New...

... box o' cigars, in today's mail.  Like this:

That's a pic o' my favorite cigar... the Drew Estate Cafe con Leche... of which we are now in possession of 21 examples o' such.  We've already lit one off for today's Happy Hour and are most pleased.  (That's an old pic, but the packaging doesn't change.)

And a new hat...

That's a new pic (but it's the same ol' me) and features one of my FAVORITE tee shirts.  Back to hats, though, and we're decidedly short on suitable USAF chapeaux, what with our inventory of hats we wore during our career bein' shabby and not suitable for public appearances, given they're over 25 years old.  So today we happened to encounter a gentleman who was selling LOTS of military ball caps in the promenade o' the Cannon Airplane Patch BX.  There's a short story behind the hat and it goes like this... Said gentleman stopping me in the promenade and sayin'...

Gentleman:  Sir?  Wait a moment... Oh, that must be a different USS Mason.  The original MASON had an all-black crew, the first such in the Navy.

Me:  (Wearing my USS Mason ball cap) Yessir, I know.  This MASON was my son's first Department Head ride, which is where I got the hat.  And I'm aware of the history behind the name, there bein' a tribute to the original MASON in the ward room.  (And because I've done my homework)

G:  Your son is Navy... career Navy, still serving?

Me:  Yessir, on both counts.

G:  Annapolis?

Me:  No sir, Rot-Cee, Mustang.  He's also an embarrassment to the fam'bly, seein' as how he's a Squid and his grandfather, father, and older brother before him were ALL Air Force.

G:  Be careful now, I'm a Squid.

Followed by laughter all around.  So we bought the hat... I mean, how could we not?  The crest on the hat is the old Air Force Communications Command (AFCC)'s emblem, which is where I spent the final five years of my career.  I spent a total of seven years with AFCC, which is about a third of my career. I spent more time with Air Defense Command... like 12 years, and three years with USAF Security Service... but AFCC gave me the foundation for my civilian career, to which I owe them a tremendous debt and my enduring loyalty.

So.  We're now able to fly an appropriate flag when we go out in public.

Cue Up Tevye

And have him bellow out "TRA-DIII-SHUN" from the rooftops.  Herewith a post within a post within a post:

Flag Day

We seem to be developing our traditions here at EIP, and here's another installment of same. This looks like it will be the "traditional" Flag Day post... or at least it will be until I come up with something better.

Flag Day

Old Glory on the stern of the USS Mason (DDG 87), Port Canaveral, Florida.
April, 2003.

I don’t have a “flyable” flag any longer… and no place to really fly one, even if I did… which is a break from long-standing tradition. I still have two flags in my possession, but neither is suitable for display. Or rather, I choose NOT to display them. The first is the flag that draped my father’s casket; the second is a small flag in a shadow box with mementos from my USAF career. My father’s flag is folded and put away for safe-keeping, the shadow box flag is…well, in the shadow box.

But I AM celebrating Flag Day. I hope you are, too.

Modifications to the above: Make that three flags vs. two. You've seen the flag I have draped just below the upstairs-bedroom-cum-music area... just four days ago, in fact. You may not have read the story behind that flag, though. It's a well-traveled Star Spangled Banner, that one.

I can't believe I left out the origins of the "Mason" picture!  The Mason was one of SN2's old rides and this particular photo was shot during the ship's commissioning weekend.  We've talked about Mason and that event before.  Quite a lot, actually.

Sorry about all the extraneous lines.  Blogger doesn't like it when you cut and paste old posts into new ones.  I've beat my head on this wall... that would be the "trying to get rid of these damned lines" wall... way too often without results.

It's a Beautiful Morning...

Today’s Pic: A snap from the USS Mason (DDG87) commissioning ceremony in Port Canaveral, Florida, April 12, 2003. The Mason is one of SN2’s former rides; he was the Mason’s Chief Engineer, or CHENG. The Navy really puts on a show when commissioning a new warship. I was definitely privileged to attend the ceremony and am still impressed, to this very day.

Ya know, it’s hard for me to let go when I hit on a topic. I’m really not an obsessive-compulsive sort of person, but I’ll forgive you if you think otherwise, given the narrow range of subject matter I’ve been focusing on of late. Things like Iran, the Hezbollah War, criminally-ignorant Lefties, and the BBC. I’ve written about little else lately. So let’s not break the mold. Here’s my latest “find” on one of my favorite subjects: the Beeb. It’s an op-ed in Real Clear Politics by James Lewis titled “The BBC and Home-Grown Terrorists.” Mr. Lewis articulates, quite powerfully, at that, the profound effect Auntie has on Britain’s disaffected Muslim youth.

If you were a young Muslim teenager growing up in Leeds, you too might be fertile soil for Islamofascism. The reason is simple: In a culture pervaded by the BBC, the message of the Labour Left would be drummed home to you over and over again: Britain is evil, America is evil, Israel is evil, capitalism is evil, democracy is a fraud. The education system would teach you a damning picture of the British Empire, which had its immoral side, but was also the greatest civilizing agent in the world for centuries.

[…]

So when some local imam starts to preach hatred of Britain, America, Israel, and Western culture, they are tilling fertile soil. British teens are all prepared to hate their country; it's the in thing to do. They are given a constant set of provocations: Guantanamo, and the "torture" of Muslims; the toilet-flushing of Korans by the evil Americans; the "imperialism" of America and its "poodle" Britain. Israel killing children in Qana. Just recently the BBC produced a "comedy" show with airplanes flying into Westminster, in imitation of 9/11. Is 9/11 the stuff of comedy? It is for the Bolshie Beeb. The show features guest appearances by the two main "news" anchors of the BBC. It's all a big joke to the Left, which secretly sympathizes with the fascists of Londonistan.

Like the United States, Britain is in bad, bad shape to fight a war for civilization. London Mayor "Red Ken" Livingstone and Oily George Galloway are constantly whipping up more resentment against the West. Muslims from pre-medieval places like Pakistan are easily winning the demographic race. The Jewish vote is now scattered and negligible, and Labour is not above using anti-Semitic cartoons depicting Jewish Conservatives as flying pigs.

I made note of the fact that a large part of the BBC’s Newsnight coverage this past Thursday was devoted to trying to assign blame for terrorism to American and British foreign policy and a justification of disaffected British Muslim “hostility.” And that was just one program. To think the British public is subjected to a constant, day in and day out bombardment of these asininities gives one pause. And you know what’s worse? We in America aren’t that far behind Great Britain. There is a critical difference, however. America doesn’t have near the same problems with unassimilated minorities as the British have. Thank God for that! But that doesn’t mean we’re getting off Scot-free in that regard; the rise of identity politics and the ever-widening culture of victimization create our own versions of disaffected and unassimilated minorities. And while we don’t have anything remotely comparable to the Beeb’s monolithic dominance of British airwaves here in the US, it’s not too much of a leap to compare the Beeb’s perspective with that of ABC/CBS/NBC and NPR. They have much in common. And don’t get me started on the New York Times, or, for that matter, the Academy. The Left is all about self-loathing, be it the British Left or the American Left. I detest that.

The West is at war with a radical ideology that wants nothing less than the destruction of our culture. Our culture needs defenders, not detractors. We most certainly don’t need the Fourth Estate functioning as a Fifth Column. One looks at Britain and wonders, seriously, if it isn’t already too late. And the BBC just prattles raves on, apparently oblivious to the damage they’re doing. What a shame.

While we’re on about recent topics, James Pinkerton, writing at TCS Daily, starts out with Joe Lieberman’s primary loss and discusses political heresy in “Why Political Heretics are Worse than Infidels.”

Joe Lieberman is a heretic. Please don't get me wrong. Nobody, not even Lieberman's enemies, questions the Connecticut Senator's abiding Orthodox Jewish religious faith. But as Tuesday's primary election shows, a majority of Nutmeg State Democrats see their senator as disloyal to the party line, which is increasingly dovish on Iraq. And a heretic, of course, is much worse than an infidel.

Here's the distinction: An infidel is someone who never believed what you believe; an infidel is a stranger, and so there's not much point in investing emotions in him. But a heretic is someone you know well, someone who once believed what you believe, but now has a different faith -- that's much more threatening. You often fight wars against infidels, and in those wars you seek to defeat, even destroy, the enemy. But with heretics, even tougher measures are needed, because the threat of heresy is so much more insidious, threatening to eat away the true faith. So you launch inquisitions against heretics, to eliminate even the thought of heresy. The proper anti-heretical strategy is to torture 'em, make 'em confess, make 'em repent -- and then kill 'em.

Happily, American politics isn't nearly so brutal, albeit still intense. And yet the basic heretics vs. infidels dichotomy explains why intra-party fights are so much more bitter than inter-party fights. To this day, for example, the Democrats know Which Side They Were On in big intra-party feuds -- even if they were too young actually to have been part of the feud.

We might consider, for example, one epochal feud-year for the Democrats: 1948. That was the year that lefty Democrats split off from the party, and from President Harry Truman, to join the pro-Soviet third-party candidacy of former vice president Henry Wallace. Six decades later, that sundering still echoes; The New Republic's Peter Beinart, himself born in the 70s, published a book that revisits 1948. Its militant title, The Good Fight: Why Liberals -- and Only Liberals -- Can Win the War on Terror and Make America Great Again, signals Beinart's message for today: that the fight against hawkish heretical Democrats has gone too far -- and that the answer is to fight right back. He wants Democrats to draw inspiration from past struggles, from the days when Cold War liberals battled crypto-communists. And so Beinart supported Lieberman, of course, against the primary campaign waged against the incumbent by challenger Ned Lamont. Needless to say, Beinart's left-bashing has been reciprocated by plenty of Beinart-bashing from lefties, including The Nation's Eric Alterman. And so the guns of 1948 are still not silenced, and the wounds are still open.

Pinkerton doesn’t focus only on Democrats, he cites examples of heresy in Republican ranks also. As an example, the ideological underpinnings of the Reagan Revolution were, at one point in time, viewed as heresy by mainstream Republicans. One must be careful in organizing and carrying out political inquisitions of the sort that unseated Senator Lieberman, however. The Law of Unintended Consequences is terribly unforgiving.

Random Notes…

Our bodies are wonderful things. I’ve written all too often about how I hate housework. As an example, I vacuum on an “as required” basis, one definition of “as required” is when I observe the buildup of gray blond hair on my dark blue bathroom rug. As I was emptying the vacuum canister into the trash yesterday I noticed there was enough hair in there to knit a small dog, and it’s always so. It’s a minor miracle I’m not completely bald at this point in life, judging by the amount of hair I shed. My body must devote 25% of its physical energy towards hair production, and that’s a good thing for a semi-vain old man.

Ads that make me smile:

1. The current Mac-vs-PC ads. These ads capture perfectly the essence of what Mac-o-philes like about Macs and rail about PCs. I’m a PC kinda guy, always have been, always will be. But these ads are clever and they do make me smile. The ads won’t convince me to buy a Mac, but they DO make me smile. See ‘em all here.
2. The new Jaguar ads. The new XK is simply frickin’ gorgeous, and the “XK Launch” ad is my favorite in the new series of ads…especially the music used as background. The ads are all well crafted and are beautiful. Here’s an ad campaign that actually could convince me to buy…if I had the money. But…when it comes to the XK, “From $75,500.00” is a helluva lot of money; I’ve bought houses for less. That probably sez more about my age and less about the real estate market and cars, however.

And so it goes…

SN2 Will Be Pleased

The post title is an inside joke... the fam'bly knows that Sam has caused Cadbury-Schweppes to build a new Dr Pepper bottling plant whenever he was reassigned somewhere.  That and the fact the Commander had his own PALLET of Dr Pepper delivered to his ships by air once a week when he was at sea.  We've been unable to verify the rumor that the Navy designated Dr Pepper as a mission-essential commodity aboard USS MASON and USS MONTEREY in the past, but we don't doubt it.

So, good news.  For Sam.  As for the rest of us?  Our mileage MIGHT vary.

Tuesday's Trivial Trash

Today’s de Rigeur Political Post: There will be massive sadness on the Left today. There is no Fitzmas—not where Karl Rove is concerned, anyway. Or so says Byron York at NRO. In the understatement of the day, York writes:

Rove’s fate has been the subject of intense discussion among critics of the Bush administration. Perhaps foremost among them is former ambassador Joseph Wilson, whose wife, Valerie Plame Wilson, was the CIA employee at the center of the affair. In August 2003, Wilson vowed to pursue Rove vigorously, saying, “At the end of the day it’s of keen interest to me to see whether or not we can get Karl Rove frog-marched out of the White House in handcuffs.”

Sorry, Joe. Maybe next time. In the meantime, I’m sure you can find some consolation over at dKos or Firedoglake.

Hockey: OK, I won’t give up my day job. I already did, anyway. A hockey prognosticator I’m not. Carolina is up three games to one after winning last night in Edmonton, 2-1. If they win at home tomorrow night, Carolina will hoist its’ first-ever Stanley Cup. Edmonton has won five Cups, so I don’t feel too bad for them. I missed games two and three of this series; game two because the Yankees were playing the Red Sox Wednesday night and every bar in New England had that game on, not hockey; and game three because it was played Saturday night and I simply had more important things to do. Gasp! I just admitted there are things more important than the Stanley Cup Finals! I shall attempt to atone for that heresy by pouring the day’s first cup into my 1997 Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup Champions coffee cup. (Yeah, I know. 1100 and I’m just now pouring my first cup of coffee. I was up all night again. I do it because I can.)

Maybe you’ve seen the various videos of the reaction one gets when dropping Mentos mints into Diet Coke or Pepsi. The results can be spectacular. On the other hand, it’s worse than you thought… (hat tip: Morgan at House of Eratosthenes)

More Random Notes: Unmentioned in my travel narrative: finding love notes from the TSA in my checked baggage while unpacking. These “Notice of Baggage Inspection” documents are curiously reassuring. These guys are doing something, even if it’s only placing the notices in your bags. Or taking away your lighter. Still p*ssed about that, ya know.

Speaking of which... (the fact TSA confiscated my USS Mason Zippo) I’m now carrying a brand-new, bright chrome, official USS Monterey (CG 61) Zippo. SN2 gifted me with the Monterey lighter this past Christmas, along with a personalized Monterey ball cap. (SN2 was the Chief Engineer on the Monterey before heading off to the Naval War College.)

One of the great things about being a military Dad is I get all sorts of military paraphernalia, including unit ball caps, from my sons’ assignments. This is very cool, especially since my own personal collection of military mementoes is sadly lacking. I’ve left countless Zippos with unit crests in countless bars over the years, and rather than saving my unit ball caps I wore them until they were worn out, and then threw them away. The upshot is all my souvenirs of days gone by are gone — Bye! SN2 is decidedly different. One of the walls of his home office is covered with pristine ball caps from every assignment he’s ever had in the Navy. The first time I saw that display I was overcome with jealousy and pride. Jealousy in the sense he had the presence of mind to save these things and I didn’t, and I was proud of him for the very same reason. Rod Stewart sang “Every Picture Tells a Story,” and it’s the same with unit ball caps. Except the stories are better.

You can never catch up. I spent the better part of the day yesterday trying to catch up on my favorite blogs after a week of not reading. The bottom line: Mission Impossible. My favorite writers are just so damned prolific that “catching up” is like trying to clean out the Augean Stables. And I’m no Hercules.

Airplane reading: I mentioned I wanted to hit Borders in ABQ to get reading material prior to flying. Well, I did, and I did. Except I didn’t buy what was on the list, specifically Bec’s recommendation ("Nomenklatura" by Michael Voslensky), mainly because I couldn’t find it. I bought Mark Bowden’s “Guests of the Ayatollah” instead. The book is a narrative of the 1979 take-over of the US embassy in Tehran and is a real page-turner. Bowden wrote “Blackhawk Down,” and “Guests” is every bit as good. From the Publishers Weekly review:

Bowden's analysis of militant Islam is clear, current and dead-on. The government of Iran, now as then, is a theocracy with a secular face, combining, he writes, "ignorance with absolute conviction." Anyone who thinks a nuclear-armed Iran could be dealt with through Cold War–style containment should read this book. Guests of the Ayatollah is, however, no academic tome, but a briskly written human story told from every conceivable point of view: the captives and their captors; President Carter's inner circle and Carter himself, struggling to negotiate a release and finally ordering an extremely risky rescue mission; the soldiers of Delta Force, whose audacious attempt failed; Iranian political figures under the thumb of the glowering Ayatollah Khomeini; and a cavalcade of diplomats, journalists, secret agents and barmy peace activists, some of whose actions bordered on treason. The cast of characters would do justice to a 19th-century Russian novel.

I was disappointed at being unable to finish the book on the plane(s), only managing to read 419 of 637 pages. Bowden is a remarkable writer, to say the very least. Highly recommended, if you get the chance…

Swag From the AOR

SN1 brought me a couple o' goodies when he came to visit this week.  These thingies:

Larger than life size.

Two takes on the (now) ubiquitous challenge coin.  The larger actual coin is the unit challenge coin; the other is Buck's personal coin that he awards sparingly.  You'll note Buck's personal coin is in the form of a very useful bottle opener that one can carry on a key chain.  That's where this one is gonna live.

I never once saw a challenge coin in my 22-year Air Force career and I suppose there's a reason for that.  From The Wiki:

Besides using coins for challenging, they are also used as rewards or awards for outstanding service or performance of duty. As such they are used as a tool to build morale. In the context as they are used by the modern U.S. military, the tradition probably began among special forces units during the Vietnam War. The tradition spread through the Airborne community, and by the early 1980s also into the 75th Ranger Regiment. As officers were reassigned as their careers progressed, they carried with them the tradition of awarding a unit coin for acts that were worthy of recognition, but yet lacked enough merit to submit the soldiers act for an official medal. Challenge coins were not very common until the First Persian Gulf War of 1990–1991, and have steadily grown in popularity since.

You may remember I retired in 1985, so there's yer explanation.

I'll add the above to my small but highly treasured coin collection, which also includes these two guys:
 

Just by way of explanation... the USS Mason was the last ship launched by the traditional "down the ways" method at Bath Iron Works, where she was built.  Sam was a member of the pre-commissioning crew and spent two years at Bath while Mason was under construction, which is how I came by that coin.  The other coin is self-explanatory.

Cold, Gray, and Blustery

Coffee Break’s Over…Back on Your Heads! That’s the punch line from an old, old joke and it’s appropriate. We had beautiful weather this weekend, beginning with a mid-60s day on Friday, mid-70s on Saturday, and another mid-60s day yesterday. I was cruising around P-Town and vicinity with the top down all weekend. The weather, however, is fickle and can change in a heartbeat (or overnight), like every other place I’ve ever been. Here’s what we’re looking at today and tomorrow:

Coffee break’s over…

Speaking of coffee breaks… I was washing my coffee pot as the final act of doing the dishes last evening and was startled to see a chunk of glass about the size of a fifty-cent piece detach itself from the lower third of the carafe. Soapy water poured out of the bottom of the carafe into the sink as I looked on in disbelief. I’ve broken a few carafes before… mainly by dropping them or banging them into things, but I’ve never broken one by simply washing it! And, to top it all off, this coffee pot is only about two months old.

So. Get into the car and head off to Wally-World at 2000 hrs or thereabouts to see if they have a replacement carafe. I’m sure you can predict the answer, which is “Of course not.” I bought the broken pot, a Hamilton-Beach, at the Base Exchange. Wally-World doesn’t carry that brand. So, forty dollars later (reduced roll-back from $57.00!) I walk out with this spiffy lil Mr. Coffee item. Beautiful, ain’t it? The pic doesn’t do the analog clock justice…it’s a pale green, reminiscent of those neon clocks one saw everywhere in the 50s, particularly in diners. Very retro.

So…an unprogrammed purchase. And that’s OK, coz I hated that Hamilton-Beach coffee maker for its poor quality (the plastic parts warped almost immediately), its clunky cone-shaped filter basket (a b!tch to load), and its lukewarm, non-adjustable warming plate. Good riddance.

Today’s Pic: From the archives: a shot of the commissioning of the USS Mason (DDG 87). SN2 was the Chief Engineer (CHENG) on the Mason and was also part of the pre-commissioning (pre-comm) crew, living with her from the laying of her keel in Bath, Maine and onwards through shake-down cruises, commissioning, and her first operational deployment. Port Canaveral, Florida, April 12, 2003.

More later today…

Kinda Blah

Weekend Update… Well, the weekend was kinda-sorta a bust. Not that anything unusual or untoward happened, it was just…blah. The news seemed to be “All Biden – All the Frickin’ Time,” and that was much more than enough to put me off. And there were the usual hordes of Talking Heads swarming all over my teevee, telling me what to expect and what not to expect out of this week’s Dimwit Gathering in Denver… as if I actually gave a shit. As far as that goes, I really don’t care about NEXT week’s similar gathering in Minneapolis-St. Paul, for what that’s worth. Don’t get me wrong, Gentle Reader, I’m still paying attention. But it’s pretty damned hard to do, at this point. I’m burned out…nay, fried… on things political right now. I’m hoping something/anything will restore my interest, but I’m not all that hopeful.

The one bright spot in life, as I see it right now… the Olympics… are over. And what a bright spot it was! So many new world records; so many astounding feats of athleticism, beauty, and raw courage; so many individual moments of glory and crushing disappointments; such drama! And what a show it was, too, in both the technical and aesthetic senses. The Chinese definitely put their best foot forward and showed the world they are indeed a world-class player on the international stage… provided you don’t look behind the curtain, that is.

I watched last night’s Closing Ceremony twice… once during the prime-time tape-delayed broadcast, and then again when they re-ran the tape-delay during the overnight/late night broadcast. While the Closing Ceremony didn’t have the impact of the Opening Ceremony… I mean: how could it possibly?… it was certainly “good enough.” One got the inevitable “been there, done that” sort of feeling while watching the production, which is kinda an indicator of how rapidly we can become jaded these days. Or perhaps it’s an indicator of how rapidly I become jaded… I dunno. But here’s my take-away from last evening’s ceremony: brilliant. That, and Jimmy Page is old. Heh.

―:☺:―

Digital photography is easy, right? Think again! It’s a lot harder than it looks… especially if you happen to be a photographer for National Geographic Magazine, on assignment to photograph Stonehenge for the magazine’s cover. The cover shot of Stonehenge on the left is the product of hours upon hours of work, including 42 hours of night-time shooting that didn’t yield photos worthy of NatGeo’s cover. But, as you can see from the results on the left, the photographer was ultimately… and spectacularly… successful.

Here is the final formula for the cover shot: Hasselblad Flexbody with 15mm of drop dialed in to a Phase One P45 back, ISO was set at 100, the lens was a Hasselblad Distagon 40mm set at f11, there were 12 SureFire lights aimed at the stones which were on for about 12 seconds during the 15 minute total exposure. Dressed in black, I then walked through the scene painting additional light on the stones to create some of edge highlights.

The whole story… including a couple of false starts, lots of technical detail, and more great photos… is related in the story “Shooting Stonehenge,” on NGM photographer Ken Geiger’s digital photography blog. It’s fascinating stuff.

―:☺:―

Today’s Pic: Dipping into the archives for a picture of SN3 on an uncharacteristically gray and chilly day in Florida, in April of 2003. I took this photo at the east-bound rest area just across the Alabama-Florida state line on I-10. SN1, Grandson Sean, Bobby (who now demands to be called “Robert,” a sure-fire indication he’s growing up way too fast), and I were on our way to Cape Canaveral to attend the commissioning of the USS Mason (DDG87)… which happened to be SN2’s then-current ride. A Good Time was had by all, needless to say. The Navy knows how to throw a party!

Speaking of parties...

The locals loved the Mason, too. Or the money. One or the other... (insert Smiley-Face thingie here.)

Maine

An interim trip report, of sorts. Son Number One, TFMP, and I arrived in Brunswick early this morning (just after 0100) after the two hour drive from Manchester, New Hampshire. It’s cool, bordering on cold, here in the Great Nor’East. And it’s been raining non-stop since I arrived in Manchester late yesterday afternoon. Quite the change from New Mexico! Water from the sky. What a concept!

Tuesday’s drive from P-Town to ABQ was uneventful and hot. I decided to do the drive top-up, and I’m glad I did. The temp was in the high 80s when I left Portales and eventually hit 100 in Albuquerque. Ya just can’t beat air conditioning when it’s unGodly hot outside…

I stayed with my step-granddaughter and her boyfriend in ABQ Tuesday night; they took me to Tucanos, a Brazilian restaurant, for dinner Tuesday evening and it was wonderful. The dining experience was extraordinary…the wait staff just keep bringing grilled food to your table until you’re sated. Grilled pork, grilled beef, grilled chicken, grilled vegetables, and on and on in a never-ending stream until you say “no mas!” (or the Portugese equivalent). Good margaritas, too.

My travel day Wednesday wasn’t quite as bad as I anticipated, but I DO have a bone to pick with the Transportation Safety Administration. I need to preface this mini-rant with an admission: It’s mostly my fault. I didn’t review the current list of prohibited items before hitting the airport on Wednesday, and as a result my treasured Zippo was confiscated. This wasn’t just any old Zippo, it was a cool brass Zippo with the unit crest and a small picture of the USS Mason, SN2’s old ship. I picked up that Zippo the day the Mason was commissioned in Port Canaveral, Florida. You can’t imagine how angry I was, but I held my tongue. There’s no sense venting on the low-level minions that enforce the rules; they’re just doing their job. But it sure was tempting… I cannot, for the life of me, understand just how one could commandeer a plane using a Zippo. I must be missing something here. Either that, or the rule is FRICKIN’ STUPID.

SN1 and I are guests in the US Navy Visiting Quarters at Brunswick Naval Air Station, and the quarters are pretty nice, for the Navy. (Had to put that qualifier in.) We each have a two-room suite that is pretty good size and fairly new. The only downside to the experience so far is the fact the front desk at the Billeting Office doesn’t sell beer. The Air Force does… Oh well. There are liquor stores in Maine.

It’s still rainy and cold today. I think our high will only be in the mid-50s. An interesting transition, to be sure. Half the temperature of New Mexico. And it’s still raining.

More later, as time permits.

Flag Day

Old Glory on the stern of the USS Mason (DDG 87), Port Canaveral, Florida.
April, 2003.

I don’t have a “flyable” flag any longer… and no place to really fly one, even if I did… which is a break from long-standing tradition. I still have two flags in my possession, but neither is suitable for display. Or rather, I choose NOT to display them. The first is the flag that draped my father’s casket; the second is a small flag in a shadow box with mementoes from my USAF career. My father’s flag is folded and put away for safe-keeping, the shadow box flag is…well, in the shadow box.

But I AM celebrating Flag Day. I hope you are, too.

I received an e-mail from the Air Force Association this morning announcing the selection of USAF’s Twelve Outstanding Airmen for 2007. Congratulations to:

• SrA Linn Aubrey, Medical Laboratory Journeyman, Lackland AFB, TX, AETC
• SMSgt Tammy L. Brangard-Hern, Personnel Superintendent, Randolph AFB, TX, AFDW
• SMSgt Ronald A. Colaninno, Security Forces Craftsman, McGuire AFB, New Jersey, AFRC
• TSgt Jeremy L. Griffin, Fire Protection Station Chief, Patrick AFB, Florida, AFSPC
• SSgt Matthew J. Hefti, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Craftsman, Hill AFB, Utah, AFMC
• SrA Matthew C. Hulsman, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Apprentice, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, PACAF
• TSgt Sachiko D. Jones, Lodging Manager, Royal Air Force Alconbury AB, United Kingdom, USAFE
• SSgt Jonathan C. McCoy, Pararescueman, Pope AFB, North Carolina, AFSOC
• SSgt David Orvosh,, Combat Control Journeyman, Pope AFB, North Carolina, AFSOC
• SSgt Richard W. Rose, Jr., Aerial Combat Photographer, Charleston AFB, South Carolina, AMC
• MSgt Lawrence B. Taylor, Air Traffic Controller, Kingsley Field, Oregon, ANG
• SSgt Geoffrey M. Welsh, Military Working Dog Handler, Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina, ACC

Each and every year since 1956 AFA selects 12 outstanding enlisted members to represent the “best of the best.” I quote:

“AFA initiated the Outstanding Airman award in 1956 to recognize outstanding enlisted personnel for superior leadership, job performance, community involvement, and personal achievements. AFA honors the Twelve Outstanding Airmen at a special banquet held during our Air & Space Conference in Washington, DC. The Twelve are chosen by an Air Force selection board made up of the Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, a general officer and selected MajCom Command Chiefs. The Air Force Chief of Staff approves the final selections.”

You can read a short history of the program here. Biographies of this year’s honorees haven’t been released as of yet…I’ll follow up when they are.

Speaking of awards… Don’t miss the 2007 NHL Awards show tonight at 1930 hrs (Eastern) on Versus. It should be a great show, and if there’s ANY justice at all in this world, Nick Lidstrom will win his fifth Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman.

Short post today. The weather looks like it’s gonna be cooperative, so it’s off to wash, polish, and wax the Green Hornet. I may be back later.

Getting Away and a Blast From the Past

I'm about to go on vacation, too, so this resonates with me.  I mean... we ALL have to get up off of the verandah, put the beer down, and do something, right?  As for me... I'm gonna drive out to DeeSee and parts o' Northern Virginia (Langley Airplane Patch, specifically).  We mulled over flying out there but decided on a road trip, instead.  There are two reasons for that: (a) I took a vow to NEVER fly again after the fucking TSA confiscated my USS MASON Zippo (I understand their point: ya gotta make SURE a 60-something old guy doesn't hijack an airliner with a fucking lighter) and (b) I haven't done a serious road trip since 2010... a 3300 mile jaunt out to South Carolina, up to Pittsburgh, and back... in The Green Hornet.  Before that it was 2007 when I took The Zuki on a 2200+ mile trip up to Utah.  Back then I billed the Utah trip as a Last Hurrah, and it was... on a mo'sickle.  This time The Tart and I are gonna go explore some Blue Highways on the east side of this great country.  I think THIS road trip will be a lot more comfortable than the previous two, but that said: we have some planning to do.

―:☺:―

And then there's this:

I was 12 at the time.

The Change of Command... In Two Parts, This Being Part One

SN2, hereafter referred to as either The Commander or simply Sam, assumed his current rank back in April of this year.  That said, The Commander thought it would be a great idea to delay his promotion party (commonly referred to as a "wetting down") until this month and roll the party into the change of command ceremonies and celebration.  Which, of course was a great idea.  

The party was held in the bar of The Falcon Club on Air Reserve Base Niagara Falls.  What follows are a few pics from the party with suitable annotations so you can put names to faces, Gentle Reader.  I'm good like that.  There's no rhyme or reason... which is to say chronological order to the photos.  We just grabbed the camera when the spirit moved us.  So let's get started.

From left to right: the outgoing commander of Naval Recruiting District Pittsburgh (NRD-P), CDR Jonathan Shoemaker; the Commander of Navy Recruiting Region East, CAPT Tim Pangonas; and Sam.  CDR Shoemaker was an F-14 driver of note before assuming command of NRD-P and CAPT Pangonas is also a Naval Aviator of the P-3 persuasion.

I spent more than a few minutes with both of these gentlemen and can vouch for the fact that pilots in general and fighter pilots, specifically, have the best war stories.  "Best" is a subjective thing, of course.  We ALL have war stories and some of mine are quite entertaining even if they're not suitable for mixed company.  Pilots... on the other hand... have stories for all occasions.

The First Mrs. Pennington and SN1.  It's a serious toss-up as to which one of us was the proudest parent this past week.  I'll give the nod to TFMP, tho.  There were times I thought she might literally burst with pride.

Major General Paul Crandall and SN1, with DIL Alisa and TFMP in the background.  Mrs. Crandall is obscured behind the general.  Gabby, Gen. Crandall's wife, is a cousin of Alisa's and the two families are close, which is why Gen. Crandall and Gabby were in attendance.  Gen. Crandall is a member of the US Army Reserve and has served on active duty for the last few years, including a tour in Afghanistan.  His current position is Commander, 416th Engineer Command.  He recently retired from General Motors and lives in the Detroit area.  Now that the bio stuff is done... Paul and Gabby are a fun couple and great people.  I first met them several years ago when I was living in Detroit.

The two pics above are of Commander Corry Judeman and Sam.  Corry and Sam go back a long ways, as they were shipmates in the same NROTC Battalion that served the University of Idaho (Sam's alma mater) and Washington State.  Corry was Sam's battalion commander, as a matter of fact.  She graduated from Washington State a year ahead of Sam and went on to pilot training and then to the Fleet.  Corry flew E-2s and has 300 traps (landings on a carrier), half of them at night.  She's currently in transit from her last assignment at the Pentagon to her next, where she will be a student at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.  Can you say "fast track?"  Sure you can...

Ah, Corry.  Commander Judeman.  Ma'am.  I was quite taken with the young lady who, in addition to her professional accomplishments, has a smile that lights up a room... any room... an extraordinarily quick wit, and the knack for always saying the right thing at the right time.  If I were 15 or 20 years younger...

So.  We hung out until 2330 hrs or thereabouts and called it a night.  Sam hung on for a bit longer until CDR Mike Meyer, the last of his invited guests, arrived on a late flight from Italy.  Mike and Sam also go back a long way, having known each other since they were shipmates at Department Head school in Newport.  They were subsequently assigned as Department Heads on the USS Mason, from pre-commissioning through sail away.

So.  That was the wetting down, AKA Part One of our tale.  Part Two to follow.  Sometime.  Mebbe even today.

Flag Day

I'd forgotten, at least until I visited Cynthia's place and took in her remarkable post titled “Flag Day - Flags Across America.” Some wonderful photos there... do go.

As for me... Ill give you a re-run of one of my favorite flag pictures:


That's Old Glory on the stern of USS Mason... one of SN2's former rides. So to speak.

Flag Day

We seem to be developing our traditions here at EIP, and here's another installment of same. This looks like it will be the "traditional" Flag Day post... or at least it will be until I come up with something better.

Flag Day

Old Glory on the stern of the USS Mason (DDG 87), Port Canaveral, Florida.
April, 2003.

I don’t have a “flyable” flag any longer… and no place to really fly one, even if I did… which is a break from long-standing tradition. I still have two flags in my possession, but neither is suitable for display. Or rather, I choose NOT to display them. The first is the flag that draped my father’s casket; the second is a small flag in a shadow box with mementos from my USAF career. My father’s flag is folded and put away for safe-keeping, the shadow box flag is…well, in the shadow box.

But I AM celebrating Flag Day. I hope you are, too.

Modifications to the above: Make that three flags vs. two. You've seen the flag I have draped just below the upstairs-bedroom-cum-music area... just four days ago, in fact. You may not have read the story behind that flag, though. It's a well-traveled Star Spangled Banner, that one.

Out Take, Part Deux

A couple o' interesting thangs happened this past weekend... aside from me goin' green... one o' which was me bein' graced with an impromptu visit from the pastor o' the church next door.  Yeah, I live next door to a church, which makes me wonder if they shouldn't have their insurance coverage re-evaluated coz... well, just be-coz.  The possibility o' lightning strikes on their building have prolly increased exponentially since I moved in, but we digress.

So... said pastor pressed a couple o' flyers into my reluctant hands on Saturday afternoon and we exchanged pleasantries for a moment or six, at which time he noticed my USS Mason ball cap and inquired if I'd been to Viet Nam, seein' as how he and I are "of a certain age."  We exchanged military stories and I learned he had been an Army helicopter crew chief and door gunner during Viet Nam, serving one three-year tour and then mustering out.  Our similarities began and ended right there, as Thailand was the closest I got to Viet Nam during the war, and I was a "lifer."   

The pastor then switched topics and asked if I'd ever attended a Baptist church before.  "Well...no," sez I, adding that I'm not a very religious sort o' person.  I told him that I've lived in a number o' cultures that aren't Christian and that those cultures seemed devout, were generally good and happy places to be, and weren't much different from us (Americans) in ethical and moral respects.  I added that I thought it was just a LITTLE bit presumptuous for anyone to claim any religion knows The Truth, especially those of the Christian persuasion, when two-thirds of the world's population... at least... believe in sumthin' other than Christianity.  I hastened to add that I acknowledged there IS a Supreme Being and my personal issue is I don't know what Her name is, largely based on my experiences with other cultures.

That was the wrong thang to say.  What followed was about a ten minute dissertation on the fact that The Deity At Hand most certainly IS a Him and why his way... said pastor's way... was The Way, which reminded me a LOT of sumthin' like this (start at 2:18, everythang before is just static):

Emphasis on "The Church o' the Presumptuous Assumption," and heavily... at that.  Now I'm not against missionary work and I understand the place it holds in all o' the major religions.  So I listened ... or rather let the pastor run on until he was outta breath and outta biblical quotations... at which time I thanked him for his time and wished him well on a lovely Saturday afternoon, which it had been, up until this point in time.  

If there's ONE thang I wish The Deity At Hand would save us from it would be door-to-door proselytizers.  That's mainly coz I don't really NEED to be saved, thank ya very much.  We're doin' just fine, as we speak... thanks be to Athena or whatever Her name is.

Thursday's Potpourri

Some pretty cool and unusual plane pr0n: The MiGs of Area 51. That lil photo off to the right is a YF-110, the designation for MiG-21s operated by the USAF. Via commenter Beach Bum, at Lex’s place. Lex flew against the MiG-21 during Project Constant Peg. Worth the read, as always.

Hey Bec! Here’s something I found over at The Lileks’ place this morning you might be interested in: The Musuem of Russian Art. I thought the sample paintings were pretty cool, especially “Wet Winter.” What I wanna see, however, is a retrospective of Commie propaganda “art” from the ‘50s. You know the school: all those beefy, grim faced (or would that be stoic?), Heroes of the Soviet Union-types in various worker poses. As James says:

The theme is “Realism,” but that’s not meant in the sense of “realism,” but rather scenes from actual Russian and Soviet life, as opposed to Joe Stalin riding a tractor into the dawn. I always wish they displayed a bit more Soviet Kitsch – it has a strange power both horrifying and hilarious, dead and alive, and for some reason it doesn’t have the same lurking evil you find in official Nazi art. The evil is stillborn and inert; it’s sleeping it off.

I agree wholeheartedly. It may be kitsch, but it’s interesting kitsch!

Pelosi-Murtha-Hastings update…at Captain Ed’s:

If Murtha was an unforced error, Hastings is an embarrassing example of Pelosi's judgment. She needs the support of the Congressional Black Caucus to get elected Speaker, and they want Hastings to succeed Harman, if Harman doesn't get the chair. Pelosi can't afford to alienate them any further after she had the audacity to ask William Jefferson to resign from his committee assignments after the FBI found $90,000 in his freezer. (Jefferson won re-election, too.)

Steny Hoyer and Jane Harman have proven themselves capable party spokespeople, and have a record for independent thinking. Pelosi opposes them both strictly for personal reasons. She doesn't like Harman, feeling that her fellow Californian hasn't been partisan enough in her role on the Intel committee, and Hoyer ran against her for Minority Leader in 2001. For those personal reasons, Pelosi wants to turn to a corrupt ex-judge and a bumbling porker for party leadership positions, making a mockery of her promises of reform.

Democrats are in a bad position. They can't afford to throw Pelosi under the bus after promoting her as the first woman Speaker in American history. They can't afford to have Hastings and Murtha in leadership positions and then face the voters in 2008 who wanted reform and change. They can't afford to undermine her authority and openly campaign for the reversal of Hastings' appointment and the failure of her Murtha endorsement.

What he said.

Heckuvajob, Madame Speaker. After two years of your “leadership,” America will storm the polls. Those that are paying attention, anyway. Who’d a thunk it? Nancy Pelosi: The Republicans secret weapon. Karl Rove is an evil genius, indeed.

Wanna read some serious moonbattery? Better even than MoveOn? Equal to WorldCan’tWait? Then go check out Dennis Kucinich’s site. I watched Mr. Kucinich give his “one-minute” speech on the House floor yesterday morning (a ritual familiar to C-SPAN viewers) where he called on the House to cut off funding for the Iraq war. You can find that rant at his web site; it’s the lead item. But the bit that absolutely astonished me was this:

One of the most emotionally wrenching moments came at 10 o'clock at night as they arrived in the village of Qana, the Cana of biblical lore where Christ performed the first of his miracles, changing water into wine. One of the greatest tragedies of war befell a house in Qana where a 1,000-pound bomb exploded and collapsed the structure, crushing dozens of women and children who had sought shelter in the basement.

Kucinich and his wife went to pay respects to the dead, as a graveyard in the center of the village was lit by automobile headlights. They walked by several rows of graves, each with a picture of someone killed in the bombing. One picture was of four members of the same family. Buried were a mother and her three children. As Kucinich quietly wept, a hand reached around his shoulder to console him. It was the very man who had lost these family members, his wife and three children.

"As Kucinich quietly wept..." Damn, that's romance-novel prose. Bad romance-novel prose, at that. What a maroon. What a freakin’ maroon! You remember Qana, right? All the MSM angst over Israel’s “war crimes” and other atrocities? Yeah, that Qana. Kucinich bought all that MSM hand-wringing and a bag of chips. Ol’ Dennis is worse than a moron…he’s a tool.

A question you never asked… Shoulda mentioned this in yesterday’s Anniversary post, but didn’t. Have you ever wondered about the title of this blog? I was on the phone with an old friend one evening just before I decided to begin blogging. During the course of the conversation (after I bemoaned the fact there was no Starbucks here, restaurant choices are limited, yadda, yadda) she asked “Why do you stay there, out of all the places in the country—the world, even—you could go? Is this some sort of self-imposed exile or something?” Well, now that you mention it, yes. Yes, it is. Exile in Portales.

The baby finds its name.

Today’s Pic: All the Pennington Men (and a couple of Pennington Boys). On the decks of the USS Mason, Port Canaveral, Florida. April, 2003.

Hunters, Killers, and Losers (Not Necessarily in That Order)

Chris Muir, of Day By Day fame, writes of his trip to Iraq (at Bill Roggio’s place):

People here will tell you they are mostly afraid of one thing-that we will leave soon, like we have since Vietnam, Somalia, etc., and that they will then be at the mercy of the terrorists who seep in from Iran, Syria, Egypt, and Saudia Arabia. A self-fulfilling circle, helped out vastly by our 'anti-war' citizens back home, who ironically enable wars as this by forcing constant US retreats through our political process. People here - real people, not 'Jamil Husseins' - want us here to give them time to reform their society.

I speculate this is one of the reasons I observed such high morale in our soldiers here. They are wanted here, unlike, say, in San Francisco. But, I digress.

“…unlike, say, in San Francisco.” Nice snark! The piece is short, but good. (h/t: Chap)

Gerard sez all there is to say about this lil news item:

Headline of the Democrats' hot new press release: SENATE DEMOCRATS ANNOUNCE JOINT RESOLUTION TO TRANSITION THE MISSION IN IRAQ

"Transition the mission." Has a nice lilt to it, doesn't it?

Beats "Let's cruise to lose," or "We'll pout until you pull out," or "Trick or treat... smell my feet... give me something good to eat."

Yes, this is probably number 13, or 14, or 15, or 16 in the Dems attempts to run without running, but at this point who is counting. Their attempts to fully manage failure will continue. As they say in the National Parks, "Once a bear gets hooked on garbage there's no cure."

Actually, this is SenConLosePlan 07-17, according to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: There's 16 of them. There was the Biden resolution, then there was the Levin resolution, then there was the Reed-Pelosi resolution, the Murtha plan, the Biden-Levin resolution, the Conrad Funding Cut, there was a waiver plan, a Timeline plan, a Feingold resolution, an Obama resolution, a Clinton resolution, a Dodd resolution, a Kennedy resolution, a Feinstein resolution, a Byrd resolution, a Kerry resolution. And today would make No. 17.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

From last evening’s panel discussion on the subject by the Fox All-Stars; transcript here. (via RCP)

My Lord, but Congress seems to have more OpPlan specialists than the Pentagon. And they’re busy as all get-out (ahem), too!

More on that IRGC general who apparently defected to the West:

A former Iranian deputy defense minister who once commanded the Revolutionary Guard has left his country and is cooperating with Western intelligence agencies, providing information on Hezbollah and Iran's ties to the organization, according to a senior U.S. official.

Ali Rez Asgari disappeared last month during a visit to Turkey. Iranian officials suggested yesterday that he may have been kidnapped by Israel or the United States. The U.S. official said Asgari is willingly cooperating. He did not divulge Asgari's whereabouts or specify who is questioning him, but made clear that the information Asgari is offering is fully available to U.S. intelligence.

But then there’s this short blurb from Fox:

TEHRAN, Iran — A former Iranian deputy defense minister who disappeared from Turkey last month is not cooperating with Western intelligence agencies and his whereabouts remain a mystery, a U.S. official told FOX News Thursday.

My money’s on the WaPo’s story. Other sources agree.

NPR has a good interview with Col. Austin Bay: 'Embrace the Suck' and More Military Speak. I learned more than a lil bit from this article. Slang isn’t permanent; it evolves and changes according to time and place. And my “time and place” in the military is in the distant past, so much so that it almost seems pre-historic, at times. I’m a lil bit better after reading Col. Bay’s update.

Good news in today’s Telegraph (UK)…if true:

America is stepping up its hunt for Osama bin Laden by dispatching additional CIA operatives and paramilitary officers to Pakistan to kill or capture the al-Qa'eda leader.

US officials said that the mission is intended to intensify the pressure on the terrorist leader, who turns 50 tomorrow, and perhaps force him into making a mistake. He is widely believed to be hiding in the region bordering Afghanistan.

Satellite photographs and details of communications intercepts were given to President Musharraf of Pakistan last week by Stephen Kappes, deputy director of the CIA, as part of a strategy to persuade him to give US intelligence agencies more assistance.

Now wouldn’t it be neat if uninvited guests showed up at Osama’s birthday party tomorrow and provided free fireworks for the occasion?

“Idiot Liberals:”

House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) berated a woman who approached him in a Congressional corridor, claiming that “idiot liberals” don’t understand the war supplemental spending bill process.

The altercation was videotaped and posted on www.youtube.com .

“We’re trying to use the supplemental to end the war,” Obey said. “You can’t end the war if you’re going against the supplemental. It’s time these idiot liberals understood that.”

Well, now. That’s just a bit strong, nu? But not, perhaps, as strong as this (a comment to this post, and there’s more in the same incredibly stupid vein):

Stop defending these (5.00 / 2) (#2)
by Che's Lounge on Fri Mar 09, 2007 at 10:32:38 AM EST

PRICKS!!!

Don't end this war by a thousand cuts, END THIS WAR NOW!!

Stop enabling the enablers. Obey's logic is as twisted as a strand of DNA.

Stop the war there, so we don't start a war here.

“…start a war here?” WTF does that mean? Or is this comment simply justification for Rep. Obey’s rather pithy observation? You decide…

Today’s Pic: SN3 on the bridge of USS Mason. Alternative title: “Deep in Enemy Territory.” The Boy’s affinity for all things Navy is simply alarming.

Port Canaveral, FL. April, 2003.