S |
M |
T |
W |
T |
F |
S |
1 | 5 | 12 | 16 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
|---|
| Monthly Archives | [−] |
| [−] |
| [−] |
| [−] |
Comments and e-mails are welcome, but all such communication is to be assumed to be 1) the original work of any who initiate said communication and 2) in the public domain, with free use granted for publication in electronic or written form. If you do NOT wish to have your message posted, write "CONFIDENTIAL" in the subject line of your email.
Original content copyright © 2006 - 2008 by the respective authors. Fair, not-for-profit use of said material by others is encouraged, as long as acknowledgement and credit is given, to include the url of the original source post. Other arrangements can be made as needed.
Site contact: greyhawk at mudvillegazette dot com
Robert Gates Confirmed as new SECDEF
WASHINGTON - The Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to confirm Robert Gates as defense secretary, with Democrats and Republicans portraying him as the man who will help overhaul President Bush's Iraq policies.
The 95-2 vote was a victory for Bush, who named Gates to replace Donald H. Rumsfeld at the Pentagon on Nov. 8, a day after voters gave Democrats control of Congress for next year.
Even so, much of Gates' support stemmed from his pledges to consider new options in Iraq. The vote coincided with the release of an independent study lambasting Bush's approach to the war, increasing pressure on the White House to change course.
Sens. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., and Jim Bunning, R-Ky., voted against Gates.
I don't mind being beat out by NCOs and guys in the Sandbox... but Noonan? That hurts.
Hey, that does hurt! Why you always harping on the poor Loot? Sheesh and I thought bringing in a Light Bird would've helped some....
In all seriousness, I wouldn't make too much of it John. If the finalists were selected by virtue of daily visits alone, you'd be in the top 4-5 of all milbloggers. So if there's ego damage, remember to keep the grand scheme in perspective!
And the good news here is that milbloggers as a whole made out like bandits. On top of the military blog finalists, Salamander, Bubblehead, and Eagle were nominated in other categories.
Our milblogging swabbies make up a powerful fraternity. Thank God I've at least got a fellow zoomie in Greyhawk.
The recent reports of North Korea making millions of dollars off of insurance scams that would make Tony Soprano proud, really shouldn't be surprising to anyone who follows North Korean affairs. However, what I think everyone would be surprised about is who is paying off the gangsters.
Recently the US and Korea concluded the USFK cost sharing agreement:
South Korea and the United States on Wednesday struck a deal to increase Seoul’s share of the cost of maintaining American soldiers here in 2007 and 2008 by 6.6 percent, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.Korea will contribute a total of 725.5 billion won ($780 million) next year, up 45.1 billion won from its share this year, and its share in 2008 will be 725.5 billion won plus the rate of inflation in 2007, ministry officials said.
``We could conclude the agreement with the U.S. side on the phone,’’ a ministry official said. ``Both sides are not totally content with the result of the negotiations, but I think it is the most reasonable result based on the spirit of the Seoul-Washington alliance.’’
The deal was struck after six rounds of negotiations between Seoul and Washington.
South Korea is going to contribute $780 million dollars to USFK next year which is still less than half the overall USFK costs. Prior to this agreement South Korea payed roughly 40% of USFK's costs; this new agreement means they are paying roughly 46% of costs.
Let's compare the $780 million dollar cost sharing agreement to the amount of money Seoul sends to North Korea.
Tune into Larry King LIVE tonight at 9:00 EST. Becky Davis, the mother of two soldiers and one Marine, will be discussing the Iraq Study Group's recommendations from the perspective of a family member who has someone serving in Iraq.
Becky has endured multiple deployments, her sons are constantly bouncing back and forth from Iraq to Afghanistan. Oh, and I should mention, she's also a milblogger.
My ego still smarts from the Weblog Awards nominations. Slipped from 4th in '04, to 5th in '05, to not even making the cut in '06. Castle Argghhh! had to settle for "Best of the Top 250 Blogs" (which is the short title for "Best of the Top 250 Blogs not a finalist in any other category"). I don't mind being beat out by NCOs and guys in the Sandbox... but Noonan? That hurts.
In reality, it's as much a reflection of the increasing quality of the competition as anything else, but, let's face it, I just got invited to the NIT as a consolation prize.
So, I guess I better bootstrap a little milblogging.
Last week I got to attend a faculty development seminar at the Command And General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth. The speaker? Josh Rushing.
Better known as the Marine who went to work for al-Jazeera.
My first thought when I saw him was... "Funny, he doesn't *look* like a demon."
Come see what the rest of my thoughts (and Rushing's) were over at my place.
Click here and come on over!
DEAN ESMAY writes:
I got a buddy, Martin Shoemaker who has a gift worth several thousand dollars he would like to make to a wounded service member.What it amounts to: a free copy of every Microsoft development tool, with a year's worth of updates and support, and a full license to use any of it.
If you're not a professional programmer, this doesn't even seem interesting. But if you WANT to be a professional programmer, this would be an AMAZING gift. Basically, it's everything you might ever need if you wanted to become a full-time programmer in the Microsoft universe. It's beyond what the average college kid gets, it's EVERY tool an up-and-coming programmer might want.
If it's given away lightly it means nothing. But in the hands of a kid who wnts it, however,he can do anything.
Know anyone who might be interested?
Bubblehead has the sad story; a nightmare scenario on board the Frank Cable as a boiler pipe gives way in an enclosed space full of people on watch. Several sailors severely burned.
Soldier's Angels are there, and that Valour-IT drive is already being useful. Chaotic Synaptic has details.
We all know what he's up to: Listening to Frank J.
Frank, you magnificent bastidge. You got traction.
This story has it all, a young sailor who breaks laundry list of rules, he talks his Marine buddies into providing cover for the endeavor. Each week, wearing night-vision goggles, him and a dozen other Marines would drive over to this young girls neighborhood, park a mile away and take a different route to her house. The Marines would provide cover while this young Corpsman, an HM2 Chris Walsh, did his loving deed in the dead of night.
End the end, there are broken bodies, strangers from around the world who are brought together and finally a young woman’s chance at happiness.
Just go and read. This is the story that should be on more front pages.
Cross posted at Doc in the Box
THE UNITED STATES plans to establish permanent bases on the Moon, according to a report in the New York Times citing Bush Administration officials.
Under a presidential order signed in 2004, the federal government has been developing plans for new space hardware to deploy personnel to the Moon and establish a foothold near the lunar south pole. Once there, unspecified “other countries” and “commercial enterprises” could “expand the outpost in order to develop scientific and other interests,” says a senior administration official.
The official declined to elaborate on what those “other interests” might be, but initial reports hint at efforts to seize and exploit the satellite’s natural resources.
Fallujah in June. A “routine” patrol, or at least it was until the IED went off just in front of the HMMWV. A Navy corpsman attached to a Marine rifle company bundles out with his brothers in arms and heads out on a foot race in search of the triggerman. They reach a door, go inside and find…
A frantic mother and a sick baby:
When Walsh and the Marines came to one doorway, M-4 rifles up and ready, a woman emerged from a room, holding an infant and saying, over and over again, “Baby. Baby sick.”Walsh put his gun down and the woman put the baby down.
Walsh had seen bad things – as an EMT back home in St. Louis, and at war. But he told his comrades he had never seen anything like this: The child, just a few months old, looked as though her insides had been turned inside out.
Her name was Mariam, and she looked up at Walsh with dead eyes.
There's a lot more to the tale. It manages to both have a happy ending, and be very hard to read.
You should read it anyway.
And not one that leaps to mind these days... you'll see what I mean.
Nice to FINALLY see Greyhawk in the "Best Milblog" category, instead of "Best of the Top 250" or what not.
Lots of resident posters on the list....
Best Military Blog
American Soldier
Bouhammer's Afghanistan Blog
Blackfive
Grey Eagle, A Female Soldier
Michael Yon
Mudville Gazette
Neptunus Lex
Op-For
Sgt. Hook
SMASH
For those interested in what the soon-to-be Secretary of Defense has to say:
Here's his response to the Senate's "Advance Policy Questions".
Here's the CSPAN video of the Armed Services Committee hearings: part 1 and part 2. (Real Player)
Tomorrow: The Iraq Study Group releases its report. CSPAN will netcast the press conference at 11AM ET.
Just another reason I love being Catholic.
We have a Saint for EVERYTHING.
PS- yes, there is a military backstory here. I wasn't just hocking my religion :)
PPS- sheesh, where's the love guys? One of you could've emailed me and let me know that I linked the Halo 3 trailer instead of Lt Col P's post.
Site design and management: Mrs Greyhawk
Original content copyright © 2006 - 2008 by the respective authors
