John Kettler

Andy, That's cool. How nice it must be to finally have the necessary research in hand. Speaking of models, the quality and ingenuity of these at the 2019 Moson, Hungary, Model Expo may provide permanent SAN loss. https://www.facebook.com/wolfram.bradac/media_set?set=a.2249189008475913&type=3Regards, John Kettler

Here's a tasty treadhead tidbit. Not all captured T-26s were used for security work. Some went into battle and were still at in 1943! https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/missinglynx/german-t-26-recon-platoon-t319465.html If that didn't get your salivary glands going, I bet this will. https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/missinglynx/friday-various-ebay-auction-images-for-the-weekend-t319488.html Regards, John Kettler

In a period in which so many parents are lamentably not involved with their children, I find this refreshing and disturbing. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7033895/Mother-goes-school-vowing-fight-adult-female-relative-daughters-bullies.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ico=taboola_feed Regards, John Kettler

Andy, The Russians built theirs because their generals made a fuss out of envy and Khrushchev had to let them build some. We know this, because he and JFK discussed it, both concluding it demonstrated the small mindedness of their militaries. The Russian guns had to be so big because their nuclear miniaturization severely lagged ours then. That they looked absolutely terrifying was a delightful bonus. Am now going to jup back to the Middle Agers or, I should say, the fabrication techniques of the period, as exemplified in what could be done in hewing using simple tools. Love living archaeology, and this is a fabulous example. Though the specific piece is for a church, this is how, say, the tapered arm of a massive trebuchet could've been made. The video is also calming, never a bad thing, I think. Regards, John Kettler

There is a firm specializing in hidden doors and secret rooms. Eat your heart out, James Bond! The music is best shut off. Dreadful and irritating! Regards, John Kettler

Of the US artillery then, she was: 280 mm vs 240 mm. Read about a guy who found the old Renwal Atomic Annie model and came acros all the relevant manuals for the gun in a surplus store. As a result, he was able to accurize and super detail his own model. Shifting topic, an outfit called Gonzales Firearms posted a meme on the differing views of riflemen, machine gunners, snipers and artillery on desired shot placement. https://www.facebook.com/GonzalezFirearmsFanPage/photos/a.404448539643516/2186088381479514/?type=3&eid=ARC8RnEdDfgaRQAQtHJyOZ1Hie0f1RxUOG4K9I9lKBlQ6PlZrOXpUrcEI213AHvm54jFAgkkdOBJ8a_5&ifg=1 Also, upon further review of the Paris footage, can now understand my own confusion as to the troops' nationality. At 13 seconds through 20 seconds or so, you can see soldier/s using the M1 Garand. Later on, the '03 armed soldiers areclearly seen firing in support of the Sherman tank. It therefore would appear the French unit was in rifle transition and had a mix of '03s and M1 Garands. Regards, John Kettler

The magnificent Union Pacific steam locomotive Big Boy has returned to service. Apparently, this didn't pass unnoticed by certain ladies. Photo below was taken in Poughkeepsie, New York on March 9, 2019. If you think that's PS, take a look at a longer range shot looking down on the train. Notice colors and markings on the adjacent railroad cars. They're identical to what can be seen in the first pic. There's a reddit about it, and here's the Imgur pic. Don't believe it's PS, and if it's grafffiti, then someone had major stones to do this, for while there are boxcars with that word on them, the marking is very crude and very small relative to this. Regards, John Kettler

Security dealt with the intruder decisively! This is in reality Jason Derula taking a tumble (looks like his potential end) at the Met Gala.

hdarchive was the source of the Paris footage above, but a related site, NuclearVault, has this artillery grog marvel. This is an episode from an Army TV series called "The Big Picture." Regards, John Kettler

Wicky, Great find? Did you know that full scale mockups of AFVs and other things shown at military expos are often made of wood? The same is true of certain aircraft, too. On a different note, this is NOT a Doberman attack. Instead, it's a Vogue fashion shoot from 1977, and that's Christie Brinkley taking quite the risk modeling Geoffrey Beene sandals. Talk about trust! Regards, John Kettler

Was looking for Ampulomet miniatures for brother Ed's Russian horde, when I came across these URLs. The first has, hands down, the most information I've ever seen on this critter, including a page from the manual and a stack of close range pics of several preserved examples! https://www.armedconflicts.com/SOV-Ampulomet-1941-System-Kartukov-t26894 This has not only some useful Ampulomet info but also gets into where the Russians were with their antitank grenade launchers and how that became the RPG-1, in that ever expanding family of weapons. Photos, line drawings and color rendering. http://www.ww2incolor.com/forum/showthread.php/10309-Red-Army-Anti-Tank-Weapons-in-WW2 War Is Boring has a mostly correct article, but what's wonderful about it are two crisp clean BW pics of the weapon being operated on both the German and Russian sides. To be clear, the incendiary fill was never napalm. It was WP in some burning oil (suspect flamethrower fuel). https://warisboring.com/the-soviet-ampulomet-launched-glass-bombs/ Regards, John Kettler

All I have to say about this is that most people stick with ferrets and only briefly. https://www.yahoo.com/gma/florida-woman-pulls-alligator-pants-during-traffic-stop-083838432--abc-news-topstories.html Regards, John Kettler

Ref reviewing the PG training film, please disregard, for I see a very blurry segment is already in the thread, a segment almost totally useless for this discussion. Likely more useful is this INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN item from LoneSentry on German flamethrower halftracks and their tactics. It lists the 251/16's range as 40 yards, which is 36.6 meters, a bit less than as currently modeled. https://lonesentry.com/flamethrower/index.html Regards, John Kettler

Might I suggest reviewing the Panzer Grenadier training film? There, you can see 251/16s in live fire. It would be interesting to know how high the flame projector could be angled upward, but in the film, the weapons are depressed to fire on infantry on the ground, which would obviously reduce the range. Regards, John Kettler

Have seen tubed weapons as big as 106 mm RR and Russian AT-4 or AT-5 ATGMs fired from inside a building. The RR shot was absolutely spectacular in that it flattened people and threw, well, everything on the floor into the air and doubtless left those in the area with the conclusion it wasn't their best idea, but I've seen SPG-9 (fires same projectiles as RPG-7) and 82 mm RR fired from buildings with little in the way of problems. The key seems to lie in the overall environment of the firing, with shots made from war ruined concrete skyscrapers and such being straightforward absent a wall close behind the weapon. Houses and individual apartments not cleared out and perhaps wall holed are altogether dicier propositions. ATGMs offer far fewer problems than do RRs, because they all basically use only a weak charge to clear the tube, say, five meters, before primary ignition occurs. All this stuff is on various jihadi/anti-jihadi and similar videos. Regards, John Kettler

Here's a wonderful WW II pic and the story behind it. Have seen a photo recently of two GIs standing side by side. The smaller one, helmet on, doesn't so much as reach the taller one's shoulder and is swallowed by his uniform. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7813500/Tallest-German-surrenders-to-short-soldier-in-Second-World-War-picture.html Regards, John Kettler

Wicky, And to think that caffeine laced fish were found in Puget Sound, in an area totally coffee obsessed. Standard sewage treatment won't remover caffeine. What you found is something else altogether., but think of the possibilities: life-wrecking false positives for cocaine in the civilian sector and military alike, re-addiction of those finally clean and, of course, the invisible foundations of future drug use, never mind teens eating shrimp in great quantities to get high! Meanwhile, it seems that cheese has lethality far beyond long term heart health concerns. Relatively speaking, the effects are practically instantaneous. A real shocker! https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/boy-death-allergic-reaction-cheese-dairy-school-karanbir-cheema-a8895006.html Regards, John Kettler

Andy, I get it, and there's no way that Adam Lambert could provide the poignancy of a man who knew he was dying. That acknowledged, Info I have says Freddie Mercury told Queen to find a replacement for him. Elsewhere, I've read he said that people could do anything they liked with his music, so long as it wasn't boring. Here's what a Queen member said about Adam Lambert and his singing and performance talents: "Roger and I have seen literally thousands of singers in our lifetimes including some great ones auditioning for our We Will Rock You show (which, did I mention, ran for 12 solid years in The Dominion Theatre on the Tottenham Court Road in London?) but we’ve never seen or heard anything like Adam. I always think that Freddie, with a wicked smile, would say something like “I hate you, Madam Lambert,” because even Freddie would have been gobsmacked at his range and his ability to reinterpret these songs which the four of us originally created together." (Classic Rock) Here's Queen + Adam Lambert at the MTV music awrds. This is a set, rather than just one song.. Regards, John Kettler

If only he could sing. That was spectacular! Either or I never saw the video or somehow forgot seeing it. Is such a thing even possible? My song memory, especially with video, is pretty good despite all the, ahem, brain delights. Here's Adam Lambert in concert with Queen in 2015 doing the same song. Regards, John Kettler

This isn't a news item, but it is an electrifying demonstration of the dazzling vocal capabilities of Adam Lambert, who for ten years now has been the replacement front man for Queen following Freddie Mercury's demise. It's also a hoot as James Corden attempts to back his "I'd be a better front man" with vocals to match. He's pretty good, as I've seen before when he drove around with various bands and they sing in the car, but Adam Lambert is a singing god by comparison. Regards, John Kettler

Andy, Thanks! On a disturbing note, are kids in daycare becoming feral? Never read anything like this before, and the daycare facility is denying access to the telling security video on, ahem, privacy grounds. Yeah, right. Had skin been broken, this could've been a huge deal, for the human mouth is a sea of bacteria having no business in the bloodstream. https://abc7.com/toddler-bitten-8-times-at-day-care-parents-outraged-/5278244/ Regards, John Kettler

Was looking for footage of the battle for Paris during the uprising, but found this delight first. This is superb quality footage of fighting in the city after the US and French forces arrived. Features infantry, POWs, Shermans, Stuarts and De Gaulle! Almost like being there, but no audio and it's BW. Regards, John Kettler

Believe this is from the 1950s but could be WW II. Never seen protective gear for an infant before. Regards, John Kettler

Have heard of being obsessed with personal electronic devices, but this is in a league of its own. If I had to guess, I'd say this is the result of a car flying off the freeway above. Wholly unexpected! Doesn't quite have this figured out yet. Regards, John Kettler

Strong rebranding! Memorable pic. Pacific Coast Highway as California burned. Regards, John Kettler