First brought to my attention by the Fort Hood Herald, 14JUL04 edition, I was readily able to find this story online, as it is an AP story. Here's CNN's take on it: Link Wanted: An accordionist to join the U.S. Air Force QUINCY, Massachusetts (AP) -- There's a great job out there awaiting an accordion player. The catch: Six weeks in boot camp. The Air Force has been looking to replace the accordion player of its band's Strolling Strings music ensemble since the musician retired ...

pseudosoldier: (pointing at board showing organization of Platoon) What the fuck is that? greywar: (not looking) I know what you're pointing at. I said the same thing. ps: That is so... gw: Yeah. Well, that and the fact that they got it from [that unit that's like ours, but not nearly as nice, except for the fact that they're in a much nicer place than Hell]! I mean... SSG Eclectic Music: What? Wolf den? What's that? (ps sulks) gw: Warrant Officer Liberation Front. W...

In the 19JULY04 issue of the Army Times, page 16, there is an article entitled "IRR troops' experience counts, vice chief says." This article sums up (with a positive slant) the potential call up of 5, 674 Individual Ready Reserve members and the alternatives available to the Army command. Basically, higher felt that calling up individuals in this way would be less of an impact than activating multiple Reserve units to cobble together an Active unit's equivalent strength. "Letters warning ...

From The Economist, June 12th-18th 2004 (pg. 55): A leapfrog appeal is an interesting bit of the English legal system: in a case of sufficient public importance, the appeal may go straight from the High Court to the House of Lords, bypassing the Court of Appeal. For those familiar with the children's game of leapfrog, it's a useful metaphor. But how to translate it? The game of leapfrog is Bockspringen in German (literally deer-jumping), saute-mouton in French (sheep-jump). There a...

From The Economist, June 12th-18th 2004 (pg. 55): A leapfrog appeal is an interesting bit of the English legal system: in a case of sufficient public importance, the appeal may go straight from the High Court to the House of Lords, bypassing the Court of Appeal. For those familiar with the children's game of leapfrog, it's a useful metaphor. But how to translate it? The game of leapfrog is Bockspringen in German (literally deer-jumping), saute-mouton in French (sheep-jump). There a...

First, the article: Link Now... Let me just say that this situation is pretty ghoddamned stupid. "[T]he Army says Parrish never formally resigned his commission as a lieutenant, making him eligible for involuntary recall to duty. Parrish says he did not know he had to resign." "But officer, I didn't know I had to register that gun." "But I didn't know I had to carry my auto insurance card on me." "According to Waple, the papers Parrish signed in 1992, when he accepted an ROTC ...

Saw this linked on Usenet (rec.arts.comics.marvel.universe), and wanted to share, as it is pretty kick ass. And, hey, no adult content, so if you can watch movies at work, then it's work safe! Yay. (Seems to require Quicktime, as well... I hate to ask so much of my viewers, but I think it's worth it.) Link

Why is voter turnout more problematic in the United States than it is in other Western Democracies? Many other Western style Democracies make voting in elections mandatory, notably Australia, Austria, Belgium, Greece and Italy. Registration laws in the US are more restrictive than in other countries. Western European countries incorporate voter registration into the citizenry registration and identification card issuance process, whereas in the US voter registration is a separate process...

From AlJazeera Link : Jordan has pledged to send troops to Iraq if the interim Iraqi government makes a request. I recall comments to articles on this site that would regard Arab and Islamic countries involvement in the policing of Iraq as somewhat "more appropriate" than American or Nato involvement. I wonder if this would satisfy them. Personally, I'm a bit enamored of the King (It's Good To Be Him), so I suppose I'm biased. (I wonder how much of this was due to my Lead Arabic Instru...

First, the link: Link I've gotta figure out how to make that say something else... This is a fun little web-based MMORPG. It's free (at least for now), and doesn't make any attempt to take itself seriously. This is evidenced immediately by the character class selection: Seal Clubber, Turtle Tamer, Pastamancer (studies Noodlecraft), Sauceror (uneasy truce with the Pastamancers), Disco Bandit (the one I chose), and Accordian Thief. For grey, there's always the ability to either buy...

A quick note to say, "Yay, I broke the top 100." Woo. I've planned on writing something about the rating/ranking system on the site, but haven't spent the time sitting down, researching all the particulars, gathering anecdotal evidence, comparing rankings, putting my thoughts on "paper"... Perhaps soon. I feel pretty good about it, though, as I haven't done a whole lot of ++ing, meaningless comments, articles devoid of content. In fact, this is possibly the least relevent thing I've writ...

They're all still assclowns.

Multiple Choice: 1. Federalism is: a. a constitutional arrangement whereby power is divided between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the government. b. a constitutional arrangement whereby power is not divided but is maintained only at the federal level. c. a constitutional arrangement whereby power is divided between national and subnational governments. d. a constitutional arrangement whereby power is divided between the president and the bureaucracy. 2. In a uni...

There are many things a soldier is, or perhaps, should be. There are laundry lists of adjectives that the United States Army attributes them. Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, Personal Courage. Tactically proficient, Technically proficient. There exist lists of traits a soldier should possess. Responsiblity. Courage, Candor, Competence, Commitment. Proficiency, Discipline, Cohesion, Morale. Yeah. So, I'm pseudo-that. The name, thankfully, doesn't simply...

So, since I am "attending" a Texas learning institution for my eArmyU classes, our Government class is required to cover Texas Government as well. This chapter was my first foray into such areas... Texans are weird. Chapter 20 The Texas Constitution 1. Texas declared its independence from Mexico in: a. 1845. b. 1861. c. 1836. d. 1827. 2. The current Texas Constitution was written in: a. 1845. b. 1976. c. 1876. d. 1827 3. The U.S. Constitution has 7,000 words; the Texas ...