Autopsy of an Amphib
A deep dive into the Bonhomme Richard Fire Report.
USS BONHOMME RICHARD (LHD-6) in better days.
There may have been other articles written in response to the official redacted report – but I haven’t looked for them – the official report is enough for me <warning – 50+ mb file>. I will confess that at the time, it was easy for me to dismiss the entire incident as a disgruntled sailor committing arson (it would not be the first time and it won’t be the last) – although that is looking less and less likely. Similarly, the [easy to swallow] claims that additional “woke” training and COVID mitigation processes diverted attention and resources from important damage control basics – while attractive on the surface – do not appear to hold any real validity upon an examination of the facts of the case.
Apparently this full report was publicly released around the same time as the Major Fires Review report (a significantly smaller file) – but for whatever reason, the links I followed at the time only lead to the Major Fires report – which summarized findings from 15 prior incidents over the 12 years preceding the Bonhomme Richard (BHR) fire. Both reports are well worth the read, but I will be focusing on the BHR file for this article – it does have a lot of pictures for the crayon-eaters out there.
If nothing else, the thoroughness and rapidity with which this report was both compiled and publicly released is a good sign that the Navy is serious about addressing the underlying factors – however embarrassing they are shown to be – and trust me – it’s bad. It should also be noted that although NCIS and the ATF (boo!) took over the initial [criminal] investigation once arson was suspected, this report (among other recent findings) avoids theorizing on the absolute specifics of the fire’s origin (although there are still significant obvious faults) while focusing on the bigger picture.
BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) – the CO, the XO and the ship’s crew done fucked up big time. A lot of other people fucked up to a lesser extent, but this was completely avoidable and in no measurable way exacerbated by COVID protocols or woke training.
Some point in time on 12 July 2020.
A little more background – as I briefly mentioned in my previous SWO-Life articles – during my two afloat tours, I spent over 12 months in dry-docks (public and private) in addition to many more months of routine maintenance pier-side. During those long periods, it is very easy to get complacent about certain types of things, or…in my case, particularly going into the dry dock a month after you check aboard your first ship – remain ignorant about some of the basics – for longer than should really be the case. That said – during my time in OCS earlier in spring 2010, we did have both a course in firefighting training (complete with full ensemble and hose manning) and flooding training aboard USS Buttercup. It should be noted that only in times of absolute emergency will an officer likely be directly assigned to a flooding party or firefighting party, but as it is for rifle qualification in the army/marines – every sailor is a firefighter. (I had a second session of shore-based firefighting training at a commercial ship firefighting facility in Seattle in 2011 or 2012 – which kept me qualified through the date I left my second ship in 2014).
The report also emphasizes the fact that fighting a fire at sea is something we continually train for and that we are far, far better equipped to do than pierside during a maintenance availability.
To be perfectly honest, now as I look again at this 434 page report…it’s hard to know where to start in terms of summarizing the key points. It’s more than worth the full read if you have the time – it’s not very dry and there are plenty of glossaries and references, but let me try and pull out a few of the multitude of findings to go over in more detail. Some of the criticism is positively withering and it makes you feel good to see things called out so clearly and concisely almost as bluntly as I would like to do in a similar situation – I seriously think that the top cover on this one let the writers get away with a lot more than we might otherwise expect to see).
Definitely overqualified to manage a project like this. Recipe for success.
The CO, XO and the rest of the chain of command had no awareness of the shape of their crew or the condition of the ship as they progressed through an extended maintenance period.
When it comes down to it, this may be the most damning element of the situation. The CO always bears ultimate responsibility for his ship – the only exceptions being for weirdly specific navigation issues such as traversing the Panama Canal or the entrance/exit from a dry dock – which require absolute precision from 3rd party operators coming onboard the ship (see the segment on “pilotage“). As a big deck amphibious ship, BHR spent a lot longer in its maintenance availability than either of the ships I served on (albeit significantly less than would be involved in a Carrier refueling) – and as is normally the case, some work got delayed and the availability was extended as additional issues were found that needed to be addressed – although from what I’ve seen, in this case they completed the dry-docking period on schedule and it was only the remaining pier-side maintenance that was extended. The CO and his command team had no visibility of the situation on their ship. They were not involved in routine qualification measures – such as “boarding” officers to stand Command Duty Officer (CDO) watches.
The CDO role (in port) is second only to the Officer of the Deck (Underway). They are effectively in command of the ship when the ship is in port and the CO is not aboard. They are responsible for managing the routine operations of the ship and potentially – in a wartime or other emergency – even getting the ship underway without the CO present. Neither the CO or XO were involved in holding boards to qualify their officers (nor were they aware of the disposition of their crew) – in fact the officer standing CDO the day of the fire was standing it for the first time after receiving his qualification (and he actually gets called out for exemplary decisions *under the circumstances*). There were other, more senior officers also qualified and assigned to the same duty section – but for whatever reason, members of the duty section were permitted to leave the ship during their duty day (and of course missing personnel contributes to significant issues when you’re trying to gain accountability during a fire). In my own experiences, this was frequently permitted – but only for the purposes of going to buy food or other brief appointments – certainly never overnight. Similarly, the duty section turned over without verifying that enough personnel were present, much less the members of the Inport Emergency Team – and there was zero senior oversight of the watchbills themselves – a more experienced CDO (at least on the ships I served on) would not have assumed the watch from the off-going CDO until the standard was met and would have notified the XO/CO of the situation.
Fire hazard? What fire hazard?
I’ll grant you that a Wasp Class LHD is significantly larger (with a larger crew) than any ship I’ve been directly assigned to before – and I haven’t spent any significant amount of time on a similarly sized ship until my inspections this past summer – but I am still used to a command structure that wanted to stay on top of issues (and informed) – particularly when preparing to come out of a maintenance availability – and ALWAYS when it involved massive safety issues. By sweating the small stuff (appropriately), you don’t have to sweat the big stuff (generally speaking).
If only that were firefighting foam….you really don’t want to watch the aluminum superstructure melt and flow through the deck of the ship.
Similarly, the report highlights a large number of significant material faults that were either ignored or misunderstood. To go back to the standards of Navy maintenance availability – it is routine to have a meeting at least once a day between ships representatives, navy civilians and contractors to go over the current status of outstanding jobs – particularly high visibility issues such as damage control equipment, electrical systems, engineering gear, etc – to provide updates and coordinate which spaces on the ship will need to be accessed while conducting this work, etc. It is not normal for the CO or XO to attend the daily meetings (although my XOs often did) – they will normally have at least one weekly higher level meeting that they attend – but from all indications – this was not happening. Key material issues on the ship during the time leading up to the fire – and exacerbating the firefighting efforts – that I do not believe a reasonable Commanding Officer would have permitted – include the following:
– A firemain (firefighting water system) that was not remotely fully functional – but which nobody apparently knew the official status of – and none of the fireplugs – particularly in the critical area – were actually functional (or had the necessary operating equipment present).
–Â An AFFF (Aqueous Film Forming Foam) firefighting system that was not properly functioning and which the operators were not aware would not operate remotely as designed.
– No functioning internal communication system between key watch stations including damage control central/engineering/damage control repair lockers/the quarterdeck/etc. – personal cell phones should NEVER be a primary means of communication on a ship for OPSEC reasons – there are multitudes of areas (esp on a ship like this) where there is no reception).
–Â No backup generator available in case of a loss of ship or shore power.
–Â Damage control repair lockers without power and/or communications.
–Â Improper stowage of flammable materials and associated equipment in locations they should not have been, authorized without any apparent oversight or awareness of the relevant departments.
All about scale.
Similarly, during maintenance periods – as in other in-port periods – it is routine for the duty section to conduct Anti-Terrorism Force Protection (ATFP) and Damage Control drills *daily* after the end of the normal duty day. I’m not gonna lie though – these suck donkey balls – and all the more when you’re in a maintenance availability. It’s really easy to get rote and overly familiar and play these by ear – you can’t access a lot of spaces you would normally deal with – especially if you were underway – and due to all the hoses and cables, etc running through the ship for contractor services, you can’t even simulate properly setting fire/smoke/flooding boundaries – which makes the whole thing often feel even more surreal on a daily basis. That the BHR crew was slacking on these is even more evident by the fact that they formally failed all of the officially mandated *special* availability fire drills that had more oversight and visibility with the shipyard and port facilities (behind schedule to boot) – but there is no evidence that the chain of command took these failures for action.
Mandated oversight fire drills and dates performed (or not as the case may be)
There’s always a lot of crew turnover during maintenance availability, but folks coming from basic training should have already had at least the basics in firefighting training – even during COVID (and by all reports they had). More importantly, new sailors arriving at the ship were not always receiving the training specific to their situation – to include proper operation of quick release fixtures on air hoses/power lines/etc running through the ship and setting boundaries. It’s not that sailors were arriving at the ship completely unprepared to fight a fire – it’s that the organization they checked into was not operating with an appropriate safety-oriented mindset given the ongoing nature of the maintenance availability.
If the markings aren’t clear enough – all those orange spaces – across 3 decks – are technically a single open space – accessible not by narrow hatches with simple doors, but wide ramps made to drive an M1A up and down them to access the flight deck or well deck.
In the end, the fire started in one of the worst possible locations on the ship in terms of setting fire/smoke boundaries and isolating – but it was still manageable IF the sailors assigned to the watchbill were on the ship, firefighting equipment was fully operable and working communications were present (or a few variations of that combination).
As it is, we lost multi-billion dollar warship – thankfully with only a few injuries and no deaths (by the grace of God) – due to a perfect storm of completely avoidable factors.
Pic makes it look easy, but these Navy pilots were only certified for daytime dropping water on land fires (for CA) – they wound up doing hundreds of precision night drops over the course of the fire in a very smoky, congested airspace – big brass ones.
If you have the time – I *highly* recommend reading the report in full.
Nuts…looks like my alt-text didn’t come through and I guess the pictures aren’t clickable. I’ll try and do better next time.
thanks for the summary
No sweat. It was good to review the details – I have a tendency to jump to conclusions too – if they had taken 5 yrs to put this out, it might be a different story.
Seconded. I learned more from you than the news.
Thanks, this was an interesting read.
What DEG said, good stuff.
The fact that you said it makes me think it’s not in fact good stuff! How dare you make me say that about LT Fish’s article! *Shakes FIST*
LOLOLOLOLOLOL
So, was it really a perfect storm or was it a lot of slack behavior (with not-all-that-surprising consequences)?
It was a perfect storm brought on by slack behavior. No adult supervision at all the wrong levels on and off the ship.
To clarify – much like DESRON failing to get involved in 7th fleet after the first mishap (Antietam anchoring issue) and reviewing things in depth before the first real collision, there were many indicators that should have raised eyebrows and requested answers right off the bat. But the CO/XO drive the climate on the ship and they should not have been willing to accept what they did – even if they turned over in a yard period – they clearly failed to ask the right questions – of the right people. I cannot imagine a similar circumstance where a CO would accept a null answer regarding that type of equipment.
Hey, local news!
(I should know much more about the Navy than I do…)
If you have any recollections, feel free to share them – I wasn’t following this story nearly as closely as I could have at the time. Just the occasional Navy Crimes update and a couple brief video clips.
Oh heck, I don’t know. DC took my best friend away (daughter of an O-5?) some decades ago. I drive through Navy housing every day and see the moving vans.
While I don’t understand the mechanics of the situation I do understand that command positions are meant to be serious. It would seem like the boss of the ship’s bosses may have been lacking in oversight as well or was getting erroneous info as to the progress of the maintenance.
Would that be a fair assessment? Is there something like an Article 32 proceeding to determine responsibility ? As I remember it was Art 32, been a long time and I may be misremembering.
Thanks, as I recall the first story was arson by a young (E-4) woman?
5 Admirals could get nasty letters before they retire.
https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2021/10/20/36-officials-including-five-admirals-face-potential-discipline-over-bonhomme-richard-fire/
GAAAAAHHHHH!!!!
Good stuff Fish, insightful,
Thanks!
Jesus P. Murphy.
I’ve never seen a laundry list quite like that before.
That number of flag officers called out, I’d say Paparo at the least shares a spot of the blame as well.
It was an E-2 enlisted male sailor – some sites have pics – I linked to the USNI article above that suggests other than arson too.
https://news.usni.org/2021/12/20/experts-criticize-atf-navy-finding-on-cause-of-bonhomme-richard-fire-case-against-sailor-pending-u-s-3rd-fleet-decision
I happened to be flying in to San Diego that day and took a bunch of cell phone pics from the plane:
I’ll upload them and provide a link, since they are not copyrighted.
I’ve avoided reading the report intentionally. I’ve heard enough circumstantial stuff to just make me livid.
Multi infractions compounded?
It’s enough to make me want to throw shit.
So…you’re saying it was Godzilla?
No, no, it was an act of Godzilla that took out the USS Tokyo Rose.
This was just old fashioned incompetence.
OT: Ladies are getting it done.
The article makes, I think, a valid point that men, especially non-diverse men, would get crucified in the press for rousting bums out of public places.
So if you’re sick of seeing tent cities everywhere, elect a broad to take care of it.
Bullshit. Durian actively encouraged this shit and supported the Fucking CHOP. She cleaned out a couple camps after the political fallout from the CHOP in a half assed attempt to save her job. She is no longer mayor.
Durkan not Durian, although her regime smelled like one.
heh
Aqueous Film Forming Foam
I retrofitted AFFF (6%? can’t remember any more) to a flammable liquids warehouse once: central tank and pump with a proportioning valve in each room’s (acre apiece) sprinkler riser. Insurance requires a test, so I get with the city and get permission for a release to the sewer. The plan is to shoot from the test header into a low yard and then let it into the drain slowly over the next week so as not to overwhelm separators, spike the pH, or whatever the deal was at the treatment plant.
The test passes and the brew is being let down slowly when I hear come out in the tank farm, you’ll never believe it, beyond the tanks and out the pier, there are these foam islands the size of semi trailers in the harbor. Hmmm, that’s funny, (that’s not funny) I checked the maps twice and the drain I selected did NOT go to storm water, but, woah nellie, there they are. The harbor is a backwater behind President Island, the largest island in the Mississippi, and my firm was part of the management team that coordinates use with the Corps of Engineers. You can’t let a drop of anything get in the water; any “sheen” must be reported, and you always reports sheens that you didn’t cause immediately in a look-what-someone-else-must-have-put-in-the-water-it-wasn’t-us fashion, so someone was going to tell, so it’s best to tell on yourself before they do. So we report and wait for the ensign to come around and I’m sweating bullets and he says
don’t worry about it. I thought I was going to jail. The big foamy flumes blew about and betwixt the tugs for a few hours and disintegrated and I didn’t think about it again for thirty years until just now.
The way they run a lot of the sprinklers, etc for testing on the ships now (for our inspections at least) is to rig a [long] plastic bag/sheath to every sprinkler head that hangs nearly to the deck – that way they can limit spray and direct the spray for easy clean-up. Our inspections involve testing every single head from multiple remote/local stations – although a lot of those are just salt water – they do test the AFFF stations separately.
Gotta love it when the maps/drawings/plans don’t match reality. Got me a few times over the years on the ships, etc. Should be there – it ain’t.
Good article. I have read both reports and you are spot on, the command climate was the major contributing factor to the loss of the BhR.
One point stood out to me in the report. A female E4 spotted white smoke within 5 minutes of the fire starting and just shrugged it off without reporting it. That gave the fire additional time to spread. In what sane world does any sailor just shrug off fire?
On a work day – if you know that there’s hot work being done or that there are a lot of contractors on board – it might be understandable – esp in a high traffic space.
We would have folks on board at all hours/days of the week – esp at the end of the avail to make up time – but hot work was normally only at very specific times and with previous arrangements for safety – extra manning for safety observers, etc.
On a Sunday when nobody’s around right after turnover – red flag.
It’s a good look for Aubrey Plaza: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ4N0OzEHXc
God help me, but women with guns are so sexy.
If the SU would just join me at the range when the damn thing opens again, I’m pretty sure we’d have a kid or two a year from now.
Aubrey Plaza, yum.
Hugh Grant thinks he’s Robert Evans?
Why not? No one else is doing it.
Anything is a good look for Aubrey Plaza.
But that movie looks better than most lately.
Nice article, by the way.
Guy I know spent some time on her in the gulf in 03-4 I think. I’ll send this to him.
I’m curious what kind of EO hire the FSC gal was.
Holy shit.
Thanks, LCDR. I don’t even know what to take from this. Who didn’t fuck up?
Other than us.
Nobody really comes out clean other than the other ships on the pier who sent assistance and got out of the way at the same time. Even Metro San Diego Fire comes off as a bunch of jerks, but the Naval Base Firefighters weren’t up on their shipboard training.
I really can’t believe there wasn’t a preplanned radio channel or system set up for emergencies like that – it’s not difficult (even if it is expensive up front) to issue radios to ships on the pier with a central emergency line – esp if you know they’re doing maintenance or have tech issues). It was pure luck that the base dispatch caught traffic about smoke coming from the pier.
Breakdowns of communication and improper back up systems. Sounds similar to what happened in Fukushima.
First team on the scene should have handed over a spare radio right away to allow directed comms.
If you read the whole thing you’ll note that it did take another admiral showing up on the scene (and they determined they need to make the chain of command clearer because he technically wasn’t in the chain once the ship entered maintenance), but he got folks on the pier more organized and directed comms between several other agencies more efficiently.
“ If you read the whole thing“
Busted.
Why won’t you love your leaders?
https://twitchy.com/brettt-3136/2022/01/17/strong-message-from-paul-begala-the-problem-for-democrats-right-now-is-bad-followers-not-bad-leaders/
Lol.
Narrative = toast.
Holy crap, that is ripped right off from the DDR. They had an official who said the people were not worthy of their leaders and should do better.
First I’d even heard of this. Interesting.
This is wild: An AFFF (Aqueous Film Forming Foam) firefighting system that was not properly functioning and which the operators were not aware would not operate remotely as designed.
Lots of buttons all over the ship I suppose, but you’d think someone would’ve seen the AFFF (however it was labeled) and asked themselves, “I wonder what that does?” You’d also think that training the sailors on that system, given its importance, would’ve been a priority. Thanks, Fish. Amazing stuff.
The main issue is that the local activation buttons may have been operational, but specifically the master remote operation panel in DC Central was down hard and they didn’t know it.
It is part of the Basic DC qualification – but again, there’s a limit to what you can train during maintenance and the folks who would normally operate it didn’t know what its current status was properly.
That’s a lot of inside jargon for me, but I’m enjoying the read even if I’m barely catching the point.
https://twitter.com/rebeccamakkai/status/1482049099717386240
Snarky thread, but that house is ridiculous.
If only it weren’t in Connecticutt.
It would be ridiculous if it were in Disneyland.
I disagree. It’s just the right amount of absurd.
*hurk*
both alleged that the other was responsible for the starvation death of a camel.
Who hasn’t accidentally starved to death a camel or two?
Talk about someone not getting it in the slightest. That reviewer is an idiot.
You don’t cook in that house, someone cooks for you. You don’t get dork dash, someone cooks for you. You do 1)day drink 2)wear a tuxedo for dinner 3) wear an eye patch non-ironically 4) have more money than god.
I would live there, and love every shitlording second of it!
Ditto.
Ditto. And I’d run my business out of it.
That house is just weird. The guy who built it has pedophile/serial killer/both vibe.
Uhh, the twit has never really seen many castles, has she? Castles have long been obsolete so must extant ones are relics of “wasted” spending. And despite her attempts to stoke up envy and guilt, I guarantee his spending on construction and operating has done more to pump money into the local economy than whatever poverty elimination measures she would endorse (take money from the rich, skim off the top for people like her, and dole out a pittance to recipients).
Don’t let her look at the Wiki article on Follys..
Gorgeous. And Rebecca is the worst kind of jealous asshole.
Cheerleaders in masks? WTF?
Team Saud?
I laughed
Why do you hate the new normal?
Would’ve been worse if the ATF had shown up before the fire. Ask Waco.
The most impressive thing is the officer at Supervisor of Salvage supervising maintenance on another pier, sees smoke on the pier and *immediately* gets permission to contract a salvage company in Louisiana (and another one in CA) to fly out. And the Fire Pump Team drives non-stop from LA to CA while the advance team brings their firefinding drone and gets there about 24 hrs later.
Another blowout?
Taco Bell lunch?
I blame Chipotle.
Seems clear that expanding the playoffs was a dumb idea.
This looks like the third blowout.
There should only be four wild card games the way nature intended.
My husband agrees.
It really always is: it’s tacitly devaluing the games during the season.
And for some reason it’s infecting every sport.
$$$$$$$$$$
Sketch your lunch.
https://ibb.co/cXNbFxq
Huh. Even in monochrome, it looks better than my lunch.
Ramen in pig bone broth. Drew that from a photo cuz I ate mine immediately. ?
Better than Cup Noodle.
Spicy tonkatsu it is.
Guy I know spent some time on her in the gulf in 03-4 I think. I’ll send this to him.
I’m curious what kind of EO hire the FSC gal was.
What’s the latest on the guy who got out of the lousy lease in San Marco just as his gf was having a baby?
https://archive.md/gAQ0w/037ac432deeda227a468e2cf5dd680c653c09f75.jpg
NSFW.
https://archive.md/zFuhm/446137b70a88ea8b0610613849e4aac390f80aa2.jpg
NSFW.
https://content.leenks.com/smut/gal_716/002.jpg
NSFW.
https://content.leenks.com/smut/gal_1589/photo007.jpg
NSFW.
I want to attend that pajama party.
Sheesh. Just noticed the estimated cost of that fire: $250 million. Money printer go brrrrr even harder.
Fuck, is this guy dead?
I assure you, Lou Reed is dead, D-E-D, dead.
He was alive last time I talked to him, WTF?
He moved his arm allegedly.
I sure hope they have adopted the outstanding chilled saline technique that the Bills coach pioneered years ago to save that player from swelling and likely paralysis.
Prayers uploading…?
Not the Bills coach of course; it was the Bills sideline physicians. God had him at the right time and the right place to “test” his theory.
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/16/sports/football/16everett.html
Bills were classy enough to keep Everett on the roster long enough for him to qualify for his NFL pension.
He was able to walk onto the field and wave to the crowd at his retirement. It was miraculous.
The people here are good people. I like that. I like associating with good people.
The TV reporter said he removed his own gloved while waiting for the ambulance. I hope for his health that is true.
You could see his hands moving while he was strapped down.
Update during the game said he “never lost feeling”, which sounds good.
I always still pray because the swelling tends to happen later and can cause spinal cord impingement on bones that injures. These next 24 hours are the crucial ones.
Hot bartendress and I shared a conversation about the Kingkiller Chronicle, of all things. We lamented Rothfuss probably never releasing Doors of Stone.
If I could only meet a girl besides this one who shares something I’m interested in.
Why not this one?
CP^^
Is she married?
Ummmm… are you gonna hit that?
You only need one.
Good read, LCDR. Really interesting, thanks.
Are there ever COs in real life like the John Laroquette character in Stripes? Obsequious individuals who have risen far above their level of competence? Would something like that be involved here?
Going back some years, a Major Ebenezer Swift, the Union Army medical surgeon in charge of supplies in Phila., once refused to honor a request for supplies for the hospital at a Union paroled prisoner of war camp, because the request was submitted in duplicate and only written on one side of the paper. This stickler for regulations was, as the Army often does, promoted to Brig. General by the end of the Civil War.
ESPN cares so much about their sterling coverage of the Australian Open that they’re showing the same football game on ESPN (and ESPN2) as on ABC.
I suppose I could be watching it on ESPN+ but they lose my business when they raised the monthly subscription by 40% after promising they wouldn’t.
TL;DR – fuck ESPN.
The Mannng-cast gets better ratings than the Australian Open, I wager. I enjoy it, especially for games liked this.
I used to respect you. I lost IQ points listening to them. I mostly blame Eli.
De gustibus. I enjoy the football guests, more than the hosts.
I’m a Giants fan, but anything is better than the ESPN announcers.
FUBO forever, bitches!!!!
Want.
But I have to figure out how to dump cable without Spectrum ass-fucking me. I’ve been a customer for way too long for them to treat me with any kind of courtesy. Ain’t (near) monopolies great?
They lost me when they went woke. I was an occasional viewer then. I avidly avoid it now.
The hypocrisy from all the media over MLK Day and the current state of shit in the US is breathtaking.
Did I fall asleep and wake up in Alabama 65 years ago or something?
“We need to judge people by their talent” (paraphrasing)
/commentator at a fucking NFL game
Isn’t that what MLK said?
Yes, and them pretending that it isn’t happening in current-year America because racism (at an NFL match of all places) is absurd. They’re living the past.
Oh, OK. They’re against people being judged by the content of their character because their character sucks.
Kat Timpf is hot, and she reminds me of a chick I was gaga for when I was a teenager.
Dirty-hot, for sure.
I haven’t watched Gutfeld since it got moves to weekdays.
I’ve watched it a few times. It’s like late-nite TV that doesn’t suck.
LOL NYC.gov agitprop: “At first I didn’t trust the jab because it came out so fast.”
I wonder what happened to change his mind.
Now I don’t trust it because people who’ve had it still get the disease plus they’re dropping like flies from the side effects.
I jumped at the remote to change the channel. I suppose it could have continued that way but I suspect not.
Trump continues to live in the minds of his opponents. HR1 includes a requirement for president, vp, and candidates, to release 10 years of tax returns.
For what purpose?
To keep outsiders out, make candidates bend to the system, provide salacious details to the media.
HR1 is the voting “rights” legislation.
None of my business. The parties can write this in their bylaws. I think it’s stupid, but hey, I also think the government trying to force a medical procedure just to participate in society is stupid too.
OT but speaking of deep state shenanigans and the FBI’s fuck up in Texas, what ever became of that Vegas thing wherein a bunch of red hats got blown away? Anyone? Bueller?
Shh. Don’t talk about that. An AR-15 killed those people all by itself, just like that SUV in Waukesha, or those Jewish people in the Jersey City supermarket were killed by “Islamophobia”/”the actions of Israel” or something like that, but definitely not those Black Hebrew Israelites. Hey remember when Steve Scalise used his powers of telekinesis to operate a gun to shoot himself and his baseball buddies from a distance? Remember in April when that knife stabbed a cop and tried to get into the Capitol building? Right wing propaganda said it was wielded by a Nation of Islam guy, but right-thinking people know it was one of the Jan 6 Trumptards using telekinesis from their jail cell, or possibly over some kind of time-based wormhole to project their attack into the future a few months. Remember? Remember when that guy tried to bomb an ICE facility in Oregon? Yeah he must have been a MAGA Trumptard trying to kill the poor immigrants, right? Well, about that…
I could go on but life happens, so good morning, Fes! I’m off…
Yeah, the Vegas thing suddenly disappeared after the first reports came out that he was not alone and/or the FBI was in his hotel room under unusual conditions at unexpected times. Ordinarily it would have been turned into an anti gun campaign. But somebody somewhere said “Nope. Drop it.”
We will never know the Details.
But the victims were white country music fans, so probably in the basket of deplorables.
Great article.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/woman-takes-selfie-on-top-of-her-car-as-it-sinks-into-frozen-river/ar-AASToP6
Don’t do that.
https://www.wfmz.com/business/black-diamond-from-space-may-fetch-6-8-million/article_9ed54a24-0ea5-5007-8b93-40fb67bcd864.html#2
Diamonds from space.
That reminds me: https://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/a-planet-made-of-diamond/
I think there’s an amusing Kurzgesagt vjo about it.
Better than Spiders from Mars I suppose.
https://www.pennlive.com/nation-world/2022/01/olympic-athletes-told-to-leave-phones-at-home-to-dodge-potential-spying-attempts-by-chinese.html
China wants your dick pics.
Also, stay in your room, don’t talk to anyone, and don’t even think about sexy-times.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/01/pelosis-top-pick-chairwoman-transportation-committee-repeatedly-crashes-car-parked-vehicle-walks-away-video/
84 years old? GO THE FUCK HOME.
FFS.
https://thepostmillennial.com/fourth-covid19-vaccine-not-good-enough-against-omicron
Shocker. ?
Sean with the morning links!
https://babylonbee.com/news/omicron-vaccine-to-be-made-available-in-march-for-the-12-people-who-havent-gotten-omicron-yet
Nooo! We’re all gonna die!
Morning All:
With the exception of the truck that jackknifed right in front of us in Tulsa, operation sheep move went well. No drama on return, medication, and isolation.
Outside world pretty crazy.
Funniest thing I saw was a fireworks store, open, during a snow-storm.
Good to hear that your sheepies are back where they ng.
*belong
No, wordpress, I am not commenting too fast.
Still have a case of red-eye being treated. But it could be worse.
LCDR_Fish, DOD right now has a policy of really not using AFFF unless absolutely necessary. Any mention of AFFF being tagged out so it could not be used?
Good morning, ‘bodru, U, Don, & Sean!
No accidents showing up on my local traffic map, so that’s a good start, anyway.
Here’s to happy sheep!
…and good morning to Fes & limey, if Fes is still awake and it’s still morning where limey is.
11:35. Shit to do. Procrastination on Glibs happening. Good morning, GT 🙂
Yo yo, GT! Sadly, I’m awake now too. Might be a precarious thing; would like to fall back asleep.
OK, it’s WAY too early for you to be awake. Or too late. How are you feeling?
Thank you GT, Nary a peep form them during the drive.
I always commented that someone that worked for our township either had a mom or family that lived up the street, or that person did.
We always got plowed 1st and the street was pristine. Not so much anymore. I dont think they even bothered with salting.
We always got plowed 1st and the street was pristine.
#metoo. The patriarch of the local carting outfit lives 3 houses down. Crusty old dude, 87 years old, speaks mostly Italian and is not to be messed with. Good guy.
Clearly, we have a more refined element here at this hour. After typing “plowed” I expected a series of coarse responses.
no commuting: working from home to quarantine this week
day 2 of the vid still not bad at: can taste
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10411665/Major-U-S-airline-CEOs-warn-5G-ground-planes-wreak-havoc.html
Thank goodness the foreign press still asks questions instead of being fluffers for the Dems at all times.
suh’ fam
whats goody
Good morning, homey! How are the roads out there? Not too slick, I hope?
What little I see of what I suspect is your route is clear. See above for my “local conditions”.
Mornin’ all. Back to work, not looking forward o the commute. It”s a long walk across the hall.
I must have completed my commute at some point and not noticed it, I’m checking out work email and seeing if tickets opened over the weekend need closing.
Mornin’. Who opens tickets over the weekend?
Well, when the batch scheduler goes down and there are still jobs to process…
Ouch.
Welp, I have a runny nose and a cough. Nice knowing you.
Oh no! Guess I’ll have to spring for a Zoom account.
Mine started as just a scratchy throat. No runny nose or cough. Heaven forbid you have a seasonal cold.
You just cot natures Kung Flu vax?
Doesn’t anybody here work?
https://nypost.com/2022/01/17/anti-work-threads-on-reddit-fueling-the-great-resignation/
Ladies and gentlemen, behold the leaders of the future.
““Everyone has hit their limit with COVID, overwork, their mortgages, rent payments and so many things with capitalism. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to take a break from that and do less of it,” said Doreen Ford, the page’s moderator.”
She doesn’t realize that under any flavor collectivism she still has to work?
” A 30-year-old living in Boston, Ford once held a job in retail, but for the past five years, she’s been self-employed as a dog walker, working about 25 hours a week.”
Oh, she’ll love it when they send her to a steel mill. Or shoe-factory.
she ain’t got no mortgage
I told this story the other night, when I asked a co-worker why some older employees only work 28-30 hrs/week, while some of the others mop-up overtime as much as they can. No answer. Then it occurred to me- Jugsy works in “affordable housing”. Those employees likely live in subsidized (or free in the case of some that live with their mom/grandma etc. that are collecting benefits). As she explained it to me, some of her tenants that can barely read or write, know exactly how much income they can make at a given wage before it impacts their “free” housing. And they can cite HUD policies faster than she can.
brought to you by the leaders of the past: loss of motivation to work to my mind is the chief moral hazard of the recent social bills
Huh, I wonder what could possibly be causing a shortage of workers willing to take low-wage jobs.
The right leader for these troubled times.
https://nypost.com/2022/01/17/berlusconi-runs-bunga-bunga-campaign-to-be-italys-president/
OK, maybe not…
Kink-shaming already ?
Now, if he wanted some broad dressed as Werner Klemperer, would that be…..Klink-Shaming?
/Ill see myself out. I need supper anyhow.
Ewwwww.