Happy Birthday to the US Navy!

On this day in 1775, the Continental Navy, precursor to the modern US Navy, was established. Let's celebrate 240 years of defending America!

Eternal Patrol

During WWII a great deal of submarines left on the eternal patrol, never to return to port. Most of these submarines were lost with all hands. After the war, submarine losses ended, at least until 10 April 1963, when the USS Thresher went down and never came up. To this day, the Thresher is the last US submarine to have sunk - while major mishaps have happened on other submarines, resulting in decommissioning (notably the USS Bonefish), none of them sank. Let us all lift one in honor of all submarines that never came back to port, those brave souls on the eternal patrol.

On Women in the Military

My military experience with women is rather limited, so I usually defer to those who have actually been with females in a combat zone when it comes to discussing females in, for example, the infantry.
I have little sympathy for those who continue to push to get women into those few places in the military where women have, until recently, not been allowed.
My lack of sympathy stems from the fact that there is a double standard concerning women in the military. The same people who want to open up every rating and MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) in the military to women want to keep the current PFA (Physical Fitness Assessment) standards as they open up the formerly closed ratings and MOSs. They say that women can do everything that men can do while at the same time having lower standards for women than they do for men.
They need to sh*t or get off the toilet. Either women are just as capable as men, and they should be held to the same PFA standards and allowed to do the same jobs, or they aren't as capable as men and shouldn't be held to the same PFA standards and allowed to do the same jobs. Pick one, stick with it, and stop dancing around the issue.

Leave the Boy Scouts of America alone

BBC links to a poll which says that 55% of US voters want the BSA to end its ban on homosexual leaders.
The BSA is only answerable to US voters in the sense that its adult leaders and parents of scouts are US voters. It is answerable to its members and no one else. President Obama may be its honorary president, but he has no power to change the BSA's policy.
In fact, those with the power to change the policy have decided to delay rather than decide.

CSS H.L. Hunley - A Historical Submarine

 From CBS:
New clues to sinking of Confederate sub

The Hunley was the first submarine to sink another ship, but even if it wasn't, it would still be an important piece of submarine history, if only because it sank three times. This man-powered, spar torpedo armed, submarine sank twice before it was finally used to sink the USS Housatonic. Then it sank for the third time, this time without being recovered. An important and interesting piece of naval submarine history.

Happy Birthday

To the World's Greatest Navy: Happy Birthday

May she continue to dominate the seas for many years to come.