Tuesday - April 03, 2007

Through The Looking Glass

Posted by The Skipper     on 04/03/2007 at 05:44 PM   
Filed Under: • Art-Photography •  
• Comments (0) • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink •  

   Thursday - March 29, 2007

Through The Looking Glass

Air Force Three

WASHINGTON (AP) - March 29, 2007

The Pentagon today finally agreed to provide air transport for Speaker Of The House Nancy Pelosi to use to fly back and forth between Washington and San Francisco. The P-26A below will be stationed at Andrews AFB for Madame Speakers use at any time. The “Peashooter” has an effective range of 313 nautical miles and a top speed of 199 mph, which means Ms. Pelosi will have to refuel inflight a couple of times on the way but due to Defense Department budget cuts by Congress, the $16,500 plane was the only one that could be inserted into the budget at this time.

Pentagon spokesman General C. A. Tastrophe stated to the press that the plane seemed to be appropriate since the new budget Congress just enacted will only allow our troops in Iraq to fight with peashooters themselves ... uless they are allowed by the rules of engagement to throw rocks, which is currently under investigation by the House Armed Services Committee and subject to Supreme Court review.

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/29/2007 at 07:01 PM   
Filed Under: • Art-Photography • Humor •  
• Comments (6) • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink •  

   Monday - March 26, 2007

Through The Looking Glass

“Dual Fuel Pump Station”

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/26/2007 at 05:36 PM   
Filed Under: • Art-Photography • Military •  
• Comments (4) • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink •  

   Thursday - March 22, 2007

300

I went and saw 300 last night.  Since I had read some reviews, I was expecting a bloodfest, and boy did I get it!  To be honest, I did not get the same emotional high as I did with movies like Braveheart, The Patriot and Gladiator, but it was a fun film nonetheless.  It was based on a comic book Graphic Novel after all.

Well, apparently there has been no small amount of the vapors because it is not historically accurate.  Did I mention it was based on a comic book Graphic Novel?

Victor Davis Hanson speaks to this in his latest article.

‘300’—Fact or Fiction?
Crowds are flocking to see the film “300” about the ancient Spartans’ last stand at the pass at Thermopylae against an invading Persian army. Yet many critics, in panning “300,” have alleged that the film is essentially historically inaccurate. Are they right?

Here are some answers. But first two qualifiers. I wrote an introduction to a book about the making of “300” after being shown a rough cut of the movie in October. And, second, remember that “300” does not claim to follow exactly ancient accounts of the battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. Instead, it is an impressionistic take on a graphic novel by Frank Miller, intended to entertain and shock first, and instruct second.

Posted by Mr. Christian     on 03/22/2007 at 12:50 PM   
Filed Under: • Art-Photography • History •  
• Comments (10) • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink •  

Thompson Slow Motion

With the positive comments about the Glock Full Auto post, I thought you might like to see some battle rifles in slo-mo as well.

Yeah.   

Posted by Mr. Christian     on 03/22/2007 at 10:00 AM   
Filed Under: • Art-Photography • Firearms •  
• Comments (4) • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink •  

   Thursday - March 08, 2007

Through The Looking Glass

“Good Morning, Iraq”
_{Photo by Air Force Staff Sgt. Michael R. Holzworth}

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/08/2007 at 11:11 PM   
Filed Under: • Art-Photography •  
• Comments (1) • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink •  

   Wednesday - March 07, 2007

Through The Looking Glass

_{(Click image for larger 1600x1200 in popup window)}

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/07/2007 at 09:04 PM   
Filed Under: • Art-Photography •  
• Comments (2) • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink •  

   Sunday - March 04, 2007

Through The Looking Glass

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/04/2007 at 03:53 PM   
Filed Under: • Art-Photography •  
• Comments (6) • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink •  

   Wednesday - February 28, 2007

Through The Looking Glass

您去告訴上尉並且我們其餘的人將掩藏這裡和這裡

Posted by The Skipper     on 02/28/2007 at 08:32 AM   
Filed Under: • Art-Photography • Fun-Stuff •  
• Comments (10) • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink •  

   Wednesday - February 21, 2007

Through The Looking Glass

Posted by The Skipper     on 02/21/2007 at 12:25 PM   
Filed Under: • Art-Photography •  
• Comments (0) • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink •  

   Tuesday - February 20, 2007

Though The Looking Glass

“Too Close!”

Posted by The Skipper     on 02/20/2007 at 05:49 PM   
Filed Under: • Art-Photography •  
• Comments (10) • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink •  

   Saturday - February 17, 2007

Through The Looking Glass

I know you all know about the US Air Force’s Thunderbirds and the US Navy’s Blue Angels aerobatic teams but did you know one of our allies also has an internationally famous aerobatic team? You didn’t? Shame on you!

Our good friends in the United Kingdom (a.k.a. Great Britain) have a flying team called the Red Arrows (Official Web Site). They are officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, and are the aerobatics display team of the Royal Air Force, based at RAF Scampton, United Kingdom. They fly the British Aerospace Hawk trainer and are darned near as good as our Yank teams (I’m gonna catch flak from our Brit readers for that remark, I’m sure).

Either way you have to respect a country that makes their air force pilots fly with a damned bullseye on the side of their planes. That takes balls. Now, I need to ask you all for a favor. These fine lads are about to be put out to pasture by the Treasury bean-counters in Britain who want to axe the Reds to save a couple of shillings. The personnel, pilots and aircraft of the squadron are all capable of deployment elsewhere in the RAF, so the money really saved would be peanuts.

Cynics might observe that the move is a covert campaign to expunge from the public mind a potent and highly visible symbol of the very best of the Royal Air Force as an independent Air Arm of a United Kingdom giving up its identity to Europistan.

10 Downing St website has an online petition. Please go there and sign it - even if you are a Yank (Fake an address in New Zealand or the Turks & Caicos Islands if you must). Don’t let them get away with this. Do it for Sir Winston Churchill and all the rest of the fine upstanding Brits who talked us into bailing out France in WWII. --- Ooops! Never mind. Scratch that last. Just do it!

Posted by The Skipper     on 02/17/2007 at 04:57 PM   
Filed Under: • Art-Photography • Military •  
• Comments (13) • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink •  

   Thursday - February 15, 2007

Through The Looking Glass

“Holy Snakes”

Dwijendra’s name is among the most frequently mentioned in the history of temples in Bali. His pilgrimage is described in a lontar (palm leaf book) entitled Dwijendra Tattwa (The Teaching of Dwijendra). It covered Bali, and the eastern islands of Lombok and Sumbawa. At almost every place he stopped, a temple was built by the local community as a way of giving thanks for his spiritual teachings.

The Pulaki Temple, on Bali’s west coast, north of Gilimanuk, was built by fishermen to give thanks for his help, when they almost drowned. The Gading Wangi Temple, also not far from Gilimanuk, was built to give thanks by a local man who had suffered from prolonged illness. Dwijendra’s journey eastward brought him to what is now the Rambut Siwi Temple - where travelers stop to pray.

Sailing south-eastward from Rambut Siwi, Dwijendra arrived at a small rock-island, where he decided to take a rest. Local fishermen brought him offerings, and provided him a place to sleep. The priest, however, chose to stay on the rock island where at nights he gave Hindu teachings to the villagers. The priest advised them to build a shrine to the God Ida Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa which is the origin of The Pakendungan Temple, better known as Tanah Lot. On his departure, the priest’s belt fell off, which according to popular myth, became black and white (polèng) snakes which still live under the rocks and are worshipped as holy snakes.

-- “Bali’s South Sea Temples - Holy Places”

Posted by The Skipper     on 02/15/2007 at 06:13 PM   
Filed Under: • Art-Photography •  
• Comments (0) • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink •  

   Wednesday - February 14, 2007

Through The Looking Glass

“Io: The Prometheus Plume”

What’s happening on Jupiter’s moon Io? Two sulfurous eruptions are visible on Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io in this color composite image from the robotic Galileo spacecraft that orbited Jupiter from 1995 to 2003. At the image top, over Io’s limb, a bluish plume rises about 140 kilometers above the surface of a volcanic caldera known as Pillan Patera.

In the image middle, near the night/day shadow line, the ring shaped Prometheus plume is seen rising about 75 kilometers above Io while casting a shadow below the volcanic vent. Named for the Greek god who gave mortals fire, the Prometheus plume is visible in every image ever made of the region dating back to the Voyager flybys of 1979 - presenting the possibility that this plume has been continuously active for at least 18 years. The above digitally sharpened image was originally recorded in 1997 on June 28 from a distance of about 600,000 kilometers.

-- Astronomy Picture Of The Day

Posted by The Skipper     on 02/14/2007 at 04:56 PM   
Filed Under: • Art-Photography •  
• Comments (4) • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink •  

DISCLAIMER

THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.

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:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

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.

THE INFORMATION AND OTHER CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS WEBSITE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL PARTIES IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN COURTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPLICABLE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN THIS WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ACCESSED BY PERSONS FROM THAT COUNTRY AND ANY PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LAWS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO USE OUR SERVICES UNLESS THEY CAN SATISFY US THAT SUCH USE WOULD BE LAWFUL.

Copyright © 2004-2008 Domain Owner