Taking a Blood Oath / 2013 Version

" We are all faced with an economic situation unparalleled in our life times and all accounts are it is not getting better....the world economy is still rattled and NO ONE knows what is around the corner. "

I wrote those words in 2010, almost three years ago while I was in Afghanistan, just like i am right now. Little has changed as we have the same thick-headed President and the same bunch of business types spouting BS each week about the " Recovery "

The Record Highs on Wall Street are not a sign of good things but of more profit taking by those who wrecked the financial health of our country....remember all HIGHS are followed by LOWS and that LOW will only hurt the ones at the lower rungs of the economic ladder, not the guys on Wall Street or the lead-bottomed POLS in Washington, DC.

ALL the " Blah, Blah, Blah" from the Administration on the Sunday Talk Show circuit and all the " The economy's improving" talk has not improved a single thing....Americans are still hurting and it is likely that many will NEVER recover to the level they were at before the SHITE hit the fan.

The U6 unemployment number is still at 14.4% in 2013 and that means millions of Americans are without work or have settled for low wage crap jobs as they have no other choice.

The present "Lords of the Manor" in the White House seem more hung up on why they aren't being lauded than why people are still out of work...POTUS sputters as he thought he had all the answers but his “Messiah” act is getting panned around the world….the World still sees him for the empty suit that he is and that is why the confidence level in the American Administration is at an all time low all around the world.

 

The companies who have slashed employment are no better – they are taking full advantage of the crisis and reaping extra profits on the backs of the remaining workers…..

To the guy who is on his 85th week of unemployment, he could care less about politics or polls - He is worried about how he is going to get back to something that resembles a normal life…

This brings me to the point where I am today, working in AFGHANISTAN just as I was three years ago when I first wrote about taking a "blood oath"

I continue to do the best work I can while here in Kandahar Province. The 7500 mile commute is the real kick in the old "Hurt Locker", if you know what I mean... What has changed in the past three years is that the situation here is winding down very very very quickly.

In my life, I have had to make some tough deals and have always done what I felt was right, just and true to being honorable.

Now, I have to make a new "blood oath" when I get home to see what will be in store in the job market back home.  I have a few months here but by Summertime, I will be back in the Shire instead of hanging out here in the sandbox.

A "Blood Oath" is a solemn promise to keep an agreement using each party's sense of honor or reputation to uphold the deal.

Life for workers is now similar to the discussion that the two main characters have in the movie, The Untouchables –

Sean Connery plays an older beat cop and Kevin Costner is Elliot Ness, G-Man….They are discussing what they are willing to do to accomplish their goal – getting Al Capone…

Malone: You said you wanted to get Capone. Do you really wanna get him? You see what I'm saying is, what are you prepared to do?

Ness: Anything within the law.
 

Malone: And *then* what are you prepared to do? …. I'm offering you a deal. Do you want this deal?
 

Ness: I have sworn to capture this man with all legal powers at my disposal and I will do so

[Malone looks up at the ceiling of the cathedral as if seeking a sign…]
Malone: Well, the Lord hates a coward. 

[jabs Ness with his hand, and Ness shakes it]

Malone: Do you know what a blood oath is, Mr. Ness?
 

Ness: Yes.
 

Malone: Good, 'cause you just took one...

 

" What are you prepared to do??" – We have all taken a “blood oath” of sorts - We have sworn to do whatever is necessary to provide for our families – even if that means going to the Afghanistan desert for an extended period of time.... I made my oath and endured an extended separation from my family, friends & home.

Mainly due to a group of corporate fat-arses & Wall Street types deciding they needed another bonus for themselves and a politician or two allowing them to get away with it…..and eliminating jobs that would be available for me & others back home.

Somehow all of that was more important than correcting the problems and ensuring that people who needed jobs got them at a decent wage with good benefits…..

Seems as the Joker in "Dark Night" was right when he said:

"Things have changed…..Forever. There’s no going back."

" All politics is local" - How the Greedy Pols on FED, STATE & LOCAL level want only one thing - All of your $$$$

" All Politics is local" - Thomas Phillip "Tip" O'Neill, Jr.- Speaker of the House 1977-1987

Tip O'Neill knew that everything that happened impacted people on the local level as that is where things in America happen.  The idiots inside the Beltway like to think they are the center of the country but they are as thick as bag full of hammers.

The enclosed story is from the Boston Globe, i.e. the NYTIMES/BOSTON GLOBE/DEM Mouthpiece.

Here is the sysnopsis of the story.  The city of NEWTON, MA is one of the more well off areas in the greater Boston area.  You can pretty much surmise that if you live in Newton, you are doing pretty well.  Housing values are high and people see it as one of the nicest places to live.

The story covers the issue that the Mayor and his employees want more $$$ from the citizens.  They are asking for an override of the limit for how much they can grab out of people's wallets.  They will put this up to a vote in March but you can imagine what the turnout for a city election like this will be.  Very low despite the nature of the issue.

Bottom line - The City takes in $312 MILLION dollars a year - They still need more.  Not like they could cut expenses of gold plated bennies for town hacks.....no, no, no - we must keep those town workers in a comfy lifestyle even if it takes every nickel we can squeeze out of the taxpayers.

Newton, MA is not the only town doing this - many others are doing the exact same thing.  They saw the Idiot in the White House pull off his spendathon of $6 TRILLION Dollars over the last 4 years and they are saying, " ME TOO !!!  ME TOO !!"

The average taxpayer in Newton will pay $8006 p/yr to the city or $667 a month.  For that money, you could pay for a brand new PORSCHE 911....but no, you will be paying for the retirement of the local town hacks even while you have no access to lifetime pension.....

These HACKS make a thief like Bernie Madoff look like pikers.....They will be laughing all the way to the bank while they cripple the citizens who live in our town and cities.  Oh yeah, the State Hacks and FED workers are lined up for the same thing too.....all want as much of your money as they can get.

Thanks Voters - by re-electing the FOOL who conned his way into the White House, you gave the HACKS on the FED, STATE & LOCAL level a green light to pour it on.....They will not be happy until they fill all their pockets with as much of our $$$ as they can grab.

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Newton voters will likely get to vote on a $11.4 million tax increase in March

By Deirdre Fernandes

Boston Globe Staff / December 1, 2012          

Newton Alderman Anthony Salvucci slowly unfurled from his seat, stood up, and gave a rare speech to his colleagues Thursday night.
 

“Don’t sweat it,” the elder statesman of the Board of Aldermen instructed the group. “You people are all sweating, and don’t. Don’t.”
 

Salvucci was urging the board to get behind Mayor Setti Warren’s proposed overrides of Proposition 2½. He said he understood that some aldermen are worried that the requested $11.4 million in new property taxes wouldn’t cover the cost of the city’s projects; that others are troubled by recent construction projects that came in far higher than initial estimates; and that many are anxious about the city’s other needs. But, he said, the board needed to get the request for a tax increase in front of voters so some of the city’s needs — such as new schools, a fire station, and road and sidewalk repairs — could be met.
 

Many of his colleagues agreed. After nearly three hours of debate, aldermen moved the override requests out of committee, setting up a vote by the full board Monday on whether to put them on a March ballot.
 

Claire Sokoloff, the School Committee’s chairwoman, said she is optimistic the district’s overcrowding and building problems would be addressed.
 

“The overwhelming majority of board members understand the need for putting this override to the voters and seeing that it will pass,” she said after the meeting. “It’s a good balance between providing needed improvements to our schools and the city, while being respectful of the reality that these are tough financial times.”
 

Warren has proposed three ballot initiatives to help pay for $143.5 million in projects. His plan calls for a permanent tax increase to provide $8.4 million for road repairs, four police officers, new teachers to handle the school system’s growing student population, expansion and renovation of Zervas Elementary, replacement of the Newton Centre fire station and Fire Department headquarters, and a new communications building.
 

The mayor is also proposing two temporary tax increases, totaling $3 million and to be paid off over roughly 30 years, to cover rebuilding the Angier and Cabot elementary schools.

If all three are approved, officials said, annual taxes on a house with the city’s median assessment, $686,000, would go up by about $343, to $8,006.
 

“It’s not perfect, I do have some issues,” said Alderman Jay Harney, but added, “This gets us to where we need to be.”
 

Alderman Lisle Baker, however, suggested that more items should be included in the override proposals, since the city does not ask voters to approve higher taxes very often.

Other aldermen have been concerned that the estimates for the projects may be off, and that after the Newton North High project — which ballooned from $141 million to nearly $191.5 million — residents won’t be forgiving.
 

The accuracy question gained more traction last week when estimates for an Oak Hill fire station project, not included in the override package, rose by 46 percent, going from $2.8 million to $4.1 million.
 

The news followed on the heels of Day Middle School expansion costs rising by millions, as well as the projected cost of Carr School renovations growing from roughly $9 million to $12.7 million. Neither of those are part of the override.
 

Alderwoman Cheryl Lappin said she agrees an override needs to be on the ballot, but for it to succeed the board’s members will all need to be “out there promoting it . . . and we need to have confidence.”
 

Alderman Ted Hess-Mahan said he hasn’t decided whether to support the override. “I am bemused that everybody is damning it with faint praise, but saying it should go ahead.”
 

Maureen Lemieux, Newton’s chief financial officer, said the administration has tried to be conservative in projecting the costs of the override projects, and suggested the additional expenses for some of the recent construction projects can be covered by savings elsewhere.
 

As for the projects covered by the override, Lemieux said, the city’s budget should be able to absorb marginal increases, should they occur.
 

If the full board approves the override proposals Monday, the questions would be placed on the ballot in a March 12 special election.
 

 

You realize every time you suit up, every time we go out, it's life or death. You roll the dice, and you deal with it.

The Movie " Hurt Locker " was what we expect to see from Hollywood - part truth, part fiction. Long on showing us what they THINK we want to see and a lot of what a bunch of writers imagine would happen.....and that's why we get crappy movies along with some good ones....sometimes they get it right, sometimes they don't.

I prefer the REAL DEAL...FACT beats FICTION anytime as real life is always stranger....

The Daily Mail rode around Afghanistan along with the real " Hurt Locker" guys.....read on and ride along with them....pretty gripping stuff.

Good Show Lads.....Jolly Good Show.


The real Hurt Locker: The heroism of British bomb experts clearing the path for troops in Helmand

By Kate Holt Daily Mail
Last updated at 11:30 AM on 31st October 2010

Live asked British journalist Kate Holt to photograph British bomb experts clearing the path for British troops in Helmand. After a year waiting for clearance, this is the result: in words and extraordinary pictures shorn of Hollywood gloss, an account of unquestioning heroism in the face of appalling danger

I am in Helmand Province to see the first Afghan counter-IED (improvised explosive devices) troops being trained by their British counterparts, a crucial milestone on the path to self-sufficiency. I have been posted to an Afghan National Army (ANA) camp called Artillery Hill, overlooking the town of Gereshk.

The Governor of Gereshk has requested about 100 soldiers from 1 Scots and the Royal Engineers to remove IEDs from a 1.5-mile stretch of road running out of town along a canal towards an Afghan National Police checkpoint in insurgent-held territory.

There have been three IED incidents involving civilians along the road, as well as one attack on an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) vehicle. This has made the road impassable and the Afghan police checkpoint unmannable. The plan is for the British unit to clear the road, and use the opportunity to show the Afghans how it’s done.

Arriving at the ‘incident control point’ – a designated spot close to where forces rendezvous – I meet soldiers from 1 Scots coming off ‘stag’ (guard duty) on the road that’s being cleared. They tell me that Afghan troops and police have been involved in several incidents of friendly fire in the night. Casualties have been taken.

I’m introduced to the seven-man Royal Engineer search team and the four-man ATO team (ammunition technical officers), who disarm the explosive devices. Their Mastiff armoured vehicle is parked in the middle of the road, about 50 yards in front of where it was parked the day before. Progress has been slow. Two members of the search team are checking a cordon down either side of the vehicle, in the dusty verges.

This stretch has been designated ‘red’ – the most dangerous – for British troops to clear. Less hazardous ‘amber’ sections at either end of it are being cleared by the newly trained Afghan army searchers. ‘Green’ sections yet further away are being checked by Afghan police.
No one can have a more immediate sense of the dangers of his task than Sgt Hobden. Just two weeks ago acting Corporal David Barnsdale, of 33 Engineer Regiment, a 24-year-old on his second tour, was killed during a similar operation to clear IEDs in Gereshk. He was walking past an armoured personnel carrier in a small patch of safe ground surrounded by a minefield when an IED exploded. Moments later, Hobden had been one of the first into the crater looking for clues.

Confronting this latest alert, Stewie the £250,000 robot (named after the baby in the Family Guy cartoon series) is sent forward; it finds the device’s detonation cord and pulls it out. Yellow plastic oil bottles containing the charges follow it out of the ground. They are laid on top of the Tarmac.

This operation takes nearly an hour. Sgt Hobden then has to make sure the device has been successfully deactivated. He sets off on the lonely walk, with a corporal ten feet behind to provide cover.

‘This is my first time working with Jay,’ says his number two, Tim Latchford – who operates the robot – as Sgt Hobden departs. ‘He passed the High Threat Course the first time round, which is rare for an ATO. The fail rate is very high, about 75 per cent.

Corporal Kevin Bain, leading the search team, confers with Sgt Hobden, who goes down on the ground and confirms the first find, marking the area off with white powder. I see him discussing something with Cpl Bain and pointing to other areas around the find. They come back to the vehicle.

‘I can see that some of the devices have been dug in for a while, but some have definitely been dug in more recently,’ he says.

‘I think the insurgents were aware of this operation and have upped the numbers to make it harder. Someone was telling me the insurgents have an expression, “The Yanks have digital watches but we have time.” Pretty much sums up this place. They have nothing more to do than lay complex IED attacks using things they can find in their back yard, and it can take us days to safely defuse them, despite all the technology we have.

The team take it in turns to climb into the back of the air-conditioned Mastiff to cool off. The Tarmac has become too hot to sit on. Sgt Hobden returns from confirming the huge number of suspected IEDs near the police checkpoint, looking ashen-faced. He vomits alongside the vehicle.
‘I can’t go on today,’ he says. ‘The heat’s too intense. I haven’t acclimatised yet.’ He has been in the country less than two weeks. He has another six months to go.

The team begin to pack up for the day. As Stewie is manoeuvred down the road, gunfire erupts in the air overhead. ‘Inside the vehicle!’ Sgt Hobden orders. Everyone clambers inside the Mastiff, tumbling over guns, Vallons, ration packs and Molly the sniffer dog. Nobody is sure where the firing came from – although it sounds like RPG fire, too close for comfort.

‘Last month one of our guys lost both legs – doesn’t really seem worth it, does it?’

He’s talking about Sapper Ashley Hall, currently being treated at Selly Oak after stepping on a pressure plate that his Vallon failed to detect. The Royal Engineer search team intend to visit him as soon as they get home. (Which, one month later, they do.)

‘When Ash was blown up I was facing the other way,’ the soldier tells me. ‘There was suddenly this big explosion and all this dust and debris and smoke. I looked to where Ash had been and expected him to walk out of the smoke saying, “Hey, close one,” or something like that. But he didn’t. The ATO and Kev (Cpl Bain) were the first to get to him and did his first aid. I ensured a path was clear so the medical team could get to him. I saw his legs. They were just bare bones, with a bit of blood.’

The next day I am up at seven again. There’s some question as to whether Sgt Hobden is fit to work, after being ill the day before. But at 9am we get a radio message saying that he’s ready to go. While I wait for a ride to join the ATO team, I talk to the ANA commander about the new Afghan search teams. He wants the entire Afghan army to have some level of IED training. Because of the indiscriminate carnage they cause, often in markets with no ISAF forces in the vicinity, there has been more intelligence coming from local populations on where they can be found. But at the same time, as the Taliban suffer increasing attrition they are resorting to ever more desperate IED tactics.

A checkpoint is set up at the gate – searching people bringing in the injured. A 1 Scots paramedic team runs down the hill to treat two injured men who have been brought halfway up to the camp in a rickshaw. Suddenly, gunfire rings out. The paramedics are taking incoming fire from insurgents hiding in nearby buildings. Now the camp itself is taking fire. We all have to crouch low as the bullets and dust fly. Moaning victims are being stretchered up the hill, an old man holding his hands to his bleeding eyes and crying in pain, a boy covered in blood, a man missing part of his leg. A helicopter is radioed to evacuate the casualties.

An hour later I get my convoy down the road to rejoin the ATO team, who are already hard at it – searching, clearing, cutting wires. By 4pm an exhausted Sgt Hobden decides that the police checkpoint should be blown up.

‘I doubt there are any more remote controlled devices on this road,’ he says. ‘We’ve been working here for five days and they would have detonated them by now. I suspect there are several more devices inside the ANP checkpoint, and on the roof. I don’t want to risk the search team going in there. It’s safer to blow it up and get rid of it all.’

The following day Molly the sniffer dog searches the road that the ATO has cleared over the last four days, checking for any explosive charges that may have been missed. It takes three hours. After she finishes, the 1 Scots EOD team lay charges in the police checkpoint building, and blow it up. By midday the Royal Engineers are on the road, negotiating the building of the two new ANP checkpoints – hopefully to stop more IEDs being laid.

‘None of these guys will do this job ever again,’ Cpl Bain tells me as we watch. ‘You can only do this job so many times until your luck runs out.’

It has taken one week to clear a little over one mile of road. Afghanistan covers over 250,000 square miles.