.44 Special ...

06 AUG 2019 UPDATE - After its seizure (noted in I'm sorry. We're closing now) - GOT it BACK!!!

In October of 2000, fearing a possible Al Gore victory over George W. Bush (Gore being a gun-control fanatic), and preferring something without a paper trail associated with it, I acquired THIS ...

That is an old model Charter Arms Bulldog 5-shot revolver, with a 3" barrel, in .44 S&W Special caliber.  

That target shows the first five rounds I put through it, at ten yards, firing double-action (a misnomer actually, but it's commonly used to describe firing a revolver without cocking it first; just using a long pull of the trigger*).

That flyer (the one furthest from the rest of the group) was the fifth one. With a .44 Special in such a light gun, the recoil is a very sharp slap that will sting the palm of your hand; not a fun gun to shoot. But it satisfied me that it should certainly get the job done.

As for my ammunition of choice, I favor ...

from smith-wessonforum.com

... because it's reliable, accurate, and falls into the "will get the job done" category. 

And before anyone warns me that "lots of indoor ranges ban the use of Blazer ammunition as unsafe, blows up guns (often showing spectacular pictures of blown-up revolvers)", well know this ...

A lot of police departments throughout the country use this ammunition, for budgetary reasons.  While the quality of their rangemasters may vary quite a bit, I suspect that most of those departments are very knowledgeable on lawsuits. That they keep using it is to me a pretty good sign.

I think that what indoor shooting ranges really hate about Blazer is that they sweep up the fired cartridge cases and reload them. The Blazer rounds use aluminum cases, which don't re-size as well as the brass used by most other manufacturers. They also use Berdan primers (needing a special two-pronged decapping tool) instead of the more commonly used (over here) Boxer primer that can use a single pin though a center hole for removing the old primer.

All that trouble probably keeps them from making a profit on reloading the Blazer cartridges.

I've never encountered an outdoor shooting range that had any problem with shooters using the Blazer ammunition. They probably don't collect and reload the cases because it may be more trouble than it's worth to separate and clean them from the dirt, rocks and other debris on the ground there.)

(* - Ok, then. What does "double-action" really mean? It means there are two ways to fire the weapon.

One: Cock the hammer first, allowing you to fire it with a light pull of the trigger, usually more accurate.

Two: Use a long (usually heavy and rough, although it varies greatly among different weapons) pull of the trigger, to raise the hammer and then release it in one motion. This is fastest, but not always very accurate. Mileage varies greatly among different weapons. Some Smith & Wesson models have very good and smooth trigger pulls when used this way, as does that Charter Arms Bulldog of mine.

So, one of the greatest misnomers is a weapon described as DAO (Double Action Only) when it in fact has just a single mode of being fired: by pulling the trigger to cock and release the hammer.

Ain't semantics wonderful? :-)
-

Shaking our tree.

- 04 Oct 1957 - SPUTNIK!!!

This little dingbat scared the Hell out of many of us then ...

from citizenship typepad.com

Nothing but a polished metal sphere of 585 mm (23 inches) diameter with a mass of 83.6 kilograms (184 lb) and carrying only a radio transmitter, it definitely got our attention.

THEY got there FIRST! Oh, Man!!!

You see, those were the thrilling days of yesteryear when the Soviet Union was ruled by Nikita "We will bury you" Khrushchev who, just the year before, had sent columns of tanks into Hungary to crush a rebellion there (just his way of stating "THAT is a NO-NO!").

The days of "Duck and cover" drills in public schools (not at all insane; if a nuke hit several miles away instead of on top of you, that could make the difference between surviving versus being shredded by glass blown in by the shock wave if all you did was just stand there and gawk at the explosion. Nukes are powerful, but not infinitely powerful. They can be survived, and have been. See reports of Hiroshima and Nagasaki for hard evidence. (Although, in an essay on civil defense, Robert A. Heinlein advocated situational awareness (paying attention to what's going on in the world) and summed up surviving the bomb in seven words: "Don't BE there, when it goes off!" ))

That innocent looking thing was placed into orbit by ...

from on6wj-sputnik.blogspot.com

... the R-7 launcher (for a long time referred to as T-3), which evolved from an ICBM whose primary purpose was to transport a thermonuclear bomb from Point A (somewhere in the Soviet Union) to Point B (somewhere in the USA).

The local newspapers ...

San Antonio Light, 05 Oct 1957 - from newspaperarchive.com

... published times of when to see it in the morning or evening, when it would be brightly lit by the sun.

To read or hear about the Soviets (listening to the radio when they were stomping on the rebellion in Hungary was heart-wrenching) while they were on the other side of the world was bad enough, but a bit abstract.

To walk out into your back yard and actually see this bright little silver dot in the sky slowly moving overhead, and realizing there they are;  well, that's a whole 'nother story.

(Originally published  1239 CST,  03 OCT 2012)
-

Charlemagne

From The Story of Mankind - Hendrik van Loon - 1921 (Public Domain now)

Charlemagne

HOW CHARLEMAGNE, THE KING OF THE FRANKS, CAME TO BEAR THE TITLE OF EMPEROR AND TRIED TO REVIVE THE OLD IDEAL OF WORLD-EMPIRE

THE battle of Poitiers had saved Europe from the Mohammedans. But the enemy within–the hopeless disorder which had followed the disappearance of the Roman police officer–that enemy remained. It is true that the new converts of the Christian faith in Northern Europe felt a deep respect for the mighty Bishop of Rome. But that poor bishop did not feel any too safe when he looked toward the distant mountains. Heaven knew what fresh hordes of barbarians were ready to cross the Alps and begin a new attack on Rome. It was necessary–very necessary–for the spiritual head of the world to find an ally with a strong sword and a powerful fist who was willing to defend His Holiness in case of danger.

And so the Popes, who were not only very holy but also very practical, cast about for a friend, and presently they made overtures to the most promising of the Germanic tribes who had occupied north-western Europe after the fall of Rome. They were called the Franks. One of their earliest kings, called Merovech, had helped the Romans in the battle of the Catalaunian fields in the year 451 when they defeated the Huns. His descendants, the Merovingians, had continued to take little bits of imperial territory until the year 486 when king Clovis (the old French word for “Louis”) felt himself strong enough to beat the Romans in the open. But his descendants were weak men who left the affairs of state to their Prime minister, the “Major Domus” or Master of the Palace.

Pepin the Short, the son of the famous Charles Martel, who succeeded his father as Master of the Palace, hardly knew how to handle the situation. His royal master was a devout theologian, without any interest in politics. Pepin asked the Pope for advice. The Pope who was a practical person answered that the “power in the state belonged to him who was actually possessed of it.” Pepin took the hint. He persuaded Childeric, the last of the Merovingians to become a monk and then made himself king with the approval of the other Germanic chieftains. But this did not satisfy the shrewd Pepin. He wanted to be something more than a barbarian chieftain. He staged an elaborate ceremony at which Boniface, the great missionary of the European northwest, anointed him and made him a “King by the grace of God.” It was easy to slip those words, “Dei gratia,” into the coronation service. It took almost fifteen* hundred years to get them out again. 

(* = error by van Loon;  TWELVE hundred would be more accurate. He MAY have been thinking about the "year 451" in the second paragraph; referring to an event several hundred years prior.)

Pepin was sincerely grateful for this kindness on the part of the church. He made two expeditions to Italy to defend the Pope against his enemies. He took Ravenna and several other cities away from the Longobards and presented them to His Holiness, who incorporated these new domains into the so-called Papal State, which remained an independent country until half a century ago.

After Pepin’s death, the relations between Rome and Aix- la-Chapelle or Nymwegen or Ingelheim, (the Frankish Kings did not have one official residence, but travelled from place to place with all their ministers and court officers,) became more and more cordial. Finally the Pope and the King took a step which was to influence the history of Europe in a most profound way.

Charles, commonly known as Carolus Magnus or Char- lemagne, succeeded Pepin in the year 768. He had conquered the land of the Saxons in eastern Germany and had built towns and monasteries all over the greater part of northern Europe. At the request of certain enemies of Abd-ar- Rahman, he had invaded Spain to fight the Moors. But in the Pyrenees he had been attacked by the wild Basques and had been forced to retire. It was upon this occasion that Roland, the great Margrave of Breton, showed what a Frankish chieftain of those early days meant when he promised to be faithful to his King, and gave his life and that of his trusted followers to safeguard the retreat of the royal army.

During the last ten years of the eighth century, however, Charles was obliged to devote himself exclusively to affairs of the South. The Pope, Leo III, had been attacked by a band of Roman rowdies and had been left for dead in the street. Some kind people had bandaged his wounds and had helped him to escape to the camp of Charles, where he asked for help. An army of Franks soon restored quiet and carried Leo back to the Lateran Palace which ever since the days of Constantine, had been the home of the Pope. That was in December of the year 799. On Christmas day of the next year, Charlemagne, who was staying in Rome, attended the service in the ancient church of St. Peter. When he arose from prayer, the Pope placed a crown upon his head, called him Emperor of the Romans and hailed him once more with the title of “Augustus" which had not been heard for hundreds of years.

Once more Northern Europe was part of a Roman Empire, but the dignity was held by a German chieftain who could read just a little and never learned to write. But he could fight and for a short while there was order and even the rival emperor in Constantinople sent a letter of approval to his “dear Brother.”

Unfortunately this splendid old man died in the year 814. His sons and his grandsons at once began to fight for the largest share of the imperial inheritance. Twice the Carolingian lands were divided, by the treaties of Verdun in the year 843 and by the treaty of Mersen-on-the-Meuse in the year 870. The latter treaty divided the entire Frankish Kingdom into two parts. Charles the Bold received the western half. It contained the old Roman province called Gaul where the language of the people had become thoroughly romanized. The Franks soon learned to speak this language and this accounts for the strange fact that a purely Germanic land like France should speak a Latin tongue.

The other grandson got the eastern part, the land which the Romans had called Germania. Those inhospitable regions had never been part of the old Empire. Augustus had tried to conquer this “far east,” but his legions had been annihilated in the Teutoburg Wood in the year 9 and the people had never been influenced by the higher Roman civilisation. They spoke the popular Germanic tongue. The Teuton word for “people” was “thiot.” The Christian missionaries therefore called the German language the “lingua theotisca” or the “lingua teutisca,” the “popular dialect” and this word “teutisca” was changed into “Deutsch” which accounts for the name “Deutschland.”

As for the famous Imperial Crown, it very soon slipped off the heads of the Carolingian successors and rolled back onto the Italian plain, where it became a sort of plaything of a number of little potentates who stole the crown from each other amidst much bloodshed and wore it (with or without the permission of the Pope) until it was the turn of some more ambitious neighbour. The Pope, once more sorely beset by his enemies, sent north for help. He did not appeal to the ruler of the west-Frankish kingdom, this time. His messengers crossed the Alps and addressed themselves to Otto, a Saxon Prince who was recognised as the greatest chieftain of the different Germanic tribes.

Otto, who shared his people’s affection for the blue skies and the gay and beautiful people of the Italian peninsula, hastened to the rescue. In return for his services, the Pope, Leo VIII, made Otto “Emperor,” and the eastern half of Charles’ old kingdom was henceforth known as the “Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.”

This strange political creation managed to live to the ripe old age of eight hundred and thirty-nine years. In the year 1801, (during the presidency of Thomas Jefferson,) it was most unceremoniously relegated to the historical scrapheap. The brutal fellow who destroyed the old Germanic Empire was the son of a Corsican notary-public who had made a brilliant career in the service of the French Republic. He was ruler of Europe by the grace of his famous Guard Regiments, but he desired to be something more. He sent to Rome for the Pope and the Pope came and stood by while General Napoleon placed the imperial crown upon his own head and proclaimed himself heir to the tradition of Charlemagne. For history is like life. The more things change, the more they remain the same.

-

I'm gettin' too OLD for this sh*t!!!

- Yesterday (Tuesday, 06 NOV 2018) I had two appointments at the VA Eye Clinic.

To use Metrolift, one needs to make a reservation at least a day before. When I remembered (Monday) that I had NOT done so, it was already just past 5 PM, and the reservation office was closed.

Taxi fare would have been so expensive that I took a chance and used the regular buses (FREE with the special card I have because of my age and condition), hoping the new walker mentioned in my My NEWEST Toy ... post, would let me handle the bus stops (some of which had broken pavement) without injury.

It DID!!!

On my return trip, I switched to another bus which dropped me off at the polling station so I could vote (Normally, I would wade through all the different races, BUT;  because of the recent behavior of a certain unmentionable party, STRAIGHT REPUBLICAN!!!).

I then walked several blocks over to the Kroger near my apartment for some groceries, only AFTERWARDS using a taxi to get home (just TOO MUCH of a load to carry that far).

Yesterday was more walking than I've done in MONTHS, and that walker made it POSSIBLE.

BUT, it DOESN'T prevent FATIGUE.  Several times I felt about to COLLAPSE, even in my apartment afterwards.  I was so tired when I hit the sack, I really wondered if I WOULD wake up the next morning.

I suppose I'm just gonna have to EASE into it.

This may all be academic;  I'm STILL RUNNING OUT OF MONEY and find it NECESSARY to BEG for donations AGAIN.  PLEASE!!! 

I tell the folks at the VA about this;  that the ONLY thing that could SAVE me in the long run is to become EMPLOYABLE.  They nod and smile;  but I can SEE they do NOT really comprehend.

How COULD they?  This is BEYOND any experience THEY'VE ever had.  HOW could running out of money KILL anyone in THIS country?  

I hope they NEVER find out;  I wouldn't wish THAT understanding on ANYONE.  :(

-

Be still, my heart. :-)

... Notice from Social Security.

This year (2016), it didn't increase by a single penny, staying at the level it was the year before.

NOW, it  "... will increase by 0.3% in 2017 because of a rise in the cost of living.".

(Not THREE percent, but THREE TENTHS of a percent.)

Now, in truth, it does NOT actually say that the cost of living rose only 0.3%, BUT, that sure SEEMS to be the implication.

I have NO idea what planet they are thinking of, but it damned sure isn't the one we're living on.

Obviously, THIS is a VENT.  :(

-

TRUMP ... UPDATED 02 DEC 2016

From ibtimes.co.uk

At first, I didn't take him seriously.

But, the more I actually listened to HIM (rather that what other people were SAYING about him), the more I liked and RESPECTED him.

He's NOT an ideologue. What I saw was a business man, passionate about making things WORK. In THAT regard, he reminded me of Reagan. I soon found myself solidly in his corner.

Last night (08 NOV 2016), I hit the sack just before midnight, very worried because he was not quite there yet.

Around 0130, I woke up, got up, and checked ABC News' website, just in time to see Trump's electoral vote totals go past the 270 needed for victory. Just ten minutes later came the announcement that Hillary had called Trump, to concede.

With the knots in my stomach finally loosening, I felt better than I have in a loooong time.

After EIGHT SOLID YEARS of varying degrees of despair, I now actually have HOPE for the future of this country.

Trump will have a LOT on his plate when he takes office in January.

We shall see, But at the moment I stand with my feeling about who he reminded me of. I truly believe that we have managed to find, and elect, ANOTHER REAGAN.

And I am just FINE with THAT.  :-)

UPDATE 02 DEC 2016 - A letter from Ed, posted in Jerry Pournelle's post  https://www.jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor/em-drive-speed-of-light-and-other-science/ made THESE points ...
"I think most observers don’t get that when you base your decisions on values, you make decisions this way. You try one thing on for size – it doesn’t fit, so you toss it away and try on something else, something different. Eventually you zero in on what you want. This is not ideology-based or strategy-based decision making. This is making decisions based on values."

"The problem with ideology-base decision-making is that they make as many mistakes but they don’t correct them. We had many years of not correcting mistakes.  I like Trump’s way."

That perfectly describes what I meant about Trump not being an ideologue. and why I feel such hope with him in charge.
-

"NEVER tell a soldier ... (Updated 28 JUN 2016)

... that he does not know the cost of war."
~Alan Rickman as Lt. General Frank Benson in Eye in the Sky (2015)

From http://www.bustle.com/articles/146439-see-alan-rickman-in-his-last-live-action-role-in-the-military-drama-eye-in-the-sky

One of the official trailers on youtube

Caught this yesterday (26 APR 2016), mainly because it starred Helen Mirren (I'd watch almost anything with her in it), and discovered that her co-star was Alan Rickman (in his last performance before his death from pancreatic cancer on 14 JAN 2016 --- see "... and call off Christmas!!!" )

He picked a fine movie to go out on; a wonderful performance in a truly intelligent film.  He will be truly missed

The questions raised in this movie just don't have any good answers.  It will probably be gone from theaters in another week ot two, but I've seen a July 28 release date for DVD and Blu-Ray.

Update 28 JUN 2016:  That release date above was wrong. It's being released June 28 - TODAY.
-

"He WON the ones he HAD to."

... Bottom line reply of a couple of British historians on George Washington's military prowess, in response to an argument that, "He LOST more battles than he WON."

I suspect that North Vietnam's General Võ Nguyên Giáp would have understood PERFECTLY. 

During our Bicentennial in 1976, CBS ran a number of "Bicentennial Minutes" (short educational American television segments commemorating the bicentennial of the American Revolution). 

In one of them, U.S. Army Colonel Harry G. Summers, Jr. talked of his participation in the Paris Peace Talks, in 1973, as part of the delegation negotiating our withdrawal from Vietnam. At that time, he felt deeply humiliated at being party to what amounted to a surrender on our part. 

He recalled that one time, when leaving the conference room, he tore into one of the Vietnamese delegates, "You know, you never beat us on the battlefield". 

Instead of the argument he was spoiling for, what he got in return was, "That may be so, but it is also irrelevant."

He acknowledged THAT to be "the shortest, most succinct lesson in strategy I have EVER been privileged to hear".

Recently, on The History Channel, I came across Washington the Warrior (2006), (which I now have on order from Amazon). This is an uttelry fascinating look at our first Commander in Chief, which I cannot recommend too highly. There is NOTHING stuffy or boring about him.

To go along with that I would also recommend The Crossing (2000), about Washington's crossing the Delaware to attack a Hessian brigade at Trenton, New Jersey, at a time when his army was almost disintegrated from lack of supplies and support, figuring that the Hessians had everything he was in need of.

Hunt these up and enjoy History at its best.
-

"Your Honor, he NEEDED killin'."

As a Texan, I feel pretty confident that it is only an urban legend that that phrase was ever actually used as a defense in a Texas courtroom.

But, the sentiment seems very appropriate towards the surviving member  (now in custody and charged in Federal Court) of the pair that made and set the bombs that killed several people and injured dozens more at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

If you've noticed that I haven't named him, it is because I'm not really interested in who he is nor whatever he might have to say.

I'm far more concerned with what he is: a sick asshole who probably found  gratification in exercising godlike power over others by taking their lives, in the name of radical Islam.

No doubt, he will be assigned a team of crack defense lawyers, who may well argue successfully that the environment under which he was raised poisoned him to the point that he may have been doomed to carry out what he did.

They may well be right, but, SO WHAT?!!!  Too Damned Bad.

Shall we sentence him to life in prison, where he can infect others?  Where, in spite of whatever the length of his term, he may very well be released in twenty years (still younger than when I began my IT career), probably still just as sick and free to resume where he left off?

When a dog has rabies, it's very likely not the fault of the dog.  But that does not make it any less sick nor any less dangerous.  Putting it down is simply a matter of common sense.

This guy may be human (although I think he forfeited that when he set the bombs), but I truly think the same rule applies here.
- 

COME AND TAKE IT

Apparently, the City Council of New Rochelle, NY was offended when the United Veterans Memorial & Patriotic Association replaced a worn-out American flag at the New Rochelle Armory and flew this flag below it ...

From the Gateway Pundit post linked below

This is what is known as the Gadsden Flag.  It has been a part of our history since before the Stars and Stripes, and has flown from the mainmasts of some of our first Naval vessels.

Because it was adopted by some groups within the Tea Party (as a protest over our rights being trampled on) some City Council member complained about it being "hateful" and wanted it taken down.  The City Manager had more sense and chose to leave it alone, but was overridden by the City Council and the flag was taken down. The Council voted 5-2 to refuse to let the veterans restore it.

See Outrageous! Gadsden Flag Removed By New York Town For Being An “Offensive” Tea Party Symbol


If they got their panties in a twist over that, just imagine their reaction to ...

From conservativeblogscentral.blogspot.com

That is the Gonzales Flag.

The earliest shots in the Texas Rebellion were fired at Gonzales, Texas.  Prior to the Battle of the Alamo (in March 1836) tensions had been building up for several years between the Mexican authorities and the Texian settlers.

In 1831, they had given the settlers of Gonzales a small cannon to help against frequent Comanche raids.  Not wanting to leave such a weapon in the hands of potential opponents, they decided to take it back.  The settlers balked, and sent out word to neighboring settlements for help.

When a contingent of Mexican troops arrived to take the gun, they were greeted by a large party of armed Texians carrying that banner with its invitation.  A brief skirmish resulted in two Mexican soldiers killed, and one Texian injured (to be fair to the Mexicans, they were not under any orders to start a war and withdrew to prevent a bad situation from becoming even worse than it already was).

But, this was the first known instance of armed Texians taking on the Mexican army, and that genie was not about to go back into the bottle.  While not readily apparent on that day (02 Oct 1835) events were set into motion that I honestly don't know if could ever have been stopped.
-

"It is a tale told by an idiot, ...

... full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

How I've wanted to apply that line from Macbeth to an Obama speech (almost any of his speeches would qualify).

The State of the Union speech seemed a perfect candidate (and I'll bet it was appropriate) but I cannot really say because I didn't watch it.

To honestly use that line for that has a fearful price; I would actually have to watch that speech, listen to that moron drone on and on (and on) about his wonderful accomplishments capped with "But we're not done yet. We still have a lot of work to do." (After all, he hasn't finished destroying this country yet).

That promised to be an exercise in masochism. In my current state of black depression, I decided "Life's too short!", and this will be the post that never was.
-

"Do what you have to do."

On 31 October 2012, I posted "Criminally Negligent Manslaughter ...", in which I openly accused President Barack Obama of precisely that in the Benghazi incident of 11 Sep 2012 that resulted in the deaths of four of our citizens.

If you notice that I didn't provide a link to that post, it's because I have pulled it.

In the hearings on the incident, CIA Director Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta testified that President Obama told him to "Do what you have to do." (OOPS!! - He was CIA Director until he became SecDef on 01 Jun 2011.)

In Dr. Jerry Pournelle's latest post Do what you have to do (from which I borrowed the title for my post) he notes ...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This morning Rush Limbaugh was castigating President Obama for not being in the command scene during the last of the Benghazi crisis. According to Limbaugh, the President told the Secretary of Defense “Do what you have to do,” and vanished from scene.

If this is true, I would say it is to the President’s credit, and reminiscent of President Reagan who, told of the opportunity to capture a known terrorist by taking him from an EgyptAir 737 now in flight. The risks and benefits were explained. The President ordered the military to do it. When asked if he wanted to be kept up to date on the operation, he said, “Sure. Let me know when you’ve got him.” This in contrast to President Carter, who was on the phone to Colonel Beckwith at all phases of the doomed attempt to rescue the American embassy personnel held captive in Tehran. As von Moltke the elder put it after his success against the Austrians, this was probably the last battle in which a general did not have a telegraph wire from supreme command up his bum. That was prophetic but not always. Reagan told his people to do the job and got out of the way.

This sounds like what President Obama did. If we seek enlightenment on why so little was done after that, we have to ask the Secretary of Defense and the duty officers in command – why the President’s blank check wasn’t passed along to the theater commander. “Do what you have to do” sounds like the kind of orders that put heart in a soldier. Why didn’t Panetta call the theater commander and simply say, “The consulate is under attack. Use whatever resources you have to get the American personnel and consulate employees out of the consulate and safe house. The President says do what you have to do. I’ll get out of your way now.”

We can ask why nothing was done, but it’s hard to say the President didn’t give the right order.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope Dr. Pournelle will forgive me for using half of his post in that quote above. In this case, I found him persuasive enough to pull my own post and felt that he should be quoted accurately instead of cherry picking from it.

I've seen nothing in his posts to indicate that he is a fan and supporter of The One, but he is willing to give the President a fair shake on this. I have to admit that's more than I've done.

No! I have not become a convert to The One and am not likely to ever do so.  There are many issues for which the word "despise" is not too strong to describe my feelings towards him.

The "If this is true" is a very important caveat, but, if we make it past that obstacle, then I was wrong and I have to face that.
-

Zero Dark Thirty is THE Best movie of 2012

That's my final choice, after initially going with "The Avengers", for its pure entertainment value, and then with Ben Affleck's "Argo".

It has gotten an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, with which I wholly agree.  But, its director, Kathryn Bigelow was not nominated for Best Director, which I feel is a felony. Did the Academy think that the movie somehow just made itself, without the help of a director?

For the few that may not know, "Zero Dark Thirty" is about the raid that finally nailed Osama bin Laden, and what led up to it.

How accurate is it.  This is literally a case of "Who can say?"  What I saw jibed with reports I have read.

BUT, those reports (and the movie itself) come from first-hand accounts which, by definition, are from people who are masters of deception with plenty of reason to mislead.  It doesn't appear unreasonable to wonder if some of the methods actually used were not believed to be known to terrorists and that it might be prudent in their public reports  to substitute methods that were plausible and already known by them.

That is pure speculation on my part. The only contribution I can make is the purely unscientific observation that "It feels right."  That is what "verisimilitude" means. It does not mean "It is right."

Keeping those caveats in mind, this is probably the best account of that operation you'll likely see in ages, and is totally gripping throughout.

If this interests you at all, I sincerely recommend that you catch it in a theater, on the big screen, hopefully in an auditorium where it is digitally projected. The raid occurs at night, and this movie has some of the best night work I've ever seen. The shots of the helicopters flying though the mountains of Afghanistan at night, where you can see that terrain under conditions that look realistic, are almost worth the price of admission alone, and are something that I doubt will look nearly as impressive on your home TV set if you just wait for the DVD or Blu-Ray.

This is one hell of a fine movie. See it.

(Why do I call it the best movie of 2012?  It had a limited release a few weeks ago, in December 2012, to qualify for the awards of that year. It's general release to everyone was Friday, 08 Jan 2013 when I caught it. I saw it again last night and confirmed my feelings for it.).
-

"Things could be worse!"

... my neighbor would reassure me during the early days of the Great Depression. No matter how bad things got, he would trot out that saying.

And -- you know something? -- He was RIGHT!  -- Things got worse!

~Will Rogers, supposedly. I do recall reading of him saying something like this, but have been unable to confirm it through google. But, "Life's too short!" I'm gonna stand by my recollection.

Our nightmare has now been renewed and there's nothing for it but to survive it.

I'm removing a lot of posts that concerned the debates, as their "sell by" date has expired.

One post I am not removing is Criminally negligent manslaughter ... , my indictment in which I accuse President Barack Obama of needlessly allowing four Americans to be killed, while neither sending in a support and rescue mission nor allowing anyone else to do so.

My original intent was to take down that post when Obama left the office of the Presidency, which I fully expected to occur on Sunday, 20 Jan 2013.

BUT, I've heard that God answers all prayers; sometimes the answer is NO!

I suspect that, a reply from HIM would be ...

"Some of you Republicans got into a snit over Romney not being conservative enough for you and either sat out the election or wasted your vote on 3rd party candidate Gary Johnson. For whatever reasons, you gave Romney fewer votes than McCain got four years ago. And now, you come crying to ME over what's just happened?!!! This is YOUR mess to clean up. Give me a call when you feel up to doing your part."

So, it would appear that Obama's leave-taking has been postponed for up to four more years.

On reflection, my original intent for that post mentioned above still sounds like a plan, so its removal has also been postponed for -- oh, I don't know -- say up to four more years?

As it's not practical to keep it at the top for all that time, I've replaced my header (just below my site's main picture) with a link and invitation, that will be promenent on any page of my blog.

I'm not going to let this go.

Back to God ...

HE might continue ...

"If you think I'm so unforgiving, you might consider this tender mercy I've bestowed upon you. I did let you hang onto the House, so that on Inauguration Day, 20 Jan 2013, you will NOT be presented with this as Speaker of the House ..."

Nancy Pelosi - from papatodd.com

"I wouldn't do that to anybody. Even the guy below feels remorse for having inflicted that upon you before. So, STOP WHINING!  And get on with it."

"So, could things really be any worse than they are now? Oh, you betcha!"

Update 08 Feb 2013 - I HAVE removed the "Crimially negligent" post I mentioned above, for reasons cited in "Do what you have to do."

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THIS is unconscionable ...

... if this story is accurate.

From The Strata-Sphere ...

Deployed Military Having Serious Trouble Voting Absentee

Yesterday, I sent that link to every blogger I follow, hoping that someone with access to Romney's campaign would check it out and bring it to his attention if verified.

I'll see who I can find to send it to (while realizing that this would only be one tiny drop in a very large bucket).

Update 1520 CDT, Sun, 14 Oct 2012 - So far, the best ones I can think of to send that post to are my U.S Senators (John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutcheson - both Republicans) and my U.S. Representative John Culberson - also Republican -- if I lived a few blocks away, I would be in the district of Sheila Jackson Lee, in which case my appeal would be in vain.

It's not difficult to find contact pages for these people but, as they receive an enormous amount of email, they only accept such from people residing within their districts.

As the two senators each represent the entire population of Texas (over 25 million now), and Culberson only represents Texas Congressional District 7 (we have 32 now -- to be increased to 36 in 2013 ) with a population of a bit over 650,000, that suggests that he might get only about 1/40th the volume of email the others get. That makes him my best hope at the moment.

Anyway, I emailed them. So, we shall see.
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You CANNOT make this stuff up.

I dare you to even try.

The wit and wisdom of Obama deputy campaign manager, Stephanie Cutter ...

Cutter: This Benghazi thing is only a big deal because Romney and Ryan won’t stop talking about it

What could one possibly add to that?
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They're rioting in Africa.

They're rioting in Africa.
They're starving in Spain.
There's hurricanes in Florida
   and Texas needs rain.

The whole world is festering with unhappy souls.
The French hate the Germans. The Germans hate the Poles.
Italians hate Yugoslavs. South Africans hate the Dutch
   and I don't like anybody very much!

But we can be tranquil and thankful and proud
for man's been endowed with a mushroom shaped cloud.
And we know for certain that some lovely day
   someone will set the spark off and we will all be blown away.

They're rioting in Africa.
There's strife in Iran.
What nature doesn't do to us
   will be done by our fellow man.

~"The Merry Minuet" - Performed by The Kingston Trio (1959)
    Copyright 1959, by Sheldon Harnick,.

"The more things change ..."
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Inferiority Complex

There's nothing more dangerous in a culture acquiring nukes.

We're speaking now of a people who, many by choice, are a millennium out of date, can never catch up and compete with the West, and probably know it to the depths of their souls.

In such a situation, would they question their beliefs (under which they have been raised for generations) and alter them?

Not bloody likely;  that's just contrary to human nature.

What's much more likely is to feel that others are holding them down and, when their only talents seem to be destruction, try to level the playing field by bringing those others down with them.

From Michelle Malkin's If it’s Friday in the Muslim world, it’s time for another Islamic Rage Boy riot!!!! ...

The dhimmi media continues to insist that the latest anti-infidel conflagration is about the stupid Internet film that none of the brigades of Islamic Rage Boys care about or have seen. Tools.

For years, we’ve chronicled the wholly manufactured “Friday is jihad riot day” phenomenon in the Muslim world.

 Teddy bear named Mohamed? Time to riot!

 Salman Rushdie knighted? Time to riot!

 Mohammed cartoons? Time to riot!

 Documentary critical of the Koran? Time to riot!

Problem is, while absolutely ridiculous, there's nothing remotely funny about lunatics with deadly weapons.

Stating the problem clearly is an essential step towards finding a solution. I hope I've done a decent (and accurate) job of so stating it. Unfortunately, I have no solution (unless I'm just refusing to face it -- also quite in keeping with human nature).

Commentor DesertLover, on Malkin's post above, provided a link to this ...

from www.desertlover.com

DesertLover claims no credit for it;  someone sent it to him on his facebook page and he posted it as is.  Being linked on Malkin's site, I wouldn't be at all surprised if it goes viral. I'd like that.

Is that the solution? Most likely only a part of it (but, an essential part). It bought time (25 years; that ain't chopped liver), and sometimes that's the best one can hope for.
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WHAT is going on here?

I confess to being addicted to my site meter, checking it often to see what posts of mine have attracted any attention.

What's been getting the most hits lately is Gook, which I published in January of this year.

The hits are coming from people looking for images of the Korean alphabet (I have a couple in the post) and are mostly from the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia.

Is something going on over there that makes a lot of folks feel they should check out the language?

The world wonders.

(Or, at least I do. :-)

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Apocalypse Not:

A link to a link to a link.

Anthony Watts of Watts Up With That? has just posted
 Apocalypse Not: I love the smell of skepticism in the morning,

which in turn links to an essay by Matt Ridley in WIRED Magazine ...
 Apocalypse Not: Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Worry About End Times

WHO or WHAT will cause the 2012 Apocalyse? This is the question posed by the website 2012apocalypse.net. “super volcanos? pestilence and disease? asteroids? comets? antichrist? global warming? nuclear war?” the site’s authors are impressively open-minded about the cause of the catastrophe that is coming at 11:11 pm on December 21 this year*. but they have no doubt it will happen. after all, not only does the Mayan Long Count calendar end that day, but “the sun will be aligned with the center of the Milky Way for the first time in about 26,000 years.”
Case closed: Sell your possessions and live for today.

That is the prompt for Mr. Ridley's essay and he replies ...
When the sun rises on December 22, as it surely will, do not expect apologies or even a rethink. No matter how often apocalyptic predictions fail to come true, another one soon arrives.

The "money quote" is ...
Over the five decades since the success of Rachel Carson’s "Silent Spring" in 1962 and the four decades since the success of the Club of Rome’s "The Limits to Growth" in 1972, prophecies of doom on a colossal scale have become routine. Indeed, we seem to crave ever-more-frightening predictions—we are now, in writer Gary Alexander’s word, apocaholic. The past half century has brought us warnings of population explosions, global famines, plagues, water wars, oil exhaustion, mineral shortages, falling sperm counts, thinning ozone, acidifying rain, nuclear winters, Y2K bugs, mad cow epidemics, killer bees, sex-change fish, cell-phone-induced brain-cancer epidemics, and climate catastrophes.

So far all of these specters have turned out to be exaggerated. True, we have encountered obstacles, public-health emergencies, and even mass tragedies. But the promised Armageddons—the thresholds that cannot be uncrossed, the tipping points that cannot be untipped, the existential threats to Life as We Know It—have consistently failed to materialize. To see the full depth of our apocaholism, and to understand why we keep getting it so wrong, we need to consult the past 50 years of history.

Mr. Ridley then proceeds to lay out his case in examples from that history.

My conclusion from reading them?

If your thinking of the "Case closed:" scenario above, and maxing out your credit cards in an orgy (perhaps literally?) of fun and games and whatever, the odds are that on Dec 22, there will be a "morning after" (in all senses of that term). the new bills will still be there and will still be due.

So, you may want to reconsider. :(

(* - at 11:11 pm on December 21 this year)
 "Is that Eastern Standard Time?"
   ~Arnold Schwarzenegger as Jericho Cain in "End of Days",
      when warned about an apocalyptic event predicted for
      the end of the millennium.
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