May 2, 2008
Sent along by the Auld Soldier...
With this kicker: "Having just spent your inheritance for a couple of squirts of printer ink, I can relate to this."
Seen some like this before but they are always fun to read again. Enjoy and feel better about the price of gas.I guess the next time I spend $9.00 for an 8oz. bottle of shampoo, I won't feel so guilty! The price of Gas versus Printer Ink
All these examples do NOT imply that gasoline is cheap; it just illustrates how outrageous some prices are....
You will be really shocked by the last one!
(At least, I was...)Compared with Gasoline......
Think a gallon of gas is expensive?
This makes one think, and also puts things in perspective.
Diet Snapple 16 oz $1.29 ... $10.32 per gallon
Lipton Ice Tea 16 oz $1.19 ..........$9.52 per gallon
Gatorade 20 oz $1.59 ..... $10.17 per gallon
Ocean Spray 16 oz $1.25 ........ $10.00 per gallon
Brake Fluid 12 oz $3.15 ...... $33.60 per gallon
Vick's Nyquil 6 oz $8.35 ... $178.13 per gallon
Pepto Bismol 4 oz $385 .. $123.20 per gallon
Whiteout 7 oz $1.39 ..... . $25.42 per gallon
Scope 1.5 oz $0.99 .....$84.48 per gallon
And this is the REAL KICKER...
Evian water 9 oz $1.49..$21.19 per gallon! $21.19 for WATER and the buyers don't even know the source
(Evian spelled backwards is Naive.)
Ever wonder why printers are so cheap?
So they have you hooked for the ink.
Someone calculated the cost of the ink at...............
(you won't believe it....but it is true.......)
$5,200 a gal. (five thousand two hundred dollars)
So, the next time you're at the pump,be glad your car doesn't run on water, Scope, or Whiteout, Pepto Bismol, Nyquil or God forbid, Printer Ink!
Just a little humor to help ease the pain of your next trip to the pump...
And - If you don't pass this along to at least one person, your muffler will fall off!!
Okay, your muffler won't really fall off...but, you might run out of toilet paper
Heh.
"The obvious models for intervention were Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968. The Soviet General Staff planned the Afghanistan invasion based on these models. However, there was a significant difference that the Soviet planners missed. Afghanistan was embroiled in a civil war and a coup de main would only gain control of the central government, not the countryside. Although participating military units were briefed at the last minute, the soviet Christmas Eve invasion of 1979 was masterfully planned and well-executed. The Soviets seized the government, killed the president and put their own man in his place. According to some Russian sources, they planned to stabilize the situation, strengthen the army and withdraw the majority of Soviet forces within three years...""...Invasion and overthrow of the government proved much easier than fighting the hundreds of ubiquitous guerrilla groups. The Soviet Army was trained for large-scale, rapid-tempo operations. They were not trained for the platoon leader's war of finding and closing with small, indigenous forces which would only stand and fight when the terrain and circumstances were to their advantage."
So, doesn't that sound eerily familiar?
Wanna guess the source?
It's from The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War. Written by former Afghan Army Colonel Ali Ahmad Jalali, and Lester Grau, an analyst at the US Army Foreign Military Studies Office at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Published by the USMC Studies and Analysis Division, USMC Combat Development Command.
In 1995.
It's what I'm currently reading.
How to annoy the Armorer.
Admittedly, it really doesn't take all that much, if you go about it right.
Take this picture, fr'instance.
Looks like your average normal guard tower on the frontiers of the Demesne, right? Well, that or a deer stand.
Heh.
*I* didn't build it. None of the people I gave permission to hunt the Demesne this year built it.
And it wasn't there last fall. Someone has a rather different view of "Private Property" than I do. It's not like it wasn't marked or something...
Heh.
It isn't here any more, either. And look, the Sun came out and shone brightly as the interloper was destroyed. But the components will become part of the expanded Fowl Barracks of Argghhh!
Which needs it, after having been battered a bit in last night's 80 mile straight-line winds and 1.5 inches of rain... and Ry's Outhouse suffered a bit, too. But he's going to be here this weekend, so we'll get it all fixed up.
May 1, 2008
H&I Fires* 1 May 2008
Open post for those with something to share, updated through the day. New, complete posts come in below this one. Note: If trackbacking, please acknowledge this post in your post. That's only polite.
You're advertising here, we should get an ad at your place...
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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I've always had a weakness for Indiana Jones. I would've swooned if I'd ever met this guy!: Nazi treasure, giant scorpions... and a crystal skull: The adventures of the REAL Indiana Jones. [h/t Grim]
The Man Who Grew a Finger. Or, to be more specific... regrew it. Be sure to scroll down to the article.
This is the absolute best political photoshop evah. Evah, I tell ya! (Commentary's pretty good, too). - FbL
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A noble and selfless local police officer escorts ducklings across busy multi-lane road. No casualties. We like our duckies here in the soggy corner of the map ...
-Bad Cat Robo(t)
Castle Ducklings Abbott and Costello give Two Wingtips Up and a amiable flick 'o the tail feathers to Officer Friendly and the well behaved drivers who facilitated the crossing. -the Armorer
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WE GOT ONE! Al-Qaida in Somalia head targeted in US strike
"Our brother martyr Aden Hashi, has received what he was looking for — death for the sake of Allah — at the hands of the United States," Robow told The Associated Press by phone.
Yep. he sure did. -Kat
Update: The report says that the strike might harden "moderate Islamist" sentiment against the US prior to the peace conference to be held in Djibouti next week. Jawa says that's bunk because Ayro was threatening to kill anyone who attended that conference. -Kat
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We have a stain on our flag. It's called Iran.
From the Carter administration forward to the current administration, we have always found excuses not to strike Iran, even when faced with undeniable proof. We have never had a stain on our flag like the rogue Iranian regime has continuously imposed on us.-Kat
Soldiers' Angels Founder to Appear On NBC Today Show
Soldiers' Angels founder Patti Patton Bader will appear on NBC's Today show on May 5, during the nine o'clock hour. She has been selected as a semi-finalist in NBC/Teleflora's America's Favorite Mom contest. Votes based on her appearance on the show with two other military moms will determine whether she moves on to the final round.On Mother's Day (May 11), NBC will broadcast a prime-time special featuring the crowning of "America's Favorite Mom," the results of which will be determined by how many votes are received from May 5 to May 9. Each mother can only receive votes during the exact day she appears on the Today show, and the mothers with the five highest vote totals will move on to the prime-time special.
Patton Bader was selected as a semi-finalist after being voted "America's Most Inspirational Mom" in March. Her son, Staff Sergeant Brandon Varn, nominated her for starting a non-profit organization to support soldiers and their families. "My mom is one of the most amazing women in the world," he wrote. "She started an organization called Soldiers' Angels when I was deployed to Iraq. The organization is there to ensure, 'May no soldier go unloved.' It is the largest non-profit independent military support organization that has started since the onset of the 'War on Terrorism.' She puts her whole self into helping Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors, and Marines every day," says Varn. Patton Bader's other son, Specialist Bretton Varn, is currently deployed to Iraq and will appear with her via satellite on Today.
Prizes for the five winning mothers include $25,000 to $250,000 in cash, and a number of free services and products. But in keeping with her efforts to support the troops, Patton Bader wants America's soldiers to be the big winners. "I plan on using everything to help heroes. Everything," she says, referring to the wide variety of prizes she could receive if she is lucky enough to win . "It is a true honor to stand with these fourteen outstanding moms," she adds.
Soldiers' Angels encourages all Americans to visit www.nbc.com/Americas_Favorite_Mom to vote for their favorite mom, and to watch the Today show the week of May 5-9 and the America's Favorite Mom show on Mother's Day, May 11, to celebrate these remarkable mothers.
Gone Stupid: Get Medal, Go to the Back of the Bus
[Kat]
So, a few weeks ago we were all agog at the silver star medal pinned on Spc Monica Brown's DCUs for running through enemy fire to save her fellow soldiers.
They gave her the medal and then the Army got stupid.
From Small Wars Journal comes this link:
Woman Gains Silver Star -- And Removal From Combat
Vice President Cheney pinned Brown, of Lake Jackson, Tex., with a Silver Star in March for repeatedly risking her life on April 25, 2007, to shield and treat her wounded comrades, displaying bravery and grit. She is the second woman since World War II to receive the nation's third-highest combat medal.Within a few days of her heroic acts, however, the Army pulled Brown out of the remote camp in Paktika province where she was serving with a cavalry unit -- because, her platoon commander said, Army restrictions on women in combat barred her from such missions.
"We weren't supposed to take her out" on missions "but we had to because there was no other medic," said Lt. Martin Robbins, a platoon leader with Charlie Troop, 4th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, whose men Brown saved. "By regulations you're not supposed to," he said, but Brown "was one of the guys, mixing it up, clearing rooms, doing everything that anybody else was doing."
The pragmatic side of me says that there is probably some other legitimate reason to keep her off the front lines now. Like, you know, she is now out in public and the Taliban/AQ types would probably make her target #1 in the AO. Beau Coup Propaganda Coup.
On the other hand, that's just retarded because that is the danger of being on the front lines, period. That is the essence of signing that little contract. That is the reality of equality in the military. Share in Equal Rank, share in equal danger.
So, what is the deal here? Give the chick a medal, but now that she's officially "out", as in "known to be in combat situations", she has to go to the back of the bus?
And, what is the army going to do every time somebody gets a whiff of women soldiers on the front line, they are going to yank them? And, replace them with whom? And, Why?
In a military where 30% of forces are women and appx 15% of those serving in Iraq are women, are we going to cut off our right hand in order to serve some bizarre, antiquated notion that there is a) some place safe in an insurgency or b) that women cannot hack it in the field or c) that they are a danger to the men due to some unknown accomodations that apparently have not kept women like Leigh Ann Hester and Monica Brown from being out there (among the unsung many).
US Army - gone stupid.
And, yes, I know, they are just trying to quietly operate through the loop holes in the antiquated, restrictive laws that an equally, if not more so, ignorant congress had put in place almost 2 decades ago. Reality has long since past these folks by.
Please read this entire story because it gives much more background on Brown and the actions that got her the Silver Star.
At dusk on April 25, 2007, Brown's platoon had just finished searching for a Taliban leader near the village of Jani Khel. The convoy of four Humvees and one Afghan National Army pickup truck had turned into a dry streambed when a pressure-plate bomb exploded under the rear Humvee."Two-One is hit!" Staff Sgt. Jose Santos yelled. Looking back, Brown saw the Humvee engulfed in a fireball as its fuel tank and fuel cans ignited. Insurgents about 100 yards to the east opened up with machine guns and AK-47 semiautomatic rifles, as Brown and Santos ran without cover to the burning vehicle.
PS...she earned the coveted title every respected combat medic earns:
"I didn't want to leave," Brown said, after being pulled from the platoon. Robbins said he and his men, who called Brown "Doc," also wanted to keep her as their medic.
"Doc"
Medina and Lawrence: Trying to Draw Parallels in a Paradoxic Universe
[Kat]
At Small Wars Journal: Lawrence and his Message
during a bout of illness when even Lawrence’s prodigious reserves of strength were utterly sapped, that he developed his epiphany regarding the route to victory in the desert. Over the course of a few days he developed the guiding principals which helped him bring his Arab forces to the apogee of success. Thus it was not in his abilities as a cultural polymorph, but in the clarity of thought which he brought to the military problem he faced, that we may derive something useful today.
From Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Lawrence notes his strategy:
the algebraic factor would first take practical account of the area we wished to deliver, and I began idly to calculate how many square miles: sixty: eighty: one hundred: perhaps one hundred and forty thousand square miles. And how would the Turks defend all that?[snip]Armies were like plants, immobile, firm-rooted, nourished through long stems to the head. We might be a vapour, blowing where we listed. Our kingdoms lay in each man’s mind;[snip]
Then I figured out how many men they would need to sit on all this ground, to save it from our attack-in-depth, sedition putting up her head in every unoccupied one of those hundred thousand square miles[snip]
it seemed they would have need of a fortified post every four square miles, and a post could not be less than twenty men. If so, they would need six hundred thousand men to meet the ill-wills of all the Arab peoples,
Bateman goes on to describe Lawrence's ultimate plan:
In earlier operations Lawrence had already demonstrated the vulnerability of the Turkish controlled city of Medina to interdiction of its logistical supply line via the single track railway which ran through the Hejaz desert. His new contribution was to note that, seemingly counter-intuitively, the possession of Medina by a Turkish garrison of some 20,000 was advantageous to British.In simple terms, the more Turkish soldiers he could force into holding Medina and the Hejaz railway which supplied it, the fewer Turkish soldiers there would be to face the conventional strength of the main British forces.
Read the rest at Small Wars
The final point that Gentile and Bateman jump to is that Iraq has become our Medina. That it serves both the AQ and Tehran's interests to keep us in Iraq.
My response in flash traffic.
April 30, 2008
H&I Fires* 30 April 2008
Open post for those with something to share, updated through the day. New, complete posts come in below this one. Note: If trackbacking, please acknowledge this post in your post. That's only polite.
You're advertising here, we should get an ad at your place...
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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Rusty over at My Pet Jawa skewers Stockholm Syndrome Poster Child Richard "Better a Hamas jailer than American!" Butler of CBS News- so I don't have to. CBS News in trouble and decline? I wonder if those dots connect.
Speaking of that - looking at the circulation declines of major organs of journalism, and the rapidly imploding CBS News operation, this bit of a conversation I had with a "Senior Government Official" yesterday comes to mind:
Well, you can tell 'em for me... it's a good thing the truth didn't get out about what you just said - or we'd have savaged them for being... idiots. We're not children. Oddly enough, neither is the bulk of the American public. But the major media and PA flacks treat us like we are. Which might be one reason the NYT and CBS are in such trouble, but blogs are doing fine. We don't treat our readers like idiots, either.
Moving on...
Jule Crittenden on Brits surprised to find that visiting America is not like visiting... Baghdad.
Iowahawk on Senator Obama's "Advice for the Lovelorn..." It's a hoot, click that link!
Dusty - this link's for you a bomb-dropping R/C A-10. H/t, Lex. -the Armorer
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Now if only we could find some bath-water to accompany them on the WAAAAAaaaayyyy Down. Alas, a new generation of acrophobics is born. If you ask me, they should stick to playing with Cobras - BOQ
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Local impact of gas prices. I live in a county that pumps oil, but often enough, the little horseheads aren't bobbing. They've been bobbing steadily now for months. Even bigger impact? My neighbor has a drill rig on the former dairy farm he just bought. Drilling for oil. -the Armorer
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Just for fun.
Costas Now yes that Bob Costas, has an interesting segment talking about the internet, sports and blogging.
During which time Buzz Bissinger goes on a rampage regarding bloggers, basically attacking a blogger who was on a panel with him on the show.
I would have responded, but my Sports Blogging Idol, Orson Swindle of Everyday Should Be Saturday (EDSBS) beat me to the punch with a great response.
Watch your 6 in your reading cubicle as strong language warnings apply, but still an excellent read and I think it applies to most bloggers out there period.
-BloodSpite
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Reporting on hunger in Afghanistan: who needs context when you have an agenda to push? Need I mention how disgusted I am? - Damian
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Having now found a video of the Costas/Bissinger/Leitch foofaraw that Bloodspite linked to - all I can say is - that segment is the video demo of why I have The Rulez. But I also understand that when you are as successful as Will is - moderating a blog with that kind of traffic can be a real bear. Keep that in mind, however, next time the Crushing Boot appears in the comments... I don't want to have my next panel discussion (which will be at the GI Film Festival in DC on 18 May) disrupted this way. -the Armorer
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On the taking of "criminals" into the Services.
Well, of course it's a bad idea, right?
Hmmm. Mebbe not. At least, not as bad as those who look for bad things want to spin it to be.
Gosh, maybe there was some utility, in years gone by, when Judges told young offenders - "Enlist or go to jail."
Mind you, it's a delicate balancing act. The services really don't want, nor need, hard-core cases.
But a lot of kids get in trouble because they have poor self-discipline, are too smart, and don't take direction well, because the direction is oft-times applied badly. This is even more true as we as a society seem bent on criminalizing more and more trivial putative "precursor" behaviors, because 1 out of a thousand or so who offend in certain ways go on to offend in more serious, sometimes spectacularly so, ways.
So, the Army did a study on the impact of lowering some of the enlistment standards.
The AP got ahold of a copy of an internal Army study not yet released to the public (I'm trying to get a copy now, via PAO channels). According to the AP, the study found that -
WASHINGTON (AP) - Soldiers who need special waivers to get into the Army because of bad behavior go AWOL more often and face more courts-martial. But they also get promoted faster and re-enlist at a higher rate, according to an internal military study obtained by The Associated Press.
The Army study late last year concluded that taking a chance on a well-screened applicant with a criminal, bad driving or drug record usually pays off. And both the Army and the Marines have been bringing in more recruits with blemished records. Still, senior leaders have called for additional studies, to help determine the impact of the waivers on the Army."We believe that so far the return outweighs the risk," said Army Col. Kent M. Miller, who headed the team that conducted the study.
Such soldiers are a leadership challenge. Ones that good leaders relish, because there's material there you can really mold and shape. Weak leaders hate that kind of soldier. And you can't handle too many of them at once.
But many of the better NCO's I served with during the early years of my career had come to the Army with checkered pasts. But they would freely admit that the Army, by giving them structure, goals, and setting limits, had gotten them through their wild phases and had molded them into leaders who could lead - and lead the troublemakers.
They were also invaluable because they could really help you winnow the salvageable from the un-salvageable, and guide a young Lieutenant through those early minefields, where my mostly-among-officers upbringing had left me some rather large gaps in my understanding of soldiers - and saved me from trying to rescue the terminally self-destructive, and take chances on soldiers who simply infuriated me. How dare they challenge by Lieutenant-level wisdom, after all?
No, it doesn't always work - but for the nonce, at least, it appears to work more often than it fails, and is worth the paperwork and dollar costs of booting the incorrigibles.
The Current Dem attack ad on McCain.
Running here and there, and on the Democratic Party website, as a fundraiser. Typical soundbite sniping, as practiced by both parties.
Expose the Real McCainJohn McCain wants to stay in Iraq for 100 years, but his lobbyist-ran campaign has and will continue to viciously attack anyone who remind the American people.
We know it -- we have it on tape to prove it -- and with your help, the American people will know it as well with our latest ad on John McCain and Iraq.
Spread the word and contribute today:
Heh. The Democrats don't pander to lobbyists, nope. Snerk. Of course, my guys aren't lobbyists, your's are! Mine are just, um, well-intentioned people with agendas who funnel me information and, um, money. On to the ad:
Narrator: "President Bush has talked about our staying in Iraq for 50 years!" with text saying the same thing.Video of Senator McCain: "Maybe a hundred."
Text in the ad: 100 years.
Video of McCain: "That'd be fine with me."
Immediately cut to carefully edited footage of two US soldiers ducking when an IED goes off right next to them (no bodies or gore).
Then snippets of video of lots of screaming people at bombing aftermaths with text that says:
"5 Years"
"500 Billion Spent"
"Over 4,000 dead"
In case you'd not quite gotten the point, the narrator says:
"President Bush has talked about our staying in Iraq for 50 years!" with text saying the same thing.
Cut back to Senator McCain: "Maybe a hundred."
Narrator: "If all he offers is more of the same, is John McCain the right choice for America's future? The Democratic National Committee is responsible for the content of this advertising.
Heh. The ad is mostly red meat for the already decided, to make them feel good about making sure they get to their max limits on giving. It's not really aimed at thinking people who are undecided. Unthinking people... well, hey, if they'll send checks!
Well, gosh, let's have some more of that... Lessee...
How about an ad that ran (using 2002 adjusted dollars (except for Gulf War II) and US casualty figures, both sourced from DoD):
WWI... Led into war by Democrat Woodrow Wilson"6 years"
"564 Billion spent"
"Over 116,000 dead"
Um, but that led to...
WWII... led into war by Democrat Franklin Roosevelt
"67 years... and counting."
"4.6 Trillion spent."
"Over 405,000 dead"
Korea... led into war by Democrat Harry S. Truman
"58 years... and counting."
"391 Billion spent"
"Over 36,000 dead."
Vietnam war... led into war by Democrat John F. Kennedy.
"9 years, and we walked away from an ally."
"840 Billion spent."
"Over 58,000 dead."
Gulf War I... led into war by Republican George H. W. Bush
"12 years"
"9 Billion spent (after Allied reimbursements)"
"Over 300 dead."
Gulf War II... Led into war by Republican George W. Bush
"5 Years"
"500 Billion Spent"
"Over 4,000 dead"
Narrator:
"Democrats: 73 years. 6.4 Trillion Dollars spent. 615,000 dead."
"Republicans: 17 years. 509 Billion Dollars spent. 4,300 dead""Based on this performance, are Democrats the right choice for America?"
The Armorer of Argghhh! is responsible for the content of the political ad parody. ©April 2008 by Castle Argghhh LLC.
Of course there's a whole host of false parallelism in there. And who knows how those cost numbers were calculated. And a complete absence of context. But we never let that get in the way of politics, now do we?
The Republican Party may purchase the rights to this idea... for enough money for me to buy out the guy next door. But I bet they just steal it. H/t to Princess Crabby for bringing the subject up.