March 2011 - Argghhh!

8^ )Rather than sit in the command bunker of a missile silo awaiting his chance to torch a city for peace, John Noonan of Op-For has instead opted to go from the purity of killing cities for freedom to work as a nug for the House Armed Services Committee.Sell-out.Not that having some vets, and younger ones at that, isn't a bad uptick in the diversity bracket...I bet he ends up wishing for the Big Red Button again. A lot less stressful....

Obama and the Jargonauts - via the Washington Examiner: White House: Libya fight is not war, it's 'kinetic military action' We (the military) invented this atrocious verbal evasion so we wouldn't have to say "kill people and break things." It sounded stupid then (but the jargonauts *loved* it) and it sounds stupid now. Even more so when it's coming from politicians trying to sound all militant and stuff....

According to General Carter Ham, commander of AFRICOM in a press briefing, as reported by Josh Rogin in Foreign Policy:"We do not provide close air support for the opposition forces. We protect civilians," Gen. Carter Ham, the top military official in charge of the operation, told reporters in a conference call on Monday. The problem is, there is no official communication with the rebel forces on the ground and there is no good way to distinguish the rebel fighters engaged against the government...

It was a wintry day at Castle Argghhh! yesterday...The news has just been a drumbeat of awful. Unrest, fighting, and instability in the Middle East, Afghanistan lingers, food prices skyrocket while there is officially little to no inflation (heh). The West spirals down the drain of seemingly intractable debt that no one in power is willing to be adult about - because those of us who put them in power (especially the ones who don't foot the bill) just want to hold their hands over their ears going...

Our military history this decade is beginning to read like the British Empire's military history... except they actually had an empire and made money at it. We're doing it the "progressive" way - having all the wars and losing our shirt doing it. Sigh. Word for the journos who are risking their lives covering the latest fracas - these are howitzers, not tanks. Otobreda Palmaria 155mm howitzers, of which Qaddaffi has, oh, I guess 208, now that he's had one blow it's turret...

Jörg is at it again. This time ready for whenever zombies storm his Schloß. Though I wouldn't recommend this implement to Massa John or UnkaBill. Boq

Funny you should ask.*ringing phone*Me: Hello?Female Animal Rescue Volunteer: Bill? [name redacted]. Listen, we've got a dog and she needs some help. Me: As in...?FARV: Well, she's not socialized, and she's never had any training, and you're good with big dogs, and ['nother name redacted] won't go near her because -- well, the people we got her from say...*conversation trails off*Me: *What* did they say, specifically?FARV: They said she hates men.Me: Ahem. I'm a man.FARV...