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

Category: Geezer Alert!

  • The Truth is Out There…

    I dunno quite what to make of this depiction of a possible future. I wish I could post this as a Sunday Silly, but this article has the appropriate bona-fides  in place.

    A retired Army colonel and a professor of history at the University of Kansas have co-written an article instructing the U.S. Army how to properly destroy “…extremist militia [insurgents] motivated by the goals of the ‘tea party’ movement.” (1)

    Colonel Kevin Benson, who teaches modern warfare to soldiers at the University of Foreign Military and Cultural Studies at Ft. Leavenworth and Associate Professor Jennifer Weber have created a scenario in which activists under the influence of that apogee of American terrorism—Tea Party members—“…take over the government of Darlington, South Carolina, occupying City Hall, disbanding the city council, and placing the mayor under house arrest.” (1)

    Lookit folks I am paranoid  by any definition, but…. There is a thread here worthy of note.

  • Happy Birthday United States Navy

    There are enough of us Swab Jockeys here to justify a passing mention of this:

    The United States Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which the Continental Congress established on 13 October 1775, by authorizing the procurement, fitting out, manning, and dispatch of two armed vessels to cruise in search of munitions ships supplying the British Army in America. The legislation also established a Naval Committee to supervise the work. All together, the Continental Navy numbered some fifty ships over the course of the war, with approximately twenty warships active at its maximum strength.

    And in lieu of more traditional Navy songs I offer this:


    I’ll be wearing my dixie cup and daydreaming about far away lands.

  • One View

    Please forgive : Stolen from FaceBook and Hal Moore

    Hal Moore, the Army, and America mourn the loss of SGM Basil Plumley today. He now rejoins his wife Duerice in heaven to enjoy eternal peace. Basil Plumley is an American hero; a combat infantryman in three wars, a man of tremendous character and honor, and an iconic role model for generations of Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines that have followed his path. Above all, Hal Moore and Basil Plumley were loyal comrades and lifelong friends. Basil Plumley will be missed on this earth but he has left a legacy that lives on in the values and fighting spirit of America’s servicemen and women. God Bless you Sergeant Major. We know you have St. Peter doing pushups! Drive On!

    Dunno who actually wrote it (some say the page is fan based), but it seems so right. I think “We know you have St. Peter doing pushups! ” pushed me over the edge and I had to share here.

  • Enter The Violence Tax

    This story intrigues me in so many ways that it’s worth a post just to see how YOU feel about it?

    Illinois county considers ‘violence tax’ on guns and ammo

    The crux:

    Officials in Illinois’ Cook County are eyeing a so-called “violence tax” on guns and ammo — a move aimed at curbing violence and closing the budget gap, but one that’s drawing a rebuke from the gun lobby.

    I reckon the actual  perpetrators of gun violence won’t be paying much.

    Of course it is yet another way to soak the law abiding citizen, but I think it rises to the level of Silly as a concept.

    What say you?

  • They Have Names

    Our pal CJ has been developing a website called They Have Names that goes well beyond just a memorial. Candidly, I have trouble reading it.

    Recently the site made the local news.

    kcentv.com – KCEN HD – Waco, Temple, and Killeen

    Technical aside: I dunno if Jonn or someone else has mentioned the site. Spent the last month switching satellite ISPs. This is my first real attempt since. Hope it doesn’t send TAH into never-never land?

  • An Injection Or Two Will Cure PTSD

    The story from FoxNews lays the groundwork.

    Although PTSD is my secondary diagnoses this kinda troubles me.

    For over 20 years the VA has been trying out their panoply of drugs on me. True even longer for some.

    Although the VA is not directly involved with this one (YET) they do tend to fund research into such. Some say to the detriment of other aspects of their purview.

    I’m reminded of “One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest”.  This injection could save lives, but what is the cost?

    Exit question… would you still be you after this treatment, or would you just be mellow? I’m so used to being paranoid and “twitchy” I ain’t so sure?

     

  • Attack on Camp Bastion: The Destruction of VMA-211

    Stole the title from a better writer than I.

    I noted the shift  here, but let John amplify:

    Late on Friday, Sept. 14, 2012, a Taliban insurgent force of sappers attacked the NATO ISAF base, Camp Bastion, in Afghanistan, resulting in the worst loss of U.S. airpower in a single incident since the Vietnam War. Two Marines, including VMA-211’s commanding officer, were killed in the attack, and nine other personnel (eight military and one contractor, reportedly) were wounded. By the time the base was secured roughly five hours later, six U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) AV-8B+ Harrier “jump jets” had been destroyed, and two more “significantly” damaged. In addition, three refueling points were destroyed, and six “soft-skinned” aircraft hangers were damaged to some degree. As a result of this attack, the air strength of Marine Attack Squadron 211 (VMA-211 – “The Avengers”) presumably 10  aircraft, was almost completely destroyed.

    I considered this event as a significant shift in focus by the Taliban. Sadly it is even worse than I thought.

    One more like this and we will be discussing a paradigm shift.

    And the withdrawal date is known…

     

  • Focus…

    This struck me as profound.

    On Friday Sept. 14, at around 10.15 p.m. local time, a force of Taliban gunmen attacked Camp Bastion, in Helmand Province, the main strategic base in southwestern Afghanistan.

    About 15 insurgents (19 according to some reports), wearing U.S. Army uniforms, organized into three teams, breached the perimeter fence and launched an assault on the airfield, that includes the U.S. Camp Leatherneck and the UK’s Camp Bastion, where British royal Prince Harry, an AH-64 Apache pilot (initially believed to be the main target of the attack) is stationed.

    But,

    Considered that the U.S. Marine Corps are believed to be equipped with slightly more than 120 AV-8B+, the attack on Camp Bastion has wiped out 1/15th of the entire U.S. Jump Jet fleet and a large slice of the Yuma-based squadron. A serious problem for the USMC, that was compelled to buy second hand RAF Harrier GR9s to keep the AV-8B+ in service beyond 2030, when it will be replaced by the F-35B.

    The headline: Marine Attack Squadron loses eight Harrier jets in worst U.S. air loss in one day since the Vietnam War

    Can it be that those goat ropers have shifted focus?