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

Author: Hondo

  • The CIA’s 2014 “Top-10 List”

    For the past several days, the CIA has been highlighting the most read articles it’s released this year for public consumption.  Naturally, they’re doing this on Twitter.

    However, some of their “top 10” are worthwhile reading.  I’ve written about the number one release here at TAH already – and I also appear to have perhaps linked to a substantially less-redacted version of the document than the one the CIA references in their top-10 list.  (smile).   If you haven’t read it, it’s IMO worth some time.  Be forewarned:  it’s lengthy.

    But there’s another gem on that list “top 10” list that’s even more worthwhile IMO.  Remember the movie “Argo”?  Well, number 7 on that list is the official CIA history of “Argau” – told by the man responsible for pulling it off – Antonio J. Mendez. 

    IMO it’s just as worthy of taking the time to read.  And it’s not as long as the other linked historical document.

     

    PS:   no, “Argau” above isn’t a misprint.  Read the linked history.  (smile) 

    Happy New Year to all.

  • A Follow Up on that VA “Waiting List” Scandal

    Remember Sharon Helman, former VA employee? She was the director of the VA Medical Center in Phoenix, AZ, when the “secret waiting list” scandal broke.

    After a VA internal investigation, she was fired.  Recently her termination was upheld on appeal. But it probably wasn’t upheld for the reasons you might think.

    Helman was alleged to have engaged in three forms of misconduct: (1) being responsible for delayed veterans healthcare and falsified data regarding medical appointments; (2) retaliation against whistle-blowers; and (3) receiving improper (and unreported) gifts from a former boss-turned-lobbyist.

    As it turns out, only one of those allegations were deemed an acceptable reason for her termination.

    The first allegation – delayed patient care and falsified data – was not accepted by the Administrative Law Judge hearing her case. The judge ruled that the VA had not provided sufficient proof of Helman’s culpability regarding that allegation. And while the judge did find that proof of the second allegation (whistle-blower retaliation) to be sufficient, he also ruled that Helman’s misconduct was not serious enough to warrant being fired.

    However, the third allegation thankfully turned out differently. The judge ruled that at least nine of the twelve (!) allegations against Helman regarding improper acceptance of unreported gifts were fully substantiated. On these grounds, he allowed her termination from the civil service to stand.

    The Arizona Republic/AZ Central site has an article with more details. When I read the article, I found those details fairly disgusting – so if you just ate, maybe you want to wait a while before you read the article.

    Helman was a senior executive at the VA. I’m guessing she was neither the finest nor the worst at her level within the agency.

    With people like this in senior positions, is there any wonder why the VA has serious problems?

  • Yer Sunday Oddity: Mac Sabbath

    For better or worse, McDonalds is an American cultural icon.  So is heavy metal music.

    And when the two meet, the result is . . . well, just plain weird.  In a kinda-creepy-but-it-works-anyway way.

    Enjoy – I think.  (smile)

    If you’re still “hungry” after that, here’s a second helping.

    Hey, I warned ya it was both kinda creepy and weird. (smile)

     

     

  • Sounds Kinda Like An “Enemies List” to Me

    A few years ago, a lady named Christine O’Donnell ran for the Senate in Delaware. She ran an, um, interesting campaign.

    She lost.

    One can argue whether or not she was a good candidate. I personally thought she was a poor candidate, ran at best a mediocre campaign, and that a better candidate could have won. But regardless, she managed to parlay that experience – and the publicity it generated – into a new gig. She now writes a column for the Washington Times Communities.

    Ms. O’Donnell is quite conservative. She was a Tea Party favorite when she ran for the Senate.

    However, for the past few years she’s been having a bit of trouble with a certain Federal agency. Let’s see – she’s conservative and writes a column for a conservative publication. Gee, what Federal agency do you think might be giving her a hard time?

    If you guessed the IRS, give yourself a pat on the back. Yeah, the same IRS that has been proven grossly biased against conservatives – giving conservative organizations filing for nonprofit status the “slow-roll” treatment, while expediting the processing of those who are politically liberal and/or well-connected.

    The IRS has now reportedly frozen Ms. O’Donnell’s bank accounts. In error. For the second time in the last 5 years. And the IRS also reportedly removed $30,000 from her accounts when it froze them – which has yet to be returned.

    If you or I pulled a stunt like that, it would probably be called “theft by deception”, fraud, or something similar,  We’d almost certainly be on the “hot seat” being grilled by Federal LEOs.

    But here, it’s the IRS doing it to a public figure of the opposite political philosophy than the current      DC clown krewe in charge      Administration.  So it’s seemingly A-OK.

    You know, I can’t help but contrast this incident to stuff I remember from years ago. When employees of a certain past former POTUS pulled similar stunts, it was called “dirty tricks” and an “enemies list”; the press raised hell about it. But today, for the current Administration it seems to be just “business as usual” – and the press doesn’t seem to give a damn.

    “Most transparent administration in history”? Well, maybe. If you’re talking most transparently willing to abuse the power of the Federal bureaucracy to retaliate against its political enemies, that is.

    And meanwhile from the press we hear . . . nada.  They seem unable to pull their thumbs out of their keisters and write anything

  • Yeah, We’re Really Succeeding in Reining In NORKLand

    By now, everyone’s heard the response of the      feckless fool ‘s festival in DC    current Administration to North Korea’s alleged cyber attack on Sony Pictures.  They’ve got to stand up for their most reliable political supporters, I guess.

    But just how well has the current     clueless DC clown krewe     handled North Korea’s nuclear program? Based on recent reporting by Bloomberg.com, not so well.

    North Korea has pretty much told the world to go pound sand regarding the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty for years. It has continued its nuclear weapons development programs with hardly a break in stride for the last several years.

    Just how bad has this administration fumbled this? Well, the low-end estimate is that North Korea will possess enough enriched uranium and/or weapons-grade plutonium in about 5 years to fabricate 33 nuclear weapons. The high-end estimate? They’ll have enough material for nearly 80 – 79, to be precise.

    Yeah, the NORKS produce some pretty lousy nukes.  But while 5 to 10 kT isn’t exactly the second coming of the Big Bang, it’s not exactly a firecracker either.

    This article has more details. It’s worth reading.

    I guess we should be glad that the current Administration is such a big fan of missile defense, and has devoted so much time/effort/money into developing same.   And yes – for anyone who didn’t catch it, that last sentence was indeed pure sarcasm.

  • Seven Return

    DPMO has announced the identification of an additional seven US MIAs from the Korean War.

    • SFC Earl E. Hilgenberg, E Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, US Army, was lost 2 November 1950 in North Korea. He was accounted for 17 November 2014.
    • PFC Anthony Massey, Jr., C Company, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, US Army, was lost 28 Nov 1950 in North Korea. He was accounted for 5 December 2014.
    • SGT Gilberto L. Sanchez, Medical Company, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 31st Regimental Combat Team, US Army, was lost 2 December 1950 in North Korea. He was accounted for 25 November 2014.
    • CPL Francis D. Knobel, Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, US Army, was lost 12 December 1950 in North Korea. He was accounted for 10 December 2014.
    • SFC Class Gordon L. Hannah, K Company, 3rd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, US Army, was lost 28 January 1951 in North Korea. He was accounted for 3 December 2014.
    • CPL Abie L. Apodaca, Heavy Mortar Company, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, US Army, was lost 14 February 1951,in North Korea. He was accounted for 13 November 2014.
    • CPL Donald A. Therkelsen, Medical Company, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, US Army, was lost 17 July 1953 in North Korea. He was accounted for 2 December 2014.

    All of these individuals will be buried with full military honors.  Information on funeral arrangements is not currently available.

    Additionally, another fallen soldier from Korea – PFC Anthony R. La Rossa, 18, formerly of Brooklyn, NY – was interred earlier this week in Farmingdale, NY.  PFC La Rossa’s recovery and identification was previously announced here at TAH.

    You’re home now, my elder brothers-in-arms. Rest in peace.

    . . .

    Over 73,000 US personnel remain unaccounted for from World War II; over 7,800 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War; and over 1,600 remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia (SEA). Comparison of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from recovered remains against mtDNA from a matrilineal descendant can assist in providing a positive ID for those recovered remains.

    Unfortunately, JPAC has recently reorganized their web site; they no longer seems to provide by-name lists of the MIAs for whom there is a need for mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) samples to assist in possible identification of remains. So if you have a relative that is still MIA from World War II, Korea, or SEA – please consider reading this JPAC fact sheet to see if you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample.

    If you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample and have a relative from World War II, Korea, or SEA who is still MIA, please contact JPAC (there is an 866 number on the flier linked above) and see if they already have a mtDNA sample for your missing relative. If not, please arrange to submit a sample. By submitting a mtDNA sample, you may be able to help identify US remains that have been recovered and repatriated but not yet positively identified.

    Everybody deserves a proper burial. That’s especially true for those who gave their all while serving this nation.

  • Yer Friday Funny: Bombing the Crap Out of the Enemy

    We hear that phrase from time to time.  But it’s rarely done in practice.

    However, check out this little gem from Vietnam:


     

    Yes, that is EXACTLY what you think it is slung under the wing of that aircraft (an A-1H belonging to the US Navy’s VA-25).  For the details, check out this story about VA-25 in Vietnam.   An alternate version may be found here, with video (if you can get it to run – I can’t).

    No word on whether the intended target for that unique bit of “ordnance” was a VC field latrine.  (smile)  Regardless, hopefully the lads packed the damn thing full of C4 and rigged it to blow when the nose fuse went off.

    You nautical types are sometimes kinda weird.  But we still love ya like brothers (and sisters) anyway.  (smile)

     

    Hat tip to Poetrooper for the first link above.

  • Aww . . . Aren’t They So Cute When Their Eyes Finally Open?

    Vermont is an . . . interesting state.  They have some true      Communist idiots      lost-in-the-past Socialists       Progressives in high places there.

    Who?  Well, like their      good Communist      self-avowed Socialist Senator, Bernie Sanders.  And their highly Progressive Governor, Peter Shumlin.

    Shumlin has been advocating a “single payer” medical care system in Vermont for some time.  (For those who aren’t fluent in Progressive NewSpeak, that essentially means “government-run Socialized medicine paid for by your taxes”.)  It was planned to go into effect in 2017.

    However, Shumlin has now thrown in the towel on single payer.   It’s not going to happen.

    Hey, you don’t suppose the fact that paying for it would have required an 11.5% payroll tax – plus an additional income tax of up to 9.5% – had anything to do with that, do you?  Plus the fact that a report prepared for the governor on Vermont’s proposed single payer system indicated that implementing single payer medical care would not save money?

    Well, yes – those facts did have something to do with it.  Even that good      Socialist tool      Progressive fella Shumlin finally figured out that simply wasn’t affordable and just wasn’t going to work.  Reality smacked him in the head and made him listen – after, unfortunately, much time and many Vermont taxpayer dollars had been wasted.

    Took him long enough.  Anyone with common sense could have told him that on day one.

    Here’s the problem:  on the surface, the idea of getting free sh!t sounds great.  The problem is that when it comes to real goods and services, “free” . . . doesn’t really exist.  One way or another, someone always pays for it.  That’s called “basic economics”.  That fact is succinctly summarized in the following nine words:  “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch”.

    And if it’s government-provided “free” sh!t, guess who’s paying for it?  Yep – taxpayers.  You and me.

    Even dyed-in-the-wool Progressives like Shumlin sometimes are forced to acknowledge the above truths.  Problem is, sometimes it takes them getting whacked in the head by reality before they acknowledge the truth.