H&I* Fires, 28 Nov 2006

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...
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Were-Kitten University? Hmmmmm..... Maybe that's the sort of edjumacation that Jon Carrey was referring to when he told students to "study hard and apply themselves." (via ALa) ~AFSis

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

*blink* Doggone -- it worked!

Now all I have to do is figure out how to bargain my soul back from Meffi (Mephistopheles and I are on a first-name basis -- I married his sister) and get about three uninterrupted minutes to post the backlog I've got.

Meantime, I leave you with this thought: Ever notice things began to go to Helena Handbaskette since the Big Three stopped using mechanics to design cars and started hiring "automotive engineers"?

Not to belittle that worthy perfeshun er nuthin' -- but I would never have designed a car that required you to pull the engine just to get at the #6 spark plug during a tune-up. Or stuck the fuse box behind the AC ducting and abutting the steering column... -- BillT

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DO-OH!
Anyone see any missing catchphrases? At a glance, it looks like a pretty good list to me! ~AFSis

H&I Fires November 10, 2006

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...

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Well, thank GOD they didn't decide on 20 lashes with a wet noodle! * rolls eyes * ~AFSis
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And let's not forget that it's the Marine's birthday! Via one of my Church Lady friends, I've been reminded why WE LOVE OUR MARINES!!

The United States Marine

MARINES come in all shapes, shades, weights, sizes, & states of sobriety, misery, & confusion. He is sly as a fox, has the nerve of a dope addict, the stories of an old sailor, the sincerity of a politician, & the subtly of Mt. Saint Helen. He's extremely irresistible, totally irrational & completely indestructible.

A Marine is a Marine all his life. He is a magical creature. You can kick him out of your house but not out of your heart. You can take him off your mailing list but not off your mind. Marines are found everywhere... in love...in battle... in lust... in trouble...in debt... in bars & behind them. No one can write so seldom and yet think so much of you. No one else can get so much enjoyment out of a letter or clean clothes or a 6 pack.

A Marine is a genius with a deck of cards. A millionaire without a cent and brave without a grain of sense. He is the PROTECTOR OF AMERICA, with the latest copy of Playboy in his back pocket. When he wants something it's usually 30 days leave, music that hurts the ears, a five dollar bill...or A WOMAN HE CAN COUNT ON.

Girls love them, mothers tolerate them, fathers brag about them, the government pays them, the police watch out for them & somehow they all work together. You can beat their bodies but not their minds.

You can tame their hearts but not their souls. He likes girls, females, women, ladies. He dislikes small checks, working weekends, answering letters, eating chow, waking up, maintaining a uniform, & the day before payday. You may as well give in. He is your long distance lover... He is your steel eyed, warm smiling, blank minded, hyperactive, over reacting, curious, passive, talented spontaneous, physically fit, good for nothing bundle of worry.....

And will always be there for you regardless of how long its been since you've last talked.

Yeah. WE LOVE OUR MARINES!
~AFSis
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And while whoever posted that stuff up there gets their blue dress cleaned... how about a new, um, er, oh just watch this - all the way to the end. H/t, SWWBO, who has some new directions of her own. -the Armorer

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And the world wonders... where's Noonan? El-tee? El-tee? -the Armorer

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Bob Owens of Confederate Yankee interviews some Baghdad MPs. -the Armorer

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Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham has been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Fitting... on today, the Marine's 231st birthday, and the day before Veteran's Day. CNN does a nice job with his story... I'm just sorry to say that it's being awarded posthumously. Semper Fi, Cpl. Dunham. Thanks for guarding the Gates of Heaven for us these days... ~AFSis

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Jules Crittenden - Live from Ramadi, Enemy of my Enemy! -the Armorer

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Hey Buddy.... can you spare a joint?

A knee joint, to be exact.
Today's the day 1SG Keith has been putting off for years- he's getting his knee repaired. FINALLY. It's about gall-derned time, 1SG! I know it'll be a while before you'll be able to get around, so I thought that maybe we could give you something to do during recovery.

Knowing how much you appreciate beautiful images caught on film, I thought I'd start you out with a video, American Heroes. Then... as you get more restless, you can move on to WOOHOO! and blow some $hit up!

So have at it, Denizens. 1SG Keith needs some "Well, helk. I'm laid up in bed for a few weeks and have NOTHING TO DO" ideas, and anything else you think might help him recover.
Maybe she can help.......

[Y'know, like *this* JTG. -the Armorer]

Update.... it's been 5 hours, and he's still in surgery. It was only supposed to be a 2 hour surgery. Pray harder, folks. Please?

Update #2- Your prayers must have worked! He's out of surgery and in his room. I'm still waiting for you guys to leave presents in comments!

In an effort to totally destroy traffic...

...or make a *big* switch in the orientation of our readers - a Caption Contest!

Oh, sure, you can go to The Right Place for their contest...

Or if you missed it, you could go check the results of SGT Hook's contest...

Better yet, you can go stick your thumb in the eye of Blackfive's Uncle Jimbo and participate in Fuzzybear Lioness' caption contest... or check up on her grumpiness with the Capital Hilton regarding Fran O'Briens.

You could read Cassandra's dart-throwing at Senators...

You could check out SWWBO's finger-in-jihadi-face...

You could get serious for a moment and read Barb's review of United 93...

You *could* go check out the Milblogger Conference pics Sergeant B has posted...

Then, there's the Snarkatron, who has joined the 101st Fighting Keyboardists. Heh. Another insider club I'm not qualified for. Sigh. Oh well, I wouldn't join a club that would have me for a member, anyway.

And yeah, there's the post where AFSis finds Royalty she can like.

or the one where ISG Keith runs into the Nation of Aztlan.

Then there's Kat, who has her own preferred 101st Fighting Keyboardists logo. It's too Air Forcey for my taste, but *is* a lot less Euro looking than the other one. Were I enlisting, I'd go with Kat's.

But if all that didn't interest you, go see where JTG participated in his first Execution recently... one hopes there are more in his future.

Then you could visit Lefty Alan (who has been absent here of late), who observes the passing of John Kenneth Galbraith...

Or, Punctilious has a bad day in shopping-world...

...and Jack is still burned out.

Sure you could do all that. But you know you'd rather jump on this pic and caption it. Jump on the pic, people. Go wash your brains out with soap.

Since one of us is trying to enter the Naval Service

I thought we should get some documentation in of the Navy before this individual is turned loose on same. No, I won't say who. Not my place, as it isn't a done deal, and is therefore not a matter of public record yet.

Souda Bay, Crete, Greece (April 1, 2006) - The guided missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) arrives for a routine port visit. Porter is the 28th ship in the Arleigh Burke-class of AEGIS destroyers. Porter is homeported in Norfolk, Va., currently on a regularly scheduled six month deployment. U.S. Navy photo by Paul Farley

Okinawa, Japan (April 7, 2006) - Landing Craft Utility (LCU) 1651 performs a stern gate marriage with the dock landing ship USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49) during the offload of personnel and equipment of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) in White Beach Naval Facility, Okinawa, Japan. Commander, Task Force Seven Six (CTF-76) ships, units and embarked 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) elements are returning from operations supporting Reception, Staging, Onward Movement and Integration (RSIO) Foal Eagle (FE) 2006, designed to strengthen interoperability between the United States and the Republic of South Korea. U.S. Navy Photo by Journalist 3rd Class Adam R. Cole

The above activity is part of what I was doing in Korea, though I had no direct part in this particular aspect of the exercise.

Note: The Armorer assumes no responsibility for crappy captioning by the Armed Services (which is really hypocritical, in light of the next post...)

Oh, FOURQUE: Part Deux

Whew--out of the four folks I tagged with yesterday's chick-quiz, two of the taggees were on it like sweet on sugar: Boston Maggie and the Lady Christine. Maggie answers on her blog (drop by and bump the numbers) and Christine does so below:

4 Jobs You Have Had In Your Life
1. Kodak Certified Photo Specialist (Walgreens). Yes, I really did see "those" pictures.
2. Medical Insurance Claims Examiner. How many ways can you say, "Claim Rejected?"
3. Administrative Assistant. Uniform included ten hats.
4. Manager of a Title Insurance Company. Superwoman without the sexy outfit.

4 Movies You Would Watch Over and Over
1. Wizard of Oz
2. Thirteen Days
3. TORA! TORA! TORA!
4. Bourne Supremacy

4 Places You Have Lived
1. Seattle, WA. Born and raised (Go Seahawks!)
2. Milwaukee, WI. Great until the gangs took over.
3. Madison, WI. Can you say, "Yuppies?"
4. Richlands, VA. No comment, prefer to keep this out of Flash traffic.

4 TV Shows You Love To Watch (I don't own a TV, but when I did)
1. Discovery/Discovery Times Channel
2. History Channel
3. Law and Order
4. CSI

4 Places You Have Been On Vacation
1. San Francisco, CA. Hills that actually rival Seattle's.
2. Green Bay, WI. Cheeseheads-- need I say more?
3. Tazewell County, VA. Great place to visit. Guess I should have remembered that.
4. Minneapolis, MN. Mall of America (Shopper's paradise)

4 Websites You Visit Daily (Same disclaimer as Bill)
1. Iraq the Model
2. Daily Briefing on Iran
3. Winds of Change.NET
4. Argghhh!

4 Favorite Foods
1. Anything Mexican
2. Seafood
3. Lasagna
4. Chocolate
Caveats: Yep, coffee is one of my essential nutrients also. Some days, chocolate is the condiment.

4 Places You Would Rather Be Right Now
1. Someplace up North
2. A nice northern spot.
3. Hmm, did I say north?
4. Anyplace but here.

4 People to Tag *whine*
1. GunJam over at JammedGun
2. BloodSpite at Techography
3. Bad Cat Robot at Snark Patrol
4. Curt at Flopping Aces

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UPDATE: This just in:

Bill,

My international tag has been accepted by the one and only, Big Pharaoh.

Can I cheat and add one more to my list, I mean considering, you know...

Done. And with this, the meme goes international. Wonder if it's a first?

This just in!

Army reaches out to Milbloggers - MSM Concerned!

Fuzzybear Lioness, Denizenne of Argghhh!...

...in the sights of a Washington Post blogger.

I'm humbled. I ain't even made the 'local bloggers' page of the KC Star.

Watch her space for her response.

Gee, since Matty and Don Sensing have been outed, I guess I should admit it.

We got the email too. I suspect a lot of milbloggers did. And I sent back the same response Matt did - "Yeah, okay, send more details, and if it's just stuff from ARNEWS or CENTCOMs websites, got that covered already, thanks."

So we'll see what it is. But give 'em credit for trying to break out of the box here.

William Arkin opines (and you should read his whole piece, linked above, it's *not* Moonbattery) thusly:

Blogs, however, are the epitome of independence, perspective, and rebellion. For the Army to blog, its bloggers would need to have an opinion, show some emotion, make a joke, make a case. We all know that the moment some public affairs flunkie strayed from the official happy talk and openly engaged in the information fight, he or she would get nuked.

So, our tax dollars are going to get used so the Army can just add to its propaganda machine, shoveling "content" to like-minded bloggers?

Heh.

Mr. Arkin has not been privy to our backchannel emails. Nor has he read the Army's official "Blog Training" Info Ops brief. Blackfive and I *are* mentioned or alluded to - and not always with a Happy Face. Nor has he read our blogs closely.

Yeah, we support the troops. And the war. And we have our snarks about it, too. The point Mr. Arkin is missing is that there is an available relentless drumbeat of negative news, often reported by people with no context (i.e., journos with minimal understanding of things military) but a *huge* presence - one thing we do is explain what doesn't seem to make sense, and ask WTF when it *doesn't* make sense. With our little tiny presence.

Just sayin'.

Everything you ever wanted to know

People are always asking me, "What's John *really* like?"

To which I can honestly answer, "Uhhhhhhhh--huh?"

However, I *do* know what semifrequent commenter and blogger-in-his-own-right Bloodspite is *really* like. And now you can, too.

With pictures...

And FbL continues to explore her thoughts in the Gardens of Stone.

Some people are having *too* much fun

Such as the inestimable Fuzzybear Lioness, who is appears to be making a bid to displace Bad Cat Robot as the blogosphere's premier snarkstress.

Heh. Picking on the old guy.

Howsomever, she *did* manage to squeeze out a compliment

I don’t remember much of what we talked about, but I know I enjoyed myself. Maybe next time I’ll let him get a word in edgewise.

I have that effect on wimmin. I'm a walkin' 'rita, in that respect.

Unfortunately, the effect is usually short-lived and they get back to nit-picking as soon as the chocolate's gone...

Yeah I know--I still need to post the details of that particular journey from Helheim. I'm just taking a quick break from saving the Free World contractoring so's I can earn my keep. After all, John dragged my ass into this gig keeps threatening reminding me that I'm supposed to spend my entire waking life inject the occasional bit of humor into the proceedings around here...

Looking for a work-safe singing Christmas card? Crank it up--this is one everybody (except the Simon Legree who keeps peering over your cube wall) will enjoy. Nice research, Szilvi, Gergely and Zoltan.

H/t to V29.

And the Lady Christine weighs in with an updated (and whimsical) combination of The Night Before Christmas Meets It's A Wonderful Life.

Thanks, Ma'am!

Dbie the AFSister has a--well, sorta-kinda "work safe except for ry"--Christmas card.

Barb takes a non-PC peek at the season. And about the headphone warning? Be very afraid--you already know she's *not* a shrinking violet!

Geez--Santa working for the NSA? Jay over at Stop the ACLU has done the research. Tsk. Who'd a-thunk it...

Up in Alan's neck of the woods, Darcey of Dust My Broom takes a swipe (and connects) at the hypocrisy of Libs.

*sigh* Back to the grindstone.

Another Contest!

But *not* one of ours. This one's transnational. Omar, at Iraq the Model, is looking to spruce up his site with a new banner (hey, he took first place in the Middle Eastern category, so why not, right?)...

But first, a little digression.

You may have wondered why Denizenne Christine dropped off the radar screen last month. She's been a mite busy; she's a contestant--a finalist, no less--in Omar's banner contest.

I like it!

The five finalists are displayed for your consideration here. Voting is by e-mail only--Omar's evidently picked up on the concept of ballot-stuffing--but it's painless. So drop in, vote for the best one of the five and add a hearty "Congratulations" in your e-gram to Omar.

Sitemeter Readings, et alii...

Fuzzybear Lioness is just now recovering from the idea that her thoughts could have attracted 10k visitors in five months. And there's a mystery involved...
Well, okay, not a *huge* mystery, but a mystery nonetheless.

And another mystery visitor dropped in at AFSister's, but for a sadder reason...

Barb is becoming the blogosphere's premier meme magnet. Dunno how I missed getting tagged with this one (all GAs report to the Mess to charge your goblets!)...

Sarge B. has an interesting observation on the Coming Surprise he predicts for Election 2008.

*sigh* The shavetails over at the Officers' Club bumped the Castle in the Weblog Awards, despite a semi-decent last-minute surge (Barb must've figured out how to finagle the firewall).

Johnny Noonan dropped in to snerk last night--a pretty bold move on his part, considering that he's still at the bottom of the food chain, RLO-wise. But they've got some *yawn* mildly interesting things linked over there today, so if you're really, really bored...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

*sigh* Justthisguy reminded me that I've got some writing to do...

Sunday H&I* Fires.

In which we take aim at the Denizens, and whatever else strikes our fancy.

Castle Philosopher Kat, aside from being all over the comments this week with book-length opii (worth reading) found the time to do this - a Kansas City Regional Round-up about Local Soldiers and Doings. Damn fine effort, Kat. She also weighs in on saluting, respect for the flag, etc.

SWWBO also went to the movie, had a horrible week at work, and has apparently gone insane, as her grip on reality has weakened considerably.

Fuzzybear Lioness is doing some traveling, and is putting out a call for local bloggers to have some micro-blogmeets. She's studying monkeys (perhaps in anticipation of meeting some at blogmeets) and is getting her prized toy back!

Blogson Sergeant B. had a relative on the USS Oklahoma. At Pearl Harbor.

Over at AFSis's jungle hideaway - she has an update on the cool Christmas light display we linked to a while ago... and my prediction, sadly, came true. She also has a lexico-philosophical question.

Adjutant Barb has a good link fest of her own, and got tagged by a meme.

MSG Keith is visited by a Queen and a Meme.

The Snarkatron takes us for a little trip in Anthropology, and cleans out her closet.

Over at The Grand Retort, Sanger reviews a book he liked in the past - after re-reading. Hiroshima. Some of that review has splashed over into comments here.

Alan has a suggestion that's interesting. Attract traffic! From the trollbots of the Chinese Government. Much as we'd hate losing the other traffic we get from them, we'll survive. They're not buying ads. However much Alan might like us jumping on his bandwagon - he'd really prefer we visited his Beer Blog. After you've been fortified with that, return for some philosophy (which always goes better with booze).

Punctilious offers up recipes, while Rammer offers up a reason why the Internet Is Good.

Jack of Random Fate is also following Alan's land seizure story - and keeping an eye on its US equivalents.

Don't miss the caption contest, "Howard Gets His Wings" at In The Right Place.

And don't forget to Vote For Us!

Denizens in the Open!

I have it! Proof that Sanger and Neffi aren't just hacker-built 'bots! My sooper-sekrit spy sent a pic from New Braunfels!

From left to right - Sanger, Mrs. Sanger, Neffi!

In the Flash Traffic/Extended entry!

Flash Traffic (extended entry) Follows »

Fark! I've got to quit getting my sooper-sekrit spies from classified ads at Kos!

Sanger reports:

We had a pretty decent time, Neffi's as laid-back in real life as he is on-line. We really enjoyed ourselves. I just wish we'd had more time, but he had to go shoot shit with his daughter, and who could fault that... :-D

BTW, Neffi sported for dinner! My turn next time!!!

« Secure this line!

by John on Nov 25, 2005

Last week was superb...

...the computer-at-work crashed again, I spent umpty hours on a 757 with all the reading material covered with bubblegum, the laptop I was issued had only a DVD port and all my paperlesswork was on HD floppies, the folks I went to unscrew from the mud promptly tack welded themselves to boiler plate the minute I took a break and it rained the whole time.

But it was an absolutely superb week for two reasons: Barb and Bad Cat Robot. 'Tain't every old guy who gets to hang out with two cute chicks who're young enough to be his daughters, ya know...

...smart, talented, funny, good-lookin' and they still decided to stick around after they saw me. So, I guess I'll add compassionate to their attributes, too.

No, I didn't hit on 'em, John. I have a strong suspicion they were armed.

Heh. Compassion tempered with common sense...

[Like I'm going to let him get away with only showing half his face. Click here for a full-face of the Rogue.]

Hear ye, hear ye!

TINS Alert! TINS Alert!

More importantly, another Denizen has opened a blog, long in the making, this Denizen being something of a perfectionist...

Which means we've lost (yeah, I know, you claim that isn't so, but I know how it ends up) another one of our more erudite commenters, who will bloviate in his own space, rather than getting me return traffic.

Sigh.

What? Yer still here? Go! Go visit The Grand Retort, Sanger Magee, proprietor!

Vote! Now and often!

Castle Philosopher Kat seeks your help in securing a card in Aaron's Blogger Deck. The Castle squeaked in with the 3 of Clubs.

The Armorer has voted.

Sunday Reading.

Human Events has an interesting take on the bombings in Jordan:

Dead men tell no tales, but luckily for intelligence analysts, live women do.

Sajida Mubarak Atrous al-Rishawi was not able to detonate her bomb at the wedding party and fled with the guests as her husband exploded himself. Now, she is in the custody of the GID, Jordan’s intelligence agency. By all accounts, the interrogation is going slowly. Still, enough information is emerging for us to draw some lessons for the triple bombings in Amman, Jordan, on November 9.

Read the rest here.

Some good news from the Front, from In Iraq for 365, via Mike D.

by Spc. Anna-Marie Risner133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

YETHRIB, Iraq, Nov. 10, 2005 -- Many troops serving in Iraq spend their time hunting insurgents and tracking down those who wish to hurt Coalition forces; but some Soldiers occasionally get the opportunity to show Iraqi people another side of the military.

Read the rest here.

More good news from the front, this time via CAPT H.

The SAS killed three suicide bombers in Baghdad as part of an undercover, shoot-to-kill operation in Iraq, it can be revealed. The three terrorists were all killed by SAS snipers armed with specialist rifles. Each terrorist was wearing a suicide vest laden with commercial explosives. It is understood that they were intending to target cafes and restaurants frequented by members of the Iraqi security forces.

Read the rest here.

Anna at The Right Place has a post you should read - then follow her link to Grey Eagle....

Now let's run down the roll and see what the Denizens have been up to...

Philosopher Kat suspects opportunism rather than principle in the recent Murtha brou-ha-ha.

Alan of GenX@40 has his own linkfest going, worthy of a look because he's Canadian, one of the closest things to a lefty in the Castle, and therefore you can inoculate yourself against group-think.

Though I had to work hard to forgive her for linking to Matty of Blackfive regarding a topic I'd covered 5 days earlier... go see what kind of Fuzzilicious Linking is going on over the FbL's.

Continuing what is rapidly becoming a theme here as the Denizens are apparently bereft of original thought... this is what Punctilious found interesting of late.

SWWBO takes on MoveOn.

AFSis channels the Phoenix (The Armorer is a Dragon, I knew you wanted to know), and has a rough Q&A session with her son... during which she discovers what a "cushie" is.

Adjutant Barb has some followups of on-going stories.

Jack at Random Fate waxes philosophical (as is his wont), and then he waxes er, um, well I thought it was gonna be a TINS, but it turns out he waxed philosophical, again!

Sergeant B, who is also a dragon, but has his preferred graphic, also takes on Murtha. More interestingly, perhaps - he takes on Aztlan. No, Sergeant B, it ain't just you - but it's an excellent piece of agitprop - since it just got them linkage, eh?

Saturday - and oddly, we aren't working.

I mean that. Usually when we do something like this we work on weekends. But not this one! Whee! Today I am going up to Atlanta to hand with Donnie of Cadillac Tight. Been wanting to meet Donnie for a long time.

The Navy Eagle examines Army Artillery. Why not? I ramble on about things naval...

So, what have the Denizens been up to lately?

Sergeant B, explains the difference between soldiers and mobs... inspired by Thunder 6.

MSG Keith speaks of riding out Wilma.

Jack at Random Fate is looking inward. Bon Chance, Jack - to your father and you.

SWWBO is dealing with Jerks (I am *never* there, dammit! I coulda had sooo much fun!), contemplating life and death, finds the public face of the Democrat party to be baffling (and takes a swipe at Prince Charles, too), is a Synthetic Wireless Worldwide Battle Organism (here we're an Artificial Robotic Guardian Generated for Hazardous Harm and Hunting. I can live wit dat.). But most importantly - she's put the names to the faces at the Blogmeet (disregard the crazy guy at the bottom of her post, he just wandered in from Rocky Top to deliver the squeezin's and left).

Punctilious and Rammer are just all over the place... though mostly foody!

Alan makes one of his relatively rare but always interesting forays into the world of politics, vice policy. He's always about policy.

The Snarkatron (aka Bad Cat Robot) continues the Denizenne fecklessness and deserts to the Navy. All the gurls heading to the Navy explains their lead. I just want to find the website where all the boobie pics are... I *might* donate to the Navy for that...

AFSister gets into Irony and the New World Order.

Fuzzybear Lioness *is* Project Valour-IT. It's her idea. Her Baby. And she's all over it, go here for a all-service roundup. Think about it - how many of you have had an idea about how to help others, then organized a group of disparate people to get together and raise tens of thousands of dollars to make it happen? Not many, I'm thinking. Good on ya, Fuzz.

Barb is offering up some Gun Pr0n, and shilling for the Marines - *she's giving away T-shirts...*. Personally, she offers up a wet t-shirt pic, *I'll* donate*!

Hmmm... Fuzzy - that might be your money-maker right there.... it will get the troops donating!

Another Denizenne Deserter, Kat, takes up the subject of Free Speech.

Lastly, Castle Operative Jim C smuggled out (via Korea, no less) the storyboards for a new recruiting campaign. For the next few days, we'll be leaking out the new ads... Starting with the Army... moving through all the services, and ending with the new Army-internal ad campaign, designed by the same vendor.

Denizen Link-Fest!

Time for a Denizen link-fest, plus whatever else motivates me.

Up first if MSG Keith, with his post about going to the range to shoot some Kewl Stuff while he was in the 'Stan. Yes, Keith, I *am* envious, but I still think I *never got* this story...

Sergeant B is looking for some old buddies, and his Second Military Career looms closer. (Green-eyed Monster time).

Jack muses about his start in blogging - all in response to The Commissar's request for blog parentage. Stephen is trying to develop the Blog Family Tree. I'd say his research is incomplete... you should go take a look.

While Cassie is semi-retired (she's got one of those cushy guest-commentator spots somewhere...), she did leave this update over at Villainous Company.

Castle Adjutant Barb (yes, I did remember upcoming events, btw) suggest this bit of hardware. At $20K with $650 shipping, one will not be showing up at the Castle anytime soon. Ooops. Never mind - sold out! Well, rather than link to that post, let's link instead to her linkfest (a diversity-post of military opinion there!), and wind up with some Lessons to Learn.

AFSis wants to know how did you get your name? My Expression number is 5, if you care about such things. I explain my name over there, as well.

Bad Cat Robot, aka the Snarkatron, has actually done something many of us dream about - so many of us and so much so it's a hackneyed movie cliché (did I use the farking accent right this time, Bill?). *Drum Roll, Please*

There's some other good stuff in there, too, but that's the Really Kewl News. All y'all know an Author. (Well, you actually know several, if we're going to count textbooks).

I dunno where Castle Philosopher Kat finds the time for this - but she has two *excellent* posts on the evolution of Body Armor. And how we're reinventing the wheel. See number 1 here. And see number 2 here. The answer to a question Kat asked me that I overlooked in email - why we reinvent the wheel - Engineers study engineering, not history. And they think that anything old is, well, old. They want patents for New Stuff. Jack might have a different opinion...

Punctilious has taken over administration of the Carnival of the Recipes for SWWBO. BTW - the newest version is up! She's also one of our authors... and she has a naughty idea for a replacement for Miers. Obviously, she wants to cripple governance, not just gridlock it...

Fuzzybear Lioness is getting ready to kick us bloggers in the butt for a new iteration of fundraising for Project Valour-IT. The war still continues, despite the SCOTUS nominations... and more importantly, the needs created among the wounded of this war (as in all others) will continue after the war fades from the TV and headlines. More on the subject of fundraising later...

SWWBO gives us some more travails of the traveler.

Lastly among the Denizens ('cuz I went bottom to top this time), Alan ponders some questions about the Internet. A subject near and dear to my heart, albeit for different reasons than you might think.

Other notes. The Armorer will be at Fort Benning, Georgia 1-10 (maybe 11) November. And he will have the weekend intermezzo free. Aside from Monteith and his kewl toys, anybody want to get together in the area?

Lastly (until I decide to add something, which I no doubt will) this upcoming weekend we're going to be at the Straight White Guy's house, meeting all these Really Smart, Debonair, and All 'Round Kewl! people...

How about an Airplane Pic?

I like this. Well, except for the Grape Juice part. But I understand that, what with the Puritans running the US Military and all.

A reader-provided-content post...

Hmmm. All Denizens: When traveling... do what Barb does!

Via AFSis...

You are Sam the Eagle.
You are patriotic and devoted. And extremely anal.

HOBBIES: Patriotism, Being appalled at what everyone else is doing.
FAVORITE MUSIC: The National Anthem of America

FAVORITE MOVIE: "An American In....America"

LAST BOOK READ: "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, Eagles are from America"

QUOTE: "Please stop that now! It's un-American!"


What Muppet are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Boquisucio found this clip of maroons.

Ry found a "non-chick test"... Which Historical General are you?

The test is very sensitive in some ways, remarkably unsensitive in others.

Ry came up at Edward the 1st: He scored 68 Wisdom, 81 Tactics, 55 Guts, and 51 Ruthlessness. He added: "Odd, I expected Guts and Ruthlessness to be much higher than wisdom and tactics."

Me? Even though I pretty much killed everybody except the little boy and wasn't a big fan of torture... I attacked pretty much when the option was there... obviously not always up the middle - I'm A Hippie, unfit to command and probably not a useful member of society, scoring 70 Wisdom, 54 Tactics, 60 Guts, and 40 Ruthlessness! The prejudices of the 18 year old male who designed the test are interesting... tweak my answers a tiny bit I go from being a Hippie to being Julius Caesar, to being Vercingetorix...

Lets see what you guys do, I've wasted all the moments of my life I'm gonna on that one.

Moving on, CAPT H. provides this little window into the life of an Afghan-deployed Canadian soldier. Note there are multiple pages in the thread.

The ACLU doesn't always win. Interesting how the group they are representing, NARAL, seems more interested in suppressing a viewpoint, vice advancing one.

Major C. sends along this obit for General O'Meara. I met him once, when I was but a wee sprout and he came to a party my father was hosting. It was a different Army then - as any now serving who read the obit will recognize.

Cricket provides this bit of humor:

A visiting minister during the offertory prayer:

"Dear Lord," he began with arms extended and a rapturous look on his upturned face, "without you we are but dust..."

He would have continued, but at that moment one little girl leaned over to her mother and asked quite audibly in her shrill little girl voice,

"Mommy, WHAT is butt dust?"

Church was pretty much over at that point...

Thank you all!

Denizens in the Assault!

What are the Denizens up to? MSG Keith entertains royalty while SGT B waxes rhapsodic about... aviators... ewwww!. Meantime, over at Random Fate, Jack's messy divorce from politics continues, as he pretty much hates all the options, and is probably considering a small, uncharted island where he can avoid the sausage-making that is politics. If I thought everybody else would *truly* leave me alone, I'd be jiggy with that. The Rammer family is dealing with the loss of Rammer's father. Pace, familias. The Snarkatron spanks the Smithsonian for essentially embezzling a donation in practical terms, if not in legal ones. Cassandra at Villainous Company says approving things about the Washington Post, and has a post up comparing history's only Bomb-dropper, Mizzou's own Harry S. Truman, to... wait for it... Dubya! Ah, Cassie - she covers Miers so I don't have to! Between Cassie and Baldilocks, my piece is pretty much said regarding Miers. But if you *like* Miers-blogging, consider Carnival of the Clueless #16 or Don Surber, one of the paid pundits *not* rending his garments over the nomination. Barb offers condolences, and reports out on someone you should know. SWWBO gives us her take on Miers - and don't forget this week's Carnival of the Recipes (SWWBO's Invention!) over at The Glittering Eye! AFSis's concern about justice is assuaged by some good news - just as Ohio is made happy with the return of their Marine reservists from a hard tour in Iraq. Castle Philosophotrix Kat reminds us that there is still work to be done in Afghanistan... and it is. Fuzzybear Lioness has some posers of questions about political figures - I got them both right. Allen and I agree about something - which happens more often than our snarking allows, but he *is* a foreigner, after all. While I'm as guilty as anyone about the 'Net, I don't get the need to be able to instantly contact anyone - and the seemingly concomitant need to be in constant contact with *someone*. I'm not available 24/7 and don't want to be - and have turned down jobs where a Blackberry was involved. And people who get angry with me for *not* have a cell phone with me at all times, and especially not having one that will take my email... well, that's both bemusing and amusing. If you want those kinds of jobs, rest assured, I am *not* your competition.

Let's close this out with some Gun-n-Plane Pr0n. The tailgunner position of the Memphis Bell[e]. For pity's sake, Jack. Like you've *never* had a typo!

If you are *still* looking for something to do - try Jay's Sunday Funnies over at Stop The ACLU.

Probably last, but not least: Snerk!

From RedState.org.

Dinky LinkList

Dbie the AFSister's got an eclectic collection of links but I'm curious about *who* will be featured at Boobiethon 2005. Wander over and see if she's still giving PG-17c fits...

Barb has put another human face on the reason Valour-IT has touched so many...

Who better to review the new Fall TV shows than Tinseltown's most-vocal escapee -- Huntress...

Fuzzybear Lioness invites you to visit the Protest Warriors in her old stomping grounds. *cue glen campbell* "By the time I get to Phoenix, she'll be blogginnnn'..."

Didja ever realize that POTUS' nickname for Colin Powell was -- Balloonfoot? Drop by Cassie's place for the link to the List of Lists. WTF indeed...

*sigh* Flutterby's ongoing feud with the Metro MeterMaids during her quest to become an Army Aviator is heating up. Give 'em whut fer, Allie!

Li'l Links

"Cindy Sheehan doesn't speak for me, either." Dbie the AFSister is pretty adamant about that, so when the Support the Troops troops arrived in Cincinnati (heh--I can actually spell it!), she was there, too...

Jay at Stop the ACLU has become something of a legal scholar. F'r instance, if a lawyer were to sue the Boy Scouts because a Scout being "reverent" somehow violates said lawyer's civil right to be irreverent--and wins--guess who foots the lawyer's fees? Heh. We do. Sez so right in 42 USC 1988(b). But if paying the ACLU to raise your BP into the stroke-zone isn't your cuppa, drop in and sign the petition to return the law to its original intent of protecting Free Expression and removing Establishment Clause lawsuits from its purview.

All better now.

If you were by here earlier and wondering if we'd slipped over into Real Estate sales... nah. Hosting Matters burped and forgot to re-register our domain name.

Our apologies, sometimes the billing system does not properly renew domains. Renewed now, will be resolving within a few moments. Regards,

Sxxxx

The nice lady fixed the problem... but I gotta tell ya, there was some pull to just lettit go...

On a completely unrelated note... as I was sitting here doing some photoshopping that will prolly get me fired... snerk! I had a thought regarding Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin.

How convenient that they got to ship off a huge chunk of their now-disgruntled voters... so they can't vote against 'em in the next election. Still plenty left, I'm sure, but I bet Al Gore and John Kerry looked at that and thought to themselves... hmmmm. A few voters here and there...

Update: Heh. I see I was *slightly* ahead of the curve.

Let's have a look at the Denizens. Even is some of 'em have been AWOL lately...

AFSis takes a break from Disaster Kitty work and gives us an update on Katrina evacuees from her neck of the woods... including the guy who walked to Cincinnatti from New Orleans.

Punctilious goes to school.

Castle Adjutant Barb has taken leave and is climbing in mountains in Switzerland. IN mountains. She's also shilling for the Analog Kid's new e-postal shooting match.

SWWBO has been discussing sexism as well as Cindy Sheehan.

Fuzzybear Lioness is trolling for Neffi, Bill, and Dusty. On a more serious note, she's been ruminating on Neptunus Lex's post on on the dilemma facing the warrior, as aptly expressed by General Lee, "It is well that war is so terrible -- lest we should grow too fond of it."

Kat, either up early or late to bed, notes that while we've been obsessing about Katrina and who's at fault - the Afghans have been getting on with business.

The Snarkatron has also taken leave, and is, at last report, at the Outpost, doing an Inspection of Firebase Rockford.

Jack is being Jack, poking fingers into all eyes! Even-handed is our Jack! (gotta read the comments).

MSG Keith discusses 6 degrees of separation, military style. Careful, Keith - you're hanging with a lotta gunners!

Heh again. I had some troubles this morning... including losing *this* link to Alan taking a lawerly look at Renee Zellweger... which is just as well, because after being twitted in the comments, I went back and found this - Jetsicles!

Just for kicks.

Update: Visitors from The Galvin Opinion will find the Castle's Katrina stuff by clicking here. This post is actually one of the few non-Katrina posts this week! Of course, it's *all* good...!

What the heck, *more* gun pr0n!

Jordana of Curmudgeonry hosts the Carnival of the Recipes, the 56th iteration of SWWBO's idea!

Speaking of SWWBO - look who is posting a Lefty's Ideas... in a postive light! There *is* some common ground... and while I am *not* a fan of MoveOn, I'll credit 'em for what Amber posts on her diary.

On top of all that, SWWBO is a Concerned Citizen who also had a bemusing experience.

Heh, Castle Argghhh! - periodically, all SWWBO, all the time!

Kat, channeling La Malkin, is *not* interested in another commission, bi-partisan, blue collar, or otherwise. Me neither. I say show up at the polls with pitchforks.

Alan continues his assault, Day By Day.

While all the horror and heroism unfolds in the Southeast, there is *still* a war on, and *still* combat wounded - who need our assistance. Fuzzybear Lioness has more on how you can decorate your barren, pathetic walls and help at the same time.

Barb likes Ben Stein. So do we. Of course, then there's these guys. But it *is* New Orleans, I suppose. Mardi Gras forever...

Cassandra asks God to take away her Kool-Aid...

Were-Kitten, groggy from coordinating Red Cross Volunteer activities, did find time to take a quiz. My result:

I'm a Defender Ship/Base Defender... Gee, who'd a thunk?

"I am fiercely protective of my friends and loved ones, and unforgiving of any who would hurt them. Speed and foresight are my strengths, at the cost of a little clumsiness. I'm most comfortable with a few friends, but sometimes particularly enjoy spending time in larger groups."

Jack loses his router, and waxes philosophical (but not about the router).

Sergeant B calls out Spokane...

Soon-to-be 1SG Keith takes a cheep shot at the Castle in this otherwise blandly adequate, Inspected-for-your-OPSEC-safety post. Hey, Keith - pppllllpppppptttt!

A Perfect Storm...

...that may cause the media to simply explode.

Katrina, Roberts, Rehnquist.

Oy, it's going to be ugly from now to Christmas.

Then we'll get the Katrina-victim Christmas stories. Okay, from now to February.

So, I'll console myself with this!

Finally! A realtor hawking properties worthy of the Master and Mistress of Argghhh! Some of these aren't that far away, either. Though none of them are in the current budget. May have to set up a tip jar. And before you ask - SWWBO found it and thought it was kewl!

What are the Denizens up to...

SWWBO highlights villains and heroes in New Orleans. Given how fond she is of New Orleans, being on the villain list is not good.

Barb points to NOAA's before and after pics of the areas hit by Katrina.

AFSis, while she can't go to the disaster area herself this time, is helping coordinate those who can!

Sergeant B has some questions about the Brotherhood of War.

Jack has his take on the Katrina disaster and the response thereto.

Kat points out that people and businesses - especially businesses with responsibilities for people such as nursing homes - need disaster plans, as well.

Cassandra skewers a Huffposter, and looks for the Silver Lining.

At The Glittering Eye, the Carnival of the Recipes is up! In fact, I recommend starting at the top of The Glittering Eye, and just read down until you get to the Carnival. Lots of interesting history of disasters in the US hiding in there.

MSG Keith, discusses disaster relief, from the perspective of Been There, Done That, Got the T-shirt, and wore it 'til it fell off in tatters.

Fuzzybear reminds us that current needs that existed before Katrina still exist. As a member of the Board of Directors for a large regional charity - I agree. She also retracts some earlier hot words. Kinda.

Rammer discusses the meaning of risk - and how the results of risk analysis are all around us, everyday.

Now, it *is* okay to have fun, even when surrounded by disaster. If you've done what you can, and all you have left to do is surf compulsively for Katrina-blogging... take a break and go visit Jay, who has a humor round-up!

Arrived!

...and I got Joanie's freely-offered cherry, and left her in knots...

Flight out here was uneventful, and we arrived waving at the terrified tourists and blase locals 6 feet under the aircraft as it crossed I-5 (which is damn near the threshold of the runway), but there was a nice view (looking up) of the chick just coming out of the shower in the apartment building 6 feet away from the wingtip. The guys-in-front let the bird mush a bit and hadda goose her on landing to not set down short of the white stripes, which gave a nice little float there and then she quit flying and flopped down on the runway while the GIF stood on the brakes. I know it's a tough approach into Lindbergh, but my last recollection of landing there was coming in steep and slamming down, not just gliding in over the houses...

Got the bags, got the car (new G6, 55 miles on it) and headed out.

Missed the turn onto the highway, out of the airport, which was good. Took us right by the harbor where they're having a tall ships event this week, so we got to see the ships as I sought a place to turn around.

Then discovered that the road on the map that clearly shows going through, doesn't. Ends in cul-de-sac. But it does look like they intend to put it through sometime. Just not anytime soon.

We hooked up with Joanie and went to a local eatery called Trophys. Essentially a sports bar with a good menu, it is chock full of sports memorabilia... like the 1974 Oakland A's World Series trophy and others of that ilk and caliber.

Then the ladies planned my day today, which, I believe, is Balboa Park and the museums (and shopping) there. I'm for it. The Aerospace Museum, Model Railroad Museum... yummy. Tomorrow, Blog-B-Que at Doc-in-the-Box!

I gotta go hit brekkies and such - here's what's briefly of interest around the Castle:

If you haven't already, check out AFSis's new digs! Hubba-hubba, girl!

Alan gives us an update of what Johnny Depp is up to... with Hunter Thompson.

Kat continues her attack on western mis-understanding of Sha'ria (or, perhaps more accurately, male western writer's misunderstanding of Sha'ria after talking to Muslim men about Sha'ria) as it pertains to women.

Punctilious discusses 'bed head' and Rammer, like me, is speechless at this piece of political theater. Let it be noted that this Right Wing Blog said, "Governor Taft, Resign."

SWWBO has the Carnival of the Recipes, Volume II, Number 1!

What? No Tech Wench? Cassandra rambles on...

This is probably illegal, me, linking to Barb, who is channeling SGT B... about the USS New York, the warship being built with some steel from the WTC. She then muses about Understanding the Culture. Which, since I'm linking to a post that links to here, may cause a wormhole and suck you into an alternate univers where Kos is president. If so, I'm sorry.

The Snarkatron is loose! Free as in Freedom. Not Free as in Beer.

Jack at Random Fate changes tack for a bit and discusses nanotubes! Get some, Jack!

SGT B discusses Grunts and the Press (always a dangerous combination!)

Fuzzybear Lioness discovers being a Mover and A Shaker, plus having a real job, eats into your blogging time...

MSG Keith reveals his mushy side...a>