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Sometimes you just have to shake your head.

Code Pink, that group of absolute morons and idiots have put the call out for some talismanic help in making those pesky US Marines disappear from Berkeley, CA. From Move America Forward:

The anti-military organization, Code Pink, is bringing witches out to the Berkeley Marine Recruiting Center this Friday to:

“cast spells, weave magic, invoke the foremothers, share wisdom, lead rituals to banish war and violence and to bring peace to the MRS, to protect our youth from the powerful spells of pro-war forces, to lead the men of the marine recruiting station off into the oceans of peace!”

Fox News has a bit more on these brainless wonders. Apparently, its not so much the Code Pink Douchebags want to bring in the wizardly and magical members of the occult to help out - it seems their numbers have been dwindling of late:

The group’s week of themed protests, which included days to galvanize grannies and bring-your-daughter-to-protest, appears to have done little to boost its flagging numbers.

A FOX News camera, which has a 24/7 live shot of the recruiting center’s front door, recorded little action, and the gatherings have, until this point, been ill attended.

That 24/7 webcam pointed at the protest site/Marine Recruiting Station can be found here, by the way.
It *has* to be a testament to our big tent society or something for us to be so forgiving of those who do not have the same equipment nor the same functionality in their brain-housing-unit as most of us.

In other words, it is a good thing for these fools and idiots (but I repeat myself) that we just let them go on their merry way, letting them make absolute fools and lunatics out of themselves time and time again, rather than ship them off to the Hindu Kush or to Sadr City to do their protesting.

In a perfect world, yes, we could do that. Unfortunately……

If anyone is out that way (Berkeley, or Berzerkley or LunaticLand or The Land That Brains Forgot - and once again I have to apologize to the few sane people who for whatever reason live there) when this happens, make sure you stop by and get some pics!

In concert, that is! The rock group America, made up of Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell, are still alive and kicking and rocking and putting on one hell of a show, nearly 40 years after they first got together at Central High School, in London, England, which is just by chance the SAME SCHOOL I went to, as this photo from last spring shows:

So, last week brother Tom and fellow Bobcat buddy/almost-stealer-of-my-girlfriend-30-years-ago Mike Horowitz went on down to the Birchmere in Alexandria to watch the boys put on a great show, and afterwards we hung around for a meet/greet/shake hands and, with what little time we had with people in line behind us, yak about “school” with them (the photos I took weren’t the best - all I had was the small Canon powershot and the lighting was absolutely atrocious):

They’ve had that America logo since their third album in 1974

The playlist - with a bunch of songs you may recognize.

(above) Dewey and Gerry, 2008 at the Birchmere. (below) I don’t know what was up, but Gerry didn’t have any shoelaces on his white oxfords:

(above) Any idea why? None.

With the funky lighting.

The Birchmere is a wonderful venue - small and cozy, we were only about 5 feet from the stage.

I have seen these guys every decade since they came back to London in 1975, and Mark Adkinson, my photography editor (I was the editor) took the below pic at that concert that we put in the 77 yearbook. Third original band member (and London Central graduate) Dan Peek is on the right:

Back in the here and now, after the concert at the Birchmere we managed to get a picture with Dewey and Gerry at the meet and greet after the show:

From left: Tom, Mike, Pinch, Gerry and Dewey.

I mentioned above that I was the editor of the yearbook, and for whatever reason (now lost to history), I liberated a spare 1969 yearbook, which was the year the guys graduated. I didn’t know the meet and greet was going to happen, else I would have brought it. I think they would have gotten a kick seeing their old HS senior pictures:

This old publicity shot (below) is kind of neat, as well - it has all 3 of America (including original member Dan Peek (left), who left the band in the mid 70’s), but Dewey is wearing his letterman’s jacket - a piece of sartorial splendor that no proper Bobcat Jock could ever be without, as the NEXT photo shows!

Anyway, we had an absolute blast, the music was MOST excellent, and meeting and greeting and shaking their hands after all these years and all the enjoyment we all have gotten from their music, it was great.

I’ll be looking to see where they’re playing in January of 2010 - that’ll be the 5th decade I would have seen them in (’75, ‘87, ‘92, ‘01, ‘03, ‘08).

Or, in other words, an AIR SHOW!

My brother Tom will join me next Friday, the DoD employee and family day.

After taking a look at the web page, I’m looking forward to seeing the below two aircraft aircraft on the static display flight line! They’ll be there, I’m sure, since they are listed as static display aircraft!

In case you missed the sarcasm, someone needs to be chewed out pretty good for not applying attention to detail and updating their static display list.

That LCS post was a bit of a hit. The weekly stats looked like this:

Total …………………. 185,939

Average per Day ………….. 3,075

Average Visit Length ………. 1:23

This Week ………………. 21,526

When normally the average per Day is around 300+ and the weekly is a little over 2,000.

So, the bandwidth Gods punished me. It is bumped up a bit, so if something like this happens again, we’ll be ready!

And how could I have left THIS one out!

Thansk to ADC(AW)  Dennis Adams USN (ret) for reminding me! 

Just sayin……

Wasn’t EX-president Carter supposed to be some sort of super-duper-galactic-elections expert?

Why isn’t he in Zimbabwe?  That place is about as screwed up as a football bat.  Or a soup sandwich.  Forget about Hogan’s goat.

My surface ship buddy Tim passed on these photos of the second class of littoral combat ship (LCS 2), named Independence, and built by General Dynamics/Bath iron Works in their Mobile, Alabama shipyards.

The other ships built thus far for the LCS program have been by Lockheed Martin and have had their fair share of problems, having had two of their follow-on LCS programs cancelled for cost overruns. Both GD and Lockheed Martin had contracts canceled for their 2nd hulls, due primarily to an inability to agree on a fixed price contract with the Navy (edited thanks to Ken Adams in the comments).

I have no idea how GenDynamics is doing, but this first ship looks absolutley wicked! Its tri-maran hull combined with the capabilities and look of a warship makes it something out of this world!

Makes one think if there ain’t no more F-14’s, perhaps a cool looking ship?

Nawwwwwwwww…………!

Welcome all from Michelle Malkin, Blackfive, OP-FOR , and the other linkers! Thanks!

The title of the post was changed to reflect my buffoonery in calling the hull a proper “USS” ship when that will not occur until commissioning (thanks Glenn Cassel! I couldn’t remember “PCU” (Pre COmmissioning Unit) for the life of me!)

Hey…I’m an aviator!

U.N.’s World Food Program Cried Poverty While Sitting on Cash Stockpile of More Than $1.22 Billion

Can we all agree, NOW, that the UN, as currently run, managed and organized, is not only useless and stupid, but also dangerous and harmful and actually ends up killing people through their deceit and graft and corrupt practices and leaders?

If they aren’t raping and pillaging the very people they are charged with helping or making human rights an “advisory only” condition of membership or making the self-same human rights nothing more than an issue of national “moral relativism” or naming human right’s garden spots like Libya or Sudan to membership of its Human Rights Commission or running a program such as the Iraqi Oil for Food (and making a buttload of people rich in the process, including the Secretary General’s son) or allowing a Saddam-led Iraq to chair the UN Disarmament Conference, they cancel meetings of the UN comprehensive convention against terrorism because the Organization of the Islamic Conference has refused to schedule another meeting.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that a bunch of whack-job-nut-ball lefty lunatics are running the thing.

Wait.  They are.

The tornados that hit southeast Virginia a few days ago didn’t spare the Naval Base at Norfolk. Reader Tim passes on the below pics and forwards this report (from others):

Tornado hit the base around the vicinity of Pier 2 & 3 and damaged about 30 cars.

USS Normandy as a funnel cloud passes over:

Looking out from one of the loading docks near the waterfront:

Yowzer!

You KNOW things are rough when you log onto your own blog and you say “For cryin’ out loud…..WHEN is this guy going to get some new stuff up!”

Been busy, but then again that has been my standard excuse matrix response. Might have some news about something in the next few days, but till then, let’s take a look at a REAL historical picture - which includes a ship that’s no more (Kennedy) and a couple of aircraft that are no more (Tomcat and Intruder) - back when power-projection in the navy meant something and when being a fighter guy was more than doubling up as the recovery tanker.