Credo
"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." -- John Paul Jones
"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Caesar and Cleopatra"
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friedrich Nietzsche
"A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."--Edmund Burke
“You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.”--General Sir Charles Napier
"Μολὼν λαβέ" -- Leonidas
"Blogito Ergo Sum" -- Neptunus Lex
Lest we forget: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2055743/Remembrance-Day-2011-UKs-oldest-Poppy-95-yrs-picked.html
Only three years to the 100th anniversary of the start of that bloody, stupid war.
Yup. the Brits should have stayed out of it, and we should have stayed out of it. Had Woody Wilson not been a nut case……
The Germans were dangerous loonies even before they were Nazis. And they had the German Jews on their side in that one, back when both groups were still pretending to like each other. (at least in public)
WW1 was our Peloponnesian War. It was stupid in the extreme.
I could understand the Tsar trying to defend the Serbians, to a point, since the Russians saw themselves as defenders of Orthodox Christians (although such Christians as would commit murder are questionable).
The dumbest aspect was Wilhelm II realigning himself with Vienna. Bismarck had aligned Germany with Russia and Britain. Instead, as one German official stated, “we have allied ourselves with a corpse.” Austria-Hungary had little strength left and pretty much left Germany on her own.
If Wilhelm II had acted with the same sense Bismarck had, there would have been no war, and no Hitler, no sealed train car with Lenin, and no Soviet Union or Stalin.
A different world, but still royally screwed up given man’s fallen nature.
Pretty much agree, QM, although one could argue that the Serbs have gotten the short end of the stick by having their territory partially absorbed by Albanian Muslim drug-runners with the help of the West–that’s the thanks they get for supporting the Allies in WW I and for forming much of the Yugoslav resistance in WWII all the while being subjected to genocidal depredations of their Nazi/Croat occupiers.
The most annoying aspect of wars, to my mind, is that when you have a war, all the wrong people get shot. (or traumatically eviscerated, etc.)
I think of some really nasty right awkward bastards who were Nazis, but did not even miss a paycheck when Germany changed hands. I think of the Russian Civil War. I think of a Southerner who was one of the instigators of the War Between the States who offered to sop up in his handkerchief all of the blood that would be spilled. I believe he survived The War without a scratch.
It’s often the earnest, honest ones who get splattered across the landscape.
Since this is sorta an open thread has anyone read Pat Buchanan’s new book? I have not but have read a couple of reviews and it certainly doesn’t appear to pull any politically correct punches.
http://dailycaller.com/2011/10/27/pat-buchanans-new-book-is-clear-headed/
Demographics is destiny I guess. But Suicide seems an apt title…
sh1fty said: “…Based on the attitude at take off [from video], I’m wondering about the potential of deck strikes with the engine nozzle.” At:
http://www.neptunuslex.com/2011/10/04/5th-gen-vertical-landing/comment-page-1/#comment-774587
Navy Sees Few Anomalies in F-35B Ship Trials Oct 28, 2011 By Amy Butler Onboard the USS Wasp
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/s….l&headline=Navy Sees Few Anomalies in F-35B Ship Trials
“…For testing on the Wasp, the nozzles and control surfaces actuate with 225 ft. of runway remaining on deck, creating an angle of attack and allowing for the wings to produce enough lift for takeoff from the deck, Cordell says. The Harrier’s rotation line is at the bow, owing to its wing design creating the required lift without the corresponding angle-of-attack change. Cordell says that the testing equipment at the ship’s bow has also not detected any problems with the F-35’s nozzle clearance as it takes off….”
F-35B WASP STO Lift Off Deck Edge:
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6100/6310299256_81018651d7_b.jpg
F-35B Ship Suitability Testing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki86x1WKPmE
“Uploaded by LockheedMartinVideos on Nov 4, 2011
The F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing variant completed ship suitability testing aboard the USS WASP (LHD-1) off the coast of Virginia in October 2011. Combined, F-35B test aircraft BF-2 and BF-4 accomplished 72 short takeoffs and 72 vertical landings during the three-week testing period.”
Star-Telegram : Nov/05/11
http://www.idahostatesman.com/2011/11/05/1866691/despite-budget-questions-lockheed.html
“…Rein said he was not aware of any serious mechanical or flight handling problems that have been discovered during testing. “We’ve killed some bad myth,” Rein said, referring to speculation that the F-35[B] jet exhaust would damage the amphibious ship or that engine downwash on landing and takeoff would make it hazardous for personnel to work near the aircraft….”