A correspondent wrote in to ask if we would address what he said were, “changes to the academic program.” And he went on to detail several things, including “the dissolution of the English Department.” (And he was not an English major.) I’m not sure why VMI would do such a thing, but I do know from my limited understanding that the academic world can be a dynamic place. Still, no excuse for wholesale destruction of key parts of the overall program. And it doesn’t sound good. We will make inquiries. And we will report what we find out. Anyone have [...]
Gun-Day Sunday: No M4 Replacement (For Now)
This is interesting: The Army announced today it is formally concluding its Individual Carbine competition without selecting a winner to replace the M4 Carbine. “None of the carbines evaluated during the testing phase of the competition met the minimum scoring requirement needed to continue to the next phase of the evaluation,” according to a June 13 Army press release. Reading on, it sounds like the testing was skewed from the start. I’m not sure that the M4, or rather the entire military AR platform, necessarily needs a wholesale replacement. The military, private industry and hundreds of individuals have made great [...]
AND HE DESERVED IT, TOO
Yes! QUANTICO, VA — After failing to capitalize Marine in an official media release, a Public Affairs sergeant was verbally reprimanded and publicly executed Friday before a crowd of spectators outside the Marine Corps Museum, officials report. Let that be a lesson to you all.
More on Edward Snowden
This came through on email today, I’m taking the liberty of quoting it nearly in toto: Intense debate continues to rage over the legality, constitutionality and morality of the National Security Agency’s data collection, as well as the status of Edward Snowden, the contract employee who leaked the documents to a British newspaper last week. Is he a Patriot or a traitor? (Regarding the program itself, read Mark Alexander’s essay, It’s the Profiling, Stupid! One noteworthy addition to the essay is that the administration’s surveillance seems to have excluded mosques, which are often jihadi programming centers. Target conservatives with the [...]
“Duty, Honor, Country…” or Something Like That
It’s never not funny to stick it to those stuffed shirt fucks at West Point, e-s-p-e-c-i-a-l-l-y using their own words. *** Full disclosure: I’ve worked with and for a few West Pointers, a couple of them Marines, and some are outstanding officers and gentlemen. Most, however, are overbearing fuck-heads.
Chem Weapons in Syria?
So we are told. “Red line crossed!” Questions: Now what? So?? What do you want us to do about it?
Building an Electric Motorcycle for SOCOM
ETP0802 tossed this our way, since we’ve been waxing wistful about motorcycles lately. (I think Doc H can wax something less than wistful about the day the militarized dirt bikes showed up at the old 3/2 motorpool back in the early 90s…) The company involved sounds interesting, and they’re based here in the US, but given the “green” aspect and the fact that they’re in California, I wonder how heavily they’re subsidized? Or perhaps I’m making a gross generalization. I’m all for success in our industries, but I do dislike protectionism.
“Using Metadata to Find Paul Revere”
Oh, this is good. I found it at WRSA, and it resonates not just because of recent revelations about our government’s domestic intelligence gathering but because I recently read Fischer’s book, Paul Revere’s Ride. (Excellent book, by the way, I ought to write a review.) And as they say at WRSA, “Do you get it yet?”
Edward Snowden: Hero or Traitor?
READ. What say we? Is he different from that detestable little worm, Manning? If so, how? Has he done a great service to the cause of Liberty, or has he dealt a serious blow to national security? What would become of you, all of you who have clearances, if you did what he did? (One thing’s clear to me. We need to get him back on US soil, before a none-too-friendly foreign power offers him a deal he can’t refuse.)
From the DuffelBlog: Afghan “Game of Thrones”
More unadulterated greatness from the DuffelBlog: “We made it about as authentic as we could,” said gunman Tariq Saifullah, referring to the attack in the Korengal Valley that left seven dead and twenty wounded. “We even started by stabbing a pregnant woman to death, but there was some confusion since that’s typically done by the groom following the ceremony.” While deploring the violence, HBO executives are hopeful that the killings are a sign that more and more people in this nation of 31 million potential viewers are watching the show. Although popular around the world, Game of Thrones has been [...]
