USS Constitution!!!

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Underway on sail power!!! 🙂

And of course I can’t find any damn pictures… sigh…  HERE is the only article I can find that shows it is from ENGLAND!!!

The U.S. Navy’s oldest commissioned warship sailed under its own power for just the second time in more than a century to commemorate the battle that won it the nickname “Old Ironsides.”
The USS Constitution, which was first launched in 1797, was tugged from its berth in Boston Harbor on Sunday to the main deepwater pathway into the harbor.

CDR Matt Bonner, CO #72, the crew, and 150 additional Navy personnel raised four sails,  and set out to open seas for a 17-minute cruise. They also fired a cannon in celebration of the win!

The sail honors the day two centuries ago when the USS Constitution bested the British frigate HMS Guerriere in the War of 1812; and is the first time the Constitution has been to sea on its own since its 200th birthday in 1997.

WTFO???

Posted on by March 6, 2013
A couple of different folks sent me this one in email…

I really don’t even know what to say on this one…  Just not a clue…

Milwaukee gun range voluntarily reporting customers to the local police

Story by Daivd LaPell.

Recently it came to my attention that there is a gun shop and gun range that has been reporting its users to the local police. These are not criminals, but law-abiding citizens. At first I could not imagine why someone would do this, but after doing some digging it became a little clearer.

First let’s get a little background on the gun range itself, Brew City Shooters Supply, which was previously known as Badger Guns and before that Badger Outdoors. Last year, these guys were considered top sellers of guns used in crimes by the West Milwaukee Police according to an article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The original owner of the store, Adam Allan had his FFL revoked by the BATFE and the store closed on Dec. 31, 2011.

…

Since 2009 under the last owner there have been roughly 25,000 names submitted to the West Milwaukee Police Department from Brew City Shooters Supply and previously Badger Guns. These names were submitted voluntarily by Brew City and as far as I can tell, without the knowledge of the users of the range. This year alone more than 8,000 names have been run and 47 of those have been flagged as requiring further investigation according to West Milwaukee Police Chief Dennis Nasci.



You can read the whole article HERE.

Would you ever darken their doorstep again???  I know I sure as hell wouldn’t…

Your thoughts?

h/t JP and Joe and Mikey

Dazed and Confused in Kalifornia…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Have you ever wondered why folks in California appear so confused?  Consider this: 

Chief Heather Fong (left) is the first SFPD female lesbian Chief of Police.
Theresa Sparks (center), a former male, is president of the San Francisco Police Commission, CEO of a multimillion-dollar sex toy retailer and a transgender woman.
Sgt. Stephan Thorne (right), a former female, is the first transgender male SFPD police officer.
Their Representative in Congress is Nancy Pelosi and Obama is their go-to man.
ANY QUESTIONS?  Didn’t think so…

And the whole birth control thing???  I think this one pretty much says it all…

Breaking News…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
The Pity Train has just derailed at the intersection of Suck It Up and Move On, and crashed into We All Have Problems, before coming to a complete stop at Get the Hell Over It! 

Any complaints about how we operate can be forwarded to 1 800 Waa-waah. 

This live report courtesy of Quitchur Bitchin’ WQRB!

I’m truly getting sick and tired of the BS I’m hearing day in and day out…

You ARE responsible for your actions, regardless of what you’ve been told; and excuses DO NOT get it done!!!

I really don’t give a shit if your ‘feelings’ get hurt either… 

News to me…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Another one from the Mil-email list…


HERE ARE LISTED, IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER, ALL THE DEVELOPED NATIONS OF THE WORLD THAT OFFER BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP TO THE BABIES OF TOURISTS AND ILLEGAL ALIENS:

1. United States of America

That’s right, every other modern developed nation in the world has gotten rid of birthright citizenship policies! Yet, during the last few months most of the U.S. news media and many politicians have ridiculed comments by other politicians that it is time for the U.S. to put an end to birthright citizenship for tourists and illegal aliens.

Folks, the U.S. stands alone.
There used to be all kinds of developed countries that gave away their citizenship as freely as we do in the U.S. But one by one, they all have recognized the folly of that policy.
SOME MODERN COUNTRIES THAT RECENTLY ENDED THEIR BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP POLICY:

* Canada was the last non-U.S …. holdout. Illegal aliens stopped getting citizenship for their babies in 2009

* Australia’s birthright citizenship requirements are much more stringent than those of H.R. 1868 and took effect in 2007

* New Zealand repealed in 2006

* Ireland repealed in 2005

* France repealed in 1993

* India repealed in 1987

* United Kingdom repealed in 1983

* Portugal repealed in 1981

The United States is now the laughing stock of the modern world.


Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas is a good example, 70% yes SEVEN ZERO percent of the babies born there in 2006 were to illegals… And WE paid for it! Link HERE!

Only the U.S. values its citizenship so lowly as to distribute it promiscuously to the off-spring of foreign citizens visiting Disney World on tourist visas and to foreign citizens who have violated their promises on their visitor, work and student visas to stay illegally in the country, as well as to those who just plain sneak across our borders.

It’s not just Mexico and South America who are sending illegals across our borders. Currently, the CBP reports that of those apprehended illegally crossing the border, China is number one.

We are giving away our culture, and economic and fiscal strength because our borders are not secure and we bestow citizenship irresponsibly. And the latest is the “Dream Act”, another vote buying scheme, and don’t forget about the ads in Spanish being aired in Mexico promising EBTs and welfare to illegals who come to the US…

A Funny…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
French women ‘exercising’…



Now if they tried that here, they would need MUCH larger machines… Just sayin…

h/t JP

OPSEC…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
As some of y’all know, I’ve been bitching about this for quite a while…  With the 24 hour news cycle, media are ‘desperate’ for the next scoop, the next ‘big’ story, etc. And their management don’t give a shit about military security, OR the people leaks can kill…

This video, while long at 22 minutes, lays out in plain language what the real impact of these ‘leaks’ are.  It’ NOT an academic exercise, this is about REAL PEOPLE, and real lives, and potential for your son/daughter/father/mother to end up dead!!!


OPSEC is NOT a game, nor should it be a pawn in a re-election campaign…

You can read the entire article HERE on it, with of course, the push back from the administration.  

Watch this for what it says, and listen to these folks who’ve been there/done that.  They are talking about their friends, family, and bigger family of the Special Operations/Intel world.  There is a reason there are ONLY stars and not names on the wall at CIA headquarters… They understand that leaks compromise not only people but ongoing intelligence operations that may be critical to keeping our folks alive.

Wounded Warrior Blogshoot…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Okay, we’re gonna try this again…  MSgt B, A Girl, and the rest of y’all that are local to NOVA, MD come on out!

Murphy has once again agreed to host it, and we want to make this happen AND contribute $$ to Wounded Warriors!  Details at Murphy’s Blog HERE!  

Following on last year’s shoot and all-around fun day, there will be another blogshoot here in the VA/WV/MD area to raise money for Wounded Warriors. 
So mark your calendars for Saturday, September 22nd, and be prepared to show up here with as many guns as you’d like to bring and let’s spend a few hours on the range, followed by dinner nearby. It will be at a different range than last year’s event and this one is better-located and has more range space and fewer restrictions on shooting so long as everyone’s safe. 

For more info and range location, leave me a comment with your contact info or e-mail me at: [email protected]

Bad Leadership OR…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Everyone in the media has been hammering the Navy on the number of Commanding Officers being relieved over the last couple of years as evidenced by this statement:

The U.S. Navy has an integrity problem in the ranks of its commanding officers (COs). Consider these headlines: “Cruiser CO Relieved for ‘Cruelty.’” “CO Fired, Charged with Solicitation.” “CO of Attack Sub Fired for ‘Drunkenness.’” These are just a few cases in a recent deluge of early reliefs of “skippers.” In 2010, twenty-three Navy COs were relieved of command and “detached for cause,” an enormous increase over previous years. The trend continues: twentyone commanding officers were fired in 2011 as of the end of October. Even more worrisome is the fact that a large and increasing percentage of those dismissals are due to personal misconduct, such as sexual harassment, drunkenness, and fraternization. Although (as far as we can tell) over 97 percent of the Navy’s commanding officers conduct themselves honorably, the increasing number of those who do not raises concerns that the Navy must address. Alarms should be sounding at the highest levels of Navy leadership, but a review of recent literature reveals only a trickle of discussion on the subject of personal misconduct by military commanders. Instead of calling the service to action, a Navy spokesman said in January 2011 that there was “no indication that the reliefs are the result of any systemic problem.”

CAPT Mark Light, Aviator and Naval War College Instructor, wrote this article of the Naval War College Review (HERE).  

Now when you look at the ‘raw’ numbers, 23 and 21 are NOT good, but as a percentage (3%) that means 97% ARE doing a good job. 

I can’t help but wonder what that percentage is in the business world???  50% of time away from home, pretty much absolute power, very ‘limited’ accountability, etc…

I would posit that the Navy is doing pretty dang good to have that low a rate, and it’s pretty transparent in the way these are being handled in that not a single one has been overturned.  It is a fact of life that you cannot “catch” all the bad apples, regardless of what you do.  And to see these small numbers, year after year, is pretty damn good; considering how much the ‘rules’ have tightened since the Vietnam era, I’m actually impressed!

And it’s not just men either.  CAPT Holly Graf was relieved as CO of USS Cowpens (article HERE), and this was her second CO tour!

And HERE’s the latest CO relief… Sometimes you just have to ‘wonder’ at how these folks think they can get away with stuff like this!!!

Bottom line, I think the Navy continues to do the right thing, even if it is pure hell on the ship, boat or squadron until the offender does get relieved.  I saw real good COs, and real bad COs during my career, and the less impressive ones usually did not promote, or ever get another command.

Twisted Proverbs…

Posted on by March 6, 2013

Heard this one today at lunch…

Original Chinese Proverb:


Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day.
Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.

2012 White House Revision, ah la the Chicago way:


Give a man a welfare check, a free cell phone with
unlimited free minutes, cash for his clunker, food
stamps, section 8 housing, free contraceptives,
Medicaid, ninety-nine weeks of unemployment, free
medicine, and he will vote for Democrats the rest of
his life; even after he’s deceased…


Sigh…  Is it November YET???

Fable of the Porcupine

It was the coldest winter ever.  Many animals died because of the cold.

The porcupines, realizing the situation, decided to group together to keep warm. This way they covered and protected themselves; but the quills of each one wounded their closest companions.

After awhile, they decided to distance themselves one from the other and they began to die, alone and frozen. So they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the Earth.

Wisely, they decided to go back to being together. They learned to live with the little wounds caused by the close Relationship with their companions in order to receive the heat that came from the others. This way they were able to survive.

The best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect people, but when each individual learns to live with the imperfections of others and can admire the other person’s good qualities.

The moral of the story is: 

Just learn to live with the Pricks in your life!