Way Up North

It's Hopeless, I Tell You!

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Paul) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 01:28:00 +0000

70 Years Ago: WWII Bombing of Dutch Harbor, Alaska

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Paul) — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 15:26:00 +0000

Here's some nearly forgotten history, courtesy of the Anchorage Daily News:

Seventy years ago today, bombs fell on Dutch Harbor. The casualties and damage on a remote Aleutian islet amounted to little more than a blip in the cataclysm of World War II. To this day, educated Americans are unaware that it happened at all.

But the battle permanently changed Alaska in ways that few at the time realized.

(break)

Starting at 3:25 a.m. on June 3, warplanes took off from the carriers Ryujo and Junyo; Val dive bombers, Kate torpedo bombers, Zero fighters. Weather turned many back, but those that continued found clear skies between them and the 6,282 soldiers below.

On the ground, sirens screamed. Men raced to anti-aircraft guns. Ships rushed to clear out of the harbor. Army Fort Mears, with neat rows of closely-packed wooden barracks, presented a choice target. The bomber aimed for it and the communications facility on what became known as Suicide Hill. Zeros strafed the defenders in the trenches, then zipped back to their carriers.

"By 7:45 a.m. all the pilots and their crews had arrived safely home," says historian John Cloe in his book "The Aleutian Warriors." Numbers reported by Cloe indicate more than 40 American dead at the end of the first day of the battle.

Click the link to read the whole article.

Quote of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Paul) — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 12:30:00 +0000

The people of the various provinces are strictly forbidden to have in their possession any swords, bows, spears, firearms or other types of arms. The possession of these elements makes difficult the collection of taxes and dues, and tends to permit uprising.

~ Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Japanese Shogun, August 29, 1558

Boring Much?

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Paul) — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 19:05:00 +0000

Man, I really shouldn't try to compose posts before morning coffee; this morning's was awful. (yawn...) I hope this one's better.

But the sun is shining, the sky is mostly blue, and it just doesn't get any nicer. That yellow thing in the sky is actually producing palpable warmth - something we haven't felt since last summer. It's going to be a wonderful day.

That which I needed to do has been done, and it will be daylight until nearly midnight tonight. 13 hours of usable light ahead means it's time to go play.

See ya!

Saturday in the A.M.

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Paul) — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 15:53:00 +0000

I have to take my truck for an oil change & heating system flush. Oldest daughter intends to take the road test for her driver's license on Monday, so I'll be spending a lot of time in the passenger seat in her car in the next couple of days.

Younger daughter is heading to the mall to get an iPhone, and all the womenfolk will heading to another mall for clothes-shopping, after that.

None of it's terribly interesting, I know, but it's needful.

This afternoon, we'll all head over to the only Olive Garden in Alaska for dinner, and perhaps sit around the fire pit tonight.

Friday Awwww ... Baby Moose in a Puddle

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Paul) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Lord, Please Send Us Another One

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Paul) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 20:48:00 +0000

Ronaldus Magnus

June the Oneth

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Paul) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 16:09:00 +0000

Happy Friday!

It was 43 & cloudy when I got up this morning, but of course the sun was up before I was. As the summer solstice approaches, we're at the beginning of a roughly six-week period where it doesn't get dark at night. Dusky at 2 a.m., yes, but never dark.

I got a call at 6:45 in the blessed a.m. from some HR person in Michigan, checking references on a former employee of mine. The kid must be new, because during my years as a recruiter, I never dialed an unfamiliar area code without checking to see what time zone it was in.

Preserve us from newbies in any profession ... sigh.

* * * * *

I've been maintaining a large valise full of patch cords, connectors, splitters, speaker wire, automotive dashboard switches and other miscellany for more than 30 years. When I began, it was almost entirely audio cables & plugs, but has morphed through the years to include AC adapters in various voltages, PC connectors, USB cables, CAT 5 cable, A/V coax, and ... the list goes on.

Whenever a need arises, I can usually find something in there to make dissimilar connections talk to each other. The collection has long since been unwieldy, so this morning I emptied the contents on a large table at work, and began sorting through what was in there.

I threw out all the 1/4" phone plugs/jacks, since almost nothing uses those any more (except professional sound boards/guitar amps/etc, but I keep all of that stuff elsewhere). It seems I've done this at least once previously, because there weren't as many items of that size as I remembered. As a result, the discard pile wasn't as large as expected, and the valise still has a lot of things in it. Oh, well.

* * * * *

Not much else to report this morning, so I'll stop with this. Have a great day, folks.

Attention, Monster Hunters!

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Paul) — Thu, 31 May 2012 20:53:00 +0000

(with apologies to Larry Correia)

These were spotted recently outside of Chicken, Alaska:

Click for added gory details

It's just wrong. Everybody knows that gnomes and zombies are two different kinds of monsters!

h/t J.D.

Are We Pwned Yet?

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Paul) — Thu, 31 May 2012 20:22:00 +0000

Busy Morning

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Paul) — Thu, 31 May 2012 15:33:00 +0000

First: 32 years ago today, my wife & I committed matrimony.

* * * * *

So far this morning, I've

Opened the mail
Replaced a defective lock on a parcel box, in the bank of mailboxes
Performed monthly maintenance tests on both elevators
Faxed yesterday's bank receipt to the main office
Straightened the furniture on the mezzanine
Answered e-mails from my boss & a couple of tenants
Replied to a proposed contract with my corrections/desires

Now, it's 7:30 and I'm waiting for the coffee shop to open. Y'all have a good one!

Multiple Gunshot Victims

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Paul) — Wed, 30 May 2012 21:04:00 +0000

from a couple of incidents in Seattle. In the first, a police spokesman said "it could be a domestic violence situation", there are two dead and three wounded.

In the second instance, yesterday, a woman was killed near Seattle's Town Hall.

I don't see how this could happen; Seattle all-but-outlawed guns a long time ago. It's unpossible! (with gratitude to Robb Allen for the phrase)

About That Face-Eating Guy in Florida...

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Paul) — Wed, 30 May 2012 13:30:00 +0000

"America's Most Irresponsible"

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Paul) — Wed, 30 May 2012 00:22:00 +0000

Tea Party Patriots has listed the 62 U.S. Senators who have consistently voted to increase America's overspending.

Check to see if yours are on the list, here. Sadly, I'm not surprised that both of ours are on there.

Quote of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Paul) — Tue, 29 May 2012 13:45:00 +0000

"It is impossible to govern the world without God and the Bible. Of all the dispositions and habits that lead to political prosperity, our religion and morality are the indispensable supporters. Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that our national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."

~ George Washington

Memorial Day 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Paul) — Mon, 28 May 2012 13:30:00 +0000

"Once each May, amid the quiet hills and rolling lanes and breeze-brushed trees of Arlington National Cemetery, far above the majestic Potomac and the monuments and memorials of our Nation's Capital just beyond, the graves of America's military dead are decorated with the beautiful flag that in life these brave souls followed and loved. This scene is repeated across our land and around the world, wherever our defenders rest.

"Let us hold it our sacred duty and our inestimable privilege on this day to decorate these graves ourselves -- with a fervent prayer and a pledge of true allegiance to the cause of liberty, peace, and country for which America's own have ever served and sacrificed.

"... Our pledge and our prayer this day are those of free men and free women who know that all we hold dear must constantly be built up, fostered, revered and guarded vigilantly from those in every age who seek its destruction. We know, as have our Nation's defenders down through the years, that there can never be peace without its essential elements of liberty, justice and independence. Those true and only building blocks of peace were the lone and lasting cause and hope and prayer that lighted the way of those whom we honor and remember this Memorial Day.

"To keep faith with our hallowed dead, let us be sure, and very sure, today and every day of our lives, that we keep their cause, their hope, their prayer, forever our country's own."

~~ Ronald Reagan

Monster Hunter Legion

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Paul) — Sun, 27 May 2012 20:50:00 +0000

Just finished reading the e-ARC. My review? Larry Correia's done it again, bigger & better than ever.

This one's bigger than The Condition/Arbmunep storyline, and plays better. The cast is larger, the bad guys (okay, unearthly forces, but you know what I mean) badder and more devious, and there are several plot twists you won't see coming. There are characters from each of the previous novels including Alpha, as well as at least one from Larry's short stories published on his blog.

If you're a fan of the MHI series, Legion is a fantastic read. It not only continues the MHI universe, it escalates things to a whole new level. Miss this one, and you'll be sorry.

Sleepy Sunday Morning

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Paul) — Sun, 27 May 2012 15:30:00 +0000

Our Saturday went off as planned, which was a nice change of pace. By the way, Men in Black 3 is a good flick IMHO. The Avengers ... well, since most of you have already seen it, you know. It was too short & I wanted to see more of the invasion battle. Admit it: you did, too.

The evening was spent sitting around a fire. It was only a small fire, and not quite equal to the winds which developed in late afternoon. It was 52 degrees with intermittent sun, and a wind chill around 40. Everyone started out in one set of clothes, and within an hour, we'd all put on additional layers. But still, a nice evening.

I'm just over half-way through Monster Hunter Legion, and it's worth every penny, so far. So now, it's time to go back to the Kindle. Have a good day!

Saturday Plans

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Paul) — Sat, 26 May 2012 15:58:00 +0000

We're going to see The Avengers and MIB3 this afternoon, followed by barbeque and an evening around the fire. Marshmallows, hot dogs, s'mores, you name it. Also, I just downloaded the Monster Hunter Legion e-ARC.

Gonna be a good day.

Quote of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Paul) — Fri, 25 May 2012 20:22:00 +0000

Among other evils which being unarmed brings you, it causes you to be despised.

~ Niccolo Machiavelli

"Why I Have (Largely) Given Up on the Federal Government"

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Paul) — Fri, 25 May 2012 19:30:00 +0000

From the Tenth Amendment Center, here's an excerpt:

Over the past year I’ve come to two realizations that are driving some important actions in my life that will manifest themselves in the months and years ahead.

The first is that the federal government is beyond repair. This country is so deep in debt, so far astray from the Constitution, so uneducated on the principles of liberty, so controlled by centralized power and corrupt deals, and so unwilling to take the steps to reverse course, that its future is looking increasingly grim.

(snip)

The best hope that exists in our current system is to work through the state governments to reject unconstitutional legislative and bureaucratic mandates from the national government. Asking the feds to please play nicely and follow the rules has rarely, if ever, worked; the states must be utilized, as they were intended, to “erect barriers at the constitutional line,” as Thomas Jefferson wrote.

This is no easy task. It requires a legislature, a governor, and an attorney general with spines sufficiently strong to take a stand and deal with the consequences. It requires a people who are informed of their individual rights, the Constitution, and the principles of moral government. But these are things that are much more manageable at the state level. Communicating with, persuading, pressuring, and/or replacing somebody in state government is far more achievable and realistic than working to do the same at the federal level.

The author raises some thought-provoking points, and has some proposals to consider. It's worth the read.

"Toxic tsunami debris will flood Alaska shores"

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Paul) — Fri, 25 May 2012 18:53:00 +0000

From today's Anchorage Daily News:

A recent National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimate stated that 1.5 million tons of tsunami-generated debris will hit the North American west coast. That translates into 30 billion pounds. If only 1% of that reaches Alaska's shores, 30 million pounds of largely plastic and toxic debris will flood our sensitive inter-tidal ecosystem. Our predictions are that Alaska will receive closer to 15 to 20% of the debris over a period of years.

In addition to all the plastic and other solid debris, not many realize that millions of containers of hazardous material are coming our way. When one considers that entire cities with all their home garages, auto repair shops, fuel stations, stores, warehouses, industrial plants and everything in between flooded into the ocean, you can comprehend how many containers of chemicals swept out to sea. Those that did not rupture immediately will most likely survive their North Pacific transit and will be deposited upon our high-energy shorelines. If they are not immediately removed, the containers will spill their contents in sensitive inter-tidal ecosystems. Over time, plastic debris will be UV degraded and pounded into tiny particles by our high-energy beaches. When that occurs, a stew of plastic toxins will then be mobilized into the biosphere causing grievous harm for generations. Styrofoam is special concern since it begins to crumble and degrade immediately upon hitting the shoreline.

This could be really, really bad. Read the whole thing.

The Long Weekend (Updated)

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Paul) — Fri, 25 May 2012 14:20:00 +0000

One of our local 'talking heads' said something this morning about "remembering the fallen and those who have served".

No.

Memorial Day (formerly known as Remembrance Day) is about those who died. "Those who have served" are remembered on Veterans' Day.

Yes, they're all worthy of veneration. But - for example - me living with a minor but permanent disability does not compare to giving one's life.

All I ask is that we live our lives in a manner worthy of those who gave their all, and not let their sacrifice have been in vain.

* * * * *

This will be the first weekend this month in which we haven't been either traveling or running like crazy to get everything done. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to some downtime.

Y'all be careful & stay safe.

CATO Institute: "FBI Free to Ambush our Bill of Rights"

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Paul) — Thu, 24 May 2012 19:40:00 +0000

Excerpt:

When I was a kid, beginning to learn what it is to be an American, I found a hero in George Mason, a leading Virginia delegate to the 1787 Constitutional Convention. Mason refused to sign on to the Constitution that was passed by the convention. Why?

“There is no Declaration of Rights,” he explained.

There was no section in the Constitution protecting citizens’ individual rights against an imperious government in this new America — similar to the charges Thomas Jefferson made against King George III’s government in our Declaration of Independence in 1776.

George Mason’s contagious objections became a major reason that the first 10 amendments, the Bill of Rights, were finally listed and ratified by enough states to be added to the Constitution in 1791.

And we still proudly have them! Or do we? As George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Barack Obama have eroded our guarantees of a self-governing republic, how many Americans are aware they are losing some of the liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights? How many Americans even know who George Mason was?

Go read the whole thing.

Quote of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Paul) — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:11:00 +0000

Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of a day. But a series of oppressions, begun at a distinguished period, and pursued unalterably through every change of ministers, too plainly proves a deliberate systematic plan of reducing us to slavery. – Thomas Jefferson