Opt Out and No Fly Wednesdays…

Posted on by March 6, 2013

I’ve cancelled my Thanksgiving trip, so will not see my daughters and grandson as I’m NOT flying and putting up with the BS at the airports. I will also opt out of any MM wave or backscatter scanners, since I cannot get the details on the amount of radiation each one puts out. I rather pointedly asked that question last Sunday at Tulsa and was told by a supervisor, “you don’t need that information”. It seems to me if they were really that safe, there would be Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) available… We’re ALL required to have those in our workplaces for any materials…

I fully support the plans of Opt Out and National Opt Out Day doing this on a mass scale on the 24th of November, but I would also propose a separate and comprehensive ongoing No Fly project.

I’d propose that EVERY WEDNESDAY all travellers than can REFUSE TO FLY, either by rescheduling their trips, or taking other means of transport. And that we CONTINUE this until the airlines get tired of losing money and force TSA drop the BS politically correct screening and start profiling and actually searching for the bad guys (and when they find suspicious persons, THEY get the full treatment).

I’d also be more than willing to see ALL of the US airlines adopt El Al’s procedures (unclassified data shown below) as they DO WORK!!!

Security
As a target for many decades, El Al employs stringent security procedures, both on the ground and on board its aircraft. These effective, though sometimes controversial, procedures have won El Al a reputation for security. In 2008, the airline was named by Global Traveler magazine as the world’s most secure airline.

Airport security measures-
Passengers are asked to report three hours before departure. All El Al terminals around the world are closely monitored for security. There are plain-clothes agents and fully armed police or military personnel who patrol the premises for explosives, suspicious behavior, and other threats (including US airports). Inside the terminal, passengers and their baggage are checked by a trained team. El Al security procedures require that all passengers be interviewed individually prior to boarding, allowing El Al staff to identify possible security threats. Passengers will be asked questions about where they are coming from, the reason for their trip, their job or occupation, and whether they have packed their bags themselves. The likelihood of potential terrorists remaining calm under such questioning is believed to be low (see microexpression).

At the check-in counter, passengers’ passports and tickets are closely examined. A ticket without a sticker from the security checkers will not be accepted. At passport control passengers’ names are checked against information from the FBI, Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), Scotland Yard, Shin Bet, and Interpol databases. Luggage is screened and sometimes hand searched. In addition, bags are put through a decompression chamber simulating pressures during flight that could trigger explosives. El Al is the only airline in the world that passes all luggage through such a chamber. Even at overseas airports, El Al security agents conduct all luggage searches personally, even if they are supervised by government or private security firms.

Flight security measures-

Undercover agents (sometimes referred to as sky marshals) carrying concealed firearms sit among the passengers on every international El Al flight. All El Al pilots are former Israeli Air Force pilots. The cockpits in all El Al aircraft have double doors to prevent entry by unauthorized persons. A code is required to access the doors, and the second door will only be opened after the first has closed and the person has been identified by the captain or first officer. Furthermore, there are reinforced steel floors separating the passenger cabin from the baggage hold.

El Al is my airline of preference when I’m overseas and having been through both US and El Al procedures, I MUCH prefer the El Al procedures, and I feel a hellva lot safer on one of their birds (and I don’t have to get groped to get on the airplane)… Just sayin…

Jails vs. nursing homes!!!

Posted on by March 6, 2013


With apologies to Snigs and the others who work in the health care arena…

I’m thinking “not such a bad idea”…

Here’s the way it should be:
Let’s put the seniors in jail and the criminals in nursing homes.

This would correct two things in one motion:
Seniors would have access to showers, hobbies and walks.
They would receive unlimited free prescriptions, dental and medical treatment, wheel chairs, etc.
They would receive money instead of having to pay it out.
They would have constant video monitoring, so they would be helped instantly if they fell or needed assistance.
Bedding would be washed twice a week and all clothing would be ironed and returned to them.
A guard would check on them every 20 minutes.
All meals and snacks would be brought to them
They would have family visits in a suite built for that purpose.
They would have access to a library, weight/fitness room, spiritual counseling, a pool and education…and free admission to in-house concerts by nationally recognized entertainment artists.
Simple clothing, I.e.., shoes, slippers, pj’s – and legal aid would be free, upon request.
There would be private, secure rooms provided for all with an outdoor exercise yard complete with gardens.
Each senior would have a P.C., T.V., phone and radio in their room at no cost.
They would receive daily phone calls.
There would be a board of directors to hear any complaints and the ACLU would fight for their rights and protection.
The guards would have a code of conduct to be strictly adhered to, with attorneys available, at no charge to protect the seniors and their families from abuse or neglect.
There would be doctors and nurses readily available for them.

As for the criminals:

They would receive cold food.
They would be left alone and unsupervised.
They would receive showers once a week.
They would live in tiny rooms, for which they would have to pay $5,000 per month.
They would have no hope of ever getting out.
Depending on the schedule they might or might not get a nurse or a doctor to actually answer the call button.

Sounds like justice to me!!! 🙂

PSA- The Rest of the Story…

Posted on by March 6, 2013

To grope or not to grope… That was the Option at Tulsa today, as they ONLY have the millimeter wave porn machines at the airport. When the person in front of me was told to take their belts and shoes off and empty everything out I’d their pockets, including MONEY, WALLETS, and take off ALL JEWELRY and put it in the bin, which they could not see during the scanning, I opted out.


This was immediately called out in a loud voice and three TSAers segregated me, so the rest of the herd would go passively… I was then told I had to remove everything and I would be “patted” down. When the TSAer started to walk off with the tub with my money, watch and cell phones; I told him to stop, that I wanted everything to remain in my view. That didn’t go over well either…

I was then groped, just flat NO other word for it… sigh… I need a new career that DOESN’T involve flying…

I will be filing a complaint when I get back to DC, but I’ll bet nothing happens.

The other interesting thing is that they put THREE of these units at Tulsa, where I doubt they EVER get a politician or high official that will ever transit through the airport. If they were decent leaders, the first units would have been at Reagan National and the congresscritters and high administration officials would have been the first users…

Wow… Just Wow…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Perusing the tables at Wanenmacher’s Gun Show at Tulsa I saw $4000 Colt Pythons and Diamondbacks, $400 sets of grips (wood), $37,000-$43,000 Winchester Rifles, and the piece de resistance, a $169,650 Holland and Holland #1 Grade 577 Nitro Express Double Rifle! That thing had EVERY inch of it engraved, never been fired, built in the late 1930’s early 1940’s… I didn’t even breathe on that thing!!!

Saw a few old friends, found out another old friend has died, and once again marveled at how one friend comes up with some of the guns he does (SEVEN Colts with original factory engraving!)…

Met up with Jim Garber and wandered a bit, cussed the prices ($4.50 for a coke) and saw some amazing displays down in Ego Alley (downstairs)…

One funny incident- my friend had an old muzzle loader for sale, a guy dropped a bore light down the rifle, and the light STUCK!!! Talk about a stunned look on his face 🙂

And my friend couldn’t resist, he said, “Well, guess you bought it now!” And the guy DID, after they finally got the bore light out!!!

Off to see what I can see today, hands will be kept FIRMLY in pockets… sigh…

Applebees lost money…

Posted on by March 6, 2013

I met up with friends from Texarkana last night at the hotel in Tulsa, then Jim Garber called, so we decided to meet at Applebees for dinner since they were giving free meals to Veterans. We got there and there was literally a line out the door! 30-45 minute wait, and I literally saw three generations (at least) of Veterans waiting PATIENTLY to be served… It’s not like we haven’t stood in line once or twice before… People were chatting back and forth, comparing service, comparing generations, etc. Jim was having a ‘bit’ of a navigation issue (he didn’t believe the restaurant existed) so he was a bit late…


We ended up sharing a table with a young Airman and his family and our waiter was a Marine Reservist with two tours in the Sandbox who is finishing his degree in Dec and heading back to TBS then back downrange. Needless to say, the jokes were flying fast and furious…

I had to step out to take a phone call, and the manager came out as I was finishing; we chatted for a couple of minutes, and I asked him how it was going, he said he expected they would “lose” $4-5000 for the day, and he was perfectly happy with it!!!

He said they had been giving Veterans a free meal all day, and estimated they had served between 5-600 Veterans just at that one location. He also said he was amazed at the camaraderie and lack of complaints about the wait or tables, or anything else…

Thank you Applebees!

EDIT- Go HERE and watch this one… One of the best I’ve seen…

Veterans’ Day…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
If you know a veteran, please thank them today for their service. If you don’t, please take a minute and say a prayer for all the veterans who didn’t come home…

To all my friends who served, a toast- “Absent comrades!”


And now a bit of history about the Lone Sailor Statue in DC…


The Lone Sailor© is a composite of the U.S. Navy bluejacket, past, present and future. He’s called the Lone Sailor, yet he is hardly ever alone, standing there on the broad granite plaza which forms the amphitheater of the Navy Memorial. Visitors to the Memorial are immediately drawn to him to peer into his far seeing eyes, to admire him or size him up, to see if he’s as tough or as gentle as he seems. Visitors find that he is all that he seems and probably more.

The founders of the Navy Memorial envisioned this Lone Sailor at 25 years old at most, a senior second class petty officer who is fast becoming a seagoing veteran. He has done it all – fired his weapons in a dozen wars, weighed anchor from a thousand ports, tracked supplies, doused fires, repelled boarders, typed in quadruplicate and mess-cooked, too. He has made liberty call in great cities and tiny villages, where he played tourist, ambassador, missionary to the poor, adventurer, souvenir shopper and friend to new lands. His shipmates remember him with pride and tell their grandchildren stories, some of which, like him, are seven feet tall.

The bronze statue is the creation of Stanley Bleifeld, the United States NavyMemorial’s official sculptor, selected by a board of recognized art authorities from a field of 36 sculptors identified in a six month, nationwide search. A native of New York City, Bleifeld maintains a studio at his home in Weston, Connecticut, and also inPietrasanta, Italy.

Stanley Bleifeld served in the Navy in World War II. Like many other talented artists at the time, he was assigned as an illustrator for Navy training manuals; he never went into battle, but he helped train those who did.

After so long an absence from the Navy, Bleifeld visited the fleet and other Navy activities to help him see anew the American sailor in the sea environment; he further focused his impressions in meetings with the Secretary of the Navy, the Chief of Naval Operations, other senior officer and enlisted personnel, and his patrons — the Navy Memorial Foundation officers, staff and board members. These patrons represented literally hundreds of years of Navy experience and acquaintance with the Lone Sailor.

The process of conceptualization, modeling, sculpting, and casting went through five initial images, four different models, and well over a year of work before culminating in the unveiling at the formal dedication of the Memorial on October 13, 1987 – on the anniversary of the Navy’s birthday.

The third model of a strong and brash young man leaning over a cleat, although very well received, was passed up in favor of an upright model. However a full casting of this model, dubbed the “Liberty Hound”, was subsequently commissioned for the Jacksonville Navy Memorial in Jacksonville, Florida.

As part of the casting process, the bronze for The Lone Sailor© was mixed with artifacts from eight U. S. Navy ships, provided by the curator for the Navy in the Naval Historical Center at the Washington Navy Yard. The ships span the Navy’s history, yielding small pieces of copper sheeting, spikes, hammock hooks and other fragments from the post-revolutionary frigates Constitution (“Old Ironsides“) and Constellation; the steamer Hartford, flagship of Admiral David G. Farragut in the Civil War era; the battleship USS Maine; the iron-hulled steamer/sailing ship USS Ranger; the World War II-era cruiser USS Biloxi and aircraft carrier USS Hancock, and the nuclear-powered submarine USS Seawolf. One last addition was a personal decoration from today’s Navy, one given to sailors in war and peace, the National Defense Service Medal. These bits of metal are now part of The Lone Sailor©.

Reaction to The Lone Sailor© has been gratifying. “He certainly represents us,” is the claim heard from nearly every Navy community, active or retired. The Navy Memorial Foundation regularly receives telephone calls or notes from Navy veterans or their families wondering where the Foundation obtained their photograph as the model for the statue. The Lone Sailor© is impressive to people who have never served in the Navy and powerfully so for those who have served.

“You would want this guy at your battle station when it’s not a drill,” former Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Billy C. Sanders says of The Lone Sailor©. “He is the classic American sailor. That statue looks like bronze, but there is plenty of salt, paint, sweat, fuel oil and courage stirred in.”

I was very proud to receive a miniature statue of the Lone Sailor from the Admiral on my retirement…

How real IS our military training???

Posted on by March 6, 2013

The link HERE is what is currently being done at 29 Palms (better known as 29 Stumps to those in the know).

It is a semi-commercial for the company that is providing the training equipment and personnel, but it’s worth the 12 minutes to get a ‘feel’ for what our folks are being trained for. Note- There are some graphic scenes of both real and simulated injuries…

This takes Tigerland at Fort Polk (from the Vietnam era) to a whole new level of reality…
As as evidenced by the interviews, is doing a good job of preparing our troops for what they may face in the war zone.
Oh yeah, Happy 235th to all the Jarheads 🙂 Semper Fi my friends!

You Can Leave The Military, But It Never Really Leaves You…

Posted on by March 6, 2013

A friend sent this to me today, reminding me of the upcoming Veterans Day. Everything in this is true, and goes a long way to explaining some of the wistfulness your significant other might exhibit driving past a military base…

Occasionally, I venture back out to the air base where I’m greeted by an imposing security guard who looks carefully at my identification card, hands it back and says, “Have a good day, tech sergeant.” Every time I go back onto Charleston Air Force Base it feels good to be called by my previous rank, but odd to be in civilian clothes, walking among the servicemen and servicewomen going about their duties as I once did, years ago.

The military, for all its flaws, is a comfort zone for anyone who has ever worn the uniform. It’s a place where you know the rules and know they are enforced; a place where everybody is busy but not too busy to take care of business. Because there exists behind the gates of every military facility an institutional understanding of respect, order, uniformity, accountability and dedication that becomes part of your marrow and never, ever leaves you.

Personally, I miss the fact that you always knew where you stood in the military, and who you were dealing with. That’s because you could read somebody’s uniform from 20 feet away and know the score. Service personnel wear their careers on their sleeves, so to speak. When you approach each other, you can read their name tag, examine their rank and, if they are in dress uniform, read their ribbons and know where they’ve served.

I miss all those little things you take for granted when you’re in the ranks, like breaking starch on a set of fatigues fresh from the laundry and standing in a perfectly straight line that looks like a mirror as it stretches to the endless horizon. I miss the sight of troops marching in the early morning mist, the sound of boot heels thumping in unison on the sidewalks, the bark of sergeants and the sing-song answers from the squads as they pass by in review.

To romanticize military service is to be far removed from its reality, because it’s very serious business, especially in times of war. But I miss the salutes I’d throw at officers and the crisp returns as we crisscrossed on the flight line. I miss the smell of jet fuel hanging heavily on the night air and the sound of engines roaring down runways and disappearing into the clouds. I even miss the hurry-up-and-wait mentality that enlisted men gripe about constantly, a masterful invention that bonded people more than they’ll ever know or admit.

I miss people taking off their hats when they enter a building, speaking directly and clearly to others and never showing disrespect for rank, race, religion or gender. Mostly I miss being a small cog in a machine so complex it constantly circumnavigates the Earth and so simple it feeds everyone on time, three times a day, on the ground, in the air or at sea. Mostly, I don’t know anyone who has served who regrets it, and doesn’t feel a sense of pride when they pass through those gates and re-enter the world they left behind with their youth.

Face it guys [and gals], we all miss it. Whether you had one tour or a career, it shaped your life.