. . . these headlines say it all.
DOJ to nix ‘felon,’ ‘convict’ terms deemed stigmatizing
and
Cops cancel ‘insensitive’ Cinco de Mayo checkpoints
Geez. GMAFB.
Author: Hondo
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Don’t Try These At Home. Or Anywhere Else.
Well, we have a couple of examples of “things not to do” today, courtesy of Fox News.
First: do not engage in celebratory gunfire at a wedding. (Or anywhere else, for that matter.)
Why? Well, sometimes it doesn’t turn out all that well.
The guy survived, but I’m sure that his wedding night wasn’t exactly what he’d planned. Police are reportedly investigating the incident.
Second: guns and “selfies” don’t mix. Jonn’s written about this a couple of times before – here, and here – and warned everyone that’s not a good idea. Looks like someone didn’t bother to listen.
Not picking on India today, these two stories just happened to both be about incidents occurring in that nation And with a population approaching one and one-third billion, the law of averages rather dictates you’ll see some spectacular stupidity from time to time.
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More “ObamaCare” News
Well, we have some more news about that
Plainly Pathetic Abominable Collection of AsininityPatient Protection and Affordable Care Act, AKA “ObamaCare”. And as is usual, the news isn’t all that good for the US taxpayer.First, here’s an Item I apparently overlooked previously. Remember those “non-profit cooperatives” that were supposed to provide much of ObamaCare’s insurance coverage? Remember that as of last October, nearly half of them had folded?
Well, about a month ago more info was released about just how badly those cooperatives did, financially, in 2014 and 2015. (Short version: they lost their butts.)
By March, the number of failed cooperatives was up to 12. These cooperatives lost $376 million in 2014. In 2015, their losses are estimated at $1 billion. And they apparently still owe hospitals and doctors around $1 billion as well.
The “rest of the story”? Well, the Federal government apparently loaned cooperatives around $2.4 billion collectively at start-up. The 12 failed cooperatives apparently still haven’t repaid $1.2 billion that the Federal government loaned them.
Gee. That means one of two things will happen. Either we the taxpayer will eat the cost of those loans – or their parent firms will raise future premiums to cover losses as well as repaying them. Which means that you and I will pay for them through increased premiums in the future.
Wonderful. Just freaking wonderful.
In fact, it appears that the higher premiums may take effect later this year. The new 2017 “ObamaCare” premiums are expected on 1 November. Premiums announced in November (for next year) are expected to show rather marked increases over last year’s ObamaCare exchange premiums.
How much? Well, I’m not sure – but last year, premiums were up an average of “only” 8% or so, and the current
gang of fools in DC who foisted this idiocy on the American publicAdministration touted that fact as “good news”. I’m not really sure why, though – in contrast, CPI inflation for 2015 was 0.1%. (Yes, that is a zero to the left of the decimal point.)Gee – losing money out the wazoo, billions in outstanding debts and loans, and substantial future price increases virtually guaranteed. What’s not to like? (smile)
Sheesh. We need to kill this idiotic mistake of a law posthaste. Then burn its corpse until its ash, mix the ashes with quicklime and water, and dump the resulting slurry down an abandoned mine shaft. Then dynamite the mine shaft so it collapses.
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SEAL Killed In Iraq Identified
The identity of the SEAL KIA in Iraq yesterday has been released. He was SO1 Charles Humphrey Keating IV, based at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado. He was a native of Arizona.
SO1 Keating was reportedly part of a Quick Reaction Force (QRF) sent to rescue a small group of US advisors to the Kurdish Peshmerga when they and their Kurdish allies were attacked by numerically superior Daesh forces. While performing that mission, he was killed in ground combat, most probably by AK-47 fire, IVO the town of Tel Asku, Iraq.
He was 31 years old.
If the name rings a bell, yes: his grandfather was indeed that Charles Keating Jr. However, regardless of his grandfather’s history of financial malfeasance the younger Keating appears to have been a decent guy.
Rest in peace, brother-in-arms. May God comfort your surviving family, friends, and professional colleagues.
No combat troops in Iraq, eh? Yeah. Right.
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No “Boots on the Ground”, Mr. President? Yeah. Right.
As Jonn noted yesterday, we’ve lost another one in Iraq. This brings to 3 the number of US troops lost during combat operations against Daesh.
The SEAL (initial reports were that he was a soldier) who was KIA was acting as an advisor to Kurdish Peshmerga at the time. He was killed by direct fire in an engagement that occurred after Daesh forces penetrated Pesmerga lines.
But don’t worry. The POTUS has repeatedly told us we won’t have any “boots on the ground” or “combat troops” in Iraq or Syria.
Yeah, right. Being killed while serving as an advisor to Peshmerga ground forces certainly sounds like “boots on the ground” to me. And getting killed by direct-fire during a ground engagement also sounds one helluva lot like ground combat, too.
But rest assured – those aren’t “combat troops”. And we don’t have “boots on the ground” there.
But what do you expect? This is the same POTUS that told everyone they could keep their doctor under ObamaCare, too. How’s that worked out for everyone?
Yeah, you’re right – your leg’s wet. And it’s not raining.
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Belated Honors for a Hero
Not all who served in the Union forces during the Civil War were US citizens. It’s estimated that roughly 1/3 of those who fought in the Union Army were immigrants. It’s also estimated that close to 10% of Union soldiers were Black.
Joseph Benjamin Noil was both an immigrant and Black.
Noil was an immigrant from Canada – though precisely when he immigrated is unclear. He enlisted in the US Navy in New York; he served during the Civil War (roughly 19,000 Blacks served in the US Navy during the Civil War).
He remained in the US – and in the Navy – after the war. But things didn’t end well for Noil. On 25 March 1882, he died at what was then the Government Hospital for the Insane. (Today the facility is named St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, DC.) Noil had been diagnosed with “paralysis” prior to being hospitalized there.
He was buried in the hospital’s cemetery. Due to an error on his death certificate his last name was misspelled “Noel” on his tombstone.
And that’s the way things would have likely ended – except recent research uncovered some information apparently unknown or ignored at the time of Noil’s death.
It turns out that Noil had received a postwar decoration for heroism. In on 26 December 1872, Noil voluntarily and at the risk of his own life saved another sailor from drowning in the harbor at Norfolk, Virginia. For this act, Noil had been awarded a personal decoration for valor.
The Army and Navy had precisely one type of decoration for valor at the time: the Medal of Honor. Noil was a recipient of the Medal of Honor for noncombat heroism (allowable at the time).
Fast forward nearly 130 years. In 2011, the Medal of Honor Society was conducting research concerning gravesites of Medal of Honor recipients. During the course of this research, they determined that the “Joseph B. Noel” buried at St. Elizabeths Cemetery was in fact actually “Joseph Benjamin Noil”, US Navy – and a recipient of the Medal of Honor.
Noil’s original gravestone did not reflect this. Last month that error was corrected. His original gravestone was replaced, and was unveiled recently in a ceremony attended by both the US Chief of Naval Reserve (VADM Robin Braun) and the Canadian Defense Attache to the US (RADM William Truelove). Noil’s gravestone – with his name correctly spelled – now properly reflects his receipt of the Medal of Honor.
Rest in peace, elder brother-in-arms. And Kudos to the Medal of Honor Society and all others who helped belatedly honor the man.