Posted by Lex, on July 31, 2009
The flotsam and jetsam from things that have come into my scan. Updated throughout the day, maybe.
Welcome Ace of Spade readers! Consider signing this petition to name the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier after a fighting ship rather than a politician!
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The North Vietnamese were cruel tormentors of the American POWs that came into their grasp. Some of the latter delivered petty torments of their own:
One morning in late December 1968, we heard the customary hiss as the loudspeaker system began warming up for what we anticipated would be the usual propaganda session from radio Hanoi. To our surprise, however, at 8 a.m., instead of radio Hanoi, we heard a man with a British accent say, “This is the BBC Hong Kong. The American astronauts become the first human beings to come under the gravitational influence of another celestial body.” And then the radio went dead… An hour later, we were taken out to wash. The first man out of our cell was Air Force Capt. Kenneth Fisher. We had not rehearsed what happened next. Ken looked up and could see the moon in the clear winter sky. He came to a stop, snapped to attention and saluted the moon. Instantly, the rest of us caught on. As each of us left the cell, we came to a stop, snapped to attention and saluted the moon. The guard who was on duty in the guard tower leaned out to see what we were saluting. He had to lean so far that his pith helmet fell off. He almost dropped his rifle and, for a second, we thought he would fall out of the tower himself. Navy Lt. j.g. Ted Stier went up to one of the guards and pointed at the moon and spoke the Vietnamese word for the United States, “Hoa Ky.” He then pointed at the ground and said “Vietnam.” He then made a pantomime as though he were operating a very large piece of artillery. Pointing at the moon again, and again speaking the Vietnamese word for America, “Hoa Ky,” he began rocking back and forth with his imaginary artillery piece while crying out “boom, boom, boom” to show that American artillery, if placed on our moon, would have the range to hit North Vietnam. Ted walked away while the guard continued to stare doubtfully at the moon.
You hold on to what you must, and get back what you can.
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Our military defends democracy at home and abroad. Perhaps it’s time we give them the opportunity to participate?
The brave men and women of our military are the most disenfranchised group of voters today. Literally. The Heritage Foundation has published the results and analysis of research performed by Hans A. von Spakovsky, a legal scholar and a former Commissioner on the Federal Election Commission, and by Eric Eversole, a former active duty officer in the Navy JAG Corps and former lawyer in the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. The authors assert that members of the military have traditionally been disenfranchised at both the state and federal levels due to the unique circumstances and situations in which soldiers find themselves (i.e. war). Spakovsky and Eversole also conclude that unless Congress does something about this injustice, “military personnel will continue to be the largest group of disenfranchised voters in the United States.”
Maybe it’s just me, but if it were a more favored being denied a chance to vote – the UAW, NEA or trial bar lobby for example – I think we’d see quicker action.
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The UK Telegraph has a pitcher post up showing a series of troop formations back in the day. The statue of liberty photo took 18,000 men – 12,000 in the torch alone, since it was furthest from the camera lens.Weeks to set the outlines up, but a mere 30 minutes to muster for the photographs themselves.
Which is probably how they sold it to them sojers, and you can tell that to the Marines.
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Speaking of soldiers, Teflon Don has the tale of a wounded vet that needed a bit more help that we gave him.
You’d think we’d have this sort of thing covered by now.
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Two v. Three the hard way. The eagles win again.
It’s unwise to bother the eagles.
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In the heath care fight, Nancy Pelosi has found the enemy and it is private industry, specifically the heath care industry. One of the most heavily regulated industries in the country, by the way.
“It’s almost immoral what they are doing,” Pelosi said to reporters, referring to insurance companies. “Of course they’ve been immoral all along in how they have treated the people that they insure,” she said, adding, “They are the villains. They have been part of the problem in a major way. They are doing everything in their power to stop a public option from happening.”
If only government ran everything. Give it time.
Speaking of time, that whole “get it done before the August recess” folderol? That was the media’s fault, as it turns out.
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Today’s French lesson for the Norks: S’il vol, il est mort.
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Most unfortunate headline. Evar: Boeing P8-A Poseidon promises intelligence for the Navy
Promises, promises.
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Ciao, for now.
The Lexicans 