tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62449996286749180292024-03-29T05:08:38.159-05:00Bayou Renaissance ManThe idle musings of a former military man, former computer geek, medically retired pastor and now full-time writer. Contents guaranteed to offend the politically correct and anal-retentive from time to time. My approach to life is that it should be taken with a large helping of laughter, and sufficient firepower to keep it tamed!Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.comBlogger18327125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-22248305401014230012024-03-28T12:03:00.002-05:002024-03-28T12:03:00.132-05:00Remember what I said last week about water supplies?<p> </p><p>I wrote about the need for reserve supplies of water <a href="https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2024/03/yet-another-wake-up-call-about-our.html" target="_blank">just last week</a>. It's emerged that my country of origin, South Africa, appears set to become a laboratory for emergency water supplies - what works, what doesn't, and how to cope when the taps aren't working.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9fbyS6r9-SeoF2ji0cZXTlGw-0jYwMo7PggTJDdfEnbVF9f5glVP805LzYzbhACTk9W9XTE0DaKBlNNB-vSXNln1cGIh_jQ05BxTAUE9obUVyHlMKFxPl9t3cctGxPp3RicOR6GCEIs3afnKu0KFIul5q61pm5k8T5RBKaYexlBVd2QmKIwVHXwfsTWE/s600/Gathering%20water%20in%20buckets.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="538" data-original-width="600" height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9fbyS6r9-SeoF2ji0cZXTlGw-0jYwMo7PggTJDdfEnbVF9f5glVP805LzYzbhACTk9W9XTE0DaKBlNNB-vSXNln1cGIh_jQ05BxTAUE9obUVyHlMKFxPl9t3cctGxPp3RicOR6GCEIs3afnKu0KFIul5q61pm5k8T5RBKaYexlBVd2QmKIwVHXwfsTWE/w400-h359/Gathering%20water%20in%20buckets.png" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>(That photograph also illustrates <a href="https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2024/03/yet-another-wake-up-call-about-our.html" target="_blank">what I said earlier</a> about using five-gallon buckets as water containers.)</p><p>Two articles summarize what's happening in two of South Africa's largest cities. I won't post excerpts from them here, but I recommend you follow the links below and read them for yourself.</p><p><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/24/climate/johannesburg-south-africa-water-shortage-intl/index.html" target="_blank">Taps running dry have become part of daily life</a></b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/24/climate/johannesburg-south-africa-water-shortage-intl/index.html" target="_blank">in South Africa’s biggest city</a></b></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://time.com/cape-town-south-africa-water-crisis/" target="_blank"><div style="text-align: center;">Cape Town: what it's like to</div><div style="text-align: center;">live through a water crisis</div></a></b></span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p>In case you were wondering whether something like that could happen here, <i>it already has</i> in at least two cities over the past decade: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_water_crisis" target="_blank">Flint, Michigan</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson%2C_Mississippi_water_crisis" target="_blank">Jackson, Mississippi</a>. There may well be others of which I'm not aware. If readers can provide more examples, please do so in Comments.</p><p>Anyway, if you're still hesitant about the need to provide at least <i>some</i> reserve water supplies for your family, I hope these reports will convince you. It's not a theoretical risk: it's very real. As our elderly, creaking infrastructure breaks down more often, we're going to see it more often, too.</p><p>Peter</p><p><br /></p>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-34079554015207137362024-03-28T09:02:00.001-05:002024-03-28T09:02:00.163-05:00Gigglesnort!<p> </p><p>I laughed out loud when I read <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-68656787" target="_blank">this report</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">A wildlife rescue that took in what was thought was a baby hedgehog found it was actually caring for a bobble from a hat.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj64vhc5WUyaswekihqpHdql4aCOAMCqsLCsjAl10w0JoqUTOVamgEesfxuCGkD7wbgjRlGjyXSSwmrXMFz-hvqtl-O9DiUXzNA7QzTBkr1r_-QX0CBP_FPLr4gv5aBWLuEazqj7ye694EQ5q35znbQxH9uumExIG68f172dZAamPJ1c2Na8dSWJLrMoQI/s1000/Faux%20hedgehog.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="582" data-original-width="1000" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj64vhc5WUyaswekihqpHdql4aCOAMCqsLCsjAl10w0JoqUTOVamgEesfxuCGkD7wbgjRlGjyXSSwmrXMFz-hvqtl-O9DiUXzNA7QzTBkr1r_-QX0CBP_FPLr4gv5aBWLuEazqj7ye694EQ5q35znbQxH9uumExIG68f172dZAamPJ1c2Na8dSWJLrMoQI/w400-h233/Faux%20hedgehog.png" width="400" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">It was brought to the Lower Moss Nature Reserve and Wildlife Hospital by a well-meaning rescuer last week.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">On arrival they discovered the hoglet was in fact a "faux furry friend", a volunteer for the animal charity said.</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><p><br /></p><p>There's <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-68656787" target="_blank">more at the link</a>.</p><p>I almost posted this as part of our intermittent "Doofus Of The Day" series, but it's too cute for that. One can just imagine some member of the public (perhaps a little old lady, or an excited child) bringing in the "baby hedgehog" to be cared for, and being so disappointed when they found out what it really was. (One must admit, too, that from some angles the bobble really <i>does</i> <a href="https://duckduckgo.com/?q=picture+of+baby+hedgehog&t=brave&iax=images&ia=images" target="_blank">look like a baby hedgehog</a>!)</p><p>Anyway, I thought it was cute - and funny.</p><p>Peter</p><p><br /></p>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-58070323211341692722024-03-28T03:56:00.009-05:002024-03-28T03:56:00.249-05:00As in Canada, so in the USA???<p> </p><p>It's emerged that a couple of years ago, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) did a deep dive into potential future challenges in the light of then-current circumstances in Canada. The report was not publicized until very recently. I'm going to leave out the politically-correct "climate change" stuff, because I'm far from convinced things are as bleak as the "woke" like to paint them: but the rest of the report (the parts that have been released, anyway) makes interesting reading.</p><p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/rcmp-police-future-trends-1.7138046" target="_blank">Here's how the RCMP sees social and political developments over the next few years in Canada.</a> Could we see the same thing here in the USA? Frankly, I'll be surprised if we don't.</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The report paints a bleak picture of what the RCMP — and Canada — could have to face over the next several years.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>. . .</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">"Emergency management planning should be considered by law enforcement decision makers to ensure continued levels of service delivery. Capacity building through the attraction and retention of qualified staff remains a challenge to law enforcement."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Political polarization and resentment, coupled with the threat of an economic recession, will also present a challenge, the report predicts.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">"The coming period of recession will also accelerate the decline in living standards that the younger generations have already witnessed compared to earlier generations," says the report.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">"For example, <span style="background-color: #ffd966;">many Canadians under 35 are unlikely ever to be able to buy a place to live. The fallout from this decline in living standards will be exacerbated by the fact that the difference between the extremes of wealth is greater now in developed countries than it has been at any time in several generations.</span>"</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Populists have been capitalizing on a rise in political polarization and conspiracy theories and tailoring their messages to appeal to extremist movements, the report says, adding that authoritarian movements have been on the rise in many liberal-democratic countries.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #ffd966; font-family: arial;">"Law enforcement should expect continuing social and political polarization fuelled by misinformation campaigns and an increasing mistrust for all democratic institutions," says the report.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">New information technologies, including AI deepfakes, quantum computing and blockchain, could also present challenges, says the report.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">"Law enforcement should anticipate that criminals will leverage technological innovations to gain profit and influence," the report says. "Law enforcement should also continue to contribute to policy change related to the privacy of personal information, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, quantum computing, digital ledger technology and more."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>. . .</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Christian Leuprecht, a Queen's University and Royal Military College professor who specializes in defence and security, said the section of the report on the challenges posed by new information technologies — and the suggestion that law enforcement should "contribute to policy change" in response — stood out for him.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">"That's a highly unusual statement," said Leuprecht. "This is a hint that clearly there is a sense that the policy framework in this country is not adequately set up for the challenges of everything from safeguarding personal information ... artificial intelligence, the connectivity of the Internet of Things … the privacy challenges and others presented by quantum computing and blockchain technology, and the accelerant that has proven for all sorts of criminal activity in this country."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Leuprecht said the report also points to some threats that are often overlooked, such as problems with global supply chains and the need to improve emergency management planning.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">"What we see is some of the <span style="background-color: #ffd966;">disconnect between the strategic threat assessment ... and the resources, capacities, capabilities and political will</span> to posture Canada effectively for what is clearly going to be a very difficult future for this country," he said.</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><p><br /></p><p>There's <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/rcmp-police-future-trends-1.7138046" target="_blank">more at the link</a>.</p><p>I daresay most of us can identify many areas where American society and politics are just as screwed up (if not more so) than Canadian. The key issue, as noted in the highlighted passages above, is that our systems of government and politics are simply not capable of responding to such pressures in anything like a satisfactory manner. Too many of our state and national leaders are out to use any opportunity that arises to arrogate more power to themselves and/or their political parties, rather than work for the good of the people of that state or our nation as a whole. That applies across the aisle - it's not just a left-wing or right-wing problem. Our leadership has become stultified, atrophied, insular. The rot runs so deep that flexibility and responsiveness are largely conspicuous by their absence.</p><p>This, of course, makes it all the more urgent for us, as individuals and like-mined "tribes" or self-selected small communities, to prepare ourselves for these disruptive factors. That's not just in terms of stockpiling food and basic essentials, either: it's educating ourselves to provide as many as possible of the services we need from within our own ranks, rather than relying on our local, state and national authorities to provide them.</p><p>I think a very good example is health care. I'm facing multiple surgeries this year, and frankly I've been horrified by the deterioration in professionalism and competence that I've observed in the past couple of months, compared to what it was even five years ago. The bureaucracy and administrative orientation (rather than patient and health orientation) is mind-boggling - so much so that I've already refused to continue with one major medical practice, and asked to be referred to a different specialist for a forthcoming surgery. If things are that bad <i>inside</i> "the system", we need to make ourselves <i>as independent as possible of that system</i> by improving our fitness and personal health, ceasing unhealthy habits, and stockpiling the medications we need to deal with our present and likely future health problems. For several years I've seen to it that my wife and I have a six-month supply of every long-term prescription medication we take. I'm now doubling that, to a year's supply, and adding to it a selection of antibiotics that we've used in the past for common conditions and that we might need again. I think I'd be irresponsible not to do so when <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/whats-causing-the-unusually-high-number-of-drug-shortages-in-the-u-s" target="_blank">the health care system can't guarantee their availability</a>. (That doesn't even consider the frightening possibility that China, which <a href="https://amzn.to/3xbEBNE" target="_blank">supplies the vast majority of all medications sold and/or prescribed in the USA</a>, might restrict their availability as a geopolitical pressure tactic. Imagine where that might leave us! People might - almost certainly would - die as a result. How would we, as a nation, respond? How <i>could</i> we respond in any effective way that would solve the problem?)</p><p>One final note. If the RCMP has produced this report for the Canadian government, it's just about certain that US law enforcement agencies and/or the Justice Department have produced something similar for US policymakers. The question is, what does that US equivalent report say? What measures does it suggest to "control" the situation (i.e. control the population)? How many constitutional rights and freedoms may be trampled underfoot in the process? Judging by the way the COVID-19 fiasco was handled, more than a few may be at serious risk.</p><p>Peter</p><p><br /></p>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-92123536655825618732024-03-27T12:04:00.001-05:002024-03-27T12:04:00.241-05:00Paying for the Key Bridge is going to be expensive<p> </p><p>It's too early to speculate, but the destruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore is going to be very expensive to insurers, <a href="https://mykn.kuehne-nagel.com/news/article/pi-clubs-face-huge-bill-for-baltimore-bridge-27-Mar-2024" target="_blank">according to Lloyd's List</a>. (A "club", mentioned in the report, is a consortium or syndicate of insurers.)</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">According to the IG database, Dali <i>[the ship that struck the bridge]</i> is entered with Britannia, a London-based marine mutual. Britannia has been approached for confirmation.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The largest element of any payout will be the value of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which was built in 1977 at a cost of $60m at the time, equivalent to over $300m today.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">However, construction inflation has far outstripped consumer price inflation over the intervening period, and the replacement cost could be substantially higher.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">No deaths have yet been reported, but fears are growing for the seven people still missing.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The lives of US citizens are deemed to be worth far greater compensation than the lives of third-world seafarers. P&I clubs generally offer single-digit million dollar payouts to victims' families, preferring the certainty of a quick settlement to costly protracted litigation in the US.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Delays to other vessels are not a P&I liability, although prudent shipowners will have delay cover. P&I clubs often offer delay cover as a sideline and will find themselves on the hook for much of it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Britannia will be responsible for the first $10m of any claim on its own account. Once the bill exceeds this layer - as is certain to be the case with Dali - it is shared among IG affiliates through the pool scheme.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In the simplest possible terms, the other 11 members will chip in pro rata for the $10m-$30m tranche, after which liability is reinsured through Bermuda-based captive vehicle Hydra.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The general excess of loss programme, known as GXL in industry jargon, kicks in at the pool ceiling of $100m. GXL, which is funded by shipowners through a levy imposed per gross tonne, provides an additional $2bn of reinsurance in a three-layer structure.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">A further $1bn of reinsurance cover - known as 'the collective overspill' - is purchased by the IG to provide protection in respect of claims exceeding the upper GXL cover limit of $2.1bn.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Major marine casualties are long tail events and it is often years before the full cost can be assessed.</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><p><br /></p><p>There's <a href="https://mykn.kuehne-nagel.com/news/article/pi-clubs-face-huge-bill-for-baltimore-bridge-27-Mar-2024" target="_blank">more at the link</a>.</p><p>The cost isn't limited to the ship and the bridge. Business Insider <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-responsible-for-paying-for-baltimore-bridge-collapse-2024-3?op=1" target="_blank">reports</a>:</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Baltimore is among the busiest ports in the nation, seeing more than a million shipping containers pass through each year. The collapse — which closed the port to all maritime and most road traffic until further notice — is already beginning to wreak havoc on the supply chain.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The cost of building the bridge back fast enough to offset diversions as much as possible could saddle the government with a more than $600 million bill, David MacKenzie, chair of engineering and architecture consultancy COWIfonden, told Sky News.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The container ship, the Dali, is owned by a Singapore-based firm. The ship's charterer, Maersk, confirmed to Business Insider that vessel company Synergy Group operates the ship. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">However, the companies with cargo aboard the Dali will ultimately be responsible for the ship's damages and cargo costs.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>. . .</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">An ancient maritime law known as "general average" dictates that companies with even a single container aboard a ship have to split the damages pro rata based on the number of containers, ensuring all the stakeholders benefiting from the voyage are splitting the risk, Petersen said.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The principle dates back hundreds of years and was originally meant to ensure sailors on board a ship weren't worried about specific cargo if a disaster required them to start throwing containers overboard, according to Petersen.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The majority of the financial fallout is likely to lay primarily with the insurance industry, according to media reports.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Industry experts told FT that insurers could pay out losses for bridge damage, port disruption, and any loss of life.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The collapse could drive "one of the largest claims ever to hit the marine (re)insurance market," John Miklus, president of the American Institute of Marine Underwriters, told Insurance Business.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">He told the outlet that the loss of revenue from tolls while the bridge is being rebuilt will be expensive, as will any liability claims from deaths or injuries.</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><p><br /></p><p>Again, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-responsible-for-paying-for-baltimore-bridge-collapse-2024-3?op=1" target="_blank">more at the link</a>.</p><p>If you add up all those costs and expenses, it's not impossible that insurers could be staring down the barrel of a $3-$4 billion dollar payout, perhaps even higher. One hopes the insurers "laid off" at least part of the risk onto <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinsurance" target="_blank">reinsurers</a>, or some of them might end up bankrupt.</p><p>Peter</p><p><br /></p>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-73053574452480407912024-03-27T09:04:00.006-05:002024-03-27T09:04:00.139-05:00A warning about red yeast rice dietary supplement<p> </p><p>I know several people who take <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_yeast_rice" target="_blank">red yeast rice</a> as a <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/nutrition/dietary-supplements" target="_blank">dietary supplement</a>, to aid in the control of high cholesterol and high blood pressure. However, it may also be dangerous if mishandled, as <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-68662585" target="_blank">this report</a> out of Japan demonstrates.</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">A major Japanese drugmaker has said it is investigating a death and dozens of hospitalisations that could be linked to its red yeast rice pills.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">At least 76 people were admitted to hospital after taking the beni kōji fermented rice products, the firm says.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Kobayashi Pharmaceutical ... said it suspected that the problem may have come from previously undetected toxic substances in moulds used in production.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>. . .</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Affected customers had reported symptoms such as changes in the colour of urine, swelling in their limbs and fatigue.</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><p><br /></p><p>There's <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-68662585" target="_blank">more at the link</a>.</p><p>Red yeast rice is also used as a coloring agent in some foods; therefore, even if you don't take it in "raw" form as a dietary supplement, you may still be at risk.</p><p>This illustrates yet again that unregulated dietary supplements may be hazardous to your health. Sure, there are hundreds, probably thousands of them out there, and most of them won't cause any problems at all. Nevertheless, every now and then, a problem arises, often because such supplements aren't as tightly regulated or supervised as medicines. By the time it's identified and localized, it may be too late for some of those affected by it.</p><p>This is a particular problem in terms of interaction with some prescription medications. I'm on several prescriptions, and I have to be careful to avoid certain foods (and certain dietary supplements) that are known to reduce the effect of those medications, or even negate it altogether. I daresay many of my readers are in the same boat.</p><p>Peter</p><p><br /></p>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-43714489833519381182024-03-27T05:14:00.000-05:002024-03-27T05:14:29.972-05:00Preparing for crises: to whom is our greatest responsibility?<p> </p><p>I'm sure everybody who makes preparations for potential problems, no matter how small, has run into the sort of friend who says, "If disaster strikes, I'm coming over to your place. You have enough to take care of us, too!" My response to that is usually less than polite, to put it mildly.</p><p>This has led to accusations of being "un-Christian", in terms like "I'm your neighbor! The <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke+10%3A25-37&version=NKJV" target="_blank">parable of the Good Samaritan</a> means you have to take care of me!" The freeloaders will find all sorts of Scriptural quotations to justify their relying on you to take care of them in an emergency, rather than doing it themselves. They don't seem to like it when I quote the <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew+25%3A1-13&version=NKJV" target="_blank">parable of the wise and foolish virgins</a> in reply. They object, "But that's taking it out of context! That's for when Christ returns, not a disaster!" When I point out that, in the event of a disaster, they may be meeting Christ a lot sooner than they'd otherwise planned, they don't seem to appreciate it...</p><p>Arguments about context notwithstanding, I think the parable of the wise and foolish virgins is very applicable to preparing for difficult situations. The "oil in our lamps" is what we need to keep ourselves and our loved ones alive and safe - well, as safe as possible - during hard times. If we have "oil", we'll probably make it through the problems. If we don't, it'll be a lot more difficult (and possibly more dangerous), and we may not make it through them. It's as simple as that.</p><p>That being the case, <i>for whom are we building up our emergency supplies?</i> It's not for every Tom, Dick and Harry who demands them. I daresay none of us are wealthy enough to stockpile an almost infinite amount of goodies "just in case". Most of us find it difficult enough to build up sufficient supplies for our own family, which must have first claim on them. If we're fortunate enough to have a local "tribe" or extended family, people we know we can rely on in an emergency, they too may have a legitimate claim on us, just as we might have the same claim on them: they help us, we help them. It's a two-way street. However, outside that sort of relationship, do we owe anything to those who have suddenly been left to their own resources when trouble comes, and realize they have none? Do they have a <i>tertiary</i> claim on us? I would argue they don't, at least not to any great extent.</p><p>Here we run headlong into the attitudes of society as a whole. You can bet your last penny that in a disaster situation, the authorities will rely on local ordinances that empower them to confiscate anything and everything they need to help their people survive. That will almost certainly include declaring preppers to be "hoarders" - thieves, in so many words - rather than prudent householders, in order to justify confiscating their preparations for the benefit of others. If you have equipment or buildings that might be useful, expect to have them appropriated as well. They won't ask your permission - they'll <i>tell</i> you, and if you object, you'll probably be arrested. In larger cities, the welfare-dependent portion of the population will doubtless demand that the authorities do that, and do so themselves if they won't (yet another reason not to live in big cities).</p><p>Even if the authorities don't get that overbearing, my experience in the Third World during disasters is that local "strong men" will try to "organize" a street, or a neighborhood, or an area. They'll send their followers to "inspect" people's homes and confiscate whatever they declare is needed to maintain order and look after the needy. (Generally, of course, they'll keep what they confiscate for themselves, and/or demand payment in cash or in kind if you want some.) If you object, you may be beaten up or worse; you'll certainly be threatened and browbeaten. (Think of the local "strong men" as an involuntary <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeowner_association" target="_blank">HOA</a>, laying down rules and regulations that you may not like, but you'll be forced to follow if you want to live there. It's just that this HOA is less likely than most to tolerate disagreement, and may be armed to enforce its will.) Don't expect sweet reason and understanding from such folks. In a disaster, "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_(slang)" target="_blank">Karens</a>" are all too willing to tell others what to do, and to force them to obey if they get half a chance. (There are far too many of them in government as it is.)</p><p>This is why I and others suggest that you split your emergency preparations. Part can be more visible, perhaps in the form of an "extended pantry", a larger-than-usual supply of canned and dried food in or near your kitchen. If people demand to know what preparations you've made, and you're not in a position to refuse to show them, you can let them see that. If they insist on confiscating some of it, by all means object (but not strongly enough to endanger your safety and/or that of your family). Meanwhile, you should have more (perhaps most of) your emergency supplies hidden elsewhere, out of plain sight, either on your property and/or in a remote location like a storage unit or a friend's place that's less likely to be visited by such marauders, official or otherwise. (Storage units may not be safe in such a situation. They're likely to be looted, so plan to get important items out of them as quickly as possible if an emergency arises.)</p><p>Finally, <i>expect</i> such situations to arise in the event of a disaster or disruption. There <i>will</i> be those who've made little or no preparation to endure such events, and who will turn to others such as yourself to tide them over. It'll take firmness and determination to tell them "No", and you may have to back up words with actions if push comes to shove. Your family is your primary responsibility, and comes first; your extended family or "tribe" comes next as your secondary responsibility. People who are not in those categories may <i>ask</i> for help, but have no right to <i>demand</i> it. You have <i>every right</i> to refuse them if that would threaten your ability to help your primary and secondary responsibilities.</p><p>As a Christian, I do believe it's our duty to help those less fortunate than ourselves. That's why I keep some extras in our emergency preparations, so that I can contribute at least something to those who may ask for help. However, when those extras run out, <i>that's it</i>. If others won't accept that and get pushy, then it's time for me to get pushy right back at them. (There are those who believe one shouldn't help at all, because that will only encourage those one helps to demand more when the initial help runs out - a potential threat to our safety. I guess that's a decision for each of us to make, based on our own consciences.)</p><p>What say you, readers? Let us know your thoughts in Comments.</p><p>Peter</p><p><br /></p>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-47546400960246200172024-03-26T12:02:00.001-05:002024-03-26T12:02:00.130-05:00A feel-good moment more than 80 years in the making<p> </p><p>Courtesy of James Higham at <a href="https://nourishingobscurity.blogspot.com/2024/03/one-solitary-hurricane.html" target="_blank">Nourishing Obscurity</a>, I came across this touching video. It seems there's only one surviving airworthy Hawker Hurricane fighter from the Battle of Britain in 1940. The mechanic who worked on that aircraft during the Battle is still alive, at 102 years of age, and was <a href="https://rafa.org.uk/blog/2023/09/29/wwii-raf-veteran-reunited-with-battle-of-britain-aircraft/" target="_blank">recently reunited with the plane</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">A WWII RAF veteran had the chance to fly alongside the aircraft he helped maintain during the heroic Battle of Britain in 1940.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Jeff Brereton, who celebrated his 102nd birthday earlier this year, took to the air in BE505, the world’s only two seat Hurricane, with R4118, the only remaining airworthy Mk 1 Hurricane to have taken part in the Battle of Britain, and the aircraft Jeff worked on, flying alongside.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Jeff, who lives in Evesham, Worcestershire, said: “I have great memories of the plane. Of all the aircraft I dealt with, that was the one that stuck in my mind. It was unbelievable to be able to see that aircraft again, that it had survived.”</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><p><br /></p><p>There's <a href="https://rafa.org.uk/blog/2023/09/29/wwii-raf-veteran-reunited-with-battle-of-britain-aircraft/" target="_blank">more at the link</a>.</p><p>Here's a video report, including mid-air images.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hUhUoL9t3Nw?si=riVNcdqtYm45sy0S" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I found the story particularly moving because my father was also an aircraft mechanic during the Battle of Britain. <a href="http://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2008/03/weekend-wings-9-final-flight.html" target="_blank">I wrote about his World War II service some years ago.</a></p><p>It's nice to come across a good news story like this in our turbulent, not-so-good world.</p><p>Peter</p><p><br /></p>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-2253938978784514872024-03-26T09:05:00.001-05:002024-03-26T09:05:00.242-05:00The Baltimore bridge collapse and supply chains<p> </p><p>By now I'm sure we've all heard that the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, collapsed last night after being struck by a container ship. Casualty figures are as yet unknown, but are almost certain to be in double figures. Our sincere condolences to all involved.</p><p>However, <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/watch-huge-bridge-baltimore-collapses-after-container-ship-strike" target="_blank">the real impact of this bridge collapse is likely to be on supply chains</a> serving the most populous part of the USA.</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The bridge collapse has paralyzed a large swath of the largest inland port on the East Coast. The port is ranked 9th for total dollar value of cargo and 13th for cargo tonnage among US ports.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>. . .</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The bridge spans the Patapsco River and carries an estimated 11.5 million vehicles annually. <span style="background-color: #ffd966;">In this collapse, the only shipping lane in and out of the port was severed.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Baltimore is the most inland port on the East Coast and is connected to the I-95 highway network. With no commercial vessels sailing in and out of port anytime soon, this is catastrophic for port operations and could spark supply chain snarls in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>. . .</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">According to the Maryland government's website, the Port of Baltimore handled over 52 million tons of international cargo valued at more than $80 billion last year, ranking it as the ninth busiest port in the United States. The data shows that the port handled 847,158 autos and light trucks in 2023, the most of any US port. The port also handles farm and construction machinery, sugar, gypsum, and coal.</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><p><br /></p><p>There's <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/watch-huge-bridge-baltimore-collapses-after-container-ship-strike" target="_blank">more at the link</a>.</p><p>It's not just ships that will be affected. With so major a road transport artery shut down, trucks will be severely delayed by having to detour around the affected area (and, of course, by greatly increased traffic congestion due to everybody else having to take the same detour). Our supermarkets rely on truck transport to receive food and other essentials every day. This incident will almost certainly have a serious impact on consumers in north-eastern states. It'll take years to rebuild this bridge, and heaven knows where the money will come from. It'll almost certainly have to be borrowed, adding to our already excessive national debt.</p><p>Given all the existing pressures on supply chains, this is very bad news.</p><p>Peter</p><p><br /></p>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-57470893882883873442024-03-26T05:46:00.000-05:002024-03-26T05:46:05.380-05:00And the winner is...<p> </p><p>I'm obliged to Dr. Grumpy for <a href="https://drgrumpyinthehouse.blogspot.com/2023/10/happy-halloween.html" target="_blank">this reminder</a> of what some might consider the world's greatest newspaper headline. Clickit to biggit.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhS0mJYhMpqoKw5yue1lvFlcIAllXmPVi7m1y3L8F0l8Iuv6EA4rNiBGWAZ6IiTjAbLoiyvea0cLRIAsQMhCOIhyphenhyphenBLLLCqRaBbVvl3pETG7FEIAazTxboa-aufyfcDlvnNq1BrzLyQw68pjbvc0QZOAq_-Wytm3MCWDsf3y6ZmmiTuluQYdpuf8WEUUPE/s750/World's%20greatest%20newspaper%20headline.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="463" data-original-width="750" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhS0mJYhMpqoKw5yue1lvFlcIAllXmPVi7m1y3L8F0l8Iuv6EA4rNiBGWAZ6IiTjAbLoiyvea0cLRIAsQMhCOIhyphenhyphenBLLLCqRaBbVvl3pETG7FEIAazTxboa-aufyfcDlvnNq1BrzLyQw68pjbvc0QZOAq_-Wytm3MCWDsf3y6ZmmiTuluQYdpuf8WEUUPE/w400-h248/World's%20greatest%20newspaper%20headline.png" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>I never have been able to find out the backstory behind the headline . . . can any reader oblige?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKW6BXPu9wPyArnQgQhw60KRpGD57wrCmTBDaWW3VG806ewpTREy88EBf0pjg_dHNJs4P-bfl2r8Du3_WD7TY_6OMhUFoXMHJGMdW1yxzt6I4xftQs6nMffS1dI6O9txWc_TrgSxPpWg7tj8akRTu3ObAFDC-T9oeCgp87ZxNEC3L6cy-Ymkr7hQgueuA/s40/Emoji%20-%20monocle.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="38" data-original-width="40" height="38" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKW6BXPu9wPyArnQgQhw60KRpGD57wrCmTBDaWW3VG806ewpTREy88EBf0pjg_dHNJs4P-bfl2r8Du3_WD7TY_6OMhUFoXMHJGMdW1yxzt6I4xftQs6nMffS1dI6O9txWc_TrgSxPpWg7tj8akRTu3ObAFDC-T9oeCgp87ZxNEC3L6cy-Ymkr7hQgueuA/s1600/Emoji%20-%20monocle.png" width="40" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Peter</p><p><br /></p>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-70574505072879051622024-03-25T12:05:00.001-05:002024-03-25T12:05:00.126-05:00Another tragic mistake that took an innocent life<p> </p><p>I've said several times before that if you're carrying a firearm in a pocket or purse, it needs to be in a holster to avoid things catching in or on the trigger, which might cause a tragedy.</p><p>Well, <a href="https://www.wsmv.com/2024/03/24/mother-claims-teen-daughter-was-accidentally-shot-killed-by-her-gun/" target="_blank">it just happened again</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Police said the mother of a teen daughter who was shot Saturday night reports the gun that killed her fired off accidentally ... The victim was taken to the hospital, where she died of a single gunshot wound.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Police said the teen’s mother told detectives her unholstered .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol was inside her purse and accidentally fired while she was attempting to grab her keys. Charges have not been placed.</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><p><br /></p><p>There's <a href="https://www.wsmv.com/2024/03/24/mother-claims-teen-daughter-was-accidentally-shot-killed-by-her-gun/" target="_blank">more at the link</a>.</p><p>Anti-gun activists will doubtless seek to portray this as yet another incident of "gun violence", and blame the gun - the instrument - for the girl's death. They're entirely wrong. The <i><b>gun</b></i> was not at fault. <b><i>Careless and negligent handling</i></b> of the gun was at fault.</p><p>Tragically, that mother will have to remember for the rest of her life that her daughter is dead because she was careless and/or negligent. This death was <i>her</i> fault, nobody else's. I wonder how the rest of her family will handle that?</p><p>May we, at least, learn from her bad example, and not make the same mistake.</p><p>Peter</p><p><br /></p>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-60365740525357952992024-03-25T09:03:00.004-05:002024-03-25T09:03:00.131-05:00Great deal on Winchester .22 rifles<p> </p><p>If you're in the market for a .22LR semi-auto rifle, CDNN Sports has a great deal for the next couple of days on the <a href="https://www.winchesterguns.com/products/rifles/wildcat-22.html" target="_blank">Winchester Wildcat</a>.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.winchesterguns.com/products/rifles/wildcat-22.html" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="122" data-original-width="550" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ziQtUrcmr5jrclC2AESi-9boSDTmzAto2Be60HQMzmHiE_7Xqe_IhwLehJyRG3ef9BQoLXyh_YvD8Dmae0TqELsBSID7d7VgZPmKQ4RN6gel6IuWi5UishkUxd9gFABezkElqhlnZz-8wcME1-emRSQqefiR43_BYd22KhVS1n9wRJmzk_0xlxaD4fg/s16000/Winchester%20Wildcat.png" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>I like the Wildcat as, basically, a cheaper clone of the very well-known Ruger 10/22. It even accepts magazines for the latter rifle, including Ruger's 25-round BX. It's not as customizable as the 10/22, but as a plinker and all-round useful .22LR rifle, it's more than adequate out of the box, without add-ons. I've used them to introduce disabled students to rifle shooting, with considerable success. If you'd like to learn more about them, Shooting Times' review is <a href="https://www.shootingtimes.com/editorial/winchester-wildcat-22lr-review/368845" target="_blank">here</a>, and Guns & Ammo's review is <a href="https://www.gunsandammo.com/editorial/winchester-wildcat-22lr-review/367290" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p>CDNN is offering a discounted price, plus on top of that there's a $25 rebate from Winchester - <u><i>but the latter is only valid until March 26th</i></u>, so if you want it, you'll have to move fast. They have three models available; click each link to take a closer look.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://www.cdnnsports.com/winchester-wildcat-22lr-od-green.html" target="_blank">Wildcat with olive drab green stock: $174.99 after rebate</a></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://www.cdnnsports.com/winchester-wildcat-22lr-truetimber-strata-camo.html" target="_blank">Wildcat with Truetimber Strata camo stock: $174.99 after rebate</a></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://www.cdnnsports.com/winchester-wildcat-22lr-reflex-combo.html" target="_blank">Wildcat with black stock and Reflex sight: $199.99 after rebate</a></b></span></p><p><br /></p><p>I'm not being compensated in any way by CDNN or Winchester for recommending this: in fact, they don't know I'm doing so. I just like to pass on to my readers good deals that I find. I'm certainly going to take advantage of this one for myself, too.</p><p><span style="background-color: #ffd966;"><b>Remember, you have to order <i>by tomorrow</i> to get the Winchester rebate.</b></span></p><p>Peter</p><p><br /></p>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-61264168564601653682024-03-25T04:39:00.001-05:002024-03-25T04:39:00.137-05:00Memes that made me laugh 202<p> </p><p>Gathered from around the Internet over the past week. Click any image for a larger view.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3gFNcj4Ak-8UJJJBqUAznJx67ONHkgBOebDUdHDn9LcLXplI3C9Y8PjrhG4ifiWO1RsarDacCuh8WHcR_cL0lRCDlPZ4qAxprOTm8iF3XeCpzjZ_tmvJHU7YYIfSbvfZMELph8h8sYi7aIpYHJ13O5z0sUhvvHY_nM-crcrWksKYIKJG8Ubgnu2IBoTU/s750/Meme%20-%20equestrian%20statue%20meanings.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="721" data-original-width="750" height="385" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3gFNcj4Ak-8UJJJBqUAznJx67ONHkgBOebDUdHDn9LcLXplI3C9Y8PjrhG4ifiWO1RsarDacCuh8WHcR_cL0lRCDlPZ4qAxprOTm8iF3XeCpzjZ_tmvJHU7YYIfSbvfZMELph8h8sYi7aIpYHJ13O5z0sUhvvHY_nM-crcrWksKYIKJG8Ubgnu2IBoTU/w400-h385/Meme%20-%20equestrian%20statue%20meanings.png" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhabU6H_S-1E3ERqIGrEA004FnS6wth_kUxd9OTPmxiBfnMFdg8t0x2pJ-WF4VpAD39ufPAlmkdAD-xagMQaHkmqRv3t3nYtMyflBVytzA93Y_0SFan31nvm3x0R4HrfX-QIwC69PIyk81LAGVq6WymgkuRSByIz3LMMfKK-ZZPgIeMwSBPauIP9yavv1I/s704/Meme%20-%20Venus%20flytraps%20choose%20violence.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="704" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhabU6H_S-1E3ERqIGrEA004FnS6wth_kUxd9OTPmxiBfnMFdg8t0x2pJ-WF4VpAD39ufPAlmkdAD-xagMQaHkmqRv3t3nYtMyflBVytzA93Y_0SFan31nvm3x0R4HrfX-QIwC69PIyk81LAGVq6WymgkuRSByIz3LMMfKK-ZZPgIeMwSBPauIP9yavv1I/w341-h400/Meme%20-%20Venus%20flytraps%20choose%20violence.png" width="341" /></a></div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit19beR0HWSdsYKb9qX725Ds9PW_44E4cxukXyZsX3ksrHzaFYI4zxTA-UUvsK_gByCepE6IWc2riAYsLq8wX6AvDJopI6uYWkrINc3bkyXd7R80ZHeAfCsmEdDJMmyjDrNXXAyFd2EaBWf1OzO3U41suPqn5tqu__G5GHEmKZNaredHc_wrC62HCWHVY/s708/Meme%20-%20Liechtenstein%20military.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="708" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit19beR0HWSdsYKb9qX725Ds9PW_44E4cxukXyZsX3ksrHzaFYI4zxTA-UUvsK_gByCepE6IWc2riAYsLq8wX6AvDJopI6uYWkrINc3bkyXd7R80ZHeAfCsmEdDJMmyjDrNXXAyFd2EaBWf1OzO3U41suPqn5tqu__G5GHEmKZNaredHc_wrC62HCWHVY/w339-h400/Meme%20-%20Liechtenstein%20military.png" width="339" /></a></div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="600" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ5GOZrrKKmzz8CujdohrFsGHKmrJ-EZDDjRq1p6TkgqF9gViUrReDyTDGYDRHhAV9CZJjS8gZoOI8xPfkZplitc7HRYUiLEtEwNM0oGElKXtSoxRHtbyC03dnIPA3FYQ6EHWmkyhm23s7ZPEoVBGB2YT9dXDjb636rhuNYVxDdQiNrZrU5egyNS1jedA/w400-h276/Meme%20-%20lower%20AC%20usage.png" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7HaUwCX1IKYdDdDOdLGRuoOpmBtToTV7YVD5NdU1i4xrkY-emtgCFyV2JseRPjQSO77N6fQJEUjFtc_ECkVj3jKKy1RnwOPfEmjgNTrpgfURcOY3WK6mwMajx26MiGTZS1dIdYx3kAJAZn36LpDMOOpMCL4tnqpe6iwpf-nyQUX8Tw6DSKGB4IZNlI8A/s600/Meme%20-%20F%20off%20backwards.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="559" data-original-width="600" height="373" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7HaUwCX1IKYdDdDOdLGRuoOpmBtToTV7YVD5NdU1i4xrkY-emtgCFyV2JseRPjQSO77N6fQJEUjFtc_ECkVj3jKKy1RnwOPfEmjgNTrpgfURcOY3WK6mwMajx26MiGTZS1dIdYx3kAJAZn36LpDMOOpMCL4tnqpe6iwpf-nyQUX8Tw6DSKGB4IZNlI8A/w400-h373/Meme%20-%20F%20off%20backwards.png" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOilBrs8eN6Y_sjEP9tJieVB-9DlBOBOjAZTKQT27CUbk-CxUYvpbPa_9sKB4DoHuEtPtcf-iD15PLeCf0kxaXvbBpoQoTjI1zLJN2ST36FLCu3s8IR2RkcnpZy-k8tKzuyzoqFvdndgdHytvVP__UO7IpecT5EmfsTrrsMID-8HUZRbddp7WGe5YFmD0/s610/Meme%20-%20right%20fit,%20wrong%20place.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="610" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOilBrs8eN6Y_sjEP9tJieVB-9DlBOBOjAZTKQT27CUbk-CxUYvpbPa_9sKB4DoHuEtPtcf-iD15PLeCf0kxaXvbBpoQoTjI1zLJN2ST36FLCu3s8IR2RkcnpZy-k8tKzuyzoqFvdndgdHytvVP__UO7IpecT5EmfsTrrsMID-8HUZRbddp7WGe5YFmD0/w394-h400/Meme%20-%20right%20fit,%20wrong%20place.png" width="394" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>More next week.</p><p>Peter</p><p><br /></p>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-41765325227549302752024-03-24T08:12:00.000-05:002024-03-24T08:12:25.274-05:00Sunday morning music<p> </p><p>OK, here's something completely different: <a href="https://www.npr.org/2013/08/03/208338182/the-biggest-thing-out-of-thailand-an-elephant-orchestra" target="_blank">an orchestra of elephants</a>!</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The Thai Elephant Orchestra is, remarkably, just what it sounds like. At a conservation center in Thailand, made for former work animals with nowhere to go, a group of elephants has been assembled and trained to play enormous percussion instruments, holding mallets in their trunks and sometimes trumpeting along.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">David Sulzer — known in the music world as Dave Soldier — is a neuroscientist at Columbia University, a composer and the co-founder of the orchestra.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">"Elephants like to listen to music: If you play music they'll come over, and in the morning when the mahouts take them out of the jungle, they sing to to calm them down," Sulzer tells NPR's Jacki Lyden. "So what we came up with was, well, maybe if we made ergonomic instruments that would be easy for elephants to play — for instance, marimbas and drums that are giant — perhaps they would play music."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Among those instruments is a sort of oversized xylophone that Sulzer built in a metal shop in Lampang, using the music he heard locally as a guide.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">"The idea here was to get the instruments to sound like traditional Thai instruments, and make music that sounds like Thai music," he says. "That instrument ... is using a Thai scale, a northern Thai scale. And when Thai people hear it, they say, 'Oh, that sounds like some of the music that we play in the Buddhist temples up north.'"</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The Thai Elephant Orchestra has produced three albums.</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><p><br /></p><p>There's <a href="https://www.npr.org/2013/08/03/208338182/the-biggest-thing-out-of-thailand-an-elephant-orchestra" target="_blank">more at the link</a>.</p><p>The elephants certainly seem to be getting into the swing of things. Here's a live performance. Don't just listen to the discordant elements (of which there are plenty): listen to see if you can detect an underlying theme or sequence.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lSLVgrNJ-HU?si=uuczatu-wuouLJ3Z" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>When transcribed into musical notation, the underlying theme comes out more clearly. Here's a chamber orchestra playing one of the elephants' compositions. The YouTube notes read:<br /></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The Composers Concordance Chamber Orchestra conducted by Thomas Carlo Bo premieres Dave Soldier's Thung Kwian Sunrise at the Dimenna Center in New York City on December 7, 2012. The piece was originally improvised by the Thai Elephant Orchestra , an orchestra of up to 14 improvising elephants founded by Dave Soldier and Richard Lair in 2000, and is on their first CD. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">It was transcribed from the CD by Wade Ripka and arranged by Dave . At the end of this premiere, the conductor asked the audience to guess the composer: they guessed Alan Hovhaness, Charles Ives, Aaron Copland, and Milica Paranosic: no one guessed that it had been improvised by elephants.</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><p><br /></p><p>Here's the original piece, played by the elephants:</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">
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And here's the transcribed version, played by the orchestra:<br /></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">
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That's pretty amazing.<br /></p><p>Peter</p><p><br /></p>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-52700974755608977072024-03-23T05:35:00.000-05:002024-03-23T05:35:57.327-05:00Saturday Snippet: Sanctions-busting the hard way<p> </p><p>One of my heroes was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Malloch" target="_blank">Jack Malloch</a>, a World War II Spitfire pilot from Rhodesia who went on to dabble in all sorts of shadowy aviation corners for the next thirty years or more. He had the reputation of being a "pirate of the air", very much in the mold of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Cotton" target="_blank">Sidney Cotton</a> or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Zumbach" target="_blank">Jan Zumbach</a>. I don't know if they ever met, but I'm sure the three would have recognized kindred spirits in each other, and probably in the buccaneers of the Spanish Main a few centuries earlier.</p><p>Jack was involved in sanctions-busting on behalf of Rhodesia and South Africa for many years, and also undertook clandestine flights in support of military and intelligence operations for both countries. I first met him when he flew a group of people, including yours truly, in a clapped-out old <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_DC-7" target="_blank">Douglas DC-7</a> freighter to a place we never were to do something about which we know nothing, if you get my drift. He was truly a character, and somewhat awe-inspiring in real life to a young wet-behind-the-ears type like myself. I never knew him well, of course, only in passing: but I count myself privileged to have met him.</p><p>Jack was killed in an air crash in 1982 while test-flying a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Spitfire_(Griffon-powered_variants)#Mk_22_(type_356)">Spitfire Mk. 22</a> that he'd restored (one of a squadron's worth that he and others had ferried to Rhodesia from Britain back in the 1950's). A documentary movie was filmed describing the restoration and the aircraft's first flight, which I've embedded below. Aviation enthusiasts will enjoy it.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1WLxrePTYp0?si=yeSiFGUXMADPlAli" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Jack was pretty much unique in my (admittedly limited) experience. I've never met anyone else quite like him. I was therefore very pleased to find that a biography had been written about him, published a couple of years ago. It's titled "<a href="https://amzn.to/4a1ROHi" target="_blank">Jack Malloch: Legend of the African Skies</a>".</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://amzn.to/4a1ROHi" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJma7GWuo1DNGxYUx0QkRLyKAMo6yZgNrVrfuJ_sPxcXSi7j-iQXKnIZq_bkWhEdvnCYGj8D9UXOhxVQl0J875ekcana73xZDMLTOieYihEu0ReQWQemk5lJXuKMWiEDRXmQumlIaXb_l681QtBhoaqx4yyEa4PgBZccB1Me2Zg10AjQeCb0jgbQKN8pg/s16000/Cover%20'Jack%20Malloch'.png" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>It was difficult to decide on which excerpt to bring you today. I settled on some of his military missions during the Rhodesian war, these using very old, worn-out aircraft that no self-respecting airline would have touched with a bargepole. Nevertheless, he made a success of it, and his efforts helped keep Rhodesia alive for longer than anyone would have expected.</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">With the upsurge in fighting along all three of Rhodesia’s hostile frontiers, the war was putting a heavy strain on the military. In a move to boost its manpower, in January 1977 it was announced that conscription would be increased by three months and men over the age of thirty-eight needed to register for training and service.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">As part of this militarisation Jack, at the age of fifty-seven was called up as a reservist to the Rhodesian Air Force. He was given the rank of Flight Lieutenant and was seconded to Number Three (Transport) Squadron. Although the authority and respect he was given far exceeded his lowly ‘official’ rank. Jack quickly realised that the Air Force, which were limited to a collection of old Second World War-vintage Dakotas, had a critical need for larger transport aircraft. As he now had the CL-44, Jack offered to loan one of his old DC-7s to the Air Force. This arrangement became more or less permanent from early April 1977.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">On these military missions the DC-7 was given the Air Force registration number 7230. Interestingly it was also given a South African Defence Force registration number, TLT 907, for exclusively South African military missions. On these assignments Jack would usually fly with George Alexander who was the Commanding Officer of Number Three Squadron.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">To begin with much of this flying was shuttling planeloads of Rhodesian soldiers down to Bloemfontein in South Africa to undertake parachute training as Rhodesia focused on building up its airborne assault capability. With these crack paratroops Rhodesia began to make ever larger and more ambitious raids into neighbouring countries to cripple the insurgents’ training, and supply facilities. But with this strategy economies of scale started to came into play and the Air Force needed to be able to deploy an ever higher volume of paratroopers. But in the face of modern anti-aircraft weapons, the slow DC-3s were just no longer sufficient.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Jack wondered if the DC-7 could be up for the job. The first challenge was that the DC-7 manufacturer categorically stated that the aircraft was impossible to fly with the side door open which would be a necessity for parachutists. But Jack wasn’t too concerned about operating regulations. He had the door removed and took the aircraft for a test flight. It was certainly more challenging to fly, but it wasn’t long before he got used to the handling.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Next, he needed some particularly brave soldiers to try jumping out of the DC-7 to see what would happen. There were some terrifying learnings to begin with as Charlie Buchan recalls, “With the DC-3 we jumped using a roof cable, but with the DC-7 the parachutes flipped round the edge of the wing and caught the tail piece, so we moved the cable from the roof to the floor. The first time we used the floor cable we got the full blast of the engines up our arses as we came out. We then ran the cable down to the corner of the doorway with a longer static line so that the parachute opened well beneath the tail.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This was reiterated by one of the Parachute Jumping Instructors who later recalled, “The door was huge compared with the Dak. Drop speed for the Dak was ninety-five knots but the DC-7 would run in at about one hundred and fifteen knots. When we jumped we really felt the blast. Exit position had to be good or you would finish up turning in the slipstream which would cause twisting of the rigging lines during the parachute deployment. This meant wasted time kicking out the twists on the way down, and you had little enough time anyway from the operational drop height of just five hundred feet.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Once these issues had been resolved a training exercise involving a planeload of sixty SAS commandos was organised. After ten run-ins dropping six men at a time the door dispatchers were well versed in how to work within the cargo-configured interior and confirmed they were ready for combat. Jack now just needed an actual operation to test the concept under real battlefield conditions.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Then, suddenly the war became very personal for Jack and the Malloch family.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In June 1977 Blythe’s eldest son Dave Kruger was killed along with three other young soldiers when their vehicle hit a landmine in the Binga area. He had been serving with 3 Independent Company of the Rhodesian Regiment. It was the second child that Blythe and Ted had lost so tragically. Then in early August urban terrorism hit Salisbury when a bomb exploded in Woolworth’s department store. There were almost one hundred casualties, mostly women and children. With the death of his nephew and the blast in the heart of Salisbury’s shopping centre, Jack realised that they were all now on the frontline. Although he was never one for revenge, after this Jack took a much darker view of the war and the need to not just defend themselves, but to start really fighting back.</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">. . .</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">With the success of his parachuting experiment, a couple of the military planners asked Jack for his opinion on an ambitious plan they were working on. The challenge was that once communist terrorists had infiltrated into the country they spread death and destruction and had to be hunted down individually. It was a classic ‘war of attrition’ tactic that was grinding down Rhodesia’s military resources. Just to sustain themselves Rhodesia needed to maintain a kill ratio of ten to one, but this was difficult. Rhodesia needed to cut the insurgents off at their source where they were concentrated and vulnerable.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The two largest Zanla training and ‘staging’ camps in Mozambique were Chimoio, ninety kilometres inside Mozambique and Tembue, which was another one hundred kilometres beyond it. These distances made an attack almost impossible and from the outset the decision-makers at Combined Operations rejected the idea as being far too risky. But Jack strongly believed in the SAS slogan ‘who dares wins’ and, along with the planning committee felt that with the right deployment of their air assets and a good dose of courage, a successful raid could be made. The distance and audacity of the plan also meant that neither Zanla nor Frelimo, Mozambique’s national army, would seriously expect an attack so far from Rhodesia’s border. As a result the enemy forces were concentrated in a very tempting target zone.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Eventually, after numerous persuasive presentations the operational plans for both Chimoio and Tembue were finally approved. Jack’s role in this was pivotal and according to one of the planners, “…without Jack’s personal interest and participation Operation Dingo could not have been undertaken. He was a key player.” This is high praise indeed considering the attack on Chimoio and Tembue would end up being one of the most successful cross-border raids of not just the Rhodesian War, but, of any war.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">By late October 1977 intelligence reports estimated that the number of fighters at Chimoio had risen to eleven thousand with another four thousand at Tembue. This was five times the number of CTs (communist terrorists) already operating within Rhodesia. If this army of eager insurgents were all to make it across the border there was a real likelihood that the onslaught would overwhelm the country. Jack started work on the intricate logistics and started stockpiling extra munitions. The bombs, missiles and rockets for the air force were brought up from South Africa in the DC-8. These flights were off-loaded at the bottom of the runway by a small team of trusted senior ground staff and taken directly into New Sarum via the ‘bottom gate’ far away from prying eyes.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The attack had to be made quickly – and before the start of the summer rains as low cloud or stormy weather would compromise visibility and potentially ground the aircraft. Due to sanctions, Rhodesia didn’t have access to satellite imagery of the regional weather patterns. These images were beamed down to the Intelsat receiver in Europe and was then transmitted to a network of official receiver stations. Someone in Salisbury, using his own home-made equipment, was able to access this coded signal and download the images, dramatically enhancing the ability of the planners to predict the weather. How Rhodesia was able to pull off this early hacking back in 1977 is unknown, but desperation certainly led to innovation.</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">. . .</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">While Jack’s attention was being divided between the war and the commercial needs of the business, the Rhodesian Special Air Service were having remarkable success in the northern Tete Province of Mozambique. In light of this, Rhodesia’s military planners decided to redeploy them into the volatile southern Gaza Province, where, according to US Intelligence, Zanla were being trained by more than a thousand Cuban, Soviet and East German military advisors. This accounted for the area having been given the nickname, ‘The Russian Front’. The challenge was getting the special forces into the area. It was exactly the type of mission Jack had been waiting for. He suggested a free-fall HALO drop out of the doorless DC-7.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Once again there were reservations. It would be the biggest free-fall operation that the Rhodesians had attempted and just being able to find the right location for the drop was deemed to be almost impossible. That was Jack’s role. He had to find the Landing Zone and drop twenty-four men and their heavy equipment in exactly the right spot deep over enemy territory at the dead of night with no moon. Jack, who had an incredible intuition when it came to flying, knew he could do it. At three o’clock in the morning of October 11th, 1977 the twelve-thousand-foot jump was made. The men landed within a few kilometres of the LZ which was described as “an incredible achievement on the part of the pilot.” The undercover SAS teams remained in the Russian Front, effectively harassing the enemy until the end of the war. According to Kevin Milligan who was on most of these dangerous parachute deployments, “all the times I worked with Jack I found him to be a terrific character and a privilege to work with. The more challenging the mission, the more he seemed to enjoy it!”</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">. . .</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">With the success of his first SAS mission the commanders started taking Jack’s plans for Operation Dingo more seriously. To inflict the maximum number of casualties the Rhodesians wanted to strike the main training camp when all the recruits were lined up on the parade-ground. But the high-pitched whine of the approaching jets would compromise the element of surprise. They needed something to mask the sound. Jack suggested a slight change to the DC-8’s incoming flight path, timing it to overfly the camp just a few minutes before the strafing jets were scheduled to hit. Over time the residents in the camp “had become accustomed to the sound of the high-flying aircraft because this had been going on for weeks. All homeward bound Air Trans Africa flights had been specifically routed over the Chimoio base in a deliberate move to lull its inhabitants into accepting the sound as routine.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The eventual attack was launched early on November 23rd, 1977. It involved almost every single Air Force aircraft, and almost every single member of the elite Special Air Service, along with almost one hundred hand-picked Rhodesian Light Infantry soldiers. Soon after midnight the helicopters began to assemble. The coordinated attack was due to start at seven minutes past eight, five minutes after Jack’s DC-8, to give time for the soldiers to reform in their tightly packed parade ground standing order. At about quarter past seven the massed armada of helicopters, weighted down with shock-troops and extra ammunition, took off. They crossed the border and headed down into the Mozambican plain via a steep-sided river valley.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">According to one of the men, “All the helicopters descended to the low ground, initially over abandoned Portuguese farmlands, for the run to target. With helicopters all around and flying low over exquisite countryside, it was hard to fully comprehend that all hell was about to break loose. Halfway to target I saw the DC-7 cruise past on our port side looking quite splendid against the African background. Almost immediately it turned to commence orbits behind the formation of helicopters.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Meanwhile, “The idea of using one noise to cover another worked perfectly. The Zanla men were taking up their places on the parade ground as the Hunters dropped down to release their <a href="https://rhodesianservices.org/user/image/publication06-2007attachment1.pdf" target="_blank">golf bombs</a> and the Canberras came in fast and low with their <a href="https://www.saairforce.co.za/site/airforce/weapon_detail.php?weapon_id=33" target="_blank">Alpha bombs</a>. The helicopter gunships arrived on the scene just as this first wave of attack aircraft had gone through the target.” Seconds after the first wave of strikes the Hunters and old Vampire jets followed behind the Canberras attacking with their front-guns, rockets and frantan <i>[napalm]</i>, devastating buildings as the circling helicopter gunships raked the kill zone.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">According to Group Captain Peter Petter-Bowyer, “We did not see the air strikes going in southeast of us but landed to prepare to receive the DC-7 drops. The rotors had not yet stopped turning when I spotted the big aircraft already running in from the east. It was two minutes too early, yet the Admin Base protection troops were already peeling out of the huge cargo door before I had chance to call Squadron Leader George Alexander, who was flying second pilot for Captain Jack Malloch. The DC-7 lumbered past and rolled into a slow starboard turn to re-position for its second drop being the fuel drums and palettes of ammunition. On the ground and out of sight five hundred metres away, the troops were gathering up their parachutes.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Meanwhile the first jets, refueled and rearmed, returned to start taking on the growing list of targets. At times there were as many as four targets lined up for near-simultaneous attention and the whole area was rocked by continual bomb blasts, cannon and anti-aircraft gunfire. The attack went on for a full eight hours.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">By the end of it even the Rhodesians themselves could hardly comprehend the extent of their victory. By the Zanla High Command’s own admission, for the two Rhodesian soldiers killed in the attack the final kill ratio was one thousand to one, while the ratio of injured was about seven hundred to one. For the loss of just one Vampire jet, the devastating attack established the Rhodesian’s reputation of near invincibility on the battlefield. With this success, over the next two and a half years thirty more cross-border raids were made by the Rhodesians as they desperately tried to hold back the swelling tide of invasion.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">But Jack’s role was not over. Twenty-four hours later, after quick repairs to their battle-damaged aircraft, the Rhodesians struck Tembue, codenamed ‘Zulu 2’ this time two hundred kilometres into enemy territory. During this phase of the attack soldiers were dropped from Jack’s DC-7 and retrieved by the Air Force helicopters. But they were right at the limit of the helicopters’ range and several couldn’t make it home so had to land wherever they could. One ran out of fuel while trying to cross the expanse of Lake Cahora Bassa and landed on a small remote island. Jack was back in the air an hour before first light the next morning. He dropped sixteen more RLI paratroopers to defend some of the scattered helicopters and dropped drums of fuel down to the helicopter that was stranded in the middle of the Mozambican lake.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Through this action Jack had firmly established his reputation as not just a fearless combat pilot, but also as a remarkable military tactician. He was now firmly entrenched into the military establishment, as Nick Meikle so eloquently describes, “ATA was at the forefront of Rhodesian sanctions-busting activities. Even though it was essentially a civilian airline, it displayed a military efficiency in the performance of a strategic role enacted with sublime tactical flexibility. It was rather like Rhodesia’s Strategic Air Transport Command.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">For these clandestine missions Jack’s ground-crews would repaint the DC-7 in dark olive green and black camouflage. “We painted the DC-7 with ordinary black-board paint, and it quite unexpectedly turned out to be excellent for anti-<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9K32_Strela-2" target="_blank">strela</a>.” As they had to use large industrial brooms as brushes, the efforts were very rudimentary. Yet they always ensured that the first big black patch just behind the cockpit was in the distinctive shape of the local dark brown ‘dumpie’ beer-bottle.</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">. . .</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">At the end of July the Rhodesians launched another attack against Zanla’s Tembue base in northern Mozambique which had been rebuilt after the devastating attacks of Operation Dingo a year earlier. This attack involved both Jack and his nephew Mike Kruger. Mike was piloting his Alouette III helicopter, attacking targets and deploying ground troops, while Jack was captaining the DC-7, flying in fuel and supplies. The battle had included not just Zanla, but a large contingent of Frelimo soldiers who joined the fray firing a steady barrage of RPG-7 and Strela warheads at whatever aircraft they could see.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Those heat-seeking missiles were particularly dangerous for Jack’s big slow DC-7 which was certainly not designed for war. According to Group Captain Peter Petter-Bowyer who was the Admin Base Commander coordinating the attack, “What horrified everyone each time the DC-7 passed two hundred feet above us was the bright flaming of its ringed exhaust system that could not possibly be missed by a Strela in the fast-fading light.”</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">. . .</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In late 1978 [Jack] had another challenging ‘live’ consignment – a huge pack of Irish foxhounds which the Selous Scouts wanted to try out for tracking terrorists. According to the Scout’s commanding officer, “I had a vet and he had connections in Ireland so Special Branch gave him a forged passport and off he went to find us some dogs. In the end he got seventy-six, all for free. The Irish donated them to us. Of course, it was Jack Malloch who flew them back for us in the back of his DC-8.”</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">. . .</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In addition to developing an alternate source for weapons imports through the Comoros and securing a haul of critical fighter and bomber parts out of the Middle East, Jack had also become very involved in fighting the war itself. He personally participated in cross-border raids and had become a highly respected military strategist who, from late 1977, was involved in many of the High Command’s most audacious plans and proposals. In recognition of this in mid-September Jack was informed that he had earned the Independence Commemorative Decoration ‘for rendering valuable service to Rhodesia.’ Less than a month later he was recommended to become a Commander of the Order of the Legion of Merit. Although Jack appreciated these awards he was completely distracted by the next big cross-border raid that was being planned.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">It was Operation Gatling and it was launched on the morning of October 19th, 1978 with simultaneous attacks against three large ZIPRA terrorist training camps in Zambia. This raid was a reprisal for the downing of the civilian Viscount six weeks earlier. Every single member of the Special Air Service took part, as did Jack’s nephew Mike Kruger, several members of Affretair’s flying crew, including Captain Chris Dixon who gained international fame as ‘Green Leader,’ and of course Jack himself who was at the controls of the DC-7 deploying special forces. As two of the three camps were within just twelve miles of the centre of the Zambian capital, the Rhodesians were worried that the Zambian Air Force, who now also had MiGs, would intercede. To make sure this didn’t happen ‘Green Leader’ in a fully loaded Canberra bomber circled the main control tower at Lusaka airport, thus commandeering Zambian air space for the duration of the battle.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">By the time Jack got back from his four-hour trip to Lusaka and back, news of the attack was breaking. He quickly changed into his ‘civvies’ in preparation for the inevitable visitors. As Nori Mann explained, “To illustrate just how much of a hub we had become in the military circles, when the aircraft landed at New Sarum after the Green Leader raid, everyone, including the pilots, came straight to Jack’s office. They then played the audio recording of what had happened to everyone who gathered there. There was Norman Walsh who was the Director General of Combined Operations, Peter Walls who was Head of the Armed Forces and Air Vice-Marshal Hugh Slatter amongst others. That was the first time anyone had heard the details of the raid. There was a lot of swearing on the tape though and halfway through Jack apologised to me and said that I did not have to stay. He was such an old-school gentleman.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The final tally for Operation Gatling was fifteen hundred ZIPRA combatants killed and thirteen hundred injured. This, for the loss of one SAS soldier killed and three airmen wounded when a helicopter was hit by cannon fire and downed. Although Rhodesia couldn’t afford to lose neither man nor machine, on balance it had been a good day.</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">. . .</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>[In 1979 South Africa]</i> reinstated almost unlimited military support and the military planners in Salisbury readily took anything they could get, even integrating the South Africans into their next cross-border raid. This ended up being a joint attack against the Gaza Province of Mozambique. Designated as Operation Uric by the Zimbabwe-Rhodesians and as Operation Bootlace by the South Africans, the aim of the operation was to sever key transport bridges in the province and destroy a major staging point for the Zanla insurgents.</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">. . .</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The Rhodesians launched Operation Uric on September 1st and the battle lasted almost a full week. It was one of the largest external operations of the war and it significantly changed the dimension of the conflict. With the Zimbabwe-Rhodesian and South African armies on one side and Zanla and the Mozambican army and police on the other, Uric internationalised the Rhodesian War. The deep incursion inflicted a high number of FRELIMO casualties and significant infrastructure damage which dramatically impacted the Mozambican economy. Although the Zimbabwe-Rhodesian negotiators at Lancaster House did not realise it at the time, Mozambique could not sustain this degree of punishment and Samora Machel insisted that Mugabe either negotiate a settlement or vacate Mozambique.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In total Jack flew three DC-7 missions in support of Uric, starting the day before launch when he flew twenty-five South African ‘Recce’ special forces (designated as ‘D Squadron SAS’ to disguise their origin) to their staging post at Buffalo Range near the eastern border. By the time the operation was wrapping up Jack was already into the detailed planning of his next daring mission. This time it was Operation Cheese and the plan was to down the longest road and rail bridge in Africa. It was located in northern Zambia and was being used to transport military supplies down from Tanzania. This ‘Tan-Zam’ rail link was also crucial to the Zambian economy as the only other option was the southern trade route through Rhodesia, and that would only be made available if Zambia stopped providing sanctuary to Nkomo’s insurgents. It was hoped this attack would force Kaunda and Nkomo to the negotiating table.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The logistics for this audacious attack were tricky though as the rail bridge was almost eight hundred kilometres north of Salisbury, well beyond helicopter range. This Chambeshi Bridge had been identified as a strategic target since 1976, but it was considered too far away and too complex to be achievable. But desperate times called for desperate measures.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">While there was no way of getting the team of saboteurs out of the target area, a HALO drop from the DC-7 was the ideal way of getting them in. In early September while the battles of Uric were still raging Jack did a couple of night reconnaissance flights over the bridge to find a suitable drop zone. Once he confirmed the DZ the training for the jump began. The first team of four men were due to be dropped on the night of September 12th, just two days after the start of the Lancaster House talks. Kevin Milligan takes up the story, “As the owner of the DC-7, Jack could make sure he was on all the important missions with it. He thrived on it. He had been on the crew for the training jumps and we were in very good hands. Jack, a well-built man, oozing a quiet confidence, was a legend in his own right and had carried out many daring exploits in his time. Nothing phased him and the men found him considerate and amusing.” Unfortunately by the time they got over the target zone after midnight it was obliterated by heavy haze and they were forced to abort the mission. As they needed a clear full moon they had to wait almost a full month for the next suitable opportunity.</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">. . .</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">On September 27th Jack’s nephew Mike Kruger was called upon to evacuate an operational casualty. It was a hazardous operation requiring the casevac to be done right in the midst of an ongoing firefight. As Mike managed it successfully with no regard for his own safety he was awarded the Bronze Cross of Rhodesia. A week later with the full moon on October 3rd, 1979 Jack again flew the four-man SAS ‘freefall’ team back to the Chambeshi bridge.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">According to Kevin, “I was very aware that the DC-7 must have sounded very noisy at eight thousand feet. We were already pushing our luck. I frantically peered out for any sign of the river and the crucial bend, but to my great disappointment, again, nothing. With a very heavy heart I told George to abort. I was so angry and frustrated, but had a final look out of the door. It was like something out of a movie. At just the right time and the right angle, I saw the moon glinting on the river bend that I was looking for, just as it was on the reconnaissance photo. There was little time for the normal flat turn corrections on run-in as I called to George “Come left, come left, harder – steady” then “Go! Go! Go!” and off they went. Straight into the storm. Full flap and undercarriage down to slow the aircraft.” It was one thirty in the morning on October 4th.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Paul French, who was leading the initial recce team remembers, because of his heavy kit, just flopping into the slipstream, the brief smell of the engines and then the silence of the free fall. As he turned to face the box of canoes and equipment he could clearly see the reflection of the moon and the dark shapes of the other men. He followed them down to ‘pull height’ and opened the parachute at two thousand feet as he wanted to be close to the box. Strangely the box was never found and the team, with their reduced kit had to improvise. When considering Jack Paul recalled that “Jack Malloch wasn’t young anymore. He was slightly overweight and seemed slow to move, but he exuded a calm confidence born of experience, risk-taking and success. He was a motivated man who appeared to be accustomed to getting his own way.”</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">. . .</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Five nights later, a South African C-130 Hercules dropped the full twelve-man team of SAS commandos and all their equipment over the Chambeshi DZ. According to Kevin, “Someone in high places had obviously pulled strings and it was in South Africa’s interests too to have Kaunda reined in.” At two o’clock in the morning of October 12th the bridge was successfully severed and all sixteen commandos were able to hijack a couple of trucks and drive their way to a designated pick-up spot where the helicopters could reach them.</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">. . .</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>[At the end of the war]</i> Along with the Commonwealth Monitoring Force the world’s news media also flooded into Rhodesia, each trying to find a unique newsworthy story from within the closed, war-torn little country. Remarkably the Daily Express chose to tell the story of “Captain Jack – Hero without a medal.” In their editorial they said, “Captain Jack Malloch was the doyen of the Rhodesian sanctions busters, the link man of the intricate spider’s web of commercial cross-deals which somehow kept Rhodesia alive for 14 years of economic isolation. Many believe that without Jack Malloch, Rhodesia would not have survived. Until now, Malloch, cloaked his usual life in silence. A small airline venture was the beginning of a career that was to turn him into perhaps the most notorious adventurer in the rugged world of African aviation.”</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><p><br /></p><p>There you have it. A remarkable record of achievement by a remarkable man. Those who knew him, no matter how fleetingly, will not forget him.</p><p>Peter</p><p><br /></p>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-46319335944107595552024-03-22T12:02:00.022-05:002024-03-23T03:23:07.523-05:00Water purification, and a couple more points<p> </p><p>Following <a href="https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2024/03/yet-another-wake-up-call-about-our.html" target="_blank">my first blog post this morning</a> about new threats to our water supply, I've had a couple of e-mails pointing out that I didn't address the topic of water purification.</p><p>That wasn't the point of the post, of course: if you don't already have water, you can't purify or filter it, after all! However, I've addressed the topic of water purification in previous posts. Here are two of them:</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2012/09/emergency-preparation-part-12-water.html" target="_blank">Emergency Preparation, Part 12: Water, hygiene and sanitation</a></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2023/06/your-questions-answered-on-emergency.html" target="_blank">Your questions answered on emergency water purification</a></b></span></p><div><br /></div><p>Both go into a lot of detail about the subject. The first dates from 2012, the second from last year. I think you'll find the answers you need in one or both of them.</p><p>I'd also like to add two more points to this morning's discussion. First, if you live in an apartment, particularly where there are lots of stairs to be climbed to get to your residence, make sure you store water while it's easy to get it up there (i.e. the elevators are working!). If the power goes out, there won't be elevators any more, and you'll lift every pound of water the hard way. It's worth doing that ahead of time.</p><p>Second, if storage space is very limited, look for nooks and crannies in which you can store 16oz. or 20oz. plastic bottles of water. If you put one or two into back corners of a kitchen cupboard or clothes closet, you might be surprised how many you can fit into your living space. <i><u>Store them upright, to prevent leaks!</u></i> Put a couple more flats of water beneath your bed (setting them inside a <a href="https://amzn.to/3Tm1FAI" target="_blank">shallow waterproof storage tote</a>, to contain any leaks and stop the water soaking other things). You won't be able to store as much water as you might like, but anything is better than nothing.</p><p>Hope this helps.</p><p>Peter</p><p>(<b><u>EDITED TO ADD:</u></b> To the people who e-mailed me saying "What about me/us? We can't lift a full 5-gallon bucket!", I can only say <i><b>"Buy smaller buckets!"</b></i> Standard size <a href="https://www.homedepot.com/s/3.5%20gallon%20bucket?NCNI-5" target="_blank">3½ gallon buckets</a> use the same lids as 5 gallon buckets, and <a href="https://www.homedepot.com/s/2%20gallon%20bucket?NCNI-5" target="_blank">2 gallon buckets</a> have their own <a href="https://www.homedepot.com/s/2%20gallon%20bucket%20lid?NCNI-5" target="_blank">smaller lids</a> [although some complain that they don't fit very well - in which case, make temporary covers out of cling wrap or some other material if necessary]. There's always a way!)</p><p><br /></p>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-23123837147901586052024-03-22T09:03:00.001-05:002024-03-22T09:03:00.128-05:00The best worst-of-Bollywood fight scenes?<p> </p><p>From time to time I've published video clips of fight scenes from Bollywood movies, usually so over-the-top that they're funny. This collection recently came to my attention. The scenes are so bad they're truly terrible, and defy the laws of physics, nature and everything else . . . but they're still amusing.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XpBu0dYYT4k?si=xal5PcLUTILeow4z" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Love the bullet (or, rather, the entire cartridge, case, bullet and all) that reverses direction!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqmtugVK0ULnwAFDRS2RiQrfsbhI66Y3dGPOOH7qmIoJBegAHOxTuIz56p5ogkpb-dZhYCqkJrU8Z4oAKAJ7C4OdZGl5-mqU2fY6NjSVsiH9m1xR4RnsojHm7KAAlRmoHERvd-nDSaxIl-wYNOo9XZEaKVmfGYTO6mv7FWXfosSRDpnz2z4-LrYom_dIk/s40/Emoji%20-%20bug%20eyes.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="36" data-original-width="40" height="36" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqmtugVK0ULnwAFDRS2RiQrfsbhI66Y3dGPOOH7qmIoJBegAHOxTuIz56p5ogkpb-dZhYCqkJrU8Z4oAKAJ7C4OdZGl5-mqU2fY6NjSVsiH9m1xR4RnsojHm7KAAlRmoHERvd-nDSaxIl-wYNOo9XZEaKVmfGYTO6mv7FWXfosSRDpnz2z4-LrYom_dIk/s1600/Emoji%20-%20bug%20eyes.png" width="40" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Peter</p><p><br /></p>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-66475264278675789572024-03-22T04:33:00.002-05:002024-03-22T12:10:05.250-05:00Yet another wake-up call about our water supply<p> </p><p>As if crumbling infrastructure, periodic drought and over-consumption weren't enough, our water supplies are now <a href="https://arstechnica.com/security/2024/03/critical-us-water-systems-face-disabling-cyberattacks-white-house-warns/" target="_blank">threatened by state-sponsored hackers</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The Biden administration on Tuesday warned the nation’s governors that drinking water and wastewater utilities in their states are facing “disabling cyberattacks” by hostile foreign nations that are targeting mission-critical plant operations.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>. . .</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The letter cited two recent hacking threats water utilities have faced from groups backed by hostile foreign countries. One incident occurred when hackers backed by the government of Iran disabled operations gear used in water facilities that still used a publicly known default administrator password ... The second threat was publicly revealed last month by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Officials said that a hacking group backed by the Chinese government and tracked under the name Volt Typhoon was maintaining a foothold inside the networks of multiple critical infrastructure organizations, including those in communications, energy, transportation, and water and wastewater sectors. The advisory said that the hackers were pre-positioning themselves inside IT environments to enable disruption operations across multiple critical infrastructure sectors in the event of a crisis or conflict with the US. The hackers, the officials said, had been present in some of the networks for as long as five years.</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><p><br /></p><p>There's <a href="https://arstechnica.com/security/2024/03/critical-us-water-systems-face-disabling-cyberattacks-white-house-warns/" target="_blank">more at the link</a>.</p><p>This is actually a <i>very</i> serious threat. If it were in their interest to cause massive internal disruption to the United States, to stop this country interfering with their operations elsewhere in the world (say, Iran in the Persian Gulf, or China in Taiwan), shutting down the clean water supply to major US cities would certainly require the US government to focus inward, rather than outward. Tens of millions of citizens would be in jeopardy, and could not be ignored. The armed forces would almost certainly have to be deployed to ensure distribution of alternative water supplies, and all sorts of technological resources would be required to repair and rebuild our water infrastructure.</p><p><b><u>I think Iran is a particular threat in that regard.</u></b> It's already got the maritime world over a barrel through its Houthi surrogates in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. If Israel ends up going to war with Hezbollah as well as Hamas, and strikes Iranian forces deployed in Syria, does anyone imagine Iran won't try to respond in kind? And wouldn't part of that response be to keep the US preoccupied with its own problems, including perhaps its citizens' water supplies?</p><p><a href="https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2024/03/a-reminder-why-we-should-be-storing-food.html" target="_blank">Earlier this month I wrote about why we should be storing food.</a> (For some unknown reason, Google stuck a warning about sensitive content on that post, presumably because one of the sources I quoted referenced possible strings attached to government food supplies. Don't let that worry you. Read it anyway - it's important.) In that article, I mentioned emergency water supplies, too.</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Speaking of water storage, <b><u>don't forget water to go with your food reserves</u></b>. Far too many people assume they'll be able to collect water from nearby streams or lakes if necessary. I've personally run into more than one situation (in the Third World, so far) where local strongmen or gangs camped out next to such bodies of water and "taxed" anyone wanting to draw from them. That "tax" might be monetary, or confiscation of supplies, or even demanding (sometimes forcibly taking) sex from any woman who can't pay them in other ways. What makes you think that won't happen here, if things go from bad to worse? Quite apart from that sort of risk, depending on the emergency, local water sources may be so tainted as to be unusable. (Remember the train derailment and chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio, a year ago? <a href="https://www.masslive.com/reckon/2024/02/pennsylvanians-living-near-the-east-palestine-train-derailment-site-say-theyre-still-sick.html" target="_blank">The water in the area is still badly polluted, and nobody knows when [if?] it'll ever be safe to drink again.</a> That can, and probably will, happen elsewhere, too.)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">(Money saving tip: Buy bulk packs of <i><u>food-grade</u></i> 5-gallon buckets, plus lids for them, to store water. <a href="https://www.homedepot.com/p/5-gal-White-Pail-10-Pack-RG5700-10/204082827" target="_blank">This 10-pack, for example, works out at only $3.43 per bucket</a>, which is a bargain in anyone's language. Add low-cost lids for them (I like <a href="https://www.homedepot.com/p/3-5-Gal-and-5-Gal-White-Easy-Off-Lid-10-Pack-RG5502-10/207004930" target="_blank">these</a> for water storage, or the [sadly, much more expensive] <a href="https://amzn.to/49zb4vI" target="_blank">Gamma Seal threaded lids</a> for food storage) and a <a href="https://amzn.to/42WGlpV" target="_blank">lid remover</a>, and you're good to go. <span style="background-color: #ffd966;">The combination is <i>much</i> cheaper than buying made-for-purpose <a href="https://amzn.to/3V1zpWC" target="_blank">water storage containers</a>, and every bit as useful.</span> Alternatively, if you want to buy water already sealed in a container, shop for the <a href="https://www.samsclub.com/p/members-mark-water-bottle/prod23602570" target="_blank">Sams Club 4-gallon jugs</a>. They're what I mostly use, and are a real bargain. Keep a few flats of bottled water, too, for handing out to people needing to take water with them while doing other work.)</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><p><br /></p><p>Again, <a href="https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2024/03/a-reminder-why-we-should-be-storing-food.html" target="_blank">more at the link</a>.</p><p>I <b><u>very strongly recommend</u></b> that you pay as much attention to your emergency water supplies as you do to emergency food supplies. Authorities are <i>unanimous</i> in saying the same thing.</p><p><a href="https://www.fema.gov/pdf/library/f&web.pdf" target="_blank">FEMA recommends:</a></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: arial;">Store at least one gallon per person, per day. Consider storing at least a two-week supply of water for each member of your family. If you are unable to store this quantity, store as much as you can.</span></blockquote><p></p><p><a href="https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/emergency/creating-storing-emergency-water-supply.html" target="_blank">The CDC recommends:</a></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Store at least 1 gallon of water per person per day for 3 days for drinking and sanitation. Try to store a 2-week supply if possible.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Consider storing more water than this for pregnant women, people who are sick, pets, or if living in a hot climate.</span></li></ul><p></p><p><a href="https://www.ready.gov/water" target="_blank">Ready.gov recommends:</a></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: arial;">Store at least one gallon of water per person per day for several days, for drinking and sanitation ... Take the following into account:</span></blockquote><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><blockquote><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Children, nursing mothers and sick people may need more water.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">A medical emergency might require additional water.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">If you live in a warm weather climate more water may be necessary. In very hot temperatures, water needs can double.</span></li></blockquote></ul><p></p><p></p><p>I agree with all of them, except that I think one gallon per person per day is inadequate. Remember, water will be needed for drinking, basic personal hygiene (cleaning teeth, washing hands and the essential bits), food preparation and cleaning up afterwards, laundering essential clothing (e.g. underwear), etc. I reckon <i>two</i> gallons per person per day is more like a practical, realistic minimum to provide for all of those needs. In hot climates during high summer, even that may be inadequate, particularly if you're physically active. (Let me tell you, a north Texas summer with daytime temperatures well over 100 degrees will bake you dry!)</p><p>For a family of four, at two gallons per person per day, that equates to eight gallons of water per day, or fifty-six gallons per week. That's just over <i><b>eleven</b></i> five-gallon buckets of water every week, or <i><b>fourteen</b></i> of those four-gallon Sams Club jugs. It's inconvenient to store that much: water is bulky, it's heavy, and it takes up space you'd probably rather use for other things - but without it, you'll be in a world of hurt. I personally think that a week's supply of water for your household is a <i>minimum</i> requirement. (I store more than that.)</p><p><span style="background-color: #ffd966;">If the water to your neighborhood was completely cut off for a week or more, <i>how would you cope?</i></span> Where would you go to get water, and how would you do that if <i>everyone else</i> in your suburb was doing the same thing? What containers would you use to get and store the water? <b><i>If you don't have them now, how do you expect to get them at short notice when everyone else is looking for them, too?</i></b> Water weighs eight pounds per gallon. Are you fit and strong enough to carry a full five-gallon bucket weighing forty pounds from the water point to your home? Can you do that over and over again, as often as necessary? If you're not strong enough, do you have a garden cart or other means of transport for your containers? Will you be able to stop others trying to steal your container(s) and/or cart(s)?</p><p>Friends, get those buckets and lids or other containers <i>now,</i> while you still can, enough of them for <i>at least</i> a week's supply of water for your household. Fill as many as you can conveniently store in your home, and nest the others together to save space. At the first sign that there might be a need for them, fill the rest. Add a <a href="https://amzn.to/3IPq6lm" target="_blank">WaterBOB bathtub water container</a> to your reserve supplies, and fill it as soon as it seems there may be a need for it; or, at the very least, keep your bathtub as clean as possible and fill it if an emergency threatens. (Make sure the plug or stopper doesn't leak!) Together with your other containers, you'll be well set to survive a week or two without your regular water supplies.</p><p>Some may think I'm putting too much emphasis on this. That depends on your perspective. I've lived in the Third World, where interruptions in the water supply often (<i>too</i> often!) went hand-in-hand with sometimes severe, life-threatening social disruption and conflict. It wasn't a talking point there - it was quite literally a survival measure. If you had to go out to get water, you exposed yourself to real personal risk of harm. If you had water at home, you didn't have to go out to get it; so you were safer. I still think of emergency supplies from that perspective. It kept me alive back then. I hope it won't have to again . . . but who knows?</p><p>You can live a few days, or even a couple of weeks, without food; you'll be hungry, but won't suffer permanent harm. <span style="background-color: #ffd966;">Three days without water and you'll be dead, or nearly so.</span> Make sure you have reserve water supplies. That's the bottom line.</p><p>Peter</p><p>(<b><u>EDITED TO ADD:</u></b> Following reader questions, <a href="https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2024/03/water-purification-and-couple-more.html" target="_blank">I've written a brief follow-up post to this one</a>. Please click over there to read it.)</p><p><br /></p>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-73754795464683270242024-03-21T12:20:00.000-05:002024-03-21T12:20:16.233-05:00About those calls for a ceasefire in Gaza...<p> </p><p>... if the people of Gaza have learned nothing from hostilities so far, why should those hostilities be suspended?</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn1eUHpMabumx76LvIHahf7FSH0G3AU3f7UFT6rOhkYpJVBapp9ZSuv65YllGUfYbhcC0Ic4ys06VuxmJHHjhRnYzF3q_lN_XhgFa-KmbkJ9p07KPeDhgNLMssY4rme5yzYriX2uiEPxwzyBvO_ctA8riiWyWhxx1gL6ZROfgXIDT_u0cFaSQA_NVAQbk/s600/Satloff%20tweet.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="600" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn1eUHpMabumx76LvIHahf7FSH0G3AU3f7UFT6rOhkYpJVBapp9ZSuv65YllGUfYbhcC0Ic4ys06VuxmJHHjhRnYzF3q_lN_XhgFa-KmbkJ9p07KPeDhgNLMssY4rme5yzYriX2uiEPxwzyBvO_ctA8riiWyWhxx1gL6ZROfgXIDT_u0cFaSQA_NVAQbk/w400-h263/Satloff%20tweet.png" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>The tweet refers to <a href="https://www.pcpsr.org/sites/default/files/Poll%2091%20English%20press%20release%2020%20March%202024.pdf" target="_blank">this poll</a> by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research.</p><p>As PJMedia asks: "<a href="https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2024/03/21/death-to-jews-is-still-super-popular-with-gazans-getting-their-butts-kicked-by-jews-n4927510" target="_blank">Have Gazans Learned Nothing?</a>"</p><div><br /></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The disparity between the first two numbers is wide enough to sail a battleship through. "We didn't rape anybody to death or take any children hostage, but those Jews sure were asking for it!"</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">And 59% want Hamas to run the Gaza Strip after the war is over? That's like more than half of Germany, in the weeks before the Nazi surrender, looking at the rubble that was once a great country and concluding that Hitler deserved a second chance. Or the people of Japan in August of 1945 deciding that just riding out the nuclear destruction wouldn't be too bad.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>. . .</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Israel, it turned out, was far too lenient in its treatment of Gaza since abandoning the strip almost 20 years ago. Allowing aid to pour in, cities to be built, making medical care and jobs available in Israel for those who wanted them... all that kindness brought was an even greater determination among the people of Gaza to murder more Jews.</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><p><br /></p><p>There's <a href="https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2024/03/21/death-to-jews-is-still-super-popular-with-gazans-getting-their-butts-kicked-by-jews-n4927510" target="_blank">more at the link</a>.</p><p>All I can say is, if that poll is correct and those are the feelings and wishes of most residents of Gaza, they're asking for all they're getting, and then some. It's impossible - indeed, I suggest it's immoral - to ask Israel to back down from its hardline stance and halt its military operations when Gazans themselves continue to justify both by their intransigence.</p><p>Peter</p><p><br /></p>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-31630939205952481562024-03-21T09:01:00.001-05:002024-03-21T09:01:00.125-05:00An interesting analysis of the US Army's helicopter plans<p> </p><p>Many people were surprised when the US Army cancelled its <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Attack_Reconnaissance_Aircraft" target="_blank">Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA)</a> program last month. However, those who'd been following the battlefield performance of helicopters in the Russia-Ukraine conflict were less so. Following the decision, there's been a lot of speculation about the way ahead for the US Army, and for other nations. Flight Global <a href="https://www.flightglobal.com/defence/how-combat-helicopter-losses-in-ukraine-brought-down-us-armys-fara-strategy/157468.article" target="_blank">observes</a>:</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">“We are learning from the battlefield – especially in Ukraine,” army chief of staff General Randy George said as the FARA requirement was cancelled on 8 February. “Aerial reconnaissance has fundamentally changed. Sensors and weapons mounted on a variety of unmanned systems and in space are more ubiquitous, further reaching, and more inexpensive than ever before.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Rather than continue to plough billions of dollars into the FARA project, the service instead has opted to “rebalance its aviation modernisation investments across new and enduring platforms”.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>. . .</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">For FARA especially, the army envisioned a platform that would capable of operating low and fast. Such traits would enable the service to keep its aircraft and personnel out of harm’s when facing advanced ground-based air-defence systems and man-portable weapons.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Yet to be flown, the FARA candidates – Bell’s 360 Invictus and Sikorsky’s Raider X – were designed to meet a performance requirement of at least 180kt (333km/h) ... Instead, the service will continue to employ the Apache for such tasks, in concert with assets including a future tactical uncrewed aircraft system (FTUAS) and so-called air-launched effects (ALEs) ... The service has already performed trials involving the Black Hawk deploying Anduril Industries’ <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anduril_Industries#Altius" target="_blank">Altius-600</a> UAS. Such a system could be employed as an ALE, extending platform reach by providing surveillance, electronic warfare capability or kinetic effect.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The army will later this year also begin fielding Rafael’s <a href="https://breakingdefense.com/2022/06/rafael-unveils-new-spike-nlos-missile-version-with-in-flight-control-transfer/" target="_blank">Spike NLOS</a> long-range air-to-surface missile with its V6-standard AH-64Es. The weapon has a precision strike capability against fixed and moving targets from a maximum range of 27nm (50km).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">“There are a lot of countries interested in the integration of Spike NLOS for Apache ‘Echo’,” Rafael says, pointing to lessons learned from the war in Ukraine. “Everybody is looking for stand-off [range], since the threat is much greater than it used to be.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Questions remain around the complex task of managing airspace congestion and deconflicting assets in an era where manned rotorcraft will operate in the same battlespace – and in many cases at the same altitude – as multiple UAS and ALEs.</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><p><br /></p><p>There's <a href="https://www.flightglobal.com/defence/how-combat-helicopter-losses-in-ukraine-brought-down-us-armys-fara-strategy/157468.article" target="_blank">more at the link</a>.</p><p>In the light of the last paragraph above, I find the article's references to the Altius-600 and Spike NLOS weapons intriguing. Both of the latter aren't exactly UAV's, and aren't exactly missiles; they can both be "handed over" to guidance from different platforms, loiter over an area in reconnaissance mode (in the Spike's case, looking for targets), and generally make a longer-term nuisance of themselves in areas where the helicopter that launched them might not be able to survive enemy fire. We're seeing "crossover" technology in action, where UAV's and missiles are less distinct from each other, more dual-purpose and flexible.</p><p>In that light, it's obvious why FARA was canned. Even at higher speeds, a 180-knot helicopter simply can't cut it over a battlefield saturated with anti-aircraft missiles capable of ten times that speed or more. It's too big and slow a target, comparatively speaking. It would do no better than existing helicopters - so why not keep the latter, and save money by not developing the former? It's far more difficult to detect much smaller ALE's and missiles, and much harder to shoot them down, so it makes sense to let them handle the well-defended battlefield airspace and treat the helicopter as a sensor integration and launching platform.</p><p>However, this gives rise to another question. If helicopters have to adapt to that role, what about tanks? I don't think we've seen the end of the tank, but its role on the battlefield may change, making it too a sensor integration and launching platform for other weapons - not a primary weapon in itself. Nobody knows right now, but I'd hate to be a tank crew on a modern battlefield. Video footage from Ukraine shows why.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WC5fD_B-o80?si=UO2UprRrqR3qX7KT" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>It's almost impossible to evade detection by such a drone, particularly when there are dozens, even hundreds of them saturating a battle space. A helicopter, or even multiple helicopters, could never achieve such saturation coverage - it would be far too expensive to buy that many helicopters, and every time one was shot down, the loss of its highly trained crew and an extremely costly machine would drain defense budgets.</p><p>I'm glad my soldiering days are done. I suspect the battlefields of the future will be far more automated, and probably far more lethal.</p><p>Peter</p><p><br /></p>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-45078679164060860492024-03-21T04:22:00.004-05:002024-03-21T04:22:00.239-05:00Headline of the week<p> </p><p>Top this:</p><p><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13200553/Vandal-rampage-Buddhist-temple-dies-slipping-impaling-statue-Buddha.html" target="_blank">Vandal rampaging through Buddhist temple</a></span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13200553/Vandal-rampage-Buddhist-temple-dies-slipping-impaling-statue-Buddha.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>dies </b></span><b style="font-family: arial;">after slipping and impaling himself</b></a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13200553/Vandal-rampage-Buddhist-temple-dies-slipping-impaling-statue-Buddha.html" target="_blank">on a statue of Buddha</a></span></b></div></div><p><br /></p><p>Sometimes karma is just plain mean, y'know . . . or perhaps Buddha called on his Hindu buddy <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali" target="_blank">Kali</a> to administer an ecumenical form of divine justice.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Zk-BQ-4ojR7ARutcAKzLtJZWc3UvqBt0RO-tkFas6H9yHxG7o4fv9eUVoR7RnuKtGCknTjKgbTMlt6YIl2pd_Apf9eNtRblWPrvbdduK-Z3HzaemiiUhFSZs3muoy0a1xDW47sWnk2Uhnioyp22uI_8zfkB1CS-jIQfphb4osWAlDOZoFmiAa06hsnY/s40/Emoji%20-%20eek.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="39" data-original-width="40" height="39" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Zk-BQ-4ojR7ARutcAKzLtJZWc3UvqBt0RO-tkFas6H9yHxG7o4fv9eUVoR7RnuKtGCknTjKgbTMlt6YIl2pd_Apf9eNtRblWPrvbdduK-Z3HzaemiiUhFSZs3muoy0a1xDW47sWnk2Uhnioyp22uI_8zfkB1CS-jIQfphb4osWAlDOZoFmiAa06hsnY/s1600/Emoji%20-%20eek.png" width="40" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Peter</p><p><br /></p>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-89492391098254629342024-03-20T12:02:00.001-05:002024-03-20T12:02:00.241-05:00The gender issue, explained<p> </p><p>From <a href="https://www.virtualmirage.org/melancholia-enshrines-all-triumph/" target="_blank">Larry Lambert</a>:</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>When you put a potato in a microwave oven and punch the “pizza” button, and it is still a potato, it will help you understand how gender works.</b></span></blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><p>Indeed!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiigkqev1ibczzVhT4SmZ3tLB2YEYNzGt7xOlKIr8r4ZA1NQ_7lvAe91OsIkZTDwVnE5R9scXPN1dOnsyKVhinuEezqz0LdFAjC8eU9tW1KwHWljUtJNfCnZJYDAcEZ_QR3LY3TeAXtihM9U4QJfOLHVLWpcFIlo_SB7F8xcan5J74Xj7v8Lhl6zrxzu1w/s40/Emoji%20-%20crying%20with%20laughter.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="38" data-original-width="40" height="38" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiigkqev1ibczzVhT4SmZ3tLB2YEYNzGt7xOlKIr8r4ZA1NQ_7lvAe91OsIkZTDwVnE5R9scXPN1dOnsyKVhinuEezqz0LdFAjC8eU9tW1KwHWljUtJNfCnZJYDAcEZ_QR3LY3TeAXtihM9U4QJfOLHVLWpcFIlo_SB7F8xcan5J74Xj7v8Lhl6zrxzu1w/s1600/Emoji%20-%20crying%20with%20laughter.png" width="40" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Peter</p><p><br /></p>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-25475750536391886972024-03-20T09:05:00.001-05:002024-03-20T09:05:00.139-05:00Er... oops?<p> </p><p>A 1,200-foot container ship tried to <a href="https://splash247.com/yang-ming-boxship-takes-out-three-cranes-in-turkey/?mod=djemlogistics_h" target="_blank">dock in Evyap, Turkey</a>, over the weekend. It wasn't a success.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/G-2NO7ZsGRM?si=hUj_Ukzg0EZBMsRC" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><br /></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mSz3rKfpIUQ?si=EEKyqHvPZzQkVEd6" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The ship was under a pilot's control at the time, so the captain and crew won't be legally responsible for the damage. However, I suspect the pilot's pension just took a terminal knock, because he'll be held accountable for whatever went wrong. Container cranes cost well into the seven figures each, and he knocked down three of them; then there's the damage to the ship to consider, as well as the dockside itself. That was an expensive "Oopsie!"</p><p>Peter</p><p><br /></p>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-2294032501670307382024-03-20T04:39:00.001-05:002024-03-20T04:39:00.122-05:00Sounds like a good idea to me. How about doing the same here?<p> </p><p>There's pressure in Germany to <a href="https://www.rmx.news/article/reduce-poverty-migration-to-zero-german-politicians-propose-crackdown-on-migrants-sending-billions-to-their-home-countries/" target="_blank">stop economic migrants sending money</a> back to their countries of origin.</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Every year, migrants and refugees transfer billions of euros from Germany to family members in their home countries, with the Bundesbank estimating this to be at least €6.8 billion per year.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Now, some German political parties want to crack down on this development, with the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) seeking to “reduce poverty migration to zero” with restrictions on cash payments and social benefits.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Some of the money sent abroad is earned from work, but a substantial amount is likely from social welfare payments transferred to migrants, who then send it out of the country to support their families across the world. Since many of these social welfare benefits are distributed as cash, there is little oversight in how this money is used and transferred by migrants.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">These foreigners have a substantial incentive to send this money overseas, where due to exchange rates and different standards of living, the euro can go far further than it can in Germany. However, these social welfare payments were never designed to be sent overseas, and are meant to provide the necessary support for migrants within Germany.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>. . .</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">AfD parliamentary group spokesperson, René Springer [said] ... “We need a strict principle of benefits in kind for asylum seekers — bread, bed, and soap. There should be nothing more. Only then can we really assume that people who ask for asylum here are actually seeking protection. Asylum is only intended for this purpose and not as an access portal to German social benefits,” he continued.</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><p><br /></p><p>There's <a href="https://www.rmx.news/article/reduce-poverty-migration-to-zero-german-politicians-propose-crackdown-on-migrants-sending-billions-to-their-home-countries/" target="_blank">more at the link</a>.</p><p>I entirely agree. The purpose of helping "refugees" (and yes, we all know that most "refugees" are economic migrants and nothing more) is to help <i>them,</i> to cover their basic needs <i>here</i>. It's not to support their extended families back home. Why should our taxpayers support those outside our borders who pay no taxes to us in their turn?</p><p>I understand some will say that this is inhumane; that we should be willing to help the poor in other countries as (at minimum) a "gesture of support". Very well. If they want to allow such transfers, then we should ensure that we get back at least some of the money we'll otherwise waste on needs beyond our borders. I propose a 50% tax on all cash transfers to designated nations (those where such abuse is most frequent), and very strict controls on which institutions are allowed to make such transfers - no informal system such as the Islamic <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawala" target="_blank">Hawala</a>, which is untraceable and can't be monitored. Anyone caught sending money abroad by unauthorized means should be prosecuted and punished. That way, we'll at least restrict such transfers to real emergencies, and (hopefully) prevent benefits intended to be spent here from being spent beyond our borders.</p><p>As for distributing benefits in kind rather than in cash, I agree again, but that's hard to enforce. Already, there are widespread problems with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_benefit_transfer" target="_blank">EBT</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supplemental_Nutrition_Assistance_Program" target="_blank">SNAP</a> benefits such as food, laundry soap, etc. being "sold" to local corner shops for cash or exchanged for goods not covered by the EBT system, such as cigarettes or booze. Refugees receiving food allowances would doubtless try to do the same with what they're given. I'm not sure that practical, affordable systems of control could be set up.</p><p>Perhaps simplest of all, <i>stop providing economic migrants with benefits far beyond the basics that they need to survive!</i> We don't have to provide them with luxuries such as TV's, cellphones, airline travel and so forth. If they're genuinely refugees, they'll be grateful for the basics. If they demand more, they're unlikely to be refugees and they certainly aren't grateful; so why not send them back over the border, to find another country more willing to meet their demands?</p><p>Peter</p><p><br /></p>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-89557073152944790382024-03-19T12:05:00.003-05:002024-03-19T12:05:00.235-05:00Of parents, inheritance, and greed<p> </p><p>I could hardly believe my eyes when I read this <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-13211785/My-inheritance-drunk-straw-coconut-Caribbean-selfish-resenting-boomer-parents-burning-money-mine.html" target="_blank">whiny, self-centered, greedy complaint</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">... my parents seem to have developed a full-on travel bug. And with every taken-on-a-whim excursion to Provence, every luxury jaunt to Thailand, New York or Costa Rica, I'm afraid to say I grow ever more resentful.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">It is not a pleasant thing to admit, but the fact is their dream holidays are draining my inheritance.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">As an impecunious 34-year-old millennial in an impossibly expensive property market, I am relying on, at some stage, a handout from them. But all I can see is my money receding into the distance on a long-haul trip to Bali.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">With many of my friends in a similar position, and the cost of living crisis still at full throttle, the question troubling us over the generational divide is this. Who is being selfish? Us for wanting them to save their money so we can one day have it? Or them, for splurging it all so freely on themselves?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>. . .</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">While their pensions are healthy, this level of travel is eating into their savings. Is it unbelievably awful to think of the money they spend on these trips as mine?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">They had, after all, mentioned they'd divide any eventual sum between my sister and me, and I've been quietly counting on that to get a leg up.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">At 34, I am still renting and living hand-to-mouth. Unlike the boomers, my generation are more used to working freelance or making do with gig economy jobs than climbing the corporate ladder in a solid job for life. Soon, AI will come for the white collar workers among us anyway.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I know that when I finally get on the property ladder, I'm going to be in so much debt that there will be no way out without help.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">How can I ever settle down and give them grandchildren if there isn't any money in the pipeline to support them? Do they want to go on holiday more than they want me to be able to have and bring up children?</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><p><br /></p><p>There's <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-13211785/My-inheritance-drunk-straw-coconut-Caribbean-selfish-resenting-boomer-parents-burning-money-mine.html" target="_blank">more at the link</a>.</p><p>I'm at a loss to explain the writer's attitude. Where on earth did he get the idea that someone else's money was actually his, by entitlement if not by actual transfer?</p><p>I can't speak for others, I guess, but I can use myself as an example. I was raised by parents who survived the Great Depression in England in the 1930's. My father and his younger brother were abandoned in a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workhouse" target="_blank">workhouse</a> by their mother after their father left home, because she couldn't cope with the cost of feeding them during economic hard times. They almost certainly hated every minute of their time there; but they nevertheless buckled down and got on with it, because there was no alternative. Dad joined the Royal Air Force in 1936 as a mid-teenager under the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_Apprentice_Scheme" target="_blank">Aircraft Apprentice Scheme</a>, and worked like a dog to pass the three-year course and become an aircraft fitter. He then used that background and his own nose for opportunity to become a commissioned engineer officer, which saw him through World War II. He and my mother (neither having so much as a Grade 12 school education to begin with) went on to complete their Ph. D.'s after the war, emigrated to two countries, raised four kids, and had, all in all, a pretty successful life. Did we kids think they "owed" <i>us</i> the fruits of their quite incredibly hard labors? <i>No way!</i> They clawed their way out of the gutter and into a middle-class lifestyle through their own blood, sweat and tears, then told us that if they could do it, we could too - and they expected us to do precisely that. It was up to <i>us</i> to succeed, not up to them to do it for us.</p><p>I don't like the way the economy has gone over the past couple of decades, but that's my problem, not something I can expect others to magically resolve. I don't have a pension from my service as a pastor - I forfeited that when <a href="https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2010/04/catholic-clergy-sex-abuse-scandal-part_12.html" target="_blank">I took a stand over the clergy child sexual abuse issue</a>, as regular readers will understand. That hasn't made me whine and weep and look to others for support. It's just thrown me back on my own resources, and I'm using them as best I can to support our family (along with my wife's income, of course). What right do I have to expect others to pay for me? None whatsoever, as far as I can see.</p><p>Therefore, to read such expectations of his parents, and the implied guilt-trip he's trying to lay on them, infuriates me. Sure, he's going to have a harder time of it, economically speaking, than his parents did - but their parents probably had it worse than he does, and if he goes back far enough, I'm sure he'll find some ancestors who starved during famines or perished during plagues.</p><p>President Theodore Roosevelt had some sage advice that I've made my own since I first read it:</p><p><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Do what you can,</span></b></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><b><div style="text-align: center;">with what you have,</div><div style="text-align: center;">where you are.</div></b></span></div><p><br /></p><p>That sums up my life, and the writer's, and everybody else's life too. We can't rely on anyone else to do those things. It's up to us. Anything extra, like winning the lottery, or having generous parents, or whatever, is a bonus - but it's not guaranteed. We could inherit a million dollars tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow watch as the bottom falls out of the economy and our <i>fiat-</i>currency-millionaire status evaporates like snow on a hot rock. It boils down to making our own way as best we can under the circumstances confronting us. If those circumstances are worse than our parents had them - <i>so what?</i> We still have to cope with them. They're <i>our</i> problem, nobody else's.</p><p>He needs to get his own life, and stop hankering after his parents' lives.</p><p>Peter</p><p><br /></p>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.com49tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-46376295897573268002024-03-19T09:02:00.001-05:002024-03-19T09:02:00.134-05:00It's like a criminal air force, right in our back yard<p> </p><p>It seems unmanned aerial vehicles, A.K.A. drones, are <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/03/15/us-news/air-force-general-reveals-alarming-number-of-drones-crossing-into-us-airspace-at-southern-border/" target="_blank">thronging the skies</a> over parts of our southern border.</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">More than 1,000 drones per month are crossing into US airspace near the border with Mexico, a top general told lawmakers Thursday. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The number of unmanned drone incursions is “alarming” and presents a “growing” potential threat to national security, Air Force Gen. Gregory Guillot, the commander of North American Defense Command and US Northern Command, said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. </span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">. . .</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Mexican cartels have been using drones to track the location of authorities along the US-Mexico border in order to more easily smuggle humans and drugs, according to US Customs and Border Protection officials.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Rio Grande Valley Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez told the House Oversight Committee in February of 2023 that in her Texas sector alone, more than 10,000 drone incursions and 25,000 drone sightings had been reported in the last year.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">“The adversaries have 17 times the number of drones, twice the amount of flight hours and unlimited funding to grow their operations,” Chavez told lawmakers.</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><p><br /></p><p>There's <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/03/15/us-news/air-force-general-reveals-alarming-number-of-drones-crossing-into-us-airspace-at-southern-border/" target="_blank">more at the link</a>.</p><p>It makes very good business sense for the Mexican cartels, which control almost all drug and people smuggling across the southern US border, to use drones for surveillance. If they know where Border Patrol vehicles and roadblocks are at any given time, they can route their "shipments" around them; and their drones warn them if a roadblock is moved, so that they can adjust their operations in real time. It would be called sophisticated if a legitimate business used drones to avoid traffic slowdowns like that. To do so for criminal purposes shows an unwelcome degree of sophistication.</p><p>It's not surprising, of course. With a combined monthly cash flow measured in multiple billions of dollars, the cartels probably have more money available for their needs than most government departments. To invest a hundred million dollars in drones, operator training and deployment is chump change to them - and the money they save by avoiding interception and confiscation of their drug shipments more than repays their expenditure.</p><p>As for cargo shipments by drone, I'm not sure that's economical on the scale at which the cartels operate. Sure, commercial drones can be bought "off the shelf" to carry packages weighing several pounds, and a few larger models can handle hundreds of pounds: but a human smuggler can carry up to a hundred pounds on his back, and thousands of pounds can be smuggled in a single truck. It would make more sense to use the drones to make sure ground smugglers have a clear path to cross the border, rather than try to replace the latter with the former. That may change, of course.</p><p>I've speculated in the past about the development of "anti-drone drones", interceptors whose sole task is to bring down "enemy" drones. We're already seeing that in Ukraine. Will the Border Patrol have to deploy such technology on our border with Mexico, too?</p><p>Peter</p><p><br /></p>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.com9