Equal time, and a clarification…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
I received a comment an Aussie reader (Pax) and a link to another Australian article in The Conversation, from Monash University.


In the wake of the Port Arthur massacre and Monash University shootings, the conservative government of John Howard introduced a series of gun laws. These restricted who could own guns and the type of guns they could own.

While the impact of the Australian gun laws is still debated, there have been large decreases in the number of firearm suicides and the number of firearm homicides in Australia. Homicide rates in Australia are only 1.2 per 100,000 people people, with less than 15 percent of these resulting from firearms.

Prior to the implementation of the gun laws, 112 people were killed in 11 mass shootings. Since the implementation of the gun laws, no comparable gun massacres have occured in Australia.

Remarkably, American pro-gun advocates try to use the impact of the Australian gun law reform to make a case that reform “doesn’t work”. This seems amazing given the homicide rate in the United States is 5 per 100,000 people, with most homicides involving firearms.

When gun advocates use Australian crime stats, they sometimes employ a number of misleading tricks and sleights of hand. These tricks are common to several politically charged debates, and are a form of pseudo-science. Lets look at these tricks in action.


Full article presented HERE.

I’m not going to argue the statistics presented here, but I’d be curious as to the current rates and deaths per year. The last authoritative study quoted in the article was in 2006. I know from discussions I’ve personally had with both LEOs and ER docs in Australia, they are seeing more ‘illegal’ guns used. Now what that definition of ‘more’ is, I’m not sure.

Thanks Pax, appreciate your chiming in and your clarification!

Gah… More Sequestration and other Social Engineering…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Strange things are afoot (as usual) inside the Beltway…

Reader Craig points out the issues of maintenance and inability for the Navy to decom ships…  From Military.com…


The Navy is stuck with a number of poorly performing ships it wasn’t permitted to scrap but can’t afford to fix because Congress hasn’t resolved its budget stalemate.

Four Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruisers were on the Navy’s decommissioning list for 2013 because repairing and upgrading them would cost billions of dollars. But Congress objected to the cuts and instead authorized money to maintain three of them.
That money has yet to materialize.

Congress failed to agree on a 2013 budget and instead placed government spending under a continuing resolution — a Band-Aid measure that keeps the government running at 2012 budget levels, with no new appropriations.

That leaves the Navy responsible for keeping three cruisers operational, including the Norfolk-based Anzio, without setting aside money to maintain or repair them, much less do necessary upgrades. As a result, the Anzio and two other cruisers — the Vicksburg, based in Mayport, Fla., and the Cowpens, in Yokosuka, Japan — are operating at diminished levels and with minimal staffing, able to do some local tasks, but not considered suitable for deploying overseas.


Now I happen to know for a fact that the USS Cowpens IS forward deployed… So how is ‘that’ working out?  Not well…

Full article HERE. 

And the key, as I’ve said before is the LACK of maintenance funds… A couple of years ago the figure was ~$450M shortfall, so ONLY the pre-deployers were getting fixed… And we’re still having ships fail INSURV (THE major service inspection).

In other news, proof that CJCS and especially Gen Dempsey have drunk the koolaid, there will be an announcement by Panetta tomorrow that women will be ‘allowed’ to go into combat by 2015 in the Army and Marines.

Women in all branches of the military soon will have unprecedented opportunities to serve on the front lines of the nation’s wars.

Leon Panetta, in one of his last acts as President Obama’s defense secretary, is preparing to announce the policy change, which would open hundreds of thousands of front-line positions and potentially elite commando jobs after more than a decade at war, the Pentagon confirmed Wednesday.

The groundbreaking move recommended by the Joint Chiefs of Staff overturns a 1994 rule banning women from being assigned to smaller ground combat units. Panetta’s decision gives the military services until January 2016 to seek special exceptions if they believe any positions must remain closed to women.

“This policy change will initiate a process whereby the services will develop plans to implement this decision, which was made by the secretary of defense upon the recommendation of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,” a senior defense official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

Full article HERE.

What’s NOT being said, is this will not be an ‘optional’ assignment… If you (the female) end up in a combat MOS, like it or not, want it or not, your butt WILL be in combat.  The really scary part is that the ‘plan’ is to open all elite forces to females; if this is true, what are they going to do with the minimum standards required today for admission to these units???

AND one more, as if your BP isn’t high enough already…  

This one is for all you ex-Air Force folks…
From Military Times online.


The objective of the inspection was to ensure a professional work environment in the Air Force and reflect the high caliber of Airmen serving in our Air Force.

/snip/

Over 100 Air Force installations were inspected. Commanders of thousands of units inspected the workspaces of almost 600,000 Air Force military and civilian personnel. Commanders looked for and removed three broad categories of material: pornographic; unprofessional; or inappropriate or offensive.

According to the results, in the three categories, the Air Force found 631 instances of pornography (magazines, calendars, pictures, videos that intentionally displayed nudity or depicted acts of sexual activity); 3,987 instances of unprofessional material (discrimination, professional appearance, items specific to local military history such as patches, coins, heritage rooms, log books, song books, etc); and 27,598 instances of inappropriate or offensive items (suggestive items, magazines, posters, pictures, calendars, vulgarity, graffiti).

Identified items were documented and either removed or destroyed. In some instances, findings were turned over to OSI where appropriate. The areas inspected were all government workspaces and shared common areas such as briefing rooms, break rooms and computer drives.

The inspections are one in a series of initiatives the Air Force has undertaken to combat sexual assault. The Air Force conducted bystander intervention training service-wide, examined supplementary training for commanders and made multiple avenues of support available to every victim of sexual assault. Support services include counseling, medical, mental health, and safety services and victim’s advocate among other things. Also of note, the Air Force has launched a pilot program designed to provide legal assistance to victims of sexual assault will begin later this month.

Full article HERE.

I don’t have a problem with stopping sexual and other abuses, it should have been done a LONG time ago.  What I DO have a problem with is that apparently the USAF is removing it’s history from the spaces. When squadron coins, patches and class pictures are deemed inappropriate, what is next??? And in a conversation, apparently the  ‘bystander intervention’ also includes reporting anything the bystander doesn’t like (e.g. posters, plaques, cups, etc.)…

I wonder what he would do with these???


  The Cubi O’Club Bar, transported to the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola.

The NAVY understands tradition, and how to balance tradition with progress… Just sayin…

h/t Craig, Les, and Don

Worth your time…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Six minutes long, from Australia on what has happened since gun confiscation…



Suffice to say it’s NOT pretty…  

From out of the past…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
A good reminder from the email trail…

Joe Horn and David Codrea co-wrote a nice little monograph about liability and doctors asking questions about guns back in 2000.  It got quite a bit of play on the various forums and throughout the gunnie emails…

Today, I got a copy again, and I thought it would be a good idea to post the links to Joe’s site so that you can print your own.  Thankfully ‘my’ doctor is a long time hunter and shooter, and I when I showed it to him, he was in total agreement; he also stated it was NONE of his business what a patient owned.

Joe Horn’s link HERE. 

Huh, just realized I’ve done 1500 posts…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
I want to thank you loyal readers who’ve put up with the drivel I’ve thrown out there for the last 5 years, and I just want to thank you for the comments, corrections and emails either in support, criticism and the occasional WTF are you doing ones…

I do read and appreciate your comments, and I try my best to acknowledge/respond to those comments to the maximum extent possible.  

At least for now, I intend to NOT use either mediation or word verification; but if the spam keeps ramping up I may have to go to that.

Again, thank you each and every one for reading and commenting.  And I have to admit I’ve met some outstanding folks via this medium, and have been lucky enough to meet quite a few in meatspace also… 

A new addition to the ‘stable’…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Seems a few other folks are out picking up ‘strays’ that need a new home for a variety of reasons…

This one followed me home today…


Late 1942, early 1943 Winchester M-1 Carbine, correct, not arsenal rebuilt.

The stock was refinished, but other than that, it’s period correct…


It’s got the early style button safety, the older ‘squared’ ejector and muzzle wear indicates it’s about half life at this point.


The only thing “wrong” with it is that it’s missing the front sling swivel.  I’m betting this one was a DCM sale many years ago.  Good, tight, equal wear on the parts and ‘supposedly’ a good shooter.

Of course ‘good’ for these is 5 inches at 100 yards… In any case it has to be better than the last one of these I had (could hit the barn 3 of 5 standing INSIDE it…  Sold that one for $25…

Looking forward to getting to the range with it; of course that assumes I can FIND some ammo… sigh…

The ‘real’ NY agenda???

Posted on by March 6, 2013
From the Commentator…

NY Democrat pleads with Republican not to share document…

The State of New York this week passed some of the strictest gun control laws in the United States, effectively outlawing ‘assault weapons’ and limiting the size of magazines.
 
But if Republican Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin is to be believed, the New York State Democrats would have gone further if they could have. Much, much further.

/snip/

The List…

1. Confiscation of “assault weapons”
2. Confiscation of ten round clips
3. Statewide database for ALL Guns
4. Continue to allow pistol permit holder’s information to be replaced to the public
5. Label semiautomatic shotguns with more than 5 rounds or pistol grips as “assault weapons”
6. Limit the number of rounds in a magazine to 5 and confiscation and forfeiture of banned magazines
7. Limit possession to no more than two (2) magazines
8. Limit purchase of guns to one gun per person per month
9. Require re-licensing of all pistol permit owners
10. Require renewal of all pistol permits every five years
11. State issued pistol permits
12. Micro-stamping of all guns in New York State
13. Require licensing of all gun ammo dealers
14. Mandatory locking of guns at home
15. Fee for licensing, registering weapons

Full article with video HERE.

Any doubt this is also the administration’s REAL agenda???

Not in my mind…

And those EOs that are going to be signed?  I want to see them in the Federal Register and read them line by line, word for word to see what they REALLY say… 

USN Then and Now…

Posted on by March 6, 2013

And oh so damn true for the most part…

THEN
NOW

If you smoked, you had an ashtray on your desk.
If you smoke, you get sent outside and treated like a leper, if you’re lucky.

Mail took weeks to come to the ship.
If the ship is near land, there’s a mob topside to see if their cell phones work.

If you left the ship it was in Blues or Whites, even in home port.
The only time you wear Blues or Whites is for ceremonies.

You wore bell bottoms everywhere on the ship.
Bell Bottoms are gone and 14 yr-old girls wear them everywhere.

You wore a Dixie cup all day, with every uniform.
It’s not required and you have a choice of different hats.

Say “DAMN,” people knew you were annoyed and avoided you.
Say “DAMN,” you’d better be talking about a hydro electric plant.

The Ships Office yeoman had a typewriter on his desk for doing daily reports.
Everyone has a computer with Internet access and they wonder why no work is getting done.

We painted pictures of pretty girls on airplanes to remind us of home.
We put the real thing in the cockpit.

Your girlfriend was at home, praying you would return alive.
She is on the same ship, praying your condom worked.

If you got drunk off duty, your buddies would take you back to
the ship so you could sleep it off.
If you get drunk off duty, they slap you in rehab and ruin your career.

Canteens were made out of steel and you could heat coffee or hot Chocolate in them.
Canteens are made of plastic, you can’t heat them because they’ll melt, and anything inside always tastes like plastic.

Our top officers were professional sailors first. They commanded respect.
Our top officers are politicians first. They beg not to be given a wedgie.

They collected enemy intelligence and analyzed it.
They collect our pee and analyze it.

If you didn’t act right, they’d put you on extra duty until you straightened up.
If you don’t act right, they start a paper trail that follows you forever.

Medals were awarded to heroes who saved lives at the risk of their own.
Medals are awarded to people who show up for work most of the time.

You slept in a barracks, like a soldier.
You sleep in a dormitory, like a college kid.

You ate in a Mess Hall or Galley. It was free and you could have
all the food you wanted.
You eat in a Dining Facility. Every slice of bread or pat of butter costs, and you can only have one.

If you wanted to relax, you went to the Rec Center, played pool, smoked and drank beer.
You go to the Community Center and can still play pool, maybe.

If you wanted a quart of beer and conversation, you could go to the Chief’s or Officers’ Club.
The beer will cost you three dollars and someone is watching to see how much you drink.

The Exchange had bargains for sailors who didn’t make much money.
You can get better merchandise and cheaper at Wal-Mart.

If an Admiral wanted to make a presentation, he scribbled down
some notes and a YN spent an hour preparing a bunch of charts.
The Admiral has his entire staff spending days preparing a Power Point Presentation.

We called the enemy things like “Commie Bastards” and “Reds” because we didn’t like them.
We call the enemy things like “Opposing Forces” and “Aggressors or Insurgents” so we won’t offend them.

We declared victory when the enemy was dead and all his things were broken.
We declare victory when the enemy says he is sorry and won’t do it again.

A commander would put his butt on the line to protect his people.
A commander will put his people on the line to protect his butt.

Nuff said…

Ramirez hits a home run…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Michael Ramirez hits another one out of the park with this cartoon…


He’s well worth following!

And when you add in Planned Parenthood’s 300,000+ abortions…

Trivia…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
I’m tired of all the BS, so some trivia for y’all, and of course it’s NAVY trivia… 

Well, kinda sorta…


From Top Gun…

-The Kawasaki Ninja 900 was then the fastest bike in production. Top Gun made it famous. 
-Charlie’s car is a 1957 Porsche 356 Speedster. 356s also appear in 48 Hrs. and Bullitt.
-One scene was filmed six months after the movie wrapped. Kelly McGillis’s hat is hiding her different hairstyle. Tom Cruise’s hair was different, too. That’s why he’s just leaving the shower.
-Top Gun transformed Cruise from a young actor to an international star. He was only 23.
-From the very beginning, the filmmakers wanted Cruise for Maverick. He kept turning it down until Jerry Bruckheimer arranged for a ride along with the Blue Angels.
-Did you catch a glimpse of Merlin? That was Tim Robbins.
-Producers knew Top Gun was big when leather jackets and white shirts came back in fashion again. Ray-Ban sunglasses also had a spike in sales following the films release. The same thing happened three years earlier, with Risky Business.
-Top Gun was the No. 1 movie of 1986, making over $170 million in the U.S. alone. It was so popular it stayed in some theatres for an entire year.
-In 1986, jet fuel was pretty cheap – about $1 a gallon. Paramount still paid $10,000 an hour every time they went up to film an F-14, though.
-An F-14 costs at least $18 million.
-The Officers’ Club was the place to go in San Diego for local girls to meet fighter pilots. Until the mid-eighties, some of those local girls were actually strippers.
-The story of Maverick’s father is based on an actual WWII and Korean War pilot killed in an F-9 crash. The pilot’s son, call sign Wizard, was also a Topgun fighter pilot like Maverick.
-Topgun was established to curb the high casualty rates of American fighter pilots during Vietnam.
-Instructors wouldn’t score oceanfront property anymore. Topgun moved to Nevada in 1996.
-There were two historical incidents in the eighties that are similar to the final deployment. Both involved American F-14 clashes with Libyan jets over the Gulf of Sidra.
-In 1986, the F-14 was the best fighter jet in the world. The U.S. Navy used it from 1970 to 2006. Today, Topgun pilots fly the F/A-18 Hornet and F/A-18 Super Hornet.
-Maverick and Charlie have chemistry, but in real life McGillis fell for Wolfman (Barry Tubb). 
-For the decade after Vietnam, war movies were anti-military. Top Gun reversed that. It helped that Reagan was in the White House and America was feeling patriotic again.
-At Topgun today, there’s a $5 fine for anyone on staff who references or quotes the movie.
-Yahoo! Movies calls Top Gun the nineteenth-best action film ever. 
-In 2011, the Chinese government broadcast Top Gun footage, claiming it was the Chinese air force.
-Kilmer: “The only egos bigger than actors are rock stars. And the only people beyond that are fighter pilots”.
-Top Gun songwriter Kenny Loggins says the movie has an “eighties John Wayne attitude”.
-The original idea for Top Gun came from a magazine article about fighter pilots. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer says the goal was to make “Star Wars on earth”.
-There isn’t really a Topgun plaque. It was created to give the characters a competition.
-Producers based Charlie on a civilian who worked for the Center for Naval Analyses. She was originally going to be in the Navy, but they don’t allow dating between officers.
-Iceman’s cough was totally improvised on the spot by Kilmer.
-All of the actors playing pilots went on actual F-14 hops except for Kilmer, who refused. Anthony Edwards (Goose) was the only one who made it through without getting sick.
-Director Tony Scott wanted all visual effects in the movie to have a “documentary realism”. So they hired documentary cameramen to film all the effects footage. Scott loved to film the jets at dawn so he could capture the beautiful natural light. Producer Don Simpson said the first cut of the movie “felt like one long sunset”.
-No pilot in the history of Miramar had actually buzzed the tower.
-Cruise and Kilmer never interacted off set. So their onscreen tension came naturally.
-Cruise and co-star Kelly McGillis almost never stand side by side in Top Gun. McGillis is taller, so she acted mostly in bare feet while Cruise wore lifts.
-Anthony Edwards had no idea he was going to sing and pretend to play piano in one scene. Scott was listening to Lee Lewis that morning and added it in last minute.
-Cruise was the only actor to get his actual flying footage in the final cut of the film. In his F-14 hops, Cruise went twice the speed of sound, or 1,536 miles per hour.
-The production built an almost-perfect F-14 cockpit just from photocopies of the manual.
-The MiG pilots were played by actual Topgun instructors.
-Maverick is both literally and figuratively boxes up his memories of Goose. Compartmentalization is the way the Navy teaches pilots to stay focused on their missions.
-One sequence was filmed using F-14 models being dropped from a ladder. Some were literally bought off the shelves at a nearby store.
-Top Gun would have been impossible to film without the Navy’s jets, carriers, and cooperation. It paid off for them. The Navy set up booths outside theatres, and recruitment went up 500 percent.
-MiG is a Russian aircraft company similar to Boeing or Lockheed Martin in the U.S. The MiG-28 isn’t a real MiG jet, though. They were actually F-5s, chosen because they look sinister. The movie never mentions where the MiGs are from because the Navy didn’t want to upset any nation.
-Air-to-air combat usually takes place in an egg-shaped fighting arena around five miles wide. Topgun pilots attack in pairs, which is an old dogfighting move called “loose deuce”.
-Real Topgun doesn’t hold classes in hangars. They have classrooms for that.
-The locker-room scenes were added to drive home that this is really a sport movie.
-A flat spin creates a low-pressure area and stalls the canopy when ejected. Producers wanted a mid-air crash but based the accident on a real-life one instead.
-Approximately 48 students graduate from Topgun every year.
-Topgun doesn’t deploy pilots. They’d get that info from their squadrons after they left.
-The Navy doesn’t have that many planes, so they’re usually outnumbered by enemy aircraft. The Air Force might send in twenty airplanes whereas the Navy could send in only four.
-The odds of taking machine-gun fire and continuing to fly are pretty slim.
-There aren’t many MiG kills, so when a pilot shoots down an enemy it’s a big deal. Tech adviser Pete Pettigrew: “It’s just like this. Everybody’s screaming. It’s really wonderful”.

And a couple more- NAS Miramar, at the time Top Gun’s home, is dry, flat, and ugly… TOO ugly for the movie, so the base gate pictures were actually filmed at the Navy’s Boot Camp at Point Loma.  

During the filming of the ejection and water survival, Cruise actually panicked and almost drowned… He actually HAD to be rescued by a real SAR swimmer.  

Art Scholl, one of the great stunt pilots was killed filming the flat spin sequence in the movie, and the movie is dedicated to him.