Orwell v Huxley
Tan Guns Matter Too.
All guns matter!
Bullet Points:
** It’s a war, got it? The Biden regime will reportedly send another round of aid to Ukraine, a whopping $2.6 billion on Monday, but don’t you dare ask where that ammunition and supplies will wind up once it leaves American shores.
It is a war, got it? And the U.S. is Ukraine’s full-fledged partner for “however long it takes.” That means, according to Biden’s National Security Council’s Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby, you’re just going to have to deal with unaccountability for all that Ukranian aid.
**The (ret) LCDR’s Corner – More drama with the LCS (Little Crappy Ship) Program. h/t Claudio for bringing this to my attention. I remember sitting around with the infamous Old NFO when the LCS program was new, talking about how the Naval Special Warfare community tried to push back against them. The acoustic signature (they’re VERY LOUD) meant that they would NEVER be used by the SEALs for combat roles. Training could be shoved down everyone’s throat but operations are another thing.
Craig Perciavalle, 52, Joseph Runkel, 54, and William Adams, 63, all of Mobile, Alabama, where Austal USA LLC is based, are accused of misleading shareholders and investors. They are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud affecting a financial institution, five counts of wire fraud, and two counts of wire fraud affecting a financial institution, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release Friday.
** Free at last – QAnon Shaman Jacob Chansley is released 14 months early from prison after Jan. 6 footage showed him being ‘ESCORTED’ by cops inside the Capitol. “The Bureau of Prisons did not explain the decision, but it is impossible not to think that it is related to the release of a video that showed Chansley being escorted peacefully and helpfully by Capitol Police, suggesting that the prosecutors misled the jury on the circumstances of his arrest. That video was not available to Chansley and his lawyers when constructing his defense, violating Chansley’s constitutional rights. As you recall from earlier posts, the prosecutors failed to make a ‘Brady disclosure’ of exculpatory evidence.”
** African leaders don’t like to be lectured at by the American Ho… who can blame them? I wouldn’t have shown up but the Africans are more polite (or naive) than I am.
** Not black enough? Of course. Meanwhile, I am waiting for my equity reparations check.
** Gravy- Eye Watch – Sailor’s original term for the mid or middle watch (midnight -4 am) when eyes were sticky and heads were prone to nod. Corrupted by later sailors to graveyard watch, it eventually washed ashore to become the graveyard shift.
** Some federal funds were used to investigate Pres. Trump…
** Space News – 730 light-years away there is an exoplanet the size of Jupiter, and with a density of 13 Jupiters. TOI-4603b is one big rock. “It is one of the most massive and densest transiting giant planets known to date,” write a team of astronomers led by Akanksha Khandelwal of the Physical Research Laboratory in India, “and a valuable addition to the population of less than five massive close-in giant planets in the high-mass planet and low-mass brown dwarf overlapping region that is further required for understanding the processes responsible for their formation.”
From the Days of Fighting Sail
Floating citadels
The French Revolution produced some wild ideas. Napoleon liked to have his fingers in the pie because he was just about to make a name for himself as a general. He also had an eye on England.
To convince the more gullible part of the French public that the idea of invasion was a good idea and should be taken seriously. He created posters with so-called floating citadels to illustrate these plans. But they were never built. The English, on the other hand, used these posters to awaken British patriotism and raise awareness against a possible French invasion.
The St. Malo raft, by John Fairburn 13 February 1798
This engraving, published in 1798, shows the gigantic raft of St. Malo, which was designed in 1791.
The engraving informs us that this extraordinary structure was 600 feet long and 300 wide, carried 500 cannons, and 36 and 48-pound guns, and was to carry 15,000 troops for the invasion of England. In the center is a bombproof, metal-clad citadel. This raft was to be driven by 4 large paddle wheels, powered by 4 windmills. Whenever the wind machine was not available, the paddle wheels could be driven by horsepower.
A similar model this time able to carry 60.000 men and 600 guns.
Napoleon Bonaparte wrote to Tayllerand, Minister for Foreign Affairs, in 1797:
“The government must destroy the English monarchy or expect to be destroyed by these scheming and enterprising islanders themselves. The present moment offers a capitalist opportunity. Let us concentrate all efforts on the Navy and destroy England. When that is done, Europe will be at our feet.”
The machine is described as: ‘Flat; 2,100 Feet long, and 1,500 Feet broad; has 500 Cannon round it, 36 and 48 Pounders; at each end is two Wind Mills, which turns Wheels in the Water at every point of the Wind to Navigate; in the middle is a Fort enclosing Mortars, Perriers, &c. It carries 60,000 Men, Cavalry, Infantry, and Artillery.’, by William Hinton 29 January 1798
Contemporary sources report how crazy this plan was. Since it would take far too much material to build one of these rafts. Not to mention the time, the men, and the costs. And so the foreseen invasion never happened. Napoleon abandoned the plan because he realized that he could not cross the English Channel while the powerful Royal Navy was patrolling it.
This one by J. Atkin, shows a real monster: 2500 x 1800 feet, with an enormous stone fortification that seems to have been about 500×500 feet, the thing was powered by four water turbines driven by 550 feet -tall windmills, and it was supposed to be capable of supporting 500 36- and 48-pounder canon, plus 50,000 troops. It looks like it was built for calm water.
Admiral Jervis of England proved to be right when he said
“I’m not saying the French can’t come – I’m just saying they can’t come by sea.”
Napoleon also seriously considered using a fleet of troops with balloons as part of his planned invasion force. A tunnel was also considered. Napoleon kept the idea of an invasion alive but then planned to hit England indirectly by conquering Egypt, where English commercial interests were high. And so he set sail for Alexandria in May 1798.
Is that one of those incredibly dangerous and highly illegal pistol braces I see on that seemingly not as deadly semi-auto pistol?
Yes, they’re like scorpion venom.
Trouble? Call a cop. Order a pizza. Offer the cop some now cold pizza when he gets there.
Here I am with my copy of Jane’s All the World’s Tanks open and nothing to identify.
I’ll have to find an obscure tank to see if you can compete with Kle and Surly.
“obscure tank”???
EVERY tank – other than knowing they are ‘tanks’ – is obscure to me. Those who can look at tanks, planes, firearms, etc…and say “oh that’s THIS” is amazing to me. I have my own wheelhouse things, but that? Not my thing, so I learn from you guys.
It’s getting tough not to have repeats and make them less than obvious like an M-4 (Sherman) or an M-1 (Abrams) or a T-72
So the DOJ gets away with not answering the “shaman’s” writ of habeas corpus but releasing him ffrom custody. Is everyone sufficiently cowed to prevent public participation in elections yet?
LCS accounting fraud? Who do they think they are, pharmaceutical company executives? Of course no one would unleash the DOJ on the later using the same principles. Speaking of principles, is Zelensky still firing prosecutors in exchange for foreign “aid”?
Vote wrong – go to jail.
From what I heard/read, the Shaman’s time in prison was up, so of course he was released. The finding of hidden evidence had absolutely nothing to do with said release.
They are out to get us all. However they can.
The Shaman shouldn’t have gone to prison. Ray Epps incited a riot from what I’ve seen, the FBI paid him and is hiding him.
i still believe the shaman and his buddy were antifa or fed plants, and that’s why he was released early. and now the dept. of corrections has power to overturn sentences? and the fbi is still arresting little ol’ ladies from virginia for taking the tour on j6. yes, just arrested another one last week….fn is hard to beat, but i question the strength of that charging handle sticking out like that. tomorrow trump turns himself in. a franz ferdinand moment?
Agree- .fed plants.
I thought that he was a plant initially. Today, I just think that he’s nuts.
Cap. police didn’t seem too concerned. Almost like they expected him…
And what about Ray?
Ray was a stooge – and wasn’t arrested.
Well, well, what will this weeks insanity be? “All Trump Indictment/Arrest All the Time?” Or will something else take center stage coming out of Left Field? Sit back and enjoy the show.
I’ll tell ya, decades of Race Relations is going SO WELL under the Dem’s purvey. I suppose “I identify as an American” from a black elected official is now considered hate speech, proving his opponents are rabid morons and their brains are Swiss cheese. Rep. Taylor is clearly a fry short of a – soon to be unavailable as the Woke Go Broke – Happy Meal. Can’t fix stupid. Reparations my a$$.
Time to disband the DOJ, a now weaponized criminal enterprise. Chansley’s release was a ‘make it go away’ move based on “can’t unsee the evidence.” He should sue every one of them for prosecutorial misconduct, withholding exculpatory evidence, and everything else possible…even if it would only be for show.
Now, time to fire up the gas range for some tasty breakfast cooking…luckily it’s not connected to the interwebz.
First time I saw a pic of the shaman I thought he was either a plant or a drama queen.
There is a meme out there saying an insurrection doesn’t come with tour guides.
Orwell v. Huxley: I’m convinced it’s worse than anything those two conjured up, it appears we’re living inside The Truman Show…the trick is to find the edge and extricate oneself.
There is no edge…maybe we’re living in a complex computer simulation?
MrsPaulM and I have created a perimeter worthy of defending, and we know every vehicle that is supposed to be in the area. Plus, if all goes according to plan in a week there should be a Skidsteer parked at the barn.
That is darned fancy.
You can get all sorts of neat attachments for the skidsteer. They’re like AR15s for farmers.
The grapple and bale spear will come in handy.
I’m painting the machine black.
“Bale Spear”? Sounds medieval!
Every rancher/farmer has one, and they are “medieval” looking…you know, for homestead work…and no need to lose it in a boating accident.
Tan guns. Being a right-handed shooter, I’ve always had a soft spot for forward charging handles, although I have never owned one.
Fighting Sail. Thanks for all the essays. I’m learning a lot and adding to my library.
SWEET!
I have never seen those prints of the French “invasion rafts”, before. Let’s pretend for a moment that such a thing were possible: I’d hate like hell to try and get one across the Channel.
It certainly helps to have large populations unfamiliar with math nor physics if you want to use these things for propaganda… so the time seems to be ripe, currently.
-Kle.
Tan guns matter. I like tan guns, I really really do, until it comes time to clean the things. I find they are much harder to get all the powder residue off of them, especially if I use a suppressor. Guess it is a love hate relationship.
Another great history lesson, thank you.
I read both “1984” and “Brave New World” in high-school. At that time (mid 1960’s) they were considered Science Fiction. Few people thought they were warnings, because “It Can’t Happen Here”. I think Huxley had it right, but predicting things 70+ years in the future is a bit difficult.
Now they’re playbooks. Have you been released from custody yet?
Supposed to be Wednesday around noon. Still not out of town the woods yet. Been having urinary retention issues, and they have to cat me daily. And now I’m passing some blood. My urologist appointment is Thursday morning, and I’m a bit fearful of the outcome…..
Same happened to me when designing a house for a friend, sat too much over a six month period, plus long drives to Boulder. Scared the heck outta me. MrsPaulM says, “It’s a UTI.” So maybe you developed one from being laid up. Drink a bunch of cranberry juice and see about moving around a little. Do hope it’s that and nothing too serious.
I think it happened when they put the Foley in. Appears to have cleared up overnight.
Whew!!!
Excellent!
May our Father in heaven, bless you and keep you.
Amen.
Speaking as a guy who went through endless kidney stones, some passed, some ended up as bladder stones, and two surgeries over two years during covid when they largely ignored me because I didn’t have the plague (me, bitter?) – I couldn’t have more empathy.
All three of my doctors asked me why I didn’t kill myself because of the pain. I just said that the only easy day was yesterday. You have to live in the moment. I did it without painkillers. But it was brutal. It started out with me thinking that I had a UTI problem that didn’t go away no matter what I took.
Now they’re playbooks.
Are you free or should I mail a cake with a file in it?
I have one of those ‘tan’ guns… but mine is a 17. Re that conversation, we were right then, and are still right now! And LCS is on its way out, having never performed to spec, nor actually proven ANY single capability that was advertised… And wasted 4 years of my life… Grrr…
“1984” “Brave New World” “Animal Farm” “Fahrenheit 451” “Atlas Shrugged” “Brazil”
were meant as warnings- not blueprints.
Tan guns OK. I prefer black w/ FDE furniture.
Pizza: point to perimeter, crust optional. No pineapple. No fish.
While not fiction I would add “The Fourth Turning” into the mix as well. As good a description of the cycles of a country and where we are today as I have found.
Pizza, agree with TW.
Fish as a pizza topping? ABOMINATION!!
Anchovies! They’re not fish, just bait!
As long as “Alas, Babylon” doesn’t come true, we’ll be somewhat okay.
Though, more and more, “THX1138,” the movie, seems more and more probable. Probably the least known of Lucas’ films.
Excellent film. I have both his student film, and the theatrical release.
Tan = High Yellow. So still black, right?
I never thought of it that way. I’m getting a tan going – that should help my equity claim!!
I wasn’t aware of the floating citadels and want one. We could anchor it on Lake Whitney.
It would make a better statement if you hoisted the Confederate Battle Flag on the floating citadel on Lake Whitney.
Looking at our current national situation, all that makes sense to me is we are in Obama’s third term and he is no longer constrained by the pesky Constitution (as is any disbarred attorney) or public opinion.