So, I don’t know what’s worse. The fact that your host unintentionally forwarded a frank and open discussion about the manifest cultural deficiencies of the organization he purports to support, or the fact that no one seems to have noticed it.
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Generation Kill is out on Netflix, for those who don’t get HBO. I’m red-eyed from successive nights watching the series. Highly recommended.
Snake Eater gets one right, ever now and again.
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Unintentional irony alert: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presented Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with a gift labeled a “reset” button. Somebody on her staff – who will very likely live to regret ever having been born – screwed the pooch, however. The Cyrillic text actually translated to “overcharge.”
It’d be funnier if it wasn’t so dern true.
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Speaking of gifts, the president’s staff has not served him well in the first meeting between hizzoner and the prime minister of our best ally:
President Barack Obama’s gift of a set of DVDs to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown appalled the British media, furious about the lack of traditional protocol afforded to Brown while he was in Washington.
Iain Martin, a columnist and blogger for the Daily Telegraph, wrote that he found Obama to be rudeness personified toward Britain.
Martin tells NPR’s Robert Siegel that Britons are used to a full news conference when their prime minister is in town.
“Only at the last moment was it agreed that there would be a small press conference, and, I think, it was read as a metaphor for the concern that Obama really just didn’t like having the Brits in town,” Martin says. “Yes, he’s dealing with the biggest global crisis in 70 years.
“Still, it would have been nice if he could have welcomed Brown with just a hint more enthusiasm.”
I don’t know what the British media has to complain about. After all, they voted for Obama.
The PM’s children also got a pair of matching Marine One presidential helicopter models from the White House gift store. Which was a kind afterthought.
The Obama’s fared slightly better in the exchange:
Brown, who is not known to be a movie buff, gave the president and his children several uniquely historical gifts.
The first of which is a pen holder fashioned from the oak timber of HMS Gannet, a Navy vessel that served on anti-slavery missions off Africa.
Another treasure given to Obama is a framed commissioning paper for the HMS Resolute, a Royal Navy ship that came to symbolize British-American goodwill when it was rescued by the U.S. from icebergs and given to Queen Victoria. It is the sister ship of the HMS Gannet.
Finally, Brown gave Obama a first edition of Martin Gilbert’s seven-volume biography of Winston Churchill, whose World War II partnership with President Franklin Roosevelt symbolized the U.S.-Anglo alliance.
For Sasha and Malia, Sarah Brown, the Prime Minister’s wife, gave each an outfit from Topshop, a British chain of clothing stores, and selected six children’s books by British authors which have yet to be published in the U.S.
I’m sure they were wonderful DVDs.
The WaPo supposes that our new president is not so very much different that his predecessor. While Fox thinks he bears a resemblance to Herbert Hoover.
They report, you decide:
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Elliptical wings in Belarus, courtesy of Cardoso.
More vodka, please.
Plus! Probably the ugliest aircraft. Evar, from Wilko.
And! Your very own rotorcraft. With two pusher props. From the Ex-Air Boss.
Me? I quote Thoreau.
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Speaking of which, after that “elliptical wings” link? Whoever it was that seeded all of those “I lost 31 pounds in three months” advertisements that are to found literally everywhere on the web ought to be summarily shot, drawn and quartered.
No more, please. Basta, ya.
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Everyone wants to join the nuclear club. But it’s the carrier club that getz da ladiez.
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Speaking of birds, who’s afraid of ‘em? (H/T GE06)
Me. That’s who.
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From Tuna:
In the Jan/Feb 09 Warbirds International’s article “Final Flight,” author Bruce Lockwood related the aviation wisdom of his late Father-In-Law, Ray Landingham, who passed away after retiring from 30 years as an Alaskan Bush Pilot with 12,000 hours in Cessna 180s/185s, Beavers (piston/turbine), Otters and Grumman Goose seaplanes (no small feat; all attached):
“Every pilot begins his flying career with two imaginary bags labeled ‘Luck’ and ‘Experience.’ Your Luck bag carries an undetermined amount of that precious commodity, and your Experience bag starts off empty. Flying in Alaska, you’ll use your Luck up as you take chances and encounter close calls. Your goal as a pilot is to fill up your Experience bag before the Luck bag runs out. Now, if you’re truly blessed, you’ll know when you’re holding that last bit of magic in your hand as you reach in the Luck bag one final time. When your Luck is gone, and remember it leaves all pilots someday, taxi in and pull the mixture to IDLE CUT OFF, switch the mags OFF, and then reach over and turn the Master OFF. Now, you sit back and listen to the gyros slowly wind down, take a moment to reflect on all the great experiences aviation had given you and all the close calls you have survived, then get out of the airplane one final time and never look back.”
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It sounds like good advice. I’ll tell you when I get there.
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Have a great weekend!
Not the change the Brits were looking for, perhaps? Like you pointed out, they along with the rest of Europe voted for the man.
I have to admit that I thought it would take a little longer for them to suffer buyers remorse.
But that was change or to be more exact, spare change. AND, that was all it took to get one o’ dem purdy models:
Item ID # 4017
Name MARINE ONE PLAYSET
Price $15.00
Description Marine One Helicopter Playset – The President’s Helicopter – BOXED SET
That aerodynamic dirigible is kinda funky. A whole lot of sail area that the wind can mess with quite easily. Remember seeing some video of a similar project done by lockheed if I remember right and landing, it looked like a penguin. That is if a penguin could fly and was trying too land. Not too awe inspiring.
The Elipse thing…Saw it there couple days ago. Some things are just two ugly to fly…
The Obama gifts and treatment of the Brits. Movies???? YGBSM…
Doesn’t inspire much pride. kinda like inviting your friends over for dinner and putting out a nice spread of steak and crablegs, nice wine, homemade tiramisu….and then in return getting hotdogs. with no condiments…gotta be kidding me…but at least it seems to be a system wide issue…with the SecState presenting a grossly misspelled gift. Figure someone at State would at least check the darn thing.
On the VIKRANT, wish them luck. Although I have my doubts about two LM2500s pushing it at near 30 knots. Byron will prob know more, but just looking at it, think they put out about 30k shp each. total about 60k. On the CORAL SEA, each engine (4 boilers per engine) put out about 53k for a total of 206k shp. And we could push a little over 30kts. We weighed about 60k tons. Don’t know, I’d just prob want a little more redundancy in case one of the little turbines bit the big one, and I had to get 25kts of wind across the deck…but what do I know, just an intel weenie (only to those that been there and got the t-shirt)
Claudio
PS. This new commenting thing is driving me nuts, start in one area, jumps you to the other comments section. No complaint…not until I hit the tipjar again
I have to admit, I’ve been an English/Russia website junkie for a couple years now. Those guys always find the most interesting stuff, and you get hooked jumping from one section to another. Kewl stuff, too.
As to gift-giving, anyone else thinking what kind of an image it gives if “Braveheart” & “The Patriot” were among those DVD’s? Might as well have just signed up ol’ Gordon Brown for a year’s subscription to NetFlix.
You think the Queen will return the favour by offering up fried chicken, Moon Pies, RC Cola and watermelon at the state dinner she hosts Mr & Mrs “lightworker” at? heh. We can dream, can’t we …….
And yes… Russian girls are hot, and their vodka is good. Not Bourbon good, mind you, but good…
Heh. . .I read “elliptic wing” and thought Spitfire, e~=1, etc. I wonder if someone misinterpreted a translation somewhere to make that nasty lovechild of a Custer Channel Wing and a Waco.
Just checked my logbook. I soloed in 058 last fall. . .
Birds… transformed one into a smear on the windscreen Tuesday night slightly east of Dallas. Fortunately, the prop did a number on it before it impacted the windscreen or else I would’ve had a surprise passenger…
I wonder how fast the bike was going when it took out the manager of Hooters Racing.
I got covered with glass when a Turkey jumped up from the side of the road near Starkville, Miss back in spring of 1991. We were going about 60 when the windshield met the Turkey upclose and personal. I would really hate to meet one at 100 knots or more in a bug smasher AC.
I agree with Lex on the issue. Without reservation.
Re: Gifts for PM – The Dems always wanted a “classless” society.
I guess we now at least have that.
At least, at 1600…
Were the DVDs Region 1 or Region 2?
And were they NTSC or PAL?
Oh, darn, Big D beat me to it!
Imagine the irony of giving the PM a box of movies he can’t watch… Not to mention I’ve hear rumors -after this broke- that he isn’t that fond of cinema in the first place.
Tone-deaf squared…
Didn’t like the poll too much, as it didn’t include “Peanut” Jimmeh. Or Woodrow “my last job was university president” Wilson.
I wonder how many contemporary liberal/progressives know that Woody was the great guy who introduced “Jim Crow” laws to Washington, D.C.?
Oh I imagine they read it and, confronted with the choice of acknowledging its existence and therefore having to deal with fact the the opinions expressed therein might actually have merit, chose to ignore and hope nobody else dares mention it. Elephant in the room and all….
OldT6Pilot/
You’re giving ‘em a helluva lot of credit if you think they’ve actually read it so soon–some organizations I’ve had experience with usually got around to stumbling over such things no sooner than 30 days later–if ever.
You’re probably right….Virg
They’re probably not one to care what someone with a customer viewpoint cares anyway.
Oh, they’ve noticed. They just haven’t copied you on the follow-up discussion. Which could be good news or bad news.
Most likely it already is or soon will be “overcome by events” anyway, so probably not worth too much worry.
Probably still pondering the fact that they are not as well-clothed as they once thought. And not sure whether to go to the arms locker, the medal locker, or go directly towards that familiar patch of sand with the head sized hole in it. I’d bet on #3.
Big companies are very good at ignoring cultural issues. Might work in your favor.
I watched Generation Kill when it was on HBO. I guess I was kind of hoping that if you decided to make a book into a movie, it would really be something. The frame of reference I am referring to is Band of Brothers. Not to take anything away from what the Marines went through in opening stages of OIF, and not to say the portrayls are inaccurate, but there just seemed to be something indefinable missing. I remember reading the articles in Rolling Stone and thinking that they were interesting. But when I heard they were going to make it into an HBO miniseries, I had serious reservations. It could have been so much more.
Byron/
GREAT breakout of the three options. LOL. Reminds me of an old Beetle Bailey Sunday cartoon (the long ones) wherein Beetle, while out on maneuvers, suggests that they attack the blue force thru the swamp. “They’ll never think of us coming thru there,” Beetle said. The upshot is that the plan succeeds, Blue force HQ (AND Gen. Half-Track) is captured. Last frame of cartoon shows troops lined up at attention with Beetle, with medal pinned on uniform, being slapped in face by Gen. Half-Track with rolled-up piece of paper. The Maj. (the bald one w. mustache, remember?) says to the crew-cut Capt. as they observe the ceremony: “First time I’ve ever seen a guy simultaneously be awarded a medal and served an Art. 15 for the same action.” LOL!! We need to dig into the archives and send Lex a copy.
Speaking of Indian aircraft carriers, I read somewhere on the net (can’t remember where, such is the nature of the internet–or my enfeebled mind) that the Obama administration has ordered GE to stop work on the final tweeking of the gas turbine engines on that Indian Carrier that GE is providing, so as to “review” our foreign policy as to wpns sales. The Indians are PISSED, as this is keeping them from going to sea trials. Article quotes on not-for-attribution basis that this mindless decision was made by mid-level bureaucrats in State Dept just as a PR show to demonstrate that Obama Administration is “on the case.”
GREAT way to maintain relations with a nation we are “supposedly” trying to curry favor with. Nothing like stepping on your own fore-skin not by accident, but by design….
But what if Generation Kill was among the DVDs?
And while it’s possible that the President, caught unprepared, simply re-gifted an unopened Christmas present from an ardent admirer out Hollywood way, I’m certain that reality is that the White House keeps a large stock of DVDs from all regions (and PAL, SECAM, NTSC formats) on hand for just these occasions.
After all, exposing the works of great American artists like David Lean (whose Lawrence of Arabia was mentioned as included by the NPR subject) to an international audience is a fine thing indeed.
I can only hope that Hitchcock feller was included, too.
Lex, Many thanks for the kind words…
…and it’s about flippen time you and all the other cheap Charlies out there ( you know who you are ) got up to speed on outstanding PAY TV fare…that said, I agree with bullnav, Generation Kill was no Band of Brothers but it was still a riveting series showing good men, kids really, under tremendous stress attempting to accomplish a mission that seemed to change on an hourly basis…well worth seeing and thankfully… no Halls of Montezuma playing in the background. Best
PS, Just an observation along these same lines …I’ve not seen any comments here on the HBO Movie ” Taking Chance “… could it be … deja vu all over again?
bullnav/
I’m with you. I, too, had read the Rolling Stone originals and, like you, felt that there was just “something” missing in the HBO series but couldn’t quite put my finger on it–still can’t.
That whole email thing. It really is an eye opener to spend a lifetime recognizing problems and risks, reducing or mitigating them immediately and ultimately resolving them and then coming to work for the civil service where they regard anybody who finds problems as a problem and can imagine only too well that most often the solution to the problem is fewer of them in the loop. To start, 8 billion manhours saved per year if we forbade the use of powerpoint in briefings. Oh I know, they’d just break out Correl or start to insist on briefings aided by AUTOCAD or SOLIDWORKS artwork.
In a hoax General’s briefing for Iraq, the presenter said they gave al Qaeda all their copies of Powerpoint and it increased the length of their OODA loop quite a bit. General: “I knew there was some use we could get from that trash.”
Or, something to that effect. I read that Army Warrant Aviators were being required to make powerpoint presentations for their relief on dirt side duties.
Powerpoint, or the equivalents in other packages, has its place, but rarely in the military.
Curtis/Ouartermaster:
You DO know, don’t you, that there is a real, live, “official” (as in semi) “Powerpoint Ranger” patch that may be worn by the jedi masters of that arcane art, do you not? Can’t remember which branch of the service in which hall of which ring of the 5-side
started it–but for those who appreciate the over-the-top, tongue-in-cheek it DOES exist for sale now on google. Comes in 1000& 5000hr versions w. 25,ooohr posthumous award. Also tabs for “Slide Bitch” and other specialties. Go to the following two sites to ROTFLOL:
http://www.nbc-links.com/powerpointinfo.html
http://www.nbc-links.com/powerpoint.html
Also hilarious is the blog “Confessions of a Power Point Ranger” which is a MUST READ at:
http://mavx.livejournel.com/tag/humor
Virgil,
What a gas that site is. i was reading through his “You might be an old soldier if…” comments and was amazed how many I remembered ( I started out life with the Army). The one thing he didn’t have on that list, which surprised me was “You might be an old soldier if you remember what a P-38 is… and wore one on your dog tags”. So i forwarded it to him.
In fact, whenever I travel i still wear my tags with the attached, well-worn P-38. I figure it has my name, SSN and blood type on it, so in a pinch it’s a good start for the EMT’s.
Huh. I was a pre-Powerpoint Ranger – I used Harvard Graphics (2.3 and 3.0) and Corel Draw 3.0 and 4.0.
On real acetate slides.
Quartermaster/Curtis:
I’m in moderation hell with some LOL “Powerpoint Ranger” links. Comeback and revisit, worth the effort, believe me.
Snake,
You pay for the HBO and I’ll watch it!
re the Gift- I heard Michelle grabbed it from the closet and gave it to Barrack. Thefirst couple isn’t used to gift exchanges. Rod Blagovich gave it to them last Christmas!
re Reply to All wanking- maybe all your emails are auto deleted!
BTW, great compendium.
b2
When Pigs fly…you tight Gomer. Best