My Daily Kona

Monday, March 24, 2014

Monday Music "The Gambler" with Kenny Rogers

I have several songs with Kenny Rogers on my phone, I have "Ruby, don't take your love to town, " Tell it all brother" and several others along with this song. "The Gambler" It is kinda a short song, but it tells a story and there are nuggets of wisdom in this story basically "know when to hold them and know when to fold them". To me means "don't lose your head, and don't get caught up in the emotions of the moment, and if you have to fold them and take a small loss, that is better than trying to force your luck and lose big."
Here some details of the song and the video.

"The Gambler" is a song written by Don Schlitz and recorded by American country music artist Kenny Rogers. It was released in November 1978 as the title track from his album The Gambler which won him the Grammy award for best male country vocal performance in 1980. Bobby Bare had recorded the song earlier that same year in his album BARE CBS KC35314 (1978). The song was written by Schlitz who had recorded it previously, and had charted at #65 on the country charts with it. It was one of five consecutive songs by Rogers to hit #1 on the Billboard country music charts. On the pop chart, the song made #16 in early 1979. It's become one of Rogers's most enduring hits and a signature song. As of November 13, 2013, the digital sales of the single currently stands at 798,000 copies. The song was also recorded by Johnny Cash for his 1978 album Gone Girl.

The song itself tells the story of a late-night meeting on a train "bound for nowhere" between the narrator and an unnamed man who is the gambler. The gambler tells the narrator that he can tell he is down on his luck ("out of aces") by the look in his eyes and offers him advice in exchange for his last swallow of whisky. After the gambler takes the drink (and a cigarette), he gives the following advice:

“

You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away, know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table,
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.

”

The gambler then mentions that the "secret to survivin' is knowing what to throw away, and knowing what to keep" and that "the best you can hope for is to die in your sleep". At this point, the gambler puts out the cigarette and goes to sleep.
At the end of the song we are told that "somewhere in the darkness, the gambler, he broke even", and that the narrator finds "an ace that I could keep", in his final words. Rogers' rendition in an appearance on TV's The Muppet Show indicates the gambler actually dies in his sleep when he "broke even".

Saturday, March 22, 2014

The story behind "live Long and Prosper" and irreverent thoughts about First vacationers

I was surfing the blogrolls of either BRM,OldNFO or Murphy's law and ran across this Site and in it was the story of the Vulcan salute from Star Trek, well I have been a fan of Star Trek since I saw the reruns in 1970 in Baumholder Germany on AFN the 2nd time we were stationed there? I never knew the back story of the vulcan hand salute. According to a book I have Leonard Nimoy (Who played Spock) suggested it but not the back story of "why" and where did he get the idea. The video was a little over 3 minutes long and it was a neat story.

Now on to the First ~~Family~~ Vacationers,

I Guess going to Camp David is out of the question, Ya notice that where every they vacation at...it is expensive to go there from the resort in Hawaii, to spain, to south africa and to Martha's Vineyard,and everywhere in between the Obama's hang with the 1%ers, despite the campaign rhetoric stating otherwise

I have no problems with rich people, I wish I was rich, but my hangup is that with the debt issues we have and the paring down of the military, the Obama's take some lavish vacations on our dime. If they paid for it all, I could care less it is their money...but in this case, it is OURS...that is my hangup with this. and there are

From our American Media on this, I get information from foreign media sources, This just demonstrates the bias in the American media since they are covering for "their guy" and anything that might be construed as criticism gets squashed. This is from the Dailymail.UK British newspapers

Michelle Obama and three of her family members are staying in a $8,350-per-night Beijing presidential suite, but despite a 24-hour butler and other perks that come with the lodging, her entourage has inconvenienced 'pretty much everyone' and made the hotel staff 'fed up,' a well-placed hotel staffer has told MailOnline.

The sumptuous pad at the Westin Beijing Chaoyang hotel – its website calls the room 'an oasis of comfort – is a 3,400-square-foot masterpiece including a private steam room, 'corner sofas with silk pillows,' and in-room dining for six.

But the Obamas' stay has already affected staff and guests at the hotel, with the Westin front-desk veteran alleging that Mrs. Obama's mother Marian Robinson has been 'barking at the staff since she arrived.'

First lady Michelle Obama, her mother Marian Robinson, and her daughters Sasha and Malia are in Beijing for the beginning of a week-long tour, and their hotel's staff are already tired of them

A senior hotel staffer said Marian Robinson (L), Mrs. Obama's mother, has been 'barking at the staff since she arrived at the hotel

Can you spot the Secret Service? Many of the agents in Mrs. Obama's detail are Asian-American, helping them avoid standing out while they protect the first lady -- but confusing some hotel guests who don't understand why they can't board some elevators

Government security forces from both China and the U.S. started Thursday to screen everyone who entered the building, including paying guests, setting up checkpoints that resemble those at airline concourse entrances.

The Secret Service's monopoly on the hotel's highest floors has meant the Westin had to boot guests with previous reservations out of their executive-level rooms.

Secret Service agents are also monopolizing hotel elevators long before the Obamas need them, added the staffer, who identified himself as a member of the concierge staff and spoke English during a phone call on Friday.

'Many of them are Asian, too, or Americans who are Asian, so you know our guests don't understand.'

More...

'We can't wait for this to be over, to tell you the truth,' he said in a sudden hush. 'We entertain many important people here, but this has been, I think, very different.'

A spokesperson for Mrs. Obama declined to comment.

The Westin Beijing Chaoyang's 'oasis' presidential suite isn't the only part of the hotel that the Obama's have monopolized: Their Secret Service contingent has allegedly bumped some high-paying guests from their rooms

A U.S. Secret Service spokesperson promised answers to MailOnline's questions but didn't provide any in time for publication. The agency generally does not speak publicly about security arrangements for the officials it protects.

A spokesman for Starwood Hotels, which owns the Westin chain, referred questions to Secret Service.

Ordinary Chinese who have met the American first lady have described her in media reports as approachable and friendly, and the hotel staffer agreed.

'The first lady is gracious, and the girls are lovely,' he said.

The Westin employee and another colleague said Sasha and Malia Obama have been on their best behavior because Mrs. Robinson has kept them on a short leash.

They emphasized that they have had a disappointing experience with the protection detail that accompanies Mrs. Obama everywhere.

Wealthy hotel guests bumped from their reserved rooms into other less-luxurious accommodations have inundated the front desk with complaints.

As a condition of the first lady staying at the Westin, the Secret Service blocked off all the rooms near the presidential suite..

The Washington Times reported Thursday that an entourage of about 70 people is accompanying the guests of honor to China at taxpayer expense.

On Board: Travels with the First Lady in China

More guards than guarded? The two first ladies (front) strolled through Beijing's Forbidden City with their protection details close at hand

Blending in: The Secret Service detail guarding Mrs. Obama and her family members includes Asian-American agents like this man

'Mrs. Diplomat': Chinese President Xi Jinping joined in Friday for events that were supposed to include just Mrs. Obama and Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan. The White House has insisted that the trip is a cultural exchange and not a political mission, however.

Delightful: Ordinary Chinese have described Mrs. Obama as a wonderful visitor, but her mother (at C) is allegedly causing hotel staff headaches

The White House has taken pains to frame Mrs. Obama's trip as a cultural journey rather than a political one, but taxpayers are paying through the nose for it nonetheless.

China News Service described the first lady on Friday as 'Mrs Diplomatic,' and the Xinhua news agency dubbed the trip 'an unprecedented and historical moment in the chapter of China–U.S. relations.'

The trip won't come cheap.

Judicial Watch, a watchdog group in Washington, D.C., reports that it cost more than $11 million for President and Mrs. Obama to travel to Africa for Nelson Mandela's memorial service in December.

The first couple were in Africa for less than 13 hours.

The Obamas' 2013 visit to Africa, a longer affair, reportedly cost Americans more than $100 million.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

The Saga of the "Unsinkable" Franklin, 69 years ago today

I was in elementary school in Germany in the 6th grade when I "discovered" the pacific war especially involving carriers and several of them really held my fascination, the first one was the U.S.S. Enterprise CV-6(A Yorktown class carrier one of 3 build) and the U.S.S. Franklin CV-13 an Essex class carrier. During this time I also read up in the battle of Midway where the outnumbered and out classed Americans pulled a decisive victory against the vaunted Japanese naval aviation, whom until this time had a long string of victories against the British, Dutch and American forces in the battle of Java Island in the Philippines forcing the largest surrender of American forces in history, and the sinking of 2 British capital ships, the H.M.S Prince of Wales and H.M.S Repulse proving that the era of the Battleship was over and the Carriers would be supreme and the belief of sending ships without air cover died the same time both ships sank in Dec 10th in the south China sea headed to Singapore to bolster the garrison there. Before Midway, the Japanese raised havoc since December 7th 1941.

After Midway, began the long slog back to the Philippines and to the Japanese Mainland. The Pacific war is noted for its long distance which the new Essex Carriers excelled in and the no quarters given by either side, the savagery was only excelled by the Germans and Russians on the eastern front.

On March 19, 1945 an American Carrier The USS Franklin (CV/CVA/CVS-13, AVT-8), nicknamed "Big Ben," was one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during World War II for the United States Navy, and the fifth US Navy ship to bear the name. Commissioned in January 1944, she served in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations, earning four battle stars. She was badly damaged by a Japanese air attack in March 1945, with the loss of over 800 of her crew, becoming the most heavily damaged United States carrier to survive the war. Movie footage of the actual attack was included in the 1949 film Task Force starring Gary Cooper.

Before dawn on 19 March 1945, Franklin, which had maneuvered to within 80 km (50 miles) of the Japanese mainland, closer than had any other U.S. carrier during the war, launched a fighter sweep against Honshū and later a strike against shipping in Kobe Harbor. Suddenly, a single aircraft – possibly a Yokosuka D4Y "Judy" dive bomber, though other accounts suggest an Aichi D3A "Val", also a dive bomber – pierced the cloud cover and made a low level run on the ship to drop two semi-armor-piercing bombs. The damage analysis came to the conclusion that the bombs were 550 lb (250 kg), though neither the "Val" nor "Judy" had the attachment points to carry two such weapons, nor did the Japanese single-engine torpedo bombers in horizontal bomber mode. (The accounts also differ as to whether the attacking aircraft escaped or was shot down.) However, the Aichi B7A "Grace" had this capability. One bomb struck the flight deck centerline, penetrating to the hangar deck, effecting destruction and igniting fires through the second and third decks, and knocking out the Combat Information Center and air plot. The second hit aft, tearing through two decks.

At the time she was struck, Franklin had 31 armed and fueled aircraft warming up on her flight deck. The hangar deck contained 22 additional planes, of which 16 were fueled and five were armed. The forward gasoline system had been secured, but the aft system was operating. The explosion on the hangar deck ignited the fuel tanks on the aircraft, and gasoline vapor explosion devastated the deck. Only two crewmen survived the fire on the hangar deck. The explosion also jumbled aircraft together on the flight deck above, causing further fires and explosions, including the detonation of 12 "Tiny Tim" air-to-surface rockets.

Franklin lay dead in the water, took a 13° starboard list, lost all radio communications, and broiled under the heat from enveloping fires. Many of the crew were blown overboard, driven off by fire, killed or wounded, but the hundreds of officers and enlisted who voluntarily remained saved their ship. Official Navy casualty figures for the 19 March 1945 fire totaled 724 killed and 265 wounded. Nevertheless, casualty numbers have been updated as new records are discovered. A recent count by Franklin historian and researcher Joseph A Springer (author of INFERNO: The Epic Life and Death Struggle of the USS Franklin in World War II) brings total 19 March 1945 casualty figures to 807 killed and more than 487 wounded. When totaling casualty figures for both Franklin cruises numbers increase to 924 killed in action, the worst for any surviving U.S. warship and second only to that of battleship USSArizona. Certainly, the casualty figures would have far exceeded this number, but for the work of many survivors. Among these were the Medal of Honor recipients Lieutenant Commander Joseph T. O'Callahan, the warship's Catholic chaplain, who administered the last rites

, organized and directed firefighting and rescue parties, and led men below to wet down magazines that threatened to explode; and also Lieutenant JG Donald A. Gary, who discovered 300 men trapped in a blackened mess compartment and, finding an exit, returned repeatedly to lead groups to safety. Gary later organized and led fire-fighting parties to battle fires on the hangar deck and entered the No. 3 fireroom to raise steam in one boiler. The Santa Fe rescued crewmen from the sea and approached Franklin to take off the numerous wounded and nonessential personnel.

Franklin, like many other wartime ships, had been modified with additional armament, requiring larger crews and substantial ammunition stocks. Aircraft were both more numerous and heavier than originally planned for, and thus the flight deck had been strengthened. The aircraft carrier, therefore, displaced more than originally planned, her freeboard was reduced, and her stability characteristics had been altered. The enormous quantities of water poured aboard her to fight the fires further reduced freeboard (exacerbated, on her starboard side, by the list), and her stability was seriously impaired, such that her survival was in jeopardy. Franklin had suffered the most severe damage experienced by any U.S. fleet carrier that survived World War II.

Repairs

The Franklin approaching New York, 26 April 1945.

The USS Franklin, anchored in New York harbor, 28 April 1945.

Franklin was taken in tow by the heavy cruiser Pittsburgh until she was able to raise enough steam to reach a speed of 14 kts (26 km/h), and then she proceeded to Ulithi Atoll under her own power for emergency repairs. Next, she steamed to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where repairs permitted her to steam to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York, via the Panama Canal, where she arrived on 28 April 1945.

Upon Franklin's arrival, a long-brewing controversy over the ship's crew's conduct during her struggles finally came to a head. Captain Gehres had accused many of those who had left the ship on 19 March 1945 of desertion, despite that those who had jumped into the water to escape had done so to prevent a likely death by fire, or had been led to believe that "abandon ship" had been ordered. While en route from Ulithi Atoll to Hawaii, Gehres had proclaimed 704 members of the crew to be members of the "Big Ben 704 Club" for having stayed with the heavily damaged warship, but investigators in New York discovered that only about 400 were actually onboard Franklin continuously. The others had been brought back on board either before and during the stop at Ulithi. All of the charges against the men of her crew were quietly dropped.

Despite severe damage, Franklin was eventually restored to good condition. She had to steam to the East Coast of the United States for repairs in New York because all of the repair shipyards on the West Coast were heavily overloaded with American warships that had been damaged by Japanesekamikazes.

The story of this aircraft carrier's near-destruction and salvage was chronicled in a wartime documentary, the Saga of the Franklin and the 2011 documentary, USS Franklin: Honor Restored.

I have been to the U.S.S Yorktown museum twice with my son's cub scout pack, I enjoyed the visit immensely and one of the artifacts there is the twin 40 MM bofors that came off the Franklin. One of the barrels are warped from the heat. Also you can see the ships bell next to it. There is also a model of the Franklin that shows all the damage that she sustained. I cannot locate that pictures from my stack of pics. I know I have it......somewhere. The story of the U.S.S. Franklin has intrigued me for many years. I amaze people with the amount of naval history I know......For an Army guy.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Foreign Policy regarding Russia

This is a tough post, despite the humor,
The Ukraine is getting robbed by Russia and the world stands by and does nothing. The pisser is that they were expecting us to help. Back in 1994 when the Ukraine gave up their nuclear arms, it was in the promise that we and Europe would help them if they ever got attacked. Well they are getting attacked and we and the Europeans folded like a camp chair(interesting analogy for that describes the messiah), but I digress. Well in 2009 when Obungler sent Hillery to do a "reset" of our relations and it didn't work. Obama unilaterally pulled a missile shield from Poland and Eastern Europe with no concessions from the Russians.

well Obama also promised Putin that he would have more flexibility after the 2012 election and he does. He has thrown our ally and our promise in the dirt, I doubt any other nation will believe anything we say. Politically, the Ukraine is next door to Russia so it is easier for them to get there than we can. But after 13 years of war, our equipment is tired and wore out as our troops, and there is no political will to step up and help. The last country that we promised to help in case they were attacked was South Vietnam and we know how that went.

What happened was that the North invaded the South to unify the country, despite the treaty commitments we had with the South Vietnamese, The Anti-war democrats were firmly ensconced in the Congress, And the political will wasn't there, Gerald Ford had replaced Richard Nixon whom had narrowly avoided impeachment by resigning, the funny thing is that Obama has done far worse than Nixon and the congress refuses to push through impeachment hearings, mostly because the democrats control the senate and that is where the hearing would be held at.
Well after 5 years of Obama and trillions of debt, we are much lessened as a country, and we refuse to honor treaty commitments because Obama is only vicious to the GOP, and the media will cover for him, but overseas the media isn't so in love or have soo much invested in the messiah so they tend to report the truth, not the fantasy that is spun by the ~~propaganda arm of the Democrats~~ Mainstream Media.

After this, I doubt any other country will trust the United States to keep its word, and I guess that is by design since Obama has promised "hope and change" and we have been changed as a nation, and not for the better.

Monday, March 17, 2014

Pretending to be Irish.......

I saw this from GOC and shamelessly clipped it. I found it very funny but unfortunately there is a lot of truth in this cartoon. This is what happens where Affirmative action meets the Peter Principle...

Monday Music.."Going Down to Liverpool" Bangles

I made it back, I had gone camping with the Boy Scouts and I drove back Sunday afternoon, The scheduler worked! I had preloaded 3 things into the scheduler so I would have something pop up in my blog while I was gone and it worked! I was impressed, I had never really used this feature before. I like to put something up at least once a day on my little corner of the internet and I hate leaving it unattended for several days when I go out of town on a camping trip. I will use the scheduler more frequently rather than leave "dead air" so to speak when I have to go somewhere. But I digress. I was driving home and I was thinking of what song to use for my "Monday Music" and I haven't decided and I have this song on my phone along with many others that I play through the "Bluetooth Audio Stream" in my car, well it came on and I decided to use it today. I always liked the Bangles (Besides being hot, I am a guy of course) I considered them very talented musicians...to the scale of Meatloaf? or Fleetwood Mac or KISS or AC/DC...No......But way better than that douche-nozzle bieber that keeps making the news nowadays for various escapades.

"Going Down To Liverpool" is a song written by Kimberley Rew for his group Katrina and The Waves, although best remembered by a cover done by The Bangles. The song was first released on the band's 1982 EP titled Shock Horror! (with the band then simply named The Waves) and also included on their 1983 debut album Walking on Sunshine, which was only released in Canada. The version included on both releases featured Rew on lead vocals.
When the band signed with major label Capitol Records, the song was re-recorded with Katrina Leskanich on lead vocals and included on their 1985 self-titled album . Although never released as a single, it was featured as the b-side of two of the bands' singles, Plastic Man and their breakthrough hit Walking on Sunshine.

American female band The Bangles covered the song on their 1984 major label debut album All Over the Place. The song features lead vocals by Debbi Peterson and it was released as the album's second single, one of only two singles with Peterson on lead vocals, the other being "Be With You". The song had been introduced by a friend to Vicki Peterson, who immediately liked it and urged the band to record a cover.
The single failed to chart in the USA, and became a very minor UK hit in April 1985, peaking at #79. The single's b-side was the album track Dover Beach, while the 12" single featured three songs from their Bangles EP on the b-side.
When the band found success with their subsequent album Different Light, "Going Down To Liverpool" was re-released as a single in the UK and Ireland in 1986, after the release of "If She Knew What She Wants", with new cover artwork and featuring the Different Light album track "Let It Go". This time the single fared better but still only became a minor hit, peaking at #56, while it became a top 40 hit in Ireland peaking at #21.

The music video for the song, directed by Tamar Simon Hoffs, features the band inside a car being driven around by a chauffeur, who appears to be unimpressed by the group (at one point he turns off the car radio, stopping the song). The car stops inside a tunnel and the girls walk towards the end of it, which cuts to the band playing and dancing over a red background. Leonard Nimoy played the part of the chauffeur; this came about due to a college friendship between Susanna Hoffs and Nimoy's son Adam.

Sunday, March 16, 2014

"His and Her side of the bed."

This kinda describes the average bed in the average American home, Another scheduler post. I have several scheduled post stacked in the Que. so something will *hopefully* show up on the blog while I am gone...I will see how this works:)

Saturday, March 15, 2014

"Ode to the Welfare State...."

Funny how things have turned out since this letter was published in 1949.

I also will post a pic that I found in one of the books that my dad had given me a long time ago, I remembered seeing this cartoon and later forgetting about it. I had scanned it and saved it on my computer as future Blog fodder.

VEGANS.......

This is my first post involving using the scheduler this weekend..so we will see. This is a pic that I had in my folder and I figured I would post it.

Friday, March 14, 2014

Economics Professor...

This has made the rounds before I think about 4 years ago, but I decide to dust it off and post it. I also will be messing with the scheduler to see how that works since I will be camping this weekend so hopefully I will have small stuff show up on my blog until I return Sunday afternoon.

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equaliser.

The professor then said "Okay, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan". All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A... (substituting grades for dollars - something closer to home and more readily understood by all).

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.

The second test average was a D! No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.

As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.

These are possibly the 5 best sentences you'll ever read and all applicable to this experiment:

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!
5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

Webster