I’d really like to see a serious study of the estimated costs versus gains of including women into the combat arms jobs. For instance – estimated increase of sexual harassment/ rape/ assault based on historic numbers from units that are already inclusive, or a look at an increase or decrease in recruiting costs due to increased recruiting pool, etc. It’s disheartening to me that our policy makers are discussing “squishy” things like “feelings,” while there is no discussion about grown up analysis of cost and benefit.

I don’t think the author really made any of his arguments very well; maybe linking past copies to contemporary copies, but still, eh.

I had heard they build fake cities, but I didn’t realize they were building replicas of historical areas. I wonder if they hire foreigners to work in the cities to give it authenticity? If so, best summer job ever is being the bartender at the Chinese Haalstadt.

>chicken coop analogy
I completely agree. I cannot imagine any grouping of people tolerating that without fighting back. If a state undertakes to govern a people, then they should do better than that.

>give them a chunk of land solution.
I mean something bigger than a reservation. I meant a chunk of land that could be considered a sovereign state; hence coastal. A size-able chunk of land with coastal access could reasonably expect to do well.

I am more and more convinced that revolution is a symptom of poor governance; if you disenfranchise a a segment of society based on race or religion, there is going to be unrest. Ironically, the Palestinians are being kept in a ghetto style situation by people who recently escaped ghettos themselves. As long as this paradigm remains, Palestinians will probably organize and take whatever action they can acquire resources for.

For the Israeli’s, this really comes down to three fundamental questions: 1. are you willing to employ the amount of force required to impose order over time 2. are you willing to include Palestinians in civil and political society in a meaningful way 3. are you willing to shuck off Palestine in a meaningful way

Goofy activists aside, let’s discuss combined arms and Iran for a second.

This sort of cyber attack would be much more terrifying if Iran was putting together a cyber attack package that could compliment the rockets being used to attack Israel. The capability would look something like a cyber attack on the Iron Dome system that is meant to shoot down the rockets followed by the actual rocket attack. The psychological impact would be pretty big. So why don’t they do that? Capability? I doubt it, they are making nuclear weapons, surely they can figure this out.

I didn’t suspect you for an advocate for a minute.

The CIA Freedom of Information Act has a report to J Edgar Hoover on the value of brainwashing, including the use of drugs, and it turns out that it doesn’t work. There is some truly terrifying stuff about Soviet and Chinese attempts and successes in ‘creating memories’ so prisoners can believably confess.

I recently had occasion to do some reading about the theory and history of the subject, and I wanted to share. I also like to dispel any myths about government agencies when I can do it conclusively. I am relatively positive that the decision to allow torture was made by a small handful operating in an echo chamber.

Jack Bauer scenarios aside, we have recent scenarios based in reality to look toward in our questions about the morality and efficacy of torture.

WWII – The world’s industrialized nations locked in a state of Total War in which massive fatalities in training accidents were an acceptable cost of preparing for war. From this, I offer three examples refuting torture as useful.

1. The men from Fort Hunt that interrogated Rudolf Hess, firmly in opposition to torture. Hunt_s Quiet Men Break Silence on WWII-1.mht

If you liked the Ryan Adams album, then check out the Shooter Jennings alt-country website/online petition, http://www.givememyxxx.com/

Unknown starving musicians contribute songs gratis and Jennings compiles albums available for free download. The idea is that you enjoy the music, buy albums or see shows, sign the petition for a new genre of rock-country music, and generally spread the word.

I promise, it’s not a porn site. Happy listening.

It’s more than than a simple crime or nuisance, if the hacked system is a government or DOD system, it’s an act of war. For instance, intentionaly procuring sensitive documents and making them publicly accessible makes you a combatant in the age of information warfare. You can declare yourself a journalist, and claim that you are forcing ‘transparency’, but the more immediate effect is the erosion of popular support and battlefield confusion; ergo, you declare yourself a combatant.

I recently had an opportunity to spend some time in Trinidad and Tobago; a state where private gun ownership is so expensive and complicated that it is nearly non existent. There were 550 gun related homicides in the capital city of Port of Spain in 2008, 509 in 2009, and at last check 354 for 2010. The population in Port of Spain is approximately 130,000. The remarklable thing is that not only is it difficult to attain legal permission to own a firearm, but there is no capacity for manufactoring firearms on the island. Whenever people rail against gun ownership and demand gun control, I think of that.

In the wake of allegations of missing weapons and partisan violence, Iraqi President Jalal Tabani is purchasing $100 million in small arms from China to arm its police force. Iraqi officials blame the situation on their frustration over the rate at which they are being armed by the U.S. Some disagree, however, and have accused China of arming both sides in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. Is China is engaged in simple profiteering, or is it a clever foreign policy for maintaining the concert of Southwest Asia in chaos?

When most people think "home brewer," they think of overweight bearded men, renaissance fairs, and civil war reenactments. No longer! With a modest investment in a couple of equipment items, anyone can brew 5 gallons of beer in a couple of hours, cleanup not included. In the course of this article I will review making a simple, malt extract brew. I will also discuss the required equipment and costs as well as popular (to me) vendors.¹

Academics and malcontents in Vermont have written a secessionist manifesto (available in paperback) declaring that the "…U.S. has become an empire that is essentially ungovernable — it’s too big, it’s too corrupt and it no longer serves the needs of its citizens." This is similar to Quebec’s secession attempt, when the province sought to renegotiate sovereignty and a new association with Canada.
In numerous interviews, movement spokesmen such as Rob Williams, editor of Vermont Commons, a quarterly newspaper dedicated to secession have alleged "Congress and the executive branch are being run by the multinationals. We have electoral fraud, rampant corporate corruption, a culture of militarism and war. If you care about democracy and self-governance and any kind of representative system, the only constitutional way to preserve what’s left of the Republic is to peaceably take apart the empire."

The Peel Hotel in Melbourne, Australia has recently won the right to ban Heterosexuals from the hotel bar. In an interview with Australian Radio, hotel manager Tom Freely claimed, "If I can limit the number of heterosexuals entering the Peel, then that helps me keep the safe balance."

What is the safe balance? In this interview, VCAT president Cate Mckenzie explains that not only do straight and lesbian groups become occasionally violent towards the male gay community at the bar, but that straight women also use the gay men as entertainment for Hen Nights.

My most recent experience in the U.S. Army has left me doing battle with the Army’s Bureaucratic Machine. I’m a Rear Detachment Commander and find my daily duties and responsibilities (among others) are largely related to:

• bringing new soldiers into the Army and sending them to the war, and
• kicking bad or broken soldiers out of the Army.

This experience opened my eyes to a world of anachronism and wasted resources I never imagined possible. For instance:

• I recently removed a soldier from service for gratuitous use of cocaine and marijuana. The Army previously granted him a waiver for felony assault on a police officer so he might enlist.