The Old Jarhead

Thursday, July 4, 2024

I’m Dead!

Yup, I’m kaput. Snuffed it. Croaked. Taking a Dirt Nap. Gone West. Bought the Farm.

Got a Mole for a Mailman. (Please not that ghastly euphemism I’ve always hated,

“Passed Away.”)

You’re waiting for a punch line, right?

I’m sorry, but I regret to inform you that I really have died. I left this for my loving wife,

Bonnie, to send out, as I don’t trust obit writers. You know how they write: “Harry

passed away after a courageous battle with hangnail, surrounded by his loving goldfish.”

Dreck.

Bonnie can give details, but I’m assuming it was complications from my pulmonary

fibrosis and lung transplant. Please extend to her the help, support and love you would to

me, if I needed it.

I’m sorry I couldn’t stick around longer, but I have no real complaints. First, I won the

lottery—I was born in the United States, whose citizens have had the greatest freedom

and opportunities in history (or so it has been), thanks to free market capitalism, property

rights and political freedoms. I’ve lived longer and better than 99% of the humans ever

born, and been happier than 98% of them as well, so I don’t have a bitch coming. I’ve

been privileged to love and be loved by and married to Bonnie, privileged to love my

granddaughter, Britnye and grandson, Dale, and to have their love in return, privileged to

serve the people of Massachusetts in the senate and the members of some great

associations as their executive, and privileged to wear the uniform of the United States

Marine Corps, Privileged to work part time at the Madison VA writing over 300

veterans’ life stories. I’ve also been privileged to have a lot of people read and comment

favorably on my columns, books, poetry, articles, short stories and blog. (Bonnie has a lot

of my writing on the computer, if you want to read any of it.) That’s all a lot of privilege

for one guy. Since I volunteered for Vietnam and had an easy tour, I figure the rest of my

life has been a large gift. And death comes to all of us.

I’m mostly sorry I won’t be there to help Bonnie, Britnye, and Dale. I’m not happy about

the world I’m leaving them, but I did all I could to make it better. I hope they grow up to

be strong, independent and self-supporting people, who contributes to the world, not just

takes from it. That will make her happy. At least I left them my books: Advice for my

Granddaughter: For When I’m Gone. And Advice for Boys.

As I write, I think I still have things to contribute to the world, but them’s the breaks—we

play the cards we are dealt. I did have some warning that my days were drawing short. In

fact, I recently changed my party registration to Democrat. I figured if someone had to

die, better a Democrat than a Republican! (Yes, it’s an old joke.)

I have far too many great friends and wonderful relatives to start thanking you all by

name. But I have appreciated your love and friendship more than I could put in words. I

hope that I have usually deserved it. If you were part of that circle, you know who you

are and how valued you were in my life.

For more information about my life:

Books by Robert A. Hall

http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-book-published.html

Resume: Robert A. Hall

http://tigertoothresume.blogspot.com/2014/02/resume-robert-hall.html

Bob Hall's life story

http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2014/04/bob-halls-life-story.html

Bob wrote this for the Collingswood (NJ) High School Class of 1964 50th Reunion May

10, 2014, since he couldn't attend. It has a lot of details.

Please no posies—I don’t owe the floral industry a thing. If you feel moved to do

something in my memory, a memorial contribution to the Marine Corps Heritage

Foundation, the Semper Fi Injured Marine Fund, the Marine Corps Scholarship Fund or

the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation would be nice.

http://www.marineheritage.org/

http://www.semperfifund.org/

http://www.mcsf.com/site/c.ivKVLaMTIuG/b.1677655/k.BEA8/Home.htm

http://www.pulmonaryfibrosis.org

Well, I don’t want to make this too long, as I’m quite busy right now. (Okay, to be

accurate, right now I’m dead and not busy at all. I mean I was busy back when I wrote

this.)

So, I’ll close with a request for you to do all you can to preserve the Republic and the

Constitution—with its wise separation of powers—free markets and individual rights,

including property rights, the basis of freedom—for future generations. These may have

been lost since 1932, but you have to try. And Bonnie will need all your prayers and help.

Family joke: “Hey, Britnye and Dale—I love you more!”

Semper Fidelis,

Bob Hall

Once a SSgt, Always a Marine.

This is Bob's wife, Bonnie.

He made me promise to post this, so this is my promise made good. Bob didn't die of complications with his lung like we thought he would. Instead he was struck down by Biliary Adenocarcinoma (bile duct cancer). It is very nasty and doesn't show symptoms until the very end. He was as surprised by the diagnosis and quick decline as the rest of us were.

Below is the obituary. Any of you reading this are invited to his Celebration of Life. If you would like to send in a story to be read at his Celebration, please send it to me at TartanBonnie@gmail.com.

https://www.gundersonfh.com/obituaries/Robert-A-Hall?obId=31776749

An update to this post is that our granddaughter, Britnye and her husband, Kaleb are expecting our great-grand baby and today I learned it will be a girl. Life does continue. No matter what.

I will be monitoring his email for a while yet. Just can't bear to let it go.

Thank you for being a big part of Bob's online life! You were very much appreciated.

God Bless you all!

Bonnie Hall

Friday, March 22, 2024

New Blog Site

This one disappeared for a while, so I'm posting on OldJarhead.Substack.com

Tuesday, September 5, 2023

Intercepted phone calls reveal Russian frontline troops complaining of heavy losses, poor supplies

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/intercepted-phone-calls-reveal-russian-frontline-troops-complaining-heavy-losses-poor-supplies

Intercepted phone calls reveal Russian frontline troops complaining of heavy losses, poor supplies

Ready to Fire, Sir: Northrop Grumman’s Ray Guns Ready for Action

https://www.engineering.com/story/ready-to-fire-sir-northrop-grummans-ray-guns-ready-for-action

What the Left Did to Our Country

https://amgreatness.com/2023/09/04/what-the-left-did-to-our-country/

Sunday, September 3, 2023

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson

https://www.amazon.com/Warmth-Other-Suns-Americas-Migration/dp/0679763880/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1XW8ISFWADMZ2&keywords=the+warmth+of+other+suns-+by+isabel+wilkerson&qid=1693774793&s=books&sprefix=the+Warmth+of+Other+Suns%2Cstripbooks%2C116&sr=1-1

This was the author’s first book and she won the Pulitzer Prize fir it. In my opinion it was well deserved. This book about the black migration from the south to the rest of the country (1914-1975) fills a gap in social history. She did a tremendous amount of research and interviews. The writing is like velvet. I am not the only writer who envies her talent.

She follows the migration of three people who sought in three different decades to escape the indignities and violence of Jim Crow. She follows their life and families in New York, Chicago, and Las Angeles, and the racism they found there. People who say we are a racist country would have been right in those years. Coming home from Camp Lejeune in 1864, we stopped in Rocky Mount, NC to change buses. I went into the snack bar and found I was invisible to the waitresses. I realized they were all black. Serving me would have put them at risk. I found the larger, white snack bar on the other side of the building.

The great migration not only changed America and the cities, but destroyed overt racism in the country, eventually the south as well when they found they had a labor shortage. If you have any empathy at all, parts of this book will make you angry. Parts will make you admire it as well. I knew about the great migration, but not the details and the ongoing impact on people and the country. I highly recommend this book.

Robert A. Hall, Amazon Author

“Quotes for the Conservative Heart

Random Thoughts for September 2023

Robert A. Hall

Feel free to post or forward.

Health: My back aches. I’m tired all the time. My hearing seems to be getting worse. My balance is bad. So, I’m fine. Had a renal appointment. My kidneys are doing well, creatinine is 1.4, but there were traces of blood in my urine and the amount of protein in my urine is growing. They had me do another urine test the same day, scheduled more blood work in two weeks, and will schedule an ultra sound to be sure it isn’t caused by cancer. Gave me pills for the protein.

I have decided to give up teaching chess, though I will miss the kids. One girl said she wanted to be a chess teacher like me when she grew up. A boy sent me a post card thanking me. A girl drew a thank-you card with a dragon on it. Several had their picture taken with me, often with the trophies they bought by earning chess dollars. I had many nice comments from parents. But after teaching six weeks of chess summer camp, Monday-Thursday, three hours a day, I realized I was putting in twice as many hours as I was compensated for, and putting a lot more gas in the tank than what they pay in gas money covered. Not to mention running the printer with special handouts for my kids, or picking up used chess sets at thrift stores to give to kids who don’t have one. Of course, the fact that my vision and hearing is getting worse, and I’m too tired to haul around the 70-80lb. suitcase with 10 chess sets, books, demo board, etc. contributed to my decision.

What does Sen. Tim Scott stand for?

https://www.ontheissues.org/House/Tim_Scott.htm

I read in National Review that 3/4^th of university Diversity Officers are white. And can make up to $424k a year! There’s a lot of money in discriminating against the Whites, Asians, and Jews.

Jim Crow recognized a person as black with one drop of black blood. Will Jim Reparations use the same standard?

If parents had a way to determine if a child was going to be Gay, would the left support their right to abort that child?

Violence has always been normal around the world in political disputes. Now that Antifa and BLM are bringing increasing political violence to America they will provoke increasing counter violence.

“If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.” ~ John Stuart Mill

Fight Fuzzy Thinking!

“There remain 73 countries in the world where it is illegal to be gay, and eight in which being gay is punishable by death.” ~ The Madness of Crowds by Douglas Murrey.

Contrary to what the Left tells you, the Roberts Court has overturned precedent less often than the Warren, Burger, or Rehnquist courts.

Nothing is obnoxious as a fundamentalist progressive.

Progressives think that if you don’t think just as they do, you are evil. And if their leaders change their minds—say like the Clintons on Gay marriage—they will change their minds, and you better too!

When a tech company says you have violated their “Community Standards,” they mean the standards of their far-left Silicon Valley community.

Maybe it’s guilt. While companies like Google preach diversity, according to The Madness of Crowds, “Google’s workforce is only 4% Hispanics and 2% African American. At 56%, whites are not over represented compared to the wider population, but Asians make up 35% of Google staff and have been steadily reducing the number of white employees despite making up only 5% of the population.” I guess at Google, competence matters more than diversity.

Teaching chess summer camp in DeForest, I turned at a bar and grill that also offered bait and tackle. Welcome to Wisconsin.

Gratitude is as dead as chivalry.

“The Wolf at the door is your greatest Danger, and not only in Winter.” ~ Russian Proverb, from The Wolf at the Door by Jack Higgins.

Putting diversity ahead of ability is racism.

If Trump had committed the irregularities that Biden has, the Democrats would be screaming. And vice versa.

Sometimes I put my GPS on just to piss it off by taking back roads.

When I was a young man, people dreamed of fulfilling Martin Luther king’s dream of a color-blind society. Now “color blind” is racist. Does that make King as racist? After all, anything you did in the past can still be held against you. And everything your ancestors did—except for Kamela Harris’ slave-owning ancestors—can be held against you.

And when I was a young man, black people were referred to as colored people. That now is racist, but “people of color” is the height of political correctness. Go figure. There is no avoiding the woke landmines unless you are in a favored group.

If you can’t trust the scientists, you can’t trust the science.

“A martial nobility and stubborn commons, possessed of arms, tenacious of property, and collected into constitutional assemblies, form the only balance capable of preserving a free constitution against enterprises of an aspiring prince.” ~ Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Republic.

Do not fall in love with a politician. You will find yourself defending the indefensible. Support the ones you believe in, but keep a clear head.

“Doesn’t matter what the press says. Doesn’t matter what the politicians or the mobs say. Doesn’t matter if the whole country decides that something wrong is something right. This nation was founded on one principle above all else: the requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or the consequences. When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world — “No, you move.” ~ Mark Twain

Nothing fills Wisconsin drivers with despair like a “Road Construction Ahead” sign.

Ultinatims are usually a mistake.

Money is fungible. If you give a terrorist-supporting country humanitarian aid, it frees up other money to support terrorism.

*****

Email from a professor: “Your book of quotations arrived and I plunged right into it! Yes, the section on guns was one if the first things that I read. You have compiled an impressive set of wise comments. Bravo.”

Quotes for the Conservative Heart: Ideas as Weapons of Defense

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B576XFSX?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860

Print $9.99:

Kindle $2.99:

Quotes for the Conservative Heart is a collection of over 1,900 quotes, thoughts, and adages that will make you think (which may be an uncomfortable experience), which will help you defend yourself against ad hominin attacks, and which will help your writing and speaking. They will inspire you to fight a bit harder and a bit longer. As necessary to your security as an extra magazine, this book will help you identify threats to you, your family, and your culture. Open carry (of this book) is encouraged. We hope it will be a constant companion and a treasured possession. If you like it, please review on Amazon, and tell your friends.

Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam Veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts State Senate. He is the author of The Coming Collapse of the American Republic. http://www.amazon.com/Coming-Collapse-American-Republic-prevent/dp/1461122538/ref=sr_1_5?s=booksandie=UTF8andqid=1304815980andsr=1-5 For a free PDF of Collapse, e-mail him at tartanmarine(at)gmail.com. Hall’s other books are listed here: https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/7362663422037727028/9086317755245136353

His blog of political news and conservative comment is www.tartanmarine.blogspot.com. He was a writer-editor in the My Life, My Story program as the Madison VA Hospital, interviewing vets and writing up their life histories. He now teaching chess to kids after school.

Wednesday, August 30, 2023

AI

I've been reading up on this, listening to lectures, watching videos.

It's getting to where you wonder how many jobs AI can make redundant,
what will be left for intelligent and skilled people to do.

Minor example from BBC is that the expertise of London cabbies was
critical to their business, it took years to really get familiar with the
mixture of streets there. Same would be true for Boston and other
places. Now the cab has a GPS in it and the driver only has to know how
to follow directions.

Kids cheating on essay assignments is already very well known and schools
are trying to figure out what to do about it.

There have been nice examples of how clever the AI program can be. For
instance, ask for and 800 word article on why it was a truly terrible
thing for the USA to ever get involved with the war in Viet Nam and what
the terrible results were. Then ask for an 800 word article on why it
was so important for the USA and what the positive results were.

You get two essays, both in excellent English, with very well structured
arguments and references that leave little doubt as to how correct each
is. Both will have at least some elements of factual truth in them.
Only an expert historian could go through them and show why one is less
correct or more correct than the other, where the inputs have some bias
or inaccuracies in them.

An educational firm is using AI to create tutoring programs for students.
So far the results have been really excellent, the students have all
benefited from the help of the tutoring. This sounds great, but my
suspicious mind wonders if someone writing an AI tutor for students
studying history could build in a bias to slant how that history is
taught. I bet it's possible, next thing you know kids are learning,
slowly and subtly, that Marxism is really a great idea. Or that racism
and atrocities make up more of US history than anything else.

How far can the creative capacities of the more advanced AI programs go?
I have no firm idea.

AI controlled machines have lots of possible applications. How about a
real hot point, AI controlled fighter planes? Now the aircraft doesn't
need the weight of a life support system or escape mechanisms, can take
high G turns that a human cannot, and has faster reflexes than any human.
Would flying such crafts against human pilots be like a wolf in a herd
of sheep? How about compact low profile tracked vehicles with a
specialized anti-tank weapon like the 30mm gun in the A-10, that can
scream up fast from the side or rear of enemy tanks to take them out,
night or day, rain or shine?

What I'm sure of is that we are on the very edge of a huge change in the
world in lots of ways. But I cannot really imagine with any clarity
where this will take us. Various science fiction writers have explored
some of this. When they get into how advanced technology can be used to
really, really control people..... it gets scary. And it's already
started in China with the millions of facial recognition cameras and the
AI system that tracks everyone. Will 2084 be so much more than Orwell's
1984 was? Or maybe even sooner.

Just something to think about.....

Del