laughingwolf_qh33q8 – The Laughing Wolf

Help The King

A long time ago, in a blogosphere that now seems far, far away, there arose a man who took up the helm of the Last King of France at Curmudgeonly & Skeptical. A knack for photos and memes, a wry sense of humor, and a love of life made him a daily read for myself and many others. It was partly an ongoing joke that I have him (still) listed as my single NSFW entry.

Time has marched on, and between the loss of his beloved wife and his own health issues, he hasn’t posted much in a while. This weekend, Linda SOG wrote let me know that he has entered care and while his health is okay overall, his spirits are a bit down. So, she has put out the call for anyone who remembers Rodger and his blog with fondness to send him a card. While this is not a ‘get well soon’ time, it is a good time to share memories of the blog, laughs, and otherwise help bring a smile.

If you do so, be sure to use your screen name as our real names are rarely how we are known. To send him a card, drop a line to LindaSoG at gmail dot com and she will get you his address. I plan to do so as while my memory is fuzzy these days, I do remember the laughs and some interesting discussions in his comments.

Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, which include moving once we have medical issues cleared up, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

Stolen F-35?

Sarah A. Hoyt has raised the possibility that the missing F-35 has been “stolen.” Rather, it has been given by corrupt figures in the military and government to China. That the incident and ejection have been faked to cover up that action.

I will state that such is a possibility. I do not, however, see it as a probability at this time. Before I get into some of that, let me preface with a few remarks and conditions. My own ejection training is a decade or two out of date, and was primarily focused on two-seat fighters. I got the training while getting my physiological training certificate at Little Rock. When it comes to ejection systems, I am most familiar with the ACESII system which used to be quite the thing.

Some quick notes. First, ejection is NOT fun as you are subjected to a large number of G’s and potentially some other delights. Common injuries were neck and back, though broken limbs (arms and legs) were not uncommon on some previous systems as if you didn’t have them in the right spot/position, they not only caught force they could also catch parts of the plane as you rapidly left it. Ouch.

Second, another common accident was having the person ejecting forget to transfer their oxygen hose from the main panel to the seat bottle. The little green apple of the seat bottle is your friend. There is a reason that used to be practiced during both physiological and ejection training. If you don’t remember to do that, as you leave the plane the mask is rather violently ripped from your face and helmet, and often did bad things to your neck and sometimes to your face and neck. Failing to switch fell under the category of “Very Bad Thing” as a result.

Third, the activation of an ejection seat usually triggers a beacon to help guide SAR to the downed pilot. This is separate from any Emergency Locator Beacon (ELB) on the plane itself. As an FYI, on civilian planes it is possible to manually activate the ELB, my memory is fuzzy (stupid lightning) on military craft. Seem to recall that it depended on the aircraft. Yes, military craft do tend to have such to aid in recovery (or destruction at need).

Fourth, no matter the system, the canopy goes bye bye in the process. In a normal ejection per my training, a charge blew the canopy back and away so you didn’t end up like Goose in Top Gun. Also, if your seat failed when you pulled the cord, the alternative was to raise the canopy and let the slipstream rip it off. As it did so, a lanyard was yanked and the secondary system (hopefully) would succeed where the primary failed. Today, you have that, canopies that allegedly fragment, and others — like the F-35 — that split in two so you can get safely launched. See here, here, and here for more info on the F-35 system.

The system in the F-35 works at ground level, which is quite an improvement as earlier system really needed you at 200 feet or higher to work properly. There are some other wrinkles that are fascinating including that it can apparently act automatically without pilot input.

BTW, putting the plane on autopilot when departing mid-flight goes back to WWII. You wanted/needed a steady platform as there were no ejection seats, and if the plane wasn’t under control of the auotpilot or a courageous pilot, it tended to do maneuvers that prevented the crew from leaving. Training was (is?) to do everything you can to hold it steady or to have the plane hold things steady. It makes your departure much smoother and helps prevent any number of injuries. It is interesting to note that some aircraft just keep plugging along after the pilot has left, while others tend to go immediately out of control.

UPDATE: See this comment for one such incident in the late 80s.

In this case, the pilot was apparently seen coming down under canopy, more details here. Side note, glad to see AvLeak is still around. Could it have been faked, such as pushing him in a seat out the back of a transport? Sure. But, no such plane appears to have been nearby at the time. Two, if there were, guarantee a number of the Aviation OSINT folk would have been talking about it by now. Expect to see some serious digging by these fine folks soon.

For all it is highly automated, and features MAGIC CARPET and other delights, it’s really not capable of automated landing. It can get darned close I’m told, but not there. FYI, the old MLS (such as on the Shuttle and other craft) never did truly work as advertised I’m told. We are getting closer, but not there yet. So, the idea of programming the plane to keep flying, go full stealth, and land at an undisclosed location without human intervention is rather unlikely.

Which brings us to the other fly in the ointment. From a purely intel/black ops standpoint, using this type of event to steal one is not very likely. In fact, I can think of a couple of dozen reasons not to do it this way. KISS rules, and I’m not talking the band. Doing it this way violates KISS in so many ways I can’t count them all. In short, secrets keep the fewer are involved. When you court the public, flight trackers, a wingman, and a host of others involved, you are NOT keeping it simple in the ways that count.

Frankly, if I were to want to do a public disappearance, it would be one plane, over water. The fewer who know what is going on, the better. Actually, the easiest way to get one and ship it to the enemy would be via paperwork and that is frighteningly easy to do. No fuss, no muss, no real paper trail, and it would only need a very small number of people to make it happen. That’s also about as far as I’m going to go on that too.

Now, I admit I’m more than a little curious why the transponder quit working and why no ELB (yet). In defense of the transponder, having a rocket motor go off right in front of you can be a bit disconcerting. If the plane went down in water, the ELB is going to be problematic to detect if it works.

Right now, I’m leaning towards the plane having remained in auto pilot and it did some form of soft landing, most likely in water. If it had done a soft landing on land, odds are we should have had some sign of it but that is not guaranteed. Until we have more data, all we can do is speculate. Again, I’m leaning towards the F-35 doing a modern version of a WWII ghost plane, but until we have hard data…

Missing Pt. 2

Okay, part one was tongue in cheek. But, this is the stuff of legends. Did it crash into a lake? Did it just come down somewhere relatively intact? Did it go down at sea?

If you go back and read about aviation in WWII, you are going to come across a number of documented stories where planes made it back to England — without their crews. One I remember reading about, the crew bailed out as the plane was loosing altitude such that the didn’t think it would clear the coast. So, they all bailed out. This lightened the load such that the plane not only cleared the coast, it did a near perfect belly landing at the field from which it had departed. Freaked the ever living out of the people there when they found no crewmembers inside.

I seem to recall the late, great, Martin Caidin writing about some of these, including an incident he witnessed during a commemoration flight.

A lot of modern planes, however, don’t do well if they lose computer control and such. In fact, a couple of them will just about come apart if they lose such controls at speed. However, if they keep that control and are on a steady path via autopilot, who knows?

So, go back and read up on some of the ghost planes of WWII. It’s fun and it says a lot about how rugged the planes then truly were. Only time will tell if we are about to add a modern tale to the mix.

Missing

An Interesting Possibility

Präsident der Republik Grisham has earned two posts here recently (one here and one here) with her overweening arrogance and complete disregard for the Constitution and law. For all that it would be easy to believe the latest act (after all, this is a creature that closed grocery stores as part of overly draconian lockdown restrictions), is just more totalitarian rule, Jeff Goldstein (aka Protein Wisdom) has a different take. One thing I’ve learned over the years is to carefully consider such takes from him.

His take is that the act is orchestrated and meant to fail, for a reason. The idea being to set up a basis to claim or create a federal “right” to such an emergency mandate via the 10th amendment. As he notes, shades of Woodrow Wilson. Progressives are already jumping in to say ‘why not’ do so.

My own hope remains that this gets shot down thoroughly and completely, and that Grisham faces severe official and unofficial sanctions as a warning to others. The cynic in me doubts that will happen, but one can still hope as without such I fear others will only be emboldened. I also hope Jeff is wrong, or that as this issue is being dealt with in the courts, steps can be taken to eliminate any effort to try to do a federal end-run via the 10th.

Oh, two quick things. For those wondering, the title I use for her was the title for the president of East Germany. Seems fitting. For those wondering why I’m not considering NM when I look at moving the the SW, it’s her actions, the simps and gimps of the legislature who went along with them, and the fact that she was voted back into office (similar to human petri dish High Tax Holcomb) by the people who’s rights and liberties she trampled during the lockdowns. No thanks.

Kadyrov Update

Back on August 30, I put up this post about the long knives possibly being out for Kadyrov. I’m still hearing that there are a number of establishment Russians out for him, and that Vladimir is not standing up for him. Today, I see this in the NY Post and have to go hmmmmmm again. If true, repeat, if true, most interesting. For all that he’s long been reported/rumored to have health issues from drug use (and/or other things), given all I tend to wonder about poison. Vladimir is not the only one to use it after all. Remember, if you can’t shoot at the king, shooting at the king maker is a viable alternative.

Don’t Cheer Hunter Indictments

I was going to do a long post on why I think this is not what it appears, but PJ Media has beaten me to it. Worth a read, as well as the linked article.

For some additional perspective, check out Guy Relford on Newsmax (1:19:37 is the chop he posted) and on the Hammer & Nigel show. Sorry, no time chop for the latter.

My short take is that David Weiss has been protecting the Biden’s for years. There is no reason to believe that he will stop being a consigliere (catamite?) for them now.

The Injunction

Präsident der Republik Grisham has been hit with an injunction (full text here) for two parts of her “emergency” public health order setting aside both the U.S. and New Mexico constitutions. I had wondered who would be representing Grisham as the NM Attorney General had come out against her order.

Turns out, Grisham’s office has its own Chief General Counsel, one Holly Agajanian (more here, here, and here (paywall) and it is worth noting she was an assistant DA in the Manhattan DA’s office). Ms. Agajanian was stuck with arguing that the emergency health order wasn’t a law but an executive action, and therefore it was legal for it to suspend the Constitution. In reading the injunction, don’t think the judge bought that but a full hearing will take place in a few weeks where all sides can present full (and new) arguments.

Let me reiterate: this needs to be stomped hard and flat, and Grisham needs to pay a personal price for this outrageous act. If both are not done, I would be willing to bet we will see others trying this tack within a year. The judge needs to make clear this is not allowed and is not to be considered; and, Grisham needs to pay a legal and tangible cost for her high-handed actions. Impeachment and removal from office is a start. She paid no price for her high-handed actions during lockdown, and so feels she will face no consequences for this. For all our sake, and the sake of the Republic, she needs to be mistaken.

Keep an eye on this one, think there’s a lot more going on than is obvious right now.

New Status/Plans

Funny how fast things can happen to alter plans. Nothing life changing, I hope, but changing some plans and priorities.

This morning, I had a telecon with my orthopedic surgeon in regards my left shoulder. This entailed discussions of my right and where we are now with it. One of the threads that came out is that recovery is a process (duh), particularly when we are looking at damage done prior to surgery. Over several years, as the joints lost range of motion and strength, various muscles and tendons have contracted and/or atrophied. We are at a point where PT is not only to dealing with the surgery, but also is having to stretch those muscles and tendons back out again, and rebuild as needed. While there are a number of words that apply to the effort to stretch muscles and tendons out that have been shortened for years, interesting is the one I will settle on for now. It is definitely the politest and most family-friendly descriptor and it beats %#$@#$%%@!#$!!!!.

The doc is very supportive of continuing PT and will continue to recommend continuation to insurance. Yep, tried to find one more place to work continue into that first sentence. The PT place is also supportive and thinks we can do a lot more. That leaves it up to the non-medical bureaucrats with insurance. Crapshoot to be polite. So, more on that in a moment.

While I’m not precisely where I would like to be, the right shoulder and arm are at a point where I can deal with having the left joint replaced. I’m hoping we can get even further along on the right arm and shoulder before the surgery, and as such I’m looking at mid- to late October. The real decider on the date will be the surgery scheduler, and I hope to hear from them soon.

As discussed with the doc this morning, the left has gotten even more problematic. For the most part, I experience discomfort on the right side rather than pain (except when doing the stretching exercises). I still have pain, sometimes large amounts of pain, from the left. The loss of range of motion, strength, and pain are such that it is impacting (to some degree) some of the PT on the right. It’s impacting sleep and life.

Given how well replacing the right shoulder has gone so far, and it is far better than I expected, it’s time to do the left. If we do it soon, by the first of the year we could be in a position to be doing combined PT on both joints and working on some serious strengthening and even some muscle building. We may also be able to schedule a number of PT sessions without having to get prior approval from insurance given the new year.

With an eye towards stacking the deck, my therapist and I have started doing appropriate PT on the left side to try to get it as ready as we can for the surgery. The idea is to have a head start on the PT and recovery. No matter what, we are looking at a year or more from the last surgery for full recovery. It is indeed a process. Long one, but worth it.

Thanks to an anonymous donor to the fundraiser, I ordered some additional PT items this morning. They are needed for some of the stretching. From just the other day, my priority list has shifted. I really need a therapy table for some of the work, but they are expensive (even building it myself) and take up room I don’t have. However, if I get a folding massage table (roughly same size), I can set it up, do the stretches and exercises that require it, then take it down. Sadly, about the same as the cost of a ticket to Loreena McKinnett, so know what I will buy (first). I’m also looking at one more professional cold pack (right now we are often having to ice both shoulders after PT), and want to get good heat therapy to go with it. Using heat on the bicep/tricep and/or upper arm and shoulder before and after stretches helps with results before and relieves after. I may also be looking at a percussive massager to augment a regular unit I already have. Getting the bodyblade comes in after those items.

So, the right is better than I expected but not near where I would like it to be. I still can’t do a full knife kata, and drawing is neither fast nor smooth. Picking up items, particularly heavy items, at or above eye level is interesting. One of the best things I did last time was to get critical living items down at waist level for the most part. So, while not ideal, doing it now gives me what I think may be the best shot at a full recovery as well as being able to move out of Indy to a better location as soon as possible. Given how things are going in the world, that is a not insignificant consideration.

I really wanted to be moved a year ago, but that was not to be. While there are a couple of things to check on, the left shoulder should be the last major medical issue that needs immediate intervention. Once it is taken care of and I’m into the recovery process, well, we will see. I’ve got a plan. I’ve got a GOTH plan. Need a few more in between but working on them.

Thank you all for your support, help, and prayers. With your help and encouragement, I’m making progress.

Slightly Scattered Update

Yesterday got away from me. It was a doctor day, it was a rough day, an age of accomplishment and an age of foolishness. 9/11 is still a bit rough, and on top of the personal news from last week with the loss of my niece A’s eldest son, it hit a bit. For those new, this is a small bit about that day.

Several years ago, my niece A and her two sons got to spend some time in NYC, and I was able to recommend a number of fun things to do and tasty places to eat. I also recommended they go to the memorial, and they did so. They sent me a photo of themselves with Rick Rescorla’s name as they had read up on him as I recommended.

Which leads to a point to make for today: Get comfortable with disobedience. Had Rick Rescorla not disobeyed orders, and encouraged colleagues to do the same, the death toll that day would have been far worse.

Yesterday was the six-month checkup with the GP, and it went well. Have to do some bloodwork next Monday morning, but hopefully that will go well too. It was also a PT day, though much later than normal, and I was beat afterwards. Good news is yet more significant improvement in range of motion. Here’s hoping the stretches and an odd thing help regain yet more.

The odd thing is the use of something called The Bodyblade. I sorta remember seeing it advertised on TV at some point, and thought it was just another one of those wonder workout ripoffs. While I won’t swear to just regular exercise, I will attest to its effectiveness in PT. Doesn’t take long, but boy howdy(! even) do you feel it. Would love to get one to add to the PT gear. I continue to add to my collection, and pleased that the last two purchases were $5 or less. Few more things to pick up, hopefully in the same range, that will help with stretching out the locked-up muscles and tendons. If it makes my back feel better as well, I’m all for it.

We are already starting the process to get some more PT sessions authorized. Have the feeling it may well be a fight.

I did get a new batch of chili-lime mayo made, though there were some issues. The first batch didn’t set when blended, and suspect I may have accidentally put in too much oil. At any rate, the second try went perfect and I’m very happy with the flavor. Used sweet smoked paprika instead of hot, and it seemed to hit the spot. So, for the record, added 1T Tajin, 3T key lime juice, 1t chipotle, 1t smoked paprika, .5t cumin, .5t garlic, .5t mustard, and a couple of dashes of Cholula tequilla lime hot sauce. Add olive oil and egg, and it’s good.

Continuing to watch the fascist Grisham, and am quite surprised at some of the domestic push back she’s getting. Remember, this is the governor who shut down grocery stores during the lockdowns with pretty much no pushback. So far, the local sheriff and the local DA (both Dems!) have said that her actions are unconstitutional and will not be enforced. No sign of anyone in the democratic supermajority legislature growing a brain or a spine, but two Republicans are moving for impeachment. This needs to be stomped hard, fast, and with consequences beyond a slap on the wrist. Otherwise, how soon will others follow suit? I think High Tax Holcomb would do it in a heartbeat if he thought he could get away with it.

Continuing to watch the decline of the demented meat puppet and the flailing of the Biden Regency. They had tried their best to contain him my having him in Alaska (esp. after the fiasco that was Vietnam), but he still managed among other things to make up a story about being in NYC on 9/12. Oh, and if you think the Iran and other announcements yesterday were the Biden Regency being tone deaf, you are mistaken: those were very deliberate thumbs in the eye. If you didn’t know before, you have yet more proof of how they feel about the Republic and about you.

There’s more deserving comment out there, but for now I leave you with this and this as good reads for the day.

Meantime, be good Scouts and Be Prepared! Keep your friends close and your things where you can find them in the dark. More soon.