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

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George Anderson, whose work we have published here before, has started a blog, called Military Philosophy. If you've always wanted a chance to be a "plank owner" of a new blog-community, where you get to define the insider references, rather than be baffled by them, here's your chance. I can hear Ry scurrying over already...

A reminder - the Memorial Service for Colonel Harrison will be today, 1000 hours, at the Main Post Chapel at Fort Leavenworth. If you do not have a vehicle registration decal, you should leave a little early, as your car will be searched prior to entry to the installation (it's not that bad, but it does take time - especially if there are a lot of people waiting).

Lastly (at least for the moment) given that last week I posted the request from NRA-ILA for information regarding the possible confiscation of weapons in Greensburg, Kansas (ala the illegal actions of the New Orleans Police post-Katrina) it's important that I put out the fact that it was what I thought it most likely to be - safeguarding dangerous weapons/citizen property in the aftermath of the storm. The weapons *are* being returned. Less the ones that turned out to be stolen, that is. And the fact that the police are making those kinds of checks don't bother me. I bought a Mauser C96 Broomhandle from a license-holding storefront dealer that I discovered was stolen when I used it in trade with a different dealer some time later. You can get stolen goods from apparently legitimate sources (in this case, the dealer was dirty and got shut-down) and yeah, I was out the money - but the pistol was returned to its rightful owner. -the Armorer

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D.C. Circuit Court Affirms Earlier Parker Ruling

On Tuesday, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. circuit, declined to review the decision in Parker v. District of Columbia -- the case in March that upheld the Second Amendment as an individual right and struck down Washington, D.C.’s handgun ban. The decision not to review the case means that an earlier ruling by the three-judge panel will stand.

In commenting on the decision, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty noted that the District’s gun ban is "…a critical part of the District’s crime-control strategy." This strategy, of course, has been an abysmal failure, as year in and year out, D.C., currently the nation’s murder capital, ranks at or near the top of the list of the nation’s most violent cities.

The city now has 90 days to decide whether it wishes to petition the Supreme Court to hear the case.

Photo Bleg: I got some pictures from the MilBlog Conference, but not many. Anybody who has pictures of the reception and the MilBloggie awards, Friday Night at Walter Reed, the Saturday lunch, and Walter Reed on Sunday, please drop me a line. - FbL

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While I don't endorse Uncle Jimbo's language, I do empathize. The backchannels are flying amongst the Big Dawgs of the Milblogosphere as to what an appropriate response to Mr. Edward's idea might be. Edward's idea:

Get vocal. Buy a bunch of poster-board and markers. At a picnic or with family and friends, make signs that say “SUPPORT THE TROOPS - END THE WAR.” Bring them to your local Memorial Day parade. Then take a digital photo of yourself and your family or friends holding up the poster and tell us about it. We’ll include it in a “Democracy Photo Album” on our site. (emphasis added)

One wonders, for example, if we were to do what he says, except with a caveat of "let us win," would that count as democracy, too? Or are only those voices raised in opposition worthy of the label "Democracy"? -the Armorer

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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 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".