The Watering Hole: Saturday, May 19, 2012 Armed Forces Day

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Today is Armed Forces Day, a day when we honor those who serve our country in uniform.

President Harry S. Truman led the effort to establish a single holiday for citizens to come together and thank our military members for their patriotic service in support of our country.

On August 31, 1949, Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson announced the creation of an Armed Forces Day to replace separate Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force Days.
The single day celebration stemmed from the unification of the Armed Forces under the Department of Defense.

We are all one, big happy service.

But in addition to thanking our active duty service members for their sacrifices to our country (as well as the sacrifices of their families), I would like to ask people to remember the costs of going to war, and not just in terms of dollars and cents, but in lives lost. And I’m not talking about those lost in combat, of which there have already been far too many, but those who came back from war and found civilian life too unbearable. It is estimated by the Veterans Administration that about 18 vets commit suicide each day!. The VA has a Veterans Crisis Line and they do work hard to help returning veterans who find life difficult. If any of you know a veteran struggling to cope, please tell them about the Veterans Crisis Line (1-800-273-8255 Press 1). They risked their lives for us; let’s do all we can for them. Thank you.

This is our daily open thread –
If you see any active duty service members today, please thank them for their service.

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79 thoughts on “The Watering Hole: Saturday, May 19, 2012 Armed Forces Day”

  2. I admit to being one of those who would like nothing more than to see America’s annual military budget cut by no less than 90%. I’ve felt that way since the senseless Vietnam escalation began following the assassination of JFK in 1963, and note that there has NOT been a single military excursion in that near fifty year span since then that’s been worth anything to anyone other than the moneymakers in the M.I.C., and the various political leeches that live off them.

    I remember reading, somewhere, back in the late sixties a published article that argued in favor of a new slogan for America, one which would read WAGE PEACE, NOT WAR. I couldn’t have agreed more with any premise than that one at that time, and I still feel exactly the same way. True, there are times when self-defense is mandatory. The last one of those for America began officially on December 7, 1941, and lasted until September 2, 1945, when all hostilities ended. Since then, each and every military excursion has been nothing other than a useless waste of resources and of lives. We should, as a nation, be ashamed of that which we’ve done, of that which we’ve wrought. Including that which we are still doing, militarily, this very moment.

    Wage peace, not war. Period. Amen.

  3. Today is a big day. Armed Forces Day. Turtles has a big deal kickball game. The horses’ asses race at the Freakness (or some such) riding on or betting on the horses.

    And Ladies in racing reports to make. Last week Danica did the double at Darlington, The Lady in Green raced at The Lady in Black in her full time series, Nationwide, and the Sprint Cup series. Did pretty good Friday night, starting 15th and finishing twelfth, which put her in tenth place in points. Saturday night in the Cup race she struggled with handling issues, while the race began with a long green flag run before the first caution, and she got a lap down fairly quickly. She qualified 38th, and finished 31st, but she did get to run the whole race, so she got good experience.
    This week is the non-points All-Star race for Sprint Cup, which runs tonight, so the Nationwide race is tomorrow at Iowa.

    Today is also pole day at Indianapolis. In yesterday’s Fast Friday practice session Ana Beatriz was seventh fastest. Her team, Conquest Racing is an Andretti Autosport associate team, receiving tech support from them and it helped a lot. Fastest lap of the day was Marco Andretti’s Chevy powered machine, and Andretti cars held four of the top seven spots, with two Penske cars in second and third, and Scott Dixon’s Ganassi car the fastest Honda in fifth. Looking at the list, it appears the Chevys have a slight edge over the Honda, with the Lotus engined cars way down on power and thus, speed. Katherine Legge finally got Indycar approval for her team to switch from Lotus to Chevrolet on Thursday, and she was able to complete her rookie orientation yesterday, but she’s way behind on track time, so she’s the slowest non-Lotus speedwise. Since this is her first Indy, she just wants to make the race and not wreck. Only two cars are running the Lotus engine, Simona de Silvestro, and former F1 driver Jean Alesi, but they will make the race, because there are only 33 cars entered, and no ‘bumping’ is expected this year. That means we should have three ladies in the Indy 500 this year, but only one with a real competitive chance.

    Next week is a three day weekend. The Tuesday after is the one year anniversary of Think Progress ruining it’s comment section with Facebook. All the things that I don’t like about it still are a problem a year later. Facebook commenting is apparently unfixable!

    • Far out. That means it’s coming up on a full year since my complete and total refusal to contribute to Think Progress began. I’m surprised the whole site hasn’t collapsed in a heap in result. Oh well, at least MY purity remains intact! :grin:

  4. Speaking of “Defense”, here is, according to Chris Hedges, “A Victory for All of Us.”

    U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest, in a 68-page opinion, ruled Wednesday that Section 1021 of the NDAA was unconstitutional. It was a stunning and monumental victory. With her ruling she returned us to a country where—as it was before Obama signed this act into law Dec. 31—the government cannot strip a U.S. citizen of due process or use the military to arrest him or her and then hold him or her in military prison indefinitely. She categorically rejected the government’s claims that the plaintiffs did not have the standing to bring the case to trial because none of us had been indefinitely detained, that lack of imminent enforcement against us meant there was no need for an injunction and that the NDAA simply codified what had previously been set down in the 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force Act. The ruling was a huge victory for the protection of free speech. Judge Forrest struck down language in the law that she said gave the government the ability to incarcerate people based on what they said or wrote. Maybe the ruling won’t last. Maybe it will be overturned. But we and other Americans are freer today than we were a week ago.

  5. As cars scream around Indy, various microphones around the track pick up the sound of little songbirds before the approaching noise drowns them out momentarily. Nature can endure almost anything that becomes routine.

    • Ana Beatriz just went over 226 mph in the morning warmup. That girl is getting the hang of this oval racing!

      • man…I misread that to see “That girl is getting the hang of this ova racing!”

        mybad.

    • Human silliness has, indeed, become both routine and extreme over the last two or three millennia. As to why nature puts up with us, I’m not sure, but the day her patience ceases should be an interesting one.

  6. Oh, please let someone switch it to a crayon drawing the unveiling….

    Bush to return to White House for portrait unveiling – USATODAY.com

    WASHINGTON
    (AP)

    –
    Former President George W. Bush plans to return to the White House for the unveiling of his official portrait later this month, marking a rare visit by the two-term president who has largely shunned the spotlight since leaving office.

    (And the word isn’t “shunned” it’s “hid”; he’s a convicted war criminal.)

  7. Just a funny thing to share. I’m writing a blog post for my own blog about an e-mail I got from Michele Bachmann that contained some dubious claims (such as that Republican women support equal pay for equal work, among other things.) Well, apparently the name Bachmann isn;t in the spell check dictionary, so I right-clicked on it to see if I misspelled it and didn’t notice or to add it to my dictionary. Guess what the first suggested spelling was. “Eichmann.” I thought that was hilarious. I’ll let you know when it’s done, in case anyone from her district (or state) can e-mail her a question about her claims. She only accepts e-mails from her constituents “due to email volume.” Gee, it’s not because you were running for president and said a lot of insane or outright false things?

  9. Melt the butter and ready the popcorn:

    Next week’s guests on Bill Maher’s Real Time are Arthur Laffer and Paul Krugman.

    • Last night on Real Time Michelle Caruso Cabrera made me want to smash the TV. Especially the part where she said we’re not racist we have a black president. Oh and that unions have as much clout as the billionaires giving to super pacs. This month I had to pay an extra 5% in pension benefits for employees because the fund is short. Sure they can compete with cash with the billionaires, not.

  10. Thank-you to all of you who served our country in the Armed Forces.
    Thank-you to all of you who continue to serve by working to return us to our founding ideals, liberty and justice for ALL.

    • Considering who the GOP nominee will be, you’d think the wingnuts would steer very clear of any mention of polygamy.

    • hmm, me thinks the nutter has forgotten:

      …I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone

      …

      …In every house where I come I will enter only for the good of my patients, keeping myself far from all intentional ill-doing and all seduction and especially from the pleasures of love with women or with men, be they free or slaves…

    • He makes some great points. For instance, we don’t have any data about kids growing up not knowing their biological parents — other than the thousands (millions?) of adopted children that may not even know they’re adopted, or maybe didn’t learn about it until they were adults.

      And, obviously, being adopted will make you crazy except when it doesn’t, which is most people, unless it’s someone that Ablow doesn’t like because that person is clearly unhinged.

  12. Had a phone call this morning. Hooda is escaping from Utah and should be here in the Sierra Mojada foothills for supper. He picked a good day — cool, a bit of rain, and for supper, chicken breast in mango bbq sauce on homemade bread, plus a multiple bean salad, with soup-of-the-day my own what I call Swedish Cacciatore, all with a wee bit o’ wine on the side.

    • mmm, mmm, mmm. Quite the welcome wagon you are, frugal!
      Have a great visit with the badger!

  13. “I need a tire replaced.”
    - “Just one?”
    “Yes.”
    - “Let’s have a look at..”
    “I only need one tire replaced. The others are good. Just need the one that popped replaced.”
    - “The age of a tire..”
    “Only ONE tire to be replaced.”
    -”I’m not trying to sell you…” (again, I don’t let him finish).

    What the hell is it – still a gender, age or both issue? Guess I was supposed to be frightened into needing all tires replaced and acquiesce to same…
    this ol’ bird is tough and holds the line!

    The ONE new tire is working well with the other three, thank you very much!

    • Watch out for that tire sales rep that sold four brand new tires to the unicyclist! :smile:

    • Because virtually everybody working behind a counter at tire stores or car dealers is on commission. Next time try a small garage that sells tires.

  16. I’ll admit I’m really ignorant on the issue but why are there so many protests of the NATO summit here in Chicago? Or is it because the protesters don’t know what NATO is any more than I do?

    • Here’s a better question: Why would any city volunteer to have one of these summits hosting world leaders? They should be held on a cruise ship, where they don’t tie up traffic or bother the people who work and are inconvenienced by these clowns (protestors included). It would be perfect if they hired the captain from the *Costa Concordia.*

  17. From today’s Daily Kos weekly Hate Mail, a classic example of the Christian Biblical ‘love thy neighbor’ syndrome so common in Wingnutistan.

    Dear Moron B. Idiot, you must be megaproud now that our eternal president and supreme leader Baradolf Obahitler has decreed that previously illegal, immoral and anti-Biblical gay “marriage” is now suddenly mandatory in EVERY SINGLE STATE! Good bye Constitution, goodbye Bible, goodbye Christianity and goodbye rule of law. All that matters is homosexual priviliges and their power over Christians. Real marriage is now a joke, and pervert fake gay “marriage” the only choice. Whyis this? Because the homos need to recruit more young people since their killing themselves off with AIDS. Look for “homosexual counseling” becoming the new federal mandate in our schools, with two vaseline-coated weirdos wearing leather pants having anal intercourse in classroom in front of the children. The children will then be forced to applaud or they will get arrwested for “anti-homosexual speech” and “anti-diversity thought crimes”. And then Bibles will be confiscated and burned nazi-style because they contain “anti-pervert propaganda” AKA THE WORD OF GOD! I don’t care how many parades you and the nazi party and ACLU throw, this country will remain Christian and not homosexual. I hope you remember that homosexuals are known for being child molesters and serial killers (Jeffrey Dahmer was a practicing homosexual). Is this the kind of people who should be placed above the law? But sure, replace Christianity and the American people with ass-perverts and serial killers and see what happens. Hoep you brought enough to eat cause its a long way to hell and that’s where your going. The devil (a democrat, by the way) sends his regards.

    • Another faux-Christian takes to his keyboard and proves he doesn’t understand the teachings of the person he claims to follow. These people piss me off. It’s not just the fear that’s strong in this one, it’s the ignorance, too. When did Obama decree that same-sex marriage was “mandatory” in every state? (BTW, it’s not “Baradolf Obahitler,” it’s “Badolf Obitler.” Sheesh!) The rest is even less grounded in reality. This person is afraid of one, and only one, thing – his own imagination.

  18. Hi, LL. Did you catch the video of the electric aerobatic plane? This is stock, out of the box, for $143.00. I must confess that the pilot might be a ;little better than me!

        • Hey Outstanding!
          Life is windy, dry and dusty, thankfully and oddly as well there have been no significant forest fires.
          Work is a wildlife habitat project, which may sound nice, but is in reality a foolish contravention of the laws of nature.
          This involves cutting an invasive specie (junipers) from the hillsides and canyons, etc etc.
          Rough work…
          I’ve escaped the station for a Saturday night in town, gas, food and water.
          The Avengers is playing at the El Cortez, but there was a long line of people (and their small children) so I gave it a pass.

          How’re you all back East?

          • Warm and humid in the East. That makes even our native species invasive and I’m all that keeps this place from becoming completely overgrown. Not as rough as what you do, but then I’m likely not as tough as you are either. Hope you find some fun in town on Saturday night.

            • There’s more fun at the station, there are a pair of javelinas (you’d like them…) deer, jackrabbits and lots of songbirds.
              Horses and mules too, 11 of them who I feed every day.
              They like me!

    • That is huge. I think that if we’d gone New Deal 2.0 back in 2009 our prospects would already be brighter. Starving the beast is also starving both growth and my fellow citizens.

  25. Okay, so we had a pretty freak hail storm about an hour ago. Quarter-sized. Lasted for a while. Nothing (that I can tell) is damaged, except… My poor little Inca Red Drop pepper plant may not make it. It lost 4 of its six leaves… :/ My tomato plant in didn’t look like anything had happened.

    • Inca Red Drop? I thought I knew every pepper there was. What Is this one like?

      • I’ve never actually had one myself. This is my first attempt at growing them. A lady at work is a prolific gardener and she gave me both plants to try on my own.

        • It will likely live if it has leaves and is not crushed, so you can describe it after you’ve eaten on.

          • one…ok, when you can’t type it’s officially bed time. G’night folks.

    • The day after Facebook went public? I wonder how much that strategic bit of timing will cost Mrs. Zuckerberg in a divorce settlement?

      • Perhaps the marriage was conditional on a successful (marginally) IPO?

        • The article mentioned they waited for her to graduate from medical school (UCSF) – which was last Monday.

    • You aren’t kidding..

      They might have taken all 13 seats if one of the Paul state delegates had not graciously conceded the final slot to Rep. Michele Bachmann.

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