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If they represented America’s power then Blakley, like most medics, represented its conscience. The medic carried an M-4 carbine. But an Iraqi lieutenant once told Blakley that his real weapon was his medical kit, because he and it exposed what the local insurgents did not have and would never be.
U.S. military advisers forged close relationships with Iraqi soldiers. - Slate Magazine
The story of one death, of many, in Iraq. Reading about one death gives me a huge lump in the throat and teary eyes. I can’t even comprehend that there are countless stories like this of lives lost, American and Iraqi, military and civilian. I can’t even comprehend that war is possible, thinking this way.
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Another sits listlessly on a barrier wall, then after finally responding to its handler’s summons, runs away from a group of Afghan soldiers.
More Military Dogs Show Signs of Combat Stress - NYTimes.com
Oh dear, in deploying dogs for military duty, are we creating racist dogs? A totally heartbreaking story of military dogs with PTSD.
Posted on December 5, 2011 with 9 notes
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Italian MRE includes three tiny toothbrushes.
(Photo via Slate)
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South Korean MRE has kimchee in it, of course!
(Photo via Slate)
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American military’s typical MRE (meals ready to eat).
(Photo via Slate)
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The Marines were the service most opposed to ending the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, but they were the only one of five invited branches of the military to turn up with their recruiting table and chin-up bar at the center Tuesday morning. Although Marines pride themselves on being the most testosterone-fueled of the services, they also ferociously promote their view of themselves as the best. With the law now changed, the Marines appear determined to prove that they will be better than the Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard in recruiting gay, lesbian and bisexual service members.
Marine Recruiters Visit Gay Center in Oklahoma - NYTimes.com
To me it seems disingenuous for the military to start recruiting at LGBT centers when it resisted DADT repeal for so long. All I can do is wish those joining the military post-repeal a service that’s as free of de facto discrimination as possible. Institutional discrimination doesn’t simply disappear when a law is null and void.
Posted on September 22, 2011 with 6 notes
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Cuban soldiers look like they can kick pretty much anyone’s ass.
(Photo via Boston.com)
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After the first week, the teams were allowed to tweak their bot’s code and to launch secondary identities designed to sabotage their competitors’ bots. One team unleashed @botcops, which alerted users, “You might want to be suspicious about JamesMTitus.” In one exchange, a British user confronted the alleged bot: “What do you say @JamesMTitus?” The robot replied obliquely, “Yeah, so true!” The Brit pressed: “Yeah so true! You mean I should be suspicious of you? Or that @botcops should be challenged?” JamesMTitus evaded detection with a vague tweet back—“Right on bro”—and acquired 109 followers over two weeks.
Are You Following a Bot? - Magazine - The Atlantic
Programmers created twitter bots that engage real human users and fool them into thinking they’re talking to humans. Companies and the military is interested in using such technology to astroturf or spread propaganda through social networks.
Source: The Atlantic
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ICBM fields, unnerving though their purpose may be, are engineering triumphs. The proof is their age—the Air Force installed these launch systems in the early 1960s, and they have stayed at readiness levels exceeding 99 percent ever since. Even more astounding, the Pentagon built the ICBM fields to last only a few decades. When the Minuteman III retires, the silos and launch facilities at Malmstrom will have been buried for 70 years.
Print - Meet the Airmen Who Watch Over America’s Nukes—And Await the Unthinkable - Popular Mechanics
9” floppy discs, DirecTV and secret passwords are what you’ll find in the Launch Control Center for ICBMs that protect you from commies, Axis of Evil, and asteroids.
Posted on April 14, 2011 with 21 notes
Source: popularmechanics.com
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Star Trek: Funny or Die. On board the USS Enterprise of the mid-2000s, the men and women of the ship explored the frontiers of raunchy DIY comedy videos and the US Navy’s code on inappropriate behavior.
I was laid off 2 days before my birthday in 2009, a dismal blessing. I miss health insurance and payroll, but I haven't bought bread since the pink slip because I have time to bake.
Sometimes I'm a serious job hunter, sometimes a serious slacker, but mostly, I'm an underemployed, freelance Jaqueline of many trades including writing and dogsitting. Either way, I scrapbook my finds and activities here for your benefit and amusement.
Follow me on Twitter if tv/movie/pro-cycling spoilers and unplanned live tweets won't hail on your parade. And yes, I do work blue so don't be huffy with me if you don't like cursing or merciless roasting of public figures.
You can look at my other blog Fashion Corpuscle if you like fashion. The ruins of my crumbling Tumblr blog empire awaits internet archaeologists.
Gainful Unemployment is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
