12 Dec 2006
- al-Zawraa: Muj TV
Bill Roggio in Iraq: The Iraqi insurgency has a satellite TV station, called al-Zawraa. Insurgent propaganda, 24/7, believed to be broadcast from Syria - What About the Grunts? The Iraq Study Group talked to generals when it should have talked to corporals
That’s the way it always goes. Some guys in an air conditioned office somewhere make decisions and recommendations about armored Humvees, body armor, and other minor stuff like that. This article by Phil Carter is what is generally referred to as a “must read”. Plus, lots of comments on Carter’s Intel Dump. - The real Ramadi
What? Staged photos in the news? Who would have thought it possible? - Cavuto v. Krugman: It’s a Rout (in the Interview and on the Facts)
No, the US economy is not “perfect”. Not even “great”. But it certainly doesn’t seem as “bad” as many like to claim, and the economic situation for middle-class Americans is not “dramatically worse now than it was 10 or 20 years ago” as Paul Krugman claims. - Wing-flapping UAV for Mars
ACE notes an unmanned ornithopter for exploring the Red Planet. - The worst Christmas specials and TV movies ever
You know that the ‘Star Wars Christmas Special’ is in there. I remember watching it. I still haven’t recovered. - Aussie Military Bans Blogs
This is going to be a very controversial issue for a very long time. My guess is that it will be the main topic of discussion at next May’s MilBlogger Conference. - Mother faced with difficult choice: The Navy, or her daughter
A local mother’s dream to join the Navy comes with a heavy price: She had to give up custody of her 13-year-old daughter. It’s the toughest decision 32-year-old Rebecca Tate has ever had to make, but she believes it’s the right choice.
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December 12th, 2006 at 6:20 pm
What the hell kind of woman gives up her child to join the Navy? Just when you wondered if we could sink any lower.
December 12th, 2006 at 8:40 pm
Dfens: While I would hesitate to say ‘just when you wondered if we could sink any lower’, I agree that a decision by a mother to give up rights to her daughter to join the Navy doesn’t seem to make sense. Without knowing more about the folks involved, it’s hard to say how this will affect the daughter. Who knows? Maybe it will have a net positive effect on her. But that doesn’t seem likely to me. No father or significant other for the mom is mentioned. The grandmother that now has custody of the daughter has a ‘longtime boyfriend’ that will live with them. (Actually, the article just says that the daughter is living with the grandmother’s boyfriend…I’m taking it to mean that the daughter is living with the boyfriend AND the grandmother…otherwise maybe we CAN’T sink any lower…) It’s tough enough for dads with wives who will keep the kids to decide to join up. In many cases it’s the wrong decision. I can’t see how this is the best thing to do. It sounds like a difficult situation without anyone joining the Navy at all. I’ll sure be hoping that things work out for everyone.
December 12th, 2006 at 9:02 pm
We continue to use our military as some sort of sick social experiment. Certainly if the Navy let any woman enter its service, it should be one with the kind of character who would not abandon their child, which, of course, makes that group of women self excluding. It would be hard for me to imagine anything lower than a woman who would abadon her child, although at least this child is 13 and not an infant. I suppose that would be worse. Our society has gone to hell in a handbasket.
December 13th, 2006 at 2:43 am
Get a better imagination. Or read a newspaper. Or maybe just try a bit harder sometime. The day I read a story like that and say to myself ‘I just can’t imagine anything lower than that’ is a day the world has gotten much much much much much much much better.