Cartoon of the Day

July 9, 2008 12:41 AM

Paid to Blog

By FbL on July 9, 2008 | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Military Connection is looking for a part-time, paid milblogger and forum moderator.  It's a new endeavor for them, so it looks like a chance to help choose the direction. 

Perks include free add space for your own blog or your favorite military non-profit.  They've been a very strong behind-the-scenes supporter of Soldiers' Angels.

[Details of the company and position are in the "Read More" section]

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July 8, 2008 9:38 PM

H&I Fires 8 March, 2008

July 8, 2008 | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
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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Oil drops sharply as supply worries subside

That's after a the mixed signals from Iran about the continued negotiations underway and the possible climb down to some previous comments about *gasp* Iran blocking the Hormuz Straits if attacked.  Iran is considering negotiating, but saying they are not going to negotiate.  Hey!  Is Obama running Iran?

U.S. holds navy exercise after Iran comments on Gulf

The Navy (with a capital "N") said Iran will not be allowed to block the Hormuz Straits.

Iran stages war games, rejects nuclear demand

Of course, that last announcement happened late in the day when trading was closing in the US, so I imagine that tomorrow will see oil prices back on the rise.  What I find interesting is all the that military parading around that they call "war games".  These are really quite small affairs and rarely includes large scale mobilization.  At least compared to the US version of "war games".  Further, most of the equipment they show is old, though they splash some new paint, add a component and call it new.  Further, Iran has limited gas refinement capabilities, depending largely on re-importing the gasoline product after exporting the oil.  They have limited, if any, "reserves" already pumped. 

The most dangerous weapon that Iran has is not its technology, but the number of men in its forces.  Then that comes down to, who is loyal and who is not. 

Just in the nick of time, the US Department of Interior jumps in to support the "drill here, drill now" call by stating, yes, indeed, the US could be producing much oil within the continental US and its surrounding waters.  The department calls on Congress to lift the ban.  -Kat

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A must-read: "The Ultimate War Simulation Game" (h/t Jimbo) - FbL

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How to really annoy me on a nice day. Courtesy the NRA.

By The Armorer on July 8, 2008 | | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)
I'm a life member of the NRA.  I'm an "endowment" life member, meaning I've given above and beyond the normal requirement.But I swear, their latest mailing (they're always insultingly breathless... but then, frankly, so are *all* fundraising letters, regardless of who sends 'em out, for whatever cause) just took *my* breath away.Heh.Did you know, boys and girls, that the Democrats and their fellow travelers are trying to disenfranchise the military voter?  Really.  Well, not really, they just don't want 'em to vote, unless they're going to vote correctly.  Leave aside the implication that all military personnel vote Republican and work... [Read More]

Another update from Joe Honan.

By The Armorer on July 8, 2008 | | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)
Here's the latest from Joe Honan, the Castle's Sailor-in-the-Desert... who's becoming a jackleg agribusiness consultant.

LCDR Joe Honan, deployed Correspondent of Castle Argghhh!, discusses agricultural issues with Iraqi farmers near Ramadi.
Now everyone knows that I don’t know much about agribusiness and rural economic development. Being a kid on a farm doesn’t really expose you to more than the finer points of using a manure fork. (I’m also a good shoveler, not a fancy shoveler mind you, but a good one.) My job wasn’t to develop a business model but to do what my dad told me to do (or not do it if I could help it).
 
Having said that however, you can’t be around good farmers without picking up a little something. One is that the more a farmer can do for himself in the ways of repairs the better things are. What that means is that while we are here to support local government, I’ve been gravitating towards the Farmer’s Federation as the key to agriculture here. They’re elected by the local farmers, and while now they mostly coordinate government subsidies, they are in the right place to become a self-sufficient cooperative that really helps the individual farmer.
 
I’m not about to think that my solutions are the only way to do things, and I think we’ve forced enough good ideas on the Iraqis. But to be honest I just plain like the guys at the federation and want to do anything to help them succeed. I’m used to stoic New England farmers, and your average Iraqi is a bit more passionate and loud, but most days I can picture my grandfather in there sitting in the corner with a smile on his face. I think he’d find a lot of it very familiar.
 
So this is the idea, with the usual caveats about how I haven’t anything approved or even run it past the Iraqis yet.
 
I’m planning on a couple of projects that have one thing in common. Get the federation and the farmers themselves a source of income so they don’t have to stay tied to the government for seed and fertilizer. So we buy them some tractors that they can lease out to the farmers, and pay the salary of a young man who knows small engine repair that can go out to fix irrigation pumps at cost. Then the profit the federation makes goes back for good wheat seed, reefer trucks for the vegetable farmers and other needs. Once we jump start them with an initial input, they can be self-sufficient and we can be hands off. Added to this is a pretty aggressive training program on modern farm practices and equipment care being put together by Gunny M. Hopefully at the end of it all they will be more efficient and not be the mercy of any government or middleman. 
 
Another benefit of course is that it’s much easier for me. If you hear the farmers need, say help repairing their own equipment you can spend months visiting all the farmers, mapping their locations, determining who needs welding and who has to repair the air conditioner in his poultry farm, put it all on spreadsheet and build a curriculum. I prefer just to say “OK, scholarships to the vocational school, next subject,” then its chai for everyone.
 
I think it’s a good solid long term solution. There are of course issues. The big one is the risk of being played by these guys. We save a lot of time and effort by not trying to go to each individual farmer to find out exactly how many pumps are broken .When you work through any group, and if they inflate that number or simply pocket your money its going to take a while for that news to reach you. Then you know for the next time, but have wasted time, taxpayer’s money and your good name with the people you were supposed to help.  
 
There are ways to check on people without them knowing your doing it. I usually ask the same questions of a lot of different groups, to see who’s off the average, and innocently ask “hey do you know so and so?” to see if they’re connected. The big one is just to do everything out in the open. You make a deal, and then announce it to the world at the district council meetings and other venues. Then everybody keeps everybody else honest, because if it doesn’t happen like you said it should, people are going to let you know fast.
 
Not that you can ever really get rid of the corruption and the skimming off the top. I think anyone we deal with here is going to get a cut. You just have to start with the guys you know are in it for the people and not just for themselves. I’m talking Boston levels of corruption and not just outright theft. We don’t condone any of it of course, and hopefully we’ll eventually change that culturally. 
 
The move to democracy has been interesting here as well. The people of Al Anbar (mostly Sunni) have learned a hard lesson about not voting. Whenever they complain about Baghdad I remind them that if they want the government to be responsive they need to vote. Unless they are involved in the process you can’t really expect to benefit from it. That’s something that I really think they’ve learned, and I look forward to seeing the turnout here this next election.
 
I’ve attached a picture of a recent USO tour that passed through.
Steve Zahn Star of "Saving Silverman", "Rescue Dawn", "Sahara" and many more, Shamron Moore Star of "Zombie Strippers" and "The Bad News Bears" Tamie Sheffield
former performer with the Women of Wrestling and hostess of The Lingerie Bowl  Carmit Bachar former performer with The Pussycat Dolls and Camille Anderson who starred in "Wedding Crashers" and a former performer with the WWE .
 
You have to love a movie called “Zombie Strippers”. You know exactly what you are getting.

 
Sometimes, a sailor's life as an agricultural specialist has some perks... [Read More]

You do not want to see this in the aircraft...

July 8, 2008 | | Comments (22) | TrackBacks (0)
Lost It!.wmvWhen the first IqAF helicopter pilots came up here from Taji, they just wanted someone to show them how the sim worked -- I wasn't teaching a class that day and knew how to run the sim without flushing the database. One thing led to another, though, and I started showing them how to recognize when the situation was starting to hop into the handbasket and how to recover *fast* -- it didn't start out as an instrument flight training session, buuuuut, when the Boss asked me what we'd been working on and I told him, he took me... [Read More]

Heller v. DC: Only the First Salvo

By Kat on July 8, 2008 | | Comments (10) | TrackBacks (0)
As the Armorer predicted, the affirmative decision in Heller was only the first salvo in the struggle to define the Second Amendment.  And, as predicted, DC is trying everything to get around it by claiming now that semi-automatic pistols are still banned.   It is also revising its registration laws which the Supreme Court ruled was still legal to have, though I imagine that it will be made as strict and difficult as possible.  Like their attempted parsing of the laws that equates semi-automatics with machine guns, there is likely to be all types of little restrictions, expansion of "no-gun" zones and various other restrictions that will each have to be individually challenged. 

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July 7, 2008 12:29 PM

H&I Fires 7 March, 2008

July 7, 2008 | | Comments (34) | TrackBacks (0)
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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Reporter says he's being blacklisted by Marines for showing the "cost of war" by posting the picture of a dead marine on his blog (all be it, behind a wall with warnings) because war is "too sanitized".  Marines say he violated his agreement when embedding.  Reporter says he posted it after the marine's family was notified.  Marines say he gave the enemy valuable information on success of actions.  Reporter says that information is all over the news and web. 

My lone question to the reporter: if you die in Iraq, should the marines take a picture of your dead body and post it on the web where your mom, dad, wife or children might see it (considering, if you are dead in Iraq, there is a better than 50% chance it would be a closed casket due to the probable cause of death)?

If you didn't see it anywhere else or catch it in the post below, THE LARGEST RE-ENLISTMENT CEREMONY.

Majors Perspective has a conversation with a man from Pakistan. - Kat [Read More]

Why You Won't See Petraeus Lauded in the American Press

By Kat on July 7, 2008 | | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)
The London Times has carried a number of impressive articles lately outlining the defeat of Al Qaeda in Mosul along with several laudatory articles and opinion pieces on Gen. Petraeus.  Maliki has even recently proclaimed that terrorism is defeated (though some would argue premature and should have various conditional statements added in about regeneration, etc, Maliki's government is definitely stronger, but still liable to revert to pre-surge stability without support).

But, you will not see those in the American press, on American TV or anywhere near where an American might actually read that and think "victory".  The main reason is that the political campaigning has taken center stage.  That is not to say that all eyes are on the campaigns and Iraq has disappeared for that reason alone, but it is part of the original plot that started sometime last September when the major news stations and media outlets started reducing their coverage of Iraq (and don't even mention Afghanistan).  Ostensibly because there was not enough blood and guts anymore to lead. 

Of course, there is that whole "the economy is taking center stage" argument, too. 

I just have a few issues with that.  Winning wars typically leads to optimism, even after suffering severe economic distress.  That optimism usually leads to economic optimism.  We could argue that the oil and gas prices crash that on take off, but there are several pressure releases that will come, though apparently not soon enough for some. 

China started filling its third oil reseve in December of 2007, having started filling it January 2007.  That reserve is to reach 100 million (30 day supply).  They estimate that the fourth reserve will be complete by the end of 2008.  Iraq has recently improved its output by over 500,000/bbd and is estimated to reach 4 mil/bbd or higher by 2010.  Let's not forget Brazil's big find.  Odds are, the economy is going to be recovering just fine.  But, hey, don't tell anyone.  We like to pretend we're living 1929.

The other issue is "perceived wisdom".  It is so perceived, in fact, that John Kerry pops out of the wood work and starts spouting off talking points from his 2004 campaign.  No one has bothered to tell him its 2008 and nothing he has said or done is going to change that fact nor the fact that he still doesn't know what he's talking about.

Still, there may be something more driving the need to keep Petraeus off the front pages and a large number folks breathing a sigh of relief that he actually took the CentCom job.  Somewhere, in the deep recesses of the media, is a continuing irrational fear of militarism in America.  Considerably fueled by all sorts of movies and books on the subject (regardless that we have had victorious generals come home and disappear or have been elected to the presidency without any sort of military coup or revolution.  George Washington comes to mind as the first, but not the last. 

What the paranoid may feel is that this and this equals this:

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Obama: Let's Do the Time Warp Again!

By Kat on July 7, 2008 | | Comments (11) | TrackBacks (0)
First you stick your foot in your mouth. 
Then you twist it about. 
Then you get some old hacks,
to go on attack. 
When they're making a fu-u-usss! 
Throw them under the bu-u-u-sss!

Let's do the time warp again! 

It's just a jump to the left    

And then a step to the right     

With your hands on your hips    

You bring your knees in tight
But it's the pelvic thrust
That really drives you insane
Let's do the Time Warp again
Let's do the Time Warp again



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July 6, 2008 11:30 AM

H&I Fires* 6 July 2008

July 6, 2008 | | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)
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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Your Sunday Funny... Drill Instructor (TI/DS/RDC) stories.  Here's a sample to whet your appetite:
There was kid in my plt that had trouble pronouncing "R". One day the heavy came in and yelled for him. When the recruit replied "Hea Sa"("hear sir" for the rest of you), the heavy replied with "Did you just call me an a**hole?" The senior and the kill hat had to run into the office to keep from laughing in front of the platoon.
- FbL

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July 5, 2008 11:06 PM

H&I* Fires, 05 Jul 2008

July 5, 2008 | | Comments (8)
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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A Small Town 4th of July - Junction City, Kansas, home of Fort Riley.
Picture courtesy Coastie Dad Larry K.  If you'd like to see more pics - click here.

Ah, memories.  Breaking track and shearing bolts.  There's nothing this Canadian trooper is doing in Afghanistan that can't be improved by adding a piece of pipe to that wrench...  H/t, CAPT H, natch.

Also from CAPT H - meet Field Marshal Sam Mankeshaw, a very unique soldier.

A great individualist who affected a blimpish manner, Manekshaw was so popular that Indira Gandhi was believed to have asked him whether reports that he was planning to take her place were true.

He is said to have replied: "You have a long nose. So have I. But I don't poke my nose into other people's affairs."

He died recently, and as usual, his Brit obit is a good read.

It's a day late - but here's an Independence Day Quiz for you.  I got 30 out of 30, but in all candor, I had 28 nailed, made an educated guess on one (hey, I *do* have an education) and the 2nd one was just a 50-50 guess that panned out.

A moment of Gunner Zen... a study of the M1861 10-inch Seacoast Mortar...

10 inch seacoast mortar, model of 1861

Moving on to a different kind of zen-with-guns, I'm guessing this *isn't* what Dean Kamen had in mind when he unveiled the Segway...  as the article at the Daily Mail says, "Wheel Scary" - another h/t to CAPT H... and what the heck, it's going to be a lazy weekend... 

Chinese SAPs... Seqway Assault Police. Photo courtesy the Daily Mail: http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/article-1031298/Wheel-scary-Chinese-anti-terror-police-practise-killing-drills-scooters.html

Whyncha caption this?  I'll start you off:  "A buncha Chinese SAPS practice taking down terrorists/protestors in preparation for the Beijing Olympics..."

SAP= Segway Assault Police.   -the Armorer

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Meet Agata Mroz, a woman who would probably cause heads to explode in the NOW crowd.  An accomplished, successful woman - who chose her baby over herself.  -the Armorer

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On the flip side of feminism... I wonder if a woman holding the position of Lord (Lady?) Chief Justice would have held the same view? That Sharia could indeed govern family law in Britain, should the involved parties wish it so... -the Armorer

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It May Not Have Been As Colorful

July 5, 2008 | | Comments (6)
but I'll guarantee my Fourth was *louder* than yours.We'uns take our fahrwerks seriously around these here parts...... [Read More]

The Simple Truth

By Kat on July 5, 2008 | | Comments (4)
Friday, as we were waiting for some of the family, I was reading Cassie's post and clicked on the video.  It was a little girl talking about her father al-Khiwani and how the Yemeni police took him away for writing about the slaughter of civilians. 

My six year old niece was sitting by me.  She asked why I didn't play games on the computer like her mom.  I said I like to use the computer to read.  She asked me what I was watching.  I told her about the little girl and her father.   She asked why the people took him away.  I said, "Because, in his country, he is not free to say what he wants."

"Ohhh," she looked perplexed for a moment.  Then she said, "We're free to say what we want."

Yes.  Out of the mouth of a six year old, the simple truth. 

I said, "Yes.  Yes, we are."

She contemplated a few more seconds while we watched the video.  Scarily, I was sure she was actually reading the subtitles with me.  Then she asked me if anyone else was taken away for writing about it.  I told her I thought he was the only one.  Everyone else was too scared.  Somebody had to stand up and say "stop it."

"Oh," in her little girl's voice.  Two clicks later, "So, if he didn't stand up, the bad guys would keep killing people."

It was my turn to sit in stunned silence and contemplate.  The world had just tilted a bit on its axis.  First, because I never said they were killing people.  Second, that she understood explicitly what was at stake.  Third, that a six year old would understand what many adults do not: somebody had to say "stop it", even if they put themselves at risk. 

I finally replied, "Yes, that's right.  The bad guys would keep hurting people."

She watched the video for another minute and then asked, "Are we getting fireworks today?"

"Yes.  We are going to go in a minute." 

"Okay."  She jumped off the couch.  "I'm going outside to play."

The world was made right again. 

Out of the mouths of babes.  Now I understand why they tell you not to let young children watch the news.  It is not because they might be scarred for life, but because they know more than you do.  I am daily convinced that, if six year olds didn't find all the prevarifications and obsessions of adults so parochial and boring, they would take over the world. 
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July 4, 2008 1:07 PM

Over the Ramparts We Watched

By Kat on July 4, 2008 | | Comments (4)
On this day, there are many things that will move people to tears, to pride, to joy and then, probably, to exhaustion.  But the thing that always gets me, every time I hear it, all year round?  It's that simple phrase from the national anthem:O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streamingEverybody has that certain something that makes them choke up, a certain even that seems the defining moment in our lives or when everything comes together and finally makes sense.  It was a Tuesday morning.  Total destruction was all around.  A group of firemen raised the stars and... [Read More]

How Did You Spend Your Independence Day?

By Kat on July 4, 2008 | | Comments (3)
Bob Krum reports: BAGHDAD – How are you spending your 4th of July holiday? While most Americans probably slept, 1,215 Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines raised their right hands and committed to a combined 5,500 years of additional service during the largest reenlistment ceremony in the history of the American military. Beneath a large American flag which dwarfed even the enormous chandelier that Saddam Hussein had built for the Al Faw Palace, members of all services, representing all 50 states took the oath administered by Gen. David Petraeus, Commander of Multi-National Forces Iraq.Soldiers' Angels Germany has the pictures.  (h/t Mudville... [Read More]