioned as far as feeding and cycling through the weapons.  The ammo functioned as it should, I had no misfires, no jams, no feeding issues, I dumped a lot of ammo down the range and the ammo and pistols played together well.  The initial grouping was "ok" and that was more me than the ammo.   I had the target set up at 10 yards, I believe that that is the acceptable distance for "combat" or "house" distance,  I could have fired farther, but I believe that most pistol confrontation is a lot closer than the capability of the pistol.   You can get the ammo HERE!!!

 

      I had an audience, partly waiting for a lane assignment and also people admiring my rifles...Apparently there are not a lot of unmolested battle rifles around anymore.  I don't mind it, but it is distracting and my performance suffered a bit.  The next time I go shooting, I hope to use my normal venue, the Scout range where it is quiet...and outside. 

     I then went home, watched Netflix and ...you guessed it.....

Shooting time!!!

I went shooting over a week ago, Eric@ammoman sent me some ammo for me to do an evaluation on...The ammo sat in my bonus room for about 6 weeks while I tried to find time to go shooting.  I thought I had my preferred venue locked in and it fell through, so I went to my alternate.  I went to the local range.  It is a very nice range, bu very busy.   Apparently a lot of people like to handle things that go *boom*.  While I was setting things up to get a range I saw this sign..

  I got a chuckle out of this while I handled my business.   I got my lane assignment and walked over to lane#18.  Like I said, this range is a very nice range, it has the heavy duty plexiglass lane dividers, not the plywood/eggcrate construction that is prevalent in a lot of ranges.   I went and pulled out my box of goodies from "Ammoman"

  I figured I would run the rifles first.  I got some 303 British to shoot and some 308 ammo to shoot.  First off I unwrapped my rifles that I brought...

  They are from front to back, my 303 Enfield, my Springfield 03A3 and my 308 Enfield.  I figured I would shoot my 30-06 along with the Enfields.    I wanted this to be an "old school Rifle shoot.  First off I grabbed my 303 Enfield...

    As you can tell from the brass in the floor, the range is a busy place...even on a Sunday Morning.  I preceded to load the magazines and Eric sent me some 303 and I kept having one of the magazines try to dump all the ammo out.  Apparently I will have to "work" the magazine so it will keep the ammo in order, but I digress.  I haven't fired my Enfield since the late 90's.  The rifle sat in the gun safe and I didn't like firing it back then, I can't remember the reason why.  My Enfield was made at the Ishapore Royal Armory in India in January 1945, She is a  Number 1 Mark III.  But I loaded up the magazines and inserted the magazine into the well and chambered the first round.  As I started peering down the sight, I realized that the "battle sight" of the Enfield is more difficult to discern, I guess my eyes are getting older.  The Enfield shot great, I found the recoil not bad and magazine fed the rifle with no issues.

   This was at 50 yards(Max distance inside the range) with the iron sight, I don't know if  that is a a good group or not.  To me the grouping are "respectable".   The ammo I was using was Remington UMC 174 grain MC "Metal Case" ammunition and some PPU Ammunition that also is the 174 grain BT design.  I fired both versions separately and then mixed the ammo up to see how it fed and fired.

 Much has been made of the 15 rounds per minute achieved at Mons by riflemen of the British Expeditionary Force.  However these were highly trained soldiers of what was then (August 1914) a professional army.
The flood of entrants to the New Armies - of all nations - could not hope to achieve such a sustained accurate rate of fire.  The norm was perhaps eight to twelve rounds per minute.  I tried to fire the rifle both in aimed shot and in "rapid fire" mode by using my other finger to squeeze the trigger and my "pointie" finger and thumb to quickly move the bolt to eject and feed the round.  That was enjoyable.
     I then grabbed my favorite bolt action rifle, my 30-06 Springfield 03A3, I havn't fired her in a long time either, so I figured it would be a break on the Enfields.

My 03A3 was manufactured in 1943 by Remington Arms.  I always loved the 03 type of rifle and always wanted one.  I bought her in Germany when I was stationed there. She has the import stamp from 1977 from Germany on the rifle.

 All I can say is that "Yes Virginia, there is a recoil difference from the 303 and 308 and Gods own caliber 30-06.

                                                            303, 308 and 30-06