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Homage to Syd

Posted: November 15, 2022 by chrisharper in Uncategorized
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By Christopher Harper

Syd, a Great Pyrenees dog, joined our family eight years ago, just before Thanksgiving.

Like many Great Pyrenees, he had been given to a rescue society because he was too big at more than 100 pounds, slobbered a lot, shed his long, white hair all over the place, and barked like a basso profundo in an opera. A practiced escape artist, he’d also jumped out of the second-floor window of his owner’s house, breaking a leg in the process.

When we arrived at the halfway house for the National Great Pyrenees Rescue in central Pennsylvania, he jumped into the back of our car without a worry. He’d found his forever home.

A genuinely sweet dog at home, he didn’t play well with others. Great Pyrenees protect other sheepdogs and sheep from predators like wolves. Syd protected our family from invaders, including lunging at a local veterinarian who made house calls.

Often, he would sleep just outside our bedroom to make sure no one messed with the Harper family.

On walks, he was constantly sniffing the ground and surveying the landscape, ensuring every animal around wasn’t messing with HIS turf!

Syd loved the snow. He’d rub his hose in the snow and drop down on his side and make Pyr snow angels.

He loved playing with his fellow rescue Pyr, Sparky, and later Lucien, a Husky. They’d romp around the yard and run through the hallways in our home in an almost never-ending bout of roughhousing

Syd often sat outside and barked at almost everything that walked by or drove by. It wasn’t an annoying bark, but one that transfixed virtually everyone. People would stop to listen to the bark that rose from the depth of his lungs. I once found a mother and young son mesmerized by the sound.

He hated motorcycles and postal trucks. The sound differed from ordinary traffic, and he’d tear after both when he had a chance.

A few months ago, he had trouble walking. By last Tuesday, he couldn’t get up in the morning.

I took him outside and sat with him, but I knew it was time to say goodbye. Almost at that instant, Syd heard a mail truck. He paused, hobbled to his feet, and barked at the retreating vehicle. He’d sent it on its way once again.

At age 12, Syd, our wonderful friend and protector, went out in style just a little while after his final bark.

One Important Reminder

Posted: November 15, 2022 by datechguy in Uncategorized

The steals that are being done in front of your face in Arizona are being deliberately done in front of your face to show you who is boss. This kind of thing will continue until people decide they will not longer tolerate it and punish those who do it.

But until there is a consequence for this kind of fraud it will continue because the goal of the left is not clean elections that can be counted in one day. The goal is to win in an environment when the demographics no longer favor you and you are encouraging your own base to either kill their own kids or castrate them for the profit of those who you they serve.

Report from Louisiana: All Politics are Local

Posted: November 14, 2022 by Pat Austin in Uncategorized
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By: Pat Austin

SHREVEPORT –  I didn’t want to write about election results, BUT, since all politics are local, I will say that here in Louisiana, John Kennedy handily won re-election with 62% of the vote so, there’s that. And even more locally, our ridiculous mayor here in Shreveport was soundly defeated, coming in at a lame fourth place. There will be a runoff in December between an attorney and a career politician. Meh.

As for Kennedy, the state political world is on the edge of their seats waiting to see if he will announce a run for governor next year.

The Advocate speculates:

Kennedy is in the pole position after waltzing to reelection with nearly 62% of the vote in a 13-candidate field. A Republican in a GOP-dominated state, he has nearly $15 million in the bank, according to sources close to the campaign, that he could shift to an outside super PAC for the governor’s race… Kennedy is so formidable that political analysts believe U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, Treasurer John Schroder, state Sen. Sharon Hewitt and other Republicans are waiting for Kennedy to announce his plans before deciding whether to run themselves.

Louisiana State Attorney General Jeff Landry has already jumped in the race. No Democrats have declared. Speculation has it that as the Democrats now control the Senate, a gubernatorial bid may be more attractive to Kennedy. When asked his intentions, Kennedy refuses to comment at this time, opting instead to savor his current election win.

Here in Shreveport, back to our mayoral election, we are faced with a choice between Greg Tarver who is 74 years old and been in politics since 1984 or Tom Arceneaux who is an attorney and has served in local city politics. Tarver is in the funeral home business too, and a local radio station had a good time with Tarver’s revelation that on occasion he sleeps in a coffin at work. This one will clearly come down to party lines. The runoff is in December.

Stay vigilant folks.

Can the Navy get any older???

Posted: November 12, 2022 by navygrade36bureaucrat in Uncategorized
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No, I’m NOT writing about the election results…plenty of other people are doing that.

Besides, the Navy gives me plenty to write about, and this week was no different. In its most recent sign that it can’t recruit enough Sailors, the Navy lifted the age limit on enlistment from 39 to 41. From Military.com:

The Navy, facing an increasingly tough recruiting environment, raised the maximum enlistment age by two years — from 39 to 41 — on Friday in an effort to allow more civilians to join its ranks. “Effective immediately,” recruiters will be able to enlist people who are as old as 41, provided that they don’t hit their 42nd birthday by the time they report to boot camp, a copy of the new policy, provided to Military.com by the Navy, explained. The policy also noted that some service communities like nuclear power, Navy SEALs and divers will continue to be able to set tougher restrictions for their members.

Military.com

Now, if joining the military at age 39 sounds a bit old to you…it is. I knew a few people that enlisted in their early twenties, but once you got past the age of 27…enlistment dropped dramatically. There were some officers that joined later, most of them doctors or other medical specialists, but there were not too many 30-somethings beating down the door to join the military, let alone join as a new Sailor and go to boot camp.

How much do I think this change will make a difference? Somewhere between “not at all” and “nothing.”

I did find a USNI article boasting about how the Navy was reaching out with new advertising to Generation Z. So, I watched their new ad.

Now, the videography is good. It’s a pretty tight commercial, well shot and with a good message, although it should have been titled “Never say never” instead of “Never.” So, how well is it doing?

Now, the Navy channel isn’t exactly something lots of people are going to follow for fun, but at least we can see the video is getting views. What is interesting is looking at the most popular videos on the channel as a whole.

Everything that is really popular is older. Like, significantly older. With the exception of a video made a few months back about a SWCC Sailor (well made video and a very cool story!), most of the videos just aren’t popular. I also tried finding Navy eSports videos on Twitch and other platforms, and their viewer level was…pretty low.

Which tells me one thing: all the money the Navy is pouring into advertising isn’t reaching the desired audience…or much of an audience at all. I’ll venture its because the Navy’s narrative is being told through its news stories, which consist of rampant suicide issues, a forced COVID vaccine, and the increasingly truthful notion that veterans are broken people. All of this turns off Generation Z, and really most young people in general, to the idea that they could have any sort of fruitful career in the Navy. Combine that with a strong job market, and you have the recipe for a recruiting disaster.

So, what is next? Well, forcing people to stay longer is already being discussed at USNI:

A ten-year service requirement would change the motivation of most ensigns who join the submarine force, allowing the community to recruit officers who intend to make the Navy a career. This undoubtedly would cause recruiting challenges, but naval aviation is able every year to recruit hundreds of ensigns who are committing ten years of their lives. Some of the recruitment challenges can be ameliorated by the additional benefits that would come from extending the minimum service requirement.
- From USNI

There is so much wrong with this idea that it would take another article to explain, but I’ll go with the obvious: when a generation of kids are watching their parents hop between jobs to make increasingly more money, why would they be incentivized to lock into a long contract with the Navy? And, when this approach and others like it don’t work, the military will increasingly force people to the paths it needs, which it has done in the past.

Until the actual issues are addressed concerning the Navy’s mission and how it treats its people, it will continue to not inspire young people to join, and will increasingly become more draconian in its retention approach.

This post represents the views of the author and not those of the Department of Defense, Department of the Navy, or any other government agency.

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