Month: July 2024

01AUG2024 – Quote of the Day

photog Quote of the Day ,

The laws of Rome had wisely divided public power among a large number of magistracies, which supported, checked and tempered each other. Since they all had only limited power, every citizen was qualified for them, and the people — seeing many persons pass before them one after the other — did not grow accustomed to any in particular. But in these times the system of the republic changed. Through the people the most powerful men gave themselves extraordinary commissions — which destroyed the authority of the people and magistrates, and placed all great matters in the hands of one man, or a few.

Charles de Montesquieu

Guest Contributor – TomD – 31JUL2024 – Lessons of War

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Tom | Flickr

TomD

I would have thought that the main lesson of the Viet Nam and succeeding regional wars was or should have been: Don’t initiate or enter wars unless you intend to win and pay whatever price necessary to do so. WWII would be a prime example.

But, apparently, that lesson is too esoteric or functionally difficult to be put into practice by our masters. Just what has been accomplished by the US providing Ukraine with just enough weaponry and resources to prolong the war and kill millions on both sides? Not to mention waste God knows how many $100’s of billions of dollars. What was the point? Anyone? Send a message, perhaps?

 

Update:

Comments

photog in reply to TomD

If I had to guess what lesson they think they learned from Vietnam, it was to emulate what the Soviets did in that war. Find a proxy to fight your enemy for you. So Russia had the North Vietnamese. The neo-cons in the State Department have the Ukrainian Azov faction who are willing to burn Ukraine down to punish the Russo-Ukrainians who make up 25% of the population. The fact that millions will die and Russia will become our implacable foe forever is neither here nor there.

 

Chemist in reply to TomD.

Tom D asked: “What was the point?”
10% for the big guy.
Sorry to burst anyone’s bubble, but this has always been about graft.
At least is has from the US side.
I think the Poles genuinely wanted to get their licks into the Russians but the US congress, State dept and POTUS were all in for their cut.

 

photog in reply to Chemist.

I wonder where they’ll play the game next after Ukraine dries up? Iran?

 

War Pig commented

We leared the lesson of Vietnam when a Vietnam officer, General Schwarzkopf, refused to play Vietnam rules and insisted on using maximum effort to win-the-frigging-war.
It was LBJ who insisted that he knew better than generals how to fight a war. Ditto Biden.

The US won all the battles in both Vietnam and Afghanistan, but lost due to crooked and cowardly politicians. The lesson is that you do not face the US military head on, you nibble at the edges. Be prepared to take a horrible kill to death ratio because you will lose virtually every battle, and outlast American politicians.

 

 

Tom’s World – 31JUL2024 – Gulf of Mexico Oil Field Work Boats- 3

photog Guest Contributors, Photography, TomD , , , ,

Tom | Flickr

TomD

Moving the focus a little, this is still boats in the gulf and contains two oil field boats but it has two shots from a different view.

 

Captain America, from it’s resume: “Captain America” will be capable of involvement in offshore installation and decommissioning projects worldwide, including installing floating wind farms, says the firm. The vessel’s 399-person accommodations make it suitable for decommissioning preparatory work, platform support for maintenance, field upgrades and allow it to “provide offshore support as a flotel,” adds the firm. It has a 1,000 ton crane.

 

Another of the many tugs seen around here. This one is bringing coal to a local power, a calling that I suspect is short time.  This coal probably come from next door Alabama. We’ve got a great intracoastal system around here, you can go for hundreds of miles from here east or west without ever getting in the Gulf which is a good thing because I’m not sure this particular rig would do well in any seas to speak of.

SONY DSC

 

 

This boat is in a “less prosperous” marina located at the top of Pensacola Bay where the Escambia River empties. Those are tidal flats in the background. If you look at the flats from the vantage of the bridge in the back ground, you will see a fair number grounded boats sprinkled around (some quite big) where they were placed by various hurricanes.

 

 

Speaking of hurricanes, this boat has been here since some hurricane or other sunk it years ago. If I were going to title this picture, this would be, “But the Payments Continue”.

SONY DSC

 

Kiev and NATO Begin Preparing the West for Eventual Capitulation

photog Current Events , ,

All of the various media outlets in the West are beginning to admit that not only are the Russians making significant gains along the length of the war front but that the size of the Russian army is beginning to overwhelm the ability of the Ukrainian armed forces to hold it back.

 

As War Gets Bleaker, More Ukrainians Appear Open to a Peace Deal

“The Gloomy Ukraine Reality That NATO Insiders Only Want to Talk About Anonymously”

“In Brussels, almost no one expects Ukraine to regain its lost areas. Only nobody wants to talk about it – at least officially. WELT has spoken to a number of insiders who justify their bleak outlook with a fact that Europe itself is indebted to.”

Russia has been ramping up the number of soldiers it fields while the Ukrainians have hit a wall.  Recruitment is being resisted by flight, concealment and lately by attacks on the recruiters.  One tactic being used is to burn the vehicles that the recruiters use as they travel around the country, dragging “recruits” out of their homes.

Russia opened up a new front in the north (Kharkiv) that many believe is a feint to draw away resources from the main areas of advance in the east.

All along the Donetsk front slow but steady advance has been the experience ever since the breakthrough at Avdiivka in the spring.  Of late the exhaustion of the Ukrainian soldiers is beginning to show.  It will probably accelerate as the retreat moves into areas that do not have the extensive tunnels and reinforced bunkers that were provided in places like Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Chasiv Yar.

Of course nothing is assured in war but it seems increasingly likely that Kiev will be looking for a peace settlement after November.

2024 Summer Movie Talk – Part 13

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My Favorites from 1940 – 1949

I won’t make any claims other than these are the movies from the 1940’s that I like best.  And without trying I could add a whole bunch more (see the runners up list below).

It’s funny.  I have a much different feel about the movies in the ‘30s versus the ‘40s.  When I look at the movies from the ‘40s I feel like I’m more jaded or something.  I haven’t included a single monster movie.  Maybe I shifted to the fairy tales with Sabu like “The Thief of Bagdad” and the “Jungle Book.”

Well, as usual, have at it in the comments.

  1. The Bank Dick (1940)
  2. The Great McGinty (1940)
  3. The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
  4. The Thief of Bagdad (1940)
  5. Our Town (1940)
  6. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
  7. Sergeant York (1941)
  8. Sullivan’s Travels (1941)
  9. Casablanca (1942)
  10. Jungle Book (1942)
  11. Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
  12. Double Indemnity (1944)
  13. Gaslight (1944)
  14. Going My Way (1944)
  15. Henry V (1944)
  16. To Have and Have Not (1944)
  17. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
  18. Caesar and Cleopatra (1945)
  19. The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945)
  20. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
  21. The Big Sleep (1946)
  22. Notorious (1946)
  23. Life with Father (1947)
  24. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
  25. Hamlet (1948)
  26. Key Largo (1948)
  27. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948)
  28. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
  29. A Letter to Three Wives (1949)
  30. The Third Man (1949)

 

Runners-Up List

 

1940

Dr. Cyclops

Edison, the Man

Foreign Correspondent

The Grapes of Wrath

The Great Dictator

His Girl Friday

The Letter

The Philadelphia Story

Rebecca

Road to Singapore

Swiss Family Robinson

The Westerner

Young Tom Edison

 

1941

Buck Privates

Citizen Kane

The Corsican Brothers

The Devil and Daniel Webster

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Dumbo

High Sierra

How Green Was My Valley

The Lady Eve

The Little Foxes

Meet John Doe

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Suspicion

They Died with Their Boots On

Tobacco Road

The Wolf Man

 

1942

George Washington Slept Here

The Glass Key

Kings Row

The Magnificent Ambersons

The Man Who Came to Dinner

Mrs. Miniver

Now, Voyager

The Pride of the Yankees

Saboteur

Tortilla Flat

Yankee Doodle Dandy

 

1943

For Whom the Bell Tolls

The Human Comedy

The Ox-Bow Incident

The Song of Bernadette

 

1944

Arsenic and Old Lace

The Bridge of San Luis Rey

The Canterville Ghost

Hail the Conquering Hero

The Keys of the Kingdom

Lifeboat

The Lodger

National Velvet

Thirty Seconds over Tokyo

 

1945

The Body Snatcher

Brief Encounter

Our Vines Have Tender Grapes

Spellbound

The Story of G.I. Joe

They Were Expendable

 

1946

The Beast with Five Fingers

The Blue Dahlia

Gilda

It’s a Wonderful Life

The Killers

My Darling Clementine

The Postman Always Rings Twice

The Stranger

 

1947

The Bishop’s Wife

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

The Lady from Shanghai

Odd Man Out

Out of the Past

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Sinbad the Sailor

 

1948

3 Godfathers

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein

Fort Apache

I Remember Mama

Johnny Belinda

Macbeth

The Naked City

Oliver Twist

Red River

Rope

Sorry, Wrong Number

The Three Musketeers

 

 

1949

All the King’s Men

The Inspector General

Mighty Joe Young

Sands of Iwo Jima

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

Twelve O’Clock High

White Heat

2024 Summer Movie Talk – Part 12

photog Current Events, Movie Reviews, OCF, OCF Classic Movie Reviews, Reviews , , , , ,

My Favorites from 1930 – 1939

I won’t make any claims other than these are the movies from the 1930’s that I like best.  And without trying I could add a whole bunch more (see the runners up list below).  People say that 1939 was Hollywood’s greatest year.  Based on my tastes I’d say 1934 was the high point.

I’m sure opinions will differ.  Have at it.

  1. Dracula (1931)
  2. Frankenstein (1931)
  3. Island of Lost Souls (1932)
  4. The Mummy (1932)
  5. King Kong (1933)
  6. Babes in Toyland (1934)
  7. It Happened One Night (1934)
  8. It’s a Gift (1934)
  9. The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
  10. The Thin Man (1934)
  11. Treasure Island (1934)
  12. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
  13. Man on the Flying Trapeze (1935)
  14. Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
  15. A Night at the Opera (1935)
  16. Dead End (1937)
  17. The Good Earth (1937)
  18. Topper (1937)
  19. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
  20. A Christmas Carol (1938)
  21. Gunga Din (1939)
  22. Ninotchka (1939)
  23. The Wizard of Oz (1939)

 

Runners-Up List

1931

Little Caesar

City Lights

The Public Enemy

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

1932

A Farewell to Arms,

Grand Hotel

Horse Feathers

Scarface

Tarzan the Ape Man

1933

42nd Street

Dinner at Eight

Duck Soup

The Invisible Man

The Private Life of Henry VIII

The Son of Kong

1935

The 39 Steps

Ah, Wilderness!

Captain Blood

The Glass Key

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Ruggles of Red Gap

Werewolf of London

1936

After the Thin Man

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

My Man Godfrey

Things to Come

1937

Captains Courageous

A Day at the Races

Heidi

Lost Horizon

The Prince and the Pauper

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

The Prisoner of Zenda 1

1938

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Angels with Dirty Faces

The Lady Vanishes

You Can’t Take It with You

1939

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Destry Rides Again

The Four Feathers

Gone with the Wind

Goodbye, Mr. Chips

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Of Mice and Men

Stagecoach

 

 1  Master Diver