You're advertising here, we should get an ad at your place...
***********************************
Heh. Remember when people were arguing that the victory of the neo-Anabasis was a product of Clinton policy? Don’t hear much of them or that argument anymore do you.
---
This is an old book review, but interesting to me none the less. The juicy stuff is toward the end and is a much more concrete break down of the ‘Casualty Myth’s’ realities.

--
This one is a hoot.
Some of the commentary I’ve seen, with this story being all over the place the last couple days, blasts Bush for ‘messing in Russia’s back yard.’ Sorry, but Russia’s back yard happen to be two countries, Poland and the Czech Republic, capable and with the legal right of deciding for themselves what to do, regardless of what Russia wants or Russian goals. They aren’t Russian possessions. They aren’t “Russia’s backyard.” They’re sovereign countries that are tired of being ‘Russia’s playthings’.

They know what they’re about. You look at much reportage out of both countries you’ll see that the avg guy on the street in both countries opposes the plan to have ABMD in his country, but the governments want them there specifically to crawl out from under the Russian thumb. I’ve posted links showing this in the past.

I get the political Maskirovka the current admin has to do to avoid political dust ups---which don’t seem to be fooling anyone or working to avoid the political dust ups by the way. I’d rather they were blunter about the deal. ‘Yeah Puti-poot, them Poles don’t like the idea of you using ‘yer strategic rocket forces as a veto. They want to veto ‘yer veto.’ Not going to happen, but we all know it is there to degrade the pressures Russia can put on Poland and Czech Republic and other former satellites. (For a counter view as to why this might be stoooopid idea read Barnett. I happen to disagree with his reasoning, finding it to be a bit of realpolitik I can’t run with (shocker there, there’s some realpolitik *I* can’t stomach), but at least you’ll get something far more substantive than the standard internationalist b5.).
--ry

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

Mucho celebration at Bloodspite's place on the failure of the immigration bill.

Right Wing News offers up some insight to the behind the scenes maneuvering that helped kill the bill.

The Armorer's position is - I'm all for immigration, but I wasn't for that bill, as written. Now let's buckle down and negotiate our way through something, rather than just have it crammed down our throats by the oligarchs. Oh, and let's make sure the Executive will *enforce* it. Which means Congress must *fund* it. Just sayin'.

Moving on - HomeFrontSix coined General Pace (and *got* coined - nice score, HFS!). And stumped him, too. Not bad for an Army Wife!

Moving on again... this video is for you tankers. Yer gonna love it. Of course, bear in mind what maintenance on that thing is going to be like... that auto-loader... the "squat" (you non-tankers will get that instantly once you see it) etc. For you civilians out there who wondered what the bump on tank and artillery barrels was for - they're called 'bore evacuators.' They're designed so that when the round passes by them, they have one way valves at the rear that allow combustion gases to fill the cylinder that surrounds the barrel - and after the round passes, one way valves at the front - which are angled to the front - allow that pressure to vent, as the breech is opening - serving to set up a draft through the tube that sucks the gases of combustion out of the barrel, so they don't foul the air in the turret. During the firing scenes, you'll see the flash of firing, followed just a tiny bit later by a puff of smoke, all by its lonesome, so to speak - that's the bore evacuator doing its thing. Now you can impress your other friends with your wonky knowledge! On to the video - via Strategy Page - the new Korean Wonder Tank! Tankers, after viewing this, will have to remain seated at their desks for a while, as their excitement ebbs, so to speak. Oh! And it takes large brass ones to be the driver in that thing when they swim it. -the Armorer

*********************************
Oh! And this was the email we've been waiting for...

John and Beth,

I am told the offer has been accepted and all signatures are complete. I will pick up a copy of the contract first thing in the morning (before 8am) and you will have your copies and I will send Karen a copy at that time also.

I am also getting the names of the inspector(s) who have completed previous inspections so we don’t choose them. As we discussed, we want a fresh set of eyes on this inspection.

Mike

Yesssssssssssssssssssss. -the Armorer

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

A link provided by frequent commenter NevadaDailySteve about a JROTC Leadership camp - Steve's comment:

These kids are something else. They work like the dickens and just keep on going. I got worn out just watching them. The great thing is I get to go up in a Chinook Saturday, and I get paid to do it. Old stuff for you I'm sure but I get a kick when I get to do something like that.

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

Warning - high 'ick' factor. The Zombie Dogs of Baghdad. H.t, Ry. -the Armorer

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

Oh, and send Paris back to jail. Good grief. -the Armorer

Good. They did. She apparently isn't thrilled. Pretty simple solution, babe. [Checks empathy and sympathy meters] Nope. Not a quiver on any of the dials. -the Armorer

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

Echoing Cassandra: Thank you for your service, sir. -the Armorer

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

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".