Friday, June 14, 2013

My Favorite Government Institution Is 238 Years Old Today



















Established by resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775:

Resolved, That six companies of expert rifflemen, be immediately raised in Pensylvania, two in Maryland, and two in Virginia; that each company consist of a captain, three lieutenants, four serjeants, four corporals, a drummer or trumpeter, and sixty-eight privates.

That each company, as soon as compleated, shall march and join the army near Boston, to be there employed as light infantry, under the command of the chief Officer in that army.

My hat is off to all the "brave, healthy, able bodied, and well disposed" young men and women who have enlisted "for the defense of the Liberties and Independence of the United States" since that day.

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah for the well disposed volunteer riflemen!! And yeah for the 1st post in June!! gwb

Anonymous said...

TSB: They just figured out the secret to 'Roman Cement'. It lasts 2000 yrs in seawater and could cut Co2 emmissions by 7%! But we need to move fast before the Chi-Coms corner the market! gwb

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-06-14/ancient-roman-concrete-is-about-to-revolutionize-modern-architecture#r=rss

James said...

GWB:
They've known the properties of roman concrete for quite awhile. The big problem with it is availability of that aggregate they used. Anyway the different types of concrete is enormous. That article is a little simple and self serving.

Anonymous said...

TSB: Is it just me or is our answer to every crisis we are involved in to announce the launching of a peace process that pisses off all sides? Not to mention that no one takes credit for these announcements.gwb

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_AFGHANISTAN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-06-19-06-35-52

Anonymous said...

TSB: Gallop Poll: Who do you trust?
Military 76%, Politicians 23%, MSM (print or news) 23%. So I guess that goes a little towards explaining why so many prefer the generals at NSA to those out-dated amendments.
As for the FBI and TWA FL 800?? Everybody trusts the FBI so, sure they are perfect to bring in and cover up anything that needs covering up. They can even stage a 4 year rigged investigation and report.. and drones? You BET!! gwb

Anonymous said...

TSB: Who'dathunkit! Storm Troopers for the Muslim Brotherhood! (coming soon to a theater near you) gwb

http://www.kcentv.com/story/22647545/riot-control-training

Anonymous said...

TSB: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/23/edward-snowden-leaves-hong-kong-moscow

The best article about Snowden I have seen since he left was the one by Juan Cole which basically says who died and made this NSA guy King? The answer of course is Cheney and Rummie and your tax dollars. I notice that Cheney and Mr. 'least untruthful answer' are on the Sunday shows today. gwb

Anonymous said...

TSB: Most ubcommentof wk: Head of NSA says: "Wikileaks? I don't know anything about wikileaks other than what I've read in the papers."

Of course he doesn't! He's military..nobody in the military knows anything about wikileaks! We need to keep that guy on TV! Then there is State cancelling the passport AFTER Snowden leaves! gwb

TSB said...

Well, WikiLeaks is a mystery to us all, I suppose. Why not to NSA?

I'm pretty sure the passport thing is routine for anyone who has been indicted and sought as a fugitive. 'Cancelling' it just means we announce it's invalid except for return to the U.S.; of course, any country is free to accept him.

Anonymous said...

Move over Juan Cole! This lady knows how to deliver a question wrapped in a 5 minute lambasting. We could use her on the Senate Intelligence Committee. gwb
http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2013/06/22/obama-is-called-a-war-criminal-hypocrite-of-the-century-in-irish-parliament/

Anonymous said...


US factory boss held hostage by workers in Beijing June 24

TSB: Looks like this 'job creator' landed in a Chinese Guantanamo! Diplomacy needed!! gwb
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20130624/DA73VJ100.html

Anonymous said...

TSB: Amazingly, the US Army made a huge bet with Army retirement money. Since march 2013 it has been tanking. Fortunately the Generals are completely accountable so we will find out which Sgt. made this decision. gwb
http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2013-06-24/tip

TSB said...

TIPS is tanking for the Army fund? I wonder who they have managing their investment strategy? And I'm surprised they can't get some insider info from NSA, who knows everything.

Anonymous said...

TSB: Juan Cole gets 'special' response from NSA..and they didn't even charge him! I'm looking forward to the lawsuit and to find out how much the FBI spent investigating this potential traitor. gwb

http://www.juancole.com/2013/06/because-enemies-larson.html

Anonymous said...

TSB: Being frustrated by the dearth of blogging by my favorite State Dept bloggers I discovered this on the site of A Daring Adventure: http://adaringadventure.typepad.com/blog/state-department-blogger-map.html
I checked out many of these sites and found that about 80% of them ceased blogging in 2010. Did an asteroid land somewhere in 2010 or was it NSA? gwb

Anonymous said...

TSB: DOD has banned all Army posts from accessing the Guardian on the internet! And Obama is in Soweto but it must feel like Istanbul. Where is the wall to wall coverage? gwb
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-06-29/obama-goes-south-africa-protests-ensue

TSB said...

On the current dearth of blogging, I think the on-set of summer has something to do with it. But that wave of blog shutdowns a while back was due to official action. Lots of more junior employees with blogs were encouraged to stop, or even badgered into stopping.

As a Civil Service vice Foreign Service employee, I'm too outside the State Ddepartment mainstream to be worth badgering, and also, frankly, too senior and too close to retirement to be badgerable.

I expect to have something to blog pretty soon, although this weekend I'm preoccupied with work I've taken home.

Anonymous said...

Thanks TSB! gwb

Anonymous said...

TSB: I'm sure this would come as a big surprise to the retiring FBI director. gwb

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2351783/Michael-Jackson-spent-35-million-silence-dozen-boys-abused.html

Anonymous said...

TSB: It looks like the peaceful anti-Mursi masses have won and the army will take over. I think the difference (Egypt vs Turkey) is simply that the economy is so bad that people can't get food fuel or electricity. gwb
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-07-01/live-webcast-pre-coup-egypt

TSB said...

The anti-MB elements might not be very happy under a military government. The army was attacking them just a year or so ago, and tolerating all manner of abuses by the police. They haven't intervened against anti-Shite and anti-Coptic mob violence.

I don't think I'd want them for my government even if the only other choice was Morsi. But then, that is why I reside in the US of A.

Anonymous said...

TSB: I think until recent developments even Juan Cole thought things were ok in Cairo. Yesterday he did a good piece on why Mursi has been/is the Michelle Bachman of Egypt. gwb
http://www.juancole.com/2013/07/michelle-bachmann-president.html

James said...

The worst is yet to come in that place.

Anonymous said...

James: On June 15th Mursi attended a rally for radical islamics that called for sending Egyptian radicals to help overthrow Assad. (This also seems to be current US policy.) According to that great voice 'The Irish Times' this was too much for the Army. gwb
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/africa/morsi-role-at-syria-rally-seen-as-tipping-point-for-egypt-army-1.1450612

Anonymous said...

TSB: Friday's Funny Headline of the week. Sec State Kerry hold 2 days of secret talks with Isabelle!
gwb

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-07-05/egypt-re-coups-and-cairo-violence-escalates-us-secretary-state

Anonymous said...

TSB: Now that Snowden has an offer of asylum from Venezuela... (http://www.juancole.com/2013/07/venezuelas-snowden-anything.html
and we know Putin wants him gone it seems Vladivostok would be the logical embarkation point. Maybe the Icelandic business man supplies the plane and he goes with the Venezuelan ambassador? gwb

James said...

GWB: Yes, I've heard that too. Their most immediate problem is the economy (people starving) the military can't sprinkle pixie dust on it and make it better. I think the military will face protests from their current backers and fairly soon. It's a big mess and I think it's going to get really, really, really bad.