I use Netscape as my browser. I started with it in the way back days of the web and have kept it.

The Netscape homepage hilights the news with a main article, then three that rotate in a window just underneath that.

Top story:

“7 Children Die in Hiway Crash; 15 Year Old Driving” – Yes, a bad thing…

Rotating stories:

1: “Breakfast Battles: Watch Out McD’s” – It seems the Egg McMuffin is loosing ground in the fast food, spike your sugar and cholesteral in the morning market. HORRORS!

2: “Militant Group Wins Palestinian Election; PM Resigns” – mmmm…Sorta important, but no words really grab you much.

3: “A Happy Hot Rod Homecoming” – Cool! The dude gets his Vette that was stolen 37 years ago….

Wow…news of violent, islamic terrorists winning a majority of the seats in the election os a soverign nation is (pardon the pun) “sandwiched” between news of a major fast food chain losing market share at the drive thru window and some guy getting his car back. I’d say “they” sort of missed out on the understanding of the importance of each of the news stories, but then again, we can’t say “they” never report “good” news….

The media said they don’t censor the news, but there is so much to choose from and so little time to report it, they have to select carefully. I submit their selections, particulalry today, as the democratic mechanism of voting has brought a procalimed terrorist organization into the access to nation status. But, then again, Iran did the same thing, and speaking of that, the media sure isn’t very concerned about that either….

Isn’t it interesting how this analogy can help understand a complex issue. Let me begin with the story of the P-3C Orion Update II version.

I think it was while I was on the Destroyer Squadron staff when I recall seeing a message declaring how the newest version of the P-3C Orion would not be called the P-3D, but rather the P-3C/Update II. Having built a lot of plane models growing up, and spenind a lot of thime studying the military aircraft of the WWII era, I had come to understand that when a major modification of an aircraft was made, they changed the letter at the end of the designation. The B-17F became the B-17G when they hung a remotely controlled set of .50 cal guns in a chin turret. The P-47, when it got a bubble canopy, vs the old framed one, became the P-47D. The P-38 had lots of variants, some as fighters, some as light bombers, some as photo recon, others as Pathfinders. Each carried a different letter behind the “38.”

Fast forward to the mid-80s. The P-3 airframe, a military adaptation (quite succesful one at that, for it still patrols the oceans) of the Lockheed Electra passenger plane was getting a major internal makeover. All sorts of more automated gadgets were being stuffed in and now the decision had to be made as to how to dsesigate it. Between the lettering scehme noted in the previous paragragh, and what I learned, there is significant reason to point this out, for the people having to call on the aircraft will know what’s up there supporting them, or, during mission planning, may have to be specific requests to make sure the operational function comes off as planned.

Why didn’t the “P-3D” come into the nomenclature? Simple…it’s all about money. I learned long ago, the best way to figure out complex issues is to take a look at the money trail, and you may glean some interesting information. In this case, it wasn’t the money for the airframe, or the ground support, but it was the issue of the printing and distrobution costs for the change pages for the plethora of publications in existance that referenced the “P-3C.” You know, Admin Warfare, the undiscussed mission area, is important! The message that told us to use P-3C/Update II indicated it was cost prohibative to change all the TACMEMOs, NWPs, NTPs, etc, etc, etc, so henceforth and foreevermore, all we would be able to say if we had a “P-3C.” Make sense?

By now, I hope you didn’t get lost in the story and are anxiously awaiting the connection to Gay Marriage.

Here it is: It’s about the money. Money, you ask? Yes. Here’s the deal. Civil unions won’t suffice. Like the many forests of printed pubs with “P-3C” that the Navy wasn’t about to change, the veritable mountain of legal and regulatory documents out there in the world that say “marriage” in the context of legal rights on allowance of benefits are too many to consider trying to get to change them, one by one, in order to them to say “marriage and/or civil union” would cost lots. On top of that, unlike the control over this decison to change or not being in the hands of the Navy alone (or, in a worst case, the Department of Defense), these documents are under the purview of all sorts of private companies as well. You can’t change them just by having the federal government deeming it so. Not only that, it would mean each occurance of resistance to granting rights similar to those granted to straight married people would have to be the approached legally by the person encoutering it, meaning more money out of the pockets of the gay person seeking compensation.

The documents will range from applications for insurance, health care plans, employee handbooks and claims forms for all types of insurance. While someone may annonce an equivalency between “marriage” and “civil unions,” there will be plenty of businesses that would drag their feet, or flat out say “it says ‘marriage’ here. sorry!”

Therefore, the most effective path to gain access to the many things we grant two people who have promised each other, under a legal contract, to take care of the other, only a nationwide decree of the legality of marriage will suffice. That means, no matter how hard the uphill battle for the activists for this course of action seems, the bottom line is it will then instantly take down all barriers in every other place they may come in contact with resistance, for they hold up a piece of paper saying “Marriage License.” The other beauty of this approach is that not every document would have to be known at the time. The acceptance of a “civil union” might make things better for many, but the lingering cases would continue to pop up for years to come, with the associated legal bills and time spent waiting for a clogged court system to hear the case.

All this discussion is to help understand why the issue of gay marriage is being pushed so hard right now, and will continue to be. It’s the path of least resistance.

Thanks to Little Green Footballs for the Open Thread!

I won’t bore you with lots of links, but between the Judge Alito pontifications, the Abrahamoff, the Tom Delay fake consiracy charges…It seems when “it” is brought up by the libs, they soon find out it’s people in their own party doing the same kind of things, be it falisifying travel claims, moving PAC money around, taking PAC money, or wiretapping….

The items come and go so fast, you almost can’t read them.

Here’s my counsel for the liberals/Democrats:

I know, I know….you would never really handle any type of weapon, but consider this in a parable style of instruction, the way Jesus teaches…it’s in the analogy, not the specific words (or images, in this case)

’nuff said (for now)

If this information has helped you in anyway, please pop over to Project Valour-IT and ,ake a donation to the program to get laptop computers for our wonded service members as compensation for my counselling.

Thanks to Little Green Footballs for the Open Thread!

Part I, Part II, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII Part IX

I recall the weather was exceptional. Clear skies and gentle low swells, as we forged our way north, communicating “the old fashioned way,” semaphore, flashing light (Morse Code) and flag hoists. The stuff a WWII movie is made of. When tactical manuvering is done this way, and the crews do that well, it’s pretty impressive to see many thousands of tons of steel dance across the waves in unison, or planned staging of their movements in an aquatic ripple effect.

Traffic was light and we came across one ship of significance, a Soviet merchant ship. “Back in the day,” every Soviet vessel that sailed was a mobile intelligence gathering platform. This encouter became a point of focus for our boring, but important transit. The BIDDLE was dispatched out ahead to keep tabs on her, and the SARATOGA and thge other ships were maneuvered to stay a good distance away, but if you can see a ship, then it can see you. That’s a good rule to aply in such situations, especially bright sunny days with no clouds at all.

Back to the background:

The BIDDLE fell behind out Battle Group, much to the chargrin of our CSO, CDR Nurthen. The rest of us had kept small bags with a few days worth of clothes and our toothbrushes…

To close this line of the story, we all entered the Med, the BIDDLE late, and a few days later, my staff moved to our flagship, the BIDDLE. The CO of the BIDDLE was under the operational command of the Commodore, even though he had a higher “lineal number.” Friction became a part of life, as each man tried to fence off their territory.

Upon our embarkation on the cruiser, which was tasked as the anti-air warfare commander (AAWC) for the Battle Group, we found ourselves, as the ASWC, routinelt in EMCON “A,” as the cruiser would be dispatched down a threat axis in radar and radio silence to ambush the incoming enemy aircraft. We had normally ridden aboard destroyers before, and this didn’t impact us much, except to lose a SONAR from the inner ASW screen. As a side note, one of the normal duties of the ASWC was to also be assigned to be the Screen Commander (SC), responsible for planning and executing the screen of these big deck ships with the destroyers and frigates assigned. Now the problem is we are our on station, only able to listen to the radio circuits, but could not respond. Needless to say, it really put a crimp in our style. It didn’t help any that the BG Watch Officers would try to get ahold of us, and get angry when we didn’t answer there calls.

The “INCHOP” reports were filed, briefings from the 6th Fleet and supporting staffs were made. We then joined up with the SARATOGA BG and “swapped” escorts. It was an odd cruise, for the CORAL SEA would remain in the Med and show off the new thingy I understood to be (possibly) affectionately termed “The Lawn Dart.” It was the first operational deployment of the F/A-18, and therefore a good time to parade the new birds around the shores of our allies, more than likely to let them know we were going to use it, so they should get on board and buy some, too. I found out later, foreign navies (and I’m sure other services) don’t take it too well when you try to sell them something you aren’t planning on using yourself. The F-20 Tigershark aricraft comes to mind in this example.

Anyhow, we “worked up” with one carrier, then swapped out on deployment. We didn’t move the escorts exactly between battle groups, and some discussion followed, ending with a decision to leave BIDDLE with the CORAL SEA in the Med, and the SCOTT (DDG-995) coming with us to the North Arabian Sea (NAS)/Indian Ocean. It sort of balanced the firepower overall. That decision was crucial at another level. Here were two crews, with gear packed for deployment. Once for a winter Med cruise, the other for the Indian Ocean climes. It wasn’t just a bite for the operational issues, but also for the “civies” loaded by the crews for liberty, as well.

And back at the 20 years ago coral:

The Soviet ship didn’t seem to take any interest in us, as they should have. It steamed on it’s way, with out deviating from it’s course. Not unusual for a regular merchant vessel, but definitely strange for a Soviet flagged ship of any category.

A few days after we sailed from DGAR, towards a point in the ocaen south of the Arabian Penninsula, were were given orders to head to the Red Sea and prepare for a northen transit of the Suez Canal….

Coming to a cute new bookstore near you: Brainwashing of the young and the helpless:

Why Mommy is a Democrat from the Little Democrats website. How wonderful!

Having spent a lot of years being directly of indirectly invloved in training, in and out of the Navy, I know that many groups try to get in the loop early in life, for it is the time when we are extremely effective sponges. All education at that level is worthy of being carefully chosen, for it is the foundation building time.

There are some interesting reactions already blogged about, such as this one: Sean Gleeson’s Blog and at Peer Review.

Enjoy!

HT to a young consevative looking forward to entering the Marines!

Thanks to Little Green Footballs for the Open Thread!

From www.dictionary.com

con·ver·gence (kn-vûrjns)
n.

1. The process of coming together or the state of having come together toward a common point.

That one definition is what I think I need for the following discussion.

The support for the Global War on Terror is slumping. I have an idea on how to get support form a broad cross section of the country, if not maybe the world. It is a summation of the current issues we are facing and comes from the headlines. All that is needed now is to figure out how to pull it together.

My first point of reference is the recent issues brought on by the New York Times disclosure of the NSA conducting electronic monitoring. The general impression is President Bush has ordered the surveilance of regular American citizens. This, in fact, if it were the case, would most certainly not be Constitutional, and everyone would agree. That’s not the real case, but in order to find out what the al-Qaida operatives are up to, the monitoring has involved American citizens, who are at the other end of the phone call. Now, the mood of some people, mostly on the left side of the political spectrum, seems to be that protection from this monitoring should be afforded to the terrorists. This would now confer the same rights we have as Americans upon foriegn nationals, making the application of the Constitutional right of the 4th Amendment universal. As of yesterday, certainly CAIR and the ACLU are making their acceptance of this view an issue by filing a suit to prevent the President form directing this surveillance be conducted.

Step 1: Leverage off this view of the left that terrorists are defacto American citizens. Place this note on the large easel in the front of the conference room.

Next stop: Megan’s Law. This is the Federal law that requires sex offenders to register with local law ebnforcement and provide their address. Put that on the lagre sheet in the front of the room.

Why is this a point to consider? For several years, and most recently, there is an almost psychotic reaction in the form of hatred to the presense of sex offenders. If we can harness this emotion, and focus it towards the terrorists, then we will have some real “will of the people” to go after the perpetrators, regardless of the expense. Soccer moms, and just about every body else really hates these people and therefore, they are a unifying force in the community.

The most recent case in the news to illustrate this point is the sentencing of Mark Hulett by Judge Cashman in Vermont. The reaction in the media and on the radio and TV shows will let you know an overwhelming majority of people are truly upset.

Get yourself a copy of Loretta Napoleoni’s Insurgent Iraq. This book is centered on discussing al Zarqawi, currently thought to be the leading al Queda commander in Iraq. Lots of interesting stuff in there, most of it in the first few chapters of the book tend to keep repeating that the Jews displaced the Palestinians, and those who came into Jordan then made it hard for the Jordanians, and that’s why al Zarquawi became a terrorist., but I digress….

In the paperback edition from Seven Stories Press, on page 31, there is an interesint tidbit of useful information: al Zarquawi was in prison for drug possession and sexual assault. There you have it: the head AQ guy is a sexual offender. Before you say so what?, go back to my first point: The ACLU would have us treat non-US citizens as our own, remember? Toss in the fact that the US Supreme Court has become accustomed to looking to foreign courts and laws to make decisions for US cases.

Here’s the strategy: based on those two points raised above, and that al Zarqawi, under US law, would be designated a sexual offender, leverage off the push to treat all persons of the world as if they had rights under the Constitution. It should not be selective, just when it’s convinient for the foriegner’s to claim protection, but it should be universal. In this instance, then the criminal acts committed should also be on the table. After all, isn’t that what the ACLU has been tryiing to get for the detainees at Guantanamo Bay for the last several years, access to our court system?

There you have it. Current events and what the desires of the liberals are asking for can be used to now shine a light on who one of the main terrorist is, and therefore bring the rage against him, which will help end the fight in Iraq.

Just some idle thinking.

Update 1/19/2006: Consider the information in this article about the marked increase in “honor killings” among the Palestinians:

Palestinian feminist Abu Dayyeh Shamas claims that: “Men feel they have lost their dignity and that they can somehow restore it by upholding the family’s honour. We’ve noticed recent cases are much more violent in nature; attempts to kill, rape, incest. There is an incredible amount of incest.” One women’s group reported over 400 cases of incest in the West Bank alone in 2002.

Rape and incest, both crimes make a sex offender of the prepetrator, and the volience in Israel attests to the Palestinians propensity towards terrorism, and the opening paragraph of the article links the terrorism with the sexual crimes:

When Israel began erecting a separation barrier in late 2003 to protect its citizens from the seemingly endless procession of suicide bombers, Palestinian society responded by redirecting its destructive urges inward. All revolutions are said ultimately to turn upon themselves and devour their own children. And, when suicide bombing became an increasingly difficult means of enhancing family prestige, Palestinians shifted the focus onto their female offspring to restore the balance.

A sad statment on the human condition.

Side note: I have called things like this to the attention to NOW in posts gone by, but, somehow, there is no ruffled feathers in their camp. I would have thought their feelings for the oppressed women would certainly draw their outrage for all women, not just the culturally elite ones. NOW drops the ball again (and again, and again…)

Thanks to Little Green Footballs for the Open Thread!

Part I, Part III,Part IV, Part V, Part VI,
Part VII, Part VIII

Part IX

Needless to say, I was rather disappointed. I mean, get all the way to about 13 degress south of the equator in the Indian Ocean, and you can’t even get a chance to have a beer, and see if the Exchange has any T Shirts to prove you were there.

Back the stateroom, back into khakis, and head aft about a 1/3rd the length of the ship, then up 7 decks via “ladders.” In the Navy, ladders are mostly very steep stairs, not vertical ladders like you might think, but some actually are, usually in the out of the way places, not were there is normal people traffic.

(returning to the build up to the main story line – here’s more back ground)
So, we hauled our stuff to the MONOGAHELA (AO-178) and let that ship’s company decide where to put us. The staterooms are huge on those ships, as they have so much space above the area they needed for tanks for fuel. Most officers on the ship already had two man rooms by themselves, so we fit in well, for last minute visitors. Steve was left to getting our gear hauled to Combat Information Center (CIC), and OSCS Koch went to work getting our Joint Operational Tactical Systems (JOTS) HP-9020 computers set up and patched into the radio circuits for LINK 14 data. Controlled chaos was the mood, but, the hosts took care of us.

We sailed on time, and settled in for a long planned 6 month, but actual 7 month deployment, not expecting a lot besides boring holes in the waters of the North Arabian Sea, letting Iran know we were there….

The MONOGAHELA did not man the CIC full time. They really didn’t need to. With no weapons, and being counted on to just deliver fuel and some cargo, the bridge watch could generally handle the radio traffic and radar watches along with their tasks. They did man up for us, and several Boatswain’s Mates (BMs) were provided, along with the Operations Specialists (OSs) to support us. We found out they had cross trained their senior BMs to be CIC supervisors and they were very proficient at their duties.

We steamed east, and rendezvoused with the USS CAPODANNO out of Newport, RI, the JESSE L BROWN out of Charleston, SC and USS JACK WILLIAMS from Mayport, FL. A few days later, we received a message fro BIDDLE that repairs were completed and she was getting underway, with “excess SOA” authorized. For transits out of local op areas, we had a top speed limit (on over all average speed) for the ship’s movement, which helped plan logistics for fuel delivery, at sea and to forward shore stations. SOA means “speed of advance.” 16 kts was the normal limit. BIDDLE would be steaming about 2/3rds of the way to the Straits of Gibralter at close to her top speed.

About a day out of our arrival at the entrance to the Mediterranean, the BIDDLE caught up to use late in the day. We packed up our gear, short essentials, and palletized it for highline transfer. BIDDLE came alongside MONOGAHELA just before sunset to commence alongside replenishment at sea (RAS), and our pallets were sent over. The master plan was for us to be heloed over in the morning, to embark on the planned flagship for our staff.

Fast forward: It’s about 5 AM local time, and I’m one watch. BIDDLE calls us frantically on one of the circuits, reporting white smoke in one of her shaft alleys. Shaft Ally is the last space in the ship where the shafting from the ships turbines then penetrates the hull, heading out to the struts and the propeller. White smoke in there is a bad thing. The response is for the Engineering Officer of the Watch (EOOW) to direct the shaft be stopped ASAP, and then to lock the shaft in place. The net reslut of this action is like dropping a large sea anchor, for the blades of the affected prop are being pulled almost sideways thru the water and not turning. BIDDLE’s max speed in this condition was several knots slower than we had to go to arrive in the Med on time to reported to COMSIXTHFLT. I notified the Commodore and the Ops Boss. Planning went into affect for what to do until BIDDLE caught up, since our records and publications were over there.

The affect on the Staff was not too bad professionally, as the MONOGAHELA’s library would have publications we could use, but the biggest impact was the Chief Staff Officer, Bill Nurthen, has also send his clothes over, except for a single change of them. Well, you can imagine his angst, but also how were were able to play on this to get under his skin for the rest of the cruise….

Later that morning, the OPREP (operational report) from the BIDDLE made it’s way to use, and listed the cause of the loss of all oil in the main shaft bearing as sabotage. Someone had uncapped the drain line, and big machinery, which in many cases actually relies on the oil as a medium to carry heat off the movig parts as much as it being a lubricant, does stuff like get hot and the glows red, and then breaks or catches on fire.

Shortly after this message came out, the Battle Group Staff lawyer sent one back, letting the BIDDLE know the reported was to read, or any subsequent reports to list sabotage as “malicious destruction.” That’s the term used when it’s one of your own people who causes the damage.

(back to the story)
So was sailed by late afternoon, the SARATOGA, SCOTT, JACK WILLIAMs, BROWN, CAPODANNO and MONOGAHELA all in formation. We left in strict EMCOM “A.” That means no, I mean no, radio communications and all radars were turned off. Once clear of the harbor, our orders were to proceed NNE at top speed in EMCOM. We didn’t even know were we were going, except a point south of the Arabian peninsula.

More to come…

Part II, Part III,Part IV, Part V, Part VI,
Part VII, Part VIII

Part IX

I don’t recall the exact date it was, but it was in January 20 years ago, and the location was an island pardise referred to as “DGAR” (pronounced Dee-gar) by the mulitude of airmen and sailors who have had the pleasure of transiting, by ship, sub or plane to the southern reaches of the Indian Ocean in the Chagos Archipeligo. Being south of the equator, it is more than likely responsible for many “Shellbacks” of the various services as well.

I pick up the story a few months late. But to catch up quickly, my travels to DGAR began in Norfolk, VA at the end of Oct, 1985. Sailing with the USS CORAL SEA (CV-43) Battle Group, under the command of Commander Carrier Group TWO. Assigned to the Battle Group was Destroyer Squadron THIRTY TWO, USS BIDDLE (CG-34), USS CAPODANNO (FF-1093), USS JESSE L BROWN (FF-1089), USS JACK WILLIAMS (FFG-24) and USS MONOGAHELA (AO-178), we headed east to the Med to swap out our CV and Group Commander, before heading to the North Arabian Sea. My “boss” was Capt Wes Jordan, Jr, Commodore for DESRON 32, and the Chief Staff Officer was CDR William “Bill” Nurthen. Staff OPS was LCDR Steve Nerheim, LCDR AL McCollum was our token ASW TACCO from the P-3 community to help make sure us “shoes” did ASW right. Much, much more on that later….OSC(SW) Jim Koch was our OPS Assistant, and RMCS(SW) Rumbaugh the Communications Officer. We had a chpalian and an RP (religiuos program specialist), but I can’t recall their names. They were farmed out to the ships of the Battle Group and rarely we with us. YN1 Thorton and a MS1 as the Commodore’s staff rounded out our little “family.”

Our sailing from Norfolk in October had been a wonderfully exciting day, as all our gear had been loaded aboard USS BIDDLE, but during the night before, the deck crew was hoisting a 40′ Utility Boat back aboard when a limit switch failed, allowing the winches to keep running, after the davit arm was fully upright. The result was a bend davit arm. COMNAVSURFLANT directed BIDDLE to remain inport and effect repairs, as our deployment would require anchoring out a lot, and the boat davits would be used extensively.

The Commodore issued orders to find another flagship. Looking to the north, we could see the CORAL SEA already moving from the piers. USS MONOGAHELA was still moored at her berth, so we yelled for help from the BIDDLE’s crew, and got our gear to the Oiler….

Off we go, but more background to come. Anyhow, on or about this date, 20 years in the past, I was headed towards the brow, so I could say I had a beer on Diego Garcia, after being on duty the first day inport, having just arrived from Singapore, where most of our Battle Group had spent Christmas. I heard “All Hands Prepare to Get Underway!” on the USS SARATOGA’s 1MC system…..

Chapomatic is a really smart guy (but then most all sumariners I have met are), who does his homework. He has great posts and this one, besides being good reading, has spawned a “spirited,” yet mostly polite discussion between a libertarian, some conservative civilians and a few ex- and current military guys, who have their opinions on the topic of the NSA leaks.

I submit we have bowed to many warrantless searches, like at getting on commercial airplanes, giving our SSN for credit checks and going to major sports venues and US Customs, and no one gets too excited about that. One response to my commentary on the thread said words the the effect that there is no Constitutional right to ride a plane. Someon responded that there is also no Constitutional right to make telephone calls! Touche!

I submit the rage is merely Bush Derangement Syndrome, because there doesn’t seem to be retroactive rage for the decades, and, actually centuries of this behavior by government….I’d be much more sympathetic to “the cause” if I saw anger at the concept, not at one man’s actions.

Anyhow, it’s a thread of discussion that should hang on and “have legs” I suspect….

Charlie Daniels was being interviwed on the Tony Snow talk show. Charlie commented that he had no idea which generals were telling Jack Murtha that we couldn’t win the war, because he hadn’t heard that from a single one. During his tour of SW Asia, he said, while you might find a very occasional service member who didn’t think we were winning, but every one else was confident that we were winning every where but in the media and great things were happening.

Charlie issued an open invitation to Jack Murtha and Ted Kennedy to accompany him on his next tour, which is being planned for April, so they could get the answers from the troops who were doing the fighting. Sounds to me like someone has a solution to a problem here….

So, any bets that Jack Murtha’s schedule is already full? It would be nice if he took this trip, so he could really make sound decisions while carrying out his Constitutionally mandated duties in Congress.

Tony asked Charlie about Operation Heartstrings, too. Charlie has set up a plan to get instruments and equipment to the troops, so they have something for their time off the line to relax with. He mentioned many companies have made generous contributions already, mentioning that Gibson has already sent 100 guitars. Charlie is working with the National Guard to get the donated items transported.

Thanks to Mudville Gazette for the Open Post!