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

Category: Shitbags

  • Manning’s Lawyers Are Whining Again

    It seems that PFC Bradley Manning’s lawyers are whining again.  But this time, it’s not over his treatment.

    No, this time they are objecting to the fact that Army officials seemed more concerned about potential bad publicity than Manning’s comfort and “feelings”.   At least, that’s what I get from this paragraph:

    David Coombs, a lawyer for Pfc. Bradley Manning, argued at a pretrial hearing that prosecutors have yet to turn over about 700 emails in their possession. But he said the emails he’s already aware of paint a portrait of a military more concerned with combating negative publicity than with Manning’s welfare and reveal that high-level officials, including a three-star general, were briefed about the conditions of his confinement.

    Gee, a 3-star General was concerned that the Army might get bad publicity.  I’m shocked, I say – shocked!

    Frankly, I’m not surprised that senior Army leadership is concerned about avoiding bad publicity for the Army.  That’s part of their job.  And I couldn’t personally give a hoot in hell if they were more concerned about protecting the Army than about how Manning was inconvenienced, provided they ensured he was treated humanely – which they did.

    Let me recap a few pesky things called “facts” that Manning’s lawyers don’t seem to want to discuss.  Manning was confined to his cell for 23 hours daily.  So?  Many prisoners who might be at-risk from other inmates (or who are dangerous) are similarly kept isolated.

    Manning was also evaluated as a suicide risk. Therefore, for a period of time at Quantico his clothing was temporarily taken away.  This was done as a protective measure to ensure he didn’t attempt to harm himself with same.  He was later provided with a suicide-prevention smock.

    But for a while, he had to make do with skivvies – and even sleep in them, without his jammies.  Oh, the horror!   The horror!

    Were Manning’s “feelings hurt” by such “terrible” treatment?  Whoop-te-doo.  Personally, I couldn’t give the proverbial flying . . . flip if they were.    Perhaps he should have thought about the possibility that he’d go to prison – and be treated harshly but humanely as a prisoner – before disclosing several hundred  thousand classified documents to persons not authorized to receive them.

    Humane treatment doesn’t necessarily equate to pleasant conditions.  “Three hots and a cot”, adequate shelter, and protection from physical harm or abuse qualifies.  And having to sleep in your skivvies (or naked) because you’re thought to be suicidal and your normal clothing has been taken away to ensure you don’t harm yourself with it does not qualify as abuse.

    Manning didn’t give a damn about how his actions affected the Army or his brothers/sisters in arms – or his country.  So as long as he’s treated humanely, why should anyone in the Army give a rat’s ass whether he’s comfortable or his feelings get hurt?

  • I am not sure if you understand the meaning of that word. (Updated)

    Ok our friends over at Stolen Valor have reporting about a company calling themselves“Veteran Clothing”. Well the main problem is that there is nothing about the company that is military.

    Veteran Clothing is a new line of clothing started by a guy named Billy Truong, out of San Diego, California. Several fans brought it to our attention yesterday, at first glance you immediately think this company is either Veteran owned/operated or they at least donate to Veterans groups. Well come to find out, neither of the above is true. But we believe their title and their slogan are very misleading, and tried several times to explain that to them. But they would not listen to what we had to say. In our humble opinion they knew exactly what they were doing when they started using this name and slogan, they are using it for their own personal gain.

    When asked if he was a Veteran of the Military he said that he was a Veteran, just not a military Veteran. Then what is he a Veteran of? Why business and dance of course. He claims that he will start giving portions of the earnings to real military groups but I am not holding my breath.

    But I am sure he wondering why people were thinking that his company was operated by Veterans, i mean it is a real mystery. Or why people are upset for some strange reason.

    But according to Stolen Valor that this company may be working to make amends for continue their actions.

    We have been told that the company will hold a meeting tonight to discuss changing up their slogans etc. We will let you know what comes out of it. We ask that everyone cease contacting them at this point until they reach a decision.

    We shall see.

    Update:Cameron let us know that the site has issues a letter of non-apology and intent for their business. Oh and it seems that if you “old Veterans” are upset about them using the word Veteran in their company that you are immature and to leave their website immediately.

    VETERAN is about experience and being original. Your Own Boss. You’ve been in the game for infinite years. Everyone Respects You. No more fancy handshakes,stay Saluting. Remember, you can be a Veteran in anything.

    Yea I think they have officially crossed the threshold and into douchbaggery. I was not sure at first but not at all now.

    UPDATE 2: The Duffly Blog has already made a parody story that you can read here.

    UPDATE 3: Another video from them and another write up by US Infantry.

  • Assange “caught” in dilemma?

    This is the headline at NPR:

    Seriously, NPR? How is Ass Mange “caught”? He created the whole mess by acting like a petulant child. That’s not “caught”, that’s “wallowing in his own shit”.

  • Not the Sharpest Tool in the Shed

    Psst!  Wanna make some easy money?  Here – just change the numbers on this voucher, collect the higher amount, pay out the lower, and pocket the difference!

    Yeah – someone actually tried that one.  And it was someone who really should have known better.

    Former Army CPT Abuzuike O. Ukabam, to be precise.  He deployed to Iraq in 2006.  While deployed he was a pay agent for local contractors.

    According to a recently-unsealed indictment Ukabam made a few dollars on the side while he was deployed.   If you consider around $110,000 a few dollars, that is.

    Seems Ukabam was paying contractors, upping the numbers on the invoice submitted to DFAS, and pocketing the difference.  I guess he never heard of a contract close-out – or an audit.  Or maybe he figured he’d be long gone before anyone figured things out and that no one would be able to find him when they did.

    He figured wrong.  Ukabam was arrested in Los Angeles and is expected to be returned to Houston, TX, for trial.

    Dumbass.

  • Asylum for Assange

    It looks like our “good friend” Julian Assange of Wikileaks fame has found a new friend.  As in the leftist president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa.

    Reportedly, Assange has been offered “political asylum” by Ecuador.  He’s now hiding out in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

    As a practical matter I’m not sure exactly what good this will do Assange.  Since he’s not an Ecuadorean citizen, I’m not sure Great Britain is under any obligation to honor any type of “diplomatic status” Ecuador might grant to Assange – or to recognize any “passport” granted him expeditiously by Ecuador (Assange is an Australian citizen, if I recall correctly).  Nor are they obligated to allow helicopter flights to/from the Ecuadorian embassy to any airport.  So there remains that pesky detail of getting from the embassy to any international airport in order to leave Great Britain.  Plus the fact that international airports in Great Britain are under British jurisdiction.

    Hey, if Assange wants to live the rest of his life at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London I guess that’s OK.  But given Assange’s reputed arrogance and “winning personality” I’m guessing the Ecuadoreans will tire of him fairly soon.

    Still, there could be advantages in Assange ending up in Ecuador.  I understand it’s easy to get lost in the jungle, or in the mountains, in parts of South America.  And those so lost often are never heard from again.

    I’d personally shed no tears if Assange ended up fertilizing trees in a South American rainforest or on some Andean mountainside.  But that’s just me.

     

  • Weekly post about Hasan’s beard

    Apparently, Nidal Hasan, the Fort Hood murderer, read The Duffel Blog post about the awesomeness of having a beard and refuses to be tried without his beard, because, like everyone else, he thinks The Duffel Blog is real. Hasan wants to plead guilty to 13 counts of murder, but the judge won’t let him because it’s a capital case and the prosecutor is seeking the death penalty. The judge also wants Hasan in the courtroom during the trial so he he doesn’t have grounds for an appeal, but Hasan refuses to shave his beard, according to Stars & Stripes;

    Hasan has grown the beard in violation of Army regulations, and Gross has not allowed him to stay in the courtroom, saying the beard is a disruption. However, the judge said he wants Hasan in the room during the the court-martial to prevent a possible appeal on the issue if he is convicted. He said Hasan would be forcibly shaved at some point before the trial if he didn’t shave the beard himself.

    Hasan’s attorneys have said he won’t shave because the beard is an expression of his Muslim faith. Hasan also has had a premonition that his death is imminent, his attorneys said.
    Advertisement

    “He does not wish to die without a beard as he believes not having a beard is a sin,” one of Hasan’s attorneys wrote in his appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.

    Funny but all of those years that he was going to school on the taxpayers’ dime, he didn’t think it was a sin. All of those years he wore a uniform it wasn’t a sin. Like I’ve said, if they need a volunteer, I’ll fly at my own expense to Fort Hood and shave his monkey ass myself, free of charge. Neither of us have working legs, so it’ll be an even match. Anyway, the judge says there won’t be anymore delays and the trial will begin on Monday, come Hell or high water.

    I don’t know how the Army thinks they can gather the collective testicular fortitude to put Hasan to death when they can’t even make him shave.

  • Danny Russell Crane update

    Mary at POW Network writes to tell us that Danny Crane has been arrested, apparently on an indictment from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs Office of the Inspector General. I couldn’t find anything about the arrest, but I did find this news report about him by a local TV station in Florida last week and it looks like he’s a wanted man down there;

    But Crane was apparently able to fool some veterans groups. He was able to join the Distinguished Flying Cross Society and he also convinced another veterans group to send him to Hawaii to visit Pearl Harbor.

    “I’m embarrassed for his family that he would even do something like that,” said Melissa Crane, who met Danny in high school. They married, had two kids, and are now divorced.

    She says her husband has conned a lot of people. She showed FOX 13 a picture of him in 1997 in uniform taken during boot camp.

    “I later found out that he was dishonorably discharged for theft,”she explained.

    FOX 13 contacted the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri. While much of the information is protected without written consent by Crane, we do know he entered the military in 1997 on December 30 and was discharged just 63 days later — still a private.

    I guess there are enough reasons to arrest him besides Stolen Valor, but if there was a Stolen Valor Act, perhaps he would have been prevented from all of these other crimes his wife seems to think he’s committed.

  • Tutu attacks “Stars Earn Stripes”

    OK, I tried to watch that NBC show “Stars Earn Stripes” last night. I really tried, but between the voice over of that smoldering turd, Wesley Clark and Nick Lachey telling me that “Nothing prepares you for battle like being in a boy band”, I only lasted about ten seconds into the intro. So if you’re looking for a review of the action last night, you won’t get it here.

    I did, however listen to Dean Cain this morning on Fox & Friends who couldn’t stop talking about how much he admires the troops for going through that stuff everyday. Of course, some of us might disagree with him on that. Most of our days are filled with mind-numbing boredom, cleaning weapons, checking fluid levels on our vehicles, tightening bolts, replacing track pads, scrubbing TA-50 and then getting it all inspected.

    Anyway, leave it to a Nobel Laureate to call it all a glorification of war;

    Besides Tutu, signers of the letter are Jody Williams, Mairead Maguire, Shirin Ebadi, Jose Ramos-Horta, Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Oscar Arias Sanchez, Rigoberta Menchu Tum and Betty Williams.

    The Nobel laureates also declared their support for a protest against the show outside NBC’s Rockefeller Center headquarters in Manhattan.

    NBC counters that it’s not a glorification of war, but rather a glorification of service. Well, we all know better – it’s glorification of profits for NBC. They wouldn’t have put the show on TV if there wasn’t an audience, and that’s more to the point. I’m sure there were a lot of people who enjoyed the show last night who weren’t me (I have trouble staying interested in any “reality show” anyway, because I already know that I’m surrounded by assholes, I don’t need TV to remind me).

    Now I’m sure that morons like Tutu think Stolen Valor was about free speech, but they want to influence what Americans watch on TV with their pointless lamentations about the glorification of war and violence.

    Tutu and his band of idiots should go back to their own shithole countries and change things there. I’m sure they have more problems than TV shows which are probably easier to change than anything they think is wrong with the US.