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

Author: Hondo

  • Benghazi Redux

    Well, I guess we now know why Ms. Clinton was feeling “too ill to testify” before Congress this week.

    Report on Libya attack cites ‘systemic failures’ in security, confirms no protest

    If I were in her shoes, I certainly wouldn’t want to have to testify under oath about what went on, what I knew, when I knew it, and the like.  Hell, I’d be doing everything I could to disassociate myself from this fiasco.

    But she could be telling the truth about feeling sick.  What I’ve read so far makes me feel pretty sick, too.

    The Accountability Board Report on Benghazi can be found here.  (The Executive Summary alone is pretty damning.)  If you normally run your browser with with scripts disabled, you’ll have to enable them to view it.

  • Today’s Dose of Non-Gun Idiocy . . . .

    . . . . is brought to you by of the Alisal Union School District in Salinas, California.

    Seems as if the district is opening a new school.   They need to give it a name.

    They’ve chosen a name already.  According to the Alisal Union District Superintendant, John Ramirez, they’re planning to name that new school in honor of Tiburcio Vasquez.

    This decision has raised a few eyebrows and sparked some opposition. Why, you ask?  Is it due to racism?

    Hardly.  Turns out that Tiburcio Vasquez has a rather . . . checkered history.  Seems Vasquez committed his first crime at age 14 – he stabbed a constable.  He then afterwards embarked on a life of crime, becoming essentially a professional bandit.  He continued that career – interrupted by a couple of stints in San Quentin prison- until he was roughly 40 years old.  His criminal career ended when he was hanged in 1875 for murdering two people.

    In fact, the University of Southern California library calls Vasquez “probably the most notorious bandit California ever saw”.

    The district Superintendent isn’t backing down, though.  He’s predictably defending his choice publicly.  Ramirez has made such noble and measured statements defending the choice as to say that one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter, and has referred to Vasquez as a “revolutionary” who was “not okay with oppression.”  Ramirez has also made the inane claim that understanding Vasquez’s place in history requires consultation with Chicano historians.

    Another member of the selection committee, Francisco Estrada, also defended naming the new school after a convicted murderer.  Estrada has claimed that Vasquez was merely “misunderstood”; that Vasquez “was not a murderer” but rather “was framed by the system at that time.”  Estrada went on to compare Vazquez to Robin Hood, saying that Vasquez “took from the rich and gave to the poor” and “was your inspiration of Zorro”.

    I guess these two guys could be right.  All of their after-the-fact justification sounds more to me like PC apologia and than anything else.  But it’s a free country, and they’re entitled to speak their minds.

    As am I.  In a word, gentlemen – bullshit.  Murder is very damn easy to understand; ditto a 25+ year career as a professional bandit and criminal.  Both of those are ethnically and racially neutral.  And it doesn’t require any particular ethnic, racial, or religious background to figure out that naming a school after a 25+ year career criminal who was hanged as a murderer is a damnfool idea.

    Generally, I couldn’t give a hoot in hell what some school district in California names a new school.  But this one is just plain wrong.   I really think they can find someone better to honor than a  25+ year career criminal who was hanged for murder over 135 years ago.  Like maybe the late USMC Sgt. Rafael Peralta, perhaps?  If I recall correctly Sgt. Peralta  was from California too.

    Salinas is located in Monterrey County, California.  Phone, fax, and e-mail contact information for the Monterrey County Board of Education may be found here.

    Yes, this is a local decision.  But I’m not sure the County Board of Education is aware of this particular bit of idiocy – and IMO they damn well should be.

  • A Little Hard Data to PO the Anti-Gun Crowd

    Some “gentle souls” out there think all guns should be banned.  They are indeed ignorant and misguided fools.

    They’re probably beyond education on this point.  But I’ll try to enlighten them anyway.

    There are many reasons the 2nd Amendment recognizes an individual’s right to keep and bear arms.  Some are related to liberty.  But one even more near and dear to all of us is personal protection.

    Here is a short, “quick and dirty” list of average police response times to emergency calls (generally defined as violent crimes in progress requiring an immediate police response) in major cities in the US.  In smaller towns and rural areas, the response time can be expected to be longer.

    Nationwide Averages:  http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cvus/previous/cvus107.pdf

    I’ve read somewhere that the average violent crime takes on the order of 1-2 minutes.   That’s eminently believable; I damn well know someone with a knife can carve another person up like a steak to the point they won’t survive in a minute or less.  A baseball bat can do the trick even quicker.  So that means in only a small fraction of the cases (far less than 10%) would the police even be able to arrive during the crime – much less in time to prevent it, or to prevent injury of the innocent.

    There’s a good reason for the old saying “When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.”  It happens to be true.

    Anti-gun fools, I don’t much care if you want to help criminals and make yourselves easy targets incapable of defending yourself against an armed attacker.  But I take exception to you making it impossible for me to defend myself and my family.

    And so does the US Constitution.

  • A Brief Public Service Announcement . . . .

    Jonn’s article yesterday about the recovery of MOH recipient LTC Don Carlos Faith Jr’s remains brought to light something I didn’t know – and which may not be common knowledge.  Some of TAH’s readers may be interested.

    The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) is the DoD entity having the mission of accounting for US POWs/MIAs.  They often use maternal-line mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in the identification of recovered remains.  That much is fairly well-known.

    However, the JPAC also maintains lists of unaccounted for US personnel from three conflicts for which they still need maternal-line mtDNA samples.  These lists are reportedly reasonably complete, and are available in PDF and Excel formats; the PDF versions are linked below:

    Excel versions of these lists may be found here under “Search”.

    Additionally, the JPAC maintains a partial list of World War II unaccounted for personnel for whom current investigations have a critical need for mtDNA samples.  Unfortunately, the list from World War II is not complete due to the sheer magnitude of US personnel still not formally accounted for (78,000+) and the relatively limited scope of JPAC’s work to date on World War II casualty cases.

    General contact information for JPAC can be found here; an explanation of who can give a useful sample can be found here.  If you or anyone you know have a relative who never came home, please consider seeing if you can help JPAC  find them.  Even if you can’t give the sample yourself, you may be able to help them locate someone who can.

    Everyone deserves a proper burial – if possible, in their homeland.

  • Breathalyzers: Not Just for the Navy Any More

    Well, it looks like the USMC is beginning to bend to the same PC whims as the rest of DoD.  And it’s doing so by following the Navy’s lead regarding breathalyzers and mass screenings.

    The USMC has announced something called the “Alcohol Screening Program”.  Under that program, all Marines will be screened at random twice yearly while on duty – war zones included.

    Show any measurable amount of alcohol, and you’re in “deep doo-doo”.  Sure, the program guidance is that any Marine showing between 0.01% and 0.03% BAC will receive “counseling”.  (You and I all know that in reality it means they’ll be put on “that list”.  And with end strength going down . . . . )  Blow 0.04% or above, and you get a trip to the medics for “evaluation”.

    Program guidance authorizes commanders to discipline Marines “should the situation warrant”.  How many want to bet we see a de facto “no tolerance” policy – complete with NJPs for violators – before too long?

    The program requires the appointment of coordinator at unit level, of course – as well as annual reporting requirements.  Gee, that’s just what every unit needs:  another extra duty position for unit leadership, another statistic to be tracked, and another mandatory annual report.

    Look, I’m NOT condoning people showing up for duty impaired.  But this program is a freaking waste.  Virtually everything the program mandates already exists except for the coordinator and reporting requirements.  Almost every installation I’ve ever seen either has a breathalyzer or can get access to one through coordination with local LE.  A commander can already order someone he suspects to have alcohol in their system to go get tested.  And an NCO can already counsel some Joe Schmoe who shows up for duty smelling like a brewery about showing up to duty in that condition.

    As a taxpayer, I object to the waste.  And as a former member of the military, I object to the micromanagement.  Both are counterproductive as hell.

  • James R. Albertson: What His Military Records Say

    Remember James R. Albertson?  You know, that guy Jonn wrote about last month who claimed he was a secret POW in Vietnam for 28 days, and who had received multiple Purple Hearts and a couple of Bronze Stars for “bravery”?  And whose son claimed his missions were “classified” – so presumably that’s why he doesn’t show up on any POW lists?

    Well, NPRC’s reply to a FOIA request concerning Albertson’s official records came in the mail the other day.  And it turns out there’s a different reason he’s not on any POW lists.

    His military records show no service in Vietnam.  None.  Zip.  Nada.

    His records also show no Purple Hearts or Bronze Stars – with or without “V” device.   In fact, Albertson’s records show no personal decorations of any kind.  The only decorations he received were one service medal (NDSM) and one unit award (AFOUA).

    Albertson served in the USAF from March 1966 to January 1969.  He was retired for “physical disability”.  His duty assignments were for training; then as a medical service specialist; an “R&S Clerk”; and a “duty status clerk”.  His duty stations were Lackland AFB (training), Sheppard AFB (more training), and Athenai Airport, Greece (medical clinic and support group staffs).  Sometime in late 1968 or early 1969, he returned to Scott AFB – where he was medically retired.

    Greece was Albertson’s sole overseas assignment.  For the benefit of those who might be severely geographically-challenged:  “Greece” and “Vietnam” ain’t exactly the same place.  (smile)

    NPRC’s reply to the FOIA on Albertson’s records can be found here; format is Adobe PDF.

    It’s sad when folks lie to their families about being some kind of “great war hero”.  Their surviving families invariably end up hurt badly when their lies are exposed after their demise.

    But what’s even worse is that this liar was able to get away with falsely claiming to be a Vietnam POW for years.

  • More “Wonderful” Economic News

    Well, new US financial figures are out.  And they show that Uncle Sam is in a world of hurt, financially speaking.

    And if you thought things were improving:  think again.  It’s looking worse compared to the same period last year.

    Since the beginning of the new fiscal year on 1 October, the Federal government has taken in $346 billion in revenue.  That’s actually up roughly $30 billion from last year, or nearly 10%.  So revenue is rising.

    However, during that same period the Federal government has spent roughly $638 billion – an increase of $87 billion, or about 14% more than the same period last year.

    Short version:  income – $346 billion (+10%); spending – $638 billion (+14%).

    Somehow, I just don’t think we’ve had the kind of population growth in a year to warrant that kind of spending increase.  Or that much inflation, either.

    I’ll save you the trouble of doing the math.  Since 1 October 2012, the Federal government has borrowed 46 cents of each dollar it has spent.

    Why?  That’s primarily due to higher spending on “mandatory” spending – like Social Security, Medicare, and debt interest payments. In other words: the problem is largely due to entitlement programs for the general population and debt interest. Seems these programs are growing faster than expected.  Go figure.

    News flash, DC:  at some point, “mandatory” becomes impossible if you can’t come up with the cash.  And it looks like we’re approaching that point PDQ.

    But there’s no need to worry.  According to the CBO, the picture is “distorted” by “unbalanced payments”.  The situation’s really better this year than last says the CBO.

    Well, here’s my response to the CBO:

    When same period last year shows 10% less income but 14% less spending, that doesn’t mean things are getting better – no matter how you try to spin it.  It means things are moving in the absolutely wrong direction and are getting worse.

    It also looks like we almost certainly had another $1,000 billion ($1 trillion) Federal deficit for Fiscal 2012, which ended on 30 September.  At the current pace, it looks like that’s almost certainly a lock for Fiscal 2013 as well.  And unemployment is back above 8% again – if it ever really went below 8% in the first place.

    At least the current Administration is being consistent.  I’m just not sure that’s exactly the kind of consistency the US wants.

    Or needs.

  • After 46 Years, 2 More Return Home

    The remains of two more US service members from the Vietnam War have been located, returned, and identified.

    The remains of CPT James J. Johnstone and MAJ James L Whited, US Army, were recently recovered and returned to US control.  The two had  been missing and presumed dead since their OV-1A crashed during a daytime surveillance mission over Laos on 19 November 1966.

    After the crash, the site was looted by locals.  However, it was apparently the turn-in of CPT Johnstone’s American Express card to local Laotian authorities 40+ years after the crash that prompted a new investigation of the crash site.  That investigation resulted in the recovery and positive identification of the crew’s remains.

    CPT Johnstone will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery on 12 December 2012.

    A belated welcome home, my elder brothers in arms.