Implicit Associations Test…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
If you’re truly bored…  The Implicit Associations Test (there are a number of them), are done by Harvard. Link HERE


I took the weapons one just for S&Gs during lunch and here were my results…


I believe my results are a function of a career in the military, exposing me to a variety of cultures both here and abroad; and handling weapons my whole life.  It IS interesting to see what some folks said though, and I cannot help but wonder if the skew is a result of WHO is taking the test… Just sayin…

Your Result

Your data suggest little or no association between White American and Black American with Harmless Objects and Weapons.

Thank you for your participation. Just below is a breakdown of the scores generated by others. Most respondents find it easier to associate White American with Harmless Object and Black American with Weapon compared to the reverse.
Race-Weapons score distribution

Reaping the Lost…

Posted on by March 6, 2013

MQ-9 Reaper

The 29th Attack Squadron Airmen at Holloman AFB, NM used an MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft launched from there to help locate missing kayakers in the Gila National Forest near the base. This was the first time that an Reaper was allowed to operate outside of Holloman’s FAA-approved airspace to assist in a search-and-rescue mission,  according to Holloman officials.
“To be able to fly in the national airspace, there is a lot of coordination that has to take place to allow this to happen,” said Maj. Dustin Pittman, assistant operations director of the base’s 29th Attack Squadron, a flying training unit that operates Reapers. “This is a big step forward to . . . extend ourselves outside our normal flying ranges,” he stressed.
Air Combat Command received the call for assistance on the search and “as soon as the approval came, the 29th Attack Squadron had plans ready and people in route,” added Pittman. The Reaper provided overhead imagery of a riverbed, aiding authorities in locating the two missing sportsmen on April 2.
They done good 🙂  And I’m pretty sure it was NOT loaded out like the one in the picture…
Once again, the military stepped up to the plate and assisted in saving lives, and where is the coverage in the MSM???
…crickets…
Sigh

Playing games…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Once again, the administration is playing ‘games’ with our military retirement…

The INTENDED consequences were that I and all other retired and active duty military personnel in all branches of military service would be taxed on thirteen months of pay (the thirteenth month was the January 02, 2012 pay that was received on December 31, 2011 and accounted as 2011 pay).
Count the days.
This increased my taxable income enough that part of my Social Security became taxable.
Wait!….What?
In case you did not know, Social Security IS taxable. Now you know about another democrat party lie.
To continue: this shifting of income from 2012 to 2011 put me in higher tax brackets. It also made part of my Social Security taxable which bumped me into yet another higher tax bracket.
The end result was an additional $251.00 in income taxes. This was effectively a reduction in pay of $251.00 for that “thirteenth month”.
That may not sound like much, but it is more than one month’s basic utilities (gas, water, and electric) for me.
How would you feel about that?

I have to admit I ‘missed’ this one, but Al’s point is VERY valid… $251 times how many retirees?  That equals BIG $$…


Once again borne by the military!


You can read the whole post HERE…


Sigh… It just keeps getting better and better… NOT!


h/t Al

Time sink warning…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
These are absolutely hilarious…  And you WILL waste a bunch of time going back through their archives… 🙂

Their link is HERE
h/t JP

Bubba Wins!!!

Posted on by March 6, 2013
I’m a pretty lousy golfer, but I ‘do’ enjoy watching good golf, and this afternoon there was some outstanding golf…


It’s called the Masters at Augusta.  Now I know Snigs hates it, cause she has to put up with the idjits and assholes, but it’s some of the finest golf played in the USA.


And today was no exception…  


Bubba Watson, a character who never met a hook or a slice he didn’t like, hyper, jittery, prone to blow up at the wrong time; hit what can only be called a great shot out of the pine straw 50 feet into the rough on Number 10 and put it on the green, while Louis Oostuizen who had also missed his tee shot came up short from the second cut of rough…


Bubba made the putt and literally broke down in tears, and interestingly enough, was congratulated by a number of the other pros who had stuck around to watch… You don’t often see that anywhere, but Bubba is well liked by all the pros out there for his attitude and upbeat way of dealing with life’s little issues…


He admitted in the interview after the win, he’d never gotten this far even in his dreams, and didn’t even know what to say…


Congrats Bubba, and well done for never giving up!!!

Happy Easter!!!

Posted on by March 6, 2013

Easter, also known as Resurrection Sunday, celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christians believe that Jesus was crucified on Good Friday, and rose from the dead after three days on Easter Sunday. Easter Sunday marks the end of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting, prayer and penance, and is followed by a 50-day period called Eastertide, which ends with Pentecost Sunday.
The celebration of the resurrection of Jesus is observed as an Easter Vigil (also known as Paschal Vigil) in Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran and some Anglican churches, and “Sunrise Service” in many Protestant churches. Borrowing from the Jewish tradition, a liturgical day begins at sunset, and thus the Easter Vigil begins between sunset on Holy Saturday and sunrise on Easter Sunday. The Easter Vigil service moves from darkness to light, symbolically re-enacting the Easter story of Jesus rising from the dead. The service begins outside the church where the priest lights and blesses a fire. A Paschal candle, representing the Risen Christ, is lit from that fire. The candle is processed through the church, and the Exsultet, Easter proclamation, is sung. Passages from the Bible are read, the Gloria and Alleluia are sung, and the Eucharist (or Holy Communion) is celebrated. In many churches, this is also a time when new members are baptized into the Church in accordance with ancient tradition. The “Sunrise Service” is similar, but held outside early in the morning on Easter Sunday, so that attendants can see the sun rise.


And it is celebrated across many faiths in many countries…  Enjoy the day, regardless of your religious preference!

Times are hard…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
My new yard sign…
Nuff said…

Actually it’s illegal in most states to FIRE a warning shot anyway…

Standby, It’s fixing to get interesting…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
And NOT in a good way…
North Korea has put at least four Sang-O and Yono subs to sea in advance of their planned ‘satellite’ (read ICBM test) launch next week.

Japan is polishing up their missile shield, vowing to shoot it down if they are ‘threatened’ by either the missile or debris, and the South Korean Navy is weapons free if they take any incoming after the incident last year with the patrol boat sinking.

You can read the entire article HERE.

And the US response???

Apparently sitting on our hands, again… dammit…

We CANNOT continue this level of appeasement in the international community and expect our military to continue to be ‘safe’ in the various locations where we operate. 

This administration needs to go in Nov ’12 period!!!

Remember- Relect NONE is 2012!

Oh yeah, and AD, TOTW, and MD your ‘new’ ambulance is ready…

Random Travel #463

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Gotta love Texas girls…

As AOA alludes to HERE, ya just don’t mess with em…
Sitting at IAD waiting on the airplane, I start talking to a young lady (mid-20ish) with a Texas drawl; come to find out she is an Air Force SP, currently stationed in Germany. Grew up in Grapevine, been in the AF 5 years. Her job? Sniper!!! Her back up job? SAW!!! She’s about 5’9″ probably 130ish pounds. I ask he why the SAW and she says she is the biggest person on her response team! AND she’s the best shot in the division (hence the sniper designation). She pulled out her laptop and proved it with pics from the range in Germany, with her down on an M-24 and a pic of her holding a B-2 target with all rounds in the 10 ring from 600 meters!!!

And she rattled off ballistics quicker than I could!

Color me impressed (yet again) aby the quality of the folks out there one the pointy end!!!

Just got back from dinner…


Oysters, $3.75/doz 🙂

Sleep and back to the airport tomorrow…

Y’all have a good one!!!

PARAPROSDOKIANS…

Posted on by March 6, 2013

Winston Churchill loved them!

 They are figures of speech in which the latter part of a sentence, or phrase, is surprising or, unexpected. They are frequently humorous.


1.    Where there’s a will, I want to be in it.
2. The last thing I want to do is hurt you.  But it’s still on my list.

3. Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

4. If I agreed with you, we’d both be wrong.

5. We never really grow up, we only learned how to act in public.

6. War does not determine who is right – only who is left..

7. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

8. They begin the evening news with ‘Good Evening,’then proceed to tell you why it isn’t.

9. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.

10. Buses stop in bus stations. Trains stop in train stations. On my desk is a work station.

11. I thought I wanted a career. Turns out I just wanted paychecks.

12. In filling out an application, where it says, ‘In case of emergency, notify:’ I put ‘DOCTOR.’

13. I didn’t say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.

14. Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.
15. Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.
16. A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.

17. You do not need a parachute to skydive.  You only need a parachute to skydive twice.

18. Money can’t buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.

19. There’s a fine line between cuddling and holding someone down so they can’t get away.

20. I used to be indecisive.  Now I’m not so sure.

21. You’re never too old to learn something stupid.

22. To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.

23. Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.

24. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

25. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

26. Where there’s a will, there are relatives.


And personally, I think they’re all true… sigh…