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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Weird story from Bolivar, New York. Six States, Six Husbands. The story is a sad one, for all involved, especially the children. No one was hurt physically, but the tangled knots this woman wove will complicate some lives that probably didn't need it. That said - I was more annoyed with the writer of the article, John Anderson, who can't keep his labels straight:

Keith, 27, met her first husband in California. Her first two husbands have custody of the children. Police in Georgia say Keith has five Social Security numbers and was married to soldiers from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.

Of course, what should I expect from representatives of the print media, like Mr. Anderson, Rush Limbaugh, Wolf Blitzer, and Glenn Reynolds? H/t, Chuck Simmins.

Heh. If this comes through - how long will it be before the Senators from California and New York, the Feinstein-Schumer Axis of Confiscation, arise in shocked horror at what's happening in West Byrdinia? US State weighing gun lessons for children...

And aren't you just aquiver with joyous anticipation of HillaryCare with state legislators like this waiting in the wings? Almost makes me want to move to Mississippi just to find ways to vote against bozos like this. From The Smoking Gun:

FEBRUARY 1--Mississippi legislators this week introduced a bill that would make it illegal for state-licensed restaurants to serve obese patrons. Bill No. 282, a copy of which you'll find below, is the brainchild of three members of the state's House of Representatives, Republicans W. T. Mayhall, Jr. and John Read, and Democrat Bobby Shows. The bill, which is likely dead on arrival, proposes that the state's Department of Health establish weight criteria after consultation with Mississippi's Council on Obesity. It does not detail what penalties an eatery would face if its grub was served to someone with an excessive body mass index.

The fellas at The Smoking Gun have a copy of the bill - click here to see for yourself!. Sure, it's funny *now*... -the Armorer

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Speaking of Fuzzybee (which I did in the "post that wrote itself" below) she has a nice post on the new depths to which the al-Qaeda in Iraq are sinking - go read her post here - and ask your Congressperson (if they are for a rapid, complete withdrawal and abandonment of Iraq to whatever happens) if this is whose tender mercies they'd like us to leave Achmed and Fatima Sixpack to. -the Armorer

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I love Nature T.V. Shows. Animals can convey so many human emotions, that are so difficult for us hairy apes to articulate. For example, I just found a little jewel which perfectly gives us the full range of emotions that Princess Crabby must be feeling this morning.

At times, she surely must feel like the Golden Ducky, at times she must feel like the Mountain Goat, but mostly she must feel like the Lion.

[Warning: this nature program wasn’t made by that Mutual Insurance Company out in Eastern Nebraska. As such, Old Mr. Perkins would hate if you play it with loudspeakers cranked-up in your prissy little work-place, or God forbid near young children. Capice?]

Now – ROLL THE TAPE.

BOQ

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In checking Taskforce Marne's website for the latest on 3ID's activities before I interviewed the CSM, I found this story about what happens when the Americans come to town.

On another topic, the quote of the day:

“New technologies make it easier for you to do stupid things on government time, on government computers by federal employees to other federal employees,” Mitchell said...

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LT G has a post in Slate's The Sandbox sure to warm the heart of every current and former grunt out there, as well as the good LTs who lead them--a gripe list of the highest quality:

Gathered over the course of assorted grievance councils, usually held in the post-mission unwinding that occurs on the combat outpost’s front stoop over some cigarettes and profanity-laced jokes, this is how things should be –- and would be -- in my Army...

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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."