August 2011 - Argghhh!

If you are in the D.C. Area tomorrow morning, please consider becoming a protecting shield to a military family in need. A family member of a good friend of mine has lost their son last week. His name was MSG Kenneth B. Elwell. He lost his life in battle, serving our Country OCONUS. Some so-called Baptist thugs are planning to protest his funeral. His family needs us. Patriot Guard will provide a shield between them and the family. Please come and help and invite your friends. The Patriot Guard will...

"...since Bill is covering politics..." and since you may have simmered down a tad since the debt ceiling was bumped (and Obie promptly submitted additional spending requests which will require it to be bumped again, shortly), I figured I'd stir the pot a bit to prep you for your weekend.A Congresscritter gets an annual salary of $174,000 per year -- which puts them in the top 5% of wage-earners (and I use that term loosely WRT the Congers) in the US.Additional compensation -- benefits...

This young man is soon to become the first Marine to be a living recipient of the Medal of Honor in the Long War when President Obama awards the Medal to him on September 15. A record for this war - it only took *two* years to get this one approved. Which is at least 18 months too long, for my taste. Bing West, who is quoted in the article below, told me to keep an eye out for Corporal Meyer when we were chatting about the Medal of Honor and the bewildering time it takes to get them awarded. That...

Get some, Congressman West . Confuse the Libs some more.

As mentioned in the post below this one, we lost one of our flagpoles in a storm last week - I was flying a cotton US flag and didn't get it down in time (i.e., before the lightning started lighting the place up) and a wet cotton flag on a 20-foot pole in a 60mph wind... well, the wind won that fight. The nylon Castle flag did just fine. I took the opportunity to get a new, stouter pole and some new bunting, too. Currently aloft with the Castle flag is the Civil War-through-Indian War era swallow...

Lies, damned lies, and statistics version. Building on the topic I introduced yesterday , let's take a look at a very recent example of what appears to be either a badly done, or agenda-driven, use of statistics to push a desired policy goal - in this case, revising the military retirement system. Bottom line up front - every military retiree I've talked to - including the gentleman who analyzed the Defense Business Board presentation - are amenable to changing the military retirement system...

(Click to desmallen) ATLANTIC OCEAN (July 29, 2011) An SH-60 Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to the Dragon Whales of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 28 practices landing sequences during deck landing qualifications aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71). (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Marie Brindovas/Released) Boq