From Part II of the series, I stated on 10/03/2006, as the Mark Foley scandal began:

I will, once more, predict (and I’m certainly no oracle), that, as one TV correspondent says last night, they are getting many emails from other pages. It is only realistic to believe, that the subjects being discussed in those emails coming in will include human beings, most likely almost exclusively male, and, there ceratinly may be some Democrats in the bunch. Whether that is disclosed before or after the elections next month isn’t necessarily the issue, but the fact that it’s a human condition in the sexually related society we live in. The “backsplatter” will get those who are making exceptionally bad (and in some cases, illegal) choices, but it isn’t reasonable to brand everyone of their party as participating in the same behavior.

Well, it didn’t pop out quite as I envisioned, but…James Webb seems to have quite the active imagination.

I’d be willing to bet many conservative minded Virginians, who may have been leaning towards a “punishment vote” mentaility will come back and decide to cast one for George.

How will the Dems portray this one? “He only wrote about it, so it’s a freedom of speech issue! Nah! Nah! Nah!” If that’s so, then I guess text messaging 18 or older used to be pages before, but are not now and are not minors anymore when it occured, should similarly be consider the same? Nope…not via the media’b’Allah. You see, it will come down to the party who supports the organization that supports the ACLU as opposed to one from the party who says such things are a danger and asks for laws to protect people from it.

Anyhow, I tried to warn the Democrats, but no, they didn’t listen and all I did was recall some not so distant history of the “culture of corruption screeching to try and help.

Geez…’nuff said

H/T: Right Wing Nation

Found in an article regarding a Muslim cabbie in England who stole a serviceman’s identity so he could keep driving. He was found guilty of:

“…perverting the course of justice.”

I think there are many judges and legislators, from the federal to local levels to whom this would apply. Too bad we don’t have this crime on the books…

Hmmm….I tried to warn you guys…

Anyhow….been trying to cycle about the afternoon check-in of favorite blogs and…the Blogger guys are Tango Uniform. Like the dreaded 404 error “not found”/MIA type TU.

The Salamander, Steeljaw Scribe, and the Capt/Lawyer.

They were there before lunch…it’s now about evening chow time. Maybe we need to call to Quarters for muster, and tell the OOD to review his Williamson Turn procedures.

“XO to the Bridge!”

(psst: get your own domains!)

“Growing Old Disgracefully”

I was a young, full of it, Fleet LT(JG) aboard a brand new greyhound of the seas, the USS LEFTWICH (DD-984). I was a plank owner (a member of the commissioning crew), and the Missile Officer. I had the responsibility of the NATO Sea Sparrow Missile (NSSMS) and Harpoon Weapons System (HWS). My Condition III watch station was that of the Ship’s Weapons Coordinator (SWC), where I sat the watch at the OJ-194 Console in the Combat Information Center (CIC), being the control point between the Captain or Tactical Action Officer (TAO) and the weapons systems for air and surface target engagements.

We commissioned in Aug 1979, and in late January, returned to Ingalls Ship Building and Drydock in Pascagoula, MI, for our post-shakedown availability (PSA – read warranty work by the builder after you take the ship out for 6 months of ops) and also for the Restricted Availability (RAV), which would install many upgrades not originally purchased for the hull during the intial Congressional funding. We had sailed from the shipyard on August 26th, 1979 with the NATO missile launcher installed, but the control consoles and some of the computer cabinets, as well as the cable runs, were not. None of the Harpoon system was initally installed, either. The RAV portion of our 5 months in Ingalls would put both of these systems into service.

One day, I was informed that some people would be coming aboard to discuss human factors for some of the weapons systems, one of which would be the Harpoon Weapons System. So, I went about my work until the appointed time, then went to CIC to await the visitors. An older gentleman in regular civilian clothes came in and introduced himself, then asked me if I had any suggestions on the controls for the HWS. I sat in the SWC chair and proceeded to demonstrate one design flaw I particularly thought was stupid. The AN/SWG-1 Harpoon Shipboard Control Launch Control System (HSCLCS) was mounted perpendicular to the SWC console, so you had to turn to your left in the SWC chair to operate the controls. That wasn’t the issue. The power switch was located on the upper left of the console, but underneath a cover plate that had a screw to hold it closed. Still not bad. The procedure for launching included powering the system up (duh!), then securing the cover over the power switch, and you would go about entering the aim point and cell(s) for launching. On the command to shoot, you would rotate the ITL (intend to launch) switch handle (on the lower right of the console) clockwise about 45 degrees and hold it there. At this point, your first visual check was to see if the indicator light for the boosters went from “Safe” to “Arm.” Herein comes the rub. Along with some maintenace lights and switches, the Booster Safe/Armed indicator was also in the well that held the power switch. The cover plate, which was also anodized aluminum, was, quite obviously opaque. So, when you were shooting the bird(s), the first indication to validate was the safe/arm light and it was now obscured.

My sage comment to the visitor, while I sat with my torso twisted markedly to the left: “Whoever invented this was a real bonehead” I stated with the confidence of a fully SWO qualified hot runner, while I demonstrated the problem with now having to open the cover plate to do the job. His very polite (and possibly amused) response: “That was me.”

Ok, so now I find out he’s a retired admiral, now working for Boeing, conducting this human factors/ergonomics survey, and…he had been the first Harpoon Program Manager. Well, that was a moment to pause and shut up and dig no deeper. He was gracious and, as he scribbled on his note pad, he said something like “You’re right, we need to fix that.”

Lesson learned: Just be professional.

LIke this guy…..Tom Fort

Heh…let’s see him do that again in the next 15 minutes…:)

Part II is here and covers the finger pointing the first day the “issue” with Rep. Mark Foley bubbled to up from beneath the swamp water to see the light of day.

Today, a short post on the topic. I believe I know the end game of the physicists looking for the Grand Unification Theory formula. Once they have discerned it, everything else will be understood exactly how it relates to everything else in the physical science world.

With those seeking the single thing/person/animal/mineral/vegtable that is the cause of all “badness” in the universe, what next? If “it” says “sorry!” will we then all move along and go back to living? Will we drop the “hunt” and be satisfied? Will we secretly break out our notes, hiding under the bedcovers, using a flashlight to illuminate our scribbling and tell ourselves “There must be something ELSE!”?

How long will it take for “goodness” to break out on the plant, where all men and women love and respect each other, when no one goes hyngry, when there is nary a molecule of “Greenhouse” gas left to cause the inordinate heating of the precious plant? How long, I ask those of you who seek this answer.

I thought of this because of the many, many press conferences when some unbiased, non-glory seeking, bright and intelligent journalists ask President Bush “Sir, what mistakes have you made in ______?” Add to that the many angry editorials where the writers DEMAND the President say he made mistakes.

Ok, so if one day, before his term is over, President Bush says he has committed a specific mistake. Sometimes he does allow for “yes, I’ve made a few mistakes” type of response, but then ignores the clamoring press corps that yells in unison “WHAT MISTAKE DID YOU MAKE?” as he turns and walks from the podium, waving and smiling. So, pretend President Bush says: “I made a mistake counting on the reliability of the intelligence that was provided to me by the CIA.”

Will you (you know who you are) then take a deep breath, breathe a sigh of relief and then say to yourself “FINALLY!” and get on about your life, no longer obsessed with just.getting.HIM.to.say IT?

This, while the topic is not fully explored for the purposes of this series, is the most pressing issue at hand. If we can find who definitively who it is to blame, will we let it go and then do something uplifting and productive for the rest of our days?

Capt Lex sent us to the archives for entertainment a few days ago. One of the linked choices was a story about life at sea and the availability of (fresh) water while keeping oneself in a state of good hygine.

He pointed out, in his fine style of prose, that aviators are regularly pilloried for being the ones who waste so much of the water, that others must suffer. He later learned, when assigned as “Ship’s Company” (that means the aviators share the joy of black shoe life, well, at least get a healthy taste of it), and that it is sometimes malfunctioning machinery, specifically the components used in water production or waste steam/heat recovery are the culprits, but, the ‘Shoe Navy has a cabal that always requires pointing the finger of blame at those who would slip the surly bonds of earth. It’s a union thing, I’m sorry, I gotta stick with the homeboys here.

Here’s my “water hours” story. It was a cool November in 1989. We had taken in all lines several weeks earlier in Charleston, SC and sailed east in our plucky little (453′) FFG. Equipped with two evaporators, and carrying a few over 200 aboard, conversing water was not a huge task, but did require us all to be mindful of only using our share. The CHENG and his A Div Officer did a fine job of maintaining the plant, so we weren’t constantly sweating the laod on this topic.

As we sailed through the Med, enroute Port Said to transit south through the Suez Canal and head for the Persian Gulf. The Chop (Supply Officer), Lt Wayne Aiken, had been on the previous cruise. At the Planning Board for Training the week before the transit of the Canal, Wayne suggested we accelerate the laundry cycle to get all the beding done, then we could make the transit easier on the water use, since you’re not allowed (by Navy sanitation requirements) to make water in enclosed waters, which the Canal certainly was. we copuld then top off the fresh water tanks, and shut down the evaporators at the 12 mile limit off of Egypt, yet still have plenty for food service and normal showers on the 24 hour transit, with reserves while the evaps caught up on the other side of Port Suez. I agreeed and the department heads and the command senior chief went about working up the details.

Over the next few days, the plan went like clockwork. The sheets got done and a few of the divisions got their dungarees taken care off off schedule. Early on the day of our scheduled arrival at Port Said (the north end of the canal), we had launched the helo on a Dawn Patrol, and brought them back aboard before we enetered Egyptian territorial waters (12 NM). I recall being on the bridge and, in addition to monitoring our navigational approach (I was navigator, too), I kept an ear out for the communications between the helo and CIC to make sure we didn’t break boundries.

We headed into the anchorage, the Engineering Officer of the Watch (EOOW) letting the bridge know the evaporators were “wrapped up” as the Officer of the Deck (OOD) completed the entering port checklist. We anchored about an hour later and the CHENG called up, saying we were losing fresh water fast. Immediately, the chain of command was sent around the berthing spaces, looking for running showers, or other “appliances” in the heads. They all reported back, that nothing was running, and there were no findings of pooled water in the spaces. We were still using water. This was a real problem, more frustrating as we had taken the time to make a plan just to keep a problem like this from happeneing.

More hiking around the ship. Nothing, until the Ops Boss, LT Tom Strother, found a garden hose, draped over the side of the flight deck, running at full output. He also found an airman from the helo detachment, with a long handled brush, dutifully scrubbing down the helo, as was standard procedure, after the flight. The problem was, he was supposed to have a nozzle on the garden hose, so he would only use the water required.

In this case, we lost almost half of our fresh water over the side, courtesy of the well intentioned maintained, keeping the risk of corrosion on the very expensive flying machine of HSL-44 Det 4. Marty Keany and I had an interesting chat a few moments later.

We regrouped, we did make water in the Canal, but it was super chlorinated, which, is it’s own reward.

When I checked off the Command, one of the helo pilots, Carl Bush, was a great cartoonist, drew a cartoon of me. The view was from behind me, sitting at my desk. The 1MC (General Announcing System) was blaring “WATER HOURS ARE NOW IN EFFECT!” and I had a cartoon thinking bubble saying “All RIGHT!” in response. There were other details, like an overflowing In Basket, and an empty Out Basket.

Yes, Capt Lex, it was the aviators this time.