Not exciting pictures

These aren't very good, but they are of Alaska. Hopefully better pictures will follow.

Worthlessness and the Gipper

Dennis Kucinich is officially an obnoxious media whore. His attempt to impeach the vice-president is a shameless attention grabber designed to distract from his failing presidential bid.

In other news, Steve Mitchell painted a pretty cool portrait of Ronald Reagan, our late great conservative president. Unfortunately, no one currently in the running for president looks like a Gipper II, but this portrait is a nice tribute.

"...I've called for whatever it takes to be so strong that no other nation will dare violate the peace. If that means superiority, so be it. ... You and I know and do not believe that life is so dear and peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery. [I]s it worth dying for...? Should Moses have told the children of Israel to live in slavery under the pharaohs? Should Christ have refused the cross? Should the patriots of Concord Bridge have thrown down their guns and refused to fire the shot heard round the world? The martyrs of history were not fools...." Ronald Reagan

New Platoon

Last week after we got back from the field, the commander told me that I'd be taking over a rifle platoon effective Monday instead of July when the switch was originally scheduled. This is mainly because the outgoing PL has a broken leg and will be out for quite a while. So, I won't get to do anything with the MGS system but I will be leading a rifle platoon, which is slotted for an Infantry officer and is what I really need to be doing. There's a few more knuckleheads in this new platoon but most of the problem children are on their way out.
Now that all my household goods have arrived and everything is moved in, I've started to wonder how Sharon could possibly move so many times. Thanks to everyone who gave me kitchen stuff- it's been very convenient to have everything.

"The knowledge of victory is the beginning of a conviction of superiority."
S.L.A. Marshall

Finally Getting Settled

Our company just got back from a field problem down at Fort Greely. I got to take one of the rifle platoons out because their PL has a broken leg and my platoon wasn't going. It was a great learning experience for me and showed the leadership in the company what needs to be done to train the soldiers. The terrain out at Fort Greely is pretty rugged and there's some awesome views of the mountains, so Alaska was definitely a good choice. Hopefully in a week or two I'll drive down to Denali and take some pictures.
Yesterday the car finally got here and by the end of the week I'll be in the apartment with all the furniture and stuff, making this pretty much the best week ever.

Chugging Along

MGS Stryker

This week I'm finally getting settled here- the car is supposed to be here by the end of the week and I've found an apartment. The only thing left will be the "household goods" shipment that may or may not ever get here. Then I'll be able to bust out all the awesome kitchen accouterments and get all Martha Stewart on the apartment. Alaska is actually having better weather than some of the lower 48 right now. People here seem to think it's spring even though it feels like winter in the South. Since everyone is probably wondering, every day gains 7 minutes of daylight until June whatever when the days get shorter again. So, since I've been here the days have gotten almost 2 hours longer.

This week the company is supposed to go out to the field, which would be great except my platoon isn't going. Fortunately, the cubicle isn't too small and there's no Bill Lumbergs around so extra office time isn't torture. Still, I'm anxious to get the guys out in the field and see how tankers do with Infantry battle drills. At a minimum the guys who've already been to Iraq should be pretty good at moving and shooting and perhaps even communicating.

Here's a link to Centcom where you can get the Centcom news feed via email. It's the real deal on what's going on, way better than the lame stream media's garbage. Dennis Kucinich was on tv last night. Ohioans sure did pick a lame-o. Fortunately he has no shot of winning. Someone cool like Chuck Norris needs to run for president so he could solve all problems with a roundhouse kick to the face.

Weakness

Ask a former POW from Hanoi what real "Psychological Pressure" is. The Brits are becoming very much like their surrenderist neighbors the French.
Liberals Need To Learn That Weakness Invites Attack.
Ollie North also has some excellent thoughts on the subject of Iran. For a good background on US relations with Iran, check out Mark Bowden's book Guests of the Ayatollah.
One of the captured British sailors said that, "...fighting back was not an option." What part of their training taught them not to fight back? Fortunately the US Army has no such course of instruction. Iran has effectively shown that Britain will back down and appease their enemies.

"There is a rank due to the United States, among nations, which will be withheld, if not absolutely lost, by the reputation of weakness. If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known that we are at all times ready for war."
-George Washington

Alaska Lessons

Here's a list of thing's I've learned so far in Alaska even though they don't all involve Alaska.
-frozen eyelids are more annoying than painful
-30.06 rifles have a significant kick, making it unwise to put one's eye right up to the scope
-the town of North Pole has candy cane striped light polls
-it also has the Santa Claus house
-Easter Bunny suits are quite warm and approximately 15% of kids are terrified by them
-Alaska has a huge substance abuse problem
-it takes lots of paperwork to deal with said substance abuse problems
-35 degrees can actually feel pretty warm (compared to negative 20)
-1970's appliances seem to be the standard for apartments in Fairbanks

That is all.