Random News and Notes 30 September
Today is the last day of September. Here’s a bit of September trivia for you. The word September comes to us directly from the Romans. Septem being Latin for seven and the suffix -ber means month in that nearly dead language. September was originally the – wait for it – 7th month of the year. The original Latinate calendar had 10 months and started in March. When January and February were added around 700 BC the last 4 months simply kept their names.
And now onto the news.
Today was the GOFO (general officer/flag officer) all hands at Quantico. Both SecDef Hegseth and President Trump spoke to the senior commanders of the US military. Hegseth did not pull any punches regarding the transformation he expects in the military. He was particularly focused on fitness and training standards. Among other things, he just ordered everyone to take a biannual PT test including GOFOs.
. . . the Pentagon—it’s a bad look and not who we are!” Every rank, every year of service, no exceptions.
He also ended women in combat, although that isn’t what he said. Rather, he declared all troops in combat MOS positions must pass a single standard PT test. No age or gender specific scoring anymore. I understand the new test will be modeled after the Army Expert Fitness assesment and the Marine Corps Combat fitness test. Those standards will weed out 99.9% of all females.
There is a looming government shutdown. If a continuing resolution is not signed by tomorrow, boom, shutdown. There has already been a clean CR passed in the House, it is awaiting Senate approval. The problem? Chuck Shumer seems to think he has leverage that he doesn’t have. Chuckie and the Dems are trying to add an additional $1.5 trillion in spending to the CR.
There is an issue that I think Chuck either missed or dismissed. Under current law, when the funding runs out, the executive – the President – can gut non-essential programs by firing the employees. The only way they get their jobs back after being fired in that way is if Congress re-authorizes the entire program. Re-funding the program does not count. OMB Director Russ Vought has already sent out guidance to every federal agency directing them to RIF any-and-all non-essential employees as soon as the funding runs out.
I would not have any issues with this whatsoever. And I think Chuck is going to learn a valuable lesson over this: this isn’t your daddy’s GOP.
I mentioned the other day that my favorite part of our current timeline is the fact that there are government agencies shitpoasting. Well, HUD has gotten in on the act. And they went all in with this on their website:
HAHAHAHA!!!! Even Rosie O’Fat’s Therapist thinks shes a f*cking idiot.
The quoted post continues: said, ‘Why are you so upset?’ And I said to her, ‘Why are you not!?'”
I really do not get this reaction, no matter who it’s coming from. Rosie and anyone else who reacts like this to political change here in the US needs serious mental help.
