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

Author: Hondo

  • The FOIA Process: Part 6 – Interpreting the Results and Miscellaneous Thoughts

    Once you’ve received a FOIA reply that’s not a “we couldn’t find anything” letter, you’ll need to figure out what it’s telling you.  Depending on your background and the service involved you may be able to do that yourself. But in many if not most cases, you’ll need to find someone with substantial military experience in the same service and era as the individual in question to assist you in interpreting what it says.

    For example:  if the individual served in the USMC during Vietnam, it’s a good idea to get someone with Vietnam-era service (or with an extensive military background) to assist in evaluating the FOIA reply against that individual’s claims.  That individual must be someone who “speaks Marine” and understands USMC records and terms.

    I can’t emphasize this enough:  if you can find someone to help you with an extensive military personnel background in the service concerned, you have struck gold.  Their help will be invaluable.  Buy them a drink – or dinner.  (smile)

    Specialty experience (e.g, an actual former Special Forces guy if you’re dealing with someone who’s claiming Special Forces status or qualification) may also be very valuable in identifying lies and exaggerations concerning specialty qualifications and service.  “This Ain’t Hell” is also an excellent resource for sorting out FOIA replies – Jonn absolutely hates military fakes, and he can call on a load of expertise to assist in figuring out if a claim might be legit or not.

    Don’t be afraid to ask for help.  No one knows it all.  There’s simply too much to know.

    Am I punting here?  Damn straight.  At first, you’ll likely learn something new with at least every other FOIA reply you get relating to a sister service – if not with each one.  And you’ll learn a lot about your own service’s history and practices that you didn’t know before, too.

    Unless it’s your service and your era, don’t try to figure it out all by your self; you’re likely to get it wrong.  And even if it is your service and era, no one knows it all.

    Ask for help, if for no other reason than to get a second set of eyes on the docs.

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  • Another Hall-of-Famer Passes

    Ralph Kiner passed away the yesterday.  He was 91.

    Kiner was a longtime broadcaster for the New York Mets – for over 50 years, actually.  He was noted for his baseball malaprops, and for “Kiner’s Corner” – an area near the leftfield corner of Shea Stadium where Kiner held his post-game show.

    But Kiner should be remembered for more.  He was a legitimate Hall of Famer based on his performance on the diamond.  His career was cut short – 10 seasons, the bare minimum for HOF consideration – due to chronic back issues.  Yet at the time he retired, he was 6th on the all-time home run list with 369 – and had hit 329 in his first 8 seasons, leading his league 7 times and both leagues 6 times.

    Kiner’s career slugging percentage was nearly .550 (.548), and his career on-base percentage was nearly .400 (.398).  He had over 1450 hits, over 1000 RBIs, and over 1000 walks during his career.  Though his election took until his last year of eligibility, Kiner was a legitimate HOFer.  Had his career not been cut short by injury we might be talking about him in the same breath as other legendary baseball power hitters like Mantle, Ruth, Mays, Williams, and Aaron.

    Kiner played mostly for the Pittsburgh Pirates.  They weren’t good enough during his playing days to make the World Series.  Had they done so, or had Kiner played mostly in NY or Chicago – we’d likely remember more about his career.

    Why post this here?  Because Kiner’s MLB career spanned the immediate post-World War II years:  1946-1955.  It began a bit late for that era, at age 22.

    It began late because prior to 1946 he was otherwise occupied.  Kiner was a US Navy pilot during World War II.  He flew ASW missions in the Pacific theater.

    Baseball historian Marty Noble has called Kiner “one of baseball’s genuine and most charming gentlemen”.  That’s a fine tribute to a truly fine man – and for 10 years, a truly great player.

    Rest in peace, Mr. Kiner.

  • Yeah? Tell Us Something We Didn’t Already Know

    To continue with the theme from Jonn’s article earlier today:

    CBO Director: Obamacare ‘Creates a Disincentive for People to Work’

    No sh!t.  I think anyone with three or more working brain cells figured that out about 4 years ago.

  • The FOIA Process: Part 5 – So, What Will I Get?

    What you will get, sooner or later, is a reply to your FOIA request.  (If you don’t, you need to refile it!)

    Yeah, I know:  “No sh!t, Sherlock – I figured that much out already.”  (smile)

    Seriously – what you will get in the reply to a FOIA inquiry varies.  I’m going to discuss a few common responses you might get from the National Personnel Records Center.  I’m not going to attempt to discuss replies from state National Guard FOIA offices, as (1) I haven’t submitted many of those, and (2) from the few replies I’ve seen, their formats seem to vary.

    And on occasion, I still get replies in formats, or with things attached, that I’ve never seen before.  So what follows is definitely not comprehensive.

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  • The FOIA Process: Part 4 – How Long Will It Take, and How Much Will It Cost?

    The answer is:  well, that depends.  (smile)

    Cost.

    It’s theoretically possible you may be charged a fee, and fees can be substantial for extensive requests requiring a great deal of research or copying of documents.

    However, it also seems that NPRC generally will waive fees for a simple request from private individuals unless the individual concerned was discharged more than 62 years ago.  From what I’ve seen, most requests for info (e.g., “all info releasable under the FOIA”) for military records less than 62 years old seem to end up being simple requests.

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  • A Quick ObamaCare Update

    Well, it’s been over a month since the   Plainly Pathetic and Absurd Collection of Asininity   Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act  – commonly known as “ObamaCare” – individual mandate has been in effect.  And as predicted, the previously FUBAR situation is getting . . . no better.

    Remember all those thousands of applications with issues that we heard about a month or two ago, that were going to HHS to be fixed later?  Well, add to those 22,000 where people have appealed, claiming HHS erred.  HHS can’t figure out what to do with them.

    I wonder how the folks who thought they’d signed up for health insurance – but really didn’t because of an admin or site error – feel about ObamaCare now?  Or who’s going to pay for their healthcare if they end up needing care before things get sorted out?

    It also seems like that may be only the tip of the iceberg regarding issues with the HHS ObamaCare web site/system.  Turns out a firm from Belarus appears to have helped with the website.  That firm has ties to the Belarus government.  There’s apparently some thought that the site may contain malware that could put applicants’ personal information at risk.

    Of course, the current Administration is still engaging in    more misleading propaganda   “turd polishing”    damage control   blatant “spin” regarding this “wonderful new healthcare law”.  Now, they’re reportedly ghost-writing Twitter comments for NFL players who want to praise the fiasco.

    And remember how the CBO originally said that ObamaCare wouldn’t have a major effect on working hours?  Well, now they’re kinda reversing themselves.  In 2011, CBO estimated that ObamaCare would cost the equivalent of 800,000 full time jobs in terms of lost work hours by 2019.  CBO now says that ObamaCare will eliminate the equivalent of 2.3 million full time jobs in terms of lost work hours – or nearly 3x as many as previously estimated.

    Looks like maybe the CBO is finally getting tired of polishing.  (smile)

    Sheesh.  We need to repeal this abomination posthaste, and replace it with something that actually has a prayer of working.  Hell – this time, maybe we’ll even get a chance to read any proposed new law before Congress votes.  You know, so that we can “see what’s in it”.

    Or maybe we should just repeal it and go back to what we had before.  Period.

  • And in the “What a Way to Go” Category . . . .

    For the record, I’d like to state that I’m not trying to intrude on TSO’s “solo experience” franchise with this article.  But solo just ain’t the entire “wide world of sex”.

    And it’s a weird world indeed.

    Every time you think you’ve seen or heard it all – you look around and see/hear of something like this. And then you realize you certainly hadn’t “seen and heard it all” previously.

    Couple die of carbon monoxide poisoning while having sex in car

    The late couple was found in a parked car – in an enclosed garage. When they were found, the car’s ignition was in the “run” position, but the gas tank was empty.  A kerosene heater was also in the garage – and was also set to “on” – but was similarly out of fuel.  One of the couple was found “partially clothed.”

    “Marijuana and drug paraphernalia were found in the car,” police said.

    So . . . drugs were involved.  Really?  Who’d a thunk it?

    After all:  doesn’t everyone have sex in a parked car in an enclosed garage, while the car engine’s running, and with a kerosene heater also fired up in the garage at the same time?

    The truly sad thing?  Apparently this isn’t even the first US case of morte coitus monoxidus in 2014. The article has a link to a video report of a similar incident in New Jersey last month.

    RAH was right.  “Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.”

  • The FOIA Process: Part 3 – What Do I Send, and Where Do I Send It?

    Once you have the information identified in the previous article, you need to prepare a FOIA request for information concerning the individual in question.

    Like most things in the government, now comes the paperwork.  And yeah – there’s a form for that. (smile)

    But here, for once you actually have some options.  You can either use the US Government’s Standard Form 180 (SF180) or a letter to make a FOIA request.  Either will work; which you use is a matter of personal preference.  I personally prefer using a letter, as I can tailor the letter to request specific things I think might be of value and which I suspect may or should be in the individual’s records.  But as I said – either works.

    Whether you choose to write a letter or use the SF180, there are a number of elements a FOIA request must contain.  They’re listed at this National Archives web page.

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