Latest Colorado shooting and the opportunistic weasels of the Left

Before I go on  bit of a rant...Just a bit mind you, I hope everyone's Thanksgiving went well and we got stuffed like a turkey with our favorite food, watched the Cowboys go down in flames on Thursday night TV and spent time with our families and friends.   I have been busy with house improvements, the spousal unit wants to buy another house in the same school district so the crumb-snatcher can stay in the good school district. whereas I on the other hand want to move out of state.  I love Georgia, but we are getting a lot of people from the north and that ain't soo bad except they haven't figured the cause and effect thingie yet.  They move away from the north because of the poor schools, poor infrastructure, poor job opportunities and they bring the same attitudes and beliefs that caused where they came from to be a poor schools, poor infrastructure, poor job opportunities shithole.  I believe that Georgia will go blue in 10 to 15 years on account of the migration and us "locals" will be outvoted.  I don't want to be Like the Clint Eastwood Character in " Gran Torino"

  A couple of days ago, we had this jerk do a shooting near the planned parenthood offices in the peoples republic of Colorado and the usual politicians immediately spouted the tired rhetoric of "gun control". 

   We have "Dear" Leader" the best Gun and Ammo salesman on the planet immediately double down on the failed policies and threatening to do more executive actions to restrict guns from people they consider "radicals"  which happen to include everyone from the gun community, veterans and other conservative groups whereas the islamic terrorist, Workplace Violence proponents, victims of Climate Change are given a free pass because they have been disenfranchised.  If the elitist try to push through another gun control bill, they will get their butts handed to them in the polls, and if they try to ban them, the acts of civil disobedience will far eclipse the people in the northeast corridor whom refused to register their EBR* with the state in New York and Connecticut like their betters want them to because they are considered "wage slaves" who sole purpose is to serve the state and have half of their productivity seized to be distributed by the state reflecting the desires and wished of their betters whom know what is best for the unwashed masses.

*Evil Black Rifles A.K.A. The AR15 series of rifles and any other firearm that scares the crap out of the liberals.
According to The Gazette based out of Colorado Springs, the earliest reports from police stated that there was no connection to Planned Parenthood.

Other news sources also confirmed this as they amended earlier statements that said there was an active shooter “at a Planned Parenthood clinic.”

Police later began an investigation into the events to determine the motives of the shooter, Robert Lewis Dear. He was arrested after surrendering at 4:52 p.m. outside Planned Parenthood. Two civilians and one police officer were killed.
The facts in this situation do not lie. This shooter’s rampage began on the street outside an eye care center, not Planned Parenthood. The rampage was not specifically targeted at Planned Parenthood as part of the GOP’s opposition to funding of the organization.
One could just as easily reach the conclusion this man had it out for eye doctors, since that’s where the shooting originated. At such early stages in the investigation of such a tragedy, speculation has no place in the arena. Facts must be the only voice heard in the crowd as police try to make sense of the insanity.
But, in typical fashion, the liberal media is jumping to conclusions anyway, priming the America public with preformed opinions with little basis in actual fact. With flashy type font on their television ticker tapes and wordplay designed to incite near panic, they are drawing partisan lines in the sand to further divide America.
H/T Young Conservatives

USA – -(Ammoland.com)- True to form, and consistent with Rahm Emanuel’s advocacy to never let a serious crisis go to waste, citizen  disarmament swindlers and other totalitarian lobby shills have taken to social and “regular” media to lay blame for Friday’s Colorado Planned Parenthood murders on groups that stand in the way of their goals. Those include gun owners, right to life activists, Republicans, Christians, white males, and others “progressives” view as impediments and threats to their objective of total control.
That’s typical collectivist thinking. Blame a group you want to marginalize and demonize for the actions of a misfit aberration, and draw fraudulent generalized conclusions from which to infringe on rights and increase the state’s control.
Consistent with that, early news accounts related that Barack Obama had been briefed on the incident while it was an in-progress standoff.  And consistent with those wishing to “fundamentally transform” the Republic, the talking point that Constitutionalists — accused by those who hate what they stand for of being “home grown terrorists” — pose a greater danger than Islamic State jihadists is being mirrored and parroted.
At this writing, little is known about the suspected killer [see update, below] except his name, which will not be mentioned here, his age and that he came from North Carolina (and that he may be a peeping tom/cruel to animals). Despite that, presumptions are being made and conclusions are being drawn and spread by those who view the slaughter of others as opportunities to advance their agenda. About the only fair inference to be made at this time is that on top of everything else, the killer must be a wretched coward, willing to murder, but when his time came to face immediate, certain death, he chose life, surrendering to police who showed him more mercy than he showed his victims.
But say the “worst fear” is realized, that the murderer turns out to be a self-professed NRA-supporting Christian “conservative.”  His actions belie and deny everything each of those “labels” stands for. They show he grasps nothing about principles professed by those groups, and they do nothing to transfer his sole guilt to anyone else.
Predictably, the enthusiastic blood dancing and knee-jerk demands for more “gun control” have commenced with eye-rolling feeding frenzy fervor, along with no shortage of hate-filled tirades against “ammosexuals.”  And naturally, the political temptation will exist to “do something.”  Here’s what to keep in mind:
Nothing will be enough.  Nothing would have had a chance to stop or minimize these killings except armed citizens on the scene. Even if the goal of total citizen disarmament were enacted, which is what the goal is, that would depend on everyone obeying such edicts, and on government officials and functionaries benevolent and wise enough not to abuse absolute power.
Now, as always, advocates for the right of the people to keep and bear arms must hold fast, not waver, and not listen to the phony siren call of “compromise.” That’s not possible with those who will greedily take what they have no moral claim to, one piece at a time, but who won’t be satisfied until they have it all.

Bernie Sanders Email treated like Spam by Google

  I have been watching Democrat Bernie Sanders run a campaign basically promising "free Stuff" to the millennial and other moochers that want somebody else to pay for stuff.  The economic reality of these kids is non existent.  They have no idea how economics work and their role.  I do understand the frustration over the college cost.  They get poor advice from the guidance counselor for a major, and they pick what "feels good" rather than what will guarantee a decent living.  So after graduating, they can't get a job and they are stuck on the student loan train for the rest of their life.

  He has been successful in pulling support from the heir annointed Hillary for the democrat nomination for president.  On account of his campaign, she has had to go far left hoping to pull support away from him.  It will be interesting to see how she can swing to the center to appeal to the independents.

Democratic presidential hopeful Bernard Sanders’ economic plan triggered Gmail’s “phishing scam” antenna, with the mail system saying the senator’s liberal campaign promises — including lower prescription drug prices and free college for all — sound like frauds.
“Be careful with this message. It contains content that’s typically used to steal personal information,” Gmail said in a bright red warning box that appeared at the top of a message sent by Mr. Sanders’ campaign Friday, laying out his “Agenda for Working Families.”

“This message could be a scam,” Gmail says in its page explaining why it flagged the message as a “phishing scam.” Phishing is a specific type of spam email that scammers use to try to entice users to disclose bank accounts or other sensitive information.

The Sanders campaign declined to comment for this article, but a representative for Google, the Internet giant that runs Gmail, said the company thinks it has figured out the problem.
“A regression in the spam filter’s machine learning framework was determined to be the root cause. The issue affected only a very small percentage of the overall email received by Gmail and it has now been resolved,” the representative said.

According to Gmail, messages are automatically analyzed based on the sender and the content of the message. In this case, the Sanders press release was sent by Michael Briggs, a campaign spokesman, and similar messages weren’t marked as spam or phishing, so it’s probably that Mr. Sanders’ wording caused his message to be labeled a scam.

The offending email complains that America’s economy is failing, stiffing working families while rewarding billionaires.
“My plan would make Wall Street banks, profitable corporations, millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share of taxes. My plan would provide living wages for working people and ensure equal pay for women,” Mr. Sanders says, ticking off his plans to raise taxes by $1 trillion and spend it on infrastructure, guarantee free tuition at public colleges and universities, raise the minimum wage, raise Social Security benefits and cut prices on prescription drugs.
Ira Winkler, president of Secure Mentem and a cybersecurity specialist, said the campaign likely triggered Gmail’s filters because it included phrases that spammers use to try to sell prescription drugs and by offering things free of charge — in this case, the promise to pay for education at public colleges and universities.

“The way spam filters tend to work is you’ve got scoring. And the more time trigger words are used, scoring tends to go up. So if you see words like ‘free,’ if you see words like ‘prescription drugs,’ that keeps triggering it,” Mr. Winkler said.
“When you put out a campaign message filled with fluff it’s not unexpected,” he said.
He said one solution for businesses is to sign up with a trusted bulk emailing company, which works with services such as Gmail to make sure they know the messages are legitimate — a practice known as “whitelisting.”

Mr. Winkler said spam labels could happen to any politician emailing promises to voters and using red-flag words.
“If you use the word guarantee, that’s another flag,” he said.
It was unclear why Mr. Sanders’ message was deemed phishing rather than regular spam. Phishing messages usually include links scammers use to collect sensitive personal information.

Happy Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving;  Today we will travel near and far to visit our family or they will come to us depending on the arrangements.  Today we need to give thanks that we are still in America and we can still enjoy the times with our families.  With all that is going on right now we need to take a breath, step back from all the news and remind ourselves that family is important.  Today we need to take a break from all the drama going on in the world and spend time with our family.  There comes a point that we must leave some of this in Gods hands.  I find myself inundated with the news and what is going on in the world and with all the work I have been doing and I am finding out that I am mentally tired.  I turned down Overtime.....shockers I know.   Today we need to spend time with family or those that you consider family.

"Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving"

“Good morning, everyone. You know, the Statue of Liberty and this wonderful holiday called Thanksgiving go together naturally because although as Americans we have many things for which to be thankful, none is more important than our liberty. Liberty: that quality of government, that brightness of mind and spirit for which the Pilgrim Fathers braved the seas and Americans for two centuries have laid down their lives.

 

“Today, while religion is suppressed in perhaps one third of the world, we Americans are free to worship the Almighty as we choose. While entire nations must endure the yoke of tyranny, we are free to speak our minds, to enjoy an unfettered and vigorous press, and to make government abide by the limits we deem just. While millions live behind walls, we remain free to travel throughout the land to share this precious day with those we love most deeply – the members of our families."

 

“My fellow Americans, let us keep this Thanksgiving Day sacred. Let us thank God for the bounty and goodness of our nation. And as a measure of our gratitude, let us rededicate ourselves to the preservation of this: the land of the free and the home of the brave."

 

“From the Reagan family to your family: happy Thanksgiving and God bless you all.”

Monday Music "The Metro" by Berlin

     I heard this song a couple of days ago on my Sirius/XM, I havn't heard this song in years also.  When I heard this song in the mid and late 80's it reminded me riding the train in Germany.  I would try my very broken German on the locals and they were good sports about it and they did appreciate my trying to speak the language.  I did get better and got good enough to get a language trailer on my M.O.S.*.   Even now I can start talking it after a couple of seconds for the syntax is different and I have to mentally change gears to speak it properly.
     Berlin is an American new wave band. The group was formed in Los Angeles in 1978 by John Crawford (bass guitar). Band members included Crawford, Terri Nunn (vocals), David Diamond (keyboards), Ric Olsen (guitar), Matt Reid (keyboards) and Rod Learned (drums). Learned left during the first EU tour and was replaced by Rob Brill (drums). The band gained mainstream-commercial success in the early 1980s with singles including "The Metro", "Sex (I'm A...)", "No More Words" and then in the mid '80s with the chart-topping single "Take My Breath Away" from the 1986 film Top Gun.

     Pleasure Victim is the second studio album by Berlin. The original album was recorded in 1982 and released that year by independent label Enigma Records. After considerable attention received by the second single, "Sex (I'm A...)", the album was re-released worldwide by Geffen Records on January 26, 1983. The album marked the return of lead singer Terri Nunn to the group. To date, it is Berlin's best-selling album and was certified gold by the RIAA in September 1984 and platinum in February 1993. It is the only one of Berlin's albums to be certified platinum and the first that reached gold; two subsequent studio albums and a greatest hits compilation were also certified gold.

     The song's music video was their first MTV hit, in heavy rotation on the young channel in its second and third years. Directed by Dominic Orlando, it was filmed in 1983 at GMT Studios in West Los Angeles, California. Terri Nunn only sang two lyrics on camera: "I remember hating you for loving me" and "Sorry". The video became a part of the Berlin Video 45 Geffen-VHS home video, released in 1984.

 *Military Occupational Specialty

A different take on the special snowflake outbreak on campus.

I have been seeing all the stupidity on the college campuses lately with the special snowflake outbreaks.  I will be cutting and pasting an article I ran across on Townhall that gave me a different take.  The article mentioned the special snowflakes eating their own from the wussy administrators, we have the *BLM*  the "Only Black Lives Matter and nobody else does" doing their protest in a  college library at Dartmouth,

 and being rude and obnoxious to the other students whom have been cowed by the P.C. movement to be subservient to angry black people and accept rudeness as penance for the sins of their skin.  The demands of these protesters are getting more strident as they try to stay relevant in the fast moving world of a "Social Justice Warrior".  I saw this article on "Townhall" and shamelessly snagged it.  The pictures are compliments of "Google"
   

Please don't tell the students at University of Missouri and Yale and all the other throbbing pustules of academia to stop their insanity. Instead, encourage and provoke them to turn the turmoil up to 11, a number most of these students can’t count to without taking off their Nikes. No, we want the campuses to echo with the whiny cries of the Children of the Safe Space Revolution

And we will sit back and point and laugh as the weak-willed, spineless liberal losers of academia abase themselves before their whimpering student bodies. This is just great. As Napoleon observed, never interrupt your enemy while he's making a mistake. Now, mentioning Napoleon probably a microaggression because, in the unlikely event that the gender studies and Marxist interpretive dance majors of Yale and Missouri recognize the name, he’s a cis-het dead white male – and he was not actually differently abled despite being vertically challenged. Still, his advice has merit – just pretend for a moment that he is trans woman-identifying being of color of some sort

Our enemies are tearing themselves apart. Let’s let them, because every time a social justice warrior humiliates other liberals, a conservative gets his wings. See, this has all happened before. For those unfamiliar with that thing called history – I’m talking to you, college students – there was this guy named S.I. Hiyakawa who was head of San Francisco State University back in the 1960s. When a bunch of hippie punks decided to make demands, he stood up to them. He became a hero to normal people, and the voters of California – back before they went insane – elected him senator. In other words, all this idiocy about safe spaces and healing circles and “I am an oppressed special snowflake of love” provides us not only nearly endless amusement, but an opportunity to swoop in after the left has pummeled itself into mush.

This is an opportunity to get back on the side of the American people and do their will by striking back at these leftist twits. Along with the rising crime rate – even as President Faily McWorsethancarter has decided it’s time to free thousands of felons because justice or something – student idiocy provides enterprising conservatives a chance to appeal to the Silent Majority just like Richard Nixon did. For you college students out there, you’ll need to Google his Wikipedia page, but suffice it to say, he won

So let’s make sure Hillary Clinton and the rest of the Democrats have to own this pouty passion play. You know there's no way Hillary can stand up and say what I would: “Hey you little cretins, you’ve got ‘til I count to three to get off my quad or I unleash these state troopers to get all pepper spray and nightstick up on your delicate little booties. Three.”

No, she has to kiss their collective healing circles. And we should make her do it publicly, because there’s nothing normal voters love more than seeing people giving in to petulant sophomores with an attitude. We should force her to take a stand, to decide whether she's on the side of the little college punks, or on the side of Americans. Gee, where do you think she’ll come down? Not with the normals, that’s for sure.

But even as we get a short term political benefit we also have a long term cultural opportunity. An Overton Window is opening to defenestrate academia as it is currently constituted. Right now, as people like Glenn Reynolds and yours truly have written, colleges are pricing themselves out of the market and are increasingly vulnerable to new technology that can deliver an education without all the nonsense. Conservatives can now make an even stronger case that we need to stop subsidizing these government-funded petri dishes of social pathologies and pinko bioweapons. The clown shows at Yale and UofM are a perfect, graphic demonstration of why we should slash their budgets, pare their loathsome, Dem-voting administrations to the bone, and force academia to change – and it goes without saying that the change will be into something other than the lefty conformity factories they are today.

It’s beautiful how this conflict divides the liberals between the establishment and the students, and how it further subdivides two of their main establishment constituencies, academics and mainstream media journalists. For too long, both of these groups of hapless losers have been able to pretend to support free speech. Well, suckers, now it's getting real. The little monsters you spawned don't much like free-speech, and they want you to shut up too, not just us conservatives. Being academics and journalists, and therefore presumptively without spines, most of you guys will submit. A few of you won't, and it will weaken your coalition when some number of your members walk away because they just can’t swallow your catering to these Junior Red Guards. 

Oh, and what if you little goofs dare strut off campus thinking that we’re like the professorial puffballs who’ll fold in the face of any intersectional anarcho-feminist who starts bawling about feeling unsafe because someone expressed an idea he/she/it doesn’t like? Well, stampy foot may work with your local Assistant Dean for Diversity and Petty Fascism, but it doesn’t play with us. The Iraqis didn’t stop me from exercising my First Amendment rights, nor the Balkans baddies, nor the scumbag rioters in Los Angeles, so you sure as hell aren’t going to without a fight. If you think you get a vote about what we normal Americans can and can’t say, you best be ready to try and make that happen with more firepower than a vicious Tumblr, because when it comes to the Bill of Rights we’re playing for keeps.. 

So, fellow freedom lovers, grab a bag of popcorn and a tumbler of scotch, because this is only going to get better and better. And you matriculating Marxist morons, pay no mind to us conservatives or to our laughter. Just keep very publicly making your strategic mistakes in your widdle campus safe spaces, and we will keep letting you – for now. 

 Journalist Professor Click ordering conservative journalist away from the "Safe Zone"

at Missou University

The 4 boxes of the American Political System...A reminder to the ruling class..

I posted this in the past and I figured it was worth posting again......The current drama going on in the world with the special snowflakes protesting, Isis getting real ambitious after blowing up a Russian jet, they attack Paris.  I know the next attack will come here, those goat rapers already said that they will strike here. What concerns me is that what will happen afterwards?  We have the government doubling down on stupid and bringing in "Syrian Refugee's"   you know the ones that look of Military age, and we are supposed to believe that we will perform a proper vetting process on them?

The people allowed the surveillance state to crop up and the government to become overbearing due to 9-11.  What will be the fallout after this attack by ISIS?  We have a generation of candy asses protesting "everything". 

Yes this is on my toolbox

  What will we do, I know that as Americans we will survive...but the same generation that has been whining will immediately turn to the government and those crooks will use this as an opportunity to get more of their agenda passed especially with the "Dear Leader" in command.   I truly don't have any answers.  I do hope with all my being that we will hopefully become an exceptional nation again.

The 4 boxes of the American Political System.

  I had posted this back when I first started blogging.  I will repost since it is pertinant to todays discussions on government and overreach.   The 4 boxes of the American political system work like this:

      1.    The Soapbox :  I can stand on a soapbox and criticize the power structure and the politicians and not get thrown in jail and sent to a gulag or get asked "Where do you want your remains sent to?"
 
     2.  The Ballot Box:  I can vote for whomever I want without fear of being thrown into prison for supporting the "Wrong candidate" or being wrapped in a tire and set on fire.

     3.  The jury box:  I can feel confident that the rule of law will apply equally to everybody without regard to station in life. and due process isn't being asked "which ear do you want the bullet?

     4. Cartridge box:  You open the 4th one when the others are threatened and get the first 3 back.

      

Monday Music "Brilliant Disguise" by The Boss

I was on the way to work and I was listening to my Sirius/XM on the 80's channel and they were playing the top 40 songs from 1987 on it and this song was number 5 for this week back in 1987.  I remember this song. I bought the album on LP when I had returned to the states on leave before I started my 2nd tour in Germany.  I considered the "Tunnel of Love" album almost as good as his "Born in the U.S.A." album.  I would play the songs from this album on a cassette mix that I made with some other songs for my car and barracks room.  I would later buy the CD when I got my first CD player , it was a "Marantz" single tray and it was a big step up in quality for the music vs LP and cassette.  I wouldn't get a CD player for my car until I bought my 2001 Sport Trac back in 2001.  But back to the Music, even now I would hear this song and it would take me back to my time in Germany in 1988 and driving near Echterdingen and Esslingen.  It still was during the cold war and speaking of that I am reading a book I downloaded on my tablet called "Red Storm Rising" by Tom Clancy.  I have read this book many times and it still is a good read and it still gives me a bit of a chill because I remember the times back in the 80's when I patrolled the 1 K zone between East and West Germany.  Scary but I never felt more alive.....funny how that works out.

"Brilliant Disguise" is a song by Bruce Springsteen from his 1987 album Tunnel of Love. It was released as the first single from the album, reaching the #5 position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in the United States. The follow-up single, "Tunnel of Love", also reached #1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, giving Springsteen two consecutive #1's. The single had less commercial success in other countries.

Like much of the Tunnel of Love album, "Brilliant Disguise" was recorded in Springsteen's home studio, called Thrill Hill East, between January and May 1987 with several members of the E Street Band. On this song, Springsteen played several instruments and is backed by Roy Bittan on keyboards, Danny Federici on organ and Max Weinberg on drums.
The lyrics of "Brilliant Disguise" represent a confession of self-doubt on the part of the singer. The emotions expressed in the song include confusion, jealousy and anxiety about whether the singer's wife has become a stranger to him. The song deals with the masks people wear and the bitterness that can ensue when we realize the darkness that may lie behind those masks. The analogies to Springsteen's personal life at the time are evident: he had recently married then-model and actress Julianne Phillips, and the two would divorce in 1988. The references to marital problems are quite direct, as in the lyrics, "We stood at the alter [sic]/the gypsy swore our future was bright/but come the wee wee hours/Well maybe baby the gypsy lied."
The song's quiet power builds slowly. The sound is scaled back from the typical E Street Band sound. The singer struggles to do things right, but it doesn't help. He can't trust either himself or his wife. Both he and his wife continue to play their roles - he of a "faithful man", she of a "loving woman", but the singer is nonetheless wracked with self-doubt. A key line towards the end of the song:
"I wanna know if it's you I don't trust/Because I damn sure don't trust myself."
sums up the emotions that resonate throughout the song, and indeed the entire second side of the Tunnel of Love album.
Springsteen himself wrote about the song "after '85 I'd had enough and turned inward to write about men, women and love, things that have previously been on the periphery of my work."
The song was later released on the compilation album The Essential Bruce Springsteen.
"Brilliant Disguise" has been ranked as the #1192 best song of all time, as well as the #27 song of 1987 and the #214 song of the 1980s, in an aggregation of critics' lists at acclaimedmusic.net The song has also been listed as one of the all time great songs in Toby Creswell's "1001 songs" and as one of the 7500 most important songs from 1944 through 2000 by Bruce Pollock.It was also ranked as the #6 single of 1987 by the Village Voice and the #51 single of 1987 by the New Musical Express.
The photograph on the original release picture sleeve was taken by Springsteen's sister Pamela Springsteen.

Like several other music videos from the Tunnel of Love album, including "Tunnel of Love", "One Step Up" and "Tougher Than the Rest", the video for "Brilliant Disguise" was directed by Meiert Avis.
The video of the song, shot in black and white, effectively reflects its emotions. The singer sits uncomfortably on the edge of a chair. He plays his guitar as he sings the lyrics about what it means to try to trust someone looking straight into the camera, never flinching. This very personal performance can make it difficult to watch, but it effectively reflects the themes of the song.
The video was later released on the VHS and DVD Video Anthology / 1978-88

Unwritten Military Traditions...and some musings

I saw this when I was in the service...certain things are not written of but are lore that is passed down from the crusty old bastards to the new boots.  Before I present the following traditions...there are many that I didn't present..I do have some words for what happened to Paris a couple of days ago.  My prayers go to France after this....France said that they were the United States right after 9-11 when we were attacked by islamist.  This is sad and ironic that this attack happened right "Dear Leader" said that ISIS is contained......He still couldn't say the words "islamic terrorist"..

  To him the biggest threat is "climate Change"...the stuff that only seems to affect the western based societies.  All the others seem to get the pass.....This seems to be the only thing he cares about....

This is Obama/the Democrat's religion..."Global Warming, Global cooling...er....ahh Climate change...To me the "Greens" are the new "Reds"   I call them "Watermelons"..same tired collectivist crap wrapped in a new green packaging since the communist/collectivist/Marxist red packaging seems dated.

     My heart goes out to the French, they still supported us in Afghanistan, and from everything that I read...the French troops over there are very good.   Now to solve the problems with the muslim over there is to basically stop the  invasion immigration encouraged by the Germans trying to commit nationalistic suicide..

..to me it is the ultimate act of penance for WWII.  I honestly believe that that is the goal in Merkel's heart to erase Germany from the map and hand the people and land over to the muslims.  I am of the mindset that we need to leave the middle east to their own devices and let them self destruct.....and prevent their entry to the civilized lands since their belief structure isn't compatible with it.

The U.S. military

is awash in regulations, laws, and official traditions. How troops march and salute, what uniform to wear to what event, or what you are supposed to say when greeting a superior are all examples of “on-the-books” behaviors expected of service members.

And then there are the “off-the-books” traditions. They are the unwritten rules: traditions that go back way before the books were printed. These activities — especially the ones involving hazing — are often frowned upon, but still continue to happen, usually without any official recognition.

Here are eight examples.

1. Fighter pilots (or members of flight crew) get hosed down after their final flight.

 

The “fighter pilot mafia” is definitely a thing in the Air Force and Navy, which is the nickname for the pilot sub-culture within each service. Soon after aviators get to a new unit they will go through an unofficial ceremony of receiving their callsigns, and they usually are not very flattering.

On the flip side is the final flight. Much like a football coach gets a giant cooler of Gatorade dumped over their head at the end of a game, pilots sometimes will get hosed down with water by their comrades. In some cases, they’ll be doused with champagne.

In the case of Maj. Vecchione (shown above), his peers also threw string cheese, flour, and mayonnaise on him. Personally, I would’ve thrown in some ketchup and mustard, but hell, I wasn’t there.

2. At a military wedding with a sword detail, the wife gets a sword-tap to her booty to “welcome her” to the family.

Nothing like a little tradition that allows some dude to tap your brand new wife on the butt. When a service member wants to go through the pageantry of having a “military wedding” — wearing their uniform at the altar and bringing along a sword detail — they can expect that at the end of it all, some random dude will be sexually harassing his wife for the sake of tradition.

It goes like this: On the way out right after the ceremony, the couple passes over an arch of swords on both sides. They go through, kiss, go through, kiss, then they get to the last one. Once they reach the final two and pass, one of the detail will lower their sword, tap the bride, and say “welcome to the Army [or Marine Corps, etc]!”

Here’s the Navy version:

3. When a Navy ship crosses the equator, sailors perform the “crossing the line” ceremony, which frankly, involves a lot of really weird stuff.

 

The Crossing the Line ceremony goes far back to the days of wooden ships and Old NFO's youth. According to this Navy public affairs story, sailors were put through this hazing ritual designed to test whether they could endure their first time out at sea.

These days, sailors crossing the line for the first time — called Pollywogs or Wogs for short — can expect an initiation into the club of those who have done it before, referred to as Shellbacks. During the two-day event, the “Court of Neptune” inducts the Wogs into “the mysteries of the deep” with activities like having men dress up as women, drink stuff like a wonderful mix of hot sauce and aftershave, or make them crawl on their hands and knees in deference to King Neptune. I swear I’m not making any of this up.

In the modern military that is decidedly against hazing rituals, the events have toned down quite a bit. In 1972 a sailor may have expected to be kissing the “Royal Baby’s belly button,” which again, is totally a real thing.

Nowadays however, there’s much less of that sort of thing, and the Navy stresses that it’s all completely voluntary (ask any sailor, however, and they’ll probably tell you it’s “voluntary” with big air quotes).

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

4. Before going on deployment, Marine infantrymen who have never deployed need to shave their heads.

Don’t ask me where this unwritten rule came from or why — other than to distinguish who the total boots in the platoon were — but Marine grunts who have never done a deployment are often told to shave their heads before they move out.

Again, this is one of those “voluntary” you-don’t-have-to-do-this-if-you-don’t-want-to kind of things, .  I am told that such things are "voluntary"......Interestingly enough, those that don't play along were put on plenty of cleanup details and other not-so-fun jobs as a result.

5. When achieving the next rank or earning parachute wings or other insignia, a service member may get “blood-pinned,” though it’s rare these days.

Soldiers who get through five successful jumps at Airborne School in the past could expect to get “blood wings,” but that practice has died down in recent years as the public has learned of it. After a superior pinned their wings on, a soldier would get their new badge slammed into their chest, which often draws blood.

This kind of thing is frowned upon — and prohibited under military regulations — but it still sometimes happens. In some cases, it’s considered a rite of passage and kind of an honor. I personally endured pinning ceremonies that I volunteered for when I picked up the rank of specialist or Sp/4 as it was called back then.  

Volunteer or not, it’s a ritual which the brass has endured plenty of bad press over, so they tend to discipline anyone involved whenever it happens.

6. Some units have mustache-growing contests in training or on deployment to see who can achieve the most terrible-looking ‘stache.

The military regulations on facial hair offer little in the way of good looking when it comes to shaves. Most men are not allowed to grow beards (except for some special operators) and although they are allowed, mustaches are generally frowned upon. Why they are frowned upon usually comes down to how terrible they often look.

Photo: MCB Hawaii

Don’t expect any mustache greatness ala Rollie Fingers; troops usually have to keep the mustache neatly trimmed within the corners of their mouth. Those regulations give way to the terribleness derived from the “CAX ‘stache,” which is what Marines refer to as the weird-looking Hitler-like mustache they’ll grow out while training at 29 Palms.

These contests sometimes extend overseas, especially when junior troops are away from the watchful eyes of their senior enlisted leaders. But whenever the sergeant major is around, you might want to police that moostache.

7. First-year West Point cadets have a giant pillow fight to blow off steam after the summer is over.

Before they become the gun-toting leaders of men within the United States Army, first year cadets are beating the crap out of each with pillows in the school’s main courtyard. The annual event is organized by the students and has occurred since at least 1897, according to The New York Times.

While it’s supposed to be a light-hearted event featuring fluffy pillows filled with things that are, you know, soft, some [blue falcon] cadets have decided to turn the event bloody in recent years. One first-year cadet told The Times in September: “The goal was to have fun, and it ended up some guys just chose to hurt people.”

That quote came from a story that broke months ago after the “fun” pillow fight ended with at least 30 cadets requiring medical attention, 24 of which were concussion

8. Naval Academy midshipmen climb a lard-covered monument for a hat.

Around the same time that first-year West Point cadets are beating each other and causing concussions, 1,000 screaming Navy midshipmen are charging toward a 21-foot monument covered in lard with a hat on top. The goal: Retrieve the first-year “plebe” hat and replace it with an upperclassmen hat, a task which signifies their transition to their next year at the Academy.

Beforehand, upperclassmen hook up the plebes with about 200 pounds of greasy lard slapped on the sides of the Herndon Monument, making their task a bit more difficult. They need to use teamwork and dedication to climb their way to the top, which can take anywhere from minutes to over four hours (Class of 1995 has the longest time 4 hours, 5 minutes).

According to the Academy’s website, the tradition is that the first guy to make it to the top will likely rise to the rank of admiral first. That is if he or she doesn’t get themselves fired first.

Eric Kammeyer removes the “dixie cup” cap from the Herndon Monument, a 21-foot greased obelisk at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, in 1997. Tradition holds that the plebe who replaces the cap with a midshipman’s hat will be the first from his class to attain the rank of admiral. (John Makely/Baltimore Sun)

Friday Musings...

A couple of pithy thoughts...I am still working a lot of hours but I figured I would post a couple of quick thoughts.....First off....I got the scout popcorn, I had taken orders at work and was now delivering them.

   

Lot of popcorn.....People buy it because it supports scouting...

    Another pithy comment....what in the Sam Hill is going on with the college campuses?   All these special snowflakes flexing their SJW chops...?   give me a freaking break...what in the hell these people going to do when they find real adversity?   they will cave like Obama does in dealing with the Russians.... The new generation is in deep...

And speaking on the SJW's and the modern educayshun system....I found a video..takes about 7 minutes to watch......The sad thing is that I can see this happening...

Veterans Day ...

Today is what I call the only holiday for me and my kind....you know the ones that have served...those that were willing to surrender our today's and tomorrows if necessary to serve our country.  Those that have walked the ramparts to keep the darkness away from the kinder gentler people.. We who walk the walk to make sure that our country will have a tomorrow and a day after.  We who have made the decision since the first caveman picked up a spear to defend his family and his village from bad people so our kids can live a peaceful life.  I honor those like us....and to us and damn few of us left it seems.  

  At work we had a veterans celebration, there was a cake..

  We Veterans were told that we could bring some memento's of our service and I thought real hard of what I could bring....and I finally grabbed a few things...

My Helmet, my LBE, a Soviet, and an East German Flag.  My floppy hat, a East German hat and a Soviet Hat, my shadowbox and a beer stein that I "liberated" from the Octoberfest tent in Munich in 1986.
     I felt weird though....I never really showed my medals and other stuff to other people..I can count the number of people on one hand that have seen the stuff that I displayed...I never talked about what I did in the service...I have good stories, all vets do....but I never really talked about what I DID, what I saw, what I experienced.  It felt very disconcerting though...Like I violated a veil of silence that my regiment has instilled in us since we got the emblem of the Spinx on that field a long time ago.  I felt like I was a braggart....That is something that I don't do and that made me uncomfortable.

    We also had some aircraft there...we had every GI's favorite helicopter...The Huey "Dustoff" helicopter...to a G.I in harms way...nothing screams "America" like the "whop, whop, whop" of a Huey.

We also had a L19 cub, I think OldNFO flew this one...

 And of course the A1S Cobra..

I was reading the stats on this Cobra.....We shared the same sky as it was....I probably saw this cobra in my time in Germany...I have to rustle through my pics...I took pictures of cobra's doing their thing while I was on maneuvers in Germany...I might get lucky and actually have this one in my pictures.   People rave on the Apache but I preferred the Cobra...the original bad ass helicopter.

Again to all Veterans.....both here and those that have passed one....We honor them