If anyone is in the St. Louis area, and would like to get together, drop me a line. It seems the day job may be sending me that way next week. Provided they do, it would be a pleasure to meet up with any of you in that area.
LW
UPDATE: I only have e-mail addys/e-mail from two people so far, so e-mail me and I will get info out this afternoon. Com will be spotty starting about 1500 eastern today, so..
This is part of a series of interviews sponsored by Baen Books with some of today's top military science fiction writers.
Lawyer, bus driver, and best-selling author: these are just a few of the jobs David Drake has done over the years. Best known to many for his "Hammer's Slammer's series," David actually covers a range of genres and interests, and includes among his credits a major in Latin. Though I doubt he remembers it, many years ago he translated a version of "Ave Imperator" that I still use and get away with simply because so few know Latin. His works are too numerous to list, but include Hammer's Slammers, Redliners, Lord of the Isles, the Northworld Trilogy, and the humorous look at life Grimmer Than Hell.
In this segment, you learn a bit more about his service in Vietnam and Cambodia, his thoughts on how Blackhorse is the best and units that "suck hind teat," and how he came to write military science fiction. Part One can be found here and Part Three can be found here. Please enjoy.
Now that I have been fairly chastised in the comments , I am absorbing and learning I promise my brothers.
BuTTT,
I stand by my previous BS statement as to one of the biggest factors in this rocket sled to hell. We opened the credit markets and all fed at the trough, which validates Gryph's point that stats wise, whites took most of the bad idea loans. That should happen as there are more poor white people over all. But my point was that the markets were loosened to force lenders to stop redlining and lend money to people (minorities) of all flavors as it is illegal to discriminate.
So they did, and it blew up and it sucks.
The question is whether giving Congress 3/4 of a Trillion dollars to waste to appease the people they were pandering to is a good idea. I think not and I understand that means pain.
Cordially,
Uncle J
This train is rockin through the flatlands to DC
Just Kidding! But I do have kudos for the rejection of the BS Bailout for Bloated Bureaucrats and Businessmen. F**K 'em. Congress and the left created the sub-prime mortgage market when they collected data that said minorities get fewer mortgages than whites. They blackmailed the finance markets and changed the rules so minorities would get more loans. Well they did and so did other less-qualified buyers, hence the term sub-prime and they all bought really nice houses for nothing down. Great idea there liberals.
So now this whole fiasco does what fiascoes do, and people are surprised? So lets go back to the days where people live in houses they can freakin' afford and banks make sure people can pay for what the TV tells them they want. This isn't a financial crisis as much as affirmative financial action gone wild.
U.S. Marine Lance Cpl.
Daniel Brinkley exits the rear hatch of a CH-53D Sea Stallion
helicopter as he moves to his position to provide security on Combat
Outpost Rawah, Iraq, Sept. 16, 2008. He is assigned to Regimental
Combat Team 5, Company F, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, which is
conducting a joint search with Iraqi soldiers to search for a known
improvised-explosive-device maker. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Joshua Murray
This is part of a series of interviews sponsored by Baen Books with some of today's top military science fiction writers.
Lawyer, bus driver, and best-selling author: these are just a few of the jobs David Drake has done over the years. Best known to many for his "Hammer's Slammer's series," David actually covers a range of genres and interests, and includes among his credits a major in Latin. Though I doubt he remembers it, many years ago he translated a version of "Ave Imperator" that I still use and get away with simply because so few know Latin. His works are too numerous to list, but include Hammer's Slammers, Redliners, Lord of the Isles, the Northworld Trilogy, and the humorous look at life Grimmer Than Hell.
In this segment, you get to meet David and learn a bit about him and some of his favorite authors growing up. I'm trying a different rendering method to bring out the audio, which is quite good despite the jets coming in overhead every so often. Hope you enjoy, and there are several more segments to come, starting with Part Two.
For those of you who watched Friday night's debate between McCain & Obama, you'll know there was an exchange over which candidate's position had more authority because of the bracelet he wore than the other. Background from Jake Tapper on the bracelet issue here. My take is that McCain used an appeal to my emotions to score a point against his opponent, Barack Obama. It's a well known, effective, but unfair debating tactic. An appeal to emotion can be used to justify almost anything, after all, and they keep people from getting to the truth, from arriving at objective decisions. If Obama had come out against these kinds of unfair emotional attacks, or flat out got angry and said he wouldn't take advantage of someone's personal tragedy to guilt people into supporting his political agenda, I'd have more respect for him.
But he didn't, and I don't.
What he did is respond in kind to McCain's gut punch with this sort of a fey, pathetic, open fisted slap that fell flat because he didn't actually believe the lie he was telling; if you're going to make an unfair appeal to my emotions, you had better know the name of the soldier whose memory you are manipulationg and his story, and be able to speak of that story with authenticity. What it boils down to is this: My views on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are different from those of my Mother or Father. Casey Sheehan's views on the war in Iraq -- having re-enlisted before volunteering to go on the mission he was killed on -- were demonstrably different from his mother Cindy's. And for all I know, the views of Matt Stanley and Ryan David Jopek were different from those of their Mothers, too. Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines aren't victims. They aren't kids. And they don't need their parents to speak for them. So please, if you're a politician, argue your position based on its merits. And if you choose to wear a bracelet, do it as a private thing in honor of a fellow American's service and sacrifice. And then leave it at that. Don't reduce it to another piece of cheap jewelry.
I score last night a tie. McCain was fine and not cranky at all. Obama didn't screw anything major up.
Obama was working so hard to hit his talking points he didn't come across as likeable as usual. McCain did a good job of appearing capable. But all in all no minds were likely changed and this race is gonna be tight and therefore ugly. Game on.
I adapted my DouChe' shirt with some Obama flair. I love the rainbow flash for the beret. They love me here.
Meet Neil, a freshly-minted UW grad who has a solid head for national
security but somehow manages to stay on the Hope&Change Express. We
talk about many politicalities.
"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.