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HerrForce1's Posts
Member Post
Exchanging schnitzel (or maybe Swabian Maultaschen) for waffles and tiramasu? For those who want the twelve-second take, the Pentagon’s concept stated today basically says this: Belgium & Italy are big winners. Poland is a winner. Germany–specifically Stuttgart–is the loser. Of course this will take years and involve much diplomacy and political battle. I recommend listening […]
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New York’s Intelligence Suffers the Unintelligent
On June 30th New York’s city council voted to cut nearly $484 million from the NYPD’s annual $6 billion budget and shift funding to other agencies as well as youth and social services programming.
According to a USA Today summary, “the changes will cancel a nearly 1,200-person police recruiting class set for next month (though another class in October is scheduled to go forward), curtail overtime spending and shift school safety, crossing guards and homeless outreach away from the NYPD.” (emphasis mine)
Member Post
My wife recently asked me if I thought it odd that she maintained a “sad songs” playlist on her Spotify account. A friend of hers commented that her playlist was unhelpful and my wife should listen to happy and uplifting songs. I chuckled and showed her my phone with my own “Sad But Good” playlist. […]
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Citizens often complain taxes are too high or too regressive or too widespread. The stubborn resilience of specific taxes said to be “temporary” when adopted solidify like crabgrass under societies. The Feds’ continued use of the Revenue Act after its supposed expiration in 1872 took an 1894 Supreme Court ruling to kill it. America adopted […]
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Greetings, I am a Wisconsinite in Minneapolis for a few weeks of work. Fellow member Nitwit MN and I want to get another Twin Cities event together. We’re going to meet on Thursday, November 2nd. We’re open to venue suggestions, as our last event in downtown Minneapolis (2015) created traffic jam headaches for several Ricochetti. […]
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Do Veterans Want This Kind of Thanks?
November has arrived and Veterans Day is coming up soon. I’m a reservist and very much enjoyed the service and camaraderie that I’ve experienced over the years. I benefited from two incident-free active duty stints in support of the Global War on Terror. I appreciate friends’ and neighbors’ gratitude (I try to deflect that praise toward those who’ve sacrificed physically and emotionally). Overall, I’m thankful.
This past week, a group of Wisconsin state legislators proposed a bill that would create, according to the fiscal bureau summary “a requirement that all employers in this state grant a paid leave of absence on Veterans Day to employees who are veterans.”
There’s nothing so thankful in a republic as forcing others to pay a day’s worth of gratitude and probably taking political credit for it. Reading the bill’s details further evaporates the warm feelings for our veterans, replacing said feelings with just another raft of statutory gobbledygook. Nowhere does it mention the right to forgo the benefit either. I find that distasteful.
Member Post
Three cheers for the “Minnesota Nice” experienced at The Local Irish Pub in Minneapolis last Thursday! The event produced a typical level of fellowship, discussion, and laughter of a Ricochet meetup. We do wish to note two items: We salute road warriors Randy Weivoda and Matt Balzer who logged one-day out-and-back sorties to attend. Randy […]
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Calling all longtime, new, and prospective Ricochetti in the Twin Cities area: Join us at The Local Irish Pub in downtown Minneapolis for food, drink, and some Ricochet camaraderie. This is a bit of a late add to the Ricochet Meetup. I’ll be joining NitWit MN in town on business and we decided to post a meetup. Perhaps Rachel […]
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“Motion to approve last month’s minutes.” “Second.” Preview Open
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It’s Earth Day. The President is headed to the Everglades. I will shortly leave my home and walk down the sidewalk to work (I happen to live pretty close, otherwise I prefer to burn some 93-octane ethanol-free gasoline). You don’t need to let us know how you’ll spend Earth Day. I’m more amused by self-pretentious exclamations. I thank Andrew Stuttaford […]
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Crimes Against the Passive Voice
“From NPR News in Washington, I’m Korva Coleman.”
My Harry’s razorblade glided across my face Thursday morning as the reader sauntered through the news roundup. I finished, closed the cabinet, and turned to leave the room. Ms. Coleman solemnly reported Governor Scott Walker’s intention to sign a Right to Work bill due on his desk soon. I paused to hear the rest of the story.
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ISIS boldly parades and brutally executes hog-tied U.S. journalists online and it’s back to the Vineyard for our duly elected commander-in-chief. I’ve long been disappointed by the relentlessly shrinking stature of the United States thanks to our disinterested president. While much scorn can be directed at the current chief executive, the collective American public deserves […]
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Kim Jong Un-believable? Sony to ‘Amend’ Rogen Film
Korea observers no doubt expressed the same disappointment as I did Friday when reading this: “Sony Will Amend Seth Rogen’s The Interview After North Korean Threats.” I’ve been looking forward to a lampooning of the 30ish dictator. He’s got an interest in popular culture that ensures his attention to the movie.
Quick no-spoiler synopsis: The CIA recruits two journalists (Rogen & James Franco) that landed an interview with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. Their mission: kill Kim.
I’m actually more bummed about having to wait until December instead of October for the film. In reality, this is not a U.S. backing off in the face of North Korean bombast. Making the movie is a statement in itself. It’s more about Japan.
Member Post
I recently Skype-chatted with a German friend I met in 2007 when he, a coalition German army officer and I served at US Central Command headquarters. I asked what he was doing in retirement. He energetically explained his nearly full-time commitment to managing the Berlin state campaign of a new political party called Alternative for Germany or […]
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After 20+ years in the USAF Reserve, I am spending some active duty time retraining into a new specialty. I get to reside on a training base with classmates born after I enlisted and experience the edicts, exhortations, and other directives from those in charge of our training. AF leaders have a way of speaking that often–and I say […]
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My high school junior came home from school today and down thudded two metric tons of Semester 2 textbooks onto the living room floor. “AP Macroecon anyone?” she quipped. I asked her what the textbook author’s name was and before she could utter the final consonant, her mother and I retorted “Krugman?!?!” I am an […]
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Our family recently re-watched Home Alone (a Christmas Break tradition). You likely recall comic relief burglars Harry and Marv a.k.a. the “Wet Bandits,” played by Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern making their living by casing wealthy neighborhoods. Their methods came to mind when I read about the paper in New York publishing pistol registrants on an […]
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NitWitMN and I are looking to meet with the Ricochetti somewhere in Minneapolis-St. Paul on an evening between December 3rd and 8th. NitWitMN is local while I will be in town for Reserve courses. I’d enjoy learning others’ takes on the world situation and enjoy telling yarns about my experience as a conservative public schoolteacher […]
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Preview Open
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…for the truly remarkable report from the Wisconsin Dept. of Administration announcing a positive fund balance of $342M to close out fiscal 2012. Furthermore, the state made a record deposit of $108M in its rainy day fund and set a precedent by making consecutive year deposits. To find a common thread in this good news, […]
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