For Sale
“Well, it’s only slightly used. The core processor is still functioning, but several modules need a complete overhaul…locomotion appendages, of course… You name it. But even with all that, it hasn’t responded to any commands since its master, Lord Adrian, passed. It just went offline….we call him Frank.”
“I’ll take it.”
***
Old and New
Auxiliary fuel tank ahead of the storage.
WHAT IF
To those who read this blog, if you had it to do all over again in terms of your choice of profession, how would you do it differently? That was then.
How would you do it if you were 18 years old TODAY?
Leave your comments below.
Bullet Points:
** Farmer’s Almanac reported that after 200 years, the 2026 edition will be their last.
** Therapist: And how do we deal with somebody who hates us for no reason? You: Give them a reason.
** The Minotaur-class armoured cruiser HMS Defence (right) with her aft BL 9.2-inch Mk XI naval guns swung out to port. Defence was sunk with the loss of all men on board after she was hit by several shells from German battleships during the Battle of Jutland, which caused her aft and secondary magazines to explode.
** “The deterioration of every government begins with the decay of the principles on which it was founded.”—Montesquieu.
** Mexico’s President Claudia Shainbaum announced that she would be filing criminal charges against a man who sneaked past her security detail and fondled her during a public appearance in Mexico City. (Where was Estado Mayor Presidencial? Never mind, they disbanded it in 2018…)
** Cockroaches.
** (h/t Claudio) Takaichi is saying out loud what we all know —what was said in the hallways, or behind closed doors, or what some Japanese political leaders are afraid to speak because their entirely one-sided CCP relationships might be stained a bit. And all of that reticence did absolutely nothing to slow, much less stop, the ever-increasing stranglehold that the CCP is trying to put on our immediate democratic neighbor and friend in the first island chain. Or what it is trying to do to another democratic neighbor and friend in that island chain, the Philippines.
Engagement with endless appeasement has led to a deteriorating security environment that poses a higher risk to peace in our neighborhood. Genuine engagement, while clearly, calmly, and rationally setting your limits and pushing back when they are reached, is in order before the PLA takes a fatal step. This is not “China hawk” language by PM Takaichi or by me; it is “China pragmatism” language, driven by a desire to mitigate risk and maintain a genuine peace.
The CCP mouthpieces will predictably allege that Japan is changing its “One China Policy” or “encouraging a Taiwan independence movement” or, another favorite, “reverting to 1930s militarism” – no, it is not. I argue instead that Japan is not speaking to Taipei at all, but directly to Beijing, and that we are encouraging the CCP leadership to stop and think long and hard before making any miscalculations that destroy the peace in our neighborhood. The US president says this will not happen while he is in office, but Japan needs this to be clearly understood in Beijing for the long term.
Takaichi is stating what should be self-evident to everyone. If China militarily attacks Taiwan, Japan cannot help but see this as a direct, serious national security threat to itself and all that entails.
** Have you visited Virtueland? Make sure that you book your flight on Virtue Airlines.
** SNAP stories in the media were full of people from light heavyweight to cruiserweight to heavyweight… and then grizzly, and Kodiak. These folks could burn their food stamps for heat and then go into a cave and hibernate, and when they came out in April, they would be in the best shape of their lives. And we’d have saved $50 billion. But seriously, the “S” in “SNAP” stands for supplemental. And the program began as an attempt to provide a few essentials – bread, beans, rice, milk, butter, potatoes, meat – to a few people who really needed it. And like every other federal program, it metastasized into a corrupt, harmful cluster-chuck (schumer).
** Big Mike Obama on Colbert.
** The Drug Business – Sen. Rand Paul just revealed why he was holding up the vote to reopen the government — and it’s not what the media is claiming. Paul says the Senate’s continuing resolution includes language that would devastate the hemp industry in his home state of Kentucky — one of the few thriving agricultural sectors left after years of economic decline. I realize that Rand Paul, a libertarian, doesn’t think that marijuana is harmful, and he wants to promote the drug business. He and I diverge on that topic. Paul took to the Senate floor to defend the farmers who rebuilt the industry: “Kentucky, my state, is one of those states. Our law ensures that hemp/marijuana products are safe and properly labeled. Our growers have worked hard to turn hemp/marijuana into a viable crop, and the thousands of Kentuckians employed by this growing industry want to see it continue.”
** A report reveals Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey diverted almost $100 million in taxpayer funds to give illegal immigrant families $30K in housing over two years, $4,000 monthly EBT cash assistance, $500 in food aid, free healthcare, and cable. That’s a lot of money to induce an illegal alien to vote for you illegally. BUT, it’s not Maura Healy’s money, it’s yours…
** What about the Butt Guy? The word is that he will be teaming up with AOC in a run for the White House. For more, see Air Traffic Control – below.
** NYC is fleeing to Florida to avoid living in a communist hellhole.
Pluto – is it a planet?
Or is it only a KBO?
War is Hell
According to W. T. Sherman, “There are many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory, but, boys, it is all hell,” which he is quoted as saying in an 1880 speech. He also wrote, “War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it.”
This is a detail from the painting “Jane McCrea”. It was done to illustrate the book “Don Troiani’s /Campaign to Saratoga -1777” (available on Amazon).
Death of Jane McCrea – Saturday, July 26, 1777
Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne’s Army from Canada was truly a multinational force, including people from half a dozen sovereign and dependent European states, the Province of Quebec, and a third of the North American Colonies. But even this variety paled in comparison to the diversity of its indigenous contingent.
With their participation encouraged and coordinated by the British Quebec Indian Department, nearly 500 combatants from the Seven Nations of Canada, an expansive league of Iroquoian and Algonquian people, joined Burgoyne on the shores of Lake Champlain shortly after the campaign began in mid-June 1777. They participated in skirmishes on the Ticonderoga peninsula and saved the British in the July 8 Battle of Fort Anne. In mid-July, another 400 Indians joined Burgoyne’s camp at Skenesborough (present-day Whitehall, New York). Some travelled from as far as the Great Lakes, over 1,000 miles away, and included combatants from the Meskwaki (Fox), Menominee, Ojibwe (Chippewa), Odawa (Ottawa), Potawatomi, Sauk, and Ho-Chunk (Winnebago).
As he had done with the Seven Nations of Canada, Burgoyne held a council in which he defined combat policy (rules of engagement) for his newly arrived allies. Through a complex process of translating French into various Algonquian languages and dialects, and even the Siouan language of the Ho-Chunk, Burgoyne announced that bloodshed outside of combat was forbidden. “Aged men, women, children, and prisoners must be held sacred from the knife or hatchet, even in the time of actual conflict,” he added, ensuring that compensation would be given for prisoners. They were permitted to “take the scalps of the dead” they killed, but never “from the wounded, or even dying.” Thus informed, the war captains and warriors set off on July 20.
It didn’t take long for any Americans located between Forts Anne and Edward to fall prey to Burgoyne’s new arrivals. Scouting parties were captured, sentinels assailed, and wayward officers and soldiers waylaid. Even an entire Continental Army brigade was attacked on July 22 in the woods at Kingsbury.
On July 26, another surprise attack hit a 20-man piquet stationed on a wooded hill located about one-quarter mile north of Fort Edward. Terrorized by the “Indian Scream,” the Americans were routed and their commanding officer, First Lieutenant Tobias Van Veghten of the 1st New York Regiment, was killed. The warriors then went about the buildings of the all-but-abandoned nearby settlement in search of potential prisoners and plunder. Found in one of the home’s cellars was Jane McCrea, a young woman betrothed to a royalist American officer in Burgoyne’s army, and Sarah McNeil, in whose house the pair were domiciled. Unsure of the warriors’ intentions, the women resisted helplessly as they were taken out of the house and separated.
Seen here, Jane McCrea, wearing a light chintz gown and a black calamanco petticoat, struggles to escape from her captors. The two men, one of whom is a young Odawa hailed as a “rising Warrior,” while the other, possibly a war captain from a different nation, dispute over which of them is her guard and will thus benefit from the reward. Their argument became violent and, in a fit of rage, “in the one from whose hands she was snatched,” McCrea was severely wounded. Finding her barely alive, she was scalped and, in keeping with the ritualistic aspect of their combat culture, mutilated. The men withdrew back to camp with their brethren and several prisoners, including Mrs. McNeil.
The bodies of both McCrea and Van Veghten were recovered on July 27, brought into the Continental Army camp, and laid out in a tent to be examined. Both were stabbed in several places, hatcheted in their breasts, and scalped. Van Veghten’s hands had been chopped off, while McCrea may have also suffered a gunshot wound. Both were buried that day.
Jane McCrea’s death remains one of the Revolution’s mythic events, peppered with bizarre misinformation and drowned in profligacy. Even the established date of her death – July 26 – is nearly always wrongfully given as July 27 in histories. The most popular misinterpretation claims that the story of her demise marked the touchstone moment in the campaign that triggered a massive turnout of revenge-seeking militia. In fact, subsequent militia responses in the campaign had no connection with Jane McCrea’s terrible fate.
I would add to this a pension account mentioned the troops in camp were led past her laid out body for a viewing and saw the axe wound in her chest.
Air Traffic Control
During his first term, President Trump proposed privatizing America’s air traffic control system —a solution already adopted years ago by several countries, including (not an exhaustive list) the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Spain (traffic controllers only), and, notably, Canada.
U.S. airlines urged Trump to consider privatization, noting that countries with private ATC have already modernized to more efficient GPS-based technology, while the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has been promising to upgrade its World War II-era radar navigation system since the 1980s. The FAA has since blown tens of billions of dollars on decades of studies and abandoned projects, something I doubt a private company would be willing to do.
U.S. airlines also consume up to 15% more fuel than necessary because the current, outdated system doesn’t allow them to fly the straightest, most direct path to destination airports. Climate change advocates don’t seem too concerned about all that extra needless CO2, however, since privatized air traffic control evidently poses a greater existential threat to humanity’s survival than global warming.
Predictably, the press attacked Trump’s privatization idea as putting profits before people, and liberal critics claimed Trump was going to pad corporate profits with the lives of America’s children killed in plane crashes—all with little or no mention of the other countries that have operated air traffic control privately for decades. The idea never gained traction in Congress.
Now, Trump is back in his second term, floating the idea again, also to mixed reviews.
Meanwhile, the FAA has begun canceling up to 10% of America’s commercial flights due to the recent government shutdown, causing chaos for air travelers just two weeks before the busiest travel holiday of the year. Due to the need for “leverage” in Congress, air traffic controllers have been working without pay since October 28th, and many are calling in sick and otherwise not reporting to work.
Would the U.S. air traffic system shut down up to 10% of its capacity if it were operated privately?
Researching Canada’s NAV CANADA system, its operations are funded by airline landing fees, which, at least in the United States, airlines pay local airports for access. And Canadian airports, like U.S. airports, are operated by local municipalities, not the federal government. Note that it’s not U.S. airports that are cutting 10% of their capacity; it’s the federally funded part of the system that’s shutting down.
For what Google AI is worth, a query offers a consistent answer with more details:
”NAV CANADA is funded by service charges to aircraft operators for services provided, not by government funding. These charges are based on the cost of air navigation services for flights in Canadian airspace and include fees for terminal services at airports.”
“The company can also raise capital through publicly traded debt.” “Cost recovery: The charges are designed to cover the costs of providing services, ensuring the company is self-sustaining and not reliant on government subsidies.” “Debt financing: It can also raise capital by issuing short- and long-term debt to finance its operations and infrastructure.” “Independent funding: As a private, not-for-profit corporation, NAV CANADA is not funded by tax dollars, and its operations are independent of government funding.”
Like Apple, Walmart, or any other private company, Canada’s ATC system is funded by its customers and can raise capital in the capital markets. It doesn’t have to wait for the federal government to free up the money.
Canadian readers feel free to jump in and correct any errors this column makes, but if the U.S. ATC system’s money came from customers, effectively cutting out the government as money-handling middleman, would partisan Congressional bickering and a government shutdown still be able to paralyze the country’s civil aviation system?
The Roland
At 44 years old, Lt. Friedrich N. Guttler was one of the oldest fighter pilots and, of course, known as ‘Papa’ to the other pilots of his unit, Jasta Ober Ost, on the Eastern Front. Here he is in the cockpit of his Roland-built D.IIa. I was going to ask you to ID the aircraft, but there’s not much detail in the photo.
Compare and Contrast
If you want to…
It’s like comparing a new Maserati to a ’63 VW Beetle in need of service.
The Second Great Patriotic War
(h/t Claudio) Everybody needs to sacrifice for the good of the Motherland in her struggle to liberate Slavs in Ukraine. The first Russian region has announced it will shut down the internet until the end of the war.
In the Ulyanovsk region, a ban on mobile internet access will remain in effect until the end of the war against Ukraine, the regional government announced at a press conference, The Moscow Times reports. According to the regional Minister of Digital Development Oleg Yagfarov, Ulyanovsk authorities do not influence this decision, as the federal center makes it to ensure “national security,” and the restriction will only be lifted by Moscow’s decision.
To justify the restrictions, the regional government cited a decision made “last week by the federal center” to expand the “security zone” around strategic facilities. Authorities emphasized that these are permanent restrictions, not temporary measures during the Ukrainian drone attacks. The Bell on Russia’s mobile networks, which became the latest casualty of the drone war: “the Kremlin’s losing patience with basic connectivity.
As of today, every Russian SIM card returning from even a brief foreign trip gets switched off for 24 hours. Foreign SIMs already faced this “cooling-off” period. Now it’s everyone’s problem.
But Ulyanovsk—a Volga city bristling with defence plants—has it worse. Mobile internet is gone. Not for a day. Not for a month. Until the war ends (For the duration), according to local authorities. Population: 600’000. Mobile internet access: zero.
The culprit? Ukrainian drones using Russian SIM cards for navigation when GPS jamming leaves them blind. Moscow’s solution is the digital equivalent of scorched earth. Here’s the political gambit: these restrictions are absolute operational necessities. The drone threat isn’t propaganda – it’s landing on Russian soil with increasing frequency. But they’re also a massive quality-of-life hit. No mobile internet for an indefinite period in an industrial city. A full day offline every time you cross a border.
So far, the Kremlin’s pulled off the trick. State propaganda has successfully channelled public fury toward Kyiv rather than Moscow. The message is simple: Ukraine forces us to take these painful measures. And Russia’s risk-averse population has, by and large, swallowed it. Which means this is just the beginning. More cities near defence facilities will likely go dark. More restrictions. More daily indignities, all justified by “wartime necessity.” As long as Russians keep blaming Ukraine instead of their own government for turning off the lights, the Kremlin can keep tightening the screws.”
Identify the Aircraft
1 & 2
3
4
5
About 14,500 built
Parting Shot
End
4 is Bristol Brigand, British ground attack.
5 is prototype Hawker Hurricane.
Yes!
(1) C-141B, background, C-141A.
(2) Panavia Tornado.
(3) Bristol Brigand.
(4) Hurricane.
– Kle.
Well done, Kle!
Identify the Aircraft:
1. Lockheed C-141A Starlifter
2. Lockheed C-141B Starlifter
3. Panavia Tornado IDS
4. Bristol Brigand
5. Hawker Hurricane
Got em all!
1 – C-141A Top
2 – C-141B Bottom
3 – Panavia Tornado
4 – Bristol Brigand
5 – Hawker Hurricane prototype
Very good, ML.
Having never seen her, I half expected ms. momdummy to have 2 horns and four cloven hoofs.
Dare I say-
I wasn’t too far off the mark?
Juan
Goatesses are better looking.
It looks like she could eat a tin can…
I don’t know about the hygiene issues. I can’t comment on specifics like that.
IDA:
1. C-5 Galaxy
2. C-141B Starlifter
3. Panavia Tornado
4. Bristol Brigand
5. Hawker Hurricane
-STA LETHAL
Lethality assured.
>State propaganda has successfully channelled public fury toward Kyiv rather than Moscow. The message is simple: Ukraine forces us to take these painful measures. And Russia’s risk-averse population has, by and large, swallowed it.
—
Stupid Russians. We in America would never fall for such clumsy and obvious tactics. Thank G-d we have an accountable, fairly and transparently elected democratic government that we can trust. The Patriot Act, the TSA, FISA warrants, etc keep us safe from horrible, G-dless Muslim terrorists. Terrorists who forced our owners, er, elected representatives, to oh-so-reluctantly take those actions. The mandatory mRNA vaccine keeps us safe from a virus that was either totally natural or was created by G-dless Chicoms, sometimes both simultaneously. (Schrodinger’s coronavirus; weird how it hit the leadership of Iran so hard, but G-d works in mysterious ways). And other diverse examples too numerous to list. Of course, the people who created the Soviet Union didn’t all stay there. Their cousins and descendants (I am speaking ideologically, of course [duh]) infiltrated the West and now control key and critical portions of what was once our civilization.
—
What infuriates me about this is that it’s not even about power or wealth, it’s about resentment and wanting “the other” to suffer. Not necessarily materially (enjoy your high-calorie, low nutrient value McProleslop, your electric cars, and your video games on your 80″ plasma screen, and your pornography that we send to you “free” over the ether) but definitely spiritually. Be ashamed of your ancestors, your heritage. Be afraid to say what you believe (or even know) to be true. Daily say things that you know to be lies. Each false word is a drop of acid on your spirit. Each lie, omission, and blind-eye that delivers the innocent into the hands of wicked men is a stain on your soul. (Rotherham? Grooming gangs? That’s Islamophobic and racist. You bigot.) But there is hope. Sydney Sweeney’s take down of GQ’s Kat Stoeffel is an example of the GFY we need. Think that’s a stupid example? Yeah, probably. But popular culture matters. A lot more than many of us think, or would like, for that matter.
For the historical record, popular culture has been manipulated by some alphabet agencies tasked STRICTLY with foreign operations (manipulating culture ‘there’ not ‘here’ – allegedly) for a very long time. Sometimes it goes too far. Back when the Iron and Bamboo curtains were up, packages of American condoms were intercepted – 12″ with significant girth. The label read “size regular”.
Bwahaha! I was at a Daiso (Japanese “dollar” store — really a $1.75 store these days) recently. In office supplies they had a package of finger cots (q.v.). Which I bought. With the intention of showing the package to people as “typical Asian condoms”.
If I had it to do all over again…I would not change much, only my stock picks.
I had the pleasure of both my sons working for me part time in school and full time after graduation. I sold that business and they both went their own way. My oldest started his business in the same line of work I had been in, contracting and service. 6 years later I sold my last business to recover from some joint surgeries and I went to work in the oldest son’s business. My youngest was already employed there..
I get to see both of my children and all of my grandkids daily. The oldest grandson is 13 and working with us part time.
Pure gold for me.
That is pure platinum, ML.
X10, can’t ask for better than a legacy carried forward.
>Therapist: And how do we deal with somebody who hates us for no reason? You: Give them a reason.
Hahaha.
That said, I purely despise the conceit of “for no reason” (or “one day, for absolutely no reason at all”). Hatred takes up energy. Hating people enough to build concentration camps, or hijack airplanes, or blow up skyscrapers is VERY planning, labor, and money intensive. Even merely spreading office gossip, or otherwise undermining a colleague, takes real effort. No one does stuff like that just randomly. They HAVE reasons. The reasons may be bullshit, and evil, but it isn’t “for no reason”. This is not just semantic quibbling on my part. Merely (and very narcissistically, I might add) assuming that your opponent has “no reason” is deliberately putting blinders on yourself. You’re not going to understand the roots of the animosity if you refuse to look more deeply into the conflict. Nota bene this is NOT the same thing as “accepting part of the blame” or moral relativism or any such foolishness. But the blithe assumption that you’re pure (and therefore your opponent is evil) is not the way to prevent future badnesses. (And parenthetically, if someone hates you “for no reason at all” that might be because your hater is an asshole. But as the saying goes, if lots of people across space and time seem to hate you “for no reason at all” maybe you’re the asshole.)
—
Okay, that was a long rant over a funny throwaway joke. But boy does that phrase get up my nose.
How about “for no good/moral/rational/logical reason”? Does that help? Everyone has a reason for what they do, good or bad. But there is some gradient arbiter of ‘for a good (etc) reason”. Gotta have standards (that keep getting whittled away by the Left and weak).
It’s definitely a step in the right direction.
Yes but sometimes it’s fun. Boss hired an attorney wingperson, Korean/American, whose husband European/American had a LOT of money and some influence. Korean/American was smug, know it all. I congratulated her on her pregnancy one time. No, she wasn’t pregnant. She said, “I not pregnant.” “You think me fat?” I quickly applogized. That bothered her for years. Sometimes the little things require very little effort.
Never mess with LL, sharp wit that will take one down a notch in a heartbeat.
Taxpayer Money Diverter Healey: Giving illegals anything except a straight path to the Exit Door should lead to jail. Read this comment elsewhere from yesterday’s V-Day:
“If we treasured those in our military who sacrificed for our Republic, the millions of dollars handed to illegal aliens through government would be redirected to veterans, especially those in need or injured in the line of duty. None should be homeless or be at the mercy of inadequate health care. That would be the most honorable thing their country which they’ve served could do for them. We owe them at least that.”
Any politician not on board with that concept needs a serious attitude adjustment.
***
SNAP used to be Food Stamps…but government can’t help meddle for their own gain while soft imprisoning the masses (Sen. Paul’s whacked reasoning ‘for his state’, whether it’s moral or not, illuminates the twisted mentality).
***
Compare & Contrast: I suppose that depends on ones standards, “delusional” could be considered a standard. Scary part is that one likely has people who agree with her, proving there is something seriously weird in the NYC air, maybe too many chem trails filtering down causing brain damage.
18 year old self: Take this more to heart: “Build your life the way you want not how others say you should”. (Not that I didn’t, entirely. But that “college/good job/married” one size fits all standard prescription I thought was a required path…that worked after WW2…is baloney). If I stretched the thought, then I’d follow dad’s advice more closely, “as a young man spend a third, save a third, and invest a third”…and…”pay attention, the world is not your friend”. Not always easy when trying many avenues to build a decent life.
18yo me? Spend less on stupid crap, get better into fighting and buy that war surplus weaponry and ammo, dammit. Otherwise, well, seek better mental health stability (I was a box of screws loose until about 24 except for that brilliant flash of brilliance in dating and then marrying my wife.)
–
Pluto? Pluto is a planet. Got an orbit, has moons and is within the orbital area, just barely. It’s a planet.
–
The demon weed? Hempists assure us that hemp isn’t marijuana and has lots of useful purposes like clothing and rope and, yeah, nobody believes that really. Right up there with ‘medical marijuana’ bullscat. Hate it, hate it all.
–
That scalping of womenfolk, murdering of oldsters and children and just being murdering jackwagons who have no concept of polite civilization? Well, there’s a reason the survivors were forced onto the reservations. If they hadn’t been such two-faced back-stabbing lying and cheating and overall poopy-heads, well, it’s one of the things classic Hollyweird got about the Wild West. The Injuns couldn’t be trusted. Chief: “My braves are independent and will do what they will.” Same Chief: “I control all my people.” Chief: “No one owns the land.” Same Chief: “You are on our lands.” Yeah, screw them.
You had me at “poopy-heads”…spot on (all of it).
My wonderful wife has got me working on not being a potty-mouth and taking the Lord’s Name in Vain as she doesn’t want my soul in peril for cursing, and her computer in peril from a lighting strike…
–
And, yes, the now-illegal and immoral phrase “Indian Givers” is an actual statement. Except now they’re using it majorly on their own people on the Reservations (except for a few tribes, like the Seminoles, most Reservations are more corrupt and turd world than many turd world nations.)
> [the FAA’s] World War II-era radar navigation system
a) Wot?
b) There’s a short story in there somewhere about how air travel in ROTW is messed up after bad actors loft several hundred kilograms of gravel into the paths of GPS satellites, but domestic US flights are largely unaffected.
c) Yes, of course it’s a stupid idea, and the aviation enthusiasts here, not to mention the military and security folks, can pick dozens of holes in my one-sentence plot, but I’m just flinging spaghetti at the walls and seeing what sticks (or slides down more slowly).
Private does better than government…in everything, so I’m for the FAA being run by competent people vs. bureaucrats trying to line their pockets with our money. (One caveat to that statement: At least now the military is being forced back onto the right course by SecWar Hegseth, but that’s the only one…so far.)
There are things you need the government to do —consent of the governed and all that —that have not translated well into private-sector operations. The private sector operates on strict profit/loss. Faster, cheaper, more profitable. The concept of “public good” or “public wellbeing” doesn’t translate into private-sector thinking. You can say it does, but it doesn’t. Having a private military, for example, means that the CEO runs it, not “We the People.” I realize that “We the People” is a stretch at times, but “contractors” and Private Military Companies (PMCs) have limitations. Do you want the PMC to have the button to launch your nukes?
What are the market forces on a private ATC?
Sounds monopolistic like the water, gas and electric utilities.
I think that privatizing ATC is a good idea with a regulatory (to make regular) oversight by the Dept. of Transportation. It should be standardized across the country (standards). For example, training should be standard nationally.
As a pilot, I have mixed feelings about privatization of ATC and would state a resounding NO to the privatization of the whole of the FAA.
—
I started flying 59 years ago so I have seen a lot of stuff. I am not currently active because I have to jump through a ton of hoops to get even a Third Class Physical.
—
LL’s and EdB’s comments above capture some of my reservations. I was a C-130 Aircraft Commander during the ’81 Air Traffic Controllers strike. They Controllers put pay and working hours as their main reasons but I some some of their demands that would have pre-emptively absolved them of any faults in aircraft accidents. A Controller just a few years before vectored an IFR C-141 into a mountain near Seattle WA. The crew got the majority of the blame but fortunately the controller got some too. The thing was that AF pilots were terrified of getting a violation from an FAA scope dope; it could be career ending. Regan solved the problem rightly. If ATC was privatized how much authority would they have versus how much responsibility would they have?
—
Even if a privatized ATC is essentially a “non-profit”, what would be its bounds on demanding control of ALL aircraft in the air. Would that guy taking his Piper Cub (or equivalent) for some landing practice at his private grass strip in the Texas Panhandle require a flight plan and clearance so that ATC could rake some bucks off of him?
—
Yet another issue as a General Aviator/Light Aircraft, how long till the airlines get control of a privatized ATC by investing in it? What would be worse would be a privatized FAA that the airlines took over or it sold out to them. About 35 years ago the FAA was dreaming up some draconian rules for “air safety” that would have caused even the smallest of aircraft to have multiple thousands of dollars of avionics to fly in most of the U.S. that would have been impossible for most light aircraft owners to afford. On personal knowledge, the major airlines were behind it. ATC and the FAA are like monopolistic public utilities having to have some outside hand overseeing them.
—
Rant over.
18 yr old self? First buy that 45-70 Marlin with your savings. Second, go to school, be a teacher, have summers off to go fishing every day.
*
Excellent mix of topics in today’s blog. I’m enjoying the mix of topics, the plane, ship tank identify, current and historic topics, politics, global issues, so on. Only thing missing today was a cowboy campfire story and a food recipe.
*
Ukraine war. General Sherman’s words fit.
*
Pluto is a planet. I have a SCIENCE book from my youth that says so. And if I learned anything during Covid from the weasel Dr F science is never wrong. (That’s sarcasm guys so don’t fire and brimestone me). But to me Pluto will always be a planet.
*
Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, India, Philippines, and Australia are directly in the way of China’s global rule the earth plans. We need to stand firmly to maintain these outer defenses or eventually we will find ourselves standing alone.
*
Northern lights were visible last night, nice greens.
We don’t see much of the Northern lights – even in Northern Arizona.
Too bad I can’t paste a picture here…Wyoming brother was up at ‘the cabin property’ last night below the Wind Rivers and off the Tetons, took the most amazing pictures…full sky lit up. In that moment made his build out totally worth it. We missed the NL’s here in Montana by mere minutes, but they’ll be back tonight and we’ll be ready.
If I was 18 again… I’d look at SpaceX
Good move, Rob.
Living near Cape Canaveral, I’ve met a handful of guys who work for SpaceX, and a handful who work for Blue Origin. I noticed a while ago that the weekends had more people out walking around with Blue Origin tee shirts on than SpaceX shirts. It doesn’t prove but supports the idea that SpaceX works faster and does more overtime or if it’s just something else.
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Our local paper said we had red skies overnight. I missed it and the only impressive photo they had online was from a place that didn’t look like suburbs but well out of the cities. I probably wouldn’t have driven out to the lake or out of the lights without having a pretty good idea they were visible.
Musk primarily pays in stock that is vested after x years. He offered me a job working for X Corporate (not SpaceX) outside Austin a little over a year ago. The monthly rate was just Ok. Nothing to write home about with an expectation that you’d work 24/7/365 for that. The value was in the stock but you had to survive the Mercurial Elon for long enough to cash out. I still have him on speed-dial on Signal but we haven’t spoken since the run-up to Pres. Trump’s election.
Pluto is not a planet. period. Not by orbit or size. Mostly orbit. Science matters.
I went to college solely to play ice hockey and chase skirts. Stumbled into a career in petroleum geology that i loved. Had I known how easy it was to get a job + the entry payscale, I would have been some flavor of engineer. What i definitely would have done differently is to take better care of my body, especially gym work and eating. I also would have lowered my standards and got lai….lucky a lot more often.
That’s cold…of course so is Pluto.
AI, is Pluto a planet again?
“No, Pluto is not a planet again, and its official classification by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) remains a dwarf planet. However, the debate continues, with some scientists arguing it should be considered a planet based on its geological activity, while others maintain the IAU’s definition based on orbital mechanics. ”
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A dwarf planet is…….. a planet.
Calling somebody “a dwarf” is frowned upon, or so I’m told when I do it. Pluto has a big heart (reference the photo) – and a lot of people want to break it by engaging in body shaming. The term “midget” is widely considered an offensive slur due to its history with “freak shows”. There are some who call Pluto ‘retarded’ It just spins differently. No, Pluto’s orbit is not retrograde; all planets in our solar system, including Pluto, orbit the Sun in the same direction, called prograde motion. However, Pluto does have retrograde rotation, meaning it spins on its axis from east to west, unlike most other planets. The term “Pluto retrograde” refers to the apparent backward motion seen from Earth due to the relative speeds of our orbits, not a change in Pluto’s actual orbital direction.
Diametrically Challenged.
That sounds politically correct. Some say that Pluto is “dark” – the word in Spanish is “negro” – and who can tolerate that sort of moniker applied to a giant space rock and the little buddies that orbit around it? In Italian, it’s Nero, which makes us expect to hear fiddle music coming from the surface or something like that.
Polarizingly askew?
Midget is Hate Speech
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/QTeyJ_5-wMU
Exactly. And besides, who is this IAU who think Pluto should be treated as the redheaded stepchild summarily forced to sit at the kids table of planets? Time For An IAU Rest ™ I say!
😄
At 18, I still would have enlisted, but would have taken Computer Sciences instead of Microwave Comms.
Got out of service just to find that Ma Bell was being sued by Sprint et al for the next seven years.
Damn…of course you would have chosen the Navy instead of the rainbow warriors…
Sure.
Boating with EdB would have taken on a whole new meaning if you were on an aircraft carrier, Ed.
“Only Slightly Used”. Like myself
(hahahah…but hey, got the pants on this morning without injury, that’s saying something)
What would I do different. Well, I don’t go for wishful thinking especially coulda, woulda, shoulda stuff. The first 25 years of my life there were a lot of downers where I failed at growing up. Since then, it couldn’t be no better. Keep on with the great site, Gary
** Pluto – is it a planet?
Mercury – is it a planet?
** at 18
@ 18 I knew exactly where I wanted to go, what I wanted to with the rest of my life
Life has been good, even with all the ups, and downs. One thing I would do different would be to shun the sun. I’m paying for my foolishness in not protecting my skin with cryogenic treatments, Moh’s procedures, and enduring at least one every six months.
(Dang! still can’t see)
saw roadsigns leading to other destinations and made the changes (but don’t we all all the time);
some I even regret when I take the time to sit back and think about them over a glass of home-made blackberry liqueur
Go back and redo it? Hell no! No thanks, not on your Nellie; the outcome could have been far worse
At 18 I was working in a turn of the century,19th, steel mill. Had been working in an asphalt/sand & gravel plant for my dad prior to that. Started at 16. Also worked at Kroger stocking shelves and bagging. A year of college then the USMC for two years as a heavy equipment operator. After military, back and forth between Ma Bell and asphalt plant/sand & gravel. Got a BBA in management, a promotion to HR at Ma’s. Left for an independent telco in HR. Got fired for the first time at 30. Learned a life lesson. Only employment I could find during a recession was back in the steel mill as a shift manager in the coke plant. Wanted to move to Arizona as a life goal and was hired & moved by a copper company. Six months later, back to Ma Bell. Spent 25 years working craft and management. Had 17 different jobs in 25 years. Retired at 52. An independent telco moved me to Idaho where I spent another ten years and retired again at 62. Spent the next 18 years doing construction, woodworking, carpentry, brewing beer, distilling spirits, teaching in college, gold mining, treasure hunting, hiking, bike riding, skiing,, whitewater rafting, serving on local county P & Z commission, served as as local county Park Board President, free lance author, building ghost guns, being a good husband, father, grandfather, worked four years at a local attraction ticket booth. Gained a total of four college degrees along the way. At 80, I’m looking for my next adventure. Any ideas?
The question is, what do you want to do when you grow up?
My thought as well…one heckuva good run right there…but we don’t stop until stopped. When selling the homestead we actually thought of Florida, St. Pete area…but we determined after a solid active lifestyle working at and on stuff…guessing they call that work-life balance nowadays…we’d get bored inside of two weeks there, and we don’t play golf or pickleball. Young at heart trumps age most days.
Flying can be adventurous. A friend of mine retired from Northwest as a 757 driver and is still flying an acrobatic airplane (Champion Citabria) at age 79, so not out of the question if you’re still healthy enough to pass the physical. Lots of flight skools will give you your first lesson for free. I don’t know whether they got that idea from the crack dealers or if it was the other way around.
Starting over at 18 would let me avoid mistakes, which would give me time to make “New, Improved” mistakes. I dunno :)
What would I do different? I really don’t know that I would change anything about my career, other than commission earlier. I don’t think I did badly all things considered… LOL
I did forget that one. Wifey and I flew while living in Golden, Colorado finishing my Ma Bell tour. We decided it would end up being too expensive. Kind of like owning a boat. The white water rafting thing was great. My dad asked me on his death bed what I wanted to be when I grow up. I told him a cowboy. That never materialized. Too hard on the backside.
Geeez…..I’m always late to the party….
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WHAT IF……
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I’m not sure I can answer that. Sure, there were plenty of mistakes made, bad decisions abounded, missed opportunities, lips not kissed, and hearts broken. On both sides. When I play the What If game I tend to think of what I’ve would have done if I’d been born in a different era, rather than do a rerun of my life with editing privileges. i.e. If I’d been born in 1851, what would my trade be?
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Mrs. Trump is a Ferrari. The other one is a garbage truck.
Yet another far reaching post. If I had to do it all over again? Not blowing off the Royal Green Jackets in a fit of immaturity.