Grocery Strikers Almost Get Knocked Out

Michael Williams has a run-in with some California grocery workers who are out on strike. Again? Still? Who knows?

I’ve been to California about a half-dozen times over the past fifteen years and I think that there’s always at least one chain with people on strike.

Mr. Williams noticed a shirt on the picket line:

10/11/03
Never forget

Apparently that’s when the strike started.

Now, I have no reason to believe that Mr. Williams is lying. In fact, he seems to be one of the straightest shooters in this ol’ blogosphere.

But can this possibly be true? Can someone really have made a shirt like that? And can someone really have worn it out in public?

Shame on them and anyone else within a five meter radius.

Williams says he’s going to try to get pictures.

I hope he misread the shirt. I’m not expecting that he did.

UPDATE: Xrlq at damnum absque injuria encountered a similar shirt and writes

Think about that for a minute: one of the largest unions in teh country actually mulled this idea over, debated it, and ultimately concluded that it was a good idea.

Hmmmm. It sounds like he’s saying that they’re basically idiots. Can’t say that I disagree.

Castro: ‘I Will Die Fighting’ if U.S. Invades Cuba

Promise? You don’t have crossed fingers behind your back like Saddam did, do you?

Earlier this month, Bush Administration officials accused Cuba of joining forces with Venezuela’s leftist government to destabilize democratic governments in Latin America.

President Bush last year named a commission to speed up a post-Castro transition to democratic rule in Cuba.

Havana is worried that Cuba could be the next on Bush’s list for a regime change after Iraq.

Seriously, though, what options would Castro have? Run and hide in a spider hole?

He’s already in the biggest spider hole on earth.

Actually, Cuba’s land area is slightly less than North Korea’s. So it’s the second-largest spider hole on earth.

Hmmm. Why is it that both of the biggest spider holes are communist dictatorships? I’ve had about five people tell me within the last week or so that communism is really not all that bad of an idea. It’s just the implementation that is troublesome. I must disagree.

And MO doesn’t really support the idea of military intervention in Cuba. No blood for cigars! No blood for rum! (via The Command Post)

Monk Awaits Word From Hall of Fame

Art Monk, MO’s all-time favorite football player (or pro athlete in any sport, for that matter) will be considered today for enshrinement in the NFL Hall of Fame. He was a finalist last year, but was eliminated in the first round of voting.

In a career spanning 16 seasons (the first of of which were in Washington) Monk was a possession receiver who, when he retired, held the record for NFL receptions in a season and in a career. Both records have both since been broken by today’s pass-happy offenses. He played on three Super Bowl championship teams, although he was injured and did not play in Washington’s first Super Bowl triumph after the 1982 season.

Art Monk was a class act all the way. He was not overly vocal or excitable, and he quietly went about his business of catching footballs. Little slants and outs were what he was best at, and he’d take you down the field six and seven yards at a time. This quiet demeanor and workman-like performance probably hurt Monk’s chances to reach the Hall, although he has more catches than anyone currently on the rolls in Canton.

Two virtually-certain inductees, John Elway and Barry Sanders, were known for their flair and their knack for making the big play with the game on the line. What’s forgotten about them, as we look back a their glory years with fond memories, are the interceptions thrown, the tackles behind the line of scrimmage while trying to work some magic, and the fact that their entire team went as they went. John Elway off today? Well, the Broncos probably won’t win. Barry Sanders is more or less shut down? The Lions are toast.

That wasn’t the case with Mr. Monk. He’d line up on every play. He’d run his route. They’d throw his direction from time to time, and he’s usually make the catch. And if it was third and seven? He knew better than to run a six-yard route. He had a feel for the first-down marker and for the sideline, and he used his skills and his height (especially since most wide receivers and the cornerbacks who covered them were 5′10″ smurfs – Monk is 6′3) to get the tough yards.

More often than not, the Redskins would win. And Monday morning you’d be looking over the box scores and say “Art Monk had eight catches? Are you kidding? I only remember two or three.” And that’s why Monk might have a hard time getting into the Hall.

Monk had a touchdown taken away in the Super Bowl against Buffalo after the 1991 season, and I was disappointed. I knew that that was probably his last real chance to grab a score in the big game. The call was controversial, but largely forgotten in the wake of Washington’s destruction of the Bills that afternoon.

I hope that a similar call by the electors for the Pro Football Hall of Fame doesn’t relegate Monk’s career to an overlooked bit of trivia as flashier and higher-profile stars jet into the halls of Canton.

UPDATE: Monk didn’t make it to the finalist stage once again. John Elway, Barry Sanders, Bob Brown, and Carl Eller were voted in. Congrats to some very deserving players.

I haven’t been posting much about the Stryker Brigade lately, mostly because the folks at Stryker Brigade News are all over it. I will mostly limit myself to analysis (such as it is) and news about the other brigades. If you want to follow the daily coverage of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, bookmark Stryker Brigade News.

Hey. I got clobbered by Amish Tech Support in the first round.

Go read my post Who’s Naughty, Who’s Nice? and my opponent’s offering, Couldn’t resist… from PseudoPsalms.

Then go vote. Vote for the better post.

As I said last round, I will not vote in my own match-up, but I will vote in others. Go check them out. Some good stuff to be found.

Move over, XM-8, there’s a new hot search engine draw at MO.

It’s the video of that Apache attack in Iraq. The post that’s been drawing all the traffic is actually my response to the reaction the video has generated.

There’s no doubt that the video is quite graphic and disturbing. But the efforts of many to claim that our guys shot down innocent farmers (at night, no less) seem a bit out there. I don’t know why the video made it out into general release, but it has and it’s a good view into the world of war.

A lot of folks have commented on various forums that after watching the full video on ABC’s premium site, their skepticism was erased. I was never sure if that was really believable or the effort of pro-military types trying to sway public opinion.

Now you can find out for yourself.

I stumbled across what seems to be the full-length video here. It’s an 8.5 megabyte avi file that will run in Windows Media Player if you have the XviD codecs installed.

Any doubt I had about our actions or our itchy trigger fingers were erased. Go see for yourself.

(If the video or codec disappear, let me know. I’ve got them now, as well. I’ve been having trouble with my host, so I’m hesitant to post them.)

UPDATE 11/23/2004: That download link is dead. I’ve hosted it on MO. Check out this post for the link.

I received a comment on yesterday’s post about the plans to field a new heavy bomber, but not before about 2040. I also commented that perhaps modified commercial aircraft could be modified into “JDAM carriers” given the fact that our current enemies don’t have much in the way of air forces.

watched an interesting documentary last year in which the USAF was likely to fly the B-52 until 2050. Hey…if it works….

I began to reply in the comments, but then decided to do so with a new post so that it wouldn’t get buried.

I don’t know if I watched the same show or not, but I’ve also seen and heard that the current fleet of B-52s, B-1s, and B-2s is expected to last until the middle of the century. And if we weren’t going to use them in a war, I expect that they would be able to do so.

The B-52s, especially, are getting quite a workout. Most of these planes are already 40 years old, and to expect them to keep flying for another four decades is pretty silly. Some will make it, I’m sure, and by upgrading the electronics and the engines you can make an old aircraft perform similar to a new model. But I have to think that the plans to rely on our existing birds for another 40 or 50 years were made before the Fourth World War broke out.

For sure, the B-52 is plenty capable above today’s battlefields. The JDAM precision guided munition has given the old warbirds a new lease on life. Couple that with the fact that rocket propelled grenades and shoulder-fired missiles are the only threat likely to be encountered, and the B-52 can contribute like it’s 1955 again.

However, if the B-52s were rolling off the assembly line TODAY and were going to get the workout that we’ll give them, I think they’d probably have trouble making it to 2050. And these puppies are DECADES old.

(To be fair, the same can be said for the KC-135 tankers that are going to be replaced by 767-based models. And the F-15s that are going to be replaced by F-22 Raptors. I’m not opposed to 767 tankers, I’m opposed to leasing them when buying is cheaper, and I’m opposed to retiring KC-135s early if we don’t have to only to justify spending money on 767s. I am opposed to buying large quantities of F-22s simply because there’s nothing for those aircraft to fight. We need more tankers for our current operations. We don’t need more supersonic jet fighters.)

I believe that a commercial aircraft-based bomber could bridge the gap between our current pace of operations and the planned 2040 introduction of a new bomber. I believe that we’d be better off buying more A-10 ground-support aircraft instead of multi-mach jets. I believe that a smaller, cheaper prop-driven close air support attack aircraft would probably contribute greatly to our cause, and at a relatively low price. Think A-1 Skyraider. Or any of these. A twin-engine prop plane would fit in very nicely over Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention Iran, Syria, Lebanon, etc. Especially if you put a couple of 30mm cannon in the nose (and maybe a gun in the rear ventral position to hit them after you pass by when they want to pop up and take a potshot at you).

I’m partial to the B-25 myself. I would think that if you took the basic WW2 designs, updated them with new materials and engines, and added some modern electronics and a bit of armor, you could probably have a very capable ground-support platform for very little cost that could be built quickly and would perform reliably.

I’m all for stretching our military dollar when we can. But to hope that pre-9/11 plans for our planes to last another four decades (or more) are realistic is, well, unrealistic.

Not sure what’s going on. I’ve usually got about 10-15% in the European zone.

And you on the Left Coast, USA? Get out of bed!

The Coalition Forces

Here’s a page on the Combined Joint Task Force 7 site listing the other nations who have contributed troops.

At this time, 35 countries, in addition to the United States, have contributed a total of approximately 22,000 troops to ongoing stability operations in Iraq. These 34 are Albania, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, Georgia, Honduras, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Thailand, the Philippines, Romania, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

(Emphasis mine.) What’s with the inconsistency? “35 countries, in addition to the United States” becomes “These 34 are”?

The problem, of course, is Canada. (No, I didn’t mean it that way!) But someone tossed them on the list when it just isn’t true. You’ll notice that they aren’t in the lists below to click on to get details.

Oops.

I did not include the Canadian flag in my little animations. Also, check out Greyhawk’s thoughts on those important former allies that aren’t in Iraq with us.

Canada is in Afghanistan, and from what I gather the Canadians there are doing a fine job. But they aren’t in Iraq, and I don’t expect them soon. First, because although tensions may be softening slightly, they remain pretty solidly opposed to our operations there. Secondly, the Canadian military has pretty much atrophied and with troops in Afghanistan they don’t have a whole lot left to offer.

I’ve said before that we need to work our differences out with them. If that means compromising on some issues (gasp!) I think we need to do what we need to do. I’d be much more willing to work with Canada than France, for instance. Or even Germany. And the fact that we share the continent with Canada means that if we don’t compromise with them (and Mexico), we may be compromising ourselves.

For a number of pictures of the memorial services for the Canadian soldier killed earlier in the week in Afghanistan, and the suicide attack that took place during the service, check out the January 27 and 28 Army Times photo galleries.

I received this notification when an email I sent didn’t get through.

Hi. This is the qmail-send program at netmail.mail.registeredsite.com. I’m afraid I wasn’t able to deliver your message to the following addresses. This is a permanent error; I’ve given up. Sorry it didn’t work out.

It sounds like one of those Sirius Cybernetics Corporation doors from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

“I hope you’ve enjoyed having your message rejected by this service.”