Sigh…

Posted on by March 1, 2022

The results of sequestration continue to bite the Navy in the ass…

The U.S. Navy’s cruiser modernization program has been disorganized in its planning and troubled in its execution, service leaders have told Defense News. 

<snip>

Seven cruisers were put into a particular variation of the modernization program as part of plans to extend the life of the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers: They’d undergo an initial maintenance availability to modernize areas like the galley; go into a reduced operating status with a skeleton crew of about 35 sailors watching over the ship pierside for several years; go into a one-year availability to prepare for dry docking; and then conduct an “extended dry-docking selected restricted availability” where the bulk of the work would be done.

The first cruiser, Gettysburg, is nearing the end of that process and will go to sea this year, after its 2014 entrance into the service life-extension effort.

Full article, HERE from Defense News.

Note that it has taken EIGHT years to do one ship… The one year avail is now in year THREE, because of the amount of work needed, and lack of planning for systemic integration of the upgrades… Sigh…

What isn’t mentioned is the whole sequestration, “Well, we don’t need cruisers anymore, so we can park them…oh wait, we DO need them. But we can reduce manning to get more maintenance done in port.” Which didn’t happen. What happened was the Navy got behind on basic maintenance due to lack of personnel and reduced budgets, which also impacted the ship availabilities to do upgrades, because operational ‘needs’ kept the ships running ragged.

This not only applied to maintenance, but to crew training… Grrr…

When you look back at the accidents that the Navy has had, most, if not all, can be directly attributed to lack of training in basic functions, like seamanship, ASW, damage control, and upkeep on the ships themselves. When you add in the different modification cycles the ships were on, it became a confusing mess…

And the consolidation/merging of rates into ‘new’ rating pools also caused problems with manning. One example was signalman, sailors who specialized in visual communications, such as flag semaphore, visual morse code, and flag hoist signaling being combined with quartermasters, who specialized in navigation and operations on the bridge and CIC. Now the QM rate has to do ALL of those things. But the senior people who got merged DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO DO THE OTHER RATE’S JOBS! But they got orders without regard to the actual job they were being ordered into…

There are plenty of other horror stories of merged ratings and the problems ships, subs, and air units had as result of all this.

And now we’re in a situation where we need ALL of those ships and subs at sea, and airplanes in the air as a deterrent.

But it’s not going to happen thanks to sequestration and mismanagement at the highest levels.

Something different…

Posted on by February 27, 2022

I don’t post a lot of music because I can’t hear most of it anymore, but I stumbled across this yesterday in a research wiki wander…

Saw them live at Winterland in 73… They were originally from San Jose, and used to play up in the hills above Santa Cruz at a biker bar, and occasionally at the Odyssey in San Jose.

And some humor…

John Lennon’s Yesterday — variation for programmers.

Yesterday,
All those backups seemed a waste of pay.
Now my database has gone away.
Oh I believe in yesterday.

Suddenly,
There’s not half the files there used to be,
And there’s a milestone hanging over me
The system crashed so suddenly.

I pushed something wrong
What it was I could not say.
Now all my data’s gone
and I long for yesterday-ay-ay-ay.

Yesterday,
The need for back-ups seemed so far away.
I knew my data was all here to stay,
Now I believe in yesterday!

Y’all have a good week, and don’t get hooked on the news. The real story isn’t being told…yet…

I’m beginning to wonder…

Posted on by February 26, 2022

If there is something physically or mentally wrong with Putin. His speech earlier this week was, to put it mildly, over the top, even for him.

And now this…

Russia has threatened its close Arctic neighbours Sweden and Finland with ‘military consequences’ if they join NATO. 

It came as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine intensified today after a night of fighting in the capital of Kyiv especially. 

Sweden and Finland are the two closest countries to Russia in the Arctic Circle. 

Full article, HERE.

The ghost of Simo Häyhä is muttering and stirring at this, and calling for his ‘brothers’ to take up arms again. The Winter War with Russia in 1939 may have gotten Russia 9% of Finland, but the cost in manpower was horrendous and also caused Russia to be expelled from the League of Nations.

And Sweden is no slouch at winter warfare either…

This kind of crap is what makes me wonder what is going on in Putin’s head.

Posted in War

They died…

Posted on by February 25, 2022

Attempting to defend their country. May they rest in peace in Valhalla…

I believe the Russians will pay in more blood and death in the process of stealing the Ukraine than they expected to do.

The Ukrainian government has handed out full auto AKs and other weapons to the people, including the women, many of whom are vowing to die defending their homes.

I would also point you to this post, HERE, from the Lone Star Parson about the shakeup in the Orthodox church as a result of the Ukrainian church being recognized as separate from the Russian version.

Ukraine…

Posted on by February 24, 2022

This one came over the transom from the mil-email chain.

Pretty good synopsis…

The Ukraine & Russia crisis In simple terms for those that have no idea what is going on.
-Ukraine used to be in an abusive relationship with Russia, feeding him, letting him use her car & giving him whatever he asked for until she built up the confidence to call it quits back in 1991
-Since then Ukraine has been working on herself, becoming a strong independent woman with help from friends like France, America, Poland etc. offering her support, loaning her money, & helping her find her way.
-Ukraine has been enjoying being single for 30 years & looking forward to continuing to grow & create new friendships.
-Now Russia being the toxic Ex that it is wants her back, and doesn’t want her meeting new people or creating any new relationships.
-A couple of weeks ago Russia started sitting in the front of Ukraine’s house & when her friends ask him what was he doing there, he said “Oh nothing, just getting a little bit of exercise in, that’s all.”
-After her friends told her that Russia was potentially getting ready to do something bad to her, he said “They’re lying, they just want you to be scared of me & that’s not what it is”
Plus Ukraine retained custody rights and has all the material possessions from the relationship (pipeline that goes through Ukraine) and now the ex (Russia) wants it back.
-Yesterday Russia broke into Ukraine’s house, beating her up & “taking advantage” of her while on Livestream & double dog daring any of her friends to do something about it & if they do want the smoke, Russia got that thang on him.
This was written by someone else. I can’t take credit, but agree that Putin did threaten tac nukes yesterday.
Hope this clears things up…
And one more point. Russia provides around 7% of our oil every month, about 18-20,000,000 barrels/mo. Xiden gave another word salad statement yesterday, basically saying it would take a month for the ‘new’ sanctions to take effect… By then it will be too late.

TBT…

Posted on by February 23, 2022

We do a symposium every year for the MPRA community, one in Jacksonville, FL for the east coast, and the west coast version at Whidbey Island, WA.

One of our WWII vets who attended told the story of having to go ‘somewhere’ in the south Pacific to pick up a new PBY to replace one that had been shot down for the Black Cats (VP-71) when they were flying out of Manus. It wasn’t until years later that he learned the location was the Ulithi Atoll.

If Admiral Chester Nimitz hadn’t spotted it on a map, Ulithi might have gone completely unnoticed by US forces as it island-hopped across the Pacific. Such an oversight would have cost the Americans the largest and best anchorage in the world and the perfect location for staging its final assault on the Japanese Empire.

Full article, HERE from the Vets Breakfast Club.

Here is a video of the anchorage taken from the air during the war.

The story he told was ‘interesting’ to put it mildly. This is my recollection of the way he told it-

The four men (2 pilots, he was an E-6 flight engineer, and an E-4 plane captain), were flown to Ulithi arriving late in the day. They found out it was an R&R site, and apparently had ‘less that $10’ between all of them. The next morning they were scheduled to fly out with the new airplane (PBY-5). But first they loaded 200 cases of beer aboard (he claimed he had ‘no idea’ where the beer came from, but the pilots were pissed they had to climb over the beer to get to the flight station). They took off, headed south for their base at Manus Island, and halfway across the Bismarck Sea they lost an engine. They chose not to dump the beer, did a water landing and got radio contact with a destroyer that came and towed them across the Bismarck Sea in the middle of the day, until a crash boat could come get them. He said they gave the destroyer crew a ‘few’ cases of beer for the tow. The crash boat towed them in and they were met by the CO, who was pissed they hadn’t continued on one engine… Until they started passing cases of beer out of the bird, and ‘all was forgiven’. He said that got them 24 hours off, then back on the flight schedule.

I do remember his wife fo 64 years was there and commented, “He still drinks too damned much beer.” Which cracked all of us up.

Posted in TBT

Book promo…

Posted on by February 21, 2022

First up is Alma TC Boykin with the twentieth in the Familiar series- Familiar Paths

As always, click on the cover for the Amazon link!

The blurb-

Arthur goes Hunting . . . and Kelly Boudreaux (and Stead) go on vacation.

Seven stories both Familiar and new. Arthur must deal with both family tension and the undead as Martha shelters the Lone Hunter from storms outside and in. Deborah learns more about her roots (and berries, and stems.) Kelly and Stead take a much needed break from chasing wild land firefighters while a coven sorts out the passing seasons. And a dead man’s legacy haunts Thomas Arthur Chan Lestrang.

Return to the world of Lelia Chan Lestrang and the Familiars, a world of adventure, humor, mystery, magic, and the occasional mundane mess.

 

Next is Peter Nealen with eighth book in his Maelstrom Rising series- Power Vacuum

The blurb-

The European Defense Council Has Fallen…

…But Peace Has Not Come to Europe

Will the Chaos Only Spread from Here?

The thunder run into Germany has left Matt’s team battered and borderline combat ineffective. The Triarii don’t have the reinforcements for them to stand down, however. Commitments in the US and the Western Pacific have stretched them thin.

And with Europe in chaos, there is no rest to be had.

Jihadis have struck repeatedly, sowing bloodshed and confusion where possible, and it appears the Turks are involved. The Russians are pushing in the east, and they may have operatives in the heart of Western Europe as well.

The European Defense Corps hasn’t stood down, either.

And a new NGO that’s arrived to help might be the most dangerous enemy of all…

You’ll love this military thriller because the action’s as brutal as the intrigue is thick!

 

And last but not least, John Van Stry’s first trad pub novel from Baen is up for preorder! Summer’s End

The blurb-

Sometimes a dark past can haunt you. Other times it just may be the only thing keeping you alive.

Fresh out of college with his Ship Engineer 3rd-Class certificate, Dave Walker’s only thought is to try to find a berth on a corporate ship plying the trade routes between the many habs, orbitals, and moons in the Solar System. The problem for Dave, however, isn’t his straight C average; it’s that his stepfather, a powerful Earth Senator he’s never met, now wants him dead. 

Forced to take the first berth he can find, Dave ends up on the Iowa Hill, an old tramp freighter running with a minimal crew and nearing the end of its useful life, plying the routes that the corporations ignore and visiting the kinds of places that the folks on Earth pretend don’t exist. 

Between the assassins, the criminals, and the pirates he needs to deal with, Dave is discovering that there are a lot of things out there that he still needs to learn. 

But there’s one hard lesson he learned long ago that he’s being forced to remember: how to be ruthless.

Hopefully this is the first of a series of novels in that world!

All of these are great novels to kick back and read in your leisure time! I know the authors too, and highly recommend all of their books!!!

And… Here they go…

Posted on by February 20, 2022

Sigh…

Trudeau’s invocation of the Emergencies Act was supposed to be temporary as well, but on Friday, Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland announced the Trudeau regime’s intention to make some of their new authoritarian powers permanent. This, my friend, is how democracies die.

Full article, HERE from PJ Media.
I’m really not sure how this would impact sites like GSG, since they are not Canadian and do not fall under Canada’s fiscal laws. But I have a feeling we are going to find out!
And this will not be for the better. This should give one pause, as they are going after ALL types of transactions. This is one of the downsides of ‘electronic’ $$$. Easy to track transactions, etc.
I remember when Spain converted from Pesetas to the Euro. If I remember correctly, something like $300,000,000 ‘extra’ Pesetas got turned in from the underground/black market economy, much of which the Spanish government tried to tax…
And here in the US, we have people buying silver and gold (and lead and brass, some assembly required), as a hedge against an electronic economy, which is what the left truly wants.
If they were to get that, they would have total control of not only the economy, but ALL of our financial assets and the ability to stop any payment, take any amount of taxes from your savings, 401K, or anything else in the bank.
There are countries that seem to be pushing toward that, like Australia and New Zealand, but I have no idea how effective or not, it has been. And China has been using ‘social currency’ to determine/impact Chinese citizen’s lives for what, three, four years now?

That’s going to end well…

Posted on by February 19, 2022

NOT!!!

Without warning, the Biden administration this month told Loudoun County officials that it plans to roll an influx of 16,000 Afghan refugees through a convention center as part of its settlement program.

Sheriff Michael Chapman said Thursday that officials from the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Protective Service said that up to 1,000 at a time would be temporarily housed at the National Conference Center in the ritzy Lansdowne area east of Leesburg, Virginia.

Full article, HERE from the Washington Examiner h/t Stretch

Well, we ‘know’ they consider Loudoun Co a dem bastion, so why not? I wonder if they briefed Governor Youngkin on this, OR the mass through Dulles…

I wonder how many ‘walk aways’ they’re going to have? And how many of them have even had a cursory security check?

The mind boggles at the lack of common sense being exhibited by this administration. And I wonder who is going to have to clean the place after they trash it???

Sigh…

Posted on by February 18, 2022

Remember those ‘free’ WuFlu tests the government offered?

Well, I went online and ‘ordered’ the free ones. January 19th…

And they finally showed up today! Notice anything interesting about them?

Yep, made in CHINA! Moar $$$ for the ‘Big Guy’… sigh

I was chatting with a friend last night about it, and she wondered what one would find if you ‘cultured’ the box or the tests themselves…

Since I caught the Coof last month, I’ma throw these in the cabinet in case anybody else needs them, because I ‘may’ pop positive for up to 90 days.