This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Author: Dave Hardin

  • We just knew this was coming…

    We just knew this was coming…

    Police Seek Man Posing on Facebook as Navy Seal Who Helped Rescued Boys Trapped in Chiang Rai Cave

    CHONBURI – A Police spokesperson from the Sattahip Police station told Thai Media that members of the Navy Seals called on the Police yesterday to arrest a man living in Kalasin who is posing on Facebook as a Navy Seal.

    A Mr.Kittisak has photo-shopped himself on two sites with a fancy uniform and claims to mhave rescued the Moo Pa football team boys from the cave in Chiang Rai.

    Police said they believe he is doing this to impress the ladies.

    According to Navy records Mr.Kittisak was just a conscript with the rank of private for a short time in 2015.

    He is now a security guard in the north east, said Captain Anan Surawan as he filed a complaint with the cops.

    Kittisak faces serious trouble for claiming to be a Navy Seal – he could be jailed for five years and fined 100,000 baht reported Sanook.

  • Just a thought

    A picture is worth a thousand words.

  • Friday morning feel good stories

    Friday morning feel good stories

    From ALBUQUERQUE, NM

    Police in Albuquerque say a homeowner has fatally shot a suspected burglar who was breaking into his Foothills home.

    Officers were called to the house on reports of a shooting about 5 a.m. Thursday.

    When police arrived, they reported finding a man dead in the driveway of a townhouse.

    A man and woman who live in the home told police that an alarm alerted them to a break-in.

    The man fired at least one shot at the intruder.

    Police have not identified the dead man and haven’t released the names of the homeowners.

    They say the case will be turned over to the District Attorney’s Office to see if anyone should be charged.

    From Titusville, FL

    Axel Rivera, 28, was wearing a two-piece jail outfit and a pair of flip-flops when he faced a judge Friday afternoon on charges of burglary and exposing sexual organs.

    That’s three more items of clothing than Titusville police said Rivera was wearing when he was discovered on Pennelope Pettersen’s screened porch around 2 a.m.

    “I always look first. I opened the blinds and said, ‘What the hell? That’s not my cat,’” said Pettersen.

    Pettersen, who once worked in security and law enforcement, decided she’d give the intruder a fright.
    She popped out her teeth.

    “Grandma no teeth!” she shouted.

    At Rivera’s first appearance hearing, the prosecutor said alcohol may have been a factor.

    He’s being held at the Brevard County jail on $20,000 bail.

     

  • President Trump donates salary for veteran entrepreneurship

    President Trump donates salary for veteran entrepreneurship

    President Donald J. Trump speaks during an event at Fort Drum, New York, on August 13. President Trump visited the U.S. Army post to recongize Soldiers before signing the National Defense Authorization Act of 2019, which supports the Army’s six modernization priorities that will enable the Army to achieve its Vision by 2028. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Thomas Scaggs) 

    President Donald Trump on Wednesday donated his second quarter salary to a new Small Business Administration initiative to help veteran entrepreneurs, the second time this year he has given money to federal veterans initiatives, according to the White House.

    White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders announced the donation at a White House briefing on Wednesday. Linda McMahon, head of the Small Business Administration, accepted the $100,000 check, saying the funds “would be put to good use.”

    Agency officials plan to use the money to launch a new seven-month training program for transitioning troops looking at starting their own businesses. The program will be based on the existing Emerging Leaders Initiative, but tailored to veteran-specific needs.

    The existing program includes classroom instruction as well as “opportunities for small business owners to work with experienced coaches and mentors, attend workshops, and develop connections.” McMahon called it a significant resource for veterans shifting from military to civilian life.

    White House officials requested a fiscal 2019 budget for the SBA of nearly $840 million, but McMahon said the $100,000 donation from the president represented an important contribution to their work.

    During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump promised to forgo the traditional Oval Office salary and instead donate that money to various federal departments.

    Previous donations by Trump went to the Department of Transportation for infrastructure repair, the National Park Service for battlefield preservation, the Department of Education for support programs and the Department of Health and Human Services for opioid management programs.

    I wonder how much more this President has to give to veteran causes in order to catch up with all the money and support given by the Clinton Foundation?  I still say we are getting a pretty damn good bang for our buck, I believe President Trump is only paid $1.00 a year.   Best buck I have spent in a long time.

  • Green Beret legend, Holocaust survivor, Vietnam veteran and retired two-star dies

    Green Beret legend, Holocaust survivor, Vietnam veteran and retired two-star dies

    Maj. Gen. Sidney Shachnow, Holocaust survivor, Vietnam veteran, and one of the top Army officers in Berlin during the Cold War died Friday. (Army)

    Maj. Gen. Sidney Shachnow, a survivor of the Holocaust, veteran of the Vietnam War, and one of the top Army officers in Berlin during the Cold War, died Friday at the age of 83, the Fayetteville Observer reported.

    Shachnow lived in Southern Pines, North Carolina, with his wife, Arlene, according to the Observer. He is survived by his wife, four daughters and more than a dozen grandchildren.

    The memorial service for Shachnow will be held Oct. 13 at Boles Funeral Home in Southern Pines.

    Shachnow retired from the Army in 1994, after 40 years of active-duty service.

    Born in Kaunas, Lithuania, he witnessed the horrors of World War II from the confines of a forced labor camp.

    Shachnow was only 7 years old when he was imprisoned. Though laborers often starved or were beaten to death, he somehow survived until the end of World War II, according to a 1992 New York Times profile of Holocaust survivors.

    His father escaped German detention and fought out the rest of the war against the Nazis with a partisan resistance group. His mother, though, was sent to a concentration camp.

    The three would eventually reunite and move to the United States, where Shachnow eventually enlisted in the U.S. Army, according to his biography with the Jewish Institute for National Security of America.

    He later entered Officer Candidate School at the rank of sergeant first class and was commissioned as an infantry officer.

    Shachnow would eventually serve more than 32 years in the Special Forces community, including two deployments to Vietnam, the Observer reported.

    Throughout his career, Shachnow served as a commander or staff officer with infantry, mechanized infantry, airborne and Special Forces units.

    Among his top assignments were stints commanding the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, U.S. Army Special Forces Command at Fort Bragg, and U.S. Army-Berlin in Germany.

    Shachnow was the recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Silver Star with Oak Leaf Clusters, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Clusters and “V” device, the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Meritorious Service Medal with two Oak Leaf clusters, the Air Medal with the numeral “12”, the Army Commendation Medal with two Oak Leaf clusters and “V” device, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Master Parachutist Badge, the Ranger Tab, and the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross.

  • Thursday morning feel good stories

    Thursday morning feel good stories

    From Sandtown, DE

    Trespasser shot in barn where horse was molested in August.

    The owner of a barn near Sandtown, where a miniature horse was violated with an object in August, shot a man trespassing in the barn on Tuesday night.

    State police said the homeowners of a house on Pony Track Road, a 73-year-old man and his 65-year-old wife, went to the barn around 9:30 p.m. after an alarm alerted them to an intruder. There was a 45-year-old man inside and the male homeowner shot him in the legs, state police said.

    State police said they’re investigating the incident as a burglary and as a shooting. State police said the man was taken to the hospital, but no charges have been filed yet.

    Police wouldn’t say whether the incidents are related, but in August someone entered the barn and assaulted a horse inside. The Delmarva Equine Clinic in a Facebook post said the animal had been “sexually molested” with an object, which caused serious trauma.

    “My best guess is it wasn’t a human, but most likely an object,” said Dr. Amy Franklin at Country Roads Veterinary Service, who treated the miniature horse after the August attack. “I have never seen anything quite like this in 18 years of practice.”

    Police have not said whether the incidents are related.

    From Middle Valley, TN

     Hamilton County Sheriff’s deputies are responding after shots were fired at a home right across from Middle Valley Elementary Tuesday night.

    According to the HCSO, four masked individuals tried to enter a home, at which point they and the homeowner fired shots at each other.

    Deputies say that it doesn’t look like anyone was hit in the exchange, and the masked suspects ran away.

  • Is it time to expand the definition of ‘veteran?’

    A certain  Dr. Warren J. Blumenfeld thinks we are being too restrictive with who earns the title “Veteran”.

    I have long thought, though, about whom our country includes in its socially-constructed category of “veteran.” Currently, that classification remains limited to those honorably serving in our armed forces. And yes, this service and this profession has traditionally been determined by our society as honorable and noble work.

    Why, though, have we circumscribed the parameters of “veteran”? Why have we so limited its definition?

    Thinking can be hard … for some.  I have thoughts all the time.

    Can we as a nation begin now to consider expanding the category of “veteran” to include the diplomats and the mediators, those working in conflict resolution, and activists dedicated to preventing wars and to bringing existing wars to diplomatic resolution once they have begun? What about the practitioners of non-violent resistance in the face of tyranny and oppression?

    Individuals who stand up and put their lives on the line to defend our country from threats to our national security, as those in our nation’s military do, are true patriots and veterans. But true patriots and veterans are also those who speak out, stand up, and put their lives on the line by actively advocating for justice, freedom, and liberty through peaceful means.

    Looking over the history of humanity, it is apparent that tyranny could only be countered through the raising of arms. On numerous occasions, however, diplomacy has been successful, and at other times, it should have been used more extensively before rushing to war.

    It is unacceptable when one’s love of country is called into question when advocating for peaceful means of conflict resolution. It is also an act of patriotism to keep our brave troops out of harm’s way, and to work to create conditions and understanding that ultimately make war less likely.

    Keep your heads people, this Peace craze will blow over.  You can enjoy the entire article HERE. 

  • Army veteran withdraws from Kansas City mayor campaign to focus on depression and PTSD

    Army veteran withdraws from Kansas City mayor campaign to focus on depression and PTSD

     

     

    Jason Kander (Photo: Whitney Curtis/Getty Images)

    Jason Kander, army veteran, former Missouri secretary of state, and current Kansas City, Mo., mayoral hopeful, announced on Tuesday that he was withdrawing his candidacy. The reason for his withdrawal has sparked messages of support and kindness from people who want to see more attention paid to mental health awareness.

    Kander, a Democrat who was seen by many as the favorite to win the 2019 election, issued a statement on his websiteand his Facebook page announcing his decision to withdraw and to instead focus on his treatment for depression and PTSD.

    Kander served on a four-month tour in Afghanistan in 2006 as an army intelligence officer, investigating activities of al-Qaida and the Taliban. He told himself that he couldn’t “have PTSD … because [he] didn’t earn it.”

    Despite those feelings, four months ago he contacted the VA for help. “I went online and filled out the VA forms, but I left boxes unchecked — too scared to acknowledge my true symptoms. I knew I needed help and yet I still stopped short. I was afraid of the stigma. I was thinking about what it could mean for my political future if someone found out,” he wrote.

    He buried himself in his work, but despite becoming a best-selling author, leading an effective Let America Votecampaign, and finding out he was on track to raise more money than any Kansas City mayoral campaign ever had in a single quarter, Kander still found himself troubled enough to call the Veterans Crisis Line, where he acknowledged he had suicidal thoughts.

    “Instead of dealing with these issues, I’ve always tried to find a way around them. Most recently, I thought that if I could come home and work for the city I love so much as its mayor, I could finally solve my problems. I thought if I focused exclusively on service to my neighbors in my hometown, that I could fill the hole inside of me. But it’s just getting worse.

    So after 11 years of trying to outrun depression and PTSD symptoms, I have finally concluded that it’s faster than me. That I have to stop running, turn around, and confront it,” he wrote.

    He hopes that his honesty will help “veterans and everyone else across the country working through mental health issues realize that you don’t have to try to solve it on your own.” He added, “Most people probably didn’t see me as someone that could be depressed and have had PTSD symptoms for over decade, but I am and I have. If you’re struggling with something similar, it’s OK. That doesn’t make you less of a person.”

    Messages of support and gratitude are already pouring in.

    I do not know Jason Kander, I am glad he is seeking help.  I detest it when anyone makes a public spectacle out of being victimized by their service in the military.  I guess he will be seen as a humble hero for being so brave.  Raising “awareness” is a tough business.