tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53707762011-08-16T20:09:42.961-07:00Patrick S. Lasswell Look outward for something to accomplish, not inward for something to despise. <br> pslblog at gmail dot comPatrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.comBlogger2261100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1170868526191776642007-02-07T09:13:00.000-08:002007-03-26T11:24:13.533-07:00

Cash In IraqRepresentative Blumenauer, Yesterday Rep. Waxman asked the presumably rhetorical question "Who in their right mind would send 363 tons of cash into a war zone?" Apparently Rep. Waxman is oblivious to the lack of banking systems in Iraq, the impoverished state of the Iraqis after twelve years of sanctions, and the utter necessity of replacing a national currency dominated in its

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1169632069160661422007-01-24T01:36:00.000-08:002007-01-24T01:47:49.176-08:00

The Junior Senator from Virginia Does Not Speak For Me In his response to the President's State of the Union address, Senator Webb of Virginia put words in my mouth. The majority of the nation no longer supports the way this war is being fought; nor does the majority of our military. That is emphatically not my feeling or the feeling of the majority of US servicepersons I have spoken to around

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1168720363823809172007-01-13T12:31:00.000-08:002007-01-13T12:32:43.836-08:00

Open Letter to Congress Regarding War Funding Right now people in Washington, D.C. are advocating de-funding the war in Iraq to prevent President Bush from surging troops and I urge you to keep faith with the troops. It is unconscionable to withhold the tools of victory from troops you have sent into the field. If you have a better plan for victory in this war, I urge you to present it to the

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1168575900507944402007-01-11T20:05:00.000-08:002007-01-11T20:25:00.520-08:00

Lock Up Your Triticale Representative Wu from here in Oregon has declared on the floor of the House of Representatives that the White House is staffed by Klingons. In another citizen media scoop, recordings of Rep. Wu's last visit to the Executive Mansion have been discovered. I do not know why Rep. Wu decided that this was the time to out himself as a Tribble-American, but I think we should

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1168108240808619212007-01-06T09:43:00.000-08:002007-01-06T10:30:40.823-08:00

Key to GOP Victory in '08: Overexposed Democrats I am a big fan of competition in a democracy. Regrettably, I live in a country where elected officials are doing everything in their power to avoid actual contests on polling day. The result of this is a lot of congress are marginally competent and barely articulate political placefillers who have been in office forever. These people have not

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1168031231413246352007-01-05T12:45:00.000-08:002007-01-05T13:07:11.440-08:00

Representative Blumenauer Responds It appears that someone from Rep. Blumenauer's office has taken the time to respond to my earlier mail and post opposing a draft. Here is the response: Dear Mr. Lasswell:Thank you for writing to me about H.R.4752, the "Universal National Service Act of 2006."I have great respect for my colleague from New York, Congressman Charles Rangel, and what I think he's

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1167508951567820162006-12-30T12:01:00.000-08:002006-12-30T12:21:45.520-08:00

Do Not Mourn the Brutal Dead It was my honor to visit a successful Iraq this year, that part of the country longest free from Saddam's control. Despite being surrounded by three hostile and suspicious countries, Iraqi Kurdistan is flourishing with a liberal democracy. I cannot say that everything the Kurdish Regional Government is doing is right, but I can say that they are earnest in their

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1166736359961684372006-12-21T13:19:00.000-08:002006-12-21T13:25:59.973-08:00

To Whom It May Concern, Michael Totten is excused again today from blogging because he is terribly ill. As his way of embracing the holiday spirit he spent 22 hours sharing with strangers. Specifically he was travelling and inhaling recycled airline air in cramped conditions and somebody was willing to share their latest virus with Michael. Four hours after he got home, his temperature reached

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1164831435032737812006-11-29T12:14:00.000-08:002006-11-29T12:19:11.310-08:00

Success Bonus: What if We Got Serious About Winning? My reserve unit just got an excellent new sailor because the active duty Navy is penny wise and pound foolish. He is a nuclear power technician (training cost to the USN $1 million plus) who was offered over a hundred thousand to re-enlist, but got out because his unit wouldn't temporarily transfer him to the Gulf so he could accept the bonus

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1164703647754123682006-11-28T00:46:00.000-08:002007-02-25T02:18:44.813-08:00

Open Letter to Congressman Blumenauer Regarding the Proposed Draft Congressman Blumenauer, Your colleague, Representative Rangel, has again put forward his ill considered and unnecessary proposal for a military draft. To support this exceptionally bad idea, he has put forward outdated and untrue assertions that the US military is composed of uneducated and disadvantaged people. He somehow thinks

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1158216747445812772006-09-13T23:35:00.000-07:002006-09-13T23:54:24.366-07:00

Where Terror Lost This is the Mosque where Zarqawi quartered his terrorists at the start of the Iraq invasion. Ansar al-Islam controlled this Mosque and several villages nearby with Iranian assistance. They brutalized the locals and used the sacred shrine to three Islamic saints at this Mosque as a toilet. This is Iraqi Kurdistan, this is someplace the US made free. Arianna Huffington went

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1157416071117462542006-09-04T17:21:00.000-07:002006-09-04T17:27:51.130-07:00

Michael J. Totten Excused To Whom It May Concern, Michael J. Totten is excused from being on the first commercial flight into Beirut. He is tired from dodging terrorist rocket attacks in Israel and is coming home to rest. He promises to get back to Beirut sooner than he ought to. Signed, Patrick S. Lasswell Michael J. Totten's Self-appointed Apologist

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1155338666980741702006-08-11T16:08:00.000-07:002006-08-11T16:30:49.013-07:00

Pictures of Michael Totten in IraqSince my good friend Michael Totten has decided to represent the US blogosphere at the Katyusha catching games in Israel, this is probably a good time to post pictures of him. During our recent trip to Iraq we were both trying out new cameras and often getting in each other's way. Here are some of the images from last month in Iraq. [Please do not patronize the

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1153883557595939242006-07-25T20:10:00.000-07:002006-07-25T20:12:37.606-07:00

The Glacier Theory of Conflict Resolution As a vicious, brutal, knuckle-dragging war-monger, I have been accused of not waiting for all peaceful means of conflict resolution to be played out before using violence. In an attempt to reform my wicked ways, I suggest the following conflict resolution tools be engaged. At the first indication of conflict we should await the return of glaciers from

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1153759277069787682006-07-24T09:22:00.000-07:002006-07-24T12:36:31.136-07:00

(photo by Michael J. Totten)Unpacking It would be more fun to unpack if my butt wasn't dragging so much. The carpets are accepted with joy despite my use of mothballs. One escapes and I am compelled by Abigail to chase it down and make it go away, far away. I don't open celophane wrappper on the Johnnie Walker Blue Label to look at the actual bottle until I've slept a good seven hours on a

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1151731342137515442006-06-30T22:21:00.000-07:002006-06-30T22:22:22.150-07:00

Packing The great thing about the Korea trip earlier this year is that it really taught me a lot about packing. The first thing is that when you don't know where you're going to end up, it helps a lot to have wheels on your luggage. I went to Korea with one footlocker with wheels and one without. There's something about having to move two 50-pound footlockers one-hundred yards or more that

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1150587565670207832006-06-17T16:34:00.000-07:002006-06-17T16:39:25.680-07:00

"Lefty Girl" (A Tragic Love Song) Because we have been instructed that racial and religious comments associated with the song "Haji Girl" are inappropriate I have endeavored to replace them with appropriate terms that will clear up this whole controversy. The problem with incoherent ideologues willing to kill their own children is not limited to Iraq, and so this tragic love song gets a new

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1148964917431255202006-05-29T21:48:00.000-07:002006-05-29T21:55:17.456-07:00

How to Convict an Enron Fraud Part One Last week was a good one for my friend Andrew Nisbet and the energy market research firm he works for, McCullough Research. Enron executives Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling were convicted of a variety of charges stemming from driving a culture of fraud to tremendous wealth. Much of the testimony that has put Enron frauds in jail was discovered by the people at

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1148540579458440182006-05-24T23:59:00.000-07:002006-06-24T21:20:45.353-07:00

How to Catch a Fake Veteran Since there are people out there willing to lie about their military service for personal and political gain, it is the patriotic duty of people who support the troops to find the frauds and ridicule them. Unlike lying about your military service, ridicule is protected speech, even when extreme. To help you find and flush these miscreants, there are a few simple

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1148427737097647292006-05-23T16:39:00.000-07:002006-05-24T20:24:32.466-07:00

How to Avoid Getting Caught as a Fake Veteran Recently a man named Jessie MacBeth was caught lying about his military service in a video where he described various atrocities committed in Iraq. Within one day, every aspect of his claims and public life were examined and found severely wanting. His attempt to discredit the war did a great deal of harm to the credibility of anti-war organizations

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1147061766900408962006-05-07T21:04:00.000-07:002006-05-07T21:16:06.923-07:00

5 Reasons to Join Naval Coastal Warfare 5. People crazy like you are hard to find in other settings. 4. Camouflage is slimming. 3. Recognition for hard work happens...and then they give you more hard work. 2. You go places, get cold and wet, and not mind so much. 1. Where else can you find out that your best accessory is a string of 40mm grenades?

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1146522291251677972006-05-01T14:41:00.000-07:002006-05-06T13:09:10.550-07:00

Why Protests Fail The protest in Portland was pretty large, I'd estimate 10,000-15,000. The overwheming majority were there to gather peacefully. Lack of discipline allowed in some creeps in to what should have been a good thing. She was on-topic and a helpful image. They were on-topic but a harmful image. She was off-topic and deeply offensive. Somebody was very smart, though. They told

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1146294314124076592006-04-28T23:59:00.000-07:002006-05-18T09:44:05.946-07:00

Clarification of Oil Supply SMASH has a generally irrefutable set of facts for the reality impaired. On one point he is marginally incorrect in his details. Gas prices are high because oil prices are high.Oil prices are high because increasing global demand is outpacing supply.There is nothing any politician can do about it.Supply is a more complex concept than described in SMASH's post. The

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1146161631012861222006-04-27T11:05:00.000-07:002006-04-27T11:13:51.103-07:00

Captain Van Steenwyk Puts the Boot in... Arguing with Jason Van Steenwyk is worthwhile and informative, and if you've got your facts wrong it is also an education in getting your ass handed to you. It is also instructive to see how much of a minefield stroll it is to use the term "Chickenhawk" when there are veterans about.

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1146035180034809362006-04-26T00:05:00.000-07:002006-04-26T00:08:16.576-07:00

Glass Houses and Rumsfeld Compare the results of current leadership of the Department of Defense and the Oregonian. Morale in the military is high; the Army exceeded its re-enlistment goals for deployed units by 15%. The Oregonian has not so much a matter of re-enlistment as downsizing due to subscriber loss. The Department of Defense is engaging enemies of our nation around the globe with the

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1144526153626349382006-04-08T12:54:00.000-07:002006-04-08T12:55:53.640-07:00

Live Clown in a Cave, Dead Schmuck on a T-Shirt The other day I was debating somebody in the comments section of a blog about the conduct of the war. They brought up the old chestnut of Osama Bin Laden's lack of expiration, as if failure to have his hide tacked to the wall of the West Wing was some kind of national disgrace. I don't like stale chestnuts, especially ones that are so morally

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1144267707834754022006-04-05T13:05:00.000-07:002006-04-05T13:09:12.893-07:00

Seditious Libelers Support Group During AT (Annual Training) I had a good natured ongoing argument with a sailor from Massachusetts over the nature of matters political. It was quite civil because we were both in battle dress uniform, the same rate, the same rank, and stuck on the same island in Korea during the same gale. Our bona fides were established; a circumstance that does not occur all

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1144092116951270482006-04-03T12:12:00.000-07:002006-04-03T12:21:57.040-07:00

Pictures from Korea Still playing with sizes, stay tuned. Cho Do (Do means Island) with camp on the right and nearest head on the left. Did I mention the deep sand between the two? Dawn from Cho Do with Patrol Boats. Picture taken from my tent. Sunset from Gaedaek Do during a storm with sustained winds of 40+ knots and gusts 65+ knots. Funny thing about islands, when there is a gale, you

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1144088046210526442006-04-03T11:13:00.000-07:002006-04-03T11:14:06.243-07:00

Happy Thought: Peace is the opiate of the ineffectual. Patrick S Lasswell

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1143712431254433052006-03-30T01:53:00.000-08:002006-03-30T02:04:42.160-08:00

People Who Don't Stand Watch... ...should not call the ones standing in the cold wind pussies. I'm just putting that out there and letting others learn. With all possible respect, of course. Seriously, the wind chill up at the lighthouse that some people only saw from a distance was severe, but the units up there were ready for it. Also, the first class petty officer I talked to who stood

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1143633512410112102006-03-29T03:51:00.000-08:002006-03-29T03:58:32.420-08:00

From the Land of the Morning "Golly It's Cold" I left for annual training without as much briefing as I would have liked regarding conditions or expectations upon arrival, I operated on a worst case scenario. Good choice, that. Although rainfall has been minimal, every night has been cold, and the wind has been piercing. If anybody who knows my phone number is reading this before I get back,

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1142534818902600342006-03-16T10:39:00.000-08:002006-03-16T10:46:58.916-08:00

The Long Run Al Haig is Still Wrong After All These Years Former Nixon adviser Alexander Haig said military leaders in Iraq are repeating a mistake made in Vietnam by not applying the full force of the military to win the war.“Every asset of the nation must be applied to the conflict to bring about a quick and successful outcome, or don’t do it,” Haig said. “We’re in the midst of another struggle

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1142495526646393212006-03-15T23:50:00.000-08:002006-03-16T00:00:26.553-08:00

Professionalism in Home DefenseOn Miss Kelly's web site there was a request for advice about what to get for home defense. In addition to a flood tide of advice, there were more than a few people terrified by the level of knowledge available, and the people who were knowledgeable. Somebody asked who we were and why we should know such things. I am a reservist who used to be on active duty in

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1138479000389192892006-01-28T12:03:00.000-08:002006-01-29T12:03:21.683-08:00

Defy Terror!Four and a half years in and I finally figure out the bumper sticker. It has been a long and painful time for the supporters of the Global War on Terror; we can't even fit the name of our fight on a bumper sticker. We have deep beliefs for why we are fighting, and because they are so strongly rooted in our consciousness, we have difficulty expressing them shortly and simply. The

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1134037981355626792005-12-08T02:31:00.000-08:002005-12-08T02:37:07.066-08:00

Weapons and Training for Iraqi Security ForcesA recent objection to the conduct of the war raised by Marc Cooper is that we are not training Iraqi security forces with US weapons. The central questions in this issue are availability of weapons and speed of training. Providing weapons, ammunition, and parts for hundreds of thousands of troops and police is not a small task. One of the ways that

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1132605198380052652005-11-21T12:29:00.000-08:002005-11-21T12:33:18.396-08:00

Security and Irrational Risk … (I do not regard the freedom of the Iraq a proper purpose for Americans to die for)…Every action has a risk. Simply existing has a risk that an event out of your control will interact with you; not many people are struck down in the prime of life by meteors, but it happens and is a measurable risk. There exists no activity accomplished by Americans, or anybody else,

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1132449893892819512005-11-19T17:24:00.000-08:002005-11-19T17:24:53.903-08:00

Sticker Shock Anti-War political operatives were discomfited yesterday when their congressional representatives were compelled to vote to lose immediately. This upset the entire notion to purchase failure in Iraq on the installment plan. The price of failure in stark terms was too much to bear as a flat payment. For longer than I have been alive, it has been the driving goal of a lot of people to

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1130349899391252892005-10-26T11:04:00.000-07:002005-10-26T11:06:50.823-07:00

Bring Galloway to the US The fatuous George Galloway is taunting the US from across the pond, daring us to bring charges. The diplomatic machinery associated with arresting a Member of Parliament and bringing him to justice will probably take years, at the end of which Galloway will probably slip out to some place where he can spend his millions. Of course, if he comes over here and releases

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1127789629792810192005-09-26T19:52:00.000-07:002005-09-26T19:53:49.800-07:00

Open Letter to Senator Gordon Smith Senator Smith, Thank you for asking my opinion this evening through your very detailed phone poll. Perhaps the polling organization should ask if the respondent is a blogger as well as asking if they are a reporter, because this is going straight to my blog. http://pslasswell.blogspot.com I wanted to communicate with you directly because some of my responses

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1125668025561858732005-09-02T06:31:00.000-07:002005-09-02T06:36:33.066-07:00

Expert Advice on Disaster Relief CAPT Jason Van Steenwyk is an expert on military logistics: I've been a battalion S4 in combat, an HHC XO for dozens of major moves of a hundred miles or more, and an HHC company commander for six hurricane mobilizations. Which means he's moved more people, more miles in a coordinated, effective manner than just about anybody you know who isn't a professional

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1125638653694428422005-09-01T22:19:00.000-07:002005-09-01T22:24:13.700-07:00

A Great Evening at the Movies: "Serenity" After waiting for a long time, I got to see a great science fiction movie tonight, "Serenity". The most dense, chewy, flavor-packed science fiction since "Blade Runner" and maybe a bit more than that; there was something for everybody. I'm sure that there are movie reviewers dull and derivative enough to find fault with the film. The rest of the world

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1124675101001223752005-08-21T18:42:00.000-07:002005-08-21T18:48:26.030-07:00

A Productive Annual Training Three showers, two good nights sleep, and several hours of mindless computer game play later, I am now gaining the coherence necessary to write about this year's annual training. To give you some idea of how hard everybody in my unit worked, five minutes after the bus left the training area to take us back home, the driver looked back and there wasn't an open eye.

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1123434343565325862005-08-07T10:04:00.000-07:002005-08-07T10:10:13.780-07:00

Centrism and Feedback I had an interesting conversation with somebody so far to the left that he honestly views the overwhelming majority of the country as descending levels of conservative. The amazing part is that our conversation was remarkably civil. Mostly that was because he had left the "liberal orthodoxy" so long ago that he did not object in the slightest to my definition of political

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1121719001397377622005-07-18T13:34:00.000-07:002005-07-18T13:36:41.406-07:00

Support the Troops…With Cash! What if we presented taxpayers with the option of donating a portion of their tax return as a direct cash bonus to military personnel as a check box on their 1040? The proceeds would be split up evenly among the entire military and given as a tax-exempt bonus to each uniformed service member. Yellow ribbon magnets on the backs of cars are nice, letters to the

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1120696624360975682005-07-06T17:36:00.000-07:002005-07-06T17:37:04.366-07:00

Mosquitoes Don’t Kill People, Malaria is Genocidal Someone over on Totten’s blog woke up and noticed that when a billion people following one religious belief get angry at you, they probably aren’t a serious military threat until their combined Gross Domestic Product gets close to that of California’s. (OK, that’s mostly true if “you” are the United States of America. If “you” are the Lakeview

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1120695426751363882005-07-06T17:16:00.000-07:002005-07-06T17:17:33.333-07:00

On Being a Hawk, Without Fowl AttachmentsThanks to all the Indepundit readers for coming and taking a look. One small thing that is sure to be irrelevant soon: The name is spelled Lasswell. Otherwise I associate myself with Smash’s comments.

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1119851378855135862005-06-26T22:47:00.000-07:002005-06-26T22:49:38.863-07:00

In San Diego for Equipment Repair I’m in San Diego to fix some of my unit’s equipment. The weather was supposed to be foggy and dull, but it turned out to be quite lovely: sunny with pleasant breezes. I did reconnaissance on the locations I need to be tomorrow because they were locations I haven’t been to in my previous tours here. I also got my hair cut at Marine Corps Recruit Depot because

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1119206797376074992005-06-19T11:44:00.000-07:002005-06-19T11:46:37.383-07:00

Sun Tzu Was Pretty Specific About Attacking Prepared Positions…It is a truly good that our enemies are spectacularly weak on reading military classics that are not the Koran. A Naval Officer weighs in on the enemy's escalation in Iraq. While some see this as a bad sign for us, having an enemy reinforce a strategic failure is not a sign of impending loss. Forgotten in Bill Roggio's analysis of

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1119201481319651592005-06-19T10:13:00.000-07:002005-06-19T10:18:01.326-07:00

Towards a Better Definition of Terrorism Part Two Jason Van Steenwyk replied to my first pass with the following: Terrorism is not "pious" by definition, nor is it fraudulent. Some terrorists are pretty up front about their nature and their demands. It's not a misrepresentation.What's wrong with "the use of violence, or threat of violence, against noncombatants in order to achieve political or

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1119016822592335002005-06-17T06:59:00.000-07:002005-06-17T07:00:22.600-07:00

Towards a Better Definition of Terrorism I had the misfortune of being subjected to my service's definition of terrorism this last weekend. It was long, meandering, and generally incomprehensible. I will not repeat it here because some of you may be about to operate vehicles or heavy machinery, and I wouldn't want to expose you to a narcolepsy attack. I remarked to a shipmate that the

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1118984749658164492005-06-16T22:03:00.000-07:002005-06-16T22:09:48.760-07:00

And If Enough Troops Had Won?The "Not Enough Troops" crowd, dubbed the NETties because they are so tedious to have earned a label, are compulsively picking at the past again. Apparently they believe that packing 400K troops into a narrow front and advancing them in a coherent manner in a limited timeframe is simplicity itself. I wonder if any of these people have ever stood around and waited

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1118383968437934172005-06-09T23:11:00.000-07:002005-06-09T23:12:48.446-07:00

Bring the Troops and the War Home? One of the frequent anti-war criticisms is that there is no schedule or guideline for when the troops will come back from Iraq and Afghanistan. Part of the reason there will never be a schedule or list of required accomplishments to trigger a withdrawal is that announcing your intentions in a war is stupid. We do not tell the enemy what our strategic

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1117597912158131742005-05-31T20:48:00.000-07:002005-05-31T21:09:08.206-07:00

Memorial Day Camping Abigail and I went camping with Michael Totten this weekend. The trip to the Alvord Desert wiped Abigail out and the thundershower on Saturday night was a bit trying, but altogether we had a very nice time.Here I am in the Alvord. Photo Courtesy of Michael Totten using my camera. I'm holding his (soon to be retired) camera. Here is Michael in the Alvord, doing his famous book

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1116648316868955332005-05-20T21:04:00.000-07:002005-05-20T21:05:16.876-07:00

Averting the Triumph of Fear A friend called to confirm my email address so she could invite me to her graduation party and I stole some of her time to catch up. Her reaction was to recount how her cousin's presence in Baghdad caused her aunt to worry. I reassured her that our troops were more highly valued by their commanders than any in history and that our equipment was so very, very good.

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1115082827458598122005-05-02T18:13:00.000-07:002005-05-02T18:13:47.460-07:00

Michael Totten Back from Beirut Getting the story straight from a blogger is a lot like drinking beer right at the brewery. Drinking beer at the brewery while a blogger tells you the story is a lot like what I just did after picking up Michael Totten at the airport. The fresh story from Beirut is going to have elections, but it looked like a close thing for a while. Michael is a bit shocky

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1115050172448590022005-05-02T09:08:00.000-07:002005-05-02T09:09:32.450-07:00

The Christmas Cabin I remember the Christmas of 1970 extremely well because that was the year we built our first building on the Bandon property. A lot of good reasons were behind our decision to create a new home in the woods. Mom and Dad had decided that living in Los Angeles was killing us and that the kids needed to grow up someplace healthy. Katy had asthma and LA's air was killing

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1112971173784123332005-04-08T07:38:00.000-07:002005-04-08T07:39:33.786-07:00

What Is More Cool Yesterday at the office we had a little talk about the potential for a NASCAR track in Portland. (If you are male and in the Navy and let folks know you aren't interested in NASCAR, you are in violation of the "don't tell" policy.) My new unit has a young man on the permanent staff who mentioned the NASCAR driver who is 18 years old. "He gets out of high school and goes

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1112737960512336122005-04-05T14:38:00.000-07:002005-04-05T14:52:40.513-07:00

Micheal Totten in Lebanon What's worse, it was my idea! Okay, Michael told me he wanted to go there a whole lot and that his regular contacts weren't interested in sending him there. I told him to pitch the idea to Jim Hake at Spirit of America since the Iraq election coverage had gone so well. While Michael was working up his pitch, Jim called and asked if he wanted to go... So maybe I just

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1111878112134762262005-03-26T14:59:00.000-08:002005-03-26T15:05:13.603-08:00

Terri Schiavo PostThe last several decades of the encroachment of human habitation in the West has meant a reduction in the range of feral equines. As of the most recent census, there are not enough wild horses in the whole United States to drag me out from cover on this topic. That is all, carry on.

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1111421420531805452005-03-21T08:07:00.000-08:002005-03-21T08:10:20.533-08:00

Kentucky National Guard MP's Kick Ass, Take Names… Defending the convoys carrying the goods to fight the war is hard, thankless, and critical work. Yesterday a unit of Kentucky Guard Military Police did the job magnificently. At approximately noon on March 20, 26 terrorists were killed, seven wounded, and one captured when they attacked a coalition force convoy on the outskirts of Baghdad in

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1110688843253994012005-03-12T20:37:00.000-08:002005-03-12T20:40:43.256-08:00

If you are not reading Free Iraqi, you should now. Ali is doing a lot to put things into perspective for the wildly mixed fight we find ourselves in the middle of. His latest is a long post, but his has been a long journey.

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1110262828423938072005-03-07T22:18:00.000-08:002005-03-07T22:20:28.426-08:00

Open Letter to the Navy Exchange To Whom It May Concern:I recently returned to the Naval Reserve after leaving the Navy almost ten years ago. A health issue which has recently cleared up kept me from rejoining. This weekend I attended my first (indoctrination) drill and got my ID card. It feels like I have been on the bench for three and a half years and now I can actually contribute. Today

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1109757373525842382005-03-02T01:55:00.000-08:002005-03-02T01:56:13.526-08:00

The Demise of the Tantrum Tyranny The ink-stained heroes of Iraq have shown the Middle East the way to courageous liberty. It remains to be seen how far and how well their example will be matched, but initial signs are that the Arab peoples have a tremendous hunger for freedom. At the same time, other despots are getting overthrown. For far too long, the politically correct in the west have

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1109535976462134742005-02-27T12:24:00.000-08:002005-02-27T21:01:31.576-08:00

Thank you for telling SFC Salie's story Mr. Galloway,Thank you for your continued service of telling the military's stories with honesty, understanding, and grace. I found your story through a blog of a soldier's wife whose husband is still in Iraq. I was not aware that you were still reporting and would like to be able to follow whatever you have to report. Do you have a web site or blog

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1109357783100075672005-02-25T10:55:00.000-08:002005-02-25T10:56:23.103-08:00

On Returning to Service In 1987, I joined the active Navy with the belief that our nation needed to be strong to stay free. In 1991, I re-enlisted in the Navy with the expectation that our country would lead the world in building freedom everywhere. In 1995, I left the Navy with the realization that our political leadership would rather be stable than help others be free. In 2001, I was sure

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1109199038424863772005-02-23T14:47:00.000-08:002005-02-23T14:51:16.966-08:00

Torture, Control, and the Slippery Slope "Well, professional Warriors DO NOT ESTABLISH EXIT STRATEGIES, WE ACHIEVE AN END STATE!" Major General Joseph F. Dunford, Jr., USMC Six years ago I was in the lobby at a literary convention when an editor friend was assaulted from behind by some twit. The twit covered my friend's eyes and played a "Guess Who" game that would be annoying coming from a

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1109106818744605462005-02-22T13:10:00.000-08:002005-02-22T14:05:53.156-08:00

Thank You for Your Links I would like to thank everybody who linked me. The wonders of trackback magic are a mystery to me, mostly because I am far too lazy to learn them.First, I want to thank Captain Van Steenwyk for his inspiration and analysis. He is continuing to follow this subject and I look forward to discussing it with him more. I especially value his experience controlling psychiatric

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1108942120515442352005-02-20T15:21:00.000-08:002005-02-21T00:06:42.273-08:00

Torture and the Two Percent MilitaryThis is a long post, but it deals with a complex topic that needs to be addressed. Please bear with me and read the whole thing. I have been considering this matter for some months and consider this to be the an extension of earlier posts. One of the secrets the military doesn't talk about very much is that roughly two percent of the troops are stone cold

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1107977835644946552005-02-09T11:33:00.000-08:002005-02-09T11:37:15.643-08:00

If Rebecca Threw the Race, Who Could Blame Her? Watching The Amazing Race last night, I was struck by how poised, intelligent, and considerate Rebecca was. Looking over the season, it is utterly clear how much she valued love and how little her partner was capable of giving. It looks to me that after the fight at the train station in Sri Lanka, she continued to race, but stopped trying to win

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1107919690930932142005-02-08T19:25:00.000-08:002005-02-08T19:28:10.930-08:00

Earlier Notes on Protest I have discussed my father and protest earlier. This is my eulogy to dad.

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1107892512261888952005-02-08T11:05:00.000-08:002005-02-08T19:21:09.846-08:00

The Sweet Sting of Significance! I was on the rooftop looking down at the protesters in 2001 with Michael as his friends pointed out idiots they personally knew in the crowd of May Day wanna-be's. Growing up in the anti-war movement, I had the chance to learn what kind of protest accomplished change and what accomplished noise. It seems like all the effective, ethical protest organizers have

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1107124394126965292005-01-30T14:28:00.000-08:002005-01-30T14:33:14.126-08:00

Ten Million Representative Heroes To the Oregonian Editors, Your featured letter Sunday, January 30th, from Kate Mytron asked, "Does anyone think that the results of today's election are going to truly represent the people of Iraq?" In response, I present ten million heroes who braved suicide attacks and mortar fire to represent themselves to the world. Certainly there were some places where

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1106871618647602532005-01-27T16:14:00.000-08:002005-01-27T16:24:54.690-08:00

Michael Totten Helps Democracy My friend Michael Totten is taking a couple of weeks off regular blogging to help win the war. By editing the Iraqi's own stories of their struggle to bring democracy to Mesopotamia, he is doing a hero's job. He isn't getting paid and he isn't going to get a medal. But he is getting a link from me, please read this often and point it out to others: Friends of

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1106870156302864342005-01-27T15:53:00.000-08:002005-01-27T16:25:19.326-08:00

Michael Totten Helps Democracy To the Editors, Your editorial of January 27, 2005 "Chemical weapons should stay put" is wonderful civics lesson…for those who believe that obstructionism is a civic virtue. For those of us who consider intelligent sacrifice worthwhile, however, your position is frankly despicable. For starters, you take the wrong lesson from history when you remember Tom McCall's

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1106365489779790262005-01-21T19:44:00.000-08:002005-01-27T16:26:12.696-08:00

How to Comment 1. Select the permalink (Timestamp at the bottom of the post.) 2. Select the "Yammer Back at Patrick" link once the individual page comes up. You'll need to be registered with Blogger, but I don't view that as a hardship, merely spam protection.

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1106207423142642832005-01-19T23:48:00.000-08:002005-01-19T23:50:23.143-08:00

So, for the first time I've changed the formatting of the blog. I'm not convinced it is for the best, but I wanted to try something new. Comments are now enabled, fire at will. I'll just delete at will.

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1105604832490778442005-01-13T01:25:00.000-08:002005-01-13T01:03:23.953-08:00

No Atheists in a Foxhole, No Christians in a Torture Chamber Some years ago I badly lost an online argument about theology based on my flat assertion that conventional wisdom was right about there being no atheists in a foxhole. The assumption behind my statement is that Christian theology and culture accepts and forgives soldiers for the sins they do in defense of their people. Christians have

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1105310403571017642005-01-09T14:34:00.000-08:002005-01-09T14:40:03.573-08:00

Perspective on the Washington State Election Mess A letter I sent to Rebecca Webb, News Anchor at KINK FM-102 in Portland. Rebecca is an old family friend I have the privilege to know. She is gracious and decent as well as being easy on the eyes and ears. I am wildly fortunate in my friends. Rebecca, This weblog http://www.soundpolitics.com/ has the best analysis of the actual data of

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1104310897882116712004-12-29T01:58:00.000-08:002004-12-29T01:01:37.883-08:00

Welcome to "liberal Iraqi" I wish you freedom, strength, happiness, and the hope of peace...in that order. Other arrangements don't seem to last very well.

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1104186321301160572004-12-27T14:24:00.000-08:002004-12-27T14:25:21.300-08:00

Personality Tests and Their Fascinating Lies I am not at all fond of the arrogance of the psychological experts who put together personality tests. Michael Totten is claiming that his recent test, affirming what an amazingly wonderful person he is, was a remarkably accurate assessment of his overall character. Michael is a spiffy fellow, but the test has no way of telling if he is actually

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1103666958472930272004-12-21T14:08:00.000-08:002004-12-21T14:10:29.160-08:00

An Open Appreciation of Steven Den Beste Steven, Thank you very much for your writing. Your examination of obscure energy sources is an outstanding resource that I use again and again. I am deeply sorry that the bastards ground you down, but I understand the phenomenon. As a science fiction fan, I have been purged on more than one occasion by just such individuals. Like any addict I hope for

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1102890078711890422004-12-12T14:16:00.000-08:002004-12-12T14:32:45.996-08:00

Thanatos and All That Stuff My nephew Thomas (who has become confused about spelling his name for reasons I'll get into later) took a hit Friday. One of his close friends took a gun to school and killed himself. Like a lot of friends and families, my job is to help clean up the wreckage that decision created. While I don't normally bother my nephew, this time he asked for my help and wanted my

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1102663750685475622004-12-09T23:19:00.000-08:002004-12-09T23:32:08.820-08:00

Righteous Fury Jason Van Steenwyk has one of my favorite blogs, and today he reminded me again exactly why. ...So my mom called me last night. She told me a friend of hers is a lawyer who's son was in Iraq with the Army, and he's taken an interest in a recent class action lawsuit by soldiers protesting the stop-loss policy. Anyway, this lawyer told my mom that I can get out of another

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1102617689422148762004-12-09T10:37:00.000-08:002004-12-09T11:01:24.806-08:00

Newly Released Enron Documents Hint at Oil for Food Complicity An investigator looking at Enron's energy trading fraud has put in my hands a very disturbing find from the avalanche of data dumped into the public record. Documents recently released by Enron for one of their Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) trials reveal that at least one in-house corporate spy had an extremely good

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1102551851567161622004-12-08T16:23:00.000-08:002004-12-08T16:24:11.566-08:00

I Feel the Need…the Need for Alternate Feed My local radio station is using CNN as a source for audio feed for its news. That is a problem, because CNN does things like send audio bites to radio stations of the President talking to troops…and censoring the troop's response. Wildly enthusiastic troops greeting the President is not news that fits…I guess. So the blogsphere has another challenge

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1102544354690915972004-12-08T14:15:00.000-08:002004-12-08T14:19:14.690-08:00

A letter to the news staff of KINK-FM 101.9 Radio. The Sound of One Military Clapping Yesterday on the KINK afternoon show, Sheila Hamilton played a sound bite of President Bush speaking to Marines at Camp Pendleton. I was puzzled because the normally complete news coverage on KINK missed half the story, the military's response to President Bush. Every eyewitness report I have read of

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1102285926763983242004-12-05T14:10:00.000-08:002004-12-05T14:40:13.916-08:00

In response to this post by Jeremy Brown, I offer a humble alternative: In Defense of Abusing Socialist Revolution Three critical developments since the death of Marx show the utter futility of pursuing Socialist revolution in the current era; John Nash's work on cooperation in complex economies, the expansion of economic roles available to individuals in diverse economies, and the historical

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1100727697533813262004-11-17T13:23:00.000-08:002004-11-17T13:45:08.606-08:00

PETA Calls for Greater Sensitivity to Fish In response I provide the following image: I call it "Forty-two pounds of Kiss My Ass!" Sport fishermen have done more to protect fish than PETA ever will because we love to fish and will pay to support our joy. The dilettantes from the dimension of lame cannot sustain their protective efforts because their joy is the denial of other's choices, an

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1100298832659121992004-11-12T14:32:00.000-08:002004-11-12T14:33:52.660-08:00

Anti-Protean Nationalists A tremendous intellectual failure on the part of American liberalism is the assumption of European tolerance. This assumption is predicated on a belief among American liberal intellectuals that all things European are superior. While it is argued that having more than a hundred different kinds of cheeses is conclusive evidence that France is a tolerant nation, it

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1100293911139414462004-11-12T13:09:00.000-08:002004-11-12T13:11:51.140-08:00

Congratulations to Captain Van Steenwyk Although I question the causality of his economic analysis in this post, I celebrate the root news. Now if he would ever get out of the hurricane magnet and visit his family, Michael and I could buy him a beer.

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1100289604658103112004-11-12T11:58:00.000-08:002004-11-12T12:00:04.656-08:00

Boundaries of Tolerance in the Netherlands Michael Totten is concerned that 40% of the Netherlands are not sufficiently welcoming of Islamic peoples, according to a recent poll. He says: I understand their frustration. But they should hope Muslims learn to feel more at home in the Netherlands, not less. Dutch society is perhaps the most liberal on Earth. It’s not surprising that immigrants

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1099512957914651462004-11-03T13:13:00.000-08:002004-11-03T12:15:57.913-08:00

Sincere Concern for Democracy and its Antithesis The lawyers the Democratic Party paid to observe the ballot counting all went away after the results were released at eight last night, but it took the volunteer Republican observers some time to figure this out because they were so busy observing the process and so used to the opposition being thin on the ground. The central thing to keep in

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1099433240835036002004-11-02T14:06:00.000-08:002004-11-02T14:07:20.836-08:00

Observing the Election from a Tester's Perspective Yesterday I learned that I trust my vote to clear eyed ladies who cast their first vote for Wendell Wilkie more than I do young lawyers in short skirts who cast their first vote for Bill Clinton. I also learned how to scare young lawyers in short skirts from the room with an even tone and a reasonable statement. I spent election eve at the

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1098730389954359332004-10-25T11:47:00.000-07:002004-10-25T11:53:09.953-07:00

Combat Life Saver I took an advanced First Aid course to get a First Responder certification in the last year. I took it to know how to deal with what happens in emergencies. The Questing Cat has a tremendous post viscerally telling what happens when everything goes to hell. Great post. Hat tip: Citizen Smash

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1098383291505247982004-10-21T11:26:00.000-07:002004-10-21T11:28:11.506-07:00

Power Chugging the Kool-Aid Listen Here! "Consider these facts..."

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1098049483849309842004-10-17T14:41:00.000-07:002004-10-17T14:44:43.850-07:00

Dictatorships are Humanity in Retreat One of the central axioms of military history is that more casualties are taken in retreats than attacks. People running away cannot defend themselves the way that people facing a threat do. The greatest genocides in human history have occurred under civil authorities in dictatorships. The recent uncovering of a killing field in Iraq where they found the

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1097822380958287292004-10-14T23:37:00.000-07:002004-10-14T23:41:43.086-07:00

Deferred Rebellion Not Necessarily Better My friend Michael Totten is worried, with good reason, that in the event of a Bush re-election, the nutbar left will actively work to overthrow democratic process in the United States in retribution. He quotes a commenter on another blog, Cicero, who works at a California university and has heard people talking about open rebellion. Cicero is voting for

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1097775833011847532004-10-14T10:39:00.000-07:002004-10-14T10:43:53.013-07:00

Penguin In the Water! Those clever folks in the blogosphere have done their penguin best to herd one of their own off the ice and into the water to see if there are leopard seals about! It's not like a blogger could do a worse job than most senators!

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1097691801689327302004-10-13T11:19:00.000-07:002004-10-13T16:32:59.746-07:00

Imagine a World without Empowering Delusional Twits (UPDATED) Some years ago the Wall Street Journal ran an article describing the hotbed of anarchist empowerment that is my former stomping grounds of Eugene, Oregon. One of the flyers they reproduced had a drawing of Winnie the Pooh by a bucolic pond playing with a butterfly with a title something like, "Imagine a World without Corporate Greed

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370776.post-1096659311128575242004-10-01T13:32:00.000-07:002004-10-01T12:35:11.130-07:00

Questioning the Timing of the Mt. St. Helens Eruption The crack investigators at NRA News are on top of the partisan actions of this geologic feature near two battleground states. One savvy caller noted the violations of the Kyoto protocol by this seismic event, clearly indicating its partisan behavior.

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532565982404583606noreply@blogger.com0