Open Thread – 10 November, 2013

Open_thread

pl

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44 Responses to Open Thread – 10 November, 2013

  1. The term catastrophic never appeared withorityth respect to federal authority for domestic emergency planning until a statute passed in 2006 and then with no real definition.
    My short hand definition is an event wherein governmental capacity to respond is disrupted nor partially!
    Three events so far this century seem to qualify. The Haiti Earthquake. The Fukishim Da-Ici combination earthquake [off shore and tsunami] and now the typhoon in the Phillipines following on a 7.2 magnitude earthquake several months back.
    All of these events are considered natural hazards but in fact they have the impact of war on the countries involved.

  2. Fred says:

    While re-reading “The Butcher’s Cleaver” I am left with the question – just what is in Snake Davis’ venison stew recipe? Only asking since deer season’s only a week away here. (And I need a good recipe).

  3. Jose says:

    WRC: Hurricane Hits 1851-2012
    FL – 37 (including two CAT 5’s)
    LA – 20
    TX – 19
    NC – 13
    Would you include Andrew in your definition?

  4. turcopolier says:

    fred
    I suppose he would have started with a roux. Lard and arrowroot would do. Then some chopped up deer meat and root vegetables would follow. Salt and pepper, wild garlic and onions. Cook with enough water to cover all. Whaddaya think? pl

  5. Fred says:

    Good idea. I’ll have to use some bacon fat from my last pound of Crabil’s finest. I’ll let you know in a week or so, if my luck holds. I’ve got some biscuit mix to go along with it too. It sure won’t do my diet any good since I’ve got a lot less walking to do than the boys in that story. You tell a fine tale.

  6. Charles says:

    Col,
    When we lived in Germany we went to Berchtesgaden and had a wonderful vinison stew made with apples. We also went to the salt mines and the Eagle’s Nest. Good food and beer. Weird vibe.
    Regards

  7. turcopolier says:

    fred
    Salt pork would work as well. You could cut back on the lard then. Try putting some cheap bourbon in it. that always helps. I use “Virginia Gentleman,” but I use that for just about everything. Let me know how it turns out. “a fine tale…” I hope so. it took me ten years to write that book. My French Canadian grandfather used to cook in the field like the fellows in that book when we went ice fishing or gunning. Fried salt pork, scrambled eggs, crepes, potatos with maple syrup on everything. All this was served up before dawn. pl

  8. Jose! Hurricane Andrew land falling August 1992 was a huge event and a CAT 5 on Saffir Simpson scale. One (1) degree north and no Miami Beach and one (1) degree west and no NOLA!
    That storm crossed the Florida panhandle and entered the GOM and then made landfall east of NOLA!
    Definitely a domestic catastrophe!

  9. The Twisted Genius says:

    pl,
    Wow! That’s about as north woods as it gets. All you need is a huge pot of oatmeal.

  10. Tyler says:

    I’m torn between a Suomi or a PPS as far as buying a subgun goes. Help me, oh wise ones.
    PPS Pro: I can SBR the PPS by removing the ‘fixed’ folding stock and replacing it with a new one.
    Suomi Pro: Fires 9mm parabellum as opposed to the PPS’ 762X25 Tokarev (much more common).

  11. Ulenspiegel says:

    A good venison stew in Germany/Austria (Hirschgulasch) would start with onions (1/4 mass of the meat) and butter or oil, roast them until they are brown, add a glas of red wine and let simmer for at least 1 hour, the goal is to get at the end, i.e. when the meat is well, a souce that doe not longer contain pieces of onions but is viscid. (the better the meat the longer you have to pre-cook the onions, the need 3 hours).
    Most cooks roast the venison (cut in 1 inch cubes) for a few minutes in a pan with oil/butter and add the meat then to the pre-cooked onions, add bay leaves, a few juniper berries and fill up with wine or broth (~0.5 litre per kg. meat). Then cook for 1.5-2 hours, add salt, pepper and cranberry jam or apples.
    Serve with noodles, potatoes, mashed potatoes, dumblings or simply bread, the classic version is with dumblings and red cabbage, I prefer mashed potatoes and carrots.
    The same works with boar instead of venison, and there is a good version with beef shank too, that is the Rindgulasch in Austria. Best is to prepare all teh stews a day before, they get better and the timing with the oinions is less critical.

  12. turcopolier says:

    TTG
    I suppose you have done this but we would build a bonfire on the lake ice and the adults would stand around drinking and socializing while we waited for red flags to spring up over our traps. pl

  13. Fred says:

    Apples would be a nice touch. Thanks.

  14. Charles I says:

    Hi Tyler, between the cottage and bannings, I missed wheter you had a boy or a girl, did your real estate deal go through? Hope its all good.

  15. Charles I says:

    We used to do it that way, now do it from a hut, but in law school we used to drive a van right onto Lake of the Woods, its full of ice roads. Tunes, a crapper, sausages and taters and onions cooking, a sunny day, it was high style. Cross the border – an imaginary line – at the Northwest Angle to pop in on the fire chief/border post/liquor store for cheap(er) booze. Even the ling cod were tasty but damned hard to skin. Pickerel paradise.

  16. Tyler says:

    Hi Charles,
    I have a little girl now who’s gurgling away and huge for her age. The real estate went through, and now I’m up to some 14 chickens, 7 ducks, and two cows. A lot of learning as I go around here. Other news includes getting an advance on my novel and knocking out some debts. Thanks for inquiring.

  17. Tyler,
    Glad to have you back, and also to hear that you daughter is thriving.

  18. Tyler says:

    Mr. Habakkuk,
    Thank you on both counts!

  19. nick b says:

    Still a fisherman, Col.?

  20. Charles I says:

    Congrats, sounds like a handful.

  21. The Twisted Genius says:

    Tyler,
    I assume you’re talking about the new semiautomatic versions. I’d go for the Suomi. If the new version is anything like the original, it’s a fine weapon. The wooden stock would be a big plus for me. I’d also scrounge up a 71 round drum for it. I would get either one just for the sense of history that surrounds them. I suggest you also look at some surplus M-1 carbines. I have a sweet one that my father in law acquired through a CMP sale. It’s a real piece of history and a handy weapon in its own right.
    You seem to be well on your way on establishing your homestead. Congrats. At you don’t have to worry about husbanding your animals through a northern winter.

  22. The Twisted Genius says:

    PL,
    Yes, we fished that way. A winter’s fire is a marvelous thing. My uncle also had a shack on the shore of Bantam lake that we’d use all seasons. It had an inviting little pot bellied stove and a never ending supply of fresh kielbasa, potato sausage and cabbage soup. Of course there also was a never ending supply of home brewed spirits, beer and dandelion wine.

  23. Allen Thomson says:

    A bit late to be getting into this open thread, but I’d be interested to hear comments on
    http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2013/11/11/chart-of-the-day-119/
    I.e., the number of Congressfolk who’ve been in the military is at a low — how does that affect their willingness to commit the nation to military action?

  24. Fred says:

    Welcome back Tyler.

  25. Fred says:

    Ten years? The description of the sunrise has a lifetime of experience within it. I think I’ll get more than ten years enjoyment out of your work.

  26. turcopolier says:

    fred
    Thanks. “The sunrise?” Which one are you referring to. BTW, I have finished “So Long to Learn,” a “roman a clef” in which the protagonist is someone familiar. I have put pieces of it on SST in the past for the purpose of testing reaction. I have taken them down now. I am going to self publish it in paperback and as an E-book. pl

  27. turcopolier says:

    nick b
    No. It was a childhood social event for me. I don’t hunt either. I haven’t the heart for it. pl

  28. nick b says:

    I don’t hunt either, but I have no problem with it. I spend a lot of my free time by the sides of bodies of water, both moving and still, matching wits with a lower species, and losing.

  29. Tyler says:

    Thanks Fred.
    When I’m put on hiatus I feel like this:
    http://www.darkstormcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/rockwell_shiner.jpg
    When I come back I feel like this:
    http://www.mystudios.com/artgallery/paintings/181001-181500/181192/size1.jpg
    Going to try and modulate myself though a bit better this time around, jokes aside.

  30. Tyler says:

    TTG,
    Thanks for the advice. My understanding is that the Suomi was designed to also take magazines from the Swedish K as well. I believe many of you old VN hands are acquainted with that particular weapon? I’m literally unable to find a supplier of the Tokarev ammo that the PPS requires, while 9mm Para is the most common round available. The Suomi will also accept drum magazines, as you pointed out, while the PPS will not.
    I know exactly what you mean by “sense of history” though. I have a Mosin that bears an Izhmakh foundry stamp from 1943, and a Makarov from 1980. Heady stuff!

  31. Fred says:

    The opening paragraphs in “The Butcher’s Cleaver”. Your description of Balthazar (Death Piled Hard) sitting beneath a painting of Janus, God of Beginnings was apt. Dawn of a new kind. I’ve wandered far afield in study due to the richness of detail within this trilogy.
    I look forward to the publication of “So Long to Learn”. Hopefully we’ll see more of characters of your fiction in future works as well.

  32. Tyler says:

    Also, no northern weather but I’ve got other challenges such as living on the northern edge of a major smuggling route, as well as wild animals. So far between my cow, dog and rooster they’ve killed three mutts that the idiot down the street let’s roam around.

  33. The confirmation hearing for the Secretary DHS is today at 10 AM. My understanding is that no single person not a contractor or consultant of DHS is a fully fluent speaker of Arabic.
    And apparently over 1000 relations of the SA royal family live in the DC metro area and have green cards or are US citizens.

  34. Fred says:

    Would those be the same people quickly flown out of the US on 9/12 when no one else could fly anywhere?

  35. Charles I says:

    Thanks, she’s beautiful, brings joy to the heart.

  36. Charles I says:

    my Firefox browser says your first link ism trying to redirect in a manner that will never complete but the second one made me laugh. . . I’ll imagine the first one with reference to my own PL admonished and stricken state

  37. FRED! The 29 redacted pages of the 9/11 Commission Report should be made public! All apparently dealt with SA and its nationals and agents.
    Also clear that SA and Israel feel entitled to corrupt and influence US policy! Partners in crime IMO!
    Is it accurate that both Israel and SA under
    VISA waiver program to enter USA?

  38. Wikipedia Extract:
    During his visit to Estonia in November 2006, President Bush announced his intention “to work with our Congress and our international partners to modify our visa waiver program”. In 2006, the Secure Travel and Counterterrorism Partnership Bill was introduced in the Senate but no action was taken and that bill, as well as a similar one introduced in the House the following year, died after two years of inactivity.[17] The bill would have directed the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a pilot program to expand the visa waiver program for up to five new countries that are cooperating with the United States on security and counterterrorism matters.[citation needed] The bill would have changed the nonimmigrant visa refusal rate threshold – from 3% – to 10%, thus making (as of 2010) 28 countries[18] qualify for inclusion in the visa-waiver program: Argentina, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, Hong Kong (HKSAR passport and British National (Overseas) passport), Israel, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Poland, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Uruguay. Note that Cyprus, Malta, Timor Leste, and Vatican City, had already (in 2006) refusal rates less than the original 3%, but were not included in the VWP countries (whereas a year later, some additional countries had this original low level: Cyprus and Taiwan). However, for continued participation, DHS re-evaluates participating countries every two years, as required by Congress. Through this process, two countries, Argentina and Uruguay, now are no longer eligible to participate. Current members will have to fulfill any new requirements to continue their eligibility for membership in the program. The European Union is currently planning to negotiate for participation of all of its members in the Visa Waiver Program.

  39. Medicine Man says:

    A pro-CAS article on the future of the A-10 bomber: http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/should-the-af-retire-the-a-10-a-seminar-on-a-seminal-question
    It really sounds like the production, maintenance and operation of these planes should be moved from the AF to the Army. I wonder if that is possible at all?

  40. turcopolier says:

    MM
    The US army has wanted the USAF to hand over the A-10 for 40 years. pl

  41. Fred says:

    Meanwhile in the land of betraying politicians:
    http://www.freep.com/article/20131203/NEWS01/312030084/Detroit-bankruptcy-eligibility-Steven-Rhodes-Chapter-9-Kevyn-Orr
    Kevin Orr was one of Obama’s chief fundraisers. Now he’s busy betraying the retirees of Detroit. As the judge noted in his oral closing statement:
    “… negotiating in good faith was “impracticable.””
    To paraphrase MLK, “Free at last, free at last, we’re integrity free at last.”
    Congratulations Detroit, not a single multi-million dollar tax break to the billionaire Illiches, and others, will be touched.

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