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

Author: Hondo

  • A Leader’s Last Gift

    Earlier this year, Dean Smith – former basketball coach at North Carolina – died. He was just short of his 84th birthday.

    Smith had suffered from dementia prior to his death. Regardless, in his will Smith still remembered his former players.

    Smith’s will directed the executor of his estate to send a check – in the amount of $200 – to each player who’d lettered for him during his career. Approximately 180 players had done that during Smith’s coaching career.

    The ostensible purpose of the gift? So that his former players could “enjoy a dinner out compliments of Coach Dean Smith.”

    Nice indeed. But maybe you’re wondering, “Why is this here at TAH?”

    Yeah, you guessed it: Smith was a veteran – and a former officer. At the University of Kansas he was a member of Air Force ROTC. After receiving his degree he was commissioned. He served in Germany during the 1950s as a Lieutenant, and also coached at the Air Force Academy.

    Good leaders know that their success depends on their people; they take care of their subordinates. I’m guessing Dean Smith learned that while in the military. It also looks like he never forgot it, in spite of his dementia.

    Very classy, Mr. Smith. Rest in peace.

  • USS Mahan Shooting ROI Made Public

    USS Mahan Shooting ROI Made Public

    The Navy’s report of investigation (ROI) concerning of the shooting at the USS Mahan – is now public. The incident occurred 1 year ago today.

    For those that may have forgotten, in that incident an unauthorized individual managed to get on base at Norfolk Naval Station. That individual then went to the USS Mahan and wrestled a gun away from a petty officer on watch at the ship. MA2 Mark A. Mayo then struggled with the intruder in an attempt to disarm them. Unfortunately, Mayo was killed during the attempt. The shooter was then killed by other security personnel.

    MA2 Mayo was afterwards posthumously awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his actions that day.

    The ROI indicates that the investigation could not determine the shooter’s motive and intent.  But while the ROI doesn’t tell us the “why”, the ROI documents a slew of improper and/or negligent actions on the part of base security personnel.  Specifically, it notes that the civilian guards manning Norfolk Naval Station’s Gate 5 (the gate thru which the shooter entered) during the incident:

    •  did not verify the shooter’s authorization to enter the base;

    •  did not ensure the shooter made a U-turn at the gate and departed;

    •  did not activate barriers that would have kept the shooter from entering;

    •  did not chase after the shooter quickly enough when he got through the gate;

    •  did not notify Naval Station security of the intruder; and

    •  did not follow any of the base’s standard procedures for an unauthorized entry onto Naval Station Norfolk.

    It also turns out it was the senior individual on duty at Gate 5 who waved the shooter onto the base.  So you have to wonder about the supervision for that group, too.

    So, what punishment did these folks get? Are they at least “on the street and looking for work”?

    Hardly. They all got “red tagged” (put on administrative duty) – though it’s also possible they might face “future disciplinary action”. According to the article linked above:

    There were five sentries on duty at the gate at the time of the shooting and all were put on administrative duty, which the Navy calls being red-tagged. According to a Navy spokesperson, one of those sentries was red-tagged for a week, two were red-tagged for two months, and a fourth was red-tagged for four months.

    The fifth sentry was the Officer-in-Charge and was the one who knowingly waved Savage through Gate 5 without proper identification, according to the Navy. He remains red-tagged and is not allowed to carry a weapon.

    The list of corrective actions taken after the incident is available here; the full ROI can be found here. While I haven’t read the ROI in detail yet (it’s over 100 pages), what I’ve skimmed so far looks bad. Seriously bad.

    RIP, MA2 Mayo.  You did your duty that day after others had botched theirs.  You protected your brothers- and sisters-in-arms.

    Still . . . it’s a shame you had to pay with your life because others screwed up.  A damn shame.

  • More Secret Service News

    Well, it looks like the Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy will be testifying in Congress again tomorrow about the latest Secret Service troubles.  Since his last appearance went just oh so “swimmingly” that was pretty much a foregone conclusion.

    But it also looks like he’ll be going alone.  That’s in spite of the fact that the Congressional Committee before which he’ll be giving testimony has requested that four other individuals also testify.

    Predictably, neither ranking member of the Committee is exactly happy about this.  I can’t say that I really blame them, either.

    I said earlier when surveillance footage possibly related to the incident couldn’t be located that this looked pretty bad.  Now I’m really scratching my head and wondering what’s going on.

    With this stunt, IMO Clancy has just made this thing look a whole lot worse.  A cynic might even start muttering about the possibility of a cover-up.

  • About That Possible US-Iranian Nuclear “Deal” . . . .

    This headline hits the main point.  But it doesn’t tell the complete story.

    Khamenei calls ‘Death to America’ as
    Kerry hails progress on nuke deal
     

    For those who can’t place the name: “Khamenei” above refers  to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – Iran’s Supreme Leader.  In Iran, his opinion matters far more than that of the Iranian president.

    So, to recap:  the leader of Iran has just once again called called for America’s “death”. But irrespective of that fact, the current      DC clown krewe      Administration is still trying to give away the farm in a nuclear agreement with Iran – even though Iran considers us an enemy.

    Brilliant.  Just freaking brilliant.

    What’s more, it appears that even Europeans are getting worried that we’re giving away too much to get a deal. Hell, France is pushing for a much harder line on any Iranian deal than our own SECSTATE. Given France’s history and its pro-Arab and pro-Iranian bent over the last 2 decades or so, when your country is taking a more supine position than the French . . . something is seriously wrong.

    I really didn’t think it was possible for a US Administration to screw things up “by the numbers” in foreign policy worse than Carter’s gang of clowns and amateurs did back in the late 1970s. But I have to admit I was wrong.

    In foreign policy, this current Administration is clueless. Simply clueless.

  • Well, Well, Well – What Have We Here?

    No, I didn’t write what follows.  But I rather wish I had.  I can’t find a damn thing here I disagree with, and it sums up the issue both succinctly and well.

    I am skeptical humans are the main cause of climate change and that it will be catastrophic in the near future. There is no scientific proof of this hypothesis, yet we are told “the debate is over” and “the science is settled.”

    My skepticism begins with the believers’ certainty they can predict the global climate with a computer model. The entire basis for the doomsday climate change scenario is the hypothesis increased atmospheric carbon dioxide due to fossil fuel emissions will heat the Earth to unlivable temperatures.

    In fact, the Earth has been warming very gradually for 300 years, since the Little Ice Age ended, long before heavy use of fossil fuels. Prior to the Little Ice Age, during the Medieval Warm Period, Vikings colonized Greenland and Newfoundland, when it was warmer there than today. And during Roman times, it was warmer, long before fossil fuels revolutionized civilization.

    Yes, the above was indeed written by a self-professed “climate change skeptic.”  However, you might find the identity of that self professed “climate change skeptic” a bit surprising.

    It was written by a guy named Dr. Patrick Moore.

    Yes, that Dr. Patrick Moore.  The same guy who co-founded Greenpeace and who served as its General Director for seven years.  The man just might know a thing or two about science – including the Earth’s environment and how it functions.

    I can’t say I see eye-to-eye with Dr. Moore on all issues.  But I have to say that I do agree with him here.  And I will also say this about the man:  he does seem to have the guts to speak the truth as he sees it when doing so is unpopular.

    The quote above is from this article by Dr. Moore.  It’s not very long, and is IMO very much worth the time to read.  It seems I’m not the only one who thinks we ought to “follow the money”.

    I’m guessing this ought to go over well among our “good friends” in the       grubbing for grants      “politically correct conclusions-here”       modern-day Luddite       global warming “true believer” community.  For that crowd it’s really gotta sting when one of the co-founders of Greenpeace tells them they’re full of it and are talking out of their 4th point of contact.

    Hell, maybe it will even make a few of their pointy little PC heads explode – figuratively speaking, of course.  IMO that would be a good thing.  (smile)

  • About That Recent Secret Service Incident . . . .

    The new Director for the US Secret Service, Joe Clancy, was questioned by members of the House  recently at a closed-door hearing.  The subject:  the recent late-night incident where two senior agents, apparently after having been out drinking, who may have been drinking earlier that evening, reportedly nearly ran over a suspicious package at one entrance to the White House with a government vehicle after arriving on-scene.  That incident is now under investigation by the DHS Office of the Inspector General.

    Two surveillance videos were provided to Congress.  One showed little of the incident.

    When asked, Mr. Clancy told the Representatives was that additional surveillance video of the incident may not be available.  Secret Service policy apparently is to erase surveillance video after 72 hours.

    Now, I’m going to ignore the question of why White House surveillance video isn’t archived to digital video and retained for far longer than 72 hours (storage is really pretty cheap these days).  But it seems to me that if you had an incident at the White House involving a possible bomb and/or potential agent misconduct, you’d flag all surveillance video showing anything that might be related to that incident and keep copies until all actions relating to the incident and its investigation had been completed.

    The fact that any available video of an incident like this – which is under investigation – may have been erased IMO smells. Badly.

    But maybe that’s just me.

     

    (Note:  first paragraph above has been reworded to more accurately reflect what is publicly known regarding the circumstances of the incident in question.)

  • A Cooling “Blast from the Past”

    In keeping with the spring      thaw     snowstorm hitting the NE USA, I thought I’d provide this link.  It’s to an article from Harper’s Magazine – in September, 1958.

    The Coming Ice Age

    The thesis then was that continued global warming would melt the Arctic ice cap.  That would cause a rise in global sea levels – and more precipitation, including more snow.

    However, unlike modern-day      Cassandras       Chicken Littles       prophets of doom      climate warming “true believers”, the theory then was that this ongoing global warming would trigger another ice age.

    Seriously.

    You see, some of that increasing amount of the snow would never melt during the summer.  That non-melting snow would start to form permanent snow cover, then glaciers.  Those glaciers would grow, then merge.  Winds from the north would begin to cool the weather farther and farther south.  Ice sheets would form, and begin to creep south.  In fact, ice sheets up to two miles thick would cover the US and Europe in “several thousand years!”

    Of course, they were also predicting in 1958 that the Arctic Ocean could be ice-free by 1978, too.  They seem to have been a bit off about that, too.  (smile)

    Today, the Arctic is still supposedly melting.  But now that’s allegedly evidence of runaway man-made global warming and a sign that the planet is about to overheat.  Go figure.

    Or at least, maybe today’s climatologists need to “go figure”.  Maybe they need to acknowledge that perhaps they don’t really know enough about what’s causing the earth’s climate to change over time well enough to predict squat with accuracy.

    After all, they’ve not exactly had a great track record over the last 60 years.  Nor have they been exactly consistent in their predictions and claims.

    (Hat tip to Drudge and to Michaal Bastasch at The Daily Caller, who provided this story containing the link to the Harper’s article.)

  • Oh, the First Lady is Gonna Love This!

    We all know the First Lady is big on “nutrition”.  She’s been a driving force behind many new Federal policies regarding food choices, particularly in schools.

    Well, the FLOTUS isn’t gonna like the results of a recent study done by the Rand Corporation.

    It seems that out in the in La-La land – AKA Los Angeles, in the Left Coast’s Granola State – they got ahead of the FLOTUS.  LA passed zoning a zoning ordinance in 2008 which banned new fast-food outlets and the expansion of existing ones (those located in strip malls were an exception) in a 32 square mile section of South LA.

    This part of LA had historically had high obesity rates.  The thought was that limiting people’s freedom (via making it harder to choose to eat fast food) would improve that “public health problem”.

    The Rand Corporation recently studied the effect of that law. Here’s what they found:

    “It had no meaningful effect,” Rand senior economist Roland Sturm said. “There’s no evidence that diets have improved more in South LA. Obesity and overweight rates have not fallen.”

    Gee – people simply continued doing what they wanted to do, in spite of a well-intended but ineffectual law to the contrary.  Who’d have ever expected that people would continue to, you know, exercise that little thing called “freedom of choice” in their daily lives?

    Changing human behavior of this type can’t generally be done simply by decree.  You first have to convince people to change their attitudes and habits.

    Perhaps one day our leftist “brethren” will figure that out.