Cerebral Roughage

Good One

2011-12-10T05:21:00.000-08:00

Britain tells the European Union (EU) to push off.

How heartening, to see a prime minister put his country above the collegiality, the groupthink and the peer pressure that characterises Europe.

The Good Old Days Were Rotten

2008-06-13T03:43:00.000-07:00

A news story reminds us that dramatic rises in gas prices are not new in history. Bob Welch writes of back in the 70s gas took off and doubled in priced from 0.45 cents to 0.70 cents a gallon (note keep in mind $2.00 was often the starting wage.)

We've gone thru this before and survived and we'll survive our current spike too.

Email Scam

2008-06-02T05:46:00.001-07:00

I just received an offer from the Nigerian scammers, while I certainly have to give them points for being able to ramble on and on:

ANTI TERRORIST & MONITORY CRIME DIVISION
ATTENTION: FUND BENEFICIARY

THIS IS AN OFFICIAL ADVICE FROM THE FBI FOREIGN REMITTANCE/TELEGRAPHIC DEPT. IT HAS COME TO OUR NOTICE THAT THE H.S.B.C BANK LIVERPOOL DISTRICT, HAS RELEASED 49,500,000.00 U.S DOLLARS INTO YOUR ACCOUNT HERE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, BY ATM MEANS.

THE CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA KNOWING FULLY WELL THAT THEY DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH FACILITIES TO EFFECT THIS PAYMENT FROM UNITED KINGDOM TO YOUR ACCOUNT, USED WHAT WE KNOW AS A SECRET DIPLOMATIC TRANSIT PAYMENT S.T.D.P TO PAY THIS FUND THROUGH ATM ,THEY USED THIS MEANS TO COMPLETE THE PAYMENT, AND INSTEAD OF PAYING 49.5 MILLION, THEY PAID $10,000,000.00 THEY ARE STILL, WAITING FOR CONFIRMATION FROM YOU ON THE ALREADY TRANSFERRED FUNDS WHICH WAS CONVERTED TO ATM SO THAT THEY CAN DO FINAL CREDITING TO YOUR ACCOUNT.

SECRET DIPLOMATIC PAYMENTS ARE NOT MADE UNLESS THE FUNDS ARE RELATED TO TERRORIST ACTIVITIES WHY MUST YOUR PAYMENT BE MADE IN SECRET TRANSFER, IF YOUR TRANSACTION IS LEGITIMATE, IF YOU ARE NOT A TERRORIST, THEN WHY DID YOU NOT RECEIVE THE MONEY DIRECTLY INTO YOUR ACCOUNT; THIS IS A PURE CODED, MEANS OF PAYMENT? RECORDS WHICH WE HAVE HAD WITH THIS METHOD OF PAYMENT IN THE PAST HAS ALWAYS BEEN RELATED TO TERRORIST ACTS, WE DO NOT WANT YOU TO GET INTO TROUBLE AS SOON AS THESE FUNDS REFLECT IN YOUR ACCOUNT IN THE U.S.A, SO IT IS OUR DUTY AS A WORD WIDE COMMISSION TO CORRECT THIS LITTLE PROBLEM BEFORE THIS FUND IS DELIVERED. DUE TO THE INCREASED DIFFICULTY AND UNNECESSARY SCRUTINY BY THE AMERICAN AUTHORITIES WHEN FUNDS COME FROM OUTSIDE OF EUROPE, AND THE MIDDLE
EAST, THE F.B.I BANK COMMISSION FOR EUROPE HAS STOPPED THE TRANSFER ON ITS WAY TO DELIVER PAYMENT OF $10,000,000.00 TO DEBIT YOUR RESERVE ACCOUNT AND PAY YOU THROUGH A SECURED DIPLOMATIC TRANSIT ACCOUNT (S.D.T.A).

WE GOVERN AND OVERSEE FUNDS TRANSFER FOR THE WORLD BANK AND THE REST OF THE WORLD. WE ADVICE YOU CONTACT US IMMEDIATELY, AS THE FUNDS HAVE BEEN STOPPED AND ARE BEING HELD IN OUR OFFICE HERE , UNTIL YOU CAN BE ABLE TO PROVIDE US, (WITH THE ENCODED F.B.I ORDER FOR TRANSFER),WE ADVICE YOU PRESENT US WITH A DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY SEAL OF TRANSFER WITHIN 3 DAYS FROM THE BANK WHERE THE FUNDS WHERE TRANSFERRED FROM FOR US TO CERTIFY THAT THE FUNDS THAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO RECEIVE FROM NIGERIA ARE ANTITERRORIST/DRUG FREE OR WE SHALL HAVE CAUSE TO CROSS AND IMPOUND THE NAME WE HAVE ON THE FUND AS THE RIGHTFUL BENEFICIARY IS YOUR NAME THAT IS WHY WE HAVE DECIDED TO CONTACT YOU DIRECTLY TO ACQUIRE THE PROPER VERIFICATIONS AND PROOF FROM YOU TO SHOW THAT YOU ARE THE RIGHTFUL PERSON TO RECEIVE THIS FUND, BECAUSE THE ABOVE MENTIONED AMOUNT IS A BIG AMOUNT OF MONEY, THAT IS WHY WE WANT TO MAKE SURE IS A CLEAR AND LEGAL MONEY YOU ARE ABOUT TO RECEIVE BE INFORMED THAT THE FUND HAVE HIT YOUR ACCOUNT , BUT RIGHT NOW WE HAVE ASK THE

YOU ARE TO FORWARD THE DOCUMENTS TO US IMMEDIATELY IF YOU HAVE IT WITH IN YOUR POSSESSION, IF YOU DON'T HAVE IT LET US KNOW SO THAT WE WILL DIRECT AND INFORM YOU WHERE TO OBTAIN THE DOCUMENT AND SEND TO US SO THAT WE WILL ASK THE BANK HOLDING THE FUNDS THE BANK OF AMERICA TO GO AHEAD CREDITING YOUR ACCOUNT IMMEDIATELY. THIS DOCUMENTS ARE TO BE ISSUED TO YOU FROM THE PLACE WHERE THE FUND WAS TRANSFER FROM, SO GET BACK TO US IMMEDIATELY IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE DOCUMENT SO THAT WE WILL INFORM YOU THE PARTICULAR PLACE AND WHAT IT WILL TAKES TO OBTAIN IT IN FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, BECAUSE WE HAVE COME TO REALIZE THAT THE FUND IS TRANSFERRED FROM THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA.

AN FBI IDENTIFICATION RECORD AND CERTIFICATE OF OWNERSHIP OFTEN REFERRED TO AS A CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD OR RAP SHEET IS A LISTING OF CERTAIN INFORMATION TAKEN FROM FINGERPRINT SUBMISSIONS RETAINED BY THE FBI IN CONNECTION WITH ARRESTS AND, IN SOME INSTANCES, FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT, NATURALIZATION, OR MILITARY SERVICE. THESE CONDITION IS VALID UNTIL 6TH OF JUNE 2008 AFTER WE SHALL TAKE ACTIONS ON CANCELING THE PAYMENT AND THEN CHARGE YOU WITH THE FOR ILLEGALLY MOVING FUNDS OUT OF NIGERIA.

GUARANTEE: FUNDS WILL BE RELEASED ON CONFIRMATION OF THE DOCUMENT.: DOCUMENTED PROOF OF OWNERSHIP .final instruction: 60f credit payment instruction: irrevocable credit guarantee 61e beneficiary has full power when validation is cleared 62 beneficiaries bank in u.s.a. , can only release funds- 62 upon confirmation from the world bank/united nations.

Regards

Robert S Mueller 111
Director FBI Washington DC

Yes! I am. Thank You for Asking

2008-03-03T07:17:00.001-08:00

Just so you know the cute cartoon face hides a secret:

How evil are you?

Cars for Me, but NOT thee

2008-02-12T06:48:00.000-08:00

The school of social economics, which subscribes to the theory of zero sum (e.g., if I have a refrigerator then you most not), has come out against the Tata company's Nano car for India. The best quote that captures this selfish view is: "we'll get into a situation where we'll have to compete with them for gasoline, $4, $5 a gallon. Who knows how high we could go?" said Peter Beutel."

How said it is for the world that we've come to the point of begrudging the poor of the world their chance to drive to town instead of walking.

Let us all turn our minds for a minute to the early 1900s when the miracle of the Ford Model T liberated our kinfolk form the farm. Let us stop being small and start welcoming the rest of the world into the machine age. Let us look upon the poor people in undeveloped lands as individuals who can bring their dreams and hopes to life.

Instead of disaster, I see a future where one evening in a village in India dad will finish the wax job on his Tata Nano and sit down and admire the way the lines on his ride shine in the setting sun and look so good. Sitting next to him will be his son who also looks at the Nano and dreams of the day when he can take it for a drive too.

The Nano won't bring about the end of world, bring about a beginning. A beginning the world will be better for.

Signing Bad Car Loans

2007-12-31T07:58:00.000-08:00

I have a feeling that these folks who roll over money owed on previous car loans are also the same folk who go for sub prime loans with adjusted rates, as related in the LA Times: New cars that are fully loaded — with debt

I feel like an underachiever. The most costly car I ve ever bought was $18K for my 1996 Plymouth mini van.

My advice for people who must have a cool car?

Check the rental return market. Almost new cars, in pretty good shape, and the rental company has already eaten the depreciation for you.
Wake up! Smell the coffee. A car is just a tool to get to work and get home. Stop buying new cars every two to three years.

Deadly to All

2007-10-19T06:51:00.000-07:00

Hi-tek is good in war, but now it seems it can go wrong. Soldiers were killed and wounded by a computer aimed and tracked anti-aircraft gun in South Africa:

Robot Cannon Kills 9, Wounds 14

Of course, as friend in the Ordnance Corps would commented when people accuse their equipment or munitions of malfunctioning his replay was, "No it worked. Just at the wrong time and in the wrong place. It's made to kill and it did it's job"

UPDATE: Darn scientists ruining a good story. It seems this wasn't a case of software gone murderous, but a mechanical accident.

Remember Beta max?

2007-09-21T11:11:00.000-07:00

In the area of obsolete media formats could this signal the beginning of the end for CDs? Blaupunkt now offers a received that will handle your iPod and SD card, but not a CD.

Let us bow and heads and give a moment of silence to those other formats that have passed away:
78 rpm records
45 rpm records
331/3 rpm long play albums
Sony Beta max video tapes
VHS video tapes

And, now the CD? Makes me wonder if DVDs are heading for a fall too.

Limits of Epidemiology

2007-09-18T07:42:00.001-07:00

It's a long slog, but the New York Times has an excellent article on the limitations of epidemiology studies in advising us on how to live and eat healthful lives.

In nutshell, epidemiology attempts to identify health or sickness in the population through statistical associations. This has a built in flaw in that human behavior and life is so full of variations that is not really possible to isolate a specific behavior to an outcome (with the exception of smoking and lung cancer or not wearing a seat belt and deaths from auto accidents).
For example, in college one of my professors had spent some time as a stock market analyst. He found that if the price of goat futures went up, there was a very good chance that the stock market would also go up. Now, he in no way believed that goats had a magical affect on the stock market yet in the realm of public health we have tried to shape policy and advice in regard to diet and exercise based on a ,comparable to goats and the stock market, flimsy cause and effect association.

Thus, in this year we have had two pillars of eating healthful fall: it was found that antioxidants like vitamins E and C and beta carotene did not prevent heart disease nor does eating a high fiber diet prevent colon cancer. In fact, so entrenched are these hopeful myths that they are still being repeated in non-technical health and life style publications.

The basic lesson to take out of the news story is that at this time there is no firm nor statistically significant association between what you eat and your getting sick or living longer.

fruits/vegies DON'T prevent cancer

2007-08-27T09:21:00.000-07:00

Feeling in a contrarian mood, I am not surprised to read that a study shows that eating increased amounts of fruits and vegetables does not prevent cancer.

This news follows a similar large study that found fiber in a diet does not prevent colon cancer.

Time to face that facts that:

Diet and eating is one of the least affective ways to attempt to medicate the human body and seems to have almost no preventive or protective value.
A large amount of the science behind the healthful (and natural) eating craze of the past 30 years was based on unproven assumptions, i.e., it just sounded so good we knew in our heart (but not in a proven way) it would work.

Once again, the solution to living a healthy life is:

Don't smoke
Drink in moderation
And, fasten your seatbelt when in a car.

Man Caves of Russia

2007-08-16T12:09:00.000-07:00

In the cold north of Russia men, as men every do, have their special places to get away from the wife for a while. In this case it's stand alone Garages.

Like all good man caves they feature ugly furniture and lots of chemicals and oils.

Lots of good ideas for garage decoration.

Answer of Strange Cruiser

2007-08-09T10:29:00.000-07:00

In the manner of a young boy, I still like fighting ships. And, like many a kid, I have had various favorite ships: Victory, Bismarck, or Yamato. However, my current favorite is the cruiser Tone (WWII Japan):

What captured my interest was the unusual layout of all gun turrets forward of the bridge:

I kept wonder why did they do this? At first I thought it was to allow a full on broadside by eight of her guns, as the theory (at that time) was that cruisers while having smaller guns than battleships could still have great effect by 'smothering' a target in shells.

However, while reading a book on the battle of Midway Island (WWII), I found my answer. The Tone was built with the primary mission of escorting aircraft carriers. To allow the carrier to have the maximize the number of attack aircraft the Tone was designed to have four to five scout planes operate off its stern.

An interesting and ingenious design to carry out a support mission.

Tip of the hat to the Steel Navy web site for their great closeups of the Tone model: http://www.steelnavy.com/

Family Wheels

2007-08-07T14:04:00.000-07:00

I hated to do it, but it was time to move on. I bought a new (well used, but new to my ownership) car last week. This means I have to sell the Plymouth Voyager minivan I've been driving for the past 11 years. When the daughter was born we rushed out and bought a minivan.

I was surprised at how well the Voyager cleaned up. It still looks pretty good even after 180,000 miles.

Red Star vs. Cross and Cresent

2007-08-06T08:47:00.000-07:00

Spengler of the Asia Times pens an interesting column on the growth of Christianity and Islam in China. He predicts an interesting scenario for the end of Chinese Communist party and speculates on the affect the creation of a new Christian nation in Asia could have on the world.

The figures he quotes are a surprise (possible 200 million Christian), as in the 19th and 20th centuries China was one of the least productive areas for Christina missionaries. It would be a delicious twist of fate if indeed the communist party was undone by its own program to eliminate the traditional faiths of China--hosted by their own petard as it were.

Good-bye Amstrad!

2007-07-31T07:20:00.000-07:00

As I've written here before, I have a soft spot for Amstrad the maker of the first PC I ever owned. Now Amstrad will bite the dust soon:

Amstrad, the British manufacturer of set-top boxes and other consumer electronics, is to vanish into the hide of BSkyB, the satellite TV firm to which it has been long-beholden. Sky is offering 150p for each share, making its total bid worth about $250m. Though now just another appliance maker, in the 1980s Amstrad was a serious contender in the 8-bit computer scene, its high-end CPC series part of a ruling triumvirate with Commodore's C64 and Sinclair's Spectrum (itself acquired by Amstrad.)

Fruit and Veggies Not So Preventative

2007-07-19T10:43:00.000-07:00

Darn! Another easy answer to a complicated problem bites the dust. It turns out that eating lots and lots of fruit and vegetables will neither prevent cancer nor speed your recovery from cancer.

You would think people would be backing off from the 'healthful' eating craze by now. The main reason these things don't work is that while the body does need certain amounts of certain chemicals (for example: scurvy is a result of a lack vitamin c [Ascorbic acid]) there has been no study to date that shows an opposite (and positive effect) for packing in (eating extra amounts of) certain chemicals.

Just do like mother told you: eat a balanced diet and you'll do fine.

Cold Omen

2007-05-25T10:11:00.000-07:00

My lonely (and thankless) campaign to warn the world of the coming ice age continues with another stark (and contrary to global warming) proof: Snow on Pikes Peak on Memorial Day weekend!

Our only hope is to continue to spew as much CO2 as possible into the atmosphere. Only the green house can save us from the next ice age.

Recent global encoldening:

New York: Chilly Day Ties Record For Coldest

BRITAIN looks set to be hit by Bank Holiday SNOW today.

Heavy rain is forecast for almost everywhere, but areas as far apart as northern Scotland and East Anglia could turn white.

Homes were left without power, downed trees damaged dozens of cars and school was cancelled for thousands of kids as a blast of record snow slammed many parts of southern Alberta yesterday.

It`s May 26th, Memorial Day weekend. Normally, there`d be kids playing on this playground right about now, but instead it`s windy, cold, and there`s snow on the ground.

Saints for True Sinners

2007-05-17T12:29:00.000-07:00

Let us say you're a godless drug dealer...Well, actually, chances are you aren't godless and you've got a couple of patron saints to help you in the drug trade.

You would probably have one or two of the following in your wallet or a figurine on your dash board:

Jesus Malverde is very popular
and hales from Mexico where he is known as a sort of Robin Hood like folk figure.

In addition, if your gang is from central america, you might also pay your respects to Maximon, the Guatemalan patron saint of the underworld, or Santa Muerte - "Saint Death."

Maximon (aka San Simon) in folklore a Spanish catholic priest who helped locals

Santa Muerte (aka Santa Muerte, La Santísima Muerte, and as Doña Sebastiana ) Probably a blend of Aztec religion and European folk lore.

None of the above three are official saints in any church.

So, in addition to blue or red colors and gang signigs, you can also add the mustachioed one or the skeleton as indicators of people you should avoid.

Eye Candy for North Korea Military

2007-05-09T11:22:00.000-07:00

Now here's an interesting idea. In North Korea, you inherit the medals and awards your family (Dad, mom, grandfather, grandmother) has earned during prior service. This results in the sight of young soldiers with no time in combat displaying a chest full of medals that would make a south american dictator jealous.

And, it's not just for the guys, these lucky female soldiers are blessed with a great collection of medals too.

Images and full story at Daily NK website

March of the Great Global Chilling

2007-04-08T06:55:00.000-07:00

As I wrote in an earlier post, while many eyes are focused on global warming, the quiet threat of global chilling continues its advance on the world. This year we see the new tradition--I'm dreaming of a white Easter:

Snow in Washington DC and Texas

Arctic Freeze Attack!

Coldest Easter in 57 years

Invest now in fleece and goretex.

More global chilling strikes, this time it's summer that's hurt:

The southwestern mountains of Colorado are under a snow advisory, with up to 8 inches of accumulation possible by early evening.

THE icy weather of snow, hail and heavy rain that has swept across South Africa over the past few days has set 54 weather records.

New Disney Park, Women and Minorities Hit Hardest?

2007-03-22T10:24:00.000-07:00

"Tell me it isn't so Mickey Mouse!" you can almost hear the little kid crying, but it does look like the Mouse doesn't like poor people as Disney tries to stop a low income housing project near the park.

Good Bye Stardust Hotel

2007-03-13T06:55:00.000-07:00

One reason I like Las Vegas is it's embrace of the new, the change, the bigger and better.

In this regard when an old hotel is torn down folks feel sad, but they are also happy. The Vegas person looks forward to the newer flashy and more garish place that will come.

In this spirit the demolition of the Stardust Hotel was one heck of a send off.

1.1-inch Cannon--The 3rd Worst?

2007-03-08T13:23:00.000-08:00

When discussing the worst United States weapons of WWII you'll usually get presented with two outstanding candidates (or maybe suspects would be a better term): the M4 Sherman tank and the Navy's Mark XIV torpedo.

Note: I'll grant that at a second-tier level we have 'stinkers' like the M3 37mm antitank gun or the M50 Reising submachine gun, which were bad, but more of the 'close but no cigar' type, and don't qualify as 'worst.'

Thus, ranking slightly below the M4 tank and the Mark XIV torpedo (but much worse than the stinkers), for your consideration, I present the water-cooled Mk 2 1.1-inch (75 Caliber) Quad-barrel machine cannon.

At one time the 1.1-inch seemed to be just what the Navy needed to provide enhanced antiaircraft protection to its ships. But, once WWII started it was found that a twin barrel Bofors 40-mm gun could do the job better. In addition, the Mk2 1.1-inch was hard to maintain and unreliable.

The 1.1-inch ammunition suffered from being smaller than the 40-mm round and bigger than the 20-mm round. The 40-mm round was large enough to have a fuse that could be set for time and/or altitude and could detonate spewing fragments increasing it lethality area. The 20-mm round was smaller, easier to handle, and could be fired at a higher rate of fire than the 1.1 inch.

In addition, the 1.1-inch round had a fuse that was built only for contact detonation. The 1.1-in. round would only detonate if it actually struck an airplane greatly reducing it's effectiveness and lethality. The fuse was equipped with a simple set back system that could be armed if dropped while loading, which could result in a burst barrel.

So hobbled by its:

Poor ammunition,
High maintenance requirements,
And, threat of injury to its operator

I feel justified in putting forward the Mk 2 1.1-inch for a dubious lack of achievement while in combat award.

Tip of the hat to the web site Destroyer Escort Central (located at: http://www.de220.com ) a treasure trove of information on WWII Navy technology.

We Saw This Coming Right?

2007-02-27T14:23:00.000-08:00

A sad tale of a mortgage company going out of business from the Las Vegas Business Press, but my question is--looking back at the housing market in the 1980s and the 1990s--didn't banks know that when you have the subprime market go hot that has got to mean you're getting to the end of a housing boom?

When the subprime becomes a major demographic for home loans you've run out of buyers, and you're now basically placing a bet and hoping that these long shot buyers (bad credit history, foreclosures, etc.) to come through as winners (irony of Silver State being based in Vegas is too much to believe).

Maybe I've been around too long and things looks like they're constantly repeating. However, I could have saved Washington Mutual a lot of money if they had just called me up and said, "Steve what happened in Denver during the oil boom or could you tell us about that 1992 recession?"

Hello Old Friend

2007-02-16T07:37:00.000-08:00

Like your first date you never forget your first computer, if you're a nerd like me.

I came across pictures of my first home computer an Amstrad PCW8256. It had the CPU and single disk drive in the monitor--who says Apple is cutting edge?--and came with software (CP/M Plus [an early version of the disk operating system: MS-DOS or DR-DOS, word processing, and programming) and a dot matrix printer.

The word processing program had a user interface similar to Wang's Wordstar--Look! Ma! no mouse. The spell verifier program was fun to run. I'd load the document, load the spelling program, and then on request, pop out the spelling program and load the dictionary disk.

Amstrad is one of those computers that should have done better, but never seemed to catch fire in the US market. I'll always remember it as the computer that got me started as a true geek.

Commies Think Big

2007-01-28T08:07:00.000-08:00

The same as the Nazis the Communist had their delusion gander and hoped to create a system that would survive for thousands of years and rival Rome. To jump start history the Communist, in pre-WWII Russia, started planning a Moscow that would have been big, really big. The web site Unrealized Moscow provides a view of what might have been....

Once More Down the Freeway of Memories

2007-01-24T16:32:00.000-08:00

Click Here for Full Size Image

I bought it in 1978, drove it until 1988, garaged it two years, and then sold it in 1990. I loved the lines of my Volvo P1800, but I never had enough money to really fix it up. I learned that if you want to fix a car up you need a lot of money and a lot of time. There are no easy or cheap ways to a nice sports car.

This picture was taken in 1979 when the car was looking its best. I had just got it back from the body shop all the dents had been smoothed out and a fresh coat of paint applied.

It had a 1.8 liter, in-line four, motor. The transmission was a four speed with an electrically activated overdrive. The overdrive made it a nice highway cruiser. In addition, like all true sports cars, the motor featured two SU carburetors.

A really nice thing the P1800 had that many sports cars didn't have was a real trunk. You could put a lot luggage in the back (in fact some purist used this as a reason to argue that the P1800 wasn't a true sports car). The one other thing I have to say in praise of the P1800 is that it would always start for me no matter how cold the weather.

Ode to Cortina

2007-01-19T09:36:00.000-08:00

Click Here for Full Size Image

I can think of nothing better in life than to be a young man and overseas. However, if you were overseas in the time period of the late 1970s or early 1980s than the one thing that could make this scenario even better was to own a Ford Cortina. This model was never sold in the United States; however, it might look familiar because in European movies it was for some unknown reason often the car of choice for the bad guys, especially in black as my model was.

I owned my 1977 Ford Cortina in South Korea (the Republic of Korea [ROK]) while in the Army. To be totally correct I should call this a Hyundai Cortina, as it was made in Korea under license from Ford. If memory serves me correct (which it at times doesn't, so I could be wrong on the specs) the motor was a 1.8 liter, in-line four cylinder, with overhead cam. Unfortunately because of the high price of gasoline in Korea, Hyundai equipped the motor with a single barrel carburetor so acceleration was never it's strong point; however, it could still race away from a Hyundai Pony (the most popular model for taxi cabs and the primary vehicle, and competition, on the roads back in early 80s).

I always thought the Cortina had really nice looking lines, for a four door sedan. In addition, the transmission was crisp and easy to shift and the suspense and handling were superb. It was great to hit the road in spring and go zipping around tight corners, which Korea had a lot of being very mountainous, with the radio blaring--life just doesn't get better than that.

Fire or Ice?

2007-01-16T07:58:00.000-08:00

In a grumpy mood, as I look out another day of snow here in Seattle (we don't usually have snow during the winter in the Puget Sound area), I feel it is time to turn to the theory of the "snow-ball earth." This theory says that earths has at times been completely covered in ice for periods lasting millions of years.

The threat of global warming seems to be in the publics' mind much now a days, but the historical record shows that ages of cold and ice have the greatest negative affect on the plants, animals, and humans of Earth.

Let us all hope that we aren't missing the early warning signs of a big freeze in our rush to see a big fry.

March or Die!

2007-01-09T09:27:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid once or twice I thought about how cool it would be to join the French Foreign Legion. However, there was a major problem with joining the Legion. All the recruiting centers were in France.

Now young men seeking adventure have a much better deal. They can check out the French Foreign Legion online. (However, you must still spring the money to buy a passage to Marseilles.)

Segway Banned! Thousands Unaffected!

2007-01-02T14:47:00.000-08:00

The vehicle with no reason to live gets disrespected by the Dutch. I don't think even 'Wired' magazine cares about the Segway anymore. Like the dot.com boom, the Segway has outlived its 15 minutes of fame.

A Blast (Literally) from the Past

2006-12-12T06:26:00.000-08:00

I love (and miss) the 80s. It was a time of big hair, Lacoste polo shirts, and heavy metal.

But, It wasn't all fun and music. There was the threat of world destruction from the most horrid of possible deaths--Nuclear Winter!

Eventually it was decided that while a nuclear war would be bad for most living things on Earth a nuclear winter was not a really part of the deal.

Until today that is. A news article tells us that if global warming doesn't roast us, then nuclear overcast will freeze us.

Gosh! I hope this means Duran Duran will start touring again.

Now, where did I put my old polo shirts???

I Couldn't Make this Stuff Up

2006-12-01T12:02:00.000-08:00

The Fiji Army trains in Mongolia with the Mongolian Army. Huh?! How did this relationship get going?

Are You Going To Believe Your Lying Eyes?

2006-11-30T11:46:00.001-08:00

This week as the Seattle area was suffering from an unseasonal snow and freezing temperatures I found myself asking the question: "Where is my global warming?" I want sunshine and palm trees.

While I write these words tongue in check I couldn't let pass this opportunity to knock the logic of the global warming true believers, which is reflected in this headline from The New Scientist web site:

Heavy rainstorms more frequent in Indian monsoon

Global warming should increase the total rain falling during the monsoons – the new work may help explain why it has not

If it's 90 degrees on July 4th, it's a sign of the coming apocalypse. However, any cooler temps are mere variations in the record. This isn't just bad science, it's science fiction.

Wooden Nickles Golden Dollars

2006-11-20T09:02:00.000-08:00

Like the Segway scooter, an answer to a question never asked by the public, the US government is trying to push dollar coins on us again. Based upon my experience in retail and sales this will never work. For some reason, people when presented with a dollar coin will react like a vampire that's been offered garlic. You see the fear and loathing right away, and then they quickly request a paper dollar, which if i didn't have any paper bills in my cash box or register drawer they would only take reluctantly.

Let's put this poor idea to rest. Yes, the dollar coin is a great idea form several standpoints, but the money using public hates it. Unless the Treasury department is willing to go back to a true silver dollar, the dollar coin will never be loved or used.

Forget it, move on, think of another idea for a better form of hard currency.

What To Bring to a Knife Fight?

2006-11-07T04:33:00.000-08:00

This sounds like one of those questions we use to pose to each other when we kids. Two situations were given with neither having a good out come, but you had no option but to pick one. Scotland is now in that same place asking itself: "Would you rather be stabbed with a knife or shot with a gun?"

Trying to get away from its Braveheart roots, Scottish police have been waging a campaign to reduce crimes and assaults committed with knifes. (In fact, one study said Scotland lead European Union in injuries resulting from knives.) But, now some policemen have now expressed a concern that taking away knives will only cause the gangs and criminals to move upscale to guns.

It seems like they should have known this would happen, as their great Scottish actor, Sean Connor, stated in the movie "The Untouchables," "If he pulls a knife you pull a gun..."

Also, remember if you drop by a Scottish themed pub for a pint, be sure to be polite and smile a lot.

Healthful Food: It Will Kill You

2006-11-04T07:39:00.000-08:00

Forget what mom told you. Skip the vegetables and live longer. Fresh food continues to spread sickness.

I'll just stick with my steak and bacon thank you.

No Monkey Trial in History

2006-10-31T07:04:00.000-08:00

While reading another blog about movies I came across a reference to the movie 'Inherit The Wind.' Most of the folks in the comments section of the blog loved the film for all the various reasons: a portrait in courage, a gripping story of faith vs. science, etc., etc. I felt it my duty to step in let them know that movie, while well done and well acted, is total bunk.

The trial was arranged by the city fathers to get some publicity for their town. Both Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan knew this was a show trial, but went along so as to have a podium from which to speak their views.

In fact, the teacher was approached by the town leaders and assured that he wouldn't face any serious fines or jail time, and coordinated his presentation of evolution with the city fathers.

So, the actual event was a good show, but had none of the seriousness or urgency alleged in the movie. It's good entertainment, but total false as far as a piece of history regarding and the tensions of faith vs. the theory of evolutionary in the United States.

See: http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/evolut.htm

"A year later, the Tennessee Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Dayton court on a technicality--not the constitutional grounds as Darrow had hoped. According to the court, the fine should have been set by the jury, not Raulston. Rather than send the case back for further action, however, the Tennessee Supreme Court dismissed the case. The court commented, "Nothing is to be gained by prolonging the life of this bizarre case."

Internet? No Thank You!

2006-10-27T10:08:00.000-07:00

Two recent surveys reveal that there is a large portion of the population that is not interested in the internet. At one time it was thought that non-internet users were unaware of the wonders of the world wide web or were unable to partake in them (as a result of costs of the service and/or equipment). But, it seems that isn't always the case. These folks just don't see the value or don't have an interest; and, what is most intriguing, the non-internet users are a good sized chunk of the population: 36% USA, 44% UK.

Green Aircraft?

2006-10-24T05:28:00.000-07:00

A fellow we can all salute attempts to fly in an upscaled version of a rubber band powered balsa wood model.

Battleship Yamato

2006-10-12T10:33:00.000-07:00

Are you a fan of the War World II battleship Yamato? I sure am, but as to why am I can't say exactly. Maybe it was how cool it looked illustrated on the box top of the Revell plastic model, which was my first knowledge of it back in the 1950s when I was still a wee tyke.

Or, it could be that the Yamato was the apogee of Japanese battleship design. The Yamato just looks sleek and deadly. It should have been a major player in the war for the Pacific, but it spent most of the war sitting behind torpedo nets a victim of what I like to call the Japanese Navy's Godzilla strategy.

The Godzilla strategy was that, just like in a movie, one day the Yamato would sail out and wade through the American fleet like a giant radioactive lizard stomping through downtown Tokyo and send the americans reeling in defeat back to California. The trouble was the Japanese Navy could never decide when that decisive moment had arrived.

So, instead of taking the Yamato out when it could have been of use in battles early in the war (Guadalcanal, the invasion of the Philippines, etc), it was always held in reserve until it was too late. The Yamato met its end at the hands of torpedo bombers while trying to reach Okinawa.

The Japanese have a Battleship Yamato museum, which I wish I could visit. The museum has just about all the information you could want regarding the Yamato even to include the Star Blazers TV show.

Dreams of Old California

2006-10-10T09:12:00.000-07:00

When I write 'Old California' in the head above I'm not thinking about Zorro, Spanish misisons, or the Father Junipero. What I have before me is the fact that California will soon be a state full of geezers--even more than Florida.

The article ponders can California be cool if it's so old? Their answer is yes, but I have to disagree. The California cool was always based on what the kids were doing. As the kids become a smaller part of the population will the geezers pay attention? I think not, as the biggest vice of the boomer generation is narcism. It will take a Herculean effort for the boomers to direct their attention away form 60s and 70s.

Flaming Speedcams

2006-10-04T12:32:00.000-07:00

It turns out there are still those in England who will let not themselves be slaves to the nanny state government. Many a lion heart now goes out and sets fire to the automatic speed cameras (aka: speedcams) that abound on the highways and byways. The results are quite dramatic and take the offending device out of service forever.

Monty Python at the Ministry of Defense

2006-10-03T17:45:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if this is a plot from an old Monty Python skit or an actual news story:

The service has decided to issue ammunition to future Typhoon squadrons and train pilots in using the fighter's single German-made 27mm Mauser cannon, reversing its cost-cutting edict.

The decision follows experience in Afghanistan showing that guns are still one of the most effective weapons when supporting ground troops.

To get the full "Alice down the rabbit hole" affect you need to read the full story at the end of which it is revealed that the only reason the new Typhoon fighter still has a machine gun (or cannon if you prefer) is that it was too expensive to remove and re-engineer the plane when the MOD had decided they didn't need an old fashion gun on their shiney new airplane.

New Career Options

2006-10-02T10:55:00.001-07:00

Stuck in a dead end low paying job? Join the Circus for fun, travel, and adventure. You can get a head start on your new life under the canvas of the big top by enrolling in the Circus School.

New Career Options

2006-10-02T10:55:00.000-07:00

Stuck in a dead end low paying job? Join the Circus for fun, travel, and adventure. You can get a head start on your new life under the canvas of the big top by enrolling in the Circus School.

Special Ed for Flipper?

2006-08-18T07:10:00.000-07:00

Another new age concept has just bit the dust. For years, aging boomers have assumed the large brains of dolphins meant the mammals were highly intelligent and probably smarter than us. Now it turns out this isn't the case:

Dolphins and whales are dumber than goldfish and don't have the know-how to match a rat, new research from South Africa has revealed.

They're still cute and fun to watch, but we'll just have to accept that they don't have any great or secret knowledge to give us. However, if they could speak, I'd guess they would say, "Goodbye and thanks for all the fish."

North Koreas Best Marchers

2006-08-10T11:34:00.000-07:00

The North Koreans continue to prove that they are 'best marching army' in the world. No idea how this affects their combat capability though....

Going South

2006-08-08T10:25:00.000-07:00

AT last an internet web site that generated a name I can be proud of. From the web site for the movie Talladega Nights: I am ">The Supercharger

No Yearn to Learn Flying

2006-07-26T08:52:00.000-07:00

Another sign of the changes taking place in the United States. According to a Washington Post article, youngsters aren't interested in flying as much as the boomer generation was: "Like many others here, Gilbert is worried that he might one day witness the death of such shows. Most of the others around him are his age. Fewer young people are discovering the romance of flying. Whether it's the high cost or the substantial training time, the number of student pilots has fallen by more than half in 25 years."

I would make a guess that, as flying in a airplane has become as common as riding a bus, the romance isn't there anymore. Why worry about leanring how to fly when, for a reasonable sum, you can pay someone to fly you in a better and more comfortable airplane than you could afford as a private owner?

Nighty Night, Night

2006-07-24T10:32:00.000-07:00

Will the "Lady in the Water" be a "Splash" for M. Night Shyamalan? Or, will "Lady in the Water" tank faster than "Poseidon 2006"?

An insider's look at how M. Night Shyamalan risked his career on a fairy tale gives us "...a portrait of the artist sealed off from the lives of ordinary mortals in a bubble of wealth, privilege, idiosyncrasy, sycophancy and grandiosity."

Hi-Def DVD Will Flop

2006-06-27T07:27:00.000-07:00

A fellow smarter than me, has ten reasons that high-definition DVDs will flop, and I agree with him HD DVD will fail.

But, the reason I think HD DVDs will fail is less logical than 'Audioholics Online Magainze's' opinion. For me, the results just don't look all that better. If I spring the money for the more expensive HD TV, HD DVD player, and HD DVD, I had better see something that knocks my shocks off. A picture that just kind of looks better, which describes my impression of all high definition products up to this time, isn't going to make it.

Personally I'm skipping HD and saving my money for when they come out with the holo-deck like in Star Trek.

Betrayed by Tofu

2006-06-09T10:39:00.000-07:00

From our "Everything You Know Is Wrong" Department comes news that soy may not be all that great a life saver. Of course, you could still just enjoy it for iteself, but I guess that be too simple.

House of Wax

2006-06-06T10:21:00.000-07:00

My thoughts now turn to summer travel as we head into June. While researching vacation options I came across the sad news that another classic tourist spot in California has closed.

Yes, I'm sad to report that the Movieland Wax Museum is closed. The Movieland Wax Museum was always a great site to visit while at Disneyland, California. It had a large display and an unusually well done wax figures of the stars featured in scenes from their movies. In addition, to the figures the scenes often featured props used in making the movie depicted.

I can't remember the star, but I do remember a classic Dusenberg that was a part of the display. I'll miss seeing that Dusenberg next time I'm in SoCal.

Cold Turkey

2006-05-26T09:50:00.000-07:00

From the Everything You Know is Wrong Department, Theodore Dalrymple sets us straight on how to treat drug addiction:

"And in China, millions of Chinese addicts gave up with only minimal help: Mao Tse-Tung's credible offer to shoot them if they did not. There is thus no question that Mao was the greatest drug-addiction therapist in history."

Dalrymple presents the position that it is time to stop treating addicts as victims.

Viva Vegas

2006-05-19T21:01:00.000-07:00

Las Vegas is where I'm at. See you next Thursday.

The Good Days-They Were Rotten

2006-05-11T13:44:00.000-07:00

Research from Britain shows that early societies were no edens of folks livng in sylvan peace and eating high fiber food while holding all day tribal drumming fests:

A survey of British skulls from the early part of the New Stone Age, or Neolithic, shows societies then were more violent than was supposed.

Early Neolithic Britons had a one in 20 chance of suffering a skull fracture at the hands of someone else and a one in 50 chance of dying from their injuries.

Once again it looks like the human condition improved as society and technology adcanced.

Ajax Fever Srikes

2006-04-27T10:21:00.000-07:00

The thing that is Ajax--which I don't know anything about technical details--continues to pick up speed with developers. Today I came across the ulitmate next step an Ajax OS. I'm not sure what an OS in a browser offers, but I'm looking forward to the release. You can read the details here. This reminds me of the dot.com boom when there was still an open question as to if the Mac, Windows, Linux, or B operating system would be the next hot thing. Let's face it, waiting for the next news release from Microsoft on Office 2007 is pretty boring. I'm glad to see new ideas and user interfaces even if they don't make it in the market or change the world.

Also, I've found an Ajax spreadsheet viewer here.

Icons--Oi!

2006-04-27T06:53:00.000-07:00

Some group decided that Britain needs to have its icons listed on a web site. The current list seems rather small and off to a poor start--with the exception of the Spitfire airplane and the song Jerusalem. Some the icons that need to be added righ away are:

The skin head, truly a British personality that has spread to all corners of the world.
Spotted dick is it food or a cruel joke?
Press gangs and flogging--who needs citizen soldiers?
Lucas Electronics famous for their reliability and resistance to water (irony alert).

Humor

2006-04-12T13:46:00.000-07:00

Heh, heh

Not Quite a Magic Kingdom

2006-04-12T08:52:00.000-07:00

I seem to be stuck in my youthful past this week. My bother sent me two links that reminded me of the time when Colorado tried to get into the theme-park game with:

When I use the term 'major' I'm thinking of Disneyland (also, Knott's Berry Farm), which after its opening in 1954 had states around the nation thinking maybe they could cash in on this new trend in vacation destinations too.

Colorado already had two amusement parks Elitchs Garden and Lakeside; however, these were built in the same style as Cooney Island with tradition rides like the roller coaster and the tilt-a-whirl, but with no theme or style to the way the rides or park were laid out.

Work started in 1957 on Magic Mountain and was to be a Disneyland-style theme park, although with a more western flavor. East Tin Cup called upon Colorado's gold rush and mining town history much the same as Knott's Berry Farm referenced California's gold rush and farming heritage.

Looking back with 20/20 hindsight it seems obvious that two huge problems confronted Magic Mountain and East Tin Cup:

First: weather, while the summers are very nice in Colorado there are still only three months of really warm temperatures. Colorado wasn't a year round place to vacation in.
Second: small population, Denver, then the largest city in the state, in 1957 was still under a million people. There weren't enough local folks to fill the parks once the tourist season ended. Even today Disneyland counts on regular attendance from the LA area to supplement the once-a-year vacation visitor.

In defense of the investors and visionaries of Magic Mountain and East Tin Cup, at the time they attempted to start these Colorado theme parks, even Disneyland was still a new concept with no business models available to tell you what would or would not work. (Even the masters of the Game, Disney, have bombed in the amusement park game with their Disney California Adventure.) The two theme parks were a sincere attempt to make Denver a vacation destination.

Armchair Generals

2006-04-10T12:13:00.000-07:00

Perhaps living in an antipodean environment has caused too much blood to rush to the heads of some wise and over educated folks in New Zealand; or, maybe the rules of war have been rewritten since the last time I checked.

These sages of battle say a soldier awarded the Victorian Cross during WWII should have been considered a war criminal, as he donned a German uniform to infiltrate and kill several German snipers. I seem to recall the main reason not to don an enemy uniform was the penalty of automatically being classified a spy, if captured, and shot.

Now if donning an enemy uniform is a war crime would this also apply to that favorite Navel warfare tactic of flying a false color (flying the enemy flag on your warship so as to close the distance before opening fire)?

It's good to know that in these dangerous times there are still those people who can find the time and effort to make trouble for a brave soldier who has passed away and can not raise his voice in his own defense.

Another Roadside Attraction

2006-04-06T09:57:00.000-07:00

I was disappointed to find that one of the great roadside attractions of my youth--Little America-- has gone legit. Gone are the claims of giant souvenir stands and boasts about the number of gas pumps, in fact I couldn't really tell if the Little America Company runs the Little America Truck Stop anymore. It's a shame that a company seems to be putting its tacky and fun beginnings behind it. More pictures:

Late 1950s
Fuel Tanks

Not related to Little America, but a spooky photo

Lady Liberty

2006-03-31T12:04:00.000-08:00

In Mallipo beach in Taean, South Chungcheong Province, Korea, a replica of the statue of liberty greets U.S. Marines during a joint exercise with the Republic of Korea's military forces.

A further touch of strangeness is added by the fact the statue is part of a 'love hotel.' A love hotel is where couples go for an hour or so of 'relaxing' in a pirate room. I guess Hugh Hefner would approve of the visual metaphor for sexual freedom.

Good Eats

2006-03-21T08:29:00.000-08:00

Enough of serious subjects, let us turn to fun and nostalgia: Googie design. This site has pictures of all the fun places we use to go to get a hamburger late at night after the double feature movie.

A classic example of Tike Googie from San Diego.

And, a place I often ate at Azar's Bob's Big in Denver.

Makes me hungry for a cheeseburger right now.

Not the Capitol of Music Anymore

2006-03-17T13:14:00.000-08:00

I need a native of La-La Land to explain this story to me. There is a rumor that the Capitol Records building might be sold and become a condo. This has locals concerned, not because the building will be torn down or modified in anyway, just that it won't be used for music anymore--huh?

Does any person care that Sears is no longer occupying the Sears' Tower in Chicago, that the Wrigley gum company doesn't own Wrigley Field, that you can't buy pizza at the Leaning Tower of Pizza? So, what's the issue if a music company doesn't work in a certain building anymore?

New Age Physics

2006-03-15T07:58:00.000-08:00

Bad news for those hoping to find the higher spiritual plane, it looks like even the goofy world of quantum physics can get by without new age wisdom:

...As Dr. Albert pointed out, Wigner framed the process in strict mathematical and probabilistic terms. "The desires and intentions of the observer had nothing to do with it," he said.

In other words, reality is out of our control. It's all atoms and the void....

From The New York Times

Another Reason to Defect

2006-03-09T08:16:00.000-08:00

As if things weren't bad enough in North Korea--crazed ruler, famine, etc.--now you can add horrible state approved songs:

SEOUL (Reuters) - For all those tired of silly love songs, how about the new North Korean hit tune, "A girl innovator dashing like a steed."

Many people in the communist state are singing songs glorifying the women revolutionaries helping to build the nation, official media reported Wednesday.

As well as the girl innovator song, popular airs include "Song of coast artillerywomen," "Girl silk-weavers of Nyongbyon" and "I am a front-line soldier's wife," the KCNA news agency reported on International Women's Day.

Songs promoting family values include "Love your wives" and "My mom who worries herself about her child."

"A lot of songs have been composed in the country in reflection of the pride and happy life of the women who are playing a great role in all fields of social life," KCNA said.

It was unclear whether the tunes have a beat that people can dance to.

An Army of One Tough Chick

2006-03-06T11:06:00.000-08:00

This story of a young soldier from Camp Humphreys, Korea, reminds me of the Army I use to know. We had a bunch of young hard drinking, drinkers who seemed to spend most of their off duty time getting into fights with each other. It was right after the fall of South Viet Nam and the Army was in rather shakey condition at that time.

In addition, Detachment B, 516th Personnel Services Battalion, grew out of my old units back in the day when I was in the land of the morning calm (Korea). They were formerly known as the Military Personnel Center-Korea (MILPERCEN-K) and then the 8th Personnel Command (8th PERSCOM0. I'm glad to see the Adjutant General Corps is living up to its tradition of helping to keep the Military Police blotter full.

DISCLAIMER: I want to say that the current Army is a fine group and doing a fine job. It's hard to believe that such a superior fighting force has grown out of the wreckage of the 1970s.

The Age of Analog

2006-02-22T09:55:00.000-08:00

I am currently listening to a book on tape of 'The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors.' It's a gripping true story from WWII in which U.S. destroyers and destroyer escorts go up against a fleet of Japan's biggest cruisers and battleships.
While I could spend paragraphs on the story of the battle itself what interested me most was a small item in the narrative that describe the Mark 37 fire director that was in use on the Fletcher class of destroyers.
Unfortunately the history of technology in war is a neglected area in popular history and it's always amazing to find out how technically advance the weapons of WWII were.
The Mark 37 featured:

An analog mechanical computer for ballistic calculations
Gyro stabilization to automatically compensate for the movements of the ship imparted by the sea and keep the guns on target
Radar range finding for target acquisition and feeding the computer.
Electromechanical servo control of all 5-inch guns

This was an extremely sophisticated and accurate system. And, it was done with analog technology! The computer was mechanical and not electrical! Using gears, cams, and rods it could still provide for curvature of the earth, gravity, and weather conditions when calculating the guns' aim and then remotely slew and elevate each individual gun to ensure the rounds hit on target. In fact, as a further example of the capability of the Mark 37, when hitting the target the fire control officer could choose from a single pinpoint target to a spread of shells impacting along a line, for example a spread of 100 yards or 200 yards depending on the size of target.
I can only stand humbled and in awe of the quality of minds that could take gears moving in ratios, cams nudging rods to trip counters (see here for example), which could then read voltage high or voltage low signals, switches open or closed, to bring this all together.

Visit the Analog computer Musem.

Good Weeds, Good Cash Crop

2006-02-17T13:37:00.000-08:00

In Washington state Marijuana ranks as 8th-largest crop, edging out sweet cherries

A Capital Idea?

2006-02-16T14:54:00.000-08:00

Maybe it's because of the movie 'The Killing Fields' but when I read of a government suddenly moving its capital to the vacant country side, as Burma is doing according to the BBC, I get uneasy feelings of what will happen next.

I hope this isn't the herald of a forth coming outbreak of internecine madness.

1st Your Knives, Then Your scissors

2006-02-09T07:11:00.000-08:00

The first nationwide knives amnesty to be held in Scotland is to be launched in the spring ....
When knives are outlawed only outlaws (and the Boy Scouts will have knives).

Soldiering for Freedom

2006-02-08T10:29:00.000-08:00

I just compete a very interesting book, "Soldiering for Freedom," by Herman J. Obermayer. Mr. Obermayer's book is an easy read. The chapters feature a summary and then copies of Mr. Obermayer's letters to his family during World War II.

What makes Mr. Obermayer's story interesting is that he was a young man who didn't like the Army, but did his best to serve his country.

Every since the movie "Saving Private Ryan," and the book "The Greatest Generation," the public has viewed WWII veterans as people who were on a crusade. "Soldiering for Freedom" brings back the facts of 1940 military life we've forgotten. He describes:
• The hurry up and wait so common to military operations.
• The dependence on rumors for information and the concurrent frustration of not knowing what's happening.
• The forming and training and then re-forming and retraining. He goes through a dizzying number of programs and units: college based technical training, Combat Engineer battalion, Airborne Engineer battalion, a medic in a Fuel line detachment, and legal clerk.
• The senseless and unfair rules: officer only facilities of higher quality than what the enlisted men were provided with, censorship of his mail, working for officers and noncommissioned officers who had less intellegence and/or education than him, etc.
• The resentment and lack of support from liberated French people for the war effort.

This is a part of the Army and the war that use to be shown in the television show "Sergeant Bilko" or the "Sad Sack" comic books--Civilians with an uneasy alliance to military life who often spent their time in uniform doing the best with what little the Army gave them.

New Tin Cans

2006-02-02T07:19:00.000-08:00

I have never visited the United Kingdom (UK). I don't have any personal experience of the UK mind set to help explain some of the news stories I read in UK newspapers, which seem to have a level of detachment form reality that I would normally only expect from the old 'Monty Python' television show. My example for today is:

"The most powerful frontline warship since the Second World War was launched… The first of Britain's new Type 45 destroyers took to the waters … The boat's defensive system, combining a hugely powerful radar and missile system, has left American visitors to the yard ''shaken and shocked'', according to BAE Systems."

Holy Cows! A destroyer! We're doomed call the fleet back to Pearl Harbor. I'm sorry, but until you have some real aircraft carriers, cruisers, etc. a destroyer no matter how decked out it is not going to leave any other countries Navy 'shaken and shocked.'

Munich Dogs Spielberg

2006-01-26T12:32:00.000-08:00

The Las Angeles Times' Oscar race web site TheEnvelope.com has a long article addressing the question of why Steve Spielberg's movie 'Munich' is not doing that well at the box office and in the movie awards business, e.g., Golden Globes, Oscar, etc.).
I would like to offer my own humble opinion. The movie is tanking because everything Spielberg has done since the last Jurassic park film is uninteresting and unwatchable. I know this is sacrilege maybe even anathema to those who are movie dweebs, but that's the truth, and I think unconsciously the movie-going public is beginning to notice it too. If you watch a Spielberg film the story is secondary to his preaching of a message or revision of history.
Let us revisit the recent past:
War of the Worlds—A remake! What an unoriginal and unnecessary idea.
Into the West—Guess we should have stayed in the East.
The Terminal—Help I'm trapped at the airport. Tom Hanks signals that he wants to end his career.
Catch Me If You Can—Huh? I'm sorry what was the question?
Taken—Aliens want to bred with us, but I'm not sure why.
Artificial Intelligence: AI—Young robot gets heart broken by evil white man—oops, sorry that was the plot for 'Into the West'—by evil human kind.
I think Spielberg has become separated from the audience. He needs to get back to 90 minute films with simple plots and lots and lots of special effects.

Re-enactors on the Skids

2006-01-24T11:34:00.000-08:00

Living history museums are in trouble, according to this news story form the Washington Post. To me, it is no surprise that attendance is in decline at these institutions.
Living history museums, to me, don't seem quite right. They are like a gimmick that has outlived it initial period of enthusiasm from the public.
Also, the people playing the roles are condescending. Supposedly the re-enactors are there to provide a flavor of a past era and its people, but I get more of a vibe of a geek (like those who haunt renaissance fairs) who wants to show me how little I know about his or her small area of specialized knowledge. I find this insulting. I may not be an expert on life in a frontier trading post, but I would like the opportunity to do some observation and learning on my own without some know-it-all telling me what I should think.
I'm sure another part of the problem is caused by the revisionists strain in today's teaching of history, which has turned away from teaching about great people and moments in United States history. This movement seems to be dedicated to squeezing the fun out of history, for example see The People's History of the United States, which is inspired by post-modern deconstruction techniques that sees America as just another struggle of power elites.
Let's get back to admitting that there were some great people in American history, and that while I would not want to live in 1830 the era still had much more to offer than being a peasant on a Prussian estate or in Czarist Russia.

Seattle. Just an Ocean Away

2006-01-16T11:04:00.000-08:00

According to the Mainichi Daily News, Seattle is becoming well known and popular with the Japanese. Much of this increased awareness results from Seattle Mariners' right fielder Ichiro Suzuki and the recent signing by the Mariners of Kenji Jojima, will be the first catcher from Japan to play on a Major League team.

Let's hope that Seattle's new visitors can put with our currentl streak of rain.

High Price for Tenure

2006-01-10T12:45:00.000-08:00

In regard to the faking of stem cell clones in South Korea, a news story from CNN.com talks about the power that Korean professors have over their undergraduates:

"Influential professors at prestigious schools "are allowed to build their own private kingdoms, promoting and demoting their underlings largely at will," said Tikhonov, a naturalized Korean of Russian origin also known as Pak Noja.

Listing professors as senior authors on papers even if they contributed little, fabricating receipts to cover up their personal use of research funds, and running errands for them are just a few of the headaches grad school students say they face.

"Most professors tend to think graduate students are their personal secretaries," said a doctoral degree candidate at Seoul's Hanyang University, requesting that his name and even his major not be revealed.

"It's hard to refuse requests in fear of retaliation," said the 34-year-old, who once had to go to his professor's house on a weekend to fix a computer.

Professors argue such misconduct is uncommon.

"I think it's just a small number of professors who make such absurd requests," said Cho Dong-jun, who teaches international relations at the University of Seoul. "If these were common practices, I, as a professor, would have easily known about them, but I've never seen such a case."

Cutthroat competition for a professorship sometimes involves large sums of money changing hands.

In the first eight months of last year, prosecutors penalized 61 professors and administrators, mostly for receiving bribes in exchange for granting tenure. In 2004, prosecutors punished 23 professors and officials on similar charges as well as misappropriation of funds.

In one case last year, a university chancellor received $4 million from 42 candidates in exchange for appointing them as professors, prosecutors said.

Kill Barbie!

2005-12-21T07:12:00.000-08:00

According to this article from the online edition of the Boston Globe when I get home this evening I'll need to say: "Get me my shotgun Ma! There's vermin in the daughter's room! Them Barbies and Bratz dolls is rotten our little dear's mind."

I know nostalgia for 70s is big this year, but this dusty track raging against the reality that little girls like to act like princess and play with dolls is so out of date and ridiculous you could have run it in the National Lampoon and, without changing a word, have people believing they were reading a parody of high sounding tripe that use to be published in NOW magazine.

My daughter loves Barbies and Bratz and also likes math and science and wants to be a zoologist. A child's mind can try on lots of roles and play many scenarios without it meaning they are stuck in one track for their life.

Ladies (as I'm sure you wouldn't want me to call you girls) go back to your ivory tower and leave parenting to the parents.

Moaning About My Generation

2005-12-20T06:49:00.000-08:00

Alex Beam of the Boston Globe newspaper is another who has noticed that the boomer generation is not aging gracefully. He does a good job pointing out that old folks acting like children is just plain silly looking.

Underground or Parallel

2005-12-14T06:50:00.000-08:00

Is it an underground economy, black market, or the term I always liked best "parallel market?" A parallel market forms when government tries to control markets. For example, you raise the tax on whiskey, and suddenly people are going to states with lower taxes and bringing the cheaper liquor home to drink, (or even worse buying moonshine). In affect the population creates a parallel flow of liquor into the state that competes with the legal taxed system.

The same thing has happen with labor. The various laws, taxes, and requirements to hire someone is making it more and more attractive to work for cash only, as related in this story form Los Angeles on the cash only work force in the state.

A government, if it is smart, will consider the question of what level of tax will the population bear, before they turn to a parallel market to fulfill their need?

Homeopathic vets under fire

2005-12-12T10:53:00.000-08:00

In a new article (subscription required for the full text) we learn that: "...that the claimed effectiveness of homeopathic veterinary medicine has no more solid scientific evidence behind it than voodoo...."

Now if only that same skeptism and keen wit woud be turned to homepathy for humans the world would be little better place.

Tin Robots

2005-12-05T09:23:00.000-08:00

It's amazing the things I find when I'm surfing the net and doing searches. I recently found out there is a demographic of people who are into collecting tin robots. These are toys made of metal. Some are powered by electric motors and others are wind ups. The design and art work is inspired by 1950s and 1960s. Most interesting is that this market is not for not collectors items only, but also features a lot of new robot toys.

I have to admit that once I looked over some of the toy robots available it did look tempting especially the classic robot with the twin ray guns or the Robbie the Robot alarm clock.

Cowboy Kitsch

2005-11-28T11:55:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid, we would take a classic car vacation. This was the time before jet airfares became affordable. Dad would take one or two weeks off from work and load the wife and us kids in the car and hit the open road for days and days.

These trips would consume thousands of miles of highway and would crisscross the country. Most of our car vacations took place in the southwest, west, and northwest. (Although there was one trip to the east coast to visit the east coast, but that's a tale for another day.) You drive each day several hundred miles to reach a new item of interest such as: Disneyland, The Grand Canyon, Cedar Breaks, The Seattle World's Fair, etc.

At many of the places we would stop it was common to encounter a style of decorating that was inspired by themes of cowboy gear and western vistas.

Recently while looking for travel information on Nevada, I was thrilled to find that this style still lives on at websites such as:

Looking at this stuff makes me wish I had a classic mountain cabin (or a steak house) I could festoon with these nifty items.

Put Down the Crack Pipe

2005-11-18T06:56:00.000-08:00

TedTurner, another man like Jimmy Carter (who never met a communist dictator he didn't like), is proposing a park for the Korean demilitarized zone (aka: DMZ). Like the Holy Roman Empire--it wasn't Roman and it wasn't Holy--the there is nothing demilitarized about the DMZ and a person would have to be daft in the head to think that all the North Koreans need is a smile and a hug to make them into good people. Ted go back to baseball or whatever it is you do with yourself now a days.
The money quote in this story is:
Mounir Bouchenaki, UNESCO's assistant director-general for culture, called Turner's proposal "very interesting" and said it should be explored. He said it would preserve the DMZ as a place of peace.
I can just see Bouchinake trying to edge to door and make his escape before Ted really goes over the edge and starts talking about how aluminum foil can block the mind control rays and he got the idea for DMZ park from the queen of the space unicorns.

Back to the Future! Please

2005-11-17T13:24:00.000-08:00

I don't know if you'd call it googie, modern, or missiles-pointed-at-God architecture, but the Air Force Academy's chapel has to be the prime example to come out of the late 1950s of the building-of-tomorrow-today style. It was an attempt to design buildings with tailfins to go along with the ones on our Cadillacs.

When I came upon this photo at first I thought it was cheesy, but then I remembered how at that time we were planning to send astronauts to Mars , drive flying cars , and fly in atomic airplanes. It was time when the United States still believed in technology. Now this view is considered naïve, but when I think of our current state I say we've lost a hope in a bright and shining future for us and our kids.

Here in the Puget Sound we'll spend billions on a light rail system that starts in downtown and goes to the airport—basically a train to nowhere. Most people don't live downtown and most people don't do business in downtown, e.g., Microsoft is in Redmond, Boeing is in Everett, and the Army and Air Force bases are in Tacoma. Trains have been dead since the 1950s, but our best and brightest in government continues to think that the public cries out for rails. Why not stage coaches or goat carts

I saw stop. Stop now. Give up the past and let us get back to embracing the future. ? Once we dreamed of roads 16 lanes wide with flying overpasses crossing rivers and deserts. Lets start putting wings and chrome on our world again, embrace googie, mega engineering projects, crass materialistic consumption, and offer our children a future that is bright exciting, and full of promise they'll do more and be more than us.

(P.S. I still want my flying car)

Think Before You Ink!

2005-11-13T06:31:00.000-08:00

Tian of Hanzi Smatter gives you living proof why you should not have Asian languages tattooed on your body--the fact that despite what people tell you the translation is usual wrong, gibberish, or not even properly rendered.

Stick to English kids or if you have problems in that area seek out a high school graduate or GED holder to help you.

Paleolithic Vidoes: The Robots

2005-11-07T18:22:00.000-08:00

Back before cable television and MTV there were Scopitones an early attempt to blend image with sound. A classic example of European hipsters can be viewed in: The Robots, by the Tornados.

Better Late Than Never

2005-11-07T08:45:00.000-08:00

I don't know if this is correct or not, but I just read that on December 31st of this year the United Kingdom will complete the paying off of the War World I and II loans owed to the United States.
As the Brits would say: "About bloody time mate!"

Smile as if Your Job Depended on It

2005-11-04T06:41:00.000-08:00

It's has a touch of Orwell's 1984, but in general I think I could get behind this rule: No Whining at Work!"
A German company has decided those who are always at odds with the world and must share their unhappiness with their co-workers make the office a bad place to be. I can support this if it also banned complaining about your love life, relationships, and relatives.

It's a Crime to Punish Adultery

2005-11-02T10:52:00.000-08:00

No smirking or snigger out there. This is a serious subject. We turn to the cruel and unjust fate of those punished for adultery in Korea and why humanity cries out for repeal of the law.

2005-11-02T08:44:00.000-08:00

The Marines will have a special warfare unit too, according to the Washington Post.

Right before I left the Army, one of the new hot tickets (an assignment that would add to your changes of selection for promotion) was to serve on a Joint Staff (aka: J staff=J-1, J-2, J-3, etc.). Makes me wonder if special ops is the flavor of the month now?
Considering how all the services have historically been hostile to special units:

Will this trend last?
Or, will once again will a special ops assignment become a career killer?

Waiting to Exhale

2005-10-27T10:27:00.000-07:00

Avian bird flu or the return of the beast, it doesn't matter if your end of the world is secular or spiritual, you need to be around and take a deep breath when it's all over.

As a former service man and certified atomic/hazardous material worker, I can appreciate a good respirator (gas mask to you lay persons); and, you should too! So surf on over to approvedgasmasks.com and stock up.

If you've got the money check out the PAPRs (Powered Air Purifying Respirators) the best in mobile filter protection. After all, why make it your last breath when it's only money.

Don't forget the kids! They love air too.

Life Lessons

2005-10-26T08:34:00.000-07:00

An important note to you fellows out there. Whatever you do and no matter how much you've had to drink do not, repeat DO NOT, buy the champagne! A poor fellow has had his life and career ruined by letting the heat of the moment suspend his good judgement.

An Almost Better Shave

2005-10-25T13:35:00.000-07:00

My old microscreen Remington was ready to bite the dust. I was considering the various brands and features when I came across this rather simple design from Panasonic that has an option of using the shaver in the shower and/or with shaving cream.

I bought the Panasonic. I found that this strikes a neat compromise between slower shaving with a blade and a fast past with an electric shaver.

I'm not saying the Panasonic gets as close as a safety razor, but it does cut wiskers close and does so with reduced irritation.

P.S. I'm not getting any money for this just trying to help my fellow guys out.

R-M (Rated R for Military [Violence and Bombs])

2005-10-23T15:15:00.000-07:00

It ain't U2, but I like this video Bombs Over Baghad--Crank the bass up.
Oh, was that a little too militant and scary? OK, here's a funny little cartoon to cheer you up--Nancy boy!

Viva Bardot

2005-10-21T07:02:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the King Country Library system--the only thing that King County has ever done right--I came across a film from my murky past when I was an over stimulated junior high student "Viva Maria" starring Bridget Bardot.
For some reason, Viva Maria had stuck in my mind as one of those hot films I was too young to see in 1965, so it gave me some joy to check off one more item on my list of boyhood prurient goals.
The plot and acting are pretty much what you would expect for a mid-1960s comedy/action/naughty film. The main hook of the story is that Maria and Maria inadvertently develop the strip tease and then help to lead a revolution in a central american country. (This is why I could never make it in Hollywood. I would break out laughing trying to pitch this script).
Bardot is pretty, but unfortunately doesn't spend enough time stripping or singing. Also, the Maxim machine gun doesn't get enough screen time either. However, it's worth a watch if you would like to get a taste of what made the 1960s cheesey, and what got your dad's heart beating faster.
Added bonus, George Hamilton plays a supporting role for an extra touch of lounge lizard nostalgia.

Big Blog Basics!!

2005-10-20T11:47:00.000-07:00

Iowahawk proves good guidance for us beginning blogggers on how to draw in the readers.

Roh Determined to Raise Birthrate

2005-10-11T11:43:00.000-07:00

President Roh (president Republic of Korea [ROK][aka South Korea]) is a 'hands on' guy and has decided to personally 'probe' the reasons that young korean woment won't have babies anymore.
I recommend lots of oysters and a ready to hand supply of the little blue pill.