Time to add a new caveat, because from email it's not clear to some folks (mind you, if you don't read this it won't matter...) Being an open post, people (collectively, the Denizens) other than I post in the H&I. They sign their work (most of the time) - keep that in mind when you want to flame someone in email please - if it doesn't say "The Armorer" or "John" then I didn't write it! And honestly - if you don't like something said or posted... leave a comment, and hash it out (within the context of The Rulez which are clearly posted on the comment form, I would add).

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JTG suggests the black-hatted fellow in this comic is patterned after our own Bill... -the Armorer

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Hmmmm. Chuck Simmins sends:

Using the same methods the Lancet crew used, the WHO and local Iraqis find an estimated number of violent civilian deaths in Iraq of 151,000 (95% uncertainty range, 104,000 to 223,000) from March 2003 through June 2006. That’s less than 1/3 of the Lancet estimate.

I'm not a wonk with this stuff. But I can see that there were no murders reported in the pre-invasion time period which seems odd. I suspect that there are some things that are just not going to be reported correctly due to cultural and trust issues.

So, how do the MSM deal with it?

New York Times: W.H.O. Says Iraq Civilian Death Toll Higher Than Cited

Washington Post: New Estimate of Violent Deaths Among Iraqis is Lower

And that's the Washington Post, not the Washington Times... Just shows the fun (and mischief) you can have when you choose different baselines for comparison.

-the Armorer

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Camille Paglia (gad I was glad when she started writing again) skewers Hillary. Brutally. -the Armorer

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Snerk! Leveraging off of BCR's comment - check out this comic from XKCD - I can relate to the book part, anyway. -the Armorer

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Yeah...but then Camille is all "oooohhh....Ob-a-a-m-a-a!" Anyone who thinks Obama is a god because of his "international heritage" and mixed faith (which I am still unsure which it is or if he has any at all), has got some serious problems of their own..and I'm not a fan of Hellacious Hillary. Just sayin'...Dr. Sanity, on the other hand, does his own Psyche eval on the Hillabeast and calls Obama what he is: a socialist hack.

Dr. Sanity also explains why I, who would love to see a woman president, can't stand Hillary even enough to pretend so young women can have that role model. Basically, I voted for them in the 90's. Discovered Bill was a lying, philandering dog and that Hillary was willing to smash these women, some of whom obviously and after so many, had been sexually harassed by Billy Bob as opposed to consenting cheaters.

I really don't see Hillary as a good role model for young women. Ruthless, backstabbing, throw your friends under a bus, suck up all the horrible things your husband ever did to you in order to keep power and money. Hmmm....Maybe young women should just continue to look up to Anna Nicole Smith. At least she had something of a face and body. [edited for appropriate spelling...spell check is my friend]

I don't know if anyone caught this the other day, but I thought it was dang funny...

SKIPPY’S LIST: The 213 Things Skippy Is No Longer Allowed To Do In The U.S. Army

6. Not allowed to play “Pulp Fiction” with a suction-cup dart pistol and any officer.
10. Not allowed to purchase anyone’s soul on government time.

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I didn't say I embraced Paglia's politics, just that I was glad to see her writing again... but on to important stuff - affecting internet voting!

"GI Jill" Stevens, Miss Utah, is a contender for Miss America. So go to the Miss America Reality Check website, choose Utah, and vote for Jill. Daily. From every computer you have legal access to. Just sayin'. Let's make sure she's a finalist...

Oh - the Castle first linked to Skippy's list in the now-deleted 2004 joke posts. What goes around, comes around and never goes away on the innernuts. -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."