tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post4480566716166456342..comments2024-03-28T09:55:42.123+00:00Comments on Capitalists@Work: Desert Storm (7) - FOB Cobra: Land War Begins CityUnslickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929544047783163175noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-79526098632507449352021-04-27T19:12:42.026+01:002021-04-27T19:12:42.026+01:00I think competitive team sports require individual...I think competitive team sports require individuals who have a complex mixture of attributes;<br />able to operate independently as autonomous units (and in friendly competition with each other), but are also good at second guessing each other and playing second fiddle to others on the team for the greater good when necessary.<br />It's a mixture of traits that Northern Europeans and Anglo Saxons especially excel at, others (Indians, Africans, Chinese) not so much.<br />BlokeInBrumnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-5576736417634423212021-04-27T07:21:37.633+01:002021-04-27T07:21:37.633+01:00well that's us f****d, then!well that's us f****d, then!Nick Drewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13670594203660051701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-69900599805428967022021-04-26T15:47:48.156+01:002021-04-26T15:47:48.156+01:00Nick
I also think there is the issue of a sense o...Nick<br /><br />I also think there is the issue of a sense of humour in a crisis. Not simply to be able to keep positive in such a situation but to be able to think tangentially in order to get out of it. E-Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16657071992016670517noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-30281288437876046172021-04-26T10:47:17.756+01:002021-04-26T10:47:17.756+01:00"They will choose artificial selection to pro...<i>"They will choose artificial selection to produce special forces troops instead. "</i><br /><br />You mean like the SAS/SBS selection courses? <br /><br />(Off topic - Tesco tried and failed in the States, Walmart tried and gave up in the UK with Asda. What's Lidl and Aldi's secret sauce, because AFAIK they are both in the States? Maybe it's because they are private not public, private companies seem to have more long term strategies) Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-34799995476284382192021-04-26T10:05:37.729+01:002021-04-26T10:05:37.729+01:00Thanks, SD; and thanks, JG and YDG !Thanks, <b>SD</b>; and thanks, <b>JG</b> and <b>YDG</b> !Nick Drewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13670594203660051701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-16870764570773668652021-04-26T09:35:06.437+01:002021-04-26T09:35:06.437+01:00@ND: that is exactly so. They are not cool headed ...@ND: that is exactly so. They are not cool headed in a crisis, and avoidance of blame is everyone’s primary concern.Sebastian Weetabixnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-70676029975077111622021-04-26T09:24:38.990+01:002021-04-26T09:24:38.990+01:00RE: ND @ 8:54 am
I followed the link and when I g...RE: ND @ 8:54 am<br /><br />I followed the link and when I get there it claims its own address is ...<br /><br />https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a265085.pdf<br /><br />which might be a bit easier to handle.YDGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-76995552351247759042021-04-26T08:54:06.845+01:002021-04-26T08:54:06.845+01:00Ah yes, sorry about that.
It's a cached file ...Ah yes, sorry about that.<br /><br />It's a cached file from US military records (an excellent source, as praised here before) - see if this works<br /><br />https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjG-a2ttZvwAhUOYsAKHdFVDL4QFjAKegQIAxAD&url=https%3A%2F%2Fapps.dtic.mil%2Fdtic%2Ftr%2Ffulltext%2Fu2%2Fa265085.pdf<br />Nick Drewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13670594203660051701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-49283723963149717082021-04-26T08:20:46.544+01:002021-04-26T08:20:46.544+01:00Nick, this link "and (in a soldier's rath...Nick, this link "and (in a soldier's rather deficient English prose) here" is to a file on your hard drive. Can you please post the web link?<br />Thanks, JGauralayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15141944035597424072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-82679544962332249322021-04-25T23:57:42.696+01:002021-04-25T23:57:42.696+01:00"So he was born in a stable and he WAS a hors..."So he was born in a stable and he WAS a horse!"<br /><br />You are alluding to a statement attributed to The Duke. Like so much Irish history it is fake.<br /><br />The Duke's forebears had a surname variously spelled Cooley, Colley or Cowley, according to Lady Longford.deariemenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-52078624244316239182021-04-25T22:28:19.370+01:002021-04-25T22:28:19.370+01:00The Buddha tells the people he can fulfil only one...The Buddha tells the people he can fulfil only one of their wishes. Someone asks: “Could you lower the price of property in China so that people can afford it?” Seeing the Buddha frown in silence, the person makes another wish: “Could you make the Chinese football team qualify for a World Cup?” After a long sigh, the Buddha says: “Let's talk about property prices.”andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07311993288675111834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-24191345710706008552021-04-25T21:22:11.301+01:002021-04-25T21:22:11.301+01:00I've asked this question before: why are the C...I've asked this question before: why are the Chinese, so ready to be drilled, so crap at team sports? Xi, they say, loves soccer and presumably would give his right arm for China to have a team worthy of the name. Can't imagine resources or fitness would be an issue<br /><br />I recall our friend Mr Weetabix has worked in China and has told us (if I'm right) of how they go to pieces in a crisis, mostly rushing around trying to avoid blame. I suspect dynamic team sports require exactly the opposite type of behaviour: the ability to cohere intelligently in a crisis, keeping heads & rushing round taking responsibility for figuring out, then executing, solutions Nick Drewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13670594203660051701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-86984978605528873472021-04-25T20:39:46.524+01:002021-04-25T20:39:46.524+01:00Helicopters and LOTS of space to choose to land th...Helicopters and LOTS of space to choose to land them in. <br /><br />Brilliant. It might have been so easy to 'fight the previous war' again and fall into that trap. <br /><br />------<br /><br />Special forces. I was wrong to suggest that China would use genetic modification. They will choose artificial selection to produce special forces troops instead. <br /><br />We could do the same and do so ethically. <br />E-Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16657071992016670517noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-75286560706254016042021-04-25T20:09:38.150+01:002021-04-25T20:09:38.150+01:00No, he was a Colley, which is an English name.
ht...No, he was a Colley, which is an English name.<br /><br />https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dudley_Colley<br /><br /><i>"The Colley or Cowley family had come to Ireland from Rutland about 1500 and produced a line of Crown servants and soldiers. "</i><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-25507276166676085012021-04-25T16:45:44.051+01:002021-04-25T16:45:44.051+01:00"he wasn't a Wesley at all: his family ha...<i>"he wasn't a Wesley at all: his family had been Cooleys who had changed their name after an adoption by a Wesley"</i><br /><br />Surely Cooley is a very Irish name? So he was born in a stable and he WAS a horse! Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-4588501719588830192021-04-25T13:14:43.379+01:002021-04-25T13:14:43.379+01:00I am very fond of an account of the peninsular cam...I am very fond of an account of the peninsular campaign in a biography of Wellington written by the wife of loopy Lord Longford (remember him?).<br /><br />She was loopy too. Early on she devoted some space to the genealogy of the Wesley family (a spelling of Wellington's surname). Then she admits that he wasn't a Wesley at all: his family had been Cooleys who had changed their name after an adoption by a Wesley.<br /><br />Anyhoo, The Duke. It was a great pity that Eisenhower and Montgomery didn't copy him by taking Antwerp as swiftly as possible in the summer of 1944. Do training courses for senior officers bang on about that mistake? They oughta.deariemenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-83787015940196142672021-04-25T12:43:58.866+01:002021-04-25T12:43:58.866+01:00You'd think the bit where the wings join the f...You'd think the bit where the wings join the fuselage would be an issue too, lots of stresses there I'd have thought. Even if you don't chuck them around there are air pockets and storms.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-39901044194091266292021-04-25T12:42:12.899+01:002021-04-25T12:42:12.899+01:00I can see new Vulcan wings must have been a bit of...I can see new Vulcan wings must have been a bit of an ask...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-47727004320104081852021-04-25T11:48:22.465+01:002021-04-25T11:48:22.465+01:00New wings! They rebuild them. Like the broom that ...New wings! They rebuild them. Like the broom that has had three new heads and two new handles: or ships' hulls in the era of wooden vesselsNick Drewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13670594203660051701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-25295688939865782692021-04-25T11:40:47.710+01:002021-04-25T11:40:47.710+01:00Looking it up it seems that the cost of support an...Looking it up it seems that the cost of support and spares did for Vulcan, though the airframe was also a concern. But surely airframe must be an issue for B52s? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-25452875693731073712021-04-25T11:36:56.208+01:002021-04-25T11:36:56.208+01:00Chinook and B52 both still going.. unlike the Bris...Chinook and B52 both still going.. unlike the Bristol Belvedere and Vulcan.<br /><br />I was told Vulcan was grounded because the airframe was past its allowed hours - well the last B52 came off the lines at end 1962. How come they're not all grounded?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-39722124422286246052021-04-25T10:57:42.154+01:002021-04-25T10:57:42.154+01:00Chinook helicopters in the first instance, carryin...Chinook helicopters in the first instance, carrying (e.g.) rubberised fuel containers. Later, overland convoys.<br /><br />The Chinook has a fairly formidable payload - 10 tonnes - and although a 1950's design [sic] is still in production: RAF has just ordered another batch.<br /><br />(Generally, and amazingly, airframe technology hasn't advanced much from the 1950's, though of course avionics have changed beyond recognition)<br /><br />The siting of Cobra was done with the Chinook's range uppermost in mindNick Drewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13670594203660051701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-59666553921773022852021-04-25T10:27:32.950+01:002021-04-25T10:27:32.950+01:00Fuel, artillery shells, water - all pretty heavy c...Fuel, artillery shells, water - all pretty heavy commodities. How do you get those into dumps way behind enemy lines?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com