So Many Evil 'Trannies', So Few Humanitarian MOBEs

This has nothing to do with royally-decorated Brits, or transvestites. Watching TrumpCo at work, this past one hundred days, one has to be struck with the number of 'troubles' with which the poor man has been afflicted that the 'hopeful' one, before him, wasn't! Thank goodness the recent developments seem to have obviated the other developments that threatened to abort his Presidency.  But pending a victory somewhere, the 'Vita-Suck' tissue-extractor hasn't been turned-off.  That somewhere could be Trump's war - in Venezuela.

Not only is America still dealing actively with the very real 'war fronts'  it has in Afghanistan and Iraq, it still has kinetic 'boots on the ground' 'kicking ass and taking names' in Libya, and Somalia, in (unofficially) Syria and Eastern Europe - thanks to Obama. Now we're seeing the traditional 'bug-a-boos' galumphing back into traditional 'flare-ups',  as Trump tries to 'address' the 8 years they were 'neglected' or 'ignored'.  North Korea is definitely in somebody's sights, Afghanistan is now re-'Surge'-ent and Iran , which wasn't ever off the table, still actively isn't - again. Not only that,  Trump has now made Syria an 'official' red line for somebody unAmerican to cross,  to-day there's Venezuela - where there's just too much 'tyranny' going on - for America to 'ignore' much longer.

                                         La revolucion es mas photogenico

'Bolivarian' Venezuela has been in America's Monroe Doctrine poster child for quite some time. The problem was that the trouble there was 'indigenous' and couldn't be laid to the traditional European 'interference' in America's hemisphere - although, for a while, both the Russians and Chinese were being faulted for supporting the 'regime'.  Even though the OAS tried getting (NATO representative) Juan Carlos of Spain into it - inviting him as a 'guest speaker' to be "insulted" by Chavez - that came a cropper on nobody else getting excited but El Rey.

                                         Ordinarily extraordinary people

When Chavez 'stepped into the mystery' it seemed that 'the times to come' had advanced themselves notably well-enough that America had only to bide its time, for the 'pistoleros' who had failed once before to unseat 'the usurper' and get 'theirs' back,  set about trying to unseat his successor.

                                         Even ordinary girls protest - Nuns, even!

Surprisingly this sad process is taking overly long - the Bolivarian Army doesn't seem to be obeying orders - probably something to do with the "justly merited" charges of 'narco-trafficking' with which the US has threatened them all, or at least the head 'honchos' and the government. Even the recent attempt to unseat another tyrant - the Russian one - by 'crashing' Russia's oil-based economy (and every other oil-based economy on earth that didn't have access to IMF 'emergency' funding)  failed to do more than  'deepen' the economic (consumer) 'crisis' in 'cash-strapped' Venezuela - where people were forced to find a replacement for imported bum-wipe!  The opposition hit the streets - apparently 'supported' by the 'suffering' people - who were being forced to travel abroad to buy the consumer goods (Bulgari and Oscar de la Renta)  they could no longer get at home. Patriotic businesses were forced to shutter their doors and stop importing - which led to 'shortages' of basic foodstuffs, rioting and, lately we are told, the looting of what few local shops and government outlets still remain.

                                       Near THE looted bakery, not near the GM pant

This past week we were treated to the 'spectacle' of the 'reds' socialistically 'taking over' THE  GM factory in Venezuela that hadn't produced a single car in two years.  That hadn't stopped GM from continuing to keep the 2700 Venezuelans it had hired, 'on the payroll' for all that time - good corporate citizens of wherever they are, that they are.  Left out of the saga was the fact that the (corrupt)  courts had recently  ruled against GM,  in lawsuits brought against the company in relation to contracts they had with Venezuelan GM dealerships - and that those 'employees' were busy tearing the factory down for transshipment to more lucrative markets (back in the USSA?).

Apparently this is not the first US firm to 'come a socialist cropper' in Venezuela. When the 'Clorox' company decided to cease operations there, three years ago (how come this wasn't news?), the 'socialists' who worked for the company 'took-over' the factory and continued to provide Venezuela with the means of producing chemical WMD's (should a better reason for humanitarian bombing ever be needed).   Needless to say GM fired everyone, yesterday (by email - they're all connected?). The operations staff having already departed the country. GM also informed the employees they were receiving an unspecified 'separation payment' - those good guys that GM are  - probably enough to purchase a handful of magic frijoles - or a  gun.

 To-day there are 'fears' the 'protests' will turn violent - or morph into 'civil war' -  if 'military arms' supplies are compromised - or that a massacre of good people (protestors) may occur if the government arms its 'socialist militias' and turns them loose on the 'dissidents' - sort a reverse EUkrainia - with a really hyper-aggressive 'crazy man' , who isn't even really 'concerned' or  'threatening' anything yet, ready to  defend freedom and unborn democracy - from Washington. Hell, he might even 'invade' or 'annex' something!  There already is a carrier strike group in the area.

So while we watch a US fleet close-in on possible danger from the Norks, or the Marines taking Helmand back from the Talies, Assad not crossing the line, Putin not invading Ukraine, Dutarte stopping whatever that is , the Somali pirates going away again,  the Saudis having their vict'ry parade in Sanaa, and Lindsay Lohan's unmolested 'pussy',  let's just hope that Venezuela stays on the path of Jebus and Liberty - and that Putin, stealing the French election, doesn't remind Americans, again, that he stole theirs too - and started all this crap.

If a Big Lug Falls in the Forest, Does Anybody give a Sh*t?

It's official the Holy Pole, the Staff of Straightness the Master of the Mounted and  the 'Weeping Wumminater' - Commissioner Dudley of the Mounted - is taking a long-awaited and fairly-well-deserved pasturage. And just about time too!  He won't have to enforce those silly pot laws any more, Hell's dingers, he'll be able to treat his career-induced PTSD with some of the 'medical' stuff.  That should stand him in good stead if he buys a Harley, gets a piercing, a bandanna to cover his 'Daddy Warbucks' and grows some bandido-style facials.

But when you think about his tenure - there are some miles under the old snow radials, eh?

Bob took over at the end of the reign of the first civilian to head-up the RCMP since its founding. That came about after the last 'real' Mountie - 'the Italian' - let the organization 'go to hell in a hand cart' and a female temp 'commander' was hired. Well the wheels weren't even back on, when his predecessor retired, leaving Bob promising to be accountable while taking a couple of years to figure out what was gong on and settle-down with his second Mrs. Paulsen. The wedding was an indication  of what the future would be like, as Bob dragooned a few RCMP cadets into wasting a perfectly good Saturday making sure he had some 'lances' for his 'honer guard'. Actually he had every intention of paying the cost, writing a mis-spelled cheque immediately on finding out somebody had noticed. After that it was smooth sailing - with a couple on minor hiccups.

One on the major hiccups was one shared with a number of Commissioners - ' problems of an institutional nature' - arising within the RCMP itself. His predecessors could do little about that and after 6 years it seems apparent that Paulsen didn't have a clue, either. But being a 'real cop', at least he made somebody happy. He stood watch as the tasering inquiry ground itself out - leaving the Force with a substantial black eye, not simply for 'accidentally' killing somebody - that shit happens - but by getting caught lying and falsifying evidence (again - that 'instututional thing?)  A couple of good guys had their careers terminated over that - saving further embarrassment to the Service. There were a couple of largish black eyes related to terrorist attacks on the government. The running-down of a soldier, followed, mere days later, by the Bibeau shoot-em-up in Ottawa, left Bob looking like a deer caught in the headlights after it leaked out that the RCMP might have known something (but not as much as the FBI) about those 'perps'. Although there was little terroristic in  what the redcoats knew. In regard to the 'stabber' (who tried to attack police with a knife), Bibeau and another later terrorist in London, Ontario, the 'national police' force had to 'share the honors' in bringing in the bad guys to Justice wuth the Americans, who apparently knew all and 'saw' more.

Perhaps the biggest problem Bob had to face was a decade or more's worth of bum-grabbing and bad behavior by some members of the Force. There had been a growing list of female officers who had filed official complaints about, and quit over,  varying levels of sexual harassment and career-damaging within the 'old boys' network of the Force. Zachardelli had ignored them. As  had the RCMP bureaucrat . The lady didn't have time and Bob had to do it all. It took him six years and all it amounted to was a statement that he was 'taking responsibility' and 'being accountable' for what the bad boys did.  He was sorry. And he wept.

But he didn't find, or fire, a single perpetrator.  So that 'institutional' horse pellet-generator is probably still functional. Waiting for the next tent pole.

One of his last great efforts was spent trying to get the Legislature to tighten-up on the anti-terrorism spying and security laws. Once again Bob was 'on point', relating for the 'pols' how a niece, a relative of Canada's top cop we tell ya - had been bamboozled into giving out personal information on the 'innernet' and had been hacked - badly,  if not completely to pieces. But he didn't seem to know how tougher laws were going to make it any more likely that the next person to 'hack' her wouldn't get away with that as well.


One of his last remarks to the troops was to quit bitching about the paltry 2.5 percent raise they got this year. That led them to reconsider forming a union , again - something Paulsen had kept a lid on. But they were refusing to wear the iconic 'scouts' hat and many were blocking their cavalry leg-stripe with duct tape.

So as Bob heads out the door and into Canada, we pause to say 'Well done! and a fond 'Adieu, Bob, Adieu!'

 May your motorpsycho miles be happy ones and your motel rooms plush and soft.

                                      Big Jimmy - the Bondo boy - RCMP veteran reserve

Maybe you could nail a nice gig training-up a real 'p'leece farce' for the gallant EUkrainians, or joining the peacemakers of Niger or Mali - but they don't speak much English out 'dere eh?  It's virt cert that Haiti is a wrap - but that might have caused domestic problems. Thre might even be a spot over at CSIS  ... ask Ralph.

And now for Somethings Silly

Things have been SOOOO tense this last couple of weeks, what with the threats of war 'bustin' out all over'  perhaps somebody media-savvy thought it was time to high-lite some  hi-jinks  -  just to take and edge off, see?

The Missing Armada

One of the things raising the heart rate was the possibility that 'the Norks' would strike out at the carrier group Carl Vinson as it deployed in support of South Korean peace and freedom. Or the dread that 'the Norks' wouldn't be able to get their peninsula out of the way in time  to prevent a collision. There we all were imagining - because opsec was, probably, preventing the carrier group from logging-in to the "where's he fleet and whut's it doin'" page on the US Naval website. We were living in fear as the fleet edged closer and closer to it's doom, or sailed valiantly toward vic'try,  depending on your perspective. It should have been getting there (even the Russians made better time stinking their war to Assad) but no news was coming in.  And then it did! Where was the Vinson?  Sailing into ICBM range and danger - no daddy! The Vinson was steaming south toward Australia - on a secret mission of some other kind. Possibly after that 'time portal' that would allow it to stop Pearl Harbor.  It wasn't much of a threat to Won Hung Low.

They're Playing Volleyball

One of America big fat red lines in Korea is the testing of any other 'nukuler' devices. To guard against that, America is deploying one of its satellites that actually can see shit. And it saw shit!  Apparently the Norks at one of their 'top secret' A-bomb development and testing sites were busy
playing volleyball!!!

The article then 'segwayed' into how volleyball is the number one sport in North Korea  and how back in '63 the Norks had placed third at the Olympics beating out the South Koreans and somebody else - probably in another misguided attempt at world domination.


Mike Pence the Sword and his Mommy

In an attempt to 'humanify' Veep Mike Pence who had delivered a wondrous oration to the nip[s just the day before jetting off to view the front in Korea, he w reported to have called his wife "Mother" while helping her to adjust a kevlar helmet and bulletproof vest.  Wasn't that sweet?

The day before he was reminding the Japanese of their Samurai ancestors and unsheathed swords and Korean pleasure wimmin and stuff. To-day he was in Jakarta praising the Islamic government there for all their 'moderation'. Guess Mike missed the festivities in East Timor. I know he was busy, making his first million, when Suharto eliminated all the commies.

Twerking for fun in EUkrainia.

They Busted an Iconoclast

A tit for your tat

Anti-gassing agency says 'nay'.

In a sort of riposte to Russia torpedoing the search for Assad's guilt for the gassing of his own people last week at he UN, the international body that keeps tabs on folk using chemical weapons declined to extend their investigation beyond what they had already done: determining that the victims transported to Turkey had, probably, been exposed to nerve gas agent.  Not that anybody actually went to Turkey or actually investigated anything. Like the UNSC, or some of its hairier members the OPCW was happy to take somebody's word for it along with 'the word' about who had done it.  They didn't want to have to get into specifics, as they did  in 2013,  when they determined that the rebels, rather than Assad, had probably gassed their own people back.     That's funny too.

Huber' "The Great Big Backfire Raid" and Current Events

 One of the funnier parts of the Book 'Bathtub Admirals'  - by  one of my favorite (but now deceased) bloggers  (Jeff Huber ) depicted an apocryphal incident - "The Great Big Backfire Raid" - when he was serving as the flight commander on board a US aircraft carrier in the North pacific during the 1980's.  The incident involved a spurious practice exercise to counter what was imagined to be a massive raid by Russian attack aircraft flying out of the Kuriles and Kamchatka peninsula to surprise, overwhelm and 'do dirt' to Uncle Sam's best Navy. The 'hero' of the story wins a cap feather for his plan to 'spoof' the Russians into attacking a submarine pretending to be a carrier task force, and then 'embarrassing' them  by having the 'cavalry' (US Naval air power) show-up to electronically clobber them with missiles.

                                         The 'forlorn hope' heading for peace in Korea


The greatness of that 'plan' gained him the approval of the bathtub admirals who later in the book, turn on him when he displays the greatest military sin - a 'lack of confidence' that prevented the fleet from piling into the flagship, after the commanding Admiral had ordered it to stop without informing the rest of the fleet. Huber points out that such 'initiative' may bring rewards, but it's a first-class ticket out of a service where 'playing by the rules' and attending to the persona of ones' 'betters' is the wiser and more career-healthy course.   Huber pointed out that his naval peers were among the commanders who took the US into its middle eastern adventures. Their 'heirs' are commanding the US navy to-day. By extrapolation it's more than likely that similar 'career pathways' are pre-eminent in the other US armed forces. Regular dismissals from service for undefined 'losses of confidence in abilities to command' are more -than-just- regular occurrences.

So it comes as no big surprise to find that someone in the military likely approved the deployment of a MOAB in Afghanistan last week.  One of the main questions about the bomb, which has been in the arsenal for at least 10 years now, is why it wasn't deployed in Afghanistan before?  A prototype was available to drop on Tora Bora when Bin Laden was hiding there and it wasn't used. Supplementary questions included 'why now' and 'who gave the order'? Turns out it wasn't the CinC.  Or he never claimed credit for the 'great event' - having 'authorized the military' - they did it. He 'rah rahs' them.

                                                "Mothers"

Which then makes one wonder how things are going to pan out in Syria, should somebody think a follow-up to the 'one off' is needed?  Or how things are going to  go in the East China Sea this week should a next-generation bathtub admiral feel threatened by 'the Norks', or how things will go in eastern Europe with, possibly, a latter-day 'pistol pete' and his understanding of a green light?

                                                   Norks 'just asking for it'.


The interview Trump gave on the occasion of the cruise-missling reposte to Assad 'gassing his own people' is  telling.  First of all the CinC screwed-up the accepted notion of what militaries are - describing how "the generals" had told him the ships were "locked and loaded" - I thought Admirals knew about ships - but they probably didn't have yacht element at Trump's prep school and regatta day wouldn't have been a biggie. The Prez  went on to confide how he's slipped 'the word' to the Chinese President that the birds were flying to Iraq, no make that Syria - but he had to be corrected. Then he went off on a tangent to describe his dessert.

                                                 Dessert for Donald


Meanwhile back to real reality.

I few into Toronto the day of the great big bomb scare.  Although there was no indication that much was wrong other than a half-hour delay after landing, in 'getting a gate' to unload, the 'cluster-feck' at CCIS seemed almost entirely normal.  It was only later that a possible unusual level of surliness in the border security service was explained by what had turned out to be a significant security event that happened earlier in the day.  A red eye flight to Chicago that morning included a US passenger who had, in his luggage what turned out to be a 'dummy explosive device'.  It was in his checked luggage and was detected by standard screening for such things.

The device was apparently accessed and 'sniffed' for explosives.  Detecting nothing the luggage was loaded on the aircraft, as was the passenger and the rest of those with him. The plane then proceeded on its way. If  I  have the story correct,  it was in the queue for take-off when something started to go awry and the 'flight' was halted.

It would appear that dummy explosive devices may appear regularly at airports, as part of the training and testing of security personnel and equipment. I imagine, too, that when such testing/training occurs there is someone in high command who knows about it, and when the correct, or incorrect determination is made, the 'targeted' flight can proceed with no real hassle. In this event it appears that nobody may have known about any testing or training and that's hat caused  the stoppage.

A subsequent investigation revealed that the American traveler was traveling with his own personal 'dummy explosive device' - for whatever reason. The results were a 'mischief ' charge for him,  a significant delay for the 100 + people traveling with him, who had to have all their luggage re-checked and themselves re-processed for security an US immigration, a very late flight, missed connections and the disruption of one of Canada's busiest airports for a day. And then there were the high fives and congratulations that 'lives were saved' - even passengers were relieved by all the success.

I guess it was better they didn't know that somebody in 'security'  after sniffing the bomb - pictured below - still thought it was a good idea to put it, and the guy who owned it,  on their airplane.  Only somebody's toes 'getting stepped-upon' stopped it from flying to Chicago.

                                                   The Toronto 'pseudo-bomb'

Heads Up!

I thought I'd be writing about EUkrainia being really invaded. But no!

                                                    The Hebrew Sooth sayer

                                               Porko's peace bang-bang goes ka-blooie!

                                     Another one bites the dust - shot by a real EUkrainian


I started this. Then went 'on hols' for a few days. While I was away the shit hit the fan.

It seems that, after hearing that the Trump administration was removing the gunsights from himself and, perhaps,  the Baathists, peace-wise,  the President of Syria decided that he needed to, or more likely just wanted to,  drop some chemical weapons on a target within easy reach of the 'white helmet'  Oscar winners and the media attached to the Syrian Human Rights Observatory.

The necessity (or desire) was imparted to the world by little miss Haley, America's mouth at the UN. While not as strident as Gudrun the Widder, she makes the kind of case that would leave a Seal team in tears. She did a number on Assad and used the pix supplied by media 'on the scene' as evidence of the 'eevuls' tyrants do.  From 40 seconds after the first 'announcement;' the world knew who dunnit. This time it may not have been Putin, but Putin has his back.

                                                               The Russian 'slant'.

Big Donnie has decided to act 'Presidential' after the Syrian rebels supplied him with a saga. While, surprisingly, the 'Star Sangled Banner' crowd aren't waving lighters out front of the White House just yet (they want him to DO more), the 'innernational community'  and Trumps 'bettors' are adulating the hell out of the big palooka.  You'd almost swear they were 'up' for going 'in' alongside the Marines. Dead babies have such massive affects on those who don't believe aborted ones wind-up in a surgical bucket - or don't want to see those either.

Assad took the attack with equanimity. He sent a panel of generals out to inspect the destruction - that photo duly posted in western mendia - some kind of couterpoint that military sheiks are waaaaay safer than Syrian civilan infants, eh?  Even AFTER a damned good bombing.

Putin, the basilisk,  didn't act very 'manly' either. He simply called the attack a bad name and said he'd be slipping some more AA defences into Syria. He didn't 'go nuts' over his subway bombing either, rounding-up accused perps the next day, just like he had a regular security organization  - like Sweden's. No racing off to drop 'payback' bombs on Kirghizstan.   But he didn't have the 'slaughter of the innocents' on Anderson's '360' and CNN,  did he?

The neocons and their fundamentalist Israel-loving (Bennie hearted that bombardment) buddies now in power (still)  in America  are going to have to do a lot better before 'the sheeple' start to lose interest in the White Sales and start demanding more bayonet practices. They 'fecked-it-up'  under Bush and let Obama away with murder - for all the wrong reasons. Problem is, there is still a large 'rump' of America who, while they might love bombing bad guys for killing babies,  still hate Trump on principle and would neither buy a condo, or another war, from him.



 



 But it's all no surprise.  Note the last one from South front. It was posted November 2016.