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

Author: Hondo

  • “Teh Stoopid” Really Must Be “Cheaper by the Dozen”

    Well, longtime readers probably know what’s coming next.

    Yeah, my little friend Birdie came back to visit me again.  And he tells me it seems a bunch of      Dumb, Royally Clueless      “Deft, Really Clever” folks – or at least one of that group – claims they’ve “found” me.  Again.

    I guess this time I should be somewhat flattered.  They seem to have returned to form for now.  They appear once again to be using the DRC/DRG equivalent of a Ouija board – e.g., sitting around looking at pictures of true “high-speed/low-drag” badasses while fapping furiously, all the while trying to figure out who I am – and then somehow decide that one of the photos must be me.  Then they claim that’s who I am.

    This time, according to some      Dumb and Really Grotesque       “Dandy, Really Great” folks (or at least one such “inDUHvidual”) I’m a retired Army SF officer.  I’ll spare the guy they’ve misidentified as me embarrassment he doesn’t need and not mention his name here.

    Gee.  That’s a nice thought, you     bunch of clueless jerks     guys; and it really is a compliment.  The men who make SF a career are among the best our military has; they truly are the “quiet professionals”.  Being thought one of them is an honor, even when that claim turns out not to be correct.

    Unfortunately, yeah – that’s wrong.  I can categorically assure you I am not a retired SF officer.  So once again, you DRC/DRG     clowns      “fine fellows” have fornicated Fido (AKA “screwed the pooch”).  Blown it.  Effed up.  However you want to put it, you got it wrong. Yet again.

    For at least the twelfth freaking time.

    Hell, you’ve probably actually made a baker’s dozen or more such screw-ups trying to find me by now.   Dunno for sure, but I’m relatively certain I’ve missed at least one occasion where you misidentified some guy I’ve never even met as being me.

    Obligatory recap time:   this      incredibly dense bozo (or group of bozos)      fine fellow (or group of fellows) has now erroneously identified five different Navy vets as being me – including 4 ex-SEALs (first SCPO Don Shipley, then CAPT Larry Baily, then a guy I’m intentionally not naming, and lastly MCPO Hershel Davis).  I’ve also been mistakenly-identified as a retired Navy diver (late 2015; I was kinda busy at the time and didn’t write about that one).  Another time, I was accused of being a longtime commenter here at TAH.  They’ve wrongly claimed I was a a multi-star Army GO, now unfortunately deceased.  According to them, I’ve been “identified” as a retired SF SGM; I’ve also been misidentified as a serving Army officer.  The time before last they falsely claimed I was an Army vet who served during the Eisenhower Administration (and who is also a former Brooklyn Law School Professor).  And, last time, I was supposedly a guy in Indiana who writes an occasional sports column for a paper there.

    Now this time, they claim I’m a retired Army SF officer.

    (sigh) Geez.  Best I can tell I’ve never even met any of the folks they’ve identified as being me. And I just checked the name on my driver’s license and other ID cards, so yeah: while being a retired SF officer would be great, I’m pretty damn sure they’re wrong this time too.

    Sorry, DRC/DRG – no dice. Ya blew it again. Yer still battin’ “oh-fer”.

    Sheesh.  These guys really seem to be “stuck on stupid”.  Maybe they just like it there.

    Or maybe Jethro Tull simply had them pegged 40+ years ago:

     


    (Don’t forget to “click . . . on the pic”.  [smile])

     

    Give it up, DRC/DRG.  Your antics are boring and predictable.  And while you may enjoy showing your ass to the world, do the world a favor and cover it.  It’s ugly – and offends damn near everyone.

  • A Life Well Lived

    A veteran of World War II died a week ago.  It’s likely you’ve never heard of him.

    Yet his story is worth telling, in brief form.  So I’ll tell it.

    His name was Miguel Encinias.  He was from the “other” Las Vegas, the one east of the Rio Grande – Las Vegas, New Mexico. (smile)

    He was born in 1923.  As a youngster, he delivered papers, went to movies – the normal things teens did in those days.  At age 16, along with many of his peers he joined the New Mexico National Guard.

    Then came Pearl Harbor.  He applied to be an Air Cadet.  He was accepted, and became a pilot.

    He served in World War II.  He flew 40 missions during World War II; he shot down 3 enemy.  But on his last mission he was shot down himself in northern Italy.  He became a POW.

    He was liberated at the end of the war.  He went to college, earning bachelors and masters degrees and later teaching French at the Air Force Academy.  He flew again in Korea, flying 100 missions there.  He was again shot down – but this time he was rescued vice becoming a 2-time POW.

    He also served in Vietnam, as an adviser to the RVNAF.  He flew missions there as well.

    He retired from the Air Force in 1971 as a Lieutenant Colonel.  He later returned to school, this time studying Spanish literature – and earned a doctorate in that field.  He afterwards became a published author.

    In the mid-1990s, he was asked by President Clinton to serve on the World War II Memorial Advisory Board.  He did, and attended the opening of that memorial in 2004.

    A week ago, he died – at age 92.  He was buried in Santa Fe National Cemetery yesterday.

    Lt Col Encinias was well-decorated. During his service as a pilot, he was awarded three Distinguished Flying Crosses and 14 Air Medals – along with a number of campaign and service medals.  He was wounded twice in combat, receiving a Purple Heart for each wound.

    I never met this man. But growing up, I met many like him.

    Why? Because . . . well, his son says it better than I can:

    His son, Juan-Pablo Encinias, said his father realized “it was a very special cause he was fighting for.  He felt very strongly about serving, especially in World War II, and felt it was a just cause no matter what the price.

    “He almost never spoke about his combat experience.  My father really did not seem that scarred by the wars.  He was a tough-minded person who kind of accepted that as part of life and was not taken aback by it.”

    Most of Miguel Encinias’ generation were like that.  My father and others of that generation were much the same.   Regardless of their race or ethnicity, they simply did what their nation asked – then afterwards, got on with their lives.

    Stars and Stripes has an obituary for Lt Col Miguel Encinias.  (The article originally appeared in the Santa Fe New Mexican.)  It gives a few more details about the man, and is IMO worth the few minutes of your time it will take to read.  Recommended.

    Though I’m not a native Spanish speaker, I’ll try to end this appropriately. My apologies if I don’t get this quite right.

    Vaya con Dios, teniente coronel Miguel Encinias – mi mayores hermano de armas. Dar mis mejores deseos a mis tíos y mi padre cuando le dan la bienvenida a las puertas del cielo.

    Fueron sus hermanos en armas de guerra.

     

    A life well-lived?  Indeed.  We all should be so lucky.

  • And the Hits Just Keep on Comin’ . . .

    . . . for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

    By now, we all have heard about the problems at the VA with respect to “secret waiting lists” and retaliation against whistleblowers.  And we all know that the VA’s OIG has “thoroughly” investigated the problem.

    These problems were so bad and so widespread that they claimed one VA Secretary – Shinseki.  They’ve also been an albatross around his successor’s neck.

    Well, it appears that the US Office of Special Counsel has also looked into the matters of secret waiting lists and whistleblower retaliation – and at how well the VA is doing at finding the underlying problems and “cleaning up it’s act.”  The OSC is an investigative agency outside of the VA, and it reports to the POTUS.

    What did it find?  Well, let’s just cut to the chase:

    “The OIG investigations that the VA submitted in response to both referrals are incomplete.  They do not respond to the issues that the whistleblowers raised,” Lerner wrote to President Obama.

    Fox News has an article today with more details.  The OSC letter and report can be found here.

    Yeah, I think the VA Secretary has “some ‘splainin’ to do.”  Yet again.

  • Ending the 20-Year Military Retirement: Buyer’s Remorse?

    Jonn’s written previously here at TAH about that new military retirement plan the current       gang of fools and tools running the show in DC       Administration      conned Congress into passing        convinced Congress to approve.  The bottom line:  the former 20 year military retirement plan goes away, effective for people entering in 2018, in favor of a “blended” plan much like Federal civilian employees have today. (Ask most Federal civilians how much of a “good deal” the current Federal retirement system is compared to its predecessor, CSRS – which was somewhat similar to the military’s 20 year retirement. But you might want to be prepared to get an earful at high volume when you do so.)

    A major criticism of the “new plan” before it was approved was that it made early service too lucrative, and that this would lead more troops to bolt early  – resulting in a loss of experience/expertise. Well, guess what:  the Pentagon apparently is now having second thoughts for precisely that reason.

    In this year’s Defense Budget Request, DoD has proposed modifications to the changes implemented just last year.  Bottom line is that the newest proposed changes are designed to keep people in the service by making later service more attractive than earlier.

    Gee.   Seems to me that’s kinda exactly what the 20 year retirement did.  Except IMO it did it much better than either this new “blended system” or the latest changes DoD proposes to same will.

    But heaven forbid DoD admit it goofed and backtrack, even when it makes perfect sense to do so.  Just look at the F-35!

    The Army Times IMO has an article giving an overview of the Pentagon’s latest proposed changes.  It’s a bit longish, and the overall situation is somewhat complex.  But if you have interest it’s certainly worth a read.

  • Speechless. Just . . . speechless.

    Title says it all.  Provided with only one comment: IMO someone desperately needs to lose their job over this – and maybe their certification(s).

  • “. . . a passive approach to identifying and preventing fraud.”

    Well, that      Patently Pathethic, Asininly Puerile Abomination      law called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or PPACA – AKA “ObamaCare” – is in the news again. And as usual, it’s not in the news in any good way.

    Essentially, it’s a huge fraud magnet. We already knew that, and I’ve written about that before. In fact, I’ve written about that as an ObamaCare issue more than once.

    Turns out the government knows all that. And you know what? The      clown krewe running DC today     current Administration doesn’t seem to give a sh!t that people are using ObamaCare to rob the American taxpayer blind.

    The GAO recently conducted a study of ObamaCare. The “money quote”? Here ya go:

    “CMS has assumed a passive approach to identifying and preventing fraud.”

    For those who might not recognize the acronym, CMS is the Federal entity that oversees Medicare, Medicaid . . . and the abomination known as ObamaCare.

    Fox News has an article today that gives a good overview of the situation. The full GAO report can be found here.

    Sheesh.  We really need to kill off this abomination of a law.  Now.  Then burn the remains, mix them with quicklime – and bury them in an abandoned mine shaft at least 1000′ deep.

  • More Clintoon “Private Email” News

    Still think there was nothing classified on that “private”, unauthorized, and ineffectively-secured email server Clintoon used to conduct official State Department business? If so, do you also still believe in the Tooth Fairy?

    Here’s a quote relating to the latest revelation about what was found on that “private”, unauthorized and unsecured server. I’ve added emphasis where I felt warranted.

    One of the classified email chains discovered on Hillary Clinton’s personal unsecured server discussed an Afghan national’s ties to the CIA and a report that he was on the agency’s payroll, a U.S. government official with knowledge of the document told Fox News.

    The discussion of a foreign national working with the U.S. government raises security implications – an executive order signed by President Obama said such unauthorized disclosures are “presumed to cause damage to the national security.”

    Don’t know about you, but my reaction on reading the above was, “Oh . . . sh!t.” Why? Because people literally can die if and when information like that falls into the wrong hands.

    Fox News has an article with more details.  It’s IMO worth a read.

    “Not classified at the time” my ass.  Someone would have to be a complete moron to believe that information was unclassified.

    Some people need to go to jail for this. For a loooong time.

  • Another Home from Korea

    DPAA has identified and accounted for the following formerly-missing US soldier.

    • CPL Eldon W. Ervin, HQ Battery, 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division, US Army, was lost on 28 Novemer 1950 in North Korea. He was accounted for on 9 February 2016.

    You’re no longer missing, CPL Ervin. Our apologies that your return took so long.

    Rest in peace, elder brother-in-arms. You’re home now.

    . . .

    Over 73,000 US personnel remain unaccounted for from World War II; over 7,800 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War; and over 1,600 remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia (SEA). Comparison of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from recovered remains against mtDNA from a matrilineal descendant can assist in making a positive ID for unidentified remains that have already been recovered, or which may be recovered in the future.

    DPAA’s web site now has what appears to be a decent “Contact Us” page. The page doesn’t have instructions concerning who can and cannot submit a mtDNA sample or how to submit one, but the POCs listed there may be able to refer you to someone who can answer that question – or may be able to answer the question themselves. If you think you might possibly qualify, please contact one of those POCs for further information.

    If your family lost someone in one of these conflicts and you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample, please arrange to submit one. By doing that you just might help identify the remains of a US service member who’s been repatriated but not yet been identified – as well as a relative of yours, however distant. Or you may help to identify remains to be recovered in the future.

    Everybody deserves a proper burial. That’s especially true for those who gave their all while serving this nation.