gunnergoz

Say what? Backup plan? What sort of books are you reading this stuff in?

It seems that the museum has been dandified quite a bit since I was there 21 years ago. I recall entering through what was essentially a large barn door and not the spiffy glass and steel facade it seems to have now. Regardless, it is a fantastic collection and the staff there really are enthusiastic - even the museum store staff were great to talk to and knew their stuff. I'd go again in a heartbeat. Still have to see Sameur, Kubinka and the Patton Museum too. Ah, a grog's bucket list...

I think your percentages are off - more like 30-60% of the original remains, depending if you are looking at airframe or other components. But what is important is that they started out as original war birds and when the originals are gone, they're gone. No one has yet entered a "replica" warbird into the races to fly next to the real thing in the Unlimited category.

It was a sad, sad day, all right. I saw the video above - I can't imagine what it must have been like to have been there, let alone see your friends or family hurt or worse. One of these days the number of available WW2 war birds for these rich playboys to soup up will be zip and this particular racing event will be history. Of course, there will be other types to race but it won't be the same. Enjoy (?!) it while it lasts. I wouldn't mind going once myself, though I much prefer seeing the stock birds fly when I can. Attending any high-performance racing is a bit risky but that's what some people crave. My wife wouldn't go to the Reno air races if you paid her to, but she'll happily go to a non-racing air show. I'm hoping we can find time to go to the Miramar air show this year.

I went some 20 years ago while they had a sort of military collector's fair (I think they called it a "jumble" or something like that) and nearly left with a surplus Land Rover ambulance. I was ready to cash in my Eurail pass to fund it but then the IRA started ambushing UK soldiers on the continent who were seen riding around in military vehicles. I decided that the L/R camper idea might not be such a wise way to continue my European travels after all. The museum is burned into my eyeballs, though. That was a high.

Ever see the tubes in those old sets? Its a wonder they worked on the battlefield at all...

True, but I suspect that most of the layoffs will be low-tier personnel who make far, far less than $50K/annum. Tellers make more like $25K or even less to start. So one could call it a form of trickle-down economics but what is trickling down is not tasty treacle.

An interesting progression of B of A headlines: http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2011/01/31/bank-of-americas-brian-moynihan-lands-905-million-stock-award/ http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/03/09/2122943/moynihan-bofa-profits-will-surge.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/bank-of-americas-profits-decline_n_849543.html http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-bank-america-jobs-20110910,0,4275951.story So let's recap: 1. B of A announces a hefty stock reward package for its CEO Brian Moynihan, on top of his nearly $1 million a year salary; 2. Moynihan grandly predicts great future profits for B of A; 3. B of A's profits said to be gravely in decline; 4. B of A announces it will lay off 40,000 employees. Of course, this is the same B of A that only two years ago was the subject of this news story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7832484.stm Followed closely by this one: http://www.businessinsider.com/2009/1/75-of-latest-bank-of-america-bailout-paid-merrill-lynch-bonuses-bac It will be most interesting then to see just how big is Mr. Mynihan's next bonus, after trimming 40,000 employees from B of A's payroll. I'm sure they will reward him handsomely for helping B of A become more streamlined. As a consumer, however, just don't expect quick service at any B of A branch teller any time soon. And if you work(ed) there, good luck...

When it comes to the religious in America, nothing at all surprises me. Apart, perhaps, from any sign of ability to think independently.

About the only news I watch any more is NPR/PBS or Al-Jazeera. The latter especially surprised me with the quality and depth of their reporting. Heavy on Muslim issues world-wide, but still a view into affairs that we never see on regular US networks or cable.

Halftracks: mobility combined with the illusion of protection. To be sure, no modern army except perhaps the Israeli with their tank/APC hybrids have insisted upon infantry carriers that could really provide decent protection on a par with tanks. The WW2 dalliance with Kangaroos was a start, but the Kangaroo itself only had an early M-4 Sherman level of protection. I think most infantry would rather take their chances on foot when closing with the enemy - at least you can dive behind some substantial cover. There's also the feeling of powerlessness when you are being carried like eggs in one basket, with no say as to what the driver does next. They beat walking, but only up to the point of contact.

63, except when I play CM, when I am 13 again.

That's what you get when you hire media journalism staff based upon an entertainment-based profit ethic.

Stealing/robbing on this scale is the norm in those neighborhoods? Really? Outrage is hypocritical? Having your store destroyed is normal? Every looted store was a corporate store? And mom and pop stores were not looted? The mom and pop stores that provide what few jobs there are in those neighborhoods? What kind of gibberish is this? There are severe economic inequalities in modern societies, of that there is no doubt. And that those wealthy and influential people who perpetrate these inequalities influence the government to make things worse for the economically disadvantaged, is also probably the case. Further that those same wealthy and well-positioned interests mostly own the media is true, so the media largely trumpets what the high-and-mighty want it to say. But in the end, I'm not going to forgive someone for looting just because they are jobless or angry about their socio-economic situation, no matter how unfair or unjust it may be. Looters' angst may explain their negative attitude, but the decision to participate in the looting is entirely their own. It is no more morally correct to put down others because they are less well off than you are, than it is for the poor to strike out violently at those who despise them. As I see it, wrong is wrong. There may be things more wrong than others, but they are still all on the wrong side of the ledger.

Jon, I'm not distorting what's being said here, I'm simply commenting on what I have seen on TV and the web. I do not get my news feed from BFC's forums.

Who decides, Tero? Maybe the people whose businesses have been looted and destroyed? The very same businesses that previously sold products, provided services and were giving employment to some of these same looters and their families, friends and neighbors. It may be a complex equation, but in the end it still comes down to people robbing others because they can, then later seeking to appear normal, if not victimized themselves.

I stand corrected - obviously mis-remembered, sorry. I haven't been playing much of late due to other commitments - should have pulled out my references before posting instead of shooting the old mouth off. Especially since I have good references now right on the PC. Oh, well...

In the end, about all this proves is that irrational opportunism is alive and well in the human psyche.

It seems to me that I do recall being given the option to use the heavy 81mm rounds by off-map mortars in at least one scenario's opening orders. I think they were referred to as "anti-personnel" rounds since the heavy rounds were able to be fuzed for air bursts, whereas the other lighter rounds are set for ground burst only.

And wait until the rotary oscillator hits the fecal matter in USA, where, thanks to the NRA and the 2nd Amendment, the rioters will be at least as well armed as the police...

Maybe a bit more complicated than that. It also reflects the damage wrought by modern economies that have evolved to require both parents to work in order to have a sufficient income, and as a result there is no one to stay home to raise and supervise offspring. It also reflects a media-obsessed culture where the influence of parents drastically falls off as soon as the TV set, computer and cell phone work their magic on the kids. Finally, it reflects a failure of the community to grasp the changes that these and other factors are having on the mindset of youth. Of course there is a viable argument to be made that the issues I mention can also be laid at the feet of the "bankers, power companies and the oil cartel" (in the US we would point at "bankers, corporations and the wealthy") whose actions in the past 30 years have led to the accumulation of money and power in those centers at the expense of ordinary citizens.

In the words of the Prophet: "To err is human, to really screw things up takes a computer."

OK, this works, enjoy! http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?130786 Sorry, I think they do that on purpose to their URL to keep their servers from getting swamped.

Here's the granddaddy of all such lady-soldier-photo-links (626 pages and still going): /http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?130786-Pictures-of-women-in-the-military-police%28Before-posting-read-the-1st-post!!!%29

Be that as it may, I'll still wager that most of medieval combatants (knights and otherwise) under 30 were far fitter than their modern descendants (excepting active duty modern infantry.) You are probably correct about how extended periods of peacetime can corrode a warriors fitness; but there were plenty of eras in European history where a fighting man likely got to see lots of action.