Friday, December 07, 2007
Musing On A Couple Of Things........
Today is December 7th, Pearl Harbor day.
Japan conducted a raid on Pearl Harbor on this day in 1941, a raid that just about put the Pacific fleet out of action.
Just about, but not quite.
The carriers assigned to that fleet were out on various duties that day, and thus survived. We lost a lot of battleships, but the battleship, while still considered the pride of the fleet, was already being relegated to support duties, with carriers becoming the first line capital ships. This was reflected by the fact that Japanese carriers inflicted all of the damage during the attack while the Japanese battleships brought up the rear, and never fired a shot. Also missed in the attack, was the vast fuel storage depot, containing many storage tanks of aviation gasoline and fuel oil for ships. Had one of the aircraft bothered to attack a couple of the tanks, the rest would probably had been destroyed in a chain reaction of explosions. That WOULD have crippled the Pacific fleet for a long time, perhaps even forcing them to move back to the West coast, and would have made future operations for the next year very difficult for the Americans.
Franklin Roosevelt addressing a joint session of congress, asking for a declaration of war against Japan, on December 8, 1941.
I'm working on posting the speech itself. Check back later to hear it, or look for it on the web.
A quiz for you:
America declared war on Japan formally on Dec 8, 1941. When did America declare war on Germany and Italy?
I'll answer for you. They didn't. Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S. on December 11, 1941.
How many times do we have to go through this?? There's yet ANOTHER report out about how dangerous our air traffic control system is getting. Read about it here.
Look, we've been through all of this. I've made multiple posts on this subject. The FAA is slashing pay and forcing overtime on air traffic controllers. Controllers are choosing early retirement rather than be subjected to miserable conditions, leaving us with younger, less experienced controllers who are being paid wages darn near the poverty level. None of this is new. The bill talked about in the story includes a provision that forces the FAA to get back to the bargaining table with the flight controllers, a provision that chief idiot shrub apposes, and of course because of that, he'll veto the entire bill. A bill that includes money for better equipment and training amongst other things. I doubt the spineless idiots in congress will be able to override that veto, which means that nothing will be done. Again. Nothing will happen until two planes collide on the ground or in the air because some underpaid controller lost track of the situation at the end of a forced 12 hours shift with no bathroom breaks. Until things change, if you have a choice, drive or take the train.
Japan conducted a raid on Pearl Harbor on this day in 1941, a raid that just about put the Pacific fleet out of action.
Just about, but not quite.
The carriers assigned to that fleet were out on various duties that day, and thus survived. We lost a lot of battleships, but the battleship, while still considered the pride of the fleet, was already being relegated to support duties, with carriers becoming the first line capital ships. This was reflected by the fact that Japanese carriers inflicted all of the damage during the attack while the Japanese battleships brought up the rear, and never fired a shot. Also missed in the attack, was the vast fuel storage depot, containing many storage tanks of aviation gasoline and fuel oil for ships. Had one of the aircraft bothered to attack a couple of the tanks, the rest would probably had been destroyed in a chain reaction of explosions. That WOULD have crippled the Pacific fleet for a long time, perhaps even forcing them to move back to the West coast, and would have made future operations for the next year very difficult for the Americans.
Franklin Roosevelt addressing a joint session of congress, asking for a declaration of war against Japan, on December 8, 1941.A quiz for you:
America declared war on Japan formally on Dec 8, 1941. When did America declare war on Germany and Italy?
I'll answer for you. They didn't. Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S. on December 11, 1941.
How many times do we have to go through this?? There's yet ANOTHER report out about how dangerous our air traffic control system is getting. Read about it here.
Look, we've been through all of this. I've made multiple posts on this subject. The FAA is slashing pay and forcing overtime on air traffic controllers. Controllers are choosing early retirement rather than be subjected to miserable conditions, leaving us with younger, less experienced controllers who are being paid wages darn near the poverty level. None of this is new. The bill talked about in the story includes a provision that forces the FAA to get back to the bargaining table with the flight controllers, a provision that chief idiot shrub apposes, and of course because of that, he'll veto the entire bill. A bill that includes money for better equipment and training amongst other things. I doubt the spineless idiots in congress will be able to override that veto, which means that nothing will be done. Again. Nothing will happen until two planes collide on the ground or in the air because some underpaid controller lost track of the situation at the end of a forced 12 hours shift with no bathroom breaks. Until things change, if you have a choice, drive or take the train.
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Pearl Harbor, and WWII, is the forgotten war by the MSM, and most Americans. I always like to ask those I meet on December 7th, "Do you know what day this is?" Fewer and fewer each year, do.
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