On a summer Saturday night, Eric and Dave get together to talk about the longest submarine in the world, the relief of the CO of USS Scranton - or evaluations and ranks - that big Russian super torpedo, underwater robot detection, US Subs in Faslane and what's going on a summer Saturday night...

E=MC2

What does that well known equation mean? Not in the mathematical sense. Not in the physical sense... what does it... you know... mean?

For much of my life, I saw it as the key that unlocked certain forms of energy, for both good and bad. But there came a moment, reading a book at lunch, when it was like the figurative light bulb went on for me. The implications of the equation along with the scientific theory it supports were laid before me with the wonder of a young boy looking for the first time through a telescope.

I don't want to spend a lot of time on Einstein today... the concept is important, the details are not. The opening up of understanding is an amazing moment, rarely experienced in full. when it is, it is transformative and it ignites passionate fire.

Last week on Dave Does History*, I said something, related my reading and studying, and in that moment, it was like Relativity had been laid before me yet again, in a more expansive way...

In the early weeks of 1776, Independence favor was fanned by the publication of the most influential and best selling book ever published in America. Thomas Paine had arrived in the Colonies about a year earlier with a letter of introduction from Ben Franklin and immediately and set out to continue his legacy of failure at everything he tried.

Until he took the ideas of the enlightenment and put pen to pap and produced a book that soon had every person in the colonies discussing a single idea: Independence.

That fever led villages, towns, counties all over the colonies declaring their Independence from the King. And it led the Continental congress to act, and on July 4, 1776, they would issue the Declaration that was - and still is - heard around the world. They founded a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated tot he proposition that all men are created equal... an idea to which the men who wrote those words knew they weren't living.

But they also believed in the future, Americans would find a way to preserve and expand those ideas...

The Sub Vets are joined by Ryan Ramsey, former commanding Officer of HMS Turbulent to talk about merry old England, politics, submarines and leadership...

“The harsh reality of life is that sooner or later, your beliefs will find themselves tested. It’s easy to say, “I believe this…” and maybe even mean it. Because until whatever belief it is has actually been tested it is just a belief.”

I wrote those words about ten or so days ago, after receiving some rather disturbing personal news. I was upset about the realization that a belief that had been held for a lifetime suddenly seemed out of play.

Now, from a religious viewpoint, that’s devastating enough. But what happens when said belief is your actual life’s purpose? In high school, I read the Book “Lord Jim,” which became one of the most influential books in my life (the movie is good too), particularly in those moments, rare though they are, when my own weaknesses come up against my ideals. It’s a lesson that I keep forefront in my thinking.

I don’t know what will be the final accounting in Uvalde. At this point, nobody does. But I do know this…. there are a lot of questions about what people say that they believe versus what they did when the moment came…

A few months ago we and a caller who was of the opinion that "only a few" guys actually "did anything" at the 1787 Constitutional Convention. The idea is one that many people might have, simply because they just don't know anything about anybody except the few names that bubble to the top of the historical bottle. But if you uncork that bottle, you get a wonderful bouquet of ideas and of people that you have never heard anything about before.

Sitting in that room in Philadelphia was a man who was one of the calming and guiding hands on the tiller. When the "four masters" gathered as the committee of style*, it was this man, William Samuel Johnson, who chaired the committee that would oversee the final draft of the Constitution.

He was a man who had come late to the American Revolution. In fact, he had once been arrested by the Patriots for communicating with the enemy. Once American Independence was declared, he was fully on board with his new country. It shouldn't have been a surprise. He came from a legacy of inventing new ways of doing things.

In fact, you could make the argument that it was his father who actually invented America...

*Gouverneur Morris, James Madison, Rufus King and Alexander Hamilton

I got up one morning last week and I knew who Jesse Kelly is, but I had absolutely no idea who Haley Carter is. I didn't even know that there was a professional women's soccer team in Houston. I didn't know Haley Carter is from a town called "Friendswood, TX." Nor did I care that the town had named Haley Carter as the Grand Marshall of the Independence day Parade. I guess I have more important things to worry about, like catching up on my watching of Game 6 of the Stanley Cup.

So when it comes to the Jesse Kelly Show, there are things that I like about the show. The biggest one is that he hates callers. So do I. Simpatico!

That said...

I guess the real lesson here is to never say never, right?

A few years ago I couldn't see any possible way that Roe would be "overturned," but today we saw it happen. There will be a great deal of shrieking and gnashing of teeth and celebrations and finger pointing and yes, there will be violence because that's the inevitable result of emotional hemophiliacs (on both sides) not getting their way on something.

Ultimately though, the Dobbs Ruling is far less impactful on your liberty and rights than other rulings that have and are still to come. It just happens to be the one that most people are passionate about, because it's a way to control other peoples behavior, so it's the one about which the shrieking will be loudest.

Personally, I am still concerned about the Vega Ruling, which came down on Tuesday and essentially left the status quo in place, creating a huge grey area in which law enforcement may choose to violate procedure without penalty. To that end, I see our purpose now is to educate every American as to their rights under the 5th Amendment and how to deflect the Police from doing so... without penalty.

And as a staunch advocate of the Separation of Church and State, I remain deeply concerned about the Kennedy Case, which has not yet been delivered (yes, I realize that by the time you hear this episode, it may very well have already been ruled upon).

In a few weeks, Americans will head to the polls. democrats will screech for the next months that ABORTION RIGHTS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE EVAH! They are not, but in the context of elections, what actually is important doesn't matter. My personal position hasn't changed, and I am betting that neither has anybody else's.

What has changed is that the direction of the country, like a small meteor a billion miles from earth being nudged ever so slightly by the gravity of a large gas giant, has changed.

Where it impacts now, is the real question... because, you can never say never when it comes to something that is inevitable...

Dave Anderson is a former EM1(SS) who served aboard USS Parche SSN-683. Later he was picked up in the Enlisted Commissioning Program, graduating from North Carolina State University and serving aboard USS Wyoming SSBN-742(B) and and USS Greenville SSN-772.

He has written books and today runs a very successful business, but his passion is for helping people to become better at whatever they choose to do. He is a lifelong Los Angeles rams fan, and he loves to ride motorcycles.

Eric and Dave sat down with him to talk about his time in the Navy, his view of recent events, his charitable foundation and his books...

It's the first full day of summer, and I am still not 100%. My voice continues to fail me when I need it most. That said, there are some things about which I have been thinking...