Saturday Afternoon Cigar

Rocky Patel Edge Sumatra.

I started a new book today: Ward 7 by Valeriy Tarsis, published in 1962, 159 pages.  It is out of print.

So far: hilariously dark.

It is a fictional story that reflects the author's experience in a Soviet mental hospital.  He, like nearly all other "patients," was sane.  The less than sane character, Karen, was one who was always happy.  He "sang or talked cheerfully to himself, convinced he was living in the best of all possible worlds..."

Patient Almazov says of Karen: "For the first time in fifty years I see a really happy man in our God-forsaken country."

I have rarely been disappointed by books written by former Soviet political prisoners.  They are excellent story-writers, with rich personal experiences and relationships, who uniquely find light in the dark.

Saturday Range Report

Three generations of the Ushanka clan went to the range today.

We played a little Battleship, then tried our luck at the SteamPunk targets.  All at 50yds bench-rest, .17HMR rifles fitted with 3x9 scopes.  All 20gr Hornady ammo. 

Battleship: Karl (Left), Gramps (Middle), and Zhukov (Right).

Zhukov is more sensitive to coffee, thus yours truly pulled off the win in every match.  However, Zhukov set a higher standard for himself in the SteamPunk match by only allowing a single hit per target.

Zhukov - Marlin with Minox scope - 66pts

Karl - Weatherby with Burris scope - 79pts

U/T: Mr. B and Engineering Johnson

Book Notes Posted - Cancer Ward

We finished Cancer Ward: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's fiction story of a hospital ward in 1954.

We posted our book notes with our short review and selected quotes, and have added these links to the Library section at the left.

Read this book if you want to know:

A) why the VA scandal happened,
B) what will happen when ObamaCare morphs into Single Payer, and/or
C) what it felt like to be in a 1954 Soviet hospital.

Another Govt Healthcare Story

I dedicate this post to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.

The Telegraph:  Doctor, 29, died of cancer after being told she was too young to have disease

Think about it!  If your spouse, sibling, significant other, partner, or comrade dies a slow death from an ObamaCare commissar's mis-diagnosis, you can organize a fun run!

The dead woman's brother, Rob Newton:

It was a huge shock when we discovered it was terminal.

But throughout it all Suzanne was bright and upbeat.

Suzanne Gould's brother had three choices after his sister's death (ranked in order of difficulty):

1) Do nothing,
2) Organize a fun run to raise money for the World Cancer Research Fund,
3) Change the system that contributed to his sister's death.

What would you want your family to choose?

Image from BaronBob.

Winning the Cold War

It was sorta stacked in our favor....

To think - Reagan had to spend his entire political career convincing Democrats that the Soviet Union could be beat.  And it took him two full terms, plus three years.

Imagine World Peace a world without Democrats.

Photo from English Russia: Soviet Turbo Jet Train.

His Papers Are In Order

Are yours?

Memorial Day 2014

Thank you veterans.

Here is a link to a long list of Vietnam War numbers - both good and bad, but all a testament to the men and women who pushed the communists back.  U/T: OldNFO

Zhukov Meets Zhukov

Ushanka's Zhukov visits the Red Square statue of Stalin's Zhukov.

Stalin reluctantly allowed Zhukov to ride a horse in the parade following the Great Patriotic War victory. 

Zhukov was a tolerated general who was demoted twice in his career, lest he get a big head and decide to be Russia's next ruler.

A week after Operation Barbarossa, Stalin emerged from hiding when he realized he wasn't going to be executed for signing the bogus Secret Pact with Hitler and then failing to act on all the intelligence preceding the June 1941 invasion. 

Knowing he screwed up in epic form, Stalin did the one thing that saved the Soviet Union.  Something that went against his, and all tyrants', nature.  He deferred to his senior general, General Zhukov, in all military planning.  They won, with only 25 million civilian and military dead.

The Commie Obama Hat

U/T: Zhukov

Quote of the Day

 From FB Comrade and hat owner, Kenn:

In the last 69 years since D-Day, there have been only four occasions when the President of the United States chose not to visit the D-Day Monument that honors the soldiers killed during the Invasion.

Those occasions were:

1. Barack Obama, 2010

2. Barack Obama, 2011

3. Barack Obama, 2012

4. Barack Obama, 2013

This year we mark the 70th anniversary. Where will Obama be this year?

Can we all agree that when Democrats say they "support the troops," that the statement is a gimmick meant to deflect criticism for over 50 years of abuses, either for political gain or out of spite? 

Ohio Loses a Republican

Our Comrade, Becca Lower, is pulling the plug on Ohio.  An Ohio native, she's taking the big step Westward and headed to Phoenix Arizona.  Arizona is rated #7 now in business friendliness, as compared to Ohio's 25th place.

Good for her!

We'll miss her, but this is a good move for her.  As you know, I have my own criticisms of the state.

Here are Becca's:

There’s nothing wrong with Cincinnati, necessarily. Well, there is the fact that the state itself is trending toward stagnation and liberalism, rife with aging dinosaurs looking to lead the state Republican party ever onward to more compromises with a growing, progressive left. Our governor, the “compassionate conservative” John Kasich, decided that it would be “the right thing to do” to cut a deal with the Obama Administration on expanding Medicaid, over the will of the people of Ohio and her elected majority GOP legislature. We have a Speaker of the House (yes, I live in John Boehner’s district) who waffles and weaves… and sobs his way to overwhelming election wins, every two years. Really, the less said about him, the better, don’t you think?

Happy Trails, Comrade Becca!

On the bright side, Ohio has adopted a new technology for capital punishment.  From the Onion:


Ohio Replaces Lethal Injection With Humane New Head-Ripping-Off Machine

The Hat Makes it to Red Square

From whence it came.

The Commie Obama Hat

U/T: Zhukov

Andrea Interviews Diann

Comrade and hat owner Andrea Shea-King interviewed comrade, blogger, author and hat owner Diann Russell last night. 

It is fun to hear two intelligent and solid conservatives talk politics.  I really liked hearing Diann talk about the humor and passion on the right that is absent on the left.

Listen in:

Current Politics Conservative Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with Andrea Shea King on BlogTalkRadio

Not enough?  Go listen to our chat with Andrea back in April 2011.

Thursday Afternoon Cigar

Rocky Patel Sun Grown.

A FB comrade said yesterday, "If you want to know more about the VA scandal, read Solzhenitsyn's Cancer Ward."  This book has been on my bookshelf for years.  I'm already on Chapter 8. 

The FB comrade is right.  Cancer Ward is a clear glimpse into government-run healthcare.  It is a clear view, and thus an unheeded warning of what the VA has, and what ObamaCare will, bring to our nation.  Death Panels are the least of the worries.

Of course, Democrats (only) had to pass it to see what was in it.  And apparently, there are many Americans who must experience it to see what they wrought.  Later, we'll all act surprised when the talented medical professionals are driven from the field, replaced with the TSA/DMV types.  And we'll be shocked to learn there is no undo button.

James Taranto writes about the VA scandal in his Best of the Web post today.  It is a helpful summary of what is known, and what each side is saying.

And here are some scandal-related images we found on our Internet stroll today:

A Soviet Department Store

Funny how Communists will market their capitalism, no?

Reminds me of Democrats saying they support the troops.

English Russia shares some of the Soviet propaganda photos of the state-run department store.

The Capitalism-Communism Spectrum

An excellent explanation by The Captain of Capitalism.



Get well, Captain.

Tab Clearing

It has been a busy day here in the Ushanka corporate offices.  Here are some other items that I wanted to share in their own posts, but alas, I must get back to the factory floor.

A FB Comrade shares this brilliant concept.  Is it too selfish to ask for more?

From another FB comrade:

Related, Knuckledragg'in posted this patriotic song, by The Sinners.  (iTunes link)

90 Miles posts a video from the recent White Privilege Convention.  Not a joke!  Did you know this existed?  It appears most attendees are:

A) Chronic sufferers of White Guilt,
B) Member of a teacher's union, or
C) All of the above.

Parapraxis

Parapraxis - aka Freudian Slip.

Or, in Democrat-speak: "He misspoke."

TheDC, via Drudge, reports the damage control:

This is an absurdity, accusing the son of Cuban immigrants of believing in Communism is just ridiculous...

... said the Liberal Progressive Communist, Florida Democrat Congressman, Joe Garcia.

See Mr. Joe Garcia misspeak at 0:53:



Hey Florida, can you taper down on the commies you send to national office?  I think we've got enough there already.

And yes, I do have some Commie Obama hats in stock.  Remember, FREE shipping!  Just as Mr. Joe Garcia would dictate...

This calls for a golden oldie:

Leadership by Anger

Apparently our dear leader is mad at the constant failures of his administration.

Comrade and hat-owner, NiceDeb, responded with this montage:



Comrade and hat-owner, Diann, responded with this image:

Problems ALWAYS happen.

Great leaders anticipate problems and react before they appear to others. (See Reagan)

Good leaders respond with solutions and focused management when problems arise.  (See G. W. Bush - Iraqi Surge)

Bad leaders let problems fester.  (See L. B. Johnson - Vietnam)

Democrats with no management experience who are elected to leadership positions let problems compound and then throw temper tantrums.  (See Obama - Benghazi, Obamacare, Stimulus, VA, IRS, Fast & Furious, etc.)

In the private sector, Obama would have been counseled for about two years per affirmative action and HR rules, then shown the door.  Maybe three years if he promised free stuff...

UPDATED 5.22.14:

From BigFurHat at IOTW:

Our Veterans Administration

I've been following the VA Hospital scandal as it has been growing in my Government Motors post.  It is now too big to be a sub-topic in another post.

The story, at a high level: The VA bureaucracy, emulating Obama's views of our current and retired military, has killed over 150 veterans and ignored thousands more.

Even the old media at CNN and Slate are paying attention to this story.  Maybe to play-it-out so it's a non-issue in the 2014 and 2016 elections.

But reporting at the "high level" will not make this story go away.

Here is the same story, at the personal level:

A facebook user and apparently a veteran of the current wars, Hamody Jasim, posted an incident on December 5th of last year along with the photos in this post.

He came across a man bleeding in his car.  Here is the what Hamody posted that day.  (I've added some line spaces to make the run-on sentence easier to read, and the bold is mine too.)

Today I found this old veteran of the United states Air Force bleeding non stop out of his head and crying he couldn't stand on his foot he lost control after bleeding between my hands for more than an hour

when I asked him he said he just removed a cancer of his face at the VA in new haven and he is still under the medication from the surgery and they let him go right after the operation was done because they didn't want to care for him and they treated him so bad over there he went out and drove by him self and he did not know what is going on until

I found him bleeding in a gas station in Orange CT I called 911 they showed up after 40 minutes after I called them .my question was how could they let you go like that right after the surgery and let you drive by yourself like that ?

the ambulance decided to dump him back at the VA where they just mistreated him .I have always heard of how bad they treat those veterans who served their country and those thugs who works at the VA as well but now I have seen it with my eyes this is a man who served 34 years in the military Master Chief in the Air Force

after I tried to stop the bleeding he looked at me and said son I never thought we would be treated like that someday .I looked at my self after they evacuated him and thought this could be me someday our you guys my veteran partners how would the next generation will treat us they will basically put us between the hands of people will not care about who you are and what have you done .

I want to cry as well but he was already down and didn't want to make him feel worse I kept working on how to stop the bleeding .my only question is do people really mean it when they say thank you for your service we call it the United states but not the most United nation after what I saw today people are more worried about what I look like what is my skin color what is my religion and what country I was born at

but not so worried about the veterans who spend their lives getting shot at so these thugs at VA live a happy safely secure life and enjoy their times ...

really America I wish I can put these idiots who work there through one day of what these veterans used to go through so I can show you what's like to be in this old man situation.

Democrat candidates will speak for all liberals when they say "we support the troops."  Usually every four years or so.

Allow me to speak for everyone else: Actions speak louder than words.

UPDATED 2pm:

In response to CJ's comment below, I share this cartoon found on FB:

Today's Walmart Run

In the douche-bag aisle... charging $8.98 more than the MSM is worth....

Vitamins for Men, Women and the under 50 crowd.

No vitamins for the following:

Agender
Androgyne/Androngynous
Bigender
Cis
Female to Male (FTM)
Gender Fluid
Gender Nonconforming
Gender Questioning
Gender Variant
Genderqueer
Intersex
Male to Female (MTF)
Neither
Neutrois
Non-binary
Other
Pangender
Transgender
Trans*
Transexual person
Transmasculine
Transfeminine
Two-spirit

I didn't see any of "those types" there, but if I had, I'm sure they would have been offended.

Entrepreneur Joke

It is guaranteed this will fall flat if you told it in the White House today:

The taxation office suspected a fishing boat owner wasn't paying proper wages to his deckhand and sent an auditor to investigate him.

Auditor: "I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them."

Boat Owner: "Well, there's Clarence, my deckhand, he's been with me for 3 years. I pay him $1,000 a week plus free room and board. Then there's the mentally challenged guy. He works about 18 hours every day and does about 90% of the work around here. He makes about $10 per week, pays his own room and board, and I buy him a bottle of Bundaberg rum and a dozen Crown Lagers every Saturday night so he can cope with life. He also gets to sleep with my wife occasionally."

Auditor: "That's the guy I want to talk to - the mentally challenged one."

Boat Owner: "That'll be me. What'd you want to know?"

And End the Fed Too!

Found at Imgur.

Government Motors - UPDATED and BUMPED

[orig post 5.12.14 12:13pm]

Let people die on your watch, and this is what will happen to you:
1) Private Sector: Fired and face criminal charges.
2) Public Sector: Transferred in good standing.

Thirteen people died over multiple years because of a known faulty ignition switch in GM cars.  Announced today, the person who had the authority to save those lives, but didn't, was just fired transferred.

Yahoo:

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co has reassigned an executive who dealt with U.S. safety regulators probing defective ignition switches linked to at least 13 deaths, as part of a restructuring meant to improve vehicle safety, the automaker said on Monday.

M. Carmen Benavides, director of field product investigations and evaluations and an executive who has worked closely with U.S. safety regulators in Washington, has been shifted to a new job in the Detroit automaker's safety group, GM spokesman Greg Martin said.

 You're fooling yourself if you think GM is a public company.

Keep in mind for the coming unpleasantness: the number of dead is never a factor.

Remember the 76 who burned alive?  Those in a position to save them were transferred (and promoted) too.

UPDATED 5.12.14 1:30pm:

When it rains, it pours.

The Veterans Administration has a festering rash of scandals that are starting to get more attention from the new media.  We found these Washington Examiner links from InstaPundit today:

Veterans Affairs officials purged 1.5 million unfinished medical orders

More than 1.5 million medical orders were canceled by the Department of Veterans Affairs without any guarantee the patients received the treatment or tests they needed, the Washington Examiner has found.

Since May 2013, veterans' medical centers nationwide have been under pressure to clear out 2 million backlogged orders for patient care or services.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki says agency is open and accountable, then clams up

Openness and accountability are important to maintain the public's trust in the Department of Veterans Affairs, Secretary Eric Shinseki told a congressional committee Thursday.

But then he refused to answer reporters’ questions about whether top administrators were disciplined for preventable patient deaths at veterans’ hospitals.

Veterans Affairs purged thousands of medical tests to 'game' its backlog stats

Thousands of orders for diagnostic medical tests have been purged en masse by the Department of Veterans Affairs to make it appear its decade-long backlog is being eliminated, according to documents obtained by the Washington Examiner.

About 40,000 appointments were “administratively closed” in Los Angeles, and another 13,000 were cancelled in Dallas in 2012. 

That means the patients did not receive the tests or treatment that had been ordered, but rather the orders for the follow-up procedures were simply deleted from the agency’s records.

Anybody want to bet a Commie Obama Hat that Secretary Eric Shinseki will suffer for these abuses to our veterans?

U/T: Washinton Examiner Mark Flatten and Mark Tapscott

UPDATED 5.14.14 8pm:

FB Comrade, hat owner, and Vietnam Vet, "Doc," shared this today:

UPDATED 5.15.14 1pm:

90 Miles shares this one:

UPDATED and BUMPED 5.18:

The VA scandal is now being called criminal by everyone except the executive branch.  Judge Jeanine (via WZ):




Regardless of how this happened or if Obama was involved, one thing is clear:  The VA (like General Motors above) acted with the negligence and low standards of conduct that has become synonymous with the Democrat Party.

UPDATED 6.3.14:

The death count for GM's faulty ignition switch has been updated from the previously reported 13. 74 is now the reported number of GM customers who died using their GM products.  (ZH)

North Korea in Pictures

Photographer Eric Lafforgue has shared some photos from his last visit to North Korea.  He has a habit of bringing out photographs that are not permitted.

Above is evidence of the regime's unauthorized, yet tolerated, black markets.  When things became so desperate during the 90's famine, these merchants appeared.  They sell food, candy, cigarettes and other items brought over the border from China.  Just another example of Capitalism and the human spirit delivering what Socialism cannot.

Vietnam Vets

A Tribute post to the veterans of the Vietnam War, with a great video found at OldNFO's site:



As you know, I sometimes look at things with a political eye.  Is it wrong then for me to suggest this theory?

Vietnam Veterans were treated like shit when they returned to the United States because, unlike the recent wars in the Middle East, the Vietnam Vets kicked the living shit out of Communists.  

Just a theory, but one worthy of this advice until proven untrue:  Don't kill communists by the hundreds, win every battle, and set their expansionist plans back, and then expect a warm welcome home from their fellow Marxists here in the states.

A suggestion for Google: Add a hippie translator to Google Translate.  If the hippie yells "baby killer," then the patriot translation says "Welcome Home," and "Thank you for your service."

UPDATED 5.21.14:

From a FB Comrade:

It is OK - She used the "a" not the "er"

She used "a," so she isn't a racist.

Found at Knuckledraggin.  That guy has a little bit of everything.

I'm at a loss for a solution to the plight of the black community.  70% single-parent homes is a tragedy, not to mention an abortion rate 3x that of other races.  And with a reliable 95+% turnout for Democrat Party candidates, they've eliminated all leverage as a constituency.

How do you get men to step up and be fathers if they don't want to?

How do you convince women to only engage in reproductive activity when they... wait for it.... intend to reproduce?

From Another Perspective

Found at EnglishRussia:




You can almost see Comrade Stalin up on the Dais.

Started to Believe Her Own S**t

From Drudge:

From Yahoo - January 2000 to Present:

Today's Lesson:

It doesn't matter if you're a man, woman or transgendered person.  It doesn't matter if you vote for free stuff, or work for a living.  It doesn't matter if you believe the liberal noise about racism, sexism or income inequity.  As an old-media executive, if you can't stop the bleeding and lead your company to a brighter future, then you are out.

UPDATED 5.18.14 11am:

Is it too early to nominate Woody Harrelson for the role of NY Times Publisher, Sulzberger?

Today's Drudge:

If I were a woman, I'd suggest she wasn't helping women with her behavior.  I mean, couldn't every woman who gets fired from her job use the same smear? 

And all this over $100k in salary?  That's like $30-$35k after Federal, NY State and NY City taxes.  It isn't like she needed extra money to buy table salt or 2-liter bottles of soda in that liberal utopia.  I guess it is the principle of the matter, right?

But alas, I am unqualified to lead this discussion, "because, after all,' I'm "just a man."  What I can do is offer Jill this timeless advice:

Quote of the Day

Comrade, hat-owner, author and blogger, Diann, captures the thieving properties of our dear leader, who realizes his reign essentially ends this November (assuming Republicans gain seats in the House and Senate):

Let’s face it. This is how Obama rolls. He isn’t there to serve the people. He is there to serve and advance Liberalism.

He’s like a burglar who knows he only has so much time to break into a home, steal everything that isn’t nailed down, and beat feet out of there before the owners get back.

Her accomanying image:

The GOP's White Flag

I think, up until now, all my White Flag postings referenced the Democrats.  Times are a changing....

U/T: 90 Miles

Hillary 2016

The Commie Obama Hat marketing team is working overtime in preparation for the 2016 election!

 From an interview with Glenn Greenwald posted at ZH:

Hillary is banal, corrupted, drained of vibrancy and passion. I mean, she’s been around forever, the Clinton circle. She’s a fucking hawk and like a neocon, practically. She’s surrounded by all these sleazy money types who are just corrupting everything everywhere. But she’s going to be the first female president, and women in America are going to be completely invested in her candidacy. Opposition to her is going to be depicted as misogynistic, like opposition to Obama has been depicted as racist. It’s going to be this completely symbolic messaging that’s going to overshadow the fact that she’ll do nothing but continue everything in pursuit of her own power.

I finally have an opportunity to share all the Hillary 2016 images I've been collecting!