<a href="https://oakbaystarfish.com/2026/08/20/random-items-for-thursday-2/" rel="bookmark">Random Items For Thursday

The people of Alaska need services in the Middle East

Which DOD Military Operations Were For Defense Of The Constitution?

How Do The Troops Defend The Constitution?

Categories Armistice Day

“I defended it for 4 years of my life.”

August 19, 2026 //

Where did the idea come from that doing time in the US Armed Forces is like serving in some sort of giant civil rights organization?

At 9:45 below:

The man states that he believes in the first amendment because he defended it.

Tyrant Terminator Audits!!!

We get that people who sign up must take an oath to defend The Constitution.

After taking the oath, where have The Troops been sent to defend The Constitution?

Former Secretary of Defense:

“…we also remember our Service Members fiercely defending the freedoms we value every day.”

The Fantasy Newsperson Asks

The Department of Defense was established in 1949. What part of DOD history involved US troops sent to locations where the constitution was threatened?

Look for newspeople and school teachers to ask zero questions in these areas.

How would American freedoms be any different if US troops were never sent to Iraq?

US Troops were sent into life and death situations in the aftermath of 911.

For this reason it is important to ask questions and develop a feel for what is real and what is honest.

It feels like a society where honest and meaningful ideas stand up to questioning and discussion, but the questioning and discussion rarely takes place.

Love to see newspeople interview elected officials and let us know how sending US Troops to Syria, Lebanon, Somalia, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, etc., is somehow defending the constitution.

TV newspeople avoid asking:

If the CIA (est 1947) serves as an advantage to the US, why does the Department of Defense have such a poor record of winning undeclared wars going back to 1949, the year DOD was established?

These questions do not need to be asked on Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Blue Angels day or Armed Forces Day. Sometime during the year, please ask these questions.

Not asking about the oath of enlistment. Asking about what happens after the oath has been taken.

1967

Did the Joint Chiefs of Staff send The Troops to safeguard American freedoms?

Was it the Viet Cong that set up laws in 16 US states to prohibit interracial marriage?

Jet Noise Made Them Free?

Which DOD Military Operations Were For Defense Of The Constitution?

Podcast 9 Defending The Constitution?

Take An Oath To The Constitution

“…to support and defend our Constitution.”

The country struggles with:

Categories Operating A Camera In A Public Place, The Fantasy Newsperson, Veterans Day Propaganda

Alternative Viewpoint Update

Working to stabilize the region since 1990 Operation Desert Shield

Judge Napolitano – Judging Freedom

TV newspeople avoid asking:

If the CIA (est 1947) serves as an advantage to the US, why does the Department of Defense have such a poor record of winning undeclared wars going back to 1949, the year DOD was established?

These questions do not need to be asked on Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Blue Angels day or Armed Forces Day. Sometime during the year, please ask these questions.

The Colonels

Seems Like Americans…

Possibly of interest:

The people of Alaska need services in the Middle East

Which DOD Military Operations Were For Defense Of The Constitution?

Categories USA - 250 Years

“…nearly destroying the US Naval base in Bahrain.”

Support the Troops: Bring Them Home!

Source:

by Ron Paul

Aug 17, 2026

“By the end of last week, we learned at least some of the reasons for the lack of decent food for the troops. According to a report in the New York Times, on the first day of the US attack on Iran, Iran responded by nearly destroying the US Naval base in Bahrain. That base, the (former) home of the US 5th Fleet, had been a major logistics hub for the US in the region and was critical for re-supply of fresh food for the service members on board. With Bahrain no longer capable of functioning as a major US base, the fallback was a US facility on the tiny island of Diego Garcia, more than 2,000 miles away.”

From 2004

“Today, however, the Congress has relinquished its delegated powers, giving the President license to do whatever he and his office determine that they can get away with. Consequentially, the presidential and legislative oaths to the Constitution have just turned into a great photo op on inauguration day.”

“It is a sad and hard realization for a grunt who loves the Marine Corps to admit that the organization is not used in the preservation of liberty, and has not been used toward that end for a very long time.”

Source:

Why I Didn’t Reenlist

By Casey Khan

February 14, 2004

Armed Forces Recruiting – 1980s

Part of what made it work:

In past decades, people could do time in uniform, then return to the US with a feeling that they were living in the best country on the planet.

They believed it and their parents and grandparents believed it.

Those who did may have wished to hand down a better version of the modern American society to their kids and grandkids.

Today-

Standards back home have deteriorated. The troops return to an ongoing breakdown of society.

Macho Swagger

Watch Secretary of War Pete Hegseth takes thrilling fighter jet ride with ‘Top-Gun’ pilots:

Since 1986 Top Gun:

The US Dept. of Defense was nowhere to be found on 911.

We haven’t won a war since.

Possibly of interest:

Working to stabilize the region since 1990 Operation Desert Shield

The people of Alaska need services in the Middle East

Categories Armistice Day

Seems Like Americans…

Seems like Americans will take what could be an issues-oriented discussion and make it about their most loved or hated political parties and personalities.

It turns out that both major parties are OK with a giant and expensive US Dept. of Homeland Security that fails to keep cartel product out of Seattle:

KOMO News

This federal agency now has more than two decades of experience and lessons learned in working to prevent cartel product from entering the US.

More overdose deaths now, or before DHS?

Decades after the lessons of Vietnam, the Pentagon seems to specialize in undeclared/unwon wars.

Both major parties seem to be good with it.

Does any major political party have a party platform that advocates for less in the way of undeclared/unwon wars?

WatchlistTYT

Liberty Vault

The failings of one extreme political party bring on the next extreme political party.

Biden

Old age impacts his abilities.

Biden leaves the borders open.

Biden collects big cash to maintain a giant US Dept. of Homeland Security.

Cartel drugs are present in Seattle.

US troops are in Iraq.

Trump

Old age impacts his abilities.

Trump collects big cash to maintain the US Dept. of Homeland Security. This giant federal agency now has more than two decades of experience and lessons learned in working to prevent cartel product from entering the US. More overdose deaths now, or before DHS?

ICE agents gun down people at traffic stops and on the street inside the US. This takes place away from border crossings and ports of entry.

Trump seals the borders except for cartel drugs.

Trump blows up suspected drug boats in distant waters.

Cartel drugs still arrive in Seattle and US troops are in Iraq.

2026 Seattle street scenes:

Working to stabilize the region since 1990 Operation Desert Shield

Homeland Security Is A Scam

Americans were told they faced a life and death situation after 911. If certain actions were not taken, terrorists could come to America to disrupt our way of life and attempt another 911.

If all this was a life and death situation that required sending the troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, wouldn’t it be important to ask a few public policy questions about what was going on?

Newspeople have a long history of not asking questions in this area.

It feels like a society where honest and meaningful ideas stand up to questioning and discussion, but the questioning and discussion rarely takes place.

Which DOD Military Operations Were For Defense Of The Constitution?

The people of Alaska need services in the Middle East

Freedom Comes And Goes

Port Angeles Homeland Security Spending Spree

Categories Voting

Seattle drug situation any different today than it was under Biden?

State seeks safety records from We Heart Seattle in needle and drug cleanup investigation

In The News

by Joel Moreno

KOMO News

Aug 17, 2026

“Andrea Suarez, the group’s CEO and founder, said she and her volunteers are protecting the public from coming across this hazardous waste left on city streets.”

Fentanyl still present in Seattle:

The Fantasy Newsperson Asks

Has blowing up suspected drug boat crews led to any shortage of cartel product in Seattle?

Have Port Angeles based Homeland Security/CBP units been able to create any shortage of cartel product/fentanyl in the Puget Sound area?

Is the Puget Sound drug situation any different today than it was under Biden?

Has REAL ID prevented cartel product from arriving in Seattle?

Have Flock cameras prevented cartel product from entering the Puget Sound area?

Any questions from newspeople?

Does the US Dept. of Homeland Security prevent cartel product from entering Seattle? This giant federal agency now has more than two decades of experience and lessons learned in working to prevent cartel product from entering the US.

More overdose deaths now, or before DHS?

2026 Seattle street scenes:

Categories Homeland Security is a scam, The Fantasy Newsperson

Working To Stabilize The Region For Decades Now

Maps capture the travel strain on USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier

Since 1990 Operation Desert Shield?

Or maybe since the 23 October 1983, Beirut Marine barracks bombing.

Was this operation meant to benefit the American way of life?

Were Marines defending the constitution in Lebanon?

Look for newspeople and school teachers to ask zero questions in these areas.

These questions do not need to be asked on Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Blue Angels day or Armed Forces Day. Sometime during the year, please ask these questions.

In The News

A nice map of the region here:

By Janet Loehrke and George Petras

USA TODAY

Aug. 17, 2026

“Supply problems started at the beginning of the war on Feb. 28 when Iran attacked and heavily damaged much of Naval Support Activity Bahrain, a key Navy logistics base on the island of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf…”

“That’s caused the loss of what the Navy calls a “liberty port” – a port at which a ship’s crew can leave the vessel for free time ashore.”

“Crew members use that time to rest, connect with family and engage in recreation. Ships can be resupplied and repairs can be made.”

USS Abraham Lincoln – US Has Lost Bases In The Region

USS Abraham Lincoln Family Concerns

Working to stabilize the region since 1990 Operation Desert Shield

Possibly of interest:

Which DOD Military Operations Were For Defense Of The Constitution?

The people of Alaska need services in the Middle East

Freedom Comes And Goes

The country struggles with:

USS Abraham Lincoln – US Has Lost Bases In The Region

Photo-

Something from the last century

Post-Vietnam guilt

The guilt doesn’t seem to work towards staying out of undeclared/unwon wars.

A giant flag ritual at the next ball game will make it all good.

Categories Armistice Day

The Colonels

August 17, 2026 //

Several retired or former officers speak via alternative media and comment on the current state of militarized US foreign policy.

These former officers may be less likely to get hired by major networks as top TV military analysts.

Notice the big TV networks don’t bring on their favorite/routine military analyst and set up any kind of counterpoint discussion with someone representing a different point of view.

Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson

Colonel Douglas Macgregor

Lieutenant Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski

Lieutenant Colonel Daniel L. Davis

LtCol Davis speaks here with former US Navy SEAL Matthew Bracken:

Scott Ritter – former Marine Corps intelligence officer:

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Joseph C Kent

USS Abraham Lincoln Family Concerns

Working to stabilize the region since 1990 Operation Desert Shield

Possibly of interest:

The people of Alaska need services in the Middle East

Which DOD Military Operations Were For Defense Of The Constitution?

Photo-

Something from the last century

Post-Vietnam guilt

The guilt doesn’t seem to work towards staying out of undeclared/unwon wars.

A giant flag ritual at the next ball game will make it all good.

Categories Alternative Media, Armistice Day, Voices of Dissent

USS Abraham Lincoln – US Has Lost Bases In The Region

August 16, 2026 //

At 9:32 below: The US has lost bases in the region. Resupply has been impacted.

What’s Going on With Shipping?

ABC News

The Fantasy Newsperson Asks

Top TV military analysts, currently serving four-star officers and high level DOD civilians have been associated with what wars won by the US?

US jet aircraft have been able to strike targets in what wars won by the US?

Has blowing up suspected drug boat crews led to any shortage of cartel product in Seattle?

Is the Puget Sound drug situation any different today than it was under Biden?

Does advanced surveillance keep cartel product out of Seattle?

More overdose deaths now, or before DHS?

2026 Seattle street scenes:

USS Abraham Lincoln Family Concerns

Former military officers not paid by a big TV network

Daniel Davis / Deep Dive

Newspeople avoid asking:

If the CIA (est 1947) serves as an advantage to the US, why does the Department of Defense have such a poor record of winning undeclared wars going back to 1949, the year DOD was established?

These questions do not need to be asked on Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Blue Angels day or Armed Forces Day. Sometime during the year, please ask these questions.

Democracy Nonsense

If we live in a democracy (many people say so), when do we vote on decades of undeclared/unwon DOD wars?

The Department of Defense track record goes back to 1949.

Look for newspeople and school teachers to ask zero questions in these areas.

Don’t lie to people and maybe they would be more patriotic.

Working to stabilize the region since 1990 Operation Desert Shield

Possibly of interest:

The people of Alaska need services in the Middle East

Occasional Visitors/Still Looking for Bigfoot

Categories Armistice Day, Homeland Security is a scam, Maritime Culture, Recruiting Crisis, The Fantasy Newsperson

Rest Stop

August 15, 2026 //

Visitors over the past 5 years:

Categories Simple Living

Our neighbor shared salmon

August 15, 2026 //

With a little fried garlic.

Homemade slaw with homemade dressing. This dressing has a bit of a citrus zing. Go out to eat and the flavor of coleslaw may sometimes taste like wet cabbage. This is a major upgrade.

Thank You Neighbor!

Many videos show the basics here.

In the past:

Late Summer

Categories Cast Iron, Food & Drink

Silencers – American Freedoms May Come And Go

August 14, 2026 //

Colion Noir

Washington Gun Law

In The News

Gun rights groups capitalize after judge reverses decades-old restrictions: ‘Monumental’

By Alec Schemmel – Fox News

August 13, 2026

Another of many examples where American freedoms may come & go-completely unrelated to military operations/US Troops in distant lands, or the Sound of Freedom over Coupeville.

Both major parties are OK with federal prohibition of alcohol and tobacco for adults age 18-20.

No such thing the day I graduated from high school.

That was before decades of military operations for your freedoms.

Both major political parties are now OK with treating 18-20 year old adults as second-class citizens.

Why do elected officials and high level DOD civilians speak of the US Armed Forces as if they function as some sort of giant civil rights organization?

The US should maintain strong and ready military forces.

In some cases, the US Armed Forces provide for our security. That’s as good as it gets.

In terms of American rights and freedoms-The Dept. of Defense has no more say than the Dept. of Agriculture.

Legal marijuana, concealed carry of handguns, semi automatic rifle sales, federal minimum drinking age, federal toilet regulations, sports betting, federal gas can regulations/free enterprise system, web censorship, voting rights, bump stock ban, interracial marriage, gay marriage, tobacco sales, open container laws, silencer sales, etc.

American freedoms come and go.

None of the above are linked in any way with The Joint Chiefs of Staff, The Troops, The Dept. of Defense or the outcome of military operations overseas.

School children are taught about a free enterprise system. They grow up to find out that the federal government will tell them what kind of shower head they must install in the bathroom, and what type of gas can they must buy for their lawn mower.

Possibly of interest:

Working to stabilize the region since 1990 Operation Desert Shield

The people of Alaska need services in the Middle East

Freedom Comes And Goes

The country struggles with:

Occasional Visitors/Still Looking for Bigfoot

Photo-

Away from any residential area, & out to a safe and legal place in the hills, for a few hours of plinking

Categories Gun Control

Happy Summer

August 14, 2026 //

Visitors over the past 5 years:

Categories Simple Living

Operating A Camera In A Public Place

Operating A Camera In A Public Place

Operating A Camera In A Public Place

The era of newspeople not asking questions brings on private citizens who go out and ask questions.

Instead of waiting for school teachers to teach about individual rights and limited government authority, waiting on the press to ask questions, or courts to handle cases, these guys go out and update us with a quick reality check.

These guys were also never waiting on the overthrow of Saddam Hussein or the take down of any other bad guy in distant lands, as DOD defends the constitution, etc.

Maybe they are tired of being lied to.

KULT NEWS

LE lights and sirens at 22:56

More here:

The Freedom Talk

Photo – top of page: One I took a few years back.

A symbol of operating a camera in a public place and newspeople not asking questions over the past 35 years or so.

Salmon Season – Whidbey Island – Driftwood Park

Categories Operating A Camera In A Public Place

Whidbey Shellfish Safety Update

County to discuss polluted South Whidbey watersheds

Image above: Penn Cove 8/13/26

Source/Daily Status Reports: Washington State Department of Health Shellfish Safety Map

Click image once or twice to show detail.

Routine/ongoing situation at Penn Cove never seems to make it into the news:

August 4, 2026

By Cassandra Diamond – South Whidbey Record

“…and closed to butter and varnish clam harvesting because of high bacteria levels…”

Zero Questions From Newspeople

Several Whidbey beaches remain closed all year long for recreational shellfish harvest because of sewage treatment outfall.

Sewage treatment outfall. Not stormwater. Not climate change.

Reporting on this topic appears to be completely off limits to the press.

View the Washington State Department of Health beach list here.

Penn Cove – The Fantasy Newsperson Asks

When is the last time all of Penn Cove was safe for recreational shellfish harvest?

Coupeville

“Clams, mussels and oysters CLOSED year-round.”

“…clams, oysters, and mussels from this beach are not fit for human consumption at any time.”

“This beach is within the closure area for a sewage treatment plant outfall and is unsafe for recreational shellfish harvesting.”

Source: WDFW

North side of Penn Cove at Monroe Landing

“Clams, mussels and oysters CLOSED year-round.”

“This beach is within the closure area for a sewage treatment plant outfall and is unsafe for recreational shellfish harvesting.”

Source: WDFW

Below: An April 6, 2020 audio file describing recreational shellfish harvest and sewage treatment outfall at Penn Cove.

Has anything changed? Newspeople remain silent.

12:44 audio file and local photos of Penn Cove:

Podcast 4 Another Month With An R – Whidbey Sewage Treatment Plant Outfalls

A photo tour of Penn Cove:

Wastewater Treatment Plant – Department of Ecology Award For Outstanding Performance

Has anyone ever seen the Puget Sound area press ask questions about Whidbey water quality impacted by sewage treatment plant outfalls?

Has anyone ever seen any government agency, elected official or volunteer organization seeking answers related to one or more sewage treatment plants sending unsafe product into the waters near Whidbey Island?

Zero questions from small or large newspapers. Zero questions from TV newspeople.

Categories An eye on the health of local waters, The Fantasy Newsperson

Damon Point In The News – What Is Missing?

Trespassers risk life and limb at Damon Point

Above: July 6th, 2024. Looking over the jetty that connects to Damon Point on the far end. We are near the end of the jetty adjacent to the Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Click image once or twice to show detail.

In The News

August 12, 2026

By Jerry Knaak The Daily World

As always, we’re missing basic questions from newspeople.

The Fantasy Newsperson Asks

When and why was a decision made to turn away from maintaining the 1916 jetty adjacent to former public parking areas at Damon Point?

Is the jetty adjacent to Damon Point the only section of jetty in Grays Harbor that has gone without maintenance since it was first installed?

What would Westport look like if efforts to maintain the coast were suspended decades ago?

Local Oddities & Funding Priorities

In the news:

$6.3 million in federal cash for a used Ocean Shores hotel.

Any questions from newspeople?

December 8, 2022 The Daily World

Dept. of Ag invests $6.3M to purchase Ocean Shores hotel

$6.3 million “to fund the acquisition of an existing hotel. Marathon Enterprises Inc. is located in Ocean Shores, Grays Harbor County, Washington. The project is expected to result in saving eight jobs and creating one full time job.”

Zero questions from small or large newspapers. Zero questions from TV newspeople.

More here:

Federal Failure At Damon Point

Two Jetties – Westport and Damon Point

Imagine telling the fishing boat captains over at Westport that their access to a 100 year old armor-plated harbor was going to be let go

What would Westport look like?

Less Than Two Miles As The Crow Flies – Ocean Shores Marina History

Ocean Shores Marina History – A Time Gone By

Westport, WA Foot Ferry – A Race Against Nature?

Damon Point – Remnant Jetty Rebuild

Categories Coastal Erosion Attitudes, Damon Point, The Fantasy Newsperson

USS Abraham Lincoln Family Concerns

Navy meets with USS Abraham Lincoln families over mental health worries

Now seeing news articles and commentary regarding extended deployments.

In The News

Ellen Mitchell – The Hill

Aug 12, 2026

Our take:

The entire post 911 era has been a disappointment in this regard.

Decades after the lessons of Vietnam, the Pentagon seems to specialize in undeclared/unwon wars. Understandable why young people & their parents & grandparents would take a dim view on all this. Continuing on this path will wear down the energy American families once had for encouraging young people to enlist.

The Department of Defense was established in the late 1940s. What part of DOD history involved US troops sent to locations where the constitution was threatened?

Look for newspeople and school teachers to ask zero questions in these areas.

Love to see newspeople interview elected officials and let us know how sending US Troops to Syria, Lebanon, Somalia, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, etc., is somehow defending the constitution.

Any elected official or retired elected official who tells us The Troops are sent to protect American rights and freedoms needs to explain how those rights and freedoms are any different today because US troops were sent to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Newspeople avoid asking:

If the CIA (est 1947) serves as an advantage to the US, why does the Department of Defense have such a poor record of winning undeclared wars going back to 1949, the year DOD was established?

These questions do not need to be asked on Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Blue Angels day or Armed Forces Day. Sometime during the year, please ask these questions.

What’s Going on With Shipping?

At 9:32 below: The US has lost its bases in the region.

From 2004

Source:

Why I Didn’t Reenlist

By Casey Khan

February 14, 2004

Judge Napolitano – Judging Freedom

Made For TV

Various big companies will remind us that they support veterans and The Troops. Always wonder if any of those companies advocate for less in the way of undeclared/unwon wars. Maybe these big companies are more about expanding their marketing footprint.

Do traditional veterans organizations advocate for less in the way of undeclared/unwon wars? Would a move in this direction attract more new members?

Have any newspeople ever asked about this?

Macho Swagger

Watch Secretary of War Pete Hegseth takes thrilling fighter jet ride with ‘Top-Gun’ pilots:

Since 1986 Top Gun:

The US Dept. of Defense was nowhere to be found on 911.

We haven’t won a war since.

Possibly of interest:

Working to stabilize the region since 1990 Operation Desert Shield

The people of Alaska need services in the Middle East

Categories Armistice Day

Public Records Request

Operating A Camera In A Public Place

Public Records Request

It is very common that public offices in various states will say something like: Go to our website to submit your public records request online.

They would prefer the person with the camera leave the office as soon as possible.

It is common in various states that open records laws allow the public records request to be submitted in person orally or in writing and that the public records request may be made anonymously.

Public records laws set up an open door policy for people to go and interact in person with government offices and agencies during normal business hours at public offices.

Tyrant Terminator Audits!!! is a favorite channel where he has explained all this over and again in public offices.

WA Public Records

I.A.M. Free – Inland Auditing Media

WA Procedures Manual

I.A.M. Free – Inland Auditing Media

Law enforcement responds at 17:50

Away From WA

Tyrant Terminator Audits!!!

FOIA request at 6:23

Law enforcement responds:

Press NH Now

Operating A Camera In A Public Place

The era of newspeople not asking questions brings on private citizens who go out and ask questions.

These guys were also never waiting on the overthrow of Saddam Hussein or the take down of any other bad guy in distant lands, as DOD defends the constitution, etc.

Maybe they are tired of being lied to.

HonorYourOath Civil Rights Investigations

Thanks For Your Service

Post-Vietnam guilt in action.

The guilt doesn’t seem to work towards staying out of undeclared/unwon wars.

A giant flag ritual at the next ball game will make it all good.

More here:

The Freedom Talk

Photo – top of page: One I took a few years back.

A symbol of operating a camera in a public place and newspeople not asking questions over the past 35 years or so.

Salmon Season – Whidbey Island – Driftwood Park

Categories Operating A Camera In A Public Place

The Failings Of One Extreme Political Party

Dept. of Ag invests $6.3M to purchase Ocean Shores hotel

Above: Approved Flag Images

Symbols of the propaganda that makes it all work.

The failings of one extreme political party bring on the next extreme political party.

KOMO News

Questioning Socialism

Liberty Vault

Small Town Oddity

In the news:

$6.3 million in federal cash for a used Ocean Shores hotel.

Any questions from newspeople?

December 8, 2022 The Daily World

Zero questions from small or large newspapers. Zero questions from TV newspeople.

Working to stabilize the region since 1990 Operation Desert Shield

The people of Alaska need services in the Middle East

More Political Failings

Which DOD Military Operations Were For Defense Of The Constitution?

Categories Newspeople not asking questions, One extreme political party, Voting

Good Order And Discipline

Sentinel

Armed Forces Recruiting – 1980s

Part of what made it work:

In past decades, people could do time in uniform, then return to the US with a feeling that they were living in the best country on the planet.

They believed it and their parents and grandparents believed it.

Those who did may have wished to hand down a better version of the modern American society to their kids and grandkids.

Today-

Standards have deteriorated. The troops return to an ongoing breakdown of society.

From 2004

Source:

Why I Didn’t Reenlist

By Casey Khan

February 14, 2004

Photo-

Something from the last century

Post-Vietnam guilt

The guilt doesn’t seem to work towards staying out of undeclared/unwon wars.

A giant flag ritual at the next ball game will make it all good.

Categories Old Man Blog, Ongoing Breakdown of Society, Recruiting Crisis

Tuesday – New Normal?

Gulf States Accept a New Normal in Hormuz: Iran Is in Control

In The News

By Summer Said and Benoit Faucon – The Wall Street Journal

Aug 10, 2026

Ongoing Militarization of American Culture

Troops on the street in camo is the new norm?

Armed troops have patrolled D.C. for 1 year now. It’s challenging democratic norms

By Kat Lonsdorf – NPR

Aug 11, 2026

The failings of one extreme political party bring on the next extreme political party.

1 Year Later, Why Is the National Guard Still in D.C.?

Autumn Billings – Reason

Aug 11, 2026

Celebrating USA 250 includes acknowledging the post 911 era.

The US should maintain strong and ready military forces.

The US Armed Forces have been elevated during this time.

The post 911 era has been a time to tell the American people that US troops are sent to distant lands to defend American freedoms.

Thanks For Your Service is a phrase that is now common.

Veterans Day assemblies at public schools are common.

Free meals provided to veterans by major restaurant chains on what used to be Armistice Day has become a tradition.

Veterans parking spots have been put in place at various retail locations.

More here:

The US should maintain strong and ready military forces.

In some cases, the US Armed Forces provide for our security. That’s as good as it gets.

In terms of American rights and freedoms, the Dept. of Defense has no more say than the Dept. of Agriculture.

Each November, school teachers across America host Veterans Day assemblies– and promote the idea to children that The Troops are in distant lands-fighting for American rights and freedoms-as if the US Armed Forces function as some sort of giant civil rights organization.

In Washington State, these assemblies are mandatory.

The VA tells teachers that The Troops are Defending Liberty and Freedom.

In the 60s & 70s I never attended a Veterans Day assembly at school.

There were none.

Probably enough veterans around to remove most of the mystique, or maybe those veterans thought it was all just an average thing and did not want to be seen as a separate part of American society, or get head of the line parking spots over at the grocery store. Maybe the concept of Armistice Day had not gone completely extinct.

Growing up in the 60s & 70s- veterans were all around- church, school, Boy Scout leaders, family, the neighborhood, etc. It was all just an average thing. These folks weren’t seen as a separate part of American society.

People weren’t stepping over to say “Thanks for your service” to my Dad- who did time in the Navy in the 50s- but looked just like anyone else out in public.

These guys weren’t lining up for free dinner promotions marketed by major restaurant chains.

Decades after the lessons of Vietnam, the Pentagon seems to specialize in undeclared/unwon wars.

Any elected official or retired elected official who tells us The Troops were sent to protect American rights and freedoms needs to explain how those rights and freedoms are any different today because US troops were sent to Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Fantasy Newsperson Asks

Top TV military analysts, currently serving four-star officers and high level DOD civilians have been associated with what wars won by the US?

Has blowing up suspected drug boat crews led to any shortage of cartel product in Seattle?

Is the Puget Sound drug situation any different today than it was under Biden?

2026 Seattle street scenes:

Working to stabilize the region since 1990 Operation Desert Shield

The weak-minded culture expects very little from its newspeople.

Fox Business

Paid to say the right things:

Macho Swagger

Watch Secretary of War Pete Hegseth takes thrilling fighter jet ride with ‘Top-Gun’ pilots:

Since 1986 Top Gun:

The US Dept. of Defense was nowhere to be found on 911.

We haven’t won a war since.

Made For TV

Do traditional veterans organizations advocate for less in the way of undeclared/unwon wars? Would a move in this direction attract more new members?

Have any newspeople ever asked about this?

The people of Alaska need services in the Middle East

The Invisible Veteran

More Political Failings

Which DOD Military Operations Were For Defense Of The Constitution?

Categories Armistice Day, Old Man Blog, The Fantasy Newsperson, USA - 250 Years

Top TV News Military Analysts

August 9, 2026 //

Fox Business

Aug 9, 2026

More than 600 comments are posted with the video above.

The Fantasy Newsperson Asks

Top TV military analysts, currently serving four-star officers and high level DOD civilians have been associated with what wars won by the US?

Has blowing up suspected drug boat crews led to any shortage of cartel product in Seattle?

Is the Puget Sound drug situation any different today than it was under Biden?

2026 Seattle street scenes:

Oak Bay Starfish Military Analysts

Working to stabilize the region since 1990 Operation Desert Shield

The people of Alaska need services in the Middle East

Seattle Has Taken A Dive In The Post 911 Era

More Political Failings

Seattle Fentanyl – Any Different Today Than Under Biden?

Seattle Open-Air Drug Use Rolls On

The Invisible Veteran

The country struggles with:

History no longer kind to Wilkes

Photo-

Something from the last century

Post-Vietnam guilt

The guilt doesn’t seem to work towards staying out of undeclared/unwon wars.

A giant flag ritual at the next ball game will make it all good.

Categories Homeland Security is a scam, The Fantasy Newsperson

Wilkes Elementary

August 8, 2026 //

Image source:

Nov 4, 2022

By Nancy Treder Bainbridge Island Review

Went to Wilkes in the early 70s.

Trivia report:

Wilkes was never referred to as Captain as far as I remember.

Commodore was the common name for Commodore Bainbridge Middle School in the early 70s.

A naval rank sometimes in common use – sometimes not?

We must have lived near a boundary line, because I had siblings that were sent to another elementary school nowhere near Wilkes.

These were the days of 3 or 4 brothers and sisters, married parents and maybe a stay at home Mom.

Also attended Hunter Elementary School in Fairbanks, AK and Great Falls Elementary School in Great Falls, VA.

Possibly of interest:

Several years back, I started the Old Man Blog category. It involves thoughts on changes in American culture relating to those born roughly in the late 50s & early 60s.

Original Old Man Blog here: https://oldmanblogdotcom.wordpress.com

New updates here: https://oakbaystarfish.com/category/old-man-blog/

Also:

1954 to 1965

Categories Old Man Blog

WA Public Records Request

August 8, 2026 //

Public Records Request

It is very common that public offices in various states will say something like: Go to our website to submit your public records request online.

They would prefer the person with the camera leave the office as soon as possible.

It is common in various states that open records laws allow the public records request to be submitted in person orally or in writing and that the public records request may be made anonymously.

Public records laws set up an open door policy for people to go and interact in person with government offices and agencies during normal business hours at public offices.

Tyrant Terminator Audits!!! is a favorite channel where he has explained all this over and again in public offices.

I.A.M. Free – Inland Auditing Media

Away From WA

Tyrant Terminator Audits!!!

Security responds for public records request:

More here:

Operating A Camera In A Public Place

The Freedom Talk

Photo – top of page:

Symbol of the American mainstream press over the past 30 years.

Welcome Visitors

Rent yourself a State Parks buoy at Fort Worden

Voted best consumer value in weekend recreation.

Categories Operating A Camera In A Public Place

More Political Failings

August 7, 2026 //

The failings of one extreme political party bring on the next extreme political party.

Biden

Old age impacts his abilities.

Biden leaves the borders open.

Biden collects big cash to maintain a giant US Dept. of Homeland Security.

Cartel drugs are present in Seattle.

US troops are in Iraq.

Trump

Old age impacts his abilities.

ICE agents gun down people at traffic stops and on the street inside the US. This takes place away from border crossings and ports of entry.

Trump seals the borders except for cartel drugs.

Trump blows up suspected drug boats in distant waters.

Cartel drugs still arrive in Seattle:

choeshow

US troops are in Iraq.

Judge Napolitano – Judging Freedom

WatchlistTYT

Vote for whoever you want and you get:

A Pentagon that seems to specialize in undeclared/unwon wars decades after the lessons of Vietnam.

You get cartel drugs in Home Town, USA.

2026 – Cartels Move Product Into All 50 States

DEA High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas:

“…HIDTA-designated counties are located in 50 states…”

Why It Matters

Americans were told that they faced a life and death situation after 911. If certain actions were not taken, terrorists could come to America to disrupt our way of life and attempt another 911.

If all this was a life and death situation that required sending the troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, wouldn’t it be important to ask a few public policy questions about what was going on?

Newspeople have a long history of not asking questions in this area.

Is the Seattle fentanyl situation any different today than it was under Biden?

Any questions from newspeople?

Political Failings

Working to stabilize the region since 1990 Operation Desert Shield

The people of Alaska need services in the Middle East