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looks like cousin pookie was busy
from Snakehead #15537
11/4/2009 7:02:04 AM
Rated:
smoking crack and couldnt make it to the polls
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/03/AR2009110300371.html?hpid=todays-paper
and they lost new jersey as well.
from 5keepers #10346 11/4/2009 7:05:55 AM
Very Good!
from Wackoman 11/4/2009 7:12:44 AM
Them spottials be bitem' right now.
Good post head.
from 31Airborne 11/4/2009 7:14:05 AM
. . . now we just keep the mo' goin'.
One Dem strategist said he was "shocked" by the outcome. We've a new definition for clueless now.
Not even close.
from RobShaw 11/4/2009 7:54:21 AM
"For the first time in my adult life...time, I'm proud to be a Virginian"
from MikeF 11/4/2009 8:09:35 AM
They were shocked because as a group they're totally out of touch with what most of America wants. I know I spend a lot of times making fun of liberals but I really do believe that for the most part they honestly do not understand why anyone would be opposed to their ideas. It was evident when the protests at "town halls" started that most of the libs "knew" that the protesters were being told to show up and ask questions. They had no idea that a lot of people don't want what the libs are trying to do to our country.
They assume that the only reason you would have to disagree with them is because you're not smart enough to know how stupid you are. They call themselves the intellectual elite because that's what they believe; they're convinced they have an obligation to take care of us because we're not smart enough to take care of ourselves.
Through their social meddling they have managed to create a class of people that are dependent on the government to run their lives but I'm not in that group. I want my America back and I really don't want to wait two more years for the unchanging to begin.
My grandfather fought in a war, my father fought in two and I fought in what should have been a war and none of us put our lives on the line for socialism. I know what America is supposed to be and what obama wants isn't even close; not one damn bit.
I want my country back and soon.
from Bass Stalker 11/4/2009 8:14:10 AM
Perry
from Fisherboy #10852 11/4/2009 9:45:54 AM
Did you serve under MacArthur?
IrespectMyElders ...
from GITTHENET 11/4/2009 9:46:24 AM
For those who believe in big government, more government control, and to think, SOME want the same federal government to take over and run 1/6 or our economy with the UN-CONSTITUTIONAL takeover of our health care system. The libs are successfully convincing their constituents (for the most part) that capitalism is evil and the problem.
The below assigns blame primarily to the dems, and IMO social engineering is definitely not a conservative program, however, it began under a repub controlled congress & senate and failed under a repub pres. With that said, it FAILED under a dem controlled congress and senate so IMO, was primarily a dem responsibility.
Economic Crisis: A Failure of Socialism
The Sub-prime mortgage crisis has been blamed on capitalism. This is a bald-faced lie told by those who want to bury capitalism under their own dirty dealings and make the way clear for more exploitation of the average citizen. Let's start from the beginning
The Federal Reserve is a quasi-governmental institution. The only government agency that has the authority to regulate the Fed is the Fed. Fannie and Freddie are quasi-governmental institutions. Their directors and managers were Democrat operatives and fund raisers who made millions on bonuses that have not been paid back in spite of accounting violations. Fannie and Freddie are regulated by the Democratic controlled congress. When the government refuses to regulate itself that is a failure of the government not a failure of capitalism.
The Community Reinvestment Act that lowered lending standards was a government regulation of the banking industry; it in no way represented a “liberation” of the banking industry or a free market; it required that banks make more loans (according to lower standards) to people with bad credit ratings; it dictated those standards to the banks that would otherwise have practiced good lending practices; that is regulation, not capitalism.
Government backed loans offered to people who cannot afford to pay them back is a failure of government not capitalism; it is the government that could not back these loans but yet told a lie that the loans were secure.
Government backed worthless securities sold as investments by Fannie and Freddie to an already over-regulated financial services industry is a failure of government not capitalism; it was government that made people think the securities were good investments when, in fact, they were worthless.
The entire sub-prime crisis is a result of the idea of government re-distribution from the rich to the poor…it was a government-caused crisis, advocated primarily by Democrats and based upon a Marxist premise; not a capitalist premise. Re-distribution is the Marxist idea that government should re-distribute money and power 'to each according to his needs (the poor need homes) from each according to his abilities (investors in banks must pay)'. This is not a capitalist premise.
The people who backed this entire fiasco from Frank to Dodd to Fannie and Freddie to Obama and other Democrats in Congress (who protected the scheme of sub-prime lending and blocked reform of the system) were not capitalists. The very people who are responsible for the crisis are now claiming that it is a failure of capitalism. They are all socialists. It is these people, not capitalists, who should be investigated and prosecuted.
The sub-prime crisis is a failure of socialism.
from MikeF 11/4/2009 9:54:56 AM
no I served under Zummy and uncle Hymie.
from RobShaw 11/4/2009 10:07:05 AM
(;
from Spinny 11/4/2009 10:23:33 AM
...Elmo Ticklers. LOL
from MikeF 11/4/2009 10:28:44 AM
I was part of the hippie Navy; long hair and beards; thankfully I got out before they changed to the gas station uniforms.
from RobShaw 11/4/2009 11:04:32 AM
3 years shy of 30 and I'm about to be forced to wear these ridiculous blue cammies that theyve come out with...
btw...sometimes i have long hair and a beard (;
from MikeF 11/4/2009 12:07:04 PM
Do you think they do it on purpose. As soon as bell bottoms became fashionable they dropped them. It took fleet level approval so we could wear ballcaps and t-shirts in Viet Nam and then we had to do iron-on rank patches on the t-shirts. I need to dig up a picture of how I looked when I was in VN, I wish I was that thin now. LOL
Edited 11/4/2009 12:07:27 PM
from Gridleak 11/4/2009 12:41:01 PM
...
I had two fatigue uniform shirts. One was long sleeve with two stripes, and one was short sleeve with one stripe. Every spring I would get busted a stripe and put on the short sleeve shirt and every fall I would get promoted and put on the long sleeve shirt.
Once I got busted for having the wrong shirt for the time of year (aka Out of Uniform)... but I figured being out of uniform was better than wearing the wrong rank. The Commander was not amused when I told him it was his fault I was out of uniform because he was running behind schedule on busting me. So he busted me a stripe. I went back to the barracks, changed shirts and was then both in uniform and had the correct rank.
I always hated it when the Air Force couldn't get with the program. Sheesh! After several years of me training them you'd think they could keep up.
Gridleak
from RobShaw 11/4/2009 12:50:19 PM
my wife will tell you that it's always the Commander's fault!
from Fisherboy #10852 11/4/2009 1:42:35 PM
I bet it always is the "Commander's fault" in your house --Commander Rob Shaw ... for those who don't get it.
Back when I was in the Army ....
Back when I was in the Air Force ....
I can tell a personal story using either one of those lines. However, the Army ones are much more entertaining. Unless of course, I'm talking to my Army buddies who didn't jump ship. And then the Air Force stories just make them mad ... LOL.
CanYouSayAirConditionedDormsGrid?
from Gridleak 11/4/2009 1:42:46 PM
...
In the Commanders office, with me standing at attention along side my NCOIC...
Commander: Do you have a reason why you should be wearing long sleeves when everybody else is wearing short sleeves?
Airman 1st class Grid: Yes SIR!
silence...
...
...
...
Commander: Well?...
Airman 1st class Grid: Beggin' your pardon, but you forgot to bust me, SIR!
Commander: We'll get around to that. I'm still waiting to hear what your excuse is.
Airman 1st class Grid: That IS my excuse Sir!
Commander: Your excuse is that I forgot to bust you?
Airman 1st class Grid: Yes Sir!
silence...
...
...
Commander: Would you care to expound on that Airman?
At this point I noticed that my NCOIC was startin' to develope a bit of a nervous twitch. Again.
Grid: Sir! Yes Sir! Every spring I get busted and I put on my short sleeve shirt Sir! Then every fall I get promoted and I put on my long sleeve shirt... you forgot to bust me so far this spring and I didn't want to be wearing the wrong rank... Sir!
Commander: So... if I bust you a stripe... you'll change shirts and be in compliance with the regs. Is that what you're saying?
Grid: Sir! Yes Sir!
silence...
...
...
Commander: Have you ever considered that you could sew the correct rank on the correct uniform and be in compliance?
Grid: Yes Sir!
silence...
...
...
Commander: And?...
Grid: And I got busted right after I did Sir! Two years runnin' Sir! It's all right there in the record Sir! (At which point I broke "attention" just enough to point slightly at the file that lay before him on his desk, and continued, If you'll look you'll see that it's not my fault... the Air Force is runnin' behind schedule... Sir! And then came back "to".
It was at that point that my NCOIC began to sink ever so slightly at the knees but did an admirable job of regaining himself as I am fairly certain he had been watching his career pass before his eyes.
The conversation was pretty much over then except for the Colonel readin' me the riot act and offering me an Article 15 in leu of a court marshall. Which I accepted. And my NCOIC pretty much tried to keep his distance from me until I got out that August. Me and him (the NCOIC) only had to make one more trip to see the Colonel before I got out. That trip cost me a stripe as well, which again I don't have to point out was out of timing and sequence with the schedule, but he suspended the bust... so I didn't have to change shirts or anything. I tell ya'... sometimes you just get lucky.
Gridleak
from Gridleak 11/4/2009 1:49:23 PM
...
I talk to Navy guys about emergency landings I witnessed at various Air Force basses. Them Navy boys get bored real quick with stories that end with 15,000 foot runways.
Gridleak
from WHIMSY 11/4/2009 2:55:27 PM
When I was in the Navy, the aircraft I flew on was supposed to have 10,000 ft. runways but the longest we ever landed on was 8,000 ft. That was a darn sight better than an aircraft carrier. They looked like postage stamps when we flew over them.
from Fisherboy #10852 11/4/2009 3:06:34 PM
When I was in the Army, I flew on more C-130s than I can count, plus a couple C-141s, a C-17 and a boat load of blackhawks and Hueys.
In the Air Force, I flew on exactly one C-130 and that was a "employer incentive flight" when I transfered from the Army to Air National Guard.
When I went to the Air Force, I flew on a couple Army Helicopters, but never an Air Force plane over a six-year period. Not one.
Go figure!
from DaveT 11/4/2009 3:23:53 PM
Well said above Mike. And Grid love the busted story.
from Rip #10422 11/4/2009 4:07:20 PM
About half the time, I wud salute the officers left handed, then stand there with a little silly half grin while they chewed my azz out. I found quickly I had more azz than they had teeth.
On the small base in Italy, they also had an Air Force company. I would see a private airman meet a Colonel and just say, Hi. Didn't work with my officers when I tried it.
Our HQ was in Germany. They sent down a Spec 4 strip for all the privates, but my Sarge and Captn sent mine back. Really pizzed them off when HQ sent it back and made them give it to me.
But I really appreciate my neighbors putting me in Army, for I got to spend a lot of time in Barcelona, Spain, a terrific place. Rob, you ever pull into port at Barcelona?
Hard to realize all that was 45 years ago.
from Gridleak 11/4/2009 4:23:31 PM
...
and still counting, bwahaha.
It was 36 years for me last August... and still counting.
Gridleak
from MikeF 11/4/2009 5:10:39 PM
I managed to go through 6 years in the Navy without getting busted but I was close twice.
The first was absolute chicken-shit. I was a Nuke ET so I made E-5 in 13 months and 1 day and I was happy there. It's a great rank you don't have to do most work details even on ship and it's not high enough so you'll be in charge of anyone else. So one day in Norfolk while I'm in a Crypto school I get called into the admin office and get written up because I had been an E-5 for over 2 years and had never applied to take the E-6 test and never had anyone sign off on any of the performance requirements for that rank. This guy had to have requested a copy of this info from my ship because my records wouldn't have been at the school. I never knew why he was out to get me but this guy wanted to have me reduced to E-4 because I hadn't attempted to advance to E-6. I'm sure that made sense to him. I had to get my Department Officer from the ship to call this guy and get him off my back.
So after that school and two other ones, thankfully not in Norfolk, I'm back to the ship and we're getting ready to go to Viet Nam. The getting ready part was pretty good; we spent most of 6 months in St Croix testing missile systems and working on a passive infrared radar system (which BTW never worked for crap).
On the way to VN our division LPO had a heart attack and was dropped off in Guam and sent back to the states. Since I'm the most senior E-5 I get bumped up to the slot (which kind of defeated the purpose of not taking the test). My division CPO never did anything except tell me to take care of whatever needed to be done and spent all of his time hanging out in the Chief's lounge. I had 15 guys working for me and most of the time there was only enough stuff to barely keep half of them busy; which makes for real long days.
But with all these guys doing nothing there was only me trained on two experimental radar systems (which never worked correctly) and only two of us trained on Crypto communication gear and I'm in charge of the other guys so even with almost nothing to do I'm busy all the time and constantly being woke up in the middle of the night.
Up on the main bridge there are radar repeaters which are CRT displays for the various radars. One of these had a problem and would intermittently just turn off. We never could find a problem because as soon as you opened it it would come back on and work perfectly. It turned out to be an electrical supply problem so it wasn't even my problem.
Anyway in the absolute middle of the night I get woken up and told the repeater is out and they want it fixed. I go to the mess deck and grab a cup of coffee and stop by the shop for a tool box and head to the bridge. It's the middle of the night in a war zone so the only lights on the bridge are dim and red. The mess deck and our shop are nice and bright so when I get to the bridge I can just barely see. I walk over to the repeater, bump into it, spill my coffee and it comes back on. I turned to one of the guys on the bridge and said: there it f'ing works and I'm going back to bed.
Well it turns out the Captain is on the bridge cause he can't sleep and isn't in a very good mood. He says to me: sailor, I want that fixed properly and I want it done right now, I tired of it constantly failing. Being the dumbass/smartass that I was I said: no problem Sir I'll get right on it (I could have stopped right there, but no) and since I'm already up and it's the middle of the night if you'll give me a list of whatever else is going to break tomorrow I'll fix that too.
It turns out he did not think I was as funny as thought I was. He had me sent off the bridge and had my Department officer hauled out of bed and proceeded to chew on him for the next hour. Luckily for me my Lt. liked me and he had a sense of humor so I got off with being restricted to the ship for the next 3 months most of which we were at sea and when we were in port I always was able to get off anyway.
For the rest of the time over there we all had a running joke about being the psychic repair squad and I wasn't allowed on the bridge unless someone else verified the captain wasn't there.
Edited 11/4/2009 5:15:05 PM
Edited 11/4/2009 5:18:18 PM
Edited 11/5/2009 7:31:09 AM
from ButchT 11/4/2009 6:04:53 PM
Seems you and Grid were of the "renegade" sort back in the day. Enjoy the old "war" stories. Especially the funny ones.
from Rip #10422 11/4/2009 9:46:34 PM
Mike, I was crypto trained and sent to a relay comm station in Italy, where we routed all communications from Europe south into Africa, etc. We had a tie in with the Naval Base at Naples.
The nice thing about being the crypto operator, you didn't put up with anything when resetting every 24 hours. Got some guy one weekend night who just couldn't get it right. After 30 mins of trying, just got pizzed and chewed his ass out good and told him to follow my lead to the letter and get this GD circuit back up, which he did. Found out later he was a full bird Colonel who was there for some untold reason. A PFC chewing out a full bird!! Didn't get that thrill often.
from MikeF 11/5/2009 7:38:26 AM
I wasn't a Crypto operator I just had to fix the radios so I had to have the clearance and know how to set them up. And like you said most of the time the problems were ESO (equipment superior to operator) LOL.
from RobShaw 11/5/2009 11:40:55 AM
How times have changed, Mike. Nowadays, nukes dont even know where the bridge of a ship is...but they can all say "micro micro curies per cubic centimeter squared" 3 times fast. They hardly ever leave the engine rooms.
Rip, I've been to Barcelona numerous times but have not moored there. Ive anchored off of Palma De Mallorca and have pulled into the Navy base at Rota numerous times.
While anchored off of Palma aboard the USS NARWHAL, our anchor chain broke and the boat did what unanchored boats do...it drifted into shallow water. Of course this happened around 0200 while the majority of the crew was on liberty ashore and the Captain was sleeping. I remember awakening to the sensation of the boat rising and then dropping where the entire boat would shutter as it struck the ground. As it turned out, I was the only qualified helmsman onboard (I was an E-2) and was called to the control room by the CO. The next several hours was pure hell as we drove the boat off of the shoal and witnessing the anguish of the Captain as he was sure his career was over. To make a long story short, he went on to become an Admiral and the damage to the hull was minimal.
from Gridleak 11/5/2009 12:14:20 PM
...
of the story about the Navy Captain responsible for training Vietnamese crews to operate a navy vessel.
The story goes that after many weeks the Captain wrote in his log regarding progress "Finding new and different ways to run aground".
While it may or may not be true... I find it funny.
Gridleak
from MikeF 11/5/2009 1:40:51 PM
After I finished all the nuke schools and sub school I was assigned to the USS Gato, a fast attack sub. It was in Pascagoula, MS for repair after bouncing off a Russian sub that did a Crazy Ivan; it eventually was scrapped.
Anyway while waiting in Groton to be transferred someone realized that there was a spot on one of my lungs on an x-ray taken about a year previously. I ended up going to Philly for about a month of testing where they found nothing but the spot, which was gone by then, disqualified me for sub duty so I was sent back to electronics school for high power radar and then transferred to a DDG were I was then sent to the other schools like Crypto and passive infrared radar.
But speaking of running aground and hitting things; while we were in Gitmo doing battle qualification our captain managed to bury the hurricane bow of our DDG 10' deep into a corner of a concrete pier. After that he was always referred to as Capt Crunch. And right when we got to VN one of the destroyers in our squadron managed to hit a loose US mine and while no one was hurt the hull of the ship was damaged beyond repair. It was an older ship and had (if my memory is correct) what was called a cold riveted hull and it would have to have been towed to Oregon for repair. Any how it was scrapped at Subic Bay and some of the equipment was transferred to an Australian ship and I got to spend a couple of weeks on it helping them get the radar system up and running.
So I spent the first 3 1/2 years going to school or on temp assignment between schools and the last 2 1/2 years getting ready and then going to VN. After VN I managed to get a 4 month early out because the ship was being sent to tour South America so I missed crossing the equator.
from RobShaw 11/5/2009 1:55:26 PM
I miss the Submarine days...Ive since served on everything from Minesweeps to Aircraft Carriers. Nothing compares to the comaraderie of a Submarine crew!
I think my Region partner served on the GATO as a Radioman. He retired as a CWO4 nearly 20 years ago.
Great stuff Mike!
from MikeF 11/5/2009 2:17:58 PM
I would have loved to be on the Gato when it hit that other sub. Of course back then you couldn't say anything. LOL I did 5 months on the Intrepid in Pensacola and 3 months on a subtender in Goose Creek. That duty with all the weapons security sucked. We did get to watch a Polaris launch which was amazing. Then had to play bumper boats with some Russian freighter/trawlers trying to pick up pieces of the tube seal.
from WHIMSY 11/5/2009 4:20:37 PM
You are somewhat familiar with Olongapo.
from MikeF 11/5/2009 4:45:59 PM
One of the nastiest places I've ever been. Most of our port visits were to Subic, the rest were Hong Kong and one to Taiwan. Hong Kong was good, everywhere else sucked. We went to Japan when our tour was over but luckily I was able to fly home from there instead of coming back with the ship so I didn't see much of it except the Tokyo Airport.
from WHIMSY 11/5/2009 7:00:02 PM
I was told that Angeles City outside of Clark A.F.B. was just as bad but I never saw it. When we flew into Clark it was strictly business, in and out.
I spent a lot of time at Cubi Point N.A.S. however. Fleet exercises, Formosa Crisis in '58', etc. etc. and so on.
That was the only place I was made an offer. If, I was ever mad at someone, they would be 'taken care of' and it would only cost me ten dollars in American dollars. Needless to say, I respectfully declined. I told some of my friends about it and later police pull the body of a Marine gate guard out of the bay. We wondered if someone else took them up on their offer.
from Gene 11/13/2009 1:30:54 PM
at band camp.....
lol
Nice read men, thanks for your service.
from Gridleak 11/13/2009 3:35:52 PM
...
You boys in band camp had all the fun. Now don't hold back... tell us how it really was.
Gridleak
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