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

Author: Old Tanker

  • SPLC Dumped by the FBI

    It couldn’t happen to a more deserving bunch. Apparently the FBI has dumped our buddy’s at the South Poverty Law Center as a resource for hate crimes

    A letter to the U.S. Department of Justice, drafted by Lieutenant General (Ret.) William G. Boykin, Executive Vice President of the Family Research Council (FRC), calls such an association “completely unacceptable.”

    I wonder if Mark Potok will be looking for a new job?

    FRC president Tony Perkins said, “We commend the FBI for removing website links to the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization that not only dispenses erroneous data but has been linked to domestic terrorism in federal court. We hope this means the FBI leadership will avoid any kind of partnership with the SPLC.”

  • PTSD Vaccine??

    Apparently some researchers at MIT have found some interesting correlation between a stomach hormone and PTSD that could possibly lead to a vaccine for PTSD.

    It’s a breakthrough that could help thousands of American soldiers returning from dangerous deployments. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology believe they may have discovered a way to create a vaccine that could prevent post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

    “What it’s going to do is that they’ll still have perfectly strong memories of the event. They just won’t have the bad health consequences,” said Ki Goosens, an assistant professor of neuroscience neuroscience with the McGovern Institute for Brain Research.

    Apparently, by blocking the receptors for a hormone known as Ghrelin they were able to lower “fear” which they hope prevents the debilitating effects of PTSD. (NO, this won’t make some fearless robot “Universal Soldier”) They don’t claim that this is some magic cure, memories and traumatic experiences will still be completely real and intact, their hope is just that it can keep PTSD from developing.

    I know they call it a vaccine, but that is because it can be administered prior to going into known stressful situations, ie. combat. However, this should also work after a traumatic experience as well. It could potentially help troops suffering now and would be able to be used to treat people who suffer severe trauma from, say, a rape, violent attack, childhood abuse, etc…

    This should be interesting…..

  • MOH Politics

    So what’s this from Fox News? Pentagon probe finds Petraeus sought downgrade of hero Army captain’s Medal of Honor

    Something is rotten in Denmark…….the Pentagon, but then we could have guessed that.

    A Pentagon probe into the mishandling of hero Army Capt. William Swenson’s Medal of Honor nomination found retired Army Gen. David Petraeus had sought to downgrade it, but shed no light on why the soldier’s file was scrubbed from military computers and never passed up the chain of command

    At least Swenson finally got what he earned, and I’m glad Duncan Hunter isn’t letting this go just yet….

    It is extraordinarily disconcerting that the facts surrounding Swenson’s Medal of Honor nomination, specific to how it was handled and subsequently lost, still cannot be resolved,” Hunter wrote.

  • Last Flight Home

    From Yahoo News comes the story of a soldiers last flight home. A passenger that day was riding on a flight with a fallen soldier and decided to write about it. I’ll let him tell you about it…

    Delta Flight 2255 from Atlanta to Los Angeles seemed to be an ordinary flight with the exception of Candy, who was the most loving flight attendant I’ve ever encountered. Besides using her Southern charm to quickly defuse every situation, she began her welcome announcement by thanking the handful of uniformed soldiers on-board for serving our country. Her poignant message was followed by applause, and it put into perspective that none of us would be able to do what we do without these brave men and women.

    But this transcontinental flight turned out to be everything but ordinary. We later learned, when the captain got on the PA system about 45 minutes prior to landing, that we were transporting a fallen soldier. The plane went quiet as he explained that there was a military escort on-board and asked that everyone remain seated for a couple of minutes so the soldiers could get off first. He also warned us not to be alarmed if we see fire trucks since Los Angeles greets their fallen military with a water canon salute.

    You really should read it, the author does a better job than I could.

    When the jet door opened, another military officer addressed the escort who was standing at attention. He then stepped on the plane and told us passengers “I just addressed the escort. It is a sworn oath to bring home, to the family, the fallen.” He paused and then said, “Today you all did that, you are all escorts, escorts of the heart.” And then thanked us for our time and walked off the plane.

    As you can imagine, everyone was silent and no one got up, not even that person from the back row who pretends he doesn’t [understand] English so he can be first off the plane. I’m sure most had meteor-sized lumps in their throats and tears in their eyes like I did.

    escort

    There is video of the water cannon salute at the story, my web fu is weak so I’m not going to try and embed it here. Take some Kleenex with you when you go to the link….

  • Purple Heart

    From Fox news come the story of an injured Army Ranger thought to be unconscious rendering a salute during his Purple Heart ceremony.

    “I cannot impart on you the level of emotion that poured through the intensive care unit that day,” the commander wrote to the Ranger’s wife. “Grown men began to weep, and we were speechless at a gesture that speaks volumes about Josh’s courage and character.”

    101613_ff_salute_640

    WARNING: Make sure the office door is closed when reading this…..

    UPDATE: Full transcript of the letter Josh’s Commander sent to his wife is over at Guardians of Valor

  • Flat D!&%

    Okay, the story from Fox doesn’t go into great detail so I’d love to hear from you nuke types. Looks like the Air Force went right to the top, I wish other services would consistently do the same.

    The Air Force is firing the two-star general in charge of all of its nuclear missiles in response to an investigation into alleged personal misbehavior, officials told The Associated Press on Friday.

    Of course, I may have to amend that….he wasn’t relieved because of the nuclear inspection results but because of “Personal behavior”…..Ooops!

    carey_william2

  • Are you effing kidding me?

    I’m actually speechless…

    On Tuesday morning, seven National Park Service employees were seen erecting and tending to a barricade around the World War II memorial in Washington, D.C. One NPS employee was operating a forklift. There usually aren’t any NPS employees working at the World War II memorial.

    A couple hours later, when an Honor Flight of World War II veterans arrived, accompanied by Democratic and Republican members of Congress, the fences blocking the memorial were easily moved away, allowing the veterans to enter.

    But the barriers are still at the memorial, and they’ve been reinforced. This morning, I walked by the memorial and noticed that wires had been used to tie the fences together:

    Good grief…

    BVvCkmPCIAIunjR

  • Troops Forage for Food While Golfers Play on in Shutdown

    Okay, so this reporter was never in the military, but other than Army Posts suddenly becoming Army bases and Commissaries becoming grocery stores, the point is the same…

    Grocery stores on Army bases in the U.S. are closed. The golf course at Andrews Air Force base is open.

    The CinC needs to play golf more than you active duty guys and gals (and retirees) need to get groceries…..well, you can just go off “base” and pay more for that turd sandwich covered in awesome sauce…since you’re still getting paid by the almighty’s good graces and all…(Should I close the sarc tag here?)