Juicebox Mafia Report- Inside the belly of the beast
Posted By Uncle Jimbo
So last night I infiltrated a Juicebox fiesta celebrating the new job of Dave Weigel, who was one of the first Journolistas outed. Now he had some awesomely, unfriendly things to say about conservatives let there be no doubt, such as:
Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh famously said he hoped
President Obama would “fail” in January, 2009. Almost a year later, when
Limbaugh was rushed to the hospital with chest pains, Washington Post
reporter David Weigel had a wish of his own. “I hope he fails,” Weigel
cracked to fellow liberal reporters on the “Journolist” email list-serv.
“Too soon?” he wondered.
Cold-blooded? Oh Hell yeah, but I gotta admit that a search of my own email archives would yield any number of wicked rips that might shock those of you accustomed to my sweetness and light, milk of human kindness personality. Bottom line is Weigel was just about like his supporters said, not a left wing ideologue more of a wicked smart ass. I liked him and had a good time. My favorite tweet bit was this from my favorite Juiceboxer and the most over-rated writer on the left Matthew WhyGlesias.
The ideological diversity at @daveweigel's party is freaking me out. Where's my echo chamber?
He may have been trying to be cute, but in vino tweets veritas. You're welcome Matthew, I'll be here all election season.
UPDATE: The Juicebox Mafia is a term coined by Eli Lake of the Wash Times to describe the collection of young liberal smarty pantses like Ezra Klein, Matthew WhyGlesias, Spencer Ackerman etc. It is a play on a rap group called the 3/6 Mafia and the juiceboxes of the playground. My previous reporting on the Juicebox Mafia.
Regulars here will remember that Soldiers' Mom recently fought a battle with cancer. She won, and is now working to take the fight home against the enemy by participating in the Nebraska Race for the Cure. In her own words:
As a breast cancer survivor of not quite two years, I am soliciting sponsorship donations for the Nebraska Race for the Cure. The only thing that inspires my passion as much is Soldier's Angels and my children and grandchildren. No one has to, but if you donate, 75% of the funds raised at each race stay locally to fund mammograms, care and aftercare for breast cancer patients with little or no insurance. One in eight women will be stricken with breast cancer in their lifetime. And don't forget, men can be stricken with breast cancer also and have a 10 times higher death rate due to not believing that they have it. Please consider this and go to my personal page.
New Iranian protest anthem- Another brick in the wall
Posted By Uncle Jimbo
There are plenty of reasons to love the Floyd, but you can add a big one
now. Roger Waters gave permission to a couple of Iranian brothers in
Canadia with a band called Blurred Vision
to re-record the the song as "Another brick in the wall (Hey
Ayatollah, leave those kids alone). It is brilliant and it should blow
up, and good on Waters for allowing his music to be used to fight
tyranny. Green Power! Death to tyrants!
I sat in for Mr. Gaffney today and had a fun show.
Jim addresses the Administration’s lack of a Grand Strategy for dealing with militant Islam and provides his solutions to the security issues created by these clashing cultures. Next, Jim talks with documentary film maker J.D. Johannes who just returned from Afghanistan and will be discussing his experience. Later, Jim visits with David Bellavia an Iraq combat veteran and author of House to House about the battle of Fallujah, about the classified intelligence documents posted on WikiLeaks and his take on the damage this has done to US efforts to gain trust of the local populous. Finally, Jim talks with Noah Pollack, Executive Director of the Emergency Committee for Israel. Noah gives a brief overview of his organization and its efforts to combat the immediate threats to Israel in the American political debate in the midst of the midterm elections.
Free Military Track Membership Offered To Military
Posted By Laughing_Wolf
NOTE: A little birdie has told me that the illustrious Greyhawk has agreed to be the host/MC for the military track at Blog World...
A free pass to the military track at this year's Blog World and New Media Expo (http://blogworldexpo.com) is being offered to all members of the Armed Forces. The free pass not only provides access to the military track panels on Thursday 14 October, but to the exhibit hall and evening events for the entire conference.
"The military secures our freedoms, including our ability to blog about any and all topics," says Blog World CEO Rick Calvert. "Social Media has changed the way we all communicate in our personal and business lives and the military is no exception. Blogs and social networking tools have been a godsend to Military personal deployed half a world away from their loved ones; allowing them to communicate with their families easier than ever before. Many of them (and their spouses) also generously share their experiences on their personal blogs, giving civilians a much deeper understanding of the level of sacrifice our men and women in the armed forces make for our freedoms. It is truly our honor and pleasure to provide them this free pass."
While details are not yet available, Calvert notes that efforts are underway for a very special series of panels. Because of these panels, and limitations on seating, a pre-registration process is being started and is being coordinated by Cooking with the Troops.
"New and social media have been our foundation as we get started," notes Cooking with the Troops CEO C. Blake Powers. "Helping coordinate the pre-registration for the free membership being offered allows us to support the troops and their families in a different way, and it's an honor to do so."
The free membership offer is available to all those currently serving in the Armed Forces, all veterans, and their families. To pre-register, send an e-mail to bwemil@cwtt.org that provides your name, service information (branch, dates; or, branch and dates of spouse, child, or other immediate relative), and the names and relation of any other persons (spouse, child, parent) you wish to register as well. Closer to the conference, you will be sent instructions on how to register online and receive the free membership. Those desiring to attend other panels and events can pay an upgrade fee during the final registration process to do so. There is no charge to pre-register.
This month, Lt. Col. Tom Mullikin traveled
to Europe to understand the experiences of his father Charlie
Mullikin, a veteran of World War II.
The elder Mullikin landed at Normandy, and fought his way across
Europe as a member of a special reconnaissance unit of the 407th
Infantry Regiment. His outfit was led by 1st Lt. Roy "Buck" Rogers, and
the stellar unit would earn them the nickname "Rogers' Raiders" (not to
be confused with Rogers' Rangers, the American unit that achieved
fame during the French and Indian War).
Mullikin shares a story of his father's unit from February 1945 :
At exactly 0300 Buck Roger’s Night Raiders of the 407th
Infantry pushed out into darkness, out into the narrow torrential Roer
(River). … A German machine gun opened up not 50 yards away … Two long
minutes later … the boats hit the Roer’s east bank. …With clocklike
precision dark figures fanned out around the ominous machine gun. …One
man returned the fire. Another grasped his grenade. A good throw. A
dull thud. A scream. Silence.
One group… swung toward the railroad bounded by a dense minefield …
The rest of the patrol slugged south mopping up one nest after another.
At H-hour—30 minutes later—the first assault wave of the 407th
Infantry crossed without a hitch. Their bridgehead, the first across
the Roer, was established.
When the 30 minutes of intense action had ended, the Raiders had
destroyed five machine gun nests along with six other automatic weapon
positions, killed 15 and captured eight of the enemy … all without
losing a single American.
Walking the beaches - and SCUBA diving among the wrecks as Mullikin
did - would be a wonderful experience, but I can imagine that splashing
through the same surf your father did when landing at Normandy 66 years
earlier would be absolutely incredible.
More information on the operation is available here.
This 19 year old Afghan girl had her nose and ears cut off as punishment for fleeing an abusive forced marriage. A Taliban commander made the determination and so she was mutilated. That is what the status quo will be if we fail in our mission to create a state in Afghanistan where the Taliban are not in charge. The light of women in that country is not why we are there, if that was the case there are dozens of countries where we would be needed. But is doesn't mean we cannot take the oppression and barbarity of the Talibs into account as we look at our cause.
Women have made tremendous strides since the Taliban were over thrown and they ought to be considered some of our most interested allies. The patriarchal and religious society that existed and still exists in much of Afghanistan relegates women to the status of chattel, property. That is repugnant and offensive and if we can change it we ought, especially if we can do so in conjunction with our efforts to put a less extreme government in place. Our moral betters on the left love to preach about how women in America are discriminated against, and don't earn as much as men do. But it kinda puts things in perspective when you look at this girl, eh? The next time you see some feminist yotch bitching and moaning about the man keeping them down, send her this picture and tell he to STFU!
The biggest flaw in our efforts in Afghanistan is not our military strategy, it is our lack of a grand strategy to deal with the larger war of cultures between the free, liberal Western society we are privileged to live in and the stone age obscurantists who rule far too many places in the name of Islam. It is always unfair to paint all Muslims as oppressive extremists, but it is equally unfair to deny that Islam empowers many of the worst human rights violators on Earth. We need a way to put a wedge between those two groups and maybe women can be that. It is certainly a start and a noble cause to begin freeing hundreds of millions of girls from a life that offers nothing to them but submission. The fact that an outlet like TIME has seen fit to highlight this shows that the left knows what this is about, well let's pressure them to act in concert with us and face the challenge united. They have the ability to pressure and we have the ability to enforce. It would be nice if once that was combined to serve the cause of defeating religious oppression and making the world a freer and better place.
Questions for Julian Assange on hearing him claim to have offered Obama administration an opportunity to redact
Posted By Uber Pig
So it turns out, according to Andrew Napolitano, that Julian Assange claims to have offered early access to the trove of documents leaked to him earlier and which he published just a few days ago. We are supposed to assume that because of this, any guilt he or his organization bear for putting the lives of troops and innocent Afghan sources at risk goes away. Questions:
1) Do you have an email showing that the offer was made, or something similar? Or did you just call up the white house and get frustrated by the long hold?
2) Who did you make your offer to?
3) Did you also make this offer to anyone at the Pentagon? If the answer is no, then why not?
4) Do you think that their decision not to play your game resolves you of any guilt for not removing those names yourself? If so, please explain.
"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.
