chaotic_nipple

But there are days when I actually _do_ feel nostalgic for the Army. Don't get me wrong, the job was frequently mind-numbing, if not soul-destroying, and I would never go back to it. But there was something reassuring about knowing that the guy/gal next to you, even if they absolutely hated your guts as a human being, would still watch your back when (insert derogatory nickname for whoever we're fighting at the moment) tried to stick a knife in it. Oh, sure, they'd hate you even more afterward, and they'd never ever let you live it down, but they would risk their life to protect yours, if that's what duty demanded.

Of course, duty might also demand letting you die. Very few enlisted grunts would willingly make _that_ call, though, which is why officers exist. That's also why there's a persistent, low-level, never-entirely-joking animosity for those officers: The knowledge that, no matter how great Lieutenant/Captain/Colonel Whatsisface might be as a person, for the sake of the mission, he could potentially decide not only to let you die, but that you had to let your buddies die instead. And for the sake of the mission, you'd have to say "Yes Sir", and soldier on.

I miss my woobie. It was the most comfortable blanket EVER. :-(

Why the heck is this Iraqi:



Wearing a DLI pin? I somehow doubt that either A) He's affiliated with that fine institution, or B) That crest means something else in some other context. Apparently, Iraqi officers just get to make up their own damned uniforms. :-P

Edit: For comparison purposes, here's a picture of the crest by itself:

Not putting an Autobot Insignia on my Humvee when I had the chance. During OIF 1, I could _totally_ have gotten away with it.

So, the other day, I pulled on a pair of BDU pants that have been washed once since Iraq, and have been sitting in a duffle bag or a dresser drawer since. You know what I found in the pockets. Sand. _Middle_Eastern_ sand. Do you realize what this means? IRAQ FOLLOWED ME HOME! Can the Terrorists be far behind? Maybe Faux News was RIGHT... :-P

... Then will someone remind me when the last time was that a _pro-war_ demonstrator got physically assaulted by his counterparts? Oh, wait, though, all those guys on Little Green Fascists and the like who claim that their "Dubya" bumper stickers got ripped off their hummers, why, that's at _least_ as bad as this. Silly me. Once again my opinion that the standard 'Liberal' position on gun control is stupid is re-enforced, because their may come a time when the right to Keep and Bear arms is all that stands between us "America-hating traitors" and the death camps that these wanna-be brownshirts would love to set up.

Alas, poor Kurt Vonnegut. We knew him well, kinda. Personally, I didn't much enjoy his writing, as it was way too depressing. I read "Slaughter-house Five" and was slightly amused, but not enough to bother seeking out the rest of his work. Perhaps this makes me a bad person. But anyway, hearing about Kurt's death got me thinking of other depressing authors, which got me thinking about the time when I came closer to suicide than any other.

So not shit, there I was, in Fallujah in August 2003. I was still motivated and convinced that we were Fighting The Good Fight To Save Civilization. The stress was starting to get to me, but I was still ready to kick ass, take names, and sign autographs for the adoring Iraqi children. I was bored, though. I had already read through every book in the TOC at least once. Then, one day, one of my fellow grunts got a care package from home. In addition to a bunch of Oprah's Book Club CRAP, there was a copy of Joseph Heller's "Catch-22". I had heard of that book, and that it was suppossed to be funny, so I started to read it...

About half way through, I was seriously considering the merits of bayonet vs. 5.56 bullet. It wasn't a _bad_ book, oh no, it was very well written and evocative, full of dark humor both subtle and absurd. But it was DEPRESSING AS HELL. Definitely the wrong book to read in a war zone, when your own personal doubts have already started to surface. I haven't been able to pick up that book since, the mere though of doing so fills me with dread.

There, now everyone else should chime in!

"U.S. soldier sentenced to 100 years for rape, murder". On the other hand, this being the military justice system, he'll never be paroled, and his testimony against his fellow criminals will ensure that _they_ hang. In a better world, he would too, but then again, in a better world their victim would never have been raped and murdered in the first place.

Update: I stand corrected. According to This article, the waste of skin could be paroled in ten years. We can hope that he "accidentally" dies in prison first, but that's not too likely. I guess this is the downside of military prisons being more professionally run than their civilian counterparts; Every so often, a prisoner really _does_ deserve to be brutalized by the guards and/or raped to death by his fellow prisoners.

Firstly, Fiona has linked to me, so I return the favor.

Next, matters scientifical: Darwinian Pickup lines, The rea; story behind Haekel's embryos, Whale Evolution explained, and Scientists visit Creationist "Museum" so you don't have to

Nextly, religious stuff: I've joined the Evil Atheist Conspiracy, to avenge the Murder of Larry Hooper. I may ally myself with The Funkiest Atheist. Also, Mr. Deity makes a disturbing amount of sense.

In the political/social sphere:


What Bush hears, Still MORE republican sex scandals, Porn popups ruin lives,Wingnuts misquote Lincoln, Gay Foster Parents Loss Child, Wingnuts Rejoice, and The Swiftboating of Jesus.

I have to weigh in on the notion that the US should Take in thousands of Iraqi refugees. IMO, it's a VERY BAD IDEA. We really don't want aa bunch of people who have strong and compelling reasons to want revenge on us living within our borders. No doubt, we are obligated to make restitution, but we don't have to do it _here_. Let's just pay France to take them. The translators, though, are a different story. Their lives are in danger because they worked for us, so we sort of owe them. Plus, they're less likely to snap and take a shotgun to the denizens of the local mall.

Finally, humor... Or is it? I hope everyone celebrated Saint Skeletor's Day, The Best Movie Review Site EVER, and Real Life Vs The Internet.

Be grateful for your opposable thumbs, while the bacteria give thanks for their antibiotic resistance. Meanwhile, the nascent super-squid make their own plans...

Elsewhere, Congress wants to read your email, Iran is arming the same Iraqis we are, William Donohue's a jackass, 10 reasons to hate America (courtesy of curt_holman), Anders ponders the meaning of truth (kinda), Truth in Advertising, and finally a "Christian" defends the logic of genocide. That logic is impeccable too. If there really is a God, and he/she/it has no constraints upon his/her/its actions, than might _must_ make right, and if God tells you to kill a toddler, a Good Believer should have no qualms. See, that is why all irrational, supernatural belief systems are dangerous. Maybe not equally dangerous, but the seeds of Abraham's psychosis lie within them all. As Voltaire said: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities". (BTW, for all intents and purposes, Marxism is a religion too. Just replace the Great Sky God with Historical Inevitability, but require the same adherence to unquestionable dogma. Stupid commies. :-P )