http://thenostromo.com/pgf/weblog/ "Fish Are Friends, Not Food!" en-us 2003-10-07T00:49:59-05:00 http://thenostromo.com/pgf/weblog/archives/2003_10.html#000064 This site will be moving, at least for the moment, to http://newsfromthefridge.typepad.com. Please adjust your bookmarks accordingly.... General Blogging Phil Fraering 2003-10-07T00:49:59-05:00 http://thenostromo.com/pgf/weblog/archives/2003_09.html#000063 If you've been following the various reports of the ambush of the 507th maintenance battallion during the recent campaign in Iraq, you'll probably want to read this article at Rantburg. It's a report that all the weapon maintenance records from the 507th were destroyed during the ambush. Also according to the article, multiple weapons types malfunctioned during the ambush, and not just M-16's/M4's.... General Blogging Phil Fraering 2003-09-17T18:51:52-05:00 http://thenostromo.com/pgf/weblog/archives/2003_09.html#000062 This was originally part of the previous post. I think it makes sense on its own. I'd like to say that I think Lileks is right. We are currently wildly successful compared to where I feared we'd be for the rest of the month of September back in '01. We're free to complain about trivial things. We're all not cautiously poking our heads out of our bunkers to embark on yet another foray into the ruins for canned food. Life has returned to semi-normalcy. As far as the larger war we're fighting, I see lots of opportunity for informed criticism, but very little actual instances of such. Most of the critics seem to work from a template comparing the current conflict to the Vietnam War, without ever... General Blogging Phil Fraering 2003-09-13T19:53:48-05:00 http://thenostromo.com/pgf/weblog/archives/2003_09.html#000061 I haven't written anything about the recent anniversary because I've been busy, and because I'm at a loss for words. Even if I weren't, I doubt I could match what Lileks wrote here in his usual bleat. Also of note is an account I read by a survivor of the WTC attack, that was first posted on "Hollywood Halfwits" and later reposted at Little Green Footballs. Later this weekend, I may try to write a quick post on language, tactics and strategy, and the whole question of just what terrorism is. But half the stuff I was going to build it around is at home, and I'm currently sitting at CC's Coffee, with my laptop, trying to post over the whine of the expresso machines. I wonder... General Blogging Phil Fraering 2003-09-13T19:26:49-05:00 http://thenostromo.com/pgf/weblog/archives/2003_09.html#000060 Lockheed dropped a 200 million dollar weather satellite while rotating it. Courtesy of spacetoday.net, here's the space.com news article, and a spaceref post with pictures. I'm speechless.... Earth and Space Phil Fraering 2003-09-10T01:18:01-05:00 http://thenostromo.com/pgf/weblog/archives/2003_09.html#000059 Via Rantburg's Short Attention Span Theater, there's this story about a guy who mailed himself from Dallas to Michigan. I've never been to Dallas myself, so I can't say whether it's really that bad.... Culture Phil Fraering 2003-09-10T00:40:45-05:00 http://thenostromo.com/pgf/weblog/archives/2003_09.html#000058 Over at "Oriental Redneck," there are two interesting posts up, one where Tony Kim writes about Korean women "gaming" the laws of the US in order to get US citizenship for their kids, and then moving back to Korea. As they say on other sites, read the whole thing. He also has another post about the Stryker Wheeled APC and the legislative process which brings to mind Bismark's famous statement about law, order, and sausage.... General Blogging Phil Fraering 2003-09-10T00:29:48-05:00 http://thenostromo.com/pgf/weblog/archives/2003_09.html#000057 'Swen' Swenson, author of the 'blog "Coyote At The Dogshow," comments here on a dispute going on at the University of Pennsylvania over whether or not the graduate students there should form or join a union.... Culture Phil Fraering 2003-09-10T00:16:59-05:00 http://thenostromo.com/pgf/weblog/archives/2003_09.html#000056 Click here to generate your own personalized battlecry, complete with blunt or sharp instrument.... Culture Phil Fraering 2003-09-09T23:13:51-05:00 http://thenostromo.com/pgf/weblog/archives/2003_09.html#000055 Just a quick note to Sea Wasp that he might enjoy this article, originally from the Wall Street Journal, on Iraqi sponsorship of terrorism in the US.... General Blogging Phil Fraering 2003-09-09T23:10:05-05:00 http://thenostromo.com/pgf/weblog/archives/2003_09.html#000054 A couple more interesting links I've seen on LGF: First, totalitarians in Europe are taking a rather different approach to their usual whining. Second, there is currently some small debate going on in Jordan on the subject of honor killings.... General Blogging Phil Fraering 2003-09-09T23:00:56-05:00 http://thenostromo.com/pgf/weblog/archives/2003_09.html#000053 I know this is an old item, but just for the sake of reference I wanted a link to LGF's pictures of these murals.... General Blogging Phil Fraering 2003-09-09T22:47:01-05:00 http://thenostromo.com/pgf/weblog/archives/2003_09.html#000052 I'm interested in getting the book Ki in Everyday Life , both for myself and possibly for someone else, but I'd like to hear from someone who has read it first, about whether it's any good. I'm looking for good books on meditation in particular right now. And as always, we thank you for your support.... Culture Phil Fraering 2003-09-01T02:01:58-05:00 http://thenostromo.com/pgf/weblog/archives/2003_09.html#000051 I also ran across this article at Strategypage by Jim Dunnigan that predicts further difficulties in Iraq, because many of the international "peacekeeping" troops coming in aren't as good as US and British troops at winning and keeping the hearts and minds of a populace. I've been trying to think of countries besides the US and the UK that have large militaries but lack large-scale corruption, and failing. The Columbians have experience with fighting guerrilla war, and recent reports say they're winning their war, but they're still fighting it. (Someone remind me to check up on that). I believe the Peruvians had some successes in rolling back the Shining Path, but I don't know if that means they'd be successful in Iraq. I keep seeing Russian troops... General Blogging Phil Fraering 2003-09-01T01:19:20-05:00 http://thenostromo.com/pgf/weblog/archives/2003_09.html#000050 Something struck me regarding the previously cited Rantburg post, and Prince Aziz. He was referred to as ...Prince Ahmed bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz, a Westernized nephew of King Fahd’s and a publisher better known as a racehorse owner. His horse War Emblem won the Kentucky Derby.... I wonder what they mean, precisely, by "Westernized." The other thing that's been bugging me lately is that the recent bombing in Iraq happened in Najaf, at the tomb of Ali. As far as I know, Ali is one of the first major historical figures to go from being (in the eyes of the "mainstream" of Islam) a righteous, pious man (and heir-designate of the Prophet Mohammed, if the Shi'a are to be believed), to just another Godless Apostate, all... General Blogging Phil Fraering 2003-09-01T00:12:06-05:00