This should be the streaming video for the MOH Ceremony for SGT Kyle J. White, US Army. Hopefully I haven’t dorked up the embed code. And that the White House web site wasn’t done by the same folks who did HealthCare.gov. (smile)
Ceremony’s at 1500 EDT, so you’ll probably see Opie Jay Carney shoveling more bullsh!t giving a press briefing if you tune in early.
Don’t forget to wave if you see Jonn and TSO. (smile)
We’ve written more than once before here on TAH about issues with the US Secret Service (previous articles can be found here and here and here). Well, it looks like there’s another issue or two now coming to light.
It seems as if agents assigned to duties protecting the POTUS were on multiple occasions diverted to another task. Specifically, they appear to have been sent to check on the “well being” of the Director’s assistant, who “was being harassed by her neighbor.”
For a period of time, agents were sent twice a day to a small town in SE Maryland roughly and hour’s drive from the White House. Agents involved
. . . . thought the reassignment was a potentially illegal use of government resources. They were concerned enough about their own liability that they kept records of their involvement and their superiors’ instructions.
In at least one case, agents were diverted from an assignment patrolling the Ellipse shortly before the POTUS was to depart the White House via helicopter. Such times are periods of enhanced White House security.
When reached for comment, the former US Secret Service Director involved – Mark Sullivan
. . . . said through a spokesman that he did not personally order the 2011 checks on his assistant’s home and that a supervisor in his office authorized the visits. He said that he learned of the checks after they began and that to his knowledge, they were done for just a few days and were “appropriate.”
The Washington Post has a decent article on the agents’ diversion. It’s IMO worth reading.
Think the Holder-led Justice Department will actually investigate this case thoroughly? And maybe even hold someone criminally liable for misuse of government resources?
Nah. Me neither.
Hawaii’s health insurance exchange – called “The Connector” – was awarded approximately $200 million in Federal subsidies. To date, it’s spent about $100 million of those subsidies.
Turns out it’s done just about as well the ObamaCare exchanges in Oregon. Or Maryland.
So, just how many people has The Connector signed up? Less than 10,000 – 9,217 individuals plus 628 of its own employees and dependents, to be precise. And it’s raised just a bit over $40,000 in user fees ($40,350).
The bottom line: The Connector has spent roughly $10,100 of Federal tax money per person it signed up. Yeah, that’s a “really good deal”.
In fact, it’s so bad that the CEO of Hawaii’s largest insurance provider has called for The Connector to be shut down. Sound familiar?
But don’t worry. In that socialist paradise Hawaii, they’ve got this under control.
All they need is an unlimited supply of Federal money, and they’ll have it fixed “real soon now”.
The sooner we rid ourselves of this abomination called ObamaCare, the better.
PS: In case you were wondering, apparently the state-run exchanges in Nevada and Massachusetts are in p!ss-poor shape, too. Between them, they’ve burned through $260 million in Federal funds (or will have, when Massachusettes decides what they’re going to do with their exchange) – and neither works worth a damn. They’re both so bad that both states are currently considering trashing their in-house attempts to create a state-run exchange and using that exemplar of missing functionality, HealthCare.gov, instead.
Well, the MSNBC damnfool idiot pea-brain loudmouthed moron personality Ed Schultz has made waves again. And this time, he did it on Twitter.
Here’s a recent Tweet (since deleted) from Shultz. Fortunately, it was preserved for posterity before it was deleted:
Geez. What. A. Freaking. Tool.
Wonder if the rest of the libidiot mainstream media will call him on this bit of idiocy?
Personally, I’m guessing we’ll hear crickets. But I could be wrong.
We tend to give the French grief fairly often. And in truth, as a nation and a society they do have their faults. And they definitely also look out for French interests first.
Yet as I’ve written several times before, the French also have a true sense of national honor. They also remember those who’ve helped them in the past.
This was recently again proven. This time, the proof came at West Point, NY.
At a recent ceremony held there, 34 US World War II veterans were presented the French Legion of Honor. The presentation was part of events leading up to the celebration of the 70th Anniversary of D-Day this year. In the words of the Consul General of France Bertrand Lortholary:
“Seventy years have passed since then, and yet the memory of the sacrifice of American soldiers remains more vivid than ever in the villages of France — in Normandy, in Provence, in the Ardennes, whose cemeteries bear witness to war’s cost in life. I want to tell you that your example gives us inspiration for the future.”
The choice of location for the presentation was intentional. During his remarks, Lortholary also indicated his belief that it was important to express France’s gratitude before those who would become some of the next generation of US officers.
Today, we don’t always see 100% eye-to-eye with the French. And as I said above and have said elsewhere: the French indeed have their faults. But ingratitude and a short memory certainly don’t seem to be among them.
This Army Times article provides more details, and several photographs. If you have the time, IMO it’s worth a look.
Two years ago, a former NYPD cop was arrested. The charges were even in this day and age, still shocking: conspiracy to kidnap and murder women – then cook and eat them.
He was convicted. He’s currently incarcerated while a judge considers his request for a new trial. I guess you can say he’s awaiting his chance for a second bite at the big apple (yes, the double-pun here is intentional).
While incarcerated, like many prisoners he’s working at a prison job. He’s earning 44 cents an hour while working.
His job? He’s one of the prison’s cooks.
Coming soon, perhaps: Athiest Chaplains.
I suppose I’ve heard more foolish proposals. But at the moment, I can’t really say when.
From Fox News:
A source tells Fox News that the Military Association of Atheists and Free Thinkers plans to make the request on Tuesday, floating its president Jason Torpy as the proposed chaplain.
No, I’m not joking. The Fox article linked here has more details.
Somehow, I just don’t see this as making sense. I know Chaplains do far more than simply lead worship services. But I believe that there is indeed a religious component to a Chaplain’s duties. And besides, an “Atheist Chaplain” just seems like a freaking contradiction in terms to me.
However: given the way things have been going recently, I wouldn’t bet against seeing this implemented sometime in the next 2 1/2 years.
It’s beginning to look like the situation in the Ukraine is best described as “complex”.
Many have held that the pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine are nothing but puppets, acting at Moscow’s direction. While that could well be the case – and I’m sure Russia has a rather strong degree of influence on them – I’m not sure I agree that they’re “Russian puppets”. If they are, they seem to be pulling their own strings.
Russian President Vladimir Putin recently asked for east Ukrainian separatists to postpone the independence referendum scheduled for yesterday. However, those pro-Russian separatists refused to do so. They held the referendum anyway. (Results were suspect – reportedly they were heavily in favor of “independence” for parts of the eastern Ukraine, in spite of recent poll results showing a majority in favor of remaining a part of the Ukraine.)
It also doesn’t seem to be a simple “east/west” division within the Ukraine. In some respects, the country is indeed more-or-less divided into a western-leaning part in the west and a Moscow-leaning part in the east. That division is based both on politics and language (Ukrainian is the dominant language in the western part, while Russian is the majority language in the east).
However, other indications indicate that the situation is far more confused. Outside of the Crimea, legitimate and independent opinion polls show no clear preference for reunion with Russia. Even in the east, recent polls show that well over 50% of the population wants to remain a part of the Ukraine rather than reunify with Russia. But many (if not most) in the eastern Ukraine also say they don’t trust the new government in Kiev, either. (The population desiring to remain independent and trusting the Kiev government is obviously much higher in the western, Ukrainian-speaking portions of the Ukraine.)
Putin announced that he had ordered Russian troops to pull back from the eastern Ukrainian borders last Wednesday. A Pentagon spokesman indicated there had been no indications of such a pullback the following day.
Bottom line: this situation in the Ukraine is indeed All Fouled Up (AFU). Let’s all hope it doesn’t become FUBAR and end up being resolved by force.