Addition to the Blogroll

LiberalCCW.

Anyone who can link to both the Republican Party and the Communist Party is worth a look. His most recent post on his alarm system is a real hoot.

The Law of War

You can read about the 1949 Geneva Convention (Convention III deals with prisoners, this is the one that Chimpy thinks is "quaint") or the other international agreements on the conduct of armed conflict or the Lieber Code if you like.

This is my take on the rules of war. Most can be boiled down to variations of "I'll do unto you like you'll do unto me" or "do not do unto others that which is hateful to you." The rules of war are, to some extent, self enforcing, because if you violate them, your enemy will retaliate.

If you have read "All Quiet on the Western Front", you might remember a mention of how the new German soldiers were arriving in the trenches with saw-toothed bayonets. The veterans confiscated them and replaced them with smooth-bladed bayonets, for one of the practical rules of trench warfare was if you were captured with one, you were killed with one.

In World War II, Germany mostly observed the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of POWs with regard to the Western Allies and the Western Allies reciprocated. Germany abrogated those same conventions in its conflict with the Soviet Union (with rationales that were stunningly similar to those voiced set forth by Alberto Gonzalez, John Yoo and the cabal of war criminals in the Office of the Vice President), the Russians reciprocated and millions of prisoners died. Japan, in World War I and the following intervention in Vladivostok , was lauded for its correct handling of POWs. That changed in WW2 and, although the Allies did take prisoners, nothing much was thought of just killing every Japanese soldier found.

"I'll do unto you like you did unto me."

This is why you see a very wide difference on the use of torture between Chickenhawks like Romney and Guiliani and veterans like McCain. In any conflict in the future, by our actions, we have legalized the use of torture against any of our combatants who are taken prisoner.

Signs of the Democrats Growing a Pair of Gonads

The Senate majority leader has decided that the Senate will not go into recess over Thanksgiving, in order to thwart Chimpy's plans to make recess appointments.

The Democrats are showing signs of not caving immediately to Chimpy's demand for another hundred billion of dollars for his war.

It's about time that the Democrats send a large steaming pot of "go fuck yourself" to Bush. Bush's idea of bipartisanship has been "you do it my way" and it's high time that the Democrats return the favor.

Five Favorite Pistols

#5: Webley .455 revolver:


If the Colt Peacemaker was the "gun that won the West," the Webley was the gun that won an empire. Most in this country were cut down to accept .45 ACP cartridges with moon clips. The Webley, in its various Marks, was in the service of the Empire for eighty years or more. The pictured model is a Mark VI, the model used in two wars for killing Jerries. Indiana Jones carried one in the third "Raiders" movie, there is a shot of him opening it up and the extraction star lifts up, but the gun is empty.

#4: Smith & Wesson K-22 Masterpiece, .22 rimfire:

The K-22 was the first really accurate pistol that I ever owned. I shot it a lot and learned a lot about shooting from my range time with one. When I spent time at my parent's farm, I used it with .22 shorts for popping feathered rats pigeons. For a time, I lived in a place where I had no access to a range, so I loaned it to a friend. His place was burglarized and the gun was stolen.

#3: Ruger New Model Blackhawk/Vaquero:


This is a Vaquero, Blackhawks have adjustable sights. They are modern versions of the Colt Peacemaker. They are a lot stronger, though, and with the transfer bar ignition system, they are true six-shooters. That was dangerous with a Colt Peacemaker, for if you dropped the gun with a loaded chamber under the hammer, the gun would fire. Which is why, back in the day, nobody loaded the sixth chamber unless they were going into a fight.

#2: Smith & Wesson M-29, .44 magnum:



Not the most powerful handgun in the world, but good enough for most jobs. They are excellent for hunting hoofed rats deer in forests. I carried one for deer hunting in Vermont, because most of the time I couldn't get a clear shot of more than 100' and when pushing through heavy brush, it's a lot nicer to be doing that with a holstered revolver than with a rifle.

#1: Cold M1911, .45 ACP:


Probably the finest military handgun ever. In a bout of sheer foolishness, the US replaced it in 1984 with the M9 Beretta 9mm, a move that has been unofficially regretted ever since. Often copied, there have been many attempts to make guns that were as good as or better, but almost a century after John Moses Browning designed it, the 1911 Colt is the gold standard of handguns, firing the cartridge that is, in itself, the gold standard of self-defense cartridges.

I have a fondness for automatics, but it is pretty interesting that when I come up with five favorite handguns, four are revolvers.

Rebuilding Computer History

They have rebuilt a Colossus computer. And it works.

This is fascinating. They rebuilt a vacuum tube computer and it runs. It took almost twice as long as a modern PC to crack a coded message, which isn't too shabby for a sixty three year old design.
I'm not versed in computer history. Yet my understanding is that the Colossus was one of the first binary digital computers and probably was the first model to be made in any quantity, rather than a one-off experiment.

I Wish I Had Written This!

Fuck Bush. Give him nothing, unless it's a stroke.

I second the motion.

Wow, You Thought Our Cops Were Vicious?

They have nothing on the British cops. A man fell into a diabetic coma, so the cops tasered him.

That must be a new treatment in the upcoming revision to the Torquemada Medical Manual.

More From the Church of High Morals

A priest in Texas has pled guilty to having sex with two inmates. He may do up to ten years in prison.

George Bush to the Poor: "Go Fuck Yourselves"

That is the essential message of the Bush Administration, which has been complicit in letting Mississippi get away with funneling post-hurricane aid and assistance to large businesses and rich people.

But as for the poor: They get fucked. Again.

All those who are professing surprise, report to the psych ward for a full workup.

Surging to the Brink of Failure

The argument that the Chimperor made for his escalation surge of troops was that by tamping down the violence, that would give the Iraqis time and space to reconcile politically.

The first apparently may be happening. The second is not.

If the Iraqis do not get their shit together and get it together very quickly, then all of those tour extensions, casualties, and stressed and destroyed families of our soldiers and Marines will have been for nothing. And to say that this is "news" is stretching the definition. This has been apparent for several months, that the Iraqis were in no mood to try to knit their country back together.

It's probably not going to happen. The prime minister of Iraq is little more than a tool of the Shiite militias. (Which admittedly is not a criticism an American can make in good faith, since our preznit is a tool.) When the Surge is over and our troop levels are back to pre-Surge levels or smaller, the Iraqis are going to restart their civil/sectarian war.

And of course, the Wingnuts will figure out a way to blame the liberals for that, since they long ago stopped looking in their mirrors.