Weekend open thread
March 23, 2018
Ocean Pool
Waves crash on a public beach in Sydney, Australia. The stone structure is an ocean pool, designed to let swimmers do laps while still enjoying the natural water.
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First, Sup Bitches
I return the WOT Crown to you, ChipNASA!
Congrats, ChipNASA. I see you’re putting your expertise in all things scientific to good use.
Congratulations ChipNASA! Well played.
And I claim Honorary First once again.
((((OVER))))
Congrats Chip! I was away on a 400 mile road trip to see my cancer doctor! That was a long drive with a bad back as well! I hope to be in a position to try for this next week? I hope all my friends at TAH have a great week! More good news, after waiting for 5 months, I finally got a copy of my DD214 this week! I also requested a copy of my Honorable Discharge certificate, but for some reason, they didn’t send that? Who knows why??
Take care all and have a great weekend!!!
First
Almost…
F5F5F5F5F5F5F5F5
I kept hitting F7… 🙂
Why do you want to hit a classic Diesel Locomotive like the EMD F7?
Close but no cigar…
Story of my life…
Congrats Chip and you’ve earned your laurels.
Well with the recent snowstorm and work being closed and opened late yesterday, I’ve been chained to m y desk most of today trying to play catch up.
Today I’m sharing the WOT First with everyone at TAH, so, therefore, EVERYONE’S FIRST TODAY!!!
YAY!!!
“So let it be written, so let it be done.”
Ever gracious and humble as always.
Run, run, run as fast as you can. You’ll never catch me, I’m the gingerbread man.
Do you know the muffin man?
The muffin man, the muffin man.
Do you know the muffin man
Who lives in Drury Lane?
Do you, Chip?
No, I don’t know the Muffin Man, the Muffin Man, the Muffin Man,
But, I did like to poke the Drunken Man, the Drunken, The Drunken man,
Who lived on Wilson Lane.
😀 😀 🙂 😉
Oh, that one sans a mailbox door with a beat-up old Jaguar?
The Tim Hortons in North Bay, Ontario has great muffins and is on Drury Lane. Always thought of that when stopping
#3, AGAIN
Damn! Stepped away to take a phone call (allegedly) from Elaine Ricci, and you post the WOT.
HAHAHAHAHA. Hack, you are one degenerate bastard, and we love you for it. You just made my day. Elaine Ricci, HAHAHAHAHA.
Top 10
Bad news for all of you waiting to hear the good news. They completed their background investigation, and the Maryland Vehicle Administration has determined that the proud but humble woman owned business that I work for is not of sufficient moral character for them to allow us to adopt a highway. Apparently, any corporation that can’t afford a mailbox door is not financially stable enough to raise a highway in these tumultuous times.
But certainly Psul has plenty of experience wearing an orange jumpsuit and collecting trash from the side of said freeways, right?
One would have HOPED he would try cleaning it off the freeway itself, but there’s always the off chance he will some day.
Ironically, some of those liquor bottles by the side of the road while doing his “volunteer service” for Montgomery County were his. He set all of the Gatorade bottles aside so that his Private Dick, Jared K. Stern, would have something to piss in.
Pretty sure that Palmer, nee Psul ( of the ballsack) has had his personal “hershey highway” adopted on several of his drunken trysts with trannys or stinks in lock up.
Top 20
Somewhere in there …
Wait…NFW Top 10!!! 🙂
Hope you all have a great weekend.
Regarding military bling on the Dino-vehicles; on the motorcycle I use for my daily ride a 1st Cavalry Regimental Crest Decal. 🙂 And yes, the bike is a golden yellow color… As well as a University of Montana Sticker (GO GRIZ) and an Manhattan Project National Park Decal.
I don’t care. Fuckin bitch gave me a bunch of shit and I broke up with her. Severed the deal and walked the fuck away. I’m too old for this high school drama shit. I’m pissed and the bourbon is flowing. Please excuse my behavior.
I will try not slur my speesh.
*Bourbon is flowing*
*Bourbon is flowing*
*Squawk*
*Whistle*
Drink a couple glasses of water, take some B complex vitamins and a couple aspirins before hitting the sack tonight.
You’ll thank me tomorrow.
Who shaid anythig beout hiting my sack?
I neva laid a hand on er.
Barkeep, I’ll have whatever the gentleman on the floor was drinking. Make it a druble. *hic*
*grin*
Another satisfied customer!
*Polly want a whisky*
*Polly want a whisky*
*Squawk*
*Whistle*
Fire away, 26Limabeans.
Turn it up.
https://youtu.be/ABXtWqmArUU?t=75
I should say I’m sorry 26Limabeans but it seems you’re at your end. I’ve been there and done that. When I finally asked myself, “what is the price of peace?” The answer was, it is priceless and after all is said and done, it’s worth all you will endure. Good luck Sir and Godspeed.
Thanks Sparks. After a long drawn out discussion with Jim, Jack and especially Mark I have decided to ride it out and take the pain.
I got a lovely Easter card in the mail yesterday with an unknown pre printed return address label. It was from the bitch! She duped me into opening it.
Just what I need, another freakin “clinger”.
Been there done that times three.
Had one show up in the bushes one morning with sticks and grass in her hair. I was dressed for work and pulling out of the driveway when she “appeared” out of the fog. That was thirty years ago so I’m old hat at that stuff now.
Tomorrow is another day.
Sigh, I think I have to recalculate my standing in this weeks WOT…
Here, ladies and gentlemen, are the latest results in the
2018 TAH Stolen Valor Race™©
Place:—- Phony type & number:
1st——- Navy SEALs: 28
2nd(tie)– SF & Ranger & Marine: 7 each
3rd——- Unearned Awards: 6
4th——- Vietnam Vets: 5
5th——- Combat/Deployments: 3
6th(tie)– Navy, AF, Army Officer, Beirut Bombing survivors: 2
7th——- Military School: 1
2018 TAH Cranksteppers Race™©
Officers: 11
VA: 3
NCOs: 2
2018 TAH Heroes Scoreboard™©
Heroes: 42
Saving the World: 13
Gone Home: 40
And those, Ladies & Gentlemen, are the standings as of the WOT for 23March2018.
(((GB OUT)))
The SEALS are way out in front of course, but it looks like the SF/Ranger/Marine category has a race going on. Go Devil Dogs!
Thanks for the weekly tally, GB.
At this point, I think no-one is betting against the SEALs. The money is being placed on the SF/Ranger/Marine break. A few are betting on the ‘Nam Vets to catch up and get ahead of the Rangers, but lag behind the SFs, but I’m not bookie.
The Officers seem to have a commanding lead in the “Cranksteppers Race” too.
*cough*
commanding…
I crack me up!
*grin*
Maybe this will be the year we get a phony combat hIstorian poser here on TAH, although I ain’t holdin’ My breath…
It’s just more fun to be a SEAL I guess.
Thanks, GB! Any word on POWs or needless embellishment?
You are welcome, CPT11A. I don’t think we’ve had a phony POW yet in 2018 – the needless embellishment category is usually marked in my records (but not regularly reported) as a phony x who also has real service. There will be a multiplier attached to that when the final scores are tallied later this year. At least, that is my plan.
Ger, thought I was 16th till I realized most of the above was posted by Chip…
Yep – trying to calculate position according to number of posts is confusing. Whoever gets first cannot help but boast a little and thereby run the numbers up.
Read my post above.
EVERYONE IS FIRST TODAY!!!!!!!
I get it, it’s a participation trophy. Screw that. There can be only one winner and you’re it.
Appreciate the gesture, but 2/17 AC is correct, because
I have more firsts than you do, ChipNASA, and I have pictures, too!! S0 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛
Chip, you need to thank AC for the ruling which avoids the otherwise inevitable appeal I would be forced to make due to your declaration of us all being first. I don’t want to be first, have never wanted to be first, and have carefully avoided being first for years. It is a track record of which I am exceedingly proud. Were that title of first to be forced upon me, I would be sad, likely need a safe place, perhaps even take to my bed at odd hours and later be seen roaming the neighborhood with my binkie. Nobody needs to see that.
See Rule 17(b)(ii), Graybeard. Comments made by the same commenter that do not respond to another commenter’s comment are not included in the comment count for purposes of assigning a comment number.
Example: X is 1st and immediately thereafter comments “Eat shit, bitches” or expresses a similarly lofty sentiment. Y responds, “Bite me. I shoulda been first but my dog peed on my keyboard.” Y’s comment is #2 for counting purposes. However, if X replies to Y, X’s reply comment to X counts for counting purposes.
(Hey, don’t blame me. I didn’t write this shit.)
X’s reply comment to Y counts for counting purposes. Call it scrivener’s error.
“It was my understanding that there would be no math…”
Dang, I went to look up Rule 17(b)(ii) in my TAH Rulebook and found that Ex-PH2s cats ate that page.
I forgot a rule and Gibbs smacked me in the back of my head.
Not gonna lie – I had to go look that one up.
Yeah, I’m a Luddite.
Mom-in-law is a fan of the show
Have a great weekend y’all!!!
Top 25 so there’s that…best to everyone for a great weekend.
Not first. Finally spending a few days at Casa de Sparky, then back at it again.
And a hearty greeting to the surviving members of the DRG:
https://youtu.be/a-WJkJsPZoQ
Since it went over pretty well last week (at least nobody complained), I will offer once again my weekly trivia-humor-whatever column for your perusal. Be gentle. DID YOU KNOW…? Did a woman once sue the makers of Cap’n Crunch cereal because “Crunchberries” are not really berries? By Commissioner Wretched Life is a wonderful thing to have. (Well, so is money. But I digress.) I mean, think about it … without life, what would we have? Don’t answer that. I don’t know why I feel like getting somewhat philosophical this week, but it just seems appropriate that, with spring beginning, we all think about how wonderful life is. And, while we’re about it, let’s consider the wonders of trivia, as well. Like the spring, trivia comes around every year. Also like the spring, trivia can renew your soul. (Okay, that’s something of a stretch, but I stand by my comment. It certainly renews my soul, if not necessarily my bank account.) Another wonderful thing is e-mail. And if you have any comments on the column, you can send them to me at didyouknowcolumn@gmail.com and I pledge to answer every e-mail I receive. So, let’s renew our souls … with spring, and trivia! Did you know … … heroin was once used as a children’s cough and cold medicine? (No comment here, friends … this one’s too easy.) … carpets kill about 970 people annually? The deaths primarily result from tripping and falling. (Or maybe it’s like that old science fiction movie, where carpet monsters ate people.) … the first portable calculator was sold by Texas Instruments in 1971? It weighed two and a half pounds and cost $150. … the highest-scoring word you can play in Scrabble is “quizzify”? On its own, it’s only worth 31 points, which is nothing. But, when you add in the 50-point bonus for a “bingo” – using all seven letters in your rack – and if you stretch it across two “triple word” bonuses, you can score an impressive 419 points. (Of course, one of the “z”s has to be a blank, which gets you no… Read more »
I don’t know how old you are but I have to ask, did you write for Reader’s Digest. Maybe you know the stuff, from “I am Joe’s esophagus” to “Life in these here United States.”
I never did write for Reader’s Digest, though I must confess that I always wanted to. I started doing “Did You Know…?” as a filler when I ran out of news before I ran out of newspaper. (I’m layout editor of five weeklies in west Georgia.) I started getting a lot of good feedback and my publisher said I should make it a weekly column … the rest, as they, say, is history.
And I’ll be 60 later this year.
Feedback here- most mathematical and scientific breakthroughs are made by young men, and I’ve read that in general, if you haven’t made a major breakthrough by your mid 30’s, you probably won’t.
So noted. But that would apply mostly to major math and science breakthroughs.
I’m enjoying a long list of minor humor and trivia breakthroughs, which disrupts the pattern.
I’m a troublemaker that way.
Lima beans is good food! Thanks for the insight about Got To Get You Into My Life… I didn’t know that.
Ham ‘n M-Fckrs were some good eatin’. An acquired taste for sure but they’re filling.
Cap’n Crunch was somewhat responsible for the start of Apple Computer. It so happened that back in the 60’s, Quaker Oats included in boxes of Cap’n Crunch a cheap plastic whistle. And it so happened that the whistle generated a 2600 Hz tone that was the same tone AT&T used to enter operator mode on the touch tone system.
Along comes a phone hacker, John “Cap’n Crunch” Draper, who figured out that if you blew the whistle into the phone just right, you could make free long-distance calls.
When Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, who later started Apple, heard about what Draper was doing, they set about making electronic “blue boxes” which let you do the same thing without the whistle. For awhile, the pair had a tidy little business selling the devices in the dorms at Berkeley to students wanting to phone home on the cheap.
Enjoyed that, CW. Thanks!
“Not only that, Quaker has been pulling a con job on us for decades. Look at the picture of Cap’n Crunch on the box … he only has three stripes. He’s not even a captain … he’s a commander!”
“Captain” is both a Naval Officer’s rank, O-6, and an honorary title for any ship’s Commanding Officer. So a Commander (O-5) can indeed be addressed as “Cap’n” if in that position.
This of course can cause some confusion when dealing with our nautically challenged Sister Services, where “Captain” is a mere O-3. It really makes a difference on how quickly the squadron’s ASDO dispatches the Duty Driver.
Don’t ask how I know this.
*grin*
quick; which rank is high/lower
lt gen
major gen
brigadeer gen
Lt Gen is higher, BG lower. Now you, Vice Admiral or Rear Admiral?
Spec 5 or SGT?
I’ll be over here by this big tree.
Spec 5? While you’re over by the big tree, bring me the wood stretcher- this board is too short.
The CB-E10 will be happy to lend a hand.
I’m in need of a cable stretcher as well
Don’t forget to apply Cable Stretching Oil while you use it and have a box of Ground Guides handy!
Aren’t the Ground Guides in the box next to the box of Grid Squares?
MAYBE, just make sure you have a PRC-E7 handy for Commo!!!
You are just trying to lay the groundwork for proving that Daniel Bernath really was an Honorary Chief Petty Officer. No sale!
Ya got me, Hack. I was Down Doppler Dan’s biggest proponent here at TAH, too, dammit! It was the unearned Naval Aircrew Wings he was sporting that won me over.
*grin*
Good to know, mostly. 😉
Hey guys I have a friend (Ron) who’s Father-In-Law (in Minnesota) is a Navy Veteran that is trying to be seen at the VA for medical issues.
He has his DD214, but the VA says he isn’t in the system.
I told him to have his FIL do the following:
1) Contact his County Veteran Resource Office
2) Contact the American Legion to see if they can advocate for him
I gave him a link to this site, so he will be coming here to look at responses.
Tell him to fill out VA form 10 10 EZ. And take his 214 to his local CBOC or hospital eligibility office. They should be able to square him away hope this helps
what county does he live in? Have him schedule a meeting with his CVSO. Or, he can go to http://www.mnlegion.org, or, better yet, here is the info for Jeremy Wolfsteller, who is the Department of Minnesota Service Officer; 612-467-3849 (he’s at the VA Medical Center). He’ll get him squared away.
In other news, Nonchiefpettyofficerissimo Daniel A. Bernath is still dead.
The plan is to re-kill him. Details to follow.
This I gotta hear….
Well, I was taught to not speak ill of the dead. So this is what I have to say about the recently departed individual:
. . .
Have a nice weekend, everyone.
Where was he buried? I heard rumor someone has some extra 6″ diameter PVC pipe laying around…
I have a question for Army personnel.
You frequently refer to someone as Private Snuffy.
Is that a reference to Sad Sack or to Beetle Bailey?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035220/
Neither.
Tis Friday, so I will make my weekly update, and Gooooogle entry for Phony Phucker Kyle Christopher Barwan. He is still incarcerated at the Florida Department of Correction’s Century Correctional Institution. Someone told me that one night they could smell the godawfullest stench, and could hear a pathetic wailing. I ask if he knew a corrections officer that he could ask and learn if Barwan had been handed over to “Bobo the Giant”, that I have heard is an inmate there. Seems that actually did happen, and ol’ Bobo he don’t like to use no grease, and when he bores, things get heated up, to say the least. Here is Barwan’s page at FDOC:
http://www.dc.state.fl.us/offenderSearch/detail.aspx?Page=Detail&DCNumber=H50625&TypeSearch=AI
I don’t speak Army, Ex, but I think Pvt. Snuffy is a reference to Joe Everyman in the Army, like Seaman Schmuckatelli was in the Navy.
I’m trying to remember who that character was that figured in so many WWII Army cartoons as a “don’t be this guy” figure. I don’t think it was Pvt. Snuffy, but cannot recall.
PVT SNAFU
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=pvT+SNAFU
I knew someone would remember.
My coffee is depleted and I can’t remember much.
or Lance Corporal Scmuckatelli in the USMC, wasn’t it Seaman Staines for the US Navy?
PVT or 2LT Smackieackenflack was occasionally used in Army apocrypha.
The term “snuffy” most likely comes from the character of Snuffy Smith in the old Barney Google comic strip.
Wiki has something on a Pvt. Snuffy Smith play/movie in 1942 – possibly related.
Just came back from planting the Pre-K garden at my wife’s school. When I got to the parking lot at school, I remembered that my .44 Special was under the seat of my truck. Planted the garden, and came home. Now for the question – were the kids at that school safer when I was there with the pistol in my truck, or are they safer now that I’m home? Moot question, of course, since there was no “school shooter” involved. But I would think that the logical, non-political answer would be that they were safer when I was there. Anyway, where do I turn myself in, and will any of you send cookies?
What kind of cookies?
Chocolate chip. And if you could put a tiny little file inside, that would be nice. (As long as it doesn’t require a decrease in the number of chips.)
Why am I suddenly thinking of Schroedinger’s damn zombie cat..
What brand of .44? I have a Charter Arms Bulldog. I got it before Son of Sam made it infamous.
Folks, It has been an awful couple of weeks for me at work. My retention designation was downgraded from an R2 to a R3. Meaning, if a layoff were to occur during the coming year, I would be gone. I feel like I have been kicked in the nuts. So for my job code there are 78 R1’s, 78 R2’s, and 24 R3’s. When my boss sat me down to give me this news I could do nothing but stare at the R3. I looked at him after a bit, interupted what was coming out of his mouth and asked ‘You’re telling me that there are 156 people out there better than me? 156? Really? He said that those others had better ‘brag sheets’ that showed special projects performed over the past year. Again, I just stared back down at the paper. After a bit, I looked back at him and said, so I was downgraded for doing my job, my assigned work? Who do you think works the day to day issues and engineering changes while these people are doing special projects? Who picks up that slack? I just walked out of the meeting at that point…I was either going to cry in frustration or flip a table over. The following day my Lead pulled me in a room and explained that I need to make issues seem bigger than they are and then show the boss that I fixed them. I just sat there seething This morning my lead and another guy came up to my desk and said the same thing. My problem they told me is that I put my head down and work very well, too well. The boss never hears about issues, so for some reason that is a bad thing. What they are asking me to do goes against my core values. I don’t whine…I don’t go to the boss making mountains out of molehills…I set down, figure out a solution and execute. One would think that this is what a manager would want, issues get tended to at the lowest level. I… Read more »
My sympathies, Atkron.
There are supervisors/managers out here who will stick you in the back (had that happen) or fail to notice a job well done (a couple of those).
I’ve also been blessed with managers who kept themselves aware of what I have done (good and bad) and gone to bat for me when necessary. As a low-level manager I’ve tried to imitate them.
After all these years, the guys that knifed me in the back probably did me a favor. In combination with that I lost a house and had my student loan debt get so high I thought I’d never get out from under it. But it led me to a change in careers that has been good to me, a change in towns that has been a blessing to my family, and the chance to do a lot more good for my community than I could have where I was. Turns out God was in control all the time.
If you get laid off, I hope your next manager will be one of the better ones. They are out there. May they find you, and you them.
I do understand. You have an unfortunately idiotic fumbler for a boss.
At my job, before I retired, my super was both a drunk and a dope smoker. She’d spend her lunch hour pounding down martinis or smoking a joint out in front of the building. Then she’d some back, giggling and wobbling, and lock herself in her office for an hour.
She missed a meeting because she was stoned, and I had no budget numbers to give the people working projects, so I winged it.
When she finally showed up at 3:30PM, she was stoned. I asked her where she had been and why she missed the meeting. She said she knew I could handle it. Without the budget numbers that those people wanted???
I then decided that it was past time to leave the work world and did so, and have not looked back since.
Sometimes, you just have to look around and figure out if you’re better off staying and putting in the time until retirement, or (for the sake of keeping your blood pressure from exploding) deciding what you really want to do for the rest of your life. And what can you get along without?
Sometimes peace of mind is more valuable than cash.
Update your resume immediately (if needed) and discreetly start marketing yourself to your company’s competitors. Do not disparage your current employer, but state you are less than challenged where you are and can be much more productive if utilized elsewhere, and say how. Seen this over and again, so have others and they will understand.
Look out for number one- you didn’t raise your right hand to work for these people, and best of luck.
AW1Ed gives some sound advice. The time to look for another employer is while one is employed. Beyond that, you didn’t say whether the retention downgrade is subject to appeal. I once had a situation in which my evaluation was a thing of fiction—bad fiction—and it would cost me some money. I visited the rater and explained that his poor choice of words on the evaluation would require evidence in the appeal I would be filing. The next day, he presented me with another evaluation, which I gladly signed.
Yes, an appeal process is in place. Do I want to appeal it? I don’t even know at this point. Maybe take the layoff should it occur, take a lump-sum severance, and move to Montana or Wyoming, and live in a trailer. Hunt, fish, and watch the stars at night.
If you believe that you have been wronged, that the decision affecting you was arbitrary or capricious and without basis in fact, then you might want to seriously consider an appeal. One thing worth looking at is which party, you or the manager, has the burden. Is it his burden to show the soundness and factual basis of the decision or is it yours to show otherwise? Focus only on your situation without regard to anyone else in your workplace. If the manager put his decision in writing, wait 48 hours and re-read it as if you were not the person written about. Does what he wrote seem reasonable and are there facts in support of his conclusion? One other thing: truth be told, if a manager has to choose to come down on a good employee who likely will not appeal an adverse decision and a marginal employee who most likely will, guess which one he’ll come down on? It makes his life so much easier. Good luck.
The thing is my Performance Ratings were not low, I met every expectation, and exceeded in one case, for the year.
For some reason those scores are not taken into consideration.
The company came out with a revised ‘brag sheet’ this year. In the past you would put down your work history, any achievements you may have for the year, and in the past. All of which has to fit on one sheet in a certain font.
This year, the rules changed for what could be placed on the sheet.
Also, the managers were given a task to weight each employee on what are seen as core competencies for each employee and what pay level they are for their job role.
Some of these competencies are never utilized, and either you don’t have an example with which to argue a rating, or you just never work in that particular role at all.
Now the kicker to all of that is that this guy had that change to the process information last June. He never shared it with the team until 5 days until we were to turn it in. When he informed us of that in a staff meeting, I was pretty upset. I did a self assessment, and we compared notes before he went to the retention meetings. I thought I was going to stay in middle where I have been.
Had he let us know last June of these changes at our last year mid-year performance checks…I could have made necessary changes in my workload necessary to boost that weighted score. It seems to me that a lot of managers must have done this for their employees. To me an R3 is a shitbag that never completes assignments, always has to be told what to do, never works ahead.
I probably will think it all over, over the weekend. I do have a buddy that has but a bug in his manager’s ear about me and my situation. I might be able to move over there.
Letting it cool over the weekend, and reviewing it refreshed after a good night’s sleep, is an excellent strategy.
I don’t know your personal situation, but my spousal unit has always provided a good sounding-board and a 100%-dedication support-group. Talking things over with a woman who loves you is a great way to approach problems. If that is unavailable, a sibling or a buddy who has been through the wringer with you – someone who would give their life for you.
Best of luck to you.
Yep. The best time to look for a job is when you already have one.
Let me guess…you work for GE?
No, but we seem to be flooded with executives that have come from there.
You have my sympathies. GE is not a corporation, it’s a cult. Unfortunately, their executives and management types have a tendency to spread their infection to other companies. I remember watching a documentary series on the History channel about the titans of industry like Carnegie, Rockefeller, Morgan, Edison, Tesla, etc. Every time Jack Welch’s ugly mug was on camera, I muted it. My wife asked me why and I spent the better part of an hour breaking down his vast and sundry shortcomings, questioning his parentage, and describing the shit show that was General Electric.
Loyalty is a two way street.
If you aint getting it, you don’t owe it.
Looking for a better gig is an acceptable action, especially if someone is pissing in your coffee and calling it cream.
Look around, internally and externally.
Most times when my employer became butt-heeaded, I wound up trading up.
The you may find your skill set is more in demand than you realize. But -marketing- it is essential.
“Respect and Loyalty are both two way streets.” – R. Marcinco, CAPT, USN (Ret)
Marcinko?
I have met fans of his and critics. Not sure how to interpret the reference.
My sympathies, as well. I thought I had worked for some incompetent, arrogant, deceitful dipshits when I was on active duty, but I have had some doozies in the civilian world. This has been especially true in the state government attorney jobs I had in the past 20 years. The one I lovingly call “The Lunatic” was appointed by the then Governor. In the military, he wouldn’t have made a good latrine orderly.
Prior service folks, especially long service, can get into exploiting situations where their “never quit” attitude is strictly one way.
You did not take an oath of enlistment with XYZ Corp. You are a voluntary hire, for what is -supposed- to be a mutual benefit.
Your -integrity- is not optional, but your continued presence -is-.
I am lucky. My current employer treats folks as essential parts of success, consistently for the fifteen years I have been here. There have been “toxic” managers. They tend to get canned.
You just described Boeing. Same crap,I had a supervisor who bragged that he had read all of our files and knew everything there was to know about us, I piped up with “OK, What was my college major, What was my class standing, do I hold any certificates or licenses? He stuttered, and everybody laughed. He didn’t last long.
I might’ve missed if this got posted before, but bad news out of Bragg – two soldiers with SOCOM (unstated if SF or support) got into an off-post shootout, leaving one dead:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fort-bragg-soldier-shot-dead-in-dispute-with-fellow-soldier/
Well, that sucks.
Awww shit!
File Name: Pre-eminent educator ideas
File Content: Two school superintendents in Pennsylvania have come up with similar plans to provide the means for students and teachers to defend themselves while in active-shooter lock down. One proposes to store gold balls in each classroom and the other suggests using rocks. Both are for use against a shooter. (No, I could not make this shit up. No one would believe it if I did.)
That is … subversive.
At some point, a smart person will start asking “Why are the good guys limited to -rocks-?”
And that leads to questions about someone on site having something just a smidgen more modern.
It also puts “you should fight” back into the equation. That also is very subversive for a system that is supposed to teach passivity in the face of threats.
The idea is to create the illusion that the students and staff are not helpless, that the schools will provide them the means to ‘do something.’ It is asinine.
I think that is part of the subversion -against- the stupidity.
Kind of like that “2+2=5” poster that has been cited here. That poster is -not- parody. Some clever, clever critic actually got the Soviet propagandists to publish that idiocy. There are other examples.
It will never be proven, but I suspect someone, who would fit right in here, whispered that suggestion in the ear of some weakminded fool, who ran with it.
Gold balls would probably be stolen the first day. That was supposed to be golf balls.
Why not store golf clubs? Get yourself whacked upside the head with a 9-iron, and you’ll be crying for your mama.
Not to mention being able to practice a few chip shots between classes…
First!
Where’s my participation trophy?
😉
86rd!
Bernath is still dead. He had no funeral! He is not missed. And his story is yet to be fully told.
I’ve hear rumor there’s someone with a few lengths of 6″ diameter PVC pipe…
((((OVER))))
I see that Time has another propaganda piece written by ADM Stavradis.
I don’t usually have much to say about the political butt sniffers we call retired GO/FOs, but this guy has so many faces he might be a Hindu goddess.
Anyone have an opinion about Ralph Peters trashing FOX on the way out the door?
That Peters is a Weasely Clark acolyte is really all you need to know. You may recall Clark as SACEUR back in the ’90s tried to start WWIII with the Russians until his Brit Deputy told him to GF himself.
Peters is another Russophobe, and if you ask for some tangible evidence that Trump really is in Putin’s pocket, then you are in Putin’s pocket.
Good riddance to Peters. That is MHO.
Oddly enough, scroll through some history here and you’ll find people who talk about how Peters is a guy who tells it like it is. And Clark is a Democrat… Peters, on the other hand, was briefly suspended by Fox for calling President Obama a ‘pussy’ on air. He’s .. not exactly a liberal.
Maybe all the mounting evidence on Russia and people who understand how Russian intelligence operates have a point? Also of news in the past 24 hours is that Guccifer 2.0 was identified as a GRU persona.
I’m certainly not convinced that President Trump willfully engaged with Russia, but members of his campaign staff did have contact with Russian intelligence officers.. the question is whether they were aware of who they were talking to, when it happened, and who ordered it. Hence, the investigation.
I did not call Peters a “liberal”. I called him a Russophobe.
Let’s see the “mounting evidence”. Or is that too “secret” for the hoi polloi?
The only mounting evidence I am aware of is the seditious behavior of top level personnel in the CIA and FBI.
And I didn’t say you called him a liberal – I was just pointing out that it’s not just the Left making the claims about Russian influence.
As for the mounting evidence, the real question is where to begin – do you want evidence of Russia working to influence the election? The recent indictment of 13 Russian officials is a good read to start. Do you want evidence of people associated with the Trump campaign talking with Russian intelligence operatives? The news about Guccifer 2.0 and Roger Stone’s own statements illustrate that, though we certainly don’t know whether Stone knew Guccifer’s real identity – I hope not. Do you want evidence of President Trump ‘colluding’ with the Russians? Well, nobody has that, of course. The current investigation is, in part, likely to going to tell us whether there is evidence of that, insufficient evidence of that, or zero evidence of that.
Even President Trump’s appointees to the IC agree with these facts. At some point you can either keep insisting that any and all people who’ve seen the evidence are ‘seditious’,… or reconsider your point of view.
And again, it doesn’t mean President Trump did anything wrong – that remains to be seen. Seems to me, getting to the bottom of what happened is important for the safety and security of the USA, regardless of politics.
“Even President Trump’s appointees to the IC agree with these facts. At some point you can either keep insisting that any and all people who’ve seen the evidence are ‘seditious’,… or reconsider your point of view”
Nope. Swing and miss again. The “Trump appointees” are still awaiting confirmation. It is the “Obama appointees” who “agree” with the fake stuff they have created to preserve their own patronage positions.
Clever misuse of the word, “Trump”, though.
Mike Pompeo was chosen by President Trump to be the Director of CIA, and has specifically stated the Russians interfered in the elections.
Dan Coats is Trump’s pick as DNI, and he’s said the same. Sure, ADM Rogers at NSA is an Obama pick, but LTG Nakasone, President Trump’s nominee, agrees with him, and the wider IC community, on this.
Which of President Trump’s IC picks don’t agree again?
Pleas stop mischaracterizing the Russian effort.
They were not “trying to influence” the outcome. They were trying to sow dissection, to cast doubt, to delegitimize the election.
The Left -only- raised this when they -lost-.
Putin and company were as surprised as everyone else. There is -no way- the Russians predicted that outcome. Our own pro predictors blew it “yuge”.
But the left wants to delegitimize Trump, because butthurt. And because the Left has been Russia’s Blyad since the thirties.
Does anyone sane believe that Russia prefers Trump? Over a buyable corrupt weakling like Clinton? She abandoned our amassy folks to a mob of cavemen. Would Trump have shrugged and wrote them off?
Most of the documented spending was post-election. It was also chump-change compared to the campaigns.
Influenced the outcome? Bullshit.
Shit stirring? With the (again) willing help of the Left? Yup.
The gangster harpie lost, because her campaign -sucked-. She is -still- fucking up by the numbers, square root of -1 irrational numbers.
But sill you persist.
Their standard op is to delegitimize and sow dissent
That folks willingly aid this is … disappointing.
I will -not- aid them in their efforts. You score -zero- points aiding in deligitimizing our election.
We already know just how fucking corrupt has become the so-called leadership of various agencies.
This won’t end well. And the folks aiding it are not, and will not, be seen as heroes.
But do go on.
How am I aiding them by agreeing with what the US government says happened? And to be clear, what President Trump’s appointments to the intelligence community say happened.
I would think the greater delegitimization comes from refusing to believe the assessment of the US intelligence community at large. I’ve never once called President Trump a delegitimate President – he won the election. Which also happens to be the outcome the Russians wanted. Denying that ain’t helping anyone.
‘discrediting Sec’y Clinton’ – That is the biggest bunch of hooey I’ve run into in a very long time.
1 – She is not Secretary of Anything, period. Referring to her as ‘Secretary’ implies that she still has that position when she does not.
2 – Discrediting Clinton? I don’t care what that report says. She was perfectly capable of discrediting herself, which she did repeatedly – all of which is available on videos, if YOU would bother to look – and it started with her first campaign stop in Iowa, where she declared that she would put a billion solar panels on homes across the country, to a bunch of farmers who raise corn and soybeans for the fuel and food industry, AMONG OTHER THINGS.
1) People often hold on to honorary titles like that, even after their position ends. Hence, President Reagan, Ambassador Bolton, etc.
2) Once again, Clinton discrediting herself and the Russians seeking to discredit her are not mutually exclusive things. Both are true.
Says LC as he continues to (apparently) willfully ignore the simple fact that nobody here has ever denied that our enemies have always and presumably will always interfere in multiple ways in multiple aspects of our lives – anything to be disruptive. What many of us object to is that the left is aiding a abetting our enemies in that regard.
You keep pointing to attempted interference as evidence of collusion. Not the same.
@ David:
I never claimed there was collusion. I don’t know if it happened. I pointed out that the investigation isn’t ‘bogus’.
If it finds collusion, whatever that means, I’ll accept it. If it finds none, I’ll also accept that.
A question – would you guys & gals find it funny if someone did a parody of Stolen Valor? Completely over the top and ridiculous, like a 5-star with that army astronaut badge that is ultra rare, a Hero of the Soviet Union medal, and other crazy stuff. I’m talking more fruit salad than every church basement in America
Since the general public has no idea what most, if any, of that is, and we who do find about zero humor in it, I’d say fuck no.
But that’s just me. Your mileage may vary.
If the point is to mock those of us who abhor valor thieves for, as one commenter puts it, standing in the blood of those who sacrificed life or limb in military service, then hell no. If the point is to portray valor thieves as buffoons, my emotion says go for it, but my intellect says no, that what these cretans do is often criminal and always wrong. But I’d love to hear the views of others on this.
If it wasn’t clear, it was to mock the people who claim fake awards, and the credulous people who believe their BS. I am not as passionate about this as you all are, but anyone claiming awards they didn’t earn deserves ruthless mockery. Only exception is people who made a legit mistake (which seems rare) or the occasional dude who is actually nuts or going senile.
The humor in what you describe is a little too inside baseball for most, especially those who have “never seen the elephant,” as they used to say back in the day.
How about people making millions
from spoofing it under the guise of of “art”? Eddie Murphy in “Trading Places” comes to mind.
Some things just are not funny, and we will never all agree on what is and what isn’t funny. For instance, there have been several sitcoms dealing with war that I thought were horrendous subjects for comedy. Turns out that they were very funny – it just took me a while to watch them.
Back to your question – it could be done well and be an obvious spoof. Might not appeal to a very broad audience, but then, it might even if only those ‘in the know’ fully appreciated it.
I was thinking of someone who literally hit every single box on the Stolen Valor bingo card, only taken to 11. His emotional support poodle has a SEAL trident!
Ranger Up already did one:
https://youtu.be/l0Sx_rWNf7s
Omega, it looks like Ranger UP already beat you too it. What is your idea, a stand-up comedy act? First, most of us don’t find this POSer shit funny, just reprehensible. We enjoy ridiculing them, but their conduct is not humorous. Second, playing it humorous trivializes their despicable conduct.
Honestly, no. There’s enough hilarity in the TAH archives that there’s no need to make shit up.
Check out Nick Androsky, for starters. He’s like the white Idi Amin. And he got outed in a hilarious way.
There are even some who were probably joking around in their thievery. Sam Waters comes to mind here. Whether he’s a real poser or a parody, he’d be hard to top.
No need to add more, IMO.
Parody of stolen valor? It’s been done.
Ranger Up did it quite well.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bCnzi6L_BsM
Wow. I somehow managed to miss the other posts.
Still, funny as all get-out.
Interesting situation developing in DC. Bunch of hoodlums, and probably some well meaning ignorant tools, congregating to celebrate their religion of peace and protest. So far it looks like some aging hippies, some union organizers, and other representatives of the usual suspects.
Am staying tuned. Can hardly wait to see the buses start rolling in. There are supposed to be buses, right? Plenty of folks claim to be paying for buses for the “children” to get there.
Peace and love and all that stuff.
I wonder if they’ll ever learn.
Some will, some will not, some refuse to learn and others cannot.
Not just in DC. Mouth breathers in the NY,LA, UK, France, Germany, Australia, etc..are holding their own protests in “solidarity” w/ the Steyer/Soros funded nincompoops in Washington. I’m waiting for protests of leftist gun loving Hollyweird studios. Oh wait, no guns, and no box office. It must be the NRA’s fault, that Hollywood & video game companies love shoot’em ups.
Same people who say Hitler is in the White House are demanding gun control.
Idiots.
John Giduck – the turd with a face!
Ah yes, John “Shovels” Giduck. I wonder what became of him…
John “I take a myself daily” Giduck has allegedly reinvented himself….again. The legal career didn’t work, the Army career lasted only 58 days, and the international man of mystery credentials were exposed. It was time. John Giduck is now a college professor at a set of two-bit colleges. I say “two bit” because it would be difficult to hold an academic institution in high regard that would hire soneone as a professor that can be proven to have committed academic dishonesty. I wonder if the bord of regents at those schools know his false background and history of academic deception. And, I would consider many of John Giduck’s actions as academic deception. John Giduck wasn’t in Beslan “just after” the final assault as the smoke was clearing from the charred bodies still laying in the booby-trapped rubble. The timeline to have traveled from Colorado to Beslan in that time was so improbable that John Gidduck himself admitted in 2012 that he wasn’t there as he claimed after uncomfortable questions were raised. The first domino of lying about the timeline causd a cascade of lies to be uncovered in the Terror At Beslan book and the narrative that John Giduck told seminar attendees for years after the event. – There were no conversations in Moscow with senior Spetsnaz officers while the Beslan siege was ongoing as falsely claimed in the book -There were no bodies, boobytraps, or even rubble to crawl through when John Giduck arrived – There were no drawings, measurements, or photos taken by John Giduck in September 2004 as claimed in the book – According to the Russian consulate, “tourist visas take weeks to be issued and are not processed overnight” so John Giduck’s claim that he FEDEX’d a visa application to the Consulate that he received the next is a very unlikely story. – There isn’t clear evidence that John Giduck’s GRU accompanied him to Russia for this first trip. – There is FAR more evidence indicating that John Giduck didn’t arrive in Beslan for the first time until Nov 2004. Even the back cover photo can… Read more »
So, that lying turd-burglar is still running true to form.
Its a sad anniversary the crash at Pope AFB/Green Ramp.
Slip away brother’s
This is part of a forecast done by someone who analyses the financial markets, but his forecast is applicable this time to a lot of things, not just the markets:
The Sun will make a square to Mars and Saturn, March 24-29, followed by the war-like conjunction of Mars and Saturn in Capricorn on April 2. This may be a frustrating period for those who try to push matters through quickly. Nothing good comes from forcing an issue before its time is ripe. For those who try to do this, the usual reaction is one of frustration and then anger.
This period can be used constructively to just work hard on your own projects, get them completed correctly (and without rushing), and do not depend on support from others who simply aren’t interested in supporting you or who do not have the time to help you because of their own heavy workload.
Those who succeed under this combination are both independent and self-sufficient. Those who do not succeed, tend to be needy and overly dependent of approval from others, and then over-react when they don’t get that support or approval from others that they want.
That last paragraph applies to a bunch of people who want everything their way and if they can’t get it without working for it, they throw tantrums.
Should be interesting times ahead.
Adam Appel had been living in Anchorage, Alaska but now appears to be living in Pahoa, Hilo, Hawaii and quite possibly may be using the name “Adam Holtzinger”. Adam Appel continues to run a Street Medic charity based on some initial licensing as a enry level EMT although neither the National Registry of EMTs nor the Hawaii State Professional Licensing website shows Adam as currently being licensed to act as an EMT in either Hawaii or Alaska.
https://adamappelemt.wordpress.com/2018/02/15/evidence-shows-adam-appel-does-not-appear-to-be-a-licensed-emt-in-hawaii/
Given that Adam Appel had previously been investigated by the Alaska Office of Elder Fraud and had received a cease and desist letter from the Hawaii State Attorney’s office for falsely claiming that deductions to another Adam Appel owned charity (“American Search Foundation”) were tax deductible, a reasonable person might conclude that they would need to be wary of any charity owned by or operated by Adam Appel.
https://adamappelemt.wordpress.com/2018/02/04/adam-appel-and-alaskas-elder-fraud-case-against-him/
Anyone can easily see the Elder Fraud case for themselves at the above link.
Holden
This is another one of those you-can’t-make-this-shit-up stories. A woman in West Virginia was the subject of a police field interview regarding the recent theft of a stolen car. The details are lacking but the upshot is that the interview ended abruptly when she got behind the wheel and stole the police car! It was later found, w/o her inside, at a mall parking lot.
Well, she had to go shopping, dammit, and was burning daylight chatting with the police.
That’s funny.
The gun-grabbers protest worked! Everyone who attended felt that they accomplished someting and, locally, only 10 people were shot in D.C. this weekend, two fatally.
That is odd; I thought the DC gang bangers and other armed criminals were all lined up at the DC Metro PD stations to turn in their guns while singing the rap version of “Kumbaya.”
Another issue. The census. There’s a flap about it again, this time b/c it has been suggested that maybe illegal aliens ought not be counted. They always are, which rather undercuts the one-man, one-vote design of apportionment. But to hell with that. So what if some states get an extra vote in Congress or two b/c illegal aliens were counted, there’s money at stake! The higher a state’s population, the more Federal (i.e., taxpayer) money it gets. What a system.
One of these days…but probably not today. Keep whacking f.
5. I forgot the 5.