If you have dogs and you have an IRobot Roomba, maybe you should re-think scheduling your Roomba to vacuum the house when you’re not around or are fast asleep.
Why? Let’s just say that sometimes Roomba and dogs don’t coexist terribly well.
(Yes, the choice of category for this article was intentional. [smile])
GEN John W. Vessey, US Army (Ret), has died. He was 94.
Vessey was the 10th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, serving in that capacity from 1982-1985. As CJCS, he oversaw the peak of the Reagan military revival. US success in both Gulf Wars can be traced to changes in the US military made or begun during that period.
Vessey enlisted in the MN ARNG in 1939. He served in World War II in both North Africa and Italy. He received a battlefield commission at Anzio in 1944, having previously served as a company First Sergeant. After World War II, Vessey chose to make the Army his career.
As a commissioned officer, Vessey held multiple commands. He commanded 2/77th FA during the Battle of Suoi Tre and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions during that battle (his unit was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation). His later commands included the 3rd Armored Division’s DIVARTY, the 4th Infantry Division, and Eighth US Army in Korea.
In the last assignment, Vessey had the distinction of being one of the few people able to prevent that “wonderfully competent” POTUS, Jimmuh-the-Clueless, from doing something monumentally stupid. Vessey is reputed to have convinced Carter to delay, then finally cancel his plan to withdraw US combat forces from Korea. Doing this is believed to have caused Vessey to be bypassed for Chief of Staff of the Army in mid-1979 (he was named Vice-Chief instead and the newly-promoted GEN Edward C. Meyer was appointed by Carter as Chief-of-Staff).
Vessey retired in 1985. At the time of his retirement he had served in uniform for 46 years.
Post-retirement, Vessey served under two Presidents as special emissary to Vietnam. His primary focus in both assignments was accounting for US personnel still missing in Southeast Asia.
Rest in peace, General. The nation is better off today due to your service.
(The current Wiipedia article on GEN Vessey was also used as a source in preparing the above.)
Some time back, a commenter here at TAH posted a rather, um, “interesting” video of a guy who “really liked” one particular automobile. If you’re curious, that video can be viewed here – though I’d suggest doing so where you won’t have to explain it to anyone who happens to see what you’re watching.
That was several years ago, and guy appears to have gotten away with it. But apparently someone in Dayton, OH, wasn’t so lucky recently. The guy in Dayton apparently got busted for doing the same thing to a red van.
I’d guess it would be a good bet that substantial alcohol consumption was involved in both cases. (smile)
Well, we have more “good news” about that wonderful Federal law called the Patently Pathetic Accumulated Conglomerate of Asininity Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, AKA “ObamaCare”.
I’ve written before about issues with ObamaCare health care cooperatives – and again here. And I’ve also written about how some insurers were starting to abandon the ObamaCare market.
Well, it seems another ObamaCare domino toppled yesterday. Aetna – the nation’s 3rd largest health insurance provider – has announced that they’re largely pulling out of the ObamaCare insurance exchange market as well.
This year, Aetna offered ObamaCare plans through government-run exchanges in 15 states. Next year, they’re cutting back to a whopping four states: VA, DE, IA, and NE. They’re pulling out of the ObamaCare exchange market everywhere else – though they’ll still offer individual health insurance plans in some or all of those states.
This is significant. Earlier this year, Aetna was among those saying it was “too early to give up on” ObamaCare insurance exchanges. Apparently they changed their minds.
Why? Simple: they’re losing their butts financially.
This year, Aetna had a 2nd quarter pretax loss on the ObamaCare exchange market of $200M. They’ve lost $430M since those markets began in 2014. Losing that much money – as well as losing money consistently over time – isn’t exactly conducive to staying in business.
But don’t worry, folks. Dear Leader will explain to us how we’ve misinterpreted what’s going on here. We just need to give it more time, and it will work as desired!
Yeah, right. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union spent just short of 69 years trying to perfect their brand of command-driven economic socialism. The idiotic concepts on which their cockamamie theories were based were no closer to being viable on day 25,198 than they were on day 0.
ObamaCare will fare no differently. It’s similarly based on ideology-driven idiocy that ignores economic reality.
On March 18 of this year, an E2C aircraft was making a carrier landing on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.
During the landing, there was a sharp “snap”. The arresting cable had broken.
The plane did not decelerate. It proceeded off the end of the carrier’s runway.
Through immediate action, the plane’s aircrew managed to save the aircraft. It descended nearly to the water – one of the crew estimates to within approximately 10 feet – but did not impact. They were later able to land safely.
Fox News has a story today concerning the incident that gives more details. It’s worth a read – and includes video of the incident.
For their actions that day, three pilots on-board the aircraft – Lt. Cmdr. Thomas Browning, Lt. Cmdr. Kellen Smith, and Lt. Matthew Halliwell – were awarded the Air Medal earlier this month. Well done, men. Damn well done.
And after that incident, if any or all of you needed new skivvies – that’s IMO quite understandable. (smile)
“I know the U.S. Embassy was working on a plan, but it’s a shell of what they need. There appears to be a lack of coordinated effort between the U.S. Embassy and the American companies and personnel here . . . .”
So, the above was written about Benghazi, right? Um, that would be a, “No.”
The above is a statement by Mike Warren, a security director for the USAID-backed Mining Investment and Development for Afghanistan Sustainability Project. He’s referring to the current state of US emergency evacuation planning for Afghanistan should things go bad there.
As Santayana said: “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
Circa.com has a detailed article discussing the above today. IMO it’s worth reading.
Sheesh. If the linked article is anywhere near accurate, nothing has changed. DoS appears to be just as institutionally clueless and inept as it was 4 years ago.
But for the current gang of fools and tools calling the shots in DC Administration, being institutionally clueless and inept is nothing new. Besides: “What difference does it make?”
The ranking officer on the ill-fated 2-boat patrol from the US Navy’s RIVRON 3 captured by Iran IVO Farsi Island earlier this year has appealed the punishment he received under non-judicial punishment .
The individual in question, LT David Nartker, was among a group of 4 individuals who received NJP last week in conjunction with their actions during the patrol. Punishment was imposed on 3 of the individuals; the fourth was found not guilty by the Commander, Naval Expeditionary Combat Command. Three more senior members of the chain-of-command in charge of the fiasco had previously received administrative sanctions likely to end their careers.
Nartker was the ranking officer on the patrol. He also apparently agreed to be interviewed by Iran on video as a condition of release. Iran later used the interview for propaganda purposes.
During that interview, Nartker admitted the Navy had erred and apologized for the error. Investigators determined Nartker’s conduct to have been in contravention of the Code of Conduct.
Nartker is apparently the only one of the three found guilty at NJP to appeal his punishment. It is unclear whether any of the others will do so, as the 30-day period for filing appeals has not yet ended.
The Commander, PACFLEET, will consider Nartker’s appeal.
Even though it’s in the middle of some seriously bad times, polling organizations still take polls in Venezuela. And Venezuelans still respond.
But the latest poll results are a bit surprising.
The percentage of Venezuelans who feel safe walking down the street at night, according to the latest polls taken by Gallup, is 14%. In Syria – a nation that has experienced civil war for the past several years – the corresponding percentage is 32%.
Yes, you read that correctly. Per recent poll data, almost one out of 3 Syrians feels safe walking down the street at night. Less than one out of 7 Venezuelans likewise feel safe walking down the street at night.
But that’s not the fault of the leftist, Communist idiots and ideological heirs of Hugo Chavez “living large” while ruling Venezuela – while simultaneously driving a country of 30 million with some of the world’s largest known oil reserves to the brink of economic collapse via trying to ram command-driven Marxist theology down everyone’s throat. Things would be just great if everyone would quit insisting on that pesky thing called “freedom” and would just follow the late Hugo’s lead!
Remember: Don’t Fear the Commie.