Argghhh! The Home Of Two Of Jonah's Military Guys..: March 11, 2007

March 17, 2007

Saint Patrick's Day, a time to celebrate, a time to mourn.

Today is Mom's memorial service.

Because of how I grew up, God speaks to me in Elizabethan English. In deference to that, my sister, who pulled together the service, decreed it will be conducted using the King James Version of the Holy Bible. Thank you, Kathy, it means more than you might understand.

I detest neckties. Today I'll wear one happily, because Mom would expect it. You need to understand, I've boycotted events I paid for because someone decided I had to wear a necktie.

So, today, in addition to wearing a tie, I will speak in English that Will Shakespeare would be comfortable with,as I read at Mom's service. While I will use my Portentous Announcer Voice, I will resist the urge to sing the words per the song.

Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3, verses 1-8.

A Time for Everything
1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

6 a time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

7 a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Goodbye, Mom. Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh! I love you and I miss you terribly right now. The world is rather blurry and my nose keeps running for some reason.

Now is the time at Castle Argghhh!, when the Armorer dances, for Mom. To the music she requested for her service, The Navy Hymn.

Heh. Mom's ashes were sitting on the table, at the place where she must have played 1,000,000 games of solitaire. So I put a pack of cards there. Dad laughed.

Way to go, Mom. Snow? Imp.

As Bloodspite noted in an email: Ar dheis Dé go raibh sé. Is fear rith maith ná drochsheasamh. Go dtaga do ríocht.

Mom does sit right-by-God and yes, indeed, it was a good run.

by John on Mar 17, 2007 | Something for the Soul

H&I* Fires, 17 MAR 2007

Open post for those with something to share, updated through the day. New, complete posts come in below this one. Note: If trackbacking, please acknowledge this post in your post. That's only polite.

You're advertising here, we should get an ad at your place...

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Discussion as to whether India would or wouldn't help against Iran.
--
Some good news from Danger Room for once. Army may have solved an electronic warfare problem.
--ry
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Unintended Consequences. From Jim Dunnigan at Strategy Page.

Cluster Bomb Gold Mine In Sight by James Dunnigan March 17, 2007
Renewed international efforts to ban cluster bombs was welcomed by Chinese arms manufacturers. When landmines were banned by international treaty, a document China did not sign, China instantly got a much larger share of the landmine market. They expect the same thing to happen if the cluster bomb treaty is signed.

-the Armorer
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Flash Traffic (extended entry) Follows... �

by Denizens on Mar 17, 2007 | General Commentary

Those who know, know...

New Regional Pilot Qualification Minimums
1. Must be willing to pay $5000 training fee for Second-in-Command (SIC) type rating in Canadian Regional Jet (CRJ).
2. Current Drivers License
3. PC with Internet access, and cell phone.
4. Green card (preferred)
5. Positive attitude (team player highly valued)
6. Ability to sleep in narrow aisle way (preferred)
7. Must be able to lift 50lbs.
8. Knowledge of aviation lingo (preferred)

Duties to include:

• Sit in right seat to satisfy Federal requirement.
• Load/unload baggage
• De-ice aircraft
• Perform routine maintenance procedures
• Fuel aircraft (when operationally required)
• Wash/clean galley
• Dump and service lavatory
• Ensure all federal regulations are complied with

Company will provide training on government assistance.
10 company shares of stock to be awarded upon 5 years service with company.

Minimum requirements are subject change without notice, and are not restrictive. Six-year bi-lateral contract required; fifteen thousand dollar early termination fee applies, including training failure event on pilot’s permanent FAA record.

There's been lots of wonkish discussion (and even an editorial in the WSJ recently) about "Open Skies" to make it easier for US and European airlines to compete in each other's regions. Of course, anything that makes air travel cheaper is good for the consumer, right?

Been on a passenger jet lately? Comfortable wasn't it? I'm especially impressed with the comfy RJ seats.

I'd rather be a box.

Then there's the airline pilot career field. The above list may be a joke, but it isn't far off. Plus, an airline owner's principal function, given the standard profit margin of 1 to 2 percent in the industry as a whole, is to maximize hours worked and minimize pay and benefits for those actually doing the flying.

While it's grossly unfair, not to mention tedious and unoriginal, to just write them off as evil, rapacious capitalists, there is something to be said for the perennially grotesque relationship between airline management and labor. See Frank Lorenzo for a taste...and note the link is a government website.

Deregulation is, at least hypothetically, a good thing in most cases but the net effect for air travel has been, to put it mildly, somewhat disappointing. I doubt American consumers today are leaning forward in the foxhole to complement the industry as a whole on its efficiency, reliability or reputation for making air travel a pleasant experience. The exception proves the rule.

I avoid air travel as much as possible in my job, and I'm an airline pilot.

Not counting First and Business Class, the best seat is in the front with the special windows that allow one to see forward. Luckily for me, I work in a industry niche where the crews have, to date, been able to avoid the insane scheduling associated with the vast majority of the industry. The regional guys have it the worst...low pay, long hours and an environment that makes mishaps more likely thanks to chronic fatigue. You don't want to know how experienced the guys in front are...or aren't...or how many legs they've flown already that day...or how many mistakes are made in any given flight, despite the number of people on the flight deck.

Alas, management is driven to do what it does by the market and labor is driven to do what they do...by the market. So, while the WSJ editors may celebrate the death, for all practical purposes, of labor unions in the US and encourage a cutthroat competitive landscape among the airlines, my guess is they don't have a clue about the industry at the worker bee level.

But this is the same mentality that sees nothing but good things in a cheap labor pool, whether they be illegal aliens or low-wage foreign airline crews who have little, if any, leverage to insist on safe and sane schedules and competent maintenance practices. Nothing's perfect, not even entrepreneurial capitalism. That's why we have an FAA, but they're overwhelmed.

Just ask their folks that track how the airlines are taking care of their jets--maintenance is now usually outsourced to places/countries you don't want to know about. Maintenance actions are no longer required to be done by fully-qualified Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) techs (FAA-certified aircraft mechanics), just that the final paperwork is signed off by one.

Now, let's extrapolate a bit. If the A&P function can be done by unqualified foreigners, why can't the planes that carry passengers in the United States be flown by unqualified (or shall we say "less experienced foreign") pilots? That's probably not gonna happen, yet. For now, it's too politically explosive because it would be so glaringly obvious in that it would allow the bad guys to eliminate a step in their attack plan. Why storm the cockpit when you can get yourself hired to work there to begin with?

But back to explosives. I wonder how many airplanes could be sabotaged while going through depot maintenance in, say, Pakistan. From the people who bring you world-class customer service for your malfunctioning laptop, I give you...engine overhauls and wingspar inspections by Ali and Mohammed, the Beltbomb Boys! (With apologies to Fred and Mort.) Think Pakistan would be non-starter? OK. How about France? They build the Airbus, which you fly on all the time. They also overhaul them. They also hire high-risk profile individuals to handle luggage at Charles de Gaulle. Maybe the Brits are doing the work...hmmmm. No, I don't think we're immune from this kind of infiltration either, but I think we do a much better job of preserving a society that still favors assimilation over the Eurabian ghettos springing up all over that continent and in that light believe we should stick to US-based and FAA-monitored maintenance depots and their technicians.

So I guess you'll have to forgive me for belonging to a union that lobbies against an unbridaled approach to the US airline business. Now, before you write me off as a bomb-throwing Trotskyite, understand that I don't agree with all they preach. It's fairly obvious they support Democrats uncritically 'cause they're pro-union (and lately, thuggishly so), despite the Party's utter cowardice in the war against the Islamofacsist menace. While I can't prove it (yet), I'm sure some of my dues support the political goals of a Party I find, at times, in almost conscious cooperation with enemies of the West and civilization as a whole. Single-issue mindsets are almost always self-destructive and ALPA's organizational philosophy, while somewhat understandable, is no exception. Moreover, it's hard to argue that the pilots' union, like the auto industry's, has often been its own worst enemy. Conversely, when a company unionizes, I personally think that's a pretty damning indictment of its management. It's a freakin' mess in this business and I had a solution.

Bottom line? The union is a necessary evil in a world where management sees labor as an enemy to be conquered, not an ally to be supported, and vice versa. ALPA, for all its flaws, is right now the only labor-oriented vehicle available that I'm aware of that has any chance of influencing how things are done, I guess.

Now, with all that said, if I ended up with a choice between voting against capitulation in the war on militant Islam or for a Party that thought union issues, national health care, and global warming were more important, I'd go with the former in a hearbeat, even if it meant national policies that reduced my pay, increase my workload...or even cost me my job. BUT, we're not quite there yet. And, given the nature of the industry where I earn a living, the unions are a necessary tool in assuring--or at least trying to assure--that employee working conditions meet an essential minimum level and safety doesn't always take a back seat to revenue generation.

So, how's that for expanding the topics found on a milblog?

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

Well, flying bombs *are* a military subject...

posted by John of Argghhh! on March 17, 2007 4:13 PM

I'm curious about one thing maybe you could shed some light on... What is Southwest doing different and why aren't the other airlines doing the same thing? They seem to be the exception in both employee satisfaction (I heard a survey recently put them in the top 10 places to work) and customer satisfaction.

posted by Pogue on March 17, 2007 6:43 PM

Actually, Dusty, I had that job for one (1) flight, and had to pay for it. I think it was sometime back in the seventies, and I was flying from Atl, GA to Naples, FL. They put me off the whiny airplane at Tampa and I got into a Cessna 407, I think it was. There was one pilot who asked who wanted to sit up-right. I volunteered like a shot. I actually had a duty to perform, and am glad to report that I did so to the entire satisfaction of the aircraft commander.

When we got to the runway, he ordered me to close the vent window, and I did so.

It was lotsa fun, really. I tried not to distract the poor guy by asking too many questions, but slipped a bit from time to time. My most distinct memory is of the head temperature gauges. Until then I had no idea that air-cooled aero engines ran that hot.

A safety briefing would have been nice, though; how to work the radio and turn on the autopilot, etc.

posted by Justthisguy on March 17, 2007 8:39 PM

You say you hate how uncomfortable most airlines are, but are you willing to pay a bit more for a flight to get more for comfort? Most consumers, when booking a flight, simply go online and pick the lowest fare available, without any regard to what particular airline it's on. I've seen studies that show that even increases of a few dollars to get on a preferred airline will be rejected by the vast majority of consumers.

When the consumers are demonstrating through their actions that price is THE only factor that determines who they buy from, you can't complain that the airlines respond with a cut prices at any cost mentality.

So don't blame the airlines, blame the consumers. The market is just providing them with products they're demanding.

posted by Stormy Dragon on March 17, 2007 11:15 PM

I've quoted you and linked to you at my web log.

posted by Consul-At-Arms on March 18, 2007 1:42 PM

� Dismissed, Soldier!

by Dusty on Mar 17, 2007 | General Commentary | I think it's funny!

Another soldier brought to account for battlefield misconduct.

A conviction, good.

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - A military panel found a 101st Airborne soldier guilty of three counts of negligent homicide but not guilty of premeditated murder in the deaths of three Iraqi detainees.
Staff Sgt. Ray Girouard, 24, smiled as he hugged his defense lawyer and family members after the verdict was read. He faced up to life in prison had he been found guilty of premeditated murder.

Two of his subordinates plead guilty to murder charges, and were sentenced to 18 years each. SSG Girouard was accused of telling his subordinates to set the detainees free and then shoot them. His defense apparently was that he didn't tell anyone to shoot anyone, but after it happened, he tried to cover it up to protect his soldiers.

The prosecution can't be too unhappy - Girouard could face up to 21 years if he gets max consecutive sentences. Without having heard all the evidence, I can't tell you what I would recommend as a panel member, but I do know my rule of thumb for things like this. In determining guilt or innocence, the whole burden rests on the prosecution. But if the prosecution wins their case - then my mental sentence model is at the max, and the Defense has the whole burden of proving why it should be one smidge less.

by John on Mar 17, 2007 | Observations on things Military

MilBlog Conference

UPDATE: Andi has a list of the latest registrants for the conference. Take a look. As she says, you aren't really going to miss this, are you?

Registration for the MilBlog Conference will be open to the general public starting today.

Those who were there last year know that the conference was not only a tremendous amount of fun, but that it was fertile ground for ideas and interactions that continue to grow and cast their effects far beyond that weekend and those who attended. Many of us left that conference last year feeling like someday we're going to be viewed with jealous awe as people say, "You were there when all this started!"

Perhaps it's one of those things that has to be experienced to be understood, but let me assure you that you won't regret attending. It doesn't matter if you're military/civilian, retired/AD, government contractor, loving grandma, etc. Altogether last year we comprised an amazing storehouse of knowledge, experience, skills, and passion that was used both inside and outside the meeting hall to surprising effect. We all found we had something valuable to contribute and that the synergy (I choose that word very deliberately) we created was powerful. As one attendee said last year, what happened in informal hallway discussions was perhaps the most significant thing to come out of the Conference.

This year news about the Conference has been rather low-key, but that doesn't mean that big things are not planned--perhaps those of us who were there last year haven't realized that we need to communicate how powerful this event can be. But my sources tell me that their ability to bring significant people and events to the Conference are contingent upon a level of interest/registrations and "buzz" that is an accurate reflection of the power and reach of the MilBlogs (and trust me, there is jaw-dropping potential on the short list).

So, don't miss this amazing opportunity--it's not an exclusive club. Ask someone who was there whether they think you should go (they'll say yes). And if you're a blogger who's going, tell your readers all about it and encourage them to join you. If you're a panelist, feel free to brag, and invite your friends.

Beg, borrow, or steal the money you need... but don't miss this. - FbL.

[Armorer's note: Besides, Lex and I will be snarking each other personally, in public, on the same stage. Of course, I'm the moderator, so I'll shut him down when I start losing...]

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by Denizens on Mar 17, 2007 | Observations on things Military

March 16, 2007

H&I* Fires, 16 MAR 2007

You're advertising here, we should get an ad at your place...

*********************************
Not everyone is on the same page as Keith Olberman (Conspiracy! It’s all a Bushitler conspiracy!) about Halliburton moving to Dubai. Another example in what unstated assumptions you have, or grasp on reality, effects how you process info.
--
The Danger Room covers the questioning of the substance of Khalid Sheik Mohammed’s confession.
--
Read this and tell me that there aren’t serious similarities in the rhetoric used by the IRC and groups like International Solidarity.
--
Mark Grimsley, aka War Historian, gets a hit in on PowerPoint presentations, in and odd way.
--
JRobb has some criticism of the ‘oil spot’ approach to counter-insurgency when applied to urban environments.
--
What do we use as Trias bait, John? Maybe beer?
--ry
***********
How about this for a little "bait": Democrats Pull Out New Improved Veterans Against the War, turning the whole "listen to the commanders in the field" strategy around on the Republicans who are still trying to figure out their pilot seat from their tail booms while barely holding on to the skids.

Media Stupidity or Blatant Propaganda - you be the judge.

A little entry from the annals of KC Soldiers' Angels: Meeting Rosie the Riveter

Finally, for your amusement: St Patrick's Day Messenge to the Troops - Blooper Reel1
-Kat

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

For ry's scrapbook: yet another illustration of the differences between Normals and Uniforms -- Job Accountability.

We sometimes get a nice epitaph, though.

To the perpetual disgrace of public justice, the honorable John Byng, admiral of the blue, fell a martyr to political persecution on 14th March in the year 1757, when bravery and loyalty were insufficient securities for the life and honor of a naval officer.

--BillT
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Heh. Okay, turn the other cheek, fine, but when printer ink is so expensive, why double your loss?

Another look at Walter Reed, with some support for MG Weightman. -the Armorer

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Heee - Proof Positive is at hand! Bush is truly, one of the four horsemen of The Apocalypses. His true purpose for traveling to Latin America, is now revealed: To bring plague and pestilence to México. The very same day he left the Mexican city of Mérida, Sun-blotting clouds of locusts, befell upon the darkened skies of the city. Well, according to snail-loving folks at Agence France Presse. My apologies to those languagely challenged, a this is the only reference I could find - BOQ

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Hmm...not sure if this has already been publicized here at The Castle, but I figured linking to a pinup calendar twice couldn't hurt. Especially one that raises money for American veterans (hat-tip to Target Centermass). - Damian

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Flash Traffic (extended entry) Follows... �

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

Byng was shot, in the words of Voltaire, "to encourage the others."

The irony was that he was tried for violating the Fighting Instructions" the written operatinal manual. For the next few decades, no Admiral was brave enough to violate the instructions and any failure was escused because the followed the letter of the law. It took Nelson to break a habit that night well have led to the failure of the British Navy.

posted by monkeyboy on March 16, 2007 8:25 AM

Why is Haliburton moving to Dubai suspicious anyway.......doesn't everyone want to move to Dubai? Olberman is just jealous. I know I am.

posted by Maggie on March 16, 2007 8:28 AM

Re: BillT's comments on the hapless British Admiral (in my twisted mind) are relevent to the article/discussion at the below link (The Sun).

posted by Oldloadr on March 16, 2007 10:44 AM

www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007120545,00.html#nogo

posted by Oldloadr on March 16, 2007 10:47 AM

I'll just put this very simply, and you all can chide me as you must, but I reached the limits of humor about normals vs. uniforms (sorry, BillT, this is not you, but the distinction...).

I find the term normal as applied to Americans who haven't or are not currently members of the miltiary extraordinarily offensive. I'm normal and I was while I was in uniform and I'm normal again, and so are ALL of the military folks who are in uniform now (except for the rare nutcase who is not normal for some othere reason...)

Could we please just find some less 'clever' way to distinguish between military people and non military people before the dirtbags who are always looking for some other way to insult military people glom onto this and start using it perjoratively... As if we need more of that..

I really hate the term normal, used this way. Really. More important, I am begining to find myself avoiding discussions like this because it has really become a "why soldiers are so much better than civilians" conversation which while fun for a bit, has real potential to generate animosity and to draw folks looking to say "see, arrogance, eltisim, etc..."

More to the point, while some folks may feel some misguided angst about not being military, other folks feel the other way, and all this does is give them ammo--not that they need it, but why pander?

Anyway, I know this seems small, and so I defer to all you all who feel otherwise, but I really think this is a bad way to go...

V/R

posted by SangerM on March 16, 2007 3:01 PM

Well, just because I want to use the word this way, consider yourself "chid".

As for the substance of the remarks - hmmmmm.

Like it or not, there *is* a distinction between we and they. Not as stark as portrayed, certainly, and far more multivariate than brevity allows for.

And, certainly, when the non-military types have to deal with us military types in distaff situations, many are surprised at how normal we are.

But there is still a difference. How would you suggest we address it, or characterize it?

posted by John of Argghhh! on March 16, 2007 3:42 PM

I just substituted the word "civilian" for "normal" and was okay with it. LOL

posted by fdcol63 on March 16, 2007 3:47 PM

"...and so I defer to all you all..."
Now Sanger, you've been in Texas long enuff to know the proper usage is 'all y'all'...
heh

posted by Neffi on March 16, 2007 4:05 PM

I am glad to see that there is someone in MG Weightman's court. I would like to see some justice for him.

John, yer a good guy, willing to post both sides.
BillT, you need more time with the scrupl's.

posted by Cricket on March 16, 2007 6:14 PM

Actually I like it because it does present much of the problem in relations and difference between the two segements.
1) Those who take to the profession of arms are not run-o'-the-mill. Never have been down thru history(Prussia and Sparta being really oddball societies, and even then it wasn't the majority that served.). It represents that quite well.
2) It does show the estrangement/contempt, in general, that both camps have and feel for each other.(I point to some rather choice writing on Sgt. B's request for help).
3) It also shows, at times depending on usage, respect for both by the opposing camp.
4) The complaint of the jackalopes misusing it seems hollow. Look at the reportage(the alcohol piece in the NYT the other day for example). They don't need this to do their dirty work. They're doing a might fine job of maligning the military without it. It's lingo only used at Argghhh!. I've not seen it used elsewhere, anywhere.
5) For me. I would've been a terrible soldier. I'm think skinned, at times arrogant, mercurial of temperment, posses quick reflexes but unable to not flinch, and intellectually vain(often). I don't fantasize about being in. it would've sucked for me and those around me. If I'd served under any of those who were here you'da hated me and had a million deragatory nicknames for me.

But I certainly respect those who found a way to overcome their own faults and be part of Big Green(or whatever Service they did time with). They aren't like me and simply saying 'Soldier' doesn't come close to expressing the difference.

So I say, take some of the advice that's been hurled at me by different Denizens at one time or another: suck it up and don't be so namby pamby sensitive about it.

posted by ry on March 16, 2007 7:41 PM

THat's okay, Boq. There's bablefish over in the left side bar. ;]

posted by ry on March 16, 2007 7:47 PM

I'm with Sanger, from the other side of it. I haven't liked it since it started out here. The whole idea that because I never wore a uniform, I can never truly relate to those who do is absurd. My ex-husband wore the uniform of an Army MP and chased AWOLS through up-state NY. He never saw combat. Where does he fall in your scale? Cops, firefighters and other first responders who never enlisted in the military....where do they fall in your scale? My favorite Naval Consort carries the physical and mental scars of multiple conflicts dating back nearly 40 years. Yet he thinks our minds are the halves of one whole.

As far as the "suck it up" comment, I would like to repsond but every thing I've typed for the last five minutes has been rude or belligerent. So just know that I do not care for the cavalier way it's being tossed around out here. SangerM has raised a valid point (I would say that even if I disagreed) and doesn't deserve the flip attitude.

posted by Maggie on March 16, 2007 9:53 PM

"SangerM has raised a valid point (I would say that even if I disagreed) and doesn't deserve the flip attitude."

This isn't 'flip'. I laid out a series of points and a logical argument in much the manner I was taught to write in the sciences; impersonal and to the point. That's anything but flip.

I call John my big brother because he's nicer and more supportive than my maternal older brother. You think I don't empathize, sympathize, and love people in Uniform? Yet, I realize there is something very different, something that will always color the friendship between John and I, because I haven't been in. Same with my buddy James(SGT. Moran, USMC). Our friendship hasn't been the same since he joined the Corps 7 years ago. We're still each others oldest and best friends(I've known him exactly 27 years, 5 months, and 9 days), but there's something there that makes it different then what it was before besides just the passing of time.

The scars of combat: irrelevant. Wearing the uniform does something to you. Sgt B never saw combat. Bill did. Yet, there's a kinship there that I can never be part of because I haven't and can't wear the uniform. This phenomenon doesn't exist? Then why is the USO such a haven for traveling servicemen?

"Yet he thinks our minds are the halves of one whole."
There's lots of ways to handle such a statement. Does he mean supplementary or complementary(adding up to 180 or 360)? CAn be totally true and yet show a major divide between the Civilian(Normal) and Miliitary mentality.

Where do first responders fit in the scale? At funerals for cops and firefighters there's often a command for Uniformed Personnel to do something(stand, salute, what have you). That says a lot. The brotherhood, another term people around here take dislike to, crosses many groups. They are similar but still not the same.

Police and fireman are often not treated as simple civilians, similar to how the military is not. Don't we have a special set of terms for them? First responders and the like? They are seperate and different in certain ways. Certain privilages and certain responsibilities that those not of that group are not given. They recieve training that shapes their thinking, why else do we talk of institutional learning, institutional bias, and group think if it isn't because a group doesn't have something that sets them appart?

Yes, there is contempt at times between the groups(check some of Sanger's own writing from the thread where Sgt B asked for some advice). Cop bars? Firefighter bars? Why are civilians who show up uninvited to such venues given a cold shoulder and glares? Do they form the same way and for the same reason as bars for Cub fans? Nobody plays the pipes at a Cub fans wake out of tradition. Whole parts of the city don't shut down for the death of a Cub fan. They are different. There's nothing wrong with pointing out how and why, and the friction that arises because of the difference.

it's a decent objection but it is ultimately flawed for various reasons. There's nothing wrong with talking about it and showing where the argument is flawed.

posted by ry on March 17, 2007 1:17 AM

"Suck it up" is flip.

Sanger's arguement can't be flawed because he is stating that the term, as it's being used, makes him feel a certain way. No one gets to point out a flaw in that, it's just arrogant.

My questions about where people fit in on the scale were rhetorical. I was trying to point out that all these lines in the sand don't move us forward.

I didn't say there wasn't kinship.

Anytime you use terms this way (You served - here's your label.....you didn't - here's your label) it has the potential to isolate, to widen the divide. That's what's happening here. Sanger and I have told you that we don't like how this makes us feel. We've both kept our mouths shut and sucked it up for a while.....now we're saying enough. For my part, I don't see what I'm doing here if I'm going to constantly be reminded that I don't quite fit in.

posted by Maggie on March 17, 2007 7:55 AM

Okay, now we see the downside of serial email conversation, it, too isolates and causes people to fort up and it gets into over-analysis.

One of the problems here is "the commons".

We are a community of generally shared core interests and values, with lots of room to maneuver once you get away from the center.

Maggie and Sanger don't like the dichotomy. Others among us are comfortable with the terms because, at the gut level, we feel them to be true.

There are places that only my father and I can go, among the family. Not because we don't love my sister, or my cousins, or my other extended family, but because only my father and I have looked over the sights of weapons at human beings with the intent of doing them serious harm. And ducked when those same people expressed their annoyance in like kind.

The same is true here. The difference is that because of the nature of the medium, having sidebar conversations like that can't be private, unless they go to email.

So, Maggie, I'll try to remember not to use the term 'normals' (though you don't qualify).

But the core truth is, there *is* a difference, the community of shared experience, and that's simply a fact.

Just like I'm never going to truly empathize with a discussion of childbirth among mothers who have given birth.

And even less among those who had stillborn children.

It is simply a slice of experience I am never going to fully understand.

posted by John of Argghhh! on March 17, 2007 8:30 AM

Thank you John....on both counts.

For the record.....I never said there wasn't a difference. If there wasn't a difference military service wouldn't be criteria for entrance into "The Rotation". (WK, FbL, SWWBO, the SB gang et al? Can I get an amen?

posted by Maggie on March 17, 2007 8:53 AM

I'm with Maggie and Sanger, especially on her clarification that she's not saying there isn't a difference.

I don't like use of the word "normal," which implies the negative "abnormal" to all of you who have served. You are not the majority and you are unique in many ways, but the implied "abnormal" is not a positive and that is why I don't like "normal." "Civilian" covers it quite well, and leaves the reader to apply any associated connotations himself.

And something that comes through in Ry's comments is that what makes a service member different is inborn and not learned. I think that's true in some aspects, but anybody who's seen a Marine before and after Boot (to give an example), knows how much can be built on what seemed a very basic "frame." Add to that the experiences that come from a military career (both on and off the battlefield), and a strong argument can be made for the experiences mattering more than the raw material. (Note that I am not saying there aren't certain types drawn to this kind of service --especially that very rare type who is called to be a warrior--or that certain prerequisite characteristics don't make better servicemembers. Just saying that Soldiers, Sailors and Marines, Airmen and Guardsmen aren't pulled from their mothers' wombs as fully-formed warriors separate from the civilian class.

And one point of clarification regarding Sgt. B, who is probably too busy to read this thread: Sgt. B is most definitely a USMC combat vet (Panama), and was right in the middle of it all, too.

posted by FbL on March 17, 2007 11:20 AM

So let me get this straight: it makes you feel bad so it should never be done even though it is a useful rhetorical and sociological tool?

Then I expect people to jump all up and down over stuff like this:

I was pretty good at it, which made me not so good at being among people who get their feelings hurt too easily by people like me who don't shellac their commentaries enough (Ry is an example).

Or this:

Other people feel less... well, just "less," around former and current mil folks.

None of you did. So get off my back.

And yes, i do realize that it was done in support of a fellow Denizen and not intended, or I hope it wasn't, as a slight. but it shows exactly the same sentiment, openly and vigorously, as Normal does. AFAIK nobody complained about that. So why this? What's different about it?

I don't know how many times someone has found a clever way to call non-military males 'un-men' and nancy boys. oh, but now were supposed to worry about making military and ex-military people fell different in a way that has a negative connotation. My bad. It isn't just one person doing it, I have done it too, nor is it always conveyed with a sense of comradeship either as it is often flat out mean; and has been at times personal. So get off my back about it.

I use something as shorthand to describe a phenomenon as opposed to intentionally insulting. Not intentionally insulting and something, like the f word, that has a million and one meanings dependent on usage running from a status put on a pedestal to out right hatred, unlike some of the naked and uncloaked derisive sentiments trafficed around here. And now we're supposed to worry about this one because it offends a few people when we haven't cared about how other terms might have offended civilians who are lurkers and passers by for several years?

I find it odd that even though I have ersatz family, since my real one sucks, and loved ones both in and out of uniform too that some of you all are assuming that just because I say something you find distasteful that I'm like another crowd that knows little and have to be reminded of things. Like alot of the other Normals and Soldiers around here I sit someplace between the camps. In another category with its own benefits and its own problems. It might also help to see that I also mentioned the training element as well.

Guess what. The groups already exist and the problems exist. Whether the term is used or not. Regardless of how you feel about it There's terms and phrases used profusely around here that do the same damn thing. Are we to declare a moratorium on ALL of them then, or just the ones particular Denizens don't like?

Contempt of soldiers or civilians doesn't need new terms. 'America is at the mall.' Multiple messages, but inherently contemptuous of civilians who aren't gung-ho about the war. But with Normals we have something that is different. But it offends sometimes. So let's ban it.

In truth, I find this is a rather fair weather complaint seeing how often people around here have expressed differeing levels of disdain for Normals/Civilians in many different forms and many different threads. Now that there's something that reminds you of it and makes you feel bad about it there's a problem?

The term is a better descriptor because of how it incorporates all of the different feelings and emotions involved. Kinda like the f word being able to convey a hundred different things. as I've laid out afore. It's useful. It makes us all look at the differences and think about how we strengthen the divide or not.

Unless Armorer tells me not to I'll continue to use it for exactly these reasons.

My appologies to Sgt. B. I was trying to think of people who weren't involved in this to use in examples to keep it from inflaming the anger of participants. No slight intended.

Yes, sometimes when John uses it I'm offended. Other times not. It serves a larger purpose. So unless directed to I'll continue to use it. Not because I like sticking it to anyone, but because it does things simply saying civilian can never do.

posted by ry on March 17, 2007 5:38 PM

I wonder if this is a male-female thing. I mean, Maggie and I both seem to be comfortable being able to meet servicemembers and warfighters “halfway.” By that I mean that we have found that rather than being an impediment, it is a bridge. True, there is a land I will never completely enter—military world, but that’s okay with me. We don’t expect ourselves to be the same as men, so the military thing doesn’t feel like an impediment to acceptance of us. Perhaps it’s an extension of my acceptance that men and women are fundamentally different that is a good thing; it is the differences that mutually attract, and the different parts that fit together so well (no, not just talking sex), our differences that unite to make something better than we are alone.

The military application of this was perfectly encapsulated one day when a warfighter told me that it is for people like me—people who rock the cradles, raise the next generation, create music, maintain a homefront in all its variety for whom warriors fight. In Ry’s case, it is the scientist expanding our knowledge, firing our industry and curing disease that inspires the warfighter to believe the rest of us (“normals”) are worth their sacrifice and sufering.

While Ry talks about service being a barrier between him on other men, it has been for me a connection—I have found in the military world, more acceptance, tolerance, appreciation, support and even love than anywhere outside my family. And I am told that stems from a uniquely military way of evaluating and sifting people. Yes, I run into the idiots who label me before they know me—“Civilian. She ignorant and without a clue,” and it infuriates and sometimes hurts me. But after I calm down and regain perspective, I know that it is their loss and their problem. It doesn’t eat me up. I have learned that civilian and military are complementary. We wouldn’t last long without our warfighters, and what would be worth fighting for if we were all warriors?

Relatedly, this is the problem with multiculturalism when it becomes a “we are all the same” idiocy. We are not. We are different and we are complementary. We are bound by our humanity and the ways in which some of our values can be similar or parallel (setting aside the issues of areas of fundamental incompatibility such as Islam and the West), and conversely distance is created by some of our experiences that we’ll never bridge. But that’s okay; it doesn’t make us less valuable Men who are not soldiers are different than soldiers, but that doesn’t make them less any more than it makes a Japanese man by definition less than an American one.

It does show the estrangement/contempt, in general, that both camps have and feel for each other.(I point to some rather choice writing on Sgt. B's request for help).

Very true, but I am reminded that those feelings of contempt are rational response to experiences, not an in-born attitude of disdain for civilians. I shrug it off; they just haven’t had the chance to unlearn their reflexive contempt. And on the other side, most of the truly anti-military attitudes (vs. simple ignorance or insecurity on the part of the civilian in a majority of cases) are leftover strains from post-Vietnam.

[Continued]

posted by FbL on March 17, 2007 7:10 PM

3) It also shows, at times depending on usage, respect for both by the opposing camp.

How is that mutually respectful? I honestly don’t see where you’re coming from me, as it seems to by definition imply abnormality in “non-normals.”

Yet, I realize there is something very different, something that will always color the friendship between John and I, because I haven't been in.

True. It would also color your friendship with a man who spent a life as a priest, as it colors my friendships with those who didn’t grow up as “Pastor’s Kids.” Seriously, so what? Why is this such a big deal? (I’m asking with an honest desire to know)

Btw, I don’t see anybody attempting to develop a “rule” that we cant use that term; they’re just expressing their discomfort with it. As Sanger said, he’ll defer to the rest.

As to your quotes from comments to Sgt B, I didn’t see it as being a labeling of ALL civilians in most cases. And to say that some civilians feel “less” around mil types is simply to observe a phenomenon, not to say it is good or correct.

You know, maybe I just need to stop, because you’re talking about things I just don’t see around here. But then you say things like…

Contempt of soldiers or civilians doesn't need new terms. 'America is at the mall.' Multiple messages, but inherently contemptuous of civilians who aren't gung-ho about the war.

Maybe I misunderstood, but I always thought that didn’t refer to all civilians, merely those who choose to put their heads in the sand and ignore the fact that we’re at war. And it’s more about willful ignorance than lack of support (gung ho).

Maybe I’m being a Pollyanna, but I see the kind of rejections/divisions implied in the use of “normal” to be exceptions rather than rules. But that again, I’m always amazed at peoples’ inability to give each other the benefit of the doubt…

I have to say that I have not seen among the regulars around here anything approaching broad disdain for civilians that wasn’t answered with a “wait a sec.” For segments of civilians? Yes, and often well-deserved.

As to your last line, Ry. I don’t see how that is true. Civilian is a neutral word that is entirely context-dependent, and so contains a vast potential of meanings. Why is it then a better choice to use a word that is inherently derogatory to the “other?”

posted by FbL on March 17, 2007 7:11 PM

Heh. I was just sayin' that since the nor-, er, some people around here didn't like the words used to describe the distinction, I was kewl with changing the words, since I wasn't going to forgo the distinction.

Even if, oddly enough, the snark was self-referent.

That's all I was after.

Ry can keep tilting at this windmill if'n he wants, but it's a closed subject for me.

[goes to fire up the popcorn machine]

posted by John of Argghhh! on March 17, 2007 8:14 PM

FbL - Great comments. Well thought out and clearly expressed.

Ry - Knock yourself out.

I'm going to pester the Armorer until I get some popcorn too......since I know I can't get a hug or a dance.......

posted by Maggie on March 17, 2007 11:25 PM

Thanks, Maggie. And if he won't hug or dance, do you think the Armorer might accept a euro-style kiss on the cheek? ;)

Even if, oddly enough, the snark was self-referent.

LOL. Yeah, it didn't hurt my feelings, but it always disturbed me just a touch. And I guess seeing Ry defend it against Sanger's discomfort just pushed a button in me. As I said before, there's definitely a difference, but I don't think one side is of more or less value than the other. So I'm uncomfortable with something that implies that, even if it is often a touch tongue-in-cheek.

I do sometimes feel that the sacrifices and comforts are not equal, but I remind myself that we needn't all be warriors (others of us need to keep the homefront warm) and that they have volunteered to serve us in this way...

posted by FbL on March 18, 2007 1:08 AM

Well, phoeey. I just dropped that off here the other day, and went back to getting ready for the graduation, etc. Sorry to have avoided this, it was not intentional, I just got wrapped up in the end of the trail looming...

As I wrote, it's a small thing. I dislike it. ok. No big deal, but I decided I'm not going to even read anything that covers this anymore. let alone comment on it. I am not trying to push, this is personal and it just sets wrong for me, but it wouldn't be the first time I'm off the beaten path, eh?

But, I'm DONE. Presented my thesis Friday, got all grades by Friday night, had graduation yeaterday (guest speaker is Head of Unicef, he was 6 yrs old and living in Hiroshima when we dropped a bomb on it... very interesting fellow).

Am in D.C. right now, waiting on room to be ready. Gonna be a nice week.

More soon.

posted by SangerM on March 18, 2007 1:53 PM

Congrats!
Defense can always be a pain. I'm glad you're finished with the headwarping and at times soul crushing work.
So, are you crazy enough to go for a third? ;)

posted by ry on March 19, 2007 5:01 AM

� Dismissed, Soldier!

by Denizens on Mar 16, 2007 | General Commentary

A TINS! of a Different Color

Remember the Serial Thriller from a couple of weeks back (if you don't, ask FuzzybeeEll for the links -- I think she made an antimacassar out of 'em)? Well, one result of the ~~torrent of e-mails from everyone~~ -- uhhmm -- ~~intermittent spate of encouragement from the Denizennes~~ awfully nice comment I got from NevadaDailySteve, was that it gave me an idea. Since you guys were so anxious to see how it was gonna turn out, this time, you'll *know* the ending -- 'cuz you're gonna write it.

It's been a while since we had a contest with some literary merit. This probably won't break the dry spell, but it'll be good for some giggles. And you'll have *alllll* weekend to work on it!

I'll start the story, then stop at an appropriately suspenseful point and you pick it up from there. E-mail me the narrative and I'll add it / them in during next week (it's in your own best interest to contribute -- I can plug in "...and then I died. The End." --MajMike or "...and then I died. The End. Cheers!" --the Armorer all. week. long.)

Caveat: Anybody who *does* kill me off gets his or [ominous glare] *her* electronic addy posted on the "spam me" bulletin board of every cyber café in Lagos, Nigeria...

Ready? Ahem...

It was the smoothest landing I'd made in my entire aviation career (all six months of it). Even got a compliment from the Green Beanie major who'd been directing the op from the jump seat behind the radio console. I rolled the throttle to the flight idle stop and (after a couple of tries) flicked the spring-loaded RPM warning switch to the "OFF" position, then unfastened my shoulder harness.
Big mistake. It had been the only thing holding me upright.

Dimly aware that I was slumping to the right, I half-twisted toward the big opening in the cockpit that was normally occupied by the door and coughedvomitedcoughed about a pint of thick liquid onto the perforated steel matting of the runway. I remember thinking that the rusty orange of the steel planking provided an interesting counterpoint to the dark red I'd puked...

Okay, kids -- you've got the controls...

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

I dunno, Chief. I remember how bad the Moat Monster's gizzard stones messed me up just before I lost consciousness, the last time I participated in one of these. I think BCR almost despaired of bringing me back.

Sometimes I wonder how much she *did* bring back and how much she just replaced and improved. At least I still have free will, and I think BCR is really cool and I would do anything for her and I wrote that without coercion and it was my own idea to write that and she didn't make me do it and BCR has only my best intere*%%(%%*@^$&

So whatta y'all think about this weather we've been having lately, huh

posted by Justthisguy on March 16, 2007 1:17 AM

I dunno, Chief. THe last time I tried my hand at, intentionally, writing fiction the school forced me to see a psychiatrist---they couldn't make up their mind if I was homicidal or suicidal. So I think I'll pass. Besides, I like your true stories better than anything I could imagine.

And now, off to the grocery store since I can't sleep anyway!

posted by ry on March 16, 2007 1:34 AM

Jtg - If you're gonna channel BCR for this, kinda downplay the death ray and the whole R&R in New Zealand thing, okay? Besides, I went to Australia...

ry - Fiction? Nope. I start you off with a factual incident and you report the rest of it. Just think of it as an NYT or WaPo article, but with more of a foundation in reality.

posted by BillT on March 16, 2007 6:03 AM

I don't think I like the beginning (ending?) of this story very much. Particularly because it's you...

One of the dangers of hanging out with soldiers, I suppose...

posted by FbL on March 16, 2007 9:29 AM

I see JTG is due for a paranoia tuneup ;-)

Well, this should be fun! I've got two ideas already. Neither involving death rays or robots, for a change.

posted by bad cat robot on March 16, 2007 9:36 AM

I for one, look forward to cashing-in on a bit of those Yoruba Dollars.

posted by Boquisucio on March 16, 2007 10:19 AM

I don't think I like the beginning (ending?) of this story very much.
Neither beginning nor ending -- it's the middle. As in, what came out of mine.

One of the dangers of hanging out with soldiers, I suppose...
Bet you're glad I'm not a proctologist, huh?

posted by BillT on March 16, 2007 10:25 AM

BCR - Could'a used a robot for a few minutes after I launched the technicolor burp. Almost fell flat on my face trying to climb out of the cockpit solo.

Dearestly Beloved Sir Bocqwicucchio: I
>am the sole
>eldest only-surving scion of the
>former Minister of the Interior Decorations of
>Republic
>of Nigeria, who met
>his death of a fatal
>illness immediately prior ot the
>aerplan crash in
>which there were no survivores
>save only myself, thanks
>be.

posted by BillT on March 16, 2007 10:42 AM

I'll try my hand...

The night before, yours truly had been down to the mess hall (mess being the operative word). They were serving a lovely St. Patrick's day dinner. At least, I think it was St. Patrick's day dinner. It was green and smelled slightly of three times boiled cabage and week old corned beef mixed with the socks of an infantry squad just returned from a five day hump through the wilderness and one large, recently "fertilized" rice patty.

But, it was St. Patty's day and it was green, so I decided to try it anyway. The peanut butter and bologna sandwiches were starting to be a little stale.

posted by kat-missouri on March 16, 2007 2:38 PM

Then I died.

Buuuutt...

God sent me back, to continue until the ring had been destroyed, having been cast into the fires of Mt Fuji... Where I'd been sent by 7 homely geisha girls after one soulless night in the Ginsha-kinfe area of Naga-shima, savoring saki-dipped rice, chopstick-fed to me one grain at a time, while my feet were massaged....

Or maybe it was Bangkok, or...

:-)

posted by SangerM on March 16, 2007 3:09 PM

and right there and then I had an epiphany; I would work to resolve the issues of drab icky colors.
I was reborn as BT.

posted by Cricket on March 16, 2007 6:18 PM

I picked a great day to eat my last meal of beets and chianti.

posted by Chuck Simmins on March 16, 2007 10:40 PM

Damn! I thought. The Doc was right! It really is true that if you drink too much for too long, one day you'll start to bleed out from the stomach!

posted by Justthisguy on March 17, 2007 4:32 AM

Yaaay - I'm well underway to gettin' me my self some of those Yoruban Pesos. Once I raid my 401K an all.

posted by Boquisucio on March 17, 2007 6:52 AM

� Dismissed, Soldier!

by CW4BillT on Mar 16, 2007 | This is no Sh*t!

March 15, 2007

H&I* Fires, 15 MAR 2007

You're advertising here, we should get an ad at your place...

*********************************
Who knew Michael Ledeen blogged away from The Corner? I didn’t.
Faster Please. His own blog. Interesting.
--
Why do I even bother with sites that come up with stuff like this? Israel went to war with previously worked out plans? Gross Gott! It really is a Jewish conspiracy(end sarcasm). Where you start from really does determine where you wind up when trying to make a coherent picture of your little dollops of facts.
--
Via JustWarTheory: the schedule and some links to discussions from INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM FOR MILITARY ETHICS meeting from January that focused on Religion and the Military.(Nuggets like this probably are why I bother.)
--
Kat didn’t link to this when she wrote it, but she should have. A slightly different perspective on what The Armorer wrote yesterday.
-- ry
*******************

But Kat did find this for Bill T: When Rockstars Fly Helicopters (warning for those who suffer motion sickness- and, no, it is not Van Halen or Sammy Hagar flying the helicopter).

Also, a little American Internet Jihad. - kat

I can't believe we missed this: last WWI combat veteran is laid to rest.

Flash Traffic (extended entry) Follows... �

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by Denizens on Mar 15, 2007 | General Commentary

New (to me) Nigerian 411 scam. Your mileage may vary.

Another one purportedly a soldier out of Iraq. Annoying thing is - there really *is* a SFC Daniel Vaness in the Army, and there *is* a SSG Kenneth Buff, USA, retired.. I hope they've not been too bebothered and confusticated by this scam.

DEAR FRIEND,
HOW ARE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY? HOPE ALL IS WELL? [Well, my mother just died, thanks for asking.] MY NAME IS (SGT 1ST CLASS) DANIEL VANESS.I AM AN AMERICAN SOLDIER, [Really? Then wouldn't you have done that as SFC?] SERVING IN THE MILITARY WITH THE ARMY 3RD INFANTRY DIVISION IN IRAQ WITH A VERY DESPERATE NEED FOR ASSISTANCE, I HAVE SUMMED UP COURAGE TO CONTACT YOU.I FOUND YOUR CONTACT PARTICULARS IN AN ADDRESS JOURNAL. I AM SEEKING YOUR KIND ASSISTANCE TO MOVE THE SUM OF ($18 MILLION U.S. DOLLARS) EIGHTEEN MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS TO YOU IN YOUR COUNTRY,[hey, I thought it was *our* country, Sergeant?] AS FAR AS I CAN BE ASSURED THAT MY SHARE WILL BE SAFE IN YOUR CARE UNTIL I COMPLETE MY SERVICE HERE IN IRAQ. [You've been talking to Fuzzybear again, haven't you?]

SOURCE OF MONEY: SOME MONEY IN VARIOUS CURRENCIES WERE DISCOVERED IN BARRELS AT A FARMHOUSE NEAR ONE OF SADDAM HUSSEIN'S OLD PALACES IN TIKRIT-IRAQ DURING A RESCUE OPERATION, AND IT WAS AGREED BY STAFF SGT KENNETH BUFF [Hey, SSG Buff is retired, what's he doing, working over there as a contractor? But he can probably use that 18 mil!] AND I THAT SOME PART OF THIS MONEY BE SHARED AMONG BOTH OF US BEFORE INFORMING ANYBODY ABOUT IT SINCE BOTH OF US SAW THE MONEY FIRST. THIS WAS QUITE AN ILLEGAL THING TO DO, [So, you run to a commissioned officer with a blog to get help... I'm sorry you think I'm like that - what kind of officers do you work for, Sergeant?] BUT I TELL YOU WHAT? NO COMPENSATION CAN MAKE UP FOR THE RISK WE HAVE TAKEN WITH OUR LIVES IN THIS HELL HOLE OF WHICH MY BROTHER IN-LAW WAS KILLED BY A ROAD SIDE BOMB LAST TIME.YOU WILL FIND THE STORY OF THIS MONEY ON THE WEB ADDRESS BELOW;

THE ABOVE FIGURE WAS GIVEN TO ME AS MY SHARE, AND TO CONCEAL THIS KIND OF MONEY BECAME A PROBLEM FOR ME, SO WITH THE HELP OF A BRITHISH [Sorry about that lisp - pretty episodic, huh? Or is the brit the guy with the lisp and that's where you learned how to pronounce "brithish?"] CONTACT WORKING HERE, AND HIS OFFICE ENJOY SOME IMMUNITY, I WAS ABLE TO GET THE PACKAGE OUT TO A SAFE LOCATION ENTIRELY OUT OF TROUBLE SPOT. HE DOES NOT KNOW THE REAL CONTENTS OF THE PACKAGE, AND BELIEVES THAT IT BELONGS TO A BRITHISH/AMERICAN MEDICAL DOCTOR WHO DIED IN A RAID HERE IN IRAQ, AND BEFORE GIVING UP,TRUSTED ME TO HAND OVER THE PACKAGE TO HIS FAMILY IN UNITED STATES.

I HAVE NOW FOUND A VERY SECURED WAY OF GETTING THE PACKAGE OUT OF IRAQ TO YOUR COUNTRY FOR YOU TO PICK UP, AND I WILL DISCUSS THIS WITH YOU WHEN I AM SURE THAT YOU ARE WILLING TO ASSIST ME, AND I BELIEVE THAT MY MONEY WILL BE WELL SECURED IN YOUR HAND BECAUSE YOU HAVE THE FEAR OF GOD. I WANT YOU TO TELL ME HOW MUCH YOU WILL TAKE FROM THIS MONEY FOR THE ASSISTANCE YOU WILL GIVE TO ME. ONE PASSIONATE APPEAL I WILL MAKE TO YOU IS NOT TO DISCUSS THIS MATTER WITH ANYBODY [Ooops! Too late!], SHOULD YOU HAVE REASONS TO REJECT THIS OFFER.PLEASE AND PLEASE DESTROY THIS MESSAGE AS ANY LEAKAGE OF THIS INFORMATION WILL BE TOO BAD FOR US SOLDIER HERE IN IRAQ. I DO NOT KNOW HOW LONG WE WILL REMAIN HERE,AND I HAVE BEEN SHOT, WOUNDED AND SURVIVED TWO SUICIDE BOMB ATTACKS BY THE SPECIAL GRACE OF GOD. [No doubt.] THIS AND OTHER REASONS I WILL MENTION LATER HAS PROMPTED ME TO REACH OUT FOR HELP.

I HONESTLY WANT THIS MATTER TO BE RESOLVED IMMEDIATELY.PLEASE CONTACT ME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE WITH THIS E- MAIL ADDRESS WHICH IS MY ONLY WAY OF
COMMUNICATION. GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY. [And you and yours, Sergeant. At least the *real* SFC Vaness.]

REGARDS,

DANIEL VANESS.

I think rather than destroy the message, as asked, I'll publish it, instead. More fun that way.

SFC Vaness, SSG Buff, I'm sure you aren't involved in anything like this. If you were, you'd have Fort Leavenworth addresses... rather than the units listed in AKO.

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by John on Mar 15, 2007 | I think it's funny! | Stupid Criminal Tricks Dept

Distressed airframes...

Bill noted a while back my fondness for gigging the aviators around here with pictures of 'distressed' airframes.

Since I'm really busy this week, I've decided to go cheap and run one I've had for a 'rainy day' sort of backup.

Wrecked Mig-29. Flattened, really.

Somehow, I think this one is beyond the airframe mechanic's skillz. Somehow, I bet Bill has the story behind it, too.

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

Mechanic: .... *looks at wreckage* .... Dude, there's your problem.

posted by Masked Menace on March 15, 2007 10:22 AM

This is what happens to Fulcrums when Eagles are hungry...if this is where/what I think it is.

posted by Instapilot on March 15, 2007 10:29 AM

I wondered where he term "pancaked" in reference to crashing a plane came from. Now I don't.

posted by hdw on March 15, 2007 11:07 AM

Dusty - I suspect it is the event of which you type.

posted by John of Argghhh! on March 15, 2007 11:52 AM

I think I found it - March 1999 in Serbia?

posted by Damian on March 15, 2007 2:37 PM

Does this qualify as a 1 point landing? Don't aviator types get a merit badge or something for this?

OTOH, if Damian's link is true, then what does this say of Slick Willy's "nope, no combat here in the Balkans, just move along" legacy?

posted by Blackhawk on March 15, 2007 9:26 PM

Yup, those look like IFOR guys rather than SFOR, and that's a typical Boz farmhouse on a typical Boz hill in the typical Boz municipality of Teočak. Which is untypical because it has vowels in its name.

My stomping grounds were about 25km southwest. Only thing missing from the pic is the three-legged livestock to remind you that the place has more landmines than Californy has nutcases...

posted by BillT on March 15, 2007 10:26 PM

BilT: slightly off topic. I do remember a conversation from the CTCP around Dec 05/Jan 06....

A certain flight is executing area reconnaissance (1 x OH58D, 1 x AH1). The AH-1 calls in. A ‘chip light’ forces him to land. He lands in the nearest open area. The locals were waving furiously at him (oddly enough, locals from two nearby checkpoints were doing this).

He landed.

Aircraft in question calls for evac.

Aircraft in question seyz that locals wouldn’t approach.

I checked my purple-marked WWII maps (what's all this German crap on my map?).

The Senior Pilot Instructor on board shortly thereafter declared that they were ‘one-time flight capable’ to our FARP.

Hmmmm.

posted by Blackhawk on March 15, 2007 10:44 PM

Teočak has extra vowels because it was part of Ugljevik in the Republika Srpska. The idea of carrying a letter addressed to somebody living at

16 Sklonisti Sjdit
Tčk,
Ugljevik
Republika Srpska, BiH

was too much, even for a Balkan mailman. So the Canton donated some vowels that they found in a back alley in Brčko...

posted by BillT on March 15, 2007 10:45 PM

Blackhawk - 'Way off the original subject, continuing thread on the second. I had an intermittent TRGB chip light in an OH-6 back in '86 or '87. It was only intermittent, so I figured, "Lakehurst is only three miles away -- I'll land there instead of putting it in the cedar swamp directly below me."

Shut down, mechanic inspected the mag points on the detector plug. No fuzz. Stuck the plug back in for a ground run and *poof* -- intermittent light. Did that twice more. Figured that the chips were too small to completely bridge the gap between the magnetic points on the detector, so I shut down, held a coffee can under the sight gauge to catch the oil and teeny-weeny gearbox chips and pulled the plug.

*clank* *clankclank*

Three firken *teeth* from the gearbox landed in the coffee can. They were too big for the chip detector magnet to hold down long enough to make a full connection...

posted by BillT on March 15, 2007 11:07 PM

Certainly looks like someone did some stomping on that ground Bill.

posted by Murray on March 16, 2007 3:38 PM

� Dismissed, Soldier!

by John on Mar 15, 2007 | Aircraft

March 14, 2007

H&I* Fires, 14 MAR 2007

You're advertising here, we should get an ad at your place...

*********************************
Gen. Petraeus claims that Iranian Rev Guard are training militias while the FM talks about reconciliation at the bargaining table.
--
Here’s a real short bit of background information about ‘Curveball’ via ABC news.
--
I’m not putting much stock in this claim that we’re looking to back a coup against Musharaff, but it is the kind of real politic thing I, ry, tend to be in favor of. It’d be a short term fix in my estimation that changes some of the equation as long as the new headman thinks he needs us.
--
Bull Nav over at OP-FOR takes exception to some reportage about people ‘going off the reservation.’
--
From Danger Room: al-Qaeda propaganda production at highest level ever.
--
This is both funny and serious.
--
Last one, a review of 300 by Zenpundit.
--ry

**********************************
Stop The ACLU on the tolerance of CAIR.

Noah Schachtman, in his new digs at Danger Room, gives us a brief on the new Air Force Talking Points. -the Armorer

**********************************

Flash Traffic (extended entry) Follows... �

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by Denizens on Mar 14, 2007 | General Commentary

I need a gun pic.

A little Zen to soothe the Armorer's soul.

The Castle Soumi

I think the Castle Armory's Suomi will do nicely.

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by John on Mar 14, 2007 | Gun Pics | Sub-machine Guns

Hah!

From the Times UK:

Short men were irresistible to women until mankind’s ancestors learnt how to use tools as weapons, research suggests.
Being short made modern man’s predecessors more adept at fighting — with a lower centre of gravity and better balance — and guaranteed them huge sex appeal, according to the study by David Carrier, of the University of Utah.

The adaptation was so successful that for two million years human ancestors with the shortest legs were the most successful. They would also have been the most aggressive, probably because they were confident of winning fights rather than having a complex about their height.

So the state wrestling championship comes into focus for me now - even how 205lbs me beat the 380lbs behemoths in the Unlimited class.

Interesting (to me) sidenote. I'm just shy of 6 feet tall, but always had a problem with the Army's weight regs... because the bulk of my height is in my torso, not legs. Made me a good sprinter, too - 10.3 in the 100 yards, 4.5 in the forty. But the Army's system didn't account for that too well. My inseam is... 30. The current deputy commander at Fort Leavenworth is BG Joe Ramirez. Joe and I were Majors together as small group leaders at Fort Sill. Joe used to bug me about my weight compared to his until I made this comparison for him - Joe is about 5 feet, 8 inches tall, or just under 4 inches shorter than I am.

We have the same inseam.

I could take him, though. Not that he cares, given what his retirement check is going to be like compared to mine.

8^ D

H/t, Jim C.

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

I feel much better now. I'm 6'4", 30 in inseam also.

posted by Rod Thorsen on March 14, 2007 11:30 AM

And a wingspan of 6' 7 1/2". It's OK if anyone wants to add any ape jokes, I'm sure I've heard them, but anything new is always welcome.

posted by Rod Thorsen on March 14, 2007 11:33 AM

Smaller and thicker also tends to be more efficient as far as body heat retention, as well. Another advantage when you can't make fire or skin other animals to make clothing.

And at 6'2.5" and 175(ish) with a 36" inseam, I suck at combatives and sprints (getting those long legs moving takes a bit), but I come into my own at the quarter mile and beyond.

posted by Heartless Libertarian on March 14, 2007 12:15 PM

I'm a good stout Irish boy at 5ft 9 and 200 Lbs.

Toss in a little Wild Turkey and I'm 10ft 4 and 300 Lbs as well as bullet proof :)

posted by BloodSpite on March 14, 2007 3:39 PM

Six foot, one-sixty-five to one-seventy (depending on humidity), thirty-five inch inseam, thirty-four inch waist. A decided advantage climbing into a Huey cockpit, a decided *dis*advantage scrunching into the front seat of a Cobra.

One of my Air Guard buds got me into the F-16 sim to see if I really *could* fly with my knees poking me in the chest...

posted by BillT on March 14, 2007 9:35 PM

You and me, and General Lee. I, too, have a 30" (-) inseam. With the seat in my truck all the way forward, I can just barely depress the clutch pedal all the way, with some ankle flexing. Puts me 'way too close to the safety bomb in the steering wheel, and with my long torso (I used to be 5'11"+) the wheel obscures the instruments. I'm definitely not a 50th percentile guy, in *any* way.

Lee was a shortshanks too. He looked very tall on horseback.

posted by Justthisguy on March 14, 2007 9:52 PM

Ya know, if any of you guys need help verifying measurements, Maggie and I are available.

posted by AFSister on March 14, 2007 10:12 PM

I wish I had a 30 inch inseam, mine is barely more than 28 inches. I got to ride in a Blackhawk last year when the JROTC at Nevada High got a visit from the Air Force Reserve. The ground was a little uneven where they landed and the bottom of the door hit me right above the belly button. The cadets waiting for their chance to ride got a real show when I tried to hoist my 5 foot 11 inch 300+ pounds into the back. If I ever get another chance I'm bringing a step ladder!

posted by NevadaDailySteve on March 14, 2007 11:23 PM

AFSis has a great point. The Denizennes are definitely available to verify measurements. And as Adjutant, I should be present to record any important factoids as well.
*guh-Rin*

posted by Barb on March 14, 2007 11:52 PM

...if any of you guys need help verifying measurements, Maggie and I are available.

And I'm available if you or Maggie need help verifying measurements. Any measurements at all.

Hmmmpf. Now you'll prob'ly want to know how high yer ceiling is...

posted by BillT on March 15, 2007 6:27 AM

Hmmmpf. Now you'll prob'ly want to know how high yer ceiling is...

Hmmmm......lowering expectations out of the box....what kind of attitude is that for a fluffer?

AFSis beat me to the punch on this. My only defense is that I was recovering from my midweek escape to the Spa @ Foxwoods. So I will just echo her offer.

posted by Maggie on March 16, 2007 12:44 AM

No ape jokes!!! I'm pleased and disappointed. My favorites have been variations of the "Old suit on an ugly ape" type. I know there are others out there. BTW ladies, I'd take you up on the kind offers, however I reside in a third world country and would be gentlemanly enough to not expose you to that. But I thank you for't anyway.

posted by Rod Thorsen on March 16, 2007 11:32 PM

� Dismissed, Soldier!

by John on Mar 14, 2007 | I think it's funny!

Ratings, disability, hash of, several million each.

I've got a dog in this fight. Or rather, I'm a veteran of it. So if my father. And the system blows. However, the mess *precedes* the War on Terror and precedes the Bush Administration. It is *truly* a bi-partisan nightmare, created mostly by the services, with some occasional meddling/helping from the politicians and political appointees.

The Army Times just published a story about the apparent inequities in how the services compare service to service and officer to enlisted when it comes to disability ratings for disability retirements. The article is weak in the presentation of it's analysis because they don't give enough data to evaluate their conclusions, though I one I do accept, and easily, is that officers fare better in the system because they are better able to represent their own interests.

When the Army health care system, optimized for dealing with generally healthy 18-27 year old males, *and* traumatic injury, finally got around to diagnosing my non-standard set of symptoms (hey, it only took them... 5 years to get it right - and then only because I kept fighting about it, in the meantime killing my career as the conditions progressed, untreated) I was finally told that I was automatically unfit for further service and I would be boarded. Boarded in Army usage is not the nautical term - except that in the end, being boarded can result in the ship of your life being taken over by others. Boarded means heading for a Medical Review Board, which will determine your fitness for further service, and make permanent (if appeal-able) decisions about what level of disability will be awarded, whether the rating will allow you to continue in service, and, if not, at what rate you will get medically retired.

It's a crap shoot. Especially if you are not otherwise qualified for retirement, as I was, which gave me more flexibility and leverage. Did I mention the process, back then, in peacetime, could take up to 18 months, during which time you are in professional limbo?

The other option is a VA disability rating. Which you can only get after you get off of active duty. Which is also a... crap shoot. And, in my case, took.... two years to get adjudicated. I will caveat that by saying that not all VA regions are the same, and mine, the Wichita, Kansas office, was widely regarded by the Veteran's Service Reps nationwide (I dealt with them in three different regions) as being the most inefficient of the lot. Recent experience of newly retired guys in my area indicate they've knocked it down to about a year.

This is my situation. I got diagnosed with a condition that is pretty much automatic retirement. The other wear and tear is annoying, but I'm still considered serviceable if unpromotable. That wouldn't be so bad, except my performance is such I keep getting put in the higher-level positions, rode hard, then put up wet, which does wonders for my morale. But those are bitter posts for another time... 8^ D

I'm told that because I'm undeployable, I'll be removed from my interesting if frustrating position as a WMD response planner, and moved into the Med Hold Company, where the local hospital types will find things for me to do, oh, like inventorying stuff, conducting AR 15-6 investigations (whee! they had a captive field grade!) and other soul-destroying projects, for up to 18 months, when they'd finally retire me. Because even with an incontrovertible slam-dunk set of conditions like I had, since I wasn't conveniently in a wheelchair or missing limbs or anything obvious, they would have to *duplicate* the testing already done as a second opinion, then swirl it all together in a Number 10 mayonnaise jar and put it on the front porch of Funk and Wagnalls to sit for a while as they pondered their collective navels (after all, the Board is an ad-hoc group with a small permanent staff - kinda like a jury) and then would tell me... okay! You retire, at 50%, and you will have to come back every five years for a re-evaluation, and if you've improved, we'll recall you to active duty to finish out your time, after which you can do a regular retirement.

Joy.

Doing that would also take me out to 21.5 years.

I had a different option. I had already dropped my retirement papers. I told them that and they said... oh, well, we'll have to pull those so we can board you.

This is where being an officer helps.

I said - "Um, no." What you'll do is just not file a freaking thing, I'll go on terminal leave in 1.5 months, and fully retire three months after that.

"No! We have to board you!"

"Why?"

"Because, well, because it's what the book says we have to do."

"Uh-huh. So? The useful point of that to the defense of Western Civilization and the US Treasury would be...?" (being completely unpromotable gives the Grey Major a certain verbal latitude with Colonels...)

"Well, if you do a regular retirement they could recall you to active duty!"

Heh.

"And there'd be a physical involved, right? One involving my medical records?"

"Oh. Well, yes."

"Good! We're agreed then, and I'll just retire and go fiddle with the VA, right, sir?"

"Excellent idea! Though I could use a field grade for that project I have in mind..."

I beat a hasty retreat and retired.

And then started my adventure with the VA. Which started on Clinton's watch and ended on Bush's.

The nightmare is truly purely 'Murican Bureaucratic. Too bad Grant Woods is dead - there's a painting in there somewhere...

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by John on Mar 14, 2007 | Observations on things Military

Thank you.

For all your comments.

Just, thank you.

by John on Mar 14, 2007 | Something for the Soul

March 13, 2007

Elizabeth Ann Meriwether Donovan, 7 Oct 1930- 13 March 2007

Elegy

A good life, well lived.

Mrs. Ann Donovan, of Columbia, passed on 13 March after a tough struggle with cancer. She is survived by her husband Tim and daughter Kathy Donovan Hanson, of Columbia, and son John of Leavenworth, Kansas, and grandchildren Tim, Patrick, Erin, and Andy of various and sundry addresses.

Born Elizabeth Ann Meriwether in Denver, Colorado, she was a scion of the Meriwethers of Paragould, Arkansas, a fact of which she was immensely proud, much to the bewilderment of her more sophisticated friends. Her proud parents were father Lilbourn Hays Meriwether and Alma Elizabeth Meriwether, nee Hickson, also of Paragould. Touched as she was by the humor of her father, Ann was cracking wise literally to the end, as she endeavored to make her passage as easy as possible on her family, who were with her to the end. Her last conscious sight of this world was the first daffodil bloom of the season. She loved daffodils.

A graduate of South High School in Denver, she then made her way further east to Columbia, Missouri to attend Stephens College. It was while frittering away her father's money at that august institution that she ran into a dashingly handsome Mizzou football player, a solid Irish-descended beau ideal of a man, who became as putty in her hands. Much to the horror of her mother, Ann decided she would have this man as her own. She should have checked the closet in his bedroom (of course, back in those days, unmarried ladies had *no* idea what their beau's bedrooms looked like). In that closet was the uniform of a 2nd Lieutenant of the Missouri Army National Guard. This being 1951, that had a significance beyond simply a darn fine-looking piece of kit. The newlywed Mrs Donovan waved her bright and shiny Lieutenant off to fight in Korea.

Two Purple Hearts later, Lieutenant Donovan returned from Korea, convinced that soldiering was for him. Eschewing the life of idle comfort that her mother felt she should have, Ann went with her Lieutenant to Fort Carson, Colorado, Fort Sill, Oklahoma (whereat daughter Kathleen was born), Fort Riley, Kansas, where Ann made her family a home in the Riley County Poorhouse (a sad commentary on the parlous state of Army pay and quarters) and then took an exotic cruise on a troopship to set up camp in recently un-Occupied Germany. It was while in Wuerzburg that son John was produced, 9 months to the day after a 4-hour break during a month-long gunnery session at Grafenwoehr.

Returning to the US on another luxury troopship, Ann learned the intricacies of protecting her children from scorpions by putting the legs of their beds in little juice cans filled with turpentine, and the other joys of being a late 50's/early 60's Army wife. Somewhere during all this fun travel and adventure, she developed a card shark's skill at Bridge, a talent that would come in handy later in life. In addition to Fort Benning there was another stint at Fort Sill, followed by Captain Donovan's assignment to the ROTC faculty at Mizzou, and the purchase of a house on High Ridge Circle that would function as an anchor, bringing the Donovan's back to Columbia.

After a stint at Fort Leavenworth, where Ann learned the subtle art of smuggling liquor past the sneaky Leavenworth police (Kansas being a dry state, even if federal property at Fort Leavenworth certainly being very, very wet) the family dodged the bullet of an assignment to Taiwan with the disappointing news that instead they would be going to... Paris, France

This time they forwent the luxurious accommodations of a WWII-era troopship and flew on a new shiny Boeing 707. Landing at Orly, the family discovered that housing in still-recovering postwar Paris was a challenge. Living in two cramped rooms in a little hotel on the Rue de la Grande Armee two blocks from the Arc d'Triomphe, Ann kept her sanity by spending lots of time at the Louvre, Tuileries and other places while husband Tim gallivanted about Europe and the Middle East and John and Kathy attended school and read lots of comic books. Eventually, suitable quarters were obtained and Ann discovered the joys of oddly placed floor tile heating, water with a curious white sediment in it and that wonderful little bakery with astoundingly tasty bread, croissants, and French Onion Soup.

President DeGaulle in a fit of pique tossed NATO out of France (while, of course, staying in NATO so everybody else in Europe would still be prepared to die for La Patrie) so Ann got to pick her family up again and return to Germany, this time EUCOM headquarters at Patch Barracks. It was there that serious Bridge skills were honed, much volunteer work supporting soldiers was performed, some very nice travel around Europe done, and son John's Christmas present of Twister was taken to the New Years party at the O Club where 3 and 4 star generals were seen putting "right hand blue" and "left foot green..."

While not a single mother per se, the pace of military business and Tim's travel made Ann's life a challenge at times. Never more so than when things like the 6 Day War occurred and EUCOM headquarters was lit up like a small city 24/7 and any time the Soviets rattled a saber, the tension level skyrocketed.

Leaving the frenetic pace of EUCOM headquarters, the family returned to the relative calm of Denver, Colorado. And then waved Dad off to his tour in Vietnam. While waiting for her soldier to return home, Ann watched the news of America's first televised war, took phone calls from evil people who said evil things about her soldier husband, protecting her children from those two-legged vermin, just as she had protected them from the 8-legged variety earlier. She endured two major surgical events, one per child. A very dense Red Cross Director at Fitzsimmons Army Hospital discovered that Ann could be très formidable when bumbling bureaucrats stood in the way. During this time Ann also experienced the dread of a visit by the Western Union man, delivering a WIA telegram. It was only after his return from Vietnam that the family learned there should have been four more WIA telegrams. During this time, Ann had managed to see a daughter well into puberty and son starting same - with no casualties or bruises.

As a reward, the family returned to Germany, where Ann was the Colonel's lady, presiding over the Battalion Wives Club and continuing her volunteer work supporting the military community. Being reassigned to Frankfurt, Ann once more picked up and moved, into the cockpit of the early 70's activities of the Baader-Meinhof gang of terrorist thugs. When her father passed, Ann was in Denver when news came of a bombing at the Frankfurt Officer's Club which killed an un-named officer. Pins and needles in Denver until Tim could get in touch to confirm all was well.

Returning to the US, the family settled in Columbia, putting down permanent roots. Tim was the Professor of Military Science, Kathy was attending Stephens, and son John went to Rock Bridge, and Ann was the central linchpin that held it all together. Ever the dutiful mother, Ann attended every home football game and wrestling match that John played in. Being a mother, however, she never once actually saw him play football or wrestle, always looking away or leaving the stands, not wanting to see those brutes trying to knock down her little boy. The only reason she actually saw him win the state wrestling championship was because it was filmed, and the film was shown at the post-season awards banquet. Even then she might have looked away...

Ann spent the rest of her life maintaining the family hub, while husband Tim gallivanted about being a Rotarian, daughter Kathy got married and started producing heirs, and son John attended Mizzou. Then she got to relive the joys of the soldier family as John joined the Army and Ann spent the next 20 years worrying every time the news got bad overseas. This time, thankfully, she was spared any telegrams. She played ruthless bridge every Thursday afternoon at the Columbia Country Club, there wasn't a crossword puzzle safe from her pencil. She enjoyed herself immensely with her grandchildren, secure in the knowledge that she could always pass those babies back to their parents.

A pillar of strength in the bad times and a beacon of humor always, Elizabeth Ann Meriwether Donovan will be sorely missed by those who knew and loved her.

I know I do, and she hasn't been gone for two hours yet.

Now is the time at Castle Argghhh! when the Armorer dances, For Mom.

Adagio,

Coda.

Addendum: After reading the comments I have this to add:

Don't be sad. She had a good life, well lived.

...

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by John on Mar 13, 2007 | Something for the Soul

H&I* Fires, 13 MAR 2007

You're advertising here, we should get an ad at your place...

*********************************
Cowards.
--
Heh. Apparently the heirs to the Persian Empire don’t like 300 very much.
--
UN says, again, that the Intl Community should do something abut Darfur. So do it already.

Don’t call us. We’re busy.
--ry
*****************************

I see the Guardian UK has been reading the Castle (check their terminology - that's no coincidence!). -the Armorer

*****************************

General Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, steps in it, with both feet.

In a newspaper interview Monday, Marine Gen. Peter Pace had likened homosexuality to adultery and said the military should not condone it by allowing gays to serve openly in the military.

There are many people who feel that way - and just as many who do not, and emphatically so. While I can admire General Pace's candor, he's going to have some uncomfortable moments if he's still Chairman and the ban is lifted. A bill to do so has been introduced in the House by Representative Martin Meehan (D, MA). I don't expect it to happen under this administration, there is little doubt in my mind that it's coming down the pike. And when it does hit - senior leaders on the record like this will find themselves on the spot, much as General Pace finds himself today. -the Armorer

*********************************

Moving on to lighter topics... the Castle is due some renovation (if we don't move the Seat to another location entirely) and the Armorer finds these facilities... entertaining.

*********************************

Is it disrespect a veteran week, and nobody told me? Because not only did some twisted individuals steal an eighty-six year old U.S. Marine's medals, but a newly decorated Canadian returned safe home from Afghanistan only to get jumped by four thugs in a bar who yelled at him while beating his unconscious body "What kind of f---ing hero are you now?"

I could just spit. What is going on out there? - Damian

*********************************

VIDEO!!!!! Soldiers' Angels Snake Saturday video! Right here! Get it while it's hot! -Kat

**********************************

CDR Salamander gets his dream, and the Navy embraces a mission that it usually does not (despite the Navy's long history of riverine ops). RIVRON 1 deploys. -the Armorer

*********************************

NEWS RELEASES from the United States Department of Defense
No. 277-07 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 13, 2007
Media Contact: (703) 697-5131/697-5132
Public/Industry(703) 428-0711

A Statement From Gen. Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

"Yesterday, during a wide ranging interview with the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board, I was asked if I think the current policy as codified in U.S. Code, generally referred to as "Don't Ask Don't Tell," should still hold.

"People have a wide range of opinions on this sensitive subject.The important thing to remember is that we have a policy in effect, and the Department of Defense has a statutory responsibility to implement that policy.

"I made two points in support of the policy during the interview.One, "Don't Ask Don't Tell"
allows individuals to serve this nation; and two, it does not make a judgment about the morality of individual acts.

"In expressing my support for the current policy, I also offered some personal opinions about
moral conduct.

"I should have focused more on my support of the policy and less on my personal moral views."

Yep. "Own goal," General. -the Armorer

*********************************

Flash Traffic (extended entry) Follows... �

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by Denizens on Mar 13, 2007 | General Commentary
� Unpartisan.com Political News and Blog Aggregator links with: Gen. Pace calls homosexuality immoral

General Pelosi, your rater is calling.

In an even stronger sense of cognitive dissonance than the one where Ted Koppel says we are at war (see yesterday's H&I Fires) - and one hopes the Democrats are paying attention - when you are the First Female Speaker of the House Ever, and the First Democrat Speaker of the House in over a decade, and this is what you get in a generally friendly venue, the LA Times:

Do we really need a Gen. Pelosi? Congress can cut funding for Iraq, but it shouldn't micromanage the war. March 12, 2007

AFTER WEEKS OF internal strife, House Democrats have brought forth their proposal for forcing President Bush to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq by 2008. The plan is an unruly mess: bad public policy, bad precedent and bad politics. If the legislation passes, Bush says he'll veto it, as well he should.

It was one thing for the House to pass a nonbinding vote of disapproval. It's quite another for it to set out a detailed timetable with specific benchmarks and conditions for the continuation of the conflict. Imagine if Dwight Eisenhower had been forced to adhere to a congressional war plan in scheduling the Normandy landings or if, in 1863, President Lincoln had been forced by Congress to conclude the Civil War the following year. This is the worst kind of congressional meddling in military strategy.

This is not to say that Congress has no constitutional leverage — only that it should exercise it responsibly. In a sense, both Bush and the more ardent opponents of the war are right. If a majority in Congress truly believes that the war is not in the national interest, then lawmakers should have the courage of their convictions and vote to stop funding U.S. involvement. They could cut the final checks in six months or so to give Bush time to manage the withdrawal. Or lawmakers could, as some Senate Democrats are proposing, revoke the authority that Congress gave Bush in 2002 to use force against Iraq.

Madame Speaker has other problems. There are other suspicious characters hanging around her home with pitchforks, too. For the record - I think you should leave politicians home's alone, not just because of the family aspect of it, but because even public people deserve some privacy.

I'm with the Times - Pick a position and stick with it. Just be prepared to accept the consequences of it. Something most politicians, regardless of affiliation, are reluctant to do. But quit trying to be on both sides of the issue.

Interestingly, as they dither about whether to drive a stake through the heart of the war in Iraq, they are backing away from telling the President he can't do anything about Iran without their permission. That's actually a step forward. The Blue Dog dems, among others, are schooling their party that domestic political conditions and a burning desire to bring down an opposing administration in flames, and bring it to heel, come hell or high water, isn't neccessarily the best approach when facing the world stage, especially as unsettled as it appears now.

A lesson, mind you, the Republicans who grew up politically in the 90's would do well to heed.

Heh. Even the Washington Post is not supportive of General Pelosi's plan.

In short, the Democratic proposal to be taken up this week is an attempt to impose detailed management on a war without regard for the war itself. Will Iraq collapse into unrestrained civil conflict with "massive civilian casualties," as the U.S. intelligence community predicts in the event of a rapid withdrawal? Will al-Qaeda establish a powerful new base for launching attacks on the United States and its allies? Will there be a regional war that sucks in Iraqi neighbors such as Saudi Arabia or Turkey? The House legislation is indifferent: Whether or not any of those events happened, U.S. forces would be gone.

Congress should rigorously monitor the Iraqi government's progress on those benchmarks. By Mr. Bush's own account the purpose of the troop surge in Iraq is to enable political progress. If progress does not occur, the military strategy should be reconsidered. But aggressive oversight is quite different from mandating military steps according to an inflexible timetable conforming to the need to capture votes in Congress or at the 2008 polls. Ms. Pelosi's strategy leads not toward a responsible withdrawal from Iraq but to a constitutional power struggle with Mr. Bush, who has already said he will veto the legislation. Such a struggle would serve the interests of neither the Democrats nor the country.

Read the rest, here.

by John on Mar 13, 2007 | Global War on Terror (GWOT) | Politics

Speaking of Cannon Cockers...

I finally figured out why John keeps snarking us aviation types (even though his efforts usually go over like a styrofoam sub).

Poor guy's starved for attention. Nobody ever tells Artillerist jokes.

Ummmm. Until now.

At a busy bus stop in a crowded city, a lovely young lass wearing a tight miniskirt was waiting for the bus.

The bus stopped and it was her turn to get on, and she suddenly became acutely aware that her skirt was entirely too tight to allow her leg to come up to the height of the first step on the bus.

Slightly embarrassed -- and with a quick smile to the bus driver -- she reached behind her to unzip her skirt a little, thinking that this would give her enough slack to raise her leg. She tried to take the step, only to discover that she couldn't.

So, a little more embarrassed, she reached behind her to unzip her skirt a bit more, and assayed the step a second time. Once again, much to her chagrin, she could not raise her leg.

With a wan smile to the driver, she reached behind yet a third time to unzip a little more -- and again was unable to take the step. Without a single word, the artilleryman in dress blues who had been standing behind her picked her up by the waist and placed her gently on the step of the bus.

She went ballistic. She turned to her benefactor and yelled, "How *dare* you touch my body! I don't even know who you are!"

The redleg blinked and said, "Well, miss, normally I’d agree with you, but after you unzipped my fly three times, I sorta figured we were friends.”

There ya go Big Fella -- feel better now?

A doff of the tin derby to V29 (who completely forgot he sent it, by now...)

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by CW4BillT on Mar 13, 2007 | I think it's funny!

Defunding the Defenders

Now that the anti-~~uniform~~ War For Oil mob in Congress is frantically skittering to distance itself from the scheme to bleed-down The Surge, I can probably write this without being accused of posting a partisan political polemic in the guise of a TINS.

One of the (many) squawks of outrage I heard concerning Monsieur Murtha's Modest Proposal went something like, "This is the first time in the history of the United States that politicians, in a time of war, intend to rob soldiers of the tools they need to fight that war!"

The first time? Heh -- maybe so or maybe no. How 'bout I tell you a little story and let you decide for yourselves, okay?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Time: Early-to-mid-1970

The Place: Tent City, aka Circus World, aka the Company Area of the 162d AHC.

There must've been a dozen of us -- pilots, crewchiefs, doorgunners -- gathered around the bulletin board outside the Orderly Room.

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY HEADQUARTERS, 164TH AVIATION GROUP (CBT) APO SAN FRANCISCO XXXXX "THE DELTA GROUP" ORDER NUMBER XX
1. Due to recent funding constraints imposed on USARV, all units under this command will implement ammunition conservation measure as stated below.

2. Effective immediately, units will be limited to drawing five hundred (500) rounds of linked 7.62mm machine gun ammunition per machine gun barrel per day.

FOR THE COMMANDER:

Twelve helicopter crewmen with a single thought. We do about ten CAs on a good day.
[Note: On a bad day, the number of CAs you flew depended on what time you got shot down]
We're gonna get killed because some effing bean-counter wants to save a buck...

Twelve helicopter crewmen with a single vision: five wrecked Hueys scattered around in a clearing.

1st Platoon 1LT: "Emory."

1st Platoon Doorgunner: "Sir?"

1st Platoon 1LT: "How many rounds do you burn up going into a hot LZ?"

1st Platoon Doorgunner: "About six hundred. Maybe a thousand, if the grunts are slow unassing the ships. Or if we have to shoot our way out."

Six hundred rounds for one M60D. We mounted one on each side. Two hundred rounds shy of what each ship needed to fight it's way into a hot LZ -- and a thousand short of what each needed to fight it's way out. We're all dead...

1st Platoon 1LT: "Hey, Geoff -- when was the last time we went into a cold LZ?"

1st Platoon CW2: "Last week, southeast of Nui Hon Soc, but that was because we caught Chawles-baby with his drawers droopin'. The second and third trips in were hot."

Copperhead Crewchief: "We worked that LZ all morning after the flight got fragged to clean out that ammo cache the SEALs found. We had to re-arm three times..."

We're gonna get killed. First hot LZ, we're gonna get killed...

Second Platoon WO1: "Cripefire, even the kamikazes got protection on their last flights..."

1st Platoon 1LT: *studying the order* "Hah! I think we may be in better shape than we think. This doesn't say, '500 rounds per machine gun,' it says, '500 rounds per machine gun barrel.' Doesn't even say they have to be good barrels..."

We didn't have one single gunner who hadn't squirreled away at least six spare barrels -- not counting the burned-out ones decorating the tent interiors.

Copperhead WO1: *wolfish grin* "Minigun's got six barrels. And we have twelve minis in the Supply hootch."

Long story short, we eventually counted over two hundred 7.62mm barrels, which we dutifully displayed for the local bean-counters. Of course, when the IG paid us a visit, we had to hide three-quarters of them. We dumped the sand out of the 55-gallon drums we used for counter-mortar blast walls, stuck twenty in each drum and then put sandbags on top. If we got mortared, we might definitely get wounded, but if the IG made us turn in those M60 barrels, we'd definitely get dead.

However, even though we could, by the strict letter of the edict, draw 100,000 rounds per day, we practiced ammo conservation and only drew the tens of thousands we needed.

Until we needed more...

And everyone -- except the enemy -- was happy with the solution. Of course, when the bean-counters from 'Way On High realized they were spending just as much on ammunition as they had been before the edict, they came up with a diabolically clever alternative target.

However, I'll save the saga of the Great Mekong Delta Toilet Paper Shortage for another day...

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by CW4BillT on Mar 13, 2007 | Global War on Terror (GWOT) | Historical Stuff | Politicians Hit Bottom, Dig... | This is no Sh*t!

March 12, 2007

H&I* Fires, 12 MAR 2007

You're advertising here, we should get an ad at your place...

*********************************
Barnett tackles the ‘bare branch’ phenomenon as a cause for war hypothesis. I’m embarrassed that I gave this theory any real consideration when I heard about it three years ago. It really is one of the silliest reasons to worry about a possible conflict with China. (Hangs head in shame.)

Since I’m on the PRC front, this shows a real lack of understanding of trade and Mahan Theory, and the tyranny of distance by doing some really flawed cannon counting.

We could cut all our military forces in half and still have an overwhelming advantage over China in any military contest outside of its borders or on the sea.

--ry
************************
Sarge B is feeling all nostalgic an' ~~grumpfish~~ -- ummmm -- ~~maudlin~~ -- uhhhhh -- stuff. Drop in and give him a "say-hey"... --BillT

*********************************

Ted Koppel strays off the reservation. He thinks there actually *is* a war going on, despite wishful thinking otherwise. Good on him. Reasonable people can disagree on how to wage it, but it's good to see a long-time MSM'er, even if retired, talking reasonably about what's going on - and avoiding BDS. -the Armorer

*********************************

My friend Matt of Overtaken by Events decides to take a walk on the wild side. Namely a Anti-War Protest in Arkansasreplete with Cow Bells... Complete with pictures, Matt gives a great and graphical representation of folks. Unlike many protests, this one was not only civil, and remarkably peaceful, they weren't exactly representing the folks you'd think! Fellow Arkie bloggerRita gets involved as well

My favorite quote?
"....a minor cautionary note to Democrats. These people don't like you. You rank about a step and a half above the GOP, and somewhat below dental plaque. The people I talked to think you're opportunistic, insincere and mostly corrupted by the world in which you live. Yes, you'll almost certainly get their vote when it comes down to it, but it's probably worth noting...."
-BloodSpite
****************************************

AAR Soldiers' Angels Snake Saturday: We Did It! We won 10th place (which came with a nice prize) in the Snake Saturday parade. It was the best experience ever! 150,000 people were screaming out their support for our men and women when I told them that we were video taping a message to send to our troops. Read the story here and see some pictures. Video to follow.
-Kat
[special for the denizens...last photo - spot the denizen]

LT Gen. Kiley Retires (Rather than get the boot in the behind minus a star - too bad, because he represented the worst of both worlds: surgeons who think they are G_d and military officers who think their $%^& doesn't stink).

Adios. See ya.

Though I do have a suggestion for LT Gen. Kiley to fill up his retirement days, instead of golf, why don't you go volunteer at WR as a patient advocate?
-Kat

Flash Traffic (extended entry) Follows... �

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

Um, in case anyone noticed, I believe that today is SWWBO's birthday.

posted by The Thomas on March 12, 2007 9:24 AM

Indeed, it is. As noted elsehwere in this space (but not at the time Tim posted his comment, which got stuck in moderation), and over at hers.

Now to fix that link up there.

(sound of html mechanic-ing)

Fixed! Gotta get those quotation marks in there.

posted by John of Argghhh! on March 12, 2007 10:10 AM

We could cut all our military forces in half and still have an overwhelming advantage over China in any military contest outside of its borders or on the sea.

In what, our "seamless" Information Warfare technological lead?

*cue sound of chicom asat launch*

The quality of punditry in the blogosphere would increase exponentially if a couple more pundits would get some Type 56 caps busted in their direction. They seem to be channeling Stansfield Turner instead of Sun-Tzu...

posted by BillT on March 12, 2007 5:39 PM

Ack! He's going after us civilian pundits! Yipe! Ask John. You don't want gollum goo in the waffle of your boots, Bigfoot. ;)

But yeah, that piece was pretty stupid. That's what qualifies for being informed in many circles. Scary huh?

posted by ry on March 12, 2007 9:49 PM

It wasn't stupid, it was naive. He's obviously bought off on the PRC's figures of military spending expressed as a fraction of China's GNP when there's fairly solid evidence that both figures are purposely low-balled.

I wonder if he's even thought about the ramifications of a PLAN diesel-electric sub scooting about below the Kitty Hawk's battle group -- undetected until it surfaced for the "Gotcha!" photo-op.

posted by BillT on March 12, 2007 11:25 PM

I don't understand why anyone thinks we have a handle on PRC mil spending. Major corporations over there are part owned by the military(Norinco for example and the airline industry is another). It's byzantine, at best, to follow what actually gets spent. Modernization is obvious. Scale back of mudmarchers is obvious. But how much and on what they spend? I don't think anyone has a solid number for that.

And I'm still reading up on PLAN sub tactics. Moer like waiting for photocopies to come from other universities. I still have something to say about that little episode from last year. Thanks for the advice on that, Chief.

posted by ry on March 13, 2007 12:54 AM

Personally, I don't think Kiley should be allowed near Soldiers...he doesn't have the experience.

BTW Care to add a link to the page?

posted by @WR on March 14, 2007 2:51 AM

� Dismissed, Soldier!

by Denizens on Mar 12, 2007 | General Commentary

Yesssssssssssssssssssssss...

(fist pumping in the air)

I got my much-sought-after scalp for the pike at the gate.

LTG Kiley just got fired. Oh, he's retiring, and he qualified for it - but trust me, he just got canned.

"I submitted my retirement because I think it is in the best interest of the Army," Kiley said in a written statement released by the Army.
"I want to allow Acting Secretary Geren, General Schoomaker, and the leaders of the Army Medical Command to focus completely on the way ahead and the Army Action Plan to improve all aspects of Soldier care. We are an Army Medical Department at war, supporting an Army at war — it shouldn't be and it isn't about one doctor."

Whatever, General.

The only question remaining is - what grade does he get to retire at? Hopefully *not* Lieutenant General.

I'm hoping for Brigadier, I'll settle for Major General.

As if I have any say in the matter.

Flash Traffic (extended entry) Follows... �

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

I'm hoping John (or someone else) can shed some light on a small side issue in this mess.

You see, a co-worker (former Marine corpsman) thinks Bush is blowing hot air about the whole VA issue, and has made several sarcastic remarks about people who say they'll take full responsibility, but fink out (I'm paraphrasing).

I'm not trying to defend the president, I'm just not sure to what degree he (or any president) should be held personally responsible for something like this?

How far up (or down, depending on direction {g}) does this go? Up to POTUS, or just SecDef? Or Secretary of the Army?

I know the opposition wanted to hold Rummy personally responsible for every bad thing that's happened (especially Abu Grhaib), but -to shift the analogy- how much can corporate office know about any particular store/location on a day-to-day basis? How long before the data percolates up?

Are there any rules of thumb we silly civilians may apply in the general case, or is that too broad of a question?

posted by Casey Tompkins on March 12, 2007 2:44 PM

Good question, Casey.

The answer is, to my eye, MG Weightman and LTG Kiley should have gone. Weightman is kind of a scapegoat - but he inherited the problem, didn't show a lot of movement on it, and his initial handling of the breaking scandal was not good.

Kiley has primary responsibility as the previous commander at WRAMC, which is why I've been calling for his head.

I would not have fired the SecArmy over the problems at WRAMC, per se. And he wasn't. He was fired for *his* abysmal reaction to it - most notably replacing Weightman with Kiley.

If he hadn't done that, I suspect he would still be SecArmy.

The rule of thumb? There are three tiers. Direct malfeasance, failure of direct supervision, and failure of indirect supervision.

Direct malfeasance is easy.

Failure of direct supervision is what got the generals. Failure of indirect supervision, i.e., acting promptly and properly when the issue is brought to your attention, is what tripped up Dr. Harvey. It *also* is part and parcel of LTG Kiley's relief - as the Surgeon General of the Army, he had supervisory responsibility for MG Weightman.

Dr. Harvey has a right to an assumption that absent information to the contary, his major staff principals are giving him good info. In this case, LTG Kiley was giving him bad information and also carried a stench forward from his time as the WRAMC commander. Harvey should not have appointed him interim commander, and, based on the overall situation, should have been causing LTG Kiley to retire on his own.

LTG Kiley's comments, especially those to the congressional committee, showed just how clueless (or in denial) he was as to his responsibility in the matter, and totally comprimised what moral authority he had. Especially when contrasted with MG Weightman's response to the committee and his full public acceptance of his failure of command.

I predict Kiley will retire to a bitter life of carping. Perhaps he'll even run next cycle as a Democrat...

posted by John of Argghhh! on March 12, 2007 2:57 PM

I will tell you, Casey, that I have looked at the info regarding care and processes starting way back. It's always been messy, regardless of president or political party because it is a giant bureacracy which tends to treat people like a bunch of scrap metal to be chewed up and sent to the junk yard.

The big issues we see now have been apparent in 1993, post gulf war, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, etc. You can see the pattern is about every two years, regardless of administration, when somebody gets a bug up their behinds and decides they should do something about veterans care.

all of the years I quote you have had major studies, scandals or law passed in order to make the system better. All of which generally addressed the same issues over and over to which the military responded by adding paper and processes, but few people. In 1998 through today, they have severe difficulty recruiting medical personnel which tends to add to the entire bureacratic disaster.

So, in many ways, the Marine is correct: probably a lot of gavel pounding and pretty speeches, but will end up the same with a few improvements and speed while the eye is upon them. Then, some other reg or law will come into place or congress and the media will get side tracked with Anna Nicole and all progress will have come to a slow death.

That is government for you.

In reality, there are many programs that were signed into law that, through better use, would help eliminate some of the issues. Such as: CBHCI. Community Based Health Care Initiative. This was signed into law as part of the whole "privitization" modules of 1998 and forward. It is supposed to give these wounded the opportunty to stay "active", be assigned to a temporary "holding company" (that is no more than paper and a First shirt to keep an eye on people), while receiving benefits, pay and treatment.

This would probably allow many of these guys to get out of the WR and places in between. The problem with the program is two fold:

1) limited CBHCO (community based healthcare organizations) across all 50 states. Last review of list told me there were 23. Unfortunately, these CBHCOs have to take Tricare and many have dumped their tri-care contracts because they were unfavorable for small clinics and physicians who did not see "volume" which is what HMO pricing and is all about.

2) Lack of initiative by the DoD and Tri-care to come up with a better plan to cover these folks, to organize additional CBHCOs and generally push this through. Largely because somebody does not want to fund it to the problem I mentioned above and the fact that some DoD person probably thinks they could control the costs and outcomes better if they just ignored that policy.

The only way this gets really fixed is if the government is ready to go "six sigma" on it, review every policy and process and accept some civilian type strategic overhaul of the system.

but, it won't. so, the best I hope for is that some of the most grievous things get addressed.

posted by kat-missouri on March 12, 2007 3:48 PM

Not bad, John. I doubt we'll see him retired down two levels from current, but out of the way is a good thing. His attitude this past week has been horrible, I'm glad he's gone.

posted by Barb on March 12, 2007 10:53 PM

If these guys were responsible for the mess they deserve to go but there are things that have not been reported. First, and most importantly, those troops are getting outstanding medical care. The problems deal with follow-up and all the paperwork involved. The military, just like all government agencies, requires tons of paperwork. We are working in the 21st century using 19th century methods, government wide.

Secondly, the building in question was not opened. It had been closed for a while and it does not belong to the Army. It belongs to DHS. And third, Walter Reed is on the BRAC which means they were not authorized to make repairs.

If the government decided the Army needed to open a building that belonged to another agency and it had not been maintained (for whatever reason) whose fault is that?

I am not dismissing what has taken place but people act like this is something new. The government boondoggle has been in place for decades. If we want to have things that work correctly we can not decide we are shutting down a building thereby disallowing repair and maintenance and then use the facility as if it were going to be around for a while.

We also can not continue to have all this paperwork involved when we have computers that make life easier. Of course, what agency made it a standard for everyone to use computers with systems that do not talk to each other?

There are problems that need to be fixed but focusing on people rather than the real issues leads to no where.

posted by Big Dog on March 13, 2007 6:53 AM

� Dismissed, Soldier!

by John on Mar 12, 2007 | Observations on things Military

Happy Birthday SWWBO!

The love of my life passes an undisclosed milestone this day! I'm offering up kisses and hugs... what she gets privately is, well, private.

Hosting provided by FotoTime

Awright - go find her some presents!

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by John on Mar 12, 2007 | Shameless sucking up to the wife.

DC District Court overturns the DC gun ban.

[Oops. Comments and trackbacks are turned on now.]

As I noted Friday, the Federal District Court for DC ruled for some DC citizens seeking to be able to have *serviceable and usable* firearms in their homes - something the DC gun law prohibits, requiring what weapons the DC council reluctantly allows citizens to own to be disassembled or gun-locked, with the ammunition stored separately from the weapon. In other words, the most common peaceable use of a firearm in your home - self-defense, is defacto prohibited.

The ruling observed, "The Second Amendment would be an inexplicable aberration if it were not read to protect individual rights as well."

The three judge panel split 2-1 on the issue. Senior Judge Laurence H. Silberman wrote the majority opinion, which was supported by Judge Thomas B. Griffith. Of peculiar interest is the tortuous logic of the dissenting judge, Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson.

She asserted a legalistic defense of the statute, using a variation of the "depends on what the "meaning of is" is, argument, so nobly advanced by President Clinton while lying to federal officials during an investigation of a non-crime (oops, conflating my annoyances, aren't I?): She essentially argued that the Second Amendment doesn't apply to the District because it isn't a State. So, I guess the DC council can start censoring the Washington Times now, too. And block access to Fox News in the District. Not to mention the DC National Guard can be quartered in citizen's homes, Liberalism can be established as the Official Religion of DC, and the DC police could implement those warrantless searches (hey, send 'em to Representative Jefferson's office - oh, wait, he's a Dem, never mind), put Ronnie Earl in charge of the Prosecuting Attorneys office, so that they can try people as many times as it takes to finally find a jury that will convict (or implement a Star Chamber and skip that whole jury thing anyway), suspend that Habeas Corpus, set million dollar bails for Republicans with parking tickets, break gun-owners on the wheel in front of City Hall, disparage other rights not mentioned and arrogate unto itself ultimate executive power, except, of course, when utilizing the rotating executive position of an anarcho-syndicalist commune when it suits their purpose.

(gasping intake of breath).

Gad, one wonders how she managed that with a straight face. Well, she didn't, really - they dumped that out on Friday and she probably skipped for the Hamptons.

Significantly, to my eye, in terms of the nuance, she seemingly surrenders (albeit reluctantly and mounts this rear-guard defense so she'll still get invited to the "good" parties or something) on the merits of the individual right.

DC Mayor Fenty is predictably outraged that the court dare overturn a law that had been "unquestioned for over 30 years." He added, "Today's decision flies in the face of laws that have helped decrease gun violence in the District of Columbia," he said. "The ruling also turns aside longstanding precedents and marks the first time in the history of the United States that a federal appeals court has struck down a gun law on Second Amendment grounds."

Heh. Applying the Mayor's logic, slavery would still be legal in the District. I know, low blow, but sometimes "reductio in absurdum" is a useful analytical tool. I'm also not sure that he's correct on the last bit, either. And if it *is* true - I am moved to say, "Yeah? So?" There has to be a first time for everything, and I would note that when it's not his ox being gored, he and his party are happier'n pigs in poop when Federal courts do things like this for the first time. Sauce for the goose, Mr. Mayor.

Given the statistics on DC gun violence, one has to wonder where the Mayor finds support for his assertion that those laws helped reduce gun violence in the District.

The District has some of the nation's strictest gun laws. Those statues forbid ownership of most guns that were not registered before 1977. Rifles and shotguns must be kept stored unloaded, disassembled or with a trigger lock. The ammuntion must be stored separately.

Yet people still shoot people. Oddly enough, the people who do most of the shooting are people not known for, um, obeying laws. Strangely, despite the admonishment of the DC Council, they continue to act as they see fit, anti-social or not. One would think they were purposfully violating the law for some reason, and not properly in awe of it. Obviously, passing another law telling them that it's illegal to not obey laws, would be an appropriate response.

In 2005, 157 of the District's 196 homicides involved guns. That's, what, 80 percent? That percentage has remained relatively consistent since 2001.

FBI crime statistics for 2005 show 10,100 of the country's 14,860 homicide victims, or 68 percent, were killed by guns, making disassembled/locked-gun DC a haven of safety. Oh, wait - it's not. And the police are saying that violent crimes involving guns in the District are on the upswing, while all other violent crimes are decreasing. One would also like to know who is shooting whom... therein can lie many clues as to which strategies, including tool control, might better attack the issue. If it's gang-bangers shooting gang-bangers, then perhaps addressing those issues which cause gang-bangers to shoot each other (and catch innocents in the cross-fire) might be a better approach, rather than just passing another law that only the lawful will obey...

I think I like this comment best, however...

Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, blathered that the decision represents "judicial activism at its worst."
"By disregarding nearly 70 years of U.S. Supreme Court precedent, two federal judges have negated the democratically expressed will of the people of the District of Columbia and deprived this community of a gun law it enacted 30 years ago and still strongly supports,"

Heh. Hoist on your own liberal petard. Note for Mr. Helmke - this is *exactly* the template the Progressives have followed when they couldn't get what they wanted legislatively.

Sauce for the gander, Mr. Helmke.

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by John on Mar 12, 2007 | Gun Rights

This One's For Bloodspite...

...who's having some *difficulties* with his company's insurance provider.

The local charity realized that it had never received a donation from the city's most successful insurance firm. So, a volunteer visited the CEO in his lavish office.
The volunteer opened the meeting by saying, "Our research shows that, even though your annual income is over two million dollars, you don't give a penny to charity. Wouldn't you like to give something back to your community through our organization?"

The CEO thought for a minute and said, "First, did your research also show you that my youngest sister has a rare and fatal blood disorder, and she has huge medical bills that are far beyond her ability to pay?"

Embarrassed, the charity rep mumbled, "Uh -- no, I didn't know that."

"Second," continued the CEO, "my brother, a disabled veteran, is blind and confined to a wheelchair and is unable to support his wife and six children."

The stricken charity rep began to stammer an apology, but was interrupted again. "Third, did your research also show you that my elder sister's husband died in dreadful car accident, leaving her penniless with a mortgage and three children, one of whom is disabled and another with learning disabilities requiring an army of private tutors?"

The humiliated charity rep, completely beaten, said, "I'm so sorry, I had no idea."

And the CEO finished, "So. Since I didn't give any money to them, what makes you think I'd give any to you?"

Feel free to insert the name of your *own* provider when you recount this during coffee break. I mean, you sure wouldn't read it aloud during work, would you?

Heh...

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by CW4BillT on Mar 12, 2007 | I think it's funny!

March 11, 2007

H&I* Fires, 11 Mar 2007

You're advertising here, we should get an ad at your place...

*********************************

Somewhere, in a nice hot place, Kadaffi is rolling over in his grave A Lingerie contest, in Lebanon, sponsored by Absolut.

And they say progress is slow

In Memoriam: Vietnams Most Decorated Native American passes away.

-BloodSpite

*********************************

Lex has a tale of probably the funniest callsign(s) ever.

Embarrassingly, I don't know who Robert Kagan is, but he's got a column I'm surprised to see in a major media newspaper:

A front-page story in The Post last week suggested that the Bush administration has no backup plan in case the surge in Iraq doesn't work. I wonder if The Post and other newspapers have a backup plan in case it does.

And the Chicago Tribune has more "Words from the Front." - FbL

*********************************

Hell freezes over: Cosmo and Dr. Laura agree. More here.

Maybe I just don't run in the circles she's talking about, but I just find this pathetic:

In truth, it seems to me that in the chaos of our society, everybody should have the helpless feeling. To begin with, there are the same old practical and metaphysical problems that have been giving people the helpless feeling for millennia anyway. When you add the current dilemmas of our culture, of our technologies, of our seemingly insoluble social problems, you come to the conclusion that the basic old human organism just wasn't designed for this sort of thing, you know?

...They are everywhere, and the rest of us have no choice but to cohabit their world, and sit around having the helpless feeling.

Just. Ick. You're welcome to be pathetic, but don't pretend there's some virtue in choosing helplessness. Not all of us can run our corner of the world, but we can choose a point corresponding to our strengths and start to chip away at the problems. - FbL

*********************************

Chris Matthews says, "Conservatives don't like sex." Somehow, I don't think he's met the Castle Denizennes... [h/t Murdoc] - FbL

*********************************

Flash Traffic (extended entry) Follows... �

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by Denizens on Mar 11, 2007 | General Commentary

Denizen Link-Fest

Felt like taking a tour around the Denizen blogs... - FbL

Murray and his Ghome Homes have hit the bigtime. He's also apparently been having too much fun. And not to be outdone, A Good Beer Blog is getting famous, too.

Over at Random Fate, Jack has the Laptop and Blog Reconstruction Blues.

Last roundup, it was Rammer offering his thoughts on global warming. This time it's Punctilious herself.

Barb points out a recent SECDEF press release and offers him some advice. And on the same subject, Kat has been digging deep in her well-researched history of military medical care.

BCR has the best the best descriptor for the reviewers of 300 who see everything through an ideological haze.

According to AFSis, it's now "Burka, Burka," not "Durka, Durka."

Two Denizens had a mini blogmeet! Sneaky Denizens...

The saga of the keys--Beth and John need a teleporter.

The American military isn't unique: Canadian military suffers delays and cost overruns, too. They also ahave their own sickos..

FbL is prepared for the MilBlog Conference [btw, pre-registration has begun]. She also highlights some answers to the question "Why Do We Serve?"

Apparently Bloodspite has found the civilian insurance company with enough red tape to strangle the VA. Wow.

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by Denizens on Mar 11, 2007 | Denizen Link-Fest!

Wahabism Delenda Est!

If cease fires in the name of peace actually produced peace the Middle East would be the most peaceful place on earth by now.
.
Mebbe it's just Clobbering Time.
.
Just sayin'
.
"The Iraqis don't want Saddam back - they want the stability. But they want the stability without being fed into industrial chippers."
. -The Armorer, on Hugh Hewitt, 27 December 2006.

Life Member