February 25, 1919
Oregon places a 1 cent tax on gasoline. Within 10 years every state will have a gasoline tax. In 1932, Herbert Hoover will get the federal government into the act by adding another penny for the feds.
February 23, 1942
Japanese submarine I-17 fires shells into the refinery at Ellwood, California. 17 shells were fired over a period of about 20 minutes. The gunnery was wildly inaccurate and did little damage but it did spark panic and invasion rumors. The following night, anti aircraft batteries in LA would fire over 1000 rounds based on a UFO sighting. The "battle" lasted about 30 minutes. Proving that what goes up must come down, over 10 tons of shrapnel and unexploded ammunition fell on Los Angeles.
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Book Review - Blackjack
I should read my own reviews. This is the latest of Robert Parker's Cole and Hitch series that is ghost written by Robert Knott. You can read the review of his last effort here.
This book is no better than the last. In fact, I could copy the last review word for word and it would still be accurate. Slow, boring dialog, drab characters and a predictable and anti climatic ending.
I will no longer waste my bit coin on these books.
This book is no better than the last. In fact, I could copy the last review word for word and it would still be accurate. Slow, boring dialog, drab characters and a predictable and anti climatic ending.
I will no longer waste my bit coin on these books.
Thursday, February 4, 2016
The Heavy Water War
I stumbled across an interesting television series on Netflix recently. It was a Norwegian production whose title translated as "The Heavy Water Wars". It can also be found under the title "The Saboteurs". It is the dramatization of the true story of the effort to destroy the deuterium oxide production in Norway in order to keep the Germans from gaining an edge on nuclear technology. It is well written and well acted by a mix of British, Scandinavian and German actors. And, while I am no expert, the costumes, scenery and cinematography look great.
There are three story lines. They flip between Werner Heisenberg who is leading the German research, the Brits and Norwegian volunteers who are trying to destroy the plant and the Norwegian plant manager.
A word of warning....as it is with most movies who try to be historically accurate, it is in the characters native language. You will have subtitles, even in the English parts, so you can't try to multi task while watching it.
It was presented in 6 segments designed to fit into a television hour. When it aired in Norway, it captured over 60% of the viewing audience. It's worth looking for.
There are three story lines. They flip between Werner Heisenberg who is leading the German research, the Brits and Norwegian volunteers who are trying to destroy the plant and the Norwegian plant manager.
A word of warning....as it is with most movies who try to be historically accurate, it is in the characters native language. You will have subtitles, even in the English parts, so you can't try to multi task while watching it.
It was presented in 6 segments designed to fit into a television hour. When it aired in Norway, it captured over 60% of the viewing audience. It's worth looking for.
Monday, February 1, 2016
Head Count
Well, as we know, Saudi Arabia executed 47 terrorists last month. 43 of them were beheaded and the remaining 4 were shot (I guess the swordsman got tired). In addition, they also did away with 8 for murder so their one month total is 55 to start the year with a bang!
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