The Wandering Minstrel

Old Glory waves in the foreground as the Blue Angels fly overhead. Clickable image.

Earlier today we were out doing errands and stopped at Zamperini Field in Torrance to see the EAA’s “Aluminum Overcast,” a restored WW2 B-17 (like the Memphis Belle). What a beauty! The Better Half got this (clickable) shot of the magnificent plane when it taxied up to the crowd waiting in front of the General Aviation Building.

The EAA offers flights aboard the plane that are booked in advance of the tours. They also offer guided tours of the aircraft for a small fee (free to active duty military and veterans). They offer merchandise for sale in a nearby trailer/store and accept donations to keep the “Overcast” flying.

I wasn’t at the airport early enough to get any video of the B-17 in the air, so I’ll put up this video I took a couple of years ago when it visited here. I got the overflight shot when it crossed the threshold of runway 11 Left at the airport on one of the landings. The other part of the video was taken on the tarmac near midfield. The props look weird in the video since they were in sync with the frame rate.

The aircraft will be here at Torrance for the rest of this weekend. Their next visits to the Southern California area are:

• April 13 - 14, Chino, CA
• April 16 - 18, Van Nuys, CA
• April 20 - 21, Oxnard, CA

Check their website for schedule, fees and booking.

Check out this eye-candy and read about the MGI Hydra QCB Modular weapon used by Special Operations Forces.

Clickable image.

UPDATE: Linoge points out that the expression “damn sight” is perhaps a bit too anachronistic for younger readers (see his comment below). In the context above, it means there is a significant effort remaining.

I got this poster today in an email from a former colleague, who correctly observes:

These were [created by] our parents. What in God’s name have we let happen?

I guess we are the last generation to see, or even remember anything like these [posters]? Whatever happened? Political correctness (or “re-education”) happened, lack of God’s name happened, lack of personal responsibility happened, lack of personal integrity and honesty happened, lack of respect and loyalty to our country happened, lack of being an American happened.

The Obamination and many in power in both houses of Congress seem to want the “Fight for America” and “Fight the Enemy” spirit to disappear. They demonstrate this by reading Miranda to terrorists, prosecuting men and women in the armed forces for “crimes,” and staging massive terror “circus trials” in order to demean the War on Terror.

Much of the WWII “get behind the troops” spirit seems to be gone.

(As an aside, note the venerable 1911 pistol the soldier in the poster is holding.)

We left Arizona this morning to head back home. One of our rest stops was at the Patton Museum, located along Interstate 10 at Chiriaco Summit. We walked the dog, stretched our legs and took some pictures. We were in the museum a few years ago, but not today. I promised the Better Half we would visit Joshua Tree National Park when the flowers are in bloom in the springtime. Since the museum is near the road into the park, we will visit the museum then, when we have a little more time.

Meanwhile enjoy this clickable image of General Patton, realized in bronze and bird shit (the artist did not provide the latter).

If you’ve been a football fan for a while, you will remember when Deion Sanders‘ got the nickname ‘prime time’ from Chris “Boomer” Berman on ESPN. Sanders inserted himself aggressively into the conversation because of his performance. The Obamination, on the other hand, inserts himself not because of his performance, but his position.

Once again, the Prime Time Prez scheduled another major speech at 8PM Eastern, where he gave such a riveting discourse such as to cause some of the West point Cadets in the audience to doze off. One blogger last night said the man sounded “more aspirational than inspirational.” From some of the transcript I read, that’s an understatement.

The Obamination stayed in his usual campaign mode, vaguely trying to placate the left, the right and the middle with a kaleidoscopic, ever changing array of rhetoric. None of his message would convince anyone that keeps up with the issues, to rally to a mutual cause.

The most frightening aspect of his message is what I call the “Heisenberg principle of politics.” That is, you can not know the time of withdrawal from a conflict and the level of victory or defeat at the same time. The Obamination sets a date for withdrawal, thus sending a message to the enemy when to start their resurgence, while declaring that there absolutely would be no enemy left in 18 months while only dispatching a fraction of the troops needed in the region.

The clueless Obamination does not even know that the cards in his poker hand are showing and our enemies are reading them with glee.

When I was working on an Army program at the aerospace mill, my project lead, at the time, was a Major in the California National Guard. He, like me, was a firearms enthusiast, so the topic of our banter often turned to guns. When we spoke about favorite guns, he would often cite his Military-issue Beretta as filling that role for him. He bought one for his personal arsenal.

We always were going to ‘get around’ to going to the range, but things changed - he went to Afghanistan and I went back to satellite systems engineering. We never made the range meeting, but, he always swore by that pistol. I would have liked to fire a few rounds with it and see for myself.

Today, I saw this article in an email from American Rifleman, quoted here in part:

25 Years of Service - The Beretta M9
A U.S. military contract truly did seem an impossible goal for a foreign company in 1978, the year Congress issued its directive to the Dept. of Defense instructing it to search for a new 9 mm handgun to replace the M1911A1.

Although the M1911 was widely recognized as a reliable, powerful and iconic sidearm of American military might, and was a favorite with veterans, soldiers and traditionalists, Congress decided that maintaining the stockpile of M1911s and some 20 other types of military sidearms was impractical. Many of the M1911s were old and in disrepair. Maintaining ammunition and parts supply for the vast array of sidearms incurred unnecessary costs. Also, Congress believed it was imperative that the U.S. adopt the standard 9 mm Luger round so its soldiers could work more closely in the field with its NATO allies. [more…]

The Army charged Major Nidal Malik Hasan with thirteen counts of premeditated murder today. There will also be additional charges against this “soldier of allah” as the numerous aggravated assault and other charges are investigated and applied. The investigation, according to the official who read the charges of murder, is on-going.

What I would like to know is when will Hasan be charged with treason? He acted on behalf of enemies of the United States when he opened fire on unarmed soldiers and civilians at Ft. Hood. To me, that constitutes treason.

In addition to the terrorist acts he commited, Hasan may also have been funneling money to Pakistan. He also is alleged to have attempted to contact al Qaeda.

Authorities at Walter Reed in Washington, D.C. have described Hasan as being psychotic. He was often described as surly and difficult to talk to. One official was quoted as saying that anybody who knew Hasan would not want him in their foxhole.

No wonder Hasan has that shit-eating smirk - he knew he was going to be infamous someday.

Treason? You bet.

Firing squad? We can only hope they televise the execution. Pay-per-view - yeah! That’s the ticket . . .