“I Knew It Was a Terrible Mistake, but I Didn’t Mention It Until I Got a Book Contract.”
Why is it that almost all of these folks blowing the whistle on the big bad Bush administration do it with a book? It’s almost like there’s some big market for Bush bashing books.

“Key” Special Groups financier captured south of Baghdad
Continuing to whittle away at the Special Groups.

And somebody needs to pin down the critics on just what sources of energy are acceptable, given that they don’t like oil, don’t want nuclear, oppose gas drilling, are limiting oil shale, and even get in the way of wind power.
It doesn’t take much research to figure out it’s not about the environment or about national wellness, it’s about the money. Just like everything else.

Not All Biofuels Are the Same
Corn-based ethanol has been giving biofuels a bad name. The real solution is biodiesel — a green, efficient energy source that won’t starve the planet. Yeah, but right now the money is in corn ethanol.

Genesis
The key to understanding what’s happening in Iraq is to be able to identify a trend by it’s indicators (and conversely to be able to determine which events are part of a trend) and to recognize which trends or events matter (in long or short term) and which don’t.

Raining Nails
Flechettes for the MLRS?

AK-47 Vodka
No poodle shooter.

It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Just watched this again and still think it’s one of the funniest movies of all time.

AK-15
An unholy union.

US uses wrong bullets- “These cans are defective”
Uncle Jimbo, in that calm, quiet way of his that we all appreciate, politely disagrees with mediaplay of the 5.56 controversy.

Whoops!
When holding up a convenience store, hang on to your gun.

MH-60R/S: The USA’s New Naval Workhorse Helicopters
DID on these whirlybirds.

World’s Deepest Swimming Pool
108 feet deep.

DIY Ghost
Chickenwire.

Lance Cpl. David Cantu, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, patrols past goats in the city of Hit, Iraq on Mar. 8, 2008. Regimental Combat Team 5 is deployed with Multi-National Force-West in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in the Al Anbar province of Iraq to develop Iraqi security forces, facilitate the development of official rule of law through democratic reforms, and continue the development of a market based economy centered on Iraqi reconstruction. (U.S. Marine Corps photo/Cpl. Tyler Hill)

Note the short barrel on the SAW. Originally used primarily by Airborne troops, the short-barreled M249s seem to have become the norm. In early 2006 I pointed out short SAWs a couple of times with soldiers, but the Marines stuck with the regular 18″ barrel for a while. I’ve been seeing more and more pictures of Marines with short-barreled M249s, though, and they, too, seem to have made the switch.

Even though the Marines recently began transitioning some troops to the M4 carbine, the majority of the service will stick with the M16. Note that the Marine rifleman in the picture has an M16/M203.

Sgt. Cortnie B. Jozsa a flight mechanic of Marine Medium Heavy Tiltrotor Squadron 263 power washes the right engine of a MV-22B Osprey, March 5. VMM-263 is deployed as a part of Multi-National Force-West in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in the Al Anbar province of Iraq to develop Iraqi security forces, facilitate the development of official rule of law through democratic reforms, and continue the development of a market based economy centered on Iraqi reconstruction. (U.S Marine photo/Sgt. Rome M. Lazarus)

Luckily, it was a training flight and the crew escaped unharmed:

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A helicopter whose pilot was practicing approaches crashed on the roof of a hospital Thursday, catching fire moments after the two people on board escaped unharmed, a fire official said.

No patients were aboard the helicopter in the crash around 11 a.m. at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital, Fire Chief John VanSolkema said. The chopper landed on its side and caught fire, he said.

The crash sent thick, black smoke over downtown and forced the evacuation of patients from the building.

Lex writes about the Blackwater in San Diego issue and notes:

In stable countries or regions where the rule of law applied, you wouldn’t need a company like Blackwater, not at the prices they charge. And while we might all wish that Iraq was a safer place for diplomats and puppies and kite flying and so on, wishes will not make it so – the country and capital were, until quite recently, violently lawless in fact if not in theory.

Say Uncle points out Another mass shooting stopped by a carry permit holder. A guy in a bar, no less.

In the small town of Winnemucca Nevada a man bent on performing a mass shooting at a bar was stopped by an armed CCW permit holder who happened to be in the right place at the right time. The alleged mass murderer had already killed two victims & had injured two others with gunshot wounds, but while he was reloading he was shot & killed by an armed CCW permit holder who was also at the bar.

Let’s see:

1. Killer killing people
2. No law enforcement officials apparently present
3. CCW holder carrying in establishment that serves alcohol
4. CCW stops killer
5. No one killed in cross fire
6. Cops don’t have to hesitate while trying to distinguish killer from cowboy

All in all, a storyline with a rather unhappy ending for the antis.

As I’ve noted, we have disconnected our television. Otherwise, like you, we would be seeing this story over and over and over on every channel.

(I knew I couldn’t keep a straight face while typing that…)

Cross-posted from GunPundit.

A handout photograph supplied by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on 27 May 2008 shows Israeli women soldiers in a training exercise in the desert somewhere in Israel.

If that’s too girlie for you, here’s a tank:

Found at MilitaryPhotos.net.

Is Bigger Better? Current Ops Reignite Bullet Controversy

I still don’t get why this suddenly made the press now.

Save the planet. Die at your appointed time. It’s for the kids.

Wait. It’s instructions for the kids.

Via Wizbang.

Image from KBismarck.com.

1,995 German sailors went down with the Bismarck on May 27th, 1941. 1,415 British sailors had gone down three days earlier when the HMS Hood exploded after a magazine hit by the Bismarck. Others died during the long chase.

Bloody days.