Not Finals Roundup

Jill's on vacation, and I'm not studying. Or blogging. Or doing anything remotely productive. I did walk to Chipotle.

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Four soldiers who died while the media was drooling over Charlie Sheen.

The Islamic radicalization hearings that could have been held, if the committee was chaired by someone serious about Homeland Security, rather than a terrorist sympathizer looking to project.

T-Paw plays footsie with birthers. It's becoming a necessity in the GOP primary -- a majority of likely Republican primary voters don't believe Obama was born in the USA (and another 21% aren't sure).

T.A. Frank on Zuhdi Jasser.

That the New York Times won't call waterboarding torture -- at least, when the US is the one doing it -- is nothing more than cowardice in the face of ginned-up controversy.

Observing Memorial Day

I have a friend who is currently posted overseas in Iraq. Having him there makes this Memorial Day more fraught for me than others have been. I pray that he does not become one of those who makes the ultimate sacrifice, but I honor him for risking his life for his beliefs and his country. To every soldier who made that choice, we salute you today and always.

Memorial Day

Carleton doesn't give us days off for holidays, making it easy to forget they exist. Today is Memorial Day -- a day that takes on special meaning now, when our troops are out in the field in Iraq, Afghanistan, and many other places around the world. We pray for their safe return, while remembering the sacrifices of those who did (and will) not.

Enemy At The Gates

Via Obsidian Wings, it appears there is a new equipment shortage for US troops:

"“We’re behind the power curve, and we can’t piddle around,” Maj. Gen. Harry M. Wyatt III, commander of the Oklahoma National Guard, said in an interview. He added that one-third of his soldiers lacked the M-4 rifles preferred by active-duty soldiers and that there were also shortfalls in night vision goggles and other equipment. If his unit is going to be sent to Iraq next year, he said, “We expect the Army to resource the Guard at the same level as active-duty units.” (...)

Capt. Christopher Heathscott, a spokesman for the Arkansas National Guard, said the state’s 39th Brigade Combat Team was 600 rifles short for its 3,500 soldiers and also lacked its full arsenal of mortars and howitzers."

Too few rifles? I seem to recall this problem cropping up before...for the Russian army in World War II!

Abandoned

Is there anything else to say?

Mike Luckovich for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution