And it just KEEPS getting ‘better’…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
This one hit the news this morning, and was the subject of more than ‘one’ discussion…


A proposed new handbook for Americans serving in Afghanistan warns them not to speak ill about the Taliban, advocate women’s rights or criticize pedophilia, and the general in charge is not happy with it.

The draft of the newest Army handbook seems to suggest that ignorance of Afghan culture is to blame for deadly attacks by Afghan soldiers against the coalition forces, according to The Wall Street Journal, which got a peek at the 75-page document. But its message of walking on eggshells around the locals is not going over well with U.S. Marine Gen. John Allen, the top military commander in Afghanistan.

“Gen. Allen did not author, nor does he intend to provide, a foreword,” said Col. Tom Collins, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan. “He does not approve of its contents.”


Entire article HERE.  

This is actually getting WORSE than what we had in Vietnam and THAT set of ROEs was also the result of a democratic administration… 

They don’t care how many American military folks die, as long as you don’t piss off the ‘locals’….

And I’ll leave you with this…


Well, THAT was just special…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Walking over to the other office this morning, I’m watching cops chasing a guy down the middle of the street… No biggie, right?

Um… not so much, since it turns out he’s butt naked…

And apparently higher than a kite!

Tried to get into a few doors, and one of those had guards with guns! Apparently he was smart enough NOT to continue down that path…

Took six cops to finally subdue this turkey, in the middle of the street, in traffic no less…  

It’s THAT time of year… sigh.

Scrooged Again…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Yet again the military is suffering from PCism and social engineering and the Navy caved… sigh…


What’s missing?  A Bahrain tradition of the live nativity put on by the CHILDREN of the sailors…  That has been going on since C5F was stood up in 1995.


The “Live Nativity” was a long-standing tradition at NSA Bahrain that featured the children of military personnel dressed as shepherds, wise men, along with Mary and Joseph. It was part of a larger festival that included a tree lighting, Christmas music and photographs with Santa Claus and a camel.

But the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers objected to the Nativity and filed a complaint with the Navy’s Inspector General. They argued the Nativity promoted “Christianity as the official religion of the base.”

The atheist group also worried that the Nativity put service members in danger.

“Also of concern is the likelihood that the predominantly Muslim local population will see the U.S. military as a Christian force rather than a secular military support U.S. – but not necessarily Christian values in their Muslim country,” the MAAF wrote in their complaint. “This even threatens U.S. security and violates the Constitution as well as command policy.”

Entire article HERE.

So rather than take it through the ‘normal’ chain of command to the C5F Admiral, they jumped DIRECTLY to the Navy IG in Washington…  

Another article HERE, from a ‘different’ organization to the Air Force, using ‘different’ reasons; but the Air Force stood up to them and refused to move/dismantle the Nativity scene. So now this group is going to SUE the Air Force…

There IS a war going on in the military, and it’s against anyone who is religious, including Chaplains… So much for christian’s rights…

Update…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
FYI…

Frank James old blog Corn, Beans, Spent Brass and a Deadline got hacked, so if anyone still has that link dump it.

Frank is back with a new blog, but he’s not allowing comments nor planning on posting very much. His new blog is HERE.  

A little humor…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
This one is a four minute time waster, but he’s GOOD!!!



Sometimes we just need a laugh, you know???

Michigan Right to Work…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Michigan is the latest state to turn toward right-to-work legislation in an attempt to save the state…


Union members and supporters are gearing up for a massive protest Tuesday in Michigan’s capital in a last-ditch effort to stall the expected passage of “right-to-work” legislation, as they already make plans to challenge the proposal in court. 

The surprise move by Michigan Republicans this past Thursday to approve the anti-union bills touched off a firestorm in the home of the U.S. auto industry. Following high-profile fights over union privileges in Wisconsin and Indiana, Michigan in an instant became the latest battleground in that struggle. 

The state legislature returns to Lansing on Tuesday, when Republicans are planning to cast the final votes on the union package and send it to Gov. Rick Snyder’s desk. Snyder, a Republican, has said he would sign the bill, which prohibits unions from demanding dues from workers. 

If this happens, Michigan would become the 24th “right-to-work” state in the nation — and American unions would suffer a stinging defeat in the cradle of the labor movement. Union bosses made clear they won’t go down without a fight. 


The complete article is HERE.


Unions, as usual, have vowed to protest, stop work; yada, yada, yada…

But when I see stuff like THIS, I just cannot help but hope they are successful in passing the bills…


Chrysler said in a statement that it does not support the decision to bring back the workers but would like to move on.

“While the company does not agree with the ultimate decision of the arbitrator, we respect the grievance procedure process as outlined in the collective bargaining  agreement and our relationship with the (United Auto Workers union),” the company said, according to MyFoxDetroit. “Unfortunately, the company was put in a very difficult position because of the way the story was investigated and ultimately revealed to the public. 

Italics and bold mine, yeah it was unfortunate, because it couldn’t be swept under the rug…

These employees from Jefferson North have been off work for more than two years. The time has come to put this situation behind us and resume our focus on building quality products that will firmly establish Chrysler Group’s position in the marketplace.”

The employees work at the Jefferson North Assembly Plant, which builds Jeep Cherokees.


Yeah, go ahead and buy that Jeep built by guys that are drunk and or high…  I’m betting you’ll ‘really’ feel safe in that vehicle won’t you???

Range time and newbie shooters…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Spent a couple of hours going over safety, handling, aiming and different types of pistols with a couple of folks Friday night. He’d shot before but primarily rifles/shotguns.

About two months ago he wanted to go to the range and shoot a pistol, having not shot one in 15 or so years, so we walked through safety and went to the range. He decided he want to get a pistol for home defense, so we’ve been going back and forth and he’s been trying various pistols. He’d finally decided on a Walther PPQ, as he liked the fit/feel and felt he could shoot it accurately…

And now he wanted his girlfriend to be able to shoot it safely too…

Now she’s a little Japanese American lady, and she’d ONLY ever shot a .22 pistol “years” ago…

Hence the couple of hours of discussion prior to the range…

Got up WAY too early yesterday morning, picked out a few pistols to work with her on, had to dig out ammo, etc…

Got to the NRA range at 0800 and I was 12th in line. No biggie, since I knew they would have to take the range test and get a range brief. 

And I watched people coming OUT of the range… lots of kids toting rifle cases, WTF???

Come to find out the high school shooters had shot starting at 0500!!!  Heh, guess 0800 ain’t bad for us old farts 🙂

So got the folks in, got them through the range test and range brief, and timing worked about right. We only had to wait about 10 minutes for a lane.

Put the lady on the range with the .22/45 to start, and she did pretty well.  Her boyfriend stepped up and proved he DOES like that PPQ (5 yards 10 shots in about 2 inches).  Showed the lady how to load the mag for the .22 and she loaded the second one herself.  Put her back on the line and she did well again. Safe with the gun, group was a little big, but all on the paper.

Once she felt comfortable, I asked her if she wanted to try a 9mm, and she shot the G17 not quite as accurately, and had a bit of a problem with the trigger feel, but again not bad.  On the second mag, just flat bad luck, she had a spent case bounce off the divider, and get inside her high necked shirt.  She put the gun down safely BEFORE she shook the round out the bottom of her shirt!!! 

Not sure what she was calling me about that time, but when I asked her if she wanted to continue she finished the mag off.  Her boyfriend got back in and shot a couple of more mags through the PPQ again doing well. 

She had said Friday night she wanted to try a revolver, so I brought the Trooper MKIII along.  Now you’ve gotta picture this…

She’s about 5’2″, ‘maybe’ 110 lbs, standing on the line with a MKIII with a 6 inch barrel! She put all six in the black!!!

I had her load six more, and the she put all of them in the black too!

She finally decided to try the PPQ, and she was getting a bit tired, so she started dipping the muzzle anticipating the recoil.

One more mag on the .22/45 and she was back up on target, if low.

Called it a day at that point, and we went outside and ‘debriefed’ the day…

Turned out the gun she liked the best was the Trooper!!!  And she did acknowledge she was getting a bit tired, but just could not believe she was anticipating as badly as she was.

Good day all the way around, and her boyfriend called me yesterday evening, they want to go again, and are planning on joining the NRA next time we go!  And she wants to get a .22 and practice!!!

 

71 Years Ago Today…

Posted on by March 6, 2013


On 7 December 1941, in one of the defining moments in U.S. history, the Japanese attacked the U.S. Pacific Fleet, and nearby military airfields and installations, based at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and removed the U.S. Navy’s battleship force as a possible threat to the Japanese Empire’s southward expansion. The U.S. was now brought into World War II as a full combatant.

Naval Base Pearl Harbor was attacked by 353 Japanese fighters, bombers and torpedo planes in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers.  All eight U.S. Navy battleships were damaged, with four being sunk.

Two were raised, and with four repaired, six battleships returned to service later in the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship, and one minelayer.  188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed; 2,402 Americans were killed and 1,282 wounded.

Japanese losses were comparatively light. Twenty-nine planes, less than 10 percent of the attacking force, failed to return to their carriers.

The Japanese success was overwhelming, but it was not complete.  They failed to damage any American aircraft carriers, which by a stroke of luck, had been absent from the harbor. They neglected to damage the shoreside facilities at the Pearl Harbor Naval Base, which played an important role in the Allied victory in World War II.

American technological skill raised and repaired all but three of the ships sunk or damaged at Pearl Harbor. Most importantly, the shock and anger caused by the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor united a divided nation and was translated into a wholehearted commitment to victory in World War II.

– – – – This is part of the legacy we should work to uphold and honor every day as Americans, whether it’s PC or not, it’s reality…

And thanks to Bob, THIS story about a gent who survived Pearl Harbor and who’s spent his life trying to put names to the un-named dead from Pearl Harbor!

And for the aviation buffs, THIS link contains a lot of pictures from all services before/during WWII.  Wish I’d found this when I did the earlier post on aircraft in WWII.

RIP Lloyd B. Curtis, and Lyle C. Curtis. you will never be forgotten…