Thursday - April 19, 2012
I Guess It’s Race Day After All
Two good reads if you can spare 20 minutes or so.
Bruce Walker at American Thinker looks at the history of Race, Republicans, and Democrats, but stops his history about when Nixon left the building.
What caused the change in the attitude of blacks towards the two political parties was not any real perception of Goldwater as a bigot, which he emphatically was not, but rather upon the perceived benefit to blacks of socialism and of statist intervention in the private affairs of Americans.
Socialism promises those who are at the bottom of society greater affluence by the redistribution of wealth. Historically, that noxious doctrine has had very little appeal in America because groups have entered America destitute and, through dint of hard work, have risen to the heights of society within a generation or two.
GOP historian, speaker, and author Michael Zak points out a big handful of detail errors in the comments there at AT ... and the comments there are worth reading ... and then goes on to pen his own essay today at Human Events, concerning the very first Civil Rights Act:
Ominously, the assassination of the Great Emancipator [Lincoln] had left the presidency to his Democrat vice president, Andrew Johnson. Senator Lyman Trumbull (R-IL), co-author of the 13th Amendment banning slavery, also wrote the 1866 Civil Rights Act. Republican support was nearly unanimous, while Democrats were unanimously opposed. This would be the first time Congress overrode a presidential veto of a significant bill.
The law conferred U.S. citizenship on all African-Americans, according them “full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of person and property as is enjoyed by white citizens.” Despite Democrat objections, Republicans made sure African-Americans had the right to own property, engage in business, sign contracts and file lawsuits.
Andrew Johnson refused to enforce this law in the southern states, so it had little effect there. However, many racially discriminatory laws in the North were repealed or struck down as a result.
Yet in a big picture way, Walker’s essay, Zak’s writings, and Coulter’s paragraphs are all tied together. They all do a Breitbart and fight the meme, the oldest one, that the GOP is against black people. Which is a huge crock, and always has been. Since 1854.
Posted by Drew458
on 04/19/2012 at 02:32 PM
Filed Under: • Politics • Racism and race relations •
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Permalink • Ann is 75% right
Ann Coulter’s latest, Negroes With Guns:
We don’t know the facts yet, but let’s assume the conclusion MSNBC is leaping to is accurate: George Zimmerman stalked a small black child and murdered him in cold blood, just because he was black.
If that were true, every black person in America should get a gun and join the National Rifle Association, America’s oldest and most august civil rights organization.
Apparently this has occurred to no one because our excellent public education system ensures that no American under the age of 60 has the slightest notion of this country’s history.
After the war, Democratic legislatures enacted “Black Codes,” denying black Americans the right of citizenship—such as the rather crucial one of bearing arms—while other Democrats (sometimes the same Democrats) founded the Ku Klux Klan.
For more than a hundred years, Republicans have aggressively supported arming blacks, so they could defend themselves against Democrats.
There is not one word or idea in her essay that is wrong. I give her a 75% grade because she doesn’t address the sticky side of the problem: aside from this instance in Sanford Florida, the vast majority of gun crimes are committed by black people. Against everyone. And that’s the rub. And it’s not all black people at all; most of it is done by a small segment, a precise demographic in age, gender, and locale. A very tight Venn diagram. And I don’t see any kind of legal solution in sight, especially not when a very large part of that gun crime committing group attains their firearms outside of the control of the law. I’m not even saying that this is illegal, because in some instances it isn’t, although in most instances it is. I’m just sticking up my head, waiting to be hit with the “racist” whack-a-mole mallet, pointing out that no laws, new or old, are going to stop this portion of our population from acquiring firearms. I’m also not sure that I can condemn those people from ignoring the laws in order to arm themselves.
But I can condemn the use of those arms. Using your gun to commit a crime. Being so unstable and irresponsible that you “pop a cap” in someone because they got in your way or looked at you funny? That’s insanity. Depravity. Because someone was critical of your behavior? “They dissed me!” Really? What makes you think you were deserving of kowtowing respect in the first place? Was it your fashion sense, with your bottom hanging out of your ill fitting pants?
I agree with Ann: Gun Control is Black Control. Always has been, always will be. And the vast majority of it comes from the Left. It is not the solution. The solution is Self Control. Self respect. Morals. Ethics. Honesty. Family values. Parenting skills. Enlightenment through education. Membership in a beneficent faith, not one that calls for violence against non-believers. Tolerance.
The best way to avoid violence is to not be among violent people, and to not share their way of life but to abhor it. It all boils down to knowing the difference between right and wrong, and having the drive for self improvement (character as well as financial). That’s what civilization is all about.
Even barbarian cultures know right from wrong. They have a whole set of tribal values that say Do This, Don’t Do That, honor the clan, this is what makes a boy a man, a girl a woman, this is how we raise our children, and so forth. It’s only mindless animals that use wanton violence against anything and everything, including their own. And it takes generations of concerted effort to destroy cultures, religions, family values, the drive for self improvement, the pride of self reliance, and the education system that results in degrading people to the feral level. I’m pretty sure President Johnson called that his Great Society Plan.
I’m hoping Ann now writes Part Two and fills in the gaps, earning the “A” she is more than capable of.
Posted by Drew458
on 04/19/2012 at 12:20 PM
Filed Under: • Guns and Gun Control •
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Permalink • Wednesday - April 18, 2012
wanted. cops with no opinions. must be pc.
Question.
Why can’t off duty police logged on to Facebook or Twitter make unkind remarks on what they see? I Don’t understand why they can’t. OK, some remarks may not be fair. In this case, I’m sure not all of the ladies were actually “tramps” as described. Perhaps many looked it though. But what got my attention was another issue where some cops are, “under investigation” for comments about wanting to beat up rioting students and describing a suspected paedophile who flashed at children in a play area as ‘a dirty scum pervert’.
They didn’t say they’d actually beat up anyone. Only that they’d like to. Is there any cop alive anywhere who wouldn’t like to smack the hell out of some of those grinning, smug stone throwing punks who, ‘know their rights?’ You know the type. You’ve all seen em and many of you would like to take a bat to them yourselves. Cops who talk that way are an exact mirror of what the public thinks and wishes they would do. And what’s wrong with describing someone who flashed children as perverted scum? What else are they if not that? I’m not suggesting we revive the Gestapo but hell, I think the police need to be given some kind of slack. If authorities find inappropriate behavior and clear breaches of law, that’s one thing. But holding opinions most of the public also have shouldn’t be cause for investigations. Should it? Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I have the wrong slant on things. Alright. If they can’t express what they think between themselves on a social networking site, where would it be okay? In the privacy of their homes? How about out with the guys for a pint and they get talking among friends and fellow officers. But then are overheard by a hand wringing member of the public.
As for remarks made about race goers, they see the worst cases of public drinking and bad behavior. And based on photos we’ve seen here and there over time, because those are the pix the papers just love to publish, there’s a bit of truth in the charge they make.
I’m surprised anyone would want to be a copper these days.
Constable faces inquiry after tirade at Ladies’ Day ‘tramps’
A constable with Merseyside Police is under investigation after launching a tirade against women attending Ladies’ Day at Aintree - accusing them of being heavy drinkers and bad parents.
By Nick BrittenPc David Crawford took to Facebook to mock the women, calling them “tramps” and accusing them of being cheap and common.
He finished his rant with the words: “Ladies Day - more like Halloween”.Ladies’ Day at the Liverpool course, held two days before the Grand National, is the most high-profile event of its kind in British horse racing and a highlight of the British fashion calendar.
the day clearly did not go down with Pc Crawford. He wrote: “Enjoy ‘ladies’ day – ladies” before accusing them of being “back to drinkLambrini at 10 in the morning watching Jeremy Kyle whilst shouting the kids ‘Britney and Tyson come down for ya pork scratching breakfast’.”
He went on to comment on the use of “ten quid fake bake tan....smeared all over the place” and ended with: “Tramps! Ladies Day - more like Halloween! Rant over.”
He went on in response to a comment back at him to say it “does me head in”.
Whilst his comments may have been appreciated as a bit of a joke by some of his friends on Facebook, Merseyside police have taken a stronger view and have referred complaints of the outburst to the force’s standards department.
A spokesperson from the force said: “We have been made aware of some comments made on a social networking site by a person who may be a serving police officer about an event.
“The matter has been referred to the Force’s Police Standards Department.
Fact is, his statement with regard to fake tans was spot on, as one newspaper published a photo of one lady with her tan running down her back in the rain.
Posted by peiper
on 04/18/2012 at 12:16 PM
Filed Under: • Daily Life •
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Permalink • Cats Too
First it was Obama eating dogs. Now it’s cats. No, not Obama eating cats, although that would not surprise me but I have no proof and haven’t even heard such a rumor yet. But big cats. Made of steel. Fast ones too. Here ya go, in response to Peiper’s email about some rumor of some giant Chinese catamaran aircraft carrier in the works. Relax, that one is just rumor. For now. But this next one is one bad ass looking boat. Me want!
May 18, 2011 Austal’s largest catamaran built to date, the 113 metre “Leonora Christina”, was recently handed over to her owners, marking completion of construction of the high speed vehicle-passenger ferry at Austal’s Henderson shipyard.
“Leonora Christina” was constructed for Danish company Færgen (formerly Nordic Ferry Services) and is due to depart Austal’s Henderson shipyard for Denmark this week, where it will be operated by Bornholmer Færgen, a subsidiary of Færgen.
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“After participating in recent sea trials, I am satisfied that “Leonora Christina” has fulfilled its speed requirements, while its proven seakeeping capabilities will ensure maximum passenger comfort throughout the 90 minute journey from Bornholm to Ystad,” said Senior Captain Schow.
Austal Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Bellamy, congratulated employees at Austal’s Henderson shipyard on the completion of “Leonora Christina”, commenting that the vessel will soon be the pride of Bornholmer Færgen’s fleet.
Austal was awarded the contract to build “Leonora Christina” in April 2009, following a competitive international tender process which saw Austal utilise its in-house design team and experience to develop a highly customised vessel design that met all of Færgen’s requirements for the route. “Leonora Christina” has also been built to comply with stringent Danish regulations, covering environmental noise, wave-wash and exhaust emissions, as well as ergonomic working arrangements for the crew and strict fire and safety standards.
Seating for the vessel’s 1,400 passengers is spread over the upper and bridge decks. Ample room and luxury fittings are evident throughout the vessel’s refined, high quality interior, which reflects contemporary Scandinavian design aesthetics. Natural lighting and timber finishing deliver a feeling of light and space throughout the vessel, with large skylights located in the vessel’s atrium completing the look.
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The vessel’s three vehicle decks offer a total capacity of 300 truck lane metres, or a maximum of 357 cars, which are accessible via both bow and stern ramps, ensuring efficient ‘drive through’ loading and unloading of the vessel, thereby keeping turnaround times to a minimum.
Austal is a ship building company in Perth Australia. The Christina, 112.6m long, 26.2m wide, displacing 10,371 tons looks more like an oversize racing motorboat than a staid ferry. I love the design.
She is currently performing the daily ferry run between Rønne (Bornholm in Denmark) and Ystad in Sweden, barring a few early teething issues. The ferry company operates several other similar but smaller catamaran ships as well. More pics and info at Wiki.
At first there was some concern about the name of the ship, given who Leonora Christina was and what she did and how people feel about that today, but they took a vote and this name one. Or, as they say in Danish, “Navne Dramaet om ny Bornholmer Færgen er slut” (new name drama for Bornholm Ferry is over).
Bornholm’s new fast ferry will be named after King Christian 4’s daughter Leonora Christina. It is common after a vote in which 9,340 people have cast their votes, which ended last Friday. The result of the referendum were published Monday dinner. Over 50 percent of those who voted, voted for Leonora Christina, according to TV2 Bornholm.
Thus the ship painter on the sunny island does not work in this game. For ferry is a short time ago over the place at the shipyard in Australia. And even then was the princess’s name painted on the bow and stern. However, there arose a massive protest from opponents who believed that Leonora Christina’s national traitor because of his marriage to Corfitz Uldfeldt who sat on the Swedish side, since the Peace of Roskilde was signed, and Denmark had to refrain Skåne, Halland, Blekinge and Bornholm.
The vote was printed by the company Bornholm ferry after protests emerged. But now a majority then determined that the ferry’s name must remain as originally proposed.
As far as I know, the Leonora Christina is the largest operational catamaran anywhere. Daewoo is building one nearly 10 times larger, the Pieter Schelte, to work on undersea pipe, but that ship is taking a very long time to get built.
Posted by Drew458
on 04/18/2012 at 11:43 AM
Filed Under: • planes, trains, tanks, ships, machines, automobiles •
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Permalink • Bad Dog
Guess Obama’s latest “barking dog” campaign strategy has turned on it’s master and has bitten him in the ankles.
I’d seen little bits about this one, where Romney and his family took a car ride once, oh, about 30 years ago I think it was, and they had the dog in a carrier on the car roof. Oh, the horrors! Such a BFD. Not. Hey, my mother smoked when she was pregnant with me, I ate the horrid rat-cancer causing sweetener cyclamates when I was a kid, and my brother and I had several rides in the back of a pickup truck - with no seat belts or kiddie safety chairs! Terrorism!!
But now it’s come out that Obama has done far worse than Dog On A Hot Steel Roof. Like Dog On A Stick. In his own words, from Recipes from my Father or one of those other autobiographies he’s had written for him, it turns out that Teh Won actually ATE his dog when he was a tyke. Well, perhaps not his dog, but some dog. Chomp. Ouch! Run for your life Bo!
Wardmama comments that there is a whole new web site, twitchy.com, to help you stay abreast of all the latest tweet-memes, and a whole cookbook full of exciting Obama dog dishes has emerged. Mango Lassie, German Shepard’s Pie, Chihuahua Chimichangas. It is to laugh. Or bark!
Posted by Drew458
on 04/18/2012 at 11:24 AM
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Humor •
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Permalink • SOLDIER DEFENDS ISRAEL, SOLDIER GETS THE PC AX
Where to begin today?
How about this.
Israel. One BOO and one Hoo-ray!
First the well done part.
Seems a group of bedwetting, left wing Israel hating, Pal loving libtards were stopped from entering Israel to demonstrate and protest on behalf of the Pals.
State security or whatever dept. was in charge, had dozens of “activists” barred from boarding flights to Tel Aviv, thus suppressing a mass fly in of pro Palestinian protesters. Dozens more were denied entry after landing.
Good!
It’s bad enough when a country has its own internal handwringers pleading the case for the other side. And who knows. There might be some sort of case with regard to the settlements but I honestly don’t know. But that’s all beside the point.
Israel does NOT need nor does it want foreign ass-wipes coming onto its territory or into their country, to disrupt life for its citizens who already put up with same on an almost daily basis.
So three cheers Israel for keeping the filthy scum, the useless vermin who are your enemy, out of your country. Well done.
BOO
NOT so well done however, and BOO dear Israel for the persecution of one of your own brave soldiers who more then likely just got tired of the in your face confrontational approach as practised by the vermin left.
The Israeli military suspended a senior officer who was caught on film assaulting (it was said) an unarmed activist. What’s the problem?
Here’s the scene. A foreign activist, and schmuck from Denmark, a part of the world that gave us political correctness and multi-culturism thank you for nothing you block heads, got in the face of Lt. Col. Eisner. This ridiculous Danish dunce I am certain asked for it and so Lt. Col. Eisner gave it to him.
He smashed the ‘activist’ in the face with his rifle.
Kudos to Lt. Col. Eisner. Well done sir and I wish you well.
That silly assed foreigner had no right entering your country and causing aggro on your turf.
BOO to the Israel military for suspending this good and loyal officer serving his country.
OK, I’ve had my say on the subject and been a bit wordy.
Now read what Col. Eisner has to say.
Posted by peiper
on 04/18/2012 at 10:31 AM
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Permalink • Tuesday - April 17, 2012
sunny day
Posted by Drew458
on 04/17/2012 at 04:16 PM
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Permalink • Tax Day
Tax day! Get all your forms together and get to the Post Office. Time to pay your fair share. Just be glad you’re getting off so lightly this year ... Teh Won has all but promised to raise the rates as soon as he gets re-elected.
Posted by Drew458
on 04/17/2012 at 07:59 AM
Filed Under: • Taxes •
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Permalink • Monday - April 16, 2012
Ticket Proof
Russian Academic Beats $400 Driving Ticket With Math And Physics
A UCSD physicist was able to argue his way out of a traffic ticket with a bit of audacity and four pages worth of complex mathematics.
Dmitri Krioukov, a senior research scientist at the University of California, San Diego, was issued a ticket for failing to completely stop at a stop sign. Rather than eat the $400 charge, Krioukov decided to fight, producing a four page paper entitled “The Proof of Innocence,” arguing that it was physically impossible for him to violate the law.
It worked.
“The judge was convinced, and the officer was convinced as well,” Krioukov told PhysicsCentral.
By emphasizing the difference between linear and angular velocity, Krioukov argued that what the police officer witnessed was actually an illusion inconsistent with reality. It’s the same reason why trains seem to move slowly when they’re far away but then speed up when they’re close—even when the actual velocity has remained constant.
“Therefore my argument in the court went as follows: that what he saw would be easily confused by the angle of speed of this hypothetical object that failed to stop at the stop sign. And therefore, what he saw did not properly reflect reality, which was completely different,” Krioukov told NBC San Diego.
Full proof paper here.
Good for Dr. Krioukov that he made it work, but I’m going to guess that both the judge and the cop were simply ... wait for it ... blinded by science.
I have no idea if a little back channel communication between the University head and the county Justice League went on, but I’m wondering if the word got put out to let this one slide. Because, while I’m certain that Dr. K meant well, this is the biggest example of Wise Ass College Kid behavior I’ve ever seen, regardless of how old the guy might be. But if he got to court and set up his chalkboard and then gave a good lecture and wasn’t completely patronizing, keeping his patience and answering any interjections in a way that Everyman could understand, then the judge probably gave him an “A” for effort and the entertainment value thereof, and let it go. Heaven knows, sitting on the bench in traffic court listening to the moronic BS coming from most offenders must be akin to some kind of punishment for a judge.
And I’m jealous. Really.
I hate to say it, but I had this basic idea more than two decades ago, and it didn’t work. Use math and science to beat the rap, because they are above the law and are irrefutable. Ok, my thesis was slightly different, based on harmonic damping. When you stop quickly, the nose of your car will dive a bit towards the ground and then rebound. If you actually come to a stop, no matter how firmly sprung and damped your vehicle is, the harmonic will repeat itself at least once to a lesser degree. Dive, Bounce, dip, bounce. If you fake the stop by jumping on the brakes and then stabbing the gas, the car goes Dive Bounce, lift. That’s physics, and unlike a traffic ticket you can’t beat it. And you can see it, you can see the difference from 50 yards away. Furthermore, my thesis is not hinged on a special point of observation or the special circumstances of something else momentarily getting in the observer’s way, as is Dr. K’s thesis.
Honestly, his math is great, but his entire proof can be jettisoned due to that one instance of obfuscation: the other vehicle that drove by between his stopping car the traffic cop was enough to seal the deal. Furthermore, California motor vehicle law is probably highly similar to New York motor vehicle law, and neither one specifies any minimum instance of time for a stop to occur in.
So now I’m waiting for the next academic, some expert in quantum mechanics, to blow through that stop sign at 90 mph and then argue that he did stop, because if you slice the time fine enough, motion between instants becomes smaller than humanly observable, and what the observers are basing their belief that no stopping occurred on is only the side effects of vehicular mechanics, not the actual stopping itself, or the lack thereof. Actually the time slice isn’t even all that fine, relatively speaking - and I really am speaking relatively. You can’t see a fluorescent light blinking, but it is actually turning itself on and off 60 times a second. The “flicker threshold” is half again faster than that, about 40 times a second. So if you stop for 1/40th second then go again, nobody can see it happen. And you don’t need to be a tree in the forest to prove it; it’s common science. Dr. K is using the same concept, he just isn’t stating it. A momentarily obstructed view is the same as a flicker or a blink.
So why did my case fail? It was back in my college days. I’d just dropped my girlfriend off at her dorm at about 3am, one winter night after another long hot date at my off campus apartment. I was the only car moving on campus. I pulled up next to the stop sign at the corner, right next to ULED (campus cops), just sitting there in their big cop SUV right up on the sidewalk. Same frame of reference as Dr. K., but much closer. I stopped, but only for a very short time, then turned right and drove towards the campus gate. Halfway there, on come the red lights and it’s ticket time. ULED tickets carry real cop weight in that town. I entered a plea of not guilty, and just to screw me over the town gives me a court date of a week after the semester ends. Ha ha, going to stick it to that college boy punk, make him stay over a week at his own expense, or at least re-do the onerous drive all the way up and back to college town just a few days after getting out of there. Well ha ha on them, I lived off campus all year round. And I was furious, and found solace in the halls of Hermes and the embrace of Urania.
So I got to the court, ready to make my case. And the cop lied his ass off. Not only did he put his vehicle on the other side of the intersection, he flat out stated that I didn’t even slow down, and took the corner like a maniac at high speed. So all my precious calculations were for shit, and I had to pay. There is not justice in traffic court. Almost never.
States would be smarter if they amended their laws to mandate the time that a minimum stop must be held for. Half a second seems fair. Long enough to say “potato”. A full second? Plenty sufficient in my opinion. Then me and Dr. K would both be guilty, and neither one of us would have had recourse to seek justice with a calculator and graph paper.
PS - $400 for a failure to stop? Holy cow. What, is California trying to balance their budget based on traffic ticket revenue? Excessive punishment much? Horry Clap!!
Posted by Drew458
on 04/16/2012 at 01:05 PM
Filed Under: • Fun-Stuff •
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Permalink • NIB Treasure Trove Found
Holy cow, it’s the mother lode. Not just some shot up wrecks found in the jungle, but straight from the factory aircraft still in their crates. And to a collector, nothing beats NIB: New In the Box, never opened, never played with. We’re talking dozens of millions of dollars here folks.
The extraordinary plans to dig up the lost squadron were revealed this weekend as David Cameron visits the country.
Now, David Cundall, 62, of Sandtoft, near Scunthorpe, has spoken about his quest to recover the Spitfires and get them airborne.
Mr Cundall has spent £130,000 of his own money, visited Burma 12 times, persuaded the country’s notoriously secretive regime to trust him, and all the time sought testimony from a dwindling band of Far East veterans in order to locate the Spitfires.
Yet his treasure hunt was sparked by little more than a throwaway remark from a group of US veterans, made 15 years ago to his friend and fellow aviation archaeologist Jim Pearce.
Mr Cundall said: “The veterans had served in a construction battalion. They told Jim: ‘We’ve done some pretty silly things in our time, but the silliest was burying Spitfires.’
Mr Cundall realised that the Spitfires would have been buried in their transport crates. Before burial, the aeroplanes would have been waxed, wrapped in greased paper and their joints tarred, to protect them against decay. There seemed to be a chance that somewhere in Burma, there lay Spitfires that could be restored to flying condition.
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... finally, he found the Spitfires, at a location that is being kept a closely guarded secret. Mr Cundall said: “We sent a borehole down and used a camera to look at the crates. They seemed to be in good condition.”
Mr Cundall explained that in August 1945 the Mark XIV aeroplanes, which used Rolls-Royce Griffon engines instead of the Merlins of earlier models, were put in crates and transported from the factory in Castle Bromwich, in the West Midlands, to Burma.
Once they arrived at the RAF base, however, the Spitfires were deemed surplus to requirements. The war was in its final months and fighting was by now increasingly focused on ‘island-hopping’ to clear the Japanese of their remaining strongholds in the Pacific. Land-based Spitfires, as opposed to carrier-based Seafires, did not have the required range.
The order was given to bury 12 Spitfires while they were still in their transport crates. Then two weeks later, the first atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. The Japanese surrendered on September 2 1945.
The packing crates were protected by beams of teak. In addition to the 20 airplanes found, there are strong rumors of another 60 in several other burial spots. Considering that there are only about 35 air-worthy Spitfires in the word today, this is a treasure trove beyond fantasy. And the story gets better.
Spitfires buried in Burma during war to be returned to UK
Twenty iconic Spitfire aircraft buried in Burma during the Second World War are to be repatriated to Britain after an intervention by David Cameron. The Prime Minister secured a historic deal that will see the fighter aircraft dug up and shipped back to the UK almost 67 years after they were hidden more than 40-feet below ground amid fears of a Japanese occupation.
The gesture came as Mr Cameron became the first Western leader to meet Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese democracy campaigner held under house arrest for 22 years by the military regime, and invited her to visit London in her first trip abroad for 24 years.
[ Mr. Cundall relates more of his treasure hunt story: ] He eventually met one eyewitness who drew maps and an outline of where the aircraft were buried and took him out to the scene.
“Unfortunately, he got his north, south, east and west muddled up and we were searching at the wrong end of the runway,” he said. “We also realised that we were not searching deep enough as they had filled in all of these bomb craters which were 20-feet to start with. “I hired another machine in the UK that went down to 40-feet and after going back surveying the land many times, I eventually found them. “I have been in touch with British officials in Burma and in London and was told that David Cameron would negotiate on my behalf to make the recovery happen.”
Mr Cundall said sanctions preventing the removal of military tools from Burma were due to be lifted at midnight last night (FRI). A team from the UK is already in place and is expecting to begin the excavation, estimated to cost around £500,000, imminently. It is being funded by the Chichester-based Boultbee Flight Acadamy.
Mr Cundall said the government had promised him it would be making no claim on the aircraft, of which 21,000 were originally produced, and that he would be entitled to a share in them.
“It’s been a financial nightmare but hopefully I’ll get my money back,” he said. “I’m hoping the discovery will generate some jobs. They will need to be stripped down and re-riveted but it must be done. My dream is to have a flying squadron at air shows.”
Beyond fantastic. But why stop with one squadron Mr. Cundall? Why not make it two or three?
Broken Wings is a documentary film project currently in production in Melbourne, Australia. It follows the incredible legend that possibly as many as twelve brand new Spitfires still in their original packing crates are buried somewhere in southern Queensland. This documentary will explore the story from a range of perspectives and set out to discover whether in fact the aircraft do exist… and with a bit of luck, find them.
35 Spits flying now, another 20, and then another 60, and then another 12 or more? Can you imagine a flight of 150 Spitfires over London in the 21st Century? The English would lose their marbles and simply melt on the spot. So would I.
h/t to Peiper, who is too busy dealing with his life situation to post today. Get well soon Mrs. D!
Posted by Drew458
on 04/16/2012 at 07:12 AM
Filed Under: • Adventure • Amazing Science and Discoveries • History • Military •
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Permalink • Another Day, Another TSA Scumbag
How many of these stories have we seen over the past decade? 200? 500? 1000? Bottom line: if the TSA is NOT a work release program for convicted felons, it is a training ground for would-be felons. These people are immoral and dishonest and this has been proven hundreds and hundreds of times. And they are entrusted with America’s flying safety? And they have near-police powers over you and yours? And the government wants to increase their powers and extend their jurisdiction? And they still haven’t caught a single terrorist or found a single real bomb. Not one. Of either.
Oh hella no. Fire them all. Throw out the Patriot Act. Disband the TSA. Rethink the entire thing after taking a quadruple dose of common sense, then start over.
A Transportation Security Administration baggage inspector at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport has been indicted in the theft of Apple iPads from luggage over eight months.
Clayton Keith Dovel, 36, of Bedford was arrested Feb. 1 and has been suspended indefinitely, officials said.
The investigation led to the recovery of eight stolen iPads, including one that was among Dovel’s possessions at Terminal E when he was arrested, airport police said.
“suspended indefinitely”. Are you EFFING kidding me? Why was this mo-fo not fired on the spot, stripped of every last government perk and benefit, and then carted off to jail?
The indictments that the Tarrant County grand jury issued this week charge Dovel with theft by a public servant of items valued at up to $20,000. If convicted, he could face two to 10 years in prison. According to airport police, a traveler reported Jan. 24 that his iPad 2 had been stolen and that he had traced it electronically to a home in Bedford owned by Dovel.
While arresting Dovel in that case, airport police discovered another iPad in Dovel’s leather satchel. Dovel told authorities that the iPad was his but that he couldn’t remember where he bought it, according to police reports. Using that iPad’s serial number, police traced it to a Grand Prairie man who had reported that it was stolen as he traveled through Terminal E in May.
In the indictment, Dovel is also accused of stealing iPads in November and early January.
The TSA issued a statement calling the arrest part of a “zero-tolerance policy for allegations of misconduct or theft” at the airport.
Excuse me, but it’s APRIL. They caught this bastard red-handed back in February, and they KNEW that stuff was getting lifted from luggage - iPads specifically - since at least May the year before. a) Investigation my ass. The FBI or cops or whoever could have tracked this crap down months before. ONE THEFT is one too many, but two is enough to show a pattern; and b) is the DFW so buried in crime that a February arrest takes until April to come before a grand jury? Maybe the whole damn area needs some new brooms to sweep things clean.
TSA is little more than a uniformed mafia run by the government. The evidence is overwhelming that they are a debased and criminal enterprise. Fire them all. We don’t need 8 month investigations at the cost of millions. That’s make-work bullshit. Let’s turn the tables. Every single TSA employee, baggage handler, and anyone else in the security or luggage channels gets scanned or strip searched every single day and their possessions checked and listed, on the way in and out of the airport. One extra stick of chewing gum without a receipt and they are arrested. On the spot. We can’t trust them to be honest, so they ought to be treated like the criminals that they want to be. Hell, let’s take back their mall-cop uniforms and dress them in county orange. Might save time in the long run.
And don’t give me that “they couldn’t resist temptation”. Phooey. I used to be a cashier in the grocery store. I’d handle tens of thousands of dollars all the time. Sure, it’s pretty amazing at first. But after a couple of weeks it’s just work, no different than counting coupons. Once you work in the candy factory you lose your taste for chocolates.
Oy vey. Now, back to finishing off my tax forms. Thank you oh great beneficent and benevolent government, for granted us an extra two days this year to file the extensive paperwork necessary to get a small amount of our own money back from your sticky paws.
Posted by Drew458
on 04/16/2012 at 06:35 AM
Filed Under: • Crime • Corruption and Greed •
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Permalink • Sunday - April 15, 2012
Smells Worse Than Last Week’s Fish
Dozens of Islamist militants stormed a prison in Pakistan in the dead of night early on Sunday and freed nearly 400 inmates, including one on death row for trying to assassinate former President Pervez Musharraf, police officials said.
Pakistan’s Taliban movement, which is close to al Qaeda, said it was behind the brazen assault by militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 assault rifles.
A police official said most of the escapees from the jail in the northwestern town of Bannu were militants.
Authorities in northern Pakistan were looking for 384 inmates who escaped from a prison early Sunday morning after hundreds of Taliban militants raided the facility. The attack took place in the city of Bannu in northwest Pakistan, an area known for a heavy militant presence.
Four prison officials were wounded in the attack, which lasted more than two hours, said Iftikhar Khan, a senior police official in the city. Of the 944 prisoners the facility held, 384 escaped, officials said. Among them were 21 high-profile militants, said Iftikhar Hussain, the information minister of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, where Bannu is located.
The attackers apparently were aiming to free a senior Taliban commander, he said, but prison records were destroyed in the attack, and officials were still working to verify the names and crimes of those who escaped.
“This is beyond terrorism. Such an attack challenges the writ of the state,” Hussain said.
Two of the inmates who escaped had been awaiting execution. One, Adnan Rashid, had been found guilty in the attempted murder of former President Pervez Musharraf in 2003. The other, Safi Ullah, was convicted of several bombings in northern Pakistan in recent years, officials said.
If it truly was an attack by hundreds of Talies, then they must have come into the city in a convoy of dozens of trucks. Dozens more to hold the escapees as well? And nobody noticed? And in all the shooting, which included blowing the gates and walls open with RPGs, only a tiny handful of guards were wounded, and we don’t know how light their wounds are or how they came about. Like, maybe they were punched in the nose and then ran away? And not even a jeep full of soldiers or cops showed up to help quell the attack. Not one. This really, really stinks. Especially given the long, long history of prison breaks done by AQ groups all across the Middle East.
It’s news to me that Pakistan has such a long term death row policy as well. I would have figured that anyone sentenced to execution in a heavily Sharia influenced country would get the old Hassan Chop right away. Unless they were being kept alive for political reasons?
Man this stinks. Inside job? Payoffs? Are any of these prisons actually for real, or are they just winter headquarters for terrorists? A place where they can rest and get fat at US taxpayer supported government expense, only to be broken out when it’s time for the next spring offensive? Makes me wonder, especially since that spring offensive is apparently now in full swing ...
Afghanistan attackers launch coordinated attacks
Attackers in Afghanistan took over a central Kabul hotel close to the presidential palace, United Nations office and many foreign embassies, a local police official said Sunday, amid what seemed to be a wave of coordinated attacks around the country.
Four suicide bombers tried to attack the Jalalabad airfield where United States troops are based, the airfield commander said. One of the attackers blew himself up, while police intercepted the other three, commander Jahan Ngir said.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks in a text message to CNN and on Twitter.
“Several suicide bombers launched attacks around different parts of Kabul, including ISAF/NATO headquarters, Afghan Parliament building, and the whole of the diplomatic quarter. The fighting is still ongoing and so far there has been a large loss of the enemy,” the Islamist militia said.
Attacks in AfghanistanNATO’s International Security Assistance Force confirmed “multiple attacks across Kabul” in up to seven locations, but said there were no reports of casualties.
CNN journalists heard gunfire, explosions and rocket-propelled grenade fire lasting more than an hour in central Kabul on Sunday morning.
The heavily guarded area is frequented by foreigners and is rarely the scene of violence.
At least in Iraq our troops had a Green Zone. Some area that they knew they controlled. Pacified. That does not appear to be the case in Afghanistan. How is it that, after more than a decade of fighting and occupation, such attacks can happen so close to the heart of things? A block away from the US and several foreign embassies? Come on.
You know the answer as well as I do. The “war” in Afghanistan is not being fought. Not to win. Not even to draw. And every week we lose more soldiers. Cannon fodder to their political masters. And that barely even makes the news, especially with Obama at the helm. Do the networks still do their nightly “honor the fallen” reports that they did under Bush, as a backhanded slap against the whole Global War On Terror? Not that we’re allowed to us the words “war” or “terror” anymore. Especially not since more of our guys have been killed under 3 years of Obama than under 8 years of Bush. A 500% or greater casualty rate increase. And not a word from Cindy Shitcan or Code Stink.
I just don’t see the point. And I’m beyond tired of our children’s lives being wasted for no real reason. Get our troops out, nuke the whole place until it glows, and call it done. And if the whole “uncontrolled tribal zone” in Pok-i-stahn gets obliterated by accident, too friggin’ bad. Oopsie.
Posted by Drew458
on 04/15/2012 at 07:50 AM
Filed Under: • Middle-East • War On Terror •
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Permalink • Saturday - April 14, 2012
Seven Bells and a Century
From a Belfast cathedral to a ship in the cold North Atlantic, thousands are gathering to remember RMS Titanic, 100 years after the sinking of the luxury liner.
The ship, on its maiden voyage, struck an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on April 14, 1912, and sank less than three hours later. More than 1,500 of the 2,208 passengers and crew died.
Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd’st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!
Posted by Drew458
on 04/14/2012 at 08:54 PM
Filed Under: • History •
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Permalink • The Eagle Has Flown
Another one of Drew’s “six degrees of Kevin Bacon” posts, except, alas, no actual bacon was involved. And this one is only 2 degrees, so I won’t bore you to too many tears.
Hey, remember how we used to have an eagle on the back of our quarters? Did you know that the US Mint hasn’t made a quarter like that since 1999? And that they may never make another one? News to me, but that’s what happens when I look at my change. I got into that habit quite a few years ago, when the 50 State Quarters program started up. And sputtered along, forever. Then when it finally ended in 2010, Political Correctness swooped in and came out with another half dozen or so coins, depicting the various territories and possessions. Just to screw up everyone who had spent 10 years filling up those collector’s boards we all got back in 2000. I never bothered to save any of those, but every once in a while I still take a look at my change, just to see. Today I saw an odd looking one, with a band around the outside edge, a picture of some stone bridge in the middle, and the word CHICKASAW across the top. “Great”, I thought, “not just states and territories, but now we’re having 10 Little Indians.” Bad Drew. And wrong. Chickasaw doesn’t refer to the Native American tribe. No, it refers to the National Park in Oklahoma. Which I didn’t even know existed, having never been anywhere near Oklahoma. And when I looked it up online, I found out that I’d missed an entire year of this new series, and that the National Park Quarters - properly called the America The Beautiful Quarters - are going to continue for another 9 or 10 years. 2021 if all goes well, and then we’ll see what the Mint prints next. I guess their jobs are kinda dull and boring, but I get the feeling we’ll never see another eagle quarter in our lifetimes.
So I’m looking at the various coins in this series, and I see the one for Vicksburg, a 2011 issue, has some odd thing on it. Looks like a shoebox under some scaffolding, with smokestacks and cannons. WTH? Turns out that this is a rendition of a Civil War ironclad called the USS Cairo. Pronounced Kay-ro, like the corn syrup, not Ki-Ro like that sandy place in Eqypt. Not being a huge Civil War walking database, I’m not familiar with the ship design at all. Sure, the Monitor and the Merrimack, everybody knows them. The Union one looks like a wheel of cheese on a skateboard, and the Confederate one (which they called the CSS Virginia) looks like ... beats me. A doorstop or something. Very wedge-like. Actually, it looks like it had Stealth Design, 130 years before that concept existed. And the Cairo looks like that, just bigger. So, is this a Confederate ship? On a modern coin? Oh, the huge manatee if so, how utterly un-PC, in this modern day when any symbol or artifact of that whole short-lived nation has to be denied! So I looked it up, and again, I’m wrong. The Cairo was a Union ship. Wrong for the 3rd time Drew; the Cairo IS a union ship, because she still exists. Sorta kinda, mostly. In a museum in Vicksburg (duh). I never knew. Actually, the whole western campaign of that war is rather vague in my mind. All I know is that Grant took Vicksburg on the same day that Lee lost Gettysburg, and both events together pretty much cut the South off from everything, and it was all downhill from there.
But I had no idea one of these steam powered iron monsters still existed. Oddly designed barges covered in thick soft iron plates, low to the water, slow as turtles and about as seaworthy. Not that that was a problem for the Cairo, as it was a river ship, built for an fought in a river war. About which I know very little.
That was then. The Cairo served with distinction, and left it’s mark on history: this is the first ship ever to be sunk by an electronically detonated mine. Or two. Yup, the Rebs rigged up some kind of floating explosives, managed to get close to her side, and hit the plunger. BOOM. And the Cairo sunk in 12 minutes. Fortunately everyone aboard got off safely. But they never had a chance to grab any of their stuff, and with a war on, they had no chance to go back later. And then I guess they forgot. And the Cairo sat in the river mud, lost, for more than 100 years. She was found in 1964, and retrieved in 3 pieces. Since then restoration work has been ongoing, fits and starts, and a whole museum sprang up to house the ship and the treasure trove of artifacts that it contained. The ship is not in any kind of pristine condition, but what’s left has been set up as a great big exhibit, and you can walk right on in. Just don’t try to take anything home as a souvenir, because you’ll get busted in the worst way.
The USS Cairo today. The ship had five boilers and twin rudders, which you can see in the picture at left next to the big old hole blown in her stern that sunk her. On the right picture you get a sense of the scale of this iron beast. It was not a cheese box on a skateboard by any means, measuring 175 feet long and 52 feet wide. It was driven by a gigantic paddle wheel, centrally mounted amidships, and protected by armor plate. The Cairo was the first of more than half a dozen similar ships, called City Class Ironclads. She carried about a dozen really large guns, 36 pounders and 42 pounders, but was so slow (3-4 knots) that a little 12 pound field piece had to be installed on the top deck to deter pirates from just walking aboard as she putted along the narrow rivers and backwaters.
There is a ton of information online about this ship ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Cairo
http://www.hnsa.org/ships/cairo.htm
http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/water-transportation/-143-uss-cairo-engine-and-boilers-%281862%29
http://americathebeautifulquarters.statequarterguide.com/mississippi-america-the-beautiful-quarter/
http://www.nps.gov/history/museum/exhibits/vick/cairo.html
http://steamboattimes.com/civil_war_ironclads.html
http://web.me.com/john.varela/home/2011%20NOLA/2011%2520NOLA.html
See what happens when I look in my pockets? 
Posted by Drew458
on 04/14/2012 at 05:16 PM
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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:
It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.
- Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
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