Author: Zero Ponsdorf

The story is here: Placer-county-man-punches-bear-in-face-to-save-his-dog

Given that TAH is one of the places that exposes Vet Phonies I must point out that I did nothing to verify his credentials.

“A foothills man came face-to-face with a bear outside his home. He didn’t run. He didn’t call wildlife officials.

Instead, he wound up and punched the bear in the face.

Carl Moore is not a guy who scares easily.

“The man or beast that I run from ain’t been born, and his momma’s already dead,” he said.

He’s 73 years old with a wiry frame and one heck of a character. And it turns out he’s also quite a bear fighter.

“I ain’t run from nothing; I never have in my whole life and I ain’t going to start now,” he said. “And you’re not going to sacrifice my babies for some damn bear.”

I simply liked the story. The kicker is in one line: “He’s an ex-first recon Marine,” Sargent said. “He’s been in barroom brawls, all kinda stuff.”

Other than that his dog appears to be safe and intact this is just another story where some media outlet appears to have made no/zero/nil to confirm any part of his story.

There is a video at the link. NO BEAR in sight though. This one of them stories that I hope is true. YMMV!

 

Stumbled across this story recently and dunno quite what to make of it. NB: I didn’t fully deploy all of  my Google-Fu skills to completely confirm the story. Every easy search looped back to this, but it appears real.

The Lede: Defense Secretary: 10,400 Male Troops Subjected to ‘Unwanted Sexual Contact’ Last Year.

“Defense Secretary Ashton Carter told a group of ROTC cadets on Wednesday that sexual assault is a “particular challenge and a particular disgrace” to the U.S. military. He noted that last year, far more men (10,400) than women (8,500) “experienced unwanted sexual contact.”

First thought: Unless you happen to be surprised in the shower what were the circumstances for the guys?   I’ll admit that I have no current frame of reference.  Even in the shower wouldn’t a normal male react rather than filing a report?

Still, if the story is true it is oddly enlightening. 10,000+ of those “Males” currently in uniform filed a complaint that added to the stats. Also, the definition of “assault” seems to be vague in masculine terms. There are no details in the story. My emphasis would be the notion of “Unwanted Sexual Contact”.

So… Our currently serving folks have opted to file a complaint rather than simply punching the lights out of some miscreant?

If it were April 1st or a post from the Duffle Blog it’d be funny. As it is I can’t quite bring myself to even giggle about it. YMMV!

 

This is directly in response to Jonn’s post and the comments.

As long as he allows I have a platform, and I already used it to amplify what I believe to be the primary issue here.

Not strong enough – not aggressive enough, etc, etc. Not really relevant.

You have, likely, always served next to someone that you didn’t fully trust to do the job. Everyone has weaknesses, mind you.

BUT…How do we adjust to natural hormones? On guard duty somewhere and your mind turns to the one at the next post. She met every requirement that you did… but her smile makes you dream just a bit.

Set aside the closeted gay. I don’t have any real numbers easily at hand, but apart from the recent profoundly PC years and I suspect it was a small number during WWII, and rarely an issue.

Regardless: When females become a significant proportion of combat arms what becomes of the mission? I’ve heard that there are drugs that suppress hormones, etc.  sounds like the next step.

There are any number of positions where females and males can, and have, served together with honor and effectiveness – I am struggling to put “in the mud” combat arms in that category.

Last note: Segregation! It’ll never fly in our PC/Bizarro world, but meets every rational criteria including the hormonal one.

 

 

I’ll readily admit I haven’t really followed country music since it got all poppy, but this story is toooo good to leave alone. Still enjoy bluegrass and old country though.

Almost by definition old “Country” music embraced a certain rural paradigm that included guns ‘n ammo as a part of life.

However, some current country stars have stepped in the Kimchi.     Aside: In all fairness Kimchi is supposed to be a very healthy food, but my use of it here should make clear my opinion.

“On July 17, country singers Tim McGraw and Billy Currington will headline a fundraiser for gun control group Sandy Hook Promise in Connecticut.”

Then today we get the news that one of the above is saying  – “DOH!”

“Country fans were outraged and on April 16, Currington announced he was pulling out of the concert.”

I rather appreciate the general “care about the victims” attitude, and am willing to believe this event is just performer management lack of wisdom, but when your name is involved the performer has primary responsibility methinks.

I don’t think I can name a  single Billy Currington tune just now, but I soon will. If I like it I will buy a CD as well.  His move took a certain sense of responsibility that I want to support.

This post is prompted by simple curiosity. Judging by handles and, maybe prompted by a comment or two, many of us seem to have held interesting post-service jobs. One of the elements that defines a stint in the military is what happens next. TAH has invested mightily in the PTSD phonies, and that lot. But what about the “actual” rest of us?

I’ve got a hunch that many, if not most, TAH readers have led a post-service life that may be of interest to the rest of us. I wanna provide  an open platform for us to share. I suspect that we can look forward to “Oh Shit, YOU did that too?” moments that will be fun. I am genuinely curious myself, and I suspect we’ll find more common ground outside of having worn a uniform.

So… I’ve worked at a LOT of different jobs – I’m old, BUT I’ll open the door here with just a few.

Been a tech/lineman/outside plant supervisor in tv cable, AND climbed poles on hooks.

Been a tech for NASA for the first 7 or 8 Shuttle missions.

Been a broadcast engineer.

Been a Recording Engineer – still am, but semi-retired.

Made a living writing computer code.

Have fun… Exaggerations may well be laughed at.

Two jobs I kinda hope we don’t see here are undertaker and full-time clown. Both scare me almost as much as Dentists.

 

First and foremost, nobody was physically hurt in this incident, but I gotta believe that there WAS some fervent finger pointing in the aftermath.

Warwick Castle cannonball show sets fire to medieval boathouse.

“Hundreds of tourists have been evacuated from Warwick Castle after a burning cannonball fired from the world’s largest working siege machine destroyed a medieval boathouse by fire. “

Okay, I’ll admit a certain ignorance of medieval “cannons”, but I have never considered a trebuchet to be a cannon? My personal experience begins and ends with 5in Naval Guns. Regardless, we’re talking cannonballs.

And the “cover-up” begins… “A spokesperson for Warwick Castle said the trebuchet would continue firing shots but only dry ones rather than fireballs until the investigation into the blaze is completed. “

I dunno… if the shooters can make this kind of mistake – what difference does it make. The verbal depiction in the article that viewers had to be evacuated which suggests they were downrange:

“There was a lot of panic and people were scrambling up the bank because they had no idea if the fire would spread.”

“The place was packed with lots of young children and families. We were all evacuated and it was quite scary.”

So the tourists/fans were in a position to be threatened?

Just struck me as odd. YMMV

Oh wait… It was religious.

This may well be the strangest story I’ve come across in some time. I DO like silly, but this… I’m at a loss.

“A former girlfriend testified last year that Harris told her he shot Gerety in the stomach, tortured him for two days, then cut off his head. Prosecutors allege Harris kept Gerety’s head for months for some type of religious practice.”

So this guy gets 4 years in a plea bargain?

I’ve only just stumbled across the above link. My Google- fu found other links to the story like this. The victim’s brother did ask a painfully obvious question:

“The justice system is a joke,” Tom Gerety, victim James Gerety’s brother said. “You can murder somebody and get out in 50 months. What’s that tell everybody on the wrong side of the law?”

Admittedly some aspects of this case may give lawyers room to preen and chase cop cars instead of ambulances, etc… otherwise, read the links, or find yer own.  Still, the only reason I’m posting is to offer you miscreants a way out. Maybe them Damn Guns and their evil magic.

At least Mr. Harris ain’t a cannibal of record, and I have no/zero/nil idea what religion was involved. Hopefully YOU lot can fill in THAT blank.  The “rest of the story” is just too odd for even me begin to grasp.