Aside

Go watch this interesting interview with Salam Pax. And I’m proud that Sen. Boxer is one of my senators: Well, Mr. Chairman, again I thank you. I am — Dr. Rice, I was glad you mentioned Martin Luther King — it was very appropriate, given everything. And he also said, Martin Luther King, quote, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.” And one of the things that matters most to my people…

[From yesterday] It’s a snowy Sunday here in Hartford. My big accomplishment of the day was making chocolate chip cookies with Martin. The rest of the day consisted of watching Eddie Izzard and playing FIFA 2004 on Martin’s Xbox. Sweet. This article provides an interesting perspective on what the Internet does for military officers in the field. I didn’t know about SIPRNET. And apparently Sy Hersh is coming out with a story came out with a story in the next…

AccordionGuy: Let’s say it’s the early 1980’s. You’ve just bought a Quick and Dirty Operating System and repackaged it for IBM to include with their new “Personal Computer” (IBM had such a revulsion for non-mainframe things that the PC was created by the “Entry Systems Division”, which suggested that these were things you used until you got a real computer). You’re a hot rising software star, and hot rising software stars need dates. Which photo should you send potential soul…

So apparently I’m linked on today’s Drudge Report for my story on UAVs. So that’s sorta neat. Click here for a mini screen-shot. (Thanks for the tip, Sam!) Let’s see what this does for my blog hits. Apparently I’m already one of the top hits for variations of “Chang Industry” (and related variations). Chang’s website isn’t very informative. In other news, I just got email from a guy called “Cyrus Faryar,” who from what I can tell is a musician…

By CYRUS FARIVAR If all goes well, this year a remote-controlled portable airplane will be taking to the air over Southern California, providing a low-cost eye in the sky for law enforcement. Chang Industry of La Verne, Calif., is one of dozens of companies working on portable unmanned aerial vehicles, or U.A.V.’s, that can be equipped with cameras to transmit live video feeds to law enforcement officers on the ground, miles away. While larger and more sophisticated unmanned aircraft have…

WashPost: The hunt for biological, chemical and nuclear weapons in Iraq has come to an end nearly two years after President Bush ordered U.S. troops to disarm Saddam Hussein. The top CIA weapons hunter is home, and analysts are back at Langley. In interviews, officials who served with the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) said the violence in Iraq, coupled with a lack of new information, led them to fold up the effort shortly before Christmas. Four months after Charles A.…

Dubya has an iPod? (via Instapundit) One, two and three. And from Slate comes this great article about Do Commandos Go Commando? Soldiers and their Skivvies There’s no ban on underwear from Central Command, of course, but a number of advisories on military safety do offer tips that could be construed to support the practice. Web sites for the armed forces’ safety programs warn that tight-fitting uniforms reduce cooling air flow around the body, and the Manual of Naval Preventive…

So I was on the plane from OAK to DFW (Dallas/Ft. Worth), en route to LGA (LaGuardia) and one of the flight attendants (female) was talking with these two women sitting across the aisle from me, and they were all fawning over this mid 20-something guy who was in the Army, and was headed back to Afghanistan after 15 days of R&R. They seemed to treat him like he was some sort of celebrity or something — I mean, sure,…

I’ve been terribly alone and forgotten in Manhattan I’m going home to my city by the bay Good night, California. I will miss you. See you in 4.5 months. It was great to see all you guys!

In 12 hours, I’ve gone through an entire roll of toilet paper (used as kleenex) to blow my nose with. I kept waking up last night to have to blow my nose. Either I’m becoming immune to over-the-counter drugs, or my non-sickness sickness is manifesting itself more. I would say that I’m sick, but I feel fine and the only symptoms I have are a constantly runny nose and a very slight sore throat. Generic Claratin/Sudafed seemed to keep it…