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

Category: Dumbass Bullshit

  • MRAPs in your hometown

    USAToday writes that the feds have been giving away MRAPs, the mine-resistant ambush-protected trucks that are coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan to your local police departments;

    MRAPs did their job saving the lives of thousands of troops from roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, they’ll be hitting the mean streets of Columbus, Ohio, where campus police at The Ohio State University can presumably bust beer bashes with the behemoths. Cops in Madison, Wis., another Big Ten party town, can presumably do the same with theirs.

    They’re free. Mostly. Which is a pretty good deal considering a fully tricked-out MRAP with bomb-signal jammers, radios and a .50-caliber machine gun in the turret can run about $1 million.

    But like buying a new car, there’s a destination charge involved, according to Mimi Schirmacher, a spokeswoman for the Defense Logistics Agency. If local police or state government pay shipping costs and justify the need, DLA is happy to put them behind the wheel of a 37,000-pound MaxxPro from Navistar.

    My biggest concern, among many that I have about this subject, is that criminals will take this as a challenge to up their games. I also think that the government should at least charge the police departments some money, provide some kind of reimbursement, anyway. Perhaps paying a couple hundred thousand dollars for these beasts would discourage police departments from looking like they’re at war with the rest of us. I’m all for saving lives, but do the police really need a vehicle designed to counter IEDs? And what the hell are campus security going to do with them?

  • Yer Friday Afternoon Funny

    It seems as if some local officials in western Pennsylvania weren’t very observant when they approved the final design for a highway safety project.  Either that, or they had a “wicked bad” sense of humor.

    Scott Township recently had some traffic barriers installed.  They’re reinforced concrete posts, called bollards.  They’re designed to serve as safety barriers.

    Let’s just say the design of the bollards is, um, somewhat “open to interpretation.” And not everybody is pleased by the design chosen.

    Photo below the break.  (Probably safe for work, but use care around children and youths – especially if you laugh easily – to avoid answering potentially embarrassing questions.)

    (more…)

  • Widow mourns loss of privacy to Hollywood

    MCPO Ret. In TN sends a link to a local article from Tennessee about Ashley Edens, lovely widow of Army Specialist Jason Edens, whose private moment with the remains of her husband has been become another internet meme, one which she regrets. Jason was killed in Afghanistan last year in April and she was photographed grieving over his coffin and photographed by a Tennessee National Guard photographer. The photo has been falsely identified as one of actress Lea Michele mourning the loss of Glee actor Cory Montieth;

    Ashley Edens was too upset to talk with us on camera about this story.

    “She’s saddened by the memory being stolen from her, the time with her husband. Her exact words were, ‘They stole the moment with my husband,’” Jan Edens said.

    Channel 4 News sent a message to the operator of one Facebook page that has posted the misrepresented photo, but they did not respond.

    The soldier’s mother said she just wants the picture taken down, not wanting her son’s memory and his sacrifice diminished in any way.

    “I don’t want his memory to be confused with someone else,” she said.

    I see that some Hollywood news people are working, however weakly to correct the meme. The Tennessee National Guard weighs in;

    While they say it’s unfortunate that picture has been misused, nothing can be done about it, because military photos are not copyrighted. They can be used by anyone.

    Yeah, there quite a bit of difference between a widow mourning the loss of her warrior husband and some airhead grieving over the loss of her suicide-committing fiance who she probably would have divorced soon after the wedding anyway.

  • Hipster douchenozzle

    0901-sir-ivan-dina-lohan-getty-2

    Mogul “Sir” Ivan Wilzig, in “dress” whites, poses with celebrity mother Dina Lohan during Sir Ivan’s “Sailors and Sinners Soiree” on Sunday in Walter Mill, N.Y. (Photo by Paul Zimmerman/Getty Images for Sir Ivan)

    I’ll bet he supports the troops, too. A couple of you sent the photo, but I’m speechless. Do your worst.

  • Guardsmen plead guilty in bonus scam

    Four former and current National Guardsmen pleaded guilty in almost a quarter-million dollar scam to defraud the Guard Recruiting Assistance Program (G-RAP) which paid bonuses as enticement to attract folks to enlist according to the Department of Justice;

    Melanie D. Moraida, 33, of Pearland, Texas; Kimberly N. Hartgraves, 28, of League City, Texas; Lashae C. Hawkins, 27, of San Antonio; and Vanessa Phillips, 35, of Houston, all pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of bribery.

    […]

    Moraida, Hartgraves, Hawkins and Phillips all admitted that they paid Army National Guard recruiters for the names and Social Security numbers of potential Army National Guard soldiers. They further admitted that they used the personal identifying information for these potential soldiers in claiming that they were responsible for referring the potential soldiers to join the Army National Guard, when in fact they had not referred them.

    As a result of these fraudulent representations, Moraida collected approximately $14,500 in fraudulent bonuses; Hartgraves collected approximately $2,000 in fraudulent bonuses; Hawkins collected approximately $33,000 in fraudulent bonuses; and Phillips collected approximately $10,000 in fraudulent bonuses.

    The charge of bribery carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the pecuniary gain or loss. The charge of conspiracy carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the pecuniary gain or loss.

    They are scheduled to be sentenced in December.

  • The meme continues

    One of our readers, the guy who dropped off the viking picture yesterday, dropped off some more of the “I didn’t join…” memes on our Facebook page;

    Frost Giants

    sign civil War

    sign red October

    sign Star Wars

    sign UN

    One of our more serious members sent this one along. It explains why the rest of us are upset about the people who are being used for Syrian propaganda. Before you complain, she wrote the sign backwards and took the picture in a mirror;

    sign meme

  • John Kerry’s “Munich moment”

    On Saturday, John Kerry compared Bashar al-Assad, the ruler of Syria to Hitler and Saddam Hussein (but I thought Hussein was a benevolent leader who deserves to still reign over Iraq according to the Democrats) because Assad used chemical weapons. Today, Kerry told House Democrats that they are having a “Munich moment” in deciding whether to strike at and punish, Syria for their alleged use of chemical weapons.

    Kerry’s derisive comments on Assad and his reference to the 1938 Munich agreement between Adolf Hitler and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain — after which Chamberlain infamously declared it would lead to “peace for our time” — showed the hard line the White House is taking in its drive for congressional approval of the Syrian resolution. Top administration officials argue that a failure by the United States to respond to the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime will only lead to more violence and instability in the region.

    So much use of Nazi-related hyperbole. Especially since those same people railed against the Nazi hyperbole when used against Hussein’s regime. I think the Democrats’ Munich Moment came with the three Congressmen on the roof of Saddam Hussein’s palace claiming he was more trustworthy than the President, back in 2003. And if Assad is Hitler, why aren’t we trying to remove him power as a stated goal instead of just “punishing” him? We “punished” Hussein for 12 years and accomplished nothing.

    Or this could be a Munich Moment in 2009 when Kerry was lobbying for his current job;

    John Kerry's Munich Moment

    Another Munich Moment in 2007 when the Bush Administration was trying to isolate Assad and Pelosi was trying to engage Assad;

    Pelosi's Munich moment

    Kerry also said that Israel, America’s closest ally in the region, backed the need for a U.S. military response.

    Since when did what Israel wanted ever matter to this administration?

  • You Just Ain’t Gonna Believe This One

    Well, here’s another “gem of wisdom” from the freaking idiots “fine lads and lasses” at PETA.

    According to PETA, ladies, you shouldn’t eat chicken while expecting.  Because if you do – and the child is male – PETA says there may be “dire consequences” for the youngster.

    Yeah, they’re full of it.  While there is a trace chemical in poultry (phthalate) that some studies show has been associated with – um, let’s call it “shorter stature” – poultry isn’t a significant source of exposure.  Plastic containers and personal hygiene products are hugely more important sources.

    PETA is simply misrepresenting and sensationalizing the facts again for propaganda and fear-mongering purposes.  It’s just more business-as-usual for those clowns.

    So, as the cows in the Chick Fil’a ads say:  feel free to “Eat mor chikin”.  (smile)