Minion Mailbag - Feb 10, 2005

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader will use up some valuable free time to do what he can to push gay marriage posts from the Smallholder down the page. (As entertaining as they are...)

He figured he'd dip into the Minion Mailbag to cover a few little issues out there.

First, loyal reader and sometimes commenter "Powermfn" wrote your Maximum Leader to agree with him! Egads! What the hell is going on here? "Powermfn" agreeing with your Maximum Leader! And agreeing more or less unconditionally! Without quoting the message in full let it suffice to say that "Powermfn" felt that Super Bowl XXXIX was the most boring one she'd ever seen.

Your Maximum Leader agrees. That game was damned boring. The whole first half looked like a crappy exhibition game. Two teams trying to find something that worked. This is not to say that your Maximum Leader doesn't like defensive struggles, he does. But what makes a defensive struggle is an offence that is threatening to do something. Offence was conspicuously absent on both teams during the first half.

And what is worse... The commericals sucked too. If Niki Cappelli got naked for 'Go Daddy.com' that might have been okay. But since she didn't...

Second, follow up from the lovely (intelligent, desireable, available, and now in new brunette goddess style) Annika. She writes to your Maximum Leader about the main gun on the Abrams tank. Here is her message:

"..., i shouldn't have said that the Abrams' gun is "made" in Germany. it may be, but the only thing i've been able to verify by google is that it was "designed" by the Germans.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/m1a1.htm

it could very well be manufactured in the US under license from the Rheinmetall Corporation. if it is made under license here in the good ole usa, that would be a bit easier to swallow. Remember in WWI the Enfield and the Springfield rifles were basically rip-offs of the Mauser. But as is said, i haven't been able to google the location of manufacture for the M256. i will let you know if i find out."

Your Maximum Leader read over the links. Indeed, it is somewhat easier to stomach the knowledge that the M256 gun is manufactured in the US of A. But it is still quite annoying to think that it is made under license by a German firm. And Annika was nice enough to follow up with a forwarded message from her pal Matt. He writes:

I did a little googling of my own, and lots of sources of questionable reliability claim that it's manufactured under license by General Dynamics Land Sytems Division in the Lima, Ohio plant. I can't prove or disprove that. However, (1) GDLS clearly is the manufacturer of the Abrams; and (2) GDLS clearly has the capacity to produce that sort of gun. (See here: http://www.gdls.com/ Hover your pointer over "Programs" and then "Turret & Firepower Systems.") The Lima claim is very plausible but, again, I can't prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. Maybe not even by clear and convincing evidence!

So where does that leave us? It leaves your Maximum Leader wanting to believe that the M256 gun is made in Lima, Ohio. But there is a niggling doubt on that count. It would seem to be one hell of a security risk to have guns made in Germany and then transported to the US. But hell, what does your Maximum Leader know of these things.

It is still distressing when one thinks of how completely dependant on foreign made components for essential defence systems.

Carry on.