RedState Watercooler, 9/13 Open Thread - In Memoriam: Jerry Pournelle

#NotInMYNameWelcome back to another installment of the Watercooler, RedState’s daily Open Thread! Today, we’ve got another somber one, with news of another passing.

IN MEMORIAM: Jerry Pournelle

Some know him as a sci-fi writer, tech dorks remember him as a computer scientist, and politics wonks remember him as one of the Rocket Scientists who made Missile Defense possible. Not many also know that Dr. Jerry Pournelle was also a noted wheelgun connoisseur, and was a Prepper author before Prepping even became a thing.

Vaya con Dios, Doc. We Are Diminished by your loss.

This Week In History

• Sunday, 9/10: John Smith elected Jamestown council president, 1608; Battle of Lake Erie, 1813; New York IND subway line opens, 1932
• Monday, 9/11: Battle of Brandywine, 1777; victory at Plattsburgh, 1814; Allied counteroffensive hits German soil, 1944
• Tuesday, 9/12: Pershing launches St. Mihiel offensive, 1918; Lascaux cave paintings discovered, 1940; 50th Shuttle misssion “Flight of Firsts” launched, 1992
• Wednesday, 9/13: NYC named temporary capital, 1788; Scott takes Chapultepec, 1847; Lee’s Antietam battle plans intercepted, 1862
• Thursday, 9/14: Key pens Star-Spangled Banner, 1814; McKinley succumbs to assassin’s bullet, 1901; baseball season canceled by strike, 1994
• Friday, 9/15: Confederates take Harper’s Ferry, 1862; Battle of Pelelieu begins, 1944; F-86 Sabre sets 671mph speed record, 1948
• Saturday, 9/16: Siege of SAvannah begins, 1779; Cherokee Strip land run, 1893; Xerox 914, first successful photocopier, introduced, 1959

Today’s Birthdays: Physician Walter Reed, 1851; chocolatier Milton Hershey, 1857; General John J. Pershing, 1860; politician Pete Roskam, 1961.

Holidays Around the World: It’s National Chocolate Day. The UK, Africa and Latin America commemorate Roald Dahl Day, Mauritius observes Engineers’ Day and internationally it’s Day of the Programmer.

This Week In History is compiled with assistance from History.com and Wikipedia. Something interesting not listed here? Please share in the Comments section–this is an Audience Participation Encouraged featurette.

Gratuitous Gun Giveaways

• *American Handgunner magazine, for a Glock 19 Gen 5 9mm pistol, Coonan Arms .357 Magnum 1911 pistol, or Taurus Air-Lite .38 revolver (Taurus ends TODAY!): http://americanhandgunner.com/giveaway/
• *Guns Magazine, for a Coonan Arms .357 Magnum 1911 pistol, EAA Tanfoglio pistol or BlackSword Scythe AR15 package: http://gunsmagazine.com/giveaway/
• Davidson’s Gallery of Guns, for a 7mm Remington 700 American Wilderness Rifle or Remington V3 Field Sport 12ga shotgun: https://ggg.galleryofguns.com/
• *Aero Precision, for a custom AR15: http://gvwy.io/xonvd81
• Classic Firearms, for a VEPR-12 Kalashnikov-action shotgun: https://www.classicfirearms.com/contest/win-a-russian-vepr-shotgun
• Springfield Armory and CrossBreed Holsters, for $5000 of 1911 pistols and gear: https://www.crossbreedholsters.com/end-of-summer-5k-giveaway

*Note: FMG Publishing giveaways require you to provide an FFL dealer’s info at entry. Aero Precision giveaways give me one entry each per person who uses my referral link.

 

Quote of the Day

In memory of Jerry Pournelle, and despite the re-run, todays QOTD is his Iron Law of Bureaucracy:

In any bureaucratic organization there will be two kinds of people:

 First, there will be those who are devoted to the goals of the organization. Examples are dedicated classroom teachers in an educational bureaucracy, many of the engineers and launch technicians and scientists at NASA, even some agricultural scientists and advisors in the former Soviet Union collective farming administration.

Secondly, there will be those dedicated to the organization itself. Examples are many of the administrators in the education system, many professors of education, many teachers union officials, much of the NASA headquarters staff, etc.

In every case the second group will gain and keep control of the organization. It will write the rules, and control promotions within the organization.

 

Now who could that description POSSIBLY sound like? Gee, let’s take a minute to think… As always, the Watercooler is an Open Thread.  Drink up, raid the snack table, and leave your own offerings in the Comment Section.

#NoQuarter #TheParty’sOver