From First Multinational Force Iraq (like you didn't know that already )

Luncheon given to Coalition Forces by Iraqis.

Suspected Al-Qaeda terrorist captured during Marne Avalanche.

Soldiers team with Iraqis at checkpoint.

Top General pays visit to Strike Force.

3rd HBCT medics hold free health clinic.

Citizens oust terrorists from mosque, help uncover weapons cache.

Rogue JAM company commander detained during Marne Avalanche.

Your weapon will only fail you when you fail your weapon.

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     Mission STS-118 will be the first for Mission Specialist Barbara Morgan, the teacher-turned-astronaut whose association with NASA began more than 20 years ago. First Lady Laura Bush called Morgan Tuesday morning to offer congratulations "one schoolteacher to another," and to thank her for her commitment to the space program and to education.

Full STS-118 mission information here.

The Crew of STS-118, from left to right, Mission Specialist Richard A. Mastracchio, Mision Specialist Barbara R. Morgan, Mission Commander Scott J. Kelly, Mision Specialist Benjamin Alvin Drew Jr., Mission Pilot Charles O. Hobaugh, Mision Specialist Dr. Dafydd (Dave) R. Williams, and Mission Specialist Tracy E. Caldwell.

     Dedication comes in many different forms but sweating it out for twenty one years is not something that a lot of people could manage.  For me though it is easy enough to understand, the opportunity to go into space is definitely something worth waiting for.  STS-118 will pave the way for STS-120 in December, which will open the way for the instalation of the Japanese Kibo Labratory and the ESA's Columbus Lab modules.

    A series of recent shuttle missions have added to the International Space Station's exterior with new elements for its main truss. Now, Discovery will take into orbit a connecting module that will increase the orbiting laboratory's interior space.

     October's STS-120 mission will bring the Harmony module, christened after a school contest, that will provide attachment points for European and Japanese laboratory modules. Known in technical circles as Node 2, it is similar to the six-sided Unity module that links the U.S. and Russian sections of the station.

Full info on STS-120 is here.

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Today we take a look at the beautiful and enticing Fuka Ayase of Yotsuba&!

You know where to find the good stuff.   Of course the stuff below the fold is a 100% not work safe.

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     I know that I have tended to focus mainly on issues directly concerning the war and the far east when talking about broader security issues.  This piece is meant to correct that far eastern focus and I hope to correct for that particular bit of target fixation.  For great background and EU related news check out Richard North's definitive blog EU Referendum, he does a much better job at covering this subject than I could ever hope to do.

     The European Union has since its very beginning sought to create a single United States of Europe, and knowing that this could not be accomplished overtly they have relied upon the covert salami method of slowly but surely usurping power from the National governments that make up the EU.  One of the key areas of usurpation that has failed to succeed is in the area of defence, having to contend with selfish national interests and the established allience of NATO.  This doesn't mean that the EU has been inactive on the defence front, the opposite is true.  Having thus far focused on creating a 'European Rapid Reaction Force" (ERRF) which is hardly rapid and distinctly lacking in force.  The current EU 'Reform Treaty' (aka EU Constitution Mk 2) would if passed pave the way for a single European army.  For Britian this would turn a bad situation to into a distarous one.  British equipment procurement and development is largely hamstrung due to comitment to the ERRF that leads to either buying the wrong things or going with inferior, and often more expensive european gear when cheaper US, Canadian or Australian gear is readily available.

     This effects other European nations as well, and it is interesting to note that two of the heaviest lifting NATO countries are not EU members, Norway and Turkey respectively.  As some nations pay more attention to EU directives than NATO agreements the allience suffers, and as a result all of NATO's members pay the price.  This can already be seen in Afghanistan where some countries have limited interoperability with US, Canadian and South Korean forces. While not at the tipping point for the UK yet the very real possibility of being forced to choose between the US and hte 'special relationship' or europe and its improbable dreams of glory is soon approaching.  When the moment comes one hopes that Britian will see the light and protect one of the oldest* and closest alliences on God's green earth.  Until then one can only watch and wait.

British Snipers in Basra Iraq circa spring 2004, from the Royal Irish Regiment.

*The formal allience between the UK and USA was sealed with the treaty of Yorktown in May of 1880.

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From First Multinational Force Iraq.

Operation Gratitude mails 250,000th package, Soldier receives keys to new car.

Iraqi Security Forces complete security sweep in Samarra.

Iraqi Army, U.S. Special Operations Forces, detain suspected insurgents near Taji.

Soldiers learn methods to save trapped troops.

Rashid clearing continues: multiple caches uncovered by MND-B Soldiers.

Iraqi Security Forces, U.S. Special Forces Detain Three, Disrupt Samarra al-Qaeda Cell.

Army engineers near 4,000 complete Iraqi projects.

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     Saw the Bourne Ultimatum yeaterday, and it is just as good as the first two and provides a nice and satisfying tie up to the series.  It is nice to see a movie that involves the CIA where the agency is portrayed rather realisticly.  The operations of Bourne and his whole bacstory are not the macinations of the big bad CIA but rather the result of a handful of rouge agents in position to carry out operations beyond the pale.  The action is amazing, with realistic fight scenes and car chases that impress without engendering disbelief.  A real winner, rating 4 and 1/2 Tachikomas out of 5.

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    Tomorrow, August sixth will mark sixty two years since the droping of the atomic bomb "Little Boy" on Hiroshima Japan.  I know that to many Japanese it is difficult, if not imposssible to understand  why the US used such weapons.  But I also am aware that many Japanese use the dropping of the two atomic bombs as a way to paint Japan as the victim of a war of her own creation, somehow this seemingly absolves her of all blame.  Perhaps the most oft repeated utterence is that the bombs were inhumane.  They were, but war is in itself the most inhumane of acts, nothing can ever change that.  Nothing can make right or acceptable the taking of human life from a moral perspective, it is a wrong, but at times a sadly necessary thing.  Nothing is as inhumane as war, where nations seek to bring each other to their knees.  In my heart I know that the dropping of the bombs saved many times the lives it took, many more of those lives Japanese than American or allied soldiers. 

     The devastation wrought by further atomic attacks, the use of chemical weapons and finally an invasion would have taken twenty to thirty million Japanese lives and perhaps as many as one million American and perhaps five hundred thousand allied lives.  The aftermath of an Invasion of Japan one must wonder if ther would even be a nation known as Japan today, much less a wealthy and prosperous one.  Yes the bombs were terrible and viscous weapons, but so are all weapons when used on our fellow man.  If the killing of perhaps 200,000 people in two attacks is inhumane then what is the Tokyo fire bombing of the night of 9 March 1945?  This attack took more lives than the bombing of Hiroshima, yet is often lost admist the clatter of how terrible and unjustified the atomic bombings were.

     The nature of war does not allow for sentimentality, one must go forward with what will bring about victory.  And if defeated one must accept and deal with the consequences of defeat.  The only change brought about by the atomic bombings is that what once required hundreds or thousands of planes could now be done by one.  In the end this is little more than an argument of the modality of death versus the inhumanity and cruelty of death in war itself from whatever cause and whatever reason.  A murder comitted with a knife is just as terrible and devastating as one comitted with a gun, or bare hands or a car.  Death and inhumanity are what in the end bring about victory in wars like world war two.  Victory is achieved when the enemy comes to realize that carrying on is more harmful and devastating than surrender and the temporary shame and frustration that occupation will bring.  If only Japan had seen that was the case much sooner, then many tens of thousands of lives could have been spared.

More below the fold.

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     Barry is now at 755 and A-Rod (traitor  ) is now at 500.  More impressive is that A-Rod is the youngest to 500 and that Barry is nowed tied for the most homers after turning 40, with 72 over the hill bombs.  So congratulations to Barry and A-Rod.  Also congrats to the Padres fans for being classy and giving Barry a good hand for his accomplishment, you are all class all the way.

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From First Multinational Force Iraq

Paratrooper awarded Silver Star for actions in Samarra.

Airpower plays significant role in Iraq, Afghanistan.

Iraqi Security Forces, U.S. Special Forces battle terrorists near Doura.

3-1 Cavalry tests water at new well in al Nijadat.

Troops provide dental, medical assistance.

Local tip leads to cache discovery.

Freedom Radio News.

IA, Stryker leaders assess progress in Baqouba.

Coalition Forces reclaim Jamea'a during Operation Rogue Thunder.

Technology can help to win wars, but only the grit and determination of the individual soldier can secure victory.

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From Chizumatic, or more specifically SDB's future series list.

Desert Punk -- NO -- Grim and gritty
Gunslinger Girl -- NO -- Grim and gritty, dead girls, blood and gore
Ghost in the Shell Standalone Complex -- NO -- Grim and gritty, lousy art
Full Metal Alchemist -- NO -- Grim and gritty

      I must disagree with all of these but one in particular sticks in my craw.  That would be Desert Punk, it is emphatically not grim and gritty.   Desert Punk is actually a send up of all the various grim and gritty post apocalitic distopia stories out there, and a damn funny one with a fair bit of fan service.(Paging Junko, you have a call on the blue curtesy phone.) Those that have seen this series know what I am talking about when I say Kanta in the air vent it draws both laugther and a shudder.   As one might gather from the name of this site I like GITS-SAC*, I didn't think the art was lousy, it didn't leave me mouth agape but it didn't leave me scrubbing my eyes either.  I would say that it had average to above average art.  But My other main points of contention are with Full Metal Alchemist and Gunslinger Girl.  FMA is grim and gritty and has angst yes, but it also has a great story, an even better cast and an ending that is perhaps the most uplifting of any anime series or movie I have ever seen.  My quibble with Gunslinger Girl is a technical point, they aren't dead, they were all near dead/terminally ill and were chosen for the program as a result.  So what am trying to say here?  Namely that it can be hard to decide check a series based upon the often thin and less than informative plot synapsis that are on offer in cyberspace.  I respect Steven's opinions but I disagree with him about the shows, but namely I am trying correct what I believe to be a judgement based on less than the whole truth.  So to correct that misconception I am offering to send, on my dime a copy of the prview DVD from Newtype USA's May 2006 issues which has the first episode of Desert Punk on it, if Steven still doesn't like it that is fine.  If he changes his mind, then great, I helped clear up a misunderstanding.  Either way all I ask is that if you (and assuming you ever read this) are interested drop me a line (at ragingtachikoma@sbcglobal.net )so I can fire this baby off to you.  Until then I shall continue to enjoy your blog, after all because of you I was turned on to Kaliedo Star and that show is absolutely top notch.

*GITS-SAC=Ghost In The Shell Stand Alone Complex

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Delivering as promised.

    So here it is RapidShare Bypass, and ironically enough it is hosted on rapidshares's own website.  Go here and decompress and follow the instructions in the readme file.  Once your done you can download files to your heart's or hard drive's content.

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     I have been playing around with a new program that allows you to use proxies to download as many rapidshare files as you want with out having to pay for it.  God I love freeware, basically it is a two part deal that finds proxies and then uses them to download the files for you, avoiding the free download bandwidth limits that rapidshare has.  After all why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free.   As soon I can find the link for the software I will post it here.  And just for the hell of it a picture of my old but reliable laptop, named appropiately enough Naruto.

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Todays theme, If you want something done right do it yourself.

NTSFW Images below the fold.

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     Shown above is the newest piece of genuis to emerge from Kel-Tec firearms.  Called the RFB (Rifle, Forward ejecting, Bullpup) this .308 (7.62x51 Nato) rifle is a whopping 26 1/4 inches long while featuring a 16 1/2 inch barrel.  The bullpup layout has long been controversial, namely because the ejection path often meant that the weapon would only be suitable for right handed shooters.  Kel-Tec following in the footsteps of FN figured that the best solution to the proble was to simply to use a tube paralell to the barrel and push the empties down it and out the front.  The amazing thing about this rifle is not however its ejection system, but rather its size.  It is smaller than many .223 (5.56 Nato) bullpups like the SA-80, FA-MAS or FN-2000.  The mold of large calibers coming in large packages is undone with this rifle, and that promises interesting posibilities for the future.(Kel-Tec has hinted at 6.5 Grendel and 6.8 SPC chamberings at some later date.)

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     Nerima Daikon Brothers, an anime musical comedy brought to you by Nabeshin.    While not necessarily heavy on thought provoking plot or an examination of some great concept* this show is still more than worth the price of admission.  Following the two brothers, Hiideki and Ichiro from Nerima and their gold digging female cousin Mako, and pet panda (Pandaikon) as they scrape by farming Daikon (Hideki), working in a host club (Ichiro) while trying to make it big in the music business.  The humor is broad, the music catchy and uptempo.  The whole concept of  musical anime seems like something of a non sequitor.  Animated musicals always having been seen as a western genre, made famous by Disney.  Unlike the light and fluffy stuff from the house of the mouse this more like anime does Blues Brothers with a dash of Excel Saga.  Nabeshin appears as the owner of a rental shop which always has waht they need to escape from theor tight spot of the moment.  While a little episodic, the show never fails to deliver with the laughs and the commentaries by Nabeshin and some of the crast and crew are as funny as the shows themselves.

*But then has anything Nabeshin done been known for its plot?  I mean this the man that brought you both Excel Saga and Puni Puni Poemi.

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From First Multinational Force Iraq:

Iraqi forces take pride in themselves, their units.

Kindi re-opens kindergarten.

Brits helping to train Iraqi Army.

Nine suspected al-Qaeda terrorists detained.

General recognizes pilots for daring rescue mission.

Baghdad revives as surge, economic programs take effect.

Improved Ninewah security may mean fewer U.S. troops in future.

MND-B attack aircraft engage enemy rocket launchers.

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     Updates shortly, I finally have my desktop up an running again after  3 1/2 days, two recovery disks and several trips to microsoft's update site later.  I don't know exactly what happened to cause my computer to go tango uniform but I suspect it may have been accidently unplugged while installing automatic updates.  Anyway more interesting stuff to follow, oh and whoever works for gateway deserves a kick in the shins for putting the OS on one disk and the drivers on another GRRRRR!

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     Some guns become famous, some infamous, but a rare handful become iconic, and one of those is the SMLE or Short Magazine Lee Enfield aka smelly to the Brit and Commonwealth soldiers that carried her.  The melding of an American designed action courtesy of John Parrish Lee and rifling developed at RSA Enfield the rifle went through dozens of variations.  The one seen here is perhaps the definitive version.  Offically Rifle No.4 Mk. I, this gun saw a refinement of every aspect of the rifle, from the stock arrangement, sights, bayonet mounting system and bolt assembly with it unique interchangable bolt heads to control headspace.  Firing the equally iconic .303 round the SMLE made a fine reputation among its users, their allies and enemies, no mean feat.  After world war one someone noted that the Germans built the best sporting rifle, the Americans the best target rifle and the British the best battle rifle.

     This beauty was built by BSA Shirley in 1944 and came to me a number of years ago from the racks of a local gunshop.  She is a fine shooter and all matching except for a few Savage made parts she picked up during a postwar FTR (Factory Through Repair)  Ammo is handloaded match grade, using CCI large rifle primers, 55 grains of Varget powder in Winchester brass driving a 173 grain Sierra MatchKing hollow point.

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    I love promo discs, you can check out new shows before they hit the stores, but even better you can stuble on to shows of which you are aware but if you hadn't seen a promo you would never have considered giving a chance.  Thus I sat down the other day with the promo DVD form the latest issue of Newtype USA and checked out a show with whose name and premise I was famillar but had always written off as not being my thing, KashiMashi Girl meets Girl.  Sure I had heard of this show, but after watching the episode and laughing my ass off at the humor and being genuinely impressed by the animators and writers abillity to convey emotion and humanity.  I wasn't famillar with the charcters or their individual stories but I was still able to find a connection with the story, which is damn hard to do in the span of thirty minutes.  That and the fact that I am a sucker for gender switching humor doesn't hurt either. (My favorite gender swap joke is in Oh! My Goddess when Keichi manages to basically turn himself into a pre-op transvetite, combined with the arrival of Urd's ex makes for some great humor.)

      The other great thing about promotional DVDs, at least those that come with magazines like Newtype and Otaku are that they have a wide range of shows from different companies.  From time to time Shonen Jump comes with free DVD's but they tend to contain a single episode of a single show, and invariably form Viz.  While that is understandable they could at least try for a little corporate cross promotion, it can't cost a whole lot more to put three episodes  on a DVD compared to one episode.  On the whole though promo DVDs are a great way to discover new and maybe not so new shows to fall for.

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     Barry Bonds put homer number 754 over the fence in the first inning of yesterdays 12 to 10 victory over the Florida Marlins.  Tomorrow the Giants continue their homestand with another game against Florida.  Barry will be facing Dontrell Willis, the best pitcher in the leauge versus left handed hitters, so getting 755 won't come easy.  Game time is 9:00pm Eastern, 8:00pm central and 6:00pm pacific time catch it on ESPN.  Just maybe you will get to see history being made in the City by the Bay.

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