The Christmas Truce, World War II version

I had never heard this story, but it's true.  US and German soldiers lost in the Battle Of The Bulge had Christmas dinner together rather than killing each other, all due to a good German Hausfrau who had had enough of war on Christmas.  You have to jump ahead to around 6:30 for the story - before that, it's mincemeat pie recipe from the WWII US Army Field Cookbook (which also seems pretty interesting). 

And while it's not (quite) Christmas yet, Hans Gruber is fixin' to fall off of Nakatomi Plaza.

Rest In Peace, Elizabeth II Regina

Dead at 95, the second longest reigning monarch in modern history (behind Louis XIV).  She now rejoins her beloved Prince Philip who no doubt has a gleam in his eye and a prank readied for the reunion.

Her type will not be seen again - wiser and tougher than younger heads of state.  Remember, she learned to shoot at 14 by using Winston Churchill's tommy gun.

May flights of Angels sing thee to thy rest.

Diahann Carol, RIP

Dwight has the obit, as you'd expect.

The Queen Of The World was once on a cruise where Carol was the entertainment.  TQOTW's business group also happened to use Carol as their spokesperson.  TQOTW asked Carol if she would attend the group's meeting for a meet and greet, since everyone would be thrilled.  Carol did, and TQOTW remembers her as mixing class and graciousness in equal measures.  The world is less today with her passing.

German Greens fighting new "green" power projects

Last week I posted about how wind farms are decimating wildlife, from insects to bats to birds to eagles, because environmentalists are ignoring the problem.  It seems that this is not true in Germany, of all places:

The expansion of wind power in the first half of this year collapsed to its lowest level since the introduction of the Renewable Energy Act (EEG) in 2000. All in all, just 35 wind turbines were build with an output of 231 megawatts. “This corresponds to a decline of 82 percent compared to the already weak period of the previous year”, according to the German Wind Energy Association (BWE) in Berlin.

“This makes one nearly speechless,” said Matthias Zelinger at the presentation of the data. The managing director of the Power Systems division of the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) spoke of a “blow to the guts of the energy turnaround”. This actual development doesn’t match “at all to the current climate protection debate”.

...

The most important cause lies in the legal resistance of wildlife and forest conservationists fighting new wind farms. The BWE President referred to an industry survey of the onshore wind agency. According to its findings, more than 70 percent of the legal objections are based on species conservation, especially the threat to endangered bird species and bats.

Well done to the German environmentalists for holding to their principles.  I've been very hard on the environmental movement in the past, mostly because the rampant hypocrisy so often on display.  But not here.  Anyone who loves the outdoors can applaud this victory, whether you believe in man made global warming or not.

And today is a twofer in non-hypocritical environmentalist news:

Greta Thunberg to sail Atlantic for climate conferences

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has accepted a ride across the Atlantic by boat to attend two key climate conferences.

The teenager will make the journey aboard the Malizia II, a high-speed 18-metre (60ft) yacht built to race around the globe.

“We’ll be sailing across the Atlantic Ocean from the UK to New York in mid August,” she tweeted.

Thunberg refuses to fly because of the environmental impact of air travel.

Miss Thunberg is a bit of a social media sensation in Scandinavia.  She and I clearly disagree on whether mankind is causing the heat death of the planet, but good for her sticking to her principles.  She has chosen a very inconvenient (and quite frankly pretty uncomfortable) alternative transportation mode to keep from being a hypocrite on the subject.  In this she is seemingly unique among all the world's climate activists - none of them have given up jet travel to climate conferences.  Thunberg is showing everyone that it really isn't easy being Green, but being Green is exactly what she is being.

And a little child shall lead them.

- Isaiah 11:6

Bravo to Miss Thunberg.  The kids are all right.  Maybe wrong, but all right.

A Tragedy At The Holidays

ChickenMom has lost her son.

It is said that joy shared is increased, and pain shared is lessened.  Please stop by and leave condolences.  One of our community has pain beyond comprehending.

Nobody should have to bury one of their children, especially this time of year.

A Holiday Charity recommendation

I went on a ride with the local HOG chapter yesterday: Toys For Tots, delivering toys to the Salvation Army.  It was pretty nippy.  But I had a very interesting conversation with one of the SA people who explained the vetting process they do when people ask for help.  Almost all of the people who get assistance are working multiple jobs - they just can't make ends meet.

This holiday season, if you're looking for a group to give money to the Salvation Army is one to think about.

Tab clearing

Lots of good stuff that is worth your attention:

Epic rant is epic.  Aesop brings it.  Long - almost Borepatchian in length - but is a must read.

The "Opiod Epidemic" explained.  The stupid War On Drugs is killing more Americans than the Nazis did in that war.  And since it enriches police departments and gives idiot Congresscritters tons of chances to mug for the cameras, we'll never get a sane policy.

Funeral of 92 year old Bletchley Park codebreaker.  She married an American and lived out her life in Nebraska, keeping her part in the "Ultra Secret" Enigma decoding project secret.  Good on the UK for giving her Military Honors at her funeral.  (Hat tip: Chris Lynch)

Home Owner's Association doesn't like man's Sherman Tank.  Man tells them "Come and tow it, bitches!"  'Murica!

Now this is what #Resistance looks like

Not some dumb political thing, but deadly serious defense of your country:

A World War II heroine who used her harmless appearance to gain the trust of Nazis before executing them has died in The Netherlands, aged 92.

Freddie Oversteegen was born in Haarlem, near Amsterdam on September 6, 1925 and raised by her communist mother. 

She was just 14 when she joined the Dutch resistance.

Together with her older sister Truus and their friend Hannie Schaft, she blew up bridges and railway tracks with dynamite, smuggled Jewish children out of concentration camps and executed as many Nazis as she could, using a firearm hidden in the basket of her bike.

One of her girlfriends was captured and executed by the Nazis.  She always felt sorry for the Germans she shot, but she did it anyway.

Rest in peace, Freddie Oversteegen.

Dolly Parton - Coat Of Many Colors

Dolly Parton has donated 100 Million books.  At the Library of Congress, they call her the "book lady".  It all started in Sevier County, Tennessee when she founded the Imagination Library.  Families that sign their child up get a book each month from birth until kindergarten.  It is giving away a million books each month.

Dolly started it in honor of her father, who never learned to read or write.

She is a great performer, one of our greatest songwriters, but is also a national treasure.  This is said to be one of her favorites of all the songs she's written.  She said that the song just came to her; not having any paper, she wrote it down on the back of Porter Wagoner's dry cleaning receipt.  He had the receipt framed.



Coat Of Many Colors (Songwriter: Dolly Parton)

Back through the years 
I go wonderin' once again 
Back to the seasons of my youth 
I recall a box of rags that someone gave us 
And how my momma put the rags to use 
There were rags of many colors 
Every piece was small 
And I didn't have a coat 
And it was way down in the fall 
Momma sewed the rags together 
Sewin' every piece with love  

She made my coat of many colors 
That I was so proud of 
As she sewed, she told a story 
From the bible, she had read 
About a coat of many colors 
Joseph wore and then she said 
Perhaps this coat will bring you 
Good luck and happiness 
And I just couldn't wait to wear it 
And momma blessed it with a kiss 

My coat of many colors 
That my momma made for me 
Made only from rags 
But I wore it so proudly 
Although we had no money 
I was rich as I could be 
In my coat of many colors 
My momma made for me 

So with patches on my britches 
Holes in both my shoes 
In my coat of many colors 
I hurried off to school 
Just to find the others laughing 
And making fun of me 
In my coat of many colors 
My momma made for me 

And oh I couldn't understand it 
For I felt I was rich 
And I told them of the love 
My momma sewed in every stitch 
And I told 'em all the story 
Momma told me while she sewed 
And how my coat of many colors 
Was worth more than all their clothes 

But they didn't understand it 
And I tried to make them see 
That one is only poor 
Only if they choose to be 
Now I know we had no money 
But I was rich as I could be 
In my coat of many colors 
My momma made for me 
Made just for me

Dolly Parton has donated 100 Million books

Wow.  She started this program because her Dad never learned to read or write.  The Queen Of The World and I like Dolly a lot.

Hat tip: Chris Lynch, who you really should be reading every day.

The seamy side of Internet Security

I've worked in this business for 30 years, but it's always been on the technical side.  That gets rather antiseptic, really nothing but ones and zeros, a place where the Bad Guys don't shoot back.  But a comment yesterday left by Lotta Joy led me back to her blog.

Guys like me like to thing that we're fighting the Good Fight, and in a sense that's true.  But boy, howdy - not like she's doing:

One night he watched me as I sat in the computer room in Indiana, wanting to be better informed regarding just what the hell I was doing wearing a full headset and my fingers flying across the keyboard of my desktop while making rapid notes in shorthand.

What was I doing?  Pretending to be 14 years old.

I would clock in and go to the internet site I was trolling that night; a chat-room full of young kids, some in their teens, some YOUNGER, chatting. 

The second I would arrive, my screen would be hit with splashes of colors.  Tan was usually a confirmed child under the age of 17.  These I would not answer. Yellow splashes identified those over 21 who were wanting to "chat" with LOTTA JOY.

Yes.  That's where my online name came from - my years of trolling for perverts who were trolling for me:  a young, innocent, 14 year old......or so they thought.

Red splashes signified men who were already being actively investigated.

This is a hard read, written by someone who can only be described as a heroine:

The particular night I'm talking about, I opened a conversation with the young girl, while ignoring the man.  I was aware she was stepping into dangerous territory and, as I had planned, the man "conditioning" her quickly turned his attention to ME.  She was now safe.

When he requested we go into a 'private chat' and Joe  started following the conversation, he ended up getting physically ill.  I couldn't blame him.  I always had the same reaction.

I wasn't too happy either, having the man I loved witness the things I had to pretend to be interested in, in order to lull the man into a sense of safety with a child.

Actually, the word "heroine" doesn't really do full justice to this.  And the feelings I had on reading this are best described as white hot rage.  I can't imagine JayG's response, thinking that these scum might be after BabyGirlG.  I expect that Jay would know precisely how to handle it, and I suspect that more than a couple of all y'all would drive up with me to help him.

Orwell said it well when he said that people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.  Sometimes it's gentle women, doing a dirty but sadly necessary job.

If you only read one thing today, this should be the top of the list.

Sonet 66

Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts; shut not thy merciful ears to our prayer; but spare us, Lord most holy, O God most mighty, O holy and merciful Saviour, thou most worthy judge eternal, suffer us not, at our last hour, for any pains of death, to fall from thee.

- Book of Common Prayer

When it is time for me to bid fare thee well to this mortal coil, I should like Brigid to send my soul Bound For Glory.  If she is unavailable, I shall have to settle for second best (say, the Bard of Avon).  Speak the truth, even if your voice shakes.

It's hardest for those left behind when Eternity comes as a bolt from a clear blue sky.  Our prayers go out to SciFiChick, and even more to her family, grappling with the dream turned suddenly to dust.

Te decet hymnus Deus, in Sion,
et tibi reddetur votum in Ierusalem.
Exaudi orationem meam;
ad te omnis caro veniet.
Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Amen.

A prayer

I will not die this way.

I'm told that my aunt died in her apartment while she was up and around in one of the rooms.  The apartment manager began to wonder why she hadn't picked up her main in a few days.  Now we're trying to figure out how to get that room cleaned before Mom goes to visit.  This is a nasty business about a woman who did not deserve this end.

I'm not even sure what to write here, other than my kith and kin will not have to do this for me, if I have any say in the matter.  Life is more than being discovered days later.



Carpe diem.  Seize your life and don't let go.  Tempus fugit.  Better this way, which was how she lived her life:

As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good old way
And who shall wear the starry crown
Good Lord, show me the way

O sisters let's go down,
Let's go down, come on down,
O sisters let's go down,
Down in the river to pray

As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good old way
And who shall wear the robe and crown
Good Lord, show me the way

O brothers let's go down,
Let's go down, come on down,
Come on brothers let's go down,
Down in the river to pray

As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good old way
And who shall wear the starry crown
Good Lord, show me the way

O sinners let's go down,
Let's go down, come on down,
O sinners let's go down,
Down in the river to pray

As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good old way
And who shall wear the robe and crown
Good Lord, show me the way

LORD, show me the way, for I will not willingly take that way.  But if this be Thy will, praise be to The in all Thy works.

Amen.

Ooh rah, Ma'am

The Greatest Generation is not yet done.

This is what I'd like to hear Erin read

She's running a contest, and you can vote.



But srlsy, "50 Shades of Gray"?  If you vote for that over this from Henry V then I'm afraid that we can't be friends anymore.  Erin would kill this monologue.  50 Shades is frivolous piffle.

That's quite a friend

Erin posts a moving plea about her friend, Squeeky:

I am ready to record a dramatic reading of whatever you folks like, but there has been a lack of decision as to what this reading will be. Some folks have expressed an interest in having me read a Dr. Seuss tale, and others want me to read a selection from 50 Shades of Gray. I'm going to start accepting nominations for what I read in the comments below, and then folks will vote on the choices.

She's all in, putting friendship before everything.

Here's how you can help:

1. Donate money to her surgical fund. Between needing a wheelchair and this new procedure, and then whatever expenses come after, she's going to need all the help she can get. Please donate what you can.
2. Buy her a gift for Operation: Lymeparty.  Let's lift her spirits so she can get through this difficult period of fear and worry!
3. If you live in/near Memphis, TN and are willing to act as a clearinghouse for physical gifts, please let me know!
4. Spread the word on your blog.  The more coverage this gets, the more help she gets. 
5. If you know anyone within the medical supply field, contact me directly. Squeaky needs things to make her wheelchair more comfortable.

Ours is a small corner of the Internet, but Erin shows that it contains big hearts.

Epitaph for the Iron Lady

Word:

But there’s one other way to tell what a great woman Margaret Thatcher was. Take a look at the people who hate her. If there is another woman in the world who was despised by more despicable people, I can’t think of one.

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat eis.

The woman who saved Britain frm Hitler

Image via Wikipediah

Tilly Shilling was an aeronautical engineer who fixed the Rolls Royce Merlin engine.  Unusual for her day, she studied electrical and mechanical engineering and found herself in the aviation industry in the 1930s.

The Merlin engine had a problem that it would lose power or even stall when the plane experienced negative G forces as the engine got flooded with fuel.  Shilling devised a restrictor disk - basically a washer whose center hole was just large enough to pass the fuel needed at maximum power.  The restrictor was attached to the carburettor's fuel intake.  Problem solved.

This meant that the Spitfire fighters could now shoot down Luftwaffe planes that would otherwise have escaped and winning the Battle of Britain.

Miss Shilling also raced motorcycled in the 1930s.  Quite a pioneering woman.

To our troops overseas ...

Stay safe, and come home to a grateful Republic soon.

When Grace Hopper gave a nanosecond to David Letterman

We were huge Commodore (later Rear Admiral) Hopper fans, back at Three Letter Agency.

Letterman (asking about her work on the first computer, the Harvard Mark I): Now how did you know so much about computers back then?

Hopper: I didn't.  It was the first one.

Awesome.  She's known (likely apocryphally) for coining the term "bug":

Rest in peace, Admiral.  I hope that Gödel's incompleteness theorem doesn't, err, bedevil your programming in Heaven.