08:02 – Spain is on strike today, protesting against further budget cuts demanded by the EU. The Spanish economy is moribund, with an unemployment rate of about 25% and youth unemployment running more than 50%. Those numbers are comparable to the US during the worst of the Great Depression, and for Spain things are only going to get worse. And even at that Spain is in great shape compared to Portugal. Both will inevitably require bailing out sooner rather than later, and the likelihood of Germany being willing to fund a real bailout is next to nothing.
The euro crisis hasn’t been in the news much lately, but that doesn’t mean the crisis has been solved, or even that things are getting better. They aren’t. They’re getting immeasurably worse. The EU has been applying extremely expensive band-aids to the problem, but eventually the EU is going to run out of money for these band-aids. In the last few months, the ECB under Draghi has poured a trillion euros down the rathole with its long-term refinancing operation (LTRO). That was intended to improve liquidity and encourage banks to lend money again. It hasn’t worked out that way. Consumers and businesses still can’t get loans from those banks, which are running scared. Instead, the banks are attempting to boost their balance sheets and income statements by borrowing lots of very cheap money from the ECB and using it to buy high-yield sovereign debt. That in turn has, very temporarily, driven down yields on the sovereign bonds issued by troubled EU economies. When reality sets in, which should be any moment now, everyone will realize that things are worse than ever.
12:28 – How could I have forgotten? Happy 101st birthday to “Old Slabsides“, which despite its age is still the best fighting pistol ever invented, period.
The US supposedly replaced the M1911A1 as its standard service pistol in the 80’s, but in fact that never really happened. The only service members who use the replacement piece of junk (at least voluntarily) are the ones who pretty much carry the pistol for show and will never need it (or so they hope). The folks who actually use pistols regularly to shoot bad guys still prefer the .45 ACP M1911A1, because it can actually be trusted to fire when one pulls the trigger, and because the .45 ACP is, as it has always been, a decisive man-stopper–effective about 19 times in 20 according to real data. The current service pistol uses the garbage 9mm round, which is a very poor man stopper–effective about 10 times in 20 according to real data. Just what any soldier wants: shoot someone and flip a coin to see if he falls over. It’s no coincidence that the SEALs, Marine Recon, and so on–the guys at the sharp end–carry a .45 ACP pistol whenever possible, and most of them prefer the M1911A1.
I’m trying to think of any other example of a weapon that was introduced that long ago, is still produced, and is still the best weapon in its class. I can’t think of a single military example. The Winchester Model 12 pump-action shotgun was used in the trenches in WWI, but was no longer military issue before I was born. It ceased mass production in 1963 and continued in limited production until a few years ago.
At any rate, congratulations to John Moses Browning and the M1911 pistol he invented. One hundred and one years, and still champeen.
12:42 – Oh, my. I see that “Greece plans to open concentration camps” in an attempt to stop the rioting by penning up illegal immigrants. Good luck with that. Illegal immigrants are the least of Greece’s problems. Most of the rioters are Greek citizens who have already been pushed beyond endurance. Expect to see widespread major rioting in Portugal, Spain, and Italy before too much longer. I wonder if they’ll also build concentration camps.
Hmm. LTRO makes me think of LotRO – Lord of the Rings Online. Which makes me think of evil authoritarians, mindless orcs doing the evil authoritarians’ dirty work, and so on.
In the movie to be made about the end of the Fourth Age in Europe, Chuck can be a hobbit. Which, incidentally, explains why he doesn’t like cars – hobbits’ legs can’t reach the pedals. I figure RBT can be the were-bear seen in The Hobbit. Miles_Teg can be Aragorn, lusting after someone who is clearly of another species.
Actually, I have the opposite problem: long legs and shorter torso. On 2 cars, I had to have the seats moved back on the frame rails, so my knees were not locked against the steering column and under dash board. As with my grandfather’s generation, Chryslers are about the only car that fits me without adjustments. Back in their day, Chryslers were the only cars that did not require removing one’s hat in order to get into it.
Germany is going to end up paying a lot more than you suspect. In fact, the EU could get this all over with, like the US has, by just transferring the bad debt to the taxpayer’s treasury, and be done with it. Would be nice if there were executions of those causing the problem, but that is as unlikely to happen there as it has been here.
Illegal immigrants in Greece? I’m having a hard problem with the concept. Who in their right mind would be illegally in Greece? Foreign nationals who lost their passport? Even if I were an Eastern European in Greece, I’d be thinking about going home.
Winchester Model 12 pump-action shotgun. My Grandaddy’s circa 1925 still as beautiful and trustworthy as ever. Now my pride and joy. Don’t think my daughter will ever want it. Maybe one of the nephews.
The other military weapon still in service is the venerable Browning M2 50 Cal Machine gun. Only the 1911 has been in service longer.
Miles_Teg, hey I still check in from time to time. Your “shout” I’ll take another “Pot” 😉
Steve
Here’s a story from last week:
http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/28/us-soldier-dies-saving-afghan-girl/
Think we’ll get a “Thank You” from Karzai?
Yes, as noted, the M2 is just ten years younger, introduced in 1921, a form of it still in active service use. As with all decent US firearms, it was designed by Saint Moses the Mormon.
However, there is a clear winner. The Lee Metford, introduced in 1888, gave rise to the Magazine Lee-Enfield (LME – Emily) in 1895, and the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield (SMLE – Smelly) in 1904. An improved version of the SMLE in 7.62x51mm NATO calibre is still being made for sporting use (service rifle target, general target, and hunting), by AIA in Brisbane, Australia.
Ahh, Steve in Colorado. I thought you must have eloped with Nancy P and/or Hillary. You’ve been away for so long.
I’m pretty amazed that the M1911 is still going strong after all this time. The price of most military hardware seems to go stratospheric but the ‘1911 looks good value for money. I saw a price mentioned today of $2700, somehow I thought a handgun would have been much cheaper than that.
SteveF, the lovely Hillary, like the even more lovely Arwen, may be of another species but they are fine looking females nonetheless.
Greg–you really do need new glasses. Hillary’s legs alone disqualify her from any beauty pageant. And she is putting on all the pounds I’m taking off.
Well, I think the bits of her that I can see look quite okay for a lady of her age, 10+ years older than me. I’ll admit do not having seen her legs since she was a Goldwater Girl.
Jeezum Crow, Greg, I’ve seen better legs on a piano stool. They make Dumbo the Elephant’s legs look svelte. Wot a pig. And a face that would stop a clock. To top it off, she is a bloodthirsty bitch on wheels, rivaling Countess Bathory or Lady MacBeth…yeah, that’s it: Lady MacBeth of Little Rock, The Heroine of Tripoli, and soon…Damascus.
Them Goldwater Girlz Daze is long, long over, and even then she was a dowdy, frumpy mouse; no wonder she thought Larry Klinton was God. Now she’s coyote-ugly.
Still, any port in a storm, I reckon, and still leagues ahead of Helen Thomas and Madeline Not-Too-Bright.
Well, when something is perfect there is by definition nothing that can be done to improve it. Well, okay, the M1911A1 isn’t actually 100% perfect, just 99.99%. As to price, you can get a decent name-brand M1911A1 clone for a lot less than $2,700. I think I paid $300 for my Colt Combat Commander back 35 years ago or thereabouts. I’m not sure what current pricing is, but certainly not $2,700.
What I always regretted was that my dad sold his after WWII. He was a navigator on a B-17, and all air crew officers were issued an M1911A1 and permitted to take them home with them after they were discharged. My dad sold his for $17, which actually wasn’t a bad price for the time.
When I told him that I wished he’d kept it for me, he said the M1911 pistols were worthless because they were so inaccurate that no one could hit anything with them. Being an obnoxious young guy, I told him that it wasn’t the gun; it was the shooter. I took him out to the range one day and set up a KD silhouette target at (IIRC) 7 yards. Dad fired a magazine at it slow fire and I think he only had one shot on the paper. Then I shot at the same target (which was, after all, almost new) at 25 yards and 50 yards, rapid fire off-hand, with all shots in the K5/D0 zone at 25 yards and all of them on the torso at 50 yards. I couldn’t resist rubbing it in, but my dad took it in good humor.
Anyway, he said, he and all the air crew he knew agreed. If they had to bail out over Germany, the first thing they’d do was ditch the weapon. He said their first choice would be to surrender to the first guy they saw wearing Luftwaffe uniform, because even late in the war the Luftwaffe would treat them as enemies but also as colleagues. Next choice was the Heeres, who were scrupulously correct about treatment of POWs. Third choice was the SS, who were considered generally decent in their treatment of American POWs. Fourth choice was the civilian police, who might or might not treat them well. Last choice, to be avoided at all costs, was civilians, who’d often murder allied aircrew before the German armed forces could get to them.
The SS were real correct at Malmedy. But hey, maybe the exception that proves the rule.
I am looking carefully at various 1911 clones now, probably get one in the next month or so. Willing to entertain suggestions here, as always.
Exactly. But my wife won’t listen and keeps nagging and nagging me to “improve”.
That was a misunderstanding. IIRC, Joachim Peiper was tried and subsequently exonerated. He did in fact give the command, “Take no prisoners.” His men interpreted that to mean, “Shoot prisoners.” What Peiper actually meant was that he wanted his task force to continue moving forward no matter what. If US soldiers surrendeded, Peiper intended for his men to take the prisoners’ weapons and direct them to the rear, but without escort. That was commonly done in fast-moving environments, and I think there’s every reason to believe that that’s what Peiper intended. In fact, IIRC, at least one US officer testified in defense of Peiper, telling the court that the SS had treated him and his men well.
Huh. I remember that “take no prisoners” scenario from Army basic training. It was given as an example of when you should question an illegal-sounding order. I had no idea it was based on a real event.
OFD wrote:
“Still, any port in a storm, I reckon, and still leagues ahead of Helen Thomas and Madeline Not-Too-Bright.”
Helen Thomas? Where did they find that scarecrow? Even you look prettier than her. Geez Dave, I just looked her up in Wikipedia, and promptly lost my lunch.
RBT wrote:
“When I told him that I wished he’d kept it for me, he said the M1911 pistols were worthless because they were so inaccurate that no one could hit anything with them. Being an obnoxious young guy, I told him that it wasn’t the gun; it was the shooter. I took him out to the range one day and set up a KD silhouette target at (IIRC) 7 yards. Dad fired a magazine at it slow fire and I think he only had one shot on the paper. Then I shot at the same target (which was, after all, almost new) at 25 yards and 50 yards, rapid fire off-hand, with all shots in the K5/D0 zone at 25 yards and all of them on the torso at 50 yards. I couldn’t resist rubbing it in, but my dad took it in good humor.”
Yeah, that’s what I’ve always liked about you. Your humility.
Didn’t the Air Force teach their crews in WWII to shoot straight?
“Take no prisoners.”
“Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?”
Convenient excuse, to blame your idiot followers, eh?
OFD says (29 March 2012 at 21:39):
“I am looking carefully at various 1911 clones now, probably get one in the next month or so. Willing to entertain suggestions here, as always.”
I can’t speak from experience, of course, but this question occurs frequently (and recently) on some boards I frequent. People whose experience I have reason to respect have recommended Rock Island Armory (from one); and American Classic II and Firestorm (same pistol from Metro Arms under two different names) from another. I understand RIA and Citadel are same firearm, through Armscor. In the case of the American Classic II (out-of-the-box fit and finish, feed and accuracy highly praised), there’s a GI-level, and for only $50-$60 more there a premium one with adjustable sights, beavertail safety, and a whole slew of lesser goodies.
Of course, if you wanted simple reliable .45ACP pistols with a nine-shot mag. and a lifetime warranty, that sold new for $199, you could always get Hi-Point.
No? Didn’t think I could sell that one, although you could get an awful lot of them for the price of a single Colt.
I’d be careful about off-brand M1911’s, particularly those with alloy or polymer frames. Back in the late 70’s, I carried a Star PD as a backup piece. Small, light, and it fired the .45 ACP. The problem was durability, or lack thereof. The .45 ACP battered the hell out of it. Total lifetime was maybe 1,000 rounds. Mine was an early model; I understand later models were even worse.
OFD is gonna be in the market for either a .308 or AK soon, probably before the .45. He is real happy with his shotgun choices and other assorted pieces in his little collection so far. I am also looking at the Ruger 10-22 Target model soon. Hope Ruger is paying LOTS of OT and hiring like crazy now. Ditto Mossberg, Taurus, and Remington. Hell, everybody!
What was that number again for firearms in the U.S.? A billion or more? That is wack, homes. And the more of that and attention to prepping and home/community security and self-reliance the better, and also the less chance of attacks. Our Japanese pals were pretty leery about invading CONUS as they somehow had the crazy idea that there was a rifle behind every tree. Imagine that!