MILITARY COLLECTOR GROUP POST, May 13/98 INDEX: PRC-6 GROUP PROJECT UPDATE; MARCH/APRIL TECHNICAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN; Part III, By William L. Howard ON THE COMMERCIAL FRONT; HUMOR; *********************************************** PRC-6 GROUP PROJECT UPDATE; I placed the final order for radios at about noon on Tuesday(53 radios & 41 batteries). If you didn't get your name in the hat, it's too late now unless we order a minimum of 10 more radios. If you haven't gotten your check in the mail to me for the principle amount for radios and batteries, please do so as soon as possible. There will be over $2000 in radio/battery/shipping charges, and my bank account at present only contains about 1/4 that. Ralph Hogan is in charge of making your manual copies, and also the instructions for my universal inverter power supply for the operating of these (and other radios) from 4ea "D" cel nicads. He will not be mailing them directly to you, once he's finished making all the needed copies, he'll mail them to me for including with your PRC-6's. This will save everybody postage fees, and checks, and Ralph a lot of envelopes. Copy cost will be included with your postage fees when I mail off your radios. Ralph will also make you copies of the manuals, and or inverter supplies if you haven't ordered any radios, but he will need to know that this is the case so he can mail these directly to you. I didn't get any offers for bubble wrap, so I guess you'll just hafta be content with Monkey Shit, it won't work as good, but I got lots of it ta get rid of. PRC-6($20.00) / Batteries($22.50) Steve Hill 3ea / 3ea Lee Orsborn 1ea / Dave Sundheimer 1ea / Ed Guzick 2ea / (check received) Todd Huss 4ea / 8ea (check received) William Smith 2ea / 2ea Bob McCord 1ea / 1ea Paul Monroe 2ea / Brian Scace / 4ea Jim Wood 2ea / 2ea John Kidd 4ea / Pete Williams 2ea / Steve Bartkowski / 1ea Bruce Haffner 1ea / 1ea Dave Prince 2ea / Jay Coward / 3ea Kevin Hough 1ea / 2ea David Ward 2ea / Mike Cowart 1ea / 1ea (check received) Ralph Hogan 2ea / 2ea Bob Simpson 1ea / (check received) Mikhael Brown 1ea / Hal Blaisdell 2ea / 2ea (check received) Sheldon Wheaton 2ea / David Ragsdale 2ea / Chris Hasse 2ea / 2ea George Humphrey 2ea / 2ea Jim Hopper 4ea / 4ea Charles Lamb 2ea / Me 1ea / 1ea ------------------------------------------------------------- Manual copies ordered from Ralph E. Guzick G. Humphrey H. Blaisdell B. Strangfeld (different manual) M. Cowart D. Prince J. Wood L. Orsborn Pasquale Pete Williams Carl Konefsky (ordered radio direct) *********************************************** MARCH/APRIL TECHNICAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN; Part III, By William L. Howard Vol. 3 No. 2 Mar-Apr 1998 A non-profit publication about the veterans Technical Intelligence in war and peace the current operations of the National Ground Intelligence Center, the Technical Intelligence Unit at Aberdeen Proving Ground and news items of interest to the technical intelligence community APRIL. 07, 14:14 EST China Denies Pakistan Missile Help BEIJING (AP) -- China insisted Tuesday that it did not help Pakistan develop new missiles, as India has claimed. Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes made the accusation Monday after Pakistan successfully tested a medium-range missile believed capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. The missile could reach deep into India, Pakistan's long-time rival. ``China has been supplying missile technology to Pakistan despite having given an undertaking to the United States to do no such thing,'' Fernandes said. But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao denied the charge, saying there was ``not the slightest connection'' between China and Pakistan. Zhu also said it would be ``unreasonable and unfounded'' for the United States to investigate whether China had a role in Pakistan's missile program. APRIL. 12, 17:20 EST India's Missile Can Counter Threats By RAMOLA TALWAR AP Writer BOMBAY, India (AP) -- India's medium-range Prithvi missile can counter any threat posed by the long-range missile that neighboring Pakistan tested last week, India's air force chief said Sunday. Pakistan announced Monday it had tested a domestically produced Ghauri ballistic missile, capable of reaching into the interior of India with its 900-mile range. ``Prithvi is enough to take care of any threat from Ghauri,'' Air Chief Marshal S.K. Sareen told reporters at the end of an air show commemorating 50 years of India's independence from British rule. India's surface-to-surface Prithvi missile can deliver a 2,200-pound warhead up to 120 miles. India has also tested the long-range Agni missile, which has a range of 1,500 miles, but suspended research on it in 1994 because of U.S. pressure. The Ghauri is named after a 12th century Afghan emperor who attacked India and defeated the Hindu prince Prithvi. Neither Pakistan nor India is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The neighboring countries, which have fought three wars since they became independent of Britain in 1947, are accused of spending huge amounts on arms. Sareen said India's air force needed to modernize and that $300 million was already being spent to update MiG-21 fighter jets. Tens of thousands of people converged on downtown Bombay or crowded onto rooftops to view the airshow, the city's first since 1959. Russian weapons are winding up in Iraq By JACK R. PAYTON Times Diplomatic Editor© St. Petersburg Times, published April 14, 1998 WASHINGTON -- Could it be that Saddam Hussein isn't the only one with something to hide when it comes to illegal weapons in Iraq? Could it even be that some high-ranking officials in Russia have something very embarrassing to hide too? It's certainly beginning to look that way, what with the string of revelations in recent weeks about secret and highly illegal transfers of Russian weapons equipment and expertise to Iraq. And we're not talking here about assault rifles, artillery or even tanks or planes. We're talking about equipment and know-how to build things such as biological weapons and ballistic missiles that can accurately hit targets throughout the region. Making all this doubly serious is that there's mounting evidence that our friends, the Russians, are supplying similar equipment, expertise and even more to Iraq's neighbor and archrival -- Iran. U.S. officials who follow these things are in the middle of an ongoing debate over whether the transfers of weapons equipment and know-how is deliberate government policy or -- as Moscow claims when its back is against the wall -- the work of rogue agents in Russia's defense and security establishments. Either way, officials here worry that because of Russia, Iran is very close to being able to put together a nuclear device and a ballistic missile capable of delivering it throughout the Middle East and beyond. And they're beginning to wonder too if Moscow is backing Iraq on the question of ending weapons inspections because they're afraid the U.N. inspectors will finally get so much evidence they can't ignore that they will have to blow the whistle about what has been going on. That's why the Clinton administration's top-ranking official dealing with these issues, presidential envoy Robert Gallucci, is due in Moscow this week to ask some blunt and possibly embarrassing questions. Among the things requiring Moscow's detailed explanation, Gallucci might want to ask about the following: Intelligence intercepts showing that direct government-to-government negotiations had taken place for Iraq's purchase of sophisticated Russian fermentation equipment capable of producing large quantities of anthrax and botulinum biological warfare agents. Russian attempts to sell Iraq more than 800 missile guidance gyroscopes taken directly from decommissioned submarine-launched ballistic missiles capable of hitting targets more than 4,000 miles away. Reports that the Federal Security Service, successor to the Soviet KGB intelligence agency, has been secretly recruiting Russian scientists to teach their counterparts in Iran how to build reliable ballistic missiles capable of carrying chemical, biological or nuclear warheads more than 1,200 miles. Clear evidence that Russian intelligence agents have been shadowing the U.N. Special Commission weapons inspectors and tipping off the Iraqis every time the inspectors plan to visit an especially sensitive location that might cause embarrassment. At this point, you have to ask yourself who's going to be more embarrassed, the Iraqis or the Russians. Since the Iraqis don't appear to be capable of embarrassment about anything these days, the answer seems obvious. Consider, for example, that despite strenuous efforts to block them, the U.N. inspectors discovered 10 Russian-made missile guidance gyroscopes inside a crate sunk in the Tigris River in Baghdad. The other 800 or so gyroscopes in the consignment were uncovered by Jordanian security police when they stopped a convoy of trucks trying to cross from Jordan into Iraq. Guess who tipped off the Jordanians? Yes, Israel is probably the answer. That's because Israel would be the main target of these highly accurate Iraqi or Iranian missiles. It got hit by 39 Iraqi missiles during the 1991 gulf war and doesn't want to go through that again, especially if Iraq and Iran have perfected their chemical, biological or nuclear warhead technology. That's why the Israelis have been bugging the Clinton administration to do something about Russia's weapons technology exports to the region. The way the Israelis see it, it doesn't make any difference if Russia is smuggling in the equipment and expertise as part of a deliberate, if secret, policy, or because rogue elements of the defense and security services are operating on their own initiative to make some big bucks. Whatever the story, if Iran or Iraq can put their hands on highly developed chemical, biological or nuclear weapons and -- just as important -- have an accurate way to deliver them throughout the region, life is going to get a lot more complicated and dangerous for everybody. And not just Israel or possibly Saudi Arabia, but everybody. That's why the Israelis, as well as more than a few politicians here in Washington, are wondering if the Clinton administration hasn't been cutting Moscow much too much slack on this issue. Just heard from Major John Ingraham "Just got my next assignemnt...Heidelberg Germany. USAREUR Headquarters. This will be my second assignment there. John Captain Scott Jantzen, with the T.I. element at the National Training Center has located a WEB site for Soviet Equipment. It is: Here's a pretty good page on FSU/Russian equipment and weapons FYI. http://users.aol.com/threatmstr/ptwserg.html I checked it out and it is a good reference site. This was the sort of thing that I thought the 203rd M.I./Technical Intelligence Unit should have done/ should be doing. The 203rd has given up their web site so for those of you who missed it, you are too late. Explanation was OPSEC and lack of personnel to maintain it. I received a message from SFC Hanne at the 203rd telling me that SGM Wayne Van Dyke, CMEC 1969-70 passed away on 25 April 1998. I never met him but many veterans of CMEC and T.I. knew him well. On 24 November 1997, I got a call from SGM Wayne Van Dyke, CMEC 1969, who was living in Havre De Grace, Maryland. He was the SGM of CMEC in 1969 and was there when Dick Wenneson was the Commander. He started with Technical Intelligence in 1956 and was with the 525 Ord Det. SGM Van Dyke had a collection of Slides taken of the CMEC Museum in 1969 which he had agreed to give to me. These are now being digitized and will be sent to me in time. Stargazers Set Distance Record By PAUL RECER AP Science Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- Astronomers have detected a small galaxy 12.3 billion light-years from Earth -- the most distant object ever seen -- and say they are on the brink of seeing things even farther away and closer to the big bang beginning of the universe. ``We've already got some candidate objects that are even farther away,'' said Esther M. Hu, a University of Hawaii astronomer and co-discoverer of the most distant object. ``We are looking about 94 percent of the distance back to the big bang.'' The discovery was first announced in Science News, a weekly journal of research reports. The journal is to publish the story on Saturday. The big-bang theory holds that the universe started with a huge explosion and has been expanding ever since. In the billions of years since, the hydrogen and helium in the big bang have been processed through stars to form other chemicals. Just when the big bang happened is controversial, but most astronomers say it was about 13 billion years ago. Just six weeks ago, another team of astronomers found a small galaxy about 12.2 billion light-years away to establish a most-distant mark. Both teams used the Keck telescopes in Hawaii. A light-year is the distance light travels in a vacuum in one year, about 5.8 trillion miles. ``The records for most distant galaxies have become really fragile,'' said Bruce Margon, a University of Washington astronomy professor. ``Once they would stand for six or seven years. Now it changes in a matter of months.'' Margon said the latest discovery is important because it continues to push back the time when it is known that stars and galaxies formed after the big bang, giving more understanding of the developmental history of the universe. Hu and her colleagues, Lennox L. Cowie of Hawaii and Richard G. McMahon of the University of Cambridge, England, sighted the distant galaxy by analyzing a particular wavelength of light emitted by hydrogen atoms. This technique, said Hu, will enable the group to probe even farther back in time and distance. One way astronomers measure distance and time is by a value called the redshift. This is the amount that a wavelength of light has been stretched, or shifted, by the expanding universe. The new most-distant galaxy found by the Hu team is at a redshift of 5.64. This is about 60 million years earlier than the previous mark, which was a redshift of 5.34. ``We already have candidates at redshift 6.5 and I think we'll eventually push it back to a redshift of 7,'' said Hu. This would push the viewed universe back to within 4.4 percent, or about 500 million years, of the big bang, she said. Galaxies at that distance, said Hu, will all be young, only a few tens of millions of years old, since the universe at that point is also very young. Margon said there is a physical limit on just how far back toward the big bang astronomers will see. For about the first million years after the big bang, when the universe was just beginning to expand, the matter was still so dense that if there was light it could not travel very far before being absorbed. Additionally, it is believed that it took several million years for stars to form, and without stars, said Margon, there was no light to be seen. One question to be solved, he said, by looking for fainter and fainter starlight is to discover how soon after the big bang galaxies began to form. Jim Turner, from the 519th M.I. Bn Association sent me this item. Asia:Vietnam Vietnam War Was Lost on the Ground, Not on TV, Panel SaysAP30-APR-98 WASHINGTON (AP) Thirty years after U.S. opinion turned decisively against America's participation in the Vietnam War, three veteran reporters rehashed a question that has bugged policy-makers and the press since: Did reporting cause America to lose the war? Their conclusion: No, the communists won the war on the battlefields of Vietnam, not on the television screens or the front pages of America. Even if the American people had seen and read only U.S. government handouts, they would have turned against the war out of disenchantment with the loss of American lives at no apparent gain, said Bernard Kalb, who reported from Vietnam during a 15-year career as a television correspondent. Kalb moderated a discussion Thursday at the Newseum, a museum of journalism that is undertaking a look at the year 1968, a year of political assassinations, civil rights ferment and antiwar sentiment. He was joined by David Halberstam, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the war for The New York Times; Stanley Karnow, author of a highly regarded history of the war; and Barry Zorthian, the chief U.S. government spokesman in Saigon duringmuch of the war. "Without a single media paragraph, public opinion would have turned against the war," Kalb said, because of the American military's inability to win it or conclude it, he said. "If there had been no media and no television, would the Viet Cong have suddenly surrendered?" asked Karnow, asserting that press coverage was not decisive. His fellow panelists agreed. "I'm suggesting it didn't make any difference," he said. The communists "were not fighting the war to be in the living rooms in America." The U.S. Army, in its multivolume history of the Army's role in Vietnam, years ago reached the same conclusion. "What alienated the American public, in both the Korean and Vietnam wars, was not news coverage but casualties," wrote Army historian William Hammond in a volume called "Public Affairs: the Military and the Media, 1962-1968," published in 1989. "Public support for each war dropped inexorably by 15 percentage points whenever total U.S. casualties increased by a factor of 10," he wrote. On the other hand, Gen. William Westmoreland, the American commander in Saigon for much of the war, felt that television in particular bore some responsibility for turning American public opinion away from the war. "Television's unique requirements contributed to a distorted view of the war,"he concluded; "the news had to be compressed and visually dramatic, and as a result the war that Americans saw was almost exclusively violent, miserable or controversial." And a survey of American generals who served in Vietnam found that 52 percent thought that television coverage concentrated on the sensational and that "was counterproductive to the war." Zorthian said unwarranted optimism from official Washington had the effect of increasing skepticism by reporters on the ground in Vietnam. He said he doubted that the United States would ever again be able to fight a long war because live coverage of the battle would have a severe effect on public opinion. The year 1968 was a crucial one in Vietnam largely because of the Tet offensive, simultaneous Viet Cong attacks on major cities, towns and military bases in Vietnam beginning at 3 a.m. on Jan. 31 during a Vietnamese holiday period during which both sides usually observed a cease-fire. The fighting spilled onto the grounds of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, shocking American public opinion after years of official assurances that the communists were on the run. Two months later, President Johnson said he would not seek re-election in recognition of the turn of sentiment against his conduct of the war. Zorthian said the Tet offensive was a communist ground defeat but "enormous" propaganda victory, but Karnow said the communists staged it to affect the people of Vietnam, not those in America. Five years after Tet, America withdrew from Vietnam and two years after that the North Vietnamese captured Saigon and the war ended. My opinion is that if it had not been for the media, the American public would not have been turned against the war, would not have elected a congress that abandoned the South Vietnamese. Granted the Army made a lot of mistakes but many were forced upon it. Remember in WW II the naval blockade cut off the flow of raw material, the air forces bombed the factories and transportation systems and the armies on the ground took care of the rest. In Vietnam, the factories were in China, North Korea, and Russia. We would have had to bomb them to stop the flow of supplies. Then too, we could have bombed the main ports of entry for these supplies. But opinion's are like part of your anatomy, everybody has one. What's yours? I recently acquired a book, published in 1997 titled, "SMART WEAPONS'. It is supposed to be : THE TOP SECRET HISTORY OF REMOTE CONTROLLED AIRBORNE WEAPONS Authors were Hugh McDaid and David Oliver. 208 pages, many color photographs and was published by Barnes and Noble, Inc. copyright 1997, ISBN no ISBN 0-7607-0760-X. It is mostly color photographs of RPVs, sme black and white photos from the early years such as the WW II V 1 rocket and some photos from the Vietnam era Originally sold for $17.98, but I got it on sale reduced to $8.99. There is little if any technical information about the insides of the RPVs so I would say the book is worth $8.99 but not $17.98. It is however the first book of it's kind and it does include Desert Storm RPVs. Obit Notice: Samuel Cummings, 71 a former CIA employee who became one of the world's leading arms merchants died Wednesday, April 29 in Monaco. Mr. Cummings founded Interarms. a gun dealership based in Arlington, Va., that has more than 200 employees and an inventory of almost half a million guns. He brokered arms deals for numerous wars, conflicts, and revolutions since the 1950's. He was widely interviwed during the Iran -Contra scandal of the mid 1980s because of his expertise in international arms dealing. Several former Technical Intelligence personnel ended up working with or for Sam. Those of us who knew him will never forget him. Communication Equipment of the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong. This was an article that I wrote for a radio collector group that I belong to. I have had it reprinted and have added several pages of color photos. 18 pages of text and 8 pages of color photos. It is available from me for $15.00 which covers costs and postage. If interested, contact me by mail. Received word from Paul Kuzmich that the proposed 525th M.I. Group reunion was cancelled due to lack of participants. The 519th Reunion is still on for 1999 in Fayetteville, North Carolina. 1998 Editorial Calendar and Bonus Distributions National Defense Magazine April 1998 Special Operations - The latest news from the special operations and low-intensity conflict symposium in Washington, DC, will be the focus of this exclusive report, including the newest technologies displayed by contractors. Environment - As the Pentagon continues its efforts to clean up contaminated sites nationwide, industry is seeking to develop increasingly advanced technologies to help the government slash cleanup costs. Some of these technologies will be explained in this feature. Bonus Distributions: •Chem-Bio APBI, Laurel, MD •24th Environmental Symposium and Exhibition, Tampa, FL •Integrated Family of Test Equipment, Huntsville, AL •Gun & Ammo, Tampa, FL •Precision Strike, Laurel, MD •Atlanta XXIV, Atlanta, GA •Strike Surface & Anti-Air Warfare Quarterly Meeting, Laurel, MD •STRICOM, NAWCTSD, USAF TSPG Training Systems Briefing, Orlando, FL •Fuze, Munitions Technology & SPC, San Diego, CA •International Training & Education Conference and Exhibition (ITEC), Lausanne, Switzerland •Vehicle Technology, Dearborn, MI •Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) APBI, Washington, DC News Flash: John Rollins was re elected in the primary and is unopposed in the General Election. Good show John. This was a long issue. Hope that you enjoyed it. Let's hear from some of you with some personal anecdotes and or information. THE WILLIAM L. HOWARD ORDNANCE TECHNICAL INTELLIGENCE MUSEUM e-mail wlhoward@gte.net Telephone AC 813 585-7756 Back issues of this publication are available from the author. *********************************************** ON THE COMMERCIAL FRONT; Dennis, Over the years, I have had several people contact me wanting to find the missing tubes from the so called"Luftwaffe Troop Entertainment Radio" These tubes have been impossible to find. I just bought some stuff from Gary Schneider, Playthings of the Past and among the items he has for sale are three of the five tubes needed for this set. They were very reasonable, averaging about $4.00 per tube. If anyone in the group is interested, they can contact Gary by e-mail but he is slow to answer. Think he checks it once a week. These tubes are also used in some other WW II German sets but I do not have a listing of them. Bill Howard THE WILLIAM L. HOWARD ORDNANCE TECHNICAL INTELLIGENCE MUSEUM e-mail wlhoward@gte.net Telephone AC 813 585-7756 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Louisiana Museum of Military History, due to financial realities will be will be moving to smaller quarters. We have been asked to help liquidate some of the Commo gear. Below is the first list of equipment that's been made available. If you have an interest in any item contact Joe below via email and he'll pass along any needed info. AM-1780 untested but good condition $ 25 AM-2060 with cable $ 95 ART-13 untested but good condition $ 150 AS-2851 30-80 log periodic complete $ 125 BB-451 NOS with electrolyte kit $ 185 BB-451 used $ 100 BC-611 details later BC-639 untested but good condition $ 35 CPRC-26 with most accessories $ 70 CU-2267/GR Five unit multicoupler - with two spare F-1482 $ 125 CY-6121/PRC-74 Wet cell battery box $ 25 DY-105 untested but looks good $ 45 DY-105 no dynamotor $ 25 GRA-71 almost complete $ 125 GRC / VRC lots of cables ASK GRC-106A RT and AM- with cables, base mount and handset - working $ 650 GRC-109 details later GRR-5 ASK MD-522 with cables $ 100 PPS-4 complete except for optical sight $ 300 PRC-10 with accessories $ 100 PRC-25 with accessories $ 300 PRC-41 with antenna and PP-3700 AC power supply - working $ 175 PRC-68 with handset, antenna and battery - working but a little rough $200 PRC-68 with handset, antenna and battery - working, good condition $ 235 PRC-77 with accessories $ 350 PRC-90 with battery - working $ 100 PRC-90 with battery - no 282.8 transmit $ 50 PRR-9/PRT-4A working w/manual copy $ 50 R-392 good condition with power cable $ 200 R-442 working, good condition $ 225 RT-524A unchecked $ 300 RT-524A working $ 500 RT-68 no meter $ 40 RT-858/PPS-6 RT only Make offer Russian 62R1 VHF cargo pocket transceiver with mike and dipole wire antenna - ASK Make offer Russian R-105 no accessories $ 100 Russian R-123M with power supply and control box $ 200 TRC-77 untested but good condition $ 75 TS-323 good condition $ 35 TT-722/TG untested $ 50 ITEMS NOT FOR EXPORT All reasonable offers will be considered All items plus shipping Payment to: Glen Thibodeaux c/o Louisiana Museum of Military History P. O. Box 92110 Lafayette, LA 70509 If folks would just contact me directly, I will take care of getting things to Glen. Joseph W Pinner EMail: kc5ijd@sprintmail.com Looking for PRC-64 accessories, G-43 or G-58 generator and M-1 Carbines / accessories. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PRC-70 SELECTOR ASSEMBLY, UNUSED, FOREST GREEN. NSN 5820-01-092-5904, ALSO CALLED THE A1 MODULE. THIS IS PART OF THE FRONT PANEL, WITH 6 FREQUENCY KNOBS AND READOUTS, CONTROLS FOR POWER, MODE, VOLUME AND SQUELCH. INCLUDES THE PRINTED CURCUIT BOARD WITH MICROPROCESSER. $60 EA. PLUS SHIPPING STEVE HANEY HANEY ELECTRONIC CO tc0654@mesh.net ed) Steve has a list of manuals available on request via email. *********************************************** HUMOR; A Cowboy's Guide to Life. Never squat with yer spurs on. There are two theories to arguin' with a woman...neither one works. Don't worry about bitin' off more than you can chew, your mouth is probably a whole lot bigger'n you think. If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' someone else's dog around. After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut. If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'. Never smack a man who's chewin' tobacco. It don't take a genius to spot a goat in a flock of sheep. Never ask a barber if he thinks you need a haircut. Never follow good whiskey with water, unless you're out of good whiskey. Good judgement comes from experience; experience comes from bad judgement. Always drink upstream from the herd. Never drop your gun to hug a grizzly. If you're ridin' ahead of th herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it's still there. When you give a lesson in meanness to a critter or a person, don't be surprised if they learn their lesson. When you're throwin' your weight around, be ready to have it thrown around by somebody else. Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier n' puttin' it back. Always take a good look at what you're about to eat. It's not so important to know what it is, but it's critical to know what it was. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it over and put it back your pocket. Never miss a good chance to shut up. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here are some interesting facts to mull over: Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846. John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946. Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860. John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960. The names Lincoln and Kennedy each contain seven letters. Both were particularly concerned with civil rights. Both wives lost their children while living in the White House. Both Presidents were shot on a Friday. Both were shot in the head. Here is an interesting one... Lincoln's secretary was named Kennedy. Kennedy's secretary was named Lincoln. Both were assassinated by Southerners. Both were succeeded by Southerners. Both successors were named Johnson. Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808. Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908. John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln was born in 1839. Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy was born in 1939. Both assassins were known by their three names. Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater. Booth ran from a theater and was caught in a warehouse. Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials. And last but not least, A week before Lincoln was shot he was in Monroe, Maryland. A week before Kennedy was shot he was in Marilyn Monroe. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Noah in modern times: And the Lord spoke to Noah and said: "In six months I'm going to make it rain until the whole earth is covered with water and all the evil people are destroyed. But I want to save a few good people, and two of every kind of living thing on the planet. I am ordering you to build Me an Ark." And in a flash of lightning he delivered the specifications for an Ark. "OK," said Noah, trembling in fear and fumbling with the blueprints. "Six months, and it starts to rain," thundered the Lord. "You'd better have my Ark completed, or learn how to swim for a very long time." And six months passed. The skies began to cloud up and rain began To fall. The Lord saw that Noah was sitting in his front yard, weeping. And there was no Ark. "Noah," shouted the Lord, "where is my Ark?" A lightning bolt crashed into the ground next to Noah. "Lord, please forgive me!" begged Noah. "I did my best. But there were big problems. First I had to get a building permit for the Ark construction project, and your plans didn't meet code. So I had to hire an engineer to redraw the plans. Then I got into a big fight over whether or not the Ark needed a fire sprinkler system. My neighbors objected, claiming I was violating zoning by building the Ark in my front yard, so I had to get a variance from the city planning commission. Then I had a big problem getting enough wood for the Ark because there was a ban on cutting trees to save the Spotted Owl. I had to convince U.S. Fish and Wildlife that I needed the wood to save the owls. But they wouldn't let me catch any owls. So no owls. Then the carpenters formed a union and went out on strike. I had to negotiate a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board before anyone would pick up a saw or a hammer. Now we have 16 carpenters going on the boat, and still no owls. Then I started gathering up animals, and got sued by an animal rights group. They objected to me taking only two of each kind. Just when I got the suit dismissed, EPA notified me that I couldn't complete the Ark without filing an environmental impact statement on your proposed flood. They didn't take kindly to the idea that they had no jurisdiction over the conduct of a Supreme Being. Then the Army Corps of Engineers wanted a map of the proposed new flood plain. I sent them a globe. Right now I'm still trying to resolve a complaint from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over how many Croatians I'm supposed to hire, the IRS has seized all my assets claiming I'm trying to avoid paying taxes by leaving the country, and I just got a notice from the state about owing some kind of use tax. I really Don't think I can finish your Ark for at least another five years," Noah wailed. The sky began to clear. The sun began to shine. A rainbow arched across the sky. Noah looked up and smiled. "You mean you're not going to destroy the earth?" Noah asked, hopefully. "No," said the Lord sadly, "Government already has." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We are in the process of buying a home. When you buy a home you deal with realtors. Realtors are people who did not make it as used-car salesmen. -- Bob Newhart *********************************************** (The preceding was a product of the"Military Collector Group Post", an international email magazine dedicated to the preservation of history and the equipment that made it. Unlimited circulation of this material is authorized so long as the proper credits to the original authors, and publisher are included. For more information conserning this group contact Dennis Starks at, military-radio-guy@juno.com) ***********************************************