Been busy with real life stuff for the last 48 hours so I haven’t been able to check the news, and the amazing thing is that I have exactly the same amount of information about what the Senate will be voting on today in regards to health care as do the members of the Senate. What a way to run a country!
Drove down from CT with ABC and the kids on Sunday, got in around midnight, and yesterday a colleague came up for a couple day visit with her three kids, so it has been a flurry of energy and activity. We went to the Good Zoo at Oglebay yesterday, and apparently Mondays are as hard on the animals as they are on the adults:
At the zoo. Got a man down in the tortoise cage. pic.twitter.com/Yw5RbXgvgb
— I'm So Over This (@Johngcole) July 24, 2017
After that, there was swimming, then spaghetti and meatballs and garlic bread, not one but TWO Men in Black movies, and then brownies and ice cream. I was in bed at 9:45. I don’t know about the kids.
Made some waffles and am now checking up on the news before unstickifying the downstairs and then we are all headed to heaven on earth, aka Barn With Inn for some quality time at the pool and pond and with the animals. We were supposed to go fishing but there has been a lot of flash flooding so I don’t want to take the risk- the creek is high and angry looking and it’s not worth it.
Also, fuck John McCain.
RobertDSC-iPhone 6
Enjoy the time away, John.
satby
Sounds like a marvelous time is being had by all! Have a relaxing and fun time and continue to ignore the news. Shit will be the same fuckedupedness when your vaca is over, so enjoy the rest from it.
Ditto fuck McCain too.
Laura
A house full of kids and wimmins and swimmin’! Savor every minute, you’ve earned it.
I’m guessing of all the Cole creatures, Thurston must be having the best time with all the kids and attention.
MattF
Sounds like a good time was had by all.
Also, a reminder that appalling behavior from McCain is not a surprise.
rikyrah
Sounds like fun, Cole.
I told them that radio silence from you meant a good time.
Keep on having fun :)
Gin & Tonic
Enjoy. People here (including me) are happy to see you’re happy.
Patricia Kayden
Does that overturned turtle represent McConnell being denied his healthcare vote? Let it be so.
Ohio Mom
Jewish tradition has it that when we meet our maker, we will be called to account for all the pleasures we forewent.
The world would not be full of gorgeous scenery, swimming pools and ponds, playful animals, delicious food and dear friends if we weren’t supposed to enjoy them.
It is our sacred duty to have a good time!
rikyrah
WH Spox Backtracks, Says Trump Still Looking Over Russia Sanctions Bill
By CAITLIN MACNEAL
Published JULY 25, 2017 9:42 AM
After saying on Sunday that President Donald Trump supported a bill imposing new sanctions on Russia, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders backtracked on Monday, telling reporters that the President was still reviewing the bill.
“He’s looking over where it stands exactly at this point and we’ll keep you posted on the decision,” Sanders told reporters aboard Air Force One when asked about the Russia sanctions bill.
“The President has been very vocal about his support for continued sanctions on those three countries. He has no intention of getting rid of them, but he wants to make sure we get the best deal for the American people possible. Congress doesn’t have the best record on that,” she said, describing the President’s thinking on the bill working its way through Congress, which would impose new sanctions on North Korea and Iran as well as Russia.
Face
McConnell wouldn’t schedule this unless he knows he has the votes. However, this is just a MTP, right? They’re not actually voting on the actual bill, correct?
rikyrah
He is living out his White Supremacist fantasies.
He.will.only.be.fired.
GOP Rep: I Don’t Think You Can Bully Jeff Sessions Because He’s An ‘Adult’
By NICOLE LAFOND
Published JULY 25, 2017 8:44 AM
Admitting he quit reading President Donald Trump’s tweets “quite a long time ago,” Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT) dismissed the President’s most recent Twitter attack against the attorney general, saying he doesn’t think it’s possible to bully Jeff Sessions because he’s an “adult.”
“I don’t think he’s bullying. For one thing, I don’t think you can bully Jeff Sessions. Adults don’t— I don’t feel bullied. I have people object to me and chant at me and do all sorts of things to me. I don’t feel bullied by it,” he said Tuesday on CNN. “If you were to ask Jeff Sessions, I’m pretty sure he’d say I don’t feel bullied by this either.”
eric
@Face: it is more nuanced. McConnell can win if gets the votes on a bill or gets the votes and the MTP and multiple bills fail with different permutations of votes so every GOP senator votes to repeal ACA in some way. He loses if the MTP fails outright or if there is no vote at all. So, this is the only way he can win (in the sense above). It is the smart and cynical right play.
Ruckus
@rikyrah:
Why did he quit reading them then, they weren’t intended to bully him, they were idiotic, what?
Yarrow
Oh, that sounds amazing. You are lucky.
I know you’re busy, but if you have a few extra seconds please call Sen. Capito yet again about the MTP and healthcare bill. Thanks.
Keith P.
Saw a headline on MSN a while ago saying Rex Tillerson might be about to resign. The avalanche is coming. There was Spicer, the lawyer and/or assistant (not bothering to look them up), and on deck, we’ve got Tillerson, Preibus, Sessions (leading to a huge shitstorm, particularly if Trump tries a recess apt to kill the investigation) Gonna be a brutal August.
Nicole
I’m so glad you’re having a nice few days. I spent the morning calling out friends who posted “American hero” things on FB about McCain after his diagnosis and asking them if they still stood by those thoughts.
Hildebrand
I imagine the only thing left animating John McCain is his utter hatred of President Obama.
Yarrow
Saw these tweets last night re: McCain’s return:
Spanky
So there’s that, at least.
Betty Cracker
Keep having a wonderful time! :)
rikyrah
@Keith P.:
I will continue.
Tillerson was ALWAYS the Secretary of Exxon.
Beginning.Middle.End.
His ONLY purpose was to see the sanctions lifted.
Said awhile ago, once the sanctions were lifted, he’d be gone in 30 days.
Well, now, the sanctions don’t seem to be lifted.
So, why stay?
He’s obviously not interested in the ACTUAL JOB of being Secretary of State.
Iowa Old Lady
Sounds like a great time, John. You made a good choice about how to spend your time.
JPL
John, You could be like the cool kids, and post a pic of your feet by the waters edge.
rikyrah
CALL THESE SENATORS. Make sure they vote NO on MTP. NO on whatever “healthcare” bill
If you are represented by one these undecided senators, it is imperative you pick up the phone and call every single one of their offices.
Senator Dean Heller (NV)
Heller DC: 202-224-6244
Heller Las Vegas: 702-388-6605
Heller Reno: 775-686-5770
Sen. Shelly Moore Capito (West Virginia)
Capito DC: 202-224-6472
Capito Charleston: 304-347-5372
Capito Martinsburg: 304-262-9285
Capito Morgantown: 304-292-2310
Capito Beckely: 304-347-5372
Sen. Rob Portman (Ohio)
Portman DC: 202-224-3353
Portman Columbus: 614-469-6774
Portman Cincinnati: 513-684-3265
Portman Cleveland: 216-522-7095
Portman Toledo: 419-259-3895
Sen. Mike Lee (Utah)
Lee D.C.: 202-224-5444
Lee Salt Lake City: 801-524-5933
Lee St. George: 435-628-5514
Lee Ogden: 801-392-9633
Sen. Rand Paul (Kentucky)
Paul D.C.: 202-224-4343
Paul Bowling Green: 270-782-8303
Senator Lisa Murkowski (Alaska)
Murkowski DC: (202)-224-6665
Murkowski Anchorage: (907) 271-3735
Murkowski Fairbanks: (907) 456-0233
Murkowski Juneau: (907) 586-7277
Murkowski Mat-Su Valley: (907) 376-7665
Murkowski Kenai: (907) 262-4220
Murkowsi Ketchikan: (907) 225-6880
JPL
The Washington Post has excerpts from previous speeches to the scouts.
Truman’s statement seems timely.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/07/25/trumps-boy-scouts-speech-broke-with-80-years-of-presidential-tradition/?tid=sm_tw&utm_term=.4e17fcdcd51f
Nethead Jay
Sounds like a great time for everybody. Well-deserved.
Agreed about McCain.
Yarrow
@rikyrah:
It’s not as simple as he just wants the sanctions lifted for his own purposes. Russia owns Rexxon. He had a job to do. He has failed. His decision to stay or go is predicated on what they have on him and what might be released about him. Maybe Russia wants him out of the way now.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of “White House Apprentice”, where goon who never bothered with a voice coach to address that atrocious accent says “ya fiahd” over and over to the bestest, greatest, most accomplished cabinet ever.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
the fantasy:
the reality:
and even the fantasy is half-assed wish casting
ETA: come to think of it, given the narrowness of the Senate, and Collins gubernatorial ambitions, pretty much any (second) Republican Senator could bring things to a halt.
@Keith P.: apparently Tillerson was a boy scout and a big booster and takes the organization seriously. As always, I’ll believe it when I see it, but you never know what’s gonna hit somebody in the gut.
Cheryl Rofer
@Face: Yes, today’s vote is on the MTP. Axios has an explainer, but we have no idea how many rules and norms McConnell wants to upset. So the best bet is to get the senators to vote against the MTP and shut it down early.
Have a great time, John!
Yarrow
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: And that’s why it’s so clear Ryan and McConnell, along with other top GOP leadership, are compromised. They can’t tell him to stop because they’d be tossed to the wolves.
Yarrow
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: LOL. Saw your comment and went to have a look at Rick Wilson’s Twitter feed. Saw this.
Winning! So much winning!
lol chikinburd
Ron Johnson’s DC office went to message after half a ring; his Milwaukee office rang seven times before going to message. (I cited the Durenberger op ed in the message I left for Johnson.) Baldwin’s Madison office picked up with a live human after one ring.
Immanentize
@Yarrow: Carlson’s tweet could be read in two ways, of course
different-church-lady
@Spanky: The S-WORD IS UTTERED!
liberal
“I guess John McCain wants to be sure that, on his life’s final scoreboard, he’s killed more Americans than Vietnamese”
Yarrow
@Immanentize: The tweet could, but Tucker’s actual comments make it clear. “[Attacking Sessions] was a “useless, destructive act.”
raven
I’ve mentioned numerous times that I attended and taught a a sports management school at Oglebay.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Yarrow:
Query for some rank speculation – what would the domestic effect of release of all the kompromat that the FSB has on senior GOP leadership? Would revelations of longstanding personal corruption and liberine lifestyles (some same sex) among the oh-so-holy Christian conservatives drive a wedge so deep into the American polity that we’d be nonfunctional as a cohesive society?
Immanentize
@Yarrow: But I prefer the illusion that Carlson is actually capable of some clever double entendre. I know, but it is a fantasy I will hold on to….
ETA If there was a Left Drudge, there would be a siren with the headline “TUCKER TELLS TRUMP TO LAY OFF SESSIONS”
Keith P.
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I was a Boy Scout, too, and that speech disturbs me on a few levels. First, it was completely inappropriate for the audience – they’re not voters, and most will never be able to vote for DJT. Second, of course, it was overtly political. BSA is a somewhat religious org from my recollection, with affirmations of God and maybe prayers before meetings, but there was zero politics in it, at least when I was in it. The Jamboree was supposed to be fun (I never went…I didn’t have enough badges or something, but the camps were a blast), and politics isn’t really fun.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Yarrow
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: No clue. I’d expect a significant portion of Republicans/Trump voters to wave it away. “That’s not corruption; that’s just how Washington operates. Everyone does it.” The sexual stuff, even same sex, would be waved away as “that’s personal.” But raping children? I think that might be a problem. Probably could go with some bothsidesdoit there, though.
As for “we’d be nonfunctional as a cohesive society,” aren’t we kind of there now?
Alain the site fixer
Did anybody see my post appear a moment ago? I made it go away, just testing
Eta: Post, not comment
FlipYrWhig
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: All it would take is John McCain coming back to Washington and saying “For God’s sake, people, cut the bullshit.” It would be remembered for 100 years.
Seth Owen
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I think the persistent support for Trump answers your question.
Immanentize
@raven: Off-main-topic but I am still trying to answer the Spitfire prop question from Sunday…. Assuming a lot about which engine (early production hand-made marlin), which prop (one with an oil-feed rpm regulator — early plane, no oil loss apparent) and what a pilot would do (not lock the prop), I still think the prop would be free to turn. The engine is direct drive with the prop geared down to about 1/2 rpms of the engine. In the cockpit, the pilot saw the engine rpms, not the prop pitch. What I really need is someone who flies these and who can answer the Q….
Yarrow
I inadvertently saw a few seconds of morning TV and happened to see video of Kushner speaking after his visit with the Senate committee yesterday. My goodness he’s a whiny thing, isn’t he? He looked and sounded terrified–as he should be. My first thought was, “He’s going to be toast in prison.”
Immanentize
@Yarrow: Super max prisons do not allow inmates to ever congregate….
FlipYrWhig
@Yarrow: I can’t imagine taking a look at Kushner and thinking, “This guy has his act together, so much so he should have a chance to solve all the world’s problems.” And yet that’s apparently what Trump thinks. Trump’s mancrushes are very strange.
raven
@Immanentize: Damn it, I was just swimming my laps at the Y and I pilot I know was in the diving well and I was going to ask him! Rylance said it was a Rolls engine.
Yarrow
@FlipYrWhig:
I wonder if someone has told him that. He can go out a hero. Save the Senate, save the nation. He can be remembered like Joseph Welch during the McCarthy hearings, ‘You’ve done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?”
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Yarrow:
I think medium security for him would be nice. He could have a lot of interactions…
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@FlipYrWhig: People are saying that The Mooch is what trump sees in the mirror of his mind, I think it’s even more true of Jared: Young, slender, his suits fit, he gets invited to the right parties, and he fucks Ivanka. It’s everything the old man wishes he was
Immanentize
@raven: Yes — A Rolls Royce Merlin (auto correct changed to “marlin” above)
Yarrow
@Immanentize: True enough. He might end up somewhere else, though.
@FlipYrWhig: Me either. He looked and sounded like he’s afraid of his own shadow. He’s kind of the opposite of Trump, who’s all bluster and loud talking and being in front of cameras. I thought Kushner might be the quiet but competent type, but he’s certainly not.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Immanentize:
Somebody recently flew a Spitfire and landed it while in transit at Bowman Field in Louisville (the old 30s and 40s airport, with art deco terminal, now given over to general aviation). Phenomenal!
FlipYrWhig
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Oh, entirely. I think it’s pretty well obvious that Trump considers Kushner the son he never had, even though he’s had 3 sons.
Cheryl Rofer
This thread is plausible. All the more reason to kill the Motion to Proceed. Some highlights:
raven
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: There is an account of one gliding with no prop at all. Our question is, while the plane if gliding, the prop does not turn. I think it would.
Old Dan and Little Anne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I made to to last night before I heard or saw the mooch thanks to The Daily Show. What a horrible fucking asshole. Ugh.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Rand Paul confuses me, in part because I’m never sure if his goal is to be president of the United States or president of the Rand Paul Email List and Self-Serve Carwash Chain, but a part of me still thinks he wants to goad Collins, Heller et al into strangling this thing so he can tell his donors it wasn’t conservative enough and doesn’t have to deal with Kentuckians getting fucked
Alain the site fixer
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I think it was last year, there was the largest collection of WWII aircraft flying in the US since WWII, and it flew, over an hour or so, down the Potomac to/over DC.
In my case, I was visiting my mom and we went to the highest road closest to the river in DC (near her house), and they pretty much flew right over us. It was thrilling, seeing all those glorious planes, but it was even cooler hearing and feeling them coming. Wow, the different sounds of those powerful engines. It was amazing. Some of them you could hear long before they appeared, and they were flying low. A couple kept circling, like they were waiting for someone to catch up. It was so neat.
JPL
@FlipYrWhig: True. I thought that this morning when I read his tweet about Kushner’s testimony. Only one person mentioned is a son.
Alain the site fixer
@raven: If the engine is engaged, it wouldn’t turn, just like a car without the clutch pushed in won’t roll. When the clutch is in/engine disengaged from the prop, then the wheels/prop spins. But I’m just a fan, not a pilot.
ETA It’s the wings that give the lift to glide, the prop don’t do much.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@JPL: also the continued infantilization of his (early) middle-aged family members, in this case the one he wants to put in charge of I/P policy and half a dozen other things. He’s just a kid!
rikyrah
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
Maybe it would convince the Democrats to man the phuck up , take the daggers out, and stab them in as many Republicans as possible.
I’ll say this again….
THEY.ARE.TRAITORS.TO.THIS.COUNTRY.
Do some folks not understand what that means?
And, they should be treated as TRAITORS.
I am not going to understand.
I do not want to move past this.
I want these muthaphuckas IN JAIL.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@raven:
Thinking aloud about the pitch and airfoil on a stationary prop on a powerless Spitfire, wouldn’t there be a high likelihood of going into some uncorrectible spin?
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Alain the site fixer:
If I had the money, I’d try to acquire a P-51 and learn to fly it. I think they’re amazing planes.
Yarrow
@rikyrah: Yep. There is no excusing traitors. They must pay.
@Alain the site fixer: That sounds really great. I always enjoy it if I happen to catch some of the planes flying in when it’s time for a nearby airshow.
raven
@Alain the site fixer: Have you seen the film? The prop moves but just a bit. If it were just locked I’d get it but moving just a bit makes me think the clutch was disengaged. Choppers can auto-rotate but planes. . . ?
raven
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: It was $4000 for an hour flight when the warbirds were here last fall!
different-church-lady
@Alain the site fixer: I saw what you did there.
Alain the site fixer
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I think it was a formation of 5 that flew over. And the bombers. Lordy, seeing a few flying together was riveting.
Ok, back to work with me. G’day all
JPL
From CNN.. a little good news
raven
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Check this baby out, the put in a back seat so they could sell rides.
catclub
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Spoiler:
In the movie the spitfire runs out of fuel and then lands, but then we see it consumed in flames.
What the heck is making it burn like that?
Baud
@JPL:
Wow. That is good news.
raven
Here a whole album of the WW2 planes.
raven
@catclub: He fired his berry pistol (flare gun) into the cockpit.
Immanentize
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: That is what Raven and I were thinking…. In the movie, when the Spit pilot runs out of gas and is gliding over the beach, his prop is not turning at all. Is this just what happens? Or was this to signal to the audience “he is out of gas!” Or, is the Spitfire they used one that had a late-model american-style electric prop pitch which would freeze the prop if the battery ran out (which it probably did looking at the hand-crank for the landing gear. This is some fun speculation, but I am now deep enough in I would like to know….
Omnes Omnibus
@lol chikinburd: Baldwin’s DC office picked up right away too.
Immanentize
@Alain the site fixer: I looked into the prop pitch regulators of the time, and I am assuming that it is an oil-pump based pitch adjuster in the cone which regulated the oil from the engine to the prop — the engine pressure was about 250 psi and the back side of the plate was about 50 psi which kept it in balance, unless the pilot increased or decreased the nature psi ratios through rpm changes. When the psi from the engine fell, the prop was susceptible to uncontrolled spin (and Le Comte suggests above). Does this make sense?
Immanentize
@raven: The P-51 used the same RR Merlin engine as the Spitfire — but built at the Packard plant on an assembly line model even though Rolls Royce required their own hand “assemblers” to finish the engine.
quakerinabasement
John, it makes me smile to read about you having such a great time.
Immanentize
@catclub: The pilot shot his flare gun into the cockpit to burn the plane. It is in one scene, but may not be so obvious.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@raven:
Nice!
Alain the site fixer
@raven: I have not. And I cannot find any hint online of a clutch type thing for propeller-driver aircraft, though perhaps modern tech and materials mean the prop is directly connected (technically, some props have a clutch-type system to auto-detach if the prop spins too fast) and in earlier designs (Spitfire entered service in 1938) I could see them using some kind of manual engage/disengage the propeller. I mean, didn’t they need to warm the engine up before moving?
Alain the site fixer
@different-church-lady: Thanks much. It’s been published proper now.
Alain the site fixer
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Seconded
Alain the site fixer
Last thing plane-related – everyone, go to the Udvar-Hazy Smithsonian Air & Space Museum next to Dulles Airport in Virginia. Should you every fly to, through, or near, route yourself with a layover of 4+ hours and get thee to the museum. It is amazing, and you can see old and historic aircraft, and spacecraft! Now they’ve got a shuttle that was in space and, last time I was there, you could still touch the underside, feel the scorching on the ceramic tiles from reentry. Just so cool.
Yarrow
A bully and a coward. Sociopath.
Walker
@Alain the site fixer:
Propeller-driven aircraft have flight control locks.
Immanentize
@Alain the site fixer: Same with the USAF museum in Dayton, Ohio. Awesome.
Baud
@Yarrow: I have to admit, I’m loving the Sessions thing.
Trentrunner
McCain’s office just confirmed he’s a YES on the motion to proceed.
Maverick! Hero! Brave cancer-fighter who deserves nothing but our respect and admiration!
Immanentize
@Yarrow:
rikyrah
@Omnes Omnibus:
She has no reason to hide from constituents.
J R in WV
@Yarrow:
So, now we know that Tucker Carlson is a white supremacist racist supporter of Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III. That’s good to know.
Despicable monsters every one of them!
Baud
Vox has a run down on the strategy.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/7/25/16025636/senate-health-bill-bcra-60-votes
Immanentize
@J R in WV: This is a news item for you? Carlson is also an obvious misogynist.
rikyrah
@Baud:
I do too.
Mainly because it amuses me that anyone believed Attorney General White Citizens Council had any honor in the first place.
He is living out his White Supremacist fantasies, and NO WAY will he resign.
raven
@Walker:it is clearly essential that all flight control locks are removed / disengaged before flight. Failure to do so could make it impossible to initiate rotation or to control the aircraft once in flight. Control locks which are fitted or engaged in the flight deck should normally be removed before starting engines and on all aircraft, confirmation of full and free flight control movement should be made before starting a takeoff.
Gravenstone
New front pager, cool! =P
Enjoy yourself, John. Those pleasant moments in life seem to come all too infrequently.
Immanentize
@Baud: I agree. What is so crazy is that no AG in any other administration would stay in such circumstances. It’s crazy! The fact that Sessions continues to stay in his position is evidence of how everyone thinks that Trump is not really a real President. Although no one can point to anyone else who is.
Gravenstone
@Face: No one knows what the final bill will look like because what comes out of the amendment blitz will likely bear precious little resemblance to what they started with, regardless of source.
Yarrow
@Baud: Me too. I hope Sessions refuses to resign and makes Trump fire him.
Yarrow
@Trentrunner:
Baud
@Immanentize:
I agree with @rikyrah that Sessions will never resign because AG is his dream job given DOJ’s historical role in protecting civil rights.
ETA:. Obviously, I meant that in the sense that Sessions is in a position to destroy that legacy.
Felonius Monk
@raven:
Aircraft with variable pitch propellers usually have a feathering mechanism to prevent the prop from windmilling. This allows the blades to be turned parallel to the line of flight. This reduces drag so the plane can glide farther and prevents damage to the engine.
Immanentize
@Baud: I know you guys (and others) have thought that from the beginning. I thought institutional pressures would force Sessions out — make him resign. But it looks like I was wrong and y’all were right. That being the case, this is as close to a mini-coup as anything since MacArthur.
Yarrow
@Baud: From a tactical point of view for the Mueller investigations, the longer Sessions stays the longer it will take to get another AG in there to fire Mueller. Very big downside to that is that gives him more time to destroy the DOJ, voting rights and civil rights. I’m not sure anyone else who would agree to take the AG position under Trump would be any better than Sessions, but they might not have been dreaming of legitimizing and institutionalizing the Klan their whole lives. Because of that, they might not bulldoze ahead quite so quickly. Might turn their attention to destruction elsewhere. Not that that would be a lot better, just different.
Immanentize
@Felonius Monk: True, now. But we are talking about a 1938-ish early production fighter. Their props did not tilt or feather.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I despise her, but apparently Susan Collins was caught on a hot mike, or used a hot mike, to rag on Blake Farenthold
substantively, they also talk about how trump and his cabinet have no idea what they’re talking about wrt to budget legislation, that part’s actually harder to hear
Yarrow
@Immanentize: Why would Sessions resign? There’s no upside for him. He can’t continue to destroy the DOJ and ruin the lives of non-white people if he does. That’s his life’s goal.
He’s also well mixed up with Russia. He resigns and suddenly his kompromat is released because he’s no longer useful to Putin. At least where he is he can help legitimize stealing voter information and helping to make sure only Russian-friendly voters get to vote. He’s as scared as Ryan and McConnell.
It’s good news that Mueller added an expert witness flipping prosecutor to his team:
That was in June. I’m sure Weissmann hasn’t just been sitting around twiddling his thumbs since then.
SFAW
@raven:
Thanks for the great photos!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Yarrow: Paul Manafort now claims to have notes from the 2016 meeting he denied every happened a few months ago
rikyrah
Make no mistake: this is a vote to *destroy* the insurance markets. https://t.co/Mih3Bp3TWg
— Topher Spiro (@TopherSpiro) July 25, 2017
NEWS: Vote plan as of now per 2 sources with @VaughnHillyard that ends with “skinny” repeal pic.twitter.com/aYqmB9F8iv
— Leigh Ann Caldwell (@LACaldwellDC) July 25, 2017
This would put in sharp relief that their goal was never to stabilize or fix insurance markets.
— Topher Spiro (@TopherSpiro) July 25, 2017
rikyrah
All of the Congressional GOP health bills have the same core flaws. This can’t be fixed: https://t.co/xbAVmjyvNh pic.twitter.com/NdRM5PJs5G
O. Felix Culpa
@Yarrow: I is confused. Will McCain vote for MTP or not? The various tweets seem contradictory.
Baud
@O. Felix Culpa: He will.
Omnes Omnibus
@rikyrah: True enough. I still call to encourage and thank her and her staff.
Felonius Monk
@Immanentize: Variable pitch props were being used in production somewhere around 1932. The French had been using them since the late 1920’s.
I’d have to look at the old Spitfire specs to see what they were using then.
Mnemosyne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I needed a laugh this morning, and you provided it. Thank you. ?
JPL
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: One has to wonder, if he released that information in order to get a pardon.
JPL
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Hilarious!
Origuy
When I was in the Inland Empire (between the LA area and Palm Springs) a few months ago, I stopped at the Planes of Fame Air Museum at the Chino Airport. Many of the planes are still flown; there was a sign saying that if there was a pan to catch oil leaks, it was a flyable plane.
Kelly
My beloved and I are off to kayak a 60 degree river on a 90 degree afternoon.
Gravenstone
@raven: Looks like that’s a TP-51C. Unfortunately, the footnote link on wiki explaining that particular plane’s heritage appears to be borked at present. Beginning with the -D model, they switched to the more distinctive “teardrop” canopy which gave the more famous aircraft profile.
Schlemazel
@Immanentize:
Are you sure? I thought by ’38 all combat planes could feather their props.
edit
@Felonius Monk: Yeah I think that sounds about right
rikyrah
@Kelly:
Have a safe trip
Immanentize
@Yarrow: My point about Sessions is that the Department of Justice is a very big organization that has internal institutional drivers and norms. No matter what the AG thinks, everyone understands that the President is in charge of policy, not the law, at the Department. So, for Sessions to lose all support by the President means that it is very hard for him to carry out any policy decisions he may chose to implement. Right now this is further exacerbated by the fact that few of the chief positions have been filled and that all US Attorneys in the local offices are still “Acting” with not one yet confirmed. This makes it even harder for Sessions to see policies realized because, frankly, the local Acting US Attorneys owe more to their local Federal Judges than to the AG in Washington — especially one who does not have the President’s trust and therefore does not have his authority. Take the new policy on forfeiture. That will happen in some offices, but it will not happen in others. Until someone who has real authority makes it the law of the land.
Don’t get me wrong, if I have the chance, I will tell Ol’ Jeff to just hang in there! He is doing the right thing! Don’t let the President get you down! Because this poles of power problem is really frustrating the implementation of the worst policies on the ground. YAY! I just thought the institutional gravity would be too much even for Sessions.
MJS
@FlipYrWhig: They share the same taste in women.
Yarrow
@Immanentize: Yeah, I see your point. But if Sessions leaves then he has no leverage to implement his white supremacy goals. Better some leverage than none. I mean, in his mind. Not better for the country.
The larger issue is, he knows if he leaves he’s in more danger from his Russia connections. He’s terrified. While he’s there he’s still somewhat useful. He goes and he could be toast. The Russians haven’t obviously started killing people here yet–there’s the Federal judge in NY, the Federal prosecutor in FL and that journalist, but none of those have percolated up so that they’re widely questioned or seen as Russians killing people. I’m sure no one in Trump’s Russia circle wants to be the first.
Patricia Kayden
@quakerinabasement: It’s one of the only things to smile about today given the pending action in the Senate.
O. Felix Culpa
@Baud: Bastard. Not you, but noble war-hero and cancer-battler McCain. Did you know he was a POW….I mean POS?
Schlemazel
@raven:
There is an sir show in Eden Prairie that brings in WWII combat planes & occasionally there are chances to purchase rides on ones with the space. (I don’t remember any 51s) But it is on the pricey side, a couple of hundred was the cheapest & that was in a trainer for 30 minutes IIRC. FOr about $500 you could fly in a B17 up to Duluth (170 miles) and back. I would love to do it but that is too rich for me.
eclare
@Yarrow: I wondered about that judge in NY
Immanentize
@Felonius Monk: I’ve tried to run this very question down — It looks like the Supermarine Spits were not pitch variable. That started with De Haviland in 1940, which would put plane production after Dunkirk. There was a semi-solution that was instituted just two weeks or so after the evacuation. Here is one of the interesting articles I found as I tried to answer this small question…. Constant speed propellers…
I am sure there is something obvious I am missing….
Yarrow
What in the world has happened to Bill Kristol?
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Keith P.: It strikes me these guys were the voice at the table for the various GOP factions with Trump and if they are purged, that just leaves Trump’s own minons and the Alt Righters and nothing for the rest of the GOP. I would think that would be the moment the GOP starts with the invistigations because at that point Trump is an admin from another party.
Patricia Kayden
@O. Felix Culpa: Although President Obama has been nothing but polite to McCain, it appears that losing to him in 2008 has caused McCain to despite him. I cannot think of any other reason that he would shorten his recuperation to vote on this horrific bill. He could easily have sat this one out and continued to garner sympathy from the masses. Sigh.
Kelly
@rikyrah: It’s the run we make most often. Finish within walking distance of home. The water is clear as glass.
Schlemazel
@Yarrow:
He hopes to survive what he sees coming & retain his reputation as a reasonable guy . . . well mostly retain his soft gig spewing stupid shit for money
Patricia Kayden
@Yarrow: Kristol has been consistently anti-Trump. There are a few other Republicans who have stuck to their guns and remain anti-Trump which is a good thing (even if they otherwise remain douches).
O. Felix Culpa
@Patricia Kayden: Sigh indeed. Hatred and spite are powerful motivators.
Schlemazel
@Patricia Kayden:
There is a simpler answer. Sen McCain is, and always has been, a loyal hack for the GOP. The image created of him as honorable and principled has no reflection in his actual political career. The party needs him and he jumps, not on principle, not for honor or care and concern for his nation but for Elephant Uber Alles.
Yarrow
@eclare: Last I heard, it was determined it wasn’t suicide and there was foul play. Then it went dark. The federal prosecutor in FL story went dark even faster. It should be big news. African American federal prosecutor, father of three, married to a doctor, active in the community. All of his personal effects still on his body when they found it. It should be huge news. Nothing past the original articles.
O. Felix Culpa
Has Capito capitulated? What do we know about R. Paul and Murkowski? (In relation to the MTP, that is.) Is Heller as worthless as he seems? Are there any spines to be found in the GOP? Asking for 22 million friends.
catclub
@Immanentize: I saw he fired his flare pistol into the plane, but what is so flammable in a plane after you have drained all the fuel out, that it looks like a huge oil fire? @raven:
les
@Immanentize: Wiki says variable pitch showed up in 1919.
rikyrah
@Yarrow:
thanks for not forgetting them..cause, I don’t buy any of their deaths as has been reported.
Yarrow
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
As I’ve said for months, the top leadership in the GOP is completely compromised with ties to Russia. Something is going to have to give for them to move to get rid of Trump. They do that and their complicity is made public and they’re ruined. They’re still hoping to walk the fine line, slow walk investigations, and come out of this not in prison.
@Patricia Kayden: But this isn’t even anti-Trump. He’s admonishing the Senate. Up is down.
eclare
@Yarrow: Wasn’t the NY judge also African-American? Hadn’t heard about FL. Yes, NY story went dark fast.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Immanentize: If it’s battle damage it’s not impossible that a 20mm round to the engine block jamed the prop shaft. Otherwise, Spitfires Mk1s had wierd things like the carb cutting out in a dive ! It was so comon the German pilots were trained to just go into a dive when a RAF fighter was on their tail and the RAF pilots would do a half roll before diving.
Felonius Monk
@Schlemazel:
Early production Spitfires had fixed pitch two-blade wooden props. Beginning somewhere around #80 production unit, they switched to a two-pitch prop. I believe that in units produced beginning in early 1940 they switched to a metal 3-blade prop which most likely was variable pitch.
Yarrow
@eclare: Yes, the NY judge was an African American Muslim woman. The FL story is here.
Schlemazel
@Felonius Monk:
I didn’t know that, THANKS!
eclare
@Yarrow: Thank you!
Adria McDowell
Called Sen. Portman’s DC office this morning- went straight to voice mail. Hopefully, a shit ton of other Ohioans called this morn saying the same thing: if he votes yes to proceed, we’ll make sure he loses his next election and he will never walk the halls of Congress again.
zhena gogolia
@Felonius Monk:
So are you a B-17 freak too? Asking for a friend.
Immanentize
@les: It was a new fangled thing at the 1919 air show, but not in production much — especially military production, until late 30’s and early 40’s….
Jeffro
Called Warner – left a message of thanks/support
Called Kaine – the phone it ringz and ringz. Oh well, he knows where I stand by now ;)
Here’s your lulz for the day gentle people – Susan Collins: GOP Rep is so unattractive, it’s unbelievable
Ok. Now to work on an op-ed. ‘Real’ work can wait today…
CALL
Immanentize
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: The dive problem was a huge problem for the P-38 Lightning. But the engines didn’t quit, they just couldn’t recover from a dive. Same thing — Germans quickly learned to dive to get away from the 38’s.
ETA — the Lightning is my favorite WWII fighter.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
Eloi, Eloi lama sabacthani…
The article that America never needed to see written – David Brooks defines what it is to be “cool”.
Prepare for Fonzie in his jacket on water skis, Nick Gillespie in his leather jacket, Tucker Carlson in his bow tie…
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-renews-twitter-attacks-on-attorney-general-jeff-sessions/2017/07/25/003d15ca-7124-11e7-8839-ec48ec4cae25_story.html?utm_term=.bdbfb8bcb1f8
Boy, the Neo-Confederate must be livid that a vulgar yankee is assaulting his sacred honor! Will he head to the fainting counch or will he strike back?
Felonius Monk
@raven:
@Schlemazel:
While we were vacationing on Martha’s Vineyard in 1997 the Confederate Air Force flew in a B-17 and a B-24 Liberator. I missed the landings, but went thru both planes while on display. Then returned to the airport a few days later when they were preparing to leave. We were able to stand within about 100 feet of them when they started their engines. Real exciting stuff. The B-24 fired up first, taxied and took off. The B-17 was having problems getting one of its engines started and wound up aborting. They had to stay over another day so a maintenance crew could be flown in to fix it. I think it was about 3 days before they got the thing in the air again, but we were busy doing vacation things so I did not get to witness the takeoff.
rikyrah
@Yarrow:
YEP.
TRAITORS.
trollhattan
For vintage airplanes as well as the latest toys, looks like RIAT in the UK is a bucket list trip.
Yarrow
@rikyrah: I will never forget them. They were working for us. As far as I’m concerned, until proven otherwise, I’ll see them as casualties in our war with Russia.
Schlemazel
@Immanentize:
Mine too although I like the F4-U. I have not seen a P-38 in person but would love to
Felonius Monk
@eclare:
It was pretty well established that she committed suicide. From everything I saw this was fully investigated.
Mnemosyne
@Baud:
His dream, our nightmare. ??
Schlemazel
@Felonius Monk:
The show in MN had a flyover of four P-51s and it is a visceral experience that is hard to describe. Has ‘heavy’ as the 17 sounds those 51s were more impressive in a pack. The impact just does not carry over to TV or film. I had the same reaction to rocket launches, the full impact just can’t be conveyed on tape
Felonius Monk
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
Everyone knows that David Brooks is not “cool” so why would anyone think he could write cogently about being “cool”. Now if he wants to write about being a clueless asshole, please proceed David.
Felonius Monk
@Schlemazel: We had a local air show here a few years back. Blue Angels or Thunderbirds, I forget which. But the big attraction was a flyover by a B-52 down and dirty (min altitude, gear and flaps down). That was pretty impressive.
But I know what you mean about the 51s. Almost any group of WWII era prop fighters is pretty impressive.
Another Scott
TheHill is saying that McCain is expected back at the Capitol around 2:45, so apparently the MTP is going to be after that.
Grr…
Cheers,
Scott.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
He says something not really mean about BLM
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Felonius Monk:
In high school, David Brooks was the kid that dorks and nerds picked on….
Yarrow
trollhattan
@Schlemazel:
One reason WWII-era V12s are rare is their use in unlimited hydroplanes from the ’50s to the ’70s, when they began to run out of them. I grew up about a mile from Lake Washington in Seattle where the Seafair race was held and I can tell you that the flying start of a heat with six boats running RR or Allison engines, supercharged turning 3x the design RPMs shook the house and rattled the windowpanes. Being on the shore made it all the more amazing. Engine lifespans were best measured in minutes and the better-financed teams went through dozens.
I’ve read when B36 flights passed over the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys the shockwaves could break windows. Each had six pusher props and four turbojets.
Cheryl Rofer
Need more live mics.
Felonius Monk
@zhena gogolia: So are you a B-17 freak too? Asking for a friend.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Yarrow:
Oops. Who’d a thunk that unrestrained tweeting would create a problem?
Jeffro
@Yarrow: Just saw that very item…why indeed? And why should they trust him if he says, “Vote to repeal the ACA and I’ll keep Sessions”
Republicans, your time is up, your bill is overdue, you have sown and now you’re going to reap. Sooner or later, Trumpov will have to go (unless you truly are prepared to throw in with Putin and sell out your country). You’d better hurry up…
Yarrow
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Iz our Senatoz learning? Hilarious that they finally see this shit is going to boomerang right back on them.
TenguPhule
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
Murder, blackmail, child molestation, sex slave rings, bribery and beastiality would all result in an unholy mess as the GOP would deny everything, law enforcement wouldn’t be able to arrest them and their voters at this point would just shrug and count it as the cost of doing business.
The rest of us, who knows?
Jeffro
@Another Scott: J-Rubs is taking a break from beating on Trumpov and the Republicans, hoping against hope that McCain is ACTUALLY returning to give the speech of a lifetime, imploring his fellow Republicans to turn back from the brink and quit supporting Orangemandias. Jennifer, dear, you’ve been remarkably on point these past few months but even I – possibly the most naive and hopeful dreamer on this blog – know better than to even entertain the notion that Walnuts is back to do anything but spite Obama here.
(but a guy can dream…)
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Yarrow:
Bwahhahahahaah!
trollhattan
@Jeffro:
Return of the Romneybot Ruben. We knew she wouldn’t stay away forever (“Let’s imagine the perfect politician and now project him onto this handy meatsack.”)
Felonius Monk
@trollhattan:
When I was a kid (well, a much younger kid) I spent my summer days plane watching. Saw a number of B-36s through the binoculars.
However, the B-36 was not a supersonic airplane so I doubt the shockwave story. But I did see some F-100 Super Sabre hit the afterburners and go supersonic. Very impressive.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Yarrow:
They can rip out his fangs today if they want. The R caucus could simply say “enough – you have to give up using Twitter to manipulate people and abusing federal employees. Act presidential”.
Yarrow
@Jeffro: I’m guessing McCain is a tiny bit torn. On the one hand he gets to spite Obama. On the other hand he seems to be pissed off at the destruction of the Senate and its norms. Getting to make a big speech to save the Senate, possibly save Congress itself and the country from the Trump horror show and go down in history as a man of principle, a la (as I said above) Welch at the McCarthy hearings, may be tempting. I figure he’ll fall in line, though. He’s never really been the hero he sees himself as.
Jeffro
@Immanentize: @Schlemazel: Why settle on a favorite? So many great WW II planes…so many hours spent model-building…Corsairs, Lightnings, Warhawks, Hellcats…Mustangs and Spitfires and Zeros, oh my…
I might have to pick up a kit or three for Fro Jr. on the way home, now that I think about it…
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@TenguPhule:
It’s the rest of us that would blow a gasket and cease all cooperation. Civic participation would go to shit.
Jeffro
@Yarrow: High drama indeed…one last chance to smack around the clown who told America he “likes people who weren’t captured”…I guess we’ll see…
Yarrow
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Yep. He’s a bully and bullies back down when challenged. At his heart Trump’s a coward.
Problem is, the GOP leadership can’t do that. They’re all complicity with the Russia stuff. They take a stand and their kompromat is made public. Putin is nothing if not thorough at this kind of thing. It’s going to take a GOP senator with stature who is not compromised by the Russians. There are very few of those. McCain is probably one of them.
TenguPhule
@Felonius Monk: Link because none of us tracking this story have heard that.
Felonius Monk
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
LoL
TenguPhule
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
At this point its obvious the Republicans don’t care. Hell, they seem to be counting on that.
Schlemazel
@Felonius Monk:
Saw a firepower demonstration at 29 Palms that included two F-4s in full afterburner. They warned us but people who did not hold on the the railing were literally knocked to their knees. It was totally different that the 51s and probably more impressive
Mike in NC
@Jeffro: Republicans in Washington are quickly figuring out there’s nothing to be gained by standing with Trump, because he’s in constant need for a new whipping boy. Right now it’s Sessions (who is bound to either quit or get fired in the next couple of weeks). Next could be any one of them not deemed survile enough to drop and kiss his fat orange ass.
La Caterina (Mrs. Johannes)
@Schlemazel: And she wasn’t a federal court judge, she was a judge on the NY State Court of Appeals. There’s plenty of corruption at the state level and she certainly could have been murdered, but I doubt there was any connection to Mango Mussolini or his regime.
Schlemazel
@Jeffro:
I just love a couple more than all the others. The A10, the P-38, Hellcat, P47. Maybe not the sexiest, all are oddballs in one way or another so maybe that is why I am attracted
Schlemazel
@La Caterina (Mrs. Johannes):
I think you hit the wrong reply button. I do that sometimes too.
a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)
@Yarrow: Divine visitation?
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Immanentize: Differant issue, the Spitfure and Hurrican it was because they didn’t have aof a fuel injector, in the P-38s it was because would dive so fast their control survaces would lock up . I think it was Richard Bong who said nothing feel out of the sky like a P38 in a dive.
FlipYrWhig
@Jeffro: Maybe McCain’s big resonant speech could end, “Mr. President, you’re captured, bitch.”
Yarrow
I’ve called and they laughed at me.
Jeffro
@Mike in NC: His comments towards Heller and actions towards Flake had to have been a bit of a wake-up call. Throwing Jeff Sessions under the bus? That’s got to be a full-on RINGRINGRING for even these dimwits. It’ll be interesting if they can be brought to understand things that we all knew over a year ago…
Hey GOP, just in case you weren’t listening the first eighty gazillion times: Trumpov cares about no. one. but himself and his family (and maybe not even all of his family – Eric, you hear me on this?) And it has to be quite clear to even these clowns by now that a) there’s not just smoke but a five-alarm Russian fire going on, and b) Trumpov cannot allow any investigation of him & Russia nor him & his finances (and especially where those two intersect)…and that’s not the stance of an innocent man…
FlipYrWhig
@Yarrow: Seems like they’re trying to say “It’s just a motion to proceed, that doesn’t mean you have to vote for any particular bill, no big deal” and then when that comes to pass, they’ll say, “Now that you voted for the motion to proceed, you’ll just have to vote for this particular bill, no big deal.” Like how if you had cheese, you could have ham and cheese, if you had ham.
TenguPhule
@Jeffro:
Republicans: Nyet, Comrade!
rikyrah
@Jeffro:
She can’t be rational all the time..LOL
but, yeah, this is delusional on her part.
Schlemazel
About the P47 if I may
It was half again as heavy as the more famous P51 but could fly at the same speed. It could carry a load about 50% that of a B17 along with its 8 50 cal machineguns and 3800 rounds (to the 51’s 1800).
Pilots said “If you wanted to send a picture hom to your girl you got a P51, if you wanted to make it back home to see your girl you flew the 47”
Jeffro
@Schlemazel: I gotta go with the Corsair if really pressed…
Speaking of WW II planes…did not know about this until a week or two ago while reading about it (I think the original article I read was on Atlas Obscura?): the Akutan Zero Amazing how such small things change the fortunes of war…
Enhanced Voting Techniques
So apparnetly it’s The Night of the Long Sporks Part II “Dancing the Fandago” Trump is going to purge his staff of anyone who has Washington experance and replace them with Fox News personalities. This is awsome, six months is the time it takes someone to learn their new job AND Trump is going to toss them, replace them with a pack of complete newbs. Maybe O-Rielly will be the new AG after Sessions.
What could go wrong?
Felonius Monk
@Schlemazel:
The Adviser and also one of the committeemen of the Air Explorer Squadron I was in as a kid were both P-47 pilots in Europe during WWII. IRC, one of them had been shot down and captured by the Germans, but both of them loved that airplane.
trollhattan
@Felonius Monk:
Cool, I’ve only seen one on static display at the former Castle AFB. Fugly thing that hardly looks like it could leave the ground.
Technical explanation I read was shockwaves were from the yuge prop blades. Apocryphal? Maybe.
Ms. D. Ranged in AZ
Have been hearing pundits say that they don’t think McCain would fly back unless he plans to vote “Yes” on whatever the f*ck it is. Which makes me furious….McCain, who is exempted from the effects of the repeal, will fly across country while undergoing one of the most expensive medical treatments in the history of the earth for an incredibly rare and deadly disease so he can vote Yes so that millions of other Americans will not be able to get coverage for even the most basic medical needs like mammograms and annual physicals. If he votes yes, he can go f*ck himself. If he votes yes, whatever sympathy I might have had for him is gone. If he votes yes, he can’t die soon enough in my opinion. I know that’s harsh, but the hypocrisy of it all has me royally pissed off today.
J R in WV
@Immanentize:
No, not news, just a chance for a heaping tablespoon of skark.
J R in WV
@raven:
Raven, thanks for the aircraft photos. My Uncle flew as a gunner on heavy bombers in the South Pacific. That’s all I know, he never spoke about it. We found his silver wings with a bullet in Mom’s jewelry after Dad died. I gave them to his son, my cousin. Giving them to his little sister after he got home was pretty typical I think.
I have trouble imagining being in a belly turret… or in the tail. The others you have some room, but those you’re locked into a very small space with only the twin-50s for company.