The Tuesday Morning Quarterbacking
Now we know. There was more to the story.
Aaron Alexis, who shot and killed 12 and wounded 8 before he himself was killed by gunfire did NOT have an assault rifle when he went onto the grounds of the Navy Yard. He did have a valid identification. He had a legally purchased shotgun and apparently only obtained a handgun after shooting someone. He'd passed more than one background check to get the job he had gone back to with a defense contractor.
Yes, it turns out that he had a long history of run-ins with authority. Multiple unauthorized absences and one instance of AWOL while he was in the Navy. Add insubordination and disorderly conduct, and two arrests in the civilian community on top of his military misdeeds.
He'd sought help for his mental health issues just this past August. He was able to buy the shotgun in spite of that.
What does this all add up to? Changing the laws about who can legally purchase a shotgun, a legitimate weapon for hunting and for home defense may or may not have prevented this particular tragedy. Considering he had successfully passed two background checks to get his employment, running a background check isn't a factor in determining who should be examined much more closely before allowing the purchase of a firearm.
On the other hand, it is a good thing that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is ordering a top to bottom review of the security procedures at all facilities of the military and for veterans healthcare facilities. Security on military bases and at VA facilities has been better. There used to be metal detectors at every entrance to the VA facility I go to. There are gone now. They used to have armed guards at those entrances. Now there is unarmed security guards, although armed VA police are only a phone call away. They can respond and secure the perimeter if someone decides to shoot their way into the VA.
I can remember a time when as long as you had the right decal on your car, your ID card didn't receive any scrutiny at all when entering an Air Force base. I tested my theory on several occasions. In those days, our military ID cards were green. U.S. currency that was somewhat used was about the same shade at the time. Therefore I folded up a dollar bill more than once and flashed it as though it were a military ID card. I was waved onto the base without a second glance. I had the right sticker, the right kind of haircut and what looked like the right card.
Maybe they're checking more closely now, but they damn well should be.
* * *
What's wrong with this list: Jean Stapleton, Jonathan Winters, James Gandolfini, Gary David Goldberg and Cory Monteith?
That last person just doesn't belong on this list. The first four had long, distinguished careers in television. Three of that group were Emmy winners and Jonathan Winters was an Emmy nominee. Not trying to be negative about Cory Monteith, whose death was a tragedy, but he had never been nominated for any acting award as an individual.
Glee is an amazing phenomenon but to give him special recognition over such luminaries as Dennis Farina, Karen Black, Eileen Brennan and Bonnie Franklin is just plain wrong. Yes, include him in the standard "In Memoriam" tribute. No, don't elevate him along with those other four.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
ABC, network of the Miss American Pageant wants us to believe that the questions posed to the five finalists on Sunday night were of "equal difficulty." Seriously? Asking one contestant about whether or not the U.S. should intervene in Syria over the use of chemical weapons, versus the twerking of Miley Cyrus at the VMAs doesn't involve anything resembling equal difficulty.
The only thing that Justin Bieber and Floyd "Money" Mayweather have in common is lots of money.
How typical. Congress is going to consider something called the "Inform Act" which will actually involve less accurate information being used. Politics as usual.
If you go to the dog park in San Juan Capistrano wearing your flip-flops, the sign tells you that you're breaking the rules.
How do people stupid enough to hang a sign outside their college fraternity house reading "Getting massacred is nothing new to Kent State", get into college anyway?
Iran plans to launch a cat into space. Did they have to choose a Persian cat?
This time the Republican versus Democrat game of "fiscal chicken" will probably result in a shutdown of the federal government because both sides are too stupid to realize it is going to shatter what little economic recovery is going on.
Robert Pattinson says he won't forgive. I understand where he's coming from. I was never going to forgive the marital infidelity of either of my ex-wives. But I might have been willing to get past it. Maybe. Naw, probably not.
Women who think getting married this year is riskier than other years because of triskaidekaphobia need to think their superstition through.
Good for the people donating to the fund for the homeless man who returned a backpack with over $40,000 in it. Wonder how much homelessness and hunger could be eliminated if these same people were to donate regularly to programs rather than individuals?
Charlie Sheen gets his high school diploma and it is treated as a joke. Mark Wahlberg does it and he's hailed. Why is that?
* * *
This Date In History:
Since I somehow managed to post the data on September 17th in history yesterday, I will post the data for September 16th today:
307 – Emperor Severus II is captured and imprisoned at Tres Tabernae. He is later executed (or forced to commit suicide) after Galerius unsuccessfully invades Italy.
1400 – Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers.
1620 – The Mayflower starts her voyage to North America
1701 – James Francis Edward Stuart, sometimes called the "Old Pretender", becomes the Jacobite claimant to the thrones of England and Scotland.
1776 – American Revolutionary War: the Battle of Harlem Heights is fought.
1779 – American Revolutionary War: The Franco-American Siege of Savannah begins.
1795 – The first occupation by United Kingdom of Cape Colony, South Africa with the Battle of Hout Bay, after successive victories at the Battle of Muizenberg and Wynberg, after William V requested protection against revolutionary France's occupation of the Netherlands.
1810 – With the Grito de Dolores, Father Miguel Hidalgo begins Mexico's fight for independence from Spain.
1812 – The Fire of Moscow begins shortly after midnight and destroys three quarters of the city days later.
1863 – Robert College of Istanbul-Turkey, the first American educational institution outside the United States, is founded by Christopher Robert, an American philanthropist.
1880 – The Cornell Daily Sun prints its first issue in Ithaca, New York. The Sun is the nation's oldest, continuously-independent college daily.
1893 – Settlers make a land run for prime land in the Cherokee Strip in Oklahoma.
1908 – The General Motors Corporation is founded.
1919 – The American Legion is incorporated.
1920 – The Wall Street bombing: a bomb in a horse wagon explodes in front of the J. P. Morgan building in New York City – 38 are killed and 400 injured.
1928 – The Okeechobee hurricane strikes southeastern Florida, killing upwards of 2,500 people. It is the third deadliest natural disaster in United States history, behind the Galveston hurricane of 1900 and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
1940 – World War II: Italian troops conquer Sidi Barrani.
1941 – World War II: Concerned that Reza Pahlavi the Shah of Persia is about to ally his petroleum-rich empire with Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union invade Iran in late August and force the Shah to abdicate in favor of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
1943 – World War II: The Allied invasion of Italy concludes when Heinrich von Vietinghoff, commander of the German Tenth Army, orders his troops to withdraw from Salerno.
1945 – World War II: The surrender of the Japanese troops in Hong Kong is accepted by Royal Navy Admiral Sir Cecil Harcourt.
1947 – Typhoon Kathleen hits Saitama, Tokyo and Tone River area, at least 1,930 killed.
1955 – The military coup to unseat President Juan Perón of Argentina is launched at midnight.
1955 – A Soviet Navy Zulu class submarine becomes the first submarine to launch a ballistic missile.
1959 – The first successful photocopier, the Xerox 914, is introduced in a demonstration on live television from New York City.
1961 – The United States National Hurricane Research Project drops eight cylinders of silver iodide into the eyewall of Hurricane Esther. Wind speed reduces by 10%, giving rise to Project Stormfury.
1963 – Malaysia is formed from the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak. However, Singapore soon leaves this new country.
1966 – The Metropolitan Opera House opens at Lincoln Center in New York City with the world premiere of Samuel Barber's opera, Antony and Cleopatra.
1970 – King Hussein of Jordan declares military rule following the hijacking of four civilian airliners by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). This results in the formation of the Black September Palestinian paramilitary unit.
1971 – Typhoon Nancy, with possibly the strongest winds ever measured in a tropical cyclone, makes landfall in Osaka, Japan, killing 173 people.
1975 – Papua New Guinea gains its independence from Australia.
1975 – The Cape Verde Islands, Mozambique, and Sao Tome and Principe join the United Nations.
1975 – The first prototype of the MiG-31 interceptor makes its maiden flight.
1976 – Shavarsh Karapetyan saves 20 people from the trolleybus that had fallen into Erevan reservoir.
1978 – An earthquake measuring 7.5 to 7.9 on the Richter scale hits the city of Tabas, Iran killing about 25,000 people.
1980 – Saint Vincent and the Grenadines join the United Nations.
1982 – Sabra and Shatila massacre in Lebanon.
1987 – The Montreal Protocol is signed to protect the ozone layer from depletion.
1990 – The railroad between the People's Republic of China and Kazakhstan is completed at Dostyk, adding a sizable link to the concept of the Eurasian Land Bridge.
1991 – The trial of the deposed Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega begins in the United States.
1992 – Black Wednesday: the Pound Sterling is forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism by currency speculators and is forced to devalue against the German mark.
Famous Folk Born On September 16th:
Henry V of England
Pedro V of Portugal
James Cash Penney
Karl Donitz
Paul Henning (great mind for television)
Allen Funt
Guy Hamilton
Peter Falk
Anne Francis
Elgin Baylor
Dennis Conner
Pat Stevens
Ron Blair
Susan Ruttan
Ed Begley Jr.
David Bellamy
Mickey Rourke
Frank Reed
Robin Yount
David Copperfield
Orel Hershiser
Richard Marx
Molly Shannon
Walt Becker
Amy Poehler
Movie quotes today come from 1974's "The Man With the Golden Gun", directed by Guy Hamilton:
[Bond has jumped into a car that Sheriff Pepper was checking inside a dealership. He drives through the dealership window & takes off in pursuit of Scaramanga & Nick Nack, who kidnapped Mary Goodnight and are holding her in the trunk of their car]
Sheriff J.W. Pepper: [caught off guard as Bond turns the car around] What the HELL is going on?
[Bond starts a wild pursuit of Scaramanga & Nick Nack]
Sheriff J.W. Pepper: Hey! I KNOW you!
[points at Bond. Bond glances up & recognizes Pepper]
James Bond: Oh, no!
Sheriff J.W. Pepper: You're that Secret Agent! That English secret agent! From England!
Sheriff J.W. Pepper: Let's go get 'em! I'm with you all the way!
[Bond & Pepper continue chasing Scaramanga through Bangkok traffic]
#2
James Bond: How will I recognize him?
Andrea Anders: Tall, slim, and dark.
James Bond: So is my aunt. Anything distinctive about him?
Andrea Anders: Yes, but how can I tell you? He's not like other men.
Andrea Anders: [motions toward her chest] He has three...
James Bond: Fascinating anatomical tidbit. But probably the most useless piece of information I've ever heard. Unless, of course, the Bottoms Up is a strip club and Scaramanga is performing.
#3
James Bond: Who'd want to put a contract on me?
M: Jealous husbands! Outraged chefs! Humiliated tailors! The list is endless!
#4
James Bond: Good morning. How's the water?
Chew Mee: Why don't you come in and find out?
James Bond: Sounds very tempting, Miss...?
Chew Mee: Chew Mee.
James Bond: Really? Well, there's only one small problem. I have no swimming trunks.
Chew Mee: Neither have I.
Aaron Alexis, who shot and killed 12 and wounded 8 before he himself was killed by gunfire did NOT have an assault rifle when he went onto the grounds of the Navy Yard. He did have a valid identification. He had a legally purchased shotgun and apparently only obtained a handgun after shooting someone. He'd passed more than one background check to get the job he had gone back to with a defense contractor.
Yes, it turns out that he had a long history of run-ins with authority. Multiple unauthorized absences and one instance of AWOL while he was in the Navy. Add insubordination and disorderly conduct, and two arrests in the civilian community on top of his military misdeeds.
He'd sought help for his mental health issues just this past August. He was able to buy the shotgun in spite of that.
What does this all add up to? Changing the laws about who can legally purchase a shotgun, a legitimate weapon for hunting and for home defense may or may not have prevented this particular tragedy. Considering he had successfully passed two background checks to get his employment, running a background check isn't a factor in determining who should be examined much more closely before allowing the purchase of a firearm.
On the other hand, it is a good thing that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is ordering a top to bottom review of the security procedures at all facilities of the military and for veterans healthcare facilities. Security on military bases and at VA facilities has been better. There used to be metal detectors at every entrance to the VA facility I go to. There are gone now. They used to have armed guards at those entrances. Now there is unarmed security guards, although armed VA police are only a phone call away. They can respond and secure the perimeter if someone decides to shoot their way into the VA.
I can remember a time when as long as you had the right decal on your car, your ID card didn't receive any scrutiny at all when entering an Air Force base. I tested my theory on several occasions. In those days, our military ID cards were green. U.S. currency that was somewhat used was about the same shade at the time. Therefore I folded up a dollar bill more than once and flashed it as though it were a military ID card. I was waved onto the base without a second glance. I had the right sticker, the right kind of haircut and what looked like the right card.
Maybe they're checking more closely now, but they damn well should be.
* * *
What's wrong with this list: Jean Stapleton, Jonathan Winters, James Gandolfini, Gary David Goldberg and Cory Monteith?
That last person just doesn't belong on this list. The first four had long, distinguished careers in television. Three of that group were Emmy winners and Jonathan Winters was an Emmy nominee. Not trying to be negative about Cory Monteith, whose death was a tragedy, but he had never been nominated for any acting award as an individual.
Glee is an amazing phenomenon but to give him special recognition over such luminaries as Dennis Farina, Karen Black, Eileen Brennan and Bonnie Franklin is just plain wrong. Yes, include him in the standard "In Memoriam" tribute. No, don't elevate him along with those other four.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
ABC, network of the Miss American Pageant wants us to believe that the questions posed to the five finalists on Sunday night were of "equal difficulty." Seriously? Asking one contestant about whether or not the U.S. should intervene in Syria over the use of chemical weapons, versus the twerking of Miley Cyrus at the VMAs doesn't involve anything resembling equal difficulty.
The only thing that Justin Bieber and Floyd "Money" Mayweather have in common is lots of money.
How typical. Congress is going to consider something called the "Inform Act" which will actually involve less accurate information being used. Politics as usual.
If you go to the dog park in San Juan Capistrano wearing your flip-flops, the sign tells you that you're breaking the rules.
How do people stupid enough to hang a sign outside their college fraternity house reading "Getting massacred is nothing new to Kent State", get into college anyway?
Iran plans to launch a cat into space. Did they have to choose a Persian cat?
This time the Republican versus Democrat game of "fiscal chicken" will probably result in a shutdown of the federal government because both sides are too stupid to realize it is going to shatter what little economic recovery is going on.
Robert Pattinson says he won't forgive. I understand where he's coming from. I was never going to forgive the marital infidelity of either of my ex-wives. But I might have been willing to get past it. Maybe. Naw, probably not.
Women who think getting married this year is riskier than other years because of triskaidekaphobia need to think their superstition through.
Good for the people donating to the fund for the homeless man who returned a backpack with over $40,000 in it. Wonder how much homelessness and hunger could be eliminated if these same people were to donate regularly to programs rather than individuals?
Charlie Sheen gets his high school diploma and it is treated as a joke. Mark Wahlberg does it and he's hailed. Why is that?
* * *
This Date In History:
Since I somehow managed to post the data on September 17th in history yesterday, I will post the data for September 16th today:
307 – Emperor Severus II is captured and imprisoned at Tres Tabernae. He is later executed (or forced to commit suicide) after Galerius unsuccessfully invades Italy.
1400 – Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers.
1620 – The Mayflower starts her voyage to North America
1701 – James Francis Edward Stuart, sometimes called the "Old Pretender", becomes the Jacobite claimant to the thrones of England and Scotland.
1776 – American Revolutionary War: the Battle of Harlem Heights is fought.
1779 – American Revolutionary War: The Franco-American Siege of Savannah begins.
1795 – The first occupation by United Kingdom of Cape Colony, South Africa with the Battle of Hout Bay, after successive victories at the Battle of Muizenberg and Wynberg, after William V requested protection against revolutionary France's occupation of the Netherlands.
1810 – With the Grito de Dolores, Father Miguel Hidalgo begins Mexico's fight for independence from Spain.
1812 – The Fire of Moscow begins shortly after midnight and destroys three quarters of the city days later.
1863 – Robert College of Istanbul-Turkey, the first American educational institution outside the United States, is founded by Christopher Robert, an American philanthropist.
1880 – The Cornell Daily Sun prints its first issue in Ithaca, New York. The Sun is the nation's oldest, continuously-independent college daily.
1893 – Settlers make a land run for prime land in the Cherokee Strip in Oklahoma.
1908 – The General Motors Corporation is founded.
1919 – The American Legion is incorporated.
1920 – The Wall Street bombing: a bomb in a horse wagon explodes in front of the J. P. Morgan building in New York City – 38 are killed and 400 injured.
1928 – The Okeechobee hurricane strikes southeastern Florida, killing upwards of 2,500 people. It is the third deadliest natural disaster in United States history, behind the Galveston hurricane of 1900 and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
1940 – World War II: Italian troops conquer Sidi Barrani.
1941 – World War II: Concerned that Reza Pahlavi the Shah of Persia is about to ally his petroleum-rich empire with Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union invade Iran in late August and force the Shah to abdicate in favor of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
1943 – World War II: The Allied invasion of Italy concludes when Heinrich von Vietinghoff, commander of the German Tenth Army, orders his troops to withdraw from Salerno.
1945 – World War II: The surrender of the Japanese troops in Hong Kong is accepted by Royal Navy Admiral Sir Cecil Harcourt.
1947 – Typhoon Kathleen hits Saitama, Tokyo and Tone River area, at least 1,930 killed.
1955 – The military coup to unseat President Juan Perón of Argentina is launched at midnight.
1955 – A Soviet Navy Zulu class submarine becomes the first submarine to launch a ballistic missile.
1959 – The first successful photocopier, the Xerox 914, is introduced in a demonstration on live television from New York City.
1961 – The United States National Hurricane Research Project drops eight cylinders of silver iodide into the eyewall of Hurricane Esther. Wind speed reduces by 10%, giving rise to Project Stormfury.
1963 – Malaysia is formed from the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak. However, Singapore soon leaves this new country.
1966 – The Metropolitan Opera House opens at Lincoln Center in New York City with the world premiere of Samuel Barber's opera, Antony and Cleopatra.
1970 – King Hussein of Jordan declares military rule following the hijacking of four civilian airliners by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). This results in the formation of the Black September Palestinian paramilitary unit.
1971 – Typhoon Nancy, with possibly the strongest winds ever measured in a tropical cyclone, makes landfall in Osaka, Japan, killing 173 people.
1975 – Papua New Guinea gains its independence from Australia.
1975 – The Cape Verde Islands, Mozambique, and Sao Tome and Principe join the United Nations.
1975 – The first prototype of the MiG-31 interceptor makes its maiden flight.
1976 – Shavarsh Karapetyan saves 20 people from the trolleybus that had fallen into Erevan reservoir.
1978 – An earthquake measuring 7.5 to 7.9 on the Richter scale hits the city of Tabas, Iran killing about 25,000 people.
1980 – Saint Vincent and the Grenadines join the United Nations.
1982 – Sabra and Shatila massacre in Lebanon.
1987 – The Montreal Protocol is signed to protect the ozone layer from depletion.
1990 – The railroad between the People's Republic of China and Kazakhstan is completed at Dostyk, adding a sizable link to the concept of the Eurasian Land Bridge.
1991 – The trial of the deposed Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega begins in the United States.
1992 – Black Wednesday: the Pound Sterling is forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism by currency speculators and is forced to devalue against the German mark.
Famous Folk Born On September 16th:
Henry V of England
Pedro V of Portugal
James Cash Penney
Karl Donitz
Paul Henning (great mind for television)
Allen Funt
Guy Hamilton
Peter Falk
Anne Francis
Elgin Baylor
Dennis Conner
Pat Stevens
Ron Blair
Susan Ruttan
Ed Begley Jr.
David Bellamy
Mickey Rourke
Frank Reed
Robin Yount
David Copperfield
Orel Hershiser
Richard Marx
Molly Shannon
Walt Becker
Amy Poehler
Movie quotes today come from 1974's "The Man With the Golden Gun", directed by Guy Hamilton:
[Bond has jumped into a car that Sheriff Pepper was checking inside a dealership. He drives through the dealership window & takes off in pursuit of Scaramanga & Nick Nack, who kidnapped Mary Goodnight and are holding her in the trunk of their car]
Sheriff J.W. Pepper: [caught off guard as Bond turns the car around] What the HELL is going on?
[Bond starts a wild pursuit of Scaramanga & Nick Nack]
Sheriff J.W. Pepper: Hey! I KNOW you!
[points at Bond. Bond glances up & recognizes Pepper]
James Bond: Oh, no!
Sheriff J.W. Pepper: You're that Secret Agent! That English secret agent! From England!
Sheriff J.W. Pepper: Let's go get 'em! I'm with you all the way!
[Bond & Pepper continue chasing Scaramanga through Bangkok traffic]
#2
James Bond: How will I recognize him?
Andrea Anders: Tall, slim, and dark.
James Bond: So is my aunt. Anything distinctive about him?
Andrea Anders: Yes, but how can I tell you? He's not like other men.
Andrea Anders: [motions toward her chest] He has three...
James Bond: Fascinating anatomical tidbit. But probably the most useless piece of information I've ever heard. Unless, of course, the Bottoms Up is a strip club and Scaramanga is performing.
#3
James Bond: Who'd want to put a contract on me?
M: Jealous husbands! Outraged chefs! Humiliated tailors! The list is endless!
#4
James Bond: Good morning. How's the water?
Chew Mee: Why don't you come in and find out?
James Bond: Sounds very tempting, Miss...?
Chew Mee: Chew Mee.
James Bond: Really? Well, there's only one small problem. I have no swimming trunks.
Chew Mee: Neither have I.
posted by me at 3:59 PM
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