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

Author: Zero Ponsdorf

  • The CINC Knows Best

    The 1973 War Powers Resolution was passed during the era of the Vietnam War to set out the powers of the president and Congress regarding U.S. military actions. It prohibits U.S. armed forces from being involved in military actions for more than 60 days without congressional authorization.

    It seem that there actually has been some discussion about the “Kinetic Military Action” ongoing in Libya.

    President Obama rejected the views of top lawyers at the Pentagon and the Justice Department when he decided that he had the legal authority to continue American military participation in the air war in Libya without Congressional authorization, according to officials familiar with internal administration deliberations.

    One quote struck me in particular:

    “It should come as no surprise that there would be some disagreements, even within an administration, regarding the application of a statute that is nearly 40 years old to a unique and evolving conflict,” Mr. Schultz said. “Those disagreements are ordinary and healthy.”

    Damn them old laws!

    If simply calling something “unique and evolving” means an old law doesn’t apply is that The Benchmark now?

    I won’t argue that there aren’t archaic and outdated laws on the books here and there, but this standard is more than a little troubling. The 21st century is unique and evolving compared to back around 1776.

  • What could go wrong?

    TSA conducting security exercise

    The exercise will cover approximately 5,000 square miles throughout Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia. The participating teams are composed of a variety of TSA assets including federal air marshals, canine teams, inspectors and bomb appraisal officers. They will be joined by state and local law enforcement officials to supplement existing resources, provide detection and response capabilities. The exercise will utilize multiple airborne assets, including Blackhawk helicopters and fixed wing aircraft as well as waterborne and surface teams.

    “The exercise not only enhances security throughout the region; it gives TSA and our security partners the opportunity to work cooperatively,” said TSA Columbus Federal Security Director Donald Barker. “This work increases our preparedness to respond in case of an emergency.”

    I have NO IDEA why the TSA is doing this exercise? Maybe at a seaport, or an airport, but THREE states?

    This is enough to overwork my inner paranoid.

  • Arizona SWAT Team Cleared in Former Marine’s Killing

    Others here have covered this in some depth, but I just stumbled across this:
    Arizona SWAT Team Cleared in Former Marine’s Killing

    The SWAT team that gunned down a former Marine in his Tucson, Ariz., home was cleared today of any wrongdoing in the incident.

    Jonn and others here can amplify, etc. I just wanted to get this out there ASAP.

    Looks to me like bullshit on top of bullshit.

  • Geezer post… YMMV

    Been having some computer issues here, but this filtered through.

    watch?v=TB0jigYknwM

    Been a  metal head for longer than some of you have been alive, but this is from  one of our folks.

    This is worth watching but the embed code is not for us it seems.

  • For Rent: A Palace or Two

    U.S. troops leaving Saddam’s palaces in Iraq

    Available soon: nine palaces in lakeside complex frequented by visiting kings and dictators, beautiful molded ceilings and light fixtures, many bidets, Saddam Hussein mural and former prison cell. As is, with Tomahawk missile damage. Contact: U.S. Army.

    Thus might read a real estate ad for the Victory Base Complex, one of the many properties the U.S. military is vacating as the Dec. 31 deadline for its withdrawal from Iraq approaches. It will leave behind probably some of the most elaborate, some would say tacky, office spaces ever used by American soldiers, sailors or Marines.

    Not much to add from this seat. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a palace myself.

    Some of you may feel a bit of nostalgia though?

  • The Near Perfect Sunday Post

    Via Don Surber. There is this.

    Osama bin Laden used to have sex with his first wife for days on end whenever he came back from waging Jihad.

    The former Al Qaeda leader would vanish into his bedroom with Najwa bin Laden upon his return and not come out until they had properly reacquainted themselves.

    Asked by an interviewer to name her favourite time when living with the terrorist, she replied: ‘The sleeping time’.

    One of his sons noted, in the same article:

    Osama bin Laden’s fourth eldest son Omar has written a book, Growing Up bin Laden, which is due to be published shortly.

    His publisher said in an interview with the New York Times Magazine that it was not a revenge memoir but said: ‘He just always wanted a normal life, and he couldn’t have one with his father’

    Can’t say I’m the tiniest saddened about Omar and his problems myself. I AM just a bit intrigued by “ have sex with his first wife for days on end whenever he came back from waging Jihad.”
    No point to be found here folks… except maybe Jihad ain’t all bad? Hadn’t really thought about this context.
    He skipped the  70 virgins for her….

  • And Then What? Vietnam

    Caveat: This would would a simple geezer post except us geezers aren’t likely to be involved.

    I just got back from a mini-road trip. Only reason that is probative here is that I was helping a fellow Nam vet.

    Then I find this: Hanoi plans live-fire drills.

    Vietnam’s navy will stage unprecedented live-fire drills off its central coast on Monday in an apparent escalation of Sino-Vietnamese tensions over the South China Sea – a dispute that has so far involved only civilian ships.

    I have been sorta tracking this story, but this escalation begs the question; Who does Hanoi ask for help in this case?

    The UN, The Russians, India, or…

    I am a documented paranoid so me thinking our CINC would involve the USN is likely flawed.  After all there ARE few Muslims in VN compared to Libya or Yemen.

    YMMV

  • The Conscientious Objector – A Reminder

    Many hear or see the words “I’m a conscientious objector.” and think of hippies and draft dodgers, and rightly so. But there have been others who could use that phrase with no small honor.

    I was reminded of that today when I stumbled across the name below. I remember reading about him years ago. Reckon maybe others here might not have heard of him?

    Meet Desmond Doss.

    Desmond T. Doss (February 7, 1919–March 23, 2006) was the first conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor and one of only three so honored (the others are Thomas W. Bennett and Joseph G. LaPointe, Jr.). He was a Corporal (Private First Class at the time of his Medal of Honor heroics) in the U.S. Army assigned to the Medical Detachment, 307th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division.

    Desmond Doss refused to kill, or carry a weapon into combat, because of his personal beliefs as a Seventh-day Adventist. He thus became a medic, and by serving in the Pacific theatre of World War II helped his country by saving the lives of his comrades, while also adhering to his religious convictions. 

    His Medal of Honor was earned by the risks he took to save the lives of many comrades.

    Now there is a documentary about him.

    The Movie, with trailer.

    It’s on my to-watch list.