Friday Ephemera
They arrive flat-pack. (h/t, Julia) || In-flight escalation of note. || An unexpected noise. (h/t, Damian) || Welcome to the world of nappy status notifications. || Today’s word is inadvisable. || China’s vertical dramas. || A collection of tiny vases. || Modern headline. || I think this is called ‘going out of your way to be angry’. (h/t, Darleen) || ‘Free’ explained in chart form. (h/t, Dicentra) || It’s a zoetrope, it’s a chocolate cake. || Willy Wonka goes ska. || Airport scenes. || Today’s other words are progressive law enforcement. (h/t, Jeff) || Our betters lead complicated lives. || One for the ladies. || She has furry friends. || It, er, comes with a remote. (h/t, Captain Nemo) || And finally, a reminder that parking is hard.
unearths Love and Dancing by The Human League.
Solid. ;-D
unearths Love and Dancing by The Human League.
Yikes. Never having heard of these people before, by all means, keep the headphones on, please, preferably in an anechoic chamber lest this otherwise fine seedy establishment turn into David’s Disco Dance-O-Rama.
Calm down, Farnsworth. I didn’t say I APPROVED of U. S. troops being required to conduct themselves in a ladylike fashion. They are at the mercy of people who think war is a movie. A feminist movie.
David, you better have the henchlesbians cut this guy off. He’s becoming belligerent.
All this Special Forces stuff brings up old times. Had a boyfriend who left MARSOC to get into the Green Berets. He was the only MARSOC person I ever met but I’ve met several Rangers and SEALS, all of whom were very friendly. All the various flavors of SF do a lot of winning-hearts-and-minds type stuff so I imagine you have to be a people person to do well.
Any SF active or veterans here? If so, howdy, snake-eaters!😄👋
Yikes.
I was at school at the time.
[ Puts headphones on again, resumes nostalgia-fest. ]
Solid. ;-D
Previously.
You can dance 💃 if you want to…
(All these years and I still like The Human League!)
P.S. That howdy was also addressed to Brit SF. This is a COSMOPOLITAN seedy joint. I don’t know what the Brit SFs are called other than SAS, if that name’s still in use, but regardless of what flavor you are, David’s bopping to The Human League back there in the kitchen as he fries your snakes. 🐍
MARSOC didn’t exist until 2006, so given you also said you recently retired, I am not buying that tale, or your boyfiend was MSU.
I have no idea, other than your fourth point of contact, from whence you are pulling your info, but there is only one “flavor” of SF. SF=US Army Special Forces AKA “Green Berets”. Special Operations Forces (SOF), OTOH, in the US&A include USSOCOM and subordinate commands; USASOC and subordinate commands (SF, Rangers, CA, Psy Ops, Aviation, etc); Navy Special Warfare Command (SEALS and SWCC); MARSOC; AFSOC. “Hearts & minds” falls under the heading of unconventional warfare which is one of the mission sets of SF (and to some extent CA), most assuredly not Rangers, SWCC, or some AFSOC guy flying an AC-130.
No one, conventional or SOF, is required to do “ladylike stuff” (except the ladies on occasion) unless you consider having to sit through briefings about sexual assault prevention and the like “ladylike”. What is required downrange is to conduct one’s self in accordance with the UCMJ and the Law of Land Warfare.
New HBO ‘Watchmen’ series is about… *drum roll*… “white supremacy”
https://youtu.be/cYCO8oWd1pA
Yes, it was called MSU back then. Those were the days… i went ahead and called it by its current name to lessen confusion for those who don’t speak Acronym.
Old broads have boyfriends too, by the way.
OK, you don’t exist from here on in.
. . . like I was driving around in a 1980’s Michelob commercial . . .
It’s not Michelob, however . . . .
New HBO ‘Watchmen’ series is about… *drum roll*… “white supremacy”
Oh dear.
It’s white supremacy turtles all the way down! 🙄
(* breaking my own rule here *)
Hal, do you come here simply to annoy people? I appreciate that it’s not every damn time, but damn. Where did you go to troll school? Michelob?
And yes, that last question mark should be a period. Lest that become something to latch on to.
I’ve got one, I’ve got one . . . Dolan, you’re a genius!
“No longer a person of colour”
Or, “The negroes will think what we tell them to think.”
Bette Midler tried that, too.
I’ve got one, I’ve got one . . . Dolan, you’re a genius!
Never believed that guy’s name was Dolan. Not sure why. Anyway, probably more fitting for Hal
Yes, it was called MSU back then.
MSU = making stuff up (stuff being the ladylike word), so no, there was nothing Marine SOF called MSU. The closest thing is a Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) or MEU(SOC) and the closest they come to “hearts and minds” is disaster assistance.
A while back you come online here slinging some garbage (another ladylike term) about the US Navy being a Potemkin navy, now you show up nattering about how you think the military in general is required to conduct itself and trotting out some utter nonsense about SOF. Whether you think I exist is of no importance at all to me, but every time you sling similar fantasy about things you only think you know about, I will hoist the bullshit flag.
Hal, do you . . . .
. . . and other trivia.
Kindly do explain, if you can, what you’re gibbering about, aside from slavishly emulating the bureaucrats in Beijing anytime the Dalai Lama appears in any headline.
And as a best guess, do have a talk with your therapist and see if he or she can guide you towards adulthood.
Wah-wah-waaaaaaaaaaaaaah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ipi9pFoIMS0
That.
Bette Midler tried that, too.
Every now and then I hear about her saying something egregiously stupid. She is a prime illustration of the advice to “shut up and sing”.
Is it just me or is the heat making people around here a little bit tetchy.
I guess 80’s new wave hair bands can do that. Clearly there were no dentists back then.
…enlighten us about the myriad problems of the US military and how it is ladylike to know not to piss on enemy dead or take pictures of them as if they were hunting trophies.
Those are certainly rules that would not fall under the heading of ladylike. But I seem to recall reading, in milblogs, complaints about various newly introduced Politically Correct policies, but that was back in the 90’s and early 2000’s and I cannot recall any details at the moment. Maybe you might have some recollection of things I might have been reading about.
I guess 80’s new wave hair bands can do that.
Well there’s always the 70’s….
Don’t blame it on the sunshine
Don’t blame it on the moonlight
Don’t blame it on good times
Blame it on the boogie
Is it just me or is the heat making people around here a little bit tetchy.
It’s not just you.
Is it just me or is the heat making people around here a little bit tetchy.
Don’t know, we are having a cold snap here in civilization, it hasn’t broken 90F (32.2£) the last several days, we are running short of firewood.
Hi PST,
SMs complain a lot about political correctness. You’ve probably seen that picture of the poor soldier in high heels.
The bigger concern, from the viewpoint of the citizenry, is that it’s highly unlikely the U.S. could win a war without air power. And the REALLY big concerns are over-reliance on contractors and “just-in-time” supply chains. Those latter are really scary.
Short form: learn Chinese now. 😋
a little bit tetchy
Could be worse. There could be a picture of an obese middle-aged naked woman greeting you at the top of the comment section.
[ glares at bartender ]
[ glares at bartender ]
Heh. I regret nothing.
Which halfway decent country could win a near-peer war without air power, pray tell?
I have probably a dozen mates still alive who served. Some of them in what passes for Canadian special forces.
They don’t talk about what they did with me, because I wasn’t there. And I don’t ask. Probably a good third of them have some serious PTSD going on.
I’m pretty sure if I asked them whether everything they did overseas conformed to whatever our equivalent of the UCMJ is, they’d stop talking to me about anything.
I don’t have a lot of use for Internet Tough Guys. I know a bunch of real tough guys. They don’t mouth off about it one tenth so much as… well, some folks.
>You can dance 💃 if you want to…
>(All these years and I still like The Human League!)
That was Men Without Hats, Pogsy
Ah, Letraset.
Way back, when Video Character Generators (now days referred to by the commercial brand Chyron) had a very limited font library, the Art Dept would plunder their vast store of Letraset for various jobs. I won’t bore everyone with the complicated process involving cameras, matte boards and luma keys, except to say that resolution could sometimes be … problematic. Say if the kerning between the L and I in Clint Eastwood was too small, and no one noticed until after the movie promo went to air.
Maybe you might have some recollection of things I might have been reading about.
PST, there have been, over the years, changes, but to write them off as all bad and/or emasculating is wrong. In the olden days, in the US military, officer and NCO clubs had topless dancers, that went away for various reasons and just moved off post. Drinking while deployed used to be common, now it is prohibited except in certain circumstances, the result was a drop in accidental death and injury. Reflective PT belts may be a bit silly worn at Bagram, but nobody in their right mind is wearing them at a COP. Yes, there is mandatory annual training on a variety of PC topics such as equal opportunity, sexual harassment and assault prevention and the like, that always generates grousing for being PC and wasting training time.
That having been said, there is still plenty of the racist/sexist/etc. banter one expects among troops, though it isn’t malicious (OTOH, if it is, that is why there is the UCMJ – there will always be a shitbird), and what there isn’t is overt discrimination (in any direction) as was seen in the post-Viet Nam, pre-all volunteer days. The aforementioned troops in high heels were ROTC students and an investigation followed given that it was a uniform violation directed by the commander under threat of a negative counseling.
The people who do nothing but bitch and/or don’t know what they are talking about get all the press, it is far from TEOTWAWKI as it is painted to be.
I’m pretty sure if I asked them whether everything they did overseas conformed to whatever our equivalent of the UCMJ is, they’d stop talking to me about anything.
That would be the Code of Service Discipline and you might ask them what happened to the Airborne Regiment after Somalia because of that Code. It is also cool you know some people, but just FYI I have a DD-214, and in the olden days in another land had a couple friends in the Pat’s, so now you know someone else.
Hi Sam,
The U.S. isn’t supposed to have any peers! That said, I’m a lot more frightened by excessive contracting and “just-in-time” than by the possibility of war on the ground. Large parts of our cities have been no-go zones for 50 years anyway so we in the hinterlands might not even notice that much difference.
l
Most of the grumping is about PC, but you know what they say: a griping soldier is a happy soldier! It’s when they get quiet that a sensible officer starts worrying.
The Army wanted my dad to go to OCS in the ‘60’s. He declined. 😄
P.S. did either of the expected babies arrive yet?
now days referred to by the commercial brand Chyron
I still fondly remember the time an engineer’s goofball of a son dropped one on my feet. $250,000 worth of electronics has some weight to it. That was nonetheless better than the time they “lost” a Chyron in the field shop, a buddy spent hours searching boxes and cases, and infiltrating in-theory secure, caged-off areas in order to find it.
And that was still better than the time some never-identified person simply walked off with a just-arrived $35,000 monitor, which was never to be seen again.
Outside broadcasting was a fun industry to work in.
Speaking of which, Always Trust the Media part 9,673:
https://twitter.com/ArthurSchwartz/status/1154465306623922176?s=20
progressive law enforcement
The distance between NYC and Baltimore is 188 miles … but it seems a lot closer.
Here’s an interesting article:
https://www.mercatornet.com/conjugality/view/will-transgenderism-be-swept-away-by-history/22676
I’m so old I remember the Satanic ritual abuse fad and this seems to be following the same pattern
Farnsworth, thank you for your reply. It’s a pity that I cannot remember any specifics.
The distance between NYC and Baltimore is 188 miles … but it seems a lot closer.
I like to point out that although these feral kids are clearly enemies of civilization who must be either put away or put down, the people who indoctrinate them into the attitudes that encourage such viciousness are even more our enemies and should be treated as such–and those who act to shield those thugs even more so.
Outside broadcasting was a fun industry to work in.
It certainly was. Excepting the rig/de-rig on some gigs.
the people who indoctrinate them into the attitudes that encourage such viciousness are even more our enemies and should be treated as such
Then perhaps it would be wise to stop paying them to do this very thing. Just a suggestion.
Then perhaps it would be wise to stop paying them to do this very thing. Just a suggestion.
I do what I can.
I do what I can.
Me and you makes two. People need to talk about this and talk about it a lot Not saying to shoehorn it into every conversation, but it needs much more visibility. Politics is downstream from culture.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/victiory-trump-scotus-greenlights-military-funding-border-wall/story?id=64597559&cid=clicksource_4380645_null_hero_hed
Yes. I talk about it when I can.
Good news
https://abcnews.go.com/US/massachusetts-mother-chases-pins-alleged-flasher-ground/story?id=64581480&cid=clicksource_4380645_null_sq_hed
You go, girl.
The Human League… synth pop. Popular in the UK in the early 80s, and also in Russia:
https://twitter.com/derpoltergeist/status/1153698252530888704
and I thought this was funny:
https://twitter.com/JackBensinger/status/1154505535049224192
It’s a pity that I cannot remember any specifics.
Other than stuff mentioned, the most overtly stupid PC thing I can recall offhand is being told we shouldn’t call Somalis “skinnies” which, as names for the other team goes, was just plain descriptive, and ranks for offensiveness right up there with “Johnny Turk”, and “The Hun”.