Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 is a simple reminder that some things just never change. And shouldn’t. This is the old-time whiskey made as our fathers made it. Remaining true to Jack Daniel’s original recipe and charcoal-mellowed character means folks today enjoy the same sipping whiskey awarded seven international gold medals.
So says Jack's Daniel's web site. Rather inspiring, isn't it? Such noble sentiments should warm the cockles of the most cynical drunkard's heart.
Unfortunately, not a word of it is true. For the second time since the Brown-Forman Corporation acquired the distillery in 1956, they have lowered the proof of Jack Daniel's Black Label Tennessee Whiskey. Fifteen years ago they dropped its original 90 proof to 86, and very recently, and might I saw with zero fanfare, they degraded it to 80 proof...
Included in the article is a link to sign a petition in protest of degrading Old No. 7 any further. Read the article to see how the PC Police can get at anything - even whiskey. It's a travesty. This is at least as important as RatherGate.
[No animals were hurt in the production of this post]
In honor of the debate tonight, these are making the email circuit...thanks to Roger for these. Too bad we couldn't make debating in drag one of the requirements in the 36 page debate doc. Someone could've slipped it in there...
Hamilton's Pamphlets has the details...the vet happens to be a former MP who was getting a coffee with his sixteen year old brother when some really stupid people tried to kill him more than once.
Steven Moore, who worked for the CPA in Iraq and had an anonymous blog (The View from Baghdad) there, now has a blog and project called The Truth About Iraq.
Steven was in Bagdad for nine months, from July of last year through April of this year, doing about a dozen polls and seventy focus groups, and advising Ambassador Bremer on Iraqi public opinion.
Since returning from Iraq, Steven was disgusted with how the media was portraying events in Iraq and thoroughly nauseated by Michael Moore (who has never been to Iraq) and the lies that he is propagating. So, Steven started The Truth About Iraq.org where he uses some of the polling information from Iraq to debunk some of the myths that have been created by the media.
Domestically, The Truth About Iraq organization also did a poll of swing state media markets- Columbus, Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Philly- and found out that a lot of the messages that they have on their site about how life is improving for Iraqis actually moves voters. Given that more than 7 million people watched Dan Rather last night, and Fahrenheit 9/11 has sold some 13 million tickets, Steven figures the only way to counter such massive disinformation is through paid television commercials.
So, check out The Truth About Iraq and see what you think of Steven Moore's blog and project.
David Prendergast - a lawyer, a Vietnam Veteran and an advocate for Vietnam Veterans for over thirty years - recently launched a web site which contains the entire document archive for the U.S. Marine Corps for all units deployed to Vietnam from 1960-1975. It's a subscription based site and you have to pay a monthly fee for access, but the site has an index of links that are useful and the preview is cool (Battle of Chu Lai info).
This archive contains the monthly command chronologies, after action reports, operational reports, and much more. David uses this material to validate veteran stressors and to document events for narratives submitted with V.A. disability applications.
This information is an amazing compilation of the heritage and valor of Marine Vietnam Veterans.
Thanks to Seamus and Gunny Jim Gregory for the link.
Because of the link from NRO a few days ago, one of my brothers discovered the blog and quickly figured out who was behind it.
He thought I sounded familiar and then saw the pajamas picture. That did it.
The first thing he said was "I'm telling MOM!"
Just kidding...actually what he wrote was:
Hey brother,
Got linked to your site today from National Review Online. Got curious about the person behind what I was reading, a lo and behold, there are some interesting similarities to my brother. Great site, I didn't realize you were famous.
PS. I really liked the picture of you, your wife and the dog!
First, the Democrats want you to believe that we will have a draft just as soon as a bill can get passed through congress. I just got an email from Phil and Amit with the Draft legislation attached. It must be making the rounds through the email circuits again.
Why would they want that?
Isolationists and anti-military people would like to see the draft as a way to discourage voters from voting for Bush come election time. Have you noticed how many times Senator Edwards yells out that there will be no draft in a Kerry Administration? That's fear-mongering, plain and simple.
I absolutely mean no offense to all who served - millions of drafted Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coastguardsmen (and probably the Merchant Marine were drafted too) were heroes - however, no one in the military wants a draft.
Think about it.
If you volunteered to fight for your country, would you want to be sitting in a fighting position next to someone who didn't want to serve in the first place? Hell, no, you wouldn't. You'd want a lean, mean bad a$$ next to you ready to fight.
Our volunteer military works well. We don't need a draft unless World War breaks out, but then we will probably have Russia, China, and India on our side...
Kevin Aylward at Wizbang has been one of my favorite bloggers for a long, long time.
He hosts the most accurate Weblog Awards around (better than the WashPo). BTW, last year, I was in 3rd for Best New Blog (Allah and Healing Iraq were the two ahead of me, deservedly so). While you will be able to nominate this blog for a 2004 Award, the competition will be much more fierce as I'm either a Mortal Human or Primate in the Ecosystem depending on when you look. In any case, Wizbang makes the awards more interesting...Last year, Hugh Hewitt and others created a coalition that did very, very well.
So stay tuned for the announcement of the 2004 Weblog Awards hosted by the great folks at Wizbang!
"Grab it before the Pentagon orders it burned..." - Vanity Fair
"...nonpartisan patriotism is the common thread tying together these reflections, love letters and stories of combat. They make for riveting reading." - The Washington Post
Winner of the 2006 Gold Medal for Anthologies - Military Writer's Society of America
"This collection is an excellent introduction to an emerging form of war reporting." - Booklist
"...there is much to tell, and celebrate, in the tough, day-to-day work that our soldiers are doing in one of the most challenging environments any army has ever faced..." - The Philadelphia Inquirer
"...the collection is riveting...a worthy tribute." - The American Prospect
Click here
for more information and list of blogger/authors
Former Paratrooper and Army Officer, "Blackfive" started this blog upon learning of the valorous sacrifice of a friend that was not reported by the journalist whose life he saved. Email: blackfive AT gmail DOT com
Retired Special Operations Master Sergeant, Jim Hanson ("Uncle Jimbo") is now focused on writing about the military, politics, intelligence operations and foreign policy. Email: jimbo AT unclejimbo DOT com
Writer, photographer, and raconteur C. Blake Powers is the Laughing Wolf. He is independent in politics and covers topics including journalism, military, weapons, preparedness, space, science, cooking, food and wine, product and book reviews, and even spirituality. Email: wolf1 AT laughingwolf DOT net Laughing Wolf's Amazon Wish List
Grim -- an Old Norse name that means 'one who wears a mask' -- blogs on issues of intelligence, information operations, and foreign relations. Email: grimbeornr AT yahoo DOT com
Instapinch
Bill Paisley, otherwise known as Pinch, is a 22 year (ongoing) active and
reserve naval aviator. He blogs over at www.instapinch.com on a veritable
cornucopia of various and sundry items and will bring a tactical naval
aviator's perspective to Blackfive. Readers be warned: any comments of or
about the F-14 Tomcat will be reverential and spoken in low, hushed tones.
Email: wpaisley AT comcast DOT net
Mr. Wolf has over 26 years in the Army, Army NG, and USAR. He’s Airborne with 5 years as an NCO, before becoming an officer. Mr. Wolf has had 4 company commands. Signal Corp is his basic branch, and Public Affairs is his functional area. He recently served 22 straight months in Kuwait and Iraq, in Intel, PA, and senior staff of MNF-I. Mr. Wolf is now an IT executive. He is currently working on a book on media and the Iraq war. Functional gearhead.
In Iraq, he received the moniker of Mr. Wolf after the Harvey Kietel character in Pulp Fiction, when "challenges" arose, they called on Mr. Wolf...
Email: TheDOTMrDOTWolfAT gmail DOT com
Deebow is a Staff Sergeant and a Military Police Squad Leader in the Army National Guard. In a previous life, he served in the US Navy. He has over 19 years of experience in both the Maritime and Land Warfare; including deployments to Southwest Asia, Thailand, the South Pacific, South America and Egypt. He has served as a Military Police Team Leader and Protective Services Team Leader and he has served on assignments with the US State Department, US Air Force Security Police, US Army Criminal Investigation Division, and the US Drug Enforcement Administration. He recently spent time in Afghanistan working with, training and fighting alongside Afghan Soldiers and is now focused on putting his 4 year Political Science degree to work by writing about foreign policy, military security policy and politics.
McQ has 28 years active and reserve service. Retired. Infantry officer. Airborne and Ranger. Consider my 3 years with the 82nd as the most fun I ever had with my clothes on. Interests include military issues and policy and veteran's affairs.
Email: mcq51 -at - bellsouth -dot- net
Chris Carter is a former USAF firefighter and now civilian firefighter who covers military history, national security, and baseball. Find out more at his website.
Twitter: @CrushingChris EMAIL: crushnik AT yahoo DOT com
Tantor is a former USAF navigator/weapon system officer (WSO) in F-4E Phantoms who served in the US, Asia, and Europe. He is now a curmudgeonly computer geek in Washington, DC, picking the taxpayers pocket. His avocations are current events, aviation, history, and conservative politics.
Twenty-three years of Active and Reserve service in the US Army in SF (18B), Infantry and SOF Signal jobs with operational deployments to Bosnia and Africa. Since retiring he's worked as Senior Defense Analyst on SOF and Irregular Warfare projects and currently ensconced in the emerging world of Cyberspace.
Major Pain --
A Marine who began his blog in Iraq and reflects back on what he learned there and in Afghanistan. To the point opinions, ideas and thoughts on military, political and the media from One Marine’s View. Email: onemarinesview AT yahoo DOT com
Uber Pig was an Infantryman from late 1991 until early 1996, serving with Second Ranger Battalion, I Corps, and then 25th Infantry Division. At the time, the Army discriminated against enlisted soldiers who wanted use the "Green to Gold" program to become officers, so he left to attend Stanford University. There, he became expert in detecting, avoiding, and surviving L-shaped ambushes, before dropping out to be as entrepreneurial as he could be. He is now the founder of a software startup serving the insurance and construction industries, and splits time between Lake Tahoe, Boonville, and San Francisco, CA.
Uber Pig writes for Blackfive a) because he's the proud brother of an enlisted Civil Affairs Reservist who currently serves in Iraq, b) because he looks unkindly on people who make it harder for the military in general, and for his brother in particular, to succeed at their missions and come home in victory, and c) because the Blackfive readers and commenters help keep him sane.
COB6 spent 24 years in the active duty Army that included 5 combat tours with service in the 1st Ranger Battalion and 1st Special Forces Group . COB6 was enlisted (E-7) and took the OCS route to a commission. COB6 retired a few years back as a field grade Infantry officer.
Currently COB6 has a son in the 82nd Airborne that just returned from his third tour and has a newly commissioned daughter in the 4th Infantry Division.
