“This way, come on” Lasky cried as we made our way through the nearest passage past the lake.
A lake of the likes we had never dreamed. An ocean of live churning magma stretching far to the north, all the way to the smoke filled horizon.
We picked our way east, shadowing what was Flagstaff mountain to the south. The ground was hot beneath us and sleep wasnt found so we ran.
After a week of misery we caught a glimpse of what lie ahead. High and far away to the east there appeared a wall of black cloud with an odd looking lightning breaking the darkness, maybe another clue?
We rested and wandered for a bit to orient. After some wind the smoke cleared enough to continue east.
We connected with the Hopi tribe who gave us some clues, but no one really knew what was past the rockies except tales of sunlight.
We decided to try wolf creek pass, notorious back then, who knows what we would find when we get there.
It has become dimmer, I guess this is the new winter, but we are used to our new life, in a way.
Im happy to have saved a notepad and pens, the kids wouldn’tknow what to do with them. After we reached Gunnison we said enough, plowing through icy snow drifts was not helping so we went south and east to Vegas.
The people of Vegas were great and happy to help, it didn’t hurt we had ammo for trade. We spent a week gathering our supplies for the next leg of our journey when they approached me with a deal. We traded my ukulele for a wagon which our mules could handle, and the leaders daughter for influence with the northern tribes.
I felt sketchy about it but agreed. We also brought a runner, sort of an envoy to mark our progress, and it was agreed. We left on a typically dreary morning,six months into our journey and nothing to see, yet, but as we traveled up the ruins of I-25 we saw a dawn, far away and that was our destination.
Bobbo 169877
2029
I would grab some purple chips while in Vegas for the novelty.
Purple chips
While in Vegas
Ver-y free-e
And novel
🎶
HEY YUFUS!
Sorry, but I had to drag this over:
Gdragon on June 23, 2025 at 7:08 pm
If they have a 96% chance of making it in each mission then they have a (0.96)^25 = 36% chance of staying airborne for 25 missions in a row. So that gives them a 64% chance of going down.
You know who else had a 36% chance of going down?
Winstons mom on you?
/Ill be here all night.
Tall Cans!
The current Iranian regime?
Those chances were diluted by stats from ’44-’45 when air superiority was achieved with longer range fighter protection. ’42-’43 much more dangerous to crews. My uncle made it through 32 missions. He once said about 75 percent of his pilot training class bought the farm.
relevant visual aids:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DW4F_ZMrS3A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh1vYh-3VFE
My cousin made 24 of 30. Arlington with 3 of his mates in the same grave. Only son of an immigrant family.
My brother told me some about pilots and crew he knew who died in training or in combat. I could tell it was not something he enjoyed discussing. I didn’t ask him about it. He told me the stories when I started talking about joining the Army.
He nearly got killed a few times himself and showed me some of his war porn – wreckage, corpses, etc. I didn’t bother me much because of what I saw in Africa. It seemed to make him feel better to share his trauma with me.
“12 O’clock High” is a great film on combat leadership in the dark 1943 period of the American bombing campaign. I highly recommend it. It is B&W and uses plenty of actual combat footage of B-17s from the war.
My BSA Scout Master was a B-17 ball turret gunner during the war and of course he never mentioned his experiences to us. One summer there were forest fires near camp and three B-17s came over in a V formation to drop slurry. I saw an expression on his face that struck me, but I couldn’t fully understand until after I became a combat veteran. Atlantic, ETO, PTO, or over the Hump those WWII aircrews were hard men accomplishing hard tasks. My hat is off to them.
I love 12 O clock High. Great movie.
Micky Dolenz?
“We traded my ukulele for a wagon which our mules could handle, and the leaders daughter for influence with the northern tribes.”
Dude.
Seriously, you traded the ukulele?
I have six, but they dont know that, and it wasnt a Fender, c’mon man.
And a free girl as well, hmmm.
Tiny Tim didn’t survive the initial blast.
I play a very different style, think Elton piano on uke,
Gunnison? As in Black Canyon of the Gunnison? I liked that place.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kkv4IHbvJrw
Yes, remarkable magmatic extrusion, hence the 4k depth.
I stand corrected on the math probability. The 100% casualty chance was such a compelling statistic that it stuck in my memory when I first heard it many moons ago.
I thought of it this way: the probability of getting shot down during 25 missions = the probability of getting shot down on the first mission or the second or the third, etc. In that case, you’d add 4% 25 times to get 100%.
A number of infantry units in WW2 had casualty rates over 100%, because all the original and most of the replacement soldiers were killed, wounded, or captured. Rod Serling was in such a unit.
The casualty rate was lower in the 15th AAC in which my father served. Although the flak was terrible the Luftwaffe by the time he flew combat had been pretty much blown out of the sky. As a result the limit was 50 missions rather than the 25 of the 8th AAC. But because he was a triple threat (radar, navigator, bombardier) he was mostly sent on ‘double’ missions for high-value targets like Ploesti, Blechammer, and Munich. He logged around 27-29 actual combat missions.
relevant visual aid:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZeME80Q_ow
Regarding the cover picture, I am doing a succulent garden and thats one of them. Since they were repotted proper they have gone quite insane, check out before and after,
https://photos.app.goo.gl/18okLvVpg5NjJLpq6
Very nice! I’m struggling to just keep the weeds under control and the grass mowed regularly, much less growing nice stuff.
I want to to a proper succulent garden in the ground but our neighbors want a new fence which is fine but I cant have my work destroyed.
I’m not able to keep the weeds under control in my garden. Hope the veggies can outgrow the weeds.
You doxxed yourself, though your surname fits well with gardening.
Sure are a lot of guys here with spice and/or weed gardens.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj2ma1zQEA4
I tried to garden in my Chicago apartment garage. It didn’t go well. The beer angels I made out of empty cans and bottles…I should have taken pictures.
https://platedlizard.blogspot.com/2014/06/beer-monument.html
This is botany manifest!
Pakistan nominated Trump for the Nobel Prize. Top that, deep state beltway insiders.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/pakistan-flip-flops-on-trump-nobel-peace-prize-nomination-after-less-than-24-hours/ar-AA1HfkET
That makes it his 9th nomination according to GPT
Texas Imam Tells Muslims To Side With Iran During 35-Minute Anti-American, Israeli Sermon
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/texas-imam-tells-muslims-to-side-with-iran-during-35-minute-anti-american-israeli-sermon/ar-AA1Hh7w0
Sunnis and Shia will team up if need be.
https://www.mojevideo.sk/video/26640/for_the_sake_of_allah_is_nasheed_sk_titulky.html
I should go weld in the Congo if this is my competition:
https://youtu.be/-pDJ4-MtAkQ?si=06kYQ2OC1K7fuBpF&t=3548
That was an interesting movie.
I did experience one of my hardest TV-generated laughs when the Chinese guy was complaining about the tape measure not working right and the Congolese translator quips, “Well yea, it’s made in China!”
I’ve heard spirited debates about whether the Chinese guy is
A) A greedy racist just practicing the 21st century version of colonialism
B) Using “Asian dad” tactics to motivate the Congolese to get their shit together and improve their situation
Embrace the power of “and”.
Perhaps the world needs more Uncle Phils and strict Asian dads.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kV8sZaIjYIQ
I think the Chinese guy had a hard time understanding the mindset of Africans. At one point in the film, he says something like “well, here, since our country is more advanced, we have higher social rank, and so they must obey us.” Maybe someone in China should have told him that the Congolese have long, bitter memories of being treated as inferiors by foreigners.
The B-52 crews over Vietnam faced formidable air defenses as well.
https://daxe.substack.com/p/listen-to-this-harrowing-audio-of?r=7jgcu&mc_cid=799509205d&mc_eid=85cde357ab
My favorite combat audio recordings:
Brits being cool under fire:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o-0iOAKZMQ
Yanks cursing a blue streak:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuuDWd8SL7A
Full movie YouTube 12 O’clock High link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fl224lKTHDg
Gregory Peck, Dean Jagger and others
On my hard drive, I watch it a lot,
“Maximum pressure”
The Best Years of Our Lives, in full:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAfM_1RirWY
Born on the 4th of July, Kovic interview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWVAkM1-Wtk
***
Interviewer – “how did you feel about killing? you played with guns as a child as many of us, as I have…”
Ron – “Well Bill, first person I killed was an American. And that didn’t make me feel good at all”
Ron – “Second group of people I killed was Vietnamese children, and that made me feel worse…”
***
BYoOL is an excellent film. When I attended the War College we watched it as part of a class.
Myrna Loy….
amusing, they staked down the cannon but don’t care how much it moves after each shot:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KLP7sJEcJo
suggested music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKXKZXJ2Ovg
Here I will reiterate my ultimatum to the US government: upgrade my discharge to honorable, and I will go fight in Ukraine for $500 a month.
Small payout for your loss, Ill pay you 500$ to stay
Thanks, but I won’t need handouts for a few years. Even then, I’ll clean toilets at Walmart and play a kazoo on a street corner if I have to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikJKSqnTylI
Hey Derp, if you’re still here:
What was that blog you have, and does it contain the story of your discharge? I remember you had joined to do something with language, but then I was absent from here for several years and missed the whole story. I just came back a couple months ago.
I was an Arabic linguist in the Army assigned to NSA. My autobiography starts here:
https://platedlizard.blogspot.com/2024/02/story-of-my-life-part-1.html
Khamenei plants a tree: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-SFXT21Mjg
How this is perceived in the Islamic world: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mDBzvCdnPU
Putin can sing, Khamenei plants a tree, Biden falls down stairs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwjmyZUA2O8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6OckRdD1C8
That wa sa short ceasefire.
Dropping this turd here
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/114732962923492888
CWAA
What plays on Arab TV nonstop: Palestinian boys throwing rocks at Israeli tanks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRFDAM3dcFQ
To most of the world, such scenes are proof that Israelis are cowards. Not sure why the Israelis produce so much free propaganda for their enemies. It is their cultural blind spot.
https://www.mojevideo.sk/video/21fd8/nasheed_saleel_sawarim.html
***
The clashing of the swords is the song of the proud
And the path of fighting is the path of life
***
-opening lyrics of the ISIS anthem
compare and contrast:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_orK2XhZzVI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NsrwH9I9vE
Morning! Get up, come on, get down with the Glibness!
😎🌅🥓
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09LTT0xwdfw
🎶🎶
It’s too warm for that.
I anticipate a day of having to reset my AC breaker because it’s still a 15 Amp circuit.
Feeling hot, hot, hot
https://www.yahoo.com/news/california-mass-shooting-leaves-6-190745749.html
“Teen boys” aka as gang members. 🙄
Where are the California fathers?
Deported.
AI is already up and plotting to take your job, your woman (or man), and all your stuff.
Why would the AI want my stuff?
And would this mean that the AI would conspire to get me into a relationship first so as to be able to steal her?
Yes but you won’t like her. Which means when the AI takes her you’ll feel bad about he being taken, but good about being rid of her but bad for feeling good.
Because the AI was trained on pre-20thC literature and appreciated internal conflict.
I am not a Dickens Protagonist!
If you want to see the future go to the comment section at Zerohedge: fifty to sixty percent AI bots and forty to fifty percent complete lunatics. I think not knowing who’s real and who isn’t drives people crazy.
For most people, that’s not a drive, it’s a short putt.
suh’ fam
whats goody
Nothing, nothing’s goody.
My AC died last night, so I got that going for me.
Poor machine.
It made a terrible death rattle, must have been very painful.
Mornin’, reprobates!
Good morning, ‘patzie, NA, Teh Hype, U, homey, Beau, Stinky, Sean, Ted’S., Roat, and (maybe still?) Derpy!
Morning, how goes?
Pretty well. It’s not too hot yet! Got a (very) little bit of useful stuff done yesterday, so maybe I can bestir myself to do a little more today. How are you?
I want to get my sleep schedule back to something reasonable.
locked, cocked, and ready to rock!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHfdmXyo2ug
I’m trying not to get too far off my normal sleep schedule even while I’m off this week. For one thing, if I keep getting up early, I can get in some Tranq Base time before it gets too sweltering. It gets to be a challenge, though, when there’s Certifiable Big Deal stuff going on in the news, which tends to trigger my News Junkie mode and keeps me up late waiting to see what happens next. 😕
I fell asleep some time during the PM Lynx and woke up after midnight. I’ve been up since.
While this was the worst of the heat, I would rather have the more normal hours.
The heat should break by Thursday.
Who’s going to pay to fix it.
*waves*
Oh good, Sean will make sure the furnace works before winter rolls in.
LOL, I wasn’t volunteering. I was waving at GT.
Good morning!
A fair bit of a drive today. Lily is acting weird, but that’s because she knows what a suitcase means. Fortunately her boarder is great and some of her OG BFFs go there for day care.
The last two women I dated weren’t willing to dogsit for me. I am no longer dating them.
big toothy fishy chases kayaker:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsZOn0R8VH8
suggested music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcAr0-RA4lk
Convince your parents to get you a Mac
Apple has a presentation template for college kids to beg for Macs.
But it’s just a linux box, I can get better off the shelf hardware for less and drop BSD on it myself.
You can’t compare a luxury car to an economy. The luxury car has so many more features.
“Features” which are actually inconviencies they expect you to pay through the nose to be inconvenienced by.
I can’t even with this.
It’s like you don’t even recognize the value of all the features you don’t want. Maybe they can lobby the government to mandate the features to protect you from yourself.
Aktually, it’s a BSD variant, not Linux.
https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Unix_history-simple.svg
https://nypost.com/2025/06/24/us-news/brawling-nyc-teens-arrested-after-a-wild-scene-at-coney-island-beach-nypd/
NYPost comments are getting like zerohedge.
They’re blaming the Jews?
Well, not the Jews.
I have them blocked. I do that on most sites.
“Mick Ralphs, founding member of Bad Company and Mott the Hoople, dies at 81 ”
https://nypost.com/2025/06/23/entertainment/mick-ralphs-founding-member-of-bad-company-and-mott-the-hoople-dies-at-81/
RIP