Monday, December 30, 2013

TIPS ON PUMPING GAS

One of my pre-New Year Resolutions is to finish a job in the basement then clean up the Jungle Room before tomorrow, so I'm just posting this helpful handy information that came over the email machine. I actually knew most of this but have never connected the dots in my head . . . S.L.


I don't know what you guys are paying for gasoline but here in California we are averaging between $3.75 to $4.10 per gallon. My line of work is in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here are some tricks to get more of your money's worth for every gallon:

Here at the Kinder Morgan Pipeline where I work in San Jose, CA we deliver about 4 million gallons in a 24-hour period thru the pipeline.. One day is diesel the next day is jet fuel, and gasoline, regular and premium grades. We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 gallons.

Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening....your gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an important role.


A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.

When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3) stages: low, middle, and high. You should be pumping on low mode, thereby minimizing the vapors that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapor return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money.

We have an agreement - I'll let her drive it around if she brings it back with a full tank.

One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas tank is HALF FULL. The reason for this is the more gas you have in your tank the less air occupying its empty space. Gasoline evaporates faster than you can imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the gas and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation. Unlike service stations, here where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated so that every gallon is actually the exact amount.


Another reminder, if there is a gasoline truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill up; most likely the gasoline is being stirred up as the gas is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom.


To have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of gas buyers. It's really that simple . . .

STORMBRINGER SENDS

Sunday, December 29, 2013

The BIRDS of STORMBRINGER

In response to question posed on Friday how to say yea or nay the “Birds of Stormy”? May I direct your attention to our annual "Should the BIRDS of STORMBRINGER Remain?" poll, upper right . . . S.L.


Some Thoughts On The Matter . . .

Is the phenomenon legit? Do “all” of the conservative blogs feature scantily clad ladies?

A brief perusal of conservative sites reveals a definite pattern: the better sites seem to present a bevy of bouncing babes (sorry couldn’t resist). There are the sites with tastefully done artistic pics of women, there are sites of raunchy women and there are sites where I wonder if the host ever got past 6th grade. My mentor & Wunderkind of the Blogosphere Theo Spark seems to hold the prize for the most drooling over “bounce”.

Well I've been taken to task over The Birds by friends, relatives and colleagues. "Drop the Birds," they say, "if you wish to be taken seriously." I am accused of posting pornography on STORMBRINGER - something I have never done. Proof positive: I have never received the dreaded 'Adult Content' warning - not even on the StormySix back page.

Then I point out to my dear friends, relatives and colleagues that the national-level rags they work for feature a porn star on the editorial staff, promoted the pornographic Shades of Grey book series, to include explicit excerpts of the naughtiest bits:

Pure filth & smut - albeit done in a tasteful way - promoted as the epitome of literature.

Then there's this: liberal darling Anderson Cooper - he of the national-level 24-hour news network where one of my detractors is a contributor - recently found it necessary to share this anecdote regarding his mother's personal life.

Really? REALLY?

Let me see if I get it - self-promoting porn stars discussing pornography, national journals presenting explicit snippets of it, and discussing details of your mother's extracurricular activities on national TV are somehow within bounds for the cultural elite, but presenting buxom babes in bathing suits and lingerie is somehow unacceptable? Hello?

You know it’s a free country and freedom of speech and all that if you can’t handle a bit of skin, then look away, we ain't trying to change the world here we just want to live free and pursue happiness. For what it's worth, there's more acres of pink flesh in a Porky Pig film festival than you'll ever see on STORMBRINGER.


Fear The Fans

A reader opines: "Is this the image we need to portray to the world? An image of God, Country and Family is, is what I thought Conservatism stands for. Those images should reflect a graciousness, a culture of inclusion, a certain genteel attitude. Maybe even a modicum of discreetness."

This is as rude as we've ever gotten here at STORMBRINGER.

Do I really think that an in-your-face display of cheesecake is a way to get Flyover Country mothers to go Conservative? That’s partly why use the “Stormy Six” side of STORMBRINGER for The Birds.

Okay, so I'm contradicting my moral fiber with g-string fiber but H-E-E-E-Y-Y-Y . . . I am a male, don’t ya know!

Let me ask America a question: since when are we Conservatives supposed to be puritans? If anything, it's Liberals who are puritanical with their political correctness, the total feminization of American society, the quest to desexualize society and to make it a crime for men to ogle or look at or admire or otherwise fantasize about women.

Check it out: this Bird's a Christian!

I am an American first . . . a Conservative second . . . and a Republican a distant third (only because voting the other way is simply unthinkable) . . . I am comfortable enough in my masculinity to admit that I like women, chicks, girls, femmes, dames, broads, lassies, skirts and members of the other sex, and am mature enough to be able to look upon the beauty of the female without guilt, shame or anxiety. It is an interesting landscape worth exploring! Some days, after I’ve fought the good fight against the Liberal bastards, it’s nice to come home and just visually get primal. There is something centering about viewing a lass with certain . . . < ahem! > . . . "assets" . . .

. . . anyway I've seen more naked women in the Vatican than I ever saw in the pages of STORMBRINGER!


Merle Haggard playing on the Marty Stuart Show:



You can see every toke, shot, line of coke on that guy's face but boy can Merle play and sing!!! Still has that mellow sound that soothes my soul. You just know that guy has stories that shouldn’t be told in polite company, but you still accept and love him anyway. I wonder if that isn’t the way we need to get folks back to what this country is all about. We need to have the mellow sounds of freedom come forth while we look past the base human offerings.

That’s it for now, lost the muse . . . hat tip to Steve . . . don't forget to vote in the poll . . .

STORMBRINGER SENDS

Saturday, December 28, 2013

OWNED . . .

In a whatwazzat head jerk that has put America's Liberal intelligentsia's collective necks out of joint, the New York media giant known as the Arts & Entertainment has been intellectually and spiritually donkey punched by a redneck hillbilly philosopher named Phil, appropriately enough . . . S.L.

Right about know a bunch of New York media types are sitting around a Swedish ping-pong table still trying to figure out what the hell just happened to them with this whole Duck Dynasty brouhaha . . . Well as anyone who's spent a bit of time in the South out in the woods can tell you - never EVER underestimate a hillbilly, especially one as intense as the Duck Commander.

Wisdom and deceptive cunning will always overcome altruistic naivety.

There are cynics out there who say the whole Duck Dynasty thing was a huge publicity stunt. Au contraire, what we have witnessed is nothing less than the classic hillbilly fleecing of city folk done on a nation-wide scale. Some genius on the publicity team over at A&E thought it would be a good idea to introduce Phil to the cutting-edge cultural periodical and metrosexual fag manual GQ, to produce some provocative quips for the Sunday talk shows to gush over, and when Phil delivered - the Wizards of Smart media darlings sh*t their britches (as we say in the South) and A&E, predictably, hit the panic button.

"Phil must be fired! Fire Phil!" they cried. "There is no other possible alternative!"

But when the Ducks said, "No show without Phil!" the folks over at A&E very soon there learned there were quite a few alternatives, as unpalatable as they may seem to their refined epicurean palettes. In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is King, and so it is in the Land of Political Correctness; he who speaks openly and refuses to bow down to the Stormtroopers of Liberal Fascism will sooner or later prevail. If he has his ducks in a row, that is, and the Duck Commander's ducks are very much in a row.

Meanwhile, as Phil spoke his mind, no less a bastion of Liberalism than Time Magazine named Pope Francis Person of the Year. This would be the same Pope who shares exactly the same sentiments of Phil Robertson regarding the sinful nature not only of homosexual sex but also a lot of aspects of heterosexual sex. The same Pope who shares exactly the same point of view as Phil Robertson regarding same-sex marriage, and incredibly, the same Pope who was named Man of the Year by The Advocate - leading periodical of the Lesbian, Bi, Gay and Trans-Gender community, in case you haven't heard of it.

Sometime in the last couple of days, in a large office overlooking Manhatten, a powerful media boss leaned over his aircraft carrier-sized desk and growled like a Bengal tiger to a trembling squad of executives, "Gentlemen, this hayseed hick duck hunter generated $80 million in advertising sales for us in the first nine months of 2013, and merchandise sales generated another $400 million. Now I don't care what they say about it over at Variety We are simply not going to kill the Goose that laid the Golden Egg because that annoying Limey Piers Morgan and his male lover Anderson Cooper got their cornflakes pissed in."


What we have witnessed is an eleventh hour recovery from the greatest marketing misstep since Coca Cola's New Coke / Classic Coke hiccup back in '85. Like Coca Cola, by coming to their senses folks at A&E will profit handsomely, and they have a team of ZZ-Top beard-wearing swamp-dwellers from way down South to thank for it.

Phil's plain speaking, down home philosophy put the sophisticated city-folk in a state of culture shock, to the point they didn't hear what he actually said. For as a Christian, Phil doesn't hate anybody. Christianity is based on love of fellow man. But Liberal sophisticates are so open-minded that when A&E decided to add bleeps to the show to add "spice", Robertson went to the network and told them to not make it seem like they use profanity, as they do not. Also, while they did not cut prayers, they did cut out the part of Robertson's prayer where he said "in Jesus' name". When A&E told them that they did not want to offend the Muslim population, Phil asked, "What year is it?" They replied "2012." He pointed out that the year was 2012 AD, as in The Year of Our Lord, and then asked them why they would take someone out whom the entire Universe is based on?

I wonder how many Muslims are watching Duck Dynasty?

STORMBRINGER SENDS

COLD WEATHER PROBLEM

The first thing you learn in Statistics 101 is that statistics can be used to prove anything. This thing seems logical, when you consider the skewed perspective . . . S.L.


Pretty similar until you compare the following:


Liberal conclusion: COLD WEATHER CAUSES MURDER.


Hat tip to LUNAR SPOOK . . .

STORMBRINGER SENDS

Friday, December 27, 2013

MISS LUBE RACK 1955

Guess who was Miss Lube Rack of 1955?


I know, you have no idea?


She could be a Movie star?


Recording artist?


Politician?




She's a politician from California . . . scroll down for the answer!!


Her name is Nancy D'Alesandro


Still stumped?





Nancy D'Alesandro is today known as Nancy Pelosi, the former Miss Lube Rack 1955!




Yup, she started down at the gas station pumping gas with the boys and doin’ lube jobs!

Now she lubes us all!





"I don't think we should (cut Congressional pay). I think we should respect the work we do . . . I think it's necessary for us to have the dignity of the job that we have rewarded."

"Obamacare is an entrepeneurial bill . . . if you want to be creative and be a musician . . . you can leave your work, focus on your talent . . . this is what our founders had in mind, ever expanding opportunity for people."

"We have to pass the bill so you can find out what is in it."

"I believe in natural gas as a clean, cheap alternative to fossil fuels."

"Unemployment insurance . . . is a job creator."

"TEA Party carries swastikas."



"Every month we don't have an economic recovery package, 500 million Americans lose their jobs." (She said this twice - FWIW total population of the United States = less than 350 million).




You can't make up this kind of stupid . . .

STORMBRINGER SENDS

Thursday, December 26, 2013

THE WAR ON BOXING DAY

The question is not who started the War on Christmas nor whether or not we are winning or losing it. The question is who is behind the War on Boxing Day? - S.L.


Everybody knows the atheists started the War on Christmas and we are DEFINITELY pulling ahead because who other than a Godless dirt-worshiper would want to kill Christmas, and Santa Claus? The war we are at definite risk of losing is the War on Boxing Day, especially here in the States, where most people don't even know what Boxing Day IS much less the murky origins thereof.


According to Wikipedia Boxing Day is traditionally the day following Christmas Day, when servants and tradesmen would receive gifts, known as a "Christmas box", from their bosses or employers. Today, Boxing Day is the bank holiday that generally takes place on 26 December. It is observed in the United Kingdom, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth nations.

But as everybody knows, Wikipedia is full of disinformation and outright untruths. This myth about servants and tradesmen and bosses and employers is early Luddite propaganda, embraced and perpetuated by Marxists and other anti-Boxing Day revolutionaries.

The First Boxing Day - Joseph sleeps off the First Christmas's excess as the Wise Donkey looks on . . .

The real origins of Boxing Day are perhaps lost in the Sands of Time, although it is known that Joseph and Mary needed something to do with the boxes that the Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh came in because everybody knows that there isn't much room on a donkey, and you don't want to attract any more attention to the taxman than is absolutely necessary.

It is also known that eons before Luddites emerged from the primeval muck and slime of the early primordial Industrial Age, Boxing Day was so named because it was a day of sport and games - most notably a form of boxing where sailors would don gloves for boxing whilst straddling the yardarms of their ships . . .


. . . although even this legend of Boxing Day gives some credo to Left-wing Class Warrior mythology, for it was the common seamen i.e. the proletariat who did the boxing from the yardarm whilst the officers - the bourgeoisie - observed from below and placed wagers not on who would win, but rather on which poor bastard would fall from the yardarm to a horrible crushing death at their very feet, on the deck below.

Further fuel for the Left's hatred of Boxing Day is the barbaric custom of the Annual Boxing Day Ride to the Hounds. Fox-hunting is, of course, a sport of the Aristocracy, heavily laden with the symbolism of Class Warfare. The fox is RED of course - the symbolism here is obvious - being pursued by the hounds, who represent the Military Class; perpetual servants and mindless tools of the Aristocracy, ever willing to do their bidding even to the point of death itself.


But do not the hunters themselves wear red jackets? Yes, but this is more symbolic of the Red Shirt of Star Trek infamy than anything to do with heroic Communist revolutionaries, for fox-hunting is a dangerous and often lethal sport, not only to the fox, but also to hound, horse and rider.


Indeed it is telling that the riders themselves describe their garb as "pinks" - i.e. the condescending attitude of the Aristocracy toward Socialist notions; their way of maintaining their status quo whilst transferring the burden of Socialist economics onto the backs of the Middle Class, who are represented by the horses themselves; a pampered group of slave-like beings subservient to, yet total adoration of the riders who harness and ride them, spur them on and never hesitate to bring the cruel riding crop down upon their rumps.


In other words the fox-hunting Aristocracy represents the epitome of Limousine Liberals and Country Club Republicans . . .

But while Lenin read a book on Marx and we sang dirges in the dark, the maritime origins of Boxing Day seem most evident in yachting's most magnificent spectacle, the annual Sydney-to-Hobart Race, which commences each Boxing Day and is best observed from the Southern Head to Sydney Harbour.


And so we see that class-envy inspired Leftist notions that fuel the War on Boxing Day are, like all class-ist myths created by Liberals, simply fuel for propaganda and nothing more. Boxing Day has nothing more to do with Marxist theories of class struggle than does Christmas, which is also under continual assault by atheists and other Liberals. Boxing Day - like it's sister holiday YULE symbolized by the Christmas Tree itself - has it's origins in the greatest maritime civilization ever to launch . . .


THE VIKINGS

The true origin of Boxing Day was the day after the Yule-time party when the Vikings were allowed to take a day off from raiding and plundering, for it simply is not good planning to embark into battle while working off a heroic mead hangover. But being a warlike race, the Vikings would instead make symbolic combat by straddling their yardarms, donning gloves and duking it out until one or the other plunged into the cold waters of the icy fjord - for Viking yardarms are much longer than latter-day square riggers - INSTANT HANGOVER CURE and in the greatest traditions of Warrior Joie-de-Vivre and Esprit-de-Corp the loser becomes the winner and everybody has a good time on Boxing Day!

The Vikings were not stupid, despite modern-day modern historic re-visionism . . . the Vikings being quite possibly the most misunderstood culture of all time . . . the Viking Civilization itself was not a civilization as defined by other concepts such as the Roman Civilization, the Greek Civilization or the Egyptian Civilization . . .

The Viking Civilization has more in common with the modern phenomenon of Rock and Roll - they were the Rock Stars of their day, but instead of guitars they had ships of wood which had to be tuned just like guitars . . .



OK lads, Boxing Day is over, now pick up your swords and fight . . .

- STORMBRINGER SENDS


Wednesday, December 25, 2013

CHRISTMASTIME IN NORTH KOREA

This is how they celebrate in the Hermit Kingdom - S.L.

Monday, December 23, 2013

ARLINGTON AT CHRISTMAS

I thought you might want to see this. No better way to wish all of you a Merry Christmas. What a beautiful sight. The final resting place for all those who died protecting our freedom - S.L.

Once again Merrill Worcester has done his thing to honor our fallen at Arlington Cemetery. We should never forget our heroes, but especially at Christmas. We have all been touched in some way however small by their sacrifices.



Rest easy, sleep well my brothers.

Know the line has held, your job is done..

Rest easy, sleep well.

Others have taken up where you fell, the line has held.

Peace, peace, and farewell . . .




Readers may be interested to know that these wreaths - some 5,000 - are donated by the Worcester Wreath Co. Of Harrington, Maine. The owner, Merrill Worcester, not only provides the wreaths, but covers the trucking expense as well. He's done this since 1992. A wonderful guy. Also, most years, groups of Maine school kids combine an educational trip to DC with this event to help out. Making this even more remarkable is the fact that Harrington is in one the poorest parts of the state.


For maximum distribution. Why isn't this in the press or on the evening news?

STORMBRINGER SENDS

Sunday, December 22, 2013

DON BURCH, SF and NASA

Special Forces lost a family member this week. After an interesting Army career, he went on to a second career at NASA. Bring the Heat, Bring the Stupid penned a very nice memorial to him - S.L.

There are so many stories from the last 23 years that I hardly know where to begin. Don joined the Army when he was 17. He lost a brother in Vietnam and ended up serving two tours there himself. He was in Signal Corps, Airborne, Special Forces, recruiting, and Hawk missile maintenance. He earned two Silver Stars, two Purple Hearts, and turned down a third Purple Heart because that would have sent him home. (Yes, he despised John Kerry.)


He was a Master Parachute Rigger, was part of a jump demo team that went all over Europe (not the Golden Knights), and made a special parachute system for a Kermit the Frog doll. After he retired from the Army, he worked for a couple of contractors before being hired by NASA. A co-worker didn’t think he should be drawing Army retirement while working for NASA, and Don let him know right quick that he could go down to the recruiting office and get in on the action, with the comment that even as an E-8, his family qualified for food stamps and reduced price school lunches.

This guy truly was remarkable - read the rest of his incredible story HERE.

STORMBRINGER SENDS

STONEHENGE SOLSTICE

Saturday, December 21, 2013

OFF CONTRACT

Yesterday was my last day on the job. The team I was working with had a little luncheon and somehow I ended up at the head of the table. Everyone knew it was the last day on my contract, so when the moment was right I spoke up a bit, gave a little informal goodbye speech.

I mentioned the latest James Bond film Skyfall, how it was the most realistic of all the Bond films because he drops out of the Secret Service, becomes a lost soul . . . reason why he drops out is some dud on the team effed up and actually put a bullet in him . . . a classic case of "friendly fire isn't" . . . how he ends up in that weird bar in Kazakhstan, earning a living playing a drinking game that involves a scorpion on the back of his hand . . .


. . . when he comes back to the spy trade he's a physical wreck & a mental basket case but his old boss takes him in anyway coz of all of what he's got in his head . . .

I told them that's me- the Forces & the years of adventuring took it out of me but what I've got in my head is worth its weight in gold . . .

. . . if you could weigh wisdom, that is, which is knowledge & intelligence plus experience . . .

I wound it up. For now, I said, I'm going to hit the trail, take a little some time off to decompress . . . and if you want to find me I'll be in that bar over in Kazakhstan downing vodka & playing that scorpion game ! ! !

STORMBRINGER SENDS

Friday, December 20, 2013

THE CONVERSATION

NRA LIFE Of DUTY PATRIOT PROFILES | “HIGHEST HONOR PART 2″ FULL FEATURE

On December 8, 2009, Medal of Honor Recipient Dakota Meyer was ordered to stay behind as his patrol unknowingly headed towards enemy insurgents. The Marines were outgunned, outnumbered, and they needed help. Now. Dakota's calls to enter the valley and support his teammates were rejected, but he went anyway. Because that's what brothers do.



NRA Life of Duty presented by Brownells, Inc. Patriot Profiles sponsored by Smith & Wesson Corp.

Thursday, December 19, 2013

NRA LIFE Of DUTY PATRIOT PROFILES | “HIGHEST HONOR PART 2″ TRAILER


Highest Honor: Part 2
At only 21 years old, Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer had experienced combat, but nothing like on the morning of September 8, 2009. Dakota remained behind with Staff Sergeant Juan Rodriguez-Chavez while the day's patrol traveled toward a place called Ganjgal, unaware that the Taliban and enemy insurgents awaited their arrival. They were outgunned, outnumbered, and needed help. Now.



NRA Life of Duty presented by Brownells, Inc. Patriot Profiles sponsored by Smith & Wesson Corp.

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

MARINE FACES DISHONORABLE DISCHARGE AFTER WARNING OF TALIBAN INSIDER THREAT

An interesting story . . . worthy of a read. Hat tip to Codename LUNAR SPOOK - S.L.

Excerpt:

If you want the FULL background on this story, then please read this. In short, while Marine Reserve Maj. Jason Brezler was back in the states, he received a warning that a certain Afghan police chief was back on one of their forward operating bases in Afghanistan. He emailed back via his personal email his summary of the Afghan police chief, warning them that this Afghan police chief worked with the Taliban. The document he emailed though was technically a classified document and when he learned of his error, he reported himself to his command. His commanders didn’t see any issue as the document was of little importance. Brezler’s warning, however, was ultimately ignored and the child-molesting Talibani police chief’s ‘tea boy’ took his rifle into the gym and murdered three of our bravest and best, Staff Sgt. Scott Dickinson, Cpl. Richard Rivera and Lance Cpl. Greg Buckley Jr. A fourth soldier, Staff Sgt. Cody Rhode, survived despite being shot five times.



Read the rest of it HERE

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

ONE TIN SOLDIER RIDES AWAY

In a desperate generation . . . he inspired a generation of soldiers . . . S.L.


NEW YORK - Actor-writer-director Tom Laughlin, whose production and marketing of "Billy Jack" set a standard for breaking the rules on and off screen, has died.

Laughlin's daughter told The Associated Press that he died Thursday at Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Laughlin was 82 and Teresa Laughlin, who acted in the Billy Jack movies, said the cause of death was complications from pneumonia.

"Billy Jack" was released in 1971 after a lbyong struggle by Laughlin to gain control of the low-budget, self-financed movie, a model for guerrilla filmmaking.

He wrote, directed and produced "Billy Jack" and starred as the ex-Green Beret who defends an Indian school against the racists of a Western community. The film became a counterculture favorite and the theme song, "One Tin Soldier," was a hit single for the rock group Coven.

Read the rest of it HERE




"RESPECT"


- STORMBRINGER SENDS

Sunday, December 15, 2013

THE CURE FOR OBAMACARE

Ralph Weber is my good friend of over 30 years & he has never ceased to amaze me. Ralph became my business mentor after I left the military and I owe him a lot. Ralph is an honorable man, a veteran, a former tow truck operator, and he has worked harder than anybody I know to get where he is in life. Watch this clip and see the inspired service he created - S.L.




I heartedly endorse Ralph Weber's Medi-Bid . . .

STORMBRINGER SENDS

COMBAT VETERAN & COP TELLS IT STRAIGHT

Probably the best 2d Amendment speech ever . . . S.L.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Friday, December 13, 2013

CORPORATE RECRUITERS TAKE NOTE

It is said that a Green Beret in the office is worth two in the bush.

Green Beret Explains Why Special Forces Training Is Better Than An MBA



Joining the U.S. Army Special Forces involves more than elite combat training. The Green Berets specialize in unconventional warfare — i.e. working with guerrillas to overthrow governments — as well as counterterrorism, foreign internal defense, and special reconnaissance.
With experience planning and executing complex operations, these veterans can also be a powerful force in the business world, according to former career Green Beret Scotty Neil.

"Let's create a formula and say, hey, we can do business intelligence like we used to do combat intelligence," Neil said. "Just as we did that meticulous [intelligence and training] to track and destroy foreign fighters, if you align that with an entrepreneur and a small business owner, [a business plan] would have the same traits."


Read the rest of it HERE


FWIW I am a security consultant, an ITC-qualified instructor, instructor-trainer and training developer, and technical procedure writer. I have extensive experience in leadership and planning, and have successfully navigated from the military to the corporate environment. I will be off contract this month, available in January 2014 . . .

STORMBRINGER SENDS

Thursday, December 12, 2013

RUSH ON MANDELA

Some remarkable quotes, during the observation of the Nelson Mandela memorial . . . S.L.

Now, some might be saying, "What the hell is Raul Castro doing there in the first place? How do communist thugs, criminals, thieves, dictators end up there?"


Well, an honest answer to the question may be something that is impolitic to say at this time. So let me just remind you that Nelson Mandela loved Fidel Castro. He loved Cuba. In fact, this is a quote from Mandela: "Long live the Cuban revolution! Long live Comrade Fidel Castro! Cuban Internationalists have done so much for African independence, African freedom, African justice. We admire the sacrifices of the Cuban people in maintaining their independence and sovereignty in the face of a vicious imperialist campaign designed to destroy the advances of the Cuban revolution. We, too, want to control our destiny. There can be no surrender. It is a case of freedom or death. The Cuban revolution has been a source of inspiration to all freedom-loving people." Mandela said this in 1991, on the 38th anniversary of the start of the Cuban revolution: Friday, July 26th, 1991.

Remember, the Cubans sent soldiers to Angola back in the (seventies and the eighties). The (seventies and eighties) were tumultuous decades for all of sub-Saharan Africa. When Mandela speaks here of the "Cuban Internationalists,” who else is he speaking of? “Cuban Internationalists who have done so much for African independence and freedom and justice, and we admire the sacrifices of Cuban people in maintaining their independence and sovereignty in the face of a vicious imperialist campaign designed to destroy the revolution!" He can only be speaking of the United States of America here.

About the time Mandela was speaking platitudes for Cuba, at the same time he attacked human rights in the United States, impugned the United States as having made no gains, having done nothing important in the area of human rights.

A Nelson Mandela quote on the United States: "If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America. They don't care for human beings. . .

"People of Asia and Africa have seen through the slanderous campaign conducted by the USA against the socialist countries. They know that their independence is threatened not by any of the countries in the socialist camp, but by the USA, who has surrounded their continent with military bases. The communist bogey is an American stunt to distract the attention of the people of Africa from the real issue facing them, namely American imperialism."

Nelson Mandela came from the African National Congress, which was a Soviet sponsored Communist organization. Here's one more Mandela quote on Cuba: "There's one place where Fidel Castro's Cuba stands out head and shoulders above the rest, and that is in its love for human rights and liberty."


He’s talking about Fidel Castro’s prison island, which is such a Worker’s Paradise that people risk their lives to escape on rafts over shark-infested waters. Astonishing.

STORMBRINGER SENDS

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

I HAD A DREAM

In this Holiday Season in the fifth year of President Sarah Palin's administration America looks back with gratitude and satisfaction, thanks largely to her strong and steady hand on the tiller of the Ship of State.


The selection of a strong and unquestionable Conservative as running mate by America's notorious aisle-crossing maverick John McCain was a stroke of brilliance that won him the 2008 election against the flash-in-the-pan charismatic Obama. As if anyone thought for a moment an absolute nobody who'd voted 'present' almost three hundred times ever stood a chance against a bona-fide American war hero and a frontier state governor with a strong record of problem solving who ingeniously proclaimed "Drill, Baby, Drill!"


Thank goodness Americans listened to their inner voice and not the over-the-top propaganda of the Left-Leaning Mainstream Media, and that the Dark Horse did not win - between his endorsement by America-hating terrorist Bill Ayers, mentorship by the racist Reverend Wright, and his infatuation with socialist share-the-wealth policies, an Obama win in '08 coupled with the Democratic House and Senate would have been disastrous during the dark days of the credit crisis and the market meltdown of '08-'09.

Instead of running the printing presses over at the Treasury in some kind of Government bait-and-switch economic shell game a la Weimar Republic and running up the debt to greater than the entire history of Human Civilization to the point it could never be paid off, not even the interest, McCain listened to the steady voice of a woman's intuition.

This same woman was able to bring Congressional leadership together in the spirit of common sense, leadership and bipartisanship and bring about a record volley of tax cuts and spending cuts that solved the financial crisis and salvaged our national economy. Certainly there was a hiccup throughout the financial markets that reverberated on Main Street, but it was much less damaging than if McCain had followed FDRs example and expanded government programs exponentially, to the effect of unnecessarily extending the Great Depression another nine years.


But the old sailor was not to see the success of their bold gambit - the hard years in the Hanoi Hilton had taken their toll on his health and the old ticker did not see out the first six months of the McCain Administration. President Palin oversaw the ceremonies during the days of National Mourning for this honorable War Hero with grace and aplomb, and a grateful Nation breathed a collective sigh of relief that we had such a charismatic personage to lead us during the second decade of Global War on Towelheadism.


As promised the cure for the economic disaster (brought about from decades of irresponsible Liberal policies forcing financial institutions to make loans to those who would ordinarily never qualify for mortgages on the grounds they are simply bad credit risks) was not an easy road. There was belt tightening all around; to lead by example the President and First Dude took humble vacations - more like time off - in their RV on the grounds of the Northwestern Whitehouse out in Wasilla. The Secret Service had to gain their sea legs during outings on Tod Palin's commercial fishing vessel. Following the example of Bush 44, President Palin has chosen not play golf while American servicemen and women are deployed in "overseas contingency combat operations". Her own son is a serving US Infantryman, after all.

But her courageous stewardship took off, and five years on America was not only recovered but excelling beyond the powerful economy of the Bush years. President Palin's personal knowledge of the oil industry and her determination to not let the caribou and the owls stand in the way of common-sense recovery of the national economy led to prosperity at home and a strong security posture on the world stage. Our President bowed to no foreign tyrants nor oriental potentates, and the despised terrorist enemy cowered away from all symbols of American might, for everyone knows never to mess with a Mama Grizzly's cubs.


Thank goodness the American people took heart in this real-life rogue governor from the most distant outlying state over the phony sophistication of an unknown rookie Senator from the most corrupt state in the Union whom the press embraced in near orgasmic tingles up legs and fawned over creases in trouser legs. How ironic that it was mockery and satire, in the form of Saturday Night Live's Tina Fey who mouthed "I can see Russia from my house!" that drove then doubtful Sarah Palin's popularity over the top.

But then, sadly, I awoke to the alarm on my NSA-tracked smartphone, and Reality struck me in the cold, hard light of Dawn. With a sigh I realized my dream was over . . .


. . . and our long national nightmare continues . . .

STORMBRINGER SENDS



LEARNING THROUGH PAIN

A 'Must Read' - DH is correct in all ways, as he usually is . . . S.L.


by Victor Davis Hanson
8 December 2013


What will history make so far of our five-year voyage with Barack Obama? What will it make of hope and change — other than a sort of hysteria of 2008 that was a political version of the Pet Rock or the Cabbage Patch Doll derangement? Did we really experience faux-Greek columns and Latin mottoes (vero possumus) as Obama props to usher in the new order of the ages?

What exactly made David Brooks focus on trouser creases, or Chris Matthews on involuntary leg tickles? How could any serious person believe a candidate who promised to change the very terrain of the planet? Why would sober critics declare a near rookie senator “a god”?

Only as America slowly sobers up from five years of slumber can we begin to fathom Obama’s likely legacy — which is mostly wisdom acquired only from pain.

Read the rest of it HERE

Monday, December 9, 2013

WHAT TH . . . ? ? ?


The caption to this . . . THING . . . says: 'Heavy Infantry M1945 DBAR Airborne M2A1 Carbine' . . . now I've seen my share of World War II weirdness before but I'm willing to bet this is more SteamPunk than reality . . .

Somebody let me know if I'm wrong?

STORMBRINGER SENDS


Sunday, December 8, 2013

THIS IS TRIPPY

I always loved this tune . . . S.L.



Within You Without You - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Within You Without You was composed on a harmonium following a dinner party at the London home of Klaus Voorman, the German artist and musician whom The Beatles first met in Hamburg. Written by George Harrison, it is the only non Lennon-McCartney song on the Sgt Pepper album.

The song was George Harrison's second full-blown Indian recording, after Revolver's Love You To. Although regarded by some as a dull interlude in the otherwise masterful Sgt Pepper, Within You Without You encapsulated the exploration of spiritual themes that had become popular in 1967's Summer of Love.

Clear references to the counterculture ('Are you one of them?') and the LSD-related ego death ('And to see you're really only very small and life flows on within you and without you') can be found amid the more other-worldly exploration of spiritual philosophy and religious teachings.

The laughter at the end of the track was Harrison's idea. While some listeners initially thought it was the sound of the other Beatles mocking his songwriting effort, it was in fact meant to lighten the mood after five minutes of sad, almost mournful, music.

"Within You Without You came about after I had spent a bit of time in India and fallen under the spell of the country and its music. I had brought back a lot of instruments. It was written at Klaus Voormann's house in Hampstead after dinner one night. The song came to me when I was playing a pedal harmonium.

I'd also spent a lot of time with Ravi Shankar, trying to figure out how to sit and hold the sitar, and how to play it. Within You Without You was a song that I wrote based upon a piece of music of Ravi's that he'd recorded for All-India Radio. It was a very long piece - maybe 30 or 40 minutes - and was written in different parts, with a progression in each. I wrote a mini version of it, using sounds similar to those I'd discovered in his piece. I recorded in three segments and spliced them together later."

- George Harrison


If I had known I could have been a rock star if I could have played one of these, I might have paid more attention way back in the day . . .

STORMBRINGER SENDS

Saturday, December 7, 2013

"A DAY THAT SHALL LIVE IN INFAMY!"

Always remember and never forget . . . December 7th, 1941 . . . S.L.


USS Shaw explodes during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec 7 1941.


Rescuing survivors near the USS West Virginia, during the Pearl Harbor raid.


Damage to US warplanes at Hickham Field, in the aftermath of the Dec 7th attack.


A US battleship sinks during the Pearl Harbor attack.


USS Shaw burning in floating dry dock.


Japanese carrier aircraft taking off for the attack on Pearl Harbor.


Aerial photograph taken from Japanese aircraft during the attack on Pearl Harbor.



USS Nevada bow damage after Pearl Harbor attack.



The lesson of Pearl Harbor is that we let our guard down on so many levels. We underestimated a determined foe; when the United States and Britain slapped punitive oil, coal and steel embargoes on the Japanese, we assumed they would cave. We failed to properly consider the most extreme course of action, which to the Japanese High Command was the only logical step. Furthermore, we'd lost sight of the Japanese fleet, and failed to go on a state of alert. Ultimately, our defenses were down at the base itself.

We were also incredibly fortunate on three levels: A) The battleships we lost on December 7th were already obsolete on the first day of that war, B) our carriers - the true decisive weapon of the Pacific War - were out to sea, by sheer chance, and C) the Japanese failed to follow through with their second-wave attack and destroy our repair facilities and fuel oil tank farms. If they had done so, it would have taken us much longer than six months to recover and re-float our Pacific fleet, and the Japanese, with the oil, coal, rubber and steel resources taken over in French Indochina and the Dutch East Indies, could have consolidated their hold in the Pacific for an undetermined period of time.

I never imagined that in my lifetime America would experience a second Pearl Harbor, and yet the parallels between December 7th, 1941 and September 11th, 2001 are astonishing. We faced a determined foe that expressly stated in no uncertain terms their intent to unleash a punishing attack upon us. We stopped earlier attacks in the early stages of execution, and we witnessed rehearsals to the ultimate attack itself. And yet we closed our eyes and ears in the name of Political Correctness and we did nothing. And thousands died, needlessly.

We were also incredibly fortunate in that the enemy struck us at the high point of our military and political power; the United States had spent two decades building up and perfecting our Special Operations capabilities, which are the weapon of choice against the terrorist foe, just as the carriers were the primary weapon of the Pacific War. We had a unified government, and a Coalition of the Willing - some 48 nations allied with us in the Global War on Terror. The enemy also miscalculated at the time of day they struck; the planes hit the buildings before everybody was at work. If they had struck mid-morning, the casualty count would have been significantly higher. Also, thanks to the dispersion of business assets due to globalization, the actual damage to our economy was minimal, almost insignificant. The 9/11 attacks were to our economy and national security what the Pearl Harbor attack was to us on a military level: symbolic in nature.

We let it happen, twice. Never again. Never, never, never, never again.

STORMBRINGER SENDS