The Strawberry Woman writes in with a quick field report:
The Boston Phoenix has compiled a list of the 100 unsexiest men of 2007, which, yes, it would get yelled at for if it had ranked the other gender. Speaking of which (spoiler alert), No. 1 is Donald Trump, No. 54 is Dr. Phil and No. 80 is Ann Coulter.
My son once thought Ann Coulter was the sexiest woman alive, which I thought was odd because she's older than I am. I found a shot of her from a few years ago, before she was famous and, if you knew it was her, you could tell, otherwise not so much. I sent a link of the photo to Geoff with the question, "Could this drag queen pass as a woman? I think the hands are a give away."
His reposnse, "No Dad, she can't pass"
Then I told him who she was. Problem solved!
Hooray for push polling!
Friday, April 20, 2007
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Poorly Constructed Logic
While I have no strong feelings on the second Amendment (I support sensible gun control regulations in the same way I support sensible prescription drug regulations, both help make society a better place and impove the quality of life without unduely restricting freedoms, when they are done correctly), the torrent of calls for more gun control is illogical. More exactly, it's based on creating a universal rule based on the reasoning derived from a single (or handful of) example(s). This is very poor reasoning.
Salon resurrects the idea of prohibition, but that almost never works except to make the mob wealthy.
Yes it's a tragedy. Thats not a reason to change everything.
Salon resurrects the idea of prohibition, but that almost never works except to make the mob wealthy.
Yes it's a tragedy. Thats not a reason to change everything.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Monday, April 16, 2007
Moving Closer to a Draft
I have said since shortly after the "Mission Accomplished" sign went up that we need a national draft to get us to focus on the War. This idea has a lot of pluses, not the least of which would be a sense of involvement, sacrifice and participation by the vast majority of the American public. It would also, I think, put some scrutiny on the government's handling of the war.
That said, a friend of mine sent me this today: McCaffrey
Read it, especially past the "Facts" section, it's surprisingly hopeful.
Some Interesting bits:
Waivers in US Army recruiting standards for: moral turpitude, drug use, medical issues, criminal justice records, and non-high school graduation have gone up significantly. We now are enlisting 42 year old first term soldiers*. Our promotion rates for officers and NCOs have skyrocketed to replace departing leaders. There is no longer a national or a theater US Army strategic reserve. (Fortunately, powerful US Naval, Air Force, and nuclear capabilities command huge deterrence credibility.)We are at the “knee of the curve.” Two million+ troops of the smallest active Army force since WWII have served in the war zone. Some active units have served three, four, or even five combat deployments. We are now routinely extending nearly all combat units in both Iraq and Afghanistan. These combat units are being returned to action in some cases with only 7-12 months of stateside time to re-train and re-equip. The current deployment requirement of 20+ brigades to Iraq and 2+ brigades in Afghanistan is not sustainable.We will be forced to call up as many as nine National Guard combat brigades for an involuntary second combat tour this coming year. (Dr Chu at DOD has termed this as “no big deal.”) Many believe that this second round of involuntary call-ups will topple the weakened National Guard structure— which is so central to US domestic security. The National Guard Bureau has argued for a call up of only 12 months instead of 18 months. This misses the point—DOD will without fail be forced to also extend these National Guard brigades in combat at the last minute given the continuation of the current emergency situation.
We are rapidly getting to the point where a Draft is going to be the only option to get this cleaned up, especially if it will take another 36-48 months to do so. When that day comes, the whole game will change. The administration has been selling this as a WW-II-like war, but without the sacrifice (except when it comes to personal liberty). Once we start drafting kids, you're going to see the American public get behind this and get it done, and you're going to see full engagement around what to do with the architects of this fiasco. If you wondered what the "Surge" is really about, it's about stalling the draft until the culprits are out of office.
IMHO
also, I don't want this to get buried, it's critical:
The US Tier One special operations capability is simply magic. They are deadly in getting their target—with normally zero collateral damage—and with minimal friendly losses or injuries. Some of these assault elements have done 200-300 takedown operations at platoon level. The comprehensive intelligence system is phenomenal. We need to re-think how we view these forces. They are a national strategic system akin to a B1 bomber. We need to understand that the required investment level in the creation of these forces demands substantial dedicated UAV systems, intelligence, and communications resources. These special operations formations cannot by themselves win the nation’s wars. However, with them we have a tool of enormous and decisive strategic significance which has crucial importance in the global war on terrorists.
*It's not too late for all you hawks out there to get your pizza-fattened asses over to Iraq and show us what you're made of.
That said, a friend of mine sent me this today: McCaffrey
Read it, especially past the "Facts" section, it's surprisingly hopeful.
Some Interesting bits:
Waivers in US Army recruiting standards for: moral turpitude, drug use, medical issues, criminal justice records, and non-high school graduation have gone up significantly. We now are enlisting 42 year old first term soldiers*. Our promotion rates for officers and NCOs have skyrocketed to replace departing leaders. There is no longer a national or a theater US Army strategic reserve. (Fortunately, powerful US Naval, Air Force, and nuclear capabilities command huge deterrence credibility.)We are at the “knee of the curve.” Two million+ troops of the smallest active Army force since WWII have served in the war zone. Some active units have served three, four, or even five combat deployments. We are now routinely extending nearly all combat units in both Iraq and Afghanistan. These combat units are being returned to action in some cases with only 7-12 months of stateside time to re-train and re-equip. The current deployment requirement of 20+ brigades to Iraq and 2+ brigades in Afghanistan is not sustainable.We will be forced to call up as many as nine National Guard combat brigades for an involuntary second combat tour this coming year. (Dr Chu at DOD has termed this as “no big deal.”) Many believe that this second round of involuntary call-ups will topple the weakened National Guard structure— which is so central to US domestic security. The National Guard Bureau has argued for a call up of only 12 months instead of 18 months. This misses the point—DOD will without fail be forced to also extend these National Guard brigades in combat at the last minute given the continuation of the current emergency situation.
We are rapidly getting to the point where a Draft is going to be the only option to get this cleaned up, especially if it will take another 36-48 months to do so. When that day comes, the whole game will change. The administration has been selling this as a WW-II-like war, but without the sacrifice (except when it comes to personal liberty). Once we start drafting kids, you're going to see the American public get behind this and get it done, and you're going to see full engagement around what to do with the architects of this fiasco. If you wondered what the "Surge" is really about, it's about stalling the draft until the culprits are out of office.
IMHO
also, I don't want this to get buried, it's critical:
The US Tier One special operations capability is simply magic. They are deadly in getting their target—with normally zero collateral damage—and with minimal friendly losses or injuries. Some of these assault elements have done 200-300 takedown operations at platoon level. The comprehensive intelligence system is phenomenal. We need to re-think how we view these forces. They are a national strategic system akin to a B1 bomber. We need to understand that the required investment level in the creation of these forces demands substantial dedicated UAV systems, intelligence, and communications resources. These special operations formations cannot by themselves win the nation’s wars. However, with them we have a tool of enormous and decisive strategic significance which has crucial importance in the global war on terrorists.
*It's not too late for all you hawks out there to get your pizza-fattened asses over to Iraq and show us what you're made of.
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