Late last year we reported that Medal of Honor recipient Kyle Carpenter was charged with hit and run in Columbia, South Carolina. 3E9 sends a link to the news that charges were dropped in April;
An incident report said Carpenter also made an improper turn by going into the outside lane instead of the inside lane. That charge was disposed after Carpenter paid a $237.50 fine, according to Richland County’s judicial website.
We’re glad that it worked out for him.
I don’t what TSO is doing out there but he sends us a link to our one-time co-defendent, The Oregonian which reports that a former Army NCO, now known as Jamie Shupe has been legally recognized as “Non-binary” – neither male nor female.
“I was assigned male at birth due to biology,” Shupe said. “I’m stuck with that for life. My gender identity is definitely feminine. My gender identity has never been male, but I feel like I have to own up to my male biology. Being non-binary allows me to do that. I’m a mixture of both. I consider myself as a third sex.”
But female or male were the only legal options Shupe saw then. Shupe chose female, but female never felt right. In April, Shupe and lawyer Lake Perriguey filed a petition with the Oregon court to legally change Shupe’s sex.
[…]
“The sexual reassignment has been completed,” Hehn wrote in the ruling. “No person has shown cause why the requested General Judgment should not be granted.”
Officials at the national Transgender Law Center said they are unaware of any similar court victories in the United States. A high court in France last year allowed a resident to register as gender neutral. Attorneys at New York’s Sylvia River Law Project told The Daily Dot that some cities and states have IDs that allow residents not to declare a gender.
I don’t know how anything that makes us more like France can be considered a “victory”, but there you go.
A short while ago, someone accused me of being no better than the Vichy government of France, just because I don’t agree with his morbid, thumbsucking, navel-gazing view of how things are going to progress from this point forward. That’s a rather heinous thing to say about someone, especially when it’s someone you don’t know at all and you’re just pissed off because you can’t have YOUR way in politics.
We all have to remember that there is no perfect candidate for office, and particularly no perfect candidate for the office of President of the USA. There are only those who may be very harmful and those who are far less likely to be harmful to this country in general.
No one who gets elected to that office has ever been a perfect human being. George Washington was as much a philanderer as FDR, Eisenhower, JFK and LBJ, but when he could have said “Okay, I’ll be the King”, instead, he said, “N-O, no. No kingship.” Andrew Jackson was an abrasive, obnoxious, stubborn soldier who opened up the White House to his friends at some point and turned it into party central. I don’t know if it was the 19th century version of Animal House, because I wasn’t there. He sent the Eastern aboriginal tribes on a long, arduous trek westward so that their territory could be used by settlers. He also left his presidency with a surplus in Treasury deposits, something we no longer see.
We’ve had both brilliant people and utterly dimwitted morons in that office on a recurring basis. Who was worse? Martin van Buren or Franklin Pierce? Under Van Buren, Jackson’s Treasury surplus became a scandalous default debt by the USA. Pierce spent more money redecorating the White House than doing anything else. Grant’s loyalty to people he chose for his cabinet made him unwilling to remove ineffective people, with the result that he was blamed for the post-war economic depression that started in Europe and spilled over into the United States. And I would not want to be remembered the way Herbert Hoover is. He said ‘Everything is just fine’ and went fishing.** And when the stock market collapsed, he got blamed for it, just like Bush, Jr. still gets blamed by libretards for things he had no part in causing, and that includes the financial mess of 2009 and after. That mess was predicted several years before by a wide group of financial experts, and if anything, it started with Clinton’s massive overspending, revoking the Glass-Steagall act, and moving money out of funds that should never have been touched. It may even have started with Jimmy Carter’s complete incompetence in office. **(Yes, Hondo, I’m summarizing.) I still think he’s the worst, ever, although you may disagree with my view.
Are we sliding into Dystopia because we have a candidate who is a loud-mouthed, abrasive, opportunistic boor who wants his name on the buildings he puts up everywhere? Is it because the only other candidates are 1) – a lame-assed, incompetent moron who has never held a real job, had no idea where money comes from, wants to tax you at 90% if you have more than two coins to rub together, and thinks bread lines are wonderful because then the poor can have bread, instead of only the rich having bread; and 2) – a sleazy cow who lies like a Persian rug and is only in this for herself, and to get that slimeball she’s married to, back into the White House?
No. We are not sliding anywhere. If you don’t understand the term ‘Dystopia’, then watch ‘Soylent Green’. It’s far closer to Dystopia than ‘Hunger Games’ or the ‘Insurgent’ series of movies. It is a society, as in Heinlein’s ‘Coventry’ stories, so degraded and separated from the rest of society that it’s like a terrarium. Does anyone in the City in ‘Hunger Games’ ever pay attention to the infrastructure? Are there people in ‘Purge’ who make repairs to the power grid after a severe storm? What do they do when their bully pulpit is hit by severe flooding? Where do they get their groceries and clothing? Do they go steal that stuff some place? Inside those walls, these stories imply that the inhabitants have nothing to do but torment the poor souls who are dumb enough to wander into their clutches, as in ‘Hunger Games’, ‘Purge’ and the Insurgent series.
‘Soylent Green’ is closer to dystopian reality than those others. The place is a foaming dictatorship, which no one dares disturb, and is more corrupt than anything except Venezuela in present-day politics. In North Korea, the epitome of Dystopia at its finest, the dictatorship might just execute you and make you dig your own grave, or turn you into protein bars, or put you into some sort of murderous contest, such as ‘The Running Man’ and ‘Hunger Games’, or physically expel you into the Wild, which happens in ‘If This Goes On — ’ (Heinlein).
Outside the city, away from that closed environment seething with an unseen underworld of disease, depravity, and degradation, the world is moving along just fine. The city itself is a somewhat murderous version of a terrarium, and when the food, electricity, clean water, sanitation, and medicine run out – when the lights go out — what happens? Wharf rats the size of adult beavers emerge from alleys and sewers, enormous cockroaches scurry across streets and sidewalks, scavengers and predators of every sort come out of hiding to prey on those unfortunate enough to be out after dark. You can find all of that over in Fatty Kim da T’ird’s little shithole paradise. And remember: on that map of the World At Night, Norkiland is one place with NO LIGHTS ON.
Back to the real world: No, we are not facing a long, slow slide into Dystopia, no matter how morbid some people may feel about it. This disruptive cycle of political unrest and antisocial misbehavior has been going on, at least since the 1960s, maybe even the mid-1950s. It is NOT new. I saw it in the 1960s and 1970s, as did many other people who comment here regularly. It was made worse by trusted reporters like Walter Cronkite, once titled ‘the most trusted journalist in America’, who lied his ass off about Vietnam and finally admitted to doing that some time later. Because of him, and people who are even worse than he was, journalism has become the equivalent of the Soviets’ official publication, Pravda. You can’t believe anything the press says any more.
The trajectory for that horseshit has gone as far to the left as it can go. The beginning of the end of this asinine crap starts with the elections this Fall. No matter who gets elected in the Fall, the swing of the pendulum away from the left is going to happen whether the libretards and leftnuts like it or not. Their arguments are worn out, tiresome, and frequently just plain ridiculous, meant only to point the finger away from them and their blatant, transparent hypocrisy. They may riot, burn flags, block people from buildings, throw things and scream loudly, but all they do is drive reasoning people to the opposite side of the political spectrum. They have had their day.
The events of the past four years alone, all of which have been reported fairly accurately in various resources, have snapped people out of the comas they have been living in, despite various attempts by Social Justice Moron Howler Monkeys* to alter their reality. (*HT to Nicki for that.) Destructive public rampages, screaming and howling disruptions at meetings, and mass criminal activities do have an effect on people.
There has been civil unrest lately in Azerbaijan (where???), which is one of Putin’s major shipping routes. It’s not going to stop until it stops on its own. And if any of that unrest becomes a direct threat to us, as has the Middle East, we cannot afford to just curl up in a corner and let it trample us, no matter which direction it comes from. Is this really pertinent?? Yes, it can spread to other Central Asian nations like Kyrgyzstan, which is currently quietly moving along. Check the news on Central Asia: it’s starting up there, because they are broke. If civil war does not erupt in Venezuela, I will be surprised.
No one wants warfare or slaughter. NO ONE. But peace comes at a price and we all know it. There is no such thing as real peacetime. If you look back through REAL history, there are only bouts of peace interspersed through constant warfare. This is what needs to be taught to children who may face it in the future as adults, not the predigested pablum that they’re getting at present.
Now we are facing the elections in November. Whether or not you like Trump as the GOPer candidate is immaterial. He’s a butthead and a loudmouth and a grandstanding SOB, but so what? He flipflops. He’s opportunistic. He makes faux pas. He’s a boor. What politician has not done that, especially during this campaign season?
The alternatives are the crapweasel in a pantsuit and that rancid, badly aging, out-of-touch Bernout. I really do think both of them would curl up in a tight ball, cover their heads, and let whatever happen, as long as either one of them gets to sit on top of the pile of ruin when it’s all over.
Those are your choices. At this point, it appears that shrillary might have the jackass by its tail. It also appears that the Bernout will not give up his place in line. I know – there are others from alternate parties, too. I mean, where the hell is that Commie bitch Angela Davis when you need her and her big mouth?
I do not care who you vote for. I do care that you vote. You may not like the choices. I don’t. This is one time when, no matter how much you detest someone and you have to hold your nose to vote or stock up on Pepto Bismol, you should still go and vote.
However, if you just throw up your hands and go sulk in a corner instead of going to the polls to vote come November, and someone worse than Trump gets the job, then what are you going to do?
Do NOT come complaining to me about it Do not expect me to listen to you, either.
You had your chance. You let the other guys win.
What follows will seem fantastic – much like any other “no sh!t” story. But with this tale there’s a difference.
In this case, what I’m about to describe actually happened. And it’s fully documented.
I’m about to relate the story of the US Air Force’s “Cornfield Bomber.”
On 2 February 1970, four F-106As from the 71st Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Malmstrom AFB, Montana, were scheduled for a training mission. The mission was to make history – but in a way that none could foresee.
The mission was scheduled to be a “2-on-2 combat maneuvering exercise”. As the name implies, two teams of two aircraft each would engage, attempting to get in position to score a simulated air-to-air “kill”.
Before takeoff, one aircraft experienced a mechanical issue – an on-ramp drag chute malfunction. To preclude scrubbing the mission, the day’s flight activities were altered to “2-on-1 combat maneuvering exercise”.
The remaining 3 aircraft took off, ascended to altitude – and engaged. The single aircraft made a high-speed approach at the other two, then went vertical. His two opponents followed.
. . .
In the maneuvering that followed, the pilot of one aircraft in the two-plane group – Capt. Gary Faust – appears to have “pushed the envelope” a bit too much while maneuvering. His aircraft stalled, then entered what aviators term a “flat spin” at approximately 35,000 feet elevation.
Now, I’m not a pilot. But even I know that a flat spin is some seriously bad juju. It’s essentially God (or Budda, Rama, Fate, Gaia, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or whoever/whatever entity you choose to worship) telling you, “You are now in deep (trouble). You have a very short time to figure this out or we’ll be meeting in person.”
Faust attempted to recover. He was unsuccessful. So after falling somewhere between 21,000 and 27,000 feet while in said flat spin, he ejected.
Faust’s ejection was successful. He deployed his parachute, and drifted in his parachute into the local Bear Paw Mountains. He was rescued by local residents using snowmobiles.
. . .
Now, when an aircraft’s pilot ejects three things happen to the aircraft. First, the weight and center of gravity change. Second, the ejection seat imparts a substantial downward force to the front of the aircraft. And, third, loss of canopy changes the aerodynamics of the aircraft somewhat.
The combination of those changes caused something quite remarkable. On its own, Faust’s aircraft came out of its spin. It then began to glide – straight and level – at around 175 knots.
It seems that one of the things that Faust had done during his attempts at recovery was to put his aircraft’s control surfaces into “takeoff trim” settings. These settings turned out to be virtually perfect on the F-106A for gliding under the conditions the bird now exhibited (no pilot/ejection seat/canopy, idling engine producing minimum thrust, straight and level).
The aircraft – now somewhere between about 8,000 and 14,000 AGL (accounts vary), then flew/glided, straight and level, for a number of miles. It approached the ground in farming country near the town of Big Sandy, MT.
Being February in Montana, the ground was covered with several inches of snow. The aircraft touched down in a farmer’s field (one account says alfalfa, another wheat).
After touching down, the aircraft skidded a substantial distance along the snow-covered ground. A low stone wall was blocking its path. Somehow, with no pilot it turned about 20 degrees right while skidding and skidded through a gap in the wall. It came to rest.
The engine was still running when local LE authorities reached it. They contacted the USAF, who advised them to simply let the aircraft continue to idle until it ran out of fuel – which it did, about 1 hour and 45 minutes later.
. . .
USAF personnel went to the site afterwards and inspected the aircraft. It indeed seemed effectively intact. However, there was no good way on-site to determine the amount of damage to the aircraft’s underside.
The aircraft was partially disassembled, then recovered by the Air Force. Amazingly, there wasn’t much more than minor damage to the underside of the aircraft. One of those involved with recovery efforts reportedly commented that if there had been any less damage, they could have simply flown the aircraft out (there was a paved road nearby that was straight and level enough to allow that).
The aircraft was sent to McClellan AFB, California, for depot inspection and repair. (Ya think?) It was determined to be repairable, and was indeed repaired and return to service. Capt. Faust reportedly later flew the same aircraft while the aircraft was assigned to a unit at Tyndall AFB, Florida, and he was TDY there for training several years later.
. . .
Well, “That’s the story, and I’m sticking to it.” (smile)
But perhaps you think I’m “BS-ing” you? Well, if you think that – read/watch the links/videos below. They document the fact that the incident described here really happened.
http://www.f-106deltadart.com/580787cornfieldbomber.htm
http://fly.historicwings.com/2013/02/the-cornfield-bomber/
http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2009/April%202009/0409gary.aspx
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornfield_Bomber
http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2015/01/cornfield-bomber-f-106-delta-dart-flat-spin-landed-itself/
The aircraft in question was tail number 58-0787. For unclear reasons, it came to be known as the “Cornfield Bomber” – though it was not a bomber and did not self-land in a cornfield. It today is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.
Sometimes truth is seriously stranger than fiction.
Author’s Note: the title of this article is one version of the reported radio transmission made in jest by USAF Maj. Jimmy Lowe, flying as Faust’s wingman that day, on observing the aircraft come out of its spin and fly away on its own after Faust ejected.
I hated living in DC. Parking was such a problem, that I gave up my car and my driver’s license for ten years while I lived there. Then I moved to West Virginia and I haven’t had a parking problem since. Maybe Bryan Whitman should consider moving, too. The career Department of Defense official and retired military officer lives on Capitol Hill and he has to park on the street because in the 18th century, when most of the houses were built there, they didn’t have garages, I guess. He took it upon himself to regulate parking on his street where permits are required to park. A neighbor’s nanny had a visitor permit for the time she cared for a toddler and Whitman didn’t like it – he removed the nanny’s license plates from her car. First one, then the other. The third time they caught the 58-year-old on video, according to MSN;
“In light of the pending criminal case involving Bryan Whitman, he has been placed on administrative leave while the department reviews this matter,” Trowbridge said in an email Thursday afternoon.
The move is significant, according to a senior Pentagon official, in large part because Whitman has now lost his “top secret sensitive compartmented information” security clearance — the highest level attainable in the U.S. government. The official said it could take years for Whitman to regain that status because he will have to start the clearance process from the beginning.
The fact that the nanny had a visitor pass is completely legal according to local parking authorities, so Whitman succumbed to the illness that is so prevalent among DC residents – that being that no-one is more important than me and no one knows more about local laws than me, so I can do anything I want to enforce the law.
Like I said, I hate DC. Thanks to all of the people who filled my inbox with this story who are too numerous to list here.
You know I love you guys…well, not really. But anyway, some of you have been sending me these pictures for the past three days. And I get “Check this guy out”. That tells me nuthin’. I’m Army and he looks fine to me. What the hell are you talking about?
Added: From Don Shipley;
The other day, my friend, Matt Burden, wrote on Facebook that this weekend should absolutely include barbeques and picnics because that’s how our fallen warriors would want us to spend a weekend remembering them – that we can push all of the worries in the world to the side because of their sacrifice. His point was that we don’t need to visit graves, plant flags and flowers in veterans’ cemeteries to honor their last full measure of devotion. All we need to do is live a life worthy of their sacrifice, and the sacrifice of their families.
Most of those warriors would be embarrassed by the attention, well, I know I would. But then, I’m embarrassed when someone thanks me for my service. It’s not that I’m not grateful for their verbal expression of gratitude, it’s just that I never know what to say. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of every one of my friends and soldiers who have been lost because of their service to the American people. In my mind, what I’ve done doesn’t even approach that which they’ve done for this country and I honor their memory by living a life that they would consider worth what they gave to us.
In that regard, every day is Memorial Day for me. I don’t need to visit Arlington Cemetery and stand among the headstones. Everyday, I stand among the headstones in my mind.
Mostly, those warriors who went on before us, just want you to enjoy the life that they helped secure for you. Enjoying the time that you spend with your family and friends, doing the things with your life that make you smile is honoring the sacrifices that were made for you. I think “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” were all mentioned in the Declaration of Independence.
It’s not what you do one day out of the year that honors veterans, it’s what you do the other 364 days. It’s not the “thank you for your service” that matters, it’s what you say to me before you know that I’m a veteran.
So I hope you have an honorable Memorial Day weekend.