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

Category: Geezer Alert!

  • In The Navy – Redux

    NB: This is satire! It does fit well with my earlier post though. Thanks John A.

    SECNAV Reintroduces Grog to the Navy

    In a surprise announcement yesterday, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus reversed a key portion of the initiative known as “The 21st Century Sailor.”  After the fleet-wide failure of his “breathalyzer on every quarterdeck” policy, Mabus announced that the Navy would not only do away with the newly installed devices, but bring back the tradition of alcohol rations.  The announcement was all the more stunning as it came after a period of 24 hours in which no one could seem to find the Secretary.

    “Today’s Sailors understand leadership and motivation,” Mabus said to reporters at the U.S. Naval Academy, who filed into Mahan Hall Auditorium for a hastily assembled press conference.  “After spending the evening with the combat-leaders-in-training on the Academy’s Varsity Cheerleading Squad, exchanging ideas at various establishments around Annapolis, I became convinced we need a course change in our policy. We need spirit back in the U.S. Navy!”

    Like bringing back the USS Constitution to full combat service this is one of those things that almost makes sense.

    Although not ‘grog’ there were spirits  carried on ships when I was in during the ’60s.  During an UNREP (underway replenishment for the Army guys) a guy got tangled up in a cargo net and briefly dunked in the ocean. His was given a shot of something in a glass. This led to  a discussion of just what it would take to warrant  shots all around. Don’t remember the consensus reached.

  • In The Navy

    In honor of TSO and his particular fixation…

    There might be pirates.

    Navy To Deploy USS Constitution To Strait Of Hormuz

    With the US Navy increasingly stretched trying to meet its commitments in both the Pacific and the Middle East, the Department of the Navy announced today that it will be re-activating its entire mothball fleet for upcoming Middle East deployments, including the USS Constitution.

    According to Navy officials, the Constitution, currently celebrating the 200th anniversary of her victory over the British warship HMS Guerriere, will relieve the destroyer USS Porter, which was damaged last month in a collision in the Strait of Hormuz while playing chicken with a lighthouse.

    The Duffel Blog and Boston Maggie ruined a perfect afternoon of pain pills and Busch.

    Thin ice defined.

  • An Unofficial Hasan Beard Update

    Far out of my lane so presented with little comment.

    Stay of Proceedings Issued in Accused Fort Hood Shooter Case

    The Army’s highest court, the Unites States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) has granted a stay of proceedings in the case against accused Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan.

    Hopefully Jonn will dump this and do a proper post, but last I heard he was stuck in traffic and this pisses me off enough to risk his wrath.

  • A Single Question?

    Two weeks from tomorrow an election will be held.  While every Presidential election is certainly important I (and many others) think this one rises to being particularly portentous.

    Jonn plans to LiveBlog tonight’s debate and that prompted  this post.

    –

    If you could pose s single question to either candidate what might that question be?

    Unlike the actual debate we won’t be assiduously following any rules save one: The subject is foreign policy.

    Oh what the hell – this is TAH after all.

    Try to keep it down to a single question per comment anyway so others can respond more easily.

    Mine: President Obama, Sir. Can you point to any specific example where our foreign aid to an Middle Eastern Islamic government has made them more friendly to the US   and our foreign policy goals? (Edited with a nod to TSO and his  recent ‘boots on the ground’ experience).

  • Oh Good

    Our pal CJ posted this on FB. I hadn’t noted it before, but maybe you had.

    If not: International monitors at US polling places draw criticism

    United Nations-affiliated election monitors from Europe and central Asia will be at polling places around the U.S. looking for voter suppression activities by conservative groups, a concern raised by civil rights groups during a meeting this week. The intervention has drawn criticism from a prominent conservative-leaning group combating election fraud.

    NB: I have NOT explored the details. YMMV

  • Deja Vu All Over Again

    Title is a quote, BTW.

    US aircraft carrier cruises disputed Asian seas

    A U.S. aircraft carrier group cruised through the disputed South China Sea on Saturday in a show of American power in waters that are fast becoming a focal point of Washington’s strategic rivalry with Beijing.

    Vietnamese security and government officials were flown onto the nuclear-powered USS George Washington ship, underlining the burgeoning military relationship between the former enemies. A small number of journalists were also invited to witness the display of maritime might in the oil-rich waters, which are home to islands disputed between China and the other smaller Asian nations facing the sea.

    Spent some time in The South China Sea AND with a nuclear carrier (USS Enterprise)… Not really relevant except point up that certain buzzwords have meaning.

    And I’ll admit passing fascination with a geopolitical view that places our assets in and around disputed OIL rich waters while ignoring closer assets, but that’s just me. To say nothing of dealing with a possible threat and ignoring a one that is real.  When was the last time a Chinese flew a plane into one of our buildings?

    Freedom of navigation is no trivial matter, but I can’t help but remember The Gulf of Tonkin incident .

    My apologies for being terse (or rambling) here. Reading the linked article aroused old memories that are most likely irrelevant to most, but…

  • Oh? You Guys Support Obama?

    Military Personnel Campaign Funds Favor Obama Over Romney

    The Lede:

    President Barack Obama has received almost twice as much in campaign contributions from U.S. military and Defense Department personnel as his Republican challenger Mitt Romney, despite Romney’s promises to boost defense spending and his criticism of military cuts set to take place in January.

    Goes against everything I believe, but…

  • The Times They Are A-Changin…

    I figured Jonn, or TSO at least, would have covered this.

    Deployed soldier begins sex change

    The lede:

    She’s a lesbian, and almost everyone in her unit knows it.

    She wears her hair cropped short and has a distinctly boyish appearance.

    And she’s becoming manlier by the day, now that she’s started taking male hormones.

    Call her Keith. That’s the name this 26-year-old specialist, now deployed to Afghanistan, plans to take when she completes a transition begun several months ago when she started giving herself testosterone injections every other week, under the direction of a civilian doctor who specializes in gender changes.

    He/she is giving interviews except that:

    Keith declined to be identified by her real name because under military policy, troops diagnosed with “gender identity disorder” are deemed medically unfit for service and face administrative separation.

    Now I’m 40+ years separated from my military service and I KNOW things have changed, but this strikes me as a less than positive development .

    We have someone knowingly breaking regulations and doing it in a very public way.  Somehow a righteous PC armor is magically protecting this soldier it seems.

    And this is NO LONGER the person who enlisted. Even among males testosterone therapy has some serious psychological side effects. I can’t imagine the changes he/she is going through, and in a war zone to boot.

    I could rant on about stuff like unit cohesion and/or morale but I’ll just ask that someone here PLEASE explain how this is a good thing!