Captain Stormbringer

Colonel Bud Day

noreply@blogger.com (Stormbringer) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:26:00 +0000

I got this off of another site I went to and felt it was pretty relevant to today's situation... Always remember the price our servicemen and women pay to keep us free...

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The prelude to the "response" below, from Colonel Bud Day, Medal of Honor recipient - prisoner of war survivor - reads "I didn't expect to be reminded of my treatment some 36 years ago on this holiday weekend but our politicians find it worthy to ignore what some have tried to recount to them, who have actually been there."

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I got shot down over N Vietnam in 1967..a sq commander.

After I returned in 1973.. I published 2 books that dealt a lot with "real torture" in Hanoi . Our make believe president is branding our country as a bunch of torturers when he has no idea what torture is.

As for me..put thru a mock execution because I would not respond... pistol whipped on the head... same event.. Couple of days later... hung by my feet all day. I escaped and got recaptured a couple of weeks later.. I got shot and recaptured. Shot was OK... what happened after was not.

They marched me to Vinh.. put me in the rope trick, trick..almost pulled my arms out of the sockets. Beat me on the head with a little wooden rod until my eyes were swelled shut, and my unshot, unbroken hand a pulp.

Next day hung me by the arms...rebroke my right wrist...wiped out the nerves in my arms that control the hands..rolled my fingers up into a ball. Only left the slightest movement of my L forefinger. So I started answering with some incredible lies.

Sent me to Hanoi strapped to a barrel of gas in the back of a truck.

Hanoi ..on my knees..rope trick again. Beaten by a big fool.

Into leg irons on a bed in Heartbreak Hotel.

Much kneeling--hands up at Zoo.

Really bad beating for refusing to condemn Lyndon John son.

Several more kneeling events. I could see my knee bone thru kneeling holes.

There was an escape from the annex to the Zoo. I was the Senior Officer of a large building because of escape..they started a mass torture of all commanders.

I think it was July 7, 1969..they started beating me with a car fan belt. In first 2 days I took over 300 strokes..then stopped counting because I never thought I would live thru it.

They continued day-nite torture to get me to confess to a non-existent part in the escape. This went on for at least 3 days. On my knees..fan belting.. cut open my scrotum with fan belt stroke. opened up both knee holes again. My fanny looked like hamburger..I could not lie on my back.

They tortured me into admitting that I was in on the escape..and that my 2 room-mates knew about it.

The next day I denied the lie.

They commenced torturing me again with 3- 6- or 9 strokes of the fan belt every day from about July 11 or 12rh..to 14 October 1969. I continued to refuse to lie about my roommates again.

Now, the point of this is that our make-believe president has declared to the world that we ( U.S. ) are a bunch of torturers.. Thus it will be OK to torture us next time when they catch us....because that is what the U.S. does.

Our make-believe president is a know nothing fool who thinks that pouring a little water on some one's face, or hanging a pair of womens pants over an Arabs head is TORTURE. He is a meathead.

I just talked to MOH holder Leo Thorsness who was also in my sq in jail .... as was John McCain ... and we agree that McCain does not speak for the POW group when he claims that Al Gharib was torture .. or that "water boarding" is torture.

Our president and those fools around him who keep bad mouthing our great country are a disgrace to the United States . Please pass this info on to Sean Hannity. He is free to use it to point out the stupidity of the claims that water boarding ...which has no after effect... is torture. If it got the Arab to cough up the story about how he planned the attack on the twin towers in NYC ... hurrah for the guy who poured the water.

BUD DAY, MOH

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bud_Day

RIP - Steve McNair

noreply@blogger.com (Stormbringer) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:31:00 +0000

Steve will be missed and at 36, what a tragic way to go.

Something worth noting?

noreply@blogger.com (Stormbringer) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:13:00 +0000

I found this information to be interesting and possibly disturbing at the same time. It warrants watching over the next few weeks...

http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/1160-Paranoid-Rantings.html

Surreal

noreply@blogger.com (Stormbringer) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:09:00 +0000

OK, so yesterday was a very surreal day. Losing 2 Icons of the magnitude to Farrah AND Jacko was almost unbelievable. May both rest in peace now...

Very Nice Seattle Sunset

noreply@blogger.com (Stormbringer) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 03:20:00 +0000

Tea Party Day

noreply@blogger.com (Stormbringer) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:54:00 +0000

It's Tea Party Day! Make sure you get out there and voice your concerns if you have any.

One word, WOW...

noreply@blogger.com (Stormbringer) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 22:33:00 +0000

Vanguard

noreply@blogger.com (Stormbringer) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 13:19:00 +0000

Word to the wise, do NOT use Vanguard for your 401K, I have found out they are quickly becoming insolvent.

Strange Days Indeed...

noreply@blogger.com (Stormbringer) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 21:42:00 +0000

Wow, there is some strange stuff going on these days (the majority of which are bad). Where to even begin? I guess with the economy, recession, and general state of things we are all facing. I tend to follow trends online and stay as informed about the overall pulse of things by surfing a lot of very credible and some more fringe sites on the web and I encourage anyone to do the same. I will post links as I find them, do take a moment and check some of them out. I'll start with http://www.abovetopsecret.com and http://www.frugalsquirrels.com. They are two sites I frequently visit (along with all major news networks - but, MSM needs to be interpreted cautiously).

How the HELL does anyone think we should get ourselves out of debt by going more in debt, WAY more in debt? True, Bush basically doubled the national budget last year and Obama was shackled with it. But, the Democrats say that it was along the lines of 1.3 trillion dollars US and the new Obama budget is 3.55 trillion dollars US. Do the MATH folks! It doesn't add up... AND it will increase our total deficit by over 9 trillion dollars. Rediculous! Us and our future generations are screwed, we'll never be able to dig out (and keep a sense of the lives we live now).

The formation of the "New World Order" as quoted by Gordon Brown at the G20 summit scares me a lot. And loaning money to the IMF "super bank". Regardless of the amount, which was 1.1. trilion dollars US (FAR less than we've dumped into our own situation. and this is going to fix THE whole world. Things that make you go Hmmm...), the concept of a world order that regulates the money flow around the world is very George Orwell 'ish and the parallels to the 1930's in terms of stock movement, rising powers, and eventually world domination. Folks, this is NOT good...

Skyrocketting unemployment is something that really needs to be addressed. I was reading articles about Flint Michigan and how they are thinking of just abandoning whole areas of the city. The various levels of looking at the unemployment, and guaranteed, the US government uses the stats that best fits their motives and lessens the impact, making things seem not quite as bad as they might be. For example, the BLS is what the government uses and says we are at 8.5% unemploment, capping out at up to almost 16% unemployment. Yet, people expect the more acurate number to be around 19% - look at Michigan again, most of the industrial part of the state is around 25% unemployment.

These are but a few of the MAJOR things going on the world these days. I think it's time to pay attention and be prepared. As I find things of interest, I will post them here. Stay tuned, keep an eye out, and most all, be safe...

A good thing

noreply@blogger.com (Stormbringer) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 22:35:00 +0000

OK, so I have been very quiet lately in terms of how I feel about our new President and the Economy, but I have to say that Mr. Obama's reversal of the stem cell research bill pleases me a lot! The things we can learn from doing stem cell research is HUGE!

Here we go...

noreply@blogger.com (Stormbringer) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:53:00 +0000

Here's hoping Obama can make some changes to the world...

Where to start?

noreply@blogger.com (Stormbringer) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:59:00 +0000

Alright, so, some time has passed since my last post. So, I will try to fill in some of the blanks. As my last post indicated, we lost the contract for the weather squadrons to L3 and I asked my company (SAIC) to get us back to where we came from. I lined up a new position back in Florida, and my Business Unit in Hawaii was gracious enough to agree to spend the money and relocate us back. Between that, and some additional relocation from my current Division it was agreed to help and we were able to get back to Florida. What a whirlwind adventure, to say the least. Moral of the story - Hawaii is a nice place to visit but not to live - SO much had changed since the last time I lived there. Hawaii was way too crowded for what it was worth. Feels good to be back in Florida! We've managed to hook back up with friends and it all seems like a distant memory now. My new position is working with the Joint Special Operations University and so far, it is real cool. The people are real nice and the mission is very cool. Bottom line is, they need someone with my skills... It's great to be back and see Wayne & Rita, Jack, Camille, John, Kenny, and Tyler Cook, Rich Powers, Cliff, Ashley, Dave, and all the others. Thanks for making us feel welcome back here... Here's to 2009!

Contract GAH...

noreply@blogger.com (Stormbringer) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 03:47:00 +0000

OK, well, it was announced today (2 PM local), that we, SAIC, did NOT win the OWS contract I am on. Hmmm, well, this presents a lot of weird scenarios to say the least... Do stay in touch for the future will bring many new twists and turns, for sure...

IGXE

noreply@blogger.com (Stormbringer) — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 07:36:00 +0000

OK, so I have been playing this game lately - EVE Online - and it's a lot of fun! So, I contacted a company (IGXE) to deliver me some in game resources. I paid a fairly large amount of money and it was never delivered. All I received in emails was excuses why they didn't have what I requested (and their web site claimed they had). You would think that me spending a fair amount of cash for services would rate high above other who might only be spending nickels and dimes... Ha... Well, anyways, they delivered approximately 15% of my order and kept telling me that the rest was "on it's way", well, there are other servicers out there who offer similar servises for similar prices, I will go theri route from now on and suggest you do the same. Avoid IGXE at all costs, they are untrustworthy at this point and I wouldn't use them if I didn't have to. Be forewarned...

Fitting, I guess...

noreply@blogger.com (Stormbringer) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 06:20:00 +0000

So this is where we are...

Kinda sad...

But, it's NOT like I never though it would happen...

Bailout

noreply@blogger.com (Stormbringer) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 02:35:00 +0000

Wow, seems like a lot has happened recently! First, I'd like to say that I think this bailout is bullshit! I don't see why, we, the taxpayers and normal people in our country need to bail out these corporations that dug themselves into a bad spot. My thoughts are, it would be better to let them fail and bail out the people instead. I mean, for real, the WaMu CEO gets 18 mil for 3 weeks work, can someone explain this to me? There are things I am reading that is is a planned collapse of our economy, for the sake of establishing a couple things: namely the "AMERO" as a new unit of currency twixt Canada, Mexico, and US, as well as a plan to have the next cabinet fail in office. To me this is all scary stuff. I personally know a few people that have lost everything they had in 401 recently and it really makes me want to take everything I have out (even though my company isn't in jeopordy of bankrupcy). I just don't trust anyone right now. Give me your thoughts on all of this... Why should we bail out these huge corporations? I mean, if I went into debt, they would slap me so hard it wouldn't be funny, but a giant corporation goes under and the government offers to bail them out? I don't get it...

Journey - Revelations

noreply@blogger.com (Stormbringer) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 06:12:00 +0000

I just picked up this 3 disc set and man, it rock's in classic Journey fashion! The new singer, Arnel Pineda, is an excellent singer and would this album had been released in Journey's heyday, it would have been a huge success. It's actually too bad that their time has come and gone (even though I still enjoy them, the majority of today's youth know nothing about them, or how good they've been through out the years). For you out there that know of Journey, get this, it's definately worth it.

Creation Machine

noreply@blogger.com (Stormbringer) — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 18:40:00 +0000

Wow, this is a real cool video of an AI that's been in development for the last 30 years. Check it out, it is most interesting...

Description: In the mid 70s, an aspiring theoretical physicist made what he and many others feel is the most important discovery in the world. This very significant film is about the resulting invention, one that can author all subsequent ideas, provide a totally unanticipated cosmology, and possibly deliver us from death.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6464697696665901632&ei=bdq6SN-1GIqGqwKyjeiOCA&q=In+Its+image&hl=en

WTF

noreply@blogger.com (Stormbringer) — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 00:29:00 +0000

Rant ON--

OK, come on, who really cares how many houses John McCain has? That has little to no bearing on whether or not he could be a good president. This is what I hate about our political system, both parties tend to make issues out of stuff that really carries no weight, and if it does with someone, well... They are a very shallow person. What I want to know is how is the next president going to fix the economic woes we are going through right now? How are they going to ensure we have plenty of clean renewable energy for the future and wean us off of not only foreign oil, but oil in general? How are we going to get out of Iraq and begin to stay out of other peoples business? How can we be assured that when I am elligible, there will be Social Security (after all, I've been paying into it)? I personally do not care how many houses someone owns, or cars, or boats, or whether they are getting a 'hummer' in the white house. It's really none of our business...

Rant OFF--

Delayed Contract Decision - Oh My...

noreply@blogger.com (Stormbringer) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 06:49:00 +0000

Well, they have decided to delay the decision on the contract I am on, gah... Looks like they won't make an actual choice until December 1. This really sucks! In reality, I lose out on money because of this. Well, that's bullshit to me, so I am looking for a new job (relocation or not - SAIC or not). I have a great lead on a position with the Bonneville Power Administration, we'll see how that goes... There are rumors of some cool, high paying jobs on island here that I am looking into as well (within the SAIC network). The whole limbo and stringing me out thing is about THE worst thing you could do to me. Stay tuned, who knows what's gonna happen...

Also, along those lines, my Division Manager is coming to Hawaii next week for 'face time' with his people. It ought to prove to be interesting, for sure...

This is It!

noreply@blogger.com (Stormbringer) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 04:44:00 +0000

Well, the week of contract negotiation is upon us. We should hear this week (on or about the 14th) whether or not we re-win our current contract or not. Sheesh... In any event things will be happening... Either, we'll re-win the contract, which means a PHAT raise for me, or we'll lose the contract which means either - new company with winning contract, with new offer (not likely due to the fact that if THEY win, they were low bid - no good), or SAIC finds me a new job 'somewhere'... Pretty open ended at this point. None the less, we should know this week... Stay tuned.

Also, I am starting a technical blog, since it doesn't seem appropriate to mix personal and professional together, so expect that real soon (especially in lihgt of the stuff I have been figuring out recently).

Anyways, mahalo, and hope things are well with everyone... Buckle up... Chat with you soon...

Funny of the day...

noreply@blogger.com (Stormbringer) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:00:00 +0000

Virtual Earth

noreply@blogger.com (Stormbringer) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:43:00 +0000

Been working a lot with Microsoft's Virtual Earth lately, in fact, I have 2 sites being published soon using their VE technology. Will announce them as they are ready (one is real close and scheduled for publish on August 1). Anyways, it is a real cool technology and pretty easy to use. I am going to try to incorporate more of it into the things I do. Google it and check it out...

Wow... Been a while...

noreply@blogger.com (Stormbringer) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 06:33:00 +0000

Alright, where to start? Well, been working a TON! So, needless to say, haven't had the time off I would like. We moved into our place and albeit "so far so good", it sertainly isn't what either of us would want long term. Work, is well... WORK (that is a 4 letter word BTW). I've had a few visitors at work from other Weather Squadrons and their attepts to show me things. I think they've finally figured out that I probably (from a true programming aspect) have a ton more experience than they expected. Ha... In fact, at lunch the other day, one asked if moving back to ColdFusion was a "step down". Well, yes, to be honest... I just wanted to live in Hawaii and there was no work for me in my last Division. Speaking of which, apparently that Division is all fucked up. Seems that all the good developerd have pretty much left (some crappy ones too), none the less, their development staff is hurting to say the least. Here is what happens when your "Big" Manager doesn't see what he/she has for staff and utilize them accordingly. That division had (key word) an awesome staff, but failed to see the potential and utilize them accordingly. 'Nuff said... Good luck Ash, if you see this. Uhm, let's see, our contract is up for recompete and we should see the outcome in the next 4-5 weeks. This will determine a LOT of my near future. In many ways, I hope we get it, in some, I hope we don't. In any event, we'll ride it out and see what happens... One good positive is, if we win, I get a big FAT raise... Sweet!

Digging my 350Z, except for not being able to open it up due to the traffic. The few moments I have been able to, she really scoots! It's amazing that the 'base' version has 287 HP, wow, that is a lot for a 2 seat vehicle. Can't wait to do some 'things' to her... Here is picture of her from a couple of weeks ago...

Anyways, figured it was about time to say HI again... So, hopefully it won't be so long before the next. Stay tuned!

Aloha!

noreply@blogger.com (Stormbringer) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 05:21:00 +0000

Well, we made it to Hawaii! Arrived last Wednesday, grabbed a rental car, and picked up the girls - which BTW had NO issues, we were totally able to get them as direct release from the airport. That was a total blessing. I was real worried about how they may have done during the flight and such and they, funny, probably made it through better than either of us. They act like nothing ever happened. Heh... Anyways, we are here and settling in. Start new jobs tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes...