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

Author: Zero Ponsdorf

  • GO NAVY – Bravo Zulu!

    American hostage in Somalia rescued by US Navy SEALs in overnight raid

    In a daring nighttime raid Tuesday, U.S. Navy SEALs rescued two hostages, including one American, who were being held by kidnappers in Somalia, U.S. officials tell NBC News.

    American Jessica Buchanan, 32, and a 60-year-old Dane, Poul Thisted, were working for a Danish relief organization in northern Somalia when they were kidnapped last October. U.S. officials described their kidnappers as heavily armed common criminals with no known ties to any organized militant group.

    According to the U.S. officials, two teams of Navy SEALs landed by helicopter near the compound where the two hostages were being held.  As the SEALS approached the compound on foot gunfire broke out, the U.S. officials said, and several of the militants were reportedly killed. There is no word that any of the Americans were wounded.

    Not much worth adding. Bad guys down. Innocents saved.

    Oh yeah, for you Army types BZ:

    This is a naval signal, conveyed by flaghoist or voice radio, meaning “well done”; it has also passed into the spoken and written vocabulary. It can be combined with the “negative” signal, spoken or written NEGAT, to say “NEGAT Bravo Zulu,” or “not well done.”

  • Tet ’68 and Memories

    So… being a geezer and all I have certain times of the year or certain thoughts that stir memories and/or memories OF memories.

    But this isn’t about me.

    Thrift store book leads family to discover Vietnam secret

    Curious about the Vietnam War, the teen picked out this book from a thrift store: “The Battle for Saigon, Tet 1968″ by Keith William Nolan.

    He accidentally dropped the book on the floor and found something surprising in the glossary of names.

    “To be honest, my heart kind of stopped,” said Mason.

    But the biggest surprise was yet to come.

    “He came home and he asked me, ‘How did my great-uncle Jim die?’ I said, ‘Well, he was ambushed.’ And he said, ‘What if I told you that’s not what had happened?’” Tony recounted.

    “That grenade went off, it startled the MPs and they saw the Vietcong running, and not even thinking about where their own people were,” said Diane Vielbaum, Tony’s mom, and James’ sister-in-law.

    (…)

    Another soldier interviewed in the book details that Private First Class James M. Vielbaum wasn’t shot by the Vietcong on Jan. 31, 1968. He was killed by friendly fire.

    “Why didn’t they tell us the truth?” asked Michael Vielbaum.

    I dunno the absolute truth about this incident… too many variables in play, but I sure can sympathize.

    Oops… Thanks Dbie!

  • Interesting Take on Gun Laws – No More Than Three?

    Don’t Panic YET! The story is from Australia.

    Three guns and no more, say Greens

    THE NSW Greens hope to reduce gun numbers in the state with new legislation it is putting before parliament.

    “It is simply wrong that individuals can accumulate an unlimited number of deadly weapons with next to no scrutiny,” says Greens MP and firearms spokesman David Shoebridge.

    Under the legislation, registered holders would be limited to a maximum of three guns.

    It follows a spike in gun theft, gun ownership and gun crime in NSW.

    “Less guns in society mean less opportunities for gun crime,” Dr Shoebridge said in a statement.

    Just the usual drivel on the surface, it seems, but I’m trying to grasp the rationale here?

    I don’t live in New South Wales. And I haven’t explored the background of the story either, I’m simply puzzled by the concept.

    Is it “the toe in the door” for further gun control? If they are successful down under could we see something similar here? Our Second Amendment only guarantees the Right to keep and bear arms. No mention of a number.

    Not really on topic, but the notion does raise an Exit question: If you could only have three, what would they be?

  • Politics! Just Maybe a Clear Definition of What’s Wrong?

    I don’t have a dog in this particular hunt, but I found it interesting anyway, so  you may as well?
    Joe K3 ‘excited’ to get his feet wet in politics

    He’s still living with his mother in Cambridge, but 31-year-old Joseph P. Kennedy III said he’ll move soon into the 4th Congressional District and begin charting a possible run for Barney Frank’s open seat.

    “I’m excited for what’s next,” Kennedy said yesterday. “To be able to get out and explore a potential candidacy. … I’m going to take some time to get across the district and try to talk to people and listen to their concerns and see if I can do what it takes to put together a candidacy in what I expect to be a very competitive primary, then hopefully a general election.”

    So… he doesn’t live in the district, but he’ll be willing to move there for fun?

    A rather obvious question might gave to do with what he’ll hear as “concerns” and just how he CAN even relate.

     

  • The Nuge Can Write!

    Okay, I must admit that I was tickled that he said:

    The United States of America has turned into bizarro land.

    That happens to my favorite comparison, but I figured some didn’t GET it. Unca Ted did.

    The actual article for you to peruse. One quote:

    This is analogous to the Drug Enforcement Administration knowingly allowing international dope pushers to sell heroin on American streets without placing the dope dealers under surveillance in hopes that somehow, some way, the dope pushers would enable the DEA to trace the heroin back to some dirty, cave-dwelling Afghan opium poppy farmer so we could then poison the farmer’s poppy fields. Wait a minute, let’s not give this crackpot administration any more loony ideas.

    There’s really nothing new, or news here for most that follow TAH.

    Still, it IS an interesting bit of perspective.

     

  • There a Joke Here, Somewhere… I Hope?

    Everyone has heard about The White House helping China out by saying no to the Keystone Pipeline project.

    Most have heard about The White House doing it’s damnedest to prevent the exploitation of both on-shore and off-shore oil and gas reserves in CONUS.

    But I wonder if you’ve heard this tid-bit?

    Cuba gives The Finger to the US! (my title). 

    Highlight 1:

    Starting next week, Spanish oil giant Repsol YPF, working in partnership with Norway’s Statoil and ONGC Videsh, a unit of India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp, is expected to drill at least two wells in Cuban waters about 70 miles from the Florida Keys.

    Highlight 2:

    The only part of the rig said to be American-made is the blowout preventer, the part that failed in the BP disaster.

    Cuba is hoping oil will ease its chronic economic woes and bring energy independence. It currently receives 115,000 barrels a day from its oil-rich socialist ally Venezuela.

    Chronic economic woes and energy independence? I know I’ve heard those words before? These stories have national security ramifications that are maybe less immediate than slashing the DOD budget… but hardly less important at that.

    Folks, there has GOT to be a punch line coming?

  • Who Did it?

    A crazed vet? An armed misogynist?

    THIS I care about.

    Iranian Student Activist Shot to Death in Texas

    A Texas medical student well-known in her community as an Iranian activist was mysteriously shot and killed in her car, just yards from her home.

    Gelareh Bagherzadeh, 30, was driving through her Houston townhouse complex around midnight on Monday when she was shot dead through her car window.

    “When officers arrived, they found a vehicle had run into a garage door at that location with the engine running and tires spinning on the pavement. Ms. Bagherzadeh was found slumped over in the driver’s seat,” the Houston Police Department said in a statement.

    Authorities said nothing appeared to have been stolen from her car. Her cell phone and purse were found inside.

    I’ll be tracking this as best I can.

     

  • PTSD – Some Valuable Perspective

    Doc Bailey has a post up worth reading:

    His last paragraph captures his point as far as us ‘Nam vets so I’ll quote that:

    The real tragedy is that because there are so few people that have served, and because the public has largely ignored the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, these men and women are far more isolated.  Only Vietnam veterans were as isolated, their isolation more because of scorn than because of their disproportionately small portion of society.  They are further isolated by stereotypes that both Hollywood and the News Mediums perpetuate.  The idea of the animal in a cage, waiting to loose his rage on the world, is something that will keep far too many Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans from seeking the help they need and so deserve.

    Read the whole thing.