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

Category: Geezer Alert!

  • For an Otherwise Kinda Grim Day – A Sunday Funny

    Stolen from my own FB post.  Please keep in mind that the local weather on my ridge is spawning cabin fever here.

    Okay, apparently there is some sort of sporting event later today. There seem to be gangs of mercenaries preparing to do “battle” for cities they mostly don’t live in sponsored by folks who really could care less about who wins?????

    Someone PLEASE take moment and explain.

    I DO feel my depiction is accurate, but think about the outrage this can/has/will engender in many other contexts.

    Have fun.

    ETA: From the comments because I think I hurt myself :

    I asked the sergeants guarding the beer,  It was Super Bowl Sunday 2005. This is the most important holiday in the US Army. The Marines have the Marine Corps Birthday, I’m not sure what the Navy and Air Force have, but the Army has Super Bowl.

    You Army guys crack me up.

  • Sandy Hook Explained…

    Our pal CJ put this up on FB. I don’t want this to go un-noticed.
    The ugliest truth about Sandy Hook

    Guns are part of the right-wing lunatic fringe of fear, the Obama-loathing, government-hating, minority-despising, science-scoffing quarter of Americans existing in a shadowy permanent grief state over the 1950s, over a white-bread America where they were king that never was and never will be. Guns are the talismans that ward off change in the world, that protect them from all their stalking fears, the wand of hope that someday society will indeed break down — isn’t it fracturing already, with gay marriage? — and they will assume their rightful place as unquestioned kings once more, with their AK-47s set proudly on their kingly hips and their freeze-dried meals nourishing them through the long night of the tardy Mayan zombie apocalypse.

    Aside: This IS from Chicago?  And I have read and re-read this article looking for a hint of irony.

    High-capacity clips? Gun checks? Mass shootings? Slaughters like Newtown catch our fleeting attention, but they are only the daily gun death toll concentrated in one spot at one time. The problem is handguns.

    There you have it TAH readers.

  • Note to Women From The DIA

    This has been making the rounds. Cracked me up.

    File under mixed messages or DOH!
    Fashion Advice at the DIA: ‘Makeup Makes You More Attractive’

    A week after women were cleared to serve in combat, Defense Intelligence Agency employees got a different message. “Makeup makes you more attractive.” “Don’t be a plain Jane.” “A sweater with a skirt is better than a sweater with slacks.” “No flats.” “Paint your nails.” “Don’t be afraid of color.” And, “brunettes have more leeway with vibrant colors than blondes or redheads.”

    The linked article DOES offer an oops from the DIA brass,  but…

    I’m wondering if I should start following these guidelines?  Jonn, TSO?

  • I’m So Thrilled I Just HAD to Share

    Senate confirms Kerry nomination for State Dept.

    Someone mentioned this in a comment below….But I had to verify.

    The Senate overwhelmingly confirmed President Barack Obama‘s choice of five-term Sen. John Kerry to be secretary of state, with Republicans and Democrats praising him as the ideal successor to Hillary Rodham Clinton.

    Of course I feel betrayed… but, sadly, not surprised.

    I just broke my alcohol fast. Queries about my blood sugar and/or rage can be addressed to: Nothing much matters on FB.

  • Where No Man Has Gone Before ‘n Stuff

    We all have anniversaries of events that impacted our lives in some way. This time of year is an odd sort of trifecta for me.

    January 23, 1968: The USS Pueblo was attacked.

    January 30, 1968: The Tet offensive kicked off.

    I was deployed and involved in both, although time and fading memories (and THIS venue) preclude me from offering up iffy details and/or even good Sea Stories.

    The third item is bit clearer and far more recent…

    On Jan. 28, 1986, 19 years and a day after the Apollo 1 fire, NASA’s space shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds after liftoff due to an O-ring failure in one of the orbiter’s twin solid rocket boosters. The malfunction allowed hot gas to escape the rocket booster, ultimately causing the shuttle’s external fuel tank to explode.

    While working at the NASA Tracking Station on Kauai during the early ’80s I worked on the first 8 or 9 Space Shuttle missions. In the run up to one of those launches we were visited by a team of astronauts for a “meet ‘and greet”. One of those visiting was Ellison Onizuka.  I knew from his bio that he had been an AF test pilot before becoming an astronaut so I asked him, after more than two adult beverages apiece, how he thought it would feel to just ride the shuttle after flying jets.

    He paused and offered this: ” How would YOU feel if YOU sitting on top of a huge potential bomb waiting for someone to light the fuse?” Okay, that IS a paraphrase rather than a direct quote, but the gist is valid. We all laughed.

    So every year about this time it is hard to ignore the flood of memories, and memories of memories. I’ll be breaking my alcohol fast one day this week and raise a toast to those who dared and for those who did their duty.

  • Just How Paranoid Are You? A Sunday Silly?

    Are they coming?

    (more…)

  • Peace With Honor

    “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Santayana

    On January 27, 1973 the Paris Peace Accords were signed.

    There appear to be sufficient parallels to justify a reminder.  Of course such comparisons are apt to get nitpicked into meaninglessness, but with the GWOT morphing into “something else” it might be worth revisiting the words Thieu  offering when resigning before the fall of Saigon:

    “At the time of the peace agreement the United States agreed to replace equipment on a one-by-one basis. But the United States did not keep its word. Is an American’s word reliable these days? The United States did not keep its promise to help us fight for freedom and it was in the same fight that the United States lost 50,000 of its young men.” Emphasis added

    I dunno…

    ETA: Oh yeah! John Kerry for Secretary of State. That’ll show ’em.

  • Just a Glimpse

    My first choice is term limits, mind you, but this doesn’t suck.

    The bill passed by the House today would withhold Congressional pay for members of the House and/or Senate should either chamber fail to adopt a budget resolution by April 15. Congress has not adopted a budget in more than 1,300 days.

    This has been percolating here and there, but it seems to have passed a hurdle I thought insurmountable?

    Okay,  it IS hard to picture the Pampered Princes (and Princesses)  on the Potomac actually abiding by this, let alone passing it into law, but it is fun to consider.

    Compared to many of the things Congress will be asked to deal with during the next four years THIS is worthy of note. Imagine Congress voting to nullify an executive action concerning firearms?  Tongue firmly in cheek here.

    I can dream can’t I?