Having The Talk

I knew the day would come when I would have to have The Talk with Fiona. No, not about boys; that will happen soon enough.

As a resident of Virginia, even Northern Virginia, even Union-occupied Arlington (our dog park is right next to the remnants of Fort Ethan Allen) I knew that there would need to be a discussion of the way the Civil War is taught in our otherwise exceptional school system. I was tipped off to this when reviewing her teacher's summary of the Civil War study section. There they were: those innocuous, even noble words "states' rights," included in a commonwealth-provided list of several causes for the Civil War.

Let's cut to the chase: "States' rights" is bullshit. Those who yammer loudest about "states' rights" are the first to run to the federal government to impose their will on the country, then (Fugitive Slave Act etc.) as now (marriage definition amendments etc.).

The sole cause of the Civil War was slavery. Full stop. All other causes cited are subordinate thereto.

Fiona told me that she had answered "slavery" to a quiz question asking for the cause of the war, and got it back with the teacher's notation "and states' rights." Fiona's teacher is great and we are thrilled she is in her class, but I explained to Fiona that her teacher has to teach in the manner prescribed by the Commonwealth of Virginia. I also praised Fiona for giving the correct answer, but advised her to provide the looked-for answer while understanding that the truth may be somewhat at odds with that. (Hell, any adult can do that, right? Piece of cake. Hoo boy.)

Think I am over-reacting to something safely in our past? Think again.

Geek Chic; Deco Edition.

Good morning, Potpourri.  After my fourth or fifth submission to Dave S of fun web finds, he graciously said, and I heavily paraphrase, "[Do it your damned self!]"  From this point forth, if you see a post about gaming or Star Wars, there is a high probability that it's from me.  My network of Bothan spies runs far and wide.

While surfing the web for gaming info, I stumbled upon "How Did the Duck Hunt Gun Work?", a blogpost/article from Jan 2011.  That article alone made the geek in me smile with 80s 90s nostalgia and optics glee.  Lo and behold, gaming with light beams was done 66 years prior to my beloved Nintendo Zapper!  Embedded was a link to some fantastic early gaming geekery, the 1936 Seeburg Ray-O-Lite Rifle Range (not to be confused with Ray-o-Vac flashlight products also named Ray-o-Lite).  Seeburg made a variety of vending units, primarily jukeboxes.  I was simultaneously taken aback by the pre-computer, vacuum tube technological innovation combined with the craftsmanship of the late-deco wood case and gorgeous art in the game scene.  I am not a collector, but what I wouldn't give to have one of these consoles in my den!

And a little more research reveals that Seeburg sold conversion kits with different scenery and animals; bear, deer, raccoon, and rabbit.  Later models included more mundane cans on a fence (why shoot cans at home when you can show off to your buddies in a bar!) and, sigh, people (a classic gangster shootout, a chicken thief, and convict escaping from a chain gang).  There's even a custom one called "Shoot the Bartender."  Not sure I'd want that game in my bar.

PONG on your oscilloscope?  Check.  And now, from the Great Depression, optical shooting galleries.  Gaming + tech = awesome in any time period!

30 Seconds Over Tokyo, 70 Years On

Today is the 70th anniversary of the justly renowned Doolittle Raid on Tokyo. While it caused negligible physical damage, the raid was a propaganda coup for the US, interrupting an unbroken string of Japanese victories on land and sea with a demonstration that perhaps the enemy was not invincible. More significantly, the raid led the Japanese to shift their strategic focus to defeating the American carriers by luring them to destruction. We know how that ended. What is sometimes glossed over is the extraordinary daring at all levels that made the raid happen.

For starters, the B-25 bombers used in the raid were never designed for use on aircraft carriers. Remember that this is long before the use of steam catapults and thousand-foot supercarriers; USS Hornet was under 800 feet in length, and with all 16 bombers on the flight deck, the lead plane had less than 500 feet to get airborne -- using its own engines and a headwind -- at a time when it was not all that uncommon for much-smaller fighters to ditch on takeoff. (The last bomber in line, meanwhile, was spotted such that its tail stuck out over the stern of the ship to maximize takeoff space.)

The raid itself was acknowledged up front as a one-way flight, as the planes had neither the range nor the ability to return to and land on an aircraft carrier. The idea was that the planes would land in unoccupied China, but most crash-landed and one crew was interned in the USSR for over a year. As such, the crews were all volunteers. The carriers, a precious resource themselves after the devastation of the Pearl Harbor attack, launched the raid early, having been spotted by a Japanese patrol boat, and retreated with minimal air cover out of danger.

Wikipedia tells me that there are five surviving airmen from the raid. Here's to them.

To the Barricades! (Remembering that you can't spell Barricade without Bar)

Today Massachusetts and Wisconsin (?) celebrate my second-favorite "local" holiday. I speak of course, of Patriots' Day. (My favorite such observance is noted, more or less, here.)

Friend and fellow blogger J contributes this patriotic gem, updated for today's sensibilities. Important as Paul Revere was to the cause of American freedom, it should be noted that he had a substantially better posthumous publicist.

Fittingly, the Sox were allowed to win today, and I would also like to take this moment for congratulating our own Washington Nationals on 1) their sweep of the Brewers and 2) inching above .500 for the first time since May of last year! "Enjoy the next month" is the takeaway from that, I suppose.

We Happy, Albeit Possibly Less Outnumbered, Few

In news sure to delight JJV, revisionist historians have been messing with the legacy of the Battle of Agincourt, fought this St. Swithin's Day in 1415.

But enough historical squabbling. Roll tape!



H/T to PT