Dammit

Funny how the Internet brings us all together. J sub D has passed. More eloquent thoughts and details here. RIP, J sub.

Substantive Commentary Free

I'm watching gob-smacked as people blame everything but an obviously deranged individual for what happened Saturday in Arizona. It really is quite impressive from a sociological perspective, but isn't going to do a damn thing for anybody.

I got no great commentary. People are crazy, shit happens, life sucks. Other people have thoughts, though. Try here, here, and here. Also there.

Also helpful, for the uninitiated, is this Q&A on gun laws.

Death Becomes A Senator

So, Robert Byrd (D-ead) has shuffled off this mortal choir to join the choir invisible. This means we have to put up with an endless series of political hacks praising his sainted memory, just like we did when old Spongeted Drunkpants finally kicked it.

Pardon me while I vomit profusely. Just because the addled old donk managed to bring home enough pork to keep getting reelected doesn't make him anyone we should celebrate. Robert Byrd was an appalling example of a legislator. Somebody should be going around West Virginia with a chisel and taking his name off all the crap he got built.

Remember The Fallen

So as I type this, I'm looking out over a cemetery in a small Texas town. The fields are irregularly spotted with American flags. Each one marks the site of a veteran's grave. I've wandered about and looked at the dates on the markers. I've seen a lot of War 2 and Vietnam service, but the death dates are far removed in time from the actual conflicts. So far, all I've seen is the resting places of the guys who made it home. The flags are a nice gesture, but today isn't our day. Our day is in November.

Today is the day for the ones who didn't come home. As my regiment trains at NTC and elements of my division are deployed in Afghanistan, it's a day to reflect on the terrible price paid when we decide to go to war. I don't think we pay enough attention to the enormity of the cost. Political considerations and budgetary issues dominate the debate, and I rarely hear politicians mention much about the human cost. Speaking as a guy who has loaded body bags on medevac choppers, this disturbs me.

So if you haven't already, take a moment today and think about the young men and women who are dying to achieve our nebulous foreign policy goals. Ask yourself if what we're trying to achieve is worth some more deaths. Personally, I'd like it if this generation doesn't have to keep pulling dog tags off shredded and mangled bodies before loading the remains for transport. But since we're going to continue to ask them to do just that, we'd better make damned sure what we're trying to do is worth the sacrifice.

R.I.P.

My news feeds have failed me. Frank Frazetta died Monday, and I just found out.

Here's a nice online gallery for those of you who have no idea who he was.

More Beneficience

So, we discussed a few of the .gov's more egregious crimes against the citizenry a while ago. Here's one more to add to the list.

"The government knows it is not stopping drinking by putting poison in alcohol," New York City medical examiner Charles Norris said at a hastily organized press conference. "[Y]et it continues its poisoning processes, heedless of the fact that people determined to drink are daily absorbing that poison. Knowing this to be true, the United States government must be charged with the moral responsibility for the deaths that poisoned liquor causes, although it cannot be held legally responsible."

Want a drink, even though we've made it illegal? Well, go die then. Total body count for the government's poisoning program is estimated to be around 10,000.

People still expect me to believe the government has my best interests at heart.

Valor

On September 17, 1944 the largest airborne operation in history began: Operation Market Garden. 36,400 troops of the 82d Airborne Division, the 101st Airborne Division, the British 1st Airborne Division, and the Polish 1st Airborne Brigade went into the Netherlands by glider or parachute.

In similar news, SFC Jared Monti was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor today for his actions while fighting in Afghanistan.

The Army's most quotable General, George S. Patton, had something to say that seems relevant.

It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived.

Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables

Well, we're working on purging the last unpleasant detritus of the bootlegger's legacy from our body politic. We're not quite there, but as of this writing I believe there's only one Kennedy left in a federal office. Yes, America, we have yet another dead Kennedy. The last, least, and lumpiest of Joe's political spawn has finally departed the building.

Ted Kennedy has died. On this occasion, some might find it appropriate to say good things about the recently departed. If you feel that's warranted, I suggest you go elsewhere. Teddy was a loathsome individual who avidly pursued foolish and destructive policies and his own self-aggrandizement. I can't claim to feel sorry about his death, and I won't. Mary Jo Kopechne, as always, is unavailable for comment on this occasion.

In the meantime, this seems oddly appropriate.

Ding Dong

So, one each Robert S. McNamara passed away. I'm sure his family will miss him.

Me? Not so much. Burn in hell, Bobby.

Too Soon?

For levity?

What, the guy dies and all of a sudden we're supposed to stop mocking him? Meh. The attention of the masses, however fickle, is part of the price you pay for fame. Don't want it? Settle down in Peoria and deliver the mail for a living.

Officer Safety

So, if anybody ever wants to know why it might be a good idea to carry your own firearm, I've got a ready answer.

One receptionist was killed, while the other, shot in the abdomen, pretended to be dead and then crawled under a desk and called 911, he said.

Police said they arrived within two minutes.

Not bad response time, right? Okay so far.

Police heard no gunfire after they arrived but waited for about an hour before entering the building to make sure it was safe for officers.

Hmm. And all the people inside the building? Well, fuck them, I guess. Officer safety for the FAIL. People often wonder why some of us hold the opinion cops are there to fill out paperwork and clean up the mess. Gee, I dunno. Wherever might we have gotten that idea?

Garry Fucking Owen

On this date in 1876, one each George Armstrong Custer managed to firmly cement his place and the place of the 7th Cavalry in the history books. Unfortunately for him and his men, he did this by getting his command slaughtered by the Lakota and the Cheyenne.

I bet at some point you wished you took them Gatlings, huh, George? Raise a toast for the poor troopers who paid the price for their commander's fuckup. Such is the way of the world.

The FCC Can Suck It

Shit.
Piss.
Fuck.
Cunt.
Cocksucker.
Motherfucker.

Tits.

Good night, funnyman.

Memorial Day 2008

As I sit here getting ready to fire up the grill and drink beer, 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment is on it's third deployment to Iraq.

This time, as in both previous deployments, not all of them will come home.

Remember the fallen.

Take Your Stinking Paws Off Me

Well, Charlton Heston shuffled off this mortal coil yesterday. Insert your own joke about prying the gun from his cold, dead hands here. While he did a fine job at the NRA, I'd like to take a moment and remember his performances in some iconic science fiction movies:

Soylent Green
The Omega Man
Planet of the Apes

You may not like them, and they may be cheesy, but by god, everybody knows them. Well, maybe not Omega Man. But certainly the other two. Even if you've never seen the movie, you probably know what they use to make Soylent Green. Likewise, the image of the Statue of Liberty sticking out of the ground is unforgettable. Surely we all know who should get their stinking paws off George Taylor, right? If not, you're probably reading the wrong website.

Anyhow, another piece of our shred cultural history is no more. At least we have the films, conveniently available on DVD, to remember him by.

Yesterday

Arthur C. Clarke died. He was probably one of the few genuine optimists working in the sci-fi field. He was definitely one of the greats, and will be missed.

Oral arguments for Heller were heard as well. Legal analysis of the argument is left to more cpabale minds. I found it amusing when Justice Roberts was explaining to the DC lawyer how he interpreted the statute in question and the DC lawyer told him that wasn't necessarily correct.

Umm. I'm not a lawyer and all, but when the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is telling you how he interprets the law, you pretty much agree with him because you can't win this argument. You may be right, but you're still gonna lose.

RIP E.G.G.

Well, the geekier portion of the internet no doubt already knows this. Gary Gygax died yesterday while I was out dealing with idiots. If you don’t know who he is, move along, this post ain’t for you. It’s hard to adequately explain the impact he had on several generations of nerds, but it was incalculable. I’d say more, but really, what is there to be said? I’m sure if you look, others will have written reams about the grand significance of it all by now. Me? I’ll pass. Smartass and snark we do around here. Seriousness and significance? Not so much.

He and his works helped, in no small part, make me the person I am today. He will be missed, although some tributes are probably more tasteful than others.

Dead Celebrities

So, some guy that was in a movie or two died yesterday. Aside from the strains of Bad Company’s Shooting Star that keep playing in the back of my head, it hasn’t affected my life too much. The primary exception is my inability to find out what else is going on in the world because half the coverage is about the dead guy. The amount of energy being expended on the news baffles me. Yes, it’s sad in an abstract way, but people die. Roughly 151,000 of them kick off every day, in fact. Can somebody explain to me why his death is any more important than the other 150,999? If, as I suspect, it isn't more important, can we shut up about it? Thanks.

Ding Dong!

Phillip Agee is dead. I can't say I'll shed any tears over his passing. He decried the loathsome acts of one government only to switch to aiding and abetting governments whose acts were even more loathsome.

I'm not naive enough to think the US government is innocent, blameless, and always right. I find it difficult to believe that anyone whose disgust with what the CIA was doing in the 50s and 60s led them straight to the Soviets and the Cubans is acting of principle. Pique, maybe, but not principle. Somehow, those who spend the majority of their time criticizing Western democracies for their supposed sins against humanity turn a blind eye to those same sins when committed by any other government.

In any event, I would find it a grand cosmic joke if he were to spend eternity in Lubyanka prison enjoying the tender mercies of the KGB. It would give him some time to reflect on whether or not his second allegiance a was any better or worse than his first one.

RIP Evel Knievel

Having spent the younger portion of my childhood in the 70s, it was absolutely necessary to have some sort of Evel Knievel paraphernalia. Well, it was if you were male, anyway. I recall having one of the toys driven by cheap plastic gears where you would either strip the gears or distort the housing enough to let the gears disengage in an attempt to get greater speed from your toy. In fact, it was similar to the one pictured prominently here.

I can’t honestly pin all of the blame for my love of large, fast motorcycles on Evel. I have no doubt he contributed to making motorcycles really cool when I was a kid. It all helped, I’m sure. Anyway, he’s passed on. I doubt we’ll see another one like him anytime soon.