Open thread

| August 30, 2013

Ex-PH2 asked that I start doing more open threads like I did a week or so ago. My two weeks vacation starts today, so, I’m amenable to the suggestion. I’ve got a new receiver for my AR coming today, so I have some other things I could be doing besides waiting for the next Denial of Service attack (which, by the way, is being reported to the FBI as we speak – another nail in Wickre’s legal coffin). It seems that with every DoS attack, it gets easier to find the perpetrator. But you guys go ahead do what you want with this thread – exchange recipes, post links, bloggers push your blog, whatever. You know how to get a hold of me.

Category: Administrative

247 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
SGT E

There’s a dude asking for handouts outside the place my wife and I are staying, sitting in a wheelchair and wearing a Vietnam Veteran hat. I’m dubious, because I frequent this page way too often…

So I’d like to ask for suggestions on questions I can ask him to see if he has a clue or not. If he were claiming Iraq/Afghanistan, that’d be easy for me, but I wasn’t around during Vietnam…I figured I’d start with his MOS, and then where he did OSUT or AIT depending on if he was in a line unit or not, but I don’t know if OSUT/AIT worked the same in the 60’s…

Any ideas?

LostOnThemInterwebs

@1 I’d go and get the personal information first, name, division, just chit chat him. Be wary of anyone that immediately goes into “I was SF” or stuff like that, most of those guys have a bunch of patches on their hats, so take a good look (or even take a pic) and post it here.

You can also do nice trick questions such as “oh you were 101? wow so you were a LRRP with the 82nd?” *wait for “yes” and call BS*

LebbenB

@Lilya. Upper or lower receiver?

PintoNag

@1 Why attempt to roust him yourself? If he’s soliciting, why not report him, either to the place you’re staying or to the cops?

Smitty

i generally stay away from the psul and co threads, they bore me and i have no interest in providing him with entertainment. but with this post, admitting i have no idea about anything computer related, i must ask if a DoS was the cause of the message i got earlier about TAH not being a valid web address?

BooRadley

Well. I haven’t been around in ages- but I just wanted to say hey. PH2 always has the good ideas

Smitty

as to the pan handler, i had a guy i was arresting try telling me he was in ranger battalion 82nd airborne. the vast majority of these pretenders have no clue about anything military, it wouldnt take much effort to get him to screw up

TN

SGT E,
The way I’ve outted most frauds (and I’m no TAH) is just to ask some open ended questions and let them talk (with an expression of deep interest on my face), until they’ve told me enough for me to know they’re full of shit.

Viet Nam era? I outted one when he claimed a particular Marine Div, while claiming it was stationed in a different place. I had to do some research because I was Army not Squid, but it was clear pretty quick.

Another one was bragging about being an SF MP Sniper with 6th ID stationed at Pendleton. I had to clarify that he meant that he was Army, but again, it was too easy.

Worse case (best case actually) is that you hear some real war stories, from a real Veteran. You listen. He loves it. And later you share some beers.

Chances are, if your radar is going off, he is a fraud, but I never pounce without being absolutely certain, and the frauds will talk until you are.

68W58

SGT E-ask him if he ever fired a Draeger (yeah, I know that’s how you bust phony SEALs, but it cracks me up when Shipley doesi it).

LebbenB

@7. Similar story. I was a Ft Sill cop for my first retirement job. One evening, I stopped a pizza delivery guy for having a tail light out. After he gave me his DL and POI, he told me that I was stopping a “combat decorated medic with the 25th Rangers.” Ordinarily, I’d write a warning and let the guy go. I gave this guy a ticket partly for the bad tail light but mostly for insulting my intelligence.

TN

As this is an open thread…

I’m watching the business news and there’s a bunch of really smart people talking about how the market is “correcting” (going down) at the same time that the Fed has decided to “quit printing money.” The thing that confounds me is that they don’t understand how there could be a correlation.

SO, for the common sense kind of people here: Printing money means that all money is worth less. I.e. “printing money” means inflation. Inflation means everything costs more, including stock, which means “the market.”

On the government side, printing money means that the dollar is worth less, hence the National Debt is valued at less (in man-hours, or any real worth), so when governments get into debt trouble, they print money. This normally drives up the interest rate but the Fed has been artificially keeping the rate down, while also “printing” money.

What does that mean for us? It means it’s better to be in debt and own assets rather than have a large savings account and no debt.

How is it better to own hard assets when inflation is rising? Well, the value of those assets inflates, as does everything else, while what you can buy for a dollar goes down.

The “printing money” (called “Quantitative Easing”) cycle is coming to a close. There has been significant, if underreported inflation (primarily due to not reporting key commodities as part of the *official* inflation rate.

LostOnThemInterwebs

@5 Smitty Yes, that was the problem.

@9 He should ask them if they have their ID-10T discharge form

FatCircles0311

Sometimes I fart into ziplock bags and mail them to random people.

Sometimes……

Combat Historian

@1: Ask him if he was stationed in Fifth Corps in Vietnam. If he said “oh, sure, yeah…” then he’s a phony; Vietnam was divided into four ARVN corps areas: I Corps (northern region/Danang/DMZ); II Corps (Central Highlands and lowlands); III Corps (region surroundig Saigon); and IV Corps (Mekong Delta). Vietnam vets all use the four corps areas as a basic starting point of reference when introducing themselves to other Viet vets (i.e.: I was in II Corps in ’68; where were you?). If you ask the homeless dude and he replied “oh, there was no V Corps in Vietnam; I served in III Corps in Tay Ninh in 1969 with the 25th Division, then he may be legit”. If he blathered about not remembering where he served but that it was horrible and he killed lots of bad guys and he was airbornerangerspecialforces, then he’s most likely a POSER. This is just some basic authentication info, but at least it’s a start…

LebbenB

@11. The fed has been hinting at ending QE3 for some months now.

TN

Inflation v. Interest:

Americans should realize the rates paid to you by banks is ALWAYS less than the rate of inflation (even on CD’s and Money Market accounts). The rate they charge you for money you borrow is higher than the rate of inflation (significantly).

Banks would lose money if they paid more than inflation, or if they charged less.

TN

Debt Payments v. National Debt:

One of the things artificially lowering the Federal Deficit is the cost of debt payments. Pull up budgets from 1992, 1998, 2002, 2008, and 2012 (or similarly spaced in time budgets) and look specifically at the amounts paid on interest on the Federal Debt.

The Federal Debt has increased, as we all know, yet the payments on interest has decreased. Why? Because, the Federal Reserve (and markets) have lowered the interest rates. The interest rate the Federal Govt pays is artificially low. It is unrealistically low.

What does that mean? It means that one day, it will return to “normal rates.” And when it does, regardless of any belt tightening in Congress, the deficit will skyrocket. If we (as a Nation) were paying the same rate now as in 98 or 92, the Deficit would be twice or thrice as much. We’re already borrowing more than we pay in interest.

Ex-PH2

SgtE, ask him if he was in something like 3rd Recon BN or 1st BN 27th Marines — something like that. Ask him what his unit was, was he Army or Marines — that kind of thing.

Most of the time, the guys in country don’t actually want to talk about it, but none of it is classified stuff.

Ex-PH2

Boo Radley – where have you been?

LostOnThemInterwebs

@17 I know it sounds paranoid, but gold is the best check right now or if you have over 50k I would invest in Carbon Credits, no .. REALLY … check it out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_credit

You can either do so by foresting the crap out of land and getting it verified and selling them or go into the market (which means go buy some from Nicaragua and sell it to Japan)

It gets weirdly interesting is like playing with the market exchange, not my thing but hey .. 🙂

Ex-PH2

Oh, before I forget. This is for psul the uncool, a/k/a the wickre mann, a/k/a paul k wickre:

wickre, you really need to find another hobby. You’re supposed to be job hunting or something, aren’t you? You’ve wasted more time on stupidity than anyone I’ve run into in a very long time. If you really don’t have anything to do, well, we’re getting rain, finally, and my grass will need mowing this weekend, so I’ll pay you $1.50 to do that job. Meantime, you dipsitck, get off your silly ass and find something else to do.

Every time you try to shut this place down, it gets reported to the FBI. I’ve got printouts of your photo and all those threats of physical violence you made toward me and other women, as well as the men, and frankly, since you never got any such threats from me, you have NO cause to back up your threats.

If you’re that full of hatred of everyone who has a real life, and has accomplished something worthwhile, then find a shrink and get some professional help with your problem, but meantime, get off this board and stop acting like an asshole.

ItAllFades

I know some of you follow my blog/website from here, and just wanted to quickly as sorry for the lack of updates. The most recent updates explains the reason why things have been slow, but I’m hoping to have some new stuff up soon. Thanks.

TN

@20: “Gold” is basically inflation neutral plus paranoia and hoarding minus gold mining production. “Carbon credits” are probably profitable, but also a fad, like tech stocks in the 90’s and FL condos in the 00’s.

I won’t call either “paranoid,” but I will avoid both (gold in particular) as a get rich quick scheme. Then again, Enron taught me that when companies start advertising too heavily, for investors instead of customers, there is a looming “correction.”

I didn’t predict the 2008 stock market collapse, but I did predict the housing/RE bubble, and the gold market “correction.”

Perry Gaskill

#1 SGT E

Not sure if this helps, but it’s been my experience that one VN vet can usually get a good read on another VN vet if you have answers to the following questions:

Where were you in country?

When were you there?

What unit were you with?

What was your MOS?

Another interesting thing seems to be that often if you ask a VN vet the “where” question, the first response is usually a specific place name instead of a generic region. They’ll say, for example, Phu Bai instead of I Corps and Pleiku instead of the Central Highlands.

MCPO NYC USN (Ret.)

Milee Sirus is a tramp.

It still hurts when I pee.

The blades on my tractor are dull.

I am one week into a two a one half week vacation.

I can’t believe I paid 2,800 bucks for my 1993 Colt AR.

That is all for now.

Ex-PH2

Yes, I’m going to pimp my blog, too, just not until the storm passes and the air cools off. My house is as stuffy as a closet at the end of winter.

LostOnThemInterwebs

@23 So what do you think it would be a good commodity? definitely not Diamonds .. tanzanite? at this point everything is so stupidly manipulative, bitcoin seems like a good option tho only problem there is the hacks … but could be a good idea.

LostOnThemInterwebs

BTW guys I train Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and roaming in imgur.com (Yes I’m an imgurian) I found this .. is so CUTE!!!! if I ever manage to find the right person and have a kid, definitely will try to get him/her into sports and spend as much time with them as possible…

http://imgur.com/gallery/Uizra4C

Ex-PH2

Master Chief, it sounds to me like you have urinary tract crystals. Cats get them, too. They’re about the size of a dime, so think how it must feel for a little cat, if it bothers you. And you don’t need a bland diet to fix that, just one that corrects your physiochemistry. If you don’t do something soon, you may end up peeing blood.

That guy

Alright, Freedom Stuffed Burger recipe for your Labor Day weekend.

You’ll need
1/2 LB of hamburger meat for each.
Bun (I suggest onion or sourdough boulles, if you can find it)
Butter
Lowry’s seasoning salt (I may have misspelled this)
Cheese (what kind is up to you and, in reality, is the subject of great debate)
A teaspoon of water for each 1/4 lb of meat (two teaspoons a burger)
Something to stuff the burger with (I’ve had great result with cheeses, or deli meat, OR prosciutto if you’re feeling like a fancy guy).
Garlic salt (it’s for the bun.

1. separate bun into top and bottom. butter and apply garlic salt, then cook them, butter side down, in a pan.
2. roll burger meat into a meatball. make an indentation like that on a hollow point bullet in the top, and pour in your two teaspoons of agua. continue to form the meat back into a ball, working the water in. add seasoning salt (a pinch or dash at most) and work it in as well. If you’re a hot sauce guy, add hot sauce too. I won’t judge if you don’t.
3. separate the rolled up meatball into two halves, ensuring one is larger than the other. flatten it out into two patties, then pile your ‘stuffing’ on top of the smaller patty. Then fold the two together, crimping the edges with a fork if they don’t seem to be melding well.
4. Cook them bitches. If you can’t figure out how to cook a cheeseburger, I can’t help you.
5. Enjoy. Be sure to use your preferred method of ensuring done-ness of the buger.

MCPO NYC USN (Ret.)

@ # 1 SGT E … Do this:

1. Walk up to him without saying anything. Dump him out of his wheel chair. If he stands up, kick his fuckin’ ass!

Or

2. If he remains on the ground without moving his legs, help him back into his wheel chair while peppering him with questions about his service. If he is legit, apologize and give him 20 bucks!

My experience # 1 is probably the course of action.

TN

@27: Only a fool would take advise on commodities from me. I know Hillary made a fortune in the arena that is known for only brokers making a profit.

BUT, if I were to take a guess in commodities, I’d say corn (in the long run). The Federal Govt is mandating that it be burnt up in gasoline, rather than just eaten.

I look instead to stocks. And in stocks, I recommend that (potential) investors educate themselves, and do their own research, rather than accept anyone’s advice on a particular stock.

I recommend reading the strategies of Fisher (Common Stocks & Uncommon Profits), written in the 30’s and preaching “Best of Breed” companies, and Graham (Security Analysis) written in the same time frame and the strategy used by Warren Buffett, i.e. undervalued companies. The latter is more dry than the former. It took me quite a while to finish the book, including many many naps.

Both strategies continue to work in every market, because they focus on the company fundamentals, not the latest get rich quick scheme.

The Fisher family are the ones that founded the Fisher House, and the father’s son has combined the two strategies.

Green Thumb

I bought a couple of watermelons and pugged them with Malibu.

“Magic Melons”.

College Football is here.

Green Thumb

And “Phildo” takes it in the two-hole.

As do the American taxpayers supporting his “treasure chest”.

Green Thumb

@31.

Give him $10 and make him do 20 push ups.

Green Thumb

@35.

Mossberg pump w/ “Door Knockers”.

Easier to control.

No need to destroy the China inadvertently.

LostOnThemInterwebs

OK ppl I GOT THIS!!! Mexican Labor Day Weekend menu: 3 Lbs of Flat stake 5 lbs of T-Bone/Rib Eye thick cut charcoal newspaper (yes , NEWSPAPER) 24 pack of beer 2 lbs of lime (not lemon, lime the green one, and while you are at it get yourself a lime squeezer it will help) 1 lb of habanero 7 onions 4 potatoes aluminum foil mustard Method: – Drink a beer – Put charcoal as a little round castle, make sure there is an opening to the side – put newspaper balls inside – Light up (this will disable the horrible taste and smell of igniting fluid in your food) – Drink another beer – Slice onions – Slice habaneros in VERY thin slices – Grab a hure salad bowl and put the onions and the habaneros in it – Cut half a lb of lemons, squeeze them in the onions and habaneros, let it rest for a while and I mean A WHILE – Drink another beer – Did you forget to wash your hands and touched your eyes? *points* LOOOOOOOOOL – Wash your hands while everyone makes fun of you – Get another big bowl – Sea salt on the flank stakes put lime in a side, salt and pepper on the other – Throw flank stakes in the second bowl – Open beer, reist temptation of drinking it – Drop the beer in the flank stake bowl, add more lime and let it marinate – Grab big T-Bones/Rib Eyes and smear them with mustard with your hands – Realize the charcoal castle is down already add more charcoal – Cut an onion in half – Use it to clean your BBQ grill – Be amazed of how good it works – Cheer and drink a beer for LostOnThemInterwebs – Wrap onions in aluminum foil – Wrap potatoes in aluminum foil – Drink another beer – Half drunk yet? … if no … go to previous step – Move the charcoal and make it all leveled – Drop onions and potatoes into the fire – Grab flank stake… Read more »

jonp

1) When the Fed stops buying 80 Billion of bonds every month to prop up the market there is going to be a massive correction. I’m looking at 1Q 2014. Gold and Silver will go up and the value of the dollar against a basket of foreign will drop like a rock.

2) Spend Labor Day not at the beach but casting bullets. I’m melting down some wheel weights and casting some 260gr 45 bullets for my 45Colt Blackhawk. Over 25gr of H110 they make an awesome bang and will go end for end through a water buffalo

RM3(SS)

@1. When I worked patrol, I used to run into these guys a lot, with the “Vietnam combat vet” signs. My first question always was “how old are you”. I joined the Navy at 18 in 1971. Since combat operations pretty much ended by the end of 1972, if they were younger than me that’s an immediate “bullshit” and I would take their sign away to be displayed in our report room.(until the Sgt would make me take it down). If they were my age or older, then I would ask them where they went to boot camp, what their MOS was, stuff like that. I only ran into a couple of guys in all my years that seemed to be the real deal. Always bought them lunch. 🙂
@11, I invest in beans, bullets and band-aids. Any spare change is in silver and gold.

OldSargeUSAR

I’d like to take the opportunity of this open thread to say Hello! to a Special Asshole, Bill Blake, aka William Blake of Oklahoma, a phony Marine “combat engineer” who claims phony service in Beirut and Grenada.
Bill Blake, you are a total loser, a fat ass fraud, a poser with ghey tendencies. Oh, let us not forget your foot fetish, you pervert.

Bedwetter

TopGoz

An open thread? Is that like an Irish Pennant? Shouldn’t this be cut off or burned with a lighter (whatever you do, DO NOT pull on it!).

LebbenB

@35. Going the SBR route? One word: SUPRESSOR.

If you’re going to a barrel around 11″ or less, I’d recommend changing your buffer to an H2 or H3 to slow down the cycle of fire so the bolt lugs don’t take such a beating and shear off. It’ll also reduce damage to the ejected cases (Just in case you re-load)

Marine86wm

This is for ExPH2 and all the other Bacon Lovers, It is the bomb…

Beer & Bacon Jam
Ingredients
• 12 oz bacon (8-10 strips)

• 4 cloves of garlic, smashed

• 1 cup yellow onion, chopped

• 12 oz amber ale or bourbon barrel aged stout

• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

• 3/4 cup brown sugar

Directions
• In a large pot or dutch oven, cook the bacon, working in batches if neccessary. Remove the bacon from the pan and allow to cool and then roughly chop. Drain off the bacon grease from the pot, leaving only about 1 tbs bacon drippings in the bottom of the pot. Return the pot to heat and cook the onions until soft and translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and stir for about 30 seconds. Add the amber ale and vinegar and scrape to deglaze the bottom of the pot. Add the brown sugar and the bacon, reduce heat to maintain a simmer. Place the lid on the pot at an angle, allowing to vent the steam. Cook until reduced to a thick and syrupy consistency, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes. Transfer to a food processor and pulse until most of the large pieces have been chopped.
• Serve at room temperature.

Green Thumb

Fired Okra vs. Fried Zucchini?

I like them both, but Okra wins.

Any takers?

Especially with some HOT chow-chow.

Auburn over Washington “Mistake” by 10.

Green Thumb

@44.

Jesus, man.

Your jam sounds like a remedy for bored ladies in the “Red Hat Club”.

Especially if it ferments.

Marine86wm

LOL put it in the fridge it’s good for 30 days. And I do not have a red hat But a MEAN GREEN MC Cover,,, this stuff is really good
Okra +1 on the hot chow chow 🙂

Mr Wolf, non-Esq

#37 GT: Mossberg? Really? You in a wheelchair?

You know real shotties are Remington 870 Tacticals. The only real door-opener. Mossies are for bedwetters. /s 🙂

And yes- speaking of ‘hard assets’ to own in an unstable economy- bullets, beans (dried food) and MEDICINES. Bullets are ALWAYS as good as legal tender. Plus, easier to trade up/down with them on other items.

I keep a medic’s bag at the ready- full surgical kit. I need to update the IV bags, but I have all the stuff needed to implement them.

As far as suppressors, I don’t know. I rather have my oil filters. That is, up until the boat accident…

Green Thumb

@48.

No to the wheelchair.

I was lucky.

But that uncontrolled “rise” crushing the China will piss of the Missus. (or your partner here in this politically correct world)

Point being, a “Door Knocker” usually takes care of the problem.

And you have controlled movement, trigger safety and situational awareness under control.

That heart is beating fast….

Mr Wolf, non-Esq

At this point, a 20-gauge shottie is every bit as legit as a 12-gauge for home protection. In fact, as GT says, will better enable the control factor a great deal. I wouldn’t drop to a .410, as that’s just weak sauce.

But I’m considering adding a .20 just for control factors…

1 2 3 5