What my generation can’t do with computers and a template to build on, these men did with technology that seems ancient today. The Landing Module computer had less than 4,000 programmable words (yes, words– all commands were phrased like “Verb 884″ or “Noun 284″)… and the Saturn’s guidance computer ran on a two megahertz CPU.

Truly, the Apollo astronauts were pioneers.

So, instead of modifying the fire control to fire a two-round burst, (wait a second… the M-16A2 had a three-round burst setting) Colt made a rifle that fired two projectiles (of different weights) with reduced accuracy (two weights, two points of impact) from a specialized cartridge (reduced powder charge, logistics nightmares, non-standard).  Anybody care to guess why the ACR contest went nowhere?

This reminds me of someone.  Who am I thinking of… it’s that guy… no, maybe her… no, no… that one guy… nope, can’t seem to think of who this reminds me of…

(H/T Confederate Yankee)

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

Two hundred and thirty-four years ago today, our nation came into being.  (Okay, if you’re picky, the resolution of independence was approved July 2nd, 1776– so it was 234 years Friday.)  A group of men– some almost destitute, some very wealthy, some young, some old– came together and forged a nation that ruled not by the whims of a monarch or by an elite cadre, but by the consent of the governed.

God bless this nation, and may the governed therein understand these words.

Mr. President: FREE SOIL, FREE LABOR, FREE LAND, FREE MEN.  At the time that my party had that as their slogan, your party was singing a song called N*gger Doodle Dandy at their conventions.  Would it hurt so much to admit the Republican’s role in history, or would that force you to admit what the Democrats have done?

(H/T USCitizen)

Now, Larry Grathwohl, the FBI agent who went under cover into the Weather Underground.  You know, the organization founded by Bill Ayers… Obama’s buddy.

Do not for a minute allow yourself to think that the people who stand in opposition to your rights are “safe” because “they think they are right.”  Useful idiots are as dangerous as their masters… and their masters are very damn dangerous.

(Sorry for the language, kinda emotional subject.  I have Korea and Vietnam vets in the family, and the fact that the mush-heads today think Che and Stalin are cool boils my blood.)

Remember today all of the brave men and women who have died in the service of our country.

Seventy-one percent of Americans fail the test [...] [f]ewer than half of all Americans can name all three branches of government [...] [o]nly 24% of college graduates know the First Amendment prohibits establishing an official religion for the United States. [...] [o]nly 54% can correctly identify a basic description of the free enterprise system [...] [t]hirty percent of elected officials do not know that “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” are the inalienable rights referred to in the Declaration of Independence.  — Civic Literacy Report

Tam points to a reference at USConstitution.net that points to this study by Columbia Law School.  Apparently, two out of every three people think that “Karl Marx’s maxim, ‘From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs’ was or could have been written by the framers and included in the Constitution…”

Two out of every three people, folks.  Look to your left… look to your right.  If you aren’t this dumb, that means that the other two people are.

The Boob Tube

Another thing that has begun to anger me is the “History” Channel’s constant falling short of the mark on things. (Yes, I put “History” in quotation marks.  Any channel that airs anything by Zinn has no relationship with real history.)  Here’s  a channel that could help to educate Americans… but instead, they produce UFO and ghost shows.

For instance, their new documentary– “America: the story of us“– is pretty good.  Until they began skipping over major portions of history, that is. War of 1812… nowhere to be seen.  Donner party– covered in detail.  Texas revolting against the Mexicans… barely mentioned.  Run up to the Civil War… so biased it wasn’t funny.

• They mentioned that the U.S.– i.e., the South– made 67% of the world’s cotton at the time… but they didn’t mention the North using the South as a cash cow.
• They painted Lincoln as wanting to bring about equality between the races and starting the war to end slavery… which doesn’t check with some of his quotes from both before and during the war.
• John Brown was (once again) painted as crazy and/or stupid.
• And Sheryl Crow got her licks in about all of us interested in our Southern heritage being racists.

Add to this “How the States got their shapes,” and “History”‘s fall from grace becomes even more sorrowful.  The portion of the show that dealt with Florida losing its long Panhandle was comical– to paraphrase the show, Florida “gave up some of its Gulf Coast so that Alabama and Mississippi could have access to the Gulf.”  All well and good… until you realized that Alabama and Mississippi gained those portions before Florida even became a territory, much less a state.  (For reference, 1812 < 1822 < 1845.)  Question– if Florida wasn’t a state at the time, how did Alabama and Mississippi get the land?

Answer: they annexed it.  The Republic of West Florida rebelled against Spain on 23 September 1810… and was annexed by the U.S. Government on 27 October.  Troops reached the area in December with orders “to negotiate with the fledgling government if possible, but … seize the territory by force if necessary.”  That’s right… a Republic– which gained their independence by force from an empire and had a republican form of government– was annexed by force by the U.S. Government.

No wonder Texas modeled their flag after the Bonnie Blue Flag, and the song became so popular during the Civil War.

Leaving the Tangent

Okay, back on topic… why does this matter?  Well, to quote Santayana, “[t]hose who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”  To use the Republic of West Florida as an example, a person who knows about it and understands it can see how the annexation effected the area for the next century– the use of the flag by Texans, the use of the song and flag during the Civil War, the attitude the South had about Northern interference in their affairs, why the Indians began their raids, etc.– but a person ignorant of history sees these things as a series of unconnected and random events.

Heck, they probably think the people waving the Bonnie Blue Flag at Tea Parties are waving a “neo-Nazi flag” of some sort.

FTC disclaimer:  my great-great-great-great-grandfather’s brother owned several thousand acres of land in the Republic.  I have no chance of ever making a claim on this.  I’ll never see a dime of the money he lost.  I just wanted to make a disclaimer.  Hurrah to the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star!

Many people know a little about Patriots’ Day, and a little about what happened that day at Lexington and Concord.  The full story is both sad and inspiring.

He [Capt. Parker] was in poor health from consumption (tuberculosis) on the morning of April 19. [...] He witnessed his cousin Jonas Parker killed by a British bayonet. Later that day he rallied his men to attack the regulars returning to Boston in an ambush known as “Parker’s Revenge.”   This was his only military action in the American Revolutionary War. He was unable to serve in the Battle of Bunker Hill in June, and died of tuberculosis in September. — Wikipedia, “John Parker”

In the end, I can’t add that much to these events, or their telling.  I’ll close by quoting two poets, one telling this story, one telling a much older tale.

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Concord Hymn”

Then out spake brave Horatius,
The Captain of the Gate:
“To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late.
And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers,
And the temples of his gods?
– Thomas Babington Macaulay,
“The Lays of Ancient Rome”

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

Even though I am a Southerner, I have to give Andrews credit for his work.  (Though I would like to point out that Fuller stayed hot on Andrews’ heels, including the points where he had to run after the locomotive…)  The movie (with the late Fess Parker) is very good and decently accurate.

Oleg has pictures of a memorial to the raiders, and Andrews’ tombstone.  I’ve always been saddened that Andrews (a civilian) couldn’t be awarded the Medal of Honor.  If there’s a man who deserved it, it was Mr. Andrews.