On any other day it wouldn't have been a big deal.  Two hours later, it would not have been a big deal.  But no, the truck's battery had to die when I was trying to leave the veterinarian's with my geriatric, curmudgeonly cat.  She had just been poked and prodded and wanted nothing more than to come home and plot my untimely demise.  If it had been just me, I would have just laughed.

The roadside service said they best they could do was one hour.  Yay.

A very nice man in the waiting room with his dog offered a jump start.  By some twist of fate, his truck was bigger than mine and parked right next to it.

I thanked him profusely.  He acted like it was no big deal, and maybe a jump start isn't.  But offering was.

As I was pulling out I realized there was another reason I should have thanked him.  He had a bumper sticker that said he has a son in the Army.

Since I have no way of thanking him again, I guess I'll just have to find a way to pay it forward.

~~Code Monkey

The Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) was created by Congress in 1992 to integrate specialized Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) care, research and education across military and veteran medical care systems. DVBIC continues this work today which allows for better care and treatment of the Service Members and Veterans who sustain a Traumatic Brain Injury.

DVBIC also provides resources for brain injury and deployment health, Service Branch programs, transitional services, Veterans services and Vocational and re-employment services. To learn more about DVBIC and see what resources are available, visit http://www.dvbic.org/
For more information on CAP services for Wounded Service Members, please visit: www.tricare.mil/cap/wsm 

http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/?q=mele+kalikimaka&vid=FCF3E1407D840DB7199EFCF3E1407D840DB7199E&FORM=VIRE8

and if that doesn't work, try this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XADcfVa8Q1Q

Like many in uniform this Christmas, I stand watch.  Granted, I sit in a secure air-conditioned safe and monitor the  for any comment that may require an immediate response, (which I will then draft for approval and forward to someone else,)  answer the phone (which hasn't rung for anything remotely important during my shift in the last month), prepare slides (which means, for the last week, changing the date and daily weather data on one slide) and listen to the rushing air of the AC, as I am not permitted television or any other device which may draw our attention away from our duties.

All things considered, it's a pretty cushy job I bitch about this Christmas.  I am safe, a couple miles from home, and near a family I will see intermittently.  I could very well be thousands of miles from home, in constant, looming danger, and see my family via phone calls and emails.

Nevertheless, we are brothers in arms, those who stand watch in a combat outpost, shivering in the night of an Afghan winter, and those who live in a fluorescent world of information and statuses by, manning desks, idle electrons and silent phone banks--we all share one thing tonight:

We are out here, alone and unafraid, defending freedom (even if that means monitoring a blog and waiting for a phone to ring) and ensuring that someone sallies’ forth into the dark when the bump in the night isn't a fat man rooting around for cookies.  We are out here, ensuring that the good people of America can sleep comfortably in their sleep number ™ beds, visions of sugarplums and all that jazz, and rush to open their presents in the morning, because no one in the world is willing to come between us and you.  We are out here... for your peace of mind.

After the rush tomorrow morning, when the presents are rent asunder, and the coffee and cookies consumed, and the kids are spinning like sugar-addled tops, and the dog is throwing up tinsel on the cat, while the cat is pooping under the tree, and there is that warm and comfortable moment before you drift off to a cozy midmorning snooze in front of the boob tube, take just a moment to remember those who stand a post.  You don't have to make any grand gesture, write letters or send packages, donate huge sums, or any other outward sign of thanks, just take a minute to recognize to yourself that people are, right now, protecting your family from harm by their very presence on that post.

Take a minute to remember.

Merry Christmas, Ya'll

--Chuck

Hope yours doesn't involve the drunk tank.

~~Code Monkey

Hat tip, Troy.

Nelson: "Order the signal, Hardy."

Hardy: "Aye, aye sir."

Nelson: "Hold on, this isn’t what I dictated to Flags. What's the meaning of this?"

Hardy: "Sorry sir?"

Nelson (reading aloud): " England expects every person to do his or her duty, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religious persuasion or disability.' - What gobbledegook is this for God’s sake?"

Hardy: "Admiralty policy, I'm afraid, sir. We're an equal opportunities employer now. We had the devil's own job getting ' England ' past the censors, lest it be considered racist."

Nelson: "Gadzooks, Hardy. Hand me my pipe and tobacco."

Hardy: "Sorry sir. All naval vessels have now been designated smoke-free working environments."

Nelson: "In that case, break open the rum ration. Let us splice the mainbrace to steel the men before battle."

Hardy: "The rum ration has been abolished, Admiral. Its part of the Government's policy on binge drinking."

Nelson: "Good heavens, Hardy. I suppose we'd better get on with it ........... full speed ahead."

Hardy: "I think you'll find that there's a 4 knot speed limit in this stretch of water."

Nelson: "Damn it man! We are on the eve of the greatest sea battle in history. We must advance with all dispatch. Report from the crow's nest please."

Hardy: "That won't be possible, sir."

Nelson: "What?"

Hardy: "Health and Safety have closed the crow's nest, sir. No harness; and they said that rope ladders don't meet regulations. They won't let anyone up there until a proper scaffolding can be erected."

Nelson: "Then get me the ship's carpenter without delay, Hardy."

Hardy: "He's busy knocking up a wheelchair access to the foredeck Admiral."

Nelson: "Wheelchair access? I've never heard anything so absurd."

Hardy: "Health and safety again, sir. We have to provide a barrier-free environment for the differently abled."

Nelson: "Differently abled? I've only one arm and one eye and I refuse even to hear mention of the word. I didn't rise to the rank of admiral by playing the disability card."

Hardy: "Actually, sir, you did. The Royal Navy is under represented in the areas of visual impairment and limb deficiency."

Nelson: "Whatever next? Give me full sail. The salt spray beckons."

Hardy: "A couple of problems there too, sir. Health and safety won't let the crew up the rigging without hard hats. And they don't want anyone breathing in too much salt - haven't you seen the adverts?"

Nelson: "I've never heard such infamy. Break out the cannon and tell the men to stand by to engage the enemy."

Hardy: "The men are a bit worried about shooting at anyone, Admiral."

Nelson: "What? This is mutiny!"

Hardy: "It's not that, sir. It's just that they're afraid of being charged with murder if they actually kill anyone. There's a couple of legal-aid lawyers on board, watching everyone like hawks."

Nelson: "Then how are we to sink the Frenchies and the Spanish?"

Hardy: "Actually, sir, we're not."

Nelson: "We're not?"

Hardy: "No, sir. The French and the Spanish are our European partners now. According to the Common Fisheries Policy, we shouldn't even be in this stretch of water. We could get hit with a claim for compensation."

Nelson: "But you must hate a Frenchman as you hate the devil."

Hardy: "I wouldn't let the ship's diversity co-ordinator hear you saying that sir. You'll be up on disciplinary report."

Nelson: "You must consider every man an enemy, who speaks ill of your King."

Hardy: "Not any more, sir. We must be inclusive in this multicultural age. Now put on your Kevlar vest; it's the rules. It could save your life"

Nelson: "Don't tell me - health and safety. Whatever happened to rum, sodomy and the lash?"

Hardy: As I explained, sir, rum is off the menu! And there's a ban on corporal punishment."

Nelson: "What about sodomy?"

Hardy: "I believe that is now legal, sir."

Nelson: "In that case............................... kiss me, Hardy.

Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes. I got off work at 6 AM,so I slept most of the day away, then woke up, opened presents with the family, and then back to work at 6 PM.

I do, however, get to have tomorrow off and will be visiting a wounded Marine tomorrow afternoon and delivering a box from his mom.

--Chuck

Hopefully next year will involve a lot less work and a lot more play.

~~Code Monkey

see more dog and puppy pictures

Heh.

~~Code Monkey

Imagine this: you get your full paycheck every week, and then you have to send your tax money to the state and federal government. I don't care if it's by check, e-bill pay, or carrier pigeon. But you get the full amount, and then you manually pay your dues.

If we did that, I wonder how many progressives would still be all butt hurt about the Bush tax cuts being extended.

I think the disconnect is in that they don't feel like it's really our money (rich, working class, or otherwise) since it gets lopped off the paycheck before we even get a chance to call it our own.

I just don't know how else to make a progressive realize it's not the government's money.

I earned what's in my paycheck and then they took their cut.

~~Code Monkey

Just what in the hell is happening in the world?

The CJCS has determined that the services are ready and willing to accept a complete repeal of DADT, despite the high numbers of combat servicemembers, and half of the service chiefs, saying it's a bad idea, detrimental to morale, and something we really shouldn't be trying to do right now, while we are trying to prosecute a war.  The CJCS's response, in a nutshell, to all of those who are currently serving and oppose repeal is "You don't like it, get out."

From my position, that equates to a very succinct insult.  I read it as "Despite your many years of service, and far greater closeness to the tip of the spear and being the ones who will have to deal with the problems generated by repeal for many years after I have perfected my golf game in retirement, (CJCS billet lasts for only a few years, and having nowhere to go from the top job, the CJCS retires) your input is not wanted, needed, or heeded.  We know that many of you with more than one hitch in will stay in despite the change in policy, biding your time until you can retire, and those who do leave will be replaced.  You enlisted swine can't get out right away either, so your exodus will be watered down over the next 1-6 years, and your loss will not really be noticed by the military anyway.  Basically, we won't feel any real pain in our recruiting numbers, so your voting with your feet won't matter.  It doesn't matter to me if we should do this, only that we can do this, and since I am in charge, if congress allows it, we are going to do it.  If you don't like it, FOAD."

Admittedly, that may be reading more into it than what he meant.

Personally, I don't get it.  If it isn't about sex, what is it about?  I don't tell anyone at work when I make love to my wife, what we do in bed, and I certainly don't expect them to share the same with me.  I personally think it's just fine if people, all people, keep their bedroom behavior in the bedroom.  Don't ask me, and I won't ask you.  So where's the problem?

Here's the problem.  Homosexuals WANT to flaunt their choice in public (yes, behavior, acting on urges, is a choice.)  They WANT to go to unit functions with their fellow perverts.  They WANT to make people aware of what they do in the bedroom.  Otherwise, it wouldn't be an issue.  And I think their choice is disgusting, is not the norm of natural behavior, and makes normal people uncomfortable.  Harassment can be defined as behavior which can be perceived to create a hostile or uncomfortable working environment.  Believe it or not, communal showers aren't the norm in the military, but in remote locations, it happens.  Could a soldier claim that he is made uncomfortable if he knows that the people getting sudsy with him are gay?  Does homosexual behavior also increase a person's risk for contracting HIV?  I think it does, and therefore we are not introducing a higher risk population into the military, but welcoming in a greater percentage of those in high-risk lifestyles.  In combat (surprise!) you don't always have time to put on all the protective gear you'd find in an ER.  Often, you use a bare hand, one with its own cuts and scrapes, to hold pressure on someone else's wound, to extract shrapnel, and to carry wounded to safety.  I had to toss out more than one blood-soaked uniform myself.  The military DOES do bi-annual HIV tests, true, but I believe that an increased and increasingly open homosexual population will result in an increased risk to everyone on the battlefield for possible exposure to the HIV.

You'll notice in several of my arguments, I used the term "I believe."  This is because there is simply no way to KNOW if, how, and in how many ways, repealing DADT will affect the military.  Will veteran's day parades degenerate into Fulsome Street-style perversity?  (If you're curious, go check out zombie time.  You'll need eye bleach, and once it is seen (VERY NSFW) it can't be unseen.)  How will the military react to pictures of servicemembers at places like this?

What happens when someone claims that they received an bad evaluation report, missed a promotion, didn't get a duty assignment, etc. because of their lifestyle choice?  The military doesn't exactly choose people along those lines based on their ethnic makeup, but we do track it, to make sure we are not slipping into a pattern of unintended institutional racism.  Will homosexuality now be tracked along those lines?  To ensure full integration into all levels of the service, will sexual preference now be tracked alongside race and gender?  If not, how will someone defend against charges of gay prejudice?  If I don't know how many gays are in my unit, how can I ensure adequate representation in all aspects of military life?

Enough about the Repeal of DADT.  Nothing I write will affect it.

Next, a double-amputee servicemember has been charged with stalking the members of the westboro baptist "church."  Good on the cops for arresting him, as everyone is equal under the law.  Bad on the prosecutors for going after him, since as far as I can tell, all he did was follow them around .  He did have guns in his vehicle (which is really no more dangerous than having jumper cables in your car, since both require human interaction to function.)  He also apparently tried to represent himself as a police officer.  All this wound him up in jail with a $500000 bond, for five misdemeanors.

$500K?  Really?  Why so high?  Is the guy with no legs a flight risk?  Did he hurt, or even threaten to hurt, anyone?  Did he cause anyone stress and anguish by his actions? (Like, say, the members of fred phelps band of miscreants?)  What, exactly, did this guy do that was so awful he needs to be jailed until he can cough up a half-million dollars?


And you can contribute to his legal defense here, and get him home by Christmas.

--Chuck  

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Don't mind me, just building up for the onslaught of Christmas cute...

~~Code Monkey

Some people only "get it" when they're smacked upside the head with a clue-bat.

In my previous post, I mention that Gabe Watson of the Arizona Cardinals "gets it" because he showed up at the airport to welcome Pvt. Joshua Bullis when he came home for Thanksgiving with his family.

This guy? Not so much:

In an attempt to defend ripping Giants fans Tuesday for booing the team, (Antrel) Rolle said: "They want to make it that guys paid this much money for a ticket. Yeah, I understand that, I understand completely. We risk ourselves out there on the field each and every day also. When soldiers come home from Iraq you don't boo them. I look at it the same way. I take my job seriously."

*sigh*

When I first clicked the link on Drudge, his carefully scripted apology was not part of the article yet. And yeah, he says all the right things NOW.  I wonder who wrote that apology for him.

It's hard to tell which excuse/apology in that article is in response to which time he's put his foot in his mouth.  Surprisingly, this is not the first time.  /sarc

At one point, he's quoted blaming his lack of filter on his mother.  If his mother is a candid and outspoken woman, I doubt that was a very bright idea.  But it doesn't sound like Mr. Rolle runs into a whole lot of bright ideas that are not printed out and handed to him for him to read in front of the cameras.

Football is a game.  That's it.  If you can't even respect the men and women of our military who make this a country in which you can get paid to throw around a ball, then at least admit that you play a game for a living. I don't care how seriously you take it.  It's a game.

But I took a special delight in this line:  "Rolle, a former Arizona Cardinal..."  Oh, yeah, there was more after that, but I was too busy laughing to keep reading.  Maybe they have a no-douchebags clause when you play for the Cardinals.

I like the Cardinals more and more every day, even if they are having a lousy season.  At least they're showing some class off the field.

~~Code Monkey