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

Category: Link fest

  • If They Only Had A Brain

    This is kind of a link fest, something you can go through, read the articles linked, and make your own decisions about the subjects. It is, after all, Saturday, and I know the NAVY!-Army game will be first and foremost on your minds, but – well, you need something to do when Army doesn’t get those yards.

    In her interview at the link, Camille Paglia almost infers that this may be birthing pains of some sort, or better yet, the last gasps and struggling efforts of the current liberal side of the political fence in its death throes.

    No harm in that. Everything comes full circle at some point. Her indictment of current politicos and potential liberal candidates is scathing, harsh and well deserved. They are falling all over themselves to choke their own party to death. Her take on the Democrat party is like watching squirrels in my yard chasing peanuts I’ve thrown out to them and then chasing each other. It’s a bunch of little kids who will never grow up but want to be part of a gang. Hence, we get bimbos like O-C and shouting ‘look-at-me’ idjits like “Nuke ‘em” Swallwell.

    She’s right about Clinton.  Shrillary does want dTrump to win the 2020 election. The Liberal side of the fence is being loaded with mindless droids whose robotic programmed responses to stray words are the first symptom of loss of self-awareness. And this untutored, sanctimonious non-religious generation of lost children is being drained away toward a greedy, demanding fake religion of pseudo-science, to sacrifice everything for the greed of a few who will abuse them badly. History shows us repeatedly that such things fail, and fail badly. Oh, but next time, we’ll do it right! Really? Then why did the liberals like Kamala Harris turn into a scrounging shoal of hagfish during the Kavanaugh hearings? Why can’t they get off the ‘hate Trump’ bandwagon and stop pounding that drum? It is not surprising that Paglia, as a professed atheist, recommends that the study of religion be a requirement now, if you take everything else into consideration, including the unenlightened social group known as SJWs.

    Here’s the link to Paglia’s interview:

    https://spectator.us/camille-paglia-hillary-trump/

    There’s another link to Googly-eyes Ocasio-Cortes’s proposal “New Green Deal”, in which she outlines every possible way to destroy a thriving economy. You might want a strong drink to read the “Green New Deal” itself, but there is help included in the article.

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/12/08/the-green-climate-deal/

    The author of the article went through the proposal, piece by piece, to dissect it and try to understand it, and then gave up, went outside to get some fresh air and wonder how long it would be before his head exploded from the dumb, dimwitted, ignorance that this zippy little bimbo offers (with assistance noted from Bernout Sanders).  She’s right in the same rowboat with “Nuke ‘Em” Swallwell, you know.

    Googly-eyes seems to think that money fall off of trees or is just cranked out. She includes a defunding of the military by 50%, and instead, using the National Guard for everything. I think we already use the National Guard for just about everything, don’t we? These are just a few of her bubbly ideas.

    And finally, the link below takes you to a National Review article about Mueller’s obsessive pursuit of something – anything, in fact – that will show beyond a doubt that there was Russian interference in the 2016 election, based originally on the deal Trump tried to make and failed to build another Trump Tower in Moscow.  https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/12/mueller-investigation-collusion-allegations-partisan-politics/

    Mueller has done some unconscionable things himself, including finding ways to get people to perjure themselves, which is what a corrupt Chicago cop like Jon Burge of Chicago was notorious for doing. Bringing a conspiracy crank like Corsi into this mix is a sign of desperation.  Unfortunately, Mueller has spent thousands of hours and tons of tax money on this project and so far, has done nothing but make it clear that he hates Trump and is obsessed with getting rid of him.  That sounds like a personal problem to me.

    While we may find people like Googly-eyes and Mueller to be distasteful at best, they are symptoms of a larger and very widespread problem called “not really paying attention”.  Paglia’s interview addresses these problems, too.  We cannot afford to be unaware or dismissive of them.

    Go NAVY! Beat Army.

  • Shields Will Be Broken!

    There I was, at the front of the line, back to back with SGT Rock and Doc Savage, putting together arms and armor for a mighty battle, when it occurred to me, as the Puzzled Leader of and Chief Cook for this loosely knit band of tramps, humans, humanoids, and various Space Alien species, that I had no pep talk at the ready. No rousing oration to stir the blood. No ‘we who are about to die’ sort of thing. So I had to put down the sword polish and go and consult with the best pep speechifiers I could find, which took a bit of time, time travel and digging.

    There is, of course, the internet in addition to the videos available, both of which make the job of cobbling a pep talk together so much easier. But does it answer that question: what stirs the blood?

    We have bits and bobs of Patton’s actual speech, in various videos. This one isn’t too bad:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8ULAFxlrvY

    Then there’s Marco D’Aviano’s speech on the hill in ‘Day of  the Siege’, a so-so movie about the Siege of Vienna. The movie itself is crunchingly slow and sometimes silly, but the delivery of speech by F. Murray Abraham as the monk D’Aviano is stirring, with the Polish King Jan Sobieski and his Winged Hussars attacking the Turks at the end of it:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAKYICdbwA4

    Theoden, King of Rohan and the Riddermark, made a rousing battle speech at the Pelennor Fields outside Minas Tirith:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ryy5U2mNTJU

    Aragorn made another speech at the Black Gate, just before Sauron (who was afraid of Morgoth, who was afraid of the Balrogs) disintegrated when the One Ring melted.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17_ImViPryQ

    Crassus wanted to know who Spartacus was. He sorely underestimated the people he faced, misunderstood what it takes to truly lead people, and was assassinated by the Parthians when he also underestimated the desert of the Middle East and the pure skill and will power of the Parthian army.

    And in the end, everyone was Spartacus:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8h_v_our_Q

    So just what is it that stirs your slow blood and sends chills down your spine?

  • Veterans’ Day links

    As you can imagine, my inbox is filling up with stuff from folks who want you to know about what they’re doing for veterans, so I figured the best way to share it all with you is with links and you can choose that which interests you. I’ll update the links as they come in.

    First from our buddy, Gina Elise and Pinups for Vet;

    Pin-Ups For Vets (www.PinUpsForVets.com) is proud to introduce our 8th annual popular pin-up fundraiser calendar that will once again support VA Hospital Healthcare programs, hospitalized Veterans, deployed troops, homeless Vets, military spouses, and female Vets entering the workplace.
    (Please check out all the pages on our website to see all the good things we are doing.)

    Our new calendar features NINE Veterans this year–both male and female. The calendar also features two popular TV sportscasters who have each done multiple USO tours to the troops in the combat zones. One of these sportscasters is employed by the L.A. Lakers and is the only female scout in the NBA. ( Attached is a calendar photo for the month of November to honor our Vets from each branch of the military.)

    Our organization has received numerous community service awards— and America’s deployed troops have flown 9 U.S. flags over military bases to honor the work we are doing to support our Nation’s heroes.

    We are currently on a 50-state VA Hospital Tour where we have visited over 5000 ill and injured Vets at their bedsides across the U.S. to boost morale and to deliver gifts of appreciation. ( Please see our “Gina’s Visits” page on our website. ) Please check out all the pages on our website to see all the good things we are doing to support our Nation’s Heroes !

    We reached our 25th state, two weeks ago, when we visited the Durham, NC, VA Hospital and Fort Bragg to deliver gifts of appreciation to the hospitalized Vets there, as well as to the troops.

    Thank you so very much, Jonn, for your consideration in doing a column about our unique all-volunteer nonprofit organization. We have so many interesting stories to tell about our interactions with our Vets….one Vet, with a traumatic brain injury, who hadn’t spoken for weeks, finally spoke his first words to us as we visited his bedside.

    We hope your readers might like to order a calendar for themselves or for a hospitalized Veteran that we will personally deliver or to donate one to an active duty service member that we will put into a care package.

    On Monday, November 11, honor America’s bravest for their patriotism, sacrifice, and valor with a cause. Give back this Veteran’s Day with Operation Hat Trick (OHT), a program that generates awareness, support, and funding for the recovery of America’s wounded warriors through donations to participating organizations around the country. In an exclusive licensing partnership with leading sports apparel brand, ’47 Brand, OHT provides continuous support to both active service members and veterans looking to further their education and future employment.

    The Trust for the National Mall, the official non-profit partner of the National Park Service dedicated to restoring and improving the National Mall, announced today the release of the smartphone app for the World War II Memorial. The free app, WWII Memorial, will be available for iOS and Android, and is available for download on iTunes and Google Play beginning today – just in time for Veterans Day. Download the ITune app here.

    In honor of the service and sacrifice our nation’s active duty service members, veterans and their families, the retail banking industry has committed to a number of programs to help them as they continue their missions or transition to civilian life. These programs include job training and hiring, small business funding, affordable housing, and financial education. A number of CBA’s retail bank members have also partnered with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to launch a private sector national Veterans Employment Advisory Council to promote veteran employment and best practices.

    “Veterans, active-duty military, and their families have committed themselves to serving a nation we all love. Without their commitment to duty, the opportunities that we have here at home would be for not. We are proud of the many initiatives our member banks have undertaken to support these brave individuals and their families as they have supported us,” said Richard Hunt, president and CEO of the Consumer Bankers Association.

    Free Tickets Available to Events Nationwide on Veterans Day Through Brown Paper Tickets (Word Document link)
    (more…)

  • Stupid shutdown news link fest

    Too many links and so little time;

    What would a US default look like? (from Ex-PH2)

    The Disabled Veterans of America want you to write your Congress creatures. (from Ex-Ph2)

    The Daily Caller says that contract Catholics priests have been threatened with arrest if they minister voluntarily on military bases (from Preston)

    It looks like they shut down the USMC Memorial, too.

    Congress voted to pay government workers after the shutdown ends. So can I PLEASE go back to work?

    Did Obama really close the ocean?

    Who gave the Obama-bots a gun?

    Added; Obama closes the Vietnam Memorial. It’s a wall and a sidewalk, for crying out loud.

  • Warrior Voices Veterans: learn to write the words they could not speak.(Update)

    This was going to be just about the this story that was re-posted by the American Legions Facebook, but since Casey Porter’s Movie “Present Day” is being debuted today I wanted to include this as well.

    The first one is about finding a better way to treat PTSD and other issues that happen after returning from deployments. Ron Capps is trying using writing as a way to help Veterans deal and overcome these issues. The idea come from writing about his own experiences with when he wrote a article in 2009 called;Back From The Brink: War, Suicide, And PTSD. Now he has helped form a outlet for Veterans to write in the same way that he did in 2009. It is called the Veterans Writing Project.

    At The Veterans Writing Project we believe that every veteran has a story. We know that some of us need a little help telling that story. So we provide no-cost writing seminars and workshops for veterans, active and reserve service members, and military family members. We publish a quarterly literary review, a podcast and an ongoing scroll of writing by our friends on our sister site, O-Dark-Thirty. Soon, we’ll begin publishing books through our publishing branch, BCG Books.

    We approach our work with three goals in mind. The first is literary. We believe there is a new wave of great literature coming and that much of that will be written by veterans and their families. The next is social. We have in the United States right now the smallest ever proportion of our population in service during a time of war. Less than 1% of Americans have taken part in these most recent wars. Our WWII veterans are dying off at a rate of nearly 1000 per day. We want to put as many of these stories in front of as many readers as we can. Finally, writing is therapeutic. Returning warriors have known for centuries the healing power of narrative. We give veterans the skills they need to capture their stories and do so in an environment of mutual trust and respect.

    Also this is helpful in dealing with integration after returning home.

    Ms. Hoit received critiques from other veterans; she trusted their reactions. She had recently graduated from the University at Albany, where she studied journalism. She was no stranger to sharing her writing, but had found civilian classrooms awkward and frustrating. She had felt judged for her subject matter.

    Even now, as a student in Johns Hopkins’s M.F.A. program, she finds herself battling stereotypes. After one reading, a classmate asked her, “Why would anyone join the military if they didn’t want to kill someone?” She is angry about the “media-shaped” portrayal of the wars and feels a responsibility to “reshape that picture and ground it into truth.”

    “It’s like people think the only people who join the military are poor or lesbians,” she says.

    Several other writing websites were listed in the article to include Army of Dude who comments here from time to time.

    Also today Casey Porter has been working with the Moonlight Fund group to produce the movie “Present Day” that opened in the Boerne Community Theater.

    In closing I think that there any many stories that exist that need to be heard but are not. This because they do not fit into what Society has imaged was serving in the military is like. For this reason Veterans hesitant on telling people their experiences let along asking for help with the many issues that one can face due to the fear that one is going to be labeled as a Crazy Veteran. It does not help that the media keeps this stereotype alive and well.

    Also it is important that you can help Veterans of all eras by simply showing that you care by simply asking;”How can I help you?”. It is as simple as that. There are many people that are listed above that could use your assistance right now.

    Update:Casey Porter wanted to let everyone know that the video will put online on February 11th and the new trailer can be found here. Additional links are posted were you can follow the newest updates for this film.

  • This post started with a photo.

    I remember the original video from the Victory at Sea series. I remember the reckless disregard that the ground crew Officer went to retrieve the pilot. Originally I was not able to find that video but I found this video. Also the song that is selected for the video is interesting to note. It goes by the name “A prayer for the Fleet”. I cannot find the lyrics for it on the net. What I have found out is that it is done by the US Navy Sea Chanter Chorus. But one thing that got me thinking because of the song is the part that starts at :37 and goes to 1:12.

    The last crash landing is post World War Two. I knew that carrier crashes can and do happen but, you do not think of them being to that extent. The video at 2:15 is a violent reminder to the contrary. This leads me to my next topic. The disaster on the USS Forrestal.

    The video and link cover most of the basic information of the fire so I will just skip to my thoughts. The first one is that it seems that in the process of trying to save money that it ended up costing them much more in lives, manpower and material. Something that sometimes gets forgotten in and out of the military community. Also I wonder what our resident Navy guy, Zero Ponsdorf thoughts are on the USS Forrestal and how it changed the Navy.

    But the last part is the actions of Gerald Farrier who tried to prevent the bombs from exploding. He recklessly tried to protect his fellow shipmates without regards to his own safety. His actions reminded me of the actions of the original photo.

    As I was writing this post, I was able to find the video related to the above photo. It starts at 5:36 if you want to skip the other videos.

    It is amazing where a photo can take you.

  • And you wonder why you are ignored, really?

    So once again Rethink Afghanistan is playing willful ignorance in there newest statement.

    In addition, over the past few years, U.S. forces have killed or captured dozens of significant al Qaeda leaders. Then, on May 2, 2011, American Special Forces acting under your direction located and killed Osama bin Laden. The death of the founder of al Qaeda is a major blow that further weakens the terrorist organization.

    But wait, this is the organization that decried the operations of Special Forces in Afghanistan not long ago. Even coming out and saying that the Special Operations in Afghanistan were the cause of increased civilian deaths. Also claiming that the missions done by the Special Forces like the one that eliminated Osama were not having any effect what so ever and should be done away with.

    Back in March, British Maj. Gen. Richard Barrons, a member of Petraeus’ staff, estimated that there were 900 leaders at all levels and 25-36,000 fighters in the entire Afghan Taliban. Petraeus is claiming that special forces alone have removed from combat 26% of the leadership and roughly 10% of the fighters within just three short months.

    That claim begs a bunch of questions – not least of which is: “how can it possibly be true?” If that level of attrition happened to the US military it would likely be disrupted, unable to continue fighting. Yet even Petraeus admits that spec-ops forces have not yet reversed the Taliban’s momentum.

    But if it were true, we’d have to ask what the hell Generals McChrystal, McKiernan and McNeill had been doing during their times in command of US forces in Afghanistan in the preceding eight years.

    Then we’d have to ask about just how fast the Afghan Taliban can regenerate its leadership and fighting cadre, as well as how large it’s recruiting pool is – i.e. how fast can the Taliban recover its losses.

    And we’d have to ask whether the large number of civilian casualties caused by special forces raids – including the likes of shooting pregnant women – contribute to that regeneration to the extent of rendering any figures Petraeus is touting about Taliban attrition meaningless.

    But the second they have to acknowledge the success of the of the operation to take down Osama it is a complete change as listed above.

    Mr. President, according to our own intelligence officials, al Qaeda no longer has a large presence in Afghanistan, and, as the strike against bin Laden demonstrated, we have the capacity to confront our terrorist enemies with a dramatically smaller footprint. The costs of prolonging the war far outweigh the benefits. It is time for the United States to shift course in Afghanistan.

    Yep considering all the previous above the Death of Obama has caused a instant conversion. You know the same people that they posted a video of here.

    But wait it gets better. Here is a quick summery of there next statement Because of the corruption in Afghanistan any effort to help rebuild Afghanistan will fail. So it is in the interest that this effort should be done by the same people we view as the reason for the corruption. Don’t believe me read further.

    Endemic corruption in Afghanistan diverts resources intended to build roads, schools, and clinics, and some of these funds end up in the hands of the insurgents. Appointments of provincial and local officials on the basis of personal alliances and graft leads to deep mistrust by the Afghan population. While it is a laudable objective to attempt to build new civic institutions in Afghanistan, this goal does not justify the loss of American lives or the investment of hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars. Instead of continuing to be embroiled in ancient local and regional conflicts in Afghanistan, we must accelerate the transfer of responsibility for Afghanistan’s development to the Afghan people and their government.

    Oh and when they say they want all the troops out, they really do not mean that.

    We should maintain our capacity to eliminate any new terrorist threats, continue to train the Afghan National Security Forces, and maintain our diplomatic and humanitarian efforts. However, these objectives do not require the presence of over 100,000 American troops engaged in intensive combat operations.

    So again all does not really equal all. It is like they are intentionally trying to have the events during the fall of Saigon repeated. Also I would really like to know what numbers game they are playing as far as how many troops are needed to perform all of these jobs. Not to mention that the Taliban and al Qaeda can and has infiltrated the Afghan Police and Army. The same people that would be replacing the use troops that are being used for base defense because of the draw down you are demanding.

    Is there anyone here that would you rather trust your safety to a fellow service member or to a local national? Yea thought so, but hey it is easy to go along with that when your not the one that has to stay behind.

    We urge you to follow through on the pledge you made to the American people to begin the redeployment of U.S. forces from Afghanistan this summer, and to do so in a manner that is sizable and sustained, and includes combat troops as well as logistical and support forces.

    Yea because nothings is impossible to the person(s) that does not have to do it. Then they wonder why they are regularly ignored.

  • The TSA fixation

    The TSA body scanners/body searches news is kind of dominating everything, so here are some links;

    ROS sends us a link that explains pilots will be exempt from searches, which is good news for the rest of us who are about as much threat as pilots.

    Drudge posts a link with a message from TSA that we submit of pay the price, the price being $11 grand.

    A cancer survivor has to remove her prosthetic breast during her pat down.

    Rurik sends a link to a RedState post about a plane load of troops returning from war get jacked around by the thugs at TSA.