One year ago today: December 2, 2018, a handy reference.
Five years ago today: December 2, 2014, remember the Beat Buddy?
Nine years ago today: December 2, 2010, selling the original Taurus.
Random years ago today: December 2, 2002, semi-quotable clips?
Maturity. We’ve had this conversation before. It’s not a word that belongs in the same room as me. I understand true maturity is the confidence to be yourself no matter what others think, but that is of course tempered by what is acceptable to the majority in a given setting. But don’t try to plug me the brand of maturity spewed out by social media or the school system. I grew up in an era where maturity was totally confused with kiss-ass obsequiousness, bowing twice to anybody older than you. Screw that noise. There was always a plentiful supply of old farts around who would take advantage of that fairy tale. My youthful was always simple, if the world was screwed up, it is their fault because I just got here. I wasn't far off the mark. The old people around me were useless then and useless now, but I don't blame them quite so much.
The hotel, if I didn’t say, is near the new location of the Grand Ole Opry. It’s north of downtown across the Cumberland river. That’s one of the neatest names for a river ever if you ask me. Anyway, this morning the dogs and I drove out to Mt. Juliet, I had a cup of fries at Five Guys. Add a soft drink and you are out over five dollars. It’s bitter cold with a biting wind. We got home and spent the day drinking tea with the Reb. She’s asked I stay on a bit longer, so maybe we’ll get to that train museum or something yet. Question. If the Tennessee Central Railway Museum is non-profit, how come the tickets are $21 each?
Hello my 463 readers from KZ, is that Kazakhstan? Largest landlocked country in the world, population 2.7 million. Welcome to the blog that’s really a daily journal. If you are new here, I like to caution that this blog does NOT represent the way the average American lives or thinks. In many ways what you see here is the opposite of the American stereotype. I do not watch television, I have no smart phone, I have never owned a credit card, I don’t follow sports, you get the idea. As popular as those things are, they are not by any means universal in this country. The most you’ll find here about average Americans is my wry observations when they are right and my criticisms when they are not.
I live in an America that is very different from the one most of us wanted.
Iraqi ammunition factory.
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It was around 30 years ago the South Africans cornered the Cuban-led insurgents in Angola. I was hoping the military would have declassified more but no luck. The most widespread version of Cuito Cuanavale is the Cuban propaganda, claiming they won. The fact is a tiny border force of the South African army stopped them cold until the South African army handed the Cubans their asses. Castro executed his commander, a behavior not normally associated with victory. The South Africans are naturally tight-lipped about winning an undeclared war. They quickly pulled back after crushing the Angolan force, which is the basis for the Cuban claims that they retreated. The truth is the South Africans got out because they didn't want anybody to know how small their army was.
There is little new information available. But much can be inferred from the captured weapons displayed by the South Africans. Soviet built tanks, assault rifles, and mortars. It is strange to see a brace of brand new anti-aircraft missles worth more than the village it is sitting in. From what is known of Soviet tactics, it’s easy to ascertain there were a couple battalion size units. That’s around 2,000 men if you include the armor support of at least 100 tanks, again depending on who you believe. The pilots and officers were Cubans and there were Soviet advisers all over the place.
My opinion is the South African Defense Forces kicked butt. They are trained similar to Israel’s army. Short, sharp, very focused attacks, then sit back and blast the enemy as he tries to regroup. The South African army has multiple rocket launchers which are known to be most effective at smashing up Soviet-style troop and vehicle concentrations.. The Soviets were thought to be eyeing Namibia as a staging ground for further African political ambitions.
It looks to me like what really happened is the Communists cut a deal with some local Angolans to arm and equip them, plus a share of the spoils. They then force-recruited an army big enough to intimidate and thought their mere presence would scare away the South Africans. As soon as they advanced, they got shot up a bit and panicked. One could blame the troops but the real disaster was the way the Cubans got kicked around by a force a quarter their size. Absolutely shameful performance, unforgettable cowardice. The CIA were able to tell where the Cubans were and how many by counting the baseball fields in reconnaissance photos. Most significantly,of the estimated 52,000 Cuban troops in Angola, the 12,000 at Cuito Cuanavale were the best the Cubans had to offer. They ran like chickens as the South Africans picked them off at long range.
Given the likely true popularity of the Castro regime, I wonder how many of the 12,000 just, you know, kept on running.
ADDENDUM
More on digital radio. They way the reason traditional radio has not died off is that there are still so many old cars on the road in America. Radio was the format that formed most people’s musical tastes and it is now lagging behind streaming. If the industry does not revamp itself, they say soon cars may not even have receivers. I’m interested in the technology, but like any change in the America system, there is money to be made in the cheesiest of ways—if you can just underestimate the taste of the public. I’m sure they’ve already tried porn radio, what I need is one dumb idea and a used radio station. It’s on the back burner, but at least it’s on the menu.
My original question was why the US ignored dgitial for so long to suddenly approve it now. You watch, it’s got something to do with monitoring the digital signal. Likely it will involve a way to “verify” against false news or have some kind of kill switch. Don’t quote me, but apparentlysuch American stations as are broadcasting use a convoluted “hybrid” system that sends the digital signal on the same frequency as the analog. The reciever picks up the digitial if so equipped and defaults to the analog if the digital mode is lost.
I would love to purchase a reciever, but it isn’t’ easy. No major brand name exists because there is no standardized format. And a search on digital AM radio will only get you regular radios with a digital readout, that is, only the tuner display is digital. Australia went all digital some years ago but there is very little info around on the effects, which are just not newsworthy enough it would seem. (Or they were reported on AM radio, ha-ha.) I would first like to understand the physical principles but every web site I’ve found so far never gets past the Internet baby-talk stage. And having read a book or two in my life, I instantly detect people trying to sound technical. It seems with digital AM, that’s all there is.
I even clicked on BBC to hear a program about changes in radio broadcasting, but it was all about the challenges of reaching remote areas of Africa. Would that make it “dial-bait”? BBC news sucks anyway because they just have to put a leftist twist on every interview. The topics are great but every question takes a sharp left. There is never a “none of the above” option. Here is my version of a leftist multiple choice questionaire:
How much should the USA spend on climate change:
A) millions
B) billions
C) trillions
D) zillions
