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I know the place whereat he finds himself.

I miss my war. H/t, Kat.

Been there, done this, as SWWBO can attest. Probably because I haven't seen as much of war as say, Bill, or my father.

And this - I'm sure they mean well. H/t, Montieth.

Oops! I ought to give you a reason to go read 'em. The first one, because I said so... the second one? Here's how it opens -

One of the most frustrating things about a certain type of person involved in the debate on the War in Iraq is the person who just gets fuzzy-headed, sighs, and says, "Well, I just want the troops home safe." or the equivalent.

What sort of patronizing garbage is this?

Let me be perfectly clear on one point.

I hate going to Iraq. Iraq sucks in a way that I am simply incapable of communicating to anyone who hasn't been there. You know what sucks more than Iraq?

Sending your wife to Iraq.

You know what sucks more than that?

Going to memorial services.

You know what else sucks?

Dreaming about Iraq.

Now that we have established that I am aware that Iraq sucks--because, you know, my chops on THAT score after 2 tours totalling 25 months and my wife's 12 month tour aren't automatically assumed to be up to the level of some civilian who watches the war on CNN--let me move on to an analysis of how much I think this should influence United States foreign policy.

About diddly-sh*t.

That's right, let me say it again and in full.

I do not think that casualties (actual or potential) nor psychological problems nor stress in relationships nor any other negative consequence Soldiers experience from deployment should have the slightest impact on decisions on how the United States conducts foreign policy.

...you'd probably like to read the rest. -the Armorer

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There is so much to go over in the results of this article about a poll themed ‘is America paying too much on defense?’
--
Because some of us Normals aren’t at The Mall we find that there’s more bad news from Afghanistan. Another deal between tribal warlords and the Taliban has been cut on the Pak-Afghanistan border.
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Lots of people seem to think the US is out to get them. Whether it’s Chavez wanting to upgrade his air defenses
or flaks for Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe,
they seem to feel that there’s a crosshair on them of US origin.
--ry
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Ahhhh, truly, it's fun to be in the Majority, ain't it, boys and girls? Dems and pork, Repubs and pork. The difference between broiled pork and fried pork is about all I can see. It's still pork. Ah, the transparency! The uplifting new wave of honesty, sweeping out all the smoke and mirrors of before. Snerk. -the Armorer

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Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican's envoy to the UN said this recently to the UN Commission on Human Rights:

“One cannot consider the ridicule of the sacred as a right of freedom...respect of the rights and dignity of others should mark the limit of any right, even that of the free expression and manifestation of one’s opinions, religious ones included.”

This strikes me as a dangerous thought structure - giving, as it does, a near veto on speech to any party that considers itself aggrieved... You need to read the whole article to get good context - it's much more stark standing out there alone than in context - but the danger is that *this* is easily the piece that will be seized by militant religionists (of any stripe) to batter down honest criticism or just plain speech, methinks. -the Armorer

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From George Will's column today:

Many people who loathe George W. Bush have adopted what Peter Wood describes as "ecstatic anger as a mode of political action." Anger often is, Wood says, "a spectacle to be witnessed by an appreciative audience, not an attempt to win over the uncommitted."

He goes on:

...Today's anger is a coping device for everyday life. It also is the defining attribute of an increasingly common personality type -- the person who "unless he is angry, feels he is nothing at all."

That type, infatuated with anger, uses it to express identity. Anger as an expression of selfhood is its own vindication. Wood argues, however, that as anger becomes a gas polluting the social atmosphere, it becomes not a sign of personal uniqueness but of a herd impulse.

...and on:

The politics of disdain -- e.g., Howard Dean's judgment that Republicans are "brain dead" and "a lot of them never made an honest living in their lives" -- derails politics by defining opponents as beyond the reach of reason. The anger directed at Bush today, like that directed at Clinton during his presidency, luxuriates in its own vehemence.

Today, many people preen about their anger as a badge of authenticity: I snarl therefore I am. Such people make one's blood boil.

Hence, the Rulez. Call me a "doof" will ya? Castle Argghhh! - trying to present an island of calm conversation, gun pr0n, and a lack of personal destruction since 2005. From 2003 - 2005, um, er, well, uh, we might have snarled a bit. But we're all better now. Don't argue with me, bu**head! -the Armorer

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Oh - remember my comment about the Castle being blocked as Pr0nography at Kansas City International? Jim B (where's the fedora been lately, btw, dude?) emails this:

Seems that a lot of conservative blogs are .. .on trumped up reasons.

I'll be checking into that when I return to my normal place of business. Intersting conference I'm at, too. Nope - ain't discussing it - too much like talking work on the blog, which we *don't* do. -the Armorer

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Fascinating little article - on crime and policing, and public policy. It would seem good policing... works. Free registration or Bugmenot.com required, sorry. Yes, I got up early, the conference doesn't start until 8:30, so I actually have a chance to do some reading today.

Oh, and feminism and other mechanisms of equality are bad for your health. Want to break the back of the White Patriarchal Devil? Let him work himself to death and then take over.

Jules on The Moroncy of Dunces...-the Armorer

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For the "Things that make ya go "Hmmmmm" file...

It has been scientifically proven that if we drink 1 liter of water each day, at the end of the year we would have absorbed more than 1 kilo of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria found in feces.

In other words, we are consuming 1 kilo of Poo. However, we do not run that risk when drinking wine (or rum, whiskey, beer or other liquor) because alcohol has to go through a purification process of boiling, filtering and/or fermenting.

WATER = POO

WINE = HEALTH

Ergo: It is better to drink wine and talk stupid than to drink water and be full of crap. There is no need to thank me for this valuable information; I am doing it as a public service.---------

H/t, Larry G. I'm sticking to 'ritas. -the Armorer

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Oh, and I saw 300 last night. Molon labe, baby! -the Armorer

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Your DI humor for the day: There's nothing more dangerous to a grunt than a bored Drill Instructor. Poor Ralphie.

A call goes out for Were-Kitten (see comments). No pics, but not necessarily work-safe in more prudish work environments. - FbL

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Back in the day, when you could just kill people and break things without a note from a lawyer, they were pre-planned, but to the enemy, random, fires at known gathering points, road junctions, Main Supply Routes, assembly areas, etc - to keep the bad guy nervous that the world around him might start exploding at any minute.

*Not really relevant to today's operating environment, right? But, it *is*

The UAVs (oops, can't call 'em UAVs anymore - they're now Unmanned Aerial Systems... some Colonel got his Legion of Merit for that change...), er, um UAS's we fly over Afghanistan and Pakistan looking for targets of opportunity are a form of H&I fires, if you really want to parse it finely. We just have better sensors and fire control now.

I call the post that because it's random things posted by me and people I've given posting privileges to. It's also an open trackback, so if (Don Surber uses it this way a lot) someone has a post they're proud of, but it really isn't either Castle kind of stuff, or topical to a particular post, I've basically given blanket permission to use that post for that purpose. Another term of art that might be appropriate is "Free Fire Zone".