Fear

It’s Halloween again and the topic for today is FEAR.   That seems to be the holiday’s #1 emotion.

By the way, they’re now celebrating Halloween in Europe, which they weren’t when I lived here.  I see pics of Asterix costumes in France.  If anyone can tell me what other costumes are out there these days, I’d love to see them.  Putin?  Stalin?  Hitler?  Who knows.

Legitimate Fears.   Life is scary enough – plus, it ends sometime for everyone and, religious beliefs notwithstanding, we still have no clue what happens after that.  So here is a list of items I don’t blame people for being worried about:  death, cancer, the afterlife, losing loved one, losing job, losing children, being poor, not having money, children in jail, spouse runs away with someone else, etc. 

Stupid Fears.   We have enough things to worry about without coming up with stupid fears.  Here are two I’ve seen the most on Facebook.

Halloween Ecstasy.   Every year the parents and cops play this game of idiotic paranoia that somehow DRUGS will be widely and freely (!) distributed to children.   An ecstasy pill costs $10.  Someone is going to give a $10 pill to a random child instead of raving themselves?  

            Back before I went to high school I worried someone would dose my food with LSD.   Since the Grateful Dead were nowhere near the ASP cafeteria, that was a particularly stupid fear.   LSD is hard to come by these days, so whoever scored a sheet or a vial of the stuff would be either selling it for $$$ or using it themselves.   Wasting expensive drugs on random children is not likely.  And sure enough, there are no documented cases of it happening anywhere. 

ISIS in Mexico.   Then the Yahoos in Texas post pictures of ISIS tanks (actually in Iraq or Syria) claiming that this ISIS army is in fact in… MEXICO?  Somehow neither the Mexican government nor armies of drug dealers noticed an Islamic army in their midst.   Please recall: Mexico is a predominantly Catholic country.  ISIS can expect no sympathy, support, or recruitment in Mexico.  If there is one thing that would temporarily ally the Mexican government and the drug dealers, it would be some incursion of ISIS in Mexico.

As a bonus, here's one we're probably not afraid of....we're too busy eating it to care:

Bacon.  I’m waiting to see someone dress up as bacon to scare people for Halloween.   Better yet, dress as Keith Moon and bacon.  Because the WHO are so damn competent, right?  Townshend and Daltrey must be shaking their heads.

By the way, if you have any suspicions, by all means check out SNOPES.  They do a good job at debunking all the bullshit out there.  In fact, it’s all those morons spreading idiotic rumors that keep Snopes in business.

The Crimson Unicorn

The outflowing of support for Bernie Sanders on Facebook seems to mirror the similar swell for support among equally deluded fans of Donald Trump.  Here my focus is on the Cult of the Crimson Unicorn, i.e. US socialists circa 2015.

By crimson I mean “red, socialist, communist” and by unicorn I mean something that is fictional and has no basis in reality:  an unattainable ideal held by people too clueless to understand that.

Semantics.  First, let’s get some semantics out of the way.   When the Colonel Sanders crowd barks and brays for socialism, they mean the flavor served in Denmark and Sweden, not the one from North Korea.   Generally we refer to Denmark as “socialist” and China as “communist”.   In doctrinaire terms, Denmark is actually capitalist and China is socialist, and no country has attained the anarchic state which Marxists call “communism”.  I agree the Denmark is actually capitalist – albeit with a heavy dose of socialism – but just so everyone understands what we’re talking about, it’s probably best to continue referring to countries like North Korea as communist anyway.

One element the Sanders crowd never addresses, but which their opponents love to bring up – as I do – is taxes.   I did a blog a few years ago about this, http://formula57l.blogspot.com/2012/08/who-wants-to-run-america_2532.html.   I still think It’s relevant today.

Leaving aside a totalitarian dictatorship I don’t think anyone wants, the question is why we can’t have something like Denmark.   Yes, most things are paid for, including health care and education.   But it comes at a price which few in the US would be willing to pay:  horrendous taxes.  Income taxes are much higher, sales taxes are higher (25% vs 5% in the US), and the tax on cars is 180% (almost triple).  In Sweden the top bracket approaches 100%.  Not everything is as bad as they say it is (http://www.snopes.com/denmark-socialism-brutal-meme/) but it’s still far higher than any of the Crimson Unicorn crowd will ever admit.  I would suggest the theater majors clamoring for Bernie Sanders take a closer look at the cost of their plans.

Libertarians.   I’m a Libertarian.  What that means is that I read Ayn Rand in college, adopted capitalism as an ideal, and initially took the Republicans’ support for that doctrine at face value.  Until I read books like The Suicidal Corporation, by Paul Weaver, and saw how Newt Gingrich and his cronies cynically floated the Contract With America in 1994 as a means of co-opting what they perceived to be libertarian values, with no sincere expectation of supporting that agenda.  Republicans have too much in common with big business and – with few exceptions – no interest in supporting libertarian ideals.  

The Tea Party movement is often described as Libertarian, but I see too much evidence that much of that is simply opposition to Obama because he's black masquerading as libertarians.   Where were these people when Clinton was in office?  Or Carter?

I’d distinguish libertarianism from socialism in the following manner.  Ideologically they’re opposites.  In practical terms the best we can hope for from “socialism” is a Sweden-Denmark deal with everything paid for by the government and insanely high taxes.  The best we can hope for from libertarianism is lower taxes, less wars, and more freedom.  As for the political possibilities….

Jane Fonda once said that if we all truly understood what communism was about, we’d embrace it.  I’ll switch that on its head and say that if Americans were given the truth about what the Danish flavor of socialism meant – super high taxes – we’d reject it immediately and never think about it again.  That’s the ugly truth about Bernie Sanders’ platform:  wishful thinking and assuming that everyone else is drinking the same Kool-Aid.  And I don’t consider Denmark to be a real ideal anyway, although they can claim they’ve “made it happen”, which is more than the Marxists can claim about “true communism”.

As for libertarianism, I sincerely believe that it’s practical as a reality in terms of being a workable model that would actually work in real life.   That is not the problem.  The problem is that there are too few Libertarians and too much entrenched interests in Congress and in America – both major parties – to make enacting this agenda a reality.  The Tea Party came closest, and Rand Paul is this flavor’s biggest candidate, but unless Donald Trump or Ben Carson “have a fatal heart attack and die” between now and the GOP convention in summer 2016, I’m not holding my breath for Rand Paul to win the nomination.     

Chipotle, Mr Hero, Quiznos, Firehouse & Jersey Mike's

Sometime in the late 90s or early 00’s, I was living in Rosslyn, Virginia.  Near the corner of Lynn Street and Wilson Blvd., across from where Tom Sarris’ New Orleans Steakhouse used to be, a new fast food joint opened up, one of the first – if not the first – in the Washington metropolitan area: CHIPOTLE.  It promised upscale Mexican cuisine.

I’m militantly bourgeois and antagonistic towards anything “upscale”, “trendy”, or “pretentious”.  I don’t drink wine, IPAs, microbrews, PBR, and stay away from overpriced restaurants that serve food on square white plates.  So naturally I was hostile to the premise of Chipotle, and so continued eating at the Taco Bell up the hill (Wilson, near the Arlington Courthouse).

One day, out of boredom and morbid curiosity, I tried out Chipotle.  As you may well know, they make the food in front of you.  The ingredients, particularly the steak, look appetizing and fresh.  I ordered steak soft tacos – hot sauce, cheese, and lettuce – and my mouth woke up.  Even since then I’ve been addicted to Chipotle.  It’s too delicious to ignore.  I don't care how pretentious it is.

Mr. Hero.   I also love steak & cheese subs.   Over by Bailey’s Crossroads, next to the dry cleaners I currently use, was this s&c place.  In addition to fantastically delicious steak & cheese subs, they also made waffle fries, which it’s hard to find anywhere else. 

To my intense regret and sorrow, Mr. Hero went under a few years ago.  RIP Mr. Hero.  Not relocated, out of business.  Gone.  Dead.  Etc.  By the way – the Bailey’s Crossroads, VA store was NOT the only location.  The company started in Cleveland, OH, and several locations still exist there.  But there are no locations within 150 miles of Virginia.  Too bad.

In its place came… Quiznos.

Quiznos.   The first one I saw was in Rosslyn, on the same block as Chipotle.   Like Chipotle, it was an upscaling, this time of subs.  Since I tried Chipotle, and liked subs, I tried Quiznos.  BLECCH.   Not good. Throw it back.  No no no.   So put Quinzos down as a NO.

Incidentally, I’m not a big fan of Subway.  They add some onions into the steak & cheese, and while their meatball subs are OK, I’m overall not impressed.  Sorry, Jared – though he has more to worry about these days than my sub sandwich preferences.

Firehouse & Jersey Mikes.   By the way, Jerry’s Subs & Pizza were very good – but they’ve been slowly disappearing in my area.  I don’t know why, I can’t explain, but it's sad but true.  Two newer chains are expanding.  Firehouse I first encountered in Manassas, on Sudley Manor.   They have a FIREMAN motif and exploit it mercilessly.  They even put up all sorts of tributes to the local fire department.   Although I don’t share their fetish for firemen, I do like their subs.   And they have those great soda machines with a zillion different flavors.

Jersey Mike’s is my current favorite.   Oddly, despite visiting New Jersey every other weekend for the past 6 years, I’ve never been to one in NJ:  the closest one to us in Northern NJ is in Wayne, which is 40 minutes west on I-80.   A bit far for a sub, sorry.   I go to the one in Springfield, Virginia.  Again, fantastic, just a little better than Firehouse.

Chipotle again.   Anyhow, it was with zero regret that I noticed the Quiznos that took over from Mr. Hero also went out of business.   Too f’in bad.   I picked up dry cleaning the other day and saw a notice that the next contestant for “who wants to operate a successful fast food place at this location” is …. CHIPOTLE.   The nearest others are at Seven Corners, Broad Street, and Tyson’s Corner.   In the opposite direction there’s one in Old Town Alexandria.   So by all means, continue expanding, Chipotle, and I’ll keep eating your delicious steak soft tacos.   :D

Vive Le Fusil Français!

Nowadays it’s customary, especially among Americans, to look down on the French for their military prowess – or apparent lack thereof.  In addition to getting kicked out of Haiti in the early 1800s by local rebels, then out of Vietnam in 1954 by the Viet Minh, we came to their rescue in WWI and WWII.  But it’s easy to forget a few things – quite important things.

Napoleon.  First off, from his takeover in the late 1700s to his final defeat at Waterloo in 1815, Napoleon led France to dominate Europe.  The French Empire was indeed an empire.  He kept the English at bay and forced the Prussians, Austrians, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italians under his will.  He couldn’t defeat Russia or England, but it took a decisive alliance to bring him down once and for all – and Waterloo could have gone either way.  Granted, no one still alive can remember this, but it still matters. 

But there’s other issues to consider.  When it came to making weapons, the French were much less incompetent than their battlefield exploits might sometimes imply.  In fact, they were ahead of the game several times. 

Chassepot.  The French rifle of the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71) was definitely superior to the Prussian Dreyse rifle – more than twice the effective range.  So much so, that the newly unified Germans recognized this and immediately concocted a new rifle – only to have the French beat them…again.

1886 Lebel.   Prior to the Lebel everyone used black powder.  It was inefficient and smokey.  The French developed something MUCH better: smokeless powder, and a rifle, the Lebel, to fire it.  This immediately made all black powder rifles obsolete and forced the Germans to change – again.  So in the late 1800s, the French were state of the art in infantry weapons. 

            Oddly, the Lebel had a tube magazine, in which rounds are inserted end-to-end rather than side by side, a setup usually associated with lever action rifles (Winchester cowboy rifles) and shotguns.  It wasn’t much of an issue when the rounds were round-nosed (Balle M), but when they switched over to spitzer (sharp point) (Balle D) in 1898 they had to work around it by circular grooves and convex primer covers – which actually worked quite well.  Most other rifles have an internal box magazine. 

            Here again, the French were the innovators.  Germany changed its 8mm Mauser round to a spitzer design, the S-Patrone, in 1904, the US upgraded its .30 caliber round in 1906 (thus the .30-06), Russia changed its 7.62x54 round in 1908, and finally England in 1910 with the .303 round. 

Fusil Automatic RSC M1917/18.   During WWI the French replaced the Lebel with the Berthier, but came up with something even better:  a semi-automatic rifle.  20 years before the M1 Garand, and longer still before the Russians developed the SVT40 and the Germans their Gewehr 41 and 43, the French had a semiauto infantry rifle.  The M1917 wasn’t very popular, though, and its replacement, the M1918, while resolving the issues which made the M1917 unpopular, didn’t come out in time for the war. 

After WWI the French decided to upgrade their Lebel round, going from 8mm Lebel (8x51mmR) to 7.5x54 MAS, a rimless round comparable to today’s 7.62x51/.308 NATO.  They came out with a rifle to go with the round, the MAS 36, but never got around to mass-producing a semi-auto MAS variant until the Model 49 after WWII. 

75mm.  Officially the M1897, colloquially the “soixante-quinze” (75) this gun had a revolutionary hydro-pneumatic recoil system which allowed it to remain on target after being shot, without having to be re-aimed.  This raised its effective rate to 15 rounds per minute – 30 under stress.  The gun featured heavily at The Marne (1914) and Verdun (1916).  The “75” was also the main armament on France’s less successful WWI tank, the St-Chamond.  Its rounds were highly effective against German infantry but less so against fixed fortifications.  The French did not adapt the recoil mechanism to their heavier caliber guns.  By WWII it was obsolete, but it was the top light infantry gun of WWI. 

MAS-36.  One of the ugliest bolt-actions ever made, but remarkably reliable.  MAS stands for Manufacture des Armes St-Etienne (yes, the French football team), the caliber is 7.5x54mm, a rimless cartridge.  It came out shortly before WWII but only 250,000 made at that time.  For the First Indochina War (1946-54) (ending in Dien Bien Phu), Algerian War and Suez Crisis it came around in greater numbers.  Very reliable and very popular with the troops.  I'm not keen on its forward leaning bolt or its switch-around-backward spike bayonet, but that's my deal.  

NASCARolina

This week’s blog entry is delayed somewhat, first due to writer’s block and then due to a funeral in North Carolina for my aunt, who was also my dad’s twin sister.  Now not only is my father gone (2004), but also both of his brothers and both of his sisters, which brings that generation of my father’s side of the family to a close.  My mother, one of nine children, still has a few siblings left alive (including herself) but no one is getting any younger.  Neither am I…

I have already addressed the issue of funerals, so I’ll keep that element as brief as possible.  Moreover, my experiences in NC are likewise limited, which will make this blog fairly brief as a whole.

I have a law school classmate doing fairly well in Greensboro (“John B”), who have I yet to visit since he moved down there.  If the invitation is still open, I’d be happy to see how he’s doing.  I have an elementary school classmate (“Michael B”) who is now a professor at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, but I don’t have much contact with him – just oblique messages on political topics on Facebook – much less any invitation to visit.  Moreover, Boone looks like it’s fairly remote, so it’s not even on the way to anything else.  

Ages ago, when my other law school classmate, John G, was still living at home and hadn’t yet met his wife, I visited him in Virginia Beach.  We took a day trip down to Nag’s Head on the Outer Banks.  We even stopped by Food Lion for sandwiches, which the store identified as “miscellaneous retail items”.  You can really sink your teeth into those.   I have relatives who visit the Outer Banks every summer, but I’ve yet to join them.   The Outer Banks look like much of the East Coast beach scene, like Ocean City, MD; Virginia Beach, VA; Coney Island, NY; Jones Beach, NY; Sandy Hook, NJ;  Atlantic City, NJ.  Outer Banks, though, doesn’t seem to have a boardwalk.  Too bad.

Raleigh-Durham.   My uncle – the recently-deceased but much beloved aunt’s husband – died last year, which gave me my first taste of this area, which is about 4 hours south of the DC area.  I didn’t visit any downtown area, but I did stop by Duke University on the way out and picked up a pint glass from the bookstore.  The weather then was fantastic, and I was in no particular hurry to leave.

I didn’t notice the area looking much different than Virginia, except maybe more trees and much taller.   But that looks is shared with Virginia southwest of Petersburg, along I-85. 

NASCAR.  I associate North Carolina with NASCAR, which is why I call it the way I do.  I don’t watch much auto racing, period, and almost none of NASCAR.  In the short time I’ve been in NC, I had no occasion to run into Don Garlits, John Force, Don Prudhomme, Helio Castroneves, Emerson Fittipaldi, Ayrton Senna, or other such NASCAR (!) heroes.  Nor did I see anyone driving like that on the street.   Looks like I missed out on NC. 

If I have occasion to return, I’ll be happy to.   Until then…