-- Nice, IBPO, nice. It's not as if unions already have reputations as corrupt, self-serving thug-ocracies, right? Asking for a paid holiday on 9/11 is worse than asinine, it's demeaning and, since it's the Peabody, MA police force, transparently disingenuous. Why in the world would they need the day off? /unionbashing
-- The Military Times polled its subscribers, and no surprise here: McCain wins 68%-23%. I know that this will be considered a victorious referendum on the troops support for the Iraq War and OEF, but I find the results unsettling. We talk about the various Two Americas ad nauseum: red-vs.-blue, north-vs.-south, east coast-vs.-west coast, main street-vs.-wall street, &c. No one talks about the very real schism of military-vs.-civilian.
This isn't to say that there is antipathy between the military and civilian groups, rather that it's profoundly unsettling that a nation's defenders, by large margins, agree/identify with only one wing of American politics. I'm sure that everyone has their own reasons for why this is so (the increasing left-ism of the Democratic party, the long-entrenched reactionary nature of our military culture and leadership, to name two opposing views), but it shouldn't be an exultant point for either side.
-- Linking through from Blackfive to Maj Pain's blog for the above post, I also found this rant on 'winning' that I found hilariously splenetic. It's these kinds of minds, minds that haven't been tarnished by modern child-rearing theory or mealy-mouthed anti-competition sports leagues, that stand atop the bulwarks each night, allowing us yet another peaceful sleep. That thought might frighten you or thrill you, but it's reality nevertheless.
**WARNING: Maj Pain's blog, while always entertaining and full of insight into the modern military mind, has an embedded player that has what I can only describe as a truly gawdawful selection of rock and country. Personally, I can think of few circles of hell lower than the one that consistently streams Eric Clapton, Eagles, Brooks & Dunn, and Nickleback. So make sure your speakers are turned off/turned up depending on your tastes. 'Lay Down Sally'? Really?!**
-- Yet another post in the "Taliban are nothing but gangster thugocrats" series: U.S. troops pull a (probably kickass) raid and rescue a kidnapped-for-ransom American hostage.
-- BUDs, A-School, Force Recon school, and PJ school are intense, but I'm pretty sure we don't allow this kind of stuff to happen, for good reason.
A Japanese sailor dropping out of an elite navy training program died in an unofficial farewell ritual requiring him to fight 15 classmates, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday.I'm not into tags, but I think I might create a "Japan is Crazy" tag just to catalogue all the wackiness.
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