WWII poster…

Posted on by August 28, 2014

Civilians kicked in an tremendous amount of money in the form of War Bonds to support WWII, there were at least seven bond drives, and the one I could find info on, the 2nd bond drive, raised $13,000,000,000 dollars.  They best estimates are the total cost of WWII in dollars was in the neighborhood of $340 billion dollars.

WWII war bonds There were paintings, movies, rallies, and pictures like this used routinely…

People DID make huge sacrifices not just in dollars, but in food, material things (like gasoline, oil, and tires) and everyday items to benefit the war material production.  As seen in this picture, women were quickly integrated into the workforce, filling just about every job.  From factory to final assembly and everything in between…

This poster was used by multiple agencies…

WWII war bonds 2

 

It was done by James M. Flagg, and was originally a US Army recruiting poster, but was repurposed for the 7th War Bond drive.

And no, it’s not PC…

Book Review, Unbroken…

Posted on by August 30, 2014

This is simply an amazing story…

It is the story of Louis Zamperini, from his childhood through his running the 1500M at the Olympics, but the real guts of the story is that of he and his pilot surviving ditching their B-24 in the Pacific in WWII, followed by their story as POWs for the rest of the war, his trials and tribulations after the war, and his redemption.

Click the picture to go to Amazon.

Unbroken This is truly an impressive true story, and Laura Hillenbrand does a superb job with it.  Well researched, documented and very well told.

HIGHLY recommended!

Finally…

Posted on by August 30, 2014

1 1/2 hours late out of DC, landed in LAX as the SYD flight was boarding…

OJ though LAX from gate 67 to 74…

But I got an upgrade!!! 🙂

LAX-SYD even!!!

IMG_1767

Sunrise over the Pacific…IMG_1769

And another…IMG_1770

And we ‘were’ on the approach… Till we got sent to holding… for a half hour…IMG_1772Ended up landing AFTER an Emirates 380…

Customs/Immigration was AFU to put it mildly…

OJ through SYD to get the bus from international to the domestic terminal, made it with 10 minutes to spare.

And got stereo screaming kids for the flight from SYD to PER.  And a middle seat in row 52…   Sigh…

32 hours…  Sleep is now on the agenda!!!

 

Remember those predicted job losses???

Posted on by August 26, 2014

This is one of those ‘I told you so’ situations…

When BO was elected, lots of folks in the know looked at the handwriting on the wall and said the defense industry was going to be in trouble…

POLITICO’s analysis included Lockheed, Boeing’s defense unit, Raytheon, General Dynamics and Northrop, with Northrop’s numbers adjusted to account for its 2011 spinoff of its shipbuilding business (now called Huntington Ingalls).

The five defense firms have in total eliminated 70,000 jobs since 2008, largely through layoffs, buyouts, attrition or, in the case of Boeing, moving employees to the commercial side of the business. Some companies have also made significant divestitures; the most prominent is Northrop’s spinoff of Huntington Ingalls, but it also sold TASC in 2009.

Full article HERE on Politico.com.  And this is not over yet…  While the article says sequestration isn’t the main driver, I’d take that with a grain of salt, since those hits to the military budget weren’t ‘just’ absorbed by the active duty forces.  Quiet a bit of those cuts funneled down to the contractors working for/on various projects.

Now remember, these are JUST the big 5, this doesn’t take into account the literally hundreds of small companies that have also lost some or all of their workforce.  Due to the overhead requirements (security people, facilities, etc.) it’s damn near impossible for a small defense company to compete in the commercial market.

Some studies say the total reductions are somewhere in the neighborhood of 125-150,000 highly skilled workers that are now gone.  Maybe you know of or ARE one of them…

Light posting and commenting…

Posted on by August 25, 2014

Gotta go do that work thingie… Willie’s playing, and playing, and playing… well you get the idea…

Back in a few weeks.  Beers in the fridge, I hid the wine since it’s all going up in price.  Dog food is in the pantry.  Y’all have fun and play nice…

Tired of the BS…

Posted on by August 26, 2014

I’ve pretty much stayed away from any comments on the situation in Ferguson, but THIS article, and the reports coming from the funeral (and attributed to Sharpton), ramping up the rhetoric pretty much pissed me off…

Especially in light of THIS story, which has received pretty much zero coverage, since it was a white victim and a black cop…  Bias??? You tell me…

Rather than giving the Grand Jury time to work, they (Sharpton, Jackson, et al) come in throw threats around. Inflame the people, blame everyone and everything BUT the person who started it, tacitly condone the looting, and pander to the race baiters/excusers/apologists out there who ALWAYS blame the system.  Oh yeah, and scream for the cop’s head… Truth be damned…

Johnathon Gentry is one of the ‘few’ that is telling it like it is- His video is HERE. Of course, ‘it’ is not getting any coverage…

Star Parker is another one who is telling it like it is, but she’s a conservative, so I’m sure she will be branded as an Uncle Tom… Her article is HERE.

Michael Ramirez hits it out of the park (as usual) with this one…

Due process

But I guess what really upset me is that Obama sent THREE aides to Brown’s funeral, but couldn’t be bothered to either attend or even send a representative to General Greene’s funeral at Arlington on the 14th…

What happened to America???  To the values we grew up with??? Personal responsibility?  Working for a living, rather than taking handouts?  Pride in one’s self?

Kicking the soap box back in the corner…

Snerk…

Posted on by August 25, 2014

A buddy of mine got caught in this mess this morning…

ABC7

From ABC 7 Twitter feed… He said it was one of those Aw S**T, we’re all gonna die moments… His wife was following the lane markers on the right side, and damn near followed them right into the ditch!

Pro-tip… THIS is why you don’t put temporary lane markers down in the @#$&* RAIN!

This was after an earlier screw up on 395, HERE.  It’s not as if driving around DC isn’t challenging enough, but when you throw stuff like this in…

It DOES get a tad ‘interesting’…

Range Report…

Posted on by August 25, 2014

Yep, the old guns still shoot…

Model 17s

Ten yards, Winchester white box in moon clips.  The 7 o’clock low was the first DA round out of the 1917 Army.  Heavy (12ish lbs) pull.  And the two 6 ring shots were SA on the same pistol.  Obviously I need to get more than a couple of rounds through it.  Switched to the 1917 NS, and it was all 10/9 ring.  Back to the 1917 Army, and got a better (if high) group with the second moon clip. In other words, they’re more accurate than I am… sigh

Due to the number of folks waiting with kids, I didn’t spend a lot of time today.  Jumped to the ‘new’ pistol, 1969 Trooper, again at 10 yards.

trooper mustang

I did pretty good with it, then got stupid and tried a couple of mags of head shots with the Mustang carry piece.  Sigh… NOT good!  Note to self- GO TO THE DAMN RANGE MORE!!!

Ruger

Finished up on targets with 50 rounds of .22 at 10 yards, kinda got my act back together… That one at 2 o’clock is what happens when one gets popped in the ear with a hot .45 case from the adjacent lane… sigh…

Gave up the lane and moved over to the steels for a bit, after loaning the .22 to a nice couple and their daughter.  Seems he’d packed everything BUT the .22 he meant to bring… (At least he had ammo!)

Ran about five runs through the steels, shot one clean with the Trooper, and five of six twice (one each with the NS and the Army).  Picked up/cleaned up and cleared as more folks were waiting.  The guy really liked the .22, said it was ‘much’ smoother than his, so I clued him in on Volquartsen triggers… Open-mouthed smile

I think he’s going to be ordering one…  FCC FTC- I paid for my own trigger and it’s installation, thank you very much…

And talk about getting outshot by a gurl… sigh…  Pedi’s got her range report up HERE.

WWII Poster…

Posted on by August 23, 2014

And back around to the Coast Guard…

WWII Coast Guard

 

I couldn’t find any details on this one, but it’s an interesting one for the ‘history’ perspective it brings in.

The Coast Guard’s official history began on 4 August 1790 when President George Washington signed the Tariff Act that authorized the construction of ten vessels, referred to as “cutters,” to enforce federal tariff and trade laws and to prevent smuggling.

The service received its present name in 1915 under an act of Congress that merged the Revenue Cutter Service with the U. S. Life-Saving Service, thereby providing the nation with a single maritime service dedicated to saving life at sea and enforcing the nation’s maritime laws.  The Coast Guard began maintaining the country’s aids to maritime navigation, including lighthouses, when President Franklin Roosevelt ordered the transfer of the Lighthouse Service to the Coast Guard in 1939.

So the Coasties are actually older than the Navy by 8 years…

Random Stuff…

Posted on by August 23, 2014

This one from PP… 🙂

Tupperware

 

And sometimes PHDs ARE good for something… Got in a discussion yesterday morning with the former Marine Sgt (twice), now PHD about ballistics and differences between 7.62 and .308…

An hour later I get this…

corrected 762 vs 308

And an I told you so email… sigh  Hell, as far as I know, he may have BEEN the one that did this research…

I really hate it when he rubs it in…