Sam Eliot

Waiting

Read the short story at the end. It really helps make this world a special place when you have good friends to share it with.

 

The story behind this picture is this: >  > Every day - at the same time - she waits for him. >  > He comes... and they go for a walk. >  > Great to have friends like this.  No words needed. They just intuitively recognize the value of each other in their lives and act accordingly.       Happiness is to have a friend to walk with.........

ACTUAL PASSPORT APPLICATION LETTER SENT BACK TO THE STATE DEPARTMENT.


Dear Mrs., Ms., Sir or dude:

I'm in the process of renewing my passport and still cannot believe this. How is it that Radio Shack has my address and telephone number and knows that I bought a cable TV from them in 1987 (23 years ago), and yet, the Federal Government is still asking me where I was born and on what date. For Christ sakes, do you guys do this by hand? Ever heard of computers?

My birth date you have in my social security file. It's on EVERY income tax form I've filed for the past 30 years. It's on my Medicare health insurance card and my driver's license, it's on the last eight damn passports I've had, it's on every stupid customs declaration form I've had to fill out before being allowed off the plane for the last 30 years. And it's on all those census forms that we have to do at election times.

Would somebody please take note, once and for all, that my mother's name is Maryanne, my father's name is Robert and I'm reasonably confident that neither name is likely to change between now and when I die. Between you an' me, I've had enough of this bureaucratic bullshit!

You send the application to my house, then you ask me for my #*&#%*& address. What is going on? You must have a gang of bureaucratic Neanderthal morons working there! Look at my damn picture. Do I look like Bin Laden? And "No," I don't want to dig up Yasser Arafat, for shit sakes. I just want to go and park my ass on a sandy beach. And would someone please tell me, why would you give a damn whether I plan on visiting a farm in the next 15 days? If I ever got the urge to do something weird to a chicken or a goat, believe you me, I'd sure as hell not want to tell anyone!

Well, I have to go now because I have to go to the other end of the city and get another #*@&#^@*@& copy of my birth certificate to the tune of $100.

Would it be so difficult to have all the services in the same area so I could get a new passport the same day? Nooooo, that would require planning and organization. And it would be too logical for the @&^*^%@% government.

You'd rather have us running all over the place like chickens with our heads cut off. Then, we have to find some asshole to confirm that it's really me in the damn picture - you know, the one where we're not allowed to smile... Hey, you know why we can't smile? We're totally pissed off!

Signed

An Irate Citizen.

P.S. Remember what I wrote about getting someone to confirm that the picture is me? Well, my family has been in the United States of America since 1776. I have served in the military for something over 35 years and have had security clearances up the ying yang. However, I have to get someone important to verify who I am - you know, someone like my doctor....... WHO WAS BORN AND RAISED IN INDIA!

And you assholes want to run our Health Care System?????

Absolutely incredible!!!! WW II B17 Survival Story B-17 "All American" (414th Squadron, 97BG) Crew Pilot- Ken Bragg Jr. Copilot- G. Boyd Jr. Navigator- Harry C. Nuessle Bombardier- Ralph Burbridge Engineer- Joe C. James Radio Operator- Paul A. Galloway Ball Turret Gunner- Elton Conda Waist Gunner- Michael Zuk Tail Gunner- Sam T. Sarpolus Ground Crew Chief- Hank Hyland B-17 in 1943 A mid-air collision on February 1, 1943, between a B-17 and a German fighter over the Tunis dock area, became the subject of one of the most famous photographs of World War II. An enemy fighter attacking a 97th Bomb Group formation went out of control, probably with a wounded pilot then continued its crashing descent into the rear of the fuselage of a Fortress named All American, piloted by Lt. Kendrick R. Bragg, of the 414th Bomb Squadron. When it struck, the fighter broke apart, but left some pieces in the B-17. The left horizontal stabilizer of the Fortress and left elevator were completely torn away. The two right engines were out and one on the left had a serious oil pump leak. The vertical fin and the rudder had been damaged, the fuselage had been cut almost completely through connected only at two small parts of the frame and the radios, electrical and oxygen systems were damaged. There was also a hole in the top that was over 16 feet long and 4 Feet wide at its widest and the split in the fuselage went all the way to the top gunner's turret. Although the tail actually bounced and swayed in the wind and twisted when the plane turned and all the control cables were severed, except one single elevator cable still worked, and the aircraft still flew - miraculously! The tail gunner was trapped because there was no floor connecting the tail to the rest of the plane. The waist and tail gunners used parts of the German fighter and their own parachute harnesses in an attempt to keep the tail from ripping off and the two sides of the fuselage from splitting apart. While the crew was trying to keep the bomber from coming apart, the pilot continued on his bomb run and released his bombs over the target. When the bomb bay doors were opened, the wind turbulence was so great that it blew one of the waist gunners into the broken tail section. It took several minutes and four crew members to pass him ropes from parachutes and haul him back into the forward part of the plane. When they tried to do the same for the tail gunner, the tail began flapping so hard that it began to break off. The weight of the gunner was adding some stability to the tail section, so he went back to his position. The turn back toward England had to be very slow to keep the tail from twisting off. They actually covered almost 70 miles to make the turn home. The bomber was so badly damaged that it was losing altitude and speed and was soon alone in the sky. For a brief time, two more Me-109 German fighters attacked the All American. Despite the extensive damage, all of the machine gunners were able to respond to these attacks and soon drove off the fighters. The two waist gunners stood up with their heads sticking out through the hole in the top of the fuselage to aim and fire their machine guns. The tail gunner had to shoot in short bursts because the recoil was actually causing the plane to turn.  Allied P-51 fighters intercepted the All American as it crossed over the Channel and took one of the pictures shown. They also radioed to the base describing that the empennage was waving like a fish tail and that the plane would not make it and to send out boats to rescue the crew when they bailed out. The fighters stayed with the Fortress taking hand signals from Lt. Bragg and relaying them to the base. Lt. Bragg signaled that 5 parachutes and the spare had been "used" so five of the crew could not bail out. He made the decision that if they could not bail out safely, then he would stay with the plane and land it.  Two and a half hours after being hit, the aircraft made its final turn to line up with the runway while it was still over 40 miles away. It descended into an emergency landing and a normal roll-out on its landing gear.  When the ambulance pulled alongside, it was waved off because not a single member of the crew had been injured. No one could believe that the aircraft could still fly in such a condition. The Fortress sat placidly until the crew all exited through the door in the fuselage and the tail gunner had climbed down a ladder, at which time the entire rear section of the aircraft collapsed onto the ground. The rugged old bird had done its job. . I love stories about America 's past....... pass this on to someone you know will appreciate this story. = =

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                           Racism test

  

Do you like him any better white? No? Me neither. See, you are NOT a racist.

"The definition of freedom is the unimpeded pursuit ofhappiness and prosperity...something that veterans fight for and fight to defend" -Concerned Veterans for America Dear Supporter, Last month, a lawsuit was filed in the state of Ohio that protests recent changes to Ohio's early voting laws.  This has sparked outrage from veterans' organizations on both sides of the isle who are interested in protecting the right of service members to vote. We believe that this goes much deeper and that this latest exchange of fire is yet another example of the same sort of "out-of-touch" Washington gamesmanship that has gotten us into a fiscal nightmare with out-of-control spending, escalating debt, and a stagnating economy.  If they don't get it on something as easy to understand as military voting, why should anyone be surprised that we haven't seen progress on the complicated issues facing the nation we fought for? We will be following this issue very closely, along with the other critical issues facing our nation. In case you missed it: •    Pete Hegseth, a member of Concerned Veterans for America, argues in a recent op-ed published by Military.com, that deep spending cuts set to occur in the defense budget will inevitably lead to weakened national security-and he offers a three-point plan for averting that disastrous outcome. •    The national debt looms near $16 trillion. $500 billion in defense cuts await a "meat ax" that will cut hundreds of thousands of troops, without truly cutting the debt or fixing our spending problem.  On top of that, more than 12.7 million Americans are out of work, including 806,000 veterans. And Washington takes a vacation.  See newest video. Thank you for supporting Concerned Veterans for America.  Together with you, our grassroots efforts are possible.    Pete Hegseth Concerned Veterans for America