August 2014 - Argghhh!

Jackson County (Missouri) Sheriff's very nicely done-up urban assault vehicles. Getting the use they probably most often get - that of displays (one would hope, anyway). Jackson County does include the urban core of Kansas City, Missouri, including some very sketchy areas. I don't know how often the KCMO police department requests assistance from the Sheriff, however. While out in Colorado I ran across a similar situation and I did ask the driver of the vehicle about maintenance costs - he...

We open with the Civil War and a fight at Deep Bottom, Viriginia. PICKLE, ALONZO H. Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company B, 1st Battalion Minnesota Infantry. Place and date: At Deep Bottom, Va., 14 August 1864. Entered service at: Dover, Minn. Birth: Canada. Date of issue: 12 June 1895. Citation: At the risk of his life, voluntarily went to the assistance of a wounded officer Iying close to the enemy's lines and, under fire carried him to a place of safety. We then take a break until the...

Episode 430,238,982* On the left, a rubber bullet (more properly called a "baton round"). On the right, a tungsten anti-armor penetrator. Both have very different impact characteristics when striking humans or tanks, despite the apparent similarities. They do not make good earplugs, however. Squares in the background are approximately one inch.

8 August shares a distinction with 2 August with no Medals being awarded for actions on this day. So, today we'll go with an *almost* Medal of Honor. A Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest honor this nation can bestow upon our soldiers. On M ay 14, 2009, Staff Sgt Jarion Halbisengibbs was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for actions in theSamarra, Iraq, on Sept. 10, 2007. Staff Sgt. Halbisengibbs led a combined assault force on agroup of farm houses known to be an insurgent...

There are 8 awards for this day in history. The Civil War resulted in the greatest number of Medals, over 1500 of them, for reasons discussed in previous posts about it being the only thing available at the time. Today, we open with one of the iconic Civil War Medal actions, a flag capture.

So, trying to please Academic Ronin, I gather up some rifles, a box to use as a prop, and the camera. And I take some pictures. Then I put everything away, sit down at the computer, pull the SD card and slap it into the machine. And pull over the pictures and open them up in Photoshop. Only to find I should have looked at the pictures as I took them. The Nikon can do that. Because, well, I fiddled with settings a couple of weeks ago, trying to better understand what the camera was capable of. What...

..I give you, the Junior Varsity team! Let's hear it for the Scrubs! Sorry, Boss. This rises to the level of "reckless disregard" and "culpable negligence." If you were a CEO, the board would be asking you for recommendations as to your replacement. There's a lot of people who work in and around Washington in State and DoD and the Executive Office of the White House.. To not have a strategy, at this point, simply means you guys are asleep at the switch. Time for a new...