Tuesday shorts
You thought vaccine disputes were over, right? Not in the Navy!
Amanda Johnson, a Marine spouse and homeschooling mother of five with a set of twins and a newborn is speaking out after months of what she calls stonewalling by the U.S. military medical establishment.
Her family’s upcoming move abroad has been put on hold because their children have not received all the recommended vaccinations despite the Navy’s policy stating they’re not required.
I’m normally an immunization supporter – I have friends to this day who got polio as kids and still have issues 70 years later, so I am not unbiased. But reread that last quoted line above, and read the govspeak original.
Official Navy policy under BUMEDINST 1300.2B is clear: “Family members are not required to be immunized.”
Similarly, TRICARE, healthcare for uniformed service members, explicitly states that “vaccination status is not reviewed as part of the TRICARE overseas enrollment screening process.” And the Johnsons’ destination, Peru, does not require any vaccinations for entry or residence.
Gets better. Marine Capt. Hunter Johnson, Amanda’s spouse, chimes in:
“Our children have not been, and will not be, enrolled in childcare. My wife is fully devoted to their daily care,” he wrote. “We homeschool using Time4Learning and limit exposure to institutional illness risks.
“Peru has no vaccination requirements… My continued presence is essential to our family’s stability. This is not a deployment, it’s a PCS [permanent change of station].”
Despite that, Amanda Johnson says Navy Medical Jacksonville denied the package and falsely claimed last month it had been sent to Naval Medical Atlantic Region for final review. Fox News
A couple of Congresscritters have become interested and are getting involved. Read the article. Reads like someone is playing petty bureaucrat.
Navy related, in a sadder way: a submarine lost in 1917 – yes, WWI – has been found in the waters off San Diego.
The USS F-1 submarine sank in seconds after it was badly damaged in a collision with another U.S. Navy submarine. Nineteen of its crew drowned in the accident, and three were rescued by the other sub.
It now lies on the seafloor at a depth of more than 1,300 feet (400 meters). That’s too deep for human divers, so the wreck was surveyed by operators in the human-occupied underwater vehicle (HOV) Alvin and the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Sentry, which were based on the WHOI research ship Atlantis.
“USS F-1 was conducting a 48-hour engineering run and performance test traveling from San Pedro and San Diego, CA, when the accident occurred,” Krueger told Live Science in an email. “[Navy submarines] USS F-2 and USS F-3 were alongside performing similar testing when all three vessels entered a fog bank. USS F-3 collided with USS F-1, and following the collision USS F-3 remained on scene to help rescue survivors from the water.”
The wreck is now a war grave for the 19 crew who died in the 1917 accident. WHOI and the Navy agreed not to make contact with the wreck, “to preserve its condition and be respectful of its legacy,” he said.LiveScience
Amen.
And something to watch – that “Big, Beautiful Spending Bill” that just passed by one vote in the House? Included is section 2 of the Hearing Protection Act – which would remove suppressors from the NFA. If anyone has ever bought a suppressor, you know how painful a process it is – fingerprints, pay a $200 punitive tax, wait until they run background checks, you have to have BATFE’s mother-may-I with you at all times when you are using the suppressor. Their original inclusion in the NFA was due almost completely to Hollywood, who made them the gangster’s accessory of choice (you know, snap something that looks like a champagne cork onto your revolver (!) and get absolutely no muzzle blast) – trust me, in reality you can hear a suppressed weapon REALLY WELL.
Guns are the one area I can think of where legally you have to endanger your hearing and be as noisy as possible. Run a car with a bad muffler, you get a ticket for being too loud. Get caught using an unregistered suppressor? Not going to end well . If you feel strongly on it, contact your Senator – the bill has to pass the Senate next.
