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.
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Stand by with the brain scrubber: Nude yoga??!!
A theft ring involved Marines stealing secret American files on terrorists... in order to conduct counter-terrorism. Hunh?? - FbL
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One can't help but wonder if the plumbing was up to code... hailstones belching forth from... the toilet? H/t, Kevin. -the Armorer
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Red meat for Atilla.
One of the best personal milblogs out there is The War on Big Tobacco. This post will resonate with a lot of folks around here, I suspect. If you haven't been reading him yet, you've been missing out. - FbL [You *definitely* want to read SSG Tobacco's post. Oh, yes. -the Armorer]
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If you liked the link above, you'll probably appreciate SSG Tobacco's follow-up post. Aw heck, just read the whole blog. It's both great writing and a study in the life and development of an NCO who is moving from weekend warrior to full-time soldier - FbL
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City in Poland unveil's Ronald Reagan statue thanking him for his role in ending Communist rule in Poland. One note, the author says they think it is the first kind of statue in Europe. I'm not sure if he is talking about presidents in general or Reagan in particular. I do know that, according to Totten, there is a big honking statue of Bill Clinton in Kosovo. Obviously, thanking him for saving them from extermination.
Speaking of that, Radovan Karadzic, looking like Santa Claus, was captured and is about to stand trial. What is that saying? The banality of evil? They caught him working in a health clinic. Kind of like getting an appointment with Dr. Mengele down in Brazil. You'd want to be real careful signing any "do not resucitate" or "living will" papers.
-Kat
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*A term of art from the artillery. Harassment and Interdiction Fires. 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 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. Of course, now I have to call them UAS's, because someone got a Legion of Merit for the name change.Anyway, I call the post H&I Fires because it's random things posted by me and people I've given posting privileges to that particular topic. Another term of art that might be appropriate is Free Fire Zone.
And that's the best-case scenario.
*looking for the brain scrubber again*
I think our intel sharing programs in the US gov is working perfectly well. The passing on of vital information to the New York Times hasn't been prosecuted, have they? The passing on of vital information from the CIA and FBI to the press hasn't been prosecuted, let alone convicted, have they?
So what's the big fat problem? The civilians are being informed by the press and our government agents.
*looking for the brain scrubber again*
What brain scrubber, you mean this thing I'm holding in my hand? It has a flashing green light on it that says "active" on the LCD screen, if you want details. I'll turn it off now and send it to ya later.
As I was saying, until these prosecutors can prosecute and convict the traitors in the CIA and other Executive bureaucratic branches, they need to beat their temples against a brick wall everytime they prosecute "people that break laws that preserve national security". There is no law about national security when it is not enforced against the people already breaking it.
Btw, this brain scrubber doesn't actually do anything, from what I've seen. Why do ya'll want to use it for Yoga classes?
And don't tell me the accidental discharge was because the guy unloaded the mag but forgot to check the breech.
When you read Big Tobacco's whole blog, you find out it's a National Guard unit that hasn't kept up their health on their own time. Literally almost every one of them failed their last PT test.
As for the negligent discharge... pretty much the only way it can happen, even if you have a broken extractor or somesuch. They should have been marching with magazines loaded but nothing up the spout. So, troop walks up to clearing barrel, and, instead of dropping mag and clearing breech, he racks it back to clear the breech, lets it go forward, *then* drops the magazine. Points the weapon into the clearing barrel, and... he discovers why we have clearing barrels, so that the errant boat-tailed menace goes into the sand of the barrel and not randomly through walls and other, possibly organic, impediments to its passage. First moves in making sure a weapon is clear and safe - check the safety, remove the magazine. Everything else after. Always unload first. Always.
Fatigue kills, precisely because it screws up people's logic circuits when they are tired. Got to be real extra careful about certain things when you are physically exhausted, which I assume he was.
Hopefully, they won't repeat this reversed process with which end of the barrel the bullet comes out of.
Also, if they get dehydrated on a 3 mile run, even with 70 pound packs... they also reversed the order in which they should be drinking water. It's not supposed to be drunk at the end of the march. They might have been so out of breath they just "forgot" to drink the water. Bad idea.
<B>Literally almost every one of them failed their last PT test.</b>
Guess it is boot camp again ; )
Dollars to doughnut holes I know exactly which outfit it is. *And* why their officers are acting like fifth-grade hall monitors...
Read the OPFOR post. One of the weirdest I've read in awhile. Obviously, he's pissed. Incompetent, arrogant senior leadership. Imagine. As for those of us who've seen their sister services at work from the inside, well, the same reactions can be generated in Air Force observers.
I wish he was more specific (and I'm assuming he can't be) so I could offer more of a response. Suffice it to say we ALL have more than our fair share of idiots. And heroes.
As for John saying he's sufficiently demoralized to pine for the more noble yesteryear of the Army Air Corps, I say, "knock yourself out." In fact, interservice transfers are still being offered, are they not?
Which, I'm guessing, is rather what was hoped for, if they wouldn't embrace the new regime.
Dusty - I found Townie's post odd, too. As for John, well, I'm guessing he may have a morale slump since he's a missileer, and they've been taking a lot of heat lately due to the highly publicized faux pas in the nuke business.
In other words, he's living the life that the missileers led back when I was in the nuke business, and we all lived it, the compleat Zero Defects environment.
Of course, if Senator Obama is elected, John's life in the silo should ease up a lot. Apparently, they'll be able to pull duty from home or something, and only drive out to the silos now and again, since we won't be on "hair trigger" alert....