Hard Day at the ‘Office’…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Today was ‘one’ of those days…  Had to go play ‘nice’, so we ended up playing in a golf tourney today.  It was hot, I was in the woods, the sand, the water, and damn near every where else…LOL  Playing best ball tourneys give a whole new meaning to hit everything you’ve got! 🙂

We came in with a 61 on a par 72 (11 under), and I think we finished 10th out of 18 foursomes!!! The winner was a score of 54 (18 under), and 2nd and 3rd place tied at 55 (17 under).

It’s not fair when the bring in the young, limber ringers!  Two on the winning team had played college golf, and were both scratch golfers; and they just killed the rest of us…LOL

We made nice though, got to see some old friends, got some decent food, and more free golf balls than I don’t use! The nicest thing was a bottle opener! 🙂 

This was designed by one of the engineering interns out of scrap from production…

And I know I’m gonna hear all the jokes about little balls,  but what the heck, a day on the golf course ‘working’ sure beats the hell out of a day in the office… 🙂

It’s Academic…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Lately there have been a number of articles, commentaries, and speeches about women going into combat.  On the left (the major pushers for this), they continue to use the military as an ongoing social experiment. 


I’m old enough to remember the whole Women In the Navy (WIN) thing, and the BS surrounding that (all run by PHDs). They even refused to have female admin types, making the Navy order in all male admin types to ‘assist’…


And I’ve seen the bodies this crap has caused…  


One of my co-workers came in crowing about this again this morning, and how ‘happy’ she was about the equality!  However, when I pointed out THIS article, and this set of data (below), she was NOT happy!



About a dozen nations — including Israel, Norway, Canada and Germany — allow women in combat roles.


Of note- ONLY Israeli women have actually seen significant combat, and that was on their own soil…


Sporadic studies about the effects of training and war on women have been conducted.


In the 1990s, the British army, under political pressure to put women in traditional male jobs, adopted a “gender-free” policy with identical fitness requirements for both sexes and abandoned its “gender fair” system of separate standards.


A decade later, Dr. Ian Gemmel conducted a study for the British army’s personnel center. He found that the number of women who could qualify for basic training decreased in the “gender-free” system, as more women dropped out of training because of injury, compared with the “gender fair” system of separate fitness requirements.


“This study confirms and quantifies the excess risk for women when they undertake the same arduous training as male recruits,” Dr. Gemmel reported.


In a second study, the British Defense Ministry conducted an extensive two-year assessment of women and their ability to perform routine ground combat tasks, such as lifting and carrying gear over certain distances.


Its May 2002 findings, in a report titled “Women in the Armed Forces,” were not encouraging for advocates of women in combat.


The study concluded that only 0.1 percent of female applicants and 1 percent of trained female soldiers “would reach the required standards to meet the demands of these roles.”

“The military viewpoint was that under the conditions of a high intensity close-quarter battle, group cohesion becomes of much greater significance to team performance and, in such an environment, the consequences of failure can have far-reaching and grave consequences,” the report stated. “To admit women would, therefore, involve a risk with no gains in terms of combat effectiveness to offset it.”


In 2010, the British government reviewed its policies and opted to retain the ban on women in combat.


That year, a group of U.S. Army physicians studied one brigade combat team deployed to Iraq in 2007.


Their study, published in the journal Military Medicine, examined the number of soldiers who sustained a disease or noncombat injury. Of 4,122 soldiers (325 women in support roles), 1,324 had a disease or injury that forced them to miss time or be evacuated.


“Females, compared with males, had a significantly increased incident-rate ratio for becoming a [disease or noncombat] casualty,” the doctors found.


Of 47 female soldiers evacuated from the brigade, 35 — or 74 percent — were for “pregnancy-related issues.” Women had more than triple the evacuation rate of men.


“I infer from this that women are twice as likely to suffer non-battle injuries in current specialties,” William Gregor, a professor of social sciences at the Army’s Command and Staff College, told The Times. “They will probably have a greater injury rate in heavy physical occupational specialties and the combat arms. The British experience with gender-free or neutral training standards suggests the injury rate will dramatically increase.”

UPDATE- Thanks to Tim for THIS article by a serving USMC female Captain!

Of course her ‘excuse’ was, “Well, the General says without being able to go into combat women can’t succeed.”  To which I said sounds like the General did pretty well for herself…


Then I got the diatribe about how it wasn’t FAIR, and women ‘deserved’ the chance to go into combat.  When I asked her if she’d go, I got the too old, family, etc (and she’s WAY overweight), so I turned it on her; and said what about your daughter, why don’t you tell HER to volunteer today (her daughter is 18), AND volunteer for combat?  She should be able to pass the physical requirements, her being a cheerleader and Lacrosse player on scholarship, she should be willing to forgo that scholarship to serve the country!


She stuttered, spit, turned white and refused to answer my question…


THAT is when I realized as far as the female left is concerned, it’s all academic, BECAUSE THEY KNOW “THEY” WON’T HAVE TO GO!!!


They don’t give a shit about the women that actually DO go in the military, and ‘know’ they and their precious little ones will be safe…


Sigh…


As far as I’m concerned, if they want this crap, then re-institute the draft, put ALL kids between 18-22 in the military and train em ALL for combat.  No excuses, no waivers, no outs; if that happened a lot of this social experimentation would stop!!! 


Of course I know I’ll be called a male chauvinist pig, but I’m tired of  them playing games with the lives of our troops (Male AND Female), just so they can make us more PC… 

A little help…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Snigs has this up on her blog-

If you have a spare dollar or two, please consider making a donation to CJ’s Warriors.
CJ is a child with leukemia…a really sweet kid who has been one helluva trooper throughout his treatments.
I went to school with his Dad and they’re good folks.
I’ve signed up to walk, as have my kids. So my family is trying to raise at least $300 in contributions. If you get to the site & don’t know my name or my kids’ names, shoot me a message & I’ll hook you up.
I don’t ask for much, but this could mean a real difference in a child’s life.
Thanks. :)

If you can spare a buck or two, I’m sure she’d appreciate the donation and knowing it’s going to a good cause is even better!

2+2+2+…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Sigh… It just keeps coming and coming…

Ammo Ban Bill-

The proposal, crafted by Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg and Democratic Representative Carolyn McCarthy, aims to restrict the ability of Americans to buy unlimited quantities of ammunition over the Internet, or by mail order, anonymously.
…
The new legislation, dubbed the Stop Online Ammunition Sales Act, rests on four pillars, according to Lautenberg’s office:

It requires anyone selling ammunition to be a licensed dealer.

It requires ammunition buyers who are not licensed dealers to present photo identification at the time of purchase, effectively banning the online or mail order purchase of ammo by regular civilians.

It requires licensed ammunition dealers to maintain records of the sale of ammunition.

It requires licensed ammunition dealers to report the sale of more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition to an unlicensed person within any five consecutive business days.

Full article HERE

And another one…

As the brief explains, “the objective of this effort is to procure riot gear to prepare for the 2012 Democratic and Republican National Conventions, the 2013 Presidential Inauguration and other future similar activities.”

Specifically, DHS is looking to obtain:
– “147 riot helmets” with “adjustable tactical face shield with liquid seal”
– “147 sets of upper body and shoulder protection”
– “152 sets of thigh and groin protection”
– “147 hard-shell shin guards” with “substantial protection from flying debris, non-ballistic weapons, and blows to the leg” and “optimized protective design for severe riot control or tactical situations.”
– “156 forearm protectors”
– “147 pairs of tactical gloves”

The urgency of the order can be explained by the fact that there is a growing anticipation that many demonstrators will travel to the Republican National Convention (RNC), scheduled for August 27-30 in Tampa Bay, Florida, and Democratic National Convention (DNC), planned for September 3-6 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Another recent DHS move to gear up was back in March of this year, when it gave the defense contractor ATK a deal to provide the DHS with 450 million .40 caliber hollow-point ammunition over a five year period.

On top of that, the DHS has recently purchased a number of bullet-proof checkpoint booths and hired hundreds of new security guards to protect government buildings.

Full article HERE, actual solicitation HERE; and the Marines are standing up 500 man ‘police’ MP Battalions at Pendleton…

On a much more positive note-
The Confederate Air Force B-17 and B-25 over Saguaro Lake Arizona. Stunning pieces of history, and beautifully filmed in HD.




And if you have 15 minutes to kill, Apache’s working over Taliban in Afghanistan… NOT PC!

They just refuse to give up…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
There are truly times I’m ‘glad’ when I can skip a news day…  Otherwise I’d need another case or two of duct tape…

The usual suspects are up to the usual shenanigans inside the beltway, and I get back to THIS…

Democratic senators offer gun control amendment for cybersecurity bill
By Ramsey Cox – 07/26/12 07:29 PM ET

Democratic senators have offered an amendment to the cybersecurity bill that would limit the purchase of high capacity gun magazines for some consumers.
Shortly after the Cybersecurity Act gained Senate approval to proceed to filing proposed amendments and a vote next week, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), a sponsor of the gun control amendment, came to the floor to defend the idea of implementing some “reasonable” gun control measures.

The amendment was sponsored by Democratic Sens. Frank Lautenberg (N.J.), Barbara Boxer (Calif.), Jack Reed (R.I.), Bob Menendez (N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Schumer and Dianne Feinstein (Calif.). S.A. 2575 would make it illegal to transfer or possess large capacity feeding devices such as gun magazines, belts, feed stripes and drums of more than 10 rounds of ammunition with the exception of .22 caliber rim fire ammunition. 

The amendment is identical to a separate bill sponsored by Lautenberg. Feinstein was the sponsor of the assault weapons ban, which expired in 2004. 


The proposed amendment would only affect sales and transfers after the law took effect.


Uh huh, SURE it will…  


Schumer defended the Brady law and assault weapons ban on the floor Thursday evening, perhaps in preparation for the coming fight with Republicans and gun rights activists.

Schumer suggested that both the left and right find common ground.
“Maybe we could come together on guns if each side gave some,” Schumer said. 



Chuck You’s idea of common ground is for US to give up everything and they get their way…


He suggested that Democrats make it clear that their goal is not to repeal the Second Amendment.



YEAH, RIGHT…


“The basic complaint is that the Chuck Schumers of the world want to take away your guns,” Schumer said of the argument made by gun lobbies. “I think it would be smart for those of us who want rational gun control to make it know that that’s not true at all.”

Schumer also pointed out that it would be reasonable for the right to recognize that background checks on those buying guns is necessary — as called for in the Brady law. He also said average Americans don’t need an assault weapon to go hunting or protect themselves.


Um… We ALREADY have that… And criminals DON’T do background checks…


“We can debate where to draw the line of reasonableness, but we might be able to come to an agreement in the middle,” Schumer said. “Maybe, maybe, maybe we can pass some laws that might, might, might stop some of the unnecessary casualties … maybe there’s a way we can some together and try to break through the log jam and make sure the country is a better place.”


It would be a MUCH better place if we had CCW everywhere!!! Then ALL the criminals would have to think twice…


Next week the Senate is expected to debate and vote on proposed amendments to the cybersecurity bill.


Make sure you let YOUR Senators know what you believe, and what you expect of them!!!

YGTBSM (Again)…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Kinda says it all…



I don’t EVEN want to say what I’m thinking right now…


Sigh…

Back in battery…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
I’m down to the last two cells, but I’m back…LOL


Thanks much to the Nerds, Spear, Farm Girl, and Indy for the hosting and the fun!


But I have to say those 0-dark-30 get ups get old… Luckily, I was basically able to stay on right coast time, so the flights weren’t bad, BUT I was nodding off at 2000 left coast time every night!


SO anyhoo…


The trivia question was this-



And the answer was the M-29 Davy Crockett! NOT something I’d have wanted to be shooting… Just sayin…

And a couple of other rather interesting things observed…


The scariest words in the military lexicon are “Broken Arrow”, which is a nuclear incident.  These pics are the ‘shells’ from two of the real Broken Arrows that have occurred…


And last but not least, one of ‘technical’ interest!

The white object in the background is a complete MIRV, and the foreground is a fired MIRV that was recovered after a test firing.  Of note is the amount of ablation that occurs on re-entry!


These pics were taken at the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History in Albuquerque, NM.


Now off to catch up on my reading…

Arms Treaty Dead (for now)…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Finally!  Looks like the US contingent did it in!


UN Arms Treaty Dead

By James S. Robbins – The Washington Times
July 27, 2012, 06:53PM

Talks over the UN Arms Trade Treaty fell apart today, effectively killing the agreement. The Arms Trade Treaty Legal Blog reports that the process seemed to be moving to completion when the United States requested an extension to the time to negotiate the agreement. This opened the door to other countries to begin registering objections, and it soon became clear that reaching agreement within the allowed timeframe would be impossible. The proposed treaty, which raised considerable domestic opposition from gun rights advocates in the United States, died before it had a chance to become a threat. As a delegate from China observed, “C’est la vie et la vie c’est ça.”

The UN may take up the matter at a later date, but for now it is on indefinite hiatus. 

Out Playing…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Light blogging today/tomorrow-  Out playing with ‘things’…


A trivia question until I get back…


What’s this???





Answer when I get back in comms!

On the Road (Again)…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
PMS x 2- 


It was one of THOSE mornings at IAD, trying to get through security.  TSA was on a roll (breaking the porn scanner), and backing up the line, added to multiple bag checks, and the line was full and three rows deep in the pre-check area.  They kept holding off trying to fix the porn scanner, but finally ‘had’ to start letting folks through when the line was about 15 people and the bags were backed up on the back side of security.  


About that time, they needed a male ‘assist’, so a female came stomping over and took over the line at the detector.  It was obvious she was ‘not’ in a good mood, and was being a PITA, making people wait, etc.


A lady was next in line, in a chair due to a leg operation (and TOLD the woman she had a pin in her leg)and had the paperwork. She shuffled through the scanner, and sure enough set it off…


And was told to step back and go through again, and set it off again… And the woman starts yelling for a female ‘assist’, but keeps the lady standing there.  The lady steps BACK through and tells the woman to go ahead and let folks go while she waited, but NO, YOU GET BACK HERE was the statement.  Now she’s got the woman standing there for probably 3-4 minutes, and the lady is asking for a chair to sit in and getting a ‘bit’ irate, but NO, YOU JUST STAND THERE.


By now the bags are backed up again, and I counted 22 people in line, and these two women are glaring at each other.  Thankfully a supervisor showed up, and he pulled the woman off line, let the woman with the leg problem sit down, and started running us through.  Total time 32 minutes… sigh…


And I barely made the flight, but I made it!


So I get to the left coast, knock out a couple of meetings, and had pre-arranged a visit to Creedmoor Sportshttp://www.creedmoorsports.com/shop/home.php (BAD Mistake)…  


I was like a kid in a candy (VERY EXPENSIVE CANDY) store.  They are truly nice folks, as nice in person as they are on line; I picked up the one thing I needed, drooled over the ‘real’ shooting jackets, and other nice toys, picked up something I didn’t ‘really’ need, and only spent twice what I planned… But I figure I got out cheap! It would be really easy to drop a couple of thousand dollars in that place!