with balls this big?

BHO is buying his wife a $30k plus ring made from rhodium and diamonds during a time when most Americans are having to tighten their belts and worry about the future. The president elect is telling everyone that they need to be prepared to pay higher taxes in order to “spread the wealth” and that CEO’s should give up their bonuses and salaries for the good of the country. And he’s spending more than a lot of people make in a year on a piece of jewelry for his wife.

Pure chutzpah.

Yes, he should purchase nice things for his wife. Yes, she’s earned them by putting up with all of the garbage that a 2 year presidential campaign brings into her and her children’s lives.

But a ring made overseas from materials that most people haven’t even heard of?

The Irish Woman made an observation about this, and I think it makes sense to post it here. There’s a good chance that at least some of the diamonds in this bauble are blood diamonds mined by low paid or unpaid Africans. And the rhodium the ring is made of was probably mined in South Africa by low paid Africans. So the descendant of African slaves will be wearing an enormously expensive ring created from materials produced by Africans who are either worked as slaves or are paid slave wages.

Kind of ironic, dontcha think?

Come on, buy her a nice ring made from gold mined here in the United States, or at least made by a domestic company. We have wonderful jewelers here in America, and I’m sure you could find something a little less improper for your lady.

Football is one of my few vices.

I have always loved football. I enjoy it live and on the TV. I watch replays of classic games on ESPN and the NFL Network. I enjoy watching it alone, with my buddies, and with the family.

But something is starting to get to me, and that is nighttime NFL football.

When I was growing up, I could watch the first half of Monday Night Football and not feel like I’ve missed much when I headed to bed. It was only two quarters of football, and I’d watched two games on Sunday.

But now there are 3 games during prime time every week. Games played during prime time now occur on Sunday, Monday, and Thursday. That’s half of the professional football that’s broadcast. You get 3 games on two networks on Sunday, then the nighttime games. If you miss half of those games, that’s a huge percentage of the football you have available that you don’t watch.

The pregame show starts at about 8:30 for each of these where I live in the Eastern time zone, with kick off some 15 to 30 minutes later. Assuming that the game only lasts 3 hours, that means best case for the end of the game approaches midnight. For those of us who actually have families and jobs, that’s quite late. I get up at about 5 every morning, and if I show up for work 3 days out of 5 with only 4 or 5 hours of sleep, my boss is going to hurt me bad.

Why do these games start so late? I’ve heard the argument that they start so late on the East Coast so that they’re on during good times in the Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones. But if a game starts at 9 in Louisville, it’s starting at 6 in Los Angeles. No way most people are home by 6 to watch a football game by 6 on a work day. In the Mountain and Central time zones, the time is a bit more reasonable, but that means that a large percentage of the audience probably misses at least part of the game.

How about this: Start the games at 7 PM in each of the time zones. Tape delay it for the Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones. Yes, real-time video and game commentary will be available on the Internet, but I’d be willing to bet that a large majority of fans won’t cheat themselves by going that route. And if they do, who cares. Most people watch these games on their TV, so show them the game during a time frame that doesn’t force them to stay up way too late or rush home to watch the game.

I know, I’m getting old, and midnight isn’t that late. But 3 nights with reduced sleep is way too much to ask for football. And I can and do record the games so I can catch the second half later, but I shouldn’t have to, and I wouldn’t if the networks would just start showing these games at times that are more convenient to the consumer.

Our Thanksgiving went pretty well.

Girlie Bear spent the day with her mom and Little Bear, so it was me, Irish Woman, Junior Bear, and Baby Bear.

We started the day off making a turkey in the roaster and dressing. We had plans to have dinner with friends later in the afternoon after we’d visited the Kentucky family.

We made an appearance with the Kentucky family, and Baby Bear was the hit of the show. He’s really become a little guy instead of just furniture that burps, and he was in great form. We saw one of the cousins who had a baby 3 months ago, and their little guy is as cute as a button.

We left there, went back to the house, and grabbed our vittles for dinner. When we got to our friend’s house for the party, most of the crowd was already there. Both Irish Woman and I were both on pager for the weekend, so no drinking allowed, but it’s kind of fun to be the sober one in a room full of people who have a good buzz on. Not drunk and loud, just mellow.

My turkey was a hit, and the dressing was eaten up and the pan scraped clean. There were about 6 teenage boys and 3 teenage girls, so not much was left over.

Friday we had Girlie Bear back, so we had our family Thanksgiving at home. Girlie Bear helped me bake the pumpkin pies, and we made another turkey. After dinner, Girlie Bear went back to her mom’s for the weekend.

Saturday we went to the Thanksgiving celebration with the Indiana family. More turkey, and a great time with a loud, close, fun group of people. Baby Bear was held by everyone, and ended up falling asleep for the night in one of the aunts arms.

Sunday was cleanup and relax day at Casa de Oso. My pager went off regularly all weekend, but nothing major happened.

We ate the last of our leftovers tonight, and I think I’ll make something entirely unlike turkey for dinner tomorrow. 3 turkey dinners in 4 days, with leftovers for every other meal besides breakfast gets old.

I hope everyone had a fun, safe, and memorable time.

No headache today, and I was able to get out of bed without too much groaning.

My attitude is a bit better than it was yesterday, and I didn’t even have to drive out of my way so that I didn’t see a coffee shop on the way in.

I might just be coming out of this.

H/T to iFeminists for this link to an article about Drill Sergeants getting into trouble for inappropriate behavior with their soldiers.

Apparently, this problem is starting to creep up again.

As I said before, I was an instructor at the Military Intelligence schoolhouse. While I was there, Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) had a lot of emberrassing moments as instructors and Drill Sergeants at several posts around the country were caught, literally, with their pants down. We all went through education about sexual harassment and inappropriate contact with trainees. Several instructors at Fort Huachuca got into trouble, including one of my co-workers who only stayed out of a court-martial because the female trainee in question didn’t tell him she was in the Army and that she wasn’t supposed to be off-post.

I served for 9 years in MI, which is probably the most integrated branch, gender-wise. Just about every unit I ever worked with or served in was almost 50-50. I imagine that almost every non-combat MOS is going to be co-ed at some level, and the soldiers have to learn to live and work with members of the opposite sex.

But it seems to me that mixed gender basic training seems to be more trouble than it’s worth. Every few years we hear about how some group of NCO’s are abusing their position in order to get into their privates’ privates. They get thumped, things are tightened up, and then it all happens again. And this says nothing of the shenanigans that happen in the barracks when privates are practicing night land navigation skills to find their way to some meeting place.

So, my opinion of mixed-gender training is pretty low, at least as far as basic training goes.

There are always going to be those guys who abuse their power to get what they want, including getting a few of their soldiers into bed. I have always felt that even if the female soldier in question says she consented, it should still be considered coerced. An 18 year old recruit, who is totally disconnected from her entire support system, would have an immense problem saying no to a Drill Sergeant who wants to get her in the sack in exchange for a couple of favors, or worse, to ward off harsher treatment if she declines.

My solution to the immediate problem is to throw the book at any leader who uses his or her position to gain sexual favors from a soldier of lesser rank, regardless of whether or not it was consensual. I’m talking jail time and a dishonorable discharge. NCO’s are there to take care of, lead, and train these soldiers, not abuse them. The behavior of these people dishonors every one of us who earned our stripes and kept our hands off of the privates.

In the long term, I believe that the Army should return to gender segregated basic training. Female Drill Sergeants should be integrated into both sexes training liberally, but only one or two male Drill Sergeants should be allowed in each female company. Heck, it would be an honor to know that you were trusted in an area that few males are allowed. The sexes should be segregated from attending classes together, or living in the same building. I’m not even above saying that there should be a separate battalion in each training brigade for females.

The male Drill Sergeants and instructors are showing time and again that some of them can’t keep from taking advantage of the situation.

It’s time to change that situation. The soldiers that are being trained today are tomorrow’s Army, and they deserve no better than an environment where they aren’t targeted by predators.

and I think the crew is close to mutiny.

After seeing my doctor on Friday, I’ve given up caffeine cold turkey. And I feel like leftover turkey.

No coffee, no sodas with caffeine. I’ve been hedging a bit with hot cocoa, which has some caffeine in it, but not much.

I’ve found a couple of herbal teas that are somewhat satisfying when I’m in the mood for something hot to drink, and I’m going to investigate decaffeinated coffee starting this weekend.

Even though I thought I didn’t have too big a caffeine monkey on my back, he’s there and he’s kicking the side of my head with jump boots.

My friends that have gone caffeine free tell me this will wear off in a few days.

Until then, I’m a bit grouchy, have an eternal headache, and have a bit of an energy problem.

I wrote these a few years ago, but they still sound good. Enjoy.

• Even when you rest, scan the horizon.

• You only truly appreciate sunrise if you’ve endured the cold night.

• It only takes a few grains of carbon to turn a sophisticated weapon system into a club.

• It doesn’t matter how good the truck looks if it breaks down constantly.

• You are never given a promotion or award that matters. You earn the ones that count.

• No job operates independently. The Intel weenie doesn’t directly engage the enemy, but the infantryman can’t be utilized effectively if he doesn’t know where the enemy is.

• A march is only long if you haven’t done it before.

• Sometimes it’s a blast, sometimes it’s just a paycheck. If you can’t remember the last time it was a blast, get another job.

• It doesn’t matter how heavy a load you carry at the beginning of the march.

• Any moron can shoot. It takes skill to hit.

• If you’re not willing to maintain and fix it, you don’t get to drive it.

• Take pleasure from the small things. They may be all you get.

• Leadership is more than giving orders.

• Sometimes you have to be at the bottom of a well to see the light.

• Genetics doesn’t make a family.

• Say hello as if you haven’t seen them in years.

• Say good-bye as if you’ll never see them again.

• Cherish the ones that are there, honor the ones that came before, and train the ones that are new.

Apparently a “veteran” member of the SWAT team in Utah left his M-4 carbine behind when he was leaving a crime scene. The story goes on to say that he would be disciplined, but probably not fired.

Umm, why not?

Leaving a loaded weapon a front yard in a neighborhood is pretty dangerous, and borders on the stupid.

Let me imagine the scene:

“Flex cuffs, yep. Flash grenades, yep. Flashlight, yep. Body armor and helmet, yep. Guess that’s all I need”

Don’t you think he would have noticed that his weapons holder in his car was empty or something?

Remembering your weapon is one of the most basic things in the world.

If he doesn’t get fired, I think he should have the darned thing super glued to his hands for a day, or at least have to have it tied to his belt for a while to teach him not to lose track of weapons.

H/T to Radley Balko.

I got 30 out of 33 (90.91%) on this Civics Quiz, which apparently has stumped a lot of our elected officials.

National average is 77.6%, so while I’m not perfect, I’m ahead of the curve on this one.

I’m shocked sometimes at how little some people know about our country. If you don’t do well on the quiz, then please do some reading and try again. If you do well, help out those who don’t.

This is the only country we’ve got folks. We owe it to ourselves to at least be educated in what makes this country a union.

Went hunting Wednesday night at a friend’s farm. Sat in the blind with him from about 4 until dark at 6. No luck. Beautiful conditions, low-40’s, no wind. Saw a couple of squirrels.

My friend took another buddy out on Thursday evening, and they got two. From the exact same blind at the exact same time. Snowing out, with some wind.

I must be a jinx.

Oh well, I have the later muzzleloader season, and I’ll continue to hunt with the bow until the season closes in January.

Until then, this pretty much sums it up.