Dude, where's the beach?

Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Coolest.Dad.Ever.

Working with my daughter on a history assignment. She's learning about King Tut and Ancient Egypt. Half way through the lesson I came up with a better way to teach her about who King Tut was and how the Ancient Egyptians dressed and danced. I played her this clip from Saturday Night Live.

"How'd you get so funky? They said you do the monkey"

Ahhh, the Internet. Making history fun, and destroying it all at the same time. I need to quit my day job. I'm having too much fun at home with the kidlings.

posted by El Capitan at 11:11 AM 3 comments

A Well Deserved Day of Rest

Rest, sleep, and laziness. Of course it's the calm before the storm. I have a mountain of boxes filled with Christmas decorations to start going through.

I wonder if this is what retirement is like?

posted by El Capitan at 10:05 AM 3 comments

Morning Stroll...

First thing. I've got to give a huge thank you to Mauser Girl for the new layout on this site. This blog has always been something fun and personal for me when I started it just before heading to Iraq in August 2004. After nearly 18 months it certainly needed a facelift, and I couldn't have asked for a better job. So, head on over to Mauser Girl's site and bug her if you like her work. She's certainly the best gun slinger/web designer in the Milblog family that I know of.

Dave at Garfield Ridge is 'Sick as a Dog.' My question is, if Bird Flu is caught by touching birds, then being Sick as a Dog means what? I dunno, just thinking outside the box here. If it wasn't a dog, then it must have been that weekend trip to Tiajuana.

Michelle Malkin, who by the way kicks ass, is all over MoveOn.Org's latest Turkey Day Massacre. They've got an add showing how miserable U.S. troops were during Thanksgiving, and how it's all Bush's fault. Problem is, they're British troops, not American. It's amazing though how quckly they photoshoped the shot. MoveOn.Org... Photoshop/Propaganda experts.

Also, she's got a little ditty on the posibility of Osama being dead... thanks to 'Rambo Harry' Reid. Very interesting.

On the other hand Blackfive found a story, and photo, about Al Qaeda perps dressing as women in Afghanistan. Too many jokes to think of on this one.

Mudville Gazette is of course all over everything Military. Always a good read.

Ace of Spades, aka 'sarcasm at its best,' has been on a roll lately. One example is his discovery of the Democratic Party's national security policy.

The Democratic Party
"Our national security policy is taking the old "wait and see" attitude. After all, what's the worse that could happen?"

posted by El Capitan at 9:18 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

Why am I celebrating. Oh, I dunno. Maybe it's because I'm on leave the next 3 days, making it a 5 day weekend. I'll be home kicking back with the kidlings while the wife is down in Texas.

No work, all play... and I should be writing a bunch once the rugrats hit the hey. Well, writing and gaming. Woo hoo!

posted by El Capitan at 7:20 PM 1 comments

Working On A New Look

Stand by while we get some of these kinks worked out on this new design.

Oh, and did I ever mention that Mauser Girl kicks ass? Best damn gun slinger & web designer in the blogosphere.

posted by El Capitan at 11:45 AM 7 comments

I'll be on The Price Is Right this Friday and Monday!

At least I'm in the studio audience. Last October the wife and I attended two tapings of The Price Is Right while visiting my parents out in Los Angeles. The first show will air this Friday, 2 December. The second will be on Monday, 5 December.

The experience was awesome. As a kid I used to play hooky from school just to stay home and watch Bob Barker and his Beauties, so this was definitely a life long goal. Bob is looking older every show, so I knew I was running out of time if I wanted to see him. I dragged the uniform along to help represent the Air Force, and of course to help me get chosen to play. I never did get picked, but I still had a great time.

The stage is actually very small, and the crowd is even smaller than how it looks on TV. Camera angles... It's all magic. Barker's Beauties were OK, but They're not as cool as the gals I grew up with back in the 80s and 90s. These new ones are too Barbie-dollish, whereas the older ones had character and could actually change expressions.

The only thing I found disappointing was the crowd. The crowd during the first taping was much younger than the second, so they seemed ruder to one another and to Bob. Yes, they were rude to Bob Barker, the Pimp Daddy of Daytime TV. Amazing how stupid and disrespectful people are these days. Yes, maybe it was just the younger LA culture, but it's still shocking to witness.

The second crowd was much better and had more fun. Sorry for the spoiler, but the winner for Monday's show was a young Marine ROTC Cadet (Rat bastard, That was my Mustang!!!) He wins big.

You can see my wife and I in a lot of the crowd shots for both episodes. I have the ability to record the shows on my computer, but I don't know how to take still shots and post them. If someone can tell me how to do it, I'm all ears.

As for my wife, she made it onto the show back in 1997, and the rule is you can't be a contestant on the show twice... ever. She won a cedar chest, which we still use, but she lost a car. (Yes, it was some type of Cheapo Dodge Dart or something, but a car is a car) While standing in line for our taping someone asked her if she was disappointed when she lost the car, or was she just happy to have been on the show. Her answer was priceless. "Of course I was disappointed. I was pissed. I lost a car, and I'm still upset about it to this day." It was funny seeing these wannabe contestants' fake smiles dry up when she said that. Priceless.

So, as we were in line walking towards the theater they took groups of about 10 of us and interviewed us all together. Yes, fake smiles, jumping up and down, shouting and showing off... people did what they could to try and get on. I was guilty of it. My face hurt for 20 minutes after the interview because I was smiling so big and laughing at everyone's stupid comments and jokes.

Overall it was a blast, and I'd do it again if I had another day to waste out there. I'm not sure what will happen with the show after Pimp Daddy Barker retires or keels over, but I know it'll never be the same without him. He was a class act, and he entertained the crowd during commercial breaks. During the second show he had us military folks stand up and he thanked each one of us individually. Made my day.

So, another item to mark off my list of things to do before I die has been check-marked, and it was worth it.

Also, please let me know if anyone is familiar with capturing still photos from recorded TV.

posted by El Capitan at 11:23 AM 4 comments

Monday, November 28, 2005
Disclaimer

All characters and events in this Blog - even those based on real people and news - are in fact authentic, unless of course someone complains. Then they are entirely fictional, and probably products of a bad dream. The following blog contains intellectually course language and due to its content SHOULD NOT BE VIEWED BY ANYONE! And courtesy of the legal eagles and CBFTW, the opinions expressed on this website are solely those of the author and contributors and not those of any agency of the United States Government, expressly including, but not limited to, the Department of Defense, or the United States Air Force. The site is not designed, authorized, sanctioned, or affiliated, by or with, any agency of the United States Government, SO THERE!

posted by El Capitan at 11:15 PM 0 comments

Wow, Talk About Sad

Teen With Peanut Allergy Dies After Kiss

"A 15-year-old girl with a peanut allergy died after kissing her boyfriend, who had just eaten a peanut butter snack, hospital officials said Monday."

Not only did she lose her life to a kiss, the boyfriend is now scarred for life. I doubt he'll be making out with anyone any time soon. Almost sounds like a scene from the '40 year old Virgin.' Very very sad.

posted by El Capitan at 3:01 PM 0 comments

Who's Got the Bigger Pair.... Part II

We'll let them speak for themselves.

posted by El Capitan at 2:52 PM 1 comments

Ring Tones

While this storm is making its way towards my location and everyone is running around in chaos, I find myself asking the all important question each of us has asked at some point.

What makes a good cell phone ring tone?

I'm tired of my dorky T-Mobile ringers, yet I'm not sure what to replace it with. What makes a great ring tone? I had Kanye West's Gold Digger for a while, but that got old pretty quickly. Not to mention the fact that I kept forgetting to change the tone before I got to work. It's not a good thing to have Gold Digger start playing during a briefing to the boss or while you're sitting at the table negotiating a 200 million dollar contract. Not good at all.

So what makes a good ring tone? Do you recommend anything specific? Original?

What do you recommend against? I know we've all heard those annoying ring tones while standing in line or at the movies. What should I avoid?

posted by El Capitan at 2:17 PM 3 comments

Mother Nature Is Coming...

And she's looking a bit peeved. Must have been that grasshoper I stepped on the other day.

Current Winds gusting at 30+. Time to batton down the hatches.

Also, I was trying to link the moving radar map, but I can only link a single image. Does anyone know how to link the moving map, almost like a gif.?

posted by El Capitan at 11:57 AM 4 comments

India Kicks the USAF's Ass in 2005 Joint Exercise?

This will be the second year in a row that the rumor mill has India kicking the USAF's teeth in during the 'Cope India' exercise. Last year it was said that the Indians opened up a Can of Whoop Ass on our F-15Cs. The November 28 article in the Christian Science Monitor states that this year the Indian Air Force Sukhoi-30 MKIs put a hurt on our F-16s.

Ok, back to reality. Last year's 'leak' that the Indian Air Force kicked our ass was anything but factual. The truth is that the so-called leak was designed to push Congress for more funding on the F-22 program. That's about as honest as it gets around here. What better way to get more funding for more new aircraft then to say that your current fighters are no longer capable of maintaining air superiority in combat. Yes, it's embarrassing for the Air Force to go that route, but obviously we'll do anything for new planes.

This year's 'leak' is no different. The F-16's replacement, the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), is having serious funding problems in Congress. The Air Force wants the plane and wants it soon, hence the latest rumor that our F-16s are being matched or beaten by India.

So this story is a win win for India and the U.S. It lets the Indian Forces feel great about themselves and their progress, and it makes the case for newer U.S. Air Force fighters.

posted by El Capitan at 10:02 AM 2 comments

Romantic Love Just Temporary?

Romantic love 'lasts just a year'

"Some couples may disagree, but romantic love lasts little more than a year, Italian scientists believe... But it seems from this study biochemical mechanisms could be involved in the mood changes that occur from the early stage of love to when the relationship becomes more established."

Let me take a guess on this one here. Are most of those biochemical mechanisms that change the relationship occuring, say... every 28 days?

Just a testosterone-induced educated guess on my part.

(Waiting for a flood of hate mail)

posted by El Capitan at 9:37 AM 3 comments

Thank You Washington Post...

For outing a national security operation.
For puting our nation's assets and people in danger.
For puting our nation's allies in danger.
For breaking the law by publishing classified material.
For hindering our efforts to fight the War on Terror.

Thank you for reminding us which side the MSM is really on.

posted by El Capitan at 9:27 AM 0 comments

Saturday, November 26, 2005
Once Again... This Is What a Timetable Looks Like

Posted this once before back when people were crying for a timetable or date of when the U.S. would pull out of Iraq. I think it's time for a friendly reminder as to what announcing a timetable causes.

Chaos.

Now, back to work.

posted by El Capitan at 11:23 AM 6 comments

Thursday, November 24, 2005
Another thing to be thankful for

“Iraqi forces now implement 70% of the security operations.“

One small step closer to everyone coming home.

(H/T Mudville Gazette)

posted by El Capitan at 3:59 PM 2 comments

This Thanksgiving day I'm thankful for...

My family
My friends
My health
and for being a member of the United States Armed Forces.

It's always nice to know I'm on the winning team.

U.S. Air Force

U.S. Navy and Marine Corps

U.S. Army

Da Bears

posted by El Capitan at 9:11 AM 3 comments

Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Sorry Folks, Just a Computer Glitch

Must've been that Y2K do-hicky.

posted by El Capitan at 10:42 AM 1 comments

That's It... The Gloves Are Off

I mentioned Milblogging.com a couple of weeks ago, where you can go and vote for your favorite Milblog. They're now hosting the 2005 Milbloggies.

"The Milbloggies are an annual award ceremony celebrating milblogging around the world. And of course, through the Milbloggies, you’ll be able to find some of the best milblogs on the internet."

The categories are broken down by service. Here are my personal recommendations. I challenge everyone out there to show some love and vote. And yes, I do bribe well. If my blog or AlliCadem's 'Whine With Cheese' blog wins the top Air Force site, I'm buying!

Air Force
'Dude, Where's The Beach?', 'Can I Have Some Whine With That Cheese?'

Army
'Blackfive', 'Ma Deuce Gunner', 'Mauser*Girl', and 'Desultory Butterfly'

Navy
'Doc In The Box', 'CDR Salamander', 'SMASH'

Marines
'Flight Pundit', 'One Marine's View'

Military Spouse
'Most Certainly Not', 'Air Force Family'

U.S. Civilian (Military Supporter)
'Toni's View' (Bear Creek Ledger)

Veteran
'Michael Yon'

Foreign Military
'Airstrip One'

Foreign Civilian
'Iraq the Model'

If I've forgotten anyone, throw a brick my way to remind me.

posted by El Capitan at 9:38 AM 9 comments

Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Looking Forward to Rummy's Appropriate Response to the Senate

"Well gee wiz Senator, you want me to Publicly reveal troop movements... let me think about that one"

H/T Black Five for sharing, and Uncle Jimbo for creating. Read the 4 July 2006 Press Release on our withdrawal from Iraq. He nailed it.

posted by El Capitan at 3:29 PM 2 comments

A Marine Reviews Weapons Used In Iraq

Basically, most of our new stuff is crap. According to this first hand account, the best weapons to use are the ones that were invented in WWI and WWII. This is a must read if you've ever questioned our nations ability to properly develop, purchase, and equip its fighting men and women. Who else would know more about how our equipment is holding up than a Marine or Soldier who's actually using the stuff?

Washington Times
November 22, 2005 Pg. 21
A Marine Reports From Iraq
By An anonymous Marine

Editor's note: There's nothing like word from the field to know what works, what doesn't and how the enemy's tactics are affecting our soldiers in battle. Below is one U.S. Marine's take on those questions, verified and relayed to us through his father, a retired Marine. We've withheld the Marine's name and his father's to spare them the inevitable political or institutional flap. Among the most interesting tidbits: Our Marine reports that servicemen are shocked at negative press coverage of the war, and they believe the United States is winning decisively -- but that the number of troops in the field should be bolstered. On equipment, our Marine thinks the older, battle-tested parts of the U.S. arsenal are the most useful equipment in the fight against insurgents. M-16s aren't much good, but "Ma Deuce" is, and the .45 pistol is highly coveted. Body armor has plusses and minuses.

Hello to all my fellow gunners, military buffs, veterans and interested guys. A couple of weekends ago I got to spend time with my son... [He] spent seven months at "Camp Blue Diamond" in Ramadi, a.k.a. "Fort Apache." He saw and did a lot. The following is what he told me about weapons, equipment, tactics and other miscellaneous information which may be of interest to you. Nothing is by any means classified. No politics here, just a Marine with a bird's eye view's opinions.

•The M-16 rifle: Thumbs down. Chronic jamming problems with the sand over there, which is like talcum powder. The sand is everywhere. You feel filthy two minutes after a shower. The M-4 carbine version is more popular because it's lighter and shorter, but it also has jamming problems. Marines like the ability to mount the various optical gunsights and weapons lights on the picatinny rails, but the weapon itself is not great in a desert environment. They all hate the 5.56mm (.223) round. Poor penetration on the cinderblock structure common over there and even torso hits cannot be reliably counted on to put the enemy down. Fun fact: Random autopsies on dead insurgents shows a high level of opiate use.

•The M243 SAW (squad assault weapon) .223 cal: Big thumbs down. Drum-fed light machine gun. Universally considered a piece of s***. Chronic jamming problems, most of which require partial disassembly. That's fun in the middle of a firefight.

•The M9 Beretta 9mm: mixed bag. Good gun, performs well in a desert environment, but everyone hates the 9mm cartridge. The use of handguns for self-defense is actually fairly common. Same old story on the 9mm: Bad guys get hit multiple times but are still in the fight.

•Mossberg 12ga. Military shotgun: Works well and is used frequently for clearing houses, to good effect.

•The M240 Machine Gun: 7.62 Nato (.308) cal belt-fed machine gun: Thumbs up. Developed to replace the old M-60 -- what a beautiful weapon that was -- it is accurate, reliable and the 7.62 round puts 'em down. Originally developed as a vehicle-mounted weapon, more and more are being dismounted and taken into the field by infantry. The 7.62 round chews up the structure over there.

•The M2 .50 cal heavy machine gun: Thumbs way, way up. "Ma deuce" is still worth her considerable weight in gold. The ultimate fight-stopper, puts their d**** in the dirt every time. The most coveted weapon in-theater.

•The .45 pistol: Thumbs up. Still the best pistol round out there. Everybody authorized to carry a sidearm is trying to get their hands on one. With few exceptions, it can reliably be expected to put 'em down with a torso hit. The special-ops guys -- who are doing most of the pistol work -- use the HK military model and supposedly love it. The old government model .45s are being re-issued en masse.

•The M-14: Thumbs up. It is being re-issued in bulk, mostly in a modified version to special-ops guys. Modifications include lightweight Kevlar stocks and low-power red dot or ACOG sights. Very reliable in the sandy environment, and people love the 7.62 round.

•The Barrett .50 cal sniper rifle: Thumbs way up. Spectacular range and accuracy and hits like a freight train. Used frequently to take out vehicle suicide bombers -- we actually stop a lot of them -- and barricaded enemies. Definitely here to stay.

•The M24 sniper rifle: Thumbs up. Mostly in 308 but some in 300 win mag. Heavily modified Remington 700s. Great performance. Snipers have been using them heavily to great effect. Rumor has it that a Marine sniper on his third tour in Anbar province has actually exceeded Carlos Hathcock's record for confirmed kills with over 100.

•The new body armor: Thumbs up. Relatively light at approximately six pounds and can reliably be expected to soak up small shrapnel and even stop an AK-47 round. The bad news: Hot as s*** to wear, almost unbearable in the summer heat, which averages over 120 degrees. Also, the enemy now goes for head shots whenever possible. All the bull**** about the "old" body armor making our guys vulnerable to improvised-explosive devices was a non-starter. The IED explosions are enormous and body armor doesn't make any difference at all in most cases.

•Night Vision and Infrared Equipment: Thumbs way up. Spectacular performance. Our guys see in the dark and own the night, period. Very little enemy action after evening prayers. More and more of the enemy are being whacked at night during movement by our hunter-killer teams. We've all seen the videos.

•Lights: Thumbs up. Most of the weapon-mounted and personal lights are Surefires, and the troops love 'em. Invaluable for night urban operations. [Name redacted] carried a $34 Surefire G2 on a neck lanyard and loved it.
I can't help but notice that most of the good fighting weapons and ordnance are 50 or more years old. With all our technology, it's the World War II- and Vietnam-era weapons that everybody wants. The infantry fighting is frequent, up close and brutal. No quarter is given or shown.

Bad guy weapons:

•Mostly AK47s. The entire country is an arsenal. Works better in the desert than the M16 and the .308 Russian round kills reliably. PKM belt-fed light machine guns are also common and effective. Luckily, the enemy mostly shoots like s***. Undisciplined "spray and pray"-type fire. However, precision weapons are more and more common, especially sniper rifles. Fun fact: Captured enemy have apparently marveled at the marksmanship of our guys and how hard they fight. They are apparently told in jihad school that the Americans rely solely on technology, and can be easily beaten in close quarters combat for their lack of toughness. Let's just say they know better now.

•The RPG: Probably the infantry weapon most feared by our guys. Simple, reliable and as common as dog****. The enemy responded to our up-armored Humvees by aiming at the windshields, often at point blank range. Still killing a lot of our guys.

•The improvised-explosive device: The biggest killer of all. Can be anything from old Soviet anti-armor mines to jerry-rigged artillery shells. A lot found in [name redacted]'s area were in abandoned cars. The enemy would take two or three 155mm artillery shells and wire them together. Most were detonated by cell phone, and the explosions are enormous. You're not safe in any vehicle, even an M1 tank.

Driving is by far the most dangerous thing our guys do over there. Lately, they are much more sophisticated "shape charges" (Iranian) specifically designed to penetrate armor. Fact: Most of the ready-made IEDs are supplied by Iran, the country which is also providing terrorists, Hezbollah types, to train the insurgents in their use and tactics. That's why the attacks have been so deadly lately. Their concealment methods are ingenious, the latest being shape charges in Styrofoam containers spray-painted to look like the cinderblocks that litter all Iraqi roads. We find about 40 percent before they detonate. The bomb-disposal guys are unsung heroes of this war.

•Mortars and rockets: Very prevalent. The Soviet-era 122mm rockets, with a range of 18 kilometers, are becoming more prevalent. One of [name redacted]'s NCOs lost a leg to one. These weapons cause a lot of damage "inside the wire." [Name redacted]'s base was hit almost daily his entire time there by mortar and rocket fire, often at night to disrupt sleep patterns and cause fatigue (it worked). More of a psychological weapon than anything else. The enemy mortar teams would jump out of vehicles, fire a few rounds and then haul *** in a matter of seconds.

Bad guy technology is simple yet effective. Most communication is by cell and satellite phones and also by email on laptops. They use handheld Global Positioning System units for navigation and "Google Earth" for overhead views of our positions. Their weapons are good, if not fancy, and prevalent. Their explosives and bomb technology is top of the line. Night vision is rare.
They are very careless with their equipment, however, and the captured GPS units and laptops are intelligence treasure troves when captured.

Who are the bad guys? Most of the carnage is caused by the Zarqawi al Qaeda group. They operate mostly in Anbar province -- Fallujah and Ramadi. These are mostly "foreigners," that is, non-Iraqi Sunni Arab jihadists from all over the Muslim world and Europe. Most enter Iraq through Syria -- with, of course, the knowledge and complicity of the Syrian government -- and then travel down the "rat line" which is the trail of towns along the Euphrates River that we've been hitting hard for the last few months. Some are virtually untrained young jihadists who end up as suicide bombers or are used in "sacrifice squads."

Most, however, are hard-core terrorists from all the usual suspects -- al Qaeda, Hezbollah and Hamas. These are the guys running around murdering civilians en masse and cutting heads off. The Chechens, many of whom are Caucasian, are supposedly the most ruthless and the best fighters. In the Baghdad area and south, most of the insurgents are Iranian inspired and led Iraqi Shi'ites. The Iranian Shia have been very adept at infiltrating the Iraqi local government, police and army. Since the early 1980s during the Iran-Iraq war, they have had a massive spy and agitator network there. Most of the Saddam loyalists were killed, captured or gave up long ago.

Bad guy tactics: When the enemy is engaged on an infantry level they get their a**** kicked
every time. Brave, but stupid. Suicidal banzai-type charges were very common earlier in the war and still occur. They will literally sacrifice eight-to-10 man teams in suicide squads by sending them screaming and firing AKs and RPGs directly at our bases just to probe the defenses. They get mowed down like grass every time -- see the M2 and M240 above. [Name redacted]'s base was hit like this often. When engaged, the enemy has a tendency to flee to the same building, probably for what they think will be a glorious last stand. Instead, we call in air and that's the end of that, more often than not.

These hole-ups are referred to as "Alpha Whiskey Romeos" ("Allah's Waiting Room"). We have the laser-guided ground-air thing down to a science. The fast movers, mostly Marine F-18s, are taking an ever-increasing toll on the enemy. When caught out in the open, the helicopter gunships and AC-130 Spectre gunships cut them to ribbons with cannon and rocket fire, especially at night. Interestingly, artillery is hardly used at all. Fun fact: The enemy death toll is supposedly between 45,000 and 50,000. That is why we're seeing fewer and fewer infantry attacks and more improvised-explosive devices, suicide bomber s***. The new strategy is simple: attrition.

The insurgent tactic most frustrating is their use of civilian non-combatants as cover. They know we do all we can to avoid civilian casualties, so therefore schools, hospitals and especially mosques are locations where they meet, stage for attacks, cache weapons and ammo and flee to when engaged. They have absolutely no regard whatsoever for civilian casualties. They will terrorize locals and murder without hesitation anyone believed to be sympathetic to the Americans or the new Iraqi government. Kidnapping of family members, especially children, is common to influence people they are trying to influence but cannot otherwise reach, such as local government officials, clerics or tribal leaders, etc.

The first thing our guys are told is, "don't get captured." They know that if captured they will be tortured and beheaded on the Internet. Zarqawi openly offers bounties for anyone who brings him a live American serviceman.

This motivates the criminal element who otherwise don't give a s*** about the war. A lot of the beheading victims were actually kidnapped by common criminals and sold to Zarqawi. As such, for our guys, every fight is to the death. Surrender is not an option.

The Iraqis are a mixed bag. Some fight well, others aren't worth a s***.

Most do okay with American support. Finding leaders is hard, but they are getting better. It is widely viewed that Zarqawi's use of suicide bombers, en masse, against the civilian population was a serious tactical mistake.

Many Iraqis were galvanized and the caliber of recruits in the Army and the police forces went up, along with their motivation. It also led to an exponential increase in good intelligence because the Iraqis are sick of the insurgent attacks against civilians. The Kurds are solidly pro-American and fearless fighters.

According to [name redacted], morale among our guys is very high. They not only believe they are winning, but that they are winning decisively. They are stunned and dismayed by what they see in the American press, whom they almost universally view as against them. The embedded reporters are despised and distrusted. They are inflicting casualties at a rate of 20-1 and then see s*** like "Are we losing in Iraq?" on television and the print media.

For the most part, they are satisfied with their equipment, food and leadership. Bottom line, though, and they all say this: There are not enough guys there to drive the final stake through the heart of the insurgency, primarily because there aren't enough troops in-theater to shut down the borders with Iran and Syria. The Iranians and the Syrians just cannot stand the thought of Iraq being an American ally -- with, of course, permanent U.S. bases there.

That's it, hope you found it interesting, I sure did.

posted by El Capitan at 10:46 AM 0 comments

Monday, November 21, 2005
CDC Releases Info On Bird Flu Symptoms

Be careful out there! I hear that Bird Flu's creeping closer to the U.S.

1. High fever
2. Congestion
3. Nausea
4. Fatigue
5. Aching in the joints
6. An irresistible urge to crap on someone's windshield.

At first they thought Big Bird had the Asia Bird Flu, but they determined he had a bad hangover and a serious case of crotch rot from his trip to Singapore.

posted by El Capitan at 12:45 PM 2 comments

Michelle Malkin Kicks Ass

I'm a huge fan of intelligent and strong women who can dish it out as well as they can take it. Michelle Malkin is one of the best examples of this. She a brilliant minority woman in the public spotlight who happens to be conservative, which opens her up to some of the trashiest and most disgusting insults and charges. Well, she's had enough of the crap.

She's certainly on my list for 'Bad Mamajama' of the year

posted by El Capitan at 9:49 AM 3 comments

America takes world gaming crown

The US has been declared the top gaming nation at the World Cyber Games.

Two points: First, Duh! Of course we'd take the world gaming crown. We invented the nerd, we perfected the nerd, we are the nation of nerds. When it comes to gaming, we rule the world.

Second, I'm in the wrong career field. How do you get to be a gaming olympiad? Anyone? I'm willing to wear the taped glasses and pocket protector, although I refuse to live in my mother's basement.

posted by El Capitan at 9:08 AM 1 comments

Saturday, November 19, 2005
Another Satisfied Customer