Archive for October, 2005
Besides the blue tint of one, can you spot any differences between these two images of Ward Churchill?
For the record, I have very slightly cropped the image on the left to better match the image on the right, as well as resizing it to be 14 pixels shorter for the same reason. The esteemed Churchill is going to appear at Shoreline Community College, and the image on the right appeared on its web site. It’s now been removed completely. (via Malkin)
Bayonet: still used, still important
A quick look at bayonet training at TRADOC News.
Tolkien Geek
Blogging the Lord of the Rings.
360 Electrical
I wish I had thought of that…
Google Base Was Sort of Live
GoogleSQL? More screenshots here.
Untouchables keep Al Asad flightlines ready for war
This unit uses the newer M31 Mobile Arresting Gear System.
New tech speaks many languages at once
It’s not a fish in the ear, but still kinda cool.
World condemns Iran for president’s remarks
Israel wants Iran out of the UN, but no one else backs the idea. Until there’s some sort of minimum requirement for membership, the UN will continue to, well, be the UN. We should expect more.
NRO reviews TERROR IN THE SKIES
Anne Morse on Annie Jacobsen’s book. MO reviewed it last month.
Pentagon mobility study unlikely to impact budget
Why wouldn’t it impact the budget? Well, because no matter what it says, big-name programs are not going to be cut in favor of more airlift or sealift. No matter how much we need it.
Mack to build hybrid truck for Air Force
Good.
Abu Ghraib is heading for closure
But why? What ever happened at Abu Grab…Abu Garab…Abu Grape…Whatever happened at that place anyway?
DKNY Men’s Leather Pants I Unfortunately Own
If you’re looking for it, eBay’s got it. If you’re not looking for it, eBay’s got two of them.
Anti-Semitic Hate For Sale in Germany
Plus, Prussian Blue albums available in stores everywhere.
Milkor MGL-140 Six-Shot 40mm Grenade Launcher Wins USMC Competition and Contract
I noted Defense Review’s post on this beast this summer. I also think it was in last summer’s season finale of Battlestar Galactica, but I deleted the episode before I could look again or grab a screen shot.
iPod Bible coming
I don’t have an iPod, but I see how this could be cool.
Skype could pose security problems for companies, analysts say
What would we do without analysts to tell us these things?
1st AD ready for ‘three-dimensional fight’ on return to Iraq
Interesting info on the “Iraq-ified” training of a division designed to stop the Soviet hordes.
General says Iraqis aren’t ready to support their own fighter aircraft
Well, they didn’t take very good care of the last ones they had…
General: Air Force not lacking tankers in Iraq; C-130Js ‘wonderful’
Candid remarks on the performace of some controversial planes in the war zone.
Converted Ohio ready for sea trials
The first of the SSGNs is almost ready for prime time. Meanwhile, the Undersecretary of the Navy toured the USS Forida, which is SSGN #2.
A Journey to Anbar Province
Bill Roggio of the Fourth Rail, often noted on MO, is going to embed in the Anbar province, the area he’s covered so well. I’ve said previously that when the book on the Anbar operations is written, Roggio should write it. Now he’s a shoo-in. He’s taking donations to cover expenses, which will be significant.
Here’s an X-cat for this week. The F10F Jaguar had variable-geometry “swing wings” and a ‘T’ tail (see a good shot of it here). Only one prototype was completed, and only one pilot ever flew it. But Grumman didn’t give up on the swing wing concept. Pic from 1000 Aircraft Photos.
Young Singers Spread Racist Hate
ABC News:
They may remind you of another famous pair of singers, the Olsen Twins, and the girls say they like that. But unlike the Olsens, who built a media empire on their fun-loving, squeaky-clean image, Lamb and Lynx are cultivating a much darker personna. They are white nationalists and use their talents to preach a message of hate.Known as “Prussian Blue” — a nod to their German heritage and bright blue eyes — the girls from Bakersfield, Calif., have been performing songs about white nationalism before all-white crowds since they were nine.
They’re now thirteen.
Those with Germanic heritage have much to be proud of. This sort of thing is not it. It’s very saddening.
I found the pic with those adorable T-shirts at a prussianbluefan blog. I cannot bring myself to link to it, but it’s out there and I feel obligated to note it since I took one of their pics.
This falls under what Murdoc calls “unpatriotic”. I’m sure that they and their fans believe their cause to be patriotism, but it’s not American patriotism. They might be patriots to their own cause, but they are not allies of what makes America great.
The Senator from Mississippi and former Senate Majority Leader: “I’ll never read a blog.”
Okay, so 99.8% of blogs are total crap, and most of the rest are mostly crap. That’s a given and not likely to change any time soon. But still. You’d think he’d give them at least a little consideration. (via Instapundit)
In a move that shocked no one except maybe the President, Harriet Miers has withdrawn her nomination.
(Is that the correct way to word that? She didn’t nominate herself, so can she “withdraw” her nomination?)
Anyway, it appears that the only person on the planet who thought she should be a Supreme Court justice was George Bush, who accepted her decision only “reluctantly“. I’m not a follower of this sort of thing, but the choice certainly seemed curious given that nearly everyone was very unhappy with it It makes me wonder if this wasn’t all part of a master plan of some sort.
Remember New Coke? Some think it was a huge gaffe that Coca-Cola spun into a huge win when it reintroduced Coke Classic. Some think that was the plan all along. I’ve long been in the latter camp, though based only on a gut feeling and not on any evidence of any sort. I’m leaning in that direction on the Miers thing, as well.
Only time will tell, of course. But on the surface I have trouble accepting that the same folks who nominated John Roberts and maneuvered him into the top slot would follow up with Miers unless it was a ploy. Opponents of the administration like to think that Bush is on the ropes, struggling to maintain control. And that might, in fact, be true, though I am skeptical that things are really as bad as we’re told.
Based on a gut feeling, much like the one I had as a teenager about New Coke, I suspect that the new nomination is going to be anything but lame.
UPDATE: Okay. A quick Google reveals that the “Harriet Miers is New Coke” thing has been done in one way or another about a bazillion times already. Sorry. I thought I was being snarkily clever.
I don’t believe that I saw any of that previously, though I’m not sure how I overlooked the Malkin post from a couple of weeks ago.
UPDATE 2: See, what I should do is look around a bit before I hit the ‘post’ button. The infallible Snopes claims that the New Coke thing was an honest mistake, not a clever marketing ploy.
That doesn’t fit my personal worldview, so I’m basically going to dismiss it.
Incidentally, I really like new Coke With Lime.
The quality level on Scrappleface comes and goes [Who are you to talk? - Ed.] but this is a good one:
There’s an extended discussion in the comments section of my earlier post about the anti-recruiting “advertisement” run in a New York school newspaper by a student. I think a lot of what’s being said by a couple of commenters and by me illustrates a lot of what’s wrong (and right) with the current “polarization” of American politics.
I think calling someone “unpatriotic” is not only allowed, but expected. As long as you can back up your claim. If you’ve been called “unpatriotic”, don’t sit there an whine about it. Explain why the claim is wrong. If you can.
I guess that, while I don’t really condone lighting people up just for kicks, I don’t have trouble taking a hard line or being an extremist about things I think are important enough to merit such a stance. And I don’t begrudge others their right to do likewise. But we’ll be at odds from time to time, and that’s as it should be.
I’m all for questioning the Bush administration and holding their feet to the fire when it’s called for. Obviously, I don’t do a whole lot of that here on MO, but the main reason is that it’s already being done on the front pages of nearly every newspaper in America and on the evening news every night. I guess with the NYT charging for access to some of their opinion columns these days, though, maybe people just aren’t exposed to enough Bush-bashing anymore.
If you’re looking for something to do, check out the post and comments. Add your own thoughts if you want. Don’t if you don’t.
UPDATE: Okay. Maybe I’m sorry I pointed this discussion out. It’s grown considerably in length since posted this. That doesn’t make it less meaningful than before. Just a lot longer. Be warned.
Michelle Malkin notes a totally bizarre advertisement (or something) for Al Franken’s latest book. I can’t view the video right now, but she’s got some screenshots. It just leaves me shaking my head.
With so many of the comedians on “their side”, you’d think there’d be a lot more good material coming out of the anti-Conservative camp. Why haven’t we seen it?
Maybe I’ve just missed it.
