For a good cause…

Supporting young shooters…
Danno has a link to a raffle for a good cause.

A chance to win a Winchester SX3 Sporting shotgun for $10? And the proceeds go to help an organization that teaches kids how to shoot clays? There isn’t a downside here that I can see.

Going to the dogs…


The truly sad part about this is the dogs ARE better dancers than I am…


Sigh…

h/t JP

It’s done…

Well, by the time you read this, Sequestration is reality…

The Prez ‘claims’ he’s not a dictator, but he’s sure trying to act like one… 

He held ONE 52 minute meeting yesterday with leadership on sequestration, then spent 37 minutes in a press conference blaming the Pubs for the crisis…

And the dems are dancing in the streets, because they’ve gotten their wish and are gutting the military.  After all, the military/DOD doesn’t ‘pay’ for any votes for them…

And both the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds will be grounded.  

With $85 billion in automatic cuts to the military budget taking effect beginning Friday, millions of fans across the country will miss out on the precision flying by the Navy’s Blue Angels and the Air Force’s Thunderbirds, military officials said.


Blue Angels shows scheduled in more than two dozen cities between April and September are expected to be canceled as part of the cuts, said the team’s spokeswoman, Lt. Katie Kelly. Some shows featuring the Blue Angels already have been called off in the face of budget uncertainties.


The Thunderbirds entire 2013 season, beginning April 1, has been canceled, the Air Force said in a statement. The Air Force said that all aviation support for the public has been halted, including air shows, trade shows, flyovers and open houses.

Full Article HERE

DOD is NOT allowed to move $$ between accounts, so all the money comes out of Operations and Maintenance (O&M) which is day to day funding for the military.

And I friend of mine’s son just landed at Baghram last night to start his year of deployment…  Thoughts and prayers for him and all the others that are downrange and now being hung out to dry…

And from a source I trust, this is the priorty for the Army on bullets…

Prioritized within the funding.

1. OEF

2. Deployed/deploying units
3. Korea call forward
4. Homeland Defense
5. Rapid Deployers
 
All Joint Service Training ammunition support stops 1 March except as noted above.
 
So a VERY perishable skill will be stopped for the Army (and probably the Marines too)…
 
I hope you F**KERS in Washington are proud of yourselves… And I for one no longer have ANY confidence in Congress or Obama being willing to do what is right for or actually LEAD America.  I respect the office, but I DO NOT have to respect the individual sitting in the chair…

And as Tim points out HERE, DHS has $9B in their slush fund, so WHY is Napolitano BSing us with how bad it’s going to get at TSA/airports/Customs???

At this point, I hope they shut the whole damn mess down the end fo the month…

One of THOSE weeks…

Sometimes I wonder why I still do this crap for a living…

People keep expecting me to pull a rabbit out of the hat, but this week…

Well, so far…

Rhinoceros
Rhodesian Ridgeback
Rat
Reindeer- had to let him go, couldn’t get the antlers back in…
Right Whale
Rattlesnake x2

And STILL no damn rabbit…

I’m just gonna call this one a loss and pack it in.  

A New Doctor…

Not too far from the truth… And I’m wondering what will happen if I have to change doctors…

by C. M. Hunt, Jr., M.D.
 
My Medical Appointment
 
I visited a physician last week. It was a “new” doctor in the practice–a young lady (at MY age, EVERYBODY is “young”–when I was born, the Dead Sea wasn‘t even sick) who was quite enthusiastic. She was obviously a liberal by her dress and manner. I was thinking of hitting on her, but I don’t like the phrase, “You remind me of my grandfather.”
 
She asked me what was wrong, and I replied, “I have a cut on my leg; and I think it may be getting infected.”
She said, “Before we start, I have to ask you a few questions. Are you allergic to any medications?”
 
I replied, “No.”

She said, “Do you have any guns in the house?”

I said, “HUH??”

She replied, “Guns. Do you have any guns in the house?”

I asked, “Why?”

She said, “I’ve got to ask this question. It is required under the Affordable Care Act.”

I asked, “What are you going to do with the data?”
 
She said, “We compile it, amalgamate it, and submit it to the government.”

I said, “Well, I have a Tommy Gun. I let my kid Tommy play with it.”

She said, “What’s a Tommy Gun? I don‘t think that is the kind of gun they are concerned with.”

With THAT, I knew I had a live one. I said, “It’s similar to a B.A.R., but a little heavier and shorter. I have a B.A.R. also.”

She said, “A B.A.R.?”

I said, “Yes.”

She looked puzzled. Then she brightened up and asked, “Do you have any assault rifles?”

I attempted to look puzzled, and said, “I don’t know. What is an assault rifle?”

She said, “That’s a gun that is used in wars.”

I said, “As a matter of fact, I do. I have a replica of a Revolutionary War musket.”

She began to look a bit exasperated. I pretended not to notice and kept up the appearance of trying to be helpful.

She said, “Do you have anything more modern than that?”

I replied, “Well, yes I do. I have a replica muzzle loader from the Civil War. Do you know the difference between a musket and a muzzle loader?”

She rather peevishly said, “No, I don’t; and I don’t want to. What else do you have?”

I said, “I have an M-1.”

She asked, “What’s that?”

I said, “A rifle.”

She asked, “What kind?”
I replied, “It is called a Garand.”
She rather loudly said, “I don’t care if it is a grand rifle or not. Is it an assault rifle?”
To which I replied, “I don’t know. I don’t know what an assault rifle is. You say it’s a rifle used in war, yet you say that my musket and muzzle loader are not assault rifles.”

She calmed down (a bit) and asked, “Anything else?”

I said, “I have an MG-.30, and an MG-.50. I‘m also part owner of an Apache. But they are not rifles.”

She stated, “Well, then, I’m not interested in them. Anything else.”

I replied, “Well, yes. I also have a 12-gauge and a 20-gauge pump. They are not rifled though.”

She said, “I’m not interested in pumps; I’m interested in guns.”

I replied, “Well, then, I have a Colt, a Luger, a Glock, a bazooka, a Parabellum, a Kalishnikov, a Henry, a Uzi, a Llama, and a Beretta–but they are not rifles.”

She then said, “I’ve had enough of this. I think you’re toying with me. Let me see your leg.”

I then said, “Excuse me, but before you look at my leg, I have a few questions to ask of you.”

She replied, “Of course. What are they?”

I said, “I have given you a lot of information about my guns. I am somewhat concerned about your knowledge and ability to assimilate, make coherent sense of that information, and report it correctly. Do you know the difference between a .22 caliber and a .223 caliber? It’s a rather fundamental difference.”

She replied, “Actually, I don’t.”

I said, “I see. Let me ask some more relevant questions. “How much money do you make?”

She said, “That’s personal, why do you ask?”

I said, “Well, in pushing the Health Care Act, my president cautioned the population about doctors that would amputate a leg rather than treat a cut because they make more money that way. Consequently, I wish to know if you are financially troubled. What kind of car do you drive? What are your house payments? How much is your mortgage? How much credit card debt do you have? Do you have a student loan; if so, how much?”

She said, “I’m not going to answer those questions. You have no right to ask them.”

I then asked, “Do you have training and education in homeopathic techniques? Do you know the benefits/effects of CoQ10, ginseng, fish oil, Creatine, BCAA, and other such herbal treatments?” Do you know the difference between Panax ginseng, American ginseng, and Siberian ginseng?”

She replied, “Well, no.”

I then asked, ”Well, have you studied it at all?”

She replied rather defensively, “NO; it’s all a bunch of hogwash anyway.”

I said, “Oh, then you have read the research on it. What have you read?”

She then said, “I don’t waste my time reading such things. Why are you asking me these questions?”

I said, “Well, if I’m going to turn my body over to you for treatment, I believe it is reasonable for me to know something about your motivation, training, experience, and competence. Do you know anything about the practice of holistic medicine?”

She said, rather angrily “No, I don’t.”
I said, “Oh. O.K. How much experience do you have in practicing medicine?”

She replied, “Well, not very much.”

To which I said, “Well, we all have to start somewhere. What medical school did you go to; what is its rank in terms of other medical schools; where did you intern; and where did you do your residency? What is the rank of the hospital where you did your internship and residency?”

She rather peevishly said, “All my credentials are posted in the waiting room.”

To which I said, “Really? The rank of your medical school is posted in the waiting room? Do you have any experience with leg injuries? If so, how much?”

I guess that was too much for her. She rather crossly said, “I think it would be best if you saw a different doctor.” and started to leave the room.

I said, “You know, doctor. You asked me irrelevant questions about my guns, and I answered them. Whether or not I own guns is really none of your business and has absolutely nothing to do with any treatment you might prescribe. On the other hand, I ask you questions quite relevant to my situation, and you refuse to answer them. Isn’t that somewhat backwards?”

She said, “But I HAVE to ask those questions. It’s the law.”

To which I replied, “Actually, it is NOT the law. Here is what the law says–taken directly from the Affordable Care Act:”


‘‘(1) WELLNESS AND PREVENTION PROGRAMS.—A wellness and health promotion activity implemented under subsection (a)(1)(D) may not require the disclosure or collection of any information relating to—
‘‘(A) the presence or storage of a lawfully-possessed firearm or ammunition in the residence or on the property of an individual; or
‘‘(B) the lawful use, possession, or storage of a firearm or ammunition by an individual.
‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON DATA COLLECTION.—None of the authorities provided to the Secretary under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or an amendment made by that Act shall be construed to authorize or may be used for the collection of any information relating to—
‘‘(A) the lawful ownership or possession of a firearm or ammunition;
‘‘(B) the lawful use of a firearm or ammunition; or
‘‘(C) the lawful storage of a firearm or ammunition.
 
“As you can see, you have broken federal law TWICE–once by asking, and once by collecting data. It is perfectly legal for me to own guns; it is not legal for you to ask and/or collect such data. YOU are breaking the law, and yet YOU are the one that is angry. Not only that, but you erroneously stated that you must ask such questions, and you did it in a very authoritative and convincing manner. You gave me false information, which I then acted upon by answering your questions. On that basis, how can I be expected to trust your medical judgment? When I attempted to ascertain your medical competency, you became defensive and hostile.”

“There is really no need for me to
 see another doctor in this practice. I‘ll go somewhere else, where my privacy is respected, and I can trust the information I receive.”

h/t JP

20 years and changes…

So I’m in yet another interminable meeting, and we finally get a break; standing outside with a cup of coffee, and this old guy comes walking over.

He’s smiling (a good thing), and sticks out his hand.  He says in a very soft voice, “you don’t remember me, but I know you.”

I shake his hand and say, “honestly, no I don’t.”  

He tells me his name, and I just about fell over; he and I had worked together 20 years ago.  He used to be a big strapping guy, cheerful, full head of dark hair, and deep booming voice.

Now he weighs about 120 lbs, is bald, stooped and can’t speak above a whisper.  He tells me he’s survived colon cancer, two strokes, an heart attack during Chemo and a stint in the last five years.  

I asked him what in the hell he was doing in the meeting after all that, and he said working was the only thing that kept him going.  

The fact that he’s a damn good engineer, so his bosses hung on through all the issues, and kept him on the payroll didn’t hurt either…

After all he’s been through, he needs to go buy a lottery ticket…

And thankfully all this went down BEFORE Obamacare kicked in, otherwise he probably wouldn’t be here…

And I just found out yet another old friend died two weeks ago of cancer…

Flyin and lyin…

Pilots….

In air combat there isn’t anything called cheating…The stakes are too high….

This story is attributed to former CNO ADM Jim Holloway, USN retired.

One thing about Air Force pilots is that they lie a lot. You simply can’t trust them at all.

We had an argument one night at the Belvedore Inn, across from the main gate at NAS Pax River.  A bunch of our F-14 Tomcat pilots at Strike were arguing with some F-15 Eagle drivers from Langley about who was better at what and which airplane was better.

Well, we decided to settle it the next morning in the restricted area over the Chesapeake Bay. This is where we found out how much Air Force pilots lie!!

We all agreed to meet nose on at 35,000 and settle it once and for all.


Don’t you know those lying, sneaky bastards showed up at 40,000.

God, what a bunch of lying low-lifes those Air Force types were, showing up with a 5,000-foot altitude advantage.

Hell, if we hadn’t been at 45,000, those lying Air Force dirtbags would have had us for breakfast!”

An interesting question…

This one came in from the mil-email network, and it IS an interesting question that the lady poses…

One thing wrong with the Government’s calculation of available social security is they forgot to figure in the people who died before they ever collected a social security check!!!

WHERE DID THAT MONEY GO???

Remember, not only did you and I contribute to Social Security but your employer did, too. It totaled 15% of your income before taxes. If you averaged only $30K over your working life, that’s close to $220,500.

Read that again.

Did you see where the Government paid in one single penny? We are talking about the money you and your employer put in a Government bank to insure you and I that we would have a retirement check from the money we put in, not the Government.

Now they are calling the money we put in an entitlement when we reach the age to take it back. If you calculate the future invested value of $4,500 per year (yours & your employer’s contribution) at a simple 5% interest (less than what the govt. pays on the money that it borrows), after 49 years of working you’d have $892,919.98.

If you took out only 3% per year, you’d receive $26,787.60 per year and it would last better than 30 years (until you’re 95 if you retire at age 65) and that’s with no interest paid on that final amount on deposit! If you bought an annuity and it paid 4% per year, you’d have a lifetime income of $2,976.40 per month.
Another thing with me…. I have two deceased husbands who died in their 50’s, (one was 51 and the other one was 59 before one percent of their social security could be drawn. I worked all my life and am drawing 100% on my own social security). Their S.S. money will never have one cent drawn from what they paid into S.S all their lives.
THE FOLKS IN WASHINGTON HAVE PULLED OFF A BIGGER PONZI SCHEME THAN BERNIE MADOFF EVER DID.
Entitlement my foot, I paid cash for my social security insurance! Just because they borrowed the money for other government spending, doesn’t make my benefits some kind of charity or
handout!!
Remember Congressional benefits? — free healthcare, outrageous retirement packages, 67 paid holidays, three weeks paid vacation, unlimited paid sick days. Now that’s welfare, and they have the nerve to call my social security retirement payments entitlements?
We’re “broke” and we can’t help our own Seniors, Veterans, Orphans, or Homeless. Yet in the last few months we have provided aid to Haiti, Chile and Turkey. And now Pakistan……home of bin Laden. Literally, BILLIONS of DOLLARS!!!
Our retired seniors living on a ‘fixed S.S. income’ receive no additional federal aid nor do they get any financial breaks, while our government and religious organizations pour hundreds of
billions of $$$ and tons of food to foreign countries!
They call Social Security and Medicare an entitlement even though most of us have been paying for it all our working lives, and now, when it’s time for us to collect, the government is running out of money. Why did the government borrow from it in the first place? It was supposed to be in a locked box, not part of the general fund.
Sad isn’t it? And where DID the money go???

Edit- “Supposedly” those dead who never drew anything are taken into account actuarially… And we are suffering from the ‘bow-wave’ who never put a penny in but started drawing immediately when the program was started… Supposedly…

I hate to do it…

Apparently my postings about Sequestration have tripped off a spam attack, I’m getting up to 100-200 spam hits a day all of a sudden…

So I’m going to have to go back to verification. I truly apologize, and I hate to do it, but I can’t keep up with the BS comments…