Happy Christmas, Everyone

Yes. Exactly That.

Professor Hanson decries the lack of emphasis on the liberal arts, and he's right.

I Need To Stop Checking Funky News Sites

I thought that we plumbed the depths of lame-o sexuality with this story.
I was wrong.
Things can be worse. So much worse.

An Elegant Solution to the Problem Set

The title refers to an oft cited requirement in jiu-jitsu. It's not enough to just pummel one's opponent and batter him into submission--although that's always acknowledged as a sound means of ending the confrontation. Instead, it is better to confound him, confuse him, and let him be the architect of his own demise. A liberal application of "brute force and ignorance" may well solve the problem, but it's not the preferred method of engineering the end of the conflict.
This article brought that axiom to mind. The introduction of the stuxnet computer worm into the Iranian "bomb project" called for high-end artistry in at least three different and difficult endeavors (procuring the software codes, introducing stuxnet to the Iranian computing systems, and keeping the malignant code under the radar until it had done its damage). Also, the stuxnet computer worm achieved three different objectives (skewing research and application numbers, so that none of the data can ever be trusted; ruining the life-cycle of Iranian centrifuges; and eating into the Iranian supply of uranium by "spinning" worthless product), all of which will have a long-term, deleterious effect on Iranian nuclear ambitions.
Further, the later attack on two Iranian scientists--at least one of whom was a leader in the effort to mitigate the effects of stuxnet--demonstrates a sublime commitment to spoiling Iranian efforts to generate a nuclear weapon.
Stuxnet represents the high end of the art of cyber mayhem.
The authors of this op make Assange look like a piker.

I'll Be In My Bunk...

Yeah, after watching this I needed some quiet time and a Camel.

A Uniquely American Story

What other country could point to a story like this? A great American, who is, through determination and application, living the American dream.

On Traveling

Okay, still no Trav-O-Rama pics from when I'm on the road. This is less because I'm doing high-speed stuff that requires OPSEC than from the fact that I temporarily misplaced my cheap-o camera's recharge/download cable.

Shoes- So, going through the (always full of ass-pain) security lines, as I came out of the metal detector and and was replacing my three gray bins full of stuff into their rightful places before grabbing my shoes and belt and moving to somewhere out of the traffic to put them back on, some uber-traveler wearing plimsole flip-flops and nylon shorts goes waltzing by me with a very superior look on his face. Kinda like "I've got this dicked and you still haven't figured it out." Uh-huh. Check it out, my little shower-shoe wearing Twinkle Toes: those shoes do you no good in anything but getting through security. If anything bad happens, your shoes are a big, fat liability.
Bad Thing 1: Terrorist /random nut job on the plane. Your shoes are zero protection, and you have zero chance of using them (still attached to your feet) as a field expedient weapon. Foot stomp? Shin kick? Shin rake? Knee-buckler? Place-kick to the jewels? Nope.
Bad Thing 2: In-flight emergency/crash landing. Your shoes won't protect your feet from debris, twisted metal, other people's shoes as they run over your ass to get to the emergency exit.
Bad Thing 3: Post emergency survival situation. So let's say you survive the crash and the ensuing fireball, and you're on the ground wherever Mr. Newton's gravity says the plane will land. How good are your flip flops in triple canopy? A swamp? A mountainside? Yeah, I thought not.
Anyway, suck up the extra five minutes it takes you at the security point and wear a decent, reliable pair of brogans when you travel.

-Fitness on the Road: So, being tired of having my PT regimen limited to the quality of the gym at whatever hotel I'm in, and bored with push-ups, flutter kicks, and Hindu squats in the room, I started traveling with a kettlebell (hey, I'm authorized excess baggage, why not take advantage of it?). So, my first trip out with the kettlebell, I leave the room at the ass-crack of dawn to get a workout in. I'm feeling very smug and superior--kind of a fitness version of Mr. Twinkle Toes above--and head for the elevator to go outside and find a grassy knoll on which to kick my own ass. Waiting for the elevator, I run into another dude--carrying a kettlebell! How weird is that? Guess I'm not as original and kettlebells aren't as esoteric as I thought.

-Fall to your knees and give thanks: ...for the 2nd Amendment. I'm currently in what will be for me the third country in a row which the State Department ranks "critical" for violent crime. The Force Protection brief I received upon getting in-country is enough to make one want to spend the trip huddled under the hotel bed in the fetal position, thumb sucking. The bad guys are armed to the teeth, the good guys are outgunned, and the general populace are victims. It sucks. That whole spiel about how when guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns is a cliche for a reason. That reason being that it's farkin' true.

SWAT!!

SWAT explained here.
Newest installment.

N.J. Gov. Chris Christie calls Jon Corzine quintessential limousins liberal Democrat in America

Good For Her

Katrina Hodge, Miss England, has completed her term as the island nations reigning beauty queen and will now go back to her old job--as a corporal in Her Majesty's army.

Good for her. Hey, it's not on the same scale as George Washington refusing to serve more than two terms and going back to private citizenship, but I'm more than sure that she could have cashed out on the deal and used it to leverage some sort of private sector gig.

Kudos.

Knives, Watches, Guns, and Shoes

I'll never be a fashion trend-setter. My kids have to be cattle-prodded to go to market with me when I'm in my "shopping attire"--basically monkey-feet, MC-Hammer looking 1980's weightlifter pants, either a wife-beater t-shirt or an old flannel shirt with collar and sleeves ripped off, and of course, the ubiquitous man-purse. It's a fashion look I choose to call "Bohemian Steroid," and the eye-rolling it induces from my progeny is worth every penny I (don't) spend to achieve my sartorial splendor.
Still, there's some stuff that you've got to pay for if you want the product to "get it right." Knives, watches, guns and shoes are personal items I won't short on. In the interest of ensuring I've got the right tool for the job, I'll make my wife nuts with the price I'm willing to pay. Conversely, I'll usually do a pretty good job at ensuring that I don't confuse "want" with "need." If a $60 G-shock will give me the functions and reliability I need, I'm good with it.
But I can understand somebody wanting to pay a little extra to add some bling to the functional tool for which they are paying. Hey, if you want to shell out an extra $150 bucks for the Suunto you want instead of the G-shock you need, knock yourself out. It's a free country.
Still, are these guys asking almost 90 grand for a watch? And people pay that? Okay, I don't know what a tourbillion is, but still...

Dude, It Was In Your Butt

Everyone gets a little creative license when blogging. So, I thought that there may well be a little exaggeration in tgace's post about what criminals/bad guys are saying vice what they mean.

Apparently, I was wrong.

Is Nothing Sacred?

There are certain symbols, icons and archetypes with which one should not fuck. I'm not talking about cry-baby muslims who feel the need to run amok at the mere hint of a whiff of a rumor of some sort of "insult" to Islam. No, I'm talking serious shit, here.
True Grit is one of the best movies ever made. And John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn is probably the most iconic role that the Duke ever played.
You don't fuck with it...
Except.
Except the Coen brothers are outstanding film makers. And Jeff Bridges is probably the best of our current (sorry) generation of film stars. And the Coen brothers make really good films.
So something that never should have been, out of respect, out of homage, out of consideration for a work of art that can only be described as complete, is made and now looming over the holiday season horizon.
And I gotta say: I'm going to watch it, and I think it's going to be pretty good.
The Dude playing The Duke. Who'd've thought?

Holy Schnikes

Okay, saw this post from Starbuck, but at the time I didn't have the pipes (or the inclination) to download it. Now that I'm back in the world of broad band, though...
Holy shit.
All I can say is, if I'd been in the crew compartment during this particular adventure, someone would've gotten an ass-whoopin at mission complete. 'T's all I'm saying.
In the meantime...Holy shit.

Airborne Murine Drug-Zombie Campaign

What a great headline for the feel-good story of the year.

Great Concept, Killer Trailer

Behold a trailer not for a soon-to-be-released cinematic extravaganza or for the ABC Movie of the Week. Nope, it's a movie trailer for a book. How awesome and original is that? Of course, awesome and original marketing techniques are required for the nexus of Star Trek and the Zombie Apocalypse. Double click to bring up der youtube; I can't seem to get the sizing right, dammit.

Meditations on Shooting

Just got off the road. Sorry, for technical reasons, no pict-o-graphic travelogue this time. Just a couple of observations.
One thing that continually chaps my ass is Uncle Sam's insistence that when traveling, you only get 75% of your per diem on travel days. Now, this makes sense if you're driving to a conference 138 miles up the road. But if you're travel requires a dedicated day and the inclusion of planes, trains, and automobiles, you're screwed. So, the day I'm pulling down only 75% of what the Army says I need in order to feed myself, I either pay airport extortionist prices or opt for no chow. Great. Yuh, it's not like I'm breaking the bank if I get a personal (cardboard tasting) pizza and a coke for $16, it's just the cognitive dissonance built into the system that makes me nuts.
Anyway, enough sniveling.
On this last trip, I was reminded of this article from SSG Wall in the Small Wars Journal. It's a great look at training requirements for the production of a real shooter, vice a soldier who has been trained to the minimum standard, and is therefor vulnerable to the vagaries of the long-shot engagements that are prevalent in Afghanistan. One thing the article doesn't cover, though, is the fact that the little .223 varmint round we use is going to be a limiting factor on long range engagements regardless of the training and proficiency of the shooter. I hear the SCAR rifle from FN has 7.62 variants for the average rifleman, which would greatly increase the efficacy of long range engagements.
But above and beyond training shortcomings for individual riflemen in Afghanistan faced with long range engagements, how about training shortcomings for the M2? The M2 training troops get now is weak, to say the least. The "Ma Duece" .50 calibre machine gun is arguably the best crew-served weapon ever fielded by our or any other army. Since it went into production in 1932, no significant design changes in the gun have been introduced. It's kind of like the Great White shark: why evolve if you're badass enough? However, the training and range work paradigm for the M2 sucks. The outstanding advantage it gives our troops in long range engagements is attenuated by the crap training we give M2 gunners (I won't go into detail here; take my word for it. If you disagree, let me know and I'll disabuse you of any notion that we spend the appropriate amount of time and effort training our M2 gunners).
Also, though, we've kinda sorta ignored improving optics that will maximize the effects this great weapon system generates. Different story for tankers and aviators, but infantryman (and those using the M2 for ground combat, like loggies in a convoy) fire the M2 using iron sights, thusly
For limited visibility engagements, the AN/TVS-5 is used
The M2 is a remarkably accurate weapon. Max effective range (the range at which the average well-trained gunner will hit the target 50% of the time) is 1800 meters, which is just over tracer burn-out. However, max range (the distance the round will travel with lethal effects) is a whopping 4.2 miles. So, do you think ergonomic optics would be a bonus in the long-range engagements of Afghanistan?
When using the iron sights, the gunner lines up the target, guesstimates the range, and depresses the butterfly trigger with his thumbs. He uses the tracer and the impact splash signature to figure out his round strike, and then walks it in from there. At night, he uses the AN/TVS-5 night scope, but the scope 1) suffers a "white out" effect due to the gun's prodigious muzzle flash and 2) knocks the snot out of the gunner, not quite leaving him with a blackened eye, but close.
So, I can guarantee that wherever we're using it, the capabilities of this magnificent weapon are not being leveraged for Joe. On the Mungadai, both Max Lumber and 19 Kilo Joe were M2 black belts, able to hit whatever they could see. But that was due to experience, talent, and determination--not to any range work the Army provided for them.
And, whatever shortcomings with regard to optics the M2 has, I'm more than sure that the Mark 19 has the same issues. Note that the young Marine gunner has a big ass white light attached to the weapon system so that he can shoot over iron sights at night. C'mon, we can do better.
On the topic of doing better, I ran into this article (sorry, I should give some attribution to whomever first linked to it, but I was a wee bit inebriated last night and have no idea) debunking firearms myths. Well worth a read. The only thing I would add to it is that weapons proficiency is a perishable skill. As great a gunfighter as you may have been at some point, if you're not on the range every day, you're not a great shooter. Period.
There are a bunch of bad habits which seem natural when one picks up a weapon that one needs to unlearn to be a decent shooter (let alone gunfighter). James Rummel points out one: the languid lean. I agree with everything he says--per usual--but would add that the same phenomenon is prevalent amongst fistfighters, too. Most boxers or strike-based martial artists will have to fight the inclination to lean so that the shoulders are behind the hips. Most MMA guys will fire off their punches from an upright position, most boxers (with their fists festooned with tape, padding and leather) take care to put their shoulders well forward of the hips. But the natural inclination of the novice fighter is to lean back, away from the bad man trying to punch one in the face.

It's a Two-fer Kind of Day

First, today is Bruce Springsteen's 61st birthday, so happy birthday to The Boss.

Second, the Colombians bagged Mono Jojoy, leader of the FARC.
Burn in hell, you murderous son of a bitch.

Blogging May Well Be Light...

...on account of I think I'm going to pick up a new hobby:

Special rules govern the bagging of gators. Hunters are not allowed to use guns. Instead, they may use a pole, spear, bow and arrow, or rod and reel to catch the animal, then use a bang stick — a pole with an explosive charge on the end — to dispatch it point-blank before bringing it into a boat.

Might have to modify the rules a little bit, and throw out the whole "bang stick" schtick.After all, if you got an M4X and a Dead On annihilator, you don't need the bang-stick

Structure Always Trumps Function

Now, see, this is the hallmark of an adaptive, flexible (and no, it's not the same thing, smartass) and learning organization. You need to solicit bottom-up input and ensure that your way of waging war has not become stratified or ossified. Like this guy. The good Colonel noted some deficiencies that seemed rather absurd in a war-zone, and brought attention to it.
Good for him! I'm sure his feedback will be considered valuable input in increasing organizational efficacy and efficiency. Thank God we've got an Army/DoD in which free-wheeling debate, constructive criticism, and organizational awareness are a preventative palliative against group-think and lock-step (goose-step?) organizational culture.
Man, I sure am glad that we've gotten beyond the pettiness and bald, blind ambition that subordinates the national interest to cheap individual agendas and unit chauvinism.
Nothing but totally kick-ass professionalism here! We are ready to...
Oh, they fired the guy. No shit.
I don't mind higher ups being self-serving, willfully blind pricks. Well, I do mind. But I can live with it as long as I can slide by/under/thru and still get the mission done. The thing that kills me, though, is the whole self- circle jerk about how organizationally great we are, when in fact we are, as a group, vain, vapid, and venal.
Some days, I want to suck-start my 9mm.

Il Bambino

Not just for the similarities in their rather generous physiques, my own mental moniker for NJ Governor Chris Christie is Il Bambino.
The guy has the poise, confidence, and stunning ability to deliver that is typified by Ruth's predilection for generating home runs in white-knuckle situations. And, too, I think I can see the shroud of legend ready to wrap around Christie.
Chris Christie stands out as a politician that is worthy of the name.
Politicians themselves try to make a dirty word out of politics. Every time a politician's opponent brings up a perspective on an issue that he doesn't like, the politician squeals that "we're playing politics with the issue."
Hey, Asshead, politics is how we resolve issues without resorting to bloodshed. Politics is--or should be--the honest attempt by people of good faith to move forward on a contentious issue while maintaining a civil society. Why should "playing politics" be a bad thing? You're side is doing shit I don't like on a certain issue; I want to use that issue to illuminate the fact that your values, beliefs, and and philosophy of governance is diametrically opposed to mine. Seems to me that crying "playing politics!!" is the first refuge of a scoundrel. So, whine-weasel, if we don't settle our differences by "politics," how then do we settle them? Cutlasses at dawn? I'm kinda sorta good with that, but I've got an unhealthy kamikaze twist to my personality. I'm relatively sure that most constituents of our constitutional republic want their principally- based differences settled in a peaceable, rational manner. So, is there a better means than "politics?" Is there any reason that "playing politics" should be ignoble? I would submit that it's far better than "playing cutlasses."
Anyway, the Babe had the ability to crush home-runs without regard to the situation, the home field, the temperance or volatility of the crowd. Hitting home runs was what he did; all else was superfluous.
Kind of like Chris Christie; Christie is there to reform NJ state government. He's not there for aught else. So, when he gets on the stage, he crushes 'em home in a manner that reminds me of the Sultan of Swat ("reminds me" in a 21st Century, YouTube kind of way). There's him, the bat, the ball, and the fence. Questions about anything else are superfluous.
Observe how, when Christie and his administration swing and whiff, Christie accepts all responsibility, puts the whole thing in context(1 erroneous page in an application of 1,000+ pages), and then drives home the point.


I'd work for the guy in a heartbeat.