Sunday, August 31, 2008

WTF Video, One Week

Today's WTF Video, isn't even from the 80's. It's Barenaked Ladies and thier song, One Week. WTF moments include an appearance by the Starsky and Hutch Torino, the Dukes of Hazzard "General Lee" and references to "rug burns" and LeAnn Rimes.

Labels:

|

Friday, August 29, 2008

The Naughty Librarian

From the Craig Ferguson Show a while back...

Labels:

|

WTF Video, Owner of a Lonely Heart

Today's WTF moment is from the group, Yes and the music video of their tune, Owner of a Lonely Heart.

ENJOY!

Labels:

|

Girl Friday, 29 AUG 08 Back to School Edition





It's Friday! The last Friday in August and the start of the labor day weekend.

Today's Girl Friday, is Reagan Yun. Have a great weekend and holiday!

Labels: , ,

|

This Is Our President...

From the good folks at BLACKFIVE

The Value of Service
Commentary by Lt. Col. Mark Murphy
354th Maintenance Group deputy commander

EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska -- I learned a big lesson on service Aug. 4, 2008, when Eielson had the rare honor of hosting President Bush on a refueling stop as he traveled to Asia .

It was an event Eielson will never forget -- a hangar full of Airmen and Soldiers getting to see the Commander in Chief up close, and perhaps even shaking his hand. An incredible amount of effort goes into presidential travel because of all of the logistics, security, protocol, etc ... so it was remarkable to see Air Force One land at Eielson on time at precisely 4:30 p.m.--however, when he left less than two hours later, the President was 15 minutes behind schedule.

That's a big slip for something so tightly choreographed, but very few people know why it happened. Here's why.

On Dec. 10, 2006, our son, Shawn, was a paratrooper deployed on the outskirts of Baghdad . He was supposed to spend the night in camp, but when a fellow soldier became ill Shawn volunteered to take his place on a nighttime patrol--in the convoy's most exposed position as turret gunner in the lead Humvee. He was killed instantly with two other soldiers when an IED ripped through their vehicle.

I was thinking about that as my family and I sat in the audience listening to the President's speech, looking at the turret on the up-armored Humvee the explosive ordnance disposal flight had put at the edge of the stage as a static display.

When the speech was over and the President was working the crowd line, I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see a White House staff member. She asked me and my wife to come with her, because the President wanted to meet us.

Stunned, we grabbed our two sons that were with us and followed her back into a conference room. It was a shock to go from a crowded, noisy hangar, past all of those security people, to find ourselves suddenly alone in a quiet room.

The only thing we could hear was a cell phone vibrating, and noticed that it was coming from the jacket Senator Stevens left on a chair. We didn't answer.

A short time later, the Secret Service opened the door and President Bush walked in. I thought we might get to shake his hand as he went through. But instead, he walked up to my wife with his arms wide, pulled her in for a hug and a kiss, and said, "I wish I could heal the hole in your heart." He then grabbed me for a hug, as well as each of our sons. Then he turned and said, "Everybody out."

A few seconds later, the four of us were completely alone behind closed doors with the President of the United States and not a Secret Service agent in sight.

He said, "Come on, let's sit down and talk." He pulled up a chair at the side of the room, and we sat down next to him. He looked a little tired from his trip, and he noticed that his shoes were scuffed up from leaning over concrete barriers to shake hands and pose for photos. He slumped down the chair, completely relaxed, smiled, and suddenly was no longer the President - he was just a guy with a job, sitting around talking with us like a family member at a barbeque...


Go read the entire thing HERE

Labels:

|

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Army VS. Navy

This is an awesome short film that is well worth your time.


Reveille
Uploaded by UrbanX

Labels:

|

Get Out While You Can...

Of course this isn't law yet, but someone thought it a good idea to try and put on the ballot in California.

From Tax Prof Blog via Ace of Spades HQ

California Ballot Initiative to Impose 45% Income Tax, 55% Wealth Tax & 36%-54% Exit Tax


A California activist is trying to gather the 694,354 signatures needed to place a tax initiative on the ballot that would:

Impose a new 35% income surtax (in addition to federal taxes and the existing 10.3% top state rate) -- 17.5% (on all of the taxpayer's income) when income exceeds $150,000 (single)/$250,000 (joint), and an additional 17.5% (again, on all of the taxpayer's income) when income exceeds $350,000 (single)/$500,000 (joint).


Impose a one-time 55% wealth tax on assets exceeding $20 million held by a California resident or held in California by nonresident.


Impose an exit tax of between 36.5% to 54.3% on both income and unrealized appreciation in asset values over $5 million when a resident dies or leaves California.



In case you're thinking of moving, Texas is full, try someplace else. And while I'm not a law professor wouldn't that law violate freedom of association which is I believe guaranteed somewhere in one of those old documents that people are always going on about?

Labels:

|

More Loons than the Aviary at the ST Louis Zoo

More pictures from Denver
H/T Denver Stuff










Larry, is that you?



I knew there was a reason I haven't been getting any...damn.

Labels:

|

WTF Video, Everybody Have Fun Tonight

Today's WTF offering is from the group Wang Chung. If you are prone to seizure please don't watch this video...I beg of you. I don't want to be responsible for your hospitalization.




After watching this video again, is it just me or does the lead singer look like "Joe, All Star Quarterback from the University of Nebraska" from the movie "Team America"?

Labels: ,

|

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

So What IS IT?


Is this a convention?




Or a Foo Fighters Concert?

You know, in someway this qualifies as a WTF video. I've yet to figure out why the cops are there and the whole wall exploding thing at the end is beyond me. Maybe we should ask David Grohl. On second thought I don't care THAT much. It is a kick ass song though.

Labels:

|

No I'm The Surge...

From Vets For Freedom...



God bless them for what they are doing. But for the love of all that is good, SEN Obama isn't going to take yours or anyone else's phone call. He's too invested in the notion of a bad America forcing their will on the unwilling...to CHANGE.

Yeah, I was part of the surge too. Yeah, we were killing AQI by the bushel load. Yeah, violence dropped significantly while I was there and it's continued to drop as Iraqis stand up and take back their country. But if anyone believes that the Democratic party will acknowledge our success they are as delusional as the people protesting in Denver. They are too invested in tying the war to the Republican party and as such they can't afford for us to win the war, politically.

Unfortunately THEY decided to make the war and soldiers into a political issue. It's shameful and it's them putting themselves and their party before country. Which runs totally counter to anything I've ever been taught and the things that I believe in.

Call if you must...and call me a cynic, I don't see anything happening. Don't get me wrong I'll be happy if it does, but these people (DEMs) have demonstrated their self centered power grabbing behavior time and again.

GOOD LUCK!
|

WTF Video, Tonight She Comes

Today's video is from, The Cars.

This band's album, Candy O was the first I ever owned. I pretty sure initially I bought it because of the Vargas painting on the cover.

This video is not so much WTF, but kind of quirky in the Rick Ocasek style. But it's close enough and hey they all can't be just out and out weird can they?

So here without further ado is The Cars music video, "Tonight She Comes".

Labels:

|

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

I Guess I'm Alone Here...

H/T The Tank

The Heritage Foundation has released a report on who is serving in the military.

Based on an understanding of the limitations of any objective definition of quality, this report com­pares military volunteers to the civilian population on four demographic characteristics: household income, education level, racial and ethnic back­ground, and regional origin. This report finds that:

U.S. military service disproportionately attracts enlisted personnel and officerswho do not come from disadvantaged backgrounds. Previous Her­itage Foundation research demonstrated that the quality of enlisted troops has increased since the start of the Iraq war. This report demon­strates that the same is true of the officer corps.


Members of the all-volunteer military are sig­nificantly more likely to come from high-income neighborhoods than from low-income neighborhoods. Only 11 percent of enlisted recruits in 2007 came from the poorest one-fifth (quintile) of neighborhoods, while 25 per­cent came from the wealthiest quintile. These trends are even more pronounced in the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) pro­gram, in which 40 percent of enrollees come from the wealthiest neighborhoods—a number that has increased substantially over the past four years.


American soldiers are more educated than their peers. A little more than 1 percent of enlisted per­sonnel lack a high school degree, compared to 21 percent of men 18–24 years old, and 95 percent of officer accessions have at least a bachelor’s degree.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, minorities are not overrepresented in military service. Enlisted troops are somewhat more likely to be white or black than their non-military peers. Whites are proportionately represented in the officer corps, and blacks are overrepresented, but their rate of overrepresentation has declined each year from 2004 to 2007. New recruits are also disproportionately likely to come from the South, which is in line with the history of South­ern military tradition.


The facts do not support the belief that many American soldiers volunteer because society offers them few other opportunities. The average enlisted person or officer could have had lucrative career opportunities in the private sector. Those who argue that American soldiers risk their lives because they have no other opportunities belittle the personal sacrifices of those who serve out of love for their country.



Hell, I thunk we wuz all a bunch a ignant crackas who had no choice in life...I gess I wuz wrong.

Labels:

|

F-35 = F-105

Oh yeah, I can see it definitely.

Is the new F-35 currently under development actually a new age F-105?

That's the question that is asked HERE.

Here's a taste...

Where does the F-35 / F-105 comparison come close? Those that believe there is a comparison say weight and wing-loading: Lots of it when you load up the F-35 design. Yet there are some other comparisons: Long development time. For the F-105, a very long way to get from the drawing board to operational capability. And like the F-35, an over-sell in it's ability. Here early fielding of the F-105 chalked up 125 maintenance man-hours per flight hour because of all of the untried Buck Rogers avionics. Today, the F-35 is a long way from proving it is easier to maintain than an F-16.


Personally I don't know, I flunked out of engineering school and I'm not an experimental test pilot, so I will refrain from passing judgement on an F-35s manuverability based on the way it looks. Secondly what aircraft being made today doesn't have a long development time? Go back in time and look at the development period for the F-15. It's not like we are making P-51s that go from a drawing to production in less than a year anymore. These are expensive complicated projects that take billions (that's right BILLIONS) of dollars and thousands of people to design and build them.

But I guess it's nice to speculate and since it's (F-35) coming whether we like it or not, hope for its failure...so they can be right and say, "I TOLD YOU SO."

And as one of the commenters stated you could do a lot worse than have a legacy like the F-105.

Labels: ,

|

The Definition Of Irony

This picture should be right next to "Irony" in the dictonary.

You can't make this stuff up.
H/T Neptunus Lex

Labels:

|

Monday, August 25, 2008

WTF Video, Twofer Tuseday

Today's entry in the WTF sweepstakes is Duran Duran's song, "Electric Barbarella". In some ways it's not so much WTF but quirky and wierd...but that's close enough for government work. Enjoy!



On second thought we'll do a twofer Tuesday. I could post almost an enitre week of Duran Duran stuff...Rio, Hungry Like The Wolf, and this one "Girls on Film".

Labels: ,

|

You Know There Are A Lot Of Things I Find Funny

This isn't one of them...



Considering that Sadr's toadies spent a considerable amount of time looting, plotting and killing innocent Iraqi civilians as well as Americans...these frecking tools can kiss my ass.

If they love Sadr so much, they need to pack their ass up and head for Sadr City. I'm sure the Madi Army will welcome them with open arms. Open arms and a dull knife to slit their throat with.

Useful Idiots is too mild a term for these clowns.

The picture and more coverage of frecking idiots on parade can be found HERE

Labels:

|

Something Makes Me Think...


...this kid gets his butt kicked at school quite regularly.


H/T Denver Stuff.
God bless you for having the patience to put up with that stuff...Lord knows I wouldn't.

Labels:

|

WTF Video, I Believe In The Thing Called Love

Yes folks WTF isn't just confined to the '80s. Even as late as 2004 we've had WTF moments. Check out The Darkness', "I Believe In The Thing Called Love". Get some.

Labels:

|

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Been There...Seen That.

This is one of those cartoons that is funny because it's true...





For more stuff such as this go to Lawndarts.

Labels:

|

Well, that convences me...


Not only does Kim Kardashian have a sex tape, a reality TV show, a huge rump and no talent...she's also an idiot.

Obama for Change, with the "O" in "for" a peace sign, how cool and edgy...and stupid.

I prefer this "peace sign", which works a lot better than "hope".



H/T The Blemish

Labels: ,

|

YMC-130H Credible Sport

H/T Bring the Heat, Bring the Stupid




Necessity being the mother of invention, or something like that, the US Military during the Iranian hostage crisis was searching for a way to get a lot of troops on the ground in a hurry. One of the ideas floated was to crash land a C-130 into a soccer stadium near the US embassy in Tehran. Obviously at least one of the landings didn't work out too well. The way I understand it the planners weighed the risks and possibilities for success and moved on to the helicopter option...and we all know how that worked out, unfortunately.



UPDATE:

Upon further review (thanks commenter Mike) this project was implemented after the failure of Eagle Pull, the first hostage rescue mission. This project along with the formation of what was to become the 160th SOAR were all a result of the tragedy at Desert One.

Additionally, Bronze pointed out the the wiki page for Credible Sport which has a lot of good info if you are interested.

Labels: ,

|

WTF Video, Twilight Zone

This video is an example that WTF doesn't necessarialy have to mean that it is stupid or bad. This video for the kick-ass Golden Earring song, Twilight Zone, has a plot and all sorts of twists and turns...I just dare you to tell me how or what exactly is occuring.

WARNING this video is NSFW as there is a scene in a hotel room that contains female nudity (bare breasts for about a nanosecond)...you've been warned!

Labels:

|

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Bonus WTF Video, Dare To Be Stupid



With a name like, "Dare To Be Stupid" how can you go wrong? Weird Al salutes DEVO, with this video that invokes WTF every bit as much as anything the plastic flower pot guys ever did.

Labels:

|

WTF Video, Shock The Monkey

I think this is the first video I ever saw on MTV that I sat there and couldn't figure out what the hell it was about...just f'n strange. None the less every time it came on people sat there mesmerized as if there was something to be learned from this.

Peter Gabriel's "Shock The Monkey"

Sorry they (YouTube) disabled embedding so you'll have to click to see it.

Or maybe this will work...



I guess MTV is still good for something.

Labels:

|

Friday, August 22, 2008

The Truth Behind 9/11

The awful truth is revealed at the end of this Southpark clip...

Labels: ,

|

WTF Video, I Ran



Next up in the string of WTFidness, is the Flock of Seagulls song, "I Ran". I've got no story about this other than I remember being at a friend's house the first time I saw this video. It went down something like this:

Friend: WTF...come and look at this!

Me: What the HELL is that?

Friend: I don't know...is that a guy or a girl?

Me: I don't know but if it is a girl I feel really bad for her.

As a reminder to some (this means you Kath) WTF means exactly that. It's something that makes you say to yourself or out loud WTF. That in and of itself does not mean that the song itself is bad or good, just that the video has caused you to exclaim however briefly WTF. Enjoy!

Labels:

|

Girl Friday, 22 AUG 08

It's another Friday and August is nearly gone. Friday also means it's time for another Girl Friday.




Kelly Monaco, Playboy Playmate, Soap Opera star and winner of the first "Dancing With the Stars" is the Girl Friday for this Friday the 22nd of August 2008.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Labels: , ,

|

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Farewell To An American Hero

You can't get much better than this...

Commentary: Farewell to an American hero
By Joseph L. Galloway McClatchy Newspapers
For the better part of 60 years, two old Army pilots who loved each other argued over many a meal and drink as to which of them was the second best pilot in the world.

The two shared the cockpits of old Beaver prop planes and Huey helicopters; they shared rooms in military hooches all over the world; they shared a love of practical and impractical jokes and they shared an undying love of flying and soldiers and the Army.

They also shared membership in a very small and revered fraternity of fewer than 105 men who are entitled to wear around their necks the light blue ribbon and gold pointed star that is the Medal of Honor, America’s highest decoration for heroism above and beyond the call of duty.

Their story was told in a book my buddy Lt. Gen. Hal Moore and I wrote 15 years ago titled "We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young" and in the Mel Gibson movie, "We Were Soldiers," released in the spring of 2002. Too Tall and Old Snake were ably portrayed in the movie.

Their argument over which of them is the Best Pilot in the Whole World sadly came to an end this week when our friend and comrade-in-arms Maj. Ed (Too Tall to Fly) Freeman slipped the surly bonds of earth and headed off to Fiddler’s Green, where the souls of departed cavalrymen gather by dispensation of God Himself...


To Read the whole thing please click here.

Our hearts so stout have got no fame
For soon 'tis known from whence we came
Where'er we go they fear the name
Of Garryowen in glory.



UPDATE: For those unfamiliar with the traditions of the 1st Cavalry Division and the 7th Cavalry, Garryowen is the official song of the 7th Cavalry regiment and the 1st Cavalry Division. It is rumored to have been the last song played for the 7th Cavalry prior to Custer's last stand.

GARRYOWEN

Let Bacchus' sons be not dismayed
But join with me, each jovial blade
Come, drink and sing and lend your aid
To help me with the chorus:

cho: Instead of spa, we'll drink brown ale
And pay the reckoning on the nail;
No man for debt shall go to jail
From Garryowen in glory.

We'll beat the bailiffs out of fun,
We'll make the mayor and sheriffs run
We are the boys no man dares dun
If he regards a whole skin.

Our hearts so stout have got no fame
For soon 'tis known from whence we came
Where'er we go they fear the name
Of Garryowen in glory.


Here's the 7th CAV version:


1.
We are the pride of the army,

And a regiment of great renown,

Our name’s on the pages of history,

From sixty six on down.

If you think we stop or falter,

While into the fray we’re goin’

Just watch the step with our heads erect

When our band plays "Garry Owen."

Chorus

In the Fighting Seventh’s the place for me.

It’s the cream of all the cavalry;

No other regiment ever can claim

It’s pride, honor, glory, and undying fame.

2.
We know no fear when stern duty

Calls us far away from home,

Our country’s flag shall sagely o’er us wave,

No matter where we roam.

T’is the gallant Seventh Cavalry,

It matters not where we’re goin’

such you’ll surely say as we march away,

When our band plays "Garry Owen."

3.
Then hurrah for our brave commanders!

Who lead us into the fight.

We’ll do or die in our country’s cause.

And battle for the right.

And when the war is o’er

And to our home we’re goin’

Just watch the step, with our head erect,

When our band plays, "Garry Owen."


I am humbled every time I think of the history of this Division and the Cavalry. It is a honor to wear the uniform and serve in the company of gallant men such as these. Godspeed and rest in peace MAJ Freeman!

Labels:

|

WTF Video...Whip It!

In the second of a series, today we examine the head scratching, innuendo laden wonder that was Devo's "Whip It"...enjoy!

Labels:

|

To The Gates Of HELL...

The presumptive Presidential nominee of the Republican party, SEN John McCain said the following about OBL over the weekend...

McCain on bin Laden
Sen. John McCain laid down a policy marker on the seven-year hunt for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in his recent interview with the Rev. Rick Warren that resonated with several U.S. officials who viewed Mr. McCain's comments as tacit criticism of the Bush administration.

Asked about his view of evil, Mr. McCain, the expected Republican presidential nominee, said on Sunday that "one, if I'm president of the United States, my friends, if I have to follow him to the gates of hell, I will get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice."

"I will do that, and I know how to do it. I will get that guy," he said. "No one, no one should be allowed to take thousands of innocent American lives."


This would contrast with his opponent who when asked about confronting evil said this...

Sen. Barack Obama...(noted) that "evil does exist... and I think it has to be confronted." However, he called for "humility" in confronting evil because "you know, a lot of evil has been perpetrated based on the claim that we were trying to confront evil."


Talk is cheap, but feel free to draw your own conclusions.
H/T Inside the Ring

Labels:

|

Too Tall Inbound

...to Fiddler's Green.
H/T Argghhh!


Idaho veteran of three wars, Medal of Honor hero dies
Among those who visited Ed Freeman in a Boise hospital were those he had saved.

BY KATY MOELLER - kmoeller@idahostatesman.com
Edition Date: 08/21/08


As Ed "Too Tall" Freeman lay ill in a Boise hospital over the past few weeks, many came to pay their respects to the 80-year-old national war hero and former helicopter pilot.

One unexpected visitor offered a very personal thank you to Freeman, a veteran of three wars and recipient of the highest military award - the Congressional Medal of Honor - for his actions on Nov. 14, 1965, at Landing Zone X-Ray, Ia Drang Valley, Vietnam.

"A guy came into the hospital and said, 'You don't know me, but I was one of those people you hauled out of the X-Ray,'" said Mike Freeman, 54, one of Ed's two sons. "He said, 'Thanks for my life.'

For the rest of this article please go HERE.

FIDDLER'S GREEN

Halfway down the trail to Hell,
In a shady meadow green
Are the Souls of all dead troopers camped,
Near a good old-time canteen.
And this eternal resting place
Is known as Fiddlers' Green.


Marching past, straight through to Hell
The Infantry are seen.
Accompanied by the Engineers,
Artillery and Marines,
For none but the shades of Cavalrymen
Dismount at Fiddlers' Green.


Though some go curving down the trail
To seek a warmer scene.
No trooper ever gets to Hell
Ere he's emptied his canteen.
And so rides back to drink again
With friends at Fiddlers' Green.


And so when man and horse go down
Beneath a saber keen,
Or in a roaring charge of fierce melee
You stop a bullet clean,
And the hostiles come to get your scalp,
Just empty your canteen,
And put your pistol to your head
And go to Fiddlers' Green.

Labels:

|

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Cinderella Story



He doesn't look too enthused about it, but Bill Murray (Caddyshack, Ghostbusters etc.) Recently made a jump with the Army Golden Knights...too cool.

From the Army Times comes this...

Bill Murray jumps with Golden Knights

The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Aug 19, 2008 10:46:31 EDT

CHICAGO — Bill Murray landed in Chicago on Friday like he never had before — by jumping from an airplane 13,500 feet up. The 57-year-old actor took several deep breaths before stepping out the open doors of a C-31 Fokker and dropping at about 120 mph to the city’s lakefront with members of the Army Golden Knights Parachute Team.

An exuberant Murray, whose jump kicked off the 50th Chicago Air and Water Show, landed safely on a beach. The actor pretended for a moment to stagger as if dizzy, then smiled broadly, waved to the crowd and shook hands with some of the Golden Knights.

Friends asked Murray to participate in the show, which features demonstrations and performances in the air and on Lake Michigan, to support the Illinois United Service Organizations.

But he wasn’t so certain of his reason to jump moments before he boarded the plane on a perfect 73 degree day at an Indiana airport 25 miles from Chicago. Members of the Navy Blue Angels also prepared nearby for the show, which runs through Sunday.

“It seemed like a good idea at a time,” Murray said. “I’ve had second thoughts, believe me. I’ve been really nervous. All the jokes (from friends) involve death.”


Read the rest HERE

While researching this I came across this photo...



That's Pilar Lastra, case holder #14 from Deal or No Deal and my "Girl Friday" from 26 APR 08 getting ready to jump with the Knights. I knew there was a reason I liked this woman.

Labels: , ,

|

WTF Video, Mexican Radio

In honor of RUFUS' series entitled, Remember When MTV Played Music Videos, I am emplementing my own series called WTF Videos, yeah those of you old enough to remember those curious things called music videos know what I'm talking about...those videos that when they came on made you stand there and say to nobody in particular, "WTF?!?"

Today's presentation is Wall of Voodoo's, "Mexican Radio". Enjoy...and be very careful the plate is hot.


Labels: ,

|

You Can Check The Block...



Your EO Training for the Quarter is now complete.

"The Office" is awesome.

Labels:

|

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Uh, OK

Because I'm in the Army and have been for 20 years now, the kind of people I tend to associate with and my worldview skews somewhat to the more conservative side. That is not to say there aren't liberals in the Army, because there are. There's some of everything under the sun in the Army. Generally though, people tend to be more conservative than not.

I attended a conference held at the Texas National Guard HQ in Austin TX today. On my way there I saw my first Obama bumper sticker...in Austin. Can't say I've seen any around Fortress Hood. I'm sure they are out there but I haven't seen them.

Speaking of Austin, Harry Knowles from Ain't It Cool News is from Austin. For those who don't know Austin is the San Fransisco of Texas. That might explain Mr. Knowles review of the movie, "Recount"...


Fantastic film. As someone that feels that this 2000 Election forever fucked America – this film doesn’t overly skew to Democrats – but it does put a magnifying glass on a really fucked up nightmarish clown show of an election procedure in the limp dick of the United States. The film makes me so fucking angry, but I’m giving my copy to someone else, because if you watch this film too many times – you’ll find yourself just a bitter pissy bastard that does nothing but looking back and dreaming of a different world. Would the World Trade Center still be standing with a different President? Would our Economy still be in the shitter? Would we be at War in two countries? All of this might have happened under Al’s watch, but I don’t think so. I think we would be better served to concentrate on the current election and make sure that we don’t get more of the same that we’ve had for the last 8 years. And by the way – this is a fantastic film!


Like I said above, I don't swim in liberal circles. I know they exist. I have no problem with people expressing their opinions...that's their right.

The problem I do have is with someone who is so exasperatingly stupid that they would fool themselves into thinking that if only Al Gore was the President of the United States on September 11, 2001 the terrorists who planned and took over airliners and flew them into buildings in New York City and Washington DC wouldn't have done so. And this is because they hate George W. Bush and not America and what it stands for? That Islamic terrorists don't want to wipe those who don't agree with them off the face of the earth...they just hate Dubya?

It truly is a great country that a person so mind numbingly stupid can make a living doing something he loves (watching movies and commenting on same). When I say that I'm not trying to be a smart ass, I really believe that. What is not so great is that person's grasp on reality. Oh well, I'm not going to loose any sleep over it, but it is sad.

Labels:

|

Monday, August 18, 2008

Does Anyone Have an Original Idea?

I guess not.



Warners whips up Banana Splits
Classic kiddie show gets a modern makeover
By SAM THIELMAN

'The Banana Splits'

Warners consumer products division has whipped up a new version of the Banana Splits.
Hanna-Barbera’s 1960s phenom is returning in a multiplatform effort starting Sept. 2, with shorts and musicvideos airing on Cartoon Network and its website. Future efforts will include DVD and audio CD releases, as well as live performances.

Turner Animation’s Stu Snyder noted that the Splits have “been entertaining kids for years,” but the return of the property will capitalize on boomer nostalgia as well. “Go Bananas Your Way,” the new Splits album, is “intended to appeal to kids and parents,” according to the release...


For the entire depressing story go HERE
Why don't you goons go ahead and destroy the rest of my childhood memories while you are at it. What's next the new Jonny Quest?..oh, that's right you've already wrecked that one.

Look out Fat Albert, Josey and the Pussycats, Space Ghost, Scooby Doo, Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp you're next.

Labels: ,

|

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Beach Vollyball Cheerleaders?


Who knew?

Take a gander HERE

I guess the other question would be...WHY?
H/T The Texican Tattler

Labels:

|

Hark an Aardvark!



I have a good friend who flew the F-111 until the types' premature retirement. Considering what they were trying to accomplish in the '60s this jet was quite the feat of engineering. Unfortunately quite a few jets and people were lost trying to work the bugs out.

Labels: , ,

|

A Starfighter



Do youreself a favor and just mute the sound on this...good work on the video (if you can ignore the flipped image from time to time), but the music is, let's just say not my taste.

The F-104 was to me the coolest looking jet I could ever imagine. Unfortunately by most accounts it was fast as hell but not much else. But it LOOKED GOOD, and sometimes that's all that matters.

Labels: , ,

|

A Hustler



When I was but a wee lad, General Dynamics opened a plant in Waco, TX at the former James Connally AFB where they did modifications on the F-111 fighter bomber and they brought every B-58 through there enroute to the boneyard at Davis Monthan AFB, AZ. A while back going through all the junk my mom saved from my childhood, I found a clipping from the Waco paper that showed the last B-58 leaving for the boneyard. What an awesome looking jet.

Labels: ,

|

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Today Is NATIONAL AIRBORNE DAY

There's a secret message to the press in this photo of some 82nd Airborne Soldiers taken in 2003.


For more on this head over to BLACKFIVE.

I'm not airborne, never have been, never will be and proud to say it. I'M A LEG!
But I'd rather be around a paratrooper any day of the week than a Marine. :)

Labels:

|

Friday, August 15, 2008

Victory?

Pete Hegseth from Vets for Freedom is back in Iraq and writes for the National Review On-Line.

Why Victory in Iraq Matters
Because what happens in Samarra, doesn’t stay in Samarra

By Pete Hegseth

Samarra, Iraq — The second most refreshing thing about this latest visit back to Iraq — aside from spending time with soldiers — is the respite from the never-ending drumbeat of election coverage. In my week with combat troops, I didn’t hear the names “Obama” or “McCain” once: the “who won the week?” nonsense that dominates cable news stateside doesn’t matter over here. Fighting America’s radical enemies wipes away the pettiness that impoverishes our domestic political debate — “who wins the war?” consumes those over here, not Paris Hilton or George Clooney.

What I’ve seen in Samarra, and what is happening throughout Iraq, is enough to make Americans of either party proud. After years of getting it wrong — or at best, only partly correct — in Iraq, today we are winning the war and setting the conditions for an enduring peace in that country, even in perpetual al Qaeda cesspools like Samarra. Faced with a determined enemy, hell-bent on bringing America to her knees in Mesopotamia, American military will, adaptability, and might are carrying the day...


Read the whole thing HERE

Labels:

|

Girl Friday, 15 AUG 08

It's the 15th of August, which is payday in the Army. Not only is it Friday, but I get paid as well? WOW, it just doesn't get any better than that.

Friday as most faithful readers of this site know brings a feature knows and sometimes loved...Girl Friday. Where your faithful corespondent picks at random several pictures of a woman with little to no clothes on to feature as the "Girl Friday". The title comes with no monetary compensation, but the women do walk away with the satisfaction that I find them attractive...and that's got to be worth something.

Sorry ladies, at one time my friend Skye over at Midnight Blue ran counter programing with her "Man Friday", but eventually I wore her down she hasn't posted it in a while.

Today's Girl Friday is a Playboy Playmate and it appears a Texan, Valerie Mason
UPDATE: Upon further review, I've found that Ms Mason is from Louisiana...why she has a University of Texas pennant in her pictorial, I have no idea...nor do I care at this point, she's hot.





Y'all have a great weekend!

Labels: , ,

|

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Get Some Nuts

This is too funny.

Via CDR Salamander



In my youth I worked at the M&M Mars plant that made among other things, SNICKERS bars. So I have a fondness in my heart or should I say stomach for that candy bar...besides they are SOOOO satisfying.

Labels:

|

In Honor of the French Swim Team

Labels:

|

Say What?

Yeah, that's right a contest where you could win a threesome with you, Scarlett Johansson and someone else.

You know, say what you want about her loopy politics but someone she's got working for her is on top of their game...


See the complete info about the contest HERE

Before anyone gets too excited, you do know more than likely it will be two dudes (one of them Barry O) and Scarlett...Yuck, talk about a sausage fest, and she would probably leave after the previews her obligation complete...So there you'd be in the dark holding hands with Barry O, trying to figure out if he's going to try and screw you or not. But enough with reality, don't stop thinkin' about tomorrow.

Labels:

|

Texan, Soldier WIns Olympic Gold


From the Houston Chronicle comes this story...

COMMENTARY
Soldier's order for day: Step forward, win gold
By JEROME SOLOMON Chronicle Olympic Bureau
Aug. 13, 2008, 6:06AM

BEIJING — Not long ago, Master Sgt. Dave Easterbrooks, serving in Iraq, delivered a strong message to Pfc. Glenn Eller, Olympic dreamer.

"He told me that amateurs train till they get it right, professionals train till they never get it wrong — go kick their (behind)," an excited Eller said, not long after he had done just that, setting an Olympic record with a resounding gold-medal performance in double trap shooting Tuesday at the Olympic Games.

When it comes to the United States Army, there are times when our way of life depends on the men and women of the armed forces kicking some serious you know what.

Eller is an Army shooter, but he shoots clay targets, not people, with a shotgun.

While Eller, a 26-year-old from Katy, has been training to become an Olympic hero, some of the enlistees he shared sweat and tears with through basic training have been fighting overseas.

We love to say an athlete or team — one that is focused, won't be denied — is on a mission.

Well, with Eller, that is more than a writing cliché. It is fact.

He was on a mission. Basically, he was under direct orders to become a champion: Bring home the gold for the United States.

"Being a soldier in the U.S. Army, I do what is expected of me," Eller said. "And they asked me to come to Beijing and win the gold...


To read it all go HERE

Way to go SPC Eller!

Labels:

|

The Surge

This video from The Mudville Gazette is a nice compilation of "The Surge".





I can say that having been to Iraq twice the events in theater have NEVER been portrayed accurately in the mainstream media. In OIF II (2004-2005), I would sit in the DFAC (dining facility) and hear events in Baghdad (our AO) described, and we would look at each other and wonder what it is that they had been looking at...because we never saw things the same way as they did.

Again during "The Surge" in 2006-2007, I sat there and listened to the Eeyore's on TV talking about how "it'll never work" over and over and over again. Even when evidence showed to the contrary they refused to see it. Some of these people are so invested politically in our failure they can not bring themselves to actually root for the good guys.

Maybe you have, but I doubt most people have ever had the experience of watching their "leaders" say over and over again about how worn out that you are and how incapable you are of getting a job done...it was an awesome morale boost let me tell you. It really would have given me some doubt if I had any faith in their pronouncements.

It's shameful the way some people have carried themselves during this war and no doubt this attitude coming from some of our "leaders" has made the task that much more difficult...and yet we still succeeded in spite of them.

Thanks for nothing...you know who you are.

Labels:

|

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

The Boys of Summer

After posting the video below with the troops mouthing the lyrics to all sorts of songs you should at least get some quality entertainment for your money.

One of the best music videos ever made for a great song...yeah they don't make 'em like that anymore.

Labels:

|

Monday, August 11, 2008

It's A Post About Baseball!

Yeah, you get to hear my thoughts about the grand game, our "National Pastime", although I don't have the inside poop like Peter Gammons (he said poop!)and I don't have the vocabulary of George Will, I will attempt to explain why THIS would not be a good idea.

COMMENTARY
Astros should consider bringing in Bonds
By RICHARD JUSTICE Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Aug. 11, 2008, 12:50AM

Hello, Barry, this is Drayton. Are you ready to be a champion?

The Astros need a left fielder. I know the name of a good one. He’s rested and ready. He’ll bring a buzz to the ballpark, too. He would suddenly make the Astros baseball’s most interesting team.

What’s wrong with having a little buzz? Why should the Dallas Cowboys have all the fun?

Barry Lamar Bonds would be a perfect fit for the Astros. Is there one good reason not to sign him?

No, there’s not. Oh sure, some people don’t like him. These are people that don’t know him, but still.

To say such a thing presumes you know the players on the team now. You don’t know them. You can pretend to know them, but you don’t.

Baseball is a bottom-line business. Bonds would make the Astros better. If Drayton McLane really and truly wants to be a champion, he’d bring in the best offensive player on earth.

Our local nine has been winning. Just as the team is closing in on .500, one of its two best players, Carlos Lee, goes down with a broken finger.


Odd that a guy who has the name of Justice would have no sense of that very thing. He proposes the very thing that makes me not want to root for the Dallas Cowboys. The win at all cost, we'd hire Hitler if he would run over the middle routes and catch the damn ball. To believe him, Barry's not a bad guy...you just don't know him, you don't know any of them so what's the dif?

Yeah, we're supposed to ignore everything we "know" about this guy and hire someone "known" to be a cancer in the clubhouse, hoping that he would magically propel the team into the play-offs when the problem all along has been pitching...but since I don't know Barry, he's probably in possession of a split finger fastball that he's been hiding all these years just waiting to pull it out when the 'Stros sign him to a multi-game contract for Lord knows how much.

I guess when you are a baseball writer and you are required to come up with a certain amount of product over the span of a season, you sometimes scrape the bottom of the barrel looking for something to write about...but give me a freaking break you boob. It's a good thing you aren't the GM, since you're obviously into hiring the aged (at least in Baseball terms) you'd probably give me a shot, I mean I had a 90 MPH fastball at one point and a pretty good curve ball...who cares that I haven't played competitively in a few years, at least I'm not a lying ill tempered cheat...and I'm a war vet, I'd bet that'd get butt in the seats, that and the 15 runs I'd give up in the first inning I pitched. But that makes as much sense as hiring Barry Bonds.

Labels: , ,

|

How to Get Through an 8 Hour Patrol

|

We're Not Worthy

|

Sunday, August 10, 2008

That Noise You Just Heard...

...was my father rolling over in his grave.


H/T Ace of Spades

From the USA Today


SEATTLE (AP) — A 6-foot-tall, 250-pound mail carrier wants the U.S. Postal Service to add kilts as a uniform option for men.
The idea was defeated in July at a convention of the 220,000-member National Letter Carriers' Association, but Dean Peterson says he is not giving up — and he has his supporters.

Peterson, a resident of Lacey, Washington, spent $1,800 to mail about 1,000 letters and photographs of him wearing a prototype Postal Service kilt — or what he refers to as an 'unbifurcated garment' — to union branches in every U.S. state, Guam and Puerto Rico.

"Unbifurcated Garments are far more comfortable and suitable to male anatomy than trousers or shorts because they don't confine the legs or cramp the male genitals the way that trousers or shorts do," he wrote. "Please open your hearts — and inseams — for an option in mail carrier comfort!"

With his build, Peterson said, his thighs fill slacks to capacity.


Here's a suggestion, loose some weight, fatass.

I know this may shock and or amuse some of you, but my father was a letter carrier for 34 years. He never wore those shorts, he hated those shorts. He took his obligation as a letter carrier (not a mailman) seriously. In the summer I remember my dad coming home from work absolutely soaked with sweat, he walked the majority of his route back then, but I guess when you grew up picking cotton and then went to WWII, walking in the sun carring a leather bag with some mail in it, is a pretty good job. I know he would hate this idea as much or even more than he disliked those shorts that he deemed, "unprofessional".

There's a lot of things my father wouldn't be happy with right now, in a way it's a good thing he's not around to even see this discussed.

Labels:

|

Friday, August 08, 2008

You've Got To Be Kidding Me...


From Danger Room


Flying drones from halfway across the world used to be considered a cushy, if somewhat sterile, military job. But the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have gone on for so long -- and become so dependent on the satellite-piloted planes -- that Air Force commanders have had to call in chaplains, psychologists and psychiatrists "to help ease the mental strain on these remote-control warriors," the Associated Press reports.

Just a few years ago, pilots of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) crowed that "most of the time, I get to fight the war, and go home and see the wife and kids at night." Since then, the demands for remotely-flown spy planes have grown exponentially. Pilots' hours grew longer and longer. And they started to compare themselves to "prisoner[s] with [l]ife sentence[s]."

That's taking things to a whiny extreme. The chair-bound flyboys still have it pretty good, compared to the grunts of the Army or the Marines: No 15-month tours, no crappy rations, no chance of them or their friends getting blown up. But the constant back-and-forth between war and peace isn't without its unique strains. "It is quite different, going from potentially shooting a missile, then going to your kid's soccer game," sighs Lt. Col. Michael Lenahan...


This is just un-f#%king believable.

From the original article at The Boston Globe comes this doozy of an opening paragraph:



Remote-control warriors suffer battle stress at a distance
Psychologists, chaplains ease mental strain
By Scott Lindlaw
Associated Press / August 8, 2008
MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, Calif. - The Air National Guardsmen who operate Predator drones over Iraq via remote control, launching deadly missile attacks from the safety of Southern California 7,000 miles away, are suffering some of the same psychological stresses as their comrades on the battlefield.


Considering the source I'm willing to give some benefit of the doubt, but who the hell thought that this would be a good story to put out there...it will certainly endear them to their 11B brothers in arms that's for sure.

Labels: , ,

|

Outside the Wire

Outside the Wire is a documentary series shot by a former Marine, JD Johannes...if you don't have a copy then get one. If you've already seen it, then send a copy to a friend.


To buy one go HERE




And if this helps move you to buy a copy, JD's goal is to beat the sales of the film Redacted...maybe a little something to try teach some of those Hollywood types a lesson.

He's currently 65% of the way! Help put him over the top and support a serious documentary about our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines.

Labels: ,

|

Girl Friday, 8 AUG 08

It's the first day of the Olympics and if I were really into it, I would find some Chinese babe to put up as the Girl Friday...but I'm not, so instead you get an encore appearance by Pilar Lastra.





As you might recall she's been holding case #14 on Deal or No Deal (don't know if she still does or not) and Playboy's Playmate of the Month back in August of 2004 (how appropriate).






I hope y'all have a great weekend!


Labels: , ,

|

Monday, August 04, 2008

Man Bites Dog


As much grief as people give the press, there are actually some that are worth the title of human being.

A FOX News cameraman helped save the life of an injured Marine in Afghanistan — and was injured himself — when the armored Humvee convoy he was traveling in was struck by a roadside bomb Sunday night in the Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold.

Two U.S. Marines were badly injured when the improvised explosive device detonated near their convoy. Though FOX News cameraman Chris Jackson was injured in the blast, he went back to the burning vehicle to rescue one of the Marines.


To read the whole thing go HERE

Labels: ,

|

Huh?


From Lt. Nixon over at C.H.U.D. Busters comes the kind of thing you have to go to the West Coast for...

The "Blue Angels of Death" are precision-strike fighter killing machines and the aerobatics shows are military psychological war dressed up as breathtaking-eardrum shattering technical bravado to whip up patriotic support for u.s.global war-making and slaughtering.


...apparently someone has issues with the US Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron. I guess they don't take her breath away. Maybe because they operate too close to the danger zone. Maybe she would like it better if she was playin with the boys.

I for one congratulate them on the choice of a new edgy name designed to attract a wider, more risk taking audience...The Blue Angles of Death!

UPDATE!

Upon further consideration, I have come to the decision that an even better name would be the Blue Angels of the Apocalypse. You can have that one free Navy...you're welcome.

Labels: , ,

|

Sunday, August 03, 2008

This is Maverick Requesting a Fly-By

It's almost football season, and what's a National Anthem, without a fly-by?

See NFL Network's story about fly-bys HERE. Good stuff.

Labels: ,

|

Saturday, August 02, 2008

Pin-Ups for Today








I found Bawidamann through my various INTERNET ramblings. Cool stuff.

To see more of his stuff, go HERE


There is also a related site PIN-UPS for the Troops whose proceeds go to troops related agencies.

Labels: ,

|

Friday, August 01, 2008

Girl Friday, 1 AUG 08

It's August! Where the hell is the summer going?

Welcome Sasckya Porto, Playmate of the Month for DEC 2007 as this week's Girl Friday.


Labels: , ,

|