MO back on the air.
Some terrible problem at my host that took days to recover from. Not terribly pleased, but what can you do?
Murdoc’s apologies for the problems.
UPDATE: Also, I want to thank those who emailed with concern for old Murdoc. Everything is fine and blogging will resume shortly.
UPDATE 2: It appears that a small amount of content may have been lost, including some reader comments. My understanding of the issue is that a problem with the RAID on the server MO is hosted on pretty much hosed everything and they had to restore from back-up. I’ve got my own back-up which may or may not be slightly more recent than the one they used, but we’ve already started down a new road and I’m hesitant to attempt a switch back at this point. So we’re just going to soldier on from this point.
Happy Birthday Aussies:
Chief of Army Lieutenant General Ken Gillespie addresses Army Personnel gathered around the Pool of Reflection at the Australian War Memorial for Army’s 109th Birthday. The Army Banner is in the foreground and was paraded by members of Australia's Federation Guard.
Russia’s new Ground Forces chief urges drastic cuts in tanks
Murdoc agrees wholeheartedly. The Russian army should have fewer tanks.
Tea Party sale at Gadsden and Culpeper. Get yer DTOM stuff for 15% off.
I’ve got a number of Gadsden and Culpepper products and love them. Big First Navy Jack on the wall above my desk.
NATO issues directive restricting night raids
We own the air with supersonic attack aircraft, remotely-piloted vehicles, and satellite-guided munitions. We restrict air support to our troops in combat with the enemy.
We own the night with night vision goggles, GPS navigation, and command and control that can tell where every allied soldier is. We restrict night raids against the enemy.
Among the public, night raids by international troops raise anger because of cultural sensitivities, said Hamid Mohammad, head of the local chapter of a worldwide student leadership organization.
“If a foreign soldier goes into an Afghan house and if they even search boxes of the women’s clothes, the men get very angry,” he told McChrystal. “This is the thing that creates problems for international forces and destroys the perception of (NATO) among the local people.”
Okay, make sure we don’t search boxes containing women’s clothing. And make sure to advertise the fact that we won’t search boxes containing women’s clothing.
THE Taliban have found a way to beat American airpower. And they have managed this remarkable feat with American help.
The consequences of this development are front and center in the current offensive in Marja, Afghanistan, where air support to American and Afghan forces has been all but grounded by concerns about civilian casualties.
American and NATO military leaders — worried by Taliban propaganda claiming that air strikes have killed an inordinate number of civilians, and persuaded by “hearts and minds” enthusiasts that the key to winning the war is the Afghan population’s goodwill — have largely relinquished the strategic advantage of American air dominance.
The column doesn’t really include anything new on the subject of increasingly restrictive rules of engagement, but I’m surprised to see it (especially with those lead paragraphs) in the NYT.
While we obviously cannot and should not bomb away without regard for civilian casualties, I also worry that we’re putting our troops and the mission at risk by over-correcting.
U.S. Owns Up to Secret Hunt for Sunken Soviet Sub
Washington is owning up to Project Azorian, a brazen mission from the days of high-stakes — and high-seas — Cold War rivalry.
After more than 30 years of refusing to confirm the barest facts of what the world already knew, the CIA has released an internal account of Project Azorian, though with juicy details taken out. The account surfaced Friday at the hands of private researchers from the National Security Archive who used the Freedom of Information Act to achieve the declassification.
Though no one on the planet is surprised to hear this, Murdoc hopes they got ten times the stuff off the Rooskie boat as people suspect.
A while back I read Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine’s Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S., a story of the K-129 incident claiming that it could have been a quasi-rogue attempt to start a war that ended with the destruction of the sub.
Though the events in the book certainly seem plausible, it’s one of those things that a poor regular citizen like Murdoc will never be able to know the truth about.
The Glomar Explorer is currently in use as a drilling platform somewhere near Indonesia. At least, that’s what they’re telling us she’s up to.
Marvel Comics’ depiction of anti-tax protesters inspires anger, apology
Captain America #602 shows a political rally with a sign reading “Tea Bag The Libs Before They Tea Bag You.”
This whole tea bag thing is pretty funny. It’s almost like they are intentionally misunderstanding.
