Archive for December, 2007
Re-enactment Thwarted By Rushing River
Ronald Rinaldi III was prepared to play the role of the military leader whose daring Christmas crossing led to a rout of British-led forces and revived the downtrodden Continental forces.
Rinaldi, 45, had taken part in every re-enactment of Washington’s crossing of the Delaware since 1976, amassed more than 500 books on the American Revolution and earned a degree in U.S. military history.
But this year, he and his fellow re-enactors were done in by the river’s strong currents.
Thankfully, the real thing went down a bit differently.
Former prime minister Tony Blair has converted to the Catholic church. The long-expected announcement came shortly before Christmas on Saturday.
Blair’s wife Cherie and children are all practising Catholics and he has been known to attend Catholic services for many years.
However the move was delayed while he was in power until this year due to his fears over mixing politics and religion.
The Archbishop of Canterbury said that Blair has his “prayers and good wishes as he takes this step in his Christian pilgrimage.”
I’m always a bit fuzzy on the exact relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England. The CoE seems to be a “Reformed Catholic” church of sorts to me, though that concept is bizarre on the face of it and probably overly simplistic anyway. I’ve also read some about “Anglo-Catholics”, which I think are different and seem to be more of a “Reformed Catholic/Catholic” mix. No, I don’t really understand it, either.
I’d ask someone to help me figure it out, but everyone is so damn sensitive about those sorts of things.
Anyway, does anyone who lives in the UK have a comment about this? Is this move going to be seen as a big deal?
I’m just asking out of curiosity and wondering if it means anything politically. Don’t start a war, or anything.
Heartless Libertarian points out a great holiday story.
Murdoc is off shortly to engage in some serious festivities. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and very happy holidays.
Please take a moment to remember our deployed servicemen and women who are away from their families. Those of us at home can celebrate because all of those good folks continue mission.
Merry Christmas and God Bless America.
This is not an endorsement of Fred Thompson. But you’ve got to like the video.
And, speaking of our men and women in uniform, here’s a video put together by Blackfive of various folks in the milblogging community wish the troops a Merry Christmas:
Murdoc suffered from technical difficulties and was unable to participate, but it’s still sorta cool (okay, more cool) without him.
On a slightly less serious note:
Via Mr. Completely.
And, for those not faint of heart, the Star Wars Holiday Special. Due to the extreme nature of this program, the staff at Murdoc Online has decided to include only in the extended entry. Watch if you dare.
Read the rest of this entry »
With all the excitement over the recent AR sandstorm test, this is probably a good time to mention the Magpul Masada. I took this picture at January’s SHOT Show:
Head over to GunPundit for some more info on this Magpul Masada beast, including a link to a top-notch interview with a rep from Magpul. (Bonus: calibers starting with the number ’6′ are mentioned…)
Sgt. Gibby has a story on Marine General Peter Pace:
Pace Details Lessons He Learned From Young Marines
The reason the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff visited Chaminade High School here was on the wall as he entered the building today: a simple plaque with the names of graduates killed in combat. Midway down the list of 55 Chaminade graduates killed in combat was the name Guido Farinaro, Class of 1967, killed in Vietnam in 1968.
Marine Gen. Peter Pace came to this Catholic school to honor Lance Corporal Farinaro, the first Marine to die following 2nd Lt. Peter Pace’s orders. The four-star general keeps a picture of the young lance corporal under the glass on his desk in the Pentagon to remind him of the sacrifices young servicemembers make.
Go read the rest at WTF Over.
Great post over at Defense Industry Daily on the most recent M4 controversy. Lots of background info and updates.
It’s a little tough to make out, but that’s a Coast Guard boat. Larger version and more here.
Better them than Murdoc.
