And That’s When The Fight Started.

English: Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis (Eastern...

English: Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis (Eastern Garter Snake) in Spangler Park, Wooster, Ohio. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You tell me if this is a true story or a fairy tale. What ever it is a very creative attempt to make me laugh out loud. Oh, I forgot, LOL. Thanks Joyce and Frank for sending a cool story.

All Snakes Are Bad Snakes

Garden Grass Snakes also known as Garter Snakes (Thamn ophis sirta lis) can be dangerous. Yes, grass snakes, not rattlesnakes. Here’s why.

A couple in Penn Valley, California , had a lot of potted plants. During a recent cold spell, the wife was bringing a lot of them indoors to protect them from a possible freeze.

It turned out that a little green garden grass snake was hidden in one of the plants.  When it had warmed up, it slithered out and the wife saw it go under the sofa.  She let out a very loud scream.

The husband (who was taking a shower) ran out into the living room naked to see what the problem was. She told him there was a snake under the sofa.  He got down on the floor on his hands and knees to look for it.

About that time the family dog came and cold- nosed him on the behind.
He thought the snake had bitten him, so he screamed and fell over on the floor .

His wife thought he had had a heart attack, so she covered him up, told him to lie still and called an ambulance.

The attendants rushed in, would not listen to his protests, loaded him on the stretcher, and started carrying him out.

About that time, the snake came out from under the sofa and the Emergency Medical Technician saw it and dropped his end of the stretcher.  That’s when the man broke his leg and why he is still in the hospital.

The wife still had the problem of the snake in the house, so she called on a neighbor who volunteered to capture the snake.  He armed himself with a rolled-up newspaper and began poking under the couch.  Soon he decided it was gone and told the woman, who sat down on the sofa in relief.

But while relaxing, her hand dangled in between the cushions, where she felt the snake wriggling around. She screamed and fainted, the snake rushed back under the sofa. The neighbor man, seeing her lying there passed out , tried to use CPR to revive her.

The neighbor’s wife, who had just returned from shopping at the grocery store, saw her husband’s mouth on the woman’s mouth and slammed her husband in the back of the head with a bag of canned goods , knocking him out and cutting his scalp to a point where it needed stitches.The noise woke the woman from her dead faint and she saw her neighbor lying on the floor with his wife bending over him, so she assumed that the snake had bitten him. She went to the kitchen and got a small bottle of whiskey, and began pouring it down the man’s throat.By now, the police had arrived.

Breathe here. …..

They saw the unconscious man, smelled the whiskey, and assumed that a drunken fight had occurred. They were about to arrest them all, when the women tried to explain how it all happened over a little green snake .The police called an ambulance, which took away the neighbor and his sobbing wife.Now, the little snake again crawled out from under the sofa and one of the policemen drew his gun and fired at it. He missed the snake and hit the leg of the end table .The table fell over, the lamp on it shattered and, as the bulb broke, it started a fire in the drapes.

The other policeman tried to beat out the flames, and fell through the window into the yard on top of the family dog who, startled, jumped out and raced into the street, where an oncoming car swerved to avoid it and smashed into the parked police car.

Meanwhile, neighbors saw the burning drapes and called in the fire department .

The firemen had started raising the fire ladder when they were halfway down the street. The rising ladder tore out the overhead wires, put out the power , and disconnected the telephones in a ten-square city block area but they did get the house fire out.

Time passed!

Both men were discharged from the hospital, the house was repaired, the dog came home, the police acquired a new car and all was right with their world .

A while later they were watching TV and the weatherman announced a cold snap for that night . The wife asked her husband if he thought they should bring in their plants for the night.

And that’s when the fight started.

Things in the Garbage

This Blogger has some valid points to share. Its the Green in me.

Black Band of Mourning that Very Few Know About.

Black Band of Mourning covers the insignia of Camp Bastion, in Afghanistan

Enclosed is an accurate account of what transpired in Afghanistan On September 14th, 2012. On September 18, 2012 the President partied with Letterman, Jay Z, and Beyonce. Our current foreign policy emboldens the enemy. Anyone who thinks the Muslim world is not our enemy is not thinking clearly. I cannot divulge the source of this report for fear of repercussion to  the individual involved. All I can say is that it is reliable.

#######################################################################################

Late on Friday, Sept. 14, 2012, a Taliban insurgent force attacked the NATO ISAF base, Camp Bastion, in Afghanistan, resulting in the worst loss of U.S. airpower in a single incident since the Vietnam War. Two Marines, including VMA-211’s commanding officer, were killed in the attack, and nine other personnel (eight military and one contractor, reportedly) were wounded. By the time the base was secured roughly five hours later, six U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) AV-8B+ Harrier “jump jets” had been destroyed, and two more “significantly” damaged. In addition, three refueling points were destroyed, and six “soft-skinned” aircraft hangers were damaged to some degree. As a result of this attack, the air strength of Marine Attack Squadron (VMA-211 – “The Avengers”) was almost completely destroyed.

 

Camp Bastion is a British-run ISAF base in Helmand Providence northwest of Lashkar Gah, built adjacent to Camp Leatherneck (the primary USMC base in the area) and Camp Shorabak (run by the Afghan National Army). Equipped with a 3,500-meter (11,482 foot) runway and servicing up to 28,000 personnel, it is the largest British base in Afghanistan. One of them, on Sept. 14, was an AH-64 Apache crewman named Capt.“Wales,” otherwise known as Harry, Prince of Wales. Along with the British Apaches and other U.K. aircraft, Camp Bastion also provides basing for USMC aviation units, including VMA-211, the only Harrier squadron then in Afghanistan.

 

The attack on Camp Bastion began at around 10:00 PM local time, when about 20 Taliban fighters approached the perimeter, disguised in U.S. Army battle dress uniforms. One of the Taliban used his explosive suicide vest to blow a hole in the perimeter fence, which reportedly allowed three five-man squads into the secured areas of the base. Armed with AK-47s, RPG-7s and explosive suicide vests, the Taliban fighters flooded into the U.S. area known as Camp Barber.

 

As they began to attack the flightline areas, the Marines react within minutes to defend the area.  They established an Apache helicopter that immediately began to orbit over the camp.  In addition, the ground security force began to fight its way toward Camp Barber over the main runway, reportedly expending around 10,000 rounds of ammunition in the process. It took almost five hours to secure the base and police up the insurgents.

 

When the sun rose the next day, the deadly cost of the Taliban raid began to be seen. Fourteen of the 15 attackers were killed, along with two of their support force outside the fence. One insurgent was wounded and captured, and is providing useful information on this latest “Green on Blue” Taliban attack. The Allied casualties, however, are proving heartbreaking. Killed during the attack were Lt. Col. Christopher “Otis” K. Raible, USMC (the commander of VMA-211) and Sgt. Bradley W. Atwell (from Marine Air Logistics Squadron 13), both based at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma, Ariz.

 

Maj. Gen. Gregg Sturdevant, USMC, commander of Marine Aircraft Wing Three (Forward), has announced that replacements for the lost aircraft and personnel will be “brought forward,” suggesting VMA-211 will be reconstituted in place. While VMA-211’s executive officer, Maj. John “Strut” Havener, USMC, has been named the interim squadron commander, it is possible another Harrier squadron will be deployed and the Avengers returned to their home base at MCAS Yuma.

 

Whatever the organizational outcome, the Sept. 14, 2012 attack on Camp Bastion is arguably the worst day in USMC aviation history since the Tet Offensive of 1968. The last time VMA-211 was combat ineffective was in December 1941, when the squadron was wiped out during the 13-day defense of Wake Island against the Japanese. Eight irreplaceable aircraft (the AV-8B has been out of production since 1999) have been destroyed or put out of action – approximately 7 percent of the total flying USMC Harrier fleet. Worse yet, the aircraft involved were the AV-B+ variant equipped with the APG-65 radar and AAQ-28 Litening II targeting pods – the most capable in the force. Given the current funding situation, it’s likely that the two damaged AV-8Bs will become spare parts “hangar queens” and never fly again. A Harrier squadron commander is dead, along with another Marine. Another nine personnel have been wounded, and the nearby Marines at Camp Freedom are now without effective fixed-wing air support. The USMC’s response to this disaster will be a telling report card on its leadership and organizational agility.

We Are Screwed

Dorothy did it to me again. She sent me a video that has me in a countdown mode. How long before the USA crashes? The answer is not simple. If our leaders fail to address the problems before us, we are screwed. There is no better way to put it.

At this point, we have a few seconds to fix the problem. If we choose the wrong President, we are screwed. If our leaders lie to us, and fail to fix the problem, we are screwed. It is only a matter of time before the USA is at the bottom of the list with Greece, Spain, and every other pot hole of a country that has nothing. If we keep the guy we have, we know the race is on to give away the America’s wealth before the economy collapses. If we choose the new guy whose background is in fixing broken companies, we might still have a chance.

Where is our current leadership? Why are they concentrating on going around the world poking sticks into hornets nests when they should be working 24/7 on fixing the economy and the broken entitlement system we so generously asked for.

Anyone with a third grade education can watch this video and tell where the problem lies. It explains why interest rates are so low. The Fed knows if it were higher the countdown would be moving at the speed of light toward our failure. I think the people of America are smart enough and mature enough to understand what needs to be done. Will our elected representatives have the cojones to do something about it?

At this point I am glad I am the age I am. Even if I survive another twenty years (fat chance of that happening) I will not have to endure the misery as long as my grandkids who range in age from seven to eighteen. Those poor kids won’t know what hit them, and I feel responsible for doing it to them. The thought that I’ll spend eternity knowing I did it to them just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.  Of course I was not alone, I have around 330 million neighbors who also contributed to the problem.

So the question is this, what are we, uh, what are you going to do about the situation?

I know what I will do.

Watch the video to understand the problem. It wasn’t caused by Obama or Bush, It started in the nineteen forties with Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Everyone since then has exacerbated the problem.

 

Unemployment – OUT OF WORK

Abbott & Costello

Who’s on First

As a kid I enjoyed the antics of a very famous duo-comedy force called Abbott and Costello. One was a straight man for the other. They had some classic side splitting skits. One of them called  “Who’s on First” is genius comedy.  The skit below is modeled after “Who’s On First.”  This version is even funnier than the original.   Of course, if you are either unemployed or out of work you may not see the humor.

Unemployment- OUT OF WORK

 COSTELLO:  I want to talk about the unemployment rate in America .

 ABBOTT: Good Subject. Terrible Times. It’s  9%.

COSTELLO: That many people are out of work?

ABBOTT: No, that’s 16%.

COSTELLO: You just said 9%.

ABBOTT: 9% Unemployed.

COSTELLO: Right 9% out of work.

 ABBOTT: No, that’s 16%.

 COSTELLO: Okay, so it’s 16% unemployed.

 ABBOTT: No, that’s 9%.

COSTELLO: WAIT A MINUTE.    Is it 9% or16%?

 ABBOTT: 9% are unemployed.  16% are out of work.

 COSTELLO: IF you are out of work you are unemployed.

 ABBOTT: No, Obama said you can’t count the “Out of Work” as the unemployed.

You have to look for work to be unemployed.

COSTELLO: BUT THEY ARE OUT OF WORK!!!

ABBOTT: No, you miss his point.

COSTELLO: What point?

 ABBOTT: Someone who doesn’t look for work can’t be counted with those who look for work.

  It wouldn’t be fair.

 COSTELLO: To whom?

ABBOTT: The  unemployed.

COSTELLO: But they are ALL out of work.

ABBOTT: No, the unemployed are actively looking for work. Those who are out of work gave up looking and if you give up, you are no longer in the  ranks of the unemployed.

COSTELLO: So if you’re off the

unemployment roles that would count as less unemployment?

 ABBOTT:

Unemployment would go down.  Absolutely!

COSTELLO: The

unemployment just goes down because you don’t look for work?

 ABBOTT: Absolutely it goes down. That’s how Obama

gets it to 9%.   Otherwise it would be 16%. He doesn’t want you to read about 16% unemployment.

COSTELLO: That would be tough on his reelection.

ABBOTT: Absolutely.

COSTELLO: Wait, I got a question

for you. That means there are two ways to bring down the unemployment  number?

 ABBOTT: Two ways is correct.

 COSTELLO:

Unemployment can go down if someone gets a job?

 ABBOTT: Correct.

COSTELLO: And unemployment can also go down if you stop looking for a job?

ABBOTT: Bingo.

COSTELLO: So there are two  ways to bring unemployment down, and the easier of the two is to have Obama’s supporters stop looking for work.

 ABBOTT: Now you’re thinking like the Obama Economy Czar.

 COSTELLO: I don’t even know what the hell I just said!

 ABBOTT: Now you’re thinking like Obama.

Thanks Diane for a great laugh.