The 7 variaties of gun control advocates.

I got this from JPFO www.jpfo.org    a very good gun rights website.  If you want to defeat the anti's  with a more compelling argument to gun control than" you suck", check out their website.  They have a wealth of information for you to use.

A Publication of Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership
"Intellectual Ammunition to Destroy Gun Control"

---

THE SEVEN VARIETIES OF
GUN CONTROL ADVOCATE

by
Gus Cotey, Jr.

The right of decent private citizens to personally possess, transport, and responsibly use arms without government interference is the ultimate freedom and the main pillar supporting all other liberties. Few cultures have allowed their general population access to weapons, the tools of power, to the same degree as the United States. Instead, most societies have restricted the keeping and bearing of arms to a select few power brokers and their agents, often resulting in oppression on a grand scale.
Despite a massive amount of historical evidence to the contrary, there is a substantial body of Americans, many occupying positions of influence, who contend that the abrogation of the Second Amendment is the quickest path to domestic tranquility. Since this is as absurd as advocating blood-letting as a cure for anemia, it would seem advisable to question the motives and mentalities of the gun control advocates themselves.
In my observation, weapon prohibitionists can be broken down into seven major categories. Even though their motives may vary they all pose a mortal threat to liberty.

ELITISTS

Many of those in favor of oppressive firearms legislation are are best classed as elitists. Elitists frequently identify with a peer group based on wealth, power, rank, social status, occupation, education, ethnic group, etc. and perceive themselves and their peers as inherently superior to and more responsible than the "common people", thus more deserving of certain rights. Since elitists practically consider those outside their class or caste as members of another species, that most anti-elitist list of laws, the Bill of Rights is viewed by them as anathema. Naturally, the Second Amendment is their first target as it serves as the supporting structure for other nine amendments.

AUTHORITARIANS

Another type of individual who favors the restriction of private gun ownership is the authoritarian. Authoritarian personalities are characterized by their belief in unquestioning obedience to an authority figure or group and a disdain for individual freedom of action, expression, and judgement. Those with authoritarian personalities function well in symbiosis with elitists occupying positions of power. Because authoritarians repress their desires for autonomy they harbor a deep resentment toward free and independent thinkers. Of course authoritarians do not want firearms in the hands of the general population as this constitutes a major obstacle to fulfilling their pathological and obsessive desire to control people.

CRIMINALS

It goes without saying that career criminals would like to see the public disarmed for obvious reasons. A well-armed population makes crimes such as assault, robbery, and burglary hazardous for the perpetrator and this is bad for "business." Also, it would seem that even non-violent or "white collar" criminals live in constant fear of retribution from the public that they financially bleed and would therefore prefer that the public be disarmed. Evidence supporting this hypothesis can be gathered by studying the Second Amendment voting records of those legislators who have been convicted of willful misconduct.

THE FEARFUL

Cowards by definition are easily or excessively frightened by things and situations that are recognized as dangerous, difficult, or painful. It therefore stands to reason that the mere thought of guns and the circumstances in which they are employed causes them abnormal amounts of stress. Rather than admit their weakness to themselves or others, some fearful types jump on the anti-gun bandwagon and purport moral superiority to those "barbaric"enough to employ lethal force against armed assailants by claiming various humanitarian and pragmatic motives for allowing evil to remain unchecked. In reality, many of these individuals harbor an envy induced resentment toward anyone with the means, skill, and will to successfully stand up to criminal aggression.
The desire to assert oneself exists in nearly everyone, wimps included, so cowards seek out tame enemies against whom they can ply their pitiful brand of machismo. Instead of the sociopaths who commit acts of wanton aggression with guns, guns themselves and responsible gun owners are the main targets of their attacks. After all, real criminals are dangerous, so cowards prefer doing battle with inanimate objects that do not have a will of their own and decent law-abiding people whose high level of integrity and self discipline prevent them from physically lashing out against mere verbal assailants, however obnoxious they may be.

IDEOLOGICAL CHAMELEONS

Ideological chameleons follow the simple social strategy of avoiding controversy and confrontation by espousing the beliefs of the people in their immediate vicinity or advocating the philosophy of those who scream the loudest in a debate. Quite a few supposedly pro Second Amendment public officials have shown themselves to be ideological chameleons when they supported restrictions on the private possession of military style semiautomatic rifles following recent atrocities in which such firearms were employed. Like their reptilian namesake, people who merely blend in with the ambient philosophical foliage seem to have little insight into the moral and social ramifications of their actions. Political and/or economic gain along with avoidance of confrontation are their only goals.

SECURITY MONOPOLISTS

Security monopolists are those members and representatives of public and private security providing concerns who want the means of self protection out of private hands so that they can command high fees for protecting the citizenry against the rising tide of crime. These profiteers stand to loose a great deal of capital if citizens can efficiently defend themselves. To the security monopolist, each criminal who enters and exits the revolving door of justice is a renewable source of revenue providing jobs for police, social workers, victim counsellors, judges, prison employees, security guards, burglar alarm installers, locksmiths, and others employed by the security monopolies or their satellite organizations. No wonder it is so common for an honest citizen to be more ruthlessly hounded by the authorities when he shoots a criminal in self defense than a criminal who shoots honest citizens.

THE DYSFUNCTIONALLY UNWORLDLY

Just as a limb will weaken and atrophy if not used, so will aspects of the mind fail to develop if nothing in one's environment exists to challenge them. People who have led excessively sheltered lives tend to have a difficult time understanding certain cause and effect relationships and an even harder time appreciating just how cruel the world can be. These dysfunctionally unworldly types are truly perplexed at the very notion of firearms ownership with regard to defense. To them, tyranny and crime are things that happen in other places far removed from their "civilized" universe. Also, they do not understand the value of private property and why some people would fight for theirs since they never had to work hard to acquire what they possess. While those suffering from dysfunctional unworldliness are most often people who have been born into considerable wealth, this condition is also common in members of the clergy, academicians, practioners of the arts, and others who have spent much of their lives cloistered in a safe and pampering environment. While many of these people may be quite talented and intelligent in some ways, their extreme naivety makes them easy prey for the tyrants who use them for the financial support and favorable advertisement of their regimes. Needless to say, the anti-gun movement is well represented and financed by the dysfunctionally unworldly.
The price of liberty is eternal vigilance, and it behooves all vigilant lovers of liberty to know and be able to recognize the various types of arms prohibitionists and understand their differing but equally dangerous motives. Acquiring knowledge of one's foes is the first step toward defeating them. We must never forget that a threat to private firearms ownership is a threat to all freedoms.
The inalienable and fundamental right to keep and bear arms which is enumerated by (but actually predates) the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is not about hunting, gun collecting, or target shooting. Its purpose is to insure that every responsible American personally possesses the means to defend the Republic from all forms of tyranny, within and without. It is what permits the other nine Amendments in the Bill of Rights to be more than mere hollow phrases on a piece of paper. Its free exercise is the antithesis of serfdom and the only meaningful form of holocaust insurance known to man.
We must never insult and degrade the spirits of our Founding Fathers by permitting the Second Amendment, the pillar of freedom, to be destroyed by the cold flame of legislative ink.

Obama Printing Millions of Paper Coupons, Good for One Gallon of Gas

The next time you decide to go on a trip or vacation, consider getting a bunch of these Gas Coupons.

I didn’t realize it, but these coupons are good for one gallon of gas at most retailers. I have seen them around, but until recently never took advantage of them, I never realized their actual worth.

You probably have one or two just lying around somewhere, now is the time to use them before they lose their value, and it’s too late!!

These coupons can be obtained at most banks and retail stores across America.

Have we learned our lesson yet?.....

I shamelessly borrowed this from a good blog and well worth a read and a save on the bookmarks.http://ogdaa.blogspot.com/

Standard and Poor downgrade the U.S. Debt holding to negative

I got this from Yahoo business news;  it confirms my opinion that we are in an economic hurt and it is going to get worse.  Neither party wants to make the hard calls to rein in the spending.  all Obummer wants to do is soak the rich.  They have no economic policy, no energy policy.  It is like the keystone cops in D.C.  Obummer wants to transform this country and it looks like he will be able to do it with the assistance if a fawning media and a clueless electorate.  I remember a quote from one of our founding fathers" Freedom is 1 generation away from extinction unless the electorate stay vigilant."   I am seeing the freedom in this country fading away, freedom is more than political freedom, it is economic freedom also.  Whey you have to wonder if the gov't is going to seize your stuff in the name of fairness and give it to people that they consider "unfortunate"  And you have no recourse in the rules of law for redress, it will leave a dangerous situation.

By PAUL WISEMAN, AP Economics Writer Paul Wiseman, Ap Economics Writer – 1 hr 5 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Standard & Poor's Ratings Service downgraded its outlook Monday on the United States' sovereign debt, expressing unprecedented doubts over the ability of Washington to bring the massive federal budget deficits under control in the next three years.
The agency lowered the long-term outlook to "Negative" from "Stable," saying there is a one in three chance it will downgrade the rating on the debt in the next two years.
S&P reaffirmed its investment-grade credit ratings on the U.S. long- and short-term debt itself. But it said the ratings are at risk from the country's growing deficit.
It has little confidence that the White House and Congress will agree on a deficit-reduction plan before the fall 2012 elections, the agency said. By that time, the measures won't go into effect until the fiscal year 2014.
The government is on pace to run a record $1.5 trillion deficit this year, the third consecutive deficit exceeding $1 trillion. President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans are sparring over how to reduce the nation's red ink. Their differences over where to cut have put a crucial decision over raising the nation's debt limit in jeopardy.
"We see the path to agreement as challenging because the gap between the parties remains wide," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Nikola G. Swann.
Stocks plunged after the rating agency lowered its outlook The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 200 points in early-morning trading.
S&P said the U.S. has a high-income, diversified and flexible economy that has helped it to encourage growth while containing inflation.
But the country's ballooning deficit could offset those positives over the next two years.
The agency noted that the deficit grew to 11 per cent of gross domestic income in 2009. That is much higher than the average of two per cent to five per cent in the previous six years.
Mary Miller, the assistant Treasury secretary for financial markets, said S&P "underestimates the ability of America's leaders to come together to address the difficult fiscal challenges facing the nation."
The president and Congress are working on ways to reduce budget deficits over the long term, she said.
The fight over the deficit and next year's budget is threatening the government's ability to borrow. Analysts say S&P is warning the two parties not to play politics with the debt ceiling.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Sunday that Republican leaders have privately assured the Obama administration that Congress will raise the government's borrowing limit in time to avoid an unprecedented default on the nation's debt.
But a top Republican quickly pushed back and said there was no guarantee the GOP would agree to increase the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling without further controls on federal spending.
Geithner has said that the government will hit its current limit no later than May 16. But Geithner said it will be able to avoid an unprecedented default on the national debt through various accounting maneuvers for possibly another two months.
___
AP Business Writers Janna Herron in New York and Jeannine Aversa in Washington contributed to this report.

More Airplane stuff

This is a Pic of a Delta 777-232, it is a LR which means that this one can make it to either Johannesburg South Africa from Atlanta nonstop or it can go to Israel or any other places nonstop.  I think the range is up to 11,000 miles.  That is some distance to travel.

Delta repaints the last mainline aircraft with new livery

I got this from one of my airplane blogs that I check outl  I do pay attention with Delta, they are a huge influence in the Atlanta area, and the old southern saying is that you can't go to heaven on your own, Delta runs a waystation to get you there.

April 13, 2011

Photo: Richard takes a look at Ship 970 after it was repainted Wednesday. Delta repainted the final mainline aircraft in the airline’s three-dimensional, red Widget flying across a blue background on Wednesday. Richard, Ed, Steve Gorman, e.v.p. and chief operating officer,  Glen Hauenstein, e.v.p.-Network Planning and Revenue Management, and Neel Shah, chief cargo officer, were on hand to watch the roll-out of the newly repainted plane − Ship 970, an MD-88 − from the Delta TechOps hangar Wednesday morning. The plane received its last coat of paint in the morning and was rolled out of Bay 11 shortly after. The entire mainline Delta fleet as well as all of the premerger Northwest mainline fleet are now in new colors except for aircraft that have been retired. About 729 mainline aircraft have been painted since 2007. “This airplane behind me I think by my count is the first time in the last two decades that we have had our mainline fleet painted in the same livery in perfect paint jobs,” Richard said. “So when you go see all the tails lined up across the system or you are here in Atlanta, you are going to see the same consistent livery. It’s really important because we’ve got to have consistent livery, consistent product and consistent branding worldwide. And this is emblematic of all the progress we have made.” Other than the standard fleet colors, Delta has seven planes in special liveries: the pink plane, endorsing the Breast Cancer Research Foundation; one promoting Habitat For Humanity; five in SkyTeam livery; The Delta Spirit, which was dedicated to employees in 2008; and the newly christened Spirit of Atlanta, commemorating Delta’s 70 years as the city’s hometown airline. The last time the entire Delta fleet was painted in one livery was in March of 1997

Commandments....

 I got this from Musings of a right winger.http://musingsofavastright-winger.blogspot.com..Good site and worth a read

This is a repost for my Liberal commenter.
They think Islam is peaceful religion.
When in fact it is a murdering cult.
That was founded by a pedophile.


A big tip of my hat to USA Admiral.
He originally posted this.

Commandments
10 of them to be exact.
First the real thing:

Next we have the islamic commandments (or part of them) according to a child molesting pedophile who needs no introduction, I present muhammad teh prophet and his very tolerant and caring commandments:

I found this here

And finally some wackiness from the teh one, aka the Kenyan President, light bringer, great bag of socialist shit, and I have taken more vacation time in less that two years than President G. W. Bush did in eight years, but who is counting, certainly not the state run media? Is Mooch-elle O back from her extravagant whirlwind Spanish adventure on the taxpayer's dime? 

I found this here.

And finally some wackiness from the teh one, aka the Kenyan President, light bringer, great bag of socialist shit, and I have taken more vacation time in less that two years than President G. W. Bush did in eight years, but who is counting, certainly not the state run media? Is Mooch-elle O back from her extravagant whirlwind Spanish adventure on the taxpayer's dime? 

Taxes.....and more taxes...

Here at Hope n' Change, we've struggled mightily to come up with an eloquent, accurate, and analytically incisive description of yesterday's "debt reduction" speech by Barack Obama. And in essence, the president's plan is this: "Communism and lots of KY Jelly."

In a style that alternated between folksiness and professorial disdain, the alleged budget cutter said "most Americans tend to dislike government spending in the abstract, but they like the stuff it buys." And he's right; most people like the perks and pork the government doles out to buy their votes. So what's the problem? "Trillions of dollars in unpaid-for tax cuts...tax cuts that went to every millionaire and billionaire in the country."
Of course, the tax cuts also went to every other taxpayer in the country...but admitting it wouldn't really work with his overall theme of inciting hatred and class warfare. Nor would the fact that Barack "spread the wealth" Obama routinely describes people earning $200,000 as "billionaires."

And let's pause to consider the nonsensical phrase "unpaid-for tax cuts." That presumes that politicians are powerless to spend less money (including money they don't have)...and any unpaid bills just mean someone out there just wasn't being taxed enough.

But just what, exactly, will happen if Mr. Obama allows these greedy, miserable, capitalist bastards to hang on to their filthy stolen loot? The alleged president explains, "50 million Americans have to lose their health insurance in order for us to reduce the deficit. Many are someone’s grandparents who wouldn’t be able afford nursing home care without Medicaid. Many are poor children. Some are middle-class families who have children with autism or Down’s syndrome. Some are kids with disabilities so severe that they require 24-hour care."

That's right: the Evil Rich are basically amassing their fortunes by killing people's grandparents and screwing over withered children in wheelchairs. Which is why it's not just okay to hate the Evil Rich, it's practically a patriotic duty.

And that's why the nation's wealthy will be getting off easy if they're only stuck with higher taxes instead of the scalding tar and feathers which they so richly deserve.

It must be true, or the Communist-in-Chief couldn't say so.
-

Fun Fact: The Evil Rich have solid gold jacuzzis filled with orphan's tears!

If someone asked me what is the biggest threat to American security right now, it would be the Democrats call to raise the debt ceiling.  If the debt ceiling is raised there are two likely extreme outcomes.

1. Life goes on as we know it.
2. Our money collapses.

Notice that "life goes on" is an extreme option, this is the 100% best case scenario and it is highly unlikely.  Right now real inflation is heading towards double digits http://www.shadowstats.com/ while Government Approved inflation numbers are around 2% http://www.inflationdata.com/inflation/.  This is typical of a government with its head in the sand and a populace that is unprepared to deal with real issues.

Anyone remember Stagflation?  Well the cycle STARTED around 1972 with OPEC market manipulation and didn't END until the mid 1980s.  Well boys and girls, this time the cycle STARTED with the dotcom burst, was exasperated by 9/11, dropped into a deeper cycle by the housing bubble, and that is the "stagnant" part of the economy.

The "inflation" portion started in 2006 with the election of a Democrat controlled Congress.  Money is being spent, but any financial adviser will tell you that simply spending money is a poor indicator of economic health.  Keynesian economics have never worked to pull a country back from a recession.  The sole successful Keynesian policy in history was the rearming of Germany under Hitler.

So here we are, in debt up to our eyeballs.  We have to borrow money to pay for discretionary spending, ALL discretionary spending.  Why? because we have no money left after the mandatory spending social programs that eat up 100% of all Federal Revenues.

Let me put it this way.  The FBI, ATF, DOD, DOJ, FAA, ICE, USM, DOEngy, DOEd, EPA, IRS, CIA, and the rest of the alphabet soup agencies, all their budgets are on borrowed dimes that adds to future MANDATORY SPENDING in the form of interest payments.

As anyone who has ever run into trouble with interest payments on credit cards will tell you, you might be able to swap your debt around for a little while, but unless you STOP SPENDING and start PAYING DOWN the debt eventually you will go BANKRUPT.

And when a nation goes bankrupt their currency becomes worthless.

So, the Current Administrations call to "Raise the Debt Ceiling" is a call to destroy currency.  The US Dollar can lose its status as a "reserve currency" overnight and become worthless internationally as well as domestically.  It happened to the German Mark, it happened to the Russian Ruble.  It happened to the Mexican Peso.  It will happen to the Dollar.

We can't raise taxes out of this mess (see Hauser's Law and the Laffer Curve) so either the Government is trying to make our money worthless to break China's financial hold on us (unlikely, that would require cunning genius instead of proven idiocy) or like the Wiemar republic,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation_in_the_Weimar_Republic simply printing money willy nilly until the debt is paid.  Either way, we the people lose.

airplane news

NEW YORK – The biggest version yet of Boeing's iconic 747 could soon be flying into airports that have never seen aircraft that large, raising hackles among some airport neighbors.
Medium-size airports in Toledo, Ohio; Rockford, Ill., and Huntsville, Ala. are among those asking the Federal Aviation Administration for approval to receive the massive 747-8 freighter. Boeing expects to deliver the first planes to customers later this year.
The airports are eager to grab a share of the air cargo market, which is growing faster than passenger traffic as the economy recovers. But some residents feel threatened by the big cargo planes currently flying over their homes and doubt Boeing's claims that the new 747 won't be as noisy.
"When the planes come over, you just want to duck," said Mary Rose Evans, president of the Airport Neighbors Alliance in suburban Louisville. Evans said her house is just 500 feet below the flight path of incoming cargo planes.
The 747-8 is the biggest airplane Boeing has built, with a wingspan 11 feet wider and a body 18 feet longer than the current 747-400 model. Despite its size, Boeing says the 747-8 will be 30 percent quieter.
The 747-8 is now in testing. It's in the same new size category as the superjumbo Airbus 380. But while the A380 comes exclusively in a passenger version and flies only out of big international hubs like New York, the 747-8 has attracted the attention of cargo companies that intend to fly into lesser-known airfields.
For airports, cargo is big business. Air freight rose 10 percent between 2009 and 2010, from 20.7 million tons to 22.9 million. Growth in cargo far outstripped passenger service, which rose only 2 percent during the same period, from 767 million travelers to 782 million.
Getting approval for the 747-8 could woo more of that traffic, said Paul Toth, chief executive officer of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, which operates the Toledo Express Airport.
"When it comes to smaller airports, we think this kind of gives us a leg up," said Toth said.
But residents have fought airport expansion in courts in Toledo, Louisville, Indianapolis and other cities. Some worry about the damage a large freighter could cause if it crashes.
"Any mention of more planes or larger planes is a concern to us," said Brenda Jay, a resident in suburban Indianapolis. She and other homeowners lost a lawsuit against the city's airport, a major cargo hub, in 2007.
Ted Rueter, director of advocacy group Noise-Free America, based in Albany, N.Y., believes the airports in medium-size communities are more concerned about money than "protecting citizens and minimizing noise."
The new Boeing falls into the largest class of airplane, known in the United States as Airplane Design Group VI. Most U.S. airports cannot legally handle these planes because of FAA space requirements aimed at keeping planes from bumping into each other or airport structures while taxiing.
But the FAA can issue a waiver, known as a modification of standards, if an airport agrees to certain new procedures, such as only using certain taxiways or routing other planes farther away when a 747-8 is moving around the airfield. At Rockford, Ill., officials promised to inspect a taxiway for any broken pavement or other debris every time a 747-8 taxis past.
The FAA has approved 747-8 waivers for 14 airports, compared to three waivers for the A380.
"It's a competitive issue for us," said Butch Roberts, deputy director of the Huntsville, Ala. airport. "We need to make it so our customers don't have to take their planes to Atlanta, for example."
Boeing says it is working with airports to win approval for 13 others, including Charleston, S.C., Louisville, K.Y. and Charlotte, N.C. Not all of those airports may require a waiver. In some cases, the FAA may decide they're already capable of handling Group VI aircraft.
"One of our selling points in this marketplace was that we wanted to make it where, if you could fly a '47-400 on that route you could fly a '47-8 on that route," said Boeing spokesman Jim Proulx.
Another 30 airports are approved as alternate landing sites in case a 747-8 has to land due to an emergency or bad weather.
On Monday Boeing released footage of the 747-8 freighter being put through roller-coaster climbs and dips to test its strength. The passenger version of the plane had its maiden flight last month.
The company says it has 109 orders for the 747-8, 76 of them freighters.
Atlas Air, a Purchase, N.Y. cargo company that flies to Toledo and other U.S. airports, has ordered 12 and expects to receive the first later this year. The cargo arm of Emirates Airlines, which also makes stops in Toledo, has ordered 15. Cargolux of Luxembourg, which flies to Huntsville, has ordered 13.
Ken Ryan, the director of cargo operations at the Rockford airport, has heard from foreign cargo airlines interested in finding a cheaper alternative to Chicago's O'Hare. Companies can save about $20,000 per 747 because of Rockford's lower landing fees, free aircraft parking, shorter taxi times and more direct approaches, he said.
Ryan said the 747-8 is likely to be an infrequent visitor to most airports until the fleet grows larger. And Boeing believes residents will find the 747-8 no more intrusive than other planes, Proulx said.
"They'll find out they're more quiet than previous generations," Proulx said. "It shouldn't be a problem at all."

Today in History.....

 I am a student of history and I studied the civil war( war between the states to us in the south and to some " The war against yankee aggression).  this was cost the most American lives in 4 years it cost over 600,000 American lives.  There have been families that lost many family members and there have been brother against brother.  The reasons for the civil war  run the gamit from slavery, states rights, economic survival and just plain self centeredness.  the south fired on Fort Sumter. 

Fort Sumter   
Other Names: None
Location: Charleston County
Campaign: Operations in Charleston Harbor (April 1861)
Date(s): April 12-14, 1861
Principal Commanders: Maj. Robert Anderson [US]; Brig. Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard [CS]
Forces Engaged: Regiments:  580 total (US 80; CS est. 500)
Estimated Casualties: None
Description: On April 10, 1861, Brig. Gen. Beauregard, in command of the provisional Confederate forces at Charleston, South Carolina, demanded the surrender of the Union garrison of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. Garrison commander Anderson refused. On April 12, Confederate batteries opened fire on the fort, which was unable to reply effectively. At 2:30 pm, April 13, Major Anderson surrendered Fort Sumter, evacuating the garrison on the following day. The bombardment of Fort Sumter was the opening engagement of the American Civil War. Although there were no casualties during the bombardment, one Union artillerist was killed and three wounded (one mortally) when a cannon exploded prematurely while firing a salute during the evacuation on April 14.
Result(s): Confederate victory
CWSAC Reference #: SC001
Preservation Priority: III.1 (Class A)
National Park Unit: Fort Sumter NM

 Both the North and south expected the war to be short. The north had 90 day enlistments and the atmosphere was party until the first battle of manassas( or bull run to the yanks) it was a defeat for the north and bolstered the hopes of the south whom was hoping that England and France would recognize the south as an independent nation.  The civil war was the first modern war, with rifled barrels, machine guns(gatlings) rifled cannons(Parrott rifles) multishot pistols(navy 1861) and aviation assets(observation balloons)  The problem was the linear tactics( walk in a straight line into the guns of your enemy worked during the time of napoleon with accuracy hit or miss at 50 yards to the rifles of the 1861 Springfield with 300 yard accuracy normal, the same with the artillery.  The tactics didn't keep up with technology.  the same lessons will be learned in the first world war with the same tactics from the time of Napoleon against Mausers and Maxims. 
      U.S. Grant the first Union General after several others have failed against R.E. Lee and the vaunted Army of northern virginia that has defeated all others before him. U.S. Grant who understood that this was total war and utilized the entire resources of the north to crush the south, while he kept  Robert E.Lee and the south distracted, he sent his able subordinate General Sherman through what he called the soft underbelly of the south and made his famous march to the sea and made the south howl, it showed to the citizens of the south that they couldn't defend themselves.  it was the first instance of modern warfare, using the total resources of the north to crush the south.  Robert  E.Lee and the army of northern Virginia was the center of gravity for the southern fight for independence.  Realizing the R.E.Lee was dedicated to protecting Richmond,  U.S.Grant basically overstretched the supply lines of the confederacy and they couldn't adapt.
 
On April 9, 1865 after four years of Civil War, approximately 630,000 deaths and over 1 million casualties, General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, at the home of Wilmer and Virginia McLean in the town of Appomattox Court House , Virginia. General Lee arrived at the Mclean home shortly after 1:00 p.m. followed a half hour later by General Grant. The meeting lasted approximately an hour and a half. The surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia allowed the Federal Government to bring increased pressure to bear in other parts of the south and would result in the surrender of the remaining field armies of the Confederacy over the next few months.
On April 26th General Joseph Johnston surrendered to Major General W. T. Sherman near Durham, North Carolina (Bennett Place State Historical Park), on May 4th General Richard Taylor (son of Zachary Taylor 12th President of the United States) surrendered at Citronelle, Alabama, on June 2nd General Edmund Kirby Smith surrendered the Confederate Department of the Trans Mississippi to Major General Canby, and on June 23rd General Stand Watie surrendered Cherokee forces in Oklahoma.
The Terms
Lieutenant General U. S. Grant wrote the terms for the surrender of the Confederate States Army of Northern Virginia in the form of a letter from himself to General Lee. The terms of the letter were generous and would allow the former Confederates to return home feeling that they had been treated with respect and dignity.

   

More Humor

Something for you facebook junkies.......

Difference between fairy tale and war story....

What is the difference between a Fairy tale and a War story...?


Well a Fairy tale starts out" Once up a time......."

A war story starts out..." This is no shit........"

Gas prices...

Well here is something to think about...

I remember a comparison that when "W" was in office gas was $1.87 a gallon.  Now we are again looking at $4.00 or more for gas.  Nothing like stifling the economy with more uncertainty, federal regulations, an overly aggressive EPA and the policy of no drilling in ANWR and the Gulf of Mexico.  maybe the unicorn farts, windmills and solar can do something.  I forgot to mention nuclear energy...wait, the liberals hate nuc's.  I guess the lefties and environmental wacko's will be happy when we are back to an pre-industrial  age and everybody is one with gaia.   What a load of crap, this is what happens when we have an administration that has no energy policy, no idea how the world really runs except in what is preached in one of those pie in the sky no grasp on reality crap that is popular with leftist that still pines for the socialist utopia that somehow collides with reality,

More Airplane stuff

I started messing with Wiki and typing in big airplanes and this airplane showed up.  it was the B-36 peacemaker and in its time it was the 1950's version of the B-2 bomber in terms of cost.

The Convair B-36 "Peacemaker"^{[N 1]} was a strategic bomber built by Convair and operated solely by the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1949 to 1959. The B-36 was the largest mass-produced piston engine aircraft ever made. It had the longest wingspan of any combat aircraft ever built (230 ft or 70 m), although there have been larger military transports. The B-36 was the first bomber capable of delivering any of the nuclear weapons in the US arsenal from inside its two bomb bays without aircraft modifications. With a range greater than 6,000 mi (9,700 km) and a maximum payload of 72,000 lb (33,000 kg), (and thereby having the ability to carry both the United States' atomic fission and fusion weapons), the B-36 was the world's first manned bomber with an unrefueled intercontinental range.


    More at this linkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_B-36

Largest transport airplane takes pumps to Japan to help with the damaged reactor

 As Y'all know...I tend to post a lot of political stuff, but I also throw airplane stuff into the mix.   Well today the biggest transport in the world flew into the Atlanta Airport to take a pump to Japan.  Well since I like airplanes and anything aviation, I posted these pics.

ATLANTA — Two gigantic concrete pumps — described as the largest such equipment in the world — will soon be on their way to join the machinery being used to pour water on damaged reactors in Japan's nuclear crisis, company officials said Thursday

The two machines are normally used to spray concrete for new skyscrapers, bridges and other massive construction projects.
The machines are now being retrofitted in North Charleston, S.C., and Sante Fe Springs, Calif. That will allow them to spray water instead of concrete on the nuclear reactors, said Kelly Blickle, a spokeswoman at Putzmeister America Inc. in Sturtevant, Wisc. The German firm manufactured the equipment.
Initially, the machines would be used to shoot water on the reactor, Blickle says.
But if a decision is made to encase a reactor in concrete — similar to a method used in the 1986 Chernobyl disaster — the machines would be capable of doing that as well, Blickle said.
The firm used its machines to entomb the Chernobyl site in concrete, and Blickle says it already has some equipment helping to shoot water at the site of the Japanese disaster.
However, those pumps are not as large as the two being prepared to be shipped to Japan in April. Each one weighs about 190,000 pounds, and their booms can reach 227 feet — farther than any of the booms now being used to spray water on the Japanese reactors, Blickle says.
"They will be able to direct the water to the source of the highest radiation," says Jerry Ashmore, president of Ashmore Concrete Contractors Inc. of Augusta, Ga.
Ashmore's company has used one of the two machines at the federal government's Savannah River site along the Georgia-South Carolina border.
The plan is to load both of them onto airplanes — one at Los Angeles International Airport and the other at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport — for April 9 flights to Japan. The dates are tentative, and some logistics must still be worked out.
"We're trying to get the permits necessary to move them over the state of Georgia roads to Atlanta," Ashmore said.
They are to be flown to Japan in two Russian Antonov AN-225 Mriya Super Heavy Transport planes, the world's largest aircraft, Blickle said. The planes were designed to transport the Russian Space Shuttle, she said.
She said the company will also send technicians who can train operators on using the pumps.
A spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power Co., which runs the troubled plant, said he did not have any information on pumps coming from the U.S.
The situation in Japan is different than in Chernobyl, where concrete was used to encase the facility, said Edward Morse, professor of nuclear engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.
"This is not a Hail Mary Chernobyl where they're going to start slopping concrete all over everything," Morse said.
Rather, Morse thinks a likely scenario at some point would involve constructing a building to surround the structure, complete with a roof.
However, instead of completely sealing or entombing the plant, Morse believes the structure will still allow some access to the site so that workers can get back in if necessary.


     Here is a size comparison of the biggest airplanes

And I have to post a pic of my favorite airplane:)

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