MILITARY AND CLIMATE CHANGE.   Nearly half of U.S. military sites are threatened by wild weather linked to climate change, according to a Pentagon study.  Drought, wind, and flooding due to reasons other than storms topped the list of natural disasters that endanger 1,700 military sites worldwide, from large bases to outposts, said DoD.

A RACIALLY CHARGED INCIDENT. A TSgt at Nellis AFB in Nevada has been removed from her supervisory role and is now under investigation after posting a profane and racially-charged video to Facebook. This NCO ranted about the alleged attitude problems of black female airmen and non-commissioned officers under her. “It pisses me the [expletive] off that they [black female airmen] have no [expletive] respect and constantly having an attitude,” Lovely said. “What the [expletive] is up with that? … Why is it that every time I encounter, you know, my subordinates that are black females, they have a giant [expletive] attitude?”  Commanders are deciding what actions to take next against the E-6.

VETS SLOW TO EMBRACE NEW VA OPTION.    A new program designed to help clear  VA’s massive backlog of disability claims appeals has so far received little interest from veterans, despite promises it could trim years off their wait times.

Less than 3 percent of veterans invited into the program — about 330 individuals — have opted into the Rapid Appeals Modernization Program [RAMP] , launched in November and billed as a “more efficient” review process that could provide final decisions within a month.

RAMP was included as part of sweeping appeals reform legislation passed by Congress last year and was intended to help start to draw down some of the 340,000 cases languishing in the current case processing system.

JEFFERSON QUOTE?  A relative sent the following, citing Thomas Jefferson as its author:  “A government big enough to give you everything you want, is a government big enough to take away everything that you have.”

Now, a good friend reports that reported quotation will not stand up to  fact checking.   Neither this quotation nor any of its variant forms has been found in the writings of Thomas Jefferson.  Its first known appearance in print was in 1953.  It appeared frequently in newspapers in the 1950s (usually unattributed), and was even used in political cartoons.  It later became a popular saying among Republican politicians.  Governor Harold W. Handley of Indiana used it in his annual message to the Indiana General Assembly in 1961.   Barry Goldwater cited it in his 1964 run for president;  and Gerald Ford is on record quoting it in an address to a joint session of Congress in  August,  1974. This quotation was not attributed to Jefferson until relatively recently,  reports the fact checker.