Thursday Jam: Mark Knopfler - Sailing to Philadelphia

A world away from the coaly Tyne
Music • Views: 27,210

YouTube

I’ve always loved this Mark Knopfler song about a couple of surveyors named Mason and Dixon, and even without James Taylor singing the counterpart this live performance is a gem. From the album Sailing to Philadelphia.

I am Jeremiah Dixon
I am a Geordie boy
A glass of wine with you, sir
And the ladies I’ll enjoy
All Durham and Northumberland
Is measured up by my own hand
It was my fate from birth
To make my mark upon the earth

He calls me Charlie Mason
A stargazer am I
It seems that I was born
To chart the evening sky
They’d cut me out for baking bread
But I had other dreams instead
This baker’s boy from the west country
Would join the Royal Society

We are sailing to Philadelphia
A world away from the coaly Tyne
Sailing to Philadelphia
To draw the line
A Mason-Dixon Line

Now you’re a good surveyor, Dixon
But I swear you’ll make me mad
The West will kill us both
You gullible Geordie lad
You talk of liberty
How can America be free
A Geordie and a baker’s boy
In the forests of the Iroquois

Now hold your head up, Mason
See America lies there
The morning tide has raised
The capes of Delaware
Come up and feel the sun
A new morning has begun
Another day will make it clear
Why your stars should guide us here

We are sailing to Philadelphia
A world away from the coaly Tyne
Sailing to Philadelphia
To draw the line
A Mason-Dixon Line

Jump to bottom

261 comments
1 Rightwingconspirator  Jan 15, 2015 6:17:56pm

Ahhh, nice way to end a workday. Cocktail anyone?

2 Bubblehead II  Jan 15, 2015 6:21:01pm

Night Lizards. See you in the A.M.

3 A Cranky One  Jan 15, 2015 6:28:21pm

Ah, more Mark Knopfler. You trying to spoil us?

4 Decatur Deb  Jan 15, 2015 6:28:59pm

In my next life I’m going to be the guy who yells “WHOOO” during the instrumental intro.

For my sins.

5 RealityBasedSteve  Jan 15, 2015 6:31:14pm

Well, I’m back from doing inventory. Let’s just say that if I were still teaching SQL and DB Design, this would be a case study. Some items are entered 2 -3 times with different stock numbers. The biggest single category is “Miscelaneous”. We’re getting it all counted out however, and making some fixes as we’re going. 2 of us are counting, and one is handling the data entry.

Should get it mostly done tomorrow.

RBS

6 Decatur Deb  Jan 15, 2015 6:33:22pm

re: #5 RealityBasedSteve

Well, I’m back from doing inventory. Let’s just say that if I were still teaching SQL and DB Design, this would be a case study. Some items are entered 2 -3 times with different stock numbers. The biggest single category is “Miscelaneous”. We’re getting it all counted out however, and making some fixes as we’re going. 2 of us are counting, and one is handling the data entry.

Should get it mostly done tomorrow.

RBS

How are you getting to Vortex Spring? We are the nearest town of size on the approach.

7 Lidane  Jan 15, 2015 6:37:49pm
8 klystron  Jan 15, 2015 6:38:17pm

I should not be starting another project because I am supposed to be focusing on work stuff but I am enjoying stitching with my sister here and it spoke to me. >.> And I have to get the last beads tomorrow for the other one.

The next project is going to be a change of pace from my art deco ladies (although I will be back to them!); I’m tackling a kit of The Great Wave off Kanagawa.

9 RealityBasedSteve  Jan 15, 2015 6:38:17pm

I’ll be riding in the van, but I’m sure it’s going to be I-65, then US 331, SR 87 / 51 on in. Looks like the plan is “Drive Friday, 3 dives Saturday, stay in the bunkhouse, 2 dives Sunday, then drive back”.

RBS

10 Decatur Deb  Jan 15, 2015 6:39:50pm

re: #9 RealityBasedSteve

I’ll be riding in the van, but I’m sure it’s going to be I-65, then US 331, SR 87 / 51 on in. Looks like the plan is “Drive Friday, 3 dives Saturday, stay in the bunkhouse, 2 dives Sunday, then drive back”.

RBS

Might work something out.

11 RealityBasedSteve  Jan 15, 2015 6:41:29pm

re: #10 Decatur Deb

Might work something out.

Coolness.

RBS

12 Feline Fearless Leader  Jan 15, 2015 6:47:50pm

re: #8 klystron

I should not be starting another project because I am supposed to be focusing on work stuff but I am enjoying stitching with my sister here and it spoke to me. >.> And I have to get the last beads tomorrow for the other one.

The next project is going to be a change of pace from my art deco ladies (although I will be back to them!); I’m tackling a kit of The Great Wave off Kanagawa.

I have a 2’x3’ (roughly) print of that hanging in my TV room. :)

13 Higgs Boson's Mate  Jan 15, 2015 6:47:50pm

re: #9 RealityBasedSteve

I’ll be riding in the van, but I’m sure it’s going to be I-65, then US 331, SR 87 / 51 on in. Looks like the plan is “Drive Friday, 3 dives Saturday, stay in the bunkhouse, 2 dives Sunday, then drive back”.

RBS

Will they be low dives or classy dives?

14 The Vicious Babushka  Jan 15, 2015 6:50:22pm

Two fucking idiots one after the other

15 Decatur Deb  Jan 15, 2015 6:50:37pm

re: #13 Higgs Boson’s Mate

Will they be low dives or classy dives?

Dive dives—the worst kind except for skydive dives.

16 klystron  Jan 15, 2015 6:51:21pm

re: #12 Feline Fearless Leader

I have a 2’x3’ (roughly) print of that hanging in my TV room. :)

I am a huge fan of shin-hanga; there are fewer ukiyo-e pieces that really speak to me but this one is such a classic. :)

I do have three Hasui reprints from the original blocks, and one Koitsu.

17 Dark_Falcon  Jan 15, 2015 6:55:53pm

medium.com blogger ‘Sened DHAB’ gives Fox News the backhand:

This is Paris

I have lived in Paris for most of my adult life. Whenever someone asks me where I’m from (my name doesn’t sound “français d’origine”), I’m always tempted to answer “Paris”, because this city is as much part of my identity as are my nationality (French), my origins (Tunisian) and my religion (Muslim). Over the years I have moved 8 times within the limits of Paris. Hopping from arrondissement (the 20 numbered districts of Paris) to arrondissement, I studied in the 16th, and lived in the 15th, 6th, 9th, 17th, 18th, 10th and, most recently, settled down in the 20th, a few blocks away from Porte de Vincennes and Porte de Montreuil. As with any big city, Paris has its difficult neighborhoods, those few streets when one would feel uneasy walking alone in the middle of the night. Those kind of streets can be found in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, London, Roma, Milan, Barcelona, or any medium-sized city in the world. Some of these blocks are called ZUS — Sensitive Urban Zones, so-called because they’re part of a nationwide plan of prioritized security, education and urban amelioration efforts. Not because, as a few journalists and editors on Fox News seem to think, the “government has abandoned them”.

Apart from the usual delinquency found in any poor part of any urban center on the planet, the tableau portrayed by Fox News and “Warzone expert” Nolan Peterson, and the deceiving name the network has coined for the occasion (“No-Go Zones”) seems like a complete fabrication of what’s really going on there.

Let’s take a look at this map, aired numerous times on Fox News in the past few days:

Image: 1*SRF6YpATD9F8M_FUU5U-CQ.jpeg

Those red circled parts of the city contain the districts of Porte Saint-Denis, Porte Saint-Martin, Belleville, Ménilmontant and La Goutte d’Or, among others. Many of those are supposed to be (and I’m quoting) “governed by Islamic Sharia law”, and “off-limits to non-Muslims”.

I lived and worked in all of those districts. All of them.

Read on for some nice pictures and stories about parts of Gay Pariee that have a rich life and some things worth a visitor’s time.

18 Decatur Deb  Jan 15, 2015 7:12:06pm

Old LGF favorites Garfunkle and Oates seem to have a cable show. First (possibly last) show is on an indie channel here in AL in a few minutes.

Sex With Ducks

19 RealityBasedSteve  Jan 15, 2015 7:12:42pm

just watched an incredible documentary about Nathan East, a bass player who has played with everybody in just about every style since forever. He was doing his solo album, and his goal was to get some of the best musicians in to just make music.

Once again it reinforced how much NOT a musician I am. :(


Hulu Video

RBS

20 Eventual Carrion  Jan 15, 2015 7:14:45pm

re: #14 The Vicious Babushka

Two fucking idiots one after the other

[Embedded content]

If u think it is only a fringe part of Islam, please go stand on a corner on Riyadh, Cairo, or Manama and draw Mohammed to see what happens.

Try building a mosque in the southern US.

21 RealityBasedSteve  Jan 15, 2015 7:14:55pm

re: #18 Decatur Deb

Old LGF favorites Garfunkle and Oates seem to have a cable show. First (possibly last) show is on an indie channel here in AL in a few minutes.

Sex With Ducks

[Embedded content]

Video

ROFL…. For the love of all that you hold sacred however, do NOT google “Duck Penis”.

RBS

22 Rightwingconspirator  Jan 15, 2015 7:15:03pm

re: #14 The Vicious Babushka

23 The Vicious Babushka  Jan 15, 2015 7:15:41pm

NEVER FORGET!

24 b_sharp  Jan 15, 2015 7:17:57pm

Sometimes I wish I knew what the fuck you people are talking about.

25 Decatur Deb  Jan 15, 2015 7:18:45pm

re: #20 Eventual Carrion

Try building a mosque in the southern US.

Our town has a tiny one, serving the Fl/GA/AL tri-state area. By a fluke of history and epidemiology, we missed the worst of the post-Unpleasantness unpleasantness.

26 Eventual Carrion  Jan 15, 2015 7:20:46pm

re: #23 The Vicious Babushka

NEVER FORGET!

[Embedded content]

But it should have been moving slow as molasses in January.

27 klystron  Jan 15, 2015 7:20:49pm

re: #24 b_sharp

Sometimes I wish I knew what the fuck you people are talking about.

Cheese.

28 jaunte  Jan 15, 2015 7:21:46pm

re: #24 b_sharp

Mole asses.

29 RealityBasedSteve  Jan 15, 2015 7:22:35pm

re: #24 b_sharp

Sometimes I wish I knew what the fuck you people are talking about.

Yea, but if you knew what we were talking about, then you’d know more than the rest of us.

RBS

30 The War TARDIS  Jan 15, 2015 7:24:14pm

re: #17 Dark_Falcon

The only way this sort of buffoonery is going to stop is when someone has the cajones to sue these people for defamation.

31 b_sharp  Jan 15, 2015 7:26:38pm

re: #29 RealityBasedSteve

Yea, but if you knew what we were talking about, then you’d know more than the rest of us.

RBS

You’re apparently talking about mole asses filled with cheese.

Happy to help.

32 jaunte  Jan 15, 2015 7:29:17pm

“…Rep. Dan Huberty of Houston wants school board members and superintendents to be able to carry concealed at official meetings; Drew Springer of Muenster wants to remove restrictions on concealed carry at hospitals and nursing homes; and James White wants to lower the licensure age from 21 to 18 and allow concealed carry at polling places by election judges and clerks.”

33 jaunte  Jan 15, 2015 7:33:22pm

Concealed carry at the nursing home:
“Is that thing loaded?”
“I forget… I’ll test it.”

34 Dark_Falcon  Jan 15, 2015 7:35:59pm

re: #30 The War TARDIS

The only way this sort of buffoonery is going to stop is when someone has the cajones to sue these people for defamation.

I’m not sure a city (much less a foreign city) could do that. And even if such a suit could be filed, courts in the US are very leery of defamation suits against major media entities.

35 #FergusonFireside  Jan 15, 2015 7:40:53pm

re: #33 jaunte

Concealed carry at the nursing home:
“Is that thing loaded?”
“I forget… I’ll test it.”

I’ve heard about nursing homes. Lots of sex. Guns will ruin it.

36 De Kolta Chair  Jan 15, 2015 7:40:57pm

re: #23 The Vicious Babushka

NEVER FORGET!

[Embedded content]

Yikes. I remember my grandparents in Worcester, Mass. talking about that when I was a kid. I wonder if Glenn Greenwald’s grandfather was peeved about everyone ignoring the Boston Globe’s “Secrecy In Peace Congress” article? Talk about a literal black op!

Speaking of molasses, my wife baked a batch of her delicious molasses cookies this evening for old friends coming down from upstate tomorrow for the weekend, and as always she told me not to go near them. And as always I ate three. After 30+ years of marriage, I know how far I can safely stretch the envelope, or in this case the Saran wrap.

37 Dark_Falcon  Jan 15, 2015 7:43:26pm

re: #35 #FergusonFireside

I’ve heard about nursing homes. Lots of sex. Guns will ruin it.

38 jaunte  Jan 15, 2015 7:44:35pm

re: #35 #FergusonFireside

“If I don’t get dinner before 4:30 I’m gonna shoot someone.”

39 #FergusonFireside  Jan 15, 2015 7:44:51pm

re: #37 Dark_Falcon

Looking forward to it. Old folks co-ed free for all.

40 Kragar  Jan 15, 2015 7:45:09pm

So a guy from my old unit found some pics of us taken back in the summer of ‘95. This was us back in the NTA in Oki after we ran the obstacle course there.

41 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality  Jan 15, 2015 7:47:07pm

re: #17 Dark_Falcon

Well done! It’s a good counter-argument to the usual Fox Noose Islamophobia, which unfortunately no Fox Noose viewer will even bother to read. Too many words, y’know.

I like this part near the end:

The Syndicat National du Journalisme, the highest authority for self-regulation of the news industry in France, states, as the third rule of its Ethics Charter, that a journalist should always “Hold a critical mind, truthfulness, exactitude, integrity, equity, and fairness as the pillars of journalistic work.” Fox News and Nolan Peterson, with these segments, betrayed every single one of those words.

Wonder what the Award Winning Journalist™ says about those ethical principles?

42 Dark_Falcon  Jan 15, 2015 7:50:53pm

re: #41 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality

Well done! It’s a good counter-argument to the usual Fox Noose Islamophobia, which unfortunately no Fox Noose viewer will even bother to read. Too many words, y’know.

I like this part near the end:

Wonder what the Award Winning JournalistTM says about those ethical principles?

He doesn’t think they apply to him, since he’s too busy getting the scoop poop.

43 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality  Jan 15, 2015 7:51:13pm

The kosher supermarket hero will be granted French citizenship.
talkingpointsmemo.com

44 The Ghost of the Vanishing Commissar  Jan 15, 2015 7:51:26pm

re: #39 #FergusonFireside

Looking forward to it. Old folks co-ed free for all.

There’s already a rampant STI problem in US retirement communities.

This is what’s going to end the world: hyper-evolved drug-resistant old people’s clap.

A century from now, people will be, like, “hey, world leaders, how about doing something about the gonorrhea that ate Florida?”

And the leaders will be all “Nahnahnah I can’t hear you, old people sex is gross.”

45 b_sharp  Jan 15, 2015 7:51:57pm

re: #39 #FergusonFireside

Looking forward to it. Old folks co-ed free for all.

I’m practising for it every day.

46 Dark_Falcon  Jan 15, 2015 7:53:23pm

And those concealed carry bills in Michigan that it was feared would allow some people subject to restraining orders to carry concealed?

Gov. Snyder vetoed them.

“While the bills include a number of reforms I support, they also include changes to he concealed pistol licensing requirements that may increase the risks of violence and intimidation faced by victims of domestic abuse who seek protection in court,” said Snyder in a veto message emailed to guns.com by the Governor’s office.

47 GlutenFreeJesus  Jan 15, 2015 7:53:28pm

re: #20 Eventual Carrion

Or NYC.

48 #FergusonFireside  Jan 15, 2015 7:53:45pm

re: #44 The Ghost of a Funky Discarded Egg

There’s already a rampant STI problem in US retirement communities.

This is what’s going to end the world: hyper-evolved drug-resistant old people’s clap.

Four centuries from now, people will be, like, “hey, world leaders, how about doing something about the gonorrhea that ate Florida?”

And the leaders will be all “Nahnahnah I can’t hear you, old people sex is gross.”

L O L. Typical olds “I’m getting mine, fuck you”

49 Dark_Falcon  Jan 15, 2015 7:57:46pm

re: #48 #FergusonFireside

L O L. Typical olds “I’m getting mine, fuck you”

Wouldn’t the criticizer’s problem in that case be that he wasn’t getting fucked enough?

50 De Kolta Chair  Jan 15, 2015 7:58:00pm

On second thought, my wife never saves her baked cookies under Saran wrap; she always places them in a tin can. I hear her gently snoring now, and will gingerly tiptoe across the apartment for my fourth surreptitious molasses cookie.

If I don’t make it, tell Val Kilmer I loved him in Thunderheart.

51 teleskiguy  Jan 15, 2015 8:08:09pm

These skis are $9,800 plus tax.

instagram.com

52 b_sharp  Jan 15, 2015 8:08:43pm

re: #51 teleskiguy

These skis are $9,800 plus tax.

instagram.com

Why? Are they magic?

53 De Kolta Chair  Jan 15, 2015 8:11:48pm

re: #51 teleskiguy

These skis are $9,800 plus tax.

Peasant.
///
54 CleverToad  Jan 15, 2015 8:15:58pm

Played the video for a lullaby — love this song. Miss JT’s voice, but still a cool version. Thanks for posting!

G’night all

55 teleskiguy  Jan 15, 2015 8:19:11pm

re: #52 b_sharp

Why? Are they magic?

They’re the Zai Bentley skis, I’m guessing the Bentley logo alone adds a few grand. There are only 200 pairs in the whole world, handmade in a former monastery in Switzerland.

They skied really nice, though they lacked any magical properties.

56 De Kolta Chair  Jan 15, 2015 8:27:25pm

“The Rhubarb Tart Song,” performed for your edification and elucidation by John Cleese, Marty Feldman (I think), Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graham Chapman and Aimi MacDonald, 1967

57 austin_blue  Jan 15, 2015 8:35:27pm

A fine article in the NYT concerning the memorial for Charlie Haden, one of the great bassists in the last 100 years. He was a peach.

nytimes.com

Charles, I know you bumped against Charlie at various times. My deepest sympathy.

58 teleskiguy  Jan 15, 2015 9:06:36pm

I found this during the holidays at my folks place rummaging through some of their numerous photo albums. I finally had the audacity to tweet it.

A picture of a very young me.

59 retired cynic  Jan 15, 2015 9:08:21pm

re: #58 teleskiguy

And rocking a bandaid.

60 A Cranky One  Jan 15, 2015 9:08:56pm

re: #58 teleskiguy

Which one is you? <evil grin>

61 Higgs Boson's Mate  Jan 15, 2015 9:30:11pm

Ben Carson likens Islamic State to American patriots

CORONADO, Calif. — Republican presidential prospect Ben Carson on Thursday compared the Islamic State group to American patriots willing to die for freedom.

In a speech to the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting outside San Diego, the former neurosurgeon and conservative favorite praised American patriots for their willingness to give their lives for their beliefs. Then he mentioned the Islamic State group.

“They got the wrong philosophy, but they’re willing to die for what they believe, while we are busily giving away every belief and every value for the sake of political correctness,” he said as Republican officials from across the country interrupted him with applause. “We have to change that…”

62 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality  Jan 15, 2015 9:33:28pm

re: #61 Higgs Boson’s Mate

Is Carson effectively saying American “patriots” need to imitate ISIS and go around randomly shooting people, or do they need to be as extreme and uncompromising in their beliefs as ISIS is?

Either way, it doesn’t sound like a very appealing campaign platform.
Well, to “un-patriots” like me, anyway.

63 Prof. Backpfeifengesicht, PhD  Jan 15, 2015 9:33:38pm

re: #61 Higgs Boson’s Mate

They whine when they get compared to Islamists but they want to be just like them.

64 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality  Jan 15, 2015 9:34:37pm

re: #63 Prof. Backpfeifengesicht, PhD

They whine when they get compared with Islamists but they want to be just like them.

They’re also very fond of the dictatorial powers of Mao, Pol Pot and Stalin, because those guys “got things done.”

65 Dark_Falcon  Jan 15, 2015 9:36:13pm

re: #62 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality

Is Carson effectively saying American “patriots” need to imitate ISIS and go around randomly shooting people, or do they need to be as extreme and uncompromising in their beliefs as ISIS is?

Either way, it doesn’t sound like a very appealing campaign platform.
Well, to “un-patriots” like me, anyway.

He is applauding their fanaticism. Which is foolish, since it leads them to make stupid mistakes that let competent enemies such as the Kurdish Peshmerga kill off ISIS fighters in job lots.

66 Prof. Backpfeifengesicht, PhD  Jan 15, 2015 9:36:35pm

re: #64 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality

“Hey, even Hitler went to Paris”

67 TedStriker  Jan 15, 2015 9:39:52pm

re: #64 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality

They’re also very fond of the dictatorial powers of Mao, Pol Pot and Stalin, because those guys “got things done.”

Don’t forget Pinochet, which many paleoconservatives did support wholeheartedly.

68 Higgs Boson's Mate  Jan 15, 2015 9:42:45pm

re: #66 Prof. Backpfeifengesicht, PhD

“Hey, even Hitler went to Paris”

And Mussolini made the trains run on time.

69 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality  Jan 15, 2015 9:45:06pm

re: #67 TedStriker

Don’t forget Pinochet, which many paleoconservatives did support wholeheartedly.

Yup. Fidel Castro, Idi Amin and Ho Chi Minh seem to be the only strongmen left off their fanboi list. Robert Mugabe is near the bottom, I think.

70 austin_blue  Jan 15, 2015 10:09:45pm

A lovely article for Charlie Haden:

nytimes.com

Charles, I know you bumped into him from time to time. My deepest sympathies.

71 BeachDem  Jan 15, 2015 10:12:52pm

re: #23 The Vicious Babushka

NEVER FORGET!

[Embedded content]

So weird—I was just looking at the Dennis LeHane book, The Given Day (wanting to re-read it, but too cheap to pay $11 for Kindle or $15.20 for the paperback.) Loved that book. Wish I’d kept the hardcover. Oh—and on the Amazon page is this pic:

The Boston Molasses Disaster
72 Dark_Falcon  Jan 15, 2015 10:27:34pm

re: #71 BeachDem

So weird—I was just looking at the Dennis LeHane book, The Given Day (wanting to re-read it, but too cheap to pay $11 for Kindle or $15.20 for the paperback.) Loved that book. Wish I’d kept the hardcover. Oh—and on the Amazon page is this pic:

[Embedded content]

Even so, the newspaper Alouette shared a picture of contained stories about matters that would prove far more destructive than the Boston Molasses Disaster: It had a story about the push to ratify the 18th Amendment, which ushered in the utter failure that was Prohibition. It also had a story on the negotiations among the Allied Powers on the Versailles Treaty then going on in Paris, a badly done treaty whose main accomplishment was to set the groundwork for the next war.

73 SteveMcGaziBolaGate  Jan 15, 2015 10:33:03pm

You know what? People seem to take it as an article of faith that the Treaty of Versailles led to World War II. I think things are usually a bit more complicated than that. For example, the treaty had little to do with the War in the Pacific. If anything, the Japanese took advantage of the Great Depression’s impact on the colonial powers to advance in the Pacific and China.

74 SteveMcGaziBolaGate  Jan 15, 2015 10:42:27pm

I do think that one of the unintended consequences of the treaty was that the Germans were restricted to an army of only 100,000. What wound up happening was that the 100 grand were their best, and they had nothing to do but plot. The Germans didn’t have to spend a whole lot of money on a big army or fortresses.

75 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality  Jan 15, 2015 11:15:06pm

I’m now the happy owner of a 2 TB portable hard drive. I’ve got so many photos that I may need to dedicate the drive just to photography.

Lenovo brand, cost me the equivalent of $125.

76 Shiplord Kirel  Jan 15, 2015 11:17:22pm

Rare photo of a newborn C-17 with its mother:

Actually, this is the Mini-C-17, built with donated materials and volunteer labor and currently stationed at Charleston Air Force Base for various PR events.

77 teleskiguy  Jan 15, 2015 11:20:30pm

re: #76 Shiplord Kirel

That little fucker flies?!? Aviation. Man.

78 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Jan 15, 2015 11:27:24pm

re: #74 SteveMcGaziBolaGate

I do think that one of the unintended consequences of the treaty was that the Germans were restricted to an army of only 100,000. What wound up happening was that the 100 grand were their best, and they had nothing to do but plot. The Germans didn’t have to spend a whole lot of money on a big army or fortresses.

And when they did abandon the treaty and rearm, they were able to start from scratch with new equipment and doctrines while the allies were still out to re-fight WW1.

79 klystron  Jan 15, 2015 11:35:36pm

re: #76 Shiplord Kirel

Rare photo of a newborn C-17 with its mother:

Embedded Image

Actually, this is the Mini-C-17, built with donated materials and volunteer labor and currently stationed at Charleston Air Force Base for various PR events.

Thanks for that link - I just passed that along to my dad, because I know he’ll get a kick out of that.

80 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Jan 15, 2015 11:36:44pm

re: #79 klystron

A C-1.7?

81 goddamnedfrank  Jan 15, 2015 11:38:53pm

re: #77 teleskiguy

That little fucker flies?!?

No. It’s essentially a super fancy art car.

82 SteveMcGaziBolaGate  Jan 15, 2015 11:47:50pm

re: #78 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

Actually you are mistaken about the whole refighting WWI thing. The Allies had more and better tanks than the Germans, the air forces were only marginally inferior in equipment. The Germans copied much of their mobile doctrine from the British. Heck the Germans didn’t have a tank comparable to their enemies’ until 1942 (PZ IVG) EDIT Actually the PZIII wasn’t bad EDIT The Allies just weren’t as good at controlling their forces as the Germans were.
Even the much maligned Maginot Line did its purpose: funnel the Germans north.
Also, neither side viewed the Ardennes as impassable. The French and English really thought the Germans were going to go through Belgium again, and until virtually the last minute, so did the Germans.

83 teleskiguy  Jan 15, 2015 11:59:25pm

re: #81 goddamnedfrank

No. It’s essentially a super fancy art car.

Ah. I see. My mind doesn’t deceive me.

*whew*

84 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality  Jan 16, 2015 1:22:34am

re: #81 goddamnedfrank

No. It’s essentially a super fancy art car.

Put a jet engine in that thing, and it’ll fly — for a bit.

85 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Jan 16, 2015 3:07:13am

re: #82 SteveMcGaziBolaGate

Actually you are mistaken about the whole refighting WWI thing.

That was a bit of an oversimplification; whereas the allies had only begun to grasp the theory of mechanized warfare, the Germans were already putting it into practice.

And the French were still using some old Renault tanks left over from WW1.

86 Fourth Football of the Apocalypse  Jan 16, 2015 3:28:37am

re: #61 Higgs Boson’s Mate

Ben Carson likens Islamic State to American patriots

Carson sounds like a dictator in the waiting.

87 Fourth Football of the Apocalypse  Jan 16, 2015 3:29:45am

re: #61 Higgs Boson’s Mate

But why won’t Obama compromise with these fine moderate Republicans?

//

88 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Jan 16, 2015 3:31:47am

re: #87 Fourth Football of the Apocalypse

But why won’t Obama compromise with these fine moderate Republicans?

//

Because he is not willing to die for his principles because he is not an Islamic militant…er, no…wait…hmmm…lemme sort this out and get back to you…

/

89 Dr Lizardo  Jan 16, 2015 3:35:33am

re: #86 Fourth Football of the Apocalypse

Carson’s a fool.

So, I was thinking, and I do my best thinking in the shower, but here’s what I see happening to Islamic State.

Ultimately, IS will encounter a series of defeats and start being rolled back to their capital of ar-Raqqah.

Now, IS doesn’t strike me as the kind of group who’ll admit they were mistaken in their ideas or tactics. So the leadership of IS is gonna start looking for scapegoats on whom they can assign the blame……spies, saboteurs, infiltrators, etc. Given the nature of IS and its recruitment strategy - which does in fact leave it open to actual infiltration - were I a betting man, I’d say the first people up against the wall are going to be the Western jihadists. They’ll be denounced as “spies”, “saboteurs”, “foreign agents”, etc.

And then the purge will really kick off, and all those would-be jihadists from the Western world are gonna be doing everything they can to try to get back home.

And that’s going to be something of a dilemma for the West, I’d daresay.

90 Fourth Football of the Apocalypse  Jan 16, 2015 3:36:04am

re: #61 Higgs Boson’s Mate

Which “value” and “belief” does Carson think “we” are “giving up”?

Hurr hurr traditional marriage!!!

So much for Freedom!

91 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Jan 16, 2015 3:50:38am

re: #90 Fourth Football of the Apocalypse

Which “value” and “belief” does Carson think “we” are “giving up”?

Hurr hurr traditional marriage!!!

So much for Freedom!

Individual initiative and self-reliance.

Which basically means the right for individuals and families with limited income and resources to negotiate on their own for terms of employment, insurance coverage and financial services with multi-billion-dollar international corporations.

92 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality  Jan 16, 2015 3:52:26am

re: #91 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

Individual initiative and self-reliance.

Which basically means the right for individuals and families with limited income and resources to negotiate on their own for terms of employment, insurance coverage and financial services with multi-billion-dollar international corporations.

Freedom to fail miserably! It’s the American way!

93 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Jan 16, 2015 3:55:52am

Corporations are people, and people are corporations.

Except that people are not Too Big to Fail

94 The Vicious Babushka  Jan 16, 2015 4:35:46am

re: #91 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

Individual initiative and self-reliance.

Which basically means the right for individuals and families with limited income and resources to negotiate on their own for terms of employment, insurance coverage and financial services with multi-billion-dollar international corporations.

Which is totally what Dr. Ben Carson did to work his way through medical school while supporting his elderly mother, not wanting to shame his family with a single penny of welfare slave money.

Oh ha ha no.

95 Targetpractice  Jan 16, 2015 4:36:58am

re: #93 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

Corporations are people, and people are corporations.

As John Stewart noted the other night, corporations are people, but they’re sociopaths.

96 The Vicious Babushka  Jan 16, 2015 4:43:40am
97 Dr Lizardo  Jan 16, 2015 4:52:19am

re: #96 The Vicious Babushka

98 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Jan 16, 2015 4:54:57am

pretty damn inevitable

99 Dr Lizardo  Jan 16, 2015 4:55:17am

Well, I’ll BBL, Lizards. Off to teach.

101 Prof. Backpfeifengesicht, PhD  Jan 16, 2015 5:09:37am

re: #96 The Vicious Babushka

BFM TV said two people were being held hostage and that the incident was not deemed terrorist-related.

hmm

102 Decatur Deb  Jan 16, 2015 5:13:03am

re: #101 Prof. Backpfeifengesicht, PhD

hmm

Rogue philatelist?

103 Prof. Backpfeifengesicht, PhD  Jan 16, 2015 5:13:47am

re: #100 FemNaziBitch

I have enormous respect for Dehlin. That said, he hasn’t been a believer for some time now, so this is a pretty logical outcome.

104 The Vicious Babushka  Jan 16, 2015 5:20:35am

THIS SUCKS

105 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Jan 16, 2015 5:23:39am

re: #104 The Vicious Babushka

THIS SUCKS

Posters for Holocaust Memorial Day event defaced in UK with the words “liars” and “killer”

I met a fellow from the UK who was convinced that all of WWII was staged: the battles, the air-raids, etc., just to kill off excess population and destroy outdated buildings.

Makes perfect sense: sound the alarm, send everyone into the shelters, then set off the explosions…

excuse me while I add another layer of tinfoil to my headgear…

106 The Vicious Babushka  Jan 16, 2015 5:25:23am

re: #105 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

I met a fellow from the UK who was convinced that all of WWII was staged: the battles, the air-raids, etc., just to kill off excess population and destroy outdated buildings.

Makes perfect sense: sound the alarm, send everyone into the shelters, then set off the explosions…

excuse me while I add another layer of tinfoil to my headgear…

There is no conspiracy theory so crackpot and fucked up that you will not find a bunch of people on Twitter who believe it.

107 darthstar  Jan 16, 2015 5:48:10am
108 darthstar  Jan 16, 2015 5:58:41am
109 darthstar  Jan 16, 2015 6:02:47am

Jonathan Capehart ‏@CapehartJ 7m7 minutes ago
UK Prime Minister David Cameron just arrived across the street.

110 Fourth Football of the Apocalypse  Jan 16, 2015 6:03:03am

re:
#91

Which basically means the right for individuals and families with limited income and resources to negotiate on their own for terms of employment, insurance coverage and financial services with multi-billion-dollar international corporations.

Yeah, that sounds fair.

/

111 The Vicious Babushka  Jan 16, 2015 6:03:58am

Except for Islam. Or Atheists.

112 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Jan 16, 2015 6:04:03am

re: #110 Fourth Football of the Apocalypse

re:
#91

Yeah, that sounds fair.

/

We like to call it a “level playing field”

113 Rev_Arthur_Icantbreatheing  Jan 16, 2015 6:04:06am

re: #19 RealityBasedSteve

just watched an incredible documentary about Nathan East, a bass player who has played with everybody in just about every style since forever. He was doing his solo album, and his goal was to get some of the best musicians in to just make music.

Once again it reinforced how much NOT a musician I am. :(

[Embedded content]

RBS

What an awesome video! Thanks for sharing.

114 Romantic Heretic  Jan 16, 2015 6:04:38am

re: #74 SteveMcGaziBolaGate

I do think that one of the unintended consequences of the treaty was that the Germans were restricted to an army of only 100,000. What wound up happening was that the 100 grand were their best, and they had nothing to do but plot. The Germans didn’t have to spend a whole lot of money on a big army or fortresses.

It also allowed them to think outside the box.

People like Guderian got enough power to start up the Panzers while similarly minded people like Liddell-Hart and De Gaulle were sidelined.

I do blame Versailes as a major cause for WWII. It humiliated Germany so badly, especially blaming them for the whole mess and making them pay for it, that it couldn’t help but make them want revenge.

115 Dr. Matt  Jan 16, 2015 6:06:19am
116 Fourth Football of the Apocalypse  Jan 16, 2015 6:06:50am

re:
#111

What does GOHMERT! want to protect diversity? /

Religious Freedom: The new State’s Rights: The rest of society must protect GOHMERTs rights, but he and his tribe don’t have to protect anyone else’s.

117 darthstar  Jan 16, 2015 6:06:59am
118 Romantic Heretic  Jan 16, 2015 6:08:10am

re: #85 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

That was a bit of an oversimplification; whereas the allies had only begun to grasp the theory of mechanized warfare, the Germans were already putting it into practice.

And the French were still using some old Renault tanks left over from WW1.

Biggest problem with French tanks was their ergonomic design. Specifically single man turrets.

So the tank commander had to command the tank, maybe a unit of tanks, communicate by opening up and waving flags as they had no radios, plus loading aiming and firing the gun.

Way too much work for one person.

119 Targetpractice  Jan 16, 2015 6:09:36am

re: #111 The Vicious Babushka

Except for Islam. Or Atheists.

[Embedded content]

And 90% of those who’ll RT that tweet are the sort of people who think we’re at war with Islam and thought the “Ground Zero Mosque” would be a victory for terrorists.

120 Romantic Heretic  Jan 16, 2015 6:09:49am

re: #89 Dr Lizardo

Carson’s a fool.

So, I was thinking, and I do my best thinking in the shower, but here’s what I see happening to Islamic State.

Ultimately, IS will encounter a series of defeats and start being rolled back to their capital of ar-Raqqah.

Now, IS doesn’t strike me as the kind of group who’ll admit they were mistaken in their ideas or tactics. So the leadership of IS is gonna start looking for scapegoats on whom they can assign the blame……spies, saboteurs, infiltrators, etc. Given the nature of IS and its recruitment strategy - which does in fact leave it open to actual infiltration - were I a betting man, I’d say the first people up against the wall are going to be the Western jihadists. They’ll be denounced as “spies”, “saboteurs”, “foreign agents”, etc.

And then the purge will really kick off, and all those would-be jihadists from the Western world are gonna be doing everything they can to try to get back home.

And that’s going to be something of a dilemma for the West, I’d daresay.

Not much of a dilemma for me. I say, “You’ve made your bed. Now sleep in it.”

121 Fourth Football of the Apocalypse  Jan 16, 2015 6:10:12am

re:
#111

Religious freedom = protecting a diversity of beliefs so they may be publicly expressed & practiced.

I see. The right for RWNJ Christianists to bully, discriminate against, and otherwise marginalize anyone they want in any way they want for no rational or humane reason.

122 Dr. Matt  Jan 16, 2015 6:10:27am

re: #117 darthstar

It’s Like Facebook For Work. Wait It Is Facebook For Work

It’s that Linkedin?

123 Varek Raith  Jan 16, 2015 6:10:46am

re: #115 Dr. Matt

[Embedded content]

He did, Rudy.
And got smacked down on live tv.

124 wrenchwench  Jan 16, 2015 6:10:47am
125 Romantic Heretic  Jan 16, 2015 6:11:16am

re: #93 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

Corporations are people, and people are corporations.

Except that people are not Too Big to Fail

Actually they’re only half people. They have all the privileges and rights of people but none of the duties or responsibilities.

Nice work if you can get it.

126 Fourth Football of the Apocalypse  Jan 16, 2015 6:11:53am

re:
#119

And 90% of those who’ll RT that tweet are the sort of people who think we’re at war with Islam and thought the “Ground Zero Mosque” would be a victory for terrorists.

Conservalogic.

127 Targetpractice  Jan 16, 2015 6:12:09am

re: #115 Dr. Matt

[Embedded content]

Yes, Rudy, that’s just what Willard needs to do: Revive one of his biggest fails of 2012 to remind people just why they voted against him in the first place.

128 Romantic Heretic  Jan 16, 2015 6:14:02am

re: #111 The Vicious Babushka

Except for Islam. Or Atheists.

[Embedded content]

Diverse meaning ‘from insane right wing Protestant Christianity to fundamentalist right wing Protestant Christianity. All others are not religions and not protected.’

129 darthstar  Jan 16, 2015 6:15:02am

re: #122 Dr. Matt

It’s that Linkedin?

I have rules for facebook and LinkedIn - I don’t accept requests from colleagues while we still work together.

130 The Vicious Babushka  Jan 16, 2015 6:15:20am

re: #119 Targetpractice

And 90% of those who’ll RT that tweet are the sort of people who think we’re at war with Islam and thought the “Ground Zero Mosque” would be a victory for terrorists.

And they think “Religious Freedom” means the right to discriminate against LGBT and deny reproductive services to women.

131 Mike Lamb  Jan 16, 2015 6:15:22am

re: #115 Dr. Matt

[Embedded content]

Because after Giuliani’s smashing primary success, he’s the first person to run to for electoral advice.

132 wrenchwench  Jan 16, 2015 6:16:19am

re: #124 wrenchwench

[Embedded content]

133 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Jan 16, 2015 6:21:09am

re: #118 Romantic Heretic

Biggest problem with French tanks was their ergonomic design.

They had all sorts of design flaws: they could only be refueled by special tanker trucks, which German Stukas caught at the depots and destroyed.

And the heavy Char B1s had nearly impenetrable frontal armor, but a vulnerable radiator grille on the side.

134 Varek Raith  Jan 16, 2015 6:21:16am

The Daily Faller of Stupid Shit.

135 wrenchwench  Jan 16, 2015 6:22:00am

re: #134 Varek Raith

The Daily Faller of Stupid Shit.

136 darthstar  Jan 16, 2015 6:27:44am
137 darthstar  Jan 16, 2015 6:28:27am

Okay, I think that simitator can be fun after all.

138 darthstar  Jan 16, 2015 6:29:36am

re: #136 darthstar

I hope the hotasianwife twitter handle doesn’t exist.

139 darthstar  Jan 16, 2015 6:31:16am

re: #138 darthstar

I hope the hotasianwife twitter handle doesn’t exist.

Tiki Barber’s ex… oops.

140 lawhawk  Jan 16, 2015 6:33:06am
141 lawhawk  Jan 16, 2015 6:34:03am

re: #139 darthstar

Try - @submissiveasianwife it appears free… /

142 FemNaziBitch  Jan 16, 2015 6:34:39am
143 lawhawk  Jan 16, 2015 6:36:18am

So, Sec. State Kerry is meeting with the French President Hollande to go over issues relating to Charlie Hebdo, Boko Haram, and other counter-terrorism issues. That seems a whole lot more important than showing up for some staged photo op that the right wing nutters would complain about because of the cost of flying over for a few hours to show solidarity with the French cheese eating surrender monkeys (as the French were formerly known in these same right wing circles).

144 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Jan 16, 2015 6:40:42am

good morning Lizards. Happy Friday!

145 Dr. Matt  Jan 16, 2015 6:41:08am

re: #143 lawhawk

146 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Jan 16, 2015 6:44:27am
147 lawhawk  Jan 16, 2015 6:46:53am

re: #146 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance

Emerson is back at it, now claiming that there are still no-go zones, but that they aren’t static. They ebb and flow.

Like pools of BS that the Islamophobes spew on a daily basis.

148 Feline Fearless Leader  Jan 16, 2015 6:46:57am

re: #118 Romantic Heretic

Biggest problem with French tanks was their ergonomic design. Specifically single man turrets.

So the tank commander had to command the tank, maybe a unit of tanks, communicate by opening up and waving flags as they had no radios, plus loading aiming and firing the gun.

Way too much work for one person.

There were also additional organizational and control issues given *how* the UK and French used and supported their tanks as compared to the German Panzer divisions. The latter were all-arms* units that trained in working together and to be used for exploitation of a breakthrough.

The French may have had as many tanks, but they were spread out over a lot of divisions, with a few exceptions. The Germans had theirs concentrated in fewer units and thus had superior numbers of tanks where they wanted to have tanks. Of course, this leads to non-tank units wanting/needing something with armor for support - thus the artillery got some assault guns; e.g. the Stug III.

* - Tank companies who had motorized infantry, artillery, and logistics that could keep up with their advances. Plus some integration with the Luftwaffe for ground support where needed. A lot of the German Army was still like WW1 — it walked and used horses.

149 Feline Fearless Leader  Jan 16, 2015 6:48:13am

re: #140 lawhawk

So it’s a “no go” zone until someone goes there?
///

150 wrenchwench  Jan 16, 2015 6:49:45am
151 b.d.  Jan 16, 2015 6:50:33am

re: #147 lawhawk

Emerson is back at it, now claiming that there are still no-go zones, but that they aren’t static. They ebb and flow.

Like pools of BS that the Islamophobes spew on a daily basis.

NEW YORK CITY IS A CITY CONTROLLED BY EITHER THE SHARKS OR THE JETS, KNOW WHERE THE NO-GO ZONES ARE

152 b.d.  Jan 16, 2015 6:51:36am

re: #150 wrenchwench

[Embedded content]

Gang sign flashing pope and cardinal

154 lawhawk  Jan 16, 2015 6:52:38am

re: #146 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance

Yeah, more of this please. Merciless mocking of Faux news.

And that guy’s claims appear to date back to his time in Paris in 2007? Back when Zarqawi was, well, still alive and leading an insurgency in Iraq. Which would have to be pre-2007, since Zarqawi was killed in 2006.

155 darthstar  Jan 16, 2015 6:55:16am
156 Targetpractice  Jan 16, 2015 6:56:26am

re: #148 Feline Fearless Leader

There were also additional organizational and control issues given *how* the UK and French used and supported their tanks as compared to the German Panzer divisions. The latter were all-arms* units that trained in working together and to be used for exploitation of a breakthrough.

The French may have had as many tanks, but they were spread out over a lot of divisions, with a few exceptions. The Germans had theirs concentrated in fewer units and thus had superior numbers of tanks where they wanted to have tanks. Of course, this leads to non-tank units wanting/needing something with armor for support - thus the artillery got some assault guns; e.g. the Stug III.

* - Tank companies who had motorized infantry, artillery, and logistics that could keep up with their advances. Plus some integration with the Luftwaffe for ground support where needed. A lot of the German Army was still like WW1 — it walked and used horses.

Most of the world’s armies still viewed tanks as they’d been treated in WWI, as effectively mobile fortresses to support infantry advances, rather than infantry supporting the tanks themselves. The lessons of WWI, where the greatest success of tanks was when they were used as armored fists to punch through the lines while infantry followed to secure the ground gained in the advance, were ignored by all but Germany. Plus WWI had not had true tank-on-tank warfare, so most Allied nations continued to believe that the greatest danger to tanks was infantry and dedicated tank destroyers rather than tanks of similar size and armament.

157 wrenchwench  Jan 16, 2015 6:56:35am

re: #153 FemNaziBitch

Pope Francis’ Visit to Manila Shelter Amazes Filipino Street Kids

Pope speaking out against birth control in 5, 4, 3 …

re: #152 b.d.

Gang sign flashing pope and cardinal

It’s an all-male gang.

158 FemNaziBitch  Jan 16, 2015 6:56:57am

re: #155 darthstar

[Embedded content]

U.S. deportations of immigrants reach record high in 2013

from Pew

159 lawhawk  Jan 16, 2015 6:58:15am

So, all the AQ that the Bush administration killed in Iraq and Afghanistan were not as important as claimed? Or just the ones killed by the Obama Admin, like OBL?

The goalposts are moving faster than the speed of derp. And that’s pretty damned fast.

160 FemNaziBitch  Jan 16, 2015 7:00:17am

The Obama Administration’s 2 Million Deportations, Explained
Hardliners say Obama is soft on immigration, but advocates call him the “deporter in chief.” Which is it?

161 FemNaziBitch  Jan 16, 2015 7:02:54am

I think I’m going to immerse myself in Sci-Fi Audio for the next few days.

oy vey.

162 darthstar  Jan 16, 2015 7:04:44am

re: #158 FemNaziBitch

U.S. deportations of immigrants reach record high in 2013

from Pew

HE STILL HASN’T DEPORTED HIMSELF YET

163 Eventual Carrion  Jan 16, 2015 7:05:13am

re: #157 wrenchwench

It’s an all-male gang.

With alter boys playing the part of the molls.

164 Targetpractice  Jan 16, 2015 7:05:42am

re: #155 darthstar

[Embedded content]

Someone noted to me yesterday that, despite my earlier cynicism, this is very likely the reason why McConnell will allow the filibuster to stand. With it still intact, Boehner has a free hand to pass bills in the House that he knows will not go anywhere in the Senate, while McConnell can blame any failure to pass TP bills on Democrats and the President rather than partisan BS.

165 lawhawk  Jan 16, 2015 7:06:51am

No, there’s no racism here. None whatsoever. That’s just a figment of the imagination of people who are themselves racist.

166 Dr. Matt  Jan 16, 2015 7:07:25am

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) bucked the National Rifle Association on Thursday and vetoed a concealed carry gun bill that would have allowed some people with restraining orders issued against them for domestic violence to carry a concealed pistol.

167 Feline Fearless Leader  Jan 16, 2015 7:08:45am

re: #156 Targetpractice

Most of the world’s armies still viewed tanks as they’d been treated in WWI, as effectively mobile fortresses to support infantry advances, rather than infantry supporting the tanks themselves. The lessons of WWI, where the greatest success of tanks was when they were used as armored fists to punch through the lines while infantry followed to secure the ground gained in the advance, were ignored by all but Germany. Plus WWI had not had true tank-on-tank warfare, so most Allied nations continued to believe that the greatest danger to tanks was infantry and dedicated tank destroyers rather than tanks of similar size and armament.

The tech in the 20s and 30s regarding development and use of tanks was still developing. (You can see the same thing in regards to naval developments; especially aircraft carriers and submarines.)

Given the engine powers at the time you could be fast, or carry more armor and be slow. Guns tended to be low velocity with some anti-infantry capability, or lower caliber and higher velocity in order to be able to penetrate armor. So you end up with mixed types in order to fulfill different requirements (breakthrough, infantry support, anti-armor, etc.)

The UK went into different designations; infantry tank, cruiser tank to reflect different capabilities. Infantry tanks tended to be slow, but have better armor, and were envisioned for infantry support.* Cruiser tanks had less armor, but were faster and would be used for maneuver operations.

Even the Germans had this split initially. The Pz-III series had 37mm and then 50mm guns and the general anti-armor role. The Pz-IV series carried a low velocity 75mm gun and was a support tank. Luckily the German designs were fairly capable of being upgraded and thus as the war went on they got more armor and more powerful guns.

Probably the first real “universal” tank was the T-34. Innovative armor design, fast, and carried a gun that could do anti-armor plus a good enough HE shell to do support work.

* - The UK designs for infantry tanks tended to have machine-guns only, and then a 40mm gun that was only useful for anti-armor work. Thus they ended up with “CS” (close support) sub-variants that carried a 75mm howitzer. Their cruiser tank - infantry tank split didn’t end until the Centurion was designed in 1944-45.

168 wrenchwench  Jan 16, 2015 7:10:29am

re: #165 lawhawk

No, there’s no racism here. None whatsoever. That’s just a figment of the imagination of people who are themselves racist.

[Embedded content]

169 Higgs Boson's Mate  Jan 16, 2015 7:14:19am

re: #159 lawhawk

[Embedded content]

So, all the AQ that the Bush administration killed in Iraq and Afghanistan were not as important as claimed? Or just the ones killed by the Obama Admin, like OBL?

The goalposts are moving faster than the speed of derp. And that’s pretty damned fast.

Add to the lengthy list of Things Jonah Goldberg Doesn’t Seem to Know the fact that AQ stopped being a monolithic organization years ago. Calling yourselves AQ just sounds a lot better than “A Bunch of Guys Who Got Tired of Sweeping Floors and So Took Up AK47s.”

170 FemNaziBitch  Jan 16, 2015 7:16:48am
171 Timothy Watson  Jan 16, 2015 7:17:41am

*Sigh* I would like to go ahead and go my taxes (the Free File thing started today), but I haven’t gotten my W-2, a 1098-E from a student loan servicer, or the form from my university yet.

172 FemNaziBitch  Jan 16, 2015 7:17:49am

re: #166 Dr. Matt

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) bucked the National Rifle Association on Thursday and vetoed a concealed carry gun bill that would have allowed some people with restraining orders issued against them for domestic violence to carry a concealed pistol.

Paged!!! excitedly.

173 wrenchwench  Jan 16, 2015 7:18:05am

[…]Because of all this, it’s hard to shake the feeling that this “men regret abortion” thing is less about “life” and more about reinforcing the idea that men should control women. Sometimes it’s through feints of chivalry, and sometimes through outright emotional manipulation, but it always comes back to the same idea: that women are not to be trusted to make their own decisions, so men should do it for them.

174 FemNaziBitch  Jan 16, 2015 7:18:51am

re: #173 wrenchwench

[Embedded content]

allowing …

Who is doing the work?????

fuck them

175 dholmes32  Jan 16, 2015 7:18:57am

re: #100 FemNaziBitch

The Mormon Church Is Excommunicating a Man Who Pushed for Gay Rights

I know John Dehlin. *sigh* He’s a decent guy who doesn’t deserve this. John’s been doing the “Mormon Stories” podcast for the last decade. His stake president (a Mormon ecclesiastical official) told him he’d have to take down the podcasts that cast the church in a bad light in order to keep his church membership. Dehlin refused to do so.

Probably the only impact on the larger world is now that it’s clear that public advocacy of same-sex marriage will get a Mormon the left foot of fellowship from his church, we can fully expect that Mitt Romney’s going to hold on to traditional marriage long after other Republicans have taken a more nuanced and/or pragmatic view.

176 Targetpractice  Jan 16, 2015 7:19:28am

re: #169 Higgs Boson’s Mate

Add to the lengthy list of Things Jonah Goldberg Doesn’t Seem to Know the fact that AQ stopped being a monolithic organization years ago. Calling yourselves AQ just sounds a lot better than “A Bunch of Guys Who Got Tired of Sweeping Floors and So Took Up AK47s.”

Wasn’t that part of their whole BS song and dance about Benghazi, that it had been an AQ planned and executed plot because some of the guys involved belonged to an AQ “franchise”?

178 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality  Jan 16, 2015 7:23:37am

re: #177 FemNaziBitch

Beagle-2 found on Mars: European Space Agency says missing lander finally located

Its last message scrawled in the dust was “Feet or meters, guys? Couldn’t you get it straight BEFORE you sent me here?”

179 Higgs Boson's Mate  Jan 16, 2015 7:24:42am

re: #173 wrenchwench

It’s certain that these abortion-regretting men were all loving, supportive partners and that the women in their lives had no reason to suspect that they and their babies would be left to fend for themselves.

180 FemNaziBitch  Jan 16, 2015 7:24:59am
181 lawhawk  Jan 16, 2015 7:25:14am

re: #171 Timothy Watson

W-2s and 1098-Es don’t have to be provided until the end of January. Your loan servicer might have it available online though, so you could download it from them, rather than waiting to see it mailed.

182 Fourth Football of the Apocalypse  Jan 16, 2015 7:25:42am

re:
#169

Jonah’s dumbness often gets overlooked because of all the other dumbness out there. But it is still quite very dumbness.

183 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Jan 16, 2015 7:25:43am

re: #180 FemNaziBitch

[Embedded content]

A few miles down the road, the sign reads “hide goats again”

184 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Jan 16, 2015 7:26:55am

re: #178 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality

Its last message scrawled in the dust was “Feet or meters, guys? Couldn’t you get it straight BEFORE you sent me here?”

Metric should be the measure of all science. Period.

185 FemNaziBitch  Jan 16, 2015 7:27:52am
186 wrenchwench  Jan 16, 2015 7:29:12am
187 Higgs Boson's Mate  Jan 16, 2015 7:29:16am

re: #180 FemNaziBitch

I always wondered what happened to Mickey Kaus.

188 Decatur Deb  Jan 16, 2015 7:29:59am

re: #184 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

Metric should be the measure of all science. Period.

The Guild of Cloth-Mongers says you can go to ‘ell.

189 FemNaziBitch  Jan 16, 2015 7:30:08am
190 FemNaziBitch  Jan 16, 2015 7:31:18am
191 FemNaziBitch  Jan 16, 2015 7:31:24am

bbl

192 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Jan 16, 2015 7:31:25am

re: #186 wrenchwench

[Embedded content]

And all those non-Mexicans are ISIS terrorists, right?

193 The Vicious Babushka  Jan 16, 2015 7:31:32am

I did not know the IDF had a GUN-FUCKING PHOTO CONTEST. They know who their fans are.

194 FemNaziBitch  Jan 16, 2015 7:32:24am

re: #193 The Vicious Babushka

I did not know the IDF had a GUN-FUCKING PHOTO CONTEST. They know who their fans are.

[Embedded content]

great dog!

195 lawhawk  Jan 16, 2015 7:32:41am

And that data confirms the same results from the JMA (the Japanese Meteorological Agency).

So, despite the denialists’ claims that there was a slow-down or pause, the temperatures keep rising.

196 Higgs Boson's Mate  Jan 16, 2015 7:32:52am

re: #193 The Vicious Babushka

The dog picks up the spent brass.

197 Decatur Deb  Jan 16, 2015 7:33:53am

re: #196 Higgs Boson’s Mate

The dog picks up the spent brass.

Once he learns to keep his ears off the ridgeline.

198 Backwoods_Sleuth  Jan 16, 2015 7:34:17am

re: #186 wrenchwench

sneaky Canadians…

//

199 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Jan 16, 2015 7:36:14am

re: #198 Backwoods_Sleuth

sneaky Canadians…

//

sneaky Canadian Muslims…

///

200 wrenchwench  Jan 16, 2015 7:38:04am

re: #192 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

And all those non-Mexicans are ISIS terrorists, right?

Of course!

As numbers have fallen, unauthorized immigrants from other parts of the world are steady or on the rise. The unauthorized immigrant population from Central America, Asia, the Caribbean and the rest of the world grew slightly from 2009 to 2012. Over this time period, the number of unauthorized immigrants from Central America grew by 100,000. There was a similar increase in unauthorized immigrants from Asia.

201 b.d.  Jan 16, 2015 7:38:35am

re: #190 FemNaziBitch

[Embedded content]

Now that Burma has been assimilated…

202 b.d.  Jan 16, 2015 7:39:51am

re: #193 The Vicious Babushka

I did not know the IDF had a GUN-FUCKING PHOTO CONTEST. They know who their fans are.

[Embedded content]

Does your dog come when called? No the dog is now deaf.

203 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Jan 16, 2015 7:40:56am

re: #85 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

And add to that, that when patton was shown the plans for the Sherman he wanted them to focus on adding more machine guns and focus less on the big cannon. Also, from what I’ve read, the Pershing was ready to go into mass production (and would have been an effective counter to the german tanks) but Patton slowed the process down leading to only a limited number seeing service in WWII. Instead of focusing on “main” battle tanks the focus was on tank destroyers to handle taking out tanks and tank companies.

204 Timothy Watson  Jan 16, 2015 7:42:15am

re: #181 lawhawk

W-2s and 1098-Es don’t have to be provided until the end of January. Your loan servicer might have it available online though, so you could download it from them, rather than waiting to see it mailed.

Yeah, I know, just annoying because I want to see how much the refund is so I can figure out much I need to safe up for the summer semester (since I can’t get anymore student loans for the summer semester because I’ve already hit the maximum loan amount for the school year).

One of the 1098-Es is available online but the one from other student loan servicer won’t be available until the 19th and my W-2 will posted on the payroll CMS but currently has a messaged saying “DO NOT INQUIRE ABOUT YOUR W-2. THEY WILL BE POSTED BY JANUARY 31, 2015 OR EARLIER AS REQUIRED BY THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE” in bolded red.

205 Higgs Boson's Mate  Jan 16, 2015 7:43:02am

re: #190 FemNaziBitch

North Koreans are unwilling to pay six month’s wages for a bottle of Coke.
Cubans have plenty of cane sugar so they eschew HFCS beverages.

206 Decatur Deb  Jan 16, 2015 7:46:18am

re: #202 b.d.

Does your dog come when called? No the dog is now deaf.

Wake me when he gets his HALO wings.

207 Higgs Boson's Mate  Jan 16, 2015 7:49:32am

re: #206 Decatur Deb

Q: How do blind skydivers know when they’re close to the ground?
A: The dog’s leash goes slack.

208 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality  Jan 16, 2015 7:49:36am

re: #205 Higgs Boson’s Mate

North Koreans are unwilling to pay six month’s wages for a bottle of Coke.
Cubans have plenty of cane sugar so they eschew HFCS beverages.

Factoid: Local bottlers abroad don’t use HFCS in Coca-Cola or other soft drinks, because sugar outside the USA is cheaper than corn syrup. No corn subsidies or sugar price limits — y’know, free market stuff.

209 b_sharp  Jan 16, 2015 7:49:55am

re: #198 Backwoods_Sleuth

sneaky Canadians…

//

Sorry, but our invasion plans are proceeding as planned.
Have a nice day.

210 lawhawk  Jan 16, 2015 7:50:53am

Oh, and I got called last night to participate in a Quinnipiac University Poll. Woo. Spent about 15 minutes rolling through the questions, whether it was who I thought was favorable/unfavorable for 2016, name recognition, Christie, the state of things in NJ, the DeBlasio/NYPD stuff, and Christie’s trip to Dallas.

Unfortunately, the Christie trip question didn’t ask what was important about the trip - whether it was appearance of impropriety, ethics, or other.

211 Higgs Boson's Mate  Jan 16, 2015 7:52:25am

re: #208 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality

Factoid: Local bottlers abroad don’t use HFCS in Coca-Cola or other soft drinks, because sugar outside the USA is cheaper than corn syrup. No corn subsidies or sugar price limits — y’know, free market stuff.

Coca-Cola bottled in Mexico has become so popular here in SoCal that you can buy it by the case at Costco.

212 lawhawk  Jan 16, 2015 7:53:30am

re: #204 Timothy Watson

There are a few websites out there where you can estimate your refunds though; I think Intuit/TurboTax have the feature, and you can guestimate how much you should get back on student loan interest from your cumulative payments.

213 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality  Jan 16, 2015 7:55:46am

re: #211 Higgs Boson’s Mate

Coca-Cola bottled in Mexico has become so popular here in SoCal that you can buy it by the case at Costco.

I drink a Coke or Pepsi here in China occasionally, though I tell myself I should avoid all that sugar. I’m happy not to drink corn syrup, though the scientific/nutritional studies are divided on whether HFCS is worse than cane sugar for us.

214 Eclectic Cyborg  Jan 16, 2015 8:01:05am

re: #198 Backwoods_Sleuth

sneaky Canadians…

//

What are you implying?

/

215 Eclectic Cyborg  Jan 16, 2015 8:02:09am

re: #209 b_sharp

Sorry, but our invasion plans are proceeding as planned.
Have a nice day.

Either that or our countrymen are running from Harper in droves.

216 The Vicious Babushka  Jan 16, 2015 8:08:35am

re: #211 Higgs Boson’s Mate

Coca-Cola bottled in Mexico has become so popular here in SoCal that you can buy it by the case at Costco.

People wait for the Kosher for Passover Coca-Cola to be delivered, then swarm in and clear it all out within an hour.

217 The Vicious Babushka  Jan 16, 2015 8:26:59am

Twitter RWNJ Talking Point of the Day:
HURR HURR!!!!! ISIS IS THROWIN TEH GHEY OFF TEH HIGH ROOFS, Y R U COMPLAING ABOUT TEH WEDDING CAKES!!!!1!!!!!

218 Timothy Watson  Jan 16, 2015 8:33:58am

re: #212 lawhawk

There are a few websites out there where you can estimate your refunds though; I think Intuit/TurboTax have the feature, and you can guestimate how much you should get back on student loan interest from your cumulative payments.

I’m using H&R Block and did some estimates and it looks like it’s going to be a good-sized return. :)

219 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Jan 16, 2015 8:37:32am

re: #205 Higgs Boson’s Mate

North Koreans are unwilling to pay six month’s wages for a bottle of Coke.
Cubans have plenty of cane sugar so they eschew HFCS beverages.

And Scotland is the only country where the domestic carbonated beverage, Irn Bru, outsells Coca Cola.

(nitpickers will point out that Scotland is not a country, but when it comes to food and drink, it is a world of its own)

220 lawhawk  Jan 16, 2015 8:37:40am

re: #217 The Vicious Babushka

Yet, there are right wingers and socons in the US who would be more than willing to do the same thing to gays here in the US.

And apologies to anyone who has their sound on since there’s an auto-play at the link.

A recent anti-homosexual Sunday sermon by Pastor Steven Anderson of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe has gotten tens of thousands of views on YouTube. In it, Anderson declares that no “queers” or “homos” are allowed in the church, and never will be as long as he’s pastor.

He goes on to say killing gays is the way to an AIDS-free world by Christmas.

221 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Jan 16, 2015 8:38:10am

re: #214 Eclectic Cyborg

What are you implying?

/

you stoles out Precioussssssssss!!!

222 darthstar  Jan 16, 2015 8:38:24am

I’m sure it’ll wash off.

223 Higgs Boson's Mate  Jan 16, 2015 8:39:06am

re: #219 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

And Scotland is the only country where the domestic carbonated beverage, Irn Bru, outsells Coca Cola.

(nitpickers will point out that Scotland is not a country, but when it comes to food and drink, it is a world of its own)

Always wondered about the lack of drive-through Haggis stands here in the USA.

224 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Jan 16, 2015 8:40:22am

re: #223 Higgs Boson’s Mate

Always wondered about the lack of drive-through Haggis stands here in the USA.

…and deep-fried pizzas and Mars bars.

225 b_sharp  Jan 16, 2015 8:41:59am

re: #219 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

And Scotland is the only country where the domestic carbonated beverage, Irn Bru, outsells Coca Cola.

(nitpickers will point out that Scotland is not a country, but when it comes to food and drink, it is a world of its own)

I’d drink something called iron brew too.

226 Mike Lamb  Jan 16, 2015 8:45:03am

re: #195 lawhawk

[Embedded content]

And that data confirms the same results from the JMA (the Japanese Meteorological Agency).

So, despite the denialists’ claims that there was a slow-down or pause, the temperatures keep rising.

But I’m cold today.

227 darthstar  Jan 16, 2015 8:46:52am
228 ObserverArt  Jan 16, 2015 8:47:56am

re: #193 The Vicious Babushka

I did not know the IDF had a GUN-FUCKING PHOTO CONTEST. They know who their fans are.

[Embedded content]

I don’t know about the guns regarding the IDF…but that is one very regal dog in that image.

I’ll take the dog. They can keep their guns.

229 ObserverArt  Jan 16, 2015 8:51:18am

re: #202 b.d.

Does your dog come when called? No the dog is now deaf.

Photo setup by the photographer or his crew who probably didn’t think of the fact the dogs ears need protection and wouldn’t be right there. Or, they were going for the look only…screw reality.

What are you gonna do? //

230 Skip Intro  Jan 16, 2015 8:52:54am

Climate news from the parched state of California. Climatologists are saying we may be having the first rain-free January in recorded history.

231 darthstar  Jan 16, 2015 9:02:08am
232 The Vicious Babushka  Jan 16, 2015 9:06:15am

WTFITS==>

233 darthstar  Jan 16, 2015 9:06:23am
234 Sionainn  Jan 16, 2015 9:07:33am

re: #230 Skip Intro

Climate news from the parched state of California. Climatologists are saying we may be having the first rain-free January in recorded history.

Not good at all.

235 Dr. Matt  Jan 16, 2015 9:08:16am

re: #190 FemNaziBitch

There are only 2 countries in the entire world that do not sell Coca - Cola; North Korea and Cuba.
— Science Facts (@ScienceTrueFact) January 16, 2015

In a few months that list will be down to one country.

236 ObserverArt  Jan 16, 2015 9:09:23am

re: #231 darthstar

[Embedded content]

Interesting image. Sadly one of the cooler areas is North America. I guess that gives the politicians that are deniers wiggle room to crow that ‘it is cold…where is this global warming’ and have their idiot backers run with it.

But look at Europe and the warmer areas at the upper northern portions of the globe…the north Atlantic and north Pacific. Yeesh.

237 Higgs Boson's Mate  Jan 16, 2015 9:15:01am

re: #233 darthstar

Missed it by that much.

238 lawhawk  Jan 16, 2015 9:21:07am

re: #233 darthstar

Looks like one of my landings on the old Lunar Lander Atari game.

239 darthstar  Jan 16, 2015 9:26:33am
240 Mike Lamb  Jan 16, 2015 9:31:48am

re: #239 darthstar

Ya, so that’s scary. Judging by the wake, I would have thought the hippo was probably 4-5 feet farther back.

241 iossarian  Jan 16, 2015 9:32:48am

re: #232 The Vicious Babushka

WTFITS==>

[Embedded content]

Trawling giphy.com has always been the bestest way of formulating national education policy.

242 The Vicious Babushka  Jan 16, 2015 9:34:32am

All of a sudden my Tweetdeck mute settings just unmuted a whole bunch of wingnuts that I blocked a long time ago.

WTF Tweetdeck.

243 GlutenFreeJesus  Jan 16, 2015 9:35:34am

Don’t mess with an ant eater!

244 The Vicious Babushka  Jan 16, 2015 9:35:55am

re: #243 GlutenFreeJesus

Don’t mess with an ant eater!

[Embedded content]

Especially if you are an ant!

245 iossarian  Jan 16, 2015 9:36:09am

By the way, the reason Republicans don’t like Obama’s proposal on community college, but have supported superficially similar schemes (e.g., Tennessee and Georgia’s “Promise” scheme) is that the latter are top-ups to federal aid (so they largely direct money to families in relatively comfortable circumstances) whereas his is a supplement to po’ folk money.

246 The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge  Jan 16, 2015 9:39:18am

re: #233 darthstar

[Embedded content]

You know, I’ve really been down on SpaceX for spending all that money reinventing the wheel when they could have been building something like Chrysler’s SERV, but this is a really bold plan. I hope they can pull it off.

247 Dr. Matt  Jan 16, 2015 9:41:50am

re: #238 lawhawk

Looks like one of my landings on the old Lunar Lander Atari game.

Damn. That’s an awesome website. Brings back old times.

248 The Vicious Babushka  Jan 16, 2015 9:43:37am

I am so paging this:

249 Targetpractice  Jan 16, 2015 9:43:53am

Quick, somebody check the temperature in Hell…

250 Higgs Boson's Mate  Jan 16, 2015 9:44:42am

re: #241 iossarian

Trawling giphy.com has always been the bestest way of formulating national education policy.

That’s as good as anything else they’ll devise.

251 b.d.  Jan 16, 2015 9:45:17am

re: #233 darthstar

[Embedded content]

The ground came up too fast, dig the landing pad a little deeper next time.

252 The Vicious Babushka  Jan 16, 2015 9:46:47am

Mmm maybe not, those Swif gifs are large.

253 iossarian  Jan 16, 2015 9:47:51am

re: #252 The Vicious Babushka

Mmm maybe not, those Swif gifs are large.

It’s almost as if people haven’t figured out that there are different file formats that are better for some things than for others!

254 Targetpractice  Jan 16, 2015 9:49:28am

It should be noted that the Faux “apology” only applies to Emerson’s comments about Birmingham, UK. They apparently are prepare to stand by the comments about there being “no-go zones” in France.

255 Higgs Boson's Mate  Jan 16, 2015 9:50:01am

re: #249 Targetpractice

Self-styled terror expert Steve Emerson…

As of this minute I’ve decided that I’m an expert in magnetohydrodynamics.

256 The Vicious Babushka  Jan 16, 2015 9:50:08am

Never mind, Charles just paged it.

257 lawhawk  Jan 16, 2015 9:51:24am

re: #248 The Vicious Babushka

Page away, even if it doesn’t include the embedded gifs.

There’s so much bad crazy there, that I half expect him to claim that his account got hacked.

Except that it wasn’t. This is what the GOP thinks is a principled critique of a plan to educate Americans. Shows exactly what the GOP thinks of their fellow Americans, or a plan to improve our economic competitiveness by making it easier to get an education.

258 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Jan 16, 2015 10:12:59am

re: #225 b_sharp

I’d drink something called iron brew too.

it is bright orange tastes vaguely like juicy fruit chewing gum and has enough caffeine in it to wake the dead, which is its main use: as a hangover cure

259 Feline Fearless Leader  Jan 16, 2015 10:24:15am

re: #203 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance

And add to that, that when patton was shown the plans for the Sherman he wanted them to focus on adding more machine guns and focus less on the big cannon. Also, from what I’ve read, the Pershing was ready to go into mass production (and would have been an effective counter to the german tanks) but Patton slowed the process down leading to only a limited number seeing service in WWII. Instead of focusing on “main” battle tanks the focus was on tank destroyers to handle taking out tanks and tank companies.

I think it was less Patton and more McNair.* One issue with the Pershing was that the shipping space for 1 M-26 could hold 4 M-4s. In addition the Pershing used the same engine as the M-4, and weighed a lot more. So there were power issues and associated teething problems. (Straightened out by the time the M-46 was used in Korea for the most part.)

And the US tank vs tank destroyer doctrine has been talked about before. Tank for breakthrough and exploitation and thus not needing the best anti-armor performance since the TD battalions would have a vehicle armed with something with anti-armor performance and was earmarked for primarily fighting tanks. (Plus sub-discussion on towed vs self-propelled AT guns.) The doctrine probably looked nice on paper, but in practice the tanks faced other tanks**, and the TDs did a lot of support work.

* - I think the claim that it was Patton came from Cooper’s _Death Traps_. And since his unpublished manuscript was used by Ambrose you can probably see that claim turn up in _Citizen Soldiers_ as well. In any case, Cooper had a bit of an axe to grind in regards to Patton.

** - Something else to take into account was that the majority of US/UK tank losses were not to German tanks - it was to German AT guns. So having a bigger/better anti-armor gun was less of a factor. Better armor and internal layout would have been more useful. The M4 brewed up less once they revised the ammo storage.

The M-26 did have much heavier armor, but also weighed quite a bit more with corresponding issues with maneuverability and range. It was an effective counter to Panthers and Tigers; but comparing Panthers and Tigers to M-4 Shermans is spotting the German tanks at least 16 tons of weight. (M-4: 33 tons; M-26: 46 tons; Panther: 49 tons; Tiger: 56 tons)

260 TedStriker  Jan 16, 2015 11:06:23am

re: #208 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality

Factoid: Local bottlers abroad don’t use HFCS in Coca-Cola or other soft drinks, because sugar outside the USA is cheaper than corn syrup. No corn subsidies or sugar price limits — y’know, free market stuff.

That’s why (most) Mexican Cokes/Pepsis use cane sugar..and that’s why they taste better, IMO.

261 TedStriker  Jan 16, 2015 11:08:01am

re: #225 b_sharp

I’d drink something called iron brew too.

re: #219 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

And Scotland is the only country where the domestic carbonated beverage, Irn Bru, outsells Coca Cola.

(nitpickers will point out that Scotland is not a country, but when it comes to food and drink, it is a world of its own)

“It’s made from girders.”

///


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