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

Category: “Your Tax Dollars At Work”

  • Latest News re: the VA

    For today’s VA, it’s the best of times and the worst of times – By: Leo Shane III  

    Full story is here:    https://www.militarytimes.com/news/2018/11/08/for-todays-va-its-the-best-of-times-and-the-worst-of-times/

    WASHINGTON — In a White House press conference Wednesday, amid a host of other topics, President Donald Trump stated thatbecause of his leadership “our vets are doing better than they’ve ever done.”

    Yet his critics contend that over the last eight months, the Department of Veterans Affairs has never been in more disarray, with a confusing series of leadership scandals and management overhauls further diminishing public faith in the institution.

    They both may be right.

    “It really is the tale of two VAs right now: It’s the best of times, it’s the worst of times,” said Melissa Bryant, chief policy officer for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

    “We’ve had major legislative victories years in the making. But a lot of what we have seen in 2018 has been political theater, unfortunately.”

    This Veterans Day, VA leaders once again find themselves at a critical moment for the department. Trump just signed into law the largest VA budget ever, topping $200 billion. Congress has given him nearly every major piece of legislation on veterans policy he has requested, including new rules that make it easier to fire poorly performing VA workers and reforms that aim to speed up the benefits claims process.

    But as deadlines loom for implementing numerous health care and management initiatives, Democrats in the House are already preparing new scrutiny over how policy decisions are being made inside VA and what unplanned side effects those changes will have.

    The rest of the article is at the link up above. It’s a long article, but well worth a read. It covers all the issues we’ve been seeing for the last 6 years. I have yet to have any issues with the VA, but like any other collective health care system, there are many good things about it and likewise, bad things. The FHCC I go to is fine, and the wait times are brief, for now, but it that could be because it also serves an active duty military base. I’d prefer to stick with a known quantity than have to choose a provider whose patient agenda is governed by XX minutes allowed, which does happen in the Medicare system.

     

  • Troops to Deploy to US – Mexico Border

     

     

    Looks like the DofD is sending 7,000 troops from various units to the US-Mexico border.

    https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/11/08/7000-troops-expected-at-border-heres-every-unit-going/

    Here are the units under orders to the border, as released by NORTHCOM:

    From Fort Bliss, Texas

    Headquarters & Headquarters Detachment, 93rd Military Police Battalion

    24th Press Camp Headquarters, 1st Armored Division

    47th Heavy Composite Truck Company

    202nd Military Police Company, 93rd Military Police Battalion

    212th Military Police Company, 93rd Military Police Battalion

    591st Military Police Company, 93rd Military Police Battalion

    Contingency Contracting Teams

    Contracting Support Brigade Commander

    From Fort Bragg, North Carolina

    2nd Assault Helicopter Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division

    51st Medical Logistics Company

    503rd Military Police Battalion (Airborne)

    172nd Preventive Medicine Unit

    264th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion

    329th Movement Control Team

    403rd Inland Cargo Transfer Company

    Headquarters & Headquarters Command, 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command

    Headquarters & Headquarters Company, 16th Military Police Brigade

    Headquarters & Headquarters Detachment, 503rd Military Police Battalion

    248th Veterinary Service Support unit o 690th Medical Company (Ground Ambulance)

    From Fort Campbell, Kentucky

    74th Light Composite Transportation Company

    372nd Inland Cargo Transfer Company, 129th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 101st Airborne Division Sustainment Brigade

    227th Quartermaster Composite Supply Company

    632nd Movement Control Team

    887th Engineer Support Company, 101st Airborne Division Sustainment Brigade

    From Fort Carson, Colorado

    Headquarters & Headquarters Company, 4th Sustainment Brigade, 4th Infantry Division

    Headquarters & Headquarters Company, 68th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 4th Sustainment Brigade, 4th Infantry Division

    From Fort Detrick, Maryland

    6th Medical Logistics Management Center

    From Fort Hood, Texas

    89th Military Police Brigade, III Corps

    Headquarters, 62nd Engineer Battalion

    937th Engineer Sapper Company, 8th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade

    289th Quartermaster Company, 553rd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division Sustainment Brigade

    104th Engineer Company

    From Fort Knox, Kentucky

    Headquarters & Headquarters Detachment, 19th Engineer Battalion, 20th Engineer Brigade

    15th Engineer Company (Horizontal), 19th Engineer Battalion

    541st Engineer Sapper Company, 19th Engineer Battalion

    From Fort Meade, Maryland

    55th Signal Company (Combat Camera)

    From Fort Riley, Kansas

    Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 97th Military Police Battalion, 1st Infantry Division

    977th Military Police Company Combat Support

    287th Military Police Company Combat Support

    41st Engineer Company (Clearance), 4th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade

    From Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia

    3rd Combat Aviation Brigade Headquarters, 3rd Infantry Division

    90th Human Resources Company, 3rd Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Sustainment Brigade

    From Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina

    1st Combat Camera Squadron

    From Joint Base Lewis-McCord, Washington

    Headquarters, 864th Engineer Battalion

    5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, I Corps ‘

    66th Military Police Company, 504th Military Police Battalion

    547th Area Support Medical Company

    104th Engineer Construction Company

    557th Engineer Construction Company

    570th Engineer Sapper Company

    571st Engineer Sapper Company

    From U.S. Transportation Command

    U.S. Transportation Command, strategic airlift using C-17s and C-130s

    From Joint Base San Antonio, Texas

    Headquarters U.S. Army North

    4th Expeditionary Sustainment Command Assessment Team

    Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 505th Military Intelligence Brigade

    From Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton

    Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force 7, I Marine Expeditionary Force

    From Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia

    Joint Planning Support Element, Joint Enabling Capabilities Command

    From Peterson Air Force, Colorado

    Joint Enabling Capability Team and Aviation Planner from U.S. Northern Command

    Think I should go down there and offer my services as Ex-PH2? I’m probably more likely to “spot the Bogeyman” than their inhouse photogs.

     

  • Kavanaugh report’s biggest bombshells: Grassley probe reveals details behind mistaken identity claims, more

    sen grassleySenator Grassley

    Posted at the request of AnotherPat.

    Weeks after Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation — and the sexual assault allegations against him — captured the country’s attention, the Senate Judiciary Committee has released a massive report on those accusations that’s largely flown under the radar in the run-up to the midterms.

    But the 414-page document, authored by the Republican majority and released over the weekend, contains a number of key revelations.

    Among them: the report summarizes a statement from a man who believes he may have been involved in an encounter with Christine Blasey Ford around the time of her claim of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh. Some of this emerged during the Supreme Court confirmation process, but the report provides more details.

    Ford was the key witness against Kavanaugh. In detail, she said Kavanaugh tried to remove her clothing during a high school party, but had trouble because she was wearing a bathing suit underneath them. She said she ran off when Kavanaugh friend Mark Judge jumped on top of them and they fell off the bed. Kavanaugh denied the accusation and, on Oct. 6, the Senate confirmed him to the Supreme Court.

    The man who claims he may have had the encounter with Ford was one of 40 people committee investigators interviewed as part of its probe into the sexual allegations against Kavanaugh, which was done alongside the FBI background check that was compiled in a matter of days.

    Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, in releasing the report, said there “was no credible evidence to support the allegations against” Kavanaugh.

    Ford testified she was 100 percent positive Kavanaugh assaulted her, rejecting the notion of a case of mistaken identity.

    ~

    Judge KavanaughJudge Kavanaugh

    Witness Tampering?

    Committee investigators are in the process of trying to determine if Ford friend Monica McLean, a former FBI employee, tampered with a witness.

    “Several media outlets have reported that the FBI’s supplemental report indicated that Leland Keyser, a friend of Dr. Ford, felt pressure from Dr. Ford’s allies to revisit her initial statement to the Committee that she did not know Justice Kavanaugh or have any knowledge of the alleged incident,” the report says.

    Ford said that when Kavanaugh assaulted her at a party, Keyser was one of the people downstairs.

    The report added that according to the news articles, Keyser reported that McLean and others contacted her to suggest she “clarify” her account.

    McLean’s attorney did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

    Mistaken Identity at Yale?

    The report summarizes an interview with a Yale grad who said that a member of Kavanaugh’s fraternity — who was not Kavanaugh — had a reputation for exposing himself publicly.

    The man was interviewed after Deborah Ramirez told the New Yorker that Kavanaugh had thrust his penis in her face when they were at Yale. She said she was drunk and wasn’t sure it was Kavanaugh until she thought about it for a week and spoke to her attorney. Kavanaugh vehemently denied her accusation.

    The reports says the man, whose name was redacted, also provided a yearbook photo of the frat brother exposing himself.

    The report says the man said he had personally witnessed the flasher expose himself at a party and that the flasher was in the same residential college as Ramirez.

    Ford Friends

    The report summarizes a statement from William Rand, who went to the University of North Carolina with Ford and told investigators that Ford had a very robust and active social life.

    His statement seemingly was at odds with Ford’s assertions that she had a difficult time making friends due to her encounter with Kavanaugh, according to the report.

    “He also stated that Dr. Ford did not seem to be afraid to be in rooms or apartments with only one entrance, which contradicts her claim to the Committee that she had to build a second front door to her house due to the trauma of the alleged assault,” the report says.

    DOJ Referrals

    The report also says that the committee has referred four people to the Justice Department for criminal investigation.

    They are a Rhode Island man who recanted an allegation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted a woman on a boat in Newport in 1985; Judy Munro Leighton, who claimed to have written an anonymous letter asserting Kavanaugh forced her to have oral sex; and Kavanaugh accuser Julie Swetnick and her attorney Michael Avenati, who also represents the porn actress Stormy Daniels.

    Avenatti told Fox News that the Grassley report was “garbage.”

    ”There is no evidence my client or I did anything wrong,” he said. “We are still waiting and hoping the FBI fully investigates this matter. Chuck evidently doesn’t have any juice.”

    The creepy porn lawyer hasn’t had a lot of luck lately either, and I’m good with that. Thanks Pat, for the request. We do listen to you folks, and do our best to meet expectations.

    The entire article is found at Fox News

  • Meantime, for you gun nutz:

    I am not hoplophobic!

    This one is for you gun nutz, happening in New York (probably NYC) now.

    https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2018/11/daniel-zimmerman/coming-to-an-anti-gun-state-near-you-ny-pols-want-social-media-checks-before-buying-guns/

    From the article:

    “Two New York lawmakers are working to draft a bill that would propose a social media check before a gun purchase.

    But it’s OK. They only want to look at the last three years of your online activity.

    Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and state Sen. Kevin Palmer’s proposal would allow authorities to review three years of social media history and one year of internet search history of any person seeking to purchase a firearm.” – Article

    And don’t think it will stop there, either, because it won’t. Note the use of the word ‘hoplophobic’. You could have a T-shirt printed with “I am not hoplophobic” printed on it, just to confuse people. When asked about it, you could either answer it truthfully (not afraid of guns) or just say you had the vaccination for it.

    Aside from the ‘invasion of privacy’ part, it’s also a violation of the 1st Amendment’s ‘right of free speech’ phrase to be that invasive. If you act like an ass on social media, well, you are definitely an ass but that does not mean you should be denied your rights over it.  Nor does posting stupid remarks, such as ‘he ought to be shot/boiled in oil/made to do something idiotic’ make you a threat to society. There is a wide difference between venting your anger about some injustice, and making real threats of violence.

    While I’d like to see some dimwitted not-funny comedienne who likes to frighten small children with severed heads spend some time in the cooler, it’s better to ostracize someone like that than it is to deny basic rights that we all take for granted to someone, even if that someone is a colossal social moron.

    “Don’t think this will stop in New York, even if these two can’t manage to get their little brainstorm signed into law. How long will it take Daddy Bloombucks and his hoplophobic harridans to get signature collectors out on the streets and fund the initiative campaigns to get something like this on the 2020 ballot in California or Washington State?” – Article

    Read the rest of the article. It is both a hoot and a ‘yank your chain to wake you’ effort. You cannot afford to take anything for granted any more. This news shows just how desperate this bunch of control freaks are to deprive you of your basic Constitutional rights.

    I’ll stick to my guns (snort!) on this and say that while my state may have the most mingy, cringingly stringent laws on gun ownership, the reason the Deerfield, IL, mayor was defeated in her attempt to illegally seize personally-owned guns from residents was that they had universally obeyed state laws, were well within their rights in owning them, and she violated both state law and the federal law – 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution – when she did that without warning.

    That whole business about sanctuary counties for gun owners doesn’t look quite so ridiculous now, does it? How about sanctuary states?

    If you missed my advice yesterday, I said “GO VOTE!!” Then you can go to your local gun shop and stock up on ammo and hold the Lapua briefly in your arms.

  • In Regard to Ratifying the ERA

    When the Equal Rights Amendment was put into formal context of both language and legal status in 1972, it was in the form of a new amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In the original vote count, by 1977, the legislatures of 35 states had approved the amendment. Since then, two more states, Nevada in 2017 and Illinois in 2018, have voted to ratify the Amendment.

    Only one more state is needed to pass the US Equal Rights Amendment. This article from NYT tells us that since Illinois voted to approve the Equal Rights Amendment at the federal level in May this year, there is only one more state needed to complete the process of full ratification, making the ERA a federal law.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/31/us/equal-rights-amendment-illinois.html

    Phyllis Schlafly’s arguments included everyone using a common public restroom, and women being drafted. Well, okay, the unisex restroom thing has already been addressed and in regard to women being drafted, she forgot that the draft ended in 1973, which meant that men were only required to register with Selective Service to qualify for federal college loans.

    I see nothing wrong with requiring the same thing of women, because from World War I  (and the Civil War) right up to the present, millions of women have been putting in their time voluntarily because they thought it was the right thing to do, and they still think that way.

    So what is the issue again? Just what is wrong with being asked to put in some of your precious time serving your country? There are thousands of us girls doing it right now, some on the front lines, and many who went before, so get over whatever that nonsense is about ‘it’s a man’s world’ thing. Grow up.

    There are 13 states left to make up a 38th state to ratify the ERA. Yes, it is well past the deadline, but there was one Amendment to the US Constitution that took 200 years to be ratified.  Something unexpected happened with a different amendment in 1992.

    First, some history: Six months after the Constitution went into effect, James Madison offered 17 amendments to the founding document. Congress ultimately approved 12. By 1791, the states had ratified the first 10, which became known as the Bill of Rights.

    One of Madison’s amendments continued to slowly work its way through the states more than 200 years after congressional approval. In May 1992, Michigan became the 38th state to ratify, making it the 27th Amendment, which says that salary increases for members of Congress do not go into effect until the term after they were approved.  – Article.

    If it took 200 years for that salary increase amendment to become an Amendment to the US Constitution, then why shouldn’t this one have that approbation, as well? After all, it simply confirms what has already happened, mostly at the state levels, and requires only one more state to pass the ERA. There are 13 states from which to choose: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia.

    Once a 38th state has passed the Amendment, perhaps, per a 2013 report by Congressional Research Service, Congress could simply change the deadline. Congress could also replace the old ERA with a new, updated version and ask the states to ratify the newer version.

    Whatever happens, it’s kind of a lame duck thing anyway, because so many moves forward have taken place since 1972. It would be symbolic that we do support the Law of the Land, the language of the U.S. Constitution, and we don’t just give lip service to it.

  • A Follow-up on the Gun Ban That Failed

    This is a follow-up to the news from last summer about the Mayor of Deerfield, IL, a bedroom community near a shopping center, declaring a gun ban and trying to seize guns that belonged to the residents, even thought those people were following the very strict, strictured rules of the Illinois FOID and CCW. A suit was filed against her ban and it was overturned, partly because the mayor’s methods were unreasonable and also because they violated the Illinois state laws on gun ownership.

    https://www.effinghamdailynews.com/news/local_news/gun-sanctuaries-spreading-across-illinois/article_50eb5881-4f97-56d0-b3aa-feb45c264c14.html

    Since then, the resolution declaring Effingham County a sanctuary for guns has started a statewide trend of opposition to legislation directed toward firearms. But it remains to be seen if it has any real effect in Springfield.

    So far, 30 Illinois counties have passed “firearms sanctuary” resolutions that oppose bills before the state legislature and declare that the counties will not enforce laws that infringe on the Second Amendment. The resolutions have not been tested by any new laws, but it appears the resolutions would not affect how law enforcement operates. – Article

    The article includes a color-coded map of the counties in Illinois which have voted themselves into gun owner sanctuary status as of July 2018. This is partly because they are good game hunting counties, which represents a certain amount of income.

    The map also shows by color coding which counties are in the process of voting to declare themselves gun sanctuaries, as well as those which are planning to move in that direction. I cannot imagine moving back to Macon County, but the southern and western parts of the state are very attractive. And the further you get from Chicago, the more you see that the state of Illinois is a farm state, not an industrial platform.

    There’s an NRA video about it here:

    https://www.nratv.com/videos/cam-and-company-2018-sanctuary-counties-for-gun-owners-are-a-growing-trend

    The article is dated July 2018. It’s the most recent information I could find on this. It’s the vox populi* part so disliked by politicians who want to stick their noses into everything – they don’t want your opinion, nor do they care what you want, unless it’s voting time.

    *Vox populi = voice of the people

  • News From Great Mistakes

    Sometimes, no news is good news, and today’s news edition is no exception. The current CO of the Training Support Center at Great Mistakes has been relieved of his watch – er, duty. There are no details yet, just the linked article at military dot com below.

    This guy (Meskimen) did not replace CAPT Jim Hawkins just a few months ago. (No Treasure Island jokes, please.)

    That gentleman was CAPT Raymond Leung, with the change of command ceremony being held in May 2018 after a three year stint for CAPT Hawkins.

    https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/lake-county-news-sun/news/ct-lns-great-lakes-naval-command-st-0512-story.html

    No, this fella  is  was the CO of what used to be called the Service Schools Command in the 1970s. Now it’s the Training Support Center.

    Whatever Meskimen did, now he’s being shitcanned for being naughty, details as yet undisclosed. Story below:

    https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/10/26/navy-sacks-great-lakes-training-support-center-commander.html

    A prior-enlisted sailor who oversaw the training and supervision of more than 10,000 of the Navy’s newest personnel has been removed from his job.

    Capt. Mark Meskimen, who served as commanding officer of the Training Support Center at NS Great Lakes, Illinois, was relieved of command Friday “due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command,” said Cmdr. James Stockman, a spokesman for Naval Education and Training Command. The decision was made by Rear Adm. Kyle Cozad, head of Naval Education and Training Command. – Article.

    No details are available yet, but I’m sure they will be forthcoming. Anyone on the inside who has some “stuff” to pass along is welcome to do so.

    My comment:  Idiot (until informed otherwise)

  • Outrage Is a Mild Word

    1967 Blizzard

    The link below is to the first to two articles regarding a demand by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that a carbon tax be inflicted on the public at large so that they can milk that revenue for $122 trillion. This will be at YOUR expense and mine. The figures are in US dollars, not foreign currency. https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/10/10/ipcc-demands-122-trillion-to-fight-the-global-war-on-weather/#comment-2486959

    I calculated my one-month winter use of natural gas for heating the house, cooking and providing hot water, using a base usage from my monthly bills, of 155 therms in January.  One therm of energy is 96.7 cubic feet. That means that in winter, I use 14,998.5 cf or 14.9885 BTUs.

    According to the per Mcf tax indicated of $1,434.00 per Mcf  (1,000 cubic feet), my gas bill for January alone would run to $21,493.51. You can look at your own gas bill, or your electric bill, which would also be taxed, and do the math yourself.

    For those of you who use a vehicle to commute and run errands, if regular gas at the pump is $2.70, including taxes, the IPCC’s tax would add $249.00./gallon to the total.

    I do not have that kind of income. I do not know of anyone who does, except maybe that grandstanding fraud Gore, who wants us to vote for a penguin for Congress.

    There is a “bye” in the proposal that says the consumer would be on the receiving end of a rebate, but the “rebate” comes to about $2,000 per year. This will hardly cover any kind of cost to me or you or displace even a freaking cent of the staggering cost of that monthly charge to my gas bill. And that is only my gas bill.

    Electricity to run the furnace, start the water heater and the stove cooktop, and light my home and run my computer isn’t included in that calculation just yet.

    This link will take you to the second article, in which the author more clearly and completely provides the math for the carbon tax and the results. https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/10/11/ipcc-sr1-5-carbon-tax-math/

    While the IPCC’s goal line is from 2030 to 2100, it doesn’t matter if it starts tomorrow or by the beginning of the 2100. It is a fraud, and nothing else, and no one should be expected to contribute to this fraud.

    I am more and more convinced that the United Nations is the most useless bunch of self-serving jerks on the planet, a group that does nothing but come up to you, the taxpayer, with its hands out for more of your income to spend on itself, and that the IPCC is a bunch of greedy, money-guzzling goons fronting the biggest fraud ever invented. I think that both of them, and especially the IPCC, should be defunded and dismissed and sent packing.

    They can go pound sand up their backsides.