USMC Silent Drill Team

United States Marine Corp Silent Drill Team

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Trains 101 - A History Lesson

For all my favorite “engineers” out there……an oldie but a goodie…

4 Feet 8.5 Inches--
History lesson 101---
You'll love the logic here.

The U.S. Standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number.

Why was that gauge used?

Because that's the way they built them in England, and English expatriates designed the U.S. Railroads.

Why did the English build them like that?

Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used.

Why did 'they' use that gauge then?

Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they had used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing.

Why did the wagons have that particular Odd wheel spacing?

Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, Because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts.

So, who built those old rutted roads?

Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (including England ) for their legions. Those roads have been used ever since.

And the ruts in the roads?

Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels.

Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome , they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. Therefore, the United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot.

In other words, bureaucracies live forever.

So the next time you are handed a specification, procedure, or process, and wonder, 'What horse's ass came up with this?', you may be exactly right.

Imperial Roman army chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the rear ends of two war horses.

Now, the twist to the story:

When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, you will notice that there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah.

The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit larger, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains, and the SRBs had to fit through that tunnel.

The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses' behinds.

So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass.

And so it goes...

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Rules For Kicking Ass

Rules for Kicking Ass:

Rules for the Non-Military - Be sure you read #12

Dear Civilians, 'We know that the current state of affairs in our great nation has many civilians up in arms and excited to join the military.'

For those of you who can't join, you can still lend a hand. Here are a few of the areas where we would like your assistance:

1. The next time you see any adults talking (or wearing a hat) during the playing of the National Anthem - kick their ass.

2. When you witness, firsthand, someone burning the American Flag in protest - kick their ass.

3. Regardless of the rank they held while they served, pay the highest amount of respect to all veterans. If you see anyone doing otherwise, quietly pull them aside and explain how these veterans fought for the very freedom they bask in every second. Enlighten them on the many sacrifices these veterans made to make this Nation great. Then hold them down while a disabled veteran kicks their ass.

4. If you were never in the military, DO NOT pretend that you were. Wearing battle dress uniforms (BDUs) or Jungle Fatigues, telling others that you used to be 'Special Forces,' Collecting GI Joe memorabilia, might have been okay when you were seven years old, now, it will only make you look stupid and get your ass kicked.

5. Next time you come across an *Air Force* member, do not ask them, 'Do you fly a jet?' Not everyone in the Air Force is a pilot. Such ignorance deserves an ass-kicking (children are exempt).

6. If you witness someone calling the Coast Guard 'non-military,' inform them of their mistake - and kick their ass.

7. Next time Old Glory (the US flag) prances by during a parade, get on your damn feet and pay homage to her by placing your hand over your heart. This includes arrogant politicians who think someone may be offended. Quietly thank the military member or veteran lucky enough to be carrying her - of course, failure to do either of those could earn you a severe ass-kicking.

8. 'Your mama wears combat boots' never made sense to me - stop saying it! If she did, she would most likely be a vet and therefore would kick your ass!

9. 'Flyboy' (*Air Force*), 'Jarhead' (*Marines*), 'Grunt' (*Army*), 'Squid' (*Navy*), 'Puddle Jumpers'(*Coast Guard*) Bubblehead (*Sub sailor*) etc., are terms of endearment we use describing each other. Unless you are a service member or vet, you have not earned the right to use them. Using them could get your ass kicked.

10. Last, but not least, whether or not you become a member of the military, support our troops and their families. Every Thanksgiving and religious holiday that you enjoy with family and friends, please remember that there are literally thousands of soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen far from home wishing they could be with their families. Thank God for our military and the sacrifices they make every day. Without them, our country would get its ass kicked.

11. It's the Veteran, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press. It's the Veteran, not the poet, who has given us the freedom of speech. It's the Veteran, not the community organizer, who gives us the freedom to demonstrate. It's the Military who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag.

AND ONE LAST THING:

12. If you got this email and didn't pass it on - guess what - you deserve to get your ass kicked!

I sent this to you, not because I didn't want to get my ass kicked BUT BECAUSE YOU ARE VERY, VERY SPECIAL TO ME AND I KNOW YOU WILL NOT BE OFFENDED AND YOU ARE PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN AND WILL FORWARD THIS ALSO. THANK YOU.

WE LIVE IN THE LAND OF THE FREE, ONLY BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE! IN GOD WE TRUST

This Blog is the creation of Everette Carr a proud veteran and former Air Force Staff/Sgt. with the 5004th Air Intelligence Group, 9th Air Force, Alaska.

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ATelekinetic Surprise in a Coffee Shop

Scaring people is hard. Scaring New Yorkers is even harder.

It's clear that the folks behind the prank in the video below know a thing or two about how to successfully freak out even the most skeptic seen-it-alls. And what they execute is very impressive.

The skilled pranksters constructed a fake wall inside West Village coffee shop 'Snice Cafe in NYC, installing a cable and pulley that send a (stuntman) unsuspecting patron flying up into the air. Chairs, books, and tables are all remotely controlled, giving the illusion that a young woman's anger-induced, out-of-control telekinesis is behind a room full of moving objects.

Best viewed in "Full Screen Format".
Click small box in lower right corner of screen after the video has started.

CLICK ON PICTURE TO VIEW: THIS IS REALLY Great!

Everette Hopes You Enjoy!

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Ceili Rain - Like A Train

This is one of my favorite videos!

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Homeless Veteran Makeover

How appropriate to post this on Veterans Day. Support our Troops; Thank a Veteran for their service.

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'Il Silencio' (The Silence) played by 13 year old Melissa Venema with André Rieu and his orchestra at the 'Vrijthof' in Maastricht.

'Il Silenzio' is an Italian instrumental piece written in 1965 by trumpet player Nini Rosso. André Rieu (born 1949) is a famous Dutch violinist, conductor, and composer.

A few years ago, an American visited the Netherlands and the American Cemetery and Memorial in the village of Margraten, about six miles from Maastricht. There lie buried 8,301 American soldiers killed in the battles to liberate Holland in the fall and winter of 1944-5. Sgt. Bill Dukeman, 101st Airborne Division, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Second Battalion, Company C (of "Band of Brothers fame) is buried there. He was killed in the battle of "The Crossroads" in northern Holland.

The Dutch hold an annual memorial concert every September at the above cemetery to remember and honor the Americans who died to free them in Operation Market Garden and subsequent efforts to eject the German army from Holland.

Sgt. Dukeman, like many other fallen GIs, was "adopted" by a Dutch family. Dukeman's family in the States was contacted and hosted in Holland, and his grave site decorated each year by his Dutch "family." They keep his portrait in their home, displayed in a place of honor. Fathers pass this obligation down to their sons in Holland. This version of the original "taps" music is played by a 13 year old Dutch girl named Melissa Venema. The conductor of the orchestra is Andre Rieu from Holland.

Many of you may never have heard taps played in its entirety . The original version of Taps was called Last Post, and was written by Daniel Butterfield in 1801. It was rather lengthy and formal, as you will hear in this clip, so in 1862 it was shortened to 24 notes and re-named Taps.

Melissa Venema is playing it on a trumpet whereby the original was played on a bugle.

As web master and Director of the Attala County History and Genealogy web site, I too had an occassion to become familiar with Americans buried in cemeteries in the Neitherlands. I was contacted by Bert Eggen of Voerendaal in the Netherlans. Bert Eggen explained that he had adopted the grave of an American soldier that was killed in World War II and buried in Margraten, Netherlands in a military cemetery and he wanted to locate the relatives of this soldier, John Rutherford. He provided the information he had which included the fact that John was originally from Attala County, Mississippi. Bert began a search for resources on the Internet that would aid him in locating John's relatives. Bert posted a message to a Mississippi Message Board which eventually led him to me. I immediately began to use the Internet resources available to me in an attempt to locate a relative of John Rutherford.

John N. Rutherford

Private, U.S. Army
Service # 34345706
4th Signal Battalion

Entered the Service from: Mississippi
Died: 6-Dec-44
Buried at: Plot B Row 21 Grave 3
Netherlands American Cemetery
Margraten, Netherlands

Additional information about Bert Eggen's search for relatives of John Rutherford can be found by clicking on the link below:

John Rutherford