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

Category: Geezer Alert!

  • In Defense of Hillbilly Heaven

    Title and context stolen from Don Surber

    Don is a genuine professional writer and I won’t try to top him.

    OK, that is perhaps the least surprising headline imaginable for a West Virginia blogger, but I must defend Hillbilly Heaven BBQ in Hamilton, Ontario, whose owner Cameron Bailey has posted signs that include: “Things we don’t have and never will: halal, rice, kabob, shawarma, fries, wings, ¼ chicken, Mexican, burgers.”

    Pretty much, you go into the restaurant and order barbeque.

    And not just any old barbeque. Another sign reads: “What would make you think this was a Korean BBQ? Do you see any f’n ducks in the window?”

    And perhaps the least offensive sign of all: “To better serve you, our staff speaks English.”

    Don, like Jonn, is not a native born hillbilly, but this easily qualifies a Sunday Silly post regardless.  The PC police in Canada are in a snit… Just imagine what would happen here?

  • Are “Doomsday Preppers” Just Paranoid Nuts?

    So The National Geographic Channel is about to premiere Doomsday Preppers to the world.

    Long a rather quiet subculture it will be fascinating to see what kind of attention this exposure will bring.

    I should note here that I have been a survivalist (the OLD name) for quite some time. If some television producer asked ME to participate in a national TV show about the subject I’d be more interested in how he got my name? I sure as hell wouldn’t volunteer just to be on TV.

    Candidly, I’m skeptical (and paranoid?).  As Jonn noted in part  vets are suspect in some circles… but I’ll posit that that suspicion is based on many of the same elements that CAN be used to paint preppers.  Know what to do when The Shit Hits the Fan? Don’t need to rely on The Government?

    Like any group preppers will include some nuts. I’ve met a few, but by and large they are simply the sort of person who plans ahead and practice ‘just in case’.

  • Having Some MORE Fun at John Kerry’s Expense

    Many, or most, here won’t care, and it didn’t rise too high on my radar until Rurik sent Russ Vaughn’s link along.

    First The Photo I Google Fu-ed:

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    A Fifth Purple Heart?

    Vietnam Vets Can Only Hope that it was one of them, seeking long-overdue justice for the rest of us, that John Kerry finally encountered. The pompous pol, who famously ran on his dubious combat record and who also famously vilifiedhis fellow warriors, showed up at the White House sporting a broken nose and two black eyes.

    Disclaimer:  Rurik and Russ were my co-bloggers at Old War Dogs for a while, but no money changed hands.

  • GO NAVY – Bravo Zulu!

    American hostage in Somalia rescued by US Navy SEALs in overnight raid

    In a daring nighttime raid Tuesday, U.S. Navy SEALs rescued two hostages, including one American, who were being held by kidnappers in Somalia, U.S. officials tell NBC News.

    American Jessica Buchanan, 32, and a 60-year-old Dane, Poul Thisted, were working for a Danish relief organization in northern Somalia when they were kidnapped last October. U.S. officials described their kidnappers as heavily armed common criminals with no known ties to any organized militant group.

    According to the U.S. officials, two teams of Navy SEALs landed by helicopter near the compound where the two hostages were being held.  As the SEALS approached the compound on foot gunfire broke out, the U.S. officials said, and several of the militants were reportedly killed. There is no word that any of the Americans were wounded.

    Not much worth adding. Bad guys down. Innocents saved.

    Oh yeah, for you Army types BZ:

    This is a naval signal, conveyed by flaghoist or voice radio, meaning “well done”; it has also passed into the spoken and written vocabulary. It can be combined with the “negative” signal, spoken or written NEGAT, to say “NEGAT Bravo Zulu,” or “not well done.”

  • Tet ’68 and Memories

    So… being a geezer and all I have certain times of the year or certain thoughts that stir memories and/or memories OF memories.

    But this isn’t about me.

    Thrift store book leads family to discover Vietnam secret

    Curious about the Vietnam War, the teen picked out this book from a thrift store: “The Battle for Saigon, Tet 1968″ by Keith William Nolan.

    He accidentally dropped the book on the floor and found something surprising in the glossary of names.

    “To be honest, my heart kind of stopped,” said Mason.

    But the biggest surprise was yet to come.

    “He came home and he asked me, ‘How did my great-uncle Jim die?’ I said, ‘Well, he was ambushed.’ And he said, ‘What if I told you that’s not what had happened?’” Tony recounted.

    “That grenade went off, it startled the MPs and they saw the Vietcong running, and not even thinking about where their own people were,” said Diane Vielbaum, Tony’s mom, and James’ sister-in-law.

    (…)

    Another soldier interviewed in the book details that Private First Class James M. Vielbaum wasn’t shot by the Vietcong on Jan. 31, 1968. He was killed by friendly fire.

    “Why didn’t they tell us the truth?” asked Michael Vielbaum.

    I dunno the absolute truth about this incident… too many variables in play, but I sure can sympathize.

    Oops… Thanks Dbie!

  • Interesting Take on Gun Laws – No More Than Three?

    Don’t Panic YET! The story is from Australia.

    Three guns and no more, say Greens

    THE NSW Greens hope to reduce gun numbers in the state with new legislation it is putting before parliament.

    “It is simply wrong that individuals can accumulate an unlimited number of deadly weapons with next to no scrutiny,” says Greens MP and firearms spokesman David Shoebridge.

    Under the legislation, registered holders would be limited to a maximum of three guns.

    It follows a spike in gun theft, gun ownership and gun crime in NSW.

    “Less guns in society mean less opportunities for gun crime,” Dr Shoebridge said in a statement.

    Just the usual drivel on the surface, it seems, but I’m trying to grasp the rationale here?

    I don’t live in New South Wales. And I haven’t explored the background of the story either, I’m simply puzzled by the concept.

    Is it “the toe in the door” for further gun control? If they are successful down under could we see something similar here? Our Second Amendment only guarantees the Right to keep and bear arms. No mention of a number.

    Not really on topic, but the notion does raise an Exit question: If you could only have three, what would they be?

  • Politics! Just Maybe a Clear Definition of What’s Wrong?

    I don’t have a dog in this particular hunt, but I found it interesting anyway, so  you may as well?
    Joe K3 ‘excited’ to get his feet wet in politics

    He’s still living with his mother in Cambridge, but 31-year-old Joseph P. Kennedy III said he’ll move soon into the 4th Congressional District and begin charting a possible run for Barney Frank’s open seat.

    “I’m excited for what’s next,” Kennedy said yesterday. “To be able to get out and explore a potential candidacy. … I’m going to take some time to get across the district and try to talk to people and listen to their concerns and see if I can do what it takes to put together a candidacy in what I expect to be a very competitive primary, then hopefully a general election.”

    So… he doesn’t live in the district, but he’ll be willing to move there for fun?

    A rather obvious question might gave to do with what he’ll hear as “concerns” and just how he CAN even relate.

     

  • The Nuge Can Write!

    Okay, I must admit that I was tickled that he said:

    The United States of America has turned into bizarro land.

    That happens to my favorite comparison, but I figured some didn’t GET it. Unca Ted did.

    The actual article for you to peruse. One quote:

    This is analogous to the Drug Enforcement Administration knowingly allowing international dope pushers to sell heroin on American streets without placing the dope dealers under surveillance in hopes that somehow, some way, the dope pushers would enable the DEA to trace the heroin back to some dirty, cave-dwelling Afghan opium poppy farmer so we could then poison the farmer’s poppy fields. Wait a minute, let’s not give this crackpot administration any more loony ideas.

    There’s really nothing new, or news here for most that follow TAH.

    Still, it IS an interesting bit of perspective.