Found this one at AirPigz

Poll: Awesome Or Ugly? The Late 1950's Fairey Rotodyne
 Hit the link to see the article. I obtained the picture from other sources(I googled it)
A really neat piece of flying machinery way ahead of it's time.

In Health Care Ruling, Roberts Steals a Move From John Marshall's Playbook

This was in The Atlantic by Daniel Epps.
I recommend reading the entire piece.
I may lay off of the Chief Justice after all. I admit that I am a bit on the hot headed side when it comes to the current occupant and the congress because of the massive stupid that they are so very capable of on a daily basis.

So here is the scoop from Daniel Epps with a link at the end.
There are eerie parallels between today's decision and a legendary case from Thomas Jefferson's time.
A John Marshall statue presides over D.C.'s Judiciary Square (AgnosticPreachersKid/Wikimedia Commons)
 
Earlier today, the Supreme Court, by a narrowly divided vote, upheld the individual mandate, a key component of President Obama's signature piece of legislation, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Obama supporters are letting out a collective sigh of relief, as most observers expected the mandate -- and possibly the entire Act -- to fall after the oral argument. Conservatives are conversely upset that Chief Justice Roberts -- the deciding vote in the case -- snatched defeat for conservatives from the jaws of victory, given that there were four votes to strike down the Act in its entirety.

Although the decision is certainly a win for Obama and Democrats, it's by no means a clear-cut victory. And while the Chief Justice is taking a lot of heat from the right, the way he handled the case might actually turn out to be a brilliant strategic move -- one that could very well define his judicial career, and could actually be the optimal outcome for Republicans.

To explain -- and I promise this historical detour will be worth it -- we should note unexpected parallels to Marbury v. Madison, the 1803 case in which the Supreme Court, in an opinion by Chief Justice Marshall, established that it had the power of judicial review: i.e. to declare federal laws unconstitutional. The very simplified background is this: The petitioner, William Marbury, had been nominated as a justice of the peace by President John Adams at the very end of Adams's term, right before Thomas Jefferson took office. The Senate confirmed the nomination.

Unfortunately for Marbury, he never got his hands on his commission. Marbury's nominations had been part of a large slew of judicial nominations pursuant to the Judiciary Act of 1801 -- a statute passed by the Federalists after the 1800 election as a last minute attempt to stack the bench with Federalist judges before Jefferson and his party took office. Once Jefferson was sworn in, his secretary of state, James Madison, refused to deliver the undelivered commissions and the new Congress got to work repealing the Judiciary Act of 1801.

Marbury went to the Supreme Court, asking the Court to issue a writ of mandamus -- an order telling Madison he had to deliver the commission to Marbury. The Court was full of Federalists like Marshall, but Jefferson thought he had the justices boxed in. They could either rule that Marbury's rights hadn't been violated, vindicating Jefferson's supposition that the appointments did not need to be honored. Or they could issue a writ of mandamus ordering the secretary of state to deliver Marbury's commission. But Jefferson would likely have simply ignored it, in which case the Court's credibility would have been permanently damaged.

Chief Justice Marshall did something no one expected: writing for the Court, he ruled that Marbury's rights had been violated, thereby refusing to give a judicial imprimatur to Jefferson and Madison's actions. But his opinion did not issue a writ of mandamus that the Administration could simply ignore. Instead, it provided no remedy to Marbury, because of a technicality: The statute under which he had sought mandamus relief authorized such petitions to be filed directly in the Supreme Court. But Marshall concluded that that statute was unconstitutional, because in the Court's reading it could only authorize appellate jurisdiction over mandamus suits. In doing so, the Court built its own power and prestige by establishing that it had a power it was not necessarily assumed to have before: the authority the strike down federal statutes that violated the Constitution. But in doing so, the Court gave Jefferson absolutely nothing he could use politically: the opinion clearly rebuked his actions, but it didn't give him an order he could defy.

The parallels here are eerie. President Obama was ready for the Court to uphold the mandate -- in which case he would have trumpeted the decision as a vindication of the law and a rejection of Republican criticism that Democrats had overreached. And he similarly, was ready for the Court to strike down the mandate, or even the whole Act (apparently, he had three different speeches prepared for all the possibilities). He'll never read those speeches, but he almost certainly would have challenged the Court head-on and tried to make its conservative bent into a wedge issue in his campaign -- he has been quite willing to politicize the Court in the past. There was no prospect that Obama would have ignored the ruling -- as Jefferson might have ignored a mandamus writ -- but the ensuing political struggle could have damaged the Court's credibility. And it might very well have hurt Roberts's legacy in particular, given that there had been a focused attempt in the press to paint a narrative about him as the leader of a Court out to get Democrats and Obama.

So the president was ready for the Court to break right or break left. But instead, Chief Justice Roberts juked. He agreed with the challengers that the mandate couldn't be justified under the Commerce Clause or even the Necessary and Proper Clause -- thereby reinforcing the narrative that the Democratic Congress overreached in passing the bill. His opinion -- though not the result -- may provide much help in the future to judicial conservatives, as it suggests that, with the dissent, five justices are in favor of a more aggressive role for the Court in policing the bounds of the Commerce Clause (and the Spending Clause, which was at issue in the Medicaid legislation). And while Roberts ultimately voted to uphold the Act, he did so on a ground that, for Obama, plays terribly: that it's a tax.

Now, much as Jefferson was two centuries ago, Obama is boxed in. What is he to do? He can't criticize the Court for judicial activism, as it upheld the law (putting aside the way the Court limited the Medicaid provisions, which are not particularly salient to voters). The decision undercuts a potential theme of his campaign -- that a conservative Court is out of control. And yet Obama can't trumpet the decision either, since it states that Democrats overreached in trying to justify the law under the Commerce Clause. Worse yet, it calls the mandate something that Democrats didn't want it to be: a tax.

Conversely, the decision may be the optimal result for Mitt Romney. If the Court had struck down the mandate, it would have taken off the table an issue that Republican base voters care tremendously about. But in upholding the law, the Court didn't just leave that issue on the table; it gave Romney tremendous ammunition he can use to criticize Obama as a tax raiser.

There was much contrarian wisdom floating around prior to the decision about how a defeat might be helpful to Obama, as he could run against the Court. Jeffrey Toobin criticized this as "nonsense": "Winners win, and losers lose." We'll never know if Obama could have potentially won by losing the health care case. But the coming months will tell whether he might have lost by winning.

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/06/is-john-roberts-outfoxing-us-all/259121/

Viewpoint of a friend of mine:

This was on the Facebook page of my friend from Santa Clarita, Lainie Sloane. Good and decent lady of faith. 

I am not in such a good mood right now over the ruling in favour of obamacare. I have enough government intrusion in my life being that I work for the Air Force and have to deal with the Tricare stuff and the Department of Veteran's Affairs. Plus living in California, the used to be Golden State.

That being said, I will let loose a tad here. The Chief Justice has disappointed me deeply but upon further reading, he may have caused the current occupant of 1600, the cabinet and the Communist Controlled Senate more heartburn than we may realize. 

I have made no secret of how I feel about obama and his policies, agenda and views. He is a hollow man and a manchurian candidate as far as I am concerned. I would love to be able to move to a state that will opt out but being in The People's Socialist Republic of Kalifornistan, I am so screwed.

With out further ado.....................And a Big Thank You to Lainie!

Viewpoint of a friend of mine: "Now that the initial shock is wearing off, there is much speculation, confirmed by the attached link, concerning the Supreme Court ruling about Traitorcare.


"The upshot of the speculation is that, in ruling as he did, Chief Justice Roberts put The Traitor in a box from which he cannot escape and gave the election to the Republicans in a possible landside.


"The Tea Party and all those who support it have a rallying cry far stronger than 2010, and their intensity will show itself at the ballot box while Democrats are splintered and begging people not only for money, but for Democrat voters to vote in November. The Republicans, even with Mitt Romney as a candidate, are counting the hours and will be highly energized to get converts.


"Roberts and the court ruled a mandate is unconstitutional, meaning future attempts to mandate Americans buy a product or service now has a precedent prohibiting it. By ruling Traitorcare is a tax rather than a mandate, it means The Traitor's promise of no new taxes is shot to smithereens and now American business, already suffering from a deep recession, is more unlikely than ever to hire new employees, thus deepening the recession just prior to the election. Moreover, because Traitorcare is now a tax, the Republicans have a HUGE campaign issue and The Traitor is going to have to defend a law he doesn't understand. Romney will devour him in a presidential debate. (Incidentally, do not discount the possibility that Obama may refuse to participate in one.)


"But the killer is the ruling that individual states may "opt out" of Traitorcare, and before the computer ink on the ruling was even dry, the Republican Governor's Association already stated they will not enact it in their states. Of course, the looney governor from California, Jerry Brown, has anxiously stated California will participate.



"In November, 31 Democrat senators are running for re-election and a majority of them are suddenly very vulnerable. This means the Republicans now have a very strong shot at control of both houses of Congress and the presidency.


"The attached link is from the White House Insider who states this is the greatest news we could have received, and he is now convinced The Traitor will lose and lose big. In the short article, he makes the point that swing states will now become Republican. He strongly hints the end is in sight.Now that the initial shock is wearing off, there is much speculation, confirmed by the attached link, concerning the Supreme Court ruling about Traitorcare.


"The upshot of the speculation is that, in ruling as he did, Chief Justice Roberts put The Traitor in a box from which he cannot escape and gave the election to the Republicans in a possible landside.


"The Tea Party and all those who support it have a rallying cry far stronger than 2010, and their intensity will show itself at the ballot box while Democrats are splintered and begging people not only for money, but for Democrat voters to vote in November. The Republicans, even with Mitt Romney as a candidate, are counting the hours and will be highly energized to get converts.


"Roberts and the court ruled a mandate is unconstitutional, meaning future attempts to mandate Americans buy a product or service now has a precedent prohibiting it. By ruling Traitorcare is a tax rather than a mandate, it means The Traitor's promise of no new taxes is shot to smithereens and now American business, already suffering from a deep recession, is more unlikely than ever to hire new employees, thus deepening the recession just prior to the election. Moreover, because Traitorcare is now a tax, the Republicans have a HUGE campaign issue and The Traitor is going to have to defend a law he doesn't understand. Romney will devour him in a presidential debate. (Incidentally, do not discount the possibility that Obama may refuse to participate in one.)


"But the killer is the ruling that individual states may "opt out" of Traitorcare, and before the computer ink on the ruling was even dry, the Republican Governor's Association already stated they will not enact it in their states. Of course, the looney governor from California, Jerry Brown, has anxiously stated California will participate.


"In November, 31 Democrat senators are running for re-election and a majority of them are suddenly very vulnerable. This means the Republicans now have a very strong shot at control of both houses of Congress and the presidency.


"The attached link is from the White House Insider who states this is the greatest news we could have received, and he is now convinced The Traitor will lose and lose big. In the short article, he makes the point that swing states will now become Republican. He strongly hints the end is in sight."

 http://theulstermanreport.com/2012/06/28/white-house-insider-obamacare-now-we-are-truly-ready-to-fight/

The Coin Went Flying Today

The original is at The Lexicans.
I reblogged it to Among The Joshua Trees.
I will link it here.
The Coin.

It went flying courtesy of Major Jeff "Oscar" Kennedy in 87-0352, an F-16CG. Major Kennedy is a Lt. Colonel Selectee and one of my favorite pilots here at the 416. He was more than happy to do it when I asked the favor of him.
Count him as an Honorary Lexican, I will.
http://thelexicans.wordpress.com/2012/06/25/the-coin-went-flying-today/

Tales From the AOR, Part III From the ADAB newsletter I got in the mail this morning...

Courtesy of Buck at EIP.
SN1 is now CO of the 380th EMXS on the other side of the world.
Bravo Zulu to Major Pennington.
http://exileinportales.blogspot.com/2012/06/tales-from-aor-part-iii.html

Cool BBQ

I saw this at Facebook. I thought I would like one myself.

Functional Art, I believe it is called.
Yep. I want one!

News from Buck

Seems that our good friend and Blog Bud, Buck at EIP has a new set of wheels. I knew he had been considering it but I gotta admit it is a nice set of wheels.

That is one sharp looking Caddy. I like his name for it.........The Dowager Tart!
Full story at the link.
The Dowager Tart is Home

Epic Fail #36



http://epicfailtwitpics1.blogspot.com/2012/02/epic-fail-36.html

Found this one while goofing off.
I think you will all enjoy it.

Hot and tired

Pretty much sums it up. The week has seen temperatures top the century mark or be in the high nineties!

It is summer in the Mojave Desert.

Yesterday it hit 102 on the flight line and the day before it was 100. We got a reprieve today, only 97. All three days had that blast furnace wind with it. I take a half gallon jug out on the line with me full of ice water. I have to refill it. I also have a Powerade, Sour Melon Flavour during the morning to load up on the potassium and the other stuff to help me out.
The heat is amplified when standing next to a jet at start. The F-16 uses a Jet Fuel Starter to fire up the engine. Where the crew chief stands is in the exhaust flow of the JFS. It gets hot! Then the running engine makes things warm as well. I have areas on my calves that the hair is completely gone from and will never come back!

I can hardly wait for July and August!

And you can take that to the bank, you miserable son of a bitch.

• My Google Plus Bud, Jeff had this one up. Worth the read.
  
  Excuse the inappropriate language but this is really worth the read!
  
  I Think She IS Pissed, but oh so correct...
  
  Alan Simpson, Senator from Wyoming , Co-Chair of the Deficit Commission, calls senior citizens the Greediest Generation as he compared "Social Security" to a Milk Cow with 310 million teats.
  
  Here's a response in a letter from PATTY MYERS in Montana ... I think she is a little ticked off! She also tells it like it is!
  
  "Hey Alan, let's get a few things straight..
  
  1. As a career politician, you have been on the public dole for FIFTY YEARS.
  
  2. I have been paying Social Security taxes for 48 YEARS (since I was 15 years old. I am now 63).
  
  3 My Social Security payments, and those of millions of other Americans, were safely tucked away in an interest bearing account for decades until you political pukes decided to raid the account and give OUR money to a bunch of zero ambition losers in return for votes, thus bankrupting the system and turning Social Security into a Ponzi scheme that would have made Bernie Madoff proud..
  
  4. Recently, just like Lucy & Charlie Brown, you and your ilk pulled the proverbial football away from millions of American seniors nearing retirement and moved the goalposts for full retirement from age 65 to age 67. NOW, you and your shill commission is proposing to move the goalposts YET AGAIN.
  
  5. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying into Medicare from Day One, and now you morons propose to change the rules of the game. Why? Because you idiots mismanaged other parts of the economy to such an extent that you need to steal money from Medicare to pay the bills.
  
  6. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying income taxes our entire lives, and now you propose to increase our taxes yet again. Why? Because you incompetent bastards spent our money so profligately that you just kept on spending even after you ran out of money. Now, you come to the American taxpayers and say you need more to pay off YOUR debt. To add insult to injury, you label us "greedy" for calling "bullshit" on your incompetence.
  
  Well, Captain Bullshit, I have a few questions for YOU.
  
  1. How much money have you earned from the American taxpayers during your pathetic 50-year political career?
  
  2. At what age did you retire from your pathetic political career, and how much are you receiving in annual retirement benefits from the American taxpayers?
  
  3. How much do you pay for YOUR government provided health insurance?
  
  4. What cuts in YOUR retirement and healthcare benefits are you proposing in your disgusting deficit reduction proposal, or, as usual, have you exempted yourself and your political cronies?
  
  It is you, Captain Bullshit, and your political co-conspirators called Congress who are the"greedy" ones. It is you and your fellow nutcases who have bankrupted America and stolen the American dream from millions of loyal, patriotic taxpayers. And for what? Votes. That's right, sir. You and yours have bankrupted America for the sole purpose of advancing your pathetic political careers. You know it, we know it, and you know that we know it.
  
  And you can take that to the bank, you miserable son of a bitch.

Today's Greetings

To all my blog buds and readers who are Dads I send the best for a pleasant and enjoyable Father's Day today.
I miss my Dad. He has been gone almost 21 years now.
My sister at her blog has a good one up today for Father's Day including a picture of Mom and Dad shortly before Dad passed.
http://prairiecat55kc.wordpress.com/2012/06/17/happy-fathers-day-2/

Some Rule Five for a Saturday

Found while wandering aimlessly about the internet.
Kim Kardashian looking really good.

There are more at the link, OK?
I happen to think she is gorgeous.
Agreed she sometimes has issues...........Shall we say a few bricks shy of a full load..........
I have to hand it to her and Mom, Kris Jenner for the sheer marketing of it all.
http://egotastic.com/photos/kim-kardashian-lingerie-photoshoot-in-zoo-magazine-may-2012-issue/kim-kardashian-in-zoo-magazine-may-2012-04/

Kings win the Stanley Cup with a 6-1 victory in Game 6

Big Doings down below in El-Eh tonight.
The Stanley Cup is going to call Staples Center in Los Angeles Home for at least one year.
The Kings won in a very convincing display of offensive hockey tonight. Jonathan Quick was outstanding in goal and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Playoff MVP. He went 16-4 in net.
http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/la-sp-sn-stanley-cup-kings-devils-game-6-live-coverage-20120611,0,7858106.story

Kings winger Justin Williams begins to celebrate after teammate Dustin Brown scored against the Devils in the first period of Game 6 on Monday night at Staples Center. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times / June 11, 2012)

And a bit of news as well. Martin Brodeur is not retiring. The Devils goaltender is a real class act and one of the best representatives of the game, our game.

Milestone

Over there on the right it says 200K plus page views. In less than three years!
Thanks to all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

General Announcement

Tomorrow, the 11th of June is the 29th Wedding Anniversary of yours truly and His Bride, The One and Only Missus ORPO1, Sharon Naatz Cassel.
Yep she has put up with my shenanigans, inconsistencies, deployments, life on the road and all that other stuff for that long. Pretty Amazing Gal, ya know!

Taken that day................................
Still love her with all my heart and soul.

Minor Changes

I have taken my name off F-16AM 80-3666. It is still in the "forms" as assistant crew chief. At work I will here in refer to said aircraft as Roy's jet. Roy is the dedicated crew chief and has had the airplane for quite sometime.
I have been sand bagged by my pro super twice concerning 6 year landing gear changes and a phase inspection. The day shift crew chief, me, was left out of all the meetings preceding both events. I spend very little time doing much real maintenance. I am a grade lower than all the other crew chiefs and most of my time is on the line.
I have had the forms/cams thing dumped on me at the end of the day when we have washed an airplane. I always wonder why I am suddenly the one in charge when it is others who are designated.
So as a mild statement of displeasure, I took my name off the airplane.
I have also applied on USA Jobs for a position at Naval Air Station Lemoore CA. It is at the Fleet Readiness Center there and a grade 10 position. It pays less than what I am making now as it is a 'lower cost of living area'.
Additionally, I have explored the possibility of returning to the ballast trains.
The unit I work in is a civilian operation and "not like the real Air Force" That being said most of the management and supervision is prior Air Force and only one was ever an NCO.
Rant Complete.

A day rough men did violence on our behalf...

Courtesy of America's Sergeant Major.

http://castrapraetoria1.blogspot.com/2012/06/day-rough-men-did-violence-on-our.html 

Away Boarders! USS Guadalcanal (CVE-60)

Today in 1944, USS Guadalacanl CVE-60 and TG 21.12 captured the U-505 on The High Seas. It was the first time since 1815 that a United States Man of War captured an enemy vessel.
Excerpt from the Wikipedia entry. The entire article is at the link.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Guadalcanal_%28CVE-60%29

Capture of U-505

Ten minutes after reversing course, however, on 4 June 1944, 150 miles West of Cape Blanco in French West Africa, Chatelain detected U-505 as it was returning to its base in Brest, France after an 80-day commerce-destroying raid in the Gulf of Guinea. The destroyer loosed one depth charge attack and, guided in for a more accurate drop by circling TBF Avengers from Guadalcanal, she soon made a second. This pattern blasted a hole in the outer hull of the submarine, and rolled the U-boat on its beam ends. Shouts of panic from the conning tower led her inexperienced captain to believe his boat was doomed, so he blew his tanks and surfaced, barely 700 yards from Chatelain. The destroyer fired a torpedo, which missed, and the surfaced submarine then came under the combined fire of the escorts and aircraft, forcing her crew to abandon ship.
Captain Gallery had been waiting and planning for such an opportunity, and having already trained and equipped his boarding parties, ordered Pillsbury's boat to make for the German sub and board her. Under the command of Lieutenant, junior grade Albert David, the party leaped onto the slowly circling submarine and found it abandoned. David and his men quickly captured all important papers and books while closing valves and stopping leaks. As Pillsbury attempted to get a tow-line on her the party managed to stop her engines. By this time a larger salvage group from Guadalcanal arrived, and began the work of preparing U-505 to be towed. After securing the towline and picking up the German survivors from the sea, Guadalcanal started for Bermuda with her priceless prize in tow. Abnaki rendezvoused with the task group and took over towing duties, the group arriving in Bermuda on 19 June after a 2,500-mile tow.
U-505 was the first enemy warship captured on the high seas by the U.S. Navy since 1815. For their daring and skillful teamwork in this remarkable capture, Guadalcanal and her escorts shared in a Presidential Unit Citation. The captured submarine proved to be of inestimable value to American intelligence, and its true fate was kept secret from the Germans until the end of the war. U-505 is the submarine exhibited in the Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago).
Arriving in Norfolk on 22 June 1944, Guadalcanal spent only a short time in port before setting out again on patrol. She departed Norfolk on 15 July and from then until 1 December, she made three anti-submarine cruises in the Western Atlantic. She sailed on 1 December for a training period in waters off Bermuda and Cuba that included refresher landings for pilots of her new squadron, gunnery practice, and anti-submarine warfare drills with Italian submarine R-9. Guadalcanal arrived Mayport, Fla., for carrier qualifications on 15 December and subsequently engaged in further training in Cuban water until 13 February 1945, when she arrived back in Norfolk. After another short training cruise to the Caribbean, she steamed into Mayport on 15 March for a tour of duty as carrier qualification ship, later moving to Pensacola, Florida for similar operations. After qualifying nearly 4,000 pilots, Guadalcanal returned to Norfolk, Va., and decommissioned there on 15 July 1946.
 

Rusty Mothball Fleet: Not your normal Ship Pr0n

From a guy at Flickr.
A shot of four carriers at NIMSF Bremerton WA.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/romamar76/4477314996/

 BREMERTON MOTHBALL FLEET

USS Ranger (CV 61)
Type ship: Forrestal-class aircraft carrier
Length: 1,067 feet
Beam: 270 feet
Status: Stricken, available for donation as museum or memorial
Commissioned: Aug. 10, 1957
Decommissioned: July 10, 1993
Stricken: March 8, 2004

 USS Ranger in 1980. I was in that A-6 Squadron back then.

 

 USS Independence (CV 62)
Type ship: Forrestal-class aircraft carrier
Length: 1,070 feet
Beam: 263 feet
Status: Stricken, to be disposed of
Commissioned: Jan. 10, 1959
Decommissioned: Sept. 30, 1998
Stricken: March 8, 2004

  Kitty Hawk and Independence at NS Pearl Harbor HI. RIMPAC 98. This was long after I had retired.














 USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63)
Type ship: Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carrier
Length: 1,069 feet
Beam: 282 feet
Status: Out of commission, in reserve
Commissioned: April 29, 1961
Decommissioned: Spring 2009

USS Constellation (CV 64)
Type ship: Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carrier
Length: 1,073 feet
Beam: 282 feet
Status: Stricken, to be disposed of
Commissioned: Oct. 27, 1961
Decommissioned: Aug. 6, 2003
Stricken: Dec. 2, 2003

Those three vessels I served on are in the pic at the link as well as Constellation.

They represent a large part of my life, approximately 5 years and 2 months of it.