Stolen Valor…

Posted on by November 6, 2019

Apparently the scheduler decided to post this yesterday morning too… sigh… Sorry about that!

Interesting article in Military Times about stolen valor and its impact…

It was a sweet assignment right up my writing alley: A narrative about the D-Day invasion to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Allied attack that marked the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany. My newspaper, the Daily Press of Newport News, Virginia, published an open invitation for those who had taken part in the grand and awful amphibious assault to contact us and share their stories. In the military-rich Hampton Roads region, we struck gold: From the pilots who flew the paratroopers to the infantrymen who stormed the beaches, I was able to relate the entire D-Day narrative chronologically, all through veterans’ eyes.

Full article, HERE.

I have personally encountered two actual cases, oddly enough about the Mayaguez rescue, when the guy KNEW I had been there. He swore his squadron was there, and took a round through the vertical stabilizer (it was actually VP-17). My buddy asked me why I didn’t go off on him, and honestly, it was because I felt sorry for the poor bastard… He wasn’t hurting me. The other one was a supposed Vietnam Vet, 173rd Airborne, who begged at the Vietnam Memorial. He got a LOT of donations, and had his spiel down pat. I found out later from a Park Ranger, it turned out the guy had been kicked out of boot camp, and never even served, he saw an easy way to feed his habit, and made out for probably four years…

BUT, there are any number that have ripped off the VA and other military assistance groups. I find this unconscionable, and I truly hope they get prosecuted for it. And it’s not just the ‘little’ people.

Senator Blumenthal (D-CT) has also been guilty of it. Blumenthal received five draft deferments during the Vietnam War, obtaining first educational deferments, and then deferments based on his occupation. In April 1970 Blumenthal enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, and he served in units in Washington, D.C., and Connecticut from 1970 to 1976, attaining the rank of sergeant. During his 2010 Senate campaign, news reports that Blumenthal had claimed that he’d served “in Vietnam” created a controversy. Blumenthal denied having intentionally misled voters, but acknowledged having occasionally “misspoken” about his service record. He later apologized for remarks about his military service he said had not been “clear or precise”.

LBJ was another one with some ‘strange’ service… Commissioned as a LCDR, (a tad odd, with no indication of any qualifications), he was ordered to the Pacific to ‘observe operations’ from his duty station of the Undersecretary of the Navy. He ended up with a Silver Star under ‘questionable’ circumstances, just for being on an airplane that took damage. Article, HERE. And he only served a little over 7 months of ‘active duty’, before being ordered back to Congress.

Narco terror deaths…

Posted on by November 5, 2019

US victims of Mexican cartel massacre range from 8-month-old twins to 43-year-old mother

This happened Monday in northern Mexico, article HERE.

It’s time to take off the gloves… From a friend who is conversant with the situation south of the border…

On Mexico…Tourism, Commerce, and War
                                 **
It’s time to get ‘real’ about the U.S. Government’s relations with the the country of Mexico!
The deaths of several U.S. citizens yesterday in a drug cartel shoot-out in the Mexican state of Sonora, less than one hundred miles south of the U.S. (Arizona) Mexican border should be a wake-up call for anyone who remains in denial about what a clear and present danger Mexico and its ruling drug cartels is to the United States and its citizens.
Recent (in)actions and malfeasance by Mexico President Andres Manual Lopez Obrador (“AMLO” to  those American hipsters who are ‘woke’ by applying cute nicknames to their cultural heroes – about whom they know nothing except that they seem ‘cool’ and ‘woke’ themselves) after the arrest and subsequent release of ‘El Chapo’s’ son in Culican, Mexico, last month, are evidence that he has ceded effective control of the social and political apparatus in Mexico to the bloodthirsty terrorists who control the drug trade there and in the United States. 
There are simple elements to this situation that can no longer be ignored and swept aside by for purposes of political expediency or potential gain. There is enough blame to go around on both sides. There are also short and long term solutions to the problem.
SHORT TERM:
1. The killings of the American family (including small children!) are proof positive that Americans are not safe in Mexico. The U.S. State Department should immediately begin an official process to discourage American citizens from non-essential travel into Mexico. In addition, it should remind the thousands of Americans who are living as expatriates in Mexico that their lives are in potential danger and the American Government can do little to protect them. American tourism is the heartbeat of the national economy of Mexico and any significant reduction of such will have an immediate crippling effect on their economy which would require the government of Mexico (if there is one) to make some hard choices.
2. The president should immediately take steps to deploy the National Guard (and in the case of California – whose governor will refuse such an order – the U.S. military itself) along the U.S. Mexico border to ‘seal’ the border and restrict entry to only those foreign citizens who have official visas to enter the U.S. This is a legitimate national security issue confronting the President of the United States and he has every right to do this. Who in America will object to such action with any veracity?
3. Redouble (re-triple?) the efforts by the U.S. agencies responsible for the interdiction of illegal drugs in such efforts. If Congress refuses to fund such efforts, President Trump should go around them and declare a national emergency and spend whatever it takes to fund these efforts.  
LONG TERM:
1. The U.S. government (Executive and Legislative branches) needs to come to grips with the reality that with no demand, there would be no supply of illegal drugs and the cartels would forced to market their products elsewhere. One way of dealing with this is to make the sale and distribution of illegal drugs in the U.S. a felony (not subject to being pleaded down to a misdemeanor by a prosecutor). We are already in the next national election cycle. Let us see those on the political left defend the sale and distribution of illegal drugs with no effective penalty consequence on national TV. Simply put, support for the use of illegal drugs in the U.S. is tantamount to the support of the drug cartels (and their methods) in Mexico. 
2. American companies have shown that they either cannot or will not cease to manufacture products in Mexico and bring them in for sale to the United States at the ultimate expense of jobs for Americans. Trump has tried the outmoded concept of ‘moral suasion’ with these companies with no positive result – indeed he has been subjected to public ridicule for it. It’s time for him to once again impose meaningful tariffs on goods brought in from Mexico to the effect of discouraging American companies from manufacturing there. Tariffs DO work (like a sledgehammer driving a nail!), draconian as they may seem by those squinty-eyed economists at Harvard who proclaim from their ivory towers that “this isn’t how we do it anymore.” 
3. Going back to ‘AMLO’ and his hand-wringing and ham-handed ways of governing Mexico: If he can’t bring the lawless drug cartels under control with his own law enforcement and military, then he should turn to the U.S. for help (Is there any doubt who would prevail in a gun-fight between some cartel thugs and American military special operators?)
4. China is also part of this problem. Manufacturers of synthetic drugs (Fentanyl, etc.) are partnering with the drug cartels to use their channels of distribution to flood the U.S. with their products. Trump should place this on his punch-list of issues he has with President Xi and move it up in terms of priority. Xi and his dictatorship (BTW, to those still starry-eyed about our relationship with China, that’s what their form of government is) could put a stop to this in a heartbeat if they had the incentive to do so.
5. Finally, the American people (including those on the left who see illegal drug use as a cute, harmless manifestation of a liberal, progressive attitude that somehow sets them apart from the staid old, boring, ‘unwoke’ lifestyle of their conservative counterparts) need to come to the understanding that illegal drug use by their friends and acquaintances – as benign as it may seem at the moment – has consequences that began many miles and passages of time away from that moment. The people who profit from the activities of the cartels are smart and ruthless. They will not stop with controlling the drug trade; they want complete control of the Mexican political and economic apparatus to the end of having control of the activities of all legal businesses (they are now targeting even avocado growers!) in Mexico. How long will it be before the successors to ‘El Chapo’ will be negotiating with Ford and General Motors about the terms and conditions about new manufacturing plants in Mexico? How long will it be before they are occupying the Mexican seat at the U.N. or the Embassy of Mexico in Washington? How long will it be before they have seats on the Board of J.P. Morgan Chase or Bank of America?  
There may not have yet been a ‘Pearl Harbor’ type incident (although the survivors of the family killed in Sonora yesterday will see that as such), but Americans must come to the realization that we are at war with insidious outside hostile forces (Mexico, China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea – all of which are dictatorships), that want to destroy America and its historic values by non-military means if possible. The question for each American is, do we fight back, or simply lie down and take an ass-beating from these people? 
I can’t find anything he says to disagree with… And stay the hell out of Mexico. No vacations, no running across the border to shop, zip, nada…

This…

Posted on by November 4, 2019

Is enough to make one wonder about the ‘sanity’ of SFO and the people there…

Thanks to the tech crowd, San Francisco is now home to more dogs than children—and the city is forever changed.

Full article, HERE.

The gushing over ‘dog friendly’, the specialty stores, special foods, etc… And not a word one about the crap (literally) flooding SFO’s streets, or the homeless, or the drugs…

The mind truly boggles at the disconnect between the people in this story and reality…

Speaking of reality… Michael Ramirez says it all…

Dammit…

Posted on by November 3, 2019

One of the last flyable PBY Catalinas was lost by Hollyweird…

This apparently occurred of the Florida coast during the filming of the USS INDIANAPOLIS movie last year, but very few knew about it, or at least published anything about it…

Article, HERE.

And to add insult to injury, apparently the movie sucks too. Article, HERE.

The survivors of the USS INDIANAPOLIS deserve better than this.

This was one of the worst Naval disasters of WWII for the US. Some of the stories are HERE.

The USS INDIANAPOLIS was found in 2017 by Paul Allen’s RV Petrel, HERE. So at least the survivors and families of those lost finally have some closure.

Fall back…

Posted on by November 2, 2019

At least this time around, we get an extra hour of sleep… Unless you’re pulling the duty, and you get to work an extra hour.

Personal opinion, we just need to do away with DST. It’s no longer necessary, as most people never get out of the house and away from their computer/phone/game console. And it screws with the sleep schedule, cause the animals still want to be fed/let out/etc. at their ‘normal’ time, regardless of what time ‘we’ think it is…

Grumble…

Phantoms…

Posted on by November 1, 2019

Friend of mine was on the last cruise in VF-151…

USS Midway (CV-41) was the last US Navy aircraft carrier to operate the McDonnell Douglas F-4S Phantom II. On March 25th 1986 the Midway sent the Phantoms to the beach for good.

The article and a nice little video are HERE. No combat footage in this one, but interesting shots of tanking and carrier ops.

This video, starting about 7:30 in, shows combat footage of F-4s in Vietnam. Frito received a DFC for one of their flights during his deployment there in 68.

One of the things to consider is that the F-4 was ‘originally’ designed as a fighter/interceptor, without a gun…

They did develop a centerline pod with a 20mm gun, that was moderately successful, and the Marines turned the F-4 into a bomber in Vietnam to provide CLOSE air support to their guys on the ground.

One helluva airplane, and proof that with enough power, a brick will fly! 🙂

Frito actually retired rather than converting to the F-14 or F-18, saying nothing would compare to the time he’d spent in the Phantom.

Book promos…

Posted on by October 31, 2019

My friends are doing better than I am at getting stuff out there…

First up, Monalisa Foster’s new book Ravages of Honor.

As always, click the cover for the link!

The blurb-

With one act of defiance Syteria holds the fate of many worlds in her hands. But she does not know it. A stranger in a strange land, she must survive, adapt, thrive.Only then can she free herself. Only then can her sacrifice and defiance bear fruit.A space opera about the price of honor, power, and freedom.

I was privileged to be a beta reader on this one, and it’s a great read. Twists and turns, intrigue, and great characters make it hard to put down!

Next is Wayne Whisnand, with another short story, Working on Terra

The blurb-

Tole travels back to Terra to handle a problem that threatens his home world. As is almost always the case for him, things are not always what they seem.

This is another one I did a read for. Interesting continuation of Tole’s ‘adventures’ with some very interesting plot twists! Good short story.

Happy Haunting!!!

Posted on by October 30, 2019

It’s HOWLOWEEN! May your bucket overflow!!!

Oh, and please come by… LOTS of candy to get rid of…

Otherwise, somebody will be taking all the excess in to work… 🙂

And the days mount up…

Posted on by October 30, 2019

PP texted me yesterday afternoon, now on day 4 with no power, and no sign of any coming back anytime soon. ‘Maybe’ next week, sometime…

One report has over 2million without power in northern California, and apparently the Kincaid fire was once again started by PG&E from a high power line that didn’t get shut off and was captured on wildlife cameras starting it…

HERE is another rather interesting article about the econazi/tree huggers protesting cutting of trees… Really folks???

And the joke(s) are starting…

The newest pickup line in California?  Psstt, I have power…

What did Californians use before candles? Electricity…

And maybe they should use this as the ‘new’ California flag…

But in all seriousness, say a prayer for those firefighters who are working 24 on 12 off on the fire lines. Those folks are putting their asses on the line for basically peanuts in salary, and one bad day for them can be their last.

Edit- Gotta add this from PP… And least a few folks still have a sense of humor out there…

I got nuttin…

Posted on by October 28, 2019

So you get humor…

CALLER: Is this Gordon’s Pizza?
GOOGLE: No sir, it’s Google Pizza.

CALLER: I must have dialed a wrong number. Sorry.
GOOGLE: No sir, Google bought Gordon’s Pizza last month.

CALLER: OK. I would like to order a pizza.
GOOGLE: Do you want your usual, sir?

CALLER: My usual? You know me?

GOOGLE: According to our caller ID data, the last 12 times you called you ordered an extra-large pizza with three cheeses, sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, and meatballs on a thick crust.

CALLER: OK! That’s what I want.

GOOGLE: May I suggest that this time you order a pizza with ricotta, arugula, sun-dried tomatoes, and olives on a whole wheat gluten free thin crust?

CALLER: What? I detest vegetables.

GOOGLE: Your cholesterol is not good, sir.

CALLER: How the hell do you know?
GOOGLE: Well, we cross-referenced your home phone number with your medical records. We have the result of your blood tests for the last 7 years.

CALLER: Okay, but I do not want your rotten vegetable pizza! I already take medication for my cholesterol.

GOOGLE: Excuse me sir, but you have not taken your medication regularly. According to our database, you only purchased a box of 30 cholesterol tablets once, at Drug
Rx Network, 4 months ago.

CALLER: I bought more from another pharmacy.
GOOGLE: That doesn’t show on your credit card statement.

CALLER: I paid in cash.
GOOGLE: But you did not withdraw enough cash according to your bank statement.

CALLER: I have other sources of cash.
GOOGLE: That doesn’t show on your last tax return unless you bought them using an undeclared income source, which is against the law.

CALLER: WHAT THE HELL?
GOOGLE: I’m sorry, sir, we use such information only with the sole intention of helping you.

CALLER: Enough already! I’m sick to death of Google, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and all the others. I’m going to an island without internet, cable TV, where there is no cell phone service, and no one to watch me, or spy on me.
GOOGLE: I understand sir, but you need to renew your passport first. It expired 6 weeks ago.

+++++++

“What did liberal Californians use to light their homes before candles?
Electric light bulbs!”

++++++++

 

Pilots Philosophy…

 

The difference between a duck and a co-pilot?
The duck can fly.

A check ride ought to be like a skirt.
Short enough to be interesting, but long enough to cover everything.

Speed is life.  Altitude is life insurance.

It only takes two things to fly:
Airspeed, and money.

The three most dangerous things in aviation:
A Doctor or Dentist in a Cessna.
Two captains in a DC-9.

Aircraft Identification:
If it’s ugly, it’s British.
If it’s weird, it’s French.
If it’s ugly and weird, it’s Russian.

Without ammunition, the USAF would be just another very expensive flying club.

What do air traffic controllers and pilots have in common?
If a pilot screws up, the pilot dies.
If ATC screws up, the pilot dies.

The difference between flight attendants and jet engines:
The engines usually quit whining when they get to the gate.

New FAA motto:
‘We’re not happy, till you’re not happy.’

If Air Traffic Control screws up, it’s called a “System Malfunction”, If a pilot screws up it’s called a “violation”.

If something hasn’t broken on your helicopter — it’s about to.

I give that landing a 9 . . On the Richter scale.

Basic Flying Rules: 
1. Try to stay in the middle of the air.
2. Do not go near the edges of it.
3. The edges of the air can be recognized by the appearance of ground, buildings, sea, trees and interstellar space. It is much more difficult to fly in the edges.

Unknown landing signal officer (LSO) to carrier pilot after his 6th unsuccessful landing attempt:
“You’ve got to land here son.  This is where the food is.”

The three best things in life are: 
A good landing, a good orgasm, and a good bowel movement.

A night carrier landing is one of the few opportunities to experience all three at the same time…